Saturday 24th
So the day of reckoning is here at last and of course it’s too soon. I woke up relatively early in hopes of finishing my costume for the Halloween party. I have realized that talking on Skype to others while attempting to sew and concentrate is something I should refrain from doing in the future. In any case I spent the next seven hours or so in front of the mirror trying things on, sewing things together, killing my lungs and my hardwood floor with obscene amounts of glitter, super-gluing plastics together ( and maybe I’m slow but I didn’t realize that super glue smoked when it is adhering to things) and more. In the end I could have added more details to the skirt and made a far better band to go around my waist but I simply ran out of time. The sleeves of my dress were a bit shabby as well but hopefully it won’t be noticed. I reached six thirty with my dress still drying and no wings to speak of. I hoped in the shower and took a quick shower and grabbed the cleanest clothes available to me as fast as I could so I could go pick up Nicole and her husband from the train station. Some guy trying to sell me new internet (which I should really do cause mine sucks) while I was on my way out of the door ended up talking to me forever which resulted in I picking them up 15 minutes later then planned. Needless to say I didn’t have time by the time I got back to do the makeup designs I had planned on doing, and while I was putting on my dress they were attempting to fashion wings for me. Rosa stopped by as well wearing her decade montage costume and tried to help them. Meanwhile I was throwing some makeup on my face seeing as we were already a half hour late to the party. In the end the wings didn’t work out and I just went as Autumn and not the Autumn fairy. Grabbing money and my purse we scurried out of my house and jumped in the car.
In good time we arrived at club/bar Bananas and paid our entry fee to get in. The club was bigger and nicer then I was expecting even though I was never really sure what to expect in the first place. I looked around to see who I knew but before I managed to do that I got bum-rushed by loads of people telling me how nice my costume was. Apparently according to everyone I spoke to and all those who I met that night told me that they couldn’t believe I made my own costume. Good conversation of course ensued and before long I inched my way to the drink bar. Here I ordered my vodka and orange juice and mingled through the crowd. Most people were talking and mingling even though there was decent enough dancing music to dance to. There were some normal and rather funny costumes to be seen at the party. One guy dressed up as Lady Gaga, while another guy dressed in a Katamari outfit. Van was a mermaid and the only other person to actually fashion her own costume (which makes sense since she majored in fashion while in college). Floating around while Marissa played a very convincing frat boy, I was pushed into some beer bong thing (at least that’s what I think it’s called), and before you know it I was chugging an entire beer in ten seconds! When it’s a challenge the beer doesn’t taste that bad, but it still manages to have that strange effect of making me tipsy. I’m not sure what it is, but beer will get me tipsy before hard liquor will. After that I was a bit looser and started dancing around with those who actually decided to dance. The music wasn’t bad and for a string of thirty minutes or so they were playing rather good music. Everyone was dancing to this and it’s always fun to be a party of a big dance circle. My drinking had lightened up at this point to Smirnoff, but I was drinking them so fast I’m not sure the low alcohol content mattered. The costume contest winners were announced and I almost won both the sexiest female and the best overall costume. I was told if I had arrived twenty minutes earlier I would have won both. However it was ok, because everyone kept coming up to me to tell me that they voted for me, and that I was the best overall costume winner to them. It was nice to hear since I put effort into making my costume. I also heard three statements repetitively all night; First, “I can’t believe you made your own costume, it’s gorgeous!”, second, “ You have the best cleavage at the party/I can’t believe those things @.@”, and finally” please come to the after party!!”. I also found it amusing how random Japanese girls would tell me how sexy they thought I was, how nice my dress was and how they wish they could have a chest like mine. One even asked if she could share! I laughed rather hard at this, and told them it’s ok to not have a chest like mine. (Though it’s good to finally be on the other side of the stick, and not wishing I had one of their features for a change). The party ended around 2am after a long string of not so good trance (not that it mattered at this point considering most everyone was intoxicated) and after nearly strangling someone for things I won’t say (at least not right now lol) we headed home. Rosa drove us since she was the only one out of the four of us that hadn’t had anything to drink. We stopped by the all night beef place and we ordered bowls of rice and other random things. I swear that, that rice bowl with chicken was the best chicken I have ever had!! (Which I’m sure had everything to do with the munchies from being tipsy and the fact that it was two something in the morning!) Finally we got home, I pulled out one of my futons for Nicole and her hubby to sleep on, and I passed out while they were both in my bathroom trying not to throw up!
