They say life is a long  journey filled with twists and turns, ups and downs and unclear outcomes. If this is true, then I believe we took one crazy stride today. We broke barriers, laughed cried and saw that in 4 days we wouldnt have each other to lean on. It was a sad moment when I realized today that what we've accomplished in three weeks will never be the same. But I dont want to focus on the bad with so much good around me. Today was a busy day. We had classes in the morning, ate lunch and headed back to the meat locker. (The Old Chapel, which is probably kept at a constant temperature of 60 degrees.) The academy was visited by a Randolph-Macon professor who taught us about the mysterious ways of the samurai. It was extremely interesting and we found that the cinema samurai is way more fictionalized than the real samurai. We soon were surprised when arriving at our cooking class. 7 tables were set out complete with basic ingredients and a cutting board. My fellow vegetarians and I were sorted out as team one to cook a more vegetable-friendly dish. Our S,enseis greeted us with "welcome to cooking curry, Iron Chef style." The rules were simple cook the best curry. We each were allowed to grab ingredients out of a pile and incorporate them into our dish. I was named team captain so I grabbed carrots, peas, corn and tofu. We had started cooking, when we were called forth again, this time to grab an odd ingredient to incorporate. These secret ingredients were chocolate, apples, cinnamon, tomatoes and broccoli.My team had the cinnamon. We cooked for a while and finally had a delicious tofu curry. The Sensei's judged and handed out prizes. We unfortunately did not place, but it was the fun we had that counted. After dinner we cleaned up and dressed up for the variety show. This show had been planned by the variety show company who had been hard at work. It was funny and very entertaining. We had 6 "celebrities" do various challenges and many ridicolous things. In between challenges, academy students would present a talent. We had talents ranging from singing to dancing and even a Kendoh act. After the challenges and acts were over, several academy goers took tothe catwalk and had a fashion show. There was no set rule to what fashion. I dressed up as Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter. We also had a Coco Chanel, a tiger and even someone dressed up in full yukata. It was a whirlwind of colors and cultures. I think we all had a fun and relaxing time. We all broke out of our comfort zone and tried something new whether it be singing in public the first time, impersonating a celebrity or strutting down the catwalk. We all came away from the show a little more confident and stronger. And I think thats one of the most important things we can come away from the academy with. This academy may only be a few footsteps in our long journey, but they are footsteps in a different direction. They are stronger and more confident footsteps.