Sake Festival

So about a month ago, on Friday evening, when I was just about to leave work, a co-worker handed me a flyer. Since I was literally walking out the door when he gave it to me, I said thanks, put it in my backpack and went home. …and forgot about it…

Then on Saturday evening, I got ready to do hardcore studying for my JLPT exam and in my study book was the flyer. This time I took my time to read it and it was a flyer on a sake festival that would be held in my city (at a place near one of the train stations. In other words, really really close to me). Then I looked at the dates: that weekend!! So I missed the Saturday one and Sunday was the last day. I wanted to take advantage of something going on in my city so I emailed some of my buddies (in Japan, cell-to-cell texting is actually emailing. You even get to create your own cell email address!). After a little while, a plan was made.

The next day, we had lunch at Baby Face. It’s an Italian-Japanese restaurant. Good, but not really Italian… Oh, and some of my students had lunch there around the same time my friends and me had lunch. Hahaha.

After lunch, we met Julie at the train station and then found the festival. There was no entrance fee but we did have to buy our own little sake cup. But it was only 100yen!!! (~$1) And then we got to sample various sake, ume-shu (plum wine) and sho-chu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dch%C5%AB). There was also one sake that was the most expensive to buy and the only one that you had to pay 300yen to taste! And yes, I tried it and yes, it was awesome. That one had to be the smoothest sake that I’ve tried so far. But I didn’t buy a bottle. Although it was really tasty, it’s out of my budget. Maybe if there was some really big thing to celebrated I’d actually buy it. But since there are no/have been no huge things to celebrate here, I don’t need to buy it.

One of the booth was sake from a neighboring restaurant. One that serves bees. And sure enough, there were bees at the bottom of their sake bottle. It reminded me of the tequila with a worm in it…
I didn’t try this sake because I don’t know if I’m allergic to bees. But they’re always around pollen so I’m also afraid I’ll react to the pollen that may be on them…so I just let everyone else describe the flavor to me. Most of them just said, “It tastes like bees.” Yes, very descriptive. But clearly not the group’s favorite.

We also got to go inside the brewery (the festival was held right outside a sake brewery) and there were a few in there to try as well! Most of these were the chilled sake but one of them was a grape one. That one tasted just like juice. It was hard to believe there was any liquor in it.

A funny moment during the festival was when we tried the sho-chu. Apparently Lupita and Julie don’t really like it and so they would makes faces after every little sip they’d take. And I was next to them, trying to suppress my giggles. But it looked like Julie really didn’t want to drink it anymore so I drank her sample. Only then did Lupita turn, noticed Julie’s cup was empty and tried to pour her sho-chu into Julie’s cup! Ahahahaha. But I drank her sample as well. But in their defense, straight sho-chu is pretty strong. When I had it with my host dad over a year ago, he served it with hot water. Speaking of my host dad, I bought a bottle of that sho-chu for him. Hehe.

In the end, we went to McDonalds, bought fries, hung out at my place until dinner and then went to our favorite hamburger spot: Son House. What a day. Never before had I been tipsy at 4 in the afternoon!!! (The festival was 11 – 4) When we tallied up how many samples we had tried, we came to roughly around 13 cups (“roughly” because some servers filled the cup to the top and some servers only gave us half the cup. Which is more than enough for a taste really). 13 cups of sake/ume-shu/sho-chu!!! That’s just madness! But what was more insane was it was only 400yen!!! (~$4)

Oh! And there was a booth selling sake manju as well. (manju is a red-bean pastry with the outing consisting of flour, buckwheat and rice powder). I found it cute and amusing that the woman selling it to me was asking me if I knew there was sake in it and if I’d be ok. Hehe. But I honestly couldn’t taste the sake in it. But doesn’t alcohol lose its alcoholic characteristic when it’s cooked/baked???

Anyhoo~

kampai!

(cheers!)

Real Update: End of August to September

Alright, it’s time I fill you in on stuff that’s been going on since my last real update (which was when…August?!?! Aiya…)

Hokay, so after the crazy extravaganzas with my cousin, I started to help plan out stuff for my Block and really get to know the new JETs. So we had a dinner and karaoke event. Sadly, not everyone was able to make it but it was still a blast! (It’s awesome when you’re with a crowd that also likes to go karaoke.  ) After karaoke-ing, Matt, Lupita and I decided to head to do some more karaoke-ing. But we went to Matt’s preferred karaoke place instead of staying at the one we were at… It turned out to be quite interesting. After a while, Matt decided to go mingle with the guys in the karaoke room across from us (there were windows and we waved at each other before…so I guess he wanted to make more friends). But then Matt didn’t return so it was really just Lupita and me singing…till some of those guys came over to join us. Hahaha.

Fast forward…

That Sunday, I met up with Lupita nd Julie for dinner and then we all met up with Kimiko-sensei to go on the Hakata cruise. Hakata is a couple of train stops away from me and it’s the station that everyone around has to go to to transfer to get to other prefectures and to get on the Shinkansen (Bullet train). That cruise was quite fun! It was a night cruise so we were able to see all the lights from the cities around the bay. And the breeze was rather nice too.

Fast Forward…

The next weekend, I went to Sasebo with my girlies (Julie and Lupita). We did the cruise around the 99 islands of Sasebo, daydreamed about just lounging about our favorite island and ate the famous Sasebo Burger (which has a bit too many things in it in my opinion…so so so stuffed after eating that…). But we actually stayed at Huis Ten Bosch hotel, not in Sasebo. Huis Ten Bosch is a Dutch area. …it’s kinda like a theme park… And it’s famous for it’s annual flowers. They have a tulip season and a rose season (there may be more…but I think the Tulip one is the most famous). And in the park there’s a CG movie theatre where you can have your face scanned and then added into the movie! It’s pretty cool and fun to watch. We all bought a print out of our CG pictures. Hahaha. (There’s different roles in the movie: the brain, the protectors, the elders and…one other…hmm…)

Fast forward…

Sports Day!!!
This was my second Sports Day and the only thing that was upsetting was that my battery life is too short now!!! >.<” I was unable to take pictures to my heart’s content. Saaaaaaaaad. But I did manage to get some awesome pictures and even some video of “kibasen.”

Kibasen is possibly the most anticipated sport during sports day at my school. The boys (this is a “boys only” sport) get split into groups of 4. In each group, one boy is designated as “the rider.” The other boys become part of “the horse.” The 3 boys lift “the rider” up and go head to head with another group. “The horse” boys have to keep their “rider” steady and keep him from falling down. Both “riders” wrestle and try to get the other to fall off his “horse.” …this may not make a whole lot of sense…but once you see it, it does. :P It can be quite intense and dangerous. And so some boys and most of the male teachers “spot” each wrestle group and if needed, soften the fall of the boys.

Oh! I was asked to participate again this year! This time, it was a student-teacher obstacle course. It was soooo much fun. But sadly, my block didn’t get first place. T_T. I did, however, help shorten the gap between my block and the winning block. 
(I was the third runner and I had to first bite off some bread from a clothes line and then run to another table, open a bottle of soda, chug it down and then run to pass the blue sash.)

Fast forward…

For “Silver week” (as special 5 day weekend that occurred in September), Lupita and I headed to Beppu, Oita. Which is known for it’s onsen (hot water springs). Our aim this vacation was to chill and relax. And relax we did. Unfortunately, we tried to book rooms a little to late and so were unable to stay there for the whole break. But we made sure to take in what we could in those 2 days (we went to the onsen twice in one day!)
Then we got to go to a Fukuoka Hawks Baseball game!!! And thanks to Mike, some really awesome seats behind home base!!!!! It was awesome. And so exciting. And we could’ve won had Matsunaka-san not choked!!! Arg!!

And that pretty much concludes what happened until the end of September. Next up, October shinanigans. ^^v

どうしよかなぁ～

The forms are out.
The wheels are turning.
The list making has started.

The question has come again: to re-contract or not to re-contract...

どうしよ～？？？
なんか、ここにいるのを感じているけど頭に小さ声が「家族は怒れる」と言っている．．．
よく分からない～！！！

これから、よく考えま～す！

Current craziness

I'm calling this week "Week of Hell." Here's what it consists of:

~Prepping for an important meeting (making outlines, discussing with my co-presters, making revisions, typing, printing, meeting with kyoto-sensei, staying late at work, meeting between classes
~Halloween lesson: prepping/teaching that lesson
~Prepping for a Halloween party (dealing with invite list, organizing the potluck, buying ingrediants, cooking, baking cleaning, taking necessary things to Lupita's)
~Jogging (it's been a de-stresser lately)
~General cleaning
~Aggravated tendonitis (thank you outline. Not to mention I've started to get the carpel tunnel pain again...my wrists are just bad!)
~napping (notice it's not "sleeping")
~Reunited with my caffiene addiction
~supposed to be studying for my JLPT...
~biking single-handedly
~dealing with headaches and random 5-second stomachaches
...that's all I can remember at this moment...

The Double-Edged Disassociation...

So for some time now I’ve noticed that I have a disassociation problem. I somehow know 2 things I have planned but I somehow I keep them separate in my head. Maybe it has to do with the way I think about each of them (in a way, I categorized them differently in my head and therefore I miss the fact that they’re related in some very important way…which usually results in me racing with time…)
Hokay…that may not have made any sense to you. Here’s an example:
Let’s say that I have a big exam in 2 weeks. But the day before, I have a paper due for a different class. And just for shits and giggles let’s also say my club is having an event right before the deadline of the paper. Now, because they’re all different (2 different classes and one club event) I will most likely forget that they’re all overlapping in terms of time. Not until the week that they’re all occurring will it really dawn on me that they’re all really close to each other and that in terms of time, I’m screwed. So prior to this I’m alright and I have no doubt that I can do it all but come that week, I’ll start to freak out and panic. (But I always manage to get it done in the end…just a bit stressful getting there)

So why am I writing about it?