Sunday 25th:
I was rather tired but we managed to get up around 11am or so, and I took them to Pizza Jamboree for lunch. We enjoyed it and of course they raved over it. Since it’s where I live I buy something from there several times a week. ( I really should get back to cooking most days >.> ) After that I dropped them off at the train station and went home. The rest of the day was spent putting my futon up and not doing much. I believe I watched some anime, but the rest of the day I just relaxed. It was a pretty fulfilling weekend so a bit of rest was indeed in order.
P.S. I should be able to post pictures of the process of making the dress. Most Halloween pictures have been put on facebook, so take a look there!! The link to my facebook is on the right side of the page. ^^
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The begining of a string of PARTIES!
Friday 23rd:
Today I was at Koshino Jr. High and work was per usual. After work I had very little time to do anything further on my costume. I don’t remember what I did for the hour so gap I had in between work and going to Mihoko’s except for going to the market and getting food for the party. After that I headed home, slapped on some decorative make-up and met Mihoko at her job. From there we drove to her house and I played with baby Reina (her son and a cute, chubby baby) while she prepared some food. Not too long after her two girlfriends came with their four children. I was designated as the candy giver so the kids had to come and say trick or treat if they wanted any snacks. They were quite adorable and wore little bandanas with Halloween decorations on them. I only spent two hours or so there. Despite leaving early I had a good time with them all. Very family like and close knit. The food was good, and I played Othello and Tap Tap revenge with the kids on my IPhone. They thought it was the funest thing. When it was time for me to head out, Mihoko gracious made me a plate to go and walked me to my car. She also said that her friends are already quite fond of me, and I’m glad to hear that. It just means more chances to hang out, have a good time and with any hope learn something new.
Once I left Mihoko’s house I rushed back to Kurobe and went to Green Café where Rosa was holding her birthday party. I was only a little over an hour late so it wasn’t too bad. Once I walked in a received a large cry of “Ooos” from the table because of my face make-up. It was so bad that Rosa took enough pictures for me to see spots for fifteen minutes afterwards. In any case there was about 10-15 people at the party and of course we had good conversations and a lot of laughs.. apparently mostly my doing. I can be a sarcastic individual sometimes . Luckily I made it just in time for desert. I ended up having one slice of pumpkin pie that Rosa made and two slices of cake. One from a interesting concoction Rosa constructed and a store bought cake that Adam brought. Needless to say by the end of the night I was fairly full. From there we said our goodbyes, I dropped off a birthday card to Rosa and went home. However instead of working on my costume I decided that I was just to exhausted to be up and took a nap. Unfortunately this led to me sleeping the whole of the night.
Today I was at Koshino Jr. High and work was per usual. After work I had very little time to do anything further on my costume. I don’t remember what I did for the hour so gap I had in between work and going to Mihoko’s except for going to the market and getting food for the party. After that I headed home, slapped on some decorative make-up and met Mihoko at her job. From there we drove to her house and I played with baby Reina (her son and a cute, chubby baby) while she prepared some food. Not too long after her two girlfriends came with their four children. I was designated as the candy giver so the kids had to come and say trick or treat if they wanted any snacks. They were quite adorable and wore little bandanas with Halloween decorations on them. I only spent two hours or so there. Despite leaving early I had a good time with them all. Very family like and close knit. The food was good, and I played Othello and Tap Tap revenge with the kids on my IPhone. They thought it was the funest thing. When it was time for me to head out, Mihoko gracious made me a plate to go and walked me to my car. She also said that her friends are already quite fond of me, and I’m glad to hear that. It just means more chances to hang out, have a good time and with any hope learn something new.
Once I left Mihoko’s house I rushed back to Kurobe and went to Green Café where Rosa was holding her birthday party. I was only a little over an hour late so it wasn’t too bad. Once I walked in a received a large cry of “Ooos” from the table because of my face make-up. It was so bad that Rosa took enough pictures for me to see spots for fifteen minutes afterwards. In any case there was about 10-15 people at the party and of course we had good conversations and a lot of laughs.. apparently mostly my doing. I can be a sarcastic individual sometimes . Luckily I made it just in time for desert. I ended up having one slice of pumpkin pie that Rosa made and two slices of cake. One from a interesting concoction Rosa constructed and a store bought cake that Adam brought. Needless to say by the end of the night I was fairly full. From there we said our goodbyes, I dropped off a birthday card to Rosa and went home. However instead of working on my costume I decided that I was just to exhausted to be up and took a nap. Unfortunately this led to me sleeping the whole of the night.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Catching up in Small posts: END
So finally on the current week at hand!.
