Reflections and Gion Matsuri

I know I've slacked off in the past few months with this blog. My apologies. However, there are only 9 days left of Adam's and my time here in Japan, so this is likely to be my last post in this blog.

As excited as I thought I was going to be to leave this country that has caused me so much stress and bitterness, I realized that the closer my departure date looms, the more mixed feelings I'm having. Not about my job, mind you. I'm more than thrilled to be leaving THAT behind -- good riddance! It's mostly my friends I'm sad to be saying goodbye to.

It's the one big downside to being an extensive traveler and living overseas. The friends we make abroad tend to become the closest. I think this is a result of not only being in a foreign country as foreigners -- therefore, needing to "stick together" -- but also because the very reason you're overseas in the first place means you already have more in common than many of the people you know back home. Of course, this isn't true about ALL people you come in contact with abroad. There are some definite weirdos here, for sure.

But I take a strange pleasure in looking around my living room full of my friends who all happen to be from different countries. Often times, Adam and I are the only Americans (aka Yanks). The usual suspects are English, Welsh, Canadian (Canucks), Australian (Aussies), New Zealanders (Kiwis), South African, sometimes French, and sometimes Irish.

Of course, besides commiserating about our jobs and difficulties of being foreign in Japan, we also enjoy making fun of each other's accents and various vocabulary. Chips vs. fries vs. crisps. Or "pudding" meaning "dessert" in British English. That was a tough one. How do you describe American pudding to someone who's never eaten it? Custard-like but thicker and in different flavors possibly....

Or how about describing tacos, tortillas, and enchiladas to someone who's never heard of them?! (I know..... Shock! Gasp!) I didn't even try... I just promised her I'd take her to a Mexican restaurant.

Anyone know the meaning of the verb "to snog"? It means to "make-out" with someone.

How would you respond to the question "How many stone are ya?"

"Ummm, excuse me? How stoned am I? Not at all, thank you!"

Well, as I found out after the giggling subsided, a stone is the English measurement for weight. (I know, how medieval right?) 1 Stone = 14 pounds. And here I was thinking everyone used kilos outside the US!

And of course there's the Aussie/Kiwi debate about the pronunciation of the number 6. Apparently, one of them pronounces it like "seeks" and one of them like "sex". Though of course to me they both pronounce them the same, but SHHHH! Don't tell them I said that!

Also, I guess we Yanks are the only ones to say the letter "Z" like "zee". Everyone else calls it "zed". Go figure.

As you can see, these past 2 years have given me endless linguistic pleasure, not to mention the perk of having friends in countries all over the world -- excellent for traveling! I'll miss them all terribly of course as they've all been a great source of comfort and companionship and they're all pretty cool to boot!

My only other regret as far as Japan goes is not having been able to see and go to all the places I originally wanted to. Hiroshima and Hokkaido come to mind here. However, we have taken advantage of our geographical proximity to other Asian countries, which was a major bonus. The reason for this was not only because the other places had beautiful beaches and cool eco-tours, but mostly because a 10 day vacation to Malaysia, Thailand or Vietnam would cost us the same as a 2-3 day trip to Hiroshima or Hokkaido. The choice wasn't that difficult! I'd love to come back here as a tourist some day and get to see the places I missed while I was "working". But, we'll see. There are many other places in the world I'd rather see and experience first.

I'm also nervous about coming home. I haven't lived in the Vashon/Seattle area for 6 years. That's a long time to be gone, and even though I've returned periodically, I'm constantly surprised and slightly disturbed by all the changes and how fast they occur. It should be interesting! I am looking forward to it, however. I feel it's time to come home and stick around for awhile -- get to know Seattle better, find a job, study some more and start doing something I really enjoy. I don't mean we're planning on settling down permanently, but for a few years at least. I need to be closer to my family now. I miss them terribly and talking on the phone just doesn't always cut it.

