family matters

I had such a chill weekend, some good Me time before Laura comes. Saturday was Osouji Day as usual, and managed to air-dry three loads of laundry, woohooooo! I finished repainting the washroom by mid-Sunday, and am really happy with the result. Hopefully my successor(s) won`t be in a rush to paint over what I`ve done. Also, cleaning up pigeon poo is really humbling. Mendokusai.

While driving back from dinner, Yukio oji started telling me about the original word for department stores (hyaku somethingsomething). This was because the Japanese borrowed the same Chinese characters, and so kept the “same” pronunciation. That was interesting, but THEN he breaks into theatrics, and starts saying all of these random Cantonese words in the funniest Chinese accent ever! Hahahah it was hilarious!!! He ended his one-man show by exclaiming, “Chinese! Sounds like fighting!!” hahahaha…too funny. I`m going to learn some Mandarin so I can yell a string of those swooshy-sounding words and then exclaim, “Chinese! Sounds like fighting!” (For some reason, when spoken, Mandarin irritates me more than Cantonese does, but the former sounds nicer when sung).

I`m beginning to suspect that I`m more like Kazuko oba than ever before. Every Ishiguro says I look like her when she was my age, and we both have the Ishiguro nose (shakes fist). I think she too is tennenboke, because according to both uncle Yukio and Ots, she didn`t share their love of the Beatles/English cuz she wasn`t too bright (she didn`t participate in their joint sing-a-longs… which is freaking hilarious in its own right…Adolescent versions of Yukio and Ots singing “Yellow Submarine”???? ahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!) She doesn`t work, but hasn`t visited with people for a while. Aunt Yu says she is definitely NOT isogashii. She likes the eating, and the family, and dogs, and the shopping, and the shade of black. Hmmmm.

It was strange to hear Yu oba mispronounce Matt`s name, because she`s never made that mistake before. He is slowly fading from their memory, which is a bit sad.

I asked mom to send me an English-Indonesian phrasebook, so I can practice a bit before I go. It`ll be really weird to have to suddenly switch from struggling in Japanese to struggling in Indonesian. And I`m sure it`ll be more frustrating too, since I can understand and read some Indonesian, but can speak shockingly little. Mottainai!!!

Only 7 and a half more weeks till JET is over. Then I`m coming home. Whether you like it or not =)

proof...




that Ms.Wada really is cuckoo







that i don`t make children cry. look how happy they look! (the girl in front of me is also named Naomi! same kanji and everything!)

that`s my girl

i love liz cuz she sends me mail like this:

(regarding her awful bout of food poisoning over the long weekend)

while on my deathbed, i had two thoughts run through my head: how much i missed my family, because there is nothing like having your mother take care of you when you are sick, and secondly, THIS is why people get married, so they don`t have to clean up their own puke.

she`s come undone

Yesterday was so so hot. How hot? It was so hot that I actually wished for rain. What??!! I Know. It was really nice at night though. Apparently there is always one week of really nice summer weather (this week) right before rainy season i.e. Doom and Gloom befalls Japan. Also, Magic Time has officially been extended to 6:30-40, wooooo!

Before I left work, Nishino and I had a paper airplane battle. Poor sucker, little did he know that on the weekends, Seiji and I used to make tons of paper airplanes when we were smaller. And last term at Nishi Kujo I had a class where my grades 3 and 4s made paper airplanes, to practice “Which is longer/faster/bigger…” Not surprisingly, in the final battle to end all paper airplane battles (“Whoever wins is the winner… FOREVER”), I emerged victorious. However, afterwards, when trying to think of another area of sport where he could regain respect, I stupidly agreed to a kendama battle.




Kendama… a traditional Japanese New Year`s toy that children play with from a very early age…What was I thinking??!! But…zettai makenai!! I think I will actually practice =) I think Paper Airplane Winner Forever and Kendama Winner Forever has a nice ring to it. Perhaps I will get my titles printed on a sateen sash and wear it to work every Wednesday…or a tiara (twinkle twinkle)…u know, nothing over the top.