ALTHOUGH there is a P.S for last weeks events!
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Friday I had to stop by Chuo Elementary schools before heading back to my normal school for the day (Koshino Jr. High). I wore my same suit but I left my hair out and had a little bang over one eye. Everyone at the elementary school thought I looked really nice. However once I took the photos with the faculty I went home, changed and headed to Koshino. I was about ten minutes later I ran up into the class. I opened the door and as soon as the students laid eyes on me, I received a roar of “oooooo's” and “ahhhh's” and “beautiful!” all accompanied with a round of the place from the entirety of the class. I smiled so hard, and felt so blessed that I have such a good repore with my students. It seems that they really like me, and I just might be their favorite ALT.
********************************************************************************
Monday (19th)
A normal wonderful Chuo Elementary school workday with the exception that I went to Koshino to take faculty pictures. This week I'm teaching shapes to the 3rd graders and 4th and 6th graders are learning countries, food, sports and instruments. After work I did something (perhaps food) and then went to my Eikawa class. It was nice, but I felt sad for one of my students. He lost his cat and he thinks shes gone for good. He looked so sad so I changed the subject as soon as possible and we focused on reading an English brochures of famous Japanese places.
Tuesday:
Work, of course but always an enjoyable experience. Got the first of my English journals back . Of course I didn't get all of them but the few Ive gotten have been fun to read. Ill have to make a post about school materials and things of work/ informative matters soon.
I went out and bought some more fabric and a few others things for Halloween costume. I have no idea how it's going to end up, but at least I can say I tried?!
Wednesday:
So I was at Chuo, good day of course. After work I went to Mihoko's work and waited for Rosa there to talk about our winter trip. To confirm we will NOT go to China as we planned. We will have to work out the kinks and see what will happen. I booked my Tokyo trip next month as well,and I am looking forward to that. . After a very long time in Mihoko's office we headed to dinner at Green Cafe. It was good to be there again, and I should be headed there again on Friday for Rosa's birthday party. This was also the day that started the nights of no flippin sleep. Half because of working on the costume, ¼ distractions buy other things and the last fourth out of simple frustration.
Thursday(23rd):
Coming down to the wire when it comes to the costume, and tired as all hell. Working at Takase was fine, and I think the kids are starting to warm up to me. Its really hard to get use to the students and vice versa when they only see their professor every blue moon (literally, but that rant is for another time). Once I got out of work I took a trip to Apita (think wal-mart kinda) and bought a new camera. The one I brought from home just won't run off of Japanese batteries. The batteries last all of 5 minutes and then the camera is dead again. Ill keep the camera and give it to my sister when I get back to the states. So if she wants to go somewhere she can take pictures. The camera is an Olympus fe 300 and I'll have plenty a chance to work it in on during the Halloween Party Saturday night.
P.S I would also like to mention that my apartment is an absolute disaster. Wish my luck in cleaning this monster after all the weekends festivities slow down.
ALTHOUGH there is a P.S for last weeks events!
********************************************************************************
Friday I had to stop by Chuo Elementary schools before heading back to my normal school for the day (Koshino Jr. High). I wore my same suit but I left my hair out and had a little bang over one eye. Everyone at the elementary school thought I looked really nice. However once I took the photos with the faculty I went home, changed and headed to Koshino. I was about ten minutes later I ran up into the class. I opened the door and as soon as the students laid eyes on me, I received a roar of “oooooo's” and “ahhhh's” and “beautiful!” all accompanied with a round of the place from the entirety of the class. I smiled so hard, and felt so blessed that I have such a good repore with my students. It seems that they really like me, and I just might be their favorite ALT.
********************************************************************************
Monday (19th)
A normal wonderful Chuo Elementary school workday with the exception that I went to Koshino to take faculty pictures. This week I'm teaching shapes to the 3rd graders and 4th and 6th graders are learning countries, food, sports and instruments. After work I did something (perhaps food) and then went to my Eikawa class. It was nice, but I felt sad for one of my students. He lost his cat and he thinks shes gone for good. He looked so sad so I changed the subject as soon as possible and we focused on reading an English brochures of famous Japanese places.
Tuesday:
Work, of course but always an enjoyable experience. Got the first of my English journals back . Of course I didn't get all of them but the few Ive gotten have been fun to read. Ill have to make a post about school materials and things of work/ informative matters soon.
I went out and bought some more fabric and a few others things for Halloween costume. I have no idea how it's going to end up, but at least I can say I tried?!