So here's our schedule so far (despite the fact that I applied for a job here which, if they contact me and actually want me might conflict with the road-trip.) We're flying to San Francisco on July 26th, where we'll pick up a car we're buying from Adam's grandmother. We'll drive up to Portland, spend the weekend there, and arrive in Seattle on Monday afternoon (the 30th). We'll have about 5 days on Vashon before flying to Costa Rica on Saturday, August 4th. We're enrolled in a language school there fore 2 weeks and then will be bumming around for another week and a half with my brother, Kirk, who will fly down at the end of the month to meet us. On August 29th, we all leave and part ways in Houston. Kirk back to Seattle and Adam and I on to North Carolina to visit his parents. We'll spend a week there before setting off on a road-trip that will take us through the southern and southwestern states. We'll visit friends along the way and see many of the national parks as well. We're due back in Seattle in mid-October! I'm really excited about it all and I halfway hope I don't get the job so I don't have to cancel any part of this trip that we've been planning for months and months. Though, it's a pretty sweet job, so I really do hope they contact me..... (crossing my fingers but trying not to get my hopes up!)

Anyway, here are a couple pictures from last night! We went to the Gion Matsuri (aka the Gion Festival) in Kyoto. I finally bought a summer kimono, a "yukata", which my landlady was nice enough to teach me how to wear and tie -- it's pretty complicated! I, in turn, was able to show Josy and Kendra, so we all went to the festival dressed up like everyone else! We turned a lot of heads since foreigners in yukata look really funny, and were asked for pictures a few times during the night, but it was a lot of fun.

Jessie, Josy, me and Kendra

Kendra, Josy and I on Shijo Street

Festival food stalls and my back.

One of the floats on the main street.

These guys chant and ring bells that are attached to those strings.

Art from the Gobi

So Adam and I just received our long awaited Kazakh wall hanging. It's actually from Mongolia but the women who made it are of the Kazakh minority in western Mongolia. It measures about 1 by 3 meters and was all hand-embroidered. I still am amazed they did it so quickly. I was expecting it to take a LOT longer than it did. When we opened the box it came in, it was like stepping back into Mongolia again. The smell of the Gobi desert is one of livestock (sheep, goats and horses) and sour milk. We had to air it out a couple days but it still retains its signature scent. I don't really mind that it smells that way -- gives it more authenticity and fond memories. But, I'd rather not have the entire room smelling like the inside of a ger (yurt).

Anyway, the whole thing was about $180, but Adam's brother and sister-in-law decided to give it to us as a gift, which was wonderful of them. Still $180 is a steal for something this intricate and labor intensive, not to mention absolutely gorgeous. We have it hanging on the wall above our couch in the living room, which makes the room look a bit crowded. We would have put it in our bedroom but then no one would be able to see it! I can't wait until we can get our own place back home and decorate it with all our stuff we've collected. It will have a serious Asian theme but I also have stuff from Ecuador back home as well, so all in all it will be VERY international. That's for sure. Anyway, this is so far one of the best things we've gotten. Here are some pictures. I'll post better ones a bit later.

Homophobia: A Rant

WARNING: Because of the emotional nature of this blog, I ended up using some pretty colorful language. If you think you might be offended, please skip past this blog. If not, read on and please excuse my sailor-talk. Words are just not strong enough for my feelings about this subject.

I've discovered something about myself and how I think of other people in these past couple years. First of all I've become much more liberal (hard to believe, I know) and a lot of my beliefs have become much more solidified. The one thing that gets me into a rage like no other these days is homophobia. My friend just received an email from his aunt with this link in it. This is the same aunt (actually that whole side of his family) who uninvited him to last Christmas at their place because they discovered he was bringing his boyfriend who was visiting. Not only did they un-invite him to Christmas but now she has the gall to send him a link to NoGayMarriage.com?!?!?! How insensitive can you get? My friend throws it off with a laugh, but it's hard for me to take it so lightly. In fact, it makes me want to cry and scream and tear out my hair by the sheer stupidity of thinking this way. Many of the arguments against gay marriage made on this website don't have anything to do with homosexuality at all!!! Take this one for example:

Argument #2
The introduction of legalized gay marriages will lead inexorably to polygamy and other alternatives to one-man, one-woman unions.

In Utah, polygamist Tom Green, who claims five wives, is citing Lawrence v. Texas as the legal authority for his appeal. This past January, a Salt Lake City civil rights attorney filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of another couple wanting to engage in legal polygamy. Their justification? Lawrence v. Texas.

The ACLU of Utah has actually suggested that the state will "have to step up to prove that a polygamous relationship is detrimental to society"-as opposed to the polygamists having to prove that plural marriage is not harmful to the culture. Do you see how the game is played? Despite 5,000 years of history, the burden now rests on you and me to prove that polygamy is unhealthy. The ACLU went on to say that the nuclear family "may not be necessarily the best model." Indeed, Justice Antonin Scalia warned of this likelihood in his statement for the minority in the Lawrence case.10 It took less than six months for his prediction to become reality.


