spring break 30

30.sunday
i woke up this morning and actually cleaned some. i still have a pile of dishes in the sink and clothes that are still huddling in piles on my bedroom floor, but there was progress made.

then i met Chelsea in akihabara a little after noon. i bought a camera case. and an ipod cover. and funky headphones. she came over to get a memory card i said i'd give her. we got in a minor tiff. it was stupid. i took the heater on my own will but it felt like she was trying to "outdo" my bad situation with her version of moving the heater. when i said "you're not going to get sympathy from me," she shot it right back at me. i got pissed and upset and said "i never said it was your fault. mostly i just don't want to talk about it. i'm mad at myself for taking it; i'm not blaming you. i'm mad about my suitcase but i'm not mad AT YOU about my suitcase, so just drop it." she got emotional too and the two of us were just sort of pathetic. but, i tend to think she was just hung over from her farewell party last night and has been on a nonstop schedule of going out, working, saying goodbye, entertaining friends, packing up her life here for the last 2 or 3 weeks and i felt like maybe i got the short end of the straw.

but whatever.

finally we said goodbye. it doesn't feel real and i don't think it will for a week or two when i don't actually see her like usual.

i then had an invite from a teacher at school to come over to her house. i didn't feel like it. but i knew if i just sat at home all afternoon i'd feel even worse. she picked me up at the station and when we got to her house, her mom made me some green tea. the "real" kind that they whip up in the big tea "bowls." it was actually better than i ever remember it being. another teacher was there too and a third arrived shortly after me. all of us (the 3 women and their children: 9, 8, and 2) loaded into the van and went out for okonomiyaki.

i am not a shrimp/octopus/strange sea creature fan but that's the great thing about okonomiyaki; there are so many kinds that you just pick one with the things you like in it. (okonomi means something like "as you like" or "one's preference/liking") the one i ordered came with diced tomatoes to be put on top after it's cooked, which i have never seen before. it was different, but since i'm not a fan of the nori sprinkles or katsuobushi, the normal toppings, it was perfect for me! for dessert i had white peach sherbert, served in a frozen hollowed-out half of a peach bowl.

the two year old was absolutely adorable. he made me want a kid. for about three hours. then i'd want to return him to his home. haha. it was fun to see the teachers with their kids. and in an environment other than school.

i am now trying to finish up packing for my trip to kyushu. i have to leave the house in the morning at 5:55. yikes, i'd better get moving!

spring break 29

29.saturday
one day i will hopefully laugh about today. but right now i am sore and tired and smell of kerosene. it's very pleasant, i assure you. :/

the day started out so promising: i had eggs and toast again for breakfast and began tackling a 2 liter bottle of water. i did a load of laundry and managed to leave the house by 12noon to meet up with Des at 12:30 for...yoga! that's right, i went to yoga. and i about died.

i was nervous and a little bit excited for the whole thing. Des is a pro and goes to this place in ginza so he showed me the way. we got there a bit early, i changed and came out at the same time he did. he was wearing tiny (TINY) white shorts. and nothing else. whoa. haha. we waited outside until just before class was going to begin and i got a mini "you're a beginner let me show you the warm up breathing exercise" from the teacher (much appreciated as i would have been totally lost otherwise!)

class was...well...intense. the room is kept at 40degrees and while it's not exactly a cardiovascular workout, the positions and the breathing and the intense use of your muscles and the HEAT make you breath pretty heavy sometimes. i almost passed out at one point; i was just standing and started to feel faint and everything went fuzzy black, as if i stood up too fast. i crouched down, steadied myself, had some water, and tried to focus on staying upright.

i managed to finish the full series of poses (26 in all but some are repeated on the left side and the right side, and with laying down and "relax" positions interspersed) i was completely drained. and yet, i was drawn to it. something felt so good. so good it hurt. haha. i showered and got my stuff together and proceeded to sign up for another 3 classes (sounds a bit NOVA-esque, but i'm not too worried about trying to get in 3 classes in the next month) and because i was with Des, who is a member, my membership fee was waved. yay me!

on my way home, i craved strawberries. i totally splurged at the grocery store and bought a pack of big strawberries and a half a pineapple. they were so good. i felt great by the time i got home and had some good-for-you sugar.