Wednesday:
So I was at Chuo, good day of course. After work I went to Mihoko's work and waited for Rosa there to talk about our winter trip. To confirm we will NOT go to China as we planned. We will have to work out the kinks and see what will happen. I booked my Tokyo trip next month as well,and I am looking forward to that. . After a very long time in Mihoko's office we headed to dinner at Green Cafe. It was good to be there again, and I should be headed there again on Friday for Rosa's birthday party. This was also the day that started the nights of no flippin sleep. Half because of working on the costume, ¼ distractions buy other things and the last fourth out of simple frustration.
Thursday(23rd):
Coming down to the wire when it comes to the costume, and tired as all hell. Working at Takase was fine, and I think the kids are starting to warm up to me. Its really hard to get use to the students and vice versa when they only see their professor every blue moon (literally, but that rant is for another time). Once I got out of work I took a trip to Apita (think wal-mart kinda) and bought a new camera. The one I brought from home just won't run off of Japanese batteries. The batteries last all of 5 minutes and then the camera is dead again. Ill keep the camera and give it to my sister when I get back to the states. So if she wants to go somewhere she can take pictures. The camera is an Olympus fe 300 and I'll have plenty a chance to work it in on during the Halloween Party Saturday night.
P.S I would also like to mention that my apartment is an absolute disaster. Wish my luck in cleaning this monster after all the weekends festivities slow down.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Catching up in SHORT posts 2 :)
Ok, another short post hopefully, while in the catch up stage!!
Last week was rather lax during the work days. I had Jacks Eikawa class on Wednesday evening, and they are such a pleasant group of people. It’s obvious that they want me to stay longer than a year in Japan. I don’t think it has anything to do with teaching them since I’ll cease to be their Eikawa instructor after this month. I think they consider me their friend, and want me to stick around for a while. I’m truly not sure about how long my term will be here, but it’s refreshing to know that there are places here that I am wanted.
Fast-forwarding to Friday (Oct 16th) because I simply don’t’ remember what happened Thursday (not that it held major importance). It was a good work day at Koshino, (which arguably is my favorite school of the ones I teach). After school I went to the Sneek presentation with Lawrence and saw Reina again face to face for the first time since summer. It was good to see her. Just as adorable and beautiful as ever. I ended up giving a note and present to three of my students, Kahoko and Yuka (those two are the ones I helped on their presentation at Koshino) and Reina because she is a friend. The emails of broken English I get from her always brighten my day, and I know she is going to grow to be something incredible pending she lasts the “fashion and become submissive stage” of high school. After the presentation me and Lawrence met up with some other Niikawa ALT’s at Pizza Jamboree (best pizza in the Ken, and 7 minutes down the street). Good company and conversation as always some in which concluded Canadians, Bears( not the animal but well, yea.. >.>) and more. Once the others had finished their plates we headed off to Lawrence’s house to see his kittens. Ofcourse I’ve seen then being his neighbor but others wanted to see them. Unfortunately we ended up wasting about an hour and a half there because some were just waay too fascinated with the cats. When we all finally got our bearings the troop headed to Uozu for a round of Karaoke. There were eight of us and we sang our hearts out for two hours. Such songs from musicals, Disney, rock & roll to random rap songs which I had to rap parts too because others didn’t want to. Mind you I’m no rapper, I just happen to know songs and thus knowing the beat helps me pretend XD. I really want to be able to sing Japanese songs in the future. I know so many songs and yet cant sing any of them. One day Ill be singing theme songs and L’arc en Ciel songs , and THAT will be a proud day. Once it was time to leave I ended up driving to Asahi (about 35 to 40 minutes away) to drop Adam off. I didn’t want him to miss the fun so I opted to give him a ride instead of him taking a early train back. We had good conversation, mostly about Japan and our comparisons of Japan with other things from back home. He treated me to Mc Donalds along the way as a “least I can do” gesture for taking him home. As simple as that was, I missed going to a random restaurant late at night because I was up and hungry. Something you really can’t do in Japan, and even in places that you can most of them are sit down restaurants and no one wants to deal with that at 2am in the morning. After dropping him off I went back home and passed out.
Saturday was a day where I rested mostly. I honestly don’t recall doing much. I think I might have gone food shopping but I’m not sure. XD
Sunday(18th) was relaxing for the most part. Matt and Kelli came by to pick of their kitten that Lawrence was giving to them, and I decided to join them for lunch at Pizza Jam (short of Jamboree). No one else in the ken gets the chance to eat pizza all that often, and more often then not when they do it isn’t great. So treating anyone who visits to Pizza is always a fun thing. They enjoyed the pizza and we all talked about random things, trips we want to go on, a fabulous steam punk watch shop that’s in Kyoto,( which hopefully next year in March I’ll have the chance to visit) and more. The rest of that Sunday was devoted to something I don’t remember XD.