I was walking about the other day and I noticed that this disassociation problem that I have has also applied itself to the fact that I’m so far away from home. In some place in my head I know that I’m not home, that I’m in Japan and that I’m overseas. But that same area in my brain never really got down to thinking about how freakin’ far I really am and how crazy it still that I’m living by myself. Then I thought about how trippy it must have been for my cousin to come and see my apartment. I think because I came fresh out of college, my apartment had a bit of that “dormitory” feel to it (aside from the fact that I get my own kitchen and bathroom!). I remember my cousin mention how it was weird for her to think, and see, my apartment. But I never really got the full effect of it (until like 1 or so weeks ago).

And I think this problem is also why I end up being so busy. I end up agreeing to do many things (personal things and grouping things) and only the month of (or like 2 weeks before the events) do I really noticed how booked I really am. I’m not joking when I say that my weekends get booked about a month before! It’s rare to have that weekend to myself. I think that’s why Monday has become my Whatev Night. And consequently, my TV night.

Anyhoo, I randomly felt like writing about that. Not sure how much sense that made to you guys…but at least I got it out of my system. :P

Small Update

Hokay so, I'll be taking on the JLPT again.
GANBARIMASU!!!

After over a year of living in Japan, my Japanese has improved. But is it good enough to pass the second level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test??? Stayed tuned to find out!

So, because I'll mimic my 3先生 and dedicate almost every minute of my day to studying, I'll be online less frequently. But I'm pretty sure I'll escape from being surrounded by Japanese to go back to one of my mother languages.

BUT my computer hasn't been fixed yet so I've also been online less and less these days because I only get about an hour use with the battery.

Right, computers.
So, when I have some free time (this has been busy with different things), I'll call Dell and then decide whether I should gaman with my computer until it can get fixed (either until they can send the details to Dell in Japan or until I go back home) (*gaman = deal) or just go ahead and buy a Japanese computer for the meantime. I will say that I am leaning towards buying a Mac but since they are quite expensive it makes me a little hesitate to go ahead and buy one now. But, I think my answers will become more clear after I the Dell call.

Other than that, work is keeping me busy as well. Yesterday (and tomorrow I'll go back) I was at Fukuoka Nogyo High School. It's an agricultural high school and so English is not one of their prioirity classes (so it's not heavy on the grammar end and the kids rather openly show they're not interested in English. Well, the ones that aren't do...). So it was fun where it's more activity based learning but a little frustrating with the students who talk while their JTE is talking. But since they're not really my kids, I can't really do anything.
Anyhoo, the few kids that are interested in English make it worth while. :]

The crazy thing is that I heard the school has a PONY! A pony! ¡¿Que que?! Having roosters and cows makes sense but a pony?! Really?! This school is quite interesting.

Oh! And Halloween is coming up! Yay!
Lupita and me are thinking about having a small Halloween party. Yay! Downside is I have to work November 1st because it's my school's birthday anniversary. So I can't stay out late trick or treating. :[

Oooooooo...now I wanna make Rice Krispy Treats...

...Oh how they hate me...

My forever long battle with computers is...still continuing...
:/

My laptop's backlight has decided to give way and so I can't really see my screen. Unless I decided to go for odd angles that allow me to see what I'm supposed to be seeing but then I easily lose where the mouse pointer is...ugh...

Anyhoo, so I'll be MIA 'til I get a new computer. I'm able to do this post because my uber friendly co-worker, one who took a look at my sick laptop, is lending me his spare monitor for the time being.

So...I'll make mental notes on what to write about.

Mata ne~

Current Obsessions

So, I get obsessed with various things at various times. Sometimes it’s a certain food, a certain song, a certain anime. Usually, you can tell what I’m obsessed about when you’re around me, but for my buddies back at home that haven’t seen or heard from me in a while (sorry! Internet crashed, AGAIN, so I haven’t been able to log into skype… ><;) I’ll let you know what/who I’m obsessed with for the time being.

Music:
I am still greatly in love with Asian Kung-Fu Generation! Something about their music is just like dead on. I can never get enough of them. :]
But there have been some new tunes I’ve been listening to. First of all, I’ve recently became a big fan of Arashi. It’s one of Japan’s most famous boy bands and much to my surprise, I really like them. I’ve been the kind to get into boy bands. But something about Arashi I like. And so I even bought their 10th anniversary album with all their best tunes from the past decade. I’m just glad that the songs I’ve been listening to on youtube were also in the CD! Well, mainly CD 2, but yay!
Another friend started to get me into m-flo. It’s like, Japanese rap. Very upbeat and cool.
And there is also UVERworld. I’ve only listened to one of their albums so far but the genre ranges a bit. I really love their fast songs and have even learned one with a rap section in the middle. But man, that rap section was hard to do… It used to be too fast for me. Too fast to even hear what he was saying! But now, almost a year of living in Japan and listening to the song (not that religiously), I can actually hear what he’s saying and in my mind, it seems the song has slowed down. Haha. :P
One other song I’ve been listening to a lot lately is sung by the group B’z. I got into this group because they play the opening song for the drama Buzzer Beat.

TV Dramas:
Yes, I am watching Japanese dramas now. I dunno…they kinda remind me of Mexican novellas because they’re short and there’s always something crazy going on! Unlike the English ones on daytime TV that are always made fun about having poor acting and slow/boring storylines. They just seem like such a snoooooooore. But an upside to watching Japanese dramas is that I get to work even more on my listening. I usually have my dictionary next to me to look up words I don’t know. And then learn them! haha…I think that made me sound like a nerd…or a dork…hmm…
I’ve also started watching other TV programs that aren’t dramas. Two of which are quiz shows! Nep League and Q-Sama. (Weird names, I know). But they’re fun to watch and it’s more like studying than watching TV really. They get quizzed on kanji (both writing and reading) and sometimes they have to translate English words (which then becomes something like vocabulary studying for me).
Interestingly enough, the band Arashi also has their own TV show! It’s actually pretty funny! Some of them seem really different from their singing appearance. 2 of them are pretty silly. Hehe.

Manga:
There’s gotta be some manga that I’m reading, right?
Haha.
So I have the same 4 that I’ve been into for the past 5 years. Hehe. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, xXxHolic (which I’ve been reading the past year really), Naruto and Bleach. But along with these I’ve started reading Vagabond, upon the recommendation of a buddy of mine. Vagabond is definitely not like the other mangas I read but it is quite interesting. I guess it’s more out of the kid realm and more into the adult side of manga. So at first I was like, “oh crap, this is crazy” but then the story began to get really interesting and now I’m hooked. But I haven’t read it in a while since my internet at home crashed again…grr…

Hmm…I think that’s it at the moment…

Train Hopping, Temple Hopping, General Hopping…

So 2 weeks ago was my longest trip! And it was awesome. Well, aside from the stupid mosquito bites. ><”

So, my cousin was in town for 1 week and then we spent a week traveling up north. That was a blast!!!

Friday we went to the Fukuoka Orientation dinner at a beer garden. It was all you can eat and all you can drink. There were also little grills on the center of the tables so that you could cook your own meat. Yum yum. And there were many beer options. I think Liz had fun trying out different kinds (since there aren’t that many in LA). But I think she like the ume-shu best of all (ume-shu = plum wine). And we were all having fun mingling with re-contracting JETs and getting to know the new JETs. But then it started to rain. And the beer garden was on the rooftop of a building in the city…so…we all kinda ran away for shelter. Haha. But since Liz and me were done eating (and I still had packing to finish), we took that as our cue to head home. Sadly though, it was hard to find people to say good-bye to…I had to resort down to e-mailing them…

Some hours after this, we were leaving my apartment, hit the combini and went to the main train station. After eating a quick breakfast, I sent Liz to activate the rail passes. At this point, I’ve adopted certain Japanese customs that I’m not sure I can play off the whole “I don’t know Japanese or anything about Japan” and so it was all up to my cousin. Luckily, we got it all done without a problem. HURRAY!!!

About 3 hours after that, we made it to Kyoto and checked in at our hotel. Since we had most of the still, we wondered about, had lunch and visited Fushimi Inari Shrine. One of my personal favorites in Kyoto. But I stupidly forgot to transfer the mosquito repellant from my luggage into my backpack. I was ambushed!!! And for just about the rest of the vacation my legs would become extremely itchy at random times (so I always had to walk about with the anti-itch solution…).

After trying to fight the bugs, we can back home, washed up (Kyoto was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo humid!) and planned out the rest of the our stay in Kyoto. I let Liz choose where she’d like to go (and I gave my recommendations). Then I spent the rest of the night trying to plan out the bus course.

While in Kyoto, we visited, Toji Temple, Sanjusangendo, Chion’in Shrine, Yasaka Shrine, Gion, Ginkaku-ji, Kinkaku-ji, the Imperial Castle gardens and Nijo Castle.

The morning of the day we were planned to go to Tokyo, an earthquake hit Shizuoka Prefecture. I can be a heavy sleeper and I would have slept right through it, had Liz not woken up all scared and telling me to wake up. Although I still didn’t really feel it. I just went right back to sleep. ehehe^^;;
But due to the earthquake, all the trains going in and out of Shizuoka Prefecture were temporarily stopped. Luckily, we were able to catch a shinkansen to Tokyo and arrive only a little later than we had planned.

In Tokyo, we did more city hopping than Temple hopping. But we got to see cool buildings, paintings, lights and huge crowds of people. :P

We stayed in Shinjuku and visited Shibuya, Akihabara, Odaiba, Asakusa Shrine, Meiji Jingu, Harajuku, Roppongi Art Museum, Tokyo Tower and almost ALMOST went to Tokyo Disneyland. That would have been awesome. But we hadn’t planned for it and by the time we thought about it, it was too late (as in, it’s too near the weekend during summer break).