i wasted some time at home until it was time to head over to Chelsea's. it was her farewell party. we had previously arranged that i would inherit her gas heater (you can see where this is all going can't you?) and possibly some other things, so i lugged my big rolley suitcase to her place.

i met some new people, had some fun drinks, played a couple rounds of twister, which is always interesting with people you don't know and alcohol. ;P as the night's end was nearing, i loaded up my suitcase and also was given a super comfy floor chair (a high back one that reclines to different positions), some hangers, a fairly large (and soft!) floor rug, insect spray (the kind that kills apparently), and 3 japanese magazines.

turns out one of the guys at the party lives near me, so we headed home on the same train. he ever so willingly carried the chair as i pulled my suitcase along. we made it to the next station, where we changed trains. while we were waiting for that train, it started to smell. i reached my hand in the bottom of my suitcase and my fingers came back wet with kerosene. leakage. oh shit.

long story short, i was ashamed to be on the train with a leaking kerosene suitcase, smelling up the whole car, i cried because i may have ruined the suitcase i got my from my mom before i came to japan, and currently i have a leaking kerosene heater and a kerosene smelling (masked vaguely by the scent of gain laundry detergent that i used to try to wash it with) suitcase on my balcony.

the guy was a total sweetheart and tried to wipe away my tears on the train. when i turned away, mostly from embarrassment, he offered me tissues. he helped me get all the crap to my messy messy apartment and onto the balcony. then he had to walk about 40 minutes home! i said i'd pay for a taxi but he refused. the thing is, he just did it so nonchalantly, as if he had known me forever and was willing to suffer through the shame on the train, the rope-handle of the chair digging into his shoulder, and the mere ridiculousness of the whole operation because we were good friends. no, we just met tonight.

too bad i'm not interested like that because i can't imagine anyone else will want to get near either of us for a while, reeking of kerosene like we do! again, hopefully i'll be laughing about this all in a couple days...

7eleven

i just ran to my neighborhood 7eleven to get bread, eggs and LOTS of water (all fuel for tomorrow...stay tuned!). it's a 20 second walk around the corner from my apartment (really), which gives the 'convenience' of 'convenience store' a whole new meaning.

anyway, so i walked in and it was packed!! i'm talking at least 15 people in the place! i had no idea that at 12:30am on a friday night, 7eleven was the place to be...

spring break 28

28.friday
today was absolutely wonderful.

last night, after being told that the cherry blossoms were basically at their peak right now, i decided that today i would go to the park for some cherry blossom viewing. oh hanami.

i live close to Ueno Park, so upon waking up, i invited a bunch of friends (last minute, as i tend to do!) to join me. i gathered the necessary things: drinks, snacks, chopsticks, oshibori (eco-friendly version, as seen here), plates, cups, a tarp to sit on, loaded up my bike and headed out!

i stopped and picked up some gyoza on my way and i got to the park a little after noon. i was lucky to score a spot right on the main drag that wasn't next to the garbage cans like all the other open spots i saw. i spread my tarp out, took off my shoes, sat down and waited and drank under the cherry blossoms until the first friends arrived.


eventually there were five of us. my friends were impressed with my preparation (which i loved doing and was quite proud of, even though it was super last minute and just thrown together). we all sat around, eating gyoza and snacks, drinking and laughing. the sakura were in full bloom and i'm so glad i decided to go.


two of my friends had to leave after an hour or so and then later the major tv station, fujitv, stopped by and interviewed me and Style! (turns out i wasn't home to watch the news tonight...i wonder if i was on tv!?) i snapped a few pictures too but couldn't very close to any blossoms except for a little bunch that sprouted out of the trunk of a nearby tree.


at 3 o'clock it started to rain, just as the forecast said. we took cover under some trees and luckily it passed soon. after that it never really got sunny again and the wind got cold so we decided to pack up. Chelsea and her friend met up with us just as we were leaving. we decided to move to a great yakitori restaurant that i know in shinokubo. Cheer joined us later once we got to the restaurant.

the drinking, eating and laughing continued and i was so happy, just being surrounded by people i love.