**Side Note: Once I manage to catch up, I think Ill explain the scenery around Kurobe and mention a list of accomplishments since I’ve been here, though admitingly some if not all of them are rather miniscule and will not advance my person in the future lol
Last week was rather lax during the work days. I had Jacks Eikawa class on Wednesday evening, and they are such a pleasant group of people. It’s obvious that they want me to stay longer than a year in Japan. I don’t think it has anything to do with teaching them since I’ll cease to be their Eikawa instructor after this month. I think they consider me their friend, and want me to stick around for a while. I’m truly not sure about how long my term will be here, but it’s refreshing to know that there are places here that I am wanted.
Fast-forwarding to Friday (Oct 16th) because I simply don’t’ remember what happened Thursday (not that it held major importance). It was a good work day at Koshino, (which arguably is my favorite school of the ones I teach). After school I went to the Sneek presentation with Lawrence and saw Reina again face to face for the first time since summer. It was good to see her. Just as adorable and beautiful as ever. I ended up giving a note and present to three of my students, Kahoko and Yuka (those two are the ones I helped on their presentation at Koshino) and Reina because she is a friend. The emails of broken English I get from her always brighten my day, and I know she is going to grow to be something incredible pending she lasts the “fashion and become submissive stage” of high school. After the presentation me and Lawrence met up with some other Niikawa ALT’s at Pizza Jamboree (best pizza in the Ken, and 7 minutes down the street). Good company and conversation as always some in which concluded Canadians, Bears( not the animal but well, yea.. >.>) and more. Once the others had finished their plates we headed off to Lawrence’s house to see his kittens. Ofcourse I’ve seen then being his neighbor but others wanted to see them. Unfortunately we ended up wasting about an hour and a half there because some were just waay too fascinated with the cats. When we all finally got our bearings the troop headed to Uozu for a round of Karaoke. There were eight of us and we sang our hearts out for two hours. Such songs from musicals, Disney, rock & roll to random rap songs which I had to rap parts too because others didn’t want to. Mind you I’m no rapper, I just happen to know songs and thus knowing the beat helps me pretend XD. I really want to be able to sing Japanese songs in the future. I know so many songs and yet cant sing any of them. One day Ill be singing theme songs and L’arc en Ciel songs , and THAT will be a proud day. Once it was time to leave I ended up driving to Asahi (about 35 to 40 minutes away) to drop Adam off. I didn’t want him to miss the fun so I opted to give him a ride instead of him taking a early train back. We had good conversation, mostly about Japan and our comparisons of Japan with other things from back home. He treated me to Mc Donalds along the way as a “least I can do” gesture for taking him home. As simple as that was, I missed going to a random restaurant late at night because I was up and hungry. Something you really can’t do in Japan, and even in places that you can most of them are sit down restaurants and no one wants to deal with that at 2am in the morning. After dropping him off I went back home and passed out.
Saturday was a day where I rested mostly. I honestly don’t recall doing much. I think I might have gone food shopping but I’m not sure. XD
Sunday(18th) was relaxing for the most part. Matt and Kelli came by to pick of their kitten that Lawrence was giving to them, and I decided to join them for lunch at Pizza Jam (short of Jamboree). No one else in the ken gets the chance to eat pizza all that often, and more often then not when they do it isn’t great. So treating anyone who visits to Pizza is always a fun thing. They enjoyed the pizza and we all talked about random things, trips we want to go on, a fabulous steam punk watch shop that’s in Kyoto,( which hopefully next year in March I’ll have the chance to visit) and more. The rest of that Sunday was devoted to something I don’t remember XD.
**Side Note: Once I manage to catch up, I think Ill explain the scenery around Kurobe and mention a list of accomplishments since I’ve been here, though admitingly some if not all of them are rather miniscule and will not advance my person in the future lol
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Catching up in SHORT posts XD
[forgive my grammer and spelling if it totally sucks this time around]
Okies! so there isn't too much to tell this time around. The last two weeks have had it's ups and downs and I must say that some of the whole “Japanese thrill” is wearing off like I knew it would eventually. Last week I had work and was basically still on the mend from illness. There was a Typhoon on Thursday (8th) of last week and I still had to report to work. The children were off of school so basically I just sat in at my desk trying not to stare at my desk too hard. A few times I simply ducked out of the office, went to the Library, turned on my ipod softly and went to sleep for an hour or two. It was a cold and fairly uncomfortable day and to make matters worse half way during the work day half the staff had to run out in all the rain and wind to move their cars else where because of reports of falling trees. Of course I was one of the lucky ones and had to join the race to move my car. Annoyance was the best way I can describe that day.