The downside was coming back because a: I was coming back all alone and b: I lost my glasses somewhere in Shinjuku. I lost them on the last freakin’ day!!! Almost home-bound and then I realize I don’t have them and gah!!!
x’(

Four days later, I went to a glasses store recommended by one of my JTE’s and I can see clearly once again. Yay!

My Week So Far...

So, I've had different things going on every night. It's been a little crazy...

Monday:
My buddy Aki took Liz and me to an Okonomiyaki restuarant that also has Monjayaki (which really popular in Tokyo and so there are few restaurants around here that have it). And then he took us up a mountain where the night view of the city was really nice. I only had my cellphone with me so my picture is not that great...I think Liz has better ones...It was fun but a little sad since it's the last time I'll see him since he'll be flying to LA on Saturday to go to Santa Ana Community College.

Tuesday:
Liz and me went to the city, hung out a bit and met up with some of my Japanese teachers (the ones that teach me Japanese not the Japanese teachers I work with) and some of my classmates to go to a Maid Cafe! It was actually quite fun. On certain food and drinks that you order, they can draw stuff on them!!! So, while everyone was asking for animals for their omlette's, I asked for an anime character (no surprise, ne?). But it ended up sparking a conversation with that maid because later she came back with a drawing of a character from the anime I had asked for (I asked her to draw a different on my omlette than the one she drew for me with pen) and gave it to me! And man, she's a great artist. So I told her that I draw too but not as well as her. So of course she wanted to see mine (and by chance, I had a picture of one in my cell) so yea...in a way I made a Maid friend. :P
I think my cousin enjoyed it too but...it was hard for her with the huge language barrier...

Wednesday:
Chikugawa Hanabi Taikai
(Chiku River Fireworks Festival)
This was so much fun! Fireworks for about an hour and half, festival food, friends and yukatas galore! I rushed home after work (felt work a little early actually), got into my yukata and actually managed to do the obi myself! I didn't need to use the ready set one! haha! But not until we were all down at Kurume (cities away from me) did one of my friends point out one little mistake: I had folded it incorrectly.
D'oh! ><"
But other than that, it was ok.
The return was a different ordeal. Getting to Kurume was alright aside from uber packed trains. Coming back...well, we couldn't even get INTO the station for a while. So we went to a department store and "chilled" for about 45 minutes and then tried the station again. This time around the gigantic crowd had pretty much disappeared.

Thursday:
Block event 1 - Son House
Last night, my fellow block heads Lupita and Emmett and I had our first block event: Dinner at Son House. I think it went rather well. Everyone was chatting with everyone else. Food was as yummy as ever. Yea, it was a good night. ^^

And now, my craziness will become even more crazy!!!

Today is the Fukuoka Orientation. After all that, there is an orientation dinner (where all the other re-contracting JETs that didn't present at the orientation can join and meet the new ALTs). So Liz and me are going to a beer garden for dinner tonight. But we're going to skip the after party at club Gossip. It sounds like a nice club but I still need to finish packing for my trip up North with my cousin!

So yea, I'll definately be MIA for a week+. We will be in Kyoto for about 3 and half days and in Tokyo for about 5 days. Oh man...it's going to be fun and I can imagine unbelieably tiring...ugh...

Craziness to be reported later.

Mata ne!

Visits

So last week Thursday, my cousin arrived in Japan!!!

Yay!!!

I only feel horrible that somehow I got mixed up on her flight and was waiting for her at the wrong terminal...luckily after only a few minutes of waiting and getting that "something's wrong" feeling, I found out I was at the wrong terminal and took off running to the right one. I found her at the payphone looking rather confused and troubled (because had just tried calling my cell but failed to understand...).

Anhyhoo, we made it back to my place safely and so far we've been having days filled with things to do, people to meet (some unplanned) and (for my cousin) pictures to take.

So Friday night, one of my host moms invited to her place for dinner. We met her at hte bus stop, took a bus to her place (she lives out of the city. In the country side, really), had dinner with her and her sister and spent the night. For me, it was like when I first came and decided to take up my host mom's offers to stay with them instead of the hotel. Then on Saturday, my cousin and I came back to my place (I did some cleaning...bit of a weekend routine for me... ehehe^^;;) and then met my other host mom for a Summer Festival and dinner. This host mom's friend was nice enough to pick us up and take us to my host mom's house. Again, very much deja vu to my first week in Japan. hehe.

The only bummer in all this was at the exact moment my host mom arrived to pick us up, I got a text from a friend, stubbed my toe, got a text from another friend, noticed I broke my toe nail (in the middle...part of the tip going in where all the pink part is) and then got a call from my host mom's friend to tell me she arrived. That was a really crazy 1 minute. And quite painful. Yay...let's see how temple hopping in Kyoto and train hopping in Tokyo goes... :/

Oh~! But both the dinner and summer festival were a lot of fun! And my cousin wore a yukata! But...I think she got tired of it after a while. haha. Yea...I had forgotten to mention that to keep it on, the obi (the belt & bow part of the yukata) has to be put on a little tight. Otherwise, it can easily open up and yea...I don't think she wanted that kind of show. I'm strangely ok with it...and the wooden shoes...hmm...

Then on Sunday, I finally got to meet 2 of the new ALT's! They've been around since Wednesday but I've been busy with other things (namely my cousin) that I've been having bad timing to meet them. But I finally did!

I've been keen to meet them since I'll be a block head this year. The JET's in Fukuoka are separated into blocks, or groups based on location. I am part of block 6 and along with my buddies Emmett and Lupita, we're going to be "blockheads." Basically we plan events for everyone in our block so that they don't feel lonely and so that we can get to know each other better and all that fun stuff. Furthermore, we act as contacts for them. If they have a question, they can come ask us for help or advice. So...a little like being an RA in college. :P

I will unfortunately miss the first block event because I'll be in Tokyo with my cousin. So I didn't want to make my new block feel I'm abandoning them so I've been wanted to go and say "hi" for a while. ^^;;

Later to come:
*Maid Cafe
*Fireworks Festival
*Block informal dinner (at Son House!)
*JET Fukuoka Orientation (Beer Garden)
*Kyoto
*Tokyo

Weekend Pile-ups!!!

Phew.

So my weekends have been filled with crazyness for the past…for the whole month! Haha.

For Independence day weekend, Lupita and me threw our second Mexican dinner party (this time, it was called Mexi-Nite) and then it was our friend’s, Carl, birthday BBQ the next day. The following weekend, my friend Emmett had an English-club-BBQ-party. It was a lot of fun! It was interesting to me how his students were more willing to speak in English than some of my students are.

Then on Tuesday, I had an early dinner, took a shower and then took a nap. I got up around 9 and then headed for the train station to meet up with Lupita and Matt. In the city we met up with Matt’s girlfriend, Rena. And then at the karaoke place, Aki met up with us. Yes, karaoke. Yes, somewhere around 10 or 11 at night. Why?? Because we planned to karaoke until 4 in the morning. Yes! Until 4 in the morning on a weeknight. Why on earth would I do this craziness? Well because in the city at 4:55am, there was a festival known as Hakata Yamakasa. Mainly men (there were a few little boys and even babies “participating” in the festival too) take turns carrying huge and amazingly heavy mini shrine around the city. They get splashed with water here and there too. I think it was done this early in the morning to avoid the heat wave from mid-day…but it may have some other kind of traditional reason too…
So anyway after this crazy night, we all hopped on a train to go back home. I took a taxi from the station to my place, took yet another shower (it’s pretty humid these days…boo) and then biked to work. I was fine until my breakfast hit in and I immediately started getting sleepy….despite the coffee I had drank. So after a fun day at work where I helped teach, showed pictures and took naps at my desk (not uncommon in Japan, but a bit embarrassing when 2 of my students caught me…haha) I went to my Japanese class. And this time I actually stayed up (I’m usually the sleepy one…), participated more than other times and actually got some things right! Yay! But in my defense, we were reading a story this time (no grammar drills).
Then there 2 days worth of classmatches at my school (all the students get separated into groups and they play either soccer, dodgeball, volleyball and basketball. So I pretty much spent those days outside…and only on the second day did I get some sunburn. ><” Luckily, not a lot.

Friday night, I went with some friends to go watch the new Harry Potter movie! Yay! (more on this later)

The next day, Saturday morning, I got up early (ugh) to go to my friend’s high school to help her with her English Camp. She asked a group of us…and I was happy to know I wasn’t the only one that needed coffee first thing in the morning to properly function…especially for a Saturday morning. But man, once we met her students, I had all this crazy energy running through me!
Later that day, there was a Sayounara Block dinner. JETs in Fukuoka (maybe other prefectures do this too…I really don’t know) get separated into blocks, or groups. Then our “block heads” are in charge to doing events for everyone in the block to meet up, connect and stuff like that. The block heads are also like the ones the block members can go to to ask questions. I’ll be one for next year. ^^v

Then, on Sunday morning, I got up early (yet again) to go on a road trip with Grace, Carl, Emmett and David to Miyazaki Prefecture. Man…most of the weekend was spent in the car…but we did get to see some awesome things! (yes, I have been slow at uploading pictures…they’re still in my camera…photo updates later…)

Then on Wednesday night, instead of Japanese class, we went on an outing. We went to a beer garden. Or so I thought but it turned out to be a “Maid ‘n Beer” garden. It was a mix between a beer garden and a Maid café. So…interesting…

*breathe*

Ok, where was I???

