I'm sorry everyone! Surprise! I'm alive and safe and home! As you can see, life's been a little chaotic since I've returned and I haven't been able to get back on to the computer like usual. I don't really use blogging too much being home so I wouldn't recommend checking this too much anymore. I doubt I'll update it often since it's named specifically for my Japan trip. Actually, if I wanted to I could reference it to the trip of life but, again, I'm not big on blogging.
I know I still have a ton of pictures to upload. Sorry!
I had a fun, exhausting, and horrible trip home. It was fun by meeting up with a classmate's dad and traveling home together so I had someone to talk with, exhausting because my 13hr flight had a lot of turbulence and not a lot of comfort, and horrible because I got sick while in life for customs/security in Atlanta and felt miserable the rest of the trip home. I eventually made it back to Dayton and saw Mom, Dad, and Jon who hid Kimmy behind him. Yay for surprises! Then Travis showed up to help with baggage too! That was nice. I was so exhausted I couldn't make myself stand anymore though. Hah, of course, I had Kimmy stay the night so she could hang out longer and that means, no sleeping until 4am! Haha! I pulled close to a 36 hour day! I never want to do that again, I was a mess for days after. It took me 4 days to get back on the computer. I was so busy with seeing family and friends and sleeping tiny amounts here and there. I started reading Dracula and realize I need to write!
Now Jon's left again to Maxwell and won't be back for a while. It's sad. It feels like a week after only 2 days. That's pathetic, I know but I can't help it. I miss him. I can't wait to do all the stuff we've talked about this summer! I'm super excited! I just hope I can get a job to help cover some stuff!
If anyone needs a babysitter or pet-sitter or manual labor done, I'm open! My only request is not Wed nights! I'll sing at Weddings, I'll mow your lawn, I'll clean your house. Please! I need something! I might go insane if I go another summer without a job! I almost had a chance at one but before I even got that chance, it was snatched away. >.<
Well, off to bed to hope for more success tomorrow.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
About that...
In 5 hours... I leave for the trains. And from the trains I leave for the Airport. And from the Airport I leave Japan.
Today was fun. I'll get on that updating thing during my 9 hours of layover tomorrow...
<3 you night!
Today was fun. I'll get on that updating thing during my 9 hours of layover tomorrow...
<3 you night!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
"Impossible" is not in my dictionaries!
So I actually went through with today even after being awoken early and getting a late start...
I covered a super large part of Kyoto all by myself... I never even saw my friend. -_-*
I visited the thousand tori gates but I didn't get to go through them all. That would've taken WAY too long and I was running late so on a tighter schedule... I apologize my camera has been failing with getting good pictures lately. It goes through phases like this sometimes...
But yeah, then I hopped back on a train to the closer part of Kyoto to where my other places were. (makes sense? grammatically? not necessary...) So I walked to Ginkaku Temple, walked around there, began walking back but hopped on a bus on a whim and ended up at Kitano Tenmangu shrine flea market- but I didn't go in since I was waiting for my friend... so I walked up to Kinkaku Temple, passing some shrines on the way, talking to random strangers with English accents, walked through all of that, then to Daitoku temple and through that, spoke with a guy from Texas there. He was nice, talked a lot but he was very peppy. So from there I walked back to Kitano Tenmangu shrine... and wandered through it because it was looking like it was going to close soon. It was nothing compared to around 1pm... thank goodness!
I wasn't feeling well at this point so I sat down for a bit and found out my friend wasn't going to make it so I munched on my dried banana chips and downed some water and went to meet her at the station I came in at... then waited and found out her phone died and she went home instead so I just got on a train and went home. Caught a bus just in time and got home and crashed... soo exhausted... my legs won't forgive me...
and tomorrow morning, even earlier for meeting Mai for the new Detective Conan movie before her classes! Probably going to grab Indian across from campus for lunch after hitting up Osaka castle for pictures- FINALLY- and book off one last time! ^)^
Then buy my Gaidai school t-shirt and close the suitcases until I'm home!
Wow... tomorrow's the last day for this...
weird...
PS: My map of Today is FINISHED! Check out Facebook!
I covered a super large part of Kyoto all by myself... I never even saw my friend. -_-*
I visited the thousand tori gates but I didn't get to go through them all. That would've taken WAY too long and I was running late so on a tighter schedule... I apologize my camera has been failing with getting good pictures lately. It goes through phases like this sometimes...
But yeah, then I hopped back on a train to the closer part of Kyoto to where my other places were. (makes sense? grammatically? not necessary...) So I walked to Ginkaku Temple, walked around there, began walking back but hopped on a bus on a whim and ended up at Kitano Tenmangu shrine flea market- but I didn't go in since I was waiting for my friend... so I walked up to Kinkaku Temple, passing some shrines on the way, talking to random strangers with English accents, walked through all of that, then to Daitoku temple and through that, spoke with a guy from Texas there. He was nice, talked a lot but he was very peppy. So from there I walked back to Kitano Tenmangu shrine... and wandered through it because it was looking like it was going to close soon. It was nothing compared to around 1pm... thank goodness!
I wasn't feeling well at this point so I sat down for a bit and found out my friend wasn't going to make it so I munched on my dried banana chips and downed some water and went to meet her at the station I came in at... then waited and found out her phone died and she went home instead so I just got on a train and went home. Caught a bus just in time and got home and crashed... soo exhausted... my legs won't forgive me...
and tomorrow morning, even earlier for meeting Mai for the new Detective Conan movie before her classes! Probably going to grab Indian across from campus for lunch after hitting up Osaka castle for pictures- FINALLY- and book off one last time! ^)^
Then buy my Gaidai school t-shirt and close the suitcases until I'm home!
Wow... tomorrow's the last day for this...
weird...
PS: My map of Today is FINISHED! Check out Facebook!
Monday, May 24, 2010
3 days? I did what?
And today?
I watched 3 Detective Conan movies... because everyone else was lame and was packing their bags, leaving, or not answers their phones...
and the host family had school and work...
GEEZ! Oh well, tomorrow I'm off to Kyoto! (Just like in the DC movie!) I'm going to visit a flea market shrine and some other places while I'm there alone. I'm excited for it! I did want to go back to Kyoto one more time before I left Japan and to another flea market! Yay!
Remember, never waste more than 1 day in a row!
^_^
I watched 3 Detective Conan movies... because everyone else was lame and was packing their bags, leaving, or not answers their phones...
and the host family had school and work...
GEEZ! Oh well, tomorrow I'm off to Kyoto! (Just like in the DC movie!) I'm going to visit a flea market shrine and some other places while I'm there alone. I'm excited for it! I did want to go back to Kyoto one more time before I left Japan and to another flea market! Yay!
Remember, never waste more than 1 day in a row!
^_^
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Lots of Lively Laughing Lately
Okay, I wasn't planning on updating today since not a lot happened but something really funny happened a little bit ago that I really want to share.
In general, today was good. It rained really heavily so no swing dancing (T-T) but otherwise, I went to mass with Carlos and listened to him give the second reading in Japanese. We grabbed lunch afterwards with some people and I said my goodbyes. They were really nice, it's a pity I had to leave them so soon. When I return to Japan, I'll see about visiting the area to see them for a Sunday. They seem to always have parties when I'm around. ^_^
But after that I hurried to meet Mai and her friends for Karaoke at Kyobashi. I was late, of course, but only just a little. We then did karaoke for 3 hours! It was AMAZING! We had so much fun and reminisced about some songs (from anime) and other things. They laughed as I reminded them of one of the songs from Rayearth... not the one I thought it was... so I stumbled a lot. I was running out of Japanese songs I could find and sing because they also picked songs that were on my "karaoke" playlist. We then also did some Taylor Swift, Arvil Lagvine, Pretty Woman, Michelle Branch, and then I found musicals... mwahahaha! They had two of my favorite songs from Mom's Mother's Day Mix: Shall we dance? and I Could Have Danced All Night.
Oh, it was awesome. They sounded just right (no funky versions or off keys) and I nailed them! It was funny. They were shocked about my "My Fair Lady" song. I guess they don't have very high singing voices... ^_^* It made me miss bursting into song back home and that CD since my iTunes died on me again and I lost more than half of my music... according to iTunes anyway. It's there, it just won't pick it up... >.<
But after that I barely caught the bus home and chilled out with the family for a while, then worked on my room again, put on my wig for Chihiro's amusement, and had a clothes fight with her too. We had a variation of Omu-rice for dinner but with veggies and no rice inside. Don't worry, we got a separate bowl for it and miso soup. ^)^ We hung around and watched TV, I told my host mom I should run with my luggage to the airport (about 1 hour by fast train away) and she couldn't stop laughing. Me too though... Then I returned to my room while they took a bath (o-furo) and continued to pack things until I began skyping with the rents.
Okay, more than 3/4 of the way through my talk with Mom, Chihiro walks in. She's in her pajamas, mask on, eyes red, and looking for something. At first she's a little difficult to understand so I think that she's telling me that I was too loud but she didn't say anything of the sort so I ask her if she's okay and she responds with where is "okaa-san?" Her mom. Where did she go? to be exact... I'm thinking... I've been in my room, door closed for the last 45 mins talking to my mother... I don't know. So I tell her I don't know and she walks out and I hear her go back to her room. Nothing.
After I finish skyping, I go look for Miwa... thinking she went somewhere. I find her in the kitchen doing dishes... and I ask her if she's okay and if she went anywhere. No... Then I tell her about Chihiro and she laughs because apparently Chihiro sleepwalks and talks sometimes. This is the first time I've seen it. We both crack up because she heard the door close earlier from the kitchen and thought it was weird but didn't think anything of it otherwise. So, yeah. Now I know I can communicate with my host sister even when she's asleep... hahaha. I'm sorry. I just thought it was soo cute because she looked really tired too and sometimes, according to Miwa, she will yell "mou" = "geez" in her sleep. I find stuff like this hilarious. Sorry. Aw... I'm going to miss these guys... for all the annoyances and frustrations with not being able to explain myself just right sometimes, I'm definitely going to miss them.
Chihiro also said, she definitely won't be awake to say goodbye to me on Thursday... because it'd be at 5:30ish. Hahaha, again, Miwa and I laughed.
In general, today was good. It rained really heavily so no swing dancing (T-T) but otherwise, I went to mass with Carlos and listened to him give the second reading in Japanese. We grabbed lunch afterwards with some people and I said my goodbyes. They were really nice, it's a pity I had to leave them so soon. When I return to Japan, I'll see about visiting the area to see them for a Sunday. They seem to always have parties when I'm around. ^_^
But after that I hurried to meet Mai and her friends for Karaoke at Kyobashi. I was late, of course, but only just a little. We then did karaoke for 3 hours! It was AMAZING! We had so much fun and reminisced about some songs (from anime) and other things. They laughed as I reminded them of one of the songs from Rayearth... not the one I thought it was... so I stumbled a lot. I was running out of Japanese songs I could find and sing because they also picked songs that were on my "karaoke" playlist. We then also did some Taylor Swift, Arvil Lagvine, Pretty Woman, Michelle Branch, and then I found musicals... mwahahaha! They had two of my favorite songs from Mom's Mother's Day Mix: Shall we dance? and I Could Have Danced All Night.
Oh, it was awesome. They sounded just right (no funky versions or off keys) and I nailed them! It was funny. They were shocked about my "My Fair Lady" song. I guess they don't have very high singing voices... ^_^* It made me miss bursting into song back home and that CD since my iTunes died on me again and I lost more than half of my music... according to iTunes anyway. It's there, it just won't pick it up... >.<
But after that I barely caught the bus home and chilled out with the family for a while, then worked on my room again, put on my wig for Chihiro's amusement, and had a clothes fight with her too. We had a variation of Omu-rice for dinner but with veggies and no rice inside. Don't worry, we got a separate bowl for it and miso soup. ^)^ We hung around and watched TV, I told my host mom I should run with my luggage to the airport (about 1 hour by fast train away) and she couldn't stop laughing. Me too though... Then I returned to my room while they took a bath (o-furo) and continued to pack things until I began skyping with the rents.
Okay, more than 3/4 of the way through my talk with Mom, Chihiro walks in. She's in her pajamas, mask on, eyes red, and looking for something. At first she's a little difficult to understand so I think that she's telling me that I was too loud but she didn't say anything of the sort so I ask her if she's okay and she responds with where is "okaa-san?" Her mom. Where did she go? to be exact... I'm thinking... I've been in my room, door closed for the last 45 mins talking to my mother... I don't know. So I tell her I don't know and she walks out and I hear her go back to her room. Nothing.
After I finish skyping, I go look for Miwa... thinking she went somewhere. I find her in the kitchen doing dishes... and I ask her if she's okay and if she went anywhere. No... Then I tell her about Chihiro and she laughs because apparently Chihiro sleepwalks and talks sometimes. This is the first time I've seen it. We both crack up because she heard the door close earlier from the kitchen and thought it was weird but didn't think anything of it otherwise. So, yeah. Now I know I can communicate with my host sister even when she's asleep... hahaha. I'm sorry. I just thought it was soo cute because she looked really tired too and sometimes, according to Miwa, she will yell "mou" = "geez" in her sleep. I find stuff like this hilarious. Sorry. Aw... I'm going to miss these guys... for all the annoyances and frustrations with not being able to explain myself just right sometimes, I'm definitely going to miss them.
Chihiro also said, she definitely won't be awake to say goodbye to me on Thursday... because it'd be at 5:30ish. Hahaha, again, Miwa and I laughed.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Yay Saturday!
So I'm being lazy today and only doing one update!
Here's what I said:
Hm, my day started off very early. I got up at 830 so I could get to our completion ceremony. I surprised the family being up that early.
I had to fight fan service on the way to school because I wore a skirt and rode my bike,(^^;
But the ceremony was fun and the food after was yummy. I said my goodbyes to a lot of people. It was sad.(T-T)
But afterwards, I went to the bank again to try to get my $100 back and after enlisting the help of a nice English speaking person, we found out it was the wrong bank, easy to mix up since I had an actual account at that one, either way lots of exercise and embarrassment. But yay for nice Japanese people!
Then, I passed out for a bit here. I was so tired, I don't know why. Oh, I FINALLY cleaned my room and later we picked up Miwa and the kids and got all you can eat awesome. Tabehoudai! I was so stuffed, then we did puri‐kura and helped Miwa search for a book. I ended up buying a japanese cookbook too! Yay 5 min meals!
I had a ton of fun with the family tonight and spoke a lot of good Japanese, I think...
Im so excited to go see the new Detective Conan Movie with Mai, Miwa wants to go see it too but I think she's working Wednesday Morning... Ironic... one of the last things I did before coming to Japan was see a Movie and that's the way I'll leave Japan. COOL!
Yay no more money troubles!
Going to bed now because I'm so tired and have a busy day tomorrow too! PLEASE don't RAIN, even though I know you're supposed to!
Here's what I said:
Hm, my day started off very early. I got up at 830 so I could get to our completion ceremony. I surprised the family being up that early.
I had to fight fan service on the way to school because I wore a skirt and rode my bike,(^^;
But the ceremony was fun and the food after was yummy. I said my goodbyes to a lot of people. It was sad.(T-T)
But afterwards, I went to the bank again to try to get my $100 back and after enlisting the help of a nice English speaking person, we found out it was the wrong bank, easy to mix up since I had an actual account at that one, either way lots of exercise and embarrassment. But yay for nice Japanese people!
Then, I passed out for a bit here. I was so tired, I don't know why. Oh, I FINALLY cleaned my room and later we picked up Miwa and the kids and got all you can eat awesome. Tabehoudai! I was so stuffed, then we did puri‐kura and helped Miwa search for a book. I ended up buying a japanese cookbook too! Yay 5 min meals!
I had a ton of fun with the family tonight and spoke a lot of good Japanese, I think...
Im so excited to go see the new Detective Conan Movie with Mai, Miwa wants to go see it too but I think she's working Wednesday Morning... Ironic... one of the last things I did before coming to Japan was see a Movie and that's the way I'll leave Japan. COOL!
Yay no more money troubles!
Going to bed now because I'm so tired and have a busy day tomorrow too! PLEASE don't RAIN, even though I know you're supposed to!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Taking it easy and sittin' on top o' the world!
Thursday and Friday have been better! No worries! I got that out of my system so now I'm ready to have fun like mad with my last week of school.
Fun Fact: Did you know that there are no Western Union's in Japan? Nothing like them either. Huh... That's a little inconvenient if you're broke...
Well, yesterday I did what I set out to do! Stay home all day! I kind of boycotted Japan and refused to leave the house but after how much my body and head hurt, I wasn't going to complain. My legs are still sore but what's annoying is that my arms are more bruised than I thought and so I get a not so nice surprise when I hit the correct spot. OUCH!
I met with Mai for lunch for the last time but we're going to Swing Dance and Karaoke on Sunday so it's not that bad! I besides sleeping in and missing out on the Toji Temple flea market... probably for the best... I met up with Keck-san and Mai for lunch and chatting. After that, I took care of my paperwork for getting my deposit back. I would have it but I lost track of time today and when I got in the bank... only the ATMs were open still. It was 4:07pm on a Friday... ... A little annoyed but at least I rode my bike so I could get home easily and I didn't waste 440 yen! Now though, I can't get the student discount for Karaoke and I want to see if Mai wants to go see the Detective Conan movie again with me since I haven't seen it and I really really want to! I know I probably will miss out on a lot of the general facts but we'll see if it happens. I can always wait 6 months to a year and see it subbed for free online.
*sigh* the choices... well, I apparently missed my opportunity to see my grade in Writing, which I call BS on since I was at school every day but Thursday and walked to her office and checked for the paper but it was NEVER there! Apparently, it was at one point though... mislabeled but there... a little miffed about that.
My Anthro paper was returned to me 20 minutes after I left campus... again... I'll have to grab that stuff after the completion ceremony tomorrow... ugh, early morning!
Keck-san is speaking at it though and I snagged a copy of his speech-it's in Japanese- so I can understand what he's saying in case he goes too fast again. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fun tomorrow and busy if anyone actually remembers to tell me the plans more than 30mins to an hour before hand... >.<*
Skyping tonight with Jon, lots of plans for this weekend! Already started living out of my suitcase again... ^_^* I'm ready to go home.
I'm just hoping the old lady smell comes out of my kimono before I have to pack it in or else all my stuff will smell like old lady... o.o
I'm sooo cleaning my room the next chance I get! It's making me grossed out...
Oh well, back to conan while the family continues to eat/search for Gakuto's missing book. Bye!
PS: Mai had an English slang presentation today. ... x.x I read it before she went and I fear what they are teaching these Japanese students... It's never a good idea to let someone who's not native to the language teach the slang of that language because they never really understand the full impact some words have. For instance: Today I'm f-ing happy! (Apparently the F word means very) +_+ and to make slang something sound slang you stop using articles... The ENGLISH MAJOR in me CANNOT STAND FOR THIS! (the presentation drops the fbomb 3 times and it's only a minute long...) and what's a RUG?
Fun Fact: Did you know that there are no Western Union's in Japan? Nothing like them either. Huh... That's a little inconvenient if you're broke...
Well, yesterday I did what I set out to do! Stay home all day! I kind of boycotted Japan and refused to leave the house but after how much my body and head hurt, I wasn't going to complain. My legs are still sore but what's annoying is that my arms are more bruised than I thought and so I get a not so nice surprise when I hit the correct spot. OUCH!
