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...)
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
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...
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…
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…
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…
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