The following day( Friday 9th) all the classes were canceled because the kids I taught that day were supposed to go to the beach for a BBQ. Considering that the weather hadn't greatly improved the kids stayed inside and cooked all their food in the cooking room. Now this brightened my day. The kids were so fun to be with. I watched them cook, even helped out when I could. I helped stir matcha pancakes, cook yakisoba, and some of the kids handed me food to just eat while waiting. When I had food I offered it to them as well while they continued to cook. Some ate right off my chopsticks which was cute and surprising all at the same time. The boys of course were my favorite to hangout with. I think they are simply more willing to try and talk English with me, and genuinely like me as well as the boys are less shy... well some of them are. When it was time to eat, I sat down with some of my fellow teachers and we ate. I was asked questions and my JTE translated my answers. Of course my ability to drink came up miraculously and they offered to drink with me if there was an upcoming enkai. Needless to say some of the kids came into the room and I spent time walking around their tables. I even sat at the table with the boys and asked if I could have some of their soda. One of the boys was about to pour me some when on of the boys took the bottle from him and asked if he could pour it for me. OMG too much love do I have for the 3rds years of Koshino Jr. High. I even had a semi drinking contest (soda) with the boys.. and they were impressed with how much I could drink. We all were quite miserable afterwards, but in the good way if that makes sense XD Once I got home I don't honestly remember much else of what I did lol
This was a three day weekend, and for all of Saturday and Sunday I didn't do too much. I cleaned my apartment very well and I went out grocery shopping. Other then that I lay in th bed either watching something on my computer or working through Lord of the Rings books. I had thought about getting a came for my PS3 since I find I have no desire to play the game I did buy. I want to purchase Folklore in English, but there have been others saying that it won't work. If that's the case I will be highly pissed and will give the playstaion back to the store and get a American one.
Monday I went to Takaoka to visit, Nicole and her husband. The main objective was to get things for our Halloween costumes for the upcoming Halloween bash on the 24th (yea I know it’s not on the actual date XD) We went to the mall Aeon, which was rather nice. The first thing we did was eat lunch at Mickey D’s and then went to the gaming center. NOW normally I don’t waste money in these places, especially since the majority of the games were the one where you have to try and pic something up or knock something over. Well lets just say I lost umm a unreasonable sum of money playing, but I DID come out with a lot of plushie phone charms and a stuff cat with a ghost costume! All in all I think it was worth it XD After that we did general window shopping and shoe shopping. In truth I need a lot of new shoes because the ones I brought are upon their last days XD In the end after walking around and getting random things here or there I bought a new pair of black, red, and gold adidas shoes. Buying them brings back memories since when I was young I use to be brand loyal and only bought tennis shoes by adidas! Moving on!!! Umm lets see I ended up getting ice-cream at Baskin Robins (its amazing how many Japanese ppl thought it was a Japanese company) and got pumpkin (seasonal) and matcha flavored ice-cream. I managed to grab some gold and red fabric for my Halloween costume, though I am not yet aware of how I am going to use it. Also during the trip we ate at a Chinese restaurant. The food was good yet different. Needless to say this was a long day, though it was fun and had many good eats involved my feet were on fire. I suppose it serves me right to wear flat slide in shoes while walking around a mall for over eight hours. Once I got home I wasn’t long from the bed, and I called that weekend an success.
Okies! so there isn't too much to tell this time around. The last two weeks have had it's ups and downs and I must say that some of the whole “Japanese thrill” is wearing off like I knew it would eventually. Last week I had work and was basically still on the mend from illness. There was a Typhoon on Thursday (8th) of last week and I still had to report to work. The children were off of school so basically I just sat in at my desk trying not to stare at my desk too hard. A few times I simply ducked out of the office, went to the Library, turned on my ipod softly and went to sleep for an hour or two. It was a cold and fairly uncomfortable day and to make matters worse half way during the work day half the staff had to run out in all the rain and wind to move their cars else where because of reports of falling trees. Of course I was one of the lucky ones and had to join the race to move my car. Annoyance was the best way I can describe that day.