I met with Mai for lunch for the last time but we're going to Swing Dance and Karaoke on Sunday so it's not that bad! I besides sleeping in and missing out on the Toji Temple flea market... probably for the best... I met up with Keck-san and Mai for lunch and chatting. After that, I took care of my paperwork for getting my deposit back. I would have it but I lost track of time today and when I got in the bank... only the ATMs were open still. It was 4:07pm on a Friday... ... A little annoyed but at least I rode my bike so I could get home easily and I didn't waste 440 yen! Now though, I can't get the student discount for Karaoke and I want to see if Mai wants to go see the Detective Conan movie again with me since I haven't seen it and I really really want to! I know I probably will miss out on a lot of the general facts but we'll see if it happens. I can always wait 6 months to a year and see it subbed for free online.
*sigh* the choices... well, I apparently missed my opportunity to see my grade in Writing, which I call BS on since I was at school every day but Thursday and walked to her office and checked for the paper but it was NEVER there! Apparently, it was at one point though... mislabeled but there... a little miffed about that.
My Anthro paper was returned to me 20 minutes after I left campus... again... I'll have to grab that stuff after the completion ceremony tomorrow... ugh, early morning!
Keck-san is speaking at it though and I snagged a copy of his speech-it's in Japanese- so I can understand what he's saying in case he goes too fast again. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fun tomorrow and busy if anyone actually remembers to tell me the plans more than 30mins to an hour before hand... >.<*
Skyping tonight with Jon, lots of plans for this weekend! Already started living out of my suitcase again... ^_^* I'm ready to go home.
I'm just hoping the old lady smell comes out of my kimono before I have to pack it in or else all my stuff will smell like old lady... o.o
I'm sooo cleaning my room the next chance I get! It's making me grossed out...
Oh well, back to conan while the family continues to eat/search for Gakuto's missing book. Bye!
PS: Mai had an English slang presentation today. ... x.x I read it before she went and I fear what they are teaching these Japanese students... It's never a good idea to let someone who's not native to the language teach the slang of that language because they never really understand the full impact some words have. For instance: Today I'm f-ing happy! (Apparently the F word means very) +_+ and to make slang something sound slang you stop using articles... The ENGLISH MAJOR in me CANNOT STAND FOR THIS! (the presentation drops the fbomb 3 times and it's only a minute long...) and what's a RUG?
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Worst Day Ever?
Okay...
Wednesday? Wasn't that hot... this isn't for the faint of heart...
but here's the recap:
I woke up around 11:30 to head to school and print off my paper so I could turn it in. I do manage that after getting stuck behind lots of slow people on bikes, having it rain lightly, and nearly hitting an old lady who doesn't look both ways before crossing anything.
The rain held off mostly until I got into the CIE building so I was grateful. Overall, these weren't so bad. I end up chatting with my psy professor for a while about what I'd want to do in the future and well, get a job hopefully. Other people came in and we discussed our feelings about Japan. The good, the bad, and the stuff that you know you should knock on wood about when you say it hasn't happened to you yet... >.<*******
I guess I was asking for it by mentioning how lucky I've been... >.<*************
If I see that guy again, he will have his own broken fingers ripped off and shoved into his mouth, eyes, and ears. (I can't wait to drive my car again)
Well, I grabbed some soft serve ice cream cause it was small and cheap and I didn't want to eat anything big since I was kind of skipping lunch. That was yummy but I forgot, I have my mother's stomach and I have to eat well-balanced meals... or something better than Mc D's ice cream and chocolate sauce... So that was an ugh moment later at home.
I luckily grabbed my bike and got home in a break in the rain but finally had a bug fly directly into my eye... oh, gross. I was blinded so badly, I actually had to stop my bike.
I got to chat with Miwa and the kids for a bit before I went to my room to relax and begin typing up copies of papers so I don't need to take them home. It's only my Japanese stuff from Genki that might be useful like stories and vocab. Unfortunately, I forgot which one I had left off on last time and realized it was the only lesson I hated. You know, it's not that I didn't understand something grammatically or did poorly on. It was the story. I forgot how uncomfortable I felt in class when we were going through it. It's about these two people who are dating, one lives in Osaka and one lives in Tokyo. They are trying to set up her friend with his coworker and well, basically... the friend ends up being a total sleezebag and the boyfriend an a-hole because they "fall in love" and the best friend never mentions anything about it. The boyfriend avoids talking to her until he finally sends her a letter because he's a pansy after 2 weeks. Did I mention the guy said he couldn't come to Osaka to visit the girlfriend because he had a business trip? But instead, he actually goes to Osaka to visit the girlfriend's friend... I was soo angry about this. We had to give our responses to this story and man, did I tear both of those two apart. If I knew bad worse in Japanese, I probably would have called them that.
-_-*
So yeah, after sitting through typing that up and then getting nervous about trying to find the swing dancing place on my own in the dark, I end up getting sick a bit (due to the not so good eating). Then I change my clothes to something to keep me a bit warmer since I don't have a coat besides the red wool one. I grab my stuff and catch the bus to the station. The way to the station close to the dancing place was easy and besides standing the whole way because the seats were filled, it was only slightly awkward. -_-*
I manage to grab some nikuman for dinner and get some directions to set me off in the correct direction from the station. I had a map and the address but in Japan, not all maps tell you which way is north. So I had to ask for directions twice because I got confused a bit and turned too early. Then somehow, my second set of directions got me there without me realizing it at first. I look to my right and suddenly there is a huge sign for the building. I wasn't expecting it there. Oh, it's been raining this whole time so I've been using my tiny-going to break soon umbrella that I borrowed from Miami's LLab lost and found 2 years ago. It's sad that it lasted longer than the big one from Korea.
Well, I walk in and slip on the stairs to the basement, where the dance is being held. I successfully busted at least 3 blood vessels in my right wrist and jam my left wrist. Thankfully, my right hand never went numb so nothing more than really bad bruising happened. I found the place, got scolded for eating in there... Oh well, the only sign was hidden on the door and there were drinks in there, so it's slightly hypocritical... It said no to both. Whatever.
I did manage to make some friends and get someone to walk back with me to a station. The dancing was really fun and there were lots of different people there. We did a snowball and a new people circle (rather than a bday circle). So I got to dance a lot and I felt a lot better. I plan to meet some of them on Sunday hopefully at the Osaka castle live band event! Yay!
She got me to the station and I got on a train... it was the packed kind that only happens when it's in the last hour before the trains stop... That's when I decided, the perfect fate for chikan. At least the other people around me weren't loathsome creatures like that one guy... I did not give him the pleasure of attempting again. He would have gotten a broken finger or two.
So now, feeling frustrated and violated, I get to Hirakata station at midnight. There are no buses that run at midnight. So I decide to start walking the way the bus normally takes to get me home... it's dark, and I'm not that familiar with that way... why I took it? I was not thinking straight. So I end up in some shady side of town that if this were anywhere but Japan, I probably would have been assaulted. Don't worry, I was fully aware of it and getting more and more upset as I turned around and went back the way I came. I then take the normal walking route home and for those who don't recall, it's a 90 min walk. I put in my headphones and put on my "on the go" music and took off.
So I head back but stop at a conbini (convenience store) to borrow the bathroom because I drank a whole bottle of water at Swing. As I begin walking out, I note a chocolate ice cream cone like the one I had in Korea. I bought it immediately and devoured it because my meals were pathetic that day. I continue my trip home and even walk up the mountain and back down. As I get closer, I start running home. My music at the midway on the mountain was Gundam Wing so I knew that would get me home safely.
I get inside the house and have to peel off my socks and shoes. I had a blister. Then, I went straight to the bathroom, washed my face and hands and brushed my teeth. I got to my room and had to peel off my clothes because although, it wasn't raining enough to notice. I was completely soaked. I just had to pass out once I got to my bed. I wanted to sleep on the floor, not even my bed but I needed comfort.
I'm so glad that day ended.
Today will be better! I'm staying home all day and hanging out with my host family!
Oh, on a good note. I actually made it home in 90mins which included going the wrong way and taking a conbini break. Yay for pump up music and anger!
Wednesday? Wasn't that hot... this isn't for the faint of heart...
but here's the recap:
I woke up around 11:30 to head to school and print off my paper so I could turn it in. I do manage that after getting stuck behind lots of slow people on bikes, having it rain lightly, and nearly hitting an old lady who doesn't look both ways before crossing anything.
The rain held off mostly until I got into the CIE building so I was grateful. Overall, these weren't so bad. I end up chatting with my psy professor for a while about what I'd want to do in the future and well, get a job hopefully. Other people came in and we discussed our feelings about Japan. The good, the bad, and the stuff that you know you should knock on wood about when you say it hasn't happened to you yet... >.<*******
I guess I was asking for it by mentioning how lucky I've been... >.<*************
If I see that guy again, he will have his own broken fingers ripped off and shoved into his mouth, eyes, and ears. (I can't wait to drive my car again)
Well, I grabbed some soft serve ice cream cause it was small and cheap and I didn't want to eat anything big since I was kind of skipping lunch. That was yummy but I forgot, I have my mother's stomach and I have to eat well-balanced meals... or something better than Mc D's ice cream and chocolate sauce... So that was an ugh moment later at home.
I luckily grabbed my bike and got home in a break in the rain but finally had a bug fly directly into my eye... oh, gross. I was blinded so badly, I actually had to stop my bike.
I got to chat with Miwa and the kids for a bit before I went to my room to relax and begin typing up copies of papers so I don't need to take them home. It's only my Japanese stuff from Genki that might be useful like stories and vocab. Unfortunately, I forgot which one I had left off on last time and realized it was the only lesson I hated. You know, it's not that I didn't understand something grammatically or did poorly on. It was the story. I forgot how uncomfortable I felt in class when we were going through it. It's about these two people who are dating, one lives in Osaka and one lives in Tokyo. They are trying to set up her friend with his coworker and well, basically... the friend ends up being a total sleezebag and the boyfriend an a-hole because they "fall in love" and the best friend never mentions anything about it. The boyfriend avoids talking to her until he finally sends her a letter because he's a pansy after 2 weeks. Did I mention the guy said he couldn't come to Osaka to visit the girlfriend because he had a business trip? But instead, he actually goes to Osaka to visit the girlfriend's friend... I was soo angry about this. We had to give our responses to this story and man, did I tear both of those two apart. If I knew bad worse in Japanese, I probably would have called them that.
-_-*
So yeah, after sitting through typing that up and then getting nervous about trying to find the swing dancing place on my own in the dark, I end up getting sick a bit (due to the not so good eating). Then I change my clothes to something to keep me a bit warmer since I don't have a coat besides the red wool one. I grab my stuff and catch the bus to the station. The way to the station close to the dancing place was easy and besides standing the whole way because the seats were filled, it was only slightly awkward. -_-*
I manage to grab some nikuman for dinner and get some directions to set me off in the correct direction from the station. I had a map and the address but in Japan, not all maps tell you which way is north. So I had to ask for directions twice because I got confused a bit and turned too early. Then somehow, my second set of directions got me there without me realizing it at first. I look to my right and suddenly there is a huge sign for the building. I wasn't expecting it there. Oh, it's been raining this whole time so I've been using my tiny-going to break soon umbrella that I borrowed from Miami's LLab lost and found 2 years ago. It's sad that it lasted longer than the big one from Korea.
Well, I walk in and slip on the stairs to the basement, where the dance is being held. I successfully busted at least 3 blood vessels in my right wrist and jam my left wrist. Thankfully, my right hand never went numb so nothing more than really bad bruising happened. I found the place, got scolded for eating in there... Oh well, the only sign was hidden on the door and there were drinks in there, so it's slightly hypocritical... It said no to both. Whatever.
I did manage to make some friends and get someone to walk back with me to a station. The dancing was really fun and there were lots of different people there. We did a snowball and a new people circle (rather than a bday circle). So I got to dance a lot and I felt a lot better. I plan to meet some of them on Sunday hopefully at the Osaka castle live band event! Yay!
She got me to the station and I got on a train... it was the packed kind that only happens when it's in the last hour before the trains stop... That's when I decided, the perfect fate for chikan. At least the other people around me weren't loathsome creatures like that one guy... I did not give him the pleasure of attempting again. He would have gotten a broken finger or two.
So now, feeling frustrated and violated, I get to Hirakata station at midnight. There are no buses that run at midnight. So I decide to start walking the way the bus normally takes to get me home... it's dark, and I'm not that familiar with that way... why I took it? I was not thinking straight. So I end up in some shady side of town that if this were anywhere but Japan, I probably would have been assaulted. Don't worry, I was fully aware of it and getting more and more upset as I turned around and went back the way I came. I then take the normal walking route home and for those who don't recall, it's a 90 min walk. I put in my headphones and put on my "on the go" music and took off.
So I head back but stop at a conbini (convenience store) to borrow the bathroom because I drank a whole bottle of water at Swing. As I begin walking out, I note a chocolate ice cream cone like the one I had in Korea. I bought it immediately and devoured it because my meals were pathetic that day. I continue my trip home and even walk up the mountain and back down. As I get closer, I start running home. My music at the midway on the mountain was Gundam Wing so I knew that would get me home safely.
I get inside the house and have to peel off my socks and shoes. I had a blister. Then, I went straight to the bathroom, washed my face and hands and brushed my teeth. I got to my room and had to peel off my clothes because although, it wasn't raining enough to notice. I was completely soaked. I just had to pass out once I got to my bed. I wanted to sleep on the floor, not even my bed but I needed comfort.
I'm so glad that day ended.
Today will be better! I'm staying home all day and hanging out with my host family!
Oh, on a good note. I actually made it home in 90mins which included going the wrong way and taking a conbini break. Yay for pump up music and anger!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Wings
So, I've successfully completed all of my exams and my paper. As a prize, I slacked off the rest of the night and morning... ^_^* So I'm going to go to school tomorrow and turn in my paper and print off a few things and be finished! There are a few other things I'll be doing at school later but that's about it.
It's like I can fly!
It's like I can fly!
Monday, May 17, 2010
1 and 1/5 to go! Be OVER WITH already!
Okay, so you know that feeling when the end is coming? You can see it coming but you get a little bit nervous and a little bit anxious because you're not really sure what's going to happen up to that point, nor after it... well, that's life right now.
I have successfully survived all of my classes and my first final exam. I have one more tomorrow in the class that I dread above all. Our teacher has already told us that this test is going to be very hard... what comforting words from our professor who makes our minds blank by calling on us... But yeah, I've been acting like I have bad ADD or something because I have been all over the place today. Trying to pack, sorting through papers, trying to study, trying to nap, airing out old smelling clothes... I'm a bit concerned but after my exam tomorrow morning and finishing the last two pages of my psychology paper... I will be COMPLETELY finished! Yay! No more schoolwork!
It doesn't help that the weather is suddenly beautiful again! You know the kind, it makes you believe it is summer break already and lures you out into the world but then you remember you still have so much to do... yeah...
Well, as I was saying, Saturday I spent most of the day inside working on my 10 page psychology paper. Yay 2 pages left!! I also took a brief nap and a short bike ride with Chihiro who decided to hop on the back of my bike... there's a first time for everything, right? So long as no one dies...
Sunday, I woke up early and ran late again... I barely caught the bus to meet my friend at 9:30 at the station to hunt down this Cathedral in Osaka. Well, we make it after getting lost a bit and wander inside after a few photos. It was really pretty and the reason we were there was because it was International Day. As a result, there were tons of different people there and lots of different languages and we sang to each of them. Failing at some worse than others! We had the Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and English down! Vietnamese and Korean were a bit more troublesome... oh well, it was fun! We met up with the other people from the Hirakata parish and went to this festival afterwards. It was fun and there were live performances and music and food and stuff to buy. It was crazy. I got to dance with people and take some pictures and videos so look forward to those! Once it was all over, we got a ride back to Hirakatashi and I jumped on a bus home since it was almost 7 and by the time I catch a bus, it would make me late to dinner. I missed my bus by about 1 minute so I had to wait around for another 15... ugh, well I got home and everyone was out at the grocery still but they had a plate of spaghetti out for me. I felt so gross I just wanted to shower and sleep but that couldn't happen yet since I had a exam to study for and had to wait for my time in the bathroom...
I got a bad sunburn. My friend got asked if I was his wife. I skyped with Mom. I passed out.
Monday! I got some paperwork, my exam finished, and lots of exercise biking my friend around school and the dorms. I also convinced my friend to get Indian with me... she liked her lasagna so much, we're going back tomorrow... I guess I created a monster... At least, she's not eating Mc D's everyday anymore. The thought of that makes me sick, even if it is better here. I'm going to attempt to cram 4 months of Japanese into my brain again before tomorrow. Hopefully, all ends well!
I'll deal with the packing issues later... (^_^;)
Bye!
Oh yeah, haha! It's May 17th! It means something to me! (^_^)v
I have successfully survived all of my classes and my first final exam. I have one more tomorrow in the class that I dread above all. Our teacher has already told us that this test is going to be very hard... what comforting words from our professor who makes our minds blank by calling on us... But yeah, I've been acting like I have bad ADD or something because I have been all over the place today. Trying to pack, sorting through papers, trying to study, trying to nap, airing out old smelling clothes... I'm a bit concerned but after my exam tomorrow morning and finishing the last two pages of my psychology paper... I will be COMPLETELY finished! Yay! No more schoolwork!
It doesn't help that the weather is suddenly beautiful again! You know the kind, it makes you believe it is summer break already and lures you out into the world but then you remember you still have so much to do... yeah...
Well, as I was saying, Saturday I spent most of the day inside working on my 10 page psychology paper. Yay 2 pages left!! I also took a brief nap and a short bike ride with Chihiro who decided to hop on the back of my bike... there's a first time for everything, right? So long as no one dies...
Sunday, I woke up early and ran late again... I barely caught the bus to meet my friend at 9:30 at the station to hunt down this Cathedral in Osaka. Well, we make it after getting lost a bit and wander inside after a few photos. It was really pretty and the reason we were there was because it was International Day. As a result, there were tons of different people there and lots of different languages and we sang to each of them. Failing at some worse than others! We had the Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and English down! Vietnamese and Korean were a bit more troublesome... oh well, it was fun! We met up with the other people from the Hirakata parish and went to this festival afterwards. It was fun and there were live performances and music and food and stuff to buy. It was crazy. I got to dance with people and take some pictures and videos so look forward to those! Once it was all over, we got a ride back to Hirakatashi and I jumped on a bus home since it was almost 7 and by the time I catch a bus, it would make me late to dinner. I missed my bus by about 1 minute so I had to wait around for another 15... ugh, well I got home and everyone was out at the grocery still but they had a plate of spaghetti out for me. I felt so gross I just wanted to shower and sleep but that couldn't happen yet since I had a exam to study for and had to wait for my time in the bathroom...
I got a bad sunburn. My friend got asked if I was his wife. I skyped with Mom. I passed out.
Monday! I got some paperwork, my exam finished, and lots of exercise biking my friend around school and the dorms. I also convinced my friend to get Indian with me... she liked her lasagna so much, we're going back tomorrow... I guess I created a monster... At least, she's not eating Mc D's everyday anymore. The thought of that makes me sick, even if it is better here. I'm going to attempt to cram 4 months of Japanese into my brain again before tomorrow. Hopefully, all ends well!
I'll deal with the packing issues later... (^_^;)
Bye!
Oh yeah, haha! It's May 17th! It means something to me! (^_^)v
Friday, May 14, 2010
Mou sukoshi!!!
