My study schedule was so busy that I felt like I’d never studied this much in my whole life. However, there were some days students could relax in the course of their hard schedule. Study hard on weekdays and relax on the weekends. From a hard working international student’s point of view, I thought it was a great idea.

Some of my classmates would call Friday “The breather day” since we had only morning classes on Fridays. Friday classes were usually fun stuff and we watched movies and discussed them. I remember once we had watched a movie called “Dead poet Society” and discussed what would be the ideal teacher.
Among these fun classes, one class which stood out in my memories was when we learned about “What are the symptoms of human’s stresses and how to release them.”
If my memory is correct, a professor from either biology or public health came to make a speech in the class. It was very humorous and I thought it was very American style.
The methods he introduced jokingly in the class were so witty and I was trying hard not to burst into laughter.

Here is the list:
1. Put 39 small marshmallows into nostrils and blow them out.
2. Use MasterCard for the payment of Visa.
3. Be naked and dance in front of your pet.
4. Make up a bad rumor about yourself and spread it around. Wait and see when you will hear about it.
5. Try to pay your electricity bill with pennies.
6. Ride your bicycle backward and try to go to work.
7. Make a bill for the wait time at your family doctor and send it to him.
8. Try to make a short story by using an ongoing soap opera.
9. Cut a watermelon in half. Attach a picture of your boss and drop it from the roof top.
10. Put hard boiled eggs onto the floor and try to sleep on them naked.
I wonder how American people could think of these silly things.
If this helps, here are the top 10 stresses people have in the states.

1. Death of your spouse
2. Divorce
3. Long distance relationship for married couple
4. Jail Term
5. Death of your family
6. Sickness, Injuries
7. Marriage
8. Losing your job
9. Endurance and effort to keep your married life happy
10. Retirement
They are different from Japanese ones a bit but kind of interesting.