Oh right, so then on Friday night, I had an enkai with the teachers for the 1st years (enaki = business party). We had dinner and drank and had a jolly good time…despite the crazy rain going on outside! After the dinner, some of them were going to go karaoke and I soooooooooooo wanted to go with them but I had told Lupita and Julie that I’d meet up with them for our unofficial “nijikai.” (nijikai = it’s an after-party but usually associated with an enkai). So I got a ride from my JTE that was heading home (and it was luckily on her way). So I had my “nijikai” with the girls at our favorite place (well, at least for like Lupita and me), Son House. It’s an awesome family hamburger restaurant with an awesome owner who knows English and has traveled to San Francisco and whatnot. So we’re getting to know them pretty well now. ^^ So much so that we stayed until they closed…ehehe^^;; But the night doesn’t end there, we decided to go karaoke after that!
Then we took a taxi home (because it was raining yet again…boo) and slept in for Saturday. But in the evening, we ventured out to the mall to look for yukatas. Sadly, I couldn’t find a yellow one…but we got one for Lupita who, until now, did not have one. After we got back to my place, we ended up staying up until 5am again! But this time it was just spent looking up bands on youtube and general chatting…

Sunday morning though…it was raining cats and dogs!!! So some trains were stopped, some rivers were in danger of flooding over…but aside from huge puddles around my place, my area was generally ok… So once the rain stopped for a bit, my gals went back home and I just stayed inside all day.

…ok…this is pretty long…I’ll stop here…

Mexi-Nite

Hello~!

So, I’m finally re-connected! Yatta!
(By that I mean that I finally have internet at home again. Woot!)
Long story short, from the time I got here until I moved to my new apartment, I bummed the internet off of my neighbor. He’s the one that told me the passphrase so it was really easy…and then I easily forgot it wasn’t mine… But anyway, I have it now and so I should be better about replying to e-mails and I’ll most likely be spending more time on myspace and facebook. Forgive me eyes!


Now for updates:
…um…nothing much…

At the moment, I’m watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Japanese (because it’s on TV and my TV doesn’t have the language button…) but since I own the movie, I know what’s supposed to be said so I can catch the Japanese and learn new words. :P

Last weekend, Lupita and me had our Mexi-Nite. It was our second time doing it and it took us just as long as the last time to prep and cook everything. Boo~. Actually, it was longer this time around… :/
We woke up around 7 in the morning, packed up pots and pans and other essentials from my place and took a taxi to her place (she had come the night before to bake the desserts with me and ended staying the night), cleaned her place, starting prepping, ate a quick lunch and then cooked cooked cooked until 6:15. That’s when I got ready really fast and then walked to the station to meet up with some friends to that were coming to the dinner (but obviously didn’t know where Lupita lives). But everyone came and it well rather well. This time though, we didn’t have a lot of left-overs like before (we had over-estimated how much chicken we’d need…). We tried to make our own corn tortillas this time but the mix we found didn’t work out too well… So our attempt at making enchiladas rather failed…and I got my finger tips a little burned in the process. Boo!
However, everyone seemed to really like it. We put the “tortilla” dough as the first layer in Lupita’s hot pan and then added the meat we cooked with the enchilada sauce (which we found cans of in an international food store). A little before we expected our guests, we added some spicy mozzarella cheese to half of it. The cheese side was the first to be eaten. It was all eaten by the end of the night. You know what the funny thing is? Lupita and me didn’t even taste it! We have no idea was it was like. But according to our friends, it was good! Whether or not it really tasted like enchiladas…we don’t know…

The Menu:
“Enchiladas”
Re-fried beans
Spanish-style rice
Flour tortillas
Steak-picado
Mole
Papas fritas
Salsa
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Margaritas
O-cha (cold tea for anyone who didn’t want to drink alcohol)

But all in all, it all went great. Even our late visitors (late because they had to work and they close at midnight) came, ate and 2 stayed until 5 in the morning! It was crazy but also great fun! :]
But of course, we were rather tired the next day. I didn’t wake up until like 1 (when Lupita came to wake me up. Hahaha. Oh yea, I spent the night at her place) and then I helped her clean up her place.

And then we took a taxi back to my place where we joined many friends (some again) for Carl’s birthday dinner. After eating, avoiding mosquitos, getting a little wet from the on/off rain, we had fireworks! So it really felt like the 4th of July. ^^b

Most of this weekend was spent on catching up on sleep. ;P I caught up on some on Sunday night and through out the week…but because I had to wake up early to go to work, I never felt fully rested. But ah, this weekend was great for that. Sleeping in is what I love about the weekends. x3

Alright. I’m gonna go hit the hay.
Can’t wait for Friday!!! Imma go see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with my friends!!! ah~

Mua-haha!

So after about a year of being in Japan, I've noticed that not only my students but my co-workers wave more. mahahahaha.

My co-workers seemed a bit surprised by it in the beginning...and then I tried to hold back...but by then they had started to wave back so I've stopped trying to fight it. hehe

:P

It's fun to walk in the halls during lunch and have kids saying "hello" left and right (both in Japanese and English) and then having most of them wave as well.

Some of them have started imitating my double-handed-uber-excited wave. That's the best!

ahahahaha!

^^b

My Birthday

So yesterday was my birthday and it was quite fun! Sadly, it was my first time not celebrating it with my family and my mom’s delicious food and home-made vanilla cake…*drool* but it was still an awesome day! :]

I came to work and found a cute bag with 2 small dried roses on it. They were from my JTE (the one that happens to sit next to me. Hehe) and inside the bag were some sweets. Then, my second host mom (the one that lives in Amagi) sang the “Happy Birthday” song to me and gave me a present (they were 3 really pretty Japanese handkerchiefs). Oh, and they all gave me really cute cards too. ^^

Then I was invited to have lunch with the ladies in the main office (I used to have lunch with them all the time but once I started teaching, it got harder to meet because they eat lunch during 4th period). My first host mom was sweet enough to make me lunch. And Moriyama-san (one of the ladies that really helped me out in the beginning. She took me to the department stores to buy stuff like towels and bedding and water filters…) bought a green tea cake that we all shared after eating! It was so yummy. Oh, and she gave me a present and a gag present. Hahaha.

So in Japanese, you can play with the sounds for my birthday and get “mushiba” which means “decayed tooth” (or cavity). So Moriyama-san gave me a toothbrush and toothpaste. Hahaha.

Oh, and since we shared the cake with the 2 guys in the main office too, they found out it was my birthday. So one of them decided to buy me some flowers. (Occasionally we get eggs and flowers from another high school, an agricultural high school actually, which get sold to the teachers and administrators and that day they had sent some flowers. So Yamamoto-san told me to choose the ones I like that that’ll be his present to me. So sweet, ne?

I also got some sweets from another pally-wally teacher.

Surprisingly, I didn’t get attacked by my kids…but I think they forgot since they just finished midterms and are now preparing for the Culture Festival.

Anyhoo, after all this, I went home, did some cleaning and got ready to go have dinner with my buddies. We went to a local restaurant we like to go to (so much so the workers kinda know us how. Haha) that sells good hamburgers and “Mexican” food. Sure, it’s not really Mexican but it does taste good. (But I’m really glad they sell actual hamburgers. In other restaurants, their idea of “hamburger” is really just the meat patty. It’s good but it’s a bit of a disappointment when you read “hamburger” and just get the patty…). Oh, and I got lots of cool mugs! One of them looks like a mushroom! Ahahaha. So I will have fun drinking about my new mugs in the coming week. 

After having a delicious dinner, we all went to a mall to go to Baskin Robbins! And then we all got a sugar high. Hehe. But I bet it would have been a crazy sugar high if I had eaten some of Jenn’s home-made cookies. I had some this morning and they’re sooooooo good. But I definitely need some milk to go with it! ^^v

And yea…that was pretty much what I did.

Tomorrow though, I’m waking up at the crack of dawn to train hop to Tottori-ken. That is where the next Oxy Ohana reunion is being held! I can’t wait!!!

\(^_^)/

Updates caught up yet???

Finally back in the writing mode:

Yes, I am back in the mood to write about my life so far here in Japan. Various things have happened and sadly I’m starting to forget certain details…but the main stories will be told.

Now…I think I’ll work backwards: current to past (hopefully connecting to where I last left off…)

So, at this very moment, I’m in on my sofa, listening to Asian Kung-Fu Generation and chilling. Sounds the same, right? But there is something different; I am now on the 3rd floor. :]
Yes, with sooooooooooo much help from my friends and neighbors, I have moved to the 3rd floor of my building.
The reason for all this mayhem is that I never liked being 1st floor. It’s the first time I’m living on my own and so I’m naturally a bit paranoid about certain things. Although I tend to here, “It’s Japan” a whole lot, I still cannot control all of my paranoia. I did grow up in Los Angeles (and not in the nice area and luckily not the bad area but still…) and my father did a good job of driving his paranoia into me. Of course, I doubt he knows the extent to which his paranoia teachings have led me but it has definitely made me paranoid about the world…(and yet I had enough courage to do this…hmm…)
Back to the topic!
Yesterday, Saturday, my stuff was moved, junk was thrown out and (as embarrassing as it was at the moment) I went through and dumped stuff that were on the upper shelves of my closets. So now, I get to have the joy of unpacking everything…yay…  At least this time around, I know that all the closets and cupboards are empty. Woot. ^^v (So that you can really understand my joy here, when I first moved into my apartment, there was a bunch of stuff left over. It didn’t even feel like my predecessor had left. More like he left on vacation and I was crashing at his place. Yea, pretty much that bad. And then I had to clean up his mess. I’m not trying to bag on him. He was friendly and gave me good pointers when I first came. But we have very different living styles and very different ideas on what’s “clean.”)
*small note: Because I have moved to the 3rd floor, I no longer have internet…><” I will work on that this week…and then hopefully I’ll be fully connected to the world instead of only during work hours. Haha. :P

