I guess what I'm trying (not so eloquently) to say is that this is my outlet to rant my frustrations and rave about the good times. Ive found that since writing can be so therapeutic, Ive switched from writing in a diary (Ecuador and Germany) to a blog instead. I'm not always bitchy and awful, I swear! There are a lot of good things about Japan, but there are also things that irritate me. By writing about the bad things, I can release the stress and relax a lot easier. So, Im sorry if I seem so negative.... buuuuuuut, there's one more big one that happened last week. (It seems like the harder I try to be positive and see the brighter side of things, something will happen that sends me right back to square one...)
On Wednesday, our school had its Foundation Day, which means the kids don't have to come but the teachers do -- that is, unless we want to use our vacation time. Well, I thought it'd be silly to take 1 day of precious vacation on a Wednesday when Adam was still working. I'd have nothing to do and it'd be boring. Most other teachers take vacation so I knew there were only going to be a couple others besides me there. So, I thought, "hey I can get all my back-logged emails written; that article for our Newsletter done....etc." Well, as it turns out, they forgot to inform me that the power was going to be out in the morning, so when I turned up at 8:30 and the lights were all off and my computer wouldn't work, I was more than a little upset. Had I known that the morning would be a waste of time, I would have taken half a day off (since I have an extra one) and slept in! Anyway, so after having my request to go home and work rejected, I slept until noon, at which time the power came back on.... I was all excited until I figured out that the server was down and I couldnt get on the internet which I needed for everything I had on my list to do... At this point Im sure it was obvious to the other 5 teachers, including my supervisor and vice-principal that I was really upset and not wanting to be there wasting my time. Well, as my mom told me to do once, I put on my big girl panties and dealt with it! At the end of the day when I was the only one left and hadn't accoplished anything I'd wanted to do, my vice-principal came over and apologized for not having told me about the power outage etc. He also said, "kyou wa, chotto mottainai, desu ne?" which means, "Today was a bit of a waste, wasn't it?" So, I replied, "Hai, chotto, ne?", "Yes a little." I figured this was blunt enough for Japanese standards and Im sure he got the point -- at least I hope so. I wasn't gonna sugar coat and hide my displeasure because I was honestly pissed off to the extreme. One of my biggest pet peeves is wasting valuable time. Had I been in America, I would have been more blunt and expressed my feelings a lot more. However, that wouldn't have gone well here I dont think...
Anyway, I had to wait til Friday to get the internet back and I was sooooooooo happy to have it back, it gave me a little high! This is, of course, not such a good thing -- to be so dependant on something like internet, but whatever... I think it's equivalent to a smoker being deprived for a couple days and then finally given a new, fresh pack. Or maybe it's not so bad. I wouldn't really know. I don't smoke.
Soooo the weather's been kinda weird lately, eh? Last Monday it was 77F here!!! Whaaaat?? I'd expect the warm weather in November if we were in, say, Australia, South Africa or New Zealand -- southern hemisphere. But to have this warm of weather in the middle of November in Japan??? It's slightly unnerving. It's not like I'm looking forward to being cold... at all, but the fact that it's so unnatural really bothers me. After talking to my parents back home in Seattle, they told me that they were having severe rain and flooding. I didn't really know how bad they meant until I looked online. There was a picture of a house floating down the swollen Cowlitz River! A 2-storey house.... floating down the river!! How crazy is that?! And this doesn't happen that often back home, just to let y'all know. Is this all part of Global Warming, or is it just a weird year? If things are changing this quickly and noticeably, then we really have a lot to worry about. Am I being an alarmist, or does anyone else notice this too?
OK well enough of all that negative and depressing stuff ;)
The weekend before last, so the 4th, was the big Halloween Party. It was a huge success, mostly because of a couple friends who must have told everyone they possibly knew in all areas in the Kansai region. We had over 100 people, made about $600 and were still able to donate $200 to our local Habitat for Humanity group! Since I had to be responsible, I didn't allow myself more than a beer or 2 and watched as people became more and more intoxicated. I must admit... I kinda rather be among the intoxicated than be the only sober one there! Oh well! It was still a good time and there are some really good pics. Take a look at my shutterfly site for the rest.
Me and "Where's Waldo" Will.
Me and Prince Launey.
The cutest transvestite EVER!! Hardly anyone recognized him. They asked me, "Where's Adam tonight?", to which I replied, "Didn't you see that cute girl by the door?!"
Hehehehehehe! What a knock-out! The fish-nets really tie it all together... and the hat says "Milkshake" on it... for those of you who know the song. We thought it was quite appropriate! 
God's Gift to Women Curtis and Chick Magnet Vinh! This last weekend was Adam's 25th birthday, so we celebrated out in the country at Launey's big house on the river. It was loads of fun and there was lots of yummy BBQ. I also made pumpkin mashed potatoes on the spur of the moment. It was Japanese pumpkin, potatoes, butter, garlic and green onion. Verrrrry yummy and Im thinking about making it for Christmas. It's funny, though, how Adam and I inevitably seem to take the roles as parents at a lot of these events and even to our friends sometimes. People keep jokingly calling Adam "Dad". (Aaron, you were the first, but it's happening even more now!!) Maybe it's because we're an excellent cooking team and cook breakfast for everyone when they're hungover...? Who knows, but it's really funny since that's the last thing we intend to be.
OK well I'm out. It's 4:07pm and I should have left 7 minutes ago... Adam's making Galupsi tonight!! (Russian cabbage rolls.... delish!)