spring break 27

27.thursday
i had a "meeting" with the vice principal, Ms. Ohio, and two of the guys from the travel agency that arranged the trip to canada. Ms. Ohio did most of the "canada talk" from our end (as chaperones) and had to leave early, which left me to fend for myself with the three older guys. it was at a classic izakaya and the drinks were free flowing. haha. even after all the drinks i had, i was just happily buzzed and the men seemed to be sleepy drunk by the end of the night.

the vice principal said some really nice things about me and my work ethic and just my general "being" in the middle school, which was much appreciated. it's unusual (apparently?) for japanese people to praise people within their own company to people in other companies (the "in" vs. "out" thing) but he didn't hesitate at all in front of these guys. granted he was drunk, but i'll take it! sometimes i wonder if the extra effort that i put in goes noticed. of course there are times i feign ignorance, or leave as soon as i'm technically allowed, but for the most part, i put in my time and do as much as i can around the school and office. while i don't do it to get noticed, it's always nice to know that someone takes note when you're working hard.

things i love thursday

.karaoke.
.hakama (kimono and yukata too).
.tropicana fruit chews, white grape.
.macro photography.
.野菜生活１００、黄の野菜.
.packages from mom.
.good books.
.brushed-flossed-and-listerined clean.
.mr clean, lemon scent.

spring break 26

26.wednesday
another 8:30am morning. but this time i went back to sleep. i woke up to beautiful sunny weather. i unwrapped the plant that i got from Chelsea and it turns out it's five little individually potted plants. i watered them and let them sunbathe on my balcony. i know close to nothing about plants. does anyone know what kind of plants these are?





then i rode my bike to the post office to pick up a package that has been waiting for me. happy birthday and easter to me! we've got two easter critters, pastel colored candy corn, gummy bunnies, chocolate eggs and bunny, jelly beans, coco wheats (a childhood favorite), contacts, birthday card from grandpa and a card from my parents:

i also finished the time traveler's wife. it was a wonderful book.

spring colors

my first attempt at a mosaic.

spring break 25

25.tuesday
i woke up and realized (thanks to facebook) that it was my friends' graduation day. when i did study abroad in college, i made a lot of friends who were younger than me and they finally graduated. i met up with a girl friend of mine and her parents. there were thousands of people. graduates, parents, siblings, friends, and professors. all the girls had on beautiful hakama.
they are so colorful and worn by women only at graduation ceremonies, so it's really a special occasion outfit. all the boys had on suits (and who doesn't love a man in a suit?!) and everyone looked so happy. i just wanted to take photos all day. we had sushi for lunch. i only gagged once. that's progress right?? after the ceremony, everyone stood around taking photos and talking. i ran into some people i hadn't seen in a while, and exchange numbers with a bunch of them so we can all hang out in the future.

another group of graduating friends were getting together for drinks so i hurried there and was super surprised to see a guy i hadn't seen in over 2 years. i talked to him for a good long time at the first party. it was really great to catch up. then there was a second party. and a third. i went to the third party because everyone else was, even though i knew it meant i'd have to be out all night because it was just after midnight and the trains would stop running soon. but then, at the last minute, i realized i really wanted to go home. one of the guys walked me to station and i made it home on my last train.

spring break 24

24.monday
i fell victim to my usual early morning wake up schedule. waking up at 6:00am for weeks ruins your ability to really sleep in. i woke up at 8:30 and couldn't go back to bed. i cooked eggs and toast for breakfast then wasted time before going to meet Sky. we sat and talked for a couple hours over juice then went to karaoke for two hours. i tried a couple "new" japanese songs but failed miserably! she can sing quite a few english songs and tried some new ones too. it seems obvious, but it's best to save those "trial runs" for friends as opposed to the coworker karaoke nights.

after saying goodbye to Sky, i headed over to Chelsea's for a homecooked dinner. on my way out, she gave me a printer, a plant she got from work on her last day and this amazing moroccan seasoning that i can't wait to use. (by the way, why would you give a potted plant to someone leaving the country as a farewell gift?) i am becoming the queen of hand-me-down furniture, household goods, and other miscellaneous items! i realized i'm able to cross off a few things off this list too now.

