Futons, plastic surgery, tacos, weather, and boyfriends

Time for a random thought dump!

First off, futons are the best.  Seriously.  I am planning on sleeping on a futon for the rest of forever if I can.  They're soft and warm and comfy and snuggly and just generally epic.  Yes.  Futons.

Second of all, the weather has really cooled off.  It was actually kind of chilly today, which was a nice change from the oppressively hot and humid weather we were having earlier in the week.  I can wear long pants without feeling like my legs are shriveling up and dying!

Third of all, I went to a "tacos party" in the dorm common room this evening (it was in celebration of one girl's birthday).  It was 300 yen for one...taco...like object.  It was supposed to be 300 yen for ALL THE TACOS, but apparently they did not expect 37 people to show up, so they made enough food for about 10.  But they were good, despite not really being taco-like.  They hand-made the tortillas, so they were more like flatbread than tortillas, and there was tuna (???) and some sort of...onion...like...substance...and the taco meat was a lot saucier than normal.  If someone had handed me one of their tacos and asked me to guess what it was, I would have said some kind of Mediterranean food.  But it was food, and I got to meet some more people, so I guess it was worth 300 yen?

Fourth of all, we had a discussion in Japanese class today about plastic surgery, and four of the six girls said they would like to do it.  My response was "NO NO NO NO NO NO" and the other girl's response was, "I like my face."  ...also, apparently our teacher didn't know what sabi meant.*  I need to stop using obscure tea ceremony terms in class.

Fifth of all, it seems that I am once again in danger of being paired off with someone.  I did not realize how completely obsessed pretty much everyone I have met is with dating.  When introducing themselves, girls will say whether they have a boyfriend or not and whether they're living with their boyfriend.  People have, multiple times, asked me if I am living alone (i.e. whether I'm living with a boyfriend/husband).  The girl whose birthday it was today said her goal for this year is to get a boyfriend.  Also, Hi-chan, the Japanese girl in my suite, shortly after we met asked me if I had met other people from the dorm yet.
Me: Um, not that many.
Hi-chan: Have you met any boys?
Me: Um...not that many.
Hi-chan: There are lots of boys in the dorm.  You should meet them.
...of course, it took me about half an hour to realize what she'd been implying there.
And then this evening, I was taking out the trash and, on my way back up to my room, I passed Hi-chan talking to a bunch of Japanese guys.  She thanked me for taking out the trash as I passed, and I said it wasn't a problem.  But then, about half a flight up, I heard her tell the boys I was from California.  There was, as usual, an immediate reaction of awe.  (I don't know.  Apparently being from California is really cool or something?)  And then some random guy asked, "Does she have a boyfriend?"
...I must admit that I nearly sprinted back down the stairs, but I decided to ignore it, because A. probably not cool to eavesdrop on conversations and B. if I had misheard him, that would have been really bad.  But I'm pretty sure I didn't mishear him and FRIGGIN' GEEZ.  I am a PERSON, not some random Californian object you can buy off a shelf.  You don't even KNOW me, so what the heck do you care if I have a boyfriend or not?
...of course, now I'm going to be paranoid that every guy who tries to talk to me is just trying to win the Californian prize.  I'm kind of horrifically dense when it comes to flirting, to be honest, and I probably wouldn't even notice if the guy was hitting on me unless he was being REALLY OBVIOUS.  On the other hand, I could be loudly obnoxious about having a boyfriend, but that's not really going to stop anyone (as I have heard from sitting in corners as other people are talking about their long-distance relationship-like entities).  It would also be obnoxious, and, honestly, it's none of their business.
But on the other other hand, I don't want a bunch of guys sizing me up like I'm a piece of meat.
AUGH, FRIGGIN' AUGH.
Maybe I should just tape a sign to my forehead: "SO NOT INTERESTED. LET'S BE FRIENDS INSTEAD."

*Sabi is a concept most common in medieval Japanese art, especially in tea ceremony.  It's the idea that asymmetry and imperfection is more beautiful than symmetry and perfection.  It's why a lot of very expensive tea ceremony bowls are warped or unevenly glazed.