So let me reiterate this awesome feeling of Closing down:
CLASSES ARE OVER!
I only have to write a 10 page paper by Wed and take my two Japanese finals Monday and Tuesday and I'm 100% academically free! Although, there are a few minor details I will need to take care of that's not too big of a deal.
So I also thought I was going to run out of money before the end but thankfully, that's not the case either. ^_^* I'm kind of taking this weekend easy since I plan to be well prepared for these exams and finish my paper writing before Wednesday. I might still stop by just to chat with the teacher as a final goodbye sort of deal. He was really cool. Plus, I might need his assistance getting that class to count for the Miami Plan back home. -_-* ugh...
But I've been thinking a lot of sleeping and wondering if all of my stuff will pack well. Heh, >.> <.<* I should look into that before it's too expensive! I don't think it'll be a problem but better safe than sorry, right?
I've had a lot of fun here but I'm definitely ready to go home. I even sorted through the papers from my anthro class already-pitching the ones that I don't want/think I'll need for anything. Packing this all will be interesting!
Oh well, back to my relaxing and procrastinating! Oh and I was RIGHT! Shuu DIDN'T die! Hahaha!
CLASSES ARE OVER!
I only have to write a 10 page paper by Wed and take my two Japanese finals Monday and Tuesday and I'm 100% academically free! Although, there are a few minor details I will need to take care of that's not too big of a deal.
So I also thought I was going to run out of money before the end but thankfully, that's not the case either. ^_^* I'm kind of taking this weekend easy since I plan to be well prepared for these exams and finish my paper writing before Wednesday. I might still stop by just to chat with the teacher as a final goodbye sort of deal. He was really cool. Plus, I might need his assistance getting that class to count for the Miami Plan back home. -_-* ugh...
But I've been thinking a lot of sleeping and wondering if all of my stuff will pack well. Heh, >.> <.<* I should look into that before it's too expensive! I don't think it'll be a problem but better safe than sorry, right?
I've had a lot of fun here but I'm definitely ready to go home. I even sorted through the papers from my anthro class already-pitching the ones that I don't want/think I'll need for anything. Packing this all will be interesting!
Oh well, back to my relaxing and procrastinating! Oh and I was RIGHT! Shuu DIDN'T die! Hahaha!
Monday, May 10, 2010
closing down
Since I'm still awake and a little too agitated to sleep well right now, I'll just briefly update. My writing is not journalism style- hence my novel-like entries usually. I really desperately need to find a job this summer, not just to pay back bills and stuff but I don't think my mental health can handle another unproductive summer. I work so much better with time limits and restrictions that have a real penalty behind them. One would think with all the wide range of experiences that I have both in country and out, that I could get a job... *sighs*
Anyway, I realize that no one is really able to keep up with this so that's why I've been slacking on the entries. Don't worry. As soon as I get back State side there will be no more updates. I normally fail at stuff like this... I had some tests and papers and interviews but they're finished. I did pretty well on them so I'm happy about that. This week, I only have an oral exam and a final quiz... then exam week... I have a 3000 word take home essay exam and 2 written exams so as of a week from tomorrow, I will be completely finished school-wise here! Yay!
I skyped for over 6 hours with someone Sunday... the rumors are true! I did manage that and get to school the next morning--meaning waking up about 3 hours later for my longest day of the week. I managed to nap for 2 hours while at school though.
I made plans for going Karaoke with my speaking partner this weekend and am no longer scared of being short on cash the last bit of being here. I'll be able to hit up Den Den Town one last time (Lindsey's first time all semester), I'll be able to karaoke with them sometime too. I feel more comfortable too because I discussed it with my host mom and she has offered to drive me to the train station so I could leave earlier and not worry about suitcases on a bus.
I've just been really blessed this whole semester, longer too but it's really visible right now. (^_^)
Anyway, I realize that no one is really able to keep up with this so that's why I've been slacking on the entries. Don't worry. As soon as I get back State side there will be no more updates. I normally fail at stuff like this... I had some tests and papers and interviews but they're finished. I did pretty well on them so I'm happy about that. This week, I only have an oral exam and a final quiz... then exam week... I have a 3000 word take home essay exam and 2 written exams so as of a week from tomorrow, I will be completely finished school-wise here! Yay!
I skyped for over 6 hours with someone Sunday... the rumors are true! I did manage that and get to school the next morning--meaning waking up about 3 hours later for my longest day of the week. I managed to nap for 2 hours while at school though.
I made plans for going Karaoke with my speaking partner this weekend and am no longer scared of being short on cash the last bit of being here. I'll be able to hit up Den Den Town one last time (Lindsey's first time all semester), I'll be able to karaoke with them sometime too. I feel more comfortable too because I discussed it with my host mom and she has offered to drive me to the train station so I could leave earlier and not worry about suitcases on a bus.
I've just been really blessed this whole semester, longer too but it's really visible right now. (^_^)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Tokyo Time and Off with the Ankles!
Well, we finally got what we wanted, right? Warm, spring days? Okay, maybe more like hot summer days. I go to Tokyo and this is what I get and return to? Yikes! I'm sweating up a storm here! Okay time for the recap!
Friday night's night bus endeavor was well a continuation of my sleep deprivation from the prior week. It was an experience, one that I would like not to repeat! After getting to Tokyo station later than scheduled and with less sleep than expected, we (Nate and I) wandered around trying to meet up with the others to drop our stuff off at the hostel and then meet up with Danielle, Cass, and Lauren for Akihabara. <- the Den Den Town of Tokyo... I think I like our (Osaka's) Den Den Town better. Less arcades and ufo catchers... I don't even bother since I know I won't win those. We did that literally all day and still didn't cover everything we wanted because the line for the Gundam Cafe was a 3 hour wait and we were exhausted and didn't want to hunt down the Gee! Store either. So we went back and crashed.
That was Saturday.
Sunday, we went to the Tokyo National Museum and got chocolate covered bananas! Yay Fruit! My body was jumping for joy! Then we(Iain, Nate, Jackie, and I) went to meet my friend Sunny (Yay, I found Sunny!) in Harujuku for lunch. We got Shakey's Pizza tabehodai... that basically means all you can eat pizza with no time limit. It was interesting trying all the Japan's pizza styles... corn on reg cheese, corn on cheese with mayo (bleck), banana-chocolate-cornflakes, they are into their desserts... we had to wait in a long (45 mins?) line for getting in but it was fun getting to talk to her and see how she was handling all the Californians at her school. We then wandered around Harujuku seeing the sites: a condomania (I couldn't enter-- it was too awkward for me -_-*), lots of little tourist shops with clothes and shoes, a body line (where I bought a pretty outfit that cost a pretty penny)... we pretty much wandered around trying to find the Square Enix store too. That didn't work out so well. Eventually, Sunny had to head home and we left for Tokyo tower to meet up with the others. By the time we got to Tokyo tower it was too dark for many good pictures! Curses! But we did finally meet up with Cass and Lauren who bought fedoras... and I wanted one but when we found the store they were gone... T_T*
We grabbed cheap dinner at the McD's of Japan-- not a real McD's but the Japanese equivalent- fast, cheap, and everywhere... It has a black and orange sign but I never remember the name. It starts with Yo... After that we went back to the hostel, looked at our purchases, and started to plan the next day. Once that was taken care of Nate and I took Danielle back to her hostel and we searched for the arcade nearby. Well, we found it eventually but it was not letting people in at that point... Oh well, we also found a love hotel when Danielle was still with us and Nate got a picture of it. I have now definitely seen one. It was ridiculous... neon lights every which way and lots of different colors. I had to laugh. Prices for Rest or Stay...
Oh Japan, you're such a hypocrite. "We're super conservative and very polite!" *>.>
Yeah, anyway that was Sunday. I also found out some SUPER good news about a friend and am SUPER excited about it! ^_^
Monday was the dojinshi con for half of the group so the others (Jackie, Nate, & Iain) and I had to explore on our own. Iain actually went on his own to the Square Enix store because we were planning to go to the Gundam Cafe, well that didn't happen since I saw a temple with lots of cute tourist stalls and convinced them to let us stop there. I think it was successful and people enjoyed that, although the street was so packed it felt like you were swimming. I bought lots of cool stuff for people (yay almost finished!) and then we realized the Gundam Cafe thing wasn't going to work out... the lines would be murder at lunch time. Instead, we hunted down the Blind Samurai studio for Nate, and attempted the Imperial Gardens for Jackie. Both were let down as the studio just showed previews of the movies and didn't have anything blind samurai in it while we never actually got into the gardens due to poor positioning of maps and signs. We just crossed a desert of rocks and disappointment. We managed to crack up and be ridiculous though, so I had fun even though I got appointed spokesperson for everyone even those who weren't with us and had to make the plans and negotiate with the other group... wth? So eventually we met up at the Square Enix store--not where we thought it was and so I had to ask for directions from a Koban (police station) twice. It was funny because both times the older officer wasn't sure what I was talking about but the younger one in back was well informed of it. haha, it was funny seeing it twice. So we got there and man, that place was awesome! Sooo cool a bit pricey but that's to be expected. I did manage to get a souvenir or 2. ^_^ As we sat out front at the tables to relax for a bit and rest our feet that are constantly in a state of utter and extreme pain at this point (wish I had my real gym shoes), Nate and I witnessed a motorcycle-car accident.
... yeah, that was terrifying. We both thought the guys head was run over. He managed to get up and moving and someone called the police. His motorcycle managed to get under part of the taxi next to him... it was the yellow cars' fault, it clipped him and sent him flying under. Yellow car, red motorcycle, green taxi. I didn't even realize what happened at first before the sounds but those colors were imprinted already. I hope he's okay. I'm sure he is, he was moving and walking and talking. Yeah, that was a bit unnerving seeing that... the others were getting hungry so we left and got Subway for dinner and then got back to the dorm and proceeded to be silly with taking pictures. At least the night ended on a good note, stupid yellow car driver. He didn't even stop. That was my Monday.
Tuesday was our last day in Tokyo. We woke up early, fully packed, and took off for Akihabara to reach the Gundam Cafe and Gee! Store. We got lost at first because we didn't know which exit to use from the station so my Japanese powers were used and we found the area we needed! We got to the cafe and it was only 9:30 and a 3 hour wait... so we settled for the gift shop and taiyaki section of it with only a 30min to an hour wait. It was really cool but I was a bit disappointed as it didn't have a large variety of stuff besides food in the gift shop and it was all specific to maybe 2 different Gundam series... there are a lot and I was expecting more options. A bit of a let down but I still was happy to be in it and see it and get pictures! The cafe only opened like 2 weeks ago so the lines would be super long still. Then we hunted down the Gee! store which didn't open for another 10 minutes. We hung around and then gashapon heaven hit! So many gashapon! I walked out with a Vivi (to the envy of everyone else), a Vash, a Alucard, a Kaede and Kohaku! Huge success (or almost anyway)!
Then to Tokyo station to drop off our stuff in a locker before hitting up the gardens... this is where Lindsey separated from us as her bag wouldn't fit in the lockers/there were no more and she wouldn't let anyone help her take it around but wouldn't take it around herself. I didn't find a locker for my stuff either so I went all Gundam/transformers on it and made it into a backpack. It helped but I was grateful to dump it eventually in a locker thanks to Jackie! We wandered the garden and it was more like a park. We weren't too impressed although it was still pretty. I think we were a bit too tired and sore and stressed. Oh well, pictures and videos. ^.^ After dropping off the stuff, we went to Shibuya for the huge crosswalk... we got there at a quiet time apparently, it wasn't too crowded. I got some pictures as it got worse though. We then got lunch (hehe, yeah first meal of the day besides snacking on bread while walking at 3pm) and went to Ikebukuro for meeting up with everyone and seeing the Sunshine 60 building. It was impressive and kind of sad. There was soo much smog above the city at floor 59. It costs money to get to 60... We hung out there for a bit waiting on the others to come find us or what not... there were so many moments of directions and communication fails, it was not even funny...
We got delicious crepes with ice cream and stuff. Mine was strawberry, banana, whip cream, chocolate sauce, and cookies n cream ice cream. Yum!! After that wandering, we went to an arcade to burn time since our bus didn't leave until near midnight... I now have the experience of playing in a Gundam fyi! It was soo fun! I'm bad at it but that's cause I can't do first person shooters! We then visited the book off across the street and I walked out with a cd (21 songs) and a 2 book full series for 650 yen, yay! Ikebukuro was pretty sweet, that's the place to go for just being entertained all day! There's a new Trigun movie, along with the new Detective Conan movie! Sounds cool! Well, after that we returned to Tokyo station- after playing on the trains a bit ^_^ --collected our stuff, and found our bus stop. We beat the others! There were 5 of us and I thought we were going to be sitting 5 across the back of the bus but the driver made Nate and I move in front of them... wth? Then 2 other Japanese guys sat there... >.> <.< yeah, that wasn't nice of them.
After thinking we were going to die or crash multiple times through the bus ride, we finally fell asleep and made it there early enough that the trains weren't running yet. Ugh. I led everyone the cheaper-slightly longer trip home. We parted at Hirkatashi where I jumped on my bus and took off home. I saw everyone at the house this morning when I got in around 7:30-7:50am and then said goodnight!
I only slept until 3pm and have been organizing and calculating and sorting since then. I've got a big test tomorrow so I'd better start looking that stuff over too. Evil Japanese class... I will be grateful to be rid of this thing soon! I can't wait to shower, although I frankly think I have lost the ability to walk temporarily. The pain... >.<
PS: Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
PPS: Gene's been INJURED! Someone call a Seamstress!!! T_T
Friday night's night bus endeavor was well a continuation of my sleep deprivation from the prior week. It was an experience, one that I would like not to repeat! After getting to Tokyo station later than scheduled and with less sleep than expected, we (Nate and I) wandered around trying to meet up with the others to drop our stuff off at the hostel and then meet up with Danielle, Cass, and Lauren for Akihabara. <- the Den Den Town of Tokyo... I think I like our (Osaka's) Den Den Town better. Less arcades and ufo catchers... I don't even bother since I know I won't win those. We did that literally all day and still didn't cover everything we wanted because the line for the Gundam Cafe was a 3 hour wait and we were exhausted and didn't want to hunt down the Gee! Store either. So we went back and crashed.
That was Saturday.
Sunday, we went to the Tokyo National Museum and got chocolate covered bananas! Yay Fruit! My body was jumping for joy! Then we(Iain, Nate, Jackie, and I) went to meet my friend Sunny (Yay, I found Sunny!) in Harujuku for lunch. We got Shakey's Pizza tabehodai... that basically means all you can eat pizza with no time limit. It was interesting trying all the Japan's pizza styles... corn on reg cheese, corn on cheese with mayo (bleck), banana-chocolate-cornflakes, they are into their desserts... we had to wait in a long (45 mins?) line for getting in but it was fun getting to talk to her and see how she was handling all the Californians at her school. We then wandered around Harujuku seeing the sites: a condomania (I couldn't enter-- it was too awkward for me -_-*), lots of little tourist shops with clothes and shoes, a body line (where I bought a pretty outfit that cost a pretty penny)... we pretty much wandered around trying to find the Square Enix store too. That didn't work out so well. Eventually, Sunny had to head home and we left for Tokyo tower to meet up with the others. By the time we got to Tokyo tower it was too dark for many good pictures! Curses! But we did finally meet up with Cass and Lauren who bought fedoras... and I wanted one but when we found the store they were gone... T_T*
We grabbed cheap dinner at the McD's of Japan-- not a real McD's but the Japanese equivalent- fast, cheap, and everywhere... It has a black and orange sign but I never remember the name. It starts with Yo... After that we went back to the hostel, looked at our purchases, and started to plan the next day. Once that was taken care of Nate and I took Danielle back to her hostel and we searched for the arcade nearby. Well, we found it eventually but it was not letting people in at that point... Oh well, we also found a love hotel when Danielle was still with us and Nate got a picture of it. I have now definitely seen one. It was ridiculous... neon lights every which way and lots of different colors. I had to laugh. Prices for Rest or Stay...
Oh Japan, you're such a hypocrite. "We're super conservative and very polite!" *>.>
Yeah, anyway that was Sunday. I also found out some SUPER good news about a friend and am SUPER excited about it! ^_^
Monday was the dojinshi con for half of the group so the others (Jackie, Nate, & Iain) and I had to explore on our own. Iain actually went on his own to the Square Enix store because we were planning to go to the Gundam Cafe, well that didn't happen since I saw a temple with lots of cute tourist stalls and convinced them to let us stop there. I think it was successful and people enjoyed that, although the street was so packed it felt like you were swimming. I bought lots of cool stuff for people (yay almost finished!) and then we realized the Gundam Cafe thing wasn't going to work out... the lines would be murder at lunch time. Instead, we hunted down the Blind Samurai studio for Nate, and attempted the Imperial Gardens for Jackie. Both were let down as the studio just showed previews of the movies and didn't have anything blind samurai in it while we never actually got into the gardens due to poor positioning of maps and signs. We just crossed a desert of rocks and disappointment. We managed to crack up and be ridiculous though, so I had fun even though I got appointed spokesperson for everyone even those who weren't with us and had to make the plans and negotiate with the other group... wth? So eventually we met up at the Square Enix store--not where we thought it was and so I had to ask for directions from a Koban (police station) twice. It was funny because both times the older officer wasn't sure what I was talking about but the younger one in back was well informed of it. haha, it was funny seeing it twice. So we got there and man, that place was awesome! Sooo cool a bit pricey but that's to be expected. I did manage to get a souvenir or 2. ^_^ As we sat out front at the tables to relax for a bit and rest our feet that are constantly in a state of utter and extreme pain at this point (wish I had my real gym shoes), Nate and I witnessed a motorcycle-car accident.
... yeah, that was terrifying. We both thought the guys head was run over. He managed to get up and moving and someone called the police. His motorcycle managed to get under part of the taxi next to him... it was the yellow cars' fault, it clipped him and sent him flying under. Yellow car, red motorcycle, green taxi. I didn't even realize what happened at first before the sounds but those colors were imprinted already. I hope he's okay. I'm sure he is, he was moving and walking and talking. Yeah, that was a bit unnerving seeing that... the others were getting hungry so we left and got Subway for dinner and then got back to the dorm and proceeded to be silly with taking pictures. At least the night ended on a good note, stupid yellow car driver. He didn't even stop. That was my Monday.
Tuesday was our last day in Tokyo. We woke up early, fully packed, and took off for Akihabara to reach the Gundam Cafe and Gee! Store. We got lost at first because we didn't know which exit to use from the station so my Japanese powers were used and we found the area we needed! We got to the cafe and it was only 9:30 and a 3 hour wait... so we settled for the gift shop and taiyaki section of it with only a 30min to an hour wait. It was really cool but I was a bit disappointed as it didn't have a large variety of stuff besides food in the gift shop and it was all specific to maybe 2 different Gundam series... there are a lot and I was expecting more options. A bit of a let down but I still was happy to be in it and see it and get pictures! The cafe only opened like 2 weeks ago so the lines would be super long still. Then we hunted down the Gee! store which didn't open for another 10 minutes. We hung around and then gashapon heaven hit! So many gashapon! I walked out with a Vivi (to the envy of everyone else), a Vash, a Alucard, a Kaede and Kohaku! Huge success (or almost anyway)!