spring break 23

23.sunday
my wallet cried just a little bit. i paid all my bills, my rent AND bought a plane ticket to kyushu! (number 10) i don't forsee any vacation longer than 2 or 3 days until the end of july (i'm not counting golden week because i pretty much refuse to try and travel at the same time all of japan does) so i just decided to go. i have a friend studying in kyushu so what better timing? back when i posted my 50 for 2008 on mixi, one friend commented "it's all food and travel!" sunday it occurred to me that it really is turning out to be.

then, in the late afternoon i headed to shimokitazawa for an event called fragment. it was a gathering of artists and designers displaying their work in a small basement club. as with musicians, seeing people who have an art, who imagine and dream and CREATE, makes me wonder if there isn't some equally cool talent somewhere in me that i just haven't discovered yet. i saw a glimpse of it back in college in my 3D Design art class. but being surrounded by these people makes me want more. to be more. to create and feel alive. it might be time to stop thinking i'm destined to always be toting around my little pocket digital camera...

spring break 21&22

21.friday and 22.saturday
i got a free ride to sendai. the school employee trip was up to miyagi prefecture for a shrine-seeing, onsen-bathing, beer-drinking, karaoke-singing, sunrise-watching, strawberry-picking, cow tongue-eating good time. i had no idea some of my coworkers could be that fun. i also confirmed that i don't really like cow tongue. or squid.










saturday night i went to my japanese university for a nomikai. it was the graduation celebration party. running on 3 hours of sleep, i was a little worried about the intensity that college drinking parties often entail. but i managed to avoid drinking too much, had a good time, and made it home on my last train.

spring break 20

20.thursday
started off my break with three loads of laundry to fuel my spring break adventures and ended by going shopping with Chelsea. we really do have too much fun. and i now own a cute spring coat.

things i love thursday

.spring vacation.
.fresh flowers.
.necklaces that sparkle.
.gain laundry detergent.
.ほっとレモン drink.
.二度寝.
.hand-me-downs.
.reading before bed.
.real compliments.

school daze: graduation

today was the middle school graduation. since i work at a junior/senior high school, it's mostly just a formality. a ceremony marking the end of mandatory education and a moving from the middle school building into the main high school building. i didn't see any students crying but i think some parents did. i feel a little bad, but i was just kind of indifferent to the whole thing.

post party

the party went well. it ended up being about 12 people (about half japanese half foreign), which is probably about the max for the size of my apartment (and enough to check number 42 off this list!!). i got some birthday presents - useful things, too! my friends are awesome. and everyone seemed to get along well. most of them didn't know each other, or they only knew one other person, so i was relieved that everyone had fun.

a handful of us went out clubbing after that. we got a "late" start and didn't get to the club until just before 1:00am, which was definitely the way to go. any other way and the night is just too long. also, i downed a bottle of water before going in, which was another smart move. at the club, i didn't drink too much and had a good time dancing the night away.

when i got home, i overlooked all the dirty dishes, the scattered snacks, and crashed into my amazing bed.

fresh air

the sun is shining, my windows are open and it's a beautiful day!!

it's finally warm enough to open the windows and let in the fresh air!! i've been cleaning all week, so it's a perfect finish to the clean floors and shelves to get fresh air. my apartment is long and skinny with a balcony on one end, overlooking the little street in front of my building. the other end opens up into a parking lot area, so i have windows on either end of my apartment. when i open both of them, a nice breeze comes in so it's finally feeling like spring!!

sadly my nose is all stuffed up and i might have fallen victim to kafunsho (hay fever) though i'm still partially in denial about it. it's just a cold!! :P

discoveries of a pack rat

all this week i've been cleaning my apartment for the party that is tonight! and i'm not just "tidying up." i'm giving the whole place a scrub down/vacuum, but also rearranging books, cds, and pictures, cleaning out my toiletries, and going through bags/boxes of letters, pictures, magazine clippings, etc.

this morning i tackled one such bag full of received letters, blank greeting cards, and other miscellaneous things but i was surprised, as i opened an old christmas card from my grandma, to find $202! (she always gives us a crisp $2 bill on christmas and birthdays.)

i couldn't believe it. yay!

i continued to sift through mostly letters from my mom and grandma and...

a valentine's day card from my mom: $50!
and one from my grandma: another $20!

what's even crazier is that they're from valentine's day LAST year!