The following day( Friday 9th) all the classes were canceled because the kids I taught that day were supposed to go to the beach for a BBQ. Considering that the weather hadn't greatly improved the kids stayed inside and cooked all their food in the cooking room. Now this brightened my day. The kids were so fun to be with. I watched them cook, even helped out when I could. I helped stir matcha pancakes, cook yakisoba, and some of the kids handed me food to just eat while waiting. When I had food I offered it to them as well while they continued to cook. Some ate right off my chopsticks which was cute and surprising all at the same time. The boys of course were my favorite to hangout with. I think they are simply more willing to try and talk English with me, and genuinely like me as well as the boys are less shy... well some of them are. When it was time to eat, I sat down with some of my fellow teachers and we ate. I was asked questions and my JTE translated my answers. Of course my ability to drink came up miraculously and they offered to drink with me if there was an upcoming enkai. Needless to say some of the kids came into the room and I spent time walking around their tables. I even sat at the table with the boys and asked if I could have some of their soda. One of the boys was about to pour me some when on of the boys took the bottle from him and asked if he could pour it for me. OMG too much love do I have for the 3rds years of Koshino Jr. High. I even had a semi drinking contest (soda) with the boys.. and they were impressed with how much I could drink. We all were quite miserable afterwards, but in the good way if that makes sense XD Once I got home I don't honestly remember much else of what I did lol
This was a three day weekend, and for all of Saturday and Sunday I didn't do too much. I cleaned my apartment very well and I went out grocery shopping. Other then that I lay in th bed either watching something on my computer or working through Lord of the Rings books. I had thought about getting a came for my PS3 since I find I have no desire to play the game I did buy. I want to purchase Folklore in English, but there have been others saying that it won't work. If that's the case I will be highly pissed and will give the playstaion back to the store and get a American one.
Monday I went to Takaoka to visit, Nicole and her husband. The main objective was to get things for our Halloween costumes for the upcoming Halloween bash on the 24th (yea I know it’s not on the actual date XD) We went to the mall Aeon, which was rather nice. The first thing we did was eat lunch at Mickey D’s and then went to the gaming center. NOW normally I don’t waste money in these places, especially since the majority of the games were the one where you have to try and pic something up or knock something over. Well lets just say I lost umm a unreasonable sum of money playing, but I DID come out with a lot of plushie phone charms and a stuff cat with a ghost costume! All in all I think it was worth it XD After that we did general window shopping and shoe shopping. In truth I need a lot of new shoes because the ones I brought are upon their last days XD In the end after walking around and getting random things here or there I bought a new pair of black, red, and gold adidas shoes. Buying them brings back memories since when I was young I use to be brand loyal and only bought tennis shoes by adidas! Moving on!!! Umm lets see I ended up getting ice-cream at Baskin Robins (its amazing how many Japanese ppl thought it was a Japanese company) and got pumpkin (seasonal) and matcha flavored ice-cream. I managed to grab some gold and red fabric for my Halloween costume, though I am not yet aware of how I am going to use it. Also during the trip we ate at a Chinese restaurant. The food was good yet different. Needless to say this was a long day, though it was fun and had many good eats involved my feet were on fire. I suppose it serves me right to wear flat slide in shoes while walking around a mall for over eight hours. Once I got home I wasn’t long from the bed, and I called that weekend an success.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Well it has been one hell of a dry spell since I placed something here ^^;;; Gomen!! but this time I have an excuse!!! For most of you know after I returned from Silver week I fell pretty ill. It turned out that I acquired viral bronchitis and had a fever. This landed me three days out of work and way too much time to think about things.
Nevertheless I’m out of my head now and am much better for it. This past week was nothing to spectacular. I ended up heading to Poker last Saturday at Amy and Chris’s house. That was fun though I lost all my money. ^^;; The following day I went to watch a bunch of people play ultimate Frisbee. I was still way too ill to actually participate but I was the official photographer and thus I just took pictures of everything, and called the official time out XD.
Then back to school and like I said school was rather normal. I had a good time cause despite small staff irritations the kids make the days bright. I have also taken upon myself to go to my friend’s house after work and a bite to eat at the kabini to help him with his Shadow puppet show. It’s tedious work but the company is rather enjoyable and thus makes it well worth it. ( I also leave his house every night with a pseudo English accent because one of my friends that help out with the show happens to be British! It’s quite funny and he thinks I have a rather good “British” accent. I was too pleased with this!!) I’ve also taken his Eikawa class which looks to last at least a month. So now I work 38 hours a week and teach two adult English classes at night on Mondays and Wednesdays. Needless to say it keeps me busy and I don’t mind it so much. Who needs sleep right??!!!