Then to Tokyo station to drop off our stuff in a locker before hitting up the gardens... this is where Lindsey separated from us as her bag wouldn't fit in the lockers/there were no more and she wouldn't let anyone help her take it around but wouldn't take it around herself. I didn't find a locker for my stuff either so I went all Gundam/transformers on it and made it into a backpack. It helped but I was grateful to dump it eventually in a locker thanks to Jackie! We wandered the garden and it was more like a park. We weren't too impressed although it was still pretty. I think we were a bit too tired and sore and stressed. Oh well, pictures and videos. ^.^ After dropping off the stuff, we went to Shibuya for the huge crosswalk... we got there at a quiet time apparently, it wasn't too crowded. I got some pictures as it got worse though. We then got lunch (hehe, yeah first meal of the day besides snacking on bread while walking at 3pm) and went to Ikebukuro for meeting up with everyone and seeing the Sunshine 60 building. It was impressive and kind of sad. There was soo much smog above the city at floor 59. It costs money to get to 60... We hung out there for a bit waiting on the others to come find us or what not... there were so many moments of directions and communication fails, it was not even funny...
We got delicious crepes with ice cream and stuff. Mine was strawberry, banana, whip cream, chocolate sauce, and cookies n cream ice cream. Yum!! After that wandering, we went to an arcade to burn time since our bus didn't leave until near midnight... I now have the experience of playing in a Gundam fyi! It was soo fun! I'm bad at it but that's cause I can't do first person shooters! We then visited the book off across the street and I walked out with a cd (21 songs) and a 2 book full series for 650 yen, yay! Ikebukuro was pretty sweet, that's the place to go for just being entertained all day! There's a new Trigun movie, along with the new Detective Conan movie! Sounds cool! Well, after that we returned to Tokyo station- after playing on the trains a bit ^_^ --collected our stuff, and found our bus stop. We beat the others! There were 5 of us and I thought we were going to be sitting 5 across the back of the bus but the driver made Nate and I move in front of them... wth? Then 2 other Japanese guys sat there... >.> <.< yeah, that wasn't nice of them.
After thinking we were going to die or crash multiple times through the bus ride, we finally fell asleep and made it there early enough that the trains weren't running yet. Ugh. I led everyone the cheaper-slightly longer trip home. We parted at Hirkatashi where I jumped on my bus and took off home. I saw everyone at the house this morning when I got in around 7:30-7:50am and then said goodnight!
I only slept until 3pm and have been organizing and calculating and sorting since then. I've got a big test tomorrow so I'd better start looking that stuff over too. Evil Japanese class... I will be grateful to be rid of this thing soon! I can't wait to shower, although I frankly think I have lost the ability to walk temporarily. The pain... >.<
PS: Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
PPS: Gene's been INJURED! Someone call a Seamstress!!! T_T
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
4 weeks left
Sorry about not updating everyone about yesterday. It was the peak of craziness for the week!
Well, to begin... I finally fell asleep Wednesday night after 5am sometime... O.O Yeah, I know. I have no idea why I couldn't sleep but I wasn't the only one of my friends who had a rough sleep night that time. I was just up the latest! So besides that throwing off my sleep schedule entirely, I got to my skit practice a little late because I almost crashed my bike 3 times on the way to school. I had to ride my bike because as of late, the buses have become unreliable for getting me anywhere on time in the morning. We totally aced our skit! Or that's how I felt anyway, even though I was exhausted and not in the right mind! I barely managed to stay conscious for the afternoon. We got lunch and ate it on a nice sunny patch of grass then I hung around waiting for my psy partner to practice for our presentation. Well, needless to say that one could have gone better since I in a normal state have no sense of time, so Katie + sleep deprived = major timing fail -_-*
Well, I hope it still turned out okay. We had to breeze through the second have of the presentation but we weren't the only ones to have issues with the 10 min max for time. *sighs* Hopefully, it turns out okay! I had my paper done at least! I don't understand how so many people didn't... I really don't get it. So I am good with time management but bad with timing?????
Yeah, I don't get it either. Whatever.
I got home and took a 2 hour nap before dinner and hanging out with the host family for a bit. Chihiro made me a friendship bracelet. Yes, girls in the audience you know what I mean. Those twisted string bracelets that you just tie around your wrist and don't take off ever. It was really cute. I watched a couple episodes of Conan last night and chatted with some people on fb chat then had issues failing asleep again. Not as bad this time though!
I think it was about 3am this time... but I woke up and skyped with Jon. Skype is really a bad thing to use if you have a bad internet connection. It can't connect. So we switched to using gchat's video feature. The only real reason I have a gmail account... ^_^* Because I got that all my stuff (this, googledocs, and youtube) are all linked... so if I delete it, bye bye blog and well. Stupid GOOGLE! Then there's the Facebook scandal going on too, even I've heard about it here in Japan. Stupid Corporate America and your insatiable greed--you're the reason we're not going to recover!
*cough cough* Anyway, I cleaned my room today and am just hanging out before classes tomorrow and getting ready for Tokyo! I leave for Kyoto by train after 9pm and get on a night bus at almost midnight there bound for Tokyo! I'm not bringing my computer so relax! You'll have a long time to catch up on blogs! I'll do my best to take more pictures than write in my diary while I'm there. I know someone will have their computer so I can charge my camera when necessary! Yay for computer addicts! Otherwise, today I'm just reorganizing my desk because since I've been sick things have just gotten crazy in my room. Hence I cleaned it! But I'm going to go do that or take a brief nap since I'm getting a sleep deprivation headache again. 45 mins-1 hour max so as not to further mess up the cycle! I think my body is telling me to go home because it's trying to align with home's time zone. Not yet! Just another 4 weeks from today! Love you guys! Bye bye!
Well, to begin... I finally fell asleep Wednesday night after 5am sometime... O.O Yeah, I know. I have no idea why I couldn't sleep but I wasn't the only one of my friends who had a rough sleep night that time. I was just up the latest! So besides that throwing off my sleep schedule entirely, I got to my skit practice a little late because I almost crashed my bike 3 times on the way to school. I had to ride my bike because as of late, the buses have become unreliable for getting me anywhere on time in the morning. We totally aced our skit! Or that's how I felt anyway, even though I was exhausted and not in the right mind! I barely managed to stay conscious for the afternoon. We got lunch and ate it on a nice sunny patch of grass then I hung around waiting for my psy partner to practice for our presentation. Well, needless to say that one could have gone better since I in a normal state have no sense of time, so Katie + sleep deprived = major timing fail -_-*
Well, I hope it still turned out okay. We had to breeze through the second have of the presentation but we weren't the only ones to have issues with the 10 min max for time. *sighs* Hopefully, it turns out okay! I had my paper done at least! I don't understand how so many people didn't... I really don't get it. So I am good with time management but bad with timing?????
Yeah, I don't get it either. Whatever.
I got home and took a 2 hour nap before dinner and hanging out with the host family for a bit. Chihiro made me a friendship bracelet. Yes, girls in the audience you know what I mean. Those twisted string bracelets that you just tie around your wrist and don't take off ever. It was really cute. I watched a couple episodes of Conan last night and chatted with some people on fb chat then had issues failing asleep again. Not as bad this time though!
I think it was about 3am this time... but I woke up and skyped with Jon. Skype is really a bad thing to use if you have a bad internet connection. It can't connect. So we switched to using gchat's video feature. The only real reason I have a gmail account... ^_^* Because I got that all my stuff (this, googledocs, and youtube) are all linked... so if I delete it, bye bye blog and well. Stupid GOOGLE! Then there's the Facebook scandal going on too, even I've heard about it here in Japan. Stupid Corporate America and your insatiable greed--you're the reason we're not going to recover!
*cough cough* Anyway, I cleaned my room today and am just hanging out before classes tomorrow and getting ready for Tokyo! I leave for Kyoto by train after 9pm and get on a night bus at almost midnight there bound for Tokyo! I'm not bringing my computer so relax! You'll have a long time to catch up on blogs! I'll do my best to take more pictures than write in my diary while I'm there. I know someone will have their computer so I can charge my camera when necessary! Yay for computer addicts! Otherwise, today I'm just reorganizing my desk because since I've been sick things have just gotten crazy in my room. Hence I cleaned it! But I'm going to go do that or take a brief nap since I'm getting a sleep deprivation headache again. 45 mins-1 hour max so as not to further mess up the cycle! I think my body is telling me to go home because it's trying to align with home's time zone. Not yet! Just another 4 weeks from today! Love you guys! Bye bye!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Inconceivable!
So, somehow just from reading through my lines for my skit during our 3 meetings which were no longer than 20 mins and reading through them twice here tonight. I have successfully memorized my lines for my skit... I have proof as I practiced it with my host dad and he never had to feed me a line once! What?! It's okay. I don't get it either... I wish I could do that for vocab or grammar structures!
But anyway, today I started off exhausted since I stayed up til 2 trying to write out my practice for my in class essay test and making my vocab list. I got to school on time from the bus because I got off early and walked the rest of the way in. I swear, I cannot ride the bus and expect to be on time every again! I don't understand why we're having this trouble now and not back during winter! I never had this problem back then and I still got on at the same place and same time. But oh well, I made it in time barely for my test and started writing. I stayed a little over on the 50 mins but I managed to do closer to the max character limit. I don't understand how that happened since I never got another chance to reread my practice version and last time we had this I barely made the under limit. Oh and my essay in class was completely different from my practice. I don't think there is a shared sentence between them. I'm soo confused how it happened. I hope it turned out well! I came out feeling oddly confident in it but we all know how that can end up sometimes...
Afterwards, I met up with my group for our last practice session before dress rehearsal (which is 25 mins before class starts)! Then I got lunch with one of the partners and ran to class. After class I went home and slept because 1. I forgot a coat this morning and only realized it was cold after I was waiting at the bus stop, 2. I'm still sick, and 3. I was so sleep deprived. Did that for about 2 hours only too wake up feeling a different kind of crappy and had to take care of that so I could focus on my psychology paper and presentation (which I just found out my updated version of the powerpoint has been corrupted... WHY?!?!?!) and memorize my skit lines.
Oh, I failed at not speaking at all today. I was good for like 2 hours then I had practice and people kept asking me questions. Can anyone explain to me if someone has lost their voice, why would you ask anything but a Y/N question? Are you an idiot? They can't answer you! I digress...
I don't understand the thought process of my host mother either... because my stomach was feeling sick I got a plate of spaghetti with eggs instead of plain rice... Oh Japan! Well, I haven't felt very sick otherwise today! Yay! I actually took some meds and had a very energetic afternoon, which some people might have noticed via Facebook... *>.> <.<* Ooops... sorry, I don't consume a lot of caffeine often... But yeah, it's 9:36 pm and somehow I'm ready to go for tomorrow! I guess I'll just have to re-update my slides for the psychology presentation tomorrow!
Oh, exciting news! I can breath through my nose again! Yay! It makes me soooooo infinitely happy!!! I couldn't live with not being able to day after day. I couldn't sleep last night because I still couldn't (another reason I was soo tired this morning). It's like having someone stuff thick cotton balls up the back of your throat towards your nasal cavity and pouring glue into your nose. Due to the tension of this you clench your jaw- cutting off your air supply and causing the rest of your body to begin to burn and tense up from lack of oxygen to the blood and muscles. Hah, yeah... that sounds comfortable, doesn't it?
But yeah, night!
But anyway, today I started off exhausted since I stayed up til 2 trying to write out my practice for my in class essay test and making my vocab list. I got to school on time from the bus because I got off early and walked the rest of the way in. I swear, I cannot ride the bus and expect to be on time every again! I don't understand why we're having this trouble now and not back during winter! I never had this problem back then and I still got on at the same place and same time. But oh well, I made it in time barely for my test and started writing. I stayed a little over on the 50 mins but I managed to do closer to the max character limit. I don't understand how that happened since I never got another chance to reread my practice version and last time we had this I barely made the under limit. Oh and my essay in class was completely different from my practice. I don't think there is a shared sentence between them. I'm soo confused how it happened. I hope it turned out well! I came out feeling oddly confident in it but we all know how that can end up sometimes...
Afterwards, I met up with my group for our last practice session before dress rehearsal (which is 25 mins before class starts)! Then I got lunch with one of the partners and ran to class. After class I went home and slept because 1. I forgot a coat this morning and only realized it was cold after I was waiting at the bus stop, 2. I'm still sick, and 3. I was so sleep deprived. Did that for about 2 hours only too wake up feeling a different kind of crappy and had to take care of that so I could focus on my psychology paper and presentation (which I just found out my updated version of the powerpoint has been corrupted... WHY?!?!?!) and memorize my skit lines.
Oh, I failed at not speaking at all today. I was good for like 2 hours then I had practice and people kept asking me questions. Can anyone explain to me if someone has lost their voice, why would you ask anything but a Y/N question? Are you an idiot? They can't answer you! I digress...
I don't understand the thought process of my host mother either... because my stomach was feeling sick I got a plate of spaghetti with eggs instead of plain rice... Oh Japan! Well, I haven't felt very sick otherwise today! Yay! I actually took some meds and had a very energetic afternoon, which some people might have noticed via Facebook... *>.> <.<* Ooops... sorry, I don't consume a lot of caffeine often... But yeah, it's 9:36 pm and somehow I'm ready to go for tomorrow! I guess I'll just have to re-update my slides for the psychology presentation tomorrow!
Oh, exciting news! I can breath through my nose again! Yay! It makes me soooooo infinitely happy!!! I couldn't live with not being able to day after day. I couldn't sleep last night because I still couldn't (another reason I was soo tired this morning). It's like having someone stuff thick cotton balls up the back of your throat towards your nasal cavity and pouring glue into your nose. Due to the tension of this you clench your jaw- cutting off your air supply and causing the rest of your body to begin to burn and tense up from lack of oxygen to the blood and muscles. Hah, yeah... that sounds comfortable, doesn't it?
But yeah, night!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Meh, could've been worse...
So although, I'm still sick today could have gone worse.
I got to classes and didn't do as hot on my quiz in Japanese as I wanted. I just couldn't get the vocab to stick as well Japanese to English as English to Japanese... strange... so I missed 3 on that part and 1 on the other... out of 10... but yeah, I made it this time and tried really hard! I've just been a mess because of this. My brains all confused and rattled, I was almost convinced a cold wasn't from a virus... yeah, logic is not my strong point right now...
But after having my teacher get upset with me for watching her instead of looking at my notes and looking for the answer to the question she asked that I already knew what the answer was, I squeaked out in a completely pained and broken voice in Japanese that I had no voice. I didn't talk much the rest of the day. Whenever I could avoid it I did. Unfortunately, I had to practice with my skit partners so I mouthed the words and then began to whisper then... by the end, I remembered whispering is worse than regular talking so I stopped that too.
I was beginning to worry about my psych presentation I had to give that afternoon since my partner for that kind of left me high and dry over the weekend... I threw together a powerpoint from my stuff and sent it to him since I wouldn't see him due to classes until 15 til it was due. I also grabbed a bento on campus, ran and informed my psych prof of my lack of voice to see what we could do since I really can't help it if I have no voice and have to talk for at least 5 mins of our presentation... Lindsey was a saving grace to me because she gave me some throat lozenges... I need to ask her where she got those. But otherwise, psych class ran out of time for me to do the presentation so we're going Wed now-- not really what I wanted since now my paper, presentation, and skit are all due that day... I only wanted the skit to be left to do... grrr...
But yeah, today was the longest I've been awake since Friday. By the time I was out of psych I was exhausted and bumping into things, ie walls. Fortunately, I foresaw something like this and took the bus today. Expensive yes, but safer than riding my bike!
I felt really specially getting the get well's from everyone on facebook. I didn't notice them until this evening because I was being a good, diligent, slightly procrastinating student! But yeah, Thanks everybody! I'm feeling a bit better but that's after a nap and now I've got to memorize what I'm writing for class tomorrow and start memorizing my skit script and maybe get some work done on my paper... The only necessity is the writing for class... Sakubun test... ugh.
Yep, that's been my day. I got told I looked like I slept 2 hours last night when in fact it was about 8... but what can you do? I looked like crap even through the makeup, maybe I'll try harder tomorrow... maybe...
Okay, on to working now so I can shower and feel better and sleep lots!
PS: On a good note, my anthro teacher extended the due date of our next paper by another 5 days. YAY! I don't have to stress out now! (He did it mostly because he barely started grading our last ones...)
I got to classes and didn't do as hot on my quiz in Japanese as I wanted. I just couldn't get the vocab to stick as well Japanese to English as English to Japanese... strange... so I missed 3 on that part and 1 on the other... out of 10... but yeah, I made it this time and tried really hard! I've just been a mess because of this. My brains all confused and rattled, I was almost convinced a cold wasn't from a virus... yeah, logic is not my strong point right now...
But after having my teacher get upset with me for watching her instead of looking at my notes and looking for the answer to the question she asked that I already knew what the answer was, I squeaked out in a completely pained and broken voice in Japanese that I had no voice. I didn't talk much the rest of the day. Whenever I could avoid it I did. Unfortunately, I had to practice with my skit partners so I mouthed the words and then began to whisper then... by the end, I remembered whispering is worse than regular talking so I stopped that too.
I was beginning to worry about my psych presentation I had to give that afternoon since my partner for that kind of left me high and dry over the weekend... I threw together a powerpoint from my stuff and sent it to him since I wouldn't see him due to classes until 15 til it was due. I also grabbed a bento on campus, ran and informed my psych prof of my lack of voice to see what we could do since I really can't help it if I have no voice and have to talk for at least 5 mins of our presentation... Lindsey was a saving grace to me because she gave me some throat lozenges... I need to ask her where she got those. But otherwise, psych class ran out of time for me to do the presentation so we're going Wed now-- not really what I wanted since now my paper, presentation, and skit are all due that day... I only wanted the skit to be left to do... grrr...
But yeah, today was the longest I've been awake since Friday. By the time I was out of psych I was exhausted and bumping into things, ie walls. Fortunately, I foresaw something like this and took the bus today. Expensive yes, but safer than riding my bike!
I felt really specially getting the get well's from everyone on facebook. I didn't notice them until this evening because I was being a good, diligent, slightly procrastinating student! But yeah, Thanks everybody! I'm feeling a bit better but that's after a nap and now I've got to memorize what I'm writing for class tomorrow and start memorizing my skit script and maybe get some work done on my paper... The only necessity is the writing for class... Sakubun test... ugh.
Yep, that's been my day. I got told I looked like I slept 2 hours last night when in fact it was about 8... but what can you do? I looked like crap even through the makeup, maybe I'll try harder tomorrow... maybe...
Okay, on to working now so I can shower and feel better and sleep lots!
PS: On a good note, my anthro teacher extended the due date of our next paper by another 5 days. YAY! I don't have to stress out now! (He did it mostly because he barely started grading our last ones...)
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Recovery? or Just a Cover up?
Okay. Let's be Brief.
I'm sick. I have been since Thursday night. I have mostly stayed in my room in an attempt to keep the rest of the family safe since I thought Miwa finally had gotten better! So no yukata dress wearing, no traditional dancing, no ninja festival. I've probably slept half of the weekend and watched anime/read manga the other half.
I caught up on Bleach finally, still have not heard back from my cousin Paul... !!! ,
and started and finished reading an adorable series called Shugo Chara! It was only 51 chapters! No worries!