okay, so i'm a pack rat. but now i'm a rich pack rat!! :)

new school year, new assignment

it kind of feels like that one time my older brother sat on my head with a couch cushion. there's this not-quite-painful pressure and it's a little hard to breath.

yesterday, they announced the new "placements" for teachers. i wasn't at school yesterday, so i got the news this morning.

last april, i became a "7th grade teacher." i had expressed an interest in wanting to get more involved with the kids and while i teach a bunch of different grades, for overnights or field trips, i became technically "attached" to the 7th grade.

now, i don't know how other schools in japan do it, but at my school, teachers stay with "their" kids and move up as the kids do until the teachers see their kids graduate. at which point, the teacher returns back down to the bottom, gets "attached" to that grade of kids and does the whole thing over again. so for a year now, i've been a gakunen zuki which literally translates to "year attachment" or something. there are 4 classes in the 7th grade (each with a homeroom teacher) plus 3 of us gakunen zukis.

with the new year starting in april, the rumors have been flying. rumors about who is going to be what grade. mostly for the gakunen zukis because they are seemingly "free to move" and in a more unstable position than others. they can get reassigned to another year and given a homeroom, or they can continue to be a gakunen zuki. apparently there are usually very few changes to the "main" homeroom teachers, who just move up with their kids and no one's feathers are ruffled.

for me, as a foreigner, my position is a little vague because i don't have a japanese teaching license and i can't do exactly everything a japanese teacher does because of my japanese level. but because of that, there's no chance i will be moved into having my own homeroom; i know i will always be just a gakunen zuki. and i'm just fine with that.

so today i asked Mr. Math (who sits across from me) how the announcement went yesterday. (he is also a 7th grade gakunen zuki but the rumor was that he wouldn't move up to 8th grade with all of us and instead stay and be a homeroom teacher for the new 7th graders. so i was curious for him, as well as another 9th grade gakunen zuki, rumored to move down with Mr. Math.) i glanced at the sheet and...

...wait...

i'm not in the 8th grade.

wait.

wha...?!

yeah. i'm "skipping" 8th grade. (boy wouldn't that have been nice in real life!) i didn't even IMAGINE that i would be moved. i just assumed that i'd move up to 8th grade.

i'm so full of mixed feelings. i LOVE my current grade year teachers. they are all pretty young (the oldest is 33 or so with the average probably somewhere around 28) and fun and easy to talk to. they make my job enjoyable. i like work BECAUSE OF them.

as would be with any office or job, there are people that i...don't get along with so well. (there, i said it, ok?) i find them hard to talk to (and i'm not talking about personal life talking. i'm strictly talking about work related talk.) i don't feel like i'm seen anywhere NEAR an equal to them in the workplace. maybe it's that i'm a foreigner. maybe it's that i'm female. maybe it's that i'm young. maybe it's that i am too this or too that, or not enough of some other thing. but regardless, i don't feel like they respect me. i don't need or want to be seen as "equal" per se, but i do think i deserve to be treated with respect, as a colleague.

the 2 people that i find the most challenging are both in the same grade. and it just happens to be the same grade i've been assigned to.

starting in april, i'm the lone female teacher in the 9th grade.

it's going to be a...ahem, learning...year.



(more to come...)

things i love thursday

.cool playlist names like "joburg to bangkok".
.afternoon naps.
.cooking something from scratch, successfully.
.days off in the middle of the week.
.vanilla soy milk.
.origins 'a perfect world' lotion.
.poptarts and cinnamon sugared english muffins.
.the feeling of a clean room.
.ani difranco.

school daze: why you little...

oh my lovely lovely 8th graders (cough, cough, choke...)

my first day back after canada:

me: "goodmorning!"

class: (murmur of a response) "goodmorning."

me: "i'm back from canada! long time no see!"

class: (blank stare)

me: "hisashiburi da ne..."

student: "go back to canada."

when i proceeded to speak in japanese and in a very sarcastic tone said "oh i'm soooo sorry. it's just too bad isn't it?" i heard a kid say, "ooh, she's mad."

should i even have to explain why?!

little buggers.

batteries

the display on the remote control for my aircon has been fading quickly. before going to canada, it was just barely visible. when i got back, it was so faint that i couldn't tell what temperature it was set to or any of the other settings. i finally switched the batteries yesterday and it's back to displaying dark, clear numbers!