Work
Lately, I have been busy at work. I don’t know if I’m as busy as some of my other friends can get but I’m glad to be busy. I feel better when I do many things throughout the day rather than finding things to keep me busy. But I guess I like this busy because it gets me involved in all the grade levels! Hurray! My first and main teachings go to the first years. But I have been asked to help with the speech contest with the 2nd years (my first 1st years) as well as read some of their journal entries. And I’ve also been lucky to help out with some of the 3rd year classes. I was able to help teach 2 classes (both of which had students who were very surprised to see me come in) and weekly weekend assignment to two other 3rd year classes. Sadly though, they’re not always happy to see me since it means work from me… 

Golden Week
So, there’s a time in the Japanese calendar when 3 national holidays are back-to-back. Children’s day, constitution day and Greenery day (I don’t remember the order they’re in though…). And so, these days, along with the weekend make for a since long holiday weekend. Most people travel around this time. Which is great since we wouldn’t need to ask for paid leave. But it’s a double-bladed sword because everyone else wants to travel too so there’s huge masses of people (at mainly touristy areas) and if you don’t plan this in advance, traveling can be really expensive.
Well, anyway, this time around, one member of the Oxy Ohana came down (yay Steph!) as well as my fellow Kyushu buddies Celeste and Daniel (who oddly enough live closer to me than the Oxy Ohana but I never really met up with until then…). So I had a full house once again. Yay! But it was a bit difficult to plan out the week since everyone had different things they wanted to do. Sadly, the mass e-mails in attempts to plan out the week didn’t really work this time around…FAIL… sadness…But, the important thing was that we had fun. :] We had karaoke fun, restaurant hopping, ramen eating, train hopping (and running to to catch the last train in. haha) and crater watching. :P Oh! And purikura of course! ^^v

Oxy Ohana
So the most recent Oxy Ohana reunion was when we all ventured out to Wakayama-ken to visit Terence for his birthday! We decided to hit up Universal Studios Japan on the Saturday of that weekend. Since I’m the furthest south of all of them (and Terence in Wakayama is the farthest away from me) I decided to come in on Friday night so that I could get some rest before we take on trains to get to Osaka. (haha. So much train hopping that weekend). So, I planned out which trains to take and all that. But the dummy of me still left some packing to do after work. So I rush home, finish packing and jet to the train station to go to the main train station to hop onto the shinkansen. I was going to change my tickets for a reserved seat but I had no time. Luckily, Hakata station (the main one I was talking about) is where the shinkansen going north start from. So I was able to find a seat in the unreserved seating cars. :] But I got a little lost and confused when I got to Shin-Osaka. There were so many different train tracks and with only a little bit of time to read the kanji for the stop I’m looking for to calculate how much to pay and then trying to figure out which train was the one I wrote on my little itinerary I ended up on the wrong track. But luckily I asked to I tried to get to the right track on time but missed it. Asked where the train in front of me was going, not fully understanding I still boarded and listened really hard to the announcer. I ended up getting off at the next stop (Osaka. Haha) and asked the workers there how to get to Tennonji. I finally get onto the right one but because I had missed the other train, my ETA for Terence was off. But eventually I hopped onto the right trains and made it to Wakayama. There, Terence and me had a rather late dinner and then hoped on yet another train to get to his neck of the woods. Blah. We then stayed up a little late chatting and then got up early the next morning to meet the rest of the Oxy Ohana at USJ. After a day of ride hopping and general awesome times, we went back to Terence’s place where we surprised him with a Marvel themed birthday card and presents. And then Steph me and also surprised Kelly with some belated birthday presents. Hehe. Sunday, we had lunch and ate some brownies I made. Then Kelly and Steph. So Terence and me wandered about and ended finding a Japanese band that was playing Green Day songs. It was awesome. I wanted to talk to them but some random older guy was talking to me (and I think kinda scared off the band guys. Boo) And then I traveled back home (this time, taking a Limited Express train from Wakayama to Shin-Osaka to avoid all the crazy transferring…

Oita
So, a friend from Oita invited me to go this hanami party. Hanami is only during the sakura season. Usually, you have a picnic under a sakura tree, eat dango and drink sake. But since it was a bit rainy that day, it was held in the building next to the little park. But that was the hanami with his Japanese teachers. There was also one with the JETs in Oita. That one was definitely more of a “party” than “hanami.” But it was fun. ^^ There was one on Sunday too but I had to get back to my place because I “had” to bake cookies for school.
(I had handed out “free cookie” coupons to all the students that had turned in all their homework. Sadly, many forgot. But I guess that was good for the teachers since they ended up getting them. :P )

…is it connected to when I stopped writing yet???

hahaha. High school kids

So something funny happened today.
(today = May 21, 2009)

So I was in my team-teaching class. It was the beginning of class when they were having their vocabulary quiz. So it’s really quiet and I heard someone’s cell buzz. I didn’t think too much of it (but I’m not that familiar with school policies and being that I hear the teachers’ phones buzz, I got used to ignoring it). But immediately about 4 or 5 boys started “coughing.” Of course I noticed it and just looked up at them and laughed quietly. One boy, whose phone I’m assuming was buzzing, noticed and just sort of laughed too.

It just happened to pull me back into my high school days. I was quite grateful for this because it always pulls me back to remember what I was like as a high school kid. That way, I can better relate and understand them (and then hopefully am able to create better lessons plans that they’ll be into and actually do).

Packages!

About a week or so ago, I was getting a package about every week. And they were all from home! ^^
I got a package from each sister. Each with a person note/letter from them that just made me wish they were here with me. And then an awesome surprise package from my papa. It’s a little ridiculously early but he sent me 2lbs of See’s Chocolates for my birthday. Yay!!! And of course, a card where he writes all over the inside of it. Hahaha. :]

Old updates...

More updates (from April! Ah!)

So of course various tings have been happening. But some things have been happening rather fast that I forget to keep this thing updated.
Gomen ne!

Hokay so…the last thing I wrote about was being on TV.

So…let’s see…since graduation…I’ve gone through White Day, Weekend trip with the ichinensei teachers, gamed with other JETs at Round 1, went to a Hinamatsuri party, learned a Hinamatsuri song, received books, went to a BBQ/hanami party, met a new buddy of a buddy, found a pair of jeans that fit, bought shoes, went to 2 enkais (one that made my day/week), found out some teachers are leaving, found out who I’ll be team-teaching with next year, had 2 long dinners with a buddy (one that was extended into karaoke), dyed my hair and I’m going to bake around 170 cookies for Monday.

I bet most of you have no idea what I’m talking about…

Let me explain:
White Day: In Japan, Valentine’s day is celebrated a little differently. For Valentine’s day, February 14th, the girls/women usually hand out the chocolate/goodies. It can be girl to girl or girl to boy. Whichever is ok. I like to bake goodies during holidays so I baked a carrot cake (the other round pan having gone to the people at the Kawashoku) and 2 square pans of brownies (one with walnuts). So one month later, March 14th, the guys return the favor. In other words, the guys give the girls/women who had previously given them chocolates, sweets! Of course, both of these days happened to have landed on a Saturday so my school celebrated each on Friday.
So I went to work and was surprised but happy to have received a box of pecan cookies from the ichinensei teachers (later it dawned on me it was from all the male teachers. Just like we had done for them for Valentine’s day). So anyway, I didn’t think too much about it since I do randomly come to work only to find someone has left some sort of treat on my desk. But when the kouchou-sensei gave me a box of chocolate marshmellows and said it was a return favor for the Valentine’s treat I had given him, I fully understood what was going on. I also got sweets from my Kyoto-sensei, host mom grandkids, Onitsuka-san from the Kawashoku, jimuchou (although it came quite later), English department and from the guys that work in the main office. Oh! Also from some students. ^^v

Weekend trip:
So some teachers that teach the first years planned out a trip. I said early on that I’d participate (because I figured it’s great to get to know your co-workers in a more casual setting and because I’m trying to be part of the group. But I will not lose myself on the way! ;P ) Anyhoo, we went to Nagasaki and overall had a great time! We saw a neat little shop that’s known for it’s tea (bought lots of it and it’s all in my cubbard now), ate yummy shabu shabu, took some pictures and went to an onsen. The only down side is that I got a little sick in the beginning… I’m not sure if it was because it was a bit of a long drive or because I had oysters for the first time. Although it was fun cooking them and they were rather tasty, they just didn’t sit well with me. Needless to say, a handful of my co-workers saw me throw-up. -_-;
Round 1:
This is a place with lots of games and sports and other awesome things! It’s basically a big arcade. But if you go to the top and pay a fee for about 3 hours of play, everything those levels are pretty free and fare game! There are batting cages, archery corners, tennis courts, volleyball courts, roller skating rink, ping-pong tables, arcade games (where I totally pwnd a friend at Tekken 5!!!) and much much more!

Hinamatsuri:
This is basically known as “Girl’s Day” in English. During this time, a girl princess, prince, 5 musicians, princess’ court, peach tree and other things are set up on display! And there’s a traditional Japanese song that is sung during this time. When I was invited to go celebrate Hinamatsuri by Shibata-san (first host-mom), Yamaguchi-san (second host-mom) taught me the song while we walked to Shibata-san’s house (which is really really close to the school. Read “michi wo mayorimashita” to understand).
Great company. Delicious food. Random pictures. Good times. ^^b

Books:
I ordered some books from Amazon for my school. Months ago, we were asked to recommend some books to the students (every teacher can if they choose to). Well, the librarian had some trouble finding the books I suggested. So she asked me to buy them and that I would be reimbursed by the school later (which did happen). But it was rather fun to receive packages then think about reading all those books again…

BBQ/Hanami:
Hanami = flower viewing. Bascially, come have a picnic under a beautiful sakura tree, eat bentos with dango and drink sake.
So because there was a 3-day weekend, a friend decided to host a BBQ (which turned into a BBQ/hanami party). So much fun.  And I got to meet Takayuki! But he told me to call him Taka. Taka studied in Taipei around the same time my awesome buddy Julia was studying there (she still is actually…HI JULIA!!!). Well anyway, it was fun and it was nice to meet someone new. :]

Jeans: I went to Marinoa City with a buddy and found a store with lots of jeans. I asked for what their biggest size was it turned out that it did fit me big!!! :-o
Surprising, ne? So I bought a pair of slightly expensive jeans which were hemmed right then in there!!! I only had to wait about 20 minutes!!! Iina~!