Now I'm going to write my paper that tomorrow's presentation is on and compare it with my partner's later when we have our skype meeting. Yeah, I feel lazy but I'm too sick and didn't get a chance to get permission from the host family early enough to not impose. Then I will memorize the new 50+ vocab so hopefully I can get 10/10 on tomorrow's quiz. Pray that it doesn't rain or we might have a similar sorrowful reenactment of last Thursday- the cause of why I am like this... miserably ill and failed to do fun stuff this weekend. Then Monday night come up with what I'll write for my essay test on Tuesday, then tuesday night I'll memorize my lines for my Japanese skit so we can blow that out of the water! I need a good grade on this to make me feel more comfortable with my B. Wednesday I'll turn in my presentation paper and be finished until Friday! Where I show up to classes and then relax and pack until Tokyo!! Remember, Thursday is a national holiday no school! After Tokyo for 4 days, I have my recovery day and back to school for a little more than a week and finals!! It's sure coming up fast! Oh well! Paper time before my energy runs out again and I pass out for another 3 hours!
PS: I would like to note that this is the first time in a long time my host family has made something that I could not eat. Thankfully it was only part of the meal and completely separate from my raw tuna and rice. On a normal stomach, I'm not sure I would've been able to handle these two other things either but oh well, especially not today. One of these things had a consistency that reminded me why I went through an entire box of tissues in 2 days... and the other was long strings of raw beef... I didn't want to throw up here again so I kindly passed saying my stomach was upset.
<.<* ugh, that was a close one. Ugh, now I can't get that stuff out of my head... eww.....
I'm sick. I have been since Thursday night. I have mostly stayed in my room in an attempt to keep the rest of the family safe since I thought Miwa finally had gotten better! So no yukata dress wearing, no traditional dancing, no ninja festival. I've probably slept half of the weekend and watched anime/read manga the other half.
I caught up on Bleach finally, still have not heard back from my cousin Paul... !!! ,
and started and finished reading an adorable series called Shugo Chara! It was only 51 chapters! No worries!
Now I'm going to write my paper that tomorrow's presentation is on and compare it with my partner's later when we have our skype meeting. Yeah, I feel lazy but I'm too sick and didn't get a chance to get permission from the host family early enough to not impose. Then I will memorize the new 50+ vocab so hopefully I can get 10/10 on tomorrow's quiz. Pray that it doesn't rain or we might have a similar sorrowful reenactment of last Thursday- the cause of why I am like this... miserably ill and failed to do fun stuff this weekend. Then Monday night come up with what I'll write for my essay test on Tuesday, then tuesday night I'll memorize my lines for my Japanese skit so we can blow that out of the water! I need a good grade on this to make me feel more comfortable with my B. Wednesday I'll turn in my presentation paper and be finished until Friday! Where I show up to classes and then relax and pack until Tokyo!! Remember, Thursday is a national holiday no school! After Tokyo for 4 days, I have my recovery day and back to school for a little more than a week and finals!! It's sure coming up fast! Oh well! Paper time before my energy runs out again and I pass out for another 3 hours!
PS: I would like to note that this is the first time in a long time my host family has made something that I could not eat. Thankfully it was only part of the meal and completely separate from my raw tuna and rice. On a normal stomach, I'm not sure I would've been able to handle these two other things either but oh well, especially not today. One of these things had a consistency that reminded me why I went through an entire box of tissues in 2 days... and the other was long strings of raw beef... I didn't want to throw up here again so I kindly passed saying my stomach was upset.
<.<* ugh, that was a close one. Ugh, now I can't get that stuff out of my head... eww.....
Friday, April 23, 2010
What? Down with the sickness AGAIN?!
Congrats! It's the Friday before all my stuff is due... all meaning most of my projects and presentations and quizzes and tests before Golden week and the end of the semester... and I've managed to get real sick. Not, I'm not sure if this is allergies... I mean real ill. It happened because of a very rough day yesterday which resulted in my sprinting over a mile to school in the pouring down rain and still missing my quiz which should not have happened since I wasn't running late until the bus got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for 40 minutes. Not dwelling on it anymore...
But yes, now I have a very sore throat, my eyes and head ache, my nose is temperature sensitive and runny, did I mention I ache all over, cannot focus, am always tired? Oh and I forgot the kicker! Because of the running in shoes that aren't meant to be worn for stuff like that I not only have blisters but my shin splints are aggravated again... so no it hurts whatever I do... ( -_-*)
It couldn't have come at a worse time, actually it could have come when I was leaving for Tokyo... but anyway, I'm supposed to be going to this yukata (a springtime kimono basically) wearing event and learn how to do this traditional dance with a friend of mine on campus tomorrow... feeling crappy so we'll see how I feel tomorrow about that- afterwards, I'm going to the sem house and finishing my psy therapy meetings and hopefully figuring out everything for that paper & presentation since it's due on Wed/Mon respectively- but since the presentation is on the paper that means I'll finish the paper first... we have another huge vocab quiz on Monday so I have to study for that too because Sunday I'm still planning to go to the ninja festival- I might bring it along for the train ride to memorize- it's a long 2/3 hours... but yeah... so my Sunday is shot for time!
Tuesday is my Japanese writing class's sakubun test- basically an in class essay. Then Wednesday is turn in the psy paper and do my Japanese speaking skit! Hopefully after that it's easy street! Well, Thursday is a national holiday so that's nice. Get a break between that and Friday then off to Tokyo!
But yeah, did a little bit of work today and took a 2 hour nap... I was OUT. Going to take a shower when I'm allowed so in like 1/2/10 minutes, they always make me feel better. Then I'm going to relax and get some sleep. I cannot afford to be sick well, financially yes but experience/time worthy no!
But yes, now I have a very sore throat, my eyes and head ache, my nose is temperature sensitive and runny, did I mention I ache all over, cannot focus, am always tired? Oh and I forgot the kicker! Because of the running in shoes that aren't meant to be worn for stuff like that I not only have blisters but my shin splints are aggravated again... so no it hurts whatever I do... ( -_-*)
It couldn't have come at a worse time, actually it could have come when I was leaving for Tokyo... but anyway, I'm supposed to be going to this yukata (a springtime kimono basically) wearing event and learn how to do this traditional dance with a friend of mine on campus tomorrow... feeling crappy so we'll see how I feel tomorrow about that- afterwards, I'm going to the sem house and finishing my psy therapy meetings and hopefully figuring out everything for that paper & presentation since it's due on Wed/Mon respectively- but since the presentation is on the paper that means I'll finish the paper first... we have another huge vocab quiz on Monday so I have to study for that too because Sunday I'm still planning to go to the ninja festival- I might bring it along for the train ride to memorize- it's a long 2/3 hours... but yeah... so my Sunday is shot for time!
Tuesday is my Japanese writing class's sakubun test- basically an in class essay. Then Wednesday is turn in the psy paper and do my Japanese speaking skit! Hopefully after that it's easy street! Well, Thursday is a national holiday so that's nice. Get a break between that and Friday then off to Tokyo!
But yeah, did a little bit of work today and took a 2 hour nap... I was OUT. Going to take a shower when I'm allowed so in like 1/2/10 minutes, they always make me feel better. Then I'm going to relax and get some sleep. I cannot afford to be sick well, financially yes but experience/time worthy no!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
This might turn out daijyoubu...
Okay, so after looking at my attempts at budgeting and keeping things in perspective, I've decided to pass on going to Den Den Town again this weekend and go to the Ninja Festival for sure. Downside is it will probably cost about $50 for the whole day -meaning: the to/from train ride, entrance fees for castle/museum, eating, maybe A souvenir. It's expensive yes, but it's going to be awesome! I know it! Come on, a day of ninja research!?!?!?! Yeah, enough about that.
Well, I did okay on the lesson test, I swear there is no good test I will ever have from her... My only saving grace is when I do really well on my other projects, and get my homework and attendance and anything else that can raise my grade! Ugh... I digress, surprise we have about 50 new vocab words for a quiz tomorrow, what? Yeah, my teacher was described as a "tool" and I'm starting to believe it more and more. That's almost as much as we have for a lesson test (over 2 chapters) and let me point out, I have another one on Monday with another page and a half of new vocab... I fear for this upcoming test on these... >.<
Quick Random Rant: If you have a facebook but never use it, what's the point of having one? It gives people the false hope that you might be easily contacted...
Anyway, today was well. Alright, minor worries about my upcoming psy project/paper that's due in a week- although less than that since we're giving our presentation is Monday. My skit that's next Wed also came to mind, but I can handle that. Maybe? The end is coming and I can feel it everywhere, people are getting cramped for time and wanting to do more stuff and I'm like, "well, that's nice but I blew a lot of my money and time out earlier--now I'd like to relax and timely work on things..."
Oh well, we'll see how that works out.
Time to attempt to memorize the rest of this ridiculous vocab! Night!
Well, I did okay on the lesson test, I swear there is no good test I will ever have from her... My only saving grace is when I do really well on my other projects, and get my homework and attendance and anything else that can raise my grade! Ugh... I digress, surprise we have about 50 new vocab words for a quiz tomorrow, what? Yeah, my teacher was described as a "tool" and I'm starting to believe it more and more. That's almost as much as we have for a lesson test (over 2 chapters) and let me point out, I have another one on Monday with another page and a half of new vocab... I fear for this upcoming test on these... >.<
Quick Random Rant: If you have a facebook but never use it, what's the point of having one? It gives people the false hope that you might be easily contacted...
Anyway, today was well. Alright, minor worries about my upcoming psy project/paper that's due in a week- although less than that since we're giving our presentation is Monday. My skit that's next Wed also came to mind, but I can handle that. Maybe? The end is coming and I can feel it everywhere, people are getting cramped for time and wanting to do more stuff and I'm like, "well, that's nice but I blew a lot of my money and time out earlier--now I'd like to relax and timely work on things..."
Oh well, we'll see how that works out.
Time to attempt to memorize the rest of this ridiculous vocab! Night!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
My Japanese is what?!
Well, it's Tuesday night and I've barely managed to focus enough to get my studying done for my minor vocab and kanji quiz tomorrow. It's hard to focus when you already know all/most of it. Oh well, next chapter it's not as bad. But I've played quite a bit of Chrono Trigger- going to beat it soon! I'm going through video game withdrawal but it's not these games I have access to that I'm suffering for! Oh well...
I managed to bike in the light rain today both to and from class! Yay! I saved 440 yen today! I also took my lesson test in my speaking class and I think it went well? But really with those, who knows... only the teacher right now...
As promised, I stopped by the hajimemashite(nice to meet you) spot today and chatted in Japanese to a few people. It was really awkward for me and I was feeling really tired so my japanese was failing for a bit before I warmed up. I didn't realize how crappy it can be when I'm not comfortable with the person/situation... as a result, I went home and chatted with my host mom for a while in an attempt to practice my speaking and more complex grammar structures that don't allow me 5 minutes of picturing it in my head before saying it. Again, my writing is greatly improving but I still feel like I have that verbal block... GRR! I'm trying to remedy that now with the help of Mai and Keck-san and anyone else who can/will speak Japanese with me.
Oh well, I found out everyone's going to a Ninja festival this Sunday... I need to find out these details so I can decide if I can go. It sounds like a ton of fun! But, we'll see. Well, I'm unusually tired right now so I might actually go to bed! It's almost midnight!
Good night! おやすみ！
I managed to bike in the light rain today both to and from class! Yay! I saved 440 yen today! I also took my lesson test in my speaking class and I think it went well? But really with those, who knows... only the teacher right now...
As promised, I stopped by the hajimemashite(nice to meet you) spot today and chatted in Japanese to a few people. It was really awkward for me and I was feeling really tired so my japanese was failing for a bit before I warmed up. I didn't realize how crappy it can be when I'm not comfortable with the person/situation... as a result, I went home and chatted with my host mom for a while in an attempt to practice my speaking and more complex grammar structures that don't allow me 5 minutes of picturing it in my head before saying it. Again, my writing is greatly improving but I still feel like I have that verbal block... GRR! I'm trying to remedy that now with the help of Mai and Keck-san and anyone else who can/will speak Japanese with me.
Oh well, I found out everyone's going to a Ninja festival this Sunday... I need to find out these details so I can decide if I can go. It sounds like a ton of fun! But, we'll see. Well, I'm unusually tired right now so I might actually go to bed! It's almost midnight!
Good night! おやすみ！
Sunday, April 18, 2010
What a Weekend .,!?
Okay, so to recap what my weekend was like...
Friday, was late to class because I was up super late the night before working on our script for our new Japanese skit and almost forgot my actual homework that night too. I missed 3 buses to get to school on time, it was raining pretty hard so I couldn't bike. I ended up having to stay until 5pm at school that day because we couldn't meet at 11... At least, we finished it and they seemed to like it. I am finished for the day normally at 11. Well, I met Mai and her friend for lunch and then we hung out until the meeting at 3. I was sooo tired but it couldn't be helped. I got back home and fell asleep for maybe 30 minutes before being awoken by people coming home. It sooo echoes here! But yeah, I spent the rest of Friday night chilling out with the family, having dinner, and then watching anime while the customer was here. I ended up being up late again because of that (>.<) of course, and I found out I was going somewhere with my host family the next day so I had to hurry and cancel other plans.
So I was up by 8:30 to be ready by 9 for this trip to a far away place with pottery and such. Well, they were running a bit behind but that was okay. We all piled into the car and off we went. After half of Pirates of the Caribbean in Japanese, we made it there. To Germany!!! Or a look-a-like German town. It was cute! But yeah, we caught fish and drove one of those swan boats, we couldn't make any pots but that is ok. It is actually just painting them,(・_・;) Im not good at that. I never can decide what to paint. But! I got to pet a cow because everyone was afraid of it.(;^_^A
We ate sausage and pizza and strawberry pocky and custard cream kit-kats. It was amusing.
After that, we went to a tea store and I embarrassed myself because the owner served us really strong green tea, which I attempted to try and ended up not being able to even keep a straight face... -_-* At least, he didn't see the face. Then we went to a plant store and I used a Japanese-style toilet for the first time, not too different from John Bryan state park... if I recall correctly...
The reason we went to the plant store was because we were going to visit Miwa｀s mom at the cemetery next because it was her birthday today. We went there and switched out her flowers and tidied up her grave. It was interesting getting to see how Japanese people treat death and such. Then we headed home and I took a short nap, almost decided against going to the crazy club later that night when I realized my shirt for tonight was gone. I messaged my host parents because I thought maybe it had gotten mixed up with their stuff again but they came home and apparently, it was in the queue for getting ironed still. It's been since Spring break since I last wore it so I didn't remember. Thankfully, as I finished getting ready for the evening, Miwa ironed it for me. I was tired already but possibly because I hadn't had dinner yet and had been up so late and up so early so many nights in a row.
By the way, this club was called Yoru-sta... You're a star. Haha, funny. But anyway, what's the funniest part is that most people there were dressed in cosplay costumes! So I wore mine and Lauren did hers too, we met up with some friends of hers and got Karaoke and dinner (more expensive than I wanted... again -_-) but then when we got to the club, it was $10 more expensive than the site said... >.<* Good thing I had taken out a large amount of money or that night would have been a waste as I wouldn't have been able to get in! I did get to karaoke a lot because 2 of our group was very busy getting ready! Karaoke room, changing room, eating room, crazy room, it has a lot of names.
Well, the club was a lot of fun! Japanese dancing = crazy arm movements + the 2-step.
It was awesome! Not like awkward American clubs where people are grinding and groping and ew... Everyone had costumes and wigs and had 2 drinks included with the entrance fee so were mostly intoxicated but it was again, awesome! We danced the whole time! Well, I did anyway and made some random friends with Japanese people because of my impatience with awkward want-to-dance-but-can't-because-I-haven't-drank-enough-yet people... 11-6am... That was a long night. I wasn't feeling well with greasy food in my stomach so I just used my 2 drinks for water. I was very happy with that choice! But yeah, there were tons of people from FF7,9, and 13. But only a few from FF6,8, X/X-2. There were lots of Eva fans and I was yet again, the only one from Vampire Knight again but it's okay. I'm unique! Most people knew me or of me by the end of the evening. It was funny. For starters, I was one of the first people to dance and I got random others to dance with me. I was super genki and bouncing was part of my dancing, I was also one of very few gaijin there. If only I had been Selphie because my hair, for once, stayed curled out the whole night... perfect outward curl too!! >.<* I also got to dance on stage with a bunch of people, no worries! I wore shorts under my skirt! I know how to take care of myself! But everyone was really nice and fun and I made friends with another Rei from Eva and these 2 Alices from Alice in Wonderland. They were adorable! I danced with Ichigo and got pictures of Cloud and Yuna and others. I danced with a lot of other people too but I can't remember who now... my memory is rather shot with how tired I was/am. A ton of people wanted to get my picture, including the people who ran the bar. There were 3 areas of DJs, a basement that was really stuffy and small, an outdoor basement area which got cold easily, and a higher basement bar with a bigger room and air conditioning, it helped a bit when there weren't too many people there. But it was sooo much fun because the music was all anime/video game stuff! I recognized a bunch of it too and knew a bit of them! It was soo much fun, I'm really glad I went even though it was expensive, I figure that'll be the last time I wear my costume here because I don't think I can handle too many more all night events like that. Especially if they're expensive... ^_^*
I actually spoke to a good number of people there, most of which were Japanese and didn't speak any English. Yay! Cultural exchange! Also from this event, we have come to realize what a few of our favorite FF characters do in their spare time:
Cloud goes out partying and drinking on the weekends- hah! He has personality now!
Vincent is basically a night club singer.
Sephiroth is a night club DJ and an awesome one at that!
That's all, I remember now. Once it ended we gathered our stuff and headed back. I was concerned because I could feel myself getting grumpy since I was nearing the "24 hours of being awake" state... My patience kind of disappear when I get there. But we got back to Hirakata station and I thankfully had a bus waiting for me there! Yay! I jumped on and ended up riding back with Pat - another guy from KG who I ran into at the Ring during Spring Break and found out he lives near my neighborhood. So we got off at the same stop. He was also at a bar in the same area so it was funny. He was still partially intoxicated or getting hung over? I'm not sure but it was entertaining. My ears might have stopped ringing sooner but he let me listen to his music as well and it was soooooooooo loud. I thought I was back at the club. Oh well. -_-* I got home at about 7:00 am and everyone was awake. I felt bad but asked if I could shower before I went to bed because I smelled of smoke and was sooo gross from all the dancing. I didn't want to get that grossness on my futon and around the house. Miwa understood and let me but I had to wait until she finished getting ready. I'm not supposed to take showers in the morning for that reason but I'm sure she appreciates me not stinking up the house since she's like myself and really doesn't like the smell of smoke. I had a slice of bread for breakfast- it was whole-heartedly welcomed! I had been craving one since late greasy dinner. But then I went upstairs and passed out until about 2pm when I set my alarm. If I slept all day, then I wouldn't sleep tonight! Haha! I can still think logically!
I'm taking today off so just homework and sleep and relaxing/recovering so I can be ready for the week. Everyone else in the house has been pretty busy and have been out so I haven't had an issue sleeping.
Friday, was late to class because I was up super late the night before working on our script for our new Japanese skit and almost forgot my actual homework that night too. I missed 3 buses to get to school on time, it was raining pretty hard so I couldn't bike. I ended up having to stay until 5pm at school that day because we couldn't meet at 11... At least, we finished it and they seemed to like it. I am finished for the day normally at 11. Well, I met Mai and her friend for lunch and then we hung out until the meeting at 3. I was sooo tired but it couldn't be helped. I got back home and fell asleep for maybe 30 minutes before being awoken by people coming home. It sooo echoes here! But yeah, I spent the rest of Friday night chilling out with the family, having dinner, and then watching anime while the customer was here. I ended up being up late again because of that (>.<) of course, and I found out I was going somewhere with my host family the next day so I had to hurry and cancel other plans.