and, a while back, my wireless mouse stopped working. being dense and not realizing it probably just needed new batteries, i resigned myself to using the touch pad on my laptop. i used to the other two batteries i bought and just switched the batteries. i'm now back to the mousing world! i can scroll and left click away! (i'm a lefty so i've got the settings on my mouse reversed.)

it's amazing what a difference fresh batteries make.
oh, it's the little things in life. :)

the characters

i started something like this back in october but never really got around to finishing. it'll be kind of an ongoing post. so without further ado, i introduce to you...

the girls

Chelsea: my partner in crime. if there's mischief to be made, shops to be shopped, food to be eaten, or places to be seen, we're there. we met when we were both exchange students to saitama prefecture back in 2002. we've kept in touch, visited each other in our respective countries and then somehow both ended up back in japan. she moved to tokyo in april of 2007 and moved back to australia in april 2008.

May: we met at the end of my study abroad in tokyo in the summer of 2005. the next year, she and Tack (see below) came to my university in ohio. we returned to japan (her to finish university in tokyo and me to work) in summer 2006. she graduated from university in march of 2008 and is now a graduate student at tokyo university. we've been good friends since our time in ohio and i realized how much i count on her when she was the first person i thought of when i had to put down an emergency contact name and number one day.

Cheer: a coworker turned friend. lots of fun, outgoing and bubbly. she doesn't really speak english but is a great listener and usually understands what i'm trying to say in japanese. she gets along with Bee and Style too.

Gum: a japanese girl i met during study abroad. she lived in ohio for several years growing up and she's part of The Group.

Wind and Nana: friends of Bee's. Wind is a really interesting japanese girl, interesting in a good way. smart, funny, loves to have a good time. Nana is a japanese pop star. no joke. i heard her third single on the radio in the american sandwich chain, Subway, today (may 2008).

Sky: my best friend from when i was an exchange student in high school in japan. she's as tall as me and we always joke that we are twins. she can speak english very well, but we always speak japanese. she's now a flight attendant for a big japanese airline company.

the boys

Bee and Style: my american guys. we met during study abroad in university but we all ended up back in tokyo. Bee works for a company in the fashion industry and Style is a research/graduate student in tokyo. along with Chelsea, they are my family away from home.

Yokohama: another name on the list of past crushes. he works at a fancy hotel in, you guessed it, yokohama. (what's up with me and hotel boys??) we went on a couple dates in early 2009 but then he declined one too many invites for me to bother asking again.

Carr: my japanese ex-boyfriend. we met at a club in november 2007. i usually don't expect club acquaintances to go anywhere but we went to dinner and hung out several times after that and we really hit it off. we dated for about three months before he stopped texting or returning calls in feb 2008.

Koshi: a classmate from when i was an exchange student in high school in japan. along with Sky, Koshi is sort of like my family away from my family. he's kind of shy and doesn't gossip much but when Sky, Koshi and i get together, good times always ensue.

Tack: i met him when i met May (see above). he is still finishing university in tokyo and acting on the side.

CB: we met through Tack and then reconnected in march 2008 at May's graduation, after the ceremony. he works in tokyo. we flirted most of april and may, finally had a date in the middle of july and another one at the end of august. we sort of crossed the "friend" line but he (literally) bolted. i sent a couple texts and called a few times in the weeks following the whole thing, with no reply. (anyone else seeing a pattern??)

Ty: one of the guys in The Group. he was an exchange student to the US and is finishing up university (super senior) to start work in april 2009. he's a really nice guy and conversation flows easily. i think i like him, but after bringing it up (hello awkward!) we discussed how the group is like family and agreed that we want really value our friendship, but that's it.

Parker: a friend of Ms. Ohio (coworker). he went to middle school and high school in ohio and now works at a fancy hotel in tokyo. he asked Ms. Ohio for my number and we've been on a few dates but are just friends.

Will: a japanese guy i met during my university study abroad in tokyo. we kept in touch over the years. he graduated in march 2006, moved to australia in april 2006 and then went to bali for a year and worked at the hilton hotel. i visited in july 2008 and he came back to japan in october 2008.

