http://forums.eyesonff.com/showthread.php?t=13657
I always hated this too until I finally got it.
My version?
Wait until a thunderstormy night. When it subsides so that the power wont' go off, fire up the ps2 and head to the thunder plains with encounter-none.
Have someone there reading a newspaper or amgazine or something. Then after about ten or fifteen minutes of dodging bolts, you can talk to them and get your nerve back. Repeat until finished. You'll be done in 30 minutes at most.