So I was up by 8:30 to be ready by 9 for this trip to a far away place with pottery and such. Well, they were running a bit behind but that was okay. We all piled into the car and off we went. After half of Pirates of the Caribbean in Japanese, we made it there. To Germany!!! Or a look-a-like German town. It was cute! But yeah, we caught fish and drove one of those swan boats, we couldn't make any pots but that is ok. It is actually just painting them,(・_・;) Im not good at that. I never can decide what to paint. But! I got to pet a cow because everyone was afraid of it.(;^_^A
We ate sausage and pizza and strawberry pocky and custard cream kit-kats. It was amusing.
After that, we went to a tea store and I embarrassed myself because the owner served us really strong green tea, which I attempted to try and ended up not being able to even keep a straight face... -_-* At least, he didn't see the face. Then we went to a plant store and I used a Japanese-style toilet for the first time, not too different from John Bryan state park... if I recall correctly...
The reason we went to the plant store was because we were going to visit Miwa｀s mom at the cemetery next because it was her birthday today. We went there and switched out her flowers and tidied up her grave. It was interesting getting to see how Japanese people treat death and such. Then we headed home and I took a short nap, almost decided against going to the crazy club later that night when I realized my shirt for tonight was gone. I messaged my host parents because I thought maybe it had gotten mixed up with their stuff again but they came home and apparently, it was in the queue for getting ironed still. It's been since Spring break since I last wore it so I didn't remember. Thankfully, as I finished getting ready for the evening, Miwa ironed it for me. I was tired already but possibly because I hadn't had dinner yet and had been up so late and up so early so many nights in a row.
By the way, this club was called Yoru-sta... You're a star. Haha, funny. But anyway, what's the funniest part is that most people there were dressed in cosplay costumes! So I wore mine and Lauren did hers too, we met up with some friends of hers and got Karaoke and dinner (more expensive than I wanted... again -_-) but then when we got to the club, it was $10 more expensive than the site said... >.<* Good thing I had taken out a large amount of money or that night would have been a waste as I wouldn't have been able to get in! I did get to karaoke a lot because 2 of our group was very busy getting ready! Karaoke room, changing room, eating room, crazy room, it has a lot of names.
Well, the club was a lot of fun! Japanese dancing = crazy arm movements + the 2-step.
It was awesome! Not like awkward American clubs where people are grinding and groping and ew... Everyone had costumes and wigs and had 2 drinks included with the entrance fee so were mostly intoxicated but it was again, awesome! We danced the whole time! Well, I did anyway and made some random friends with Japanese people because of my impatience with awkward want-to-dance-but-can't-because-I-haven't-drank-enough-yet people... 11-6am... That was a long night. I wasn't feeling well with greasy food in my stomach so I just used my 2 drinks for water. I was very happy with that choice! But yeah, there were tons of people from FF7,9, and 13. But only a few from FF6,8, X/X-2. There were lots of Eva fans and I was yet again, the only one from Vampire Knight again but it's okay. I'm unique! Most people knew me or of me by the end of the evening. It was funny. For starters, I was one of the first people to dance and I got random others to dance with me. I was super genki and bouncing was part of my dancing, I was also one of very few gaijin there. If only I had been Selphie because my hair, for once, stayed curled out the whole night... perfect outward curl too!! >.<* I also got to dance on stage with a bunch of people, no worries! I wore shorts under my skirt! I know how to take care of myself! But everyone was really nice and fun and I made friends with another Rei from Eva and these 2 Alices from Alice in Wonderland. They were adorable! I danced with Ichigo and got pictures of Cloud and Yuna and others. I danced with a lot of other people too but I can't remember who now... my memory is rather shot with how tired I was/am. A ton of people wanted to get my picture, including the people who ran the bar. There were 3 areas of DJs, a basement that was really stuffy and small, an outdoor basement area which got cold easily, and a higher basement bar with a bigger room and air conditioning, it helped a bit when there weren't too many people there. But it was sooo much fun because the music was all anime/video game stuff! I recognized a bunch of it too and knew a bit of them! It was soo much fun, I'm really glad I went even though it was expensive, I figure that'll be the last time I wear my costume here because I don't think I can handle too many more all night events like that. Especially if they're expensive... ^_^*
I actually spoke to a good number of people there, most of which were Japanese and didn't speak any English. Yay! Cultural exchange! Also from this event, we have come to realize what a few of our favorite FF characters do in their spare time:
Cloud goes out partying and drinking on the weekends- hah! He has personality now!
Vincent is basically a night club singer.
Sephiroth is a night club DJ and an awesome one at that!
That's all, I remember now. Once it ended we gathered our stuff and headed back. I was concerned because I could feel myself getting grumpy since I was nearing the "24 hours of being awake" state... My patience kind of disappear when I get there. But we got back to Hirakata station and I thankfully had a bus waiting for me there! Yay! I jumped on and ended up riding back with Pat - another guy from KG who I ran into at the Ring during Spring Break and found out he lives near my neighborhood. So we got off at the same stop. He was also at a bar in the same area so it was funny. He was still partially intoxicated or getting hung over? I'm not sure but it was entertaining. My ears might have stopped ringing sooner but he let me listen to his music as well and it was soooooooooo loud. I thought I was back at the club. Oh well. -_-* I got home at about 7:00 am and everyone was awake. I felt bad but asked if I could shower before I went to bed because I smelled of smoke and was sooo gross from all the dancing. I didn't want to get that grossness on my futon and around the house. Miwa understood and let me but I had to wait until she finished getting ready. I'm not supposed to take showers in the morning for that reason but I'm sure she appreciates me not stinking up the house since she's like myself and really doesn't like the smell of smoke. I had a slice of bread for breakfast- it was whole-heartedly welcomed! I had been craving one since late greasy dinner. But then I went upstairs and passed out until about 2pm when I set my alarm. If I slept all day, then I wouldn't sleep tonight! Haha! I can still think logically!
I'm taking today off so just homework and sleep and relaxing/recovering so I can be ready for the week. Everyone else in the house has been pretty busy and have been out so I haven't had an issue sleeping.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Fast-forward, please?
Tsk, tsk. No one's been reminding me to update the blog...
Well, I've been really busy >.> <.<*
watching anime, procrastinating homework, and messing up my sleep schedule more...
thanks all...
Well, I've spent a lot of time on Facebook this week and I realize... wow, I need to re-evaluate what I do with my time... Facebook just isn't worth the time I invest in it. No worries, I'm not getting rid of mine! I'm just going to try to do other things when I'm bored or have a minute than get on there, so if I'm suddenly not poking you multiple times a day-that's why.
Well, Monday was a long day of classes and meeting new people and not sleeping enough because I was up too late watching epic exciting episodes of Detective Conan. I had class and it was rainy, so I stayed in for the day. Unfortunately, this epic part of DC was 14 episodes long so I continued this bad situation of staying up late watching more. Again, it's a bad thing when I have early classes or just get awoken extra early by super loud small children... >.<*
Well, I really haven't done much all week besides sleep, watch anime, study for a test, and do a bit of writing here and there. Yay! I'm writing! Unfortunately, I've spread myself out again-I have a new idea that I'm attempting to keep short. ^_^****
Oh well, today I had psy class and we found out about our papers/presentations that are in 2/3 weeks. I'm excited! We're going to do something really fun!!! But before that can happen we need to finish the psychotherapy sessions... ^_^***** and I need to finish writing my part of my script for my Japanese skit... oh man!
Can we just fast-forward to Tokyo?!?! I'm going the 30-5th of May and will be in a hostel with 3/4 of my friends. I'm taking a night-bus so NO talking... >.< uh oh. I'm not thinking I'm taking my computer but we'll see how I feel closer to the date!
So, I met a lot of Japanese students earlier this week and I think I'm about to get that crash-course on speaking Japanese outside of class now... I got a phone call today from one of them- she was really quiet but I couldn't meet with her because of another meeting... I'm planning to meet 2 times a week in the afternoon probably for doing my swing club lessons- maybe something on a sat too. We'll see how I'm feeling about that later too! I just need to get through this crazy busy week and I think it'll chill out. Hopefully, well I'm going to try to get my sleep schedule back to normal now! Wish me luck! Oyasumi!
Well, I've been really busy >.> <.<*
watching anime, procrastinating homework, and messing up my sleep schedule more...
thanks all...
Well, I've spent a lot of time on Facebook this week and I realize... wow, I need to re-evaluate what I do with my time... Facebook just isn't worth the time I invest in it. No worries, I'm not getting rid of mine! I'm just going to try to do other things when I'm bored or have a minute than get on there, so if I'm suddenly not poking you multiple times a day-that's why.
Well, Monday was a long day of classes and meeting new people and not sleeping enough because I was up too late watching epic exciting episodes of Detective Conan. I had class and it was rainy, so I stayed in for the day. Unfortunately, this epic part of DC was 14 episodes long so I continued this bad situation of staying up late watching more. Again, it's a bad thing when I have early classes or just get awoken extra early by super loud small children... >.<*
Well, I really haven't done much all week besides sleep, watch anime, study for a test, and do a bit of writing here and there. Yay! I'm writing! Unfortunately, I've spread myself out again-I have a new idea that I'm attempting to keep short. ^_^****
Oh well, today I had psy class and we found out about our papers/presentations that are in 2/3 weeks. I'm excited! We're going to do something really fun!!! But before that can happen we need to finish the psychotherapy sessions... ^_^***** and I need to finish writing my part of my script for my Japanese skit... oh man!
Can we just fast-forward to Tokyo?!?! I'm going the 30-5th of May and will be in a hostel with 3/4 of my friends. I'm taking a night-bus so NO talking... >.< uh oh. I'm not thinking I'm taking my computer but we'll see how I feel closer to the date!
So, I met a lot of Japanese students earlier this week and I think I'm about to get that crash-course on speaking Japanese outside of class now... I got a phone call today from one of them- she was really quiet but I couldn't meet with her because of another meeting... I'm planning to meet 2 times a week in the afternoon probably for doing my swing club lessons- maybe something on a sat too. We'll see how I'm feeling about that later too! I just need to get through this crazy busy week and I think it'll chill out. Hopefully, well I'm going to try to get my sleep schedule back to normal now! Wish me luck! Oyasumi!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Chill All Better!!!
So after a very... unproductive Friday, I feel tons better! When I mean unproductive, I mean I watched anime and slept all day... then was up until 2:30 am then finally managed to get to bed and slept until about 11:50. I've been genki ever since!
Today, I played it pretty chill since it's my first day being better. I don't want to over do it! So I messed around with my music and videos on my computer, came up with another random little story. Yeah, that's right! I said LITTLE! I'm excited! This one might not break 60 pages!!
I finally got a copy of a song that I've wanted for a while and it's funny because it fits perfectly with my story idea. I didn't realize it until after I had written a bunch of my ideas out already. Yay for coincidences!
We made takoyaki for dinner which was tasty, crazy, and an adventure! For all of you non-japanese culture savvy people. Takoyaki is basically a very watery batter with cabbage and whatever else you want in the middle. We usually put tako=squid but we switched it out for hotdogs and imitation crab meat too. They asked me which I like the best but I don't really know. I love crab... but it was with the hotdog slices and well, I've eaten a lot of squid now... It's just not alive or moving at all!
But other than that, today was pretty calm and quiet... I'm going to give into my mood and write now. Bye!
Today, I played it pretty chill since it's my first day being better. I don't want to over do it! So I messed around with my music and videos on my computer, came up with another random little story. Yeah, that's right! I said LITTLE! I'm excited! This one might not break 60 pages!!
I finally got a copy of a song that I've wanted for a while and it's funny because it fits perfectly with my story idea. I didn't realize it until after I had written a bunch of my ideas out already. Yay for coincidences!
We made takoyaki for dinner which was tasty, crazy, and an adventure! For all of you non-japanese culture savvy people. Takoyaki is basically a very watery batter with cabbage and whatever else you want in the middle. We usually put tako=squid but we switched it out for hotdogs and imitation crab meat too. They asked me which I like the best but I don't really know. I love crab... but it was with the hotdog slices and well, I've eaten a lot of squid now... It's just not alive or moving at all!
But other than that, today was pretty calm and quiet... I'm going to give into my mood and write now. Bye!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Catch up Cold?
So apparently it's Thursday and I haven't updated since Easter! Sorry to those of you who have been diligently checking back everyday or even every other day. This week's been a bit crazy and I've been feeling a bit under the weather so sleeping has been occurring a bit more to fend off the worst of it!
Monday was a beautiful day and or was that Tuesday... Well, frankly... I had class all day Monday so I didn't get to enjoy it much and was basically bouncing out of my chair. That was also the first time I'd had chocolate in 2 days. I guess I was going through withdrawal or something. But I had a ton of good ideas for my stories thanks to classes but still haven't gotten to writing the actual text yet.
Tuesday was the beautiful day that I took a bike ride on my way home through the park and got all those lovely new pictures! Then I spent the rest of the day memorizing my presentation for Japanese. We went got sushi for dinner- the family and I. It was nice.
Wednesday, I nailed my presentation. Or I think I did anyway... I managed to get re-obsessed with DN Angel again... especially after getting the 2 amazing soundtracks! Yay! Well, Started feeling funny nose-wise like I was going to sneeze on Monday but it progressed into worse things by today... I had a real hard time paying attention in class. I was so miserable I just wanted to go home. So I did and took a nap and then ended up staying up late to take care of a few people and things. I managed to get into my classes no problems too! Yay! I can't believe it! The next question is as to whether or not I can get my linguistics class that was closed... if so man, it will be great! Oh, and I'll need to hope that all my stuff here get credited for my Miami Plan back home then we'll be all peachy-keen!
Although I did find out that I'll only be 2 classes short of a spanish minor... dang you SPANISH!!! Especially at this point, I don't think I could handle the only options left to me for it-I'd have to attempt classes over the summer at Sinclair and somehow get those to count. Somehow...
Thursday, woke up feeling crappy and exhausted because of lack of sleep but went to class, bought my tickets to Tokyo and went to class again... barely made it through that but I did and got home on the bus. Been asleep more or less since then... I'm going to go grab a glass of water and move around for a bit and probably do my homework so I can go to bed early tonight and make sure that this IS only ALLERGIES. I really, honestly cannot tell. I'm acting as if it's illness though to prevent others from catching it just in case. My ear pressure's off, my nose goes runny and then dry, my eyes are super watery, my head hurts around my sinuses... I can't tell... >.< Oh, well. If not homework then a few more episodes of DN Angel! Bye!
Monday was a beautiful day and or was that Tuesday... Well, frankly... I had class all day Monday so I didn't get to enjoy it much and was basically bouncing out of my chair. That was also the first time I'd had chocolate in 2 days. I guess I was going through withdrawal or something. But I had a ton of good ideas for my stories thanks to classes but still haven't gotten to writing the actual text yet.
Tuesday was the beautiful day that I took a bike ride on my way home through the park and got all those lovely new pictures! Then I spent the rest of the day memorizing my presentation for Japanese. We went got sushi for dinner- the family and I. It was nice.
Wednesday, I nailed my presentation. Or I think I did anyway... I managed to get re-obsessed with DN Angel again... especially after getting the 2 amazing soundtracks! Yay! Well, Started feeling funny nose-wise like I was going to sneeze on Monday but it progressed into worse things by today... I had a real hard time paying attention in class. I was so miserable I just wanted to go home. So I did and took a nap and then ended up staying up late to take care of a few people and things. I managed to get into my classes no problems too! Yay! I can't believe it! The next question is as to whether or not I can get my linguistics class that was closed... if so man, it will be great! Oh, and I'll need to hope that all my stuff here get credited for my Miami Plan back home then we'll be all peachy-keen!
Although I did find out that I'll only be 2 classes short of a spanish minor... dang you SPANISH!!! Especially at this point, I don't think I could handle the only options left to me for it-I'd have to attempt classes over the summer at Sinclair and somehow get those to count. Somehow...
Thursday, woke up feeling crappy and exhausted because of lack of sleep but went to class, bought my tickets to Tokyo and went to class again... barely made it through that but I did and got home on the bus. Been asleep more or less since then... I'm going to go grab a glass of water and move around for a bit and probably do my homework so I can go to bed early tonight and make sure that this IS only ALLERGIES. I really, honestly cannot tell. I'm acting as if it's illness though to prevent others from catching it just in case. My ear pressure's off, my nose goes runny and then dry, my eyes are super watery, my head hurts around my sinuses... I can't tell... >.< Oh, well. If not homework then a few more episodes of DN Angel! Bye!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Meester Easter! Yesu-sama=Jesus
So, we're not going to talk much about yesterday... but it was a bit rough, as a lot of my plans fell through so to speak. My internet was um... troublesome as well.
But today was better! I went to Easter mass and found some familiar faces! Yay! I hung out with them for a bit, we ventured into Book Off and I bought 2 more cds for a grand total of 500 yen! I'm really not going back for a while now! REALLY! Again, it was an awesome deal since I got a lot of beautiful music (65 songs) for that price. Then I went to meet everyone for enjoying O-hanami! "Honorable Flower viewing" is the direct translation but it's really a codeword for people to go get drunk in public under the pretty cherry blossom trees. I did not partake in those drinking affairs but I'm okay with that. I didn't get to wear my kimono like I wanted to because I still don't know HOW to put it on... nor do I have all the necessary accessories. That will come in time/when we go back to the flea market! But again, oh well. Later days...
I've realized I cannot go swing dancing this Wednesday night as I have to schedule for my classes back home during that time... *sigh* I have my priorities in line... even if I'm saddened by it. It's okay. I might just be getting overwhelmed by the crazy Japanese ideals of "Ganbari!" (do your best) but I've got my classes figured out for the whole year and I may be taking 19 credit hours! 2 of the classes are joke 100 levels for my Eng major that I HAVE to take and haven't been able to get into them before. So again, intro to poetry and fiction... hah! Then 2 300s for my major, getting into SPN 303 for my math credit will be happening because I'll be taking it with David Motta! He was my teacher for SPN 312 and we're basically covering the same material. I know he'll let me in! Then I have some history class that will not be as bad as 111. I hope. But we'll see on DDay!
Anyway, I've got a bad headache so I'm going to go shower and pass out so I can wake up in the morning for class! Night all! Happy Easter!
PS: I forgot to mention, I got an egg for Easter from the Hirakatashi church! I didn't know if it was boiled at first, but pleasantly surprised that it was! I also got to meet the priest for the English and Spanish masses. I'm excited! Apparently, he's from Mexico so this will be fun catching up on my Spanish.
PPS: Oh and it's always annoying to find out that I'm 2 classes short of a Spanish minor... Maybe, maybe we'll talk about this later... Not for Fall semester anyway! It feels so weird to not take Japanese... but I can't with my schedule...
PPPS: Yeah, it took me half way through mass to realize when they said "yesu-sama" they were saying "Jesus"... where do they pull "yesu" from? What language says his name like that? Seriously, any ideas?