I was looking at a picture of Remy, and I realized (forgive me, it`s been a looong week so far), I am going home to my DOG!!! A couple of nights ago I was watching a special on seeing eye dogs, and they went to this one facility where they raised and trained Labs!! Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! They have this one programme called Puppy Walker, where families/couples/singles can come in and adopt a puppy for a few months to socialize it,?and the people also learn to train a seeing eye dog. OH MY GOSH…when they showed a crate of puppies for the programme, I almost died cuz one of them looked almost identical to Remy when she was 4 months old. Actually the mom looks like her now… same balanced features, colouring… =( I have a DOG at home… They were showing one puppy, Elise (I-li-su?) in her new home, and the way she was galloping about clumsily reminded me of how Remy used to chase after her squeaky toys, in that same ungainly yet adorable puppy gait. We used to throw things across the room on purpose just so we could see her run =). Now she just sort of bolts forward, ramming into everything and everyone unfortunate to be in her path hahahah. I have a DOG at home.

on a lark...

I went to Larks in the Park yesterday with Julia. It was pretty cool… so many foreigners!! I kept on repeating, like an idiot, “WHERE DID ALL OF THESE FOREIGNERS COME FROM????” It was insane.

“How insane Was it?”
“It was so insane, it looked like TORONTO for goodness sakes.”

I mean for lunch I had amazing tandoori chicken and curry with naan, and before I left, I got Filipino bbq, made by cooks that were 100% Filipina. Agh, soo good!!! (I had such a good food weekend… woooo!) Did I mention, THERE WERE SO MANY FOREIGNERS???!!!* I am going to freak out when I go home. Maybe just to shock my system to see how much it can take, i`ll make Ots drive me to Stouffville for my first meal back… aahahahah… that`d be funny! The bands were less than spectacular, and even though there was taiko scheduled for six, we didn`t stay that long. S`okay since I`m seeing taiko on Wednesday. It was quite nice though, sitting on a towel, in a big dirt field, watching people, eating lovely food, music blaring in the background… and it was free!

A couple of less-than-spectacular moments though:
1. when we ran into aaron on the way to nakanoshima park, he was there with his girlfriend, and when introducing them to Julia, I TOTALLY forgot her name… so I just said”….andhisgirlfriend..” I feel so bad. =( sugoi hazukashii. I think she might have picked up on that…I hope she doesn`t hate me =(
2. during the sitting, watching and talking time with the other ALTs, I was reminded how gross guys can be about girls… do you really need an example? “yo, she was LOADED” and he didn`t mean financially. Sigh… I should get used to it since I`ll actually be able to understand all males upon arrival in Toronto. Egh. (oh man, and Mary, if I dare go clubbing with u again, gross factor times a billion, or however many guys can fit into Money eheh)



*apparently there is a positive correlation between the number of foreigners occupying a given space and the amount of free goods/services available within said space

I have this weird series of bumps on the inside of my left forearm. They started out as three or four distinct itchy bumps. It looked like I had been tagged by aliens. Now they have morphed into a cluster of twenty or so tiny tiny pale pink bumps, circumference of a quarter. Yuuuuuu-ck!

drained

today was tiring. i had to teach the grade ones and twos (54 and 51 students respectively), and in three of the four classes, a girl started crying. sigh. (NOT BECAUSE OF ME... but because of bratty bullying boys). I worry about the boys who flip girls off so easily...if they are like this NOW...shudder. My voice was barely audible as i dragged myself through the Hokey Pokey with the grade ones. it got so bad i stopped singing, and just Said the words... I don`t think it really mattered =)

I think I overuse suspension points.

je suis fatigue. I`m still waking up at bizarro times during the night which is not helping things. grrr.

sleep sleep sleep. i love sleep.

random things

1. there is nothing cuter than seeing three very small boys, holler after a stray cat, using only honorifics, in the hopes that the cat will be persuaded by their politeness to come back and play with them.
2. I found out I am “tennenboke” which I think is the Japanese equivalent of spacey. When I told Miharu, she started laughing and laughing. =/ Additionally, all of the bloodtype O ppl that were sitting at the table were considered tennenboke..hmm!
3. I do not make a big sound when I play the taiko drum. My teacher keeps on bugging me about it, which embarrasses me to no end.
4. When I was at Hirano on Thursday, I wished that I had some kind of healing power or something (of X-Men proportions… or I`d even settle for something from the Green Mile), so that I could just reach out, grasp Akane and Kenshi`s hands in mine, and in that one touch, smooth out their gnarled limbs, reset their bones, and wipe away their disease from their DNA completely.
5. I`m going to BiC Camera soon to pick up my b&w prints!!! wooooooo!
6. Laura is coming!!!!!!!!!!
7. at the MQJ meeting, the guest speaker wore a t-shirt that said, in big block letters, HIV Positive. At first i was totally shocked... i don`t think anyone back home/america would ever have the nerve to wear a shirt like that. it`s funny how much leeway you are given sometimes if you don`t know a language. Note: the guy is HIV positive
8. at Nakamoto, there is the cutest little boy in ichi-nen. His dad is Canadian, so he has that mixed cuteness thing going for him. but the kicker is his last name, which is MacDougall. So whenever they call on him, cries of "Makuduugalu!" are heard admidst Sakamoto, Nishimura, Kawano etc. it`s incredibly adorable. MacDougall-kun!!! ahahahhahahaha!!!!!!!!!

youkosou!

The welcome party with Ikuno was really really fun. I genuinely had such a great time. We went to this restaurant called Chanto in the Namba/Dotonbori area. I don`t know what it is about me and Japanese people... like i can function better around them. Maybe it`s because i think they don`t expect so much from me. dunno. anyways I have discovered a favourite drink: kashisu grapefruit/orange juice. I could drink buckets of these… so good! It`s pretty sweet (still tastes like the base fruit juice) and is the same colour as a cosmopolitan. What more do I need in a drink?! There were about 11 people there, including Nishino, my fellow Taisho-ku resident Kizu, Nakagawa, Fukuda, Mami, Beku(HAMU!), Tsujigami and the VP, CHAKU!!! (scream & faint heehee). On the first day that I met Kyoto sensei and Nishino at the principal`s meeting, they revealed that their respective nicknames were Chaku (“like Chuck Berry!”) and Nino. I haven`t called Nishino anything other than Nishino, even though he`s said “call me Nino.” I dunno, Nino sounds too familiar? Almost inappropriate? Anyways, the food was soo good, and apparently one of Kizu`s friends is the chef there. The décor was nice… plain black walls, wooden tables and benches, with red accents and low lighting. Man, everyone should be so lucky to work at a school like Ikuno. The students are so unique and sweet, and the teachers rock! Figuratively and literally. Nishino is a guitarist, Fukuda sings with a few bands (everything from punk to rnb), Kizu is learning the sax, and another, Ishii plays the drums. When pressed to reveal what my contribution would be to a possible Ikuno band, I stated firmly that I would be their number one fan, ONLY. No musical input from me is allowed =)

It was really awesome to see how well the teachers got along. For example, Kizu by way of my trusty dictionary, told me that Nishino was in fact a playboy (“affair affair!!”) and a bully (ijimeru)… to which Fukuda and Mami exclaimed “atarashi nishino sensei miru!” ahahah….! Of course nishino protested vehemently, reminding me of his love story and that he has NEVER (will ever) cheated. He then proceeded to blab that Kizu had a secret bf amongst the staff at Ikuno! Oh the drama! Afterwards, the nijikai was at Big Karaoke, and Nishino and Fukuda can SING. She sang this one song in English, which was about a lonely seventeen year old girl… it was darn catchy. She has a really cool voice, a bit on the husky side, so is perfect for the kinds of songs she wants to sing. I ran into her in the washroom, and before ducking into a stall, she revealed her “big secret” which accounts for why her voice is husky: she is in fact a heavy smoker, which was weird because I have never seen her smoke, not even during dinner. Chaku can also sing, and kept on pestering me to pick out Beatles songs for HIM to sing =) He did pretty well with 8 Days a Week and Michelle. I was actually pretty surprised at how many Japanese “classics” I knew. So maybe all of those torturous nights of watching enka shows with mom and ots paid off eh? I found out Mami and I have similar taste in music, more specifically in one singer… Mr Naotaro Moriyama!! Wooohooooooooo! And the best part is, Mami is going to try to get tix to his concert on JULY 24 IN OSAKA!!!!!!!!!! SAIKOU!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeheeehe!! Imagine! Moriyama Live in Concert!

sensory overload

i soo want to see casshern (right linda?) but i`m not about to spend 1800 yen at the theatres to see a movie without subtitles. sigh. DVD DVD!!





it looks cooooooool... and hikaru utada sings the theme song! (her husband directed and produced the movie). her voice has gotten a lot better since "First Love" Her higher register is not as wavery, and her breath placement is better. i looove her song! woooo!



dareka no negai ga kanau koro
(when someone's wish comes true)

chiisana koto de daiji na mono wo ushinatta
tsumetai yubiwa ga watashi ni hikatte miseta
"ima sae areba ii" to itta kedo sou ja nakatta
anata e tsudzuku DOA ga oto mo naku kieta

anata no shiawase negau hodo wagamama ga fueteku yo
soredemo anata wo hikitometai itsu datte sou
dareka no negai ga kanau koro ano ko ga naiteru yo
sono mama tobira no oto wa naranai

minna ni hitsuyou to sareru kimi mo iyaseru tatta
hitori ni naritakute sukoshi gaman shisugita na

jibun no shiawase negau koto wagamama dewa nai deshou
sore nara anata wo dakiyosetai dekiru dake gyutto
watashi wo namida ga kawaku koro ano ko ga naiteru yo
kono mama bokura no jimen wa kawakanai

anata no shiawase negau hodo wagamama ga fueteku yo
anata wa watashi wo hikitomenai itsu datte sou
dareka no negai ga kanau koro ano ko ga naiteru yo
minna mo negai wa douji ni wa kanawanai

chiisana chikyuu ga mawaru hodo yasashisa mi ni tsuku yo
mou ichido anata wo dakishimetai dekiru dake
sotto

try

I miss leading worship, hearing/seeing the congregation sing together. I can usually hear Russell with his nasal twang, Nori`s expansive tenor, Susan`s perfectly pitched syllables since they sit at the front. When I tell people the G in JGCT stands for Gospel, I have this sudden fear that they`ll immediately assume we have a fantabulous 100-member strong robe-wearing, tambourine-shaking, note-riffing gospel choir, like the ones you see in movies. We`re anything but… only a small adult choir at Christmas, and there is no towel-waving or fainting then either. An outsider would probably describe the congregation as, “a reserved collective. During singing, heads are often buried in songbooks as if worried they will mispronounce lyrics. Some members appear to be suffering from Heavy Eyelid Syndrome (HYS) which often infects students and patrons of public transportation.”

I miss that frantic rush 40 minutes before service when Jaime (it`s usually Jaime heheh) and I would rifle blindly through the songbook trying to pick out a set of songs that were perfect for that Sunday. Before deciding on a song, we always ask the same questions:
a) did they sing this last week?
b) do you know this?
c) can you play this? (directed twds chika & co.)
and last, but most important,
d) is this too high? (I have NO range. You will not believe how many song options are thrown out cuz I can`t hit anything higher than a C)
If the answers were no/yes/yes/no, the song was IN. Not a perfect process by any means, but it works for us =) Maybe two run throughs (stopandstart stopandstart) and then ta-DAH! Sigh. And don`t even try to imagine the panic when 5 min before service, Susan would surprise us with an obscure hymn we had to lead everyone in singing. Back in our seats, Jaime and I would mutter something about “Arts York..sightsinging…” and then try to pick through the melody. I usually have zero to little success--AY theory, why have you forsaken me? As a result, I`m often mouthing the words, gifted worship leader I am NOT =)

Yeah, I`ve heard rumours that people like, get together before Sunday, and like… praktiss, or something. What is this word, praktiss? Sounds like new-fangled linguistics to me! But really, the craziness is nothing much, especially when everyone is there, finally singing together. Up close, people`s voices sound so different, almost disjointed, barabara, since someone is always flat, sharp, on the wrong page... will this song ever sound perfect? but when you stand at the front, and look at them as just people, without any unrealistic expectations, you`re amazed at the beauty of their voices. The worry of the previous hour disappears, and you forget about your need to have things your way, and you just try to fit your voice in the perfect swell of song slowly filling the room.

p.s.

the blog will just be orbitme.blogspot.com, no underscore anymore

on three, say "awww"

so after classes today i was able to sit around and talk w.nishino, since we decided to continue this week`s lesson into the following week because we ran out of time... and i wasn`t quite sure the students were understanding "how are you" was the question and the "i`m ___" stuff were answers. we talked about a bunch of stuff including expectations japanese women have of japanese men, basing it on shaki`s experience with his ex-girlfriend. THAT was so hard to explain, and i had to use diagrams for some of the explanation. sigh. i hate that my japanese sucks. it feels like i am using the same elementary sentence structures over and over again, not using what i`m learning in miharu`s lessons. sigh!! other topics included Japan`s Multicultural Future? Why So Many Deportations? Do Western Women Scare Japanese Men? Did You Have Bronchitis?

But the best part was when he told me the story of how he and his girlfriend got together. They have been together for five years, and have promised to marry each other (the parents know about this as well). They actually went to the same high school, and the beginning of the love story is "sad, but becomes happy ending" so hold on =) All during high school, Nishino loved only her, but she didn`t love him back. He was extremely sad, and as a result, wrote a lot of sad love songs for the guitar. After hschool grad, she moved away for nursing school, and he became a "ronin," basically was a bit aimless, without any direction, doing various part-time jobs here and there. During his ronin period, he dated a bunch of girls, and his friends told him to forget about his hschool love "they say, my heart, forget." but then after two years of ronin-ing around, he decided to get his act together and go to university. He cut his hair, stopped dyeing it brown, and took out his earring because he didn`t think it suited his ambition to become a science teacher (his childhood dream was to be a vet). Then during second year of university, his best friend met up with the hschool love since her nursing school was close to his apartment in umeda. when nishino found out he suggested they all meet up, in umeda. after they met up, he called her and asked her out on a date. Their first date was in Kobe, and on the way back into Osaka, on the train, he told her about all of his past girlfriends (ronin period). He felt so relieved afterwards, and that night they went to the Hep 5 ferris wheel, and while they were riding it, they decided to start dating each other. He was so happy he cried a little bit.

ONE
TWO
THREE...



isn`t that a great story?

we both agreed it should definitely be a movie. or at least a tv drama =) i`m so happy he has such a good story, he is fab-u-lous =)

besuboru

oh so fun! k&a and i went to a kintetsu buffaloes game at osaka dome last night... i considered this game my warm-up for a hanshin game... ZETTAI ikimasu!!!! we got the cheapest tix (1400 each), which got us 2nd level seats in the OEN section!!! wooohooooooooo!!!! AAAND it was Salaryman Night!! what more could one ask for? we could have sat closer since no one was really checking tickets, and we didn`t even have seat/section numbers on our tickets (??), but the OEN were behind the outfield, so we opted to stay in our right field seats. Was it just me or did the field seem a lot smaller?? or maybe we were just closer? anyways. The Buffaloes` OEN were great! they were all decked out in red, and almost everyone had plastic bats as clappers. The leaders were wearing long red happi coats with Osaka somethingsomething on the back, while the BASS DRUMMER and TRUMPETERS were wearing shorter ones. it was like having that guy who was always at the old Cleveland Indians stadium, whomping away at his bass drum in the nosebleeds, only a thousand times better. We realized 3 chants in that clapping along with the rally cries would be pretty painful on our hands, and I found myself wishing we had picked up a pair of the clappers. But since I was trying to restrain myself from unnecessary spending (and I would want a hanshin set anyway hee), I didn`t get any. The OEN were so coordinated and organized, it was fantastic. During the home half of every inning, we would get to cycle through two or three chants, depending on what was happening. One chant looked really fun as one part of it requires the twirling of the clappers, before yelling out a players` name. The player whose name fit chants the best? “I-SO-BE!” At the end of the inning, the current OEN leader (they rotate) bows to the section, and everyone applauds a job well done. so sweet =)

Even the Orix had a small OEN section, complete with a bass drum. And Tani was playing!! wooooooooo! At one point during the game, when he was up to bat, one of the Super Fans in front of us yelled out something along the lines of, c`mon Tani your wife always tries her best, so you`d better GAMBARE! (Tani`s wife is judoka extraordinaire Tamura Ryoko).
In the seventh inning, instead of the seventh-inning stretch, the home fans started blowing up these huge red balloons, and when the jumbotron flashed “LUCKY SEVEN!!!” everyone released their balloons simultaneously, making the atmosphere seem a lot more crazy and fun, especially since it felt like the Buffaloes were on the verge of a rally in the bottom of the seventh. They managed to score one run in the seventh (i think), and then bottom of the eighth, the OEN leader said some magic words and all of a sudden we noticed people were fidgeting around with their Buffaloes towels. I think in place of rally caps (thanks Mr. Baseball!), they have rally towels, and a little dance too! Aw, it looked like so much fun. Even the cute kids sitting in front of us were dancing along =) (oh my gosh i went crazy/stalkerish taking so many covert pics of those kids and of the most adorable little girl in oversized jeans across the aisle...eeee... i went Lisa* on those kids).

The Buffaloes ended up tying by the ninth, 3-3, and we left after the tenth. Later when Kathy and I were watching (or rather I was watching, and she was making nerdiful journal entries... ahahahha, don`t kill me) sports highlights, the game ended in the tie. weird. Baseball is great! I can`t wait to cheer with the Hanshin fans! Tanoshimi!!!!




*Lisa=cool and funny South African ALT friend of Matt...but has an unnatural and (frightening?) tendency to only take pictures of painfully adorable Japanese children and (sushi) cats

remember that Ma$e and Puffy song from `98?

I am so tired. I didn`t get enough sleep, since I was talking to (at?) Kathy till about one something. I was reminded how therapeutic and comforting talking with a girlfriend is, and how much I miss the physical presence of my friends. (“what??? You just did what???” “okay, so wait, you think i`m crazy???” “do you want more cheesecake?” “haha, like the AWARD!?”) Girlfriends, now featuring Comfortable Silences, Trustworthy Advice, and matching Thought Patterns! Only for a Limited Time! Funny Jokes and Free Drives not Included. Speaking of all things girly, Maybelline wonder curl mascara, new best friend! On sale for 1000 yen, from 1200.

ergh.

Yes I know I haven`t been the most responsible person with money. Disposable income has made me a bit insane and more impulsive. You really can tell what a person is like by the way they handle their money, and I have become way more materialistic and selfish, not diverting enough funds to charity/offering. It`s sad and disturbing. I`m pretty apprehensive of ever becoming part of a higher income bracket (not that it`s a strong possibility… Psychology! English! East Asian Studies! Doom!)… i`m just not sure I have what it takes to avoid the pitfalls of materialism which I imagine only get bigger and harder to climb out of the more money one has i.e. i`d never be satisfied with the things i`d have, always wanting newer, shinier, faster. However, I enjoy buying things for other people-that I don`t feel too guilty about-but I definitely need to adopt a Spartan mindset when it comes to thinking about what I actually need. I don`t want to be a Sophie Kinsella cliché =(

bye/hi



wayne, linda, andy and kathy at kimchi ramen

i kid you not, andy actually said, "this kimchi is hotter than the korean kind!" rawr! i actually went overboard and put in too much. i looked over at linda, teary eyed and asked her if the kimchi really was too spicy that day. she looked puzzled and said "no." then proceeded to down a litre of kimchi*, without blinking.





this boy knows how to rock my sunglasses... from class at nakamoto






magic time at sumiyoshitaisha station





what the crap??!!!

hehe.





*okay maybe not a litre.. 735 mL maybe...

psst...

this morning, while resignedly making my way to the subway, sleep-deprived and lugging around a knapsack that smells like fish juice (ugh, so gross), i had this incredible fantasy...

okay, so it starts off in a darkened house... maybe just before sunrise, the wee small hours of the morning...cool gray-blue light seeping through the curtains. i wake up in my big white bed, restless. everything is quiet. I`m not sure if anyone is around... but i don`t want to risk an audience so I make my way down quietly. I open the softly humming fridge, and quickly scan over such things like leftover pickle noodle, real cha siu, and ripe fruit, waiting to explode out of their skins, opting for a simple glass of Tropicana (w.pulp) orange juice. Remy is now near me, wagging her tail, looking at me expectantly, waiting for some food to be emptied into her bowl, believing she`ll be experiencing doggy chow ecstasy in a matter of seconds, courtesy of Nutrience.

She will have to wait. What I need now is more important.

I slowly pad downstairs to the basement, not turning the lights on, since the beginning of morning and the remainder of night combine for a inviting illumination. I stop two steps from the bottom of the stairs, so close to what i desire. my body is tingling, anticipation tensing my muscles, sharpening my vision. my eyes linger over the ivory body engineered for my fantasy, the simplicity of its shape, so beautiful. everything i want, just waiting for me to take over, to take control...







my beloved computer, now hooked up to HIGH-SPEED INTERNET. INTERNET WHENEVER I WANT, EMAIL WHENEVER I WANT, IN A SMOKE-FREE ROOM WHENEVER I WANT. INTERNET IN MY HOUSE!!!!!!!! INTERNET WHENEVER I WANT!!!!!!!!!!! AND NOT FOR 380 YEN/HOUR!!!!!!!! AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!



AAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(cue running into the hills screaming in anguish)



EMAIL EMAIL EMAIL!!!!!!!!!!!! DARN THESE SCHOOL FILTERS!!!!!!!



i am seriously worried about my inbox, s`about ready to explode i think.



argh!!!!!!!


sob.

mixed reviews

i just did a cartwheel in front of my grade 6 boys cuz one of them showed me his back flip/roundoff thing. they were pretty silent after i landed it...only one boy from 4-2 was enthused and requested another by way of "mouikkai, mouikkai!" silence=crap cartwheel? or just surprised i did one?


OY!

hokey cow

i don`t know if that`s the best substitute for holy crap. hmmmm... will work on it. anyways, congrats

DORA

on getting into JET!! I`m so excited for you and a teeny bit jealous cuz you get to see Japan with your new eyes, while mine are all smoke-neon-kanjied out =) maybe i can visit in sept!



i forgot how great it is to have people in my house...adjusting sleep-wake cycles to the sound of peepo when i go to sleep and willing myself to be silent when i wake up in order not to disturb them. golden week has seen a rotation of ALTs/canadians float in and out of my place, shiu, richelle, the fujiyoshida-ers, and now kathy and andy. it was a bit chaotic in terms of space, especially since wayne went bonkers at yodobashi and bought out the entire transformer series but it all worked out.

heartstopping moment #2:
we got into a taxi after karaoke in namba since we missed last bus/train, and i told the cab driver "chishima." due to faulty pronunciation (yes i know i mumble) he thought i said "kishiwada." so when we were on the HANSHIN EXPRESSWAY i asked him if indeed he was going to chishima. 5000 yen later, we got dropped off at my apartment. honmani gomennasai. can u imagine??? KISHIWADA??? what would we have done???? at like 1:30 in the am???!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

heartsick moment #6:
after going through the peace memorial museum in hiroshima, i felt so heartsick. i felt like i needed to cry or something. i didn`t even stop to see the last display on current nuclear countries. it was just too much... and the pressure in my head compounded by the throngs of people slowly inching their way through the museum. i dunno... i haven`t really had time to process it since things have been a bit blurry with goingherethereandeverywhere since i came back to `saka.

heartthumping moment #3:
when i was waiting for kathy and andy to come through customs etc., i felt pretty calm, and of course a little excited. then i caught glimpse of this woman`s head on the other side of the glass partition and i thought it was kathy. for some reason my heart started beating soo fast, and only when i realized it wasn`t her, could i catch breath. crazy eh? i was actually nervous to see kathy. why?? i think it was maybe cuz it had been so long since i had seen someone from home and i wondered what would happen. but it`s so awesome to have her here (although she is way more anal that i thought she was!! bikkurishita). and andy is proving that pharmacy kids are really cool =)


lataah