Zara: a japanese guy that was an outbound exchange student in 2002 on the same program that brought me to japan. we met at the end of my year, just before he was leaving. i found his exchange student "business card" when i was home in august 2007 and randomly emailed him. he's studying to hopefully get a job working for an airline company out of dubai. we've gone out for coffee several times. his english is so good that we speak english almost exclusively. though i haven't talked to him in probably over a year...

Captain: a guy i met while in canada for work in february 2008. i was a chaperone for a bunch of students from school who were staying with families and going to a canadian high school. we went out for dinner/drinks/pool a couple times.

Des: an australian friend of Chelsea's. he was a dancer for Tokyo Disney. he played several parts (i think) but most notably, Price Charming opposite Cinderella. (and the smile to prove it!) he left japan in april 2008.

Newbie: a guy from my college in ohio. he's two years younger and moved to japan in fall '08. Bee and Style seem to like him and he's come out with The Group several times.

Mackie: a japanese guy i met on mixi, who seemed really sketchy at first. i dodged a few invites initially but we finally went out to dinner in november 2008 in a group.

the others

coworkers: under the label "roll call" and have Mr. or Ms. names.

The Group: a group of seven friends from university in japan. me, Bee, Style, Gum, Ty, another girl and another guy. most of us have already graduated and are working and two others will graduate in march 2009. starting in january 2008, we've been trying to get together once a month for dinner, drinking, and general merriment. the four japanese in the group have all studied or lived abroad and speak english so our evenings are usually an odd combination of primarily japanese with healthy doses of english, when convenient or appropriate.

gimme a little sugar

jet lag is killing me. i slept until 10am on monday morning, but woke up at least four times in the early early morning. then around 7:30 in the evening, i got so tired i couldn't hold my eyes open. so, i decided to take a short nap. haha, right. i hit my snooze so many times and finally just turned it off. i woke up at 1:30am, wide awake and hungry!

despite this crazy sleeping schedule, i was fairly productive in the time i was awake. i went to work around noon and picked up the students' test scores so i can start doing year-end grades. i took the city bus from the station to school and as we got closer to the school, i started to feel nervous. it was a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. it went away as soon as i went into the staff room; people were half surprised to see me (i actually was given the day off) but greeted me with big smiles. my coworkers are awesome.

i got home and started to tackle the cleaning that is an ongoing project in my apartment right now. it's just that i have so much stuff. nothing big and in the way, just little piles of stuff. stuff here, stuff there, stuff everywhere!

i rediscovered something i bought just before leaving for cananda: little dressing bottles. more than once i've taken my lunch to school and had a salad but forgotten to take dressing, so i picked these up at the local 100yen store. because i love labeling things, i wrote little bilingual labels for each one and filled them. now they are in my fridge ready to go next time i pack a salad in my lunch!

also i got presents at work today. i work at a junior and senior high school (grades 7-9 being junior high and 10-12 being senior high, in 2 buildings) and each school has its own slightly different schedule. high school graduation was while i was in canada even though middle school "graduation" isn't until next week. (they just start going to the building next door, so it doesn't really feel like graduation) anyway, at my school, teachers get graduation gifts. it always seems odd to me that WE should get gifts, but i'm always in favor of presents, so i'm not really complaining! the gifts were all sitting on my desk when i went in. i just put them, still wrapped, in the provided paper bag and brought them home. later in the afternoon, i opened them wondering what they were this year. same as last year. tea, coffee and...sugar. LOTS of sugar:

they are boxes of the little single serving sugar packs. the kind you get when you order a coffee or tea. or the kind you put out when you serve coffee or tea to house guests in japan. unfortunately, i don't have a lot of house guests and especially not ones that require me to make tea or coffee and thus USE the sugar. and, i still have a big stack of the very same sugar packs in the back of my cupboard:

what does a person DO with this much sugar?


on a side note: for someone who takes as many photos as i do, it's a wonder i haven't put any on my blog until recently. i'm going to try to be better about that...because who doesn't love photos? :)

a party

i decided yesterday to have a party at my apartment next weekend.

it started as a "i'm finally willing to invite people over and let them see my apartment" party. i was thinking this morning and realized that it'll be on my one year anniversary of moving in. it also has a bit of "birthday" party in it. my birthday was last week. but mostly it's a "get in touch with old friends, possibly make new friends, and just enjoy my friends" party.