But today was better! I went to Easter mass and found some familiar faces! Yay! I hung out with them for a bit, we ventured into Book Off and I bought 2 more cds for a grand total of 500 yen! I'm really not going back for a while now! REALLY! Again, it was an awesome deal since I got a lot of beautiful music (65 songs) for that price. Then I went to meet everyone for enjoying O-hanami! "Honorable Flower viewing" is the direct translation but it's really a codeword for people to go get drunk in public under the pretty cherry blossom trees. I did not partake in those drinking affairs but I'm okay with that. I didn't get to wear my kimono like I wanted to because I still don't know HOW to put it on... nor do I have all the necessary accessories. That will come in time/when we go back to the flea market! But again, oh well. Later days...
I've realized I cannot go swing dancing this Wednesday night as I have to schedule for my classes back home during that time... *sigh* I have my priorities in line... even if I'm saddened by it. It's okay. I might just be getting overwhelmed by the crazy Japanese ideals of "Ganbari!" (do your best) but I've got my classes figured out for the whole year and I may be taking 19 credit hours! 2 of the classes are joke 100 levels for my Eng major that I HAVE to take and haven't been able to get into them before. So again, intro to poetry and fiction... hah! Then 2 300s for my major, getting into SPN 303 for my math credit will be happening because I'll be taking it with David Motta! He was my teacher for SPN 312 and we're basically covering the same material. I know he'll let me in! Then I have some history class that will not be as bad as 111. I hope. But we'll see on DDay!
Anyway, I've got a bad headache so I'm going to go shower and pass out so I can wake up in the morning for class! Night all! Happy Easter!
PS: I forgot to mention, I got an egg for Easter from the Hirakatashi church! I didn't know if it was boiled at first, but pleasantly surprised that it was! I also got to meet the priest for the English and Spanish masses. I'm excited! Apparently, he's from Mexico so this will be fun catching up on my Spanish.
PPS: Oh and it's always annoying to find out that I'm 2 classes short of a Spanish minor... Maybe, maybe we'll talk about this later... Not for Fall semester anyway! It feels so weird to not take Japanese... but I can't with my schedule...
PPPS: Yeah, it took me half way through mass to realize when they said "yesu-sama" they were saying "Jesus"... where do they pull "yesu" from? What language says his name like that? Seriously, any ideas?
Friday, April 2, 2010
free-standing deals
So... today went pretty well. I can't really complain except that I was tired and hungry for a lot of it and my friends keep getting sick! I'm not concerned about getting sick at all (I've survived living in a house with 2 9 year old children who have both been sick multiple times and Miwa-san's had a bad cough too for I'm not sure how long), but if everyone is sick then no one will want to hang out... ~_~
Otherwise, it's been a pretty good day. Things went well according to my mind, I took a nap this afternoon cause I was really tired again. Best to fend off any illnesses in the beginning, right? But I've been revising one of my stories today and tidying up my room a bit. I hung out with the family tonight and we made some decorations for celebrating Toru-san's bday on Sunday. It was supposed to be a secret. They told me that anyway, and then Chihiro told him everything and showed him the stuff. ~_~* I don't think they understand what a secret is... ^_^* Probably a good thing at their age! But we did that for a long time and then I attempted to make something out of paper and it turned into a free-standing flower popping out of the ground. I had no idea what I was doing for the majority of its development but it turned out well. I'll grab a picture of it later because now, I'm going to try to budget out my money and the things I want to do so I can get a good idea how much I want to spend going to Tokyo... That's kind of important. I also found out I have a test that golden week's friday... stupid teacher being a jerk and making us stay... I wanted a WEEK off, oh well. I'll just hang out at home and rest and study in the beginning and then enjoy it later!
I might be going to Osaka Castle tomorrow- I might be learning how to tie an obi tomorrow. I might be going Hanami viewing on Sunday after church in my kimono. This is all tentative and it's starting tomorrow... geez!
But yeah, budgeting now! Night!
Otherwise, it's been a pretty good day. Things went well according to my mind, I took a nap this afternoon cause I was really tired again. Best to fend off any illnesses in the beginning, right? But I've been revising one of my stories today and tidying up my room a bit. I hung out with the family tonight and we made some decorations for celebrating Toru-san's bday on Sunday. It was supposed to be a secret. They told me that anyway, and then Chihiro told him everything and showed him the stuff. ~_~* I don't think they understand what a secret is... ^_^* Probably a good thing at their age! But we did that for a long time and then I attempted to make something out of paper and it turned into a free-standing flower popping out of the ground. I had no idea what I was doing for the majority of its development but it turned out well. I'll grab a picture of it later because now, I'm going to try to budget out my money and the things I want to do so I can get a good idea how much I want to spend going to Tokyo... That's kind of important. I also found out I have a test that golden week's friday... stupid teacher being a jerk and making us stay... I wanted a WEEK off, oh well. I'll just hang out at home and rest and study in the beginning and then enjoy it later!
I might be going to Osaka Castle tomorrow- I might be learning how to tie an obi tomorrow. I might be going Hanami viewing on Sunday after church in my kimono. This is all tentative and it's starting tomorrow... geez!
But yeah, budgeting now! Night!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Ending the Week on a Good Note?
So, I managed to finish my paper last night and skype with Alyssa for about an hour and a half before remembering more homework and passing out around 2am. >.> <.< Oops. ^_^*
It was a bit of a tiring day yesterday, I skipped my first class for the sake of my health and I was sad the whole time I was conscious. I missed my Psy class- my favorite class because I wasn't feeling well yet and I was exhausted and had to write my paper later that night so I took a nap instead of going to class. *sighs* It did help, so I am grateful but I don't want to do that again. I like that class... a lot. It's fun and interesting! At least, I got all the notes so I didn't miss anything besides the discussion. With a very ill stomach, I managed also to eat sushi for dinner... I'm not sure what some of it was but I now know that I do like salmon! But only if it's raw? Oh well... Sorry Dad...
But today, I was feeling MUCH better. I unfortunately rode the bus again because it was raining today... it was warm too but it made it muggy. Eww... Well, I finally did something to my hair after more than 2 months of being here. I wore my hair in a half up thanks to the hair ties I bought in Seoul! I had it up all day and I got lots of compliments on it! ^)^ I also wore my new purple ears with my purple sweater! Yay stuff from Korea! I took another nap today because I was yet again, exhausted. I did finish up my Japanese presentation on Swing Dancing and finally got some kind of response from the Swing in Osaka group! やった！ So I'm totally going the first day they start next week. I won't go too often because it's $15 to get attend and get a free drink but I am definitely going next week! I miss dancing soo much! Did I mention we watched a movie in class the other day about hugging in Japan and then our teacher told us that she had never hugged nor received a hug from her mother. I about broke down. Just watching it made me all teary-eyed. Now you can understand. Without hugs, I would wither and die. It's TRUE!
But yes, before I go on another ADD tangent, I have been working in classes on this old story of mine, collecting new ideas and organizing how to apply them and make it overall better through anthro and psy. I'm so glad I took these classes! ~_~* Even though anthro can bore me to death sometimes... other times it's entertaining. Maybe one of these days, I'll have a chance to actually restart! That's what I have to do for it anyway, unfortunately a lot of my material for it is back home so Mom and Dad? Got a favor for you? Want to hunt down the notebook and scan in a couple pages for me? ^_^*
I'd REALLY appreciate it! ^_^ But tomorrow is Friday, I'm going to be productive or something and there's a mass at 7pm... We'll see how good my Japanese is now... Goodnight all!
PS: I love comments! Anyone can post now! I set it that way for a reason, Mother!
It was a bit of a tiring day yesterday, I skipped my first class for the sake of my health and I was sad the whole time I was conscious. I missed my Psy class- my favorite class because I wasn't feeling well yet and I was exhausted and had to write my paper later that night so I took a nap instead of going to class. *sighs* It did help, so I am grateful but I don't want to do that again. I like that class... a lot. It's fun and interesting! At least, I got all the notes so I didn't miss anything besides the discussion. With a very ill stomach, I managed also to eat sushi for dinner... I'm not sure what some of it was but I now know that I do like salmon! But only if it's raw? Oh well... Sorry Dad...
But today, I was feeling MUCH better. I unfortunately rode the bus again because it was raining today... it was warm too but it made it muggy. Eww... Well, I finally did something to my hair after more than 2 months of being here. I wore my hair in a half up thanks to the hair ties I bought in Seoul! I had it up all day and I got lots of compliments on it! ^)^ I also wore my new purple ears with my purple sweater! Yay stuff from Korea! I took another nap today because I was yet again, exhausted. I did finish up my Japanese presentation on Swing Dancing and finally got some kind of response from the Swing in Osaka group! やった！ So I'm totally going the first day they start next week. I won't go too often because it's $15 to get attend and get a free drink but I am definitely going next week! I miss dancing soo much! Did I mention we watched a movie in class the other day about hugging in Japan and then our teacher told us that she had never hugged nor received a hug from her mother. I about broke down. Just watching it made me all teary-eyed. Now you can understand. Without hugs, I would wither and die. It's TRUE!
But yes, before I go on another ADD tangent, I have been working in classes on this old story of mine, collecting new ideas and organizing how to apply them and make it overall better through anthro and psy. I'm so glad I took these classes! ~_~* Even though anthro can bore me to death sometimes... other times it's entertaining. Maybe one of these days, I'll have a chance to actually restart! That's what I have to do for it anyway, unfortunately a lot of my material for it is back home so Mom and Dad? Got a favor for you? Want to hunt down the notebook and scan in a couple pages for me? ^_^*
I'd REALLY appreciate it! ^_^ But tomorrow is Friday, I'm going to be productive or something and there's a mass at 7pm... We'll see how good my Japanese is now... Goodnight all!
PS: I love comments! Anyone can post now! I set it that way for a reason, Mother!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Eeh? Spring break? Doko?
Okay, here's the deal: You go to sleep now and I'll take those extra 13 hours of day to do everything I wanted to do today! What?! Why can't we switch?! My day disappeared on me! I'm not kidding! One minute it's 1:30pm the next it's 5:30pm... Then one minute it's 9pm, the next minute it's quarter till Midnight?! What?! That's not fair! I went to classes today, was late to my speaking JPN and missed my vocab quiz... dang it! I ran late doing my interview with my speaking partner for my paper due thursday so therefore, couldn't do my quiz of vocab I knew... Of course.
Then I went to Hirakata station to find the church, found it and got some info on it... Japanese, Portuguese, English, and Spanish... you wanna guess what languages are not being spoken THIS weekend? Of course, oh well. Then went to Book Off- bad idea... it is the "Second Time Around" of Hirakatashi. . . Well, I got 4 CDs for 2200 yen. That's actually a REALLY good deal considering which CDs I found! I wasn't feeling well again so when I finally made it home- was sooo tired, my vision was getting fuzzy- I got an offer to go to an electronics store with Toru-san and Chihiro. I said yes but wasn't very coherent so we decided it was best if I stayed home since my head hurt too... I ended up falling asleep on the floor and then woke up to take another nap in my room. I interviewed Toru-san for my paper, his knowledge of English is much smaller than I thought originally... so that took FOREVER! Then I came to my room and was checking over my cds and putting them on the computer and then facebook happened and well, bad news bears... it's after midnight. Well, I did shower and was awoken from my incoherent state of bumpersticker hunting by Kimmy thankfully. I might have been there all night otherwise...
But yeah, going to study for my RWJ class quiz and my SPJ class vocab quiz... dang, and I'll prepare for my meeting with my psy partner tomorrow. We're a bit behind on that project too. ACK! Why couldn't Spring break have been longer with more time for not doing stuff requiring leaving my room? Why must I be so SOCIAL?! Not this week!
Then I went to Hirakata station to find the church, found it and got some info on it... Japanese, Portuguese, English, and Spanish... you wanna guess what languages are not being spoken THIS weekend? Of course, oh well. Then went to Book Off- bad idea... it is the "Second Time Around" of Hirakatashi. . . Well, I got 4 CDs for 2200 yen. That's actually a REALLY good deal considering which CDs I found! I wasn't feeling well again so when I finally made it home- was sooo tired, my vision was getting fuzzy- I got an offer to go to an electronics store with Toru-san and Chihiro. I said yes but wasn't very coherent so we decided it was best if I stayed home since my head hurt too... I ended up falling asleep on the floor and then woke up to take another nap in my room. I interviewed Toru-san for my paper, his knowledge of English is much smaller than I thought originally... so that took FOREVER! Then I came to my room and was checking over my cds and putting them on the computer and then facebook happened and well, bad news bears... it's after midnight. Well, I did shower and was awoken from my incoherent state of bumpersticker hunting by Kimmy thankfully. I might have been there all night otherwise...
But yeah, going to study for my RWJ class quiz and my SPJ class vocab quiz... dang, and I'll prepare for my meeting with my psy partner tomorrow. We're a bit behind on that project too. ACK! Why couldn't Spring break have been longer with more time for not doing stuff requiring leaving my room? Why must I be so SOCIAL?! Not this week!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Now I'm finished!
Oh Saturday!
I have not left the house and have enjoyed it thoroughly! I slept and chatted with Jon and Kimmy for about 2.5 hours... oops, sorry for keeping you up late! It was really nice but I got too hungry and had to get on with my day. I got lunch eventually and hung out with the children, making origami things. I made a sweet shuriken but it fell apart and now I'm missing a piece... I'll have to make another part... but yeah. I've been uploading pictures and relaxing and updating the blog as you all have noticed. I organized my room again but I might look into doing something else productive by the end of the night. Either scrapbook my journal or write! I've hopefully FULLY charged my camera. I don't know what exactly I'm up to tomorrow but it will be interesting probably. I don't plan on being in the house all day tomorrow too!
I have not left the house and have enjoyed it thoroughly! I slept and chatted with Jon and Kimmy for about 2.5 hours... oops, sorry for keeping you up late! It was really nice but I got too hungry and had to get on with my day. I got lunch eventually and hung out with the children, making origami things. I made a sweet shuriken but it fell apart and now I'm missing a piece... I'll have to make another part... but yeah. I've been uploading pictures and relaxing and updating the blog as you all have noticed. I organized my room again but I might look into doing something else productive by the end of the night. Either scrapbook my journal or write! I've hopefully FULLY charged my camera. I don't know what exactly I'm up to tomorrow but it will be interesting probably. I don't plan on being in the house all day tomorrow too!
I'm Home to Japan!
Okay for Friday:
In the morning, we were still in Seoul, Korea wandering our way around. We packed our bags and checked out of the hotel, grabbed some breakfast in which I used my airplane BR's spoon with breakfast. Mwahahaha! I collected things! Well, we were off to our next place which had a guided tour in English at 11:30 so we booked it over and bought our tickets in. $3. Yeah, I loved it! But then we realized, this tour wasn't for the village... it was for another Palace... Oops... well, we had to go with a tour guide in this palace so we just went with it. This lady was not going to mess around. Her suggestions weren't suggestions and she would tear into you if you did something against the rules... I heard about this one guy who was trying to sneakily take videos after she said, "no video recording"... oh man... it was ugly. But since this place was very similar to the other palace in some areas, Cassie and I wandered around with the group discussing our story ideas and different techniques. It was fun, Lindsey and Jackie joined in too. So... every one of us wants to write something... well, Cassie wants to make it a comic but still... O.O weird...
So we got out of that at about 12:50 and we sprinted our way back to the hotel which was supposed to be a 20 minute walk from there. We made it in plenty of time and we tried to spend some more of our won on a vending machine because it's not worth much anywhere else... But yeah, we got back and boarded our bus and spoke with our guide in Japanese again. They collected everyone else and took us to some place where we could buy stuff in yen(!?!) and get it Duty-free? maybe? Well, I had been sleeping before we got there so was groggy the whole time and missed my opportunity to buy my Korean metal chopsticks. Then again, it was in yen so not as cheap as originally thought.
After that, they shuffled us to the airport and we ran around there getting lunch since none of us had eaten anything. I managed to get omurice, the random rice omelet thing that my host mom made one time. Not nearly as good as hers and they put mustard on it... the picture didn't look like that. So I mostly ate the rice inside and gave the rest to Cassie and ran off to use my remaining won 6000 won more BR. I got two scopes of ice cream: Lovestruck strawberry and almond bon bon. Both tasty... we were in a hurry so with the aid of a spoon I downed that cone in literally no time at all! Even Cassie was impressed and she eats really quickly... So with that we wander toward the gate but Jackie and Lindsey go to 7-eleven to spend their last won, so Cassie decides to visit this gift-shop for people and well, I didn't think about that... I saw two cute hair bands and I got them but I paid in won and yen because I didn't have enough won to cover the whole thing. That was weird.
Well, afterwards we went through security and got to our gate, on our plane and into Japan. The ride back wasn't as good, nor was the food but oh well. We picked up Cassie's bag from the baggage claim, got through customs, and took our trains home. Cassie finally bought her cake from Yodoyobashi station, I wonder if it was worth breaking her diet more? I got home and missed dinner so just put away all my stuff, got a shower, and relaxed. I chatted with Miwa-san for a bit in Japanese. I think my Japanese was pretty good, although a few words escaped me. Curses! Basic vocabulary! But then I went to bed so I could chat with people in the morning. It was fun and now I'm relaxing and catching up and trying to keep warm!
I guess it is only March still... Oh well. I'm finished for now! Finally! Have fun catching up! I'll be looking at pictures and playing with my new pretty stuff~
/BYE\
In the morning, we were still in Seoul, Korea wandering our way around. We packed our bags and checked out of the hotel, grabbed some breakfast in which I used my airplane BR's spoon with breakfast. Mwahahaha! I collected things! Well, we were off to our next place which had a guided tour in English at 11:30 so we booked it over and bought our tickets in. $3. Yeah, I loved it! But then we realized, this tour wasn't for the village... it was for another Palace... Oops... well, we had to go with a tour guide in this palace so we just went with it. This lady was not going to mess around. Her suggestions weren't suggestions and she would tear into you if you did something against the rules... I heard about this one guy who was trying to sneakily take videos after she said, "no video recording"... oh man... it was ugly. But since this place was very similar to the other palace in some areas, Cassie and I wandered around with the group discussing our story ideas and different techniques. It was fun, Lindsey and Jackie joined in too. So... every one of us wants to write something... well, Cassie wants to make it a comic but still... O.O weird...
So we got out of that at about 12:50 and we sprinted our way back to the hotel which was supposed to be a 20 minute walk from there. We made it in plenty of time and we tried to spend some more of our won on a vending machine because it's not worth much anywhere else... But yeah, we got back and boarded our bus and spoke with our guide in Japanese again. They collected everyone else and took us to some place where we could buy stuff in yen(!?!) and get it Duty-free? maybe? Well, I had been sleeping before we got there so was groggy the whole time and missed my opportunity to buy my Korean metal chopsticks. Then again, it was in yen so not as cheap as originally thought.
After that, they shuffled us to the airport and we ran around there getting lunch since none of us had eaten anything. I managed to get omurice, the random rice omelet thing that my host mom made one time. Not nearly as good as hers and they put mustard on it... the picture didn't look like that. So I mostly ate the rice inside and gave the rest to Cassie and ran off to use my remaining won 6000 won more BR. I got two scopes of ice cream: Lovestruck strawberry and almond bon bon. Both tasty... we were in a hurry so with the aid of a spoon I downed that cone in literally no time at all! Even Cassie was impressed and she eats really quickly... So with that we wander toward the gate but Jackie and Lindsey go to 7-eleven to spend their last won, so Cassie decides to visit this gift-shop for people and well, I didn't think about that... I saw two cute hair bands and I got them but I paid in won and yen because I didn't have enough won to cover the whole thing. That was weird.