Speaking of shopping. I bought some shoes. I got some for running and some really cute polka-dotty ones. I miss my polka-dot Vanz that I left at home and really miss having shoes I can just slip on and off. So I got those. Different than the other pair but I think my other pair was more comfy in the sense that there’s not a lot of stitching around the toes.

2 Enkai:
So an “enkai” is an office party. They’re usually around the beginning of a year and the end of a year (actual year and scholastic year). So I went to 2. One was a retirement party for the office manager and a science teacher and other enkai was with my


Up next: going to Oita-ken for another Hanami thing and then going to meet up with my Oxy Ohana. Either in Wakayama-ken or Osaka. Plans are still being made.



...

I dunno...I had to go somewhere and never finished writing...oops... ><"

I'm alive~!

Hey hey!

Yea, I know a looooooooooooooooooooong delay. I started a post but never finished. Then as usual I got busy and therefore could not post. blah!

So "sorry!" and here's a quick-y!

*I'm alive and I'm not sick. Yes, the swine flu has hit Japan but I am not that near the Kansai area (where Osaka is). So, for the time being, I'm safe from it.
I was going to buy some masks just in case it comes down to Kyushu but the day I went all the masks were sold out! Crazy, huh? So...I'll try again later...

*I'm starting to feel a little homesick again. And just a week or so ago I figured out why: this will be the first time I won't be home for my birthday. No crazy family. No yummy mom's-home-made-vanilla-cake with rainbow frosting. (Although, I am going to try to make it...). But basically I'm missing my family and how I can be silly with them. It's not that I hide my sillyness here...I just tone it down a bit. Simply put: I miss being my sisters' "mini-me" and being a monkey with them...and doing random silly things and taking photos to laugh about it later. hahaha.

*Since the new school year started, I've been doing more teaching! Woot! At the moment, I'm making up assignments for the 2 3rd-year classes (so I'm kinda teaching them...but not really), teaching my 9 classes of 1st years and doing the occasional appearance in some 2nd-year classes. ^^
This week and next week, I'm in charge of half of each 2nd-year class (yes, I am in total control of them. I am a step closer to taking over the worl--I mean...yea...). They are preparing for their speech contest during the Culture Fesitval in June. There are 2 preliminary sections and it's the first one at the moment.

*The raining season is coming. blah. Sad that is has to be rainy for my birthday...but maybe luck will be with me and it won't rain that day...

*I got an electric guitar. And when I say "got" I mean I "received." A friend of mine that did not re-contract on JET is going home in July and so she just gave it to. It rather fast too...
So now I'm going to look for a guitar school and start learning how to play the guitar. Alright! Another hobby. :P
(Who knows...maybe I'll find some band buddies and start up something similar to that band Terence mentioned...the one that's made up of former ALT's and their friends...what was that name again...)

*I'm happy to be back with my addictions: caffeine and manga. Ah~
Now I just need to find an "art hour" and all will be fine with the world. ^^
I did start drawing again. But I've been out of practice for a bit that it's taking me longer than I remember...just gotta add some shadowing and I'll be done! yea!

...I don't know what else to write about...

...hopefully I'll find time again to give ya' a real update...

What??? I'm on TV???

So the day after graduation (Monday) I got off (as substitute for having to come to work on a Sunday, when graduation was held). On my day off, I decided to head into the city to check out the stores without the hussel and bussel that goes on on the weekends (it's not that bad. But one store I wanted to check out in particular tends to have a long line for trying on clothes on the weekends. Sadly though. this particular store is closed at the moment because they are moving to another floor).

Anyway, so after the store disappointment and another on finding a hair clip (see previoous blog to understand) I decided to stay in the city for a bit to make good use of the money (not much, but still) that I had spent to get to the city. I went into incube, bought some postcards and then headed out to some other interesting little stores.

As I'm just walking along, I notice a guy in a blue jacket sort of jogging up next to me. I look at him, slightly smile, he says..."こんにちわ” I think (hahaha. All this craziness happened so fast, the details are a little blurry). But the point is, he convinces me to do a short interview.

As fast, interesting, amusing and embarrasing it was, I was only able to remember that the show was going to be aired on Thursday.

Here's the real interesting thing: My buddy Mike was interviewed by the same dude!!!

I didn't knwo this until today when I saw his posted video clips of his interview. And once I recognized Chinnen-san (the interviewer), I was going a bit (more) insane at the craziness of the coincidence!!!

Luckily, Mike's friend that recorded the show for him, sent him a copy of my interview. I'm just relieved they didn't put the last of my interview.
(long story short: It got a bit awkward when he asked if I had a boyfriend and upon hearing my say "no" he asks me out. On TV. And then he asked for a kiss. And yea...that part got quite embarassing. *><*

Now...I wonder what my friends, family, co-workers and students will say about it...

Gradumacation

So as mentioned before, graduation has passed. It was on Sunday, May 1st. The whole thing was somewhere between an hour and half to two hours long (short, right?). And compared to my graduation, it was rather quite and serious. But there was a time where one of the second years read an essay to the third years. I didn't really undestand it all but apparently it was great. And then right after that, a third year read an essay (response is what they called it) to the underclassmen. That one, I heard, was written really well. I...yea...didn't really get it or remember it too well.

The thing I found most interesting was that they did not walk across the stage to get a diploma. Actually, I'm not sure if they get a diploma...but I imagine they get something of the sort.

After graduation, the third years had their final homeroom with their homeroom teachers and then the picture taking began (or continued really since some came into the teachers' room before graduation).

Here’s the real interesting thing: It’s past graduation day, and some of the 3rd years are still coming to school-to study!!!
o_O;

But it has to do with when their college entrance exams are. They get separated into groups and so although some of them took the exam the week before graduation (and are currently awaiting the results) there is another group that has yet to take the test. Also, the students who have taken the test and are awaiting the results, are also studying too! (But it’s a pre-cautionary measure incase they don’t pass and need to take the written exam on the 12th). So yea…they’re “卒業生” now…but they’re still studying…
[that word is “so-tsu-gyou-sei” = “graduated students”]

More things from graduation day:

*2 female homeroom teachers wore kimonos! They looked so pretty! ^^ (Later, on the way to the graduation enkai, one of my JTE’s said that I should try wearing one sometime. Possibly for opening ceremony. Hahaha)

*There is a lot of standing, bowing and sitting.

*校長先生(Principal) wore a kimono too

*I think only the parents came to the ceremony. Maybe a few younger siblings…

*The PTA also had an essay/letter to the graduation class. And the speaker wore a kimono too.

*There is a graduation song. The most repeated lyric being, “Now is the time to say good-bye.”

*All the second years were there and only the class representatives for each first year class attended (So most of the first year did not attend 卒業式(graduation ceremony).

*I got a special bento lunch

After this, I basically just hung out at work. Some students came to take a picture with me (and since I had my camera, I also took some with them. hehe).

Afterwards, most of the teachers went to the graduation enkai. (enkais are like business dinner parties). One of my JTE’s was nice enough to pick me up and help me to the place. ^^ Although I personally feel there wasn’t enough food, it was alright. I took many pictures this time. Well, I did take many pictures at last year’s 忘年会(end-of-year enkai) but this time I took many with me in the picture as well. Hahaha.

And thus concludes my graduation day.

Oh, on a sad note: on a fairly recent trip to Beppu, I had bought some hair pins. One of them being really pretty and sparkly and I had planned to wear it with my yukata in the summer. I decided to wear it for this occasion but sadly lost it sometime on my way back home after the enkai. T_T

Saaaaaaaaad…

Son House

So last week Saturday, I went to the 5th year anniversary part for the burger place near my home. This place is awesome because the hamburgers are American-style (not like the "hamburger" other places give. It's really just the meat patty. No buns. Nothing really of what we see when we think of "hamburger." It's good but yea, sometimes you really just want a burger).

Anyhoo, so my friends and me RSVP'd and went and had a jolly good time. There was music (which is always good at this place), food, drinks and a hamburger eating contest. It wasn't all you can eat. No no. It was 早い食べる. Or so "fast eating." It was race to see who can eat a burger the fastest. There were 9 rounds I believe. The fastest guy (who happened to be from the first round) took 1:30 to eat the whole thing. With some fries on the side. It was crazy!!!

Yes, even I tried. ehehe ^^;; The way I saw it: I get a free burger! hahaha.

And the owner of the place had his wife and daughter over. His daughter was so cute! Especially when, during one of the burger eating contests, she was clearly rooting for one of the guys. And he did win. ^^

The sad thing was that I couldn't stay too long because I had to get up early to go to work the next day (which was graduation for my school). But, it was still a great time...aside from the smoke... And I got to know the workers better. ^^

And now some pics...









Upon request: More photos!!!

Banana

So about 2 days ago, I was having lunch with some of the students from 3-8. Although they've graduated, they're still coming to school to study because some of them still have college entrance exams to take.

Anyway, so I'm having lunch with them and there's half a banana on my tray (when I order the set meal for lunch, there's usually some fruit. That day happened to be "half banana" day).