and it's got my wheels turning! i was talking to my mom this morning online and she asked what i was going to serve at my party. oh, right, food! she suggested sloppy joes. i proceeded to look up recipes online, go out and buy the things i needed for sloppy joes and whipped up a batch. i found mini butter rolls at the store, so i even have buns for them! it was my first try at making them from scratch and i think they turned out quite well.


now the only question is what to do about having an off white rug that covers almost my whole "living room" area. :P

then this afternoon i went to Muji and bought two storage baskets. this one, actually:

they were a little more expensive than i had hoped, but they fit perfectly under my tv shelf, which is basically a coffee table with solid sides instead of legs.

now off to clean so at least all my "stuff" is organized for saturday night!

canadian dates

for the sake of not writing anything about him, i give you, Captain. (when i mentioned that i have a blog but change all my friends names, he jokingly asked if he would be "Captain Canuck" and i'm just gonna go with it :P)

we met at a local bar/restaurant while i was out with my "host mom" in canada. he turned out to be a really sweet guy and we went on a couple dates, including a double date with a friend of his i also met that night.

over the course of about 2 weeks, we went to a nice steakhouse and had wine and good conversation. we played pool. we went out for drinks. he introduced me to some of his friends and watched extras (british comedy) at a girl friend's house; i fell asleep half leaning on him. we sat in the driveway and talked in the middle of the night. we listened to a live band at the same pub/restaurant. we played more pool; we sat on the couch of the pool hall and just talked. he gave me chocolate bunnies "in case the easter bunny can't find you in japan." he walked me to the door. he had to deal with me as i was like an awkward teenager standing on their own porch not sure if he's going to kiss me and if i'm going to kiss back. (it was a PG peck on the cheek and a hug goodbye.)

he sent me a really sweet message saying he was sad i was leaving just when things were getting interesting. he said he wished i was going to be around a little longer but that he had a great time getting to know me. there's a chance i'll be back in canada again on the same trip in two years and he said i'd better not to make him wait that long to see me again.

oh my timing is so horrible. but it was a nice little day-dream while it lasted.


speaking of timing, i went to bed friday night at 12:30am and woke up at 3:30am and 7:00am on saturday. i couldn't stay up any longer and crashed from 4:30pm-10:00pm. i've been up since then and the trains will start running soon. i love jet lag. yuck.

a little fish in the big city

i've been added to a blogroll here. thanks wry!!

she wondered out loud what it is about ohio that makes people want to leave. hopefully my blog title doesn't lend people to believe that i just wanted to escape ohio. in fact, i love ohio. i will always be a rural ohio girl at heart.

(jumping overboard came from a brainstorming conversation with a fellow foreigner here in japan. we are so often fish out of water here, but i always jump in feet first and am trying to make my way in this big ocean.)

i grew up in a rural ohio town and, as a child, i thought it was a boring town with nothing to do, where everyone knows everyone else's business. while the latter probably still remains to be true, i realize now that it was a great place to grow up. it was safe and we managed to make our own fun.

i have yet to clearly articulate how i feel about staying in ohio forever. of course for some, it's not a choice. and i recognize that i am beyond blessed to have had the chances and experiences i've had. but regardless, having been an exchange student right after high school, having studied abroad in college and now living abroad, i have a hard time understanding how people can be satisfied growing up and living in the same small town their whole lives. there is so much out there to see, to smell, to taste, to do, to experience.

i love living in tokyo. people back home often ask me what i love about living in tokyo, and while i've never lived in new york city, i imagine i would love it there too. of course it's japan, which adds another whole level to it, but on a fundamental level, i love living in tokyo for it's big city-ness.

there are (and probably always will be) days when i'm tired of living in a concrete world with no backyard or vegetable gardens or skylines that go on forever. and there will be days when i'm frustrated by japan and japanese and the ways of a country that on the surface seems so superficial, but hides a completely different world under the surface.

but here i am, jumping in feet first.

things i love thursday

.chewy granola bars.
.mr. sketch markers.
.relish and ketchup.
.sweet emails from boys.
.unexpected phone calls.
.eight year old boy giggles.
.niagra falls, canadian side.
.chocolate cake with cherry sauce.
.candles. it was my birthday yesterday.