Well, afterwards we went through security and got to our gate, on our plane and into Japan. The ride back wasn't as good, nor was the food but oh well. We picked up Cassie's bag from the baggage claim, got through customs, and took our trains home. Cassie finally bought her cake from Yodoyobashi station, I wonder if it was worth breaking her diet more? I got home and missed dinner so just put away all my stuff, got a shower, and relaxed. I chatted with Miwa-san for a bit in Japanese. I think my Japanese was pretty good, although a few words escaped me. Curses! Basic vocabulary! But then I went to bed so I could chat with people in the morning. It was fun and now I'm relaxing and catching up and trying to keep warm!
I guess it is only March still... Oh well. I'm finished for now! Finally! Have fun catching up! I'll be looking at pictures and playing with my new pretty stuff~
/BYE\
Full Day in Korea!
Here's March 25th!
Bad News: My nails are driving me "bat-crap* insane", my camera battery died-I think it might be time for a new one since I charged it the night before coming here, I spent a lot of $, I had the spiciest meal I've ever had & hopefully will ever have, and I probably should have bought a pair of shoes. It was freezing cold-literally snow/sleet-and poured on us too!
Good News: I've got a lot of cool pictures, stuff, and gifts; I'm half done with my 1 gift each rule, we got to see a lot of this area of the city, we took a cab for SUPER cheap, wandered the shopping areas, tried new food, got delicious Baskin Robin's Lovestruck Strawberry- it had REAL cheesecake in it-not Japanese cheesecake! I also learned a lot about history today. I bought a larger umbrella for $3. Yay! Cheap things in Korea! The train cost $1 and was super nice and clean.
BUT! Seoul smells bad- sewer bad! I also got paranoid about our room service and when I returned... Gene was not on the bed! I about flipped out when I did a 180* turn and saw him sitting on the TV. My heart skipped a beat. Everything was fine but man did I momentarily freak! I bought some cute clips for $1-3 and one can go with my Kimono! Yay! Almost have it all collected! I only converted $100 to won and I'm doing great! Yay me! Much better than when I went to Spain... oh, Spain... how I miss you... but I got a little make-up, jewelry, gifts, and an umbrella and I'm proud! I'm so glad I came! It's been a ton of fun even with people getting into arguments and fights. I had to solve them for the good of the trip and apparently everyone wanted to room with me... feeling special much? >.> <.< Oh well, we check out tomorrow and are going to see a tour at a traditiona Korean village. I'm sure that will be fun- maybe I'll use my phone camera since my regular is dead. Nooo! Good night!
PS: Oh yeah, we got burgers for dinner as some fastfood joint and I managed to get something tasty, yet greasy. Oh wait, nothing special there except it was edible to me and my particular needs for burgers... ^_^*
Bad News: My nails are driving me "bat-crap* insane", my camera battery died-I think it might be time for a new one since I charged it the night before coming here, I spent a lot of $, I had the spiciest meal I've ever had & hopefully will ever have, and I probably should have bought a pair of shoes. It was freezing cold-literally snow/sleet-and poured on us too!
Good News: I've got a lot of cool pictures, stuff, and gifts; I'm half done with my 1 gift each rule, we got to see a lot of this area of the city, we took a cab for SUPER cheap, wandered the shopping areas, tried new food, got delicious Baskin Robin's Lovestruck Strawberry- it had REAL cheesecake in it-not Japanese cheesecake! I also learned a lot about history today. I bought a larger umbrella for $3. Yay! Cheap things in Korea! The train cost $1 and was super nice and clean.
BUT! Seoul smells bad- sewer bad! I also got paranoid about our room service and when I returned... Gene was not on the bed! I about flipped out when I did a 180* turn and saw him sitting on the TV. My heart skipped a beat. Everything was fine but man did I momentarily freak! I bought some cute clips for $1-3 and one can go with my Kimono! Yay! Almost have it all collected! I only converted $100 to won and I'm doing great! Yay me! Much better than when I went to Spain... oh, Spain... how I miss you... but I got a little make-up, jewelry, gifts, and an umbrella and I'm proud! I'm so glad I came! It's been a ton of fun even with people getting into arguments and fights. I had to solve them for the good of the trip and apparently everyone wanted to room with me... feeling special much? >.> <.< Oh well, we check out tomorrow and are going to see a tour at a traditiona Korean village. I'm sure that will be fun- maybe I'll use my phone camera since my regular is dead. Nooo! Good night!
PS: Oh yeah, we got burgers for dinner as some fastfood joint and I managed to get something tasty, yet greasy. Oh wait, nothing special there except it was edible to me and my particular needs for burgers... ^_^*
Friday, March 26, 2010
Spring Break BBQ & Blues
Okay, so I warn you this will be a long one because it is catching up on lost time! It's actually taken directly from my journal since I didn't have convenient internet access while in Korea.
March 24th,
"So I can't believe it. My break is half over and I haven't had any real chance at all to update my blog. On Monday, I went to SPA World with Cassie, Lauren, and Lindsey before showing Lauren off to Hiroshima. It was in a word: Random. We literally walked around naked on this girls only floor of a large {hotel-like} building. There were lots of different European style baths- Atlantis (?), Spanish, German, Italian, Grecian, Finland, etc. Some were just plain baths, some were ice baths, saunas, salt saunas, Milk & honey, bubble, and herbal. I've never taken so many baths in my life in such a short amount of time. Nor have I seen so many naked people I was really uncomfortable for a long time. I would get better for a whie then be blantantly reminded we were nude in public and feel weird again. I managed to get salt in some wounds, get a waterfall back massage, and have an old Japanese lady help me handle the practically "ice" bath. It was really, well, fun but random. We also got to run around in pink tunics with no pants in public-sexist (haha) and weird- the guys got pants and were blue... We got purikura in those clothes and got some ice cream to help us cool off. It was delicious! I'm still uncomfortable about it but I would like to explore the Japanese style baths next month.... unfortunately, they will be expensive then... not $10.
Tuesday- I should not have gotten out of bed. I went all the way to the government building and forgot my passport- so everyone got their stuff but me- was broke, missed my buss to start it off, thought my international bank card was dead, realized how much $$ I've spent and how horribly expensive it is here. I'm used to free fun stuff at friends' houses- not $10 Karaoke 2 nights in a row and $5 to get there and back, and eating out 5 days in a row... then leaving for Korea... I got home to an empty house after believing I was going to lose my phone # because my prepaid plan expired on the 24th- next day(today), and I cracked. All I had to eat that day was a bread slice that morning with honey because I couldn't open the strawberry jam jar... It was about 7pm at that point. I was just soo frustrated and scared and it rained on me all day... that always helps- NOT. Lindsey had to pay my way home so I could have $ for the bus. I was UGH! I got $ & a prepaid card & chocolate & found out my phone would be fine & my ATM card was fine & cheated and called Jon while he was asleep to leave him a message, hear his voice, and spend some of my soon to be expiring $. I felt better by the end of the day & procrastinated packing with collecting things to journal, uploading pictures, talking to Lovelies, and anything else I could (including starring music in iTunes again). Oh, another thing that knocked my day was I started it all off by finding out I wasn't accepted into this RP website my friend was a part of... REALLY? I was like "you've got to be kidding, fine. If I'm not good enough for them, I won't do it. I want it for fun, not for a job. I mean really- a full application?" It didn't bother me too much at first but it did eat at me for a while once everything else went down the drain.
But yeah, then WED happened!
I woke up early & ran late but still beat the bus by a light to the stop so SCORE! I ran there with my bag of everything (bookbag) for the next few days: clothes, toiletries, trinkets, music, cube, Gene, passport- Yeah! I met Lindsey, got $, and went to go buy my permit to keep my gaijin card. $30 difference for single re-entry! Woot! (Double that and you get the multiple option)... It only took 15 mins waiting too. We collected everyone, got Subway for lunch-which was actually more delicious here oddly. But we got to our next train in Namba after buying our last treats before expensive airport stuff. We got there with plenty of time and went to check out some shops. Of course, I only get good ideas for bdays & christmas gifts when I'm in a tourist trap... I managed to say- wait until we come back! See how much I spend & see what I want for who... ...{edited for spoiler content}... No! Look for useful things! Well, the plane ride was fine but I had issues keeping my passport on me at all times when I have to stow my only bag... We found out guide easily. I remembered the name of our tour guide agency! Yay me! The meal on the plane was yummy & I started a game of chess after attempt to nap but we were landing before I could finish. I will beat you Medium chess computer! Oh, we (Jackie, Cassie, Lindsey, and I) all learned how to make fun messages on our phones with colors and pictures and animations. If you have gmail, I can send them to you and you can see it! I wish I could show the rest of you but I'd have to get a video I think. I'll look into it back in Japan because the phones don't work here in Korea.
But yeah, I got pictures with Gene & of stuff and rode a bus going 80 mph... I guessed right! It was scary though... drivers there are TERRIFYING! They don't stop! Red is a mere suggestion and there are huge intersections with no traffic lights or signs at all! We then spent an hour being cranky with each other, trying to find and decide where and what to do while our guide was there with us. After that we fought over who to room with and met back with our guide who showed us to food places. The funny part was she spoke NO English so we were all getting good Japanese practice there! We did well and got toriniku (?) for dinner since we couldn't find anything everyone liked at first at 10pm at night... It's all you can eat meat you grill at your table. The waitress happened to walk to our table hand us a menu and say "good evening. Here's your menu." We did a double-take! Perfect English all dinner and paying. She was amazing and a comfort after so much mental stress and other stress about tomorrow. She was so nice. The food was GREAT too! Beef and pork- it was so sweet with cinnamon or something... and we got spicy salads and lettuce and daicon- a Japanese radish thing & onion soup thing & Kimchi and slices of garlic and bowls of rice. It came out to $15 but SOOO worth it. Then we got ice cream parfaits which in the States would have been $4-7 but were 1,500 won --- which is less than $1.50. ^_^! They were huge and cholaty and delicious and we ran into someone from school in our hotel who gave us useful korean words and recommendations. I will not eat octopus, especially if it is trying to escape while I'm chewing... ewww... Cool but ewwww... I'm rooming with Cassie and we are getting up early with a full day of walking and riding the train tomorrow. Oh,
I will get a picture of the money later. I can't wait! Heh, almost forgot- I tried a bit of a small green pepper at the dinner place and well, I got a video of the reaction. You should have seen it the first bit of the garlic clove slice. Hah, it burned!
Well, bed now finally! Good night!"
I'll put up the next day's entry next...
March 24th,
"So I can't believe it. My break is half over and I haven't had any real chance at all to update my blog. On Monday, I went to SPA World with Cassie, Lauren, and Lindsey before showing Lauren off to Hiroshima. It was in a word: Random. We literally walked around naked on this girls only floor of a large {hotel-like} building. There were lots of different European style baths- Atlantis (?), Spanish, German, Italian, Grecian, Finland, etc. Some were just plain baths, some were ice baths, saunas, salt saunas, Milk & honey, bubble, and herbal. I've never taken so many baths in my life in such a short amount of time. Nor have I seen so many naked people I was really uncomfortable for a long time. I would get better for a whie then be blantantly reminded we were nude in public and feel weird again. I managed to get salt in some wounds, get a waterfall back massage, and have an old Japanese lady help me handle the practically "ice" bath. It was really, well, fun but random. We also got to run around in pink tunics with no pants in public-sexist (haha) and weird- the guys got pants and were blue... We got purikura in those clothes and got some ice cream to help us cool off. It was delicious! I'm still uncomfortable about it but I would like to explore the Japanese style baths next month.... unfortunately, they will be expensive then... not $10.
Tuesday- I should not have gotten out of bed. I went all the way to the government building and forgot my passport- so everyone got their stuff but me- was broke, missed my buss to start it off, thought my international bank card was dead, realized how much $$ I've spent and how horribly expensive it is here. I'm used to free fun stuff at friends' houses- not $10 Karaoke 2 nights in a row and $5 to get there and back, and eating out 5 days in a row... then leaving for Korea... I got home to an empty house after believing I was going to lose my phone # because my prepaid plan expired on the 24th- next day(today), and I cracked. All I had to eat that day was a bread slice that morning with honey because I couldn't open the strawberry jam jar... It was about 7pm at that point. I was just soo frustrated and scared and it rained on me all day... that always helps- NOT. Lindsey had to pay my way home so I could have $ for the bus. I was UGH! I got $ & a prepaid card & chocolate & found out my phone would be fine & my ATM card was fine & cheated and called Jon while he was asleep to leave him a message, hear his voice, and spend some of my soon to be expiring $. I felt better by the end of the day & procrastinated packing with collecting things to journal, uploading pictures, talking to Lovelies, and anything else I could (including starring music in iTunes again). Oh, another thing that knocked my day was I started it all off by finding out I wasn't accepted into this RP website my friend was a part of... REALLY? I was like "you've got to be kidding, fine. If I'm not good enough for them, I won't do it. I want it for fun, not for a job. I mean really- a full application?" It didn't bother me too much at first but it did eat at me for a while once everything else went down the drain.
But yeah, then WED happened!
I woke up early & ran late but still beat the bus by a light to the stop so SCORE! I ran there with my bag of everything (bookbag) for the next few days: clothes, toiletries, trinkets, music, cube, Gene, passport- Yeah! I met Lindsey, got $, and went to go buy my permit to keep my gaijin card. $30 difference for single re-entry! Woot! (Double that and you get the multiple option)... It only took 15 mins waiting too. We collected everyone, got Subway for lunch-which was actually more delicious here oddly. But we got to our next train in Namba after buying our last treats before expensive airport stuff. We got there with plenty of time and went to check out some shops. Of course, I only get good ideas for bdays & christmas gifts when I'm in a tourist trap... I managed to say- wait until we come back! See how much I spend & see what I want for who... ...{edited for spoiler content}... No! Look for useful things! Well, the plane ride was fine but I had issues keeping my passport on me at all times when I have to stow my only bag... We found out guide easily. I remembered the name of our tour guide agency! Yay me! The meal on the plane was yummy & I started a game of chess after attempt to nap but we were landing before I could finish. I will beat you Medium chess computer! Oh, we (Jackie, Cassie, Lindsey, and I) all learned how to make fun messages on our phones with colors and pictures and animations. If you have gmail, I can send them to you and you can see it! I wish I could show the rest of you but I'd have to get a video I think. I'll look into it back in Japan because the phones don't work here in Korea.
But yeah, I got pictures with Gene & of stuff and rode a bus going 80 mph... I guessed right! It was scary though... drivers there are TERRIFYING! They don't stop! Red is a mere suggestion and there are huge intersections with no traffic lights or signs at all! We then spent an hour being cranky with each other, trying to find and decide where and what to do while our guide was there with us. After that we fought over who to room with and met back with our guide who showed us to food places. The funny part was she spoke NO English so we were all getting good Japanese practice there! We did well and got toriniku (?) for dinner since we couldn't find anything everyone liked at first at 10pm at night... It's all you can eat meat you grill at your table. The waitress happened to walk to our table hand us a menu and say "good evening. Here's your menu." We did a double-take! Perfect English all dinner and paying. She was amazing and a comfort after so much mental stress and other stress about tomorrow. She was so nice. The food was GREAT too! Beef and pork- it was so sweet with cinnamon or something... and we got spicy salads and lettuce and daicon- a Japanese radish thing & onion soup thing & Kimchi and slices of garlic and bowls of rice. It came out to $15 but SOOO worth it. Then we got ice cream parfaits which in the States would have been $4-7 but were 1,500 won --- which is less than $1.50. ^_^! They were huge and cholaty and delicious and we ran into someone from school in our hotel who gave us useful korean words and recommendations. I will not eat octopus, especially if it is trying to escape while I'm chewing... ewww... Cool but ewwww... I'm rooming with Cassie and we are getting up early with a full day of walking and riding the train tomorrow. Oh,
I will get a picture of the money later. I can't wait! Heh, almost forgot- I tried a bit of a small green pepper at the dinner place and well, I got a video of the reaction. You should have seen it the first bit of the garlic clove slice. Hah, it burned!
Well, bed now finally! Good night!"
I'll put up the next day's entry next...
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Den Den 2010!
Okay,
Friday- finished exams, played piano found on campus, walked to Hirakatashi with Lindsey to get her Gaijin card-she's offical now!-, went to Karaoke with Erin and Rasmus and some others, then went home and to bed!
Saturday- slept in! Most of the day... went to the seminar houses and played around with everyone before going to dinner at a Korean BBQ and then more karaoke! It was a beautiful day but downpoured on us by the time we left Karaoke... meaning, I left my pants, bike, coat, and sweater at the seminar house and took the bus home...
Sunday- cold, talked to Jon, went to a Den Den Town street festival! I was in costume! People recognized me! I was sooo excited!!! Yay! Got lots of pictures but not on my camera, sorry all! But yeah, it was cold so I had to get back to the seminar houses with everyone to collect my stuff and throw it on and bike back home... I was warm wearing shorts, pants, a skirt, a button down blouse, a black awesome coat, and my red wool coat... I did have my black knee high socks on too! Yeah, I was the essence of wearing as much clothing as possible... >.>
Oh well, it was useful. I wasn't cold anymore! Well, I got back and have skyped with my parents so yay! Now I can go to bed!
Actually, we discussed a few less peppy matters so just keeping my family in your hearts and prayers would be really appreciated right now. No super serious worries but every little bit of prayer helps! Love you all!!
Night! (oyasumi!)
PS: weird thing, I ran into my teacher at the street festival... it was kind of amusing... >.> <.< Kind of... Oh and I tackled one of my friends who I didn't realize was holding a can of coffee and spilled it over the both of us. I came out fairly unscathed! But I defended his chair from another customer later at dinner, so we're even (I hope)!
Friday- finished exams, played piano found on campus, walked to Hirakatashi with Lindsey to get her Gaijin card-she's offical now!-, went to Karaoke with Erin and Rasmus and some others, then went home and to bed!
Saturday- slept in! Most of the day... went to the seminar houses and played around with everyone before going to dinner at a Korean BBQ and then more karaoke! It was a beautiful day but downpoured on us by the time we left Karaoke... meaning, I left my pants, bike, coat, and sweater at the seminar house and took the bus home...
Sunday- cold, talked to Jon, went to a Den Den Town street festival! I was in costume! People recognized me! I was sooo excited!!! Yay! Got lots of pictures but not on my camera, sorry all! But yeah, it was cold so I had to get back to the seminar houses with everyone to collect my stuff and throw it on and bike back home... I was warm wearing shorts, pants, a skirt, a button down blouse, a black awesome coat, and my red wool coat... I did have my black knee high socks on too! Yeah, I was the essence of wearing as much clothing as possible... >.>
Oh well, it was useful. I wasn't cold anymore! Well, I got back and have skyped with my parents so yay! Now I can go to bed!
Actually, we discussed a few less peppy matters so just keeping my family in your hearts and prayers would be really appreciated right now. No super serious worries but every little bit of prayer helps! Love you all!!
Night! (oyasumi!)
PS: weird thing, I ran into my teacher at the street festival... it was kind of amusing... >.> <.< Kind of... Oh and I tackled one of my friends who I didn't realize was holding a can of coffee and spilled it over the both of us. I came out fairly unscathed! But I defended his chair from another customer later at dinner, so we're even (I hope)!
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