So, I always eat the fruit last. And as everyone else was finishing up their lunch, one student, Kenta-kun, says, "Banana" and points to the banana on my tray.

"Yea. It's a banana."

"I want to eat"

LOL!

I thought it was so random and funny, that I let him have my banana.

I guess since I never had the opportunity to teach the upperclassmen, they view me more as their foreigner friend and not so much a teacher. That or students and teachers here are close that students will ask their teachers for their banana. hahaha.

Oh, when he was done eating the banana, he put the peel on another students tray. hahahaha.

This is Kenta-kun:

Another thing I wanted to mention

So, I've been meaning to write about this experience but I've been so busy, I kept forgetting to.

So, there's a dry cleaners right across from where I live. I love how convinient it is and more at how fast they get stuff done (next day service. Woo~!)

So I usually talk to the lady that I think owns the place. She's really nice. Anyhoo, so one of my blazers, didn't have a button on one of the sleaves. It took me a while to notice this (since it's on a side I can't normally see and the color of the button really hides into the sleave). I've gone to this place many-a-times before but about twice she noticed that I was missing a button. And everytime I was like, "Oh yea, I should get on that" but always forgot (I have the button, I just don't remember to sew it on).

So some weeks ago, I was putting my blazer away at night when I randomly remembered about the button. And then I notice that both sleaves had a button. It then dawned on me that the last night I took it to the cleaners, the lady must have sewed on a button for me. And at no extra charge!

I don't know if they do this because Japanese people are just this friendly with one another or because they feel like helping me out since I'm the foreigner living alone.

That was so sweet of her. I want to bake her goodies now. :P

The gifts just keep rolling in...

So about a week ago, I went to an enkai with the first-year teachers and the PTA (not sure if it was all of them or just some of the members...). At the enkai, I found out it was one of the teacher's birthday. Since they're all so nice to me, I told him I'd make him a cake! And since he really liked the carrot cake, I told him I'd make him that one again. But that I'd take it to work on Wednesday.

After the enkai, I went to an after party with some of the teachers. Not having anymore JTE's around me, I tried my best at Japanese (with my dictionary at hand, of course). But...sadly forgot my dictionary at the place! ><"
But, the teacher in charge of the first years was nice enough to call and luckily found my dictionary.

Oh, Konishi-sensei (the one I made the cake for) took one of the cakes home to eat with his family. The other one was shared with the other teachers. The next day, there was a bag with the cake pans in it but with other stuff too! I got nori, chocolate cookie things and bread! I was so surprised. I mean, I made a birthday cake, I absolutely didn't expect anything back! And just yesterday, I got more bread from him! It's so crazy!!!

And then one of my students, Ayana, gave my JTE and some chocolate (dark chocolate too. yum) and then another day gave the same JTE, Andachi-sensei, a heart-shaped bread thing. It was hilarious how she did it though. Andachi-sensei was talking to the other girls about preparing for the eiken test and Ayana just puts the bag in front of Andachi's face! hahaha. And then she said something like, "This is not an obligation. It looks pretty but it doesn't taste good." It did though, have a funny smell...Andachi-sensei gave me half and said, "I don't want to die alone." bahahahaha. I love how we joke around. :]

Oh! And Shingo-kun, one of my lunch buddies from 3-8, brought me omiyage from Kyoto. He went up to take his entrance exam for a college there and brought me some "Chocolate stick cake." It's basically a long piece of chocolate cake. Really yummy chocolate cake. ^^

Man...I wonder if White Day is going to be this crazy...
(White day is similar to Valentine's Day. Here in Japan, the women usually give out chocolates on Valentine's Day and the boy usually return the favor on White Day. White Day is March 13, one month after Valentine's Day.)

*Oh yea, my host mom's daughter, Aya, made me some cookies too. ^^

Valentine's Day & Mexican Fiesta

So about 2 weekends ago, it was Valentine's Day. Being the baker that I am (which makes me consider opening a bakery...) I baked goodies for work.

I decided to make the carrot cake first for 2 reasons: 1-it takes an hour to bake. I can do the cookie preping while it bakes; and 2-I wanted to take one to my buddies at the Kawashoku.

As I'm prepping the ingrediants for the carrot cake, my friend Yamato e-mails me (on the keitai) and asked me to help her bake some cookies. This was her first time and I possibly have the second oven in all of the Jutkau... So she comes over and as I'm mixing my cake batter she's mixing her oatmeal cookie batter and then I get invited by some buddies to eat out for dinner. I decided to go since I wasn't sure I'd eat anything while I bake. And it worked out better since Yamato first had to bake her cookies (Well, I decided to let her do hers first since cookies only take about 10 - 15 minutes intervals and constant opening and closing of the door is not good for cakes). So I felt a little guilty for leaving her but I was glad I was able to help her. :]

After I got back, I found the carrot cake was put into the oven and since it was getting late, decided to make brownies instead of cookies for work. I felt it also fit better since chocolate is usually given for Valentine's Day.

Oh...but I believe I took one of the carrot cakes to my friends before I made the brownies... But yea, I walked over and handed them a slightly hot cake (wrapped in a kitchen towel) and told them that it's best if they let it cool off first. Otherwise it'll taste of egg). And since I had 2 little star shaped cake pans, I decided to make those for Kocho and Kyoto sensei (Principal and Vice-Principal).

The next day, I brought it all to work and the carrot cake was devoured in maybe an hour (I believe it took a bit of a while since there were classes going on and so only during the breaks did the teachers get to sample the cake.

Anyhoo, they all seemed to like the cakes. And then I had some left over hard-candy that comes in the shape of a heart (Elo sent me a bunch) so I gave more to my students (I put it into their class boxes), 3 to my host-mom's grandkids, some to the students in class 3-8 (who, although I don't teach, befriended me and ate lunch with me) and one to a second year, Hitomi, that I'm pretty close with. She was really happy to receive the box of candy (because she apparently really likes candy). She then said that she'll make some candy over the weekend and that she was going to bring me some next week (yay!).

And yes, she made some really yummy chocolate cookies. MMmmMMmm

So Friday night, Lupita and me baked like crazy. Pretty much, we had a jolly good time (and had so much to bake) and I didn't notice it was already midnight!!! We baked carrot cake (because it's been so popular), brownies with walnuts, empanadas (sadly, they kept exploding) and heart-shaped sugar cookies! Of course, it didn't go all that smoothly. It was a little emabarrasing to have gone to the Kawashoku about 3 times that night...out of miscommunication and forgetfulness. hahaha *><*

Saturday morning, I packed up whatever of my stuff Lupita couldn't take into 2 bags. I must have looked ridiculous with my teal carry on bag too (I stayed the night at Lupita's).

Once I got to Lupita's, the stress of party planning started. Somehow, her range (stove top) was not working. And being that hers is totally different to mine...I had to be a monkey and just sort of poke around/push things...yea... But, we eventually figured out what was wrong and immediately started cooking. I was hand-shreading chicken for what seemed like 2 and half hours (would have continued but I got fed up with looking at the chicken and then ran out of space to the chicken...)Lupita was working on papas fritas for about the same time as I took with the chicken and she too was getting fed up with looking at one thing... Long cooking story short: We prepped and cooked from ~11am - 6:30pm.

At 6:30, I quickly did my hair and make-up and then took off to pick up some friends at the station. Once we got back (after some trouble on helping Mike get a cab to get to Lupita's), I quickly changed then the party started. I believe everyone had a good time and we stuffed everyone silly (which was our goal). Woo~
[I'll add pictures later]

On Sunday morning, Lupita invited Carl, Grace and Emmett over to eat some left overs. We ate and watched "The Departed" at the same time. It was one of those great lazy Sundays that's just spent well with great company and a movie. :]

That Sunday, I went back to the Kawashoku and receivced hand-made cookies from the girls. I was so moved. And they were sooooooo good!!! I guess they like me too. ^^

General Update: I'm alive!

Yes, I have been MIA again. Gomen.

I believe the last thing I wrote about was about going home…ne?

Well, going home was awesome (the jetlag wasn’t) and it was great to be home, in my bed, eating home food, seeing buddies, getting hugs and being able to fully understand everything around me (both in signs and whatever people were saying).

I then came back all excited because my parents came back with me!!! That was fun…but a bit stressful since it was like we switched rolls this time and I was parent taking care of them. :P

But in any case, it was fun and I took them to Kyoto where despite the bitterly cold winds we had an awesome time. Dad really seemed to like checking out the architecture of the buildings and Mom really like just being there, I think. Haha.

The weekend after they left, I went up to Fukuyama, Hiroshima for an Oxy Ohana reunion! Laura and Phil were visiting Japan and so we all rendevouz-ed at Kelly’s place! She also had a special Hawai’i presentation that we helped her out with. ^^ And I took video of her hula dancing. Hehe. It was fun to finally try it out!

But yes, it was great to be with loving buddies again. It’s always a great time with them. Sadly, Steph will be going back home this summer but Kelly, Terence and I have re-contracted! More Oxy-Ohana trips shall be planned!

Then, I packed again, only a little earlier and for a longer duration. Why? Oh because I went all the way up to Hokkaido! Yes, let’s make me freeze. ;P

Awesome Grace found an awesome travel deal again! Woot woot! So Grace, Carl, Kevin, Patrick, Mike and me all left on Thursday to fly up to Hokkaido. Then we boarded a bus and went to Niseko (but did a small stop at a place called, “Mushroom Heaven.” I immediately e-mailed Elo about this). Once we got to Niseko, the owner of the lodge picked us up and took us to his awesome lodge (no really, it was great). That same night we (or so Pat, Mike and I) rented snowboarding gear. And then Carl, Kevin, Pat and I explored part of the town that night. And had many snowball fights along the way. Haha.