Moving to this past Saturday (Oct 3rd) The morning was rather eventless, though I did stray out and bought two new shirts and some random materials for my still nonexistent Halloween Costume. Once I got home I kinda lingered around until it was time to go to the Pub Quiz. Matt and Kelli had actually come to the Kurobe area to look at their cat they were reliving Lawrence of. From there we drove to Uozu and walked into a packed Peyote’s and was put on teams. I ended up being out on the largest team and the people were pretty cool. I got to see people I normally don’t and some I do. The questions were rather hard and I had no idea about most of them. I here or there with guesses that happened to be right! XD Honestly I was waiting for the geek questions. The ‘what’s the name of an elven language in Lord of the Rings’ or ‘who were the creators of the Maroders Map’ in Harry Potter kinda questions but there were none. It was sad, and had there been geek questions I’m rather sure I would have been able to contribute more! Never the less our team was fourth place out of eight. I paid for my food and ended up joining a group for some karaoke. We had a thirty minute wait and during this time we exchanged gossip like grade school kids. It was most hilarious and pretty sad!, it’s oh so obvious we don’t live in the city.. Well at least not most of us!. Overall once we got into Karaoke It was quite fun and there was a lot of group singing to Disney songs. Oh how I love the Disney!! I also sung one song on my own and it proved that I am indeed still sick. No lung control and my voice broke all over the place. Not a good look at all >.< Oh well, I just stuck to singing group songs and cheering on those who song songs themselves. Then I dropped Reaven off in Nyuzen after the festivities were over and went home.
I think I have more pics in my arsenal somewhere, however things have been posted on facebook more often than not by others so new pics of things are best found there… sometimes lol !!
Nevertheless I’m out of my head now and am much better for it. This past week was nothing to spectacular. I ended up heading to Poker last Saturday at Amy and Chris’s house. That was fun though I lost all my money. ^^;; The following day I went to watch a bunch of people play ultimate Frisbee. I was still way too ill to actually participate but I was the official photographer and thus I just took pictures of everything, and called the official time out XD.
Then back to school and like I said school was rather normal. I had a good time cause despite small staff irritations the kids make the days bright. I have also taken upon myself to go to my friend’s house after work and a bite to eat at the kabini to help him with his Shadow puppet show. It’s tedious work but the company is rather enjoyable and thus makes it well worth it. ( I also leave his house every night with a pseudo English accent because one of my friends that help out with the show happens to be British! It’s quite funny and he thinks I have a rather good “British” accent. I was too pleased with this!!) I’ve also taken his Eikawa class which looks to last at least a month. So now I work 38 hours a week and teach two adult English classes at night on Mondays and Wednesdays. Needless to say it keeps me busy and I don’t mind it so much. Who needs sleep right??!!!
Moving to this past Saturday (Oct 3rd) The morning was rather eventless, though I did stray out and bought two new shirts and some random materials for my still nonexistent Halloween Costume. Once I got home I kinda lingered around until it was time to go to the Pub Quiz. Matt and Kelli had actually come to the Kurobe area to look at their cat they were reliving Lawrence of. From there we drove to Uozu and walked into a packed Peyote’s and was put on teams. I ended up being out on the largest team and the people were pretty cool. I got to see people I normally don’t and some I do. The questions were rather hard and I had no idea about most of them. I here or there with guesses that happened to be right! XD Honestly I was waiting for the geek questions. The ‘what’s the name of an elven language in Lord of the Rings’ or ‘who were the creators of the Maroders Map’ in Harry Potter kinda questions but there were none. It was sad, and had there been geek questions I’m rather sure I would have been able to contribute more! Never the less our team was fourth place out of eight. I paid for my food and ended up joining a group for some karaoke. We had a thirty minute wait and during this time we exchanged gossip like grade school kids. It was most hilarious and pretty sad!, it’s oh so obvious we don’t live in the city.. Well at least not most of us!. Overall once we got into Karaoke It was quite fun and there was a lot of group singing to Disney songs. Oh how I love the Disney!! I also sung one song on my own and it proved that I am indeed still sick. No lung control and my voice broke all over the place. Not a good look at all >.< Oh well, I just stuck to singing group songs and cheering on those who song songs themselves. Then I dropped Reaven off in Nyuzen after the festivities were over and went home.
I think I have more pics in my arsenal somewhere, however things have been posted on facebook more often than not by others so new pics of things are best found there… sometimes lol !!
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