Uh... last time I checked polygamy and homosexuality were two totally separate issues that have nothing to do with each other. What the hell does having multiple wives have to do with being in a committed and loving relationship with the person you choose, be it of the same or opposite sex? Besides, Mormons were the only ones who practiced polygamy and even today that's not true anymore. Most Mormons disassociate themselves with those sects of "Mormonism" who do practice polygamy and there are extremely few who do.

People who think this way make me want to puke. It's sad really and maybe I should take the pacifist side of this and feel sorry for them, but I don't. How can you hate someone so much just because of who they love? The friend I speak of is one of the most wonderful people I've ever met in my entire life and I love him very, very much. It's incomprehensible to me that his own FAMILY would insult and hurt him so much. That's NOT what family does and it's a disgrace. His aunt is a bigoted, ignorant cunt. Period. If she can't love him and accept him for the incredible and beautiful person he is then she is truly missing out and can rot in her own hell for all I care. Maybe I should be compassionate. Fighting fire with fire is never a good idea and doesn't make anything better. But when someone hurts and insults someone I love, watch the fuck out. It throws me into such a fiery rage I can barely control myself. Especially because they're doing it in the name of Christianity! The base of which is love and compassion and understanding -- at least it USED to be.... What people have done to religion these days is really fucking sad. Hating in the name of religion is an oxymoron. One that gets used way too often.

*deep breath.....in..... out.....*


Ok. I'm a little better now. I'm sorry I can't be as articulate as I would like to be about this but it's one of my non-negotiable topics. To me it's no different than hating someone because they're black or hispanic or asian or blue or purple. It's the same thing. And to tell you the truth, it almost makes me NOT want to get married for the sole principal that if my best friend can't get married then, fuck it, neither will I until that changes. Hopefully, he'll move to Canada and they can get married there and live happily without all the bullshit homophobia that is a large part of America and still controls the laws. It's another reason I would love to move to Canada and even become a Canadian citizen. I mean for fuck's sake, Spain just passed the gay-marriage law!!!!! Spain! A traditionally roman-catholic country! Our NOT passing this law is an embarrassment. We preach human rights and equal opportunity and open-mindedness... how much more hypocritical can we get?

Anyway, those are my thoughts and again I apologize for the crude language. It's hard to express rage and anger without swearing.... especially since I've been in Japan and my ability to pull out sophisticated English is nearing zero.

Singapore and Borneo -- Part 3 ... again...

So I wrote about the final leg of our journey and was uploading some cool photos when my computer decided she'd had quite enough and rebelled against me. As a result, I lost my entire blog post and am now having to re-write it. I'm not nearly as enthused about writing it a second time so it might just have to be short and sweet.

(On another completely unrelated note, something very interesting happened to me last night on the train. Adam and I were in line to get on and I noticed one woman kept glancing at me. This is normal so I didn't think much about it. She then sat right across from us on the train and kept staring at me. Needless to say, it started making me feel very self-conscious. After double-checking with Adam that I did NOT have a booger or anything else unpleasant on my face, I assumed she was just a little nuts. Well, she then proceeded to take a pad of paper and a pen from her hideous Prada bag and started to sketch something. Only as she was sketching she kept looking up at my face! She was drawing me!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, I was struck-dumb and didn't know what to do. I was feeling very exposed and uncomfortable and starting to feel angry that she didn't even ask if she could draw me. Adam said, "make a goofy face or stick out your tongue or something. I'll stick my finger up your nose or in your ear if that helps". To which I replied, "No thanks!" I didn't end up making a face or saying anything, but maybe I should have.... Oh well. Interestingly enough, this doesn't surprise me nearly as much as it would have 2 years ago.)

Ok, now back to the trip. We left KK and headed for Kuala Lumpur (from now on KL). The hostel we stayed in was really nice -- same one we'd stayed at previously and it had toilet paper! Woohoo! (Never realized how much of a perk that actually is, hehe.) Anyway, we didn't have a whole lot of time in KL so we spent the first day taking Kendra, Josy and Marc to the Petronas Towers (formerly the tallest buildings in the world and recently surpassed by the Taipei 101 Tower). After that, we went to a bar and met up with Yin Yee and her boyfriend, John. We spent a little time catching up and exchanging gossip about Vashon and our mutual friends, which was really nