Oy...

I realized that the majority of the pictures I post on here are of me holding up food to my mouth. But I find this strangely accurate of my character. So here's a few more for fun.

Santa Cookie from Mem!

My fave KitKat--Lemon flavored! Wish it

didn't come with blagh cola flavor.

There's no place like Japan for the LOLidays.

Memily made me Christmas cookies, then mailed them to Japan!! I was soooer excited when I discovered them. I've eaten about 3 so far, and each one has been utterly fantastic. I don't think I realized it before, but one of my favorite foods is apparently Christmas cookies. Actually, anything Christmas or Birthday flavored is my favorite--fudge, stuffing, Princess Cake, cookie dough, etc. Which makes it clear why "Chubs McGee" has been a nickname that has followed me around like I follow around the ever-changing KitKat collection, or Mew, or Tegan & Sara.

But hennyways, this post was originally supposed to be about how mature and suave I have become since coming to Japan, something which was proven quite thoroughly this week by my ability to keep my shiz together under tremendous pressure (and by tremendous pressure, I mean holding in the desire to spout out, "That's what she said!"--but we'll get there. That's what she said).

The first incident occurred last night in one of my highest level classes. We were discussing the differences between humans and robots (yeah...it's too much work to explain), and I asked what the core differences are. My one student said that humans [edit: again, a very crucial mistake; this should read robot, NOT humans] don't have hearts; and since they lack the ability to have feelings, she said, "They can't make love." Usually I correct such mistakes by explaining the differences in what they have said and what they are trying to say, but I didn't really feel like explaining to a 30-something woman about this particular idiom. Also, I couldn't talk anyways--had to let someone else run with the topic as I tried to keep from laughing.

The second incident occurred this morning with a college student in our second most advanced class. She has a book of self-study that includes many different phrases that are useful in daily lives; I approached as she read it and laughed. When I asked to see what amused her, she showed me the phrase, "I've been waiting for a raise." Considering how nuts she was going over the brief sentence, I actually thought that she was pulling the same meaning from it as I was--but no, it turns out that she was just imagining someone waiting around to get a pay raise, which is apparently very funny in Japan.

The last incident (and yes, I am specifically using the word "incident" because it reminds me of LOST) did not come from student interaction, but instead was brought on by a listening activity in a class. Two of the characters in this textbook are visiting Vietnam, and I learned something from their trip: the Vietnamese currency is the dong. Yup. But even better than that, the female character tells her male coworker that she forgot to exchange currency, and asked him if he had enough dong for the night. He replied

that he had more than enough for the whole trip. Of course, everyone should know why this made me LOL--yup; because it reminded me of Long Duck Dong, everyone's favorite Chinaman from Sixteen Candles.

Mind and Body at odds

So, right now my mind and my body are hating each other a bit, because my mind is like, "You need to go to sleep before 2 a.m.! You need to wake up before 10 and go to the gym and be healthy!" And my body's all like, "Yo, nah, whatevs, I'm not gonna shut down for another 3 hours or so, so I might as well drink this cheese (nope, nope, supposed to be eat but too lazy to delete) and eat this acerole drink (and yeah, that was on purpose actually, because i can't really say i'm going to drink this cheese AND this drink; i at least need to be consistent in mixing up verbs) and check out Tegan and Sara interviews." The last part is actually more of my brain being like, "Well, if you're gonna stay awake, then food has to stop, but T&S can continue." It's a compromise. Also, I recently discovered that to be like t&s stylistically, all I have to do with wear red vans and a striped black&white shirt. So someone get on that for combo christmas/birthday gift.

That's all. I guess I'm back at the stage where all I do is talk about t&s.

I'm piteously slow at updating; of this I am aware.

During a leisurely stroll through my neighborhood tonight, I found not one, but two condom vending machines (though this was not the strangest vending machine I discovered on my walk--that prize goes to the battery vending machine). People kept telling me when I first moved here that the city was really safe, but that's not exactly what I had imagined. I'm not entirely surprised; on my walk, I basically passed one vending machine per minute; I'm actually surprised I didn't pass more unusual ones. I do have to admit that many of the drink dispensers have some fascinating choices--hot red bean soup and coffee jelly drinks being some examples. And while I haven't tried either of those things, I admit I am very pleased to have the option of having them.

Corn Choco!

More dericious than it sounds.

So I have to post this little anecdote because it is redonkulous. Yesterday, biking on my way to the gym, I saw one of the humongi crows of Japan poking around someone's garbage net (as it was burnable garbage--i.e. food waste--day). Last year, one of the Nav staff told me the story of crows scattering her garbage, and how the garbage knocked on her door and gave her a scolding because of it. I decided to save someone the trouble, so I scared the crow off by riding close to it, but not before it took off with what looked like a large meatball. I turned the corner and had gone about 2 meters when I saw something drop from the sky before smacking me in the knee. I could tell from the weight and the leftover bits on my leg that it was a large pit of some kind of fruit. While riding, I looked over my shoulder to see the crow staring at me, and I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with the bird. I nodded to him as if to say, "Touche."

[Edit: Hera informed me of my mistake by saying, "Did you mean to say that the garbage knocked on her door?" And as wonderfully magical as that sounds, no; I didn't. Twas in fact the garbage man (which, if you think about it, really just sounds like pile of garbage that has taken the form of man and become animated. Like Frosty the Snowman...Maybe...Dusty the Garbageman.]

I had a philly steak yesterday. It was dericious.

Also, I was going to write a blog entry, but now I think I will ride my bike to the 100 yen Lawson and buy some juice and breakfast for tomorrow. Sorry for the tease!

Things that happened that were minutely funny

At dinner with my coworkers, talking about our coworker to be:

Me: He might be one of those guys who goes to Akihabara (the place where nerds go--known also as Electric Town); I don't know.

Shota: Ok. I will take him fishing. And hunting.

Mika: In Akihabara?

Also, earlier in the evening--while anxiously awaiting pizza curry buffet-- I had taken off my new shoes in the teacher's room, and I was wondering if they would smell funny because they are those plasticky type shoes, so I held them up and smelled them. My other foreign coworker was in the room too, so I was struck with an idea, that went something like this:

Me: Wow! My shoes smell like pizza.

Him: What? Really?

Me: Yeah, check it out!

And though I've heard of this joke probably a million times, I've never had anyone fall for it (and I won't count the time Rory told me to 'go see how cute Tuna is sleeping in the bathtub!'), so I was pretty pleased with myself. Yes, yes; I'm 12.

Ok, that's all!

Beautiful beautiful chill!

Finally finally finally, my memories of hot hot summer are fading like a bad tan (poor simile, because as we all know, there's no such thing as a bad tan! Unless it comes with skin cancer...).

Now, to add to the magical Kit Kat kreations, I will present Hera's find: the milk tea Kit Kat! I had one tonight while, coincidentally, drinking milk tea. It was not the overwhelming combination that you might expect; it was really a pleasant mixture of liquid and candy. Also, you might notice that I am holding a kit kat while wearing a kimono. Also, you might have observed (if you have seen any pics of me in my apartment or have talked to me via skype) that I wear this kimono quite often. That's mainly because I just leave it on the chair as a covering (because I inherited the chair from the previous teacher, and who knows whose hiney it's touched), and it inevitably ends up on my shoulders.

Since I've been sick this week, I have picked up some new Japanese words from my clever children--actually, the words they used are combinations of words I knew, so I am translating them from previous knowledge. The first, and more pleasant one, is 'hanamizu'--which I have translated to mean 'nose water' (or, depending on your inflection, 'flower water')--and you have to admit, that sounds almost pleasant compared with the English "snot". The second, and 'how-say' (as one of my high-level Chinese students says) less...refined version is 'hanakuso'--which, from my understanding, is translated as basically 'nose shit'. Think about that next time you reach for a tissue.

Okay, I need sleep, because I am sickly and weak and I have to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn tomorrow (8:45 a.m.).

Re: Disappointment

"your blog disappoints me.
this is either because you are too busy doing important shtuff or you are lame like me and do nothing all the time
i miss you, gillnels!"

-Es Dolce

It's only been a week since my last update, but apparently that just isn't enough for some people, AKA

<---This one.

The problem is, I can never think about anything exciting when I'm on the computer. Usually I just think something like, "Mmm, this sashimi is delicious, but it is filling." I also think about how I should get off the computer and clean my apartment, but we all have our pipe dreams. Which reminds me of another dream I have, one of the few things I desperately desire here (I know, the heat passes and I am already on to the next thing that I need so very much); a desire which partially came to fruition this weekend (or as I like to say after a couple rounds of sushi, 'fruitation').

This dream is so much simpler than my last wish, but unlike my other dream (the end of heat, which I knew would eventually come), this one shows no promise of coming true. You see, in Japan, they have lots of adorable little shoes, and often on sale for cheap (you should see some of the affordable, stylish boots they have! Just adorable!)--however, because my feet are apparently humongous at a size 25.5 (or, okay; 26 cm), I can't find anything that even pretends to fit my feet--and I can't even glance at the shoes without my feet cramping. And so I search shoe store after shoe store hoping to find some miraculous pair that will ensconce my weary feet; and low and behold, this weekend I kind of had that happen! I found a pair of rainboots (sure, not my ideal footwear) for 1300 yen (about $13.30 or so for you 'mericans), and I snatched those puppies up so fast that you couldn't even sneeze out a 'kutsu' before I bought them (kutsu=shoes). Actually, that's a lie; I had the shoe lady show me 3 different sizes before I settled on a pair--but that's only because one of the pairs was put in the wrong size box.

Anyways, I'm started to bore myself with this post, so here's one more post of La Dolce Orso for the road from that time we went to the gay bar in Denmark (which, by the way, I'm still bitter about, Erin. Because you know that it is my dream to find a Danish man to marry and have blue eyed, brown haired children with, and you insisted on going to the one place in CPH that my dream was guaranteed not to happen in)(but you know I still less than 3 you --I put it that way because actually doing the symbol is not possible, as the blog recognizes it as a broken html code).

To add to the list of things I didn't expect to do, then did...

...biking in a thunderstorm. In a dress. For the sake of going shopping.

Actually, the shopping part I can kind of imagine, as well as the dress. It's the bike part that threw me for a loop. Something else that threw me off: the sheer magnitude of the mall I went to; a shopping behemoth of such power that it requires it's own train station. Clearly, it was worth having to ring out my dress and pedal home with my hood covering my eyes at random moments.

Damn it. Damnation. Damnable. Damned.

I had to explain the definition of those words to a student in class today. Thanks, textbook, for including "darn" in your extra info section. Unfortunately, my student wasn't settling for it just being "a bad word." She wanted context, darn it. She got more context than she bargained for, I imagine. Also confusion.

Oy.

This week has been massively long; it's been tiring and hazy but went better than expected, given the circumstances.

Last weekend was pretty fun, and a little bit too non-stop. I basically ran away from work as soon as the day was technically over at 7:00 (okay, I waited until 7:05; that's the earliest I've ever left), and I headed over to Tachikawa for to meet Hera and her co-workers/students at a jazz club. Even leaving as early as possible, I knew I would be a little late. Thus when Hera sent me directions to the club along with the message that it would be awkward if she left in the middle, I began to worry about the size of the club, and how much of an entrance my late arrival would make (I mean, let's be fair--I'm already stared at all the time in normal situations). But before anyone noticed my arrival, someone noticed my exit--from the train platform, anyways. As I was hurrying to find the right street, a man approached me and tapped me on the shoulder (I was wearing massive headphones, so it could have been possible he tried to get my attention otherwise first). After asking me if I spoke English or Japanese, he expressed his interest in me by saying, "I have interest in you." He asked me if I had time to talk, and I said only if he walked.

Usually, I am much harsher to the random men who hit on me, but that's only because of the ridiculous pick-up lines I usually get (examples: Do you live in a castle?-->this wasn't even followed up by anything clever; but it's not nearly as bad as "Oh, I thought you were a cougar for a second, but you're actually young"); so perhaps it was his straightforwardness, or maybe it was my urgency to find the club and get away, but I gave him my e-mail address before taking off (and as many of you know, I don't give out my phone number to strangers after certain extremely obnoxious incidences of phone stalking--I'll only give it out if I can tell they are the type who will immediately call to verify the number, like cougar hunter from above). Also--and this may make me a terrible person--but I thought it would be amusing to see what he would write, and he delivered. See below. (P.S. I'm not such a bad person! As I walked away, I actually considered the option for a few minutes. And I really do appreciate his go-get-em manner).

By the time I made it to the jazz club, my fears were confirmed as I opened the door--the small and tightly packed room would be given a nice eyeful when I tried to squeeze my way through. But anyways, I had made it, and the music was fantastic, but not what I had expected for jazz...the singer was Hera's coworker, and we tried to speculate if the 7-stringed guitarist was her younger lover. Near the end of the night, I even convinced Hera to dance a bit with me (and the other rumba dancers shaking their business), and by dancing I clearly mean standing up and shaking a film canister filled with beads. The music was Portuguese (which apparently I can no longer recognize, despite having spent 3 weeks in Lisboa), and reminded me of the movie The Man Without a Past , though it really didn't sound much like the soundtrack. It was more of the feeling than tones or lyrics.

After the dance party ended, Hera and I headed for McDonald's (because though the 600 yen pizza bread was delicious, it wasn't very filling), where we waited for her friend from training to arrive with some of her Japanese student-men. We headed for an izakaya, where we stayed just long enough to miss the last train, which would just be our way of insuring that the next stop would be an all-night karaoke plan. And let me say this: all-night karaoke session = always a GREAT IDEA (especially with a lil nomihorai thrown in)...and in case you didn't know, I do a very good impression of Lady Gaga, as well as Brandon Flowers. And do not get in the way of Hera singing Kanye.

We stumbled out with raspy voices and high pitched giggles around 5, though poor Hera would have to return to that same area in just 7 short hours for work on Sunday open. Despite train service now running once more in my direction, I opted for the two stops away layover at Hera's--I also figured Hera could use me as an extra alarm clock in the morning. Little did I know that I would have an extra alarm of my own in the form of the first of the texts I would receive from my new Japanese admirer. And let me say this: in America, is was so easy to tell what message I was receiving from my phone: Feel it in My Bones was a phone call, Call it Off was my text, Funny Little Frog was my Facebook alert, and Wake Up was my Blackberry messenger alert, and Past in Present was my e-mail (it also alerted everyone around me to my obsession with Tegan & Sara). Simple, right? But I have no idea which alert is which on my Japanese phone, so when I open my phone, I don't know if I'm getting a text, a phone call, or if my alarm is going off.

So the next time my phone went off, I was sure it was my alarm, and was very confused to see it was my phone ringing (and because I'm just confused in general in the morning). It turned out to be one of my training mates, who (probably because he is British) always sounds angry; even though I thought he was just calling me up to insult me a little (Him: "Were you still sleeping?" Me: "Well, yeah..." Him: "Lazy."), it was actually to invite me along with another trainee mate to a sumo match. And here's my problem in the morning: you can basically convince me to do anything, which left me an hour and a half to get out of Tokyo to Saitama, and back to a different side of Tokyo. Anyways, let's just say I was successful, because this post is way too long to go into anything else. Though I do know someone whose weekend was much more eventful than mine *cough* KELSEY RAMOS FUTURE MRS. CONROY *cough*.

As promised:

First:

hi jillnels (that's my e-mail, and apparently what my name is to him)

i am ------

i talked to you at tachikawa station

i am grad if i met you

once more

thank you

subject: fine day

hi, gillnels (oh, how sweet; he's made a nickname from my fake name)

thanks for your mail

ok, i introduce you my

profile

age: 34 (yowza! If I had considered him before, this eliminated him)

adress:-------

job:system engineer

my holiday : saturday, sunday and national public holiday

i like cat, i often go fitness club and swimming

i have interest in english and have more interest in you

and what is your job ,

and when is your holiday

Third:

Subject: Autumn

Hi Jillnels!

Its Autumn! (Must be his English name...)

sky is high (orly?), wind is cool, and air is transparent.

do you like this season?and can I invite you a date?

if you are ok, tell me your schedule that you could meet with me

Odd Flavored Things and Breakthrough!

The post title actually has something to do with the post! Imagine that! First things first: food (like I ever put food second, come on!). One thing about Japan is that while foreign foods do sometimes crop up in the supermarkets, there does seem to be an overwhelming desire for KitKats here--they seem to pop up everywhere. And there apparently exists a huge market for a wild variety of flavors. Last year I had an amazing Ramune flavored one during the excruciating Mt Fuji hike (ramune apparently comes from lemonade, but I wouldn't describe it as such; I don't really know what kind of flavor it is), and Hera swears by green tea flavored ones. A few weeks ago we sampled a combo pack of cola and lemon flavored KKs. The general consensus (i.e. my opinion) was that cola was meh, but lemon ROCKED. I have since been on the kick for different Kats. The latest I have found is Mixed Juice flavored (ミックスジュ-ス）, which is an interesting choice from the makers of KK. Observations: not bad, not my favorite; tastes more like candy bananas than mixed juice. I'm holding out for lemon flavored.

Next: Breakthrough! While I do teach a class by this name, this is not what I refer to. What I refer to is a certain child I teach who presents somewhat of a problem for me during class at times (ex. mooning), and overall doesn't listen to me at all. However, I had a make-up class with him on our Sunday Open (that is, my last in a six day week); since he was the only student, we basically played whatever game he wanted to do, and wonder of wonders, he listened to me--and he actually repeated what I said in English! And not only that, but he remembered after class! See, the absolute worst part of my job is the 5 minutes after a kids lesson where we teachers have to prove to the mothers that their children are learning--and if the child screws around in class, it becomes apparent after class (and as you can imagine, insanely embarrassing for me). So this Sunday was the first time he could actually repeat what we did in class, and quite well to boot. The fact that he got so much encouragement clearly pleased him; he turned bright red and kept squirming around on his mom's lap, trying to hide his smile. It was really satisfying to see that happen, and even though I know this will never happen again unless I have another private lesson with him, it's still the small victories that count.

A moment of...

There is one thing I wish for every day. It's the same thing day after day, basically since I've arrived. If I had this one thing, I feel like everything would be right in the world. All I want...is for it to be less bloody hot. All I want is to arrive at work not dripping sweat; or at least not have to base my wardrobe on what polyester styles best hide it.

Also, my apartment is about the same size as a cardboard box, and yet I always seem to misplace my AC remote. I can tell you where at least 4 tubes of mascara are, but when it comes to the only necessity in my apartment, I misplace it at least twice a day (once before I leave for work; the second before I go to bed--and a few times in between for good measure).

However, one thing I must say is wonderful is the soundtrack for (500) Days of Summer. Thanks to Hera for getting me that (that is, for uploading it to her own computer, and then allowing me to sneak it off while she was in the shower)--also, thanks for the movie itself; I watched it last week when I was, to put it kindly and culturally; feeling like merde. I should say the Japanese equivalent--kuso--but it doesn't have that certain elegance of the French variety.

Anyways, please ruminate this when you miss me:

"It's so damn hot! Milk was a bad choice."

Kids.

Tomohito (TH) has 3 phrases in frequent rotation: "Kids.", "Oh rearry?", and "Dammit!" So in his honor, I named this babeh-sized post after him.

Basically, after I caught the last train home, I had my music on shuffle as I readied myself to get on my bike to go home. One of the first songs to come on was "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, and in my cynical-about-love-state, I went "Pffffft," in response. Only I did it really, really loudly. I then decided the best way to get on my bike was to bunny hop over the seat and then kick off the brake (of course, I was wearing a dress). Needless to say, I have not mastered the art of Japanese elegance and grace yet.

Well, that's about all. Sorry if I got your hopes up for more. It's late at night and I am very sweaty. Which I just realized was due to my AC being set at 28 degrees.

Also, both times I came home today, I entered my house with a shout (which is just great; as I'm sure I already terrify the neighbors with my large gaijiness--as well as my midnight singing in the shower). The first was due to a lizard dropping from my ceiling into my room; the second was because a very large and loud cicada followed me down my outside hallway. Lovely.

Origami Wallpaper Fail

Random bits and pieces first:

I really like singing, but I get really flustered singing in front of people for fear of messing up (not a karaoke story, btw). But then, I was watching some Tegan & Sara videos (one of my hobbies) on u2b (youtube for you n00bs) and half of their live performances are titled "Tegan & Sara mess up (song)", which makes me feel much better about myself, because T&S are two of mah faves, and if they can mess up and still be awesome, then well--that's something, I guess.

Live Action Japanese Living Information Update!

Anyways, my apartment is really boring aesthetically, so I had this idea that I would try

to wallpaper my walls with origami. This is as far as I got. It looks like I put a quilt on the wall, basically. Not that quilts are bad or anything; but I feel like every attempt I make at trying to decorates ends with my room looking a little more child-like. I saw the apartment of one of the guys that I trained with, and his was all sophisticated and stylish, and it made me really jealous because I want to be cool, dangit! But instead I have clear dressers that you can see my underwear through, and a penguin bank (the guy I replaced passed that on to me, and I would get rid of it, but if you read my last post about trash separation in Japan [which no one did], you would understand how that is nearly impossible).

Also, one of my blankets is really just a big towel. But apparently those are big in Japan (big as in popular, not big as in towels in general--those are actually not very big normally).

"What you don't surrender, the world strips away." --Tegan tattoo (and Bruce Springsteen lyrics, apparently)

Flying jerky patterns like snowflakes in the air

I have become the serial killer of the fruit fly world.

I never wanted this to happen. But they just keep coming back; multiplying every few minutes or so. I don't how it’s possible; when I took a shower this evening, I killed about 7—when I came back to get ready for bed, there were about 10 more new ones. They tend to congregate in my bathroom; why, I don’t know—there are no open containers; there is nothing but make-up soaked Q-tips in the trash can. I don’t even feel safe buying fruit anymore—I started drinking juice drinks instead of buying anything that grows from the ground—I mean, I’ve already been reduced to a diet of carbs (mainly noodles and white bread, with the occasion bits of rice when I get sushi). But then…oh, dear—the bananas were on sale for 99 yen—99 yen!—I was having guests spend then night, and fruit is just so expensive that I couldn’t possibly pass it up.

And now I am paying the price. This morning, I was twice awoken by the sound of

buzzing near my ear—I am unfortunately so light a sleeper that fruit fly buzzing wakes me up—but considering the infestation that is going on right now, it’s a miracle I could sleep at all.

It’s not helped by the fact that Japan runs its citizens through a labyrinth of details when it comes to trash collection. I have included a sample collection schedule to give you an idea of what I have to do—but let me say that I would much prefer this simple, complimentary English schedule to my (more brightly colored, as well as more elaborate) schedule. It also doesn’t help that I rarely no what idea day it is if it’s not Friday (the night I have to go to bed early because Saturday is early up day), Saturday (day before weekend!), Sunday (weekend start ☺!), or Monday (weekend end ☹ ). The problem is that this slightly shifted schedule has not been something I have easily become accustomed to, and so my trash collection grows, and my 9x12 feet apartment suffers.

On the plus side, I have seen some of the other very intense bug life that exists in Japan—and considering the number of stag (or other) beetles, spiders, and moths of all sorts I encounter on my way home, I should be grateful that my nemesis (nemesises?) are no larger than 2 mm.

"I recall you said you missed me.

...then again, it doesn't matter."--Shout Out Louds

From July 5th

I feel like the luckiest girl ever!

But let me explain.

On Monday morning, I met my manager, K, at the station (I was the only one who got picked up at the same station we left from). K (who is pretty much the cutest thing ever) took me first to the school, which was definitely much smaller than I imagined (but I have my own classroom!--and I don't even care if it's smaller than my closet at home), but I think that makes it feel a little less intimidating. We then took a taxi to my new (very own!) apartment, which is full of charm (if not much else)--and even if it's the smallest thing ever, I still adore it. K got me curtains with the school's budget, and apologized profusely for not being cute, for being cheap, that I could buy new ones as soon as possible, etc.--I've heard of this modesty happening with Japanese gift giving, but I never had experienced it before. I assured her that they were lovely and would definitely keep them.

Later in the day, K came back to take me shopping (technically it's my off day), and we stopped by the Daiso first to pick up some basic kitchen necessities. From there, we went to the department store next door, where I got to pick out a brand new bicycle! It's awesome; it looks a bit like a beach cruiser and has 3 speeds and a basket. We then went to the grocery store in the store's basement, and I got some food to survive on for a few days (or in my case, a few hours--jk, but only kind of). We also picked up a pan and a tea kettle. And did I mention that these were all gifts from my company?

I was going to ride my new bike home, but it was raining so hard that I decided I would have to pick up the bike another day. Despite the raging thunderstorm, I was able to find my way home by foot. But somehow, despite having an umbrella, I arrived completely soaked.

Later in the night, I got a knock on my door, and it was the delivery man dropping off my futon, which K informed me would be happening. I didn't realize it was actually a set, however, which including a down comforter, pillow, and sheet. I feel so well taken care of!

Now that I've experienced all these little perks, I'm excited to see the actual aspects of my job in person. This next week, I will be mostly only observing lessons; right now I'm only scheduled to teach one lesson--the last one on Saturday evening. However, my head teacher told me that that could change if it turns out that one of the other classes only has a few students sometime in the week. I really hope I do well; I want my students as well as myself to eagerly await each lesson.

Herro Young Rovers

Part 3

Another character that blossomed into full crazy by the last day of Training was T; an odd fellow with Native American heritage and a Japanese fiancee. T didn't seem very odd at first, but I began to catch on to his strangeness when he started asking such questions as "Have you ever tried fancy cat food?".

On Friday, he seemed to be at peak form. One of the trainers went over the some last aspects of the company, and it came up that another trainer was a poster boy for the company. T asked suddenly if we would be made aware of our image being used for advertising, and if we could opt out if we wanted. The trainer said of course, and that they wouldn't do anything without our permission. T continued on that his image had been misappropriated during a teaching stint in another foreign country, where he had come across a cardboard cutout of himself. He began ranting that he didn't want to be exploited again, and the trainer assured him multiple times it wouldn't; T then demanded that he should be paid if they did. We had a break shortly after, and T continued to rant about his photo exploitation. I asked if he had at least taken a picture next to his cut-out, which he didn't find as amusing as I did.

The next trainer to come in was the previously mentioned poster boy, who was set to talk for about 15 minutes about another subject--what that subject was, I'm not sure, because about two minutes in, T ripped a fart during the talk. The trainer went on for a few more words, then looked at T and said, "Was that you?" I unfortunately looked at T then, who's face was still as stone as he said, "It just slipped out"--I started shaking from trying to hold back the laughter. When the trainer went on, I nearly lost it--he said, "Geez, man; at least say 'Excuse me'. This has got to be a first." Then he looked around and said, "You guys can laugh; I can see you're trying to hold back." Another explosion slipped out at this point, but fortunately it was from the other end as we let go of the suppressed giggles. I, unfortunately, have the maturity of a 13-year-old boy, and continued to hold back giggles as my face turned red and tears pooled in my eyes for the rest of the talk. At one point the trainer looked at me and said, "Jillian's having a hard time," which nearly set me off again--I couldn't look at him the rest of the night. We had another break, and I was able to pull it together a little better, though the next trainer to come in did ask if I was okay.

You would think this would be the end, considering it was the last day of training--but no; the insanity continued. After a weekend of fun and frolic, we gathered once more- and for the last time- at the seminar house, awaiting our 5-minute morning meeting before setting off for our schools. The trainers came in and prepped us, and asked a few of us to serve as representatives for our rooms as they were checked. As those who volunteered to go got up to follow the trainers, T once more let 'er rip--and this was a much more powerful one than the previous business. I was glad I was up and moving, because it better disguised my laughter, but as I came to the door, the trainer turned around and told T that he had better refrain from doing that at the staff meetings at the school. As we walked up the stairs, he said, "What the hell is wrong with that guy? He's so rude." I muttered "Too much to count", but it definitely got a little lost through the laughter.

And lastly, after the house was all squared away and we were waiting outside, T let one more loose (if only for the sheer purpose of reminiscing). And thus ended our time at the Omiya house.

BABY GOT INTAWEBS!

So now that I am finally hooked up to the nets, I can present you with wonderful wonderful bits of life from the last month or so of my time in Japan. I'll be doing a chronological reverse, so you get the earliest first. Read it in order, peeps!


Training Blog

On Friday, we finally wrapped up nearly two weeks of training, and the night ended with a bang (this is very funny, but you won't realize why until later in the story).

I'll admit that many people in the house were getting a bit restless with living with 7 other people (originally 9 total) for so many days straight; it was clear the proximity was starting to weigh on everyone's minds. The first to go was a teacher, D, who had actually worked with the company before, and actually had been a trainer 3 years ago before moving back to Canada. However, he came back with his Japanese wife for another go at teaching--and while it was clear that he had a lot of patience, all of us had been surprised to find out about his former position with the company, since he didn't seem to have a strong command of what was going on. Earlier this week, he was working with another trainee on a lesson plan they had to present the next day, when he began acting funny. We have to use drill cards with phrases on them in the lesson, and one of the ones he had was "skip lunch"--so when his partner was practicing with the cards, apparently D became confused and began asking whether they really had to skip lunch that day. His partner said he then began to act really odd--for example, he asked him why he had left Japan, and D's reply was something like, "I have to protect her; I have to protect her. But Canada has many good qualities. We have a really good relationship with Russia." When they went to the supermarket to get lunch, his partner mentioned getting sushi, and D then asked if they were allowed to get it. After they bought it, he told his partner he was allergic to it (I don't think this is true though...I think it just came out). Finally, back at the training house, he ate one piece of sushi and decided to go lie down (but only after asking his partner for permission first). After that, we found out he wasn't feeling well, and was taken to a hospital. Apparently, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, so they sent him home to his wife and told us he wouldn't be coming back to training, but that at least he was feeling better.

Part 2
If anyone has ever seen Superbad, let me preface by saying two of the boys on the trip experienced a true bromance very similar to the main characters of the movie when they met at training. B & U were rarely seen separated in the house, and could often be found mouthing jokes or throwing gestures at each other's direction if they were paired with other people during training. B was cute, though a bit dorky looking, but definitely tried to over compensate with his trendy apparel; U made dumb jokes but was generally a pretty nice guy. It often seemed that U was really nice to me, and B gave off the impression that he wasn't very happy about it, especially when I began to tease them about their bromosexuality. I clearly exaggerated it so that they would know I was joking--U did and would laugh, but B was a very grumpy guy and didn't take it well (and actually has the face of a grumpy old man).

On the last night of training, U decided to show of his reversible belt to B; unbuckling it and showing the versatility of it all while B admired it in wonder. I stared at them with a pretend look of disgust, and as they sat down, B looked at U (who was distracted by something else), then looked at me, and quickly looked away as he flipped me off. I nearly died laughing at his attempt at retaliation. But the real death by laughter was yet to come...

Boobs
(the first of the promised topics)

P.S. It didn't end all badly with B. We had a bonding moment in the train station at departure on Monday when we were approached by a short, stooped old man in a suit with slicked back hair that was white at the rots and black and the tips. The man kept pointing at us in our business suits, then giving us an "OK" sign. Then he started miming female curves before pointing at me and giving me the OK sign. We both were choking back laughter, and I told him in Japanese that I already had a boyfriend (I figured that if my lie would get him to stop the gestures, then it was worth it). He then pointed at both of us and gave the OK sign. Next, he pulled out some snacks, which we both rejected; but after his insistence, we each took one. He kept trying to give us more, but when we refused, he stuck the entire bag in B's bag. After that he said good-bye and we waved him off.

Oh baby, baby, it`s a wild world

You know that feeling when your feet are in intense pain, you`re incredibly tired, and you think that your bike has been towed and you have to walk home, but then you realize after a few minutes that you just parked in a different aisle? I hope you never have to experience any part of it.

P.S.! OMG! There is another girl in the internet cafe!
Also, above the internet cafe, there is a Cat Cafe. Ponder that.

A quickie postie!

Hmm...Maybe that blog title is not the best...well, anyways; onward ho!

I know that I`ve left my faithful friend readers hanging, but that`s because I no longer have that wonderfully reliable and convenient internet connection on the roof that I used to (to think I would long for the days of stealing WiFi from the rooftops of Japan!). Instead, I have to come to a seedy Manga Cafe where everyone is playing RPG games (and not just manly things like WoW; there are tons of boys here who are playing games that look so adorable as to be aimed at preschoolers) or looking at porn (really! right there in the open, when we are back to back with at least 6 people). And I only get 30 minutes at a time, because 30 minutes is 100 yen, and every extra 15 is another 100. But I get free coke with a swish of melon soda,　so I survive. But it`s usually not enough time to write a post.

But for those who want job updates: the last two weeks, I`ve gone through swings where I love my job and I hate my job. Right now, I`m okay; but who knows about tomorrow? Actually, since it`s weekend, I`ll probably love it again. But I just realized my time is almost up, so I must say adieu (I will love it for sure when I have internet at home).

P.S. I have a stored lot of blog posts for when I do get internet, and here`s a sneak preview:

Bull riding
Babykins
Bikes!
Boobs (no, seriously；this will be covered)

Later gater!

Up on the rooooof....

Still on the roof. If you're wondering whether I look horrendous in the picture, let me just clarify--you're correct. It's morning, I'm tired, in my pajamas, with unbrushed hair, on a roof (but at least wearing slippers! It's a requirement at the training house). Actually, being on the roof isn't as bad as I make it seem with my incessant whining; I just like to see how many blog titles I can come up with that involve the word.

So, yesterday was my first day giving an entire presentation of a lesson--targeted at 4-5 year olds, no less. I think it went pretty well, as I am known for being EXTREMELY GENKI! in Japan (usually the translation goes along the lines of 'healthy', but it's not uncommon for a Japanese person to translate it 'high tension', and now I know why). But still, it was a bit exhausting--lots of singing and dancing. I'm starting to view the adult lessons as a break. And speaking of breaks, tomorrow is our first day off! And I'm going to dinner with HERAgami!! I don't know about her, but I'm peeing my pants in excitement.

Ok, I need to go prep for the day (it's my turn with cleaning duties today, and the president is coming, so I need to DO MY BEST!). Hopefully I'll be able to put up some much cooler pics soon.

<.3

I'm on a roof, mudda-effa

Hey kiddadles! Here I am in Japan. In Saitama. On a roof. It's the only place for miles around with internet. Well, unlocked internet, that is. Yesterday, we visited this fancy internet cafe (technically a manga cafe) that had private cubicles and an all-you-can-drink vending machine, but the price for 2 hours was a little misleading (over-charged for being a gaijin? Probably not, but I can't read tricky signs in kanji, so I will blame it on that).

Ok, I promise to write entries that are longer than this in the future, but I'm pretty hungry right now and would like to go eat my cream cheese flavored yogurt, so I will have to catch you all up later.

Blog title throw out to Laurel, who told me I was on a boat. I had to correct her.

My Groodness!

Groodness Me! I'm in Canada, eh? Some Canadian girls in LA were uber-excited because one of them ran into the girl who plays Mercedes from Glee in the terminal. I'm glad foreigners can come to Southern California and see movie stars all over, since that's how life is like there.

It's just a short countdown now 'til actual arrival, and I'm starting to get a little nervous! I really hope this is a good year, and that I'm a good teacher...I feel like I have to start looking at this business in pieces instead of as a whole, because that starts to make me feel in over my head. But I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone over in Japan; I'm so happy to be nearby so many people. I'm going to get going now, but hopefully the next post you see will be detailing my successful entrance into Japan (...if it's not; well...that's not good. So fingers crossed). Okay bye!

P.S. Edit--While at the airport, I started to feel a little sentimental (seriously though, I think I may be one of the most sentimental people in the world) and started to read the cards/notebook musings people had written to me (my mom asked everyone at the good-bye party to write me a note in a notebook she had bought me, and Suzy relayed the message to bring pictures from the past--some of which are a real treat, I'll tell you). Anyways, I got to Kelsey's (the first one) and started crying, so I had to put off reading the rest since I am in an airport surrounded by Nihonjin who will surely judge me because, as Bridget Jones's mother says, the Japanese are a "cruel race" (jk; almost every Japanese person I've met has been the bee's knees, though I'm not quite sure what that means. But really, they're great). So now I'm reading Secrets of the Model Dorm because I'm a baby who needs light-hearted amusement.

Boy Howdy!

It's almost D-day! On M-day. I'm sad right now, but I'll probably be happy once I'm there. I guess that's all for now.

G'Bye, Polly Pie; we will miss you.

My visa is entirely the cutest thing ever. Besides my standard passport photo's transformation into a nice black and white vignette portrait, it is also decorated with light pink cherry blossoms and Mt. Fuji, as well as a watermark in the shape of a fan with the letters 'V-I-S-A' across it. Truly adorable.

In honor of LoKate's blog post dedicated to her sister's food, I have to say that I made a dish taught to me by the one and only LKS; the Spanish Tortilla. It was quite delicious, especially for being gluten free (terrible, terrible, terrible diet--I truly think the doctor that I visited is straight up bananas if he thinks this business will continue past the two week mark). It's been so long since I've had a proper dessert (not since Saturday at least)--I'm starting to hallucinate (and by hallucinate I of course mean that I am very, very grumpy. I'm also displeased with everything. Except my very cute visa [But I do hate new Google--where is the Image option???]. I have also become forgetful. See P.S.).

P.S. Suzy informed me that I missed the Glee season finale tonight, which is completely ridiculous of me. Thank goodness for DVR!

Lobstervations.

LoKate left that word in her comment on my last entry, and after I read it, I just sat giggling to myself for awhile while I repeated it.

I always know that it's the start of a good week when I come home and am greeted by a brand new dog. For some reason, these dogs are usually black (at least 4), and they usually are brought home by my siblings (Roar-dawg being the biggest repeat offender here). The latest, however, was brought home by my sister to dogwatch for her co-worker. This fine, noble creature goes by the name of Polly, and can launch herself sideways off of couches. Isn't she wonderful?? Taco went nuts at first, but now he more or less tolerates her. When we play with the tug-o-war chew toy, Taco will chase after it, and Polly will chase after Taco. Goldie has no idea what is going on ever.

Also, I have bought my plane ticket and submitted my Visa application. I'm going to Japan for realsies now. The last things to do are pack and g00d-bye party!!

One last lobstervation (even though the rest of the blog was actually more statements than lobstervations): when looking up "Why" with Google, the top suggestion is "Why can't I own a Canadian". Fortunately, I found out the reason for this in Yahoo! Answers: the Teen edition.

Shout Out Loud!

I bought my plane ticket today! Isn't that funky fresh? It was bloody expensive, but money is replaceable, isn't it? Unlike people. Speaking of...Emily Winter comes home this week! And Laurel leaves Monday. Holy Smokes! Like the Smoke Monster. Which was one of those questions on LOST that did get answered, even if a long time ago. Speaking of, I loved the LOST finale. I cried for about 15 minutes after it ended, but only in private. In fact, I can't think of Juliet and Sawyer without bursting into tears. Oh dear...

But anyways, a lot of people complained that LOST didn't answer questions, but so far, all I've seen people do is complain about these ambiguous questions without actually saying what any of their questions were that didn't get answered--

(P.S. EDIT: there are some spoilers here--somehow this become a LOST rant). The only thing I've seen so far with actual questions (some of which did actually get answered--someone wasn't paying attention) (P.P.S. How crazy was it when we first saw the Smoke Monster? And we were like 'What IS that thing???' Though it was answered awhile ago, I still feel like it was a good twist).

was this-->http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291 --and I'm betting people will be borrowing from this to form their complaints. But here's the deal--many of the questions that people want to know the answer to are either a) unimportant, b) ideas purposefully left open-ended, or c) stuff that can't be answered because the question arose during a time when the writers didn't really have a solid grasp on what they were doing, and so discrepancies came about (example: the smoke monster, revealed to be the Man in Black whose purpose was to get rid of Jacob/Jacob's candidates so that he could get off the island, killed a bit haphazardly when it first came about probably because they didn't really hadn't decided what they would do with the character--also, a similar question also arises when Jack sees his dead dad off-island--when Jack sees his D.D. on-island, it's the Man in Black; but for the story to be accurate, Jack has to be hallucinating when he sees him off-island, because the MiB can't get off the island--I don't think that connection was made until later by the writers).

But anyways, the point isn't to get all the answers, because that's not realistic, and it's not very enjoyable. The creators' desire was to create an intelligent show that didn't necessarily cater to the lowest common denominator, which requires that viewers may sometimes need to think for themselves, and come up with their own theories. In my opinion, this makes the show much more enjoyable, because we form a connection to the characters (especially those who have watched it for many years), and if we are told exactly what happens to them and what their situation is, it is easy to become frustrated if the outcome is not what we hoped for. I think the ending was a perfect way to close because it made a full circle--it focused on these flawed people and the redemption they found.

Ok, I'm done riding this train for now. So recap: ticketed, hello, good-bye, LOST.

And now a little extra random bonus:

Song of the Day: Shout Out Louds, "Impossible" (Alternative: "A Hard Rain in Tokyo", SOL) --Such a good band live!

Push it...push it real good.

Hi Kids!

Today I received a very nice lovely delicacy in the mail today. I knew right away from the envelope and the style of writing that it had come from Japan; I just didn't know where in Japan it had journeyed from. When I opened it, I was greeted with this lovely surprise:

My sad and pathetic computer skills present you with a wrongly directed, poor quality version of this wondrous little letter that came from my future co-workers. I was wondering if some such letter might be headed my way, since Hera had shown me a similar written welcome from her future/now current workmates. Getting the letter helped cheer me up from the frustrating run-around I've been getting from the online airfare booking agencies (those foo's think they can offer me bait and switch for a $800 flight originally promised at $577? No sirree. Momma don't raise no foo').

Anyways, everyone remember that my g'by' party is on June 19th, and LoKate's Surprise goodbye party is this Saturday (details to follow any questions asked).

Quotes of the day:

Carrie: I sat by the weirdest couple on the plane today. One of them looked just like Abraham Lincoln.

Jillian: I hope it was the man.

I'm making Mac 'n' Cheese Tomorrow! Mm Mm Mm!

Today, after she convinced Katrina to reschedule the picnic because she was unavailable, Laurel dragged me to Border's on the premise that I could read comics and keep her company while she worked (ok, more like I wanted to get ice cream and photos from Costco and then go read comics, and she needed to work, so I tricked her into getting into my car--but at least this time I didn't force her to listen to Tegan and Sara on repeat), but the silly bookstore was out of THE ONLY COMIC I WANTED (the same one the library was out of!), and so I had to read travel books about Japan (also, I bet the majority of the 3 people who read this forgot what the sentence was about after the first pair of parentheses, so recap: sneak attack, ice cream, T&S, comics, no comics, tour book).

Anyways, after looking at every travel guide covering Japan, I realized that the prefecture I am going to is insanely unpopular. Comparison: if we compare prefectures to SoCal counties, Saitama is Imperial County. To which all of you will reply, "Not a real place." But apparently, it is! I was originally going to say San Bernardino County because as we all know, that place is gHeTtO, but I looked at a map outlining counties just for fun and saw that Imperial is not just a highway that will take you from LAX to Anaheim Hills (and that nice international market with all the lovely desserts!), but the name of a living, breathing county (well...maybe. But I am fairly certain that, similar to the above paragraph, 1 of the 2 determined readers that has continued this far will not remember what this section is supposed to be about). But despite not having any info on my soon to be residence (not that it matters; I've been to Saitama), one of the books did have a good deal of very entertaining material.

One of these topics mentioned a particular area of Tokyo that will be rather close to me, so I felt it was appropriate to read into. The specific topic of the section concerned Otaku; the nerdy Japanese population that is overly into comics and video games and maid cafes. The usual culprit is a Japanese male with worn out, bland clothes and an awkward shyness that is more off-putting than endearing, especially when they cling to their anime character body pillows. However!, this article mentioned that while men are the usual characters indulging themselves as Otaku, there is a small portion of the population that is female, and are usually seen frequenting Ikebukuro (the place in Tokyo that will be by me)--and this portion of Otaku ladies are usually interested in what they call "boys' love", which is apparently very attractive boys who are in love with each other. There are even cafes that feature women who dress up as they very attractive men for the women visitors (so follow: girls who like pretty boys visit places where pretty girls dress as pretty boys to draw them in). I find this very hilarious, but I tend to think it is probably one of those small facets of of Japan that foreigners find and blow out of proportion as a way to describe what Japan is like.

Did someone step on a cat??

So. Right now my room smells like flowers. Fresh flowers. Which is really freaking me out, because I definitely don't have any flowers that I can see, so who knows what that smell really is.

Something I'm really excited about is my awesome awesome awesome MP3 speaker/radio/candy factory apparatus that I got for my birthday and only today figured out how to set the alarm. It was amazing, I was pleasantly stirred awake by the lovely flow of the Gonzalez piano cover of Feist's "One Evening", which is a much more soothing way to wake up then my phone's current blasting of the first notes of "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire (while you would think the name would imply an awesome idea for an alarm, it is actually extremely terrifying to suddenly be jolted out of the sleeping world by it).

I recently finished the book "90-Day Geisha", a memoir of one girl's time spent in Tokyo as a hostess. It's the second autobio I've read recently of whities going to Japan (the other being "Wrong About Japan"), and I find it incredibly fascinating that people feel such a need to try and explain Japanese from a foreign perspective, because I feel like it often comes out slightly correct, but very biased. I thought this book was pretty interesting, but the lead character kind of struck me as a brat--she liked to make it very clear that she was way above the bizarre world and was really only participating as an observer with the sheer motivation of writing a book. Also, she liked to point out how much of a model she was, but when I saw the pictures of her, I couldn't help but think, "Really?" Not because she wasn't pretty, but just because she was so average looking (but like...average pretty). Is everyone a model these days? Kind of like how everyone's a photographer? Yeah, well, whatever; the book was still interesting and got me pumped for Japan.

I'd love to continue to ramble on in an incoherent fashion, but it is bum-thirty in the morning and I should be sleeping for some reason because that is a practical thing to do at this time of night. So goodnighty nights.

Hello Young Lovers

I'm getting so excited to go to Japan because I got to talk to Hera Yoon this morning, and in her honor, I will post a bunch of pictures of her on the post today. Hera left for Tachikawa in February with the same company I am joining, so she is acting as the test sample for me.

But let me tell you, right now I am not very happy. This is very specifically due to my having swimmer's ear, which doesn't make sense because I haven't gone swimming since the fall. In high school, I used to get swimmer's ear all the time (mainly in swimming [some people read just that part and say 'Obviously you would get

swimmer's ear from swimming; what else would you get it from, running?', so to continue-->]; for some reason I hardly ever got it from water polo [smart asses]); the pain would sometimes cause me to miss school, and when I came back, I would have to use the kickboard all of practice (for some people this probably seems jolly and good fun, but I was a sprinter--and my main source of power came from my arms. My legs were like useless pieces of flotsam behind me). Anyways, that long story is mainly just a lead-up to say that my earache basically feels like someone is stabbing me in my ear while also causing my jaw to ache in a numb sort of way. And that makes me grumpy :( It was also embarrassing because the height of the pain came during a jaunt to Wal-Mart; the pain was so sudden and intense that I would grasp at my ear in a jerk-reaction while cowering ever so slightly--it probably looked to observers like I was getting some sort of secret haywire transmission in my ear, or like I was trying to block the voices in my head.

But the point is, I went to Wal-Mart to get boxes so that I can start moving out of my room, since I don't plan on living with my parents when I come home. And what I've come to learn is that I have a lot of crap--a ridiculous amount of useless crap, piles and piles of clothing that I'm fairly certain I don't go through regularly. And yet, as I try to organize everything and try to figure out what I can get rid of, I think to myself, "No, I need this--this is vital. This is very important and I'm sure that I will definitely want to keep it forever." I imagine this is going to be problematic if I want to continue down the path of effectiveness. Does anyone feel like cleaning for me? I can't pay you, but I will make you a 2 months supply of baked goods. Types of baked goods I will make you for cleaning my room:

-Shortbread

-Choco-chip cookies

-Marzipan (the candy, not fondant, but I can cover it in chocolate)

-Pound cake

-Sugar cookies with homemade frosting

-Pudding/pudding pies

-Mudpie

-Monkey bread

-Cinnamon rolls

-Cake cookies (they are pretty awesome)

-Brownies: plain, peanut butter, or marshmallow flavored

-Or any other type that you prefer, just let me know

All this can be yours! Now that I have sufficiently gone down multiple different paths in this post so as to make the original point unidentifiable, I will say Sayonara.

Song of the day: Know Better Learn Faster --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHjqSxrsL5M

This site is Bananas!

Jen V's friend recently introduced me to Smart.fm, which is pretty much the coolest educational site ever (...but then, I'm not really big on frequenting educational sites). Anyways, the site helps you learn languages for free! For realsies! So now I am brushing up on my Japanese by taking "Japanese Core 2000", which introduces you to 2000 words--and while I already know many Japanese words, I don't know the kanji for a lot of them, so it is really very helpful. But everyone should look into it, even people not going to a foreign country--there are still way cool things you can check out there. There's even one program that teaches British English for Americans! Isn't that fabulous?

Here's a picture of some Japanese cake, because I am hungry.

Okay, that's all for now!

Get out of here already!

So, I have decided...

To avoid posting late at night after drinking too much caffeine. It just leads to Xanga-ish ranting.

I'm starting to get a little annoyed that I can't purchase my plane ticket until after I get my certificate of eligibility (company policy). Because apparently, I won't be getting my COE until 2-4 weeks before departing. 2-4 weeks! I will only have 2-4 weeks to get a plane ticket to Japan in the summer! I'm a little anxious that 1. there may not be flights left that meet the instructions that I have to follow (timewise, that is) and 2. that the remaining seats (if available) will be a ridiculous amount of money. What could have cost around $400 is looking to be closer to around $1,000 at this point (and mind you, this is one way).

I'm also starting to get concerned about other logistical stuff like selling my car, or deciding what kind of deodorant I should get a year's supply of (I mean, should I just stick to one variety of the same brand, or should I have a smorgasbord of scents and strengths that I can mix and match to match my mood? Decisions!). I'm starting to feel really grown-up lately as well, because the only time I think about clothes shopping is when I'm imagining buying a new suit. And I'm starting to feel more acutely what it means to be gone for a year, and what that means in terms of whether I'll come back or not. Being grown-up is a funny thing to decide upon.

でも。。。これはわたしのたんじょうび。。。マシー。。。

Blogger is hella confusing (there--there, are you happy NorCal-ers? Can I be tight in your eyes now?). While trying to befriend my friends, I think somehow I ended up following myself (which is pretty impressive when you think of the implications).

My hair smells like campfire smoke. Nothing to do with anything, but it's past midnight and in the past couple of hours I've had a diet Coke and a Monster. Jenni guilted me out of going on a walk so late at night, mumbling something about murderers and and knives and badgers (she was watching '48 Hours', so I can't blame her, really--and it is her dog I walk with, after all).

What does this have to do with Japan? Absolutely nothing. And it won't. Come on, man! Not everything on here has to do with Japan. Also, not everything on here has to do with something.

What I really want to mention is how awesome playlists are; they really are iTunes gift to the world. Never has making a mixtape been so easy. Right now, I have this playlist entitled "Hot Sexy Mix", which features the following songs (if anyone would like me to make them a copy):

1. Feel it in My Bones (Tiesto ft. Tegan and Sara)

2. Flashing Lights (Kanye West)

3. SexyBack (J.T. and Timbaland)

4. Right as Rain (Adele)

5. Womanize (B. Spears)

6. Poker Face (HRH Gaga)

7. Fair Game (The Like)

8. Fireworks (Nicholas Hooper)

9. Dream On (Robyn)

10. Comfortably Numb (Scissors Sisters)

11. I don't feel like Dancing (SciSisters)

12. Kiss You Off (SciSis)

13. For Our Elegant Caste (Of Montreal)

14. Not Fair (Lily Allen)

15. Great DJ (The Ting-Tings)

Basically, I wanted to put #1 on a CD, and I needed some other songs that I didn't yet have on CD to go with it, but they needed to be fairly fast paced to keep the atmosphere.

Oh, I just felt the energy drink crash. I'm ending this now before it gets absurd. -er.

Packing Lists

One of my favorite things to do is make packing lists. It's a ridiculous obsession, but I really enjoy imagining the things that I will have in a foreign country (or state, or even city, it really doesn't matter the distance). I especially like to draw little outfits next to the clothing category. I tend to make the lists insanely far in advance (we are talking years here sometimes--but usually just months). But the lists tend to be really ridiculous, because I'll have all these coordinated outfits and little notes like:

Bring a ziplock bag of baking soda

Check Ross for the soft, fatty headphones

Scavenge house for 3m Hooks, because someone has to have bought them already

...but I'll forget to add everyday important things toothpaste and deodorant (but don't worry! I usually get them...eventually). But the super, absolute most ridiculous part of it is that I very rarely actually use these lists--I usually have to pull an all-nighter the day before the big trip when all plans for organization get shot to hell, and I'm usually found crying in frustration around 3 in the morning because I can't find my debit card and none of my jeans are dry since I forgot to wash them until that moment.

Anyways, the point is that I can't do that this time, since I won't be coming back for awhile. Year-while.

Embarassing revelation

I've been trying to get back into the swing of Japanese, which isn't really very easy (compounded by such a break since studying it). Even two months spent in Japan didn't get me back to the point where I stopped; the biggest help in my progress so far has been tutoring; relearning the technical elements. And while that's all well and good, I still need to understand it more conversationally--especially since my informal understandings of speech are weak. So my truly mortifying confession is...I've been watching anime lately to try and get used to the flow of the language. And yes...I enjoy it (oh dear). The reason I'm so embarrassed is that there is usually a stereotype of Americans who watch anime, and yes; I am superficial enough not to want to be associated with it. And I'm sure you know what I'm talking about--the skinny, nervous looking white boys who desperately seek after an adorable little Asian girlfriend; the girl who likes to wear cat ear hats (always some sort of animal ears! Keep those fursonas hidden away!) and rainbow knee socks because she thinks that's what they dress like in Harajuku (...it isn't. See earlier post on Harajuku). Really, I can't judge, since I've come along way in the evolution of my personal style (since I used to live in bright spandex and cat t-shirts in the 5th grade)--but mainly I would also not like to be lumped into that category, thank you (heh heh...cat-egory...)--mainly because I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone with my fun-sized pets and unicorn poster collection.

So, my series of choice is "Ouran High School Host Club", a comedy based off the growing trend in male host clubs with the twist of the club being an actual high school club at an elite private school. I was interested in this show after watching "The Great

Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief", which is an amazing and heart-breaking documentary of a Japanese host club. The anime and documentary really have very little in common, besides the fact that the hosts take on an appealing identity to charm women into parting with their money. Slight background for those of you who don't know what a male host club is: super-styled young guys (my stepbrother would probably describe them as dandies) entice women into their restaurant/bar/club where they laden them with compliments and affection, effectively getting the women to fall in love with them, becoming their ideal boyfriend whom they only see at night (much like a vampire, in a way). Comedic anime is fun because it takes these elements of real life and exaggerate it with such a swagger that it's easy to get dragged into it's humongous-eyed glow and pastel dreaminess. Real-life hosting is a fascinating phenomenon, but reflects the idea that if loneliness is a sickness, then treating it by getting in a relationship with a host is the equivalent of taking a cough drop to cure cancer.

But boy, does that have absolutely nothing to do with what I originally was going to go on about in this post! What I meant to say was: Hey, I'm trying to freshen up my Japanese and am doing so by watching anime because it's difficult to pause and rewind conversations with actual Japanese people, and even though it's a little embarrassing, I actually like it a little bit.

Who am I kidding? I dressed as Sailor Moon for Halloween one year. Whatever, I don't need to impress you.

Holy Smokles!

Last week, I had to send in my diploma + tons of signed papers + 5 passport photos to my new company so that I can get pre-Visa approval. They sent me a reply 2 days later (2 days! So quick!), returning my diploma along with a Japanese culture guide + English magazine about Japan. It was a heartwarming little bundle; little things like this make me feel more secure about my decision. Some days I tend to get really excited; others I have to gather my nerves and convince myself that this is what I want to do. And then I remember it's just a year, for crying out loud; it's a drop in the pond.

Fings!..and the events following.

Oh my goodness. I sent in the materials today to acquire my visa. I am going back to Japan for realsies now.

As of June 21st, I will be headed to Shiki, Saitama to work for a year in an English conversation school. This idea has been with me for the last few years, and it's exciting and frightening and incredible to finally see it come to fruition.

It also came at a time when I had just gotten to the point of unemployment exhaustion; I had fallen into the mentality that not only were there no jobs available; but that even if there were, I wouldn't be smart enough/skillful enough/all-around competent enough to be up for the task. It was a strange mindset that I had been trapped in for a few months, but as I left the interview for this position, I felt like I had suddenly taken a breath of fresh air. I know that so much of my uncertainty and fear came from the idea that identity is found in what we do and who we are with, and if we are unemployed and lonely, our identity is a hollow shell. Even then I knew that this self-conception was not bound in reality, but what we know and how we feel are often two very different things. With that comes the tangle of expectations; expectations has come to be synonymous with 'unrealistic' and 'eventual disappointment' in my mind, but perhaps that's not a bad thing.

I want to go into this willing to be open to whatever possibilities are presented to me. I know that sometimes I am so tempted to force things to happen a certain way because I think that is how things should be; how I think I want them to be. How things turn out to be should not be based on how I will them to occur based on some preconceived notion of rightness, but how I encounter new opportunities in grateful willingness.

So with that, I will be going to Japan.