The next 2 days were filled with many attempts to snowboard. Well, at least for me. Kevin, Carl, Grace and Mike knew what they were doing and how to keep their balance. Pat and me took classes (but separately) and my hardest task was trying to stand. Eventually, I just kept getting up toe-side (backwards, in a sense) and then tried to turn so that I could see where I was going. But I’d usually fall. I had only one really bad fall where I knocked the wind out of me. It also blew off my beanie and goggles. But I was fine. My stamina got knocked down after that but I was alright. Falls were much more painful on the second day because there was no new snow. Though it was softer than ice…it was not as soft as powder. Towards the end of the day, I was able to keep my balance for longer and go down the hill for longer periods of time without falling. Either I got the hang of it or the idea of falling was quickly becoming a “non-option” for me that I managed to control my balance on the board…somehow…

After all this, we went on a bus ride again and stayed 1 day in Sapporo. I felt it was much colder here. But it could have also been because walking doesn’t get you as hot as snowboarding does. But we walked around the city, looked for ice sculptures for the upcoming Snow Festival (but only a few were up) and had crab tabehoudai (all-you-can-eat). It was my first time. So it was difficult…

After that crazy weekend, I went on a day trip with my buddies over to Nagasaki (sort of neighboring prefecture). There, we took pictures of lanterns (in celebration of Chinese New Year!). It was fun. It was crowded.

Now this week, I went with some friends to Costco to get food for an up-coming party! Lupita and I are throwing a Mexican Fiesta! (There are people here who have never had Mexican food. We aim to expose them to the deliciousness of Mexican cuisine) That party is on Saturday. Yes, Valentine’s Day. Haha! I won’t be alone on that day. ;)

But yes, I have been really busy and I will continue to be really busy. Tonight, I will be baking Valentine’s goodies for my co-workers and then tomorrow night (Friday night), Lupita (and possibly others) are coming over to help me bake for the Mexican Fiesta. I’m making empanadas!! And maybe other yummies since it is on Valentine’s Day. :P

Hokay…off I go…

But yes, I’m alive.

Alone again...but this time with Kerosine...

Hello out there!

So, my past 4 - 6 weeks have been quite crazy. (wow...it's only been like 6 weeks...o_O)

So I'm back in Japan now. And my parents just returned to the states this morning and so I'm all alone yet again... It was nice having roommates for a while...even if they did change my stuff and ended up burning one of my towels...but that's another story. I do miss the company...

But, I'll get somewhat used to it again as I did before. I've noticed that I deal with it better as long as I keep myself busy. I tend to get more things done this way as well.

Oh yes, the kerosine. So my dad was keen on trying to kerosine heater and so we tried it over the weekend before they left. Man, that thing reeks!

I've been trying to figure out how to ventilate the rooms as it first lights (since that's really the only time it really smells). But it doesn't seem to be working all too well...I feel I need to point the fall at it to make the fumes go out of the window instead of spreading throughout the room...

The other thing I've been thinking is remodeling the living room as that I can place the heater closer to the door-window so that the fumes can get out faster. I'm still brainstorming and I think I'll consult my neighbors on it first...

Oh yea, and I'm not sure if it is the kerosine or not but my throat felt rather dry in the morning, I had (still sort of have) a slight cough and I was wheezing a bit biking to work this morning... I really don't want to have asthmatic problems here...but the slight deep pain in my chest is worrying me a bit...

(fear not! I am ok. Just adjusting to the weather...)

Ugh...sorry for being MIA...

So I was back home for about 2 weeks and being that I was being kid-napped left and right by my family, I didn't really get a chance to write a blog. Funny thing is that because I was back home, I didn't even think to update the blog...

Anyhoo, I'm back in Japan now. It hasn't even been a full week back and already I've left Fukuoka (again)!
:P

So I've treated my parents to a trip to Kyoto. I booked and paid for Shinkansen tickets and hotel stay for the 3-day weekend.

At this moment, we are at the Karasuma Kyoto Hotel and I am using their free internet. Woohoo~!

I shall plan out the adventure for tomorrow later. I'm thinking about re-visiting some places (new for my parents of course) and adding some new places too. Problem is that it's supposed to be pretty cold this weekend and most of what we can do will depend on the folks...
yea...this weekend is supposed to be "light" rain (I hope it really is light) and snow for the evening/night. So...mama might get to see it snow. :]

But, I've packed a whole lot of kairo to keep us warm...should we need them...

...will post pics later...

12/18/08; 14:26

So after all that fun stuff, I had one more fun event before my very scary test.

I had another bonenkai to attend! This one was for all the teachers that teach the first years. But since this one was scheduled 4 days before my Japanese Proficiency Test, I had the intention of just going, eating and then leaving.

Yea…

So the food was great again. This time, it was at a Chinese restaurant and it was pretty yummy! But this time I had only one small glass of beer (for the kanpai…or toast…). And since most of my co-workers saw me drink at the last bonenkai, they kept trying to refill my cup this time. I think I said I wasn’t because of my test about 5 times that night. They seemed really surprised at how I wasn’t going crazy but taking care…

Anyhoo, some of the teachers were talking about doing karaoke after the dinner. Although I can do karaoke any other time, how often will I be able to do this with my co-workers? So…I went to karaoke with them. hehe. I sang 4 in Japanese (two as duets), one in Spanish and one in English. They were really surprised that I sang some in Japanese (though they weren’t that great…and I had some of them like half or fully memorized…hahaha). Apparently, “Sakura” by “Ketsumeishi” is a Japanese song according to my co-worker/boss. A Japanese song being that most Japanese know that song and because I like it and sang it, I have a Japanese heart. Hahaha.

Yea, this specific co-worker, Uchida-sensei, is continuously being surprised by me…or so I’ve been noticing…

Anyhoo, after this bonenkai, my days for my test were numbered. I got lucky in the sense that my students were taking exams that week as well (so I didn’t have to teach) and so I used the bells that timed them for the tests to do my practice tests.

And then it snowed on Saturday!!! The day before my test, there was snow!!!

And then there was test…it was almost ridiculously hard…and now I’m just waiting on the results (I won’t know ‘til February). I think it’s like a 50/50 chance of passing at the moment. Only because I guessed through about half of the test…yea, it was THAT hard…
Ugh… -_-“

But it’s all over with and I have learned new kanji and new expressions through it. And I will of course continue to study Japanese. ^^

Ah…I think I need to go board now…

12/18/08; 14:10

Hello World.

Haha…flashback to junior year at Oxy…hahaha…and I’m listening to a song titled, “Flashback.”
Hahaha…yes, I am a dork. And yes, I didn’t get much sleep. :P

Why didn’t I get much sleep? Oh that’s because I was busy packing, straightening my place out and just because I was/am too excited about going home!!!
xD

Yes, that’s right. After about 5 months in Japan, I’m coming home! But, I’ll only in the LA area for a little over 2 weeks.

At this very moment, I am in Seoul, Korea. First time here! But…not much to look at. It’s an airport…with lots of shops. Most of which are waaaay over my budget.

Ah, now I remember which weekend I was referring to in my last blog. Shall we continue?

So Julia left Fukuoka on a Wednesday. That Friday was my works “bonenkai.” It’s basically an end-of-year party. Well, dinner is more like it. So after work, I went back home, changed shoes (I take my sneakers to work because I find it easier to ride my bike in them…) and then took the train to Yakuin (really near the city). On the way I bumped into another teacher! Hahaha. And then we found another teacher at the station. Hehe.

The bonenkai was held at a hotel and the food was really yummy. There was o-sashimi (raw fish), pork…can’t remember too well now… But I do remember that I was seated near the dessert table. Mahaha.

At the beginning of the night, we had to draw numbers, as though a lottery, to know where we’re supposed to sit. So it’s all randomized. And later a real lottery was held. But sadly, I didn’t win any of the special prizes. They did have little gift bags for the people that didn’t win a big prize. I was lucky to get one that had lunch tickets for the hotel! So I can come back and eat lunch there. ^^

Once it was all over (felt a little short to me…still had more teachers I wanted to talk to…) I headed back to my apartment with my co-worker. Not sure if I mentioned it before but I have one co-worker that lives at my jutaku! So basically I had a buddy to walk back home with. And of course we ran into other teachers going to the station and riding the same train. Hehe.

On Saturday, I did some cleaning and then got ready for my first Thanksgiving away from home. After I had showered and whatnot, I went over to Grace’s place and helped her prepare. Lupita and I (and later David joined too) were in charge of the ham. This was a first time for all of us but people seemed to like it so I guess we did a good job. :]
Bummer thing is that my oven smelled of honey-glazed ham for a while after that…

So yea, Grace managed to make a great traditional Thanksgiving dinner. And Carl managed to stream a football game onto the TV so it really felt like I was home…but for some reason in a tatami room…

Anyhoo, after having some food and whatnot, we all played Rock Band. For a VERY long time. Put it this way: dinner started around 7 I believe and the “party” didn’t end until about 4!!!

Here’s the real kicker though…at point during the night, through the most random twist of fate, I couldn’t find my keys. If you have never seen my keys to my dorm room, let me explain that on my keychain there is a whistle, light, broken kanji charm, silver cat, bike lock key, storage key and my apartment key. Pretty big for it to just up and disappear! Long night’s story short, after searching for an hour and calling people, I stayed the night at Carl’s and Grace’s, had Carl help me open my apartment, and eventually got an e-mail from Lupita that she found my keys in her purse.

That same weekend, on Sunday, I went to my first J-pop concert in Japan!!! It was sooooooooo much fun. I really want to go again. And they are coming back to Fukuoka in February!!! So I’m really thinking about going again…but I gotta decide soon before tickets get too expensive…

And thus concludes my second and really bizarre weekend.

Now on to the next one…