How are you kids enjoying your below freezing temperatures? I know the snow is treating you well. I can just imagine the trails cutting through the freshmen quad right now and the students sledding down Memorial Hill on Val trays. How I miss you kids (sigh).

I'm here in Tokyo kickin' it in 45-degree weather. Not too bad, huh?

This letter will probably be a little shorter than most because I don't have much going on this week. We have a four-day weekend, so I'm using that time to catch up on my sleep and work. Not that the work comes close to anything Amherst has by comparison. I'll chalk it up to being lazy.

Within the next month, I'll have three performances at different school functions. I'll be singing and rapping at a dinner being held by my school and the Japan chapter of Zulu Nation in honor of Black History Month. That is going down on Feb. 24. On March 16, I will be dancing for a White Day Party. No, this isn't a celebration of white people in Japan, in which case, why would I be there? It is the male counterpart to Valentine's Day.

In Japan, only women give gifts to men on Valentine's Day. The men reciprocate in March on White Day. Guess my gift to the ladies will be my dance.

Finally, on March 24, which is also the day before my birthday, I will be singing and rapping again for another African American awareness dinner. I guess I agreed to this since I won't be able to get my singing fix in Jambo this year.

*Shameless Zumbyes Plug* Everyone should have their ticket to Jambo already. If you don't have it then stop reading this column, walk out of the annex or west wing or wherever you are, go talk to my kids Ruby, John, Pat, Brendan, Greg, Jimmy, Tim, Jake, Darryl, D-Wadd and Assassin, and grab a ticket. I'm not kidding ... go do it now.

On another random note, I just shaved off all of my facial hair.

Let me tell you that movies in Japan are extremely expensive. I finally saw "The Departed" this past Saturday. With my student ID the movie cost 1,500 yen. That's equivalent to 14 dollars or something. Never again will I pay so much for a movie ... until I see another one while I'm here. What was really funny about watching the movie was listening to the English and reading the subtitles. It shows us first-hand how different people from different countris are. The Japanese really doesn't use cuss words like Americans do. They use the word stupid and their most informal way of saying "you" to substitute for the "F-word" and all its variations. For those of you who have seen the movie, you know often they say these things. Sometimes the language barrier is just too much to get through when trying to convey the passion behind the word "f*ck."

Unfortunately, that is all I have for you kids today. Please tune in next week because I'm pretty sure I am going to visit the Ninja Cafe as well as the Maid Cafe. I know that is not as compelling as the end of a "Lost" episode, but you'll still be back to hear more won't you?

Getting poorer all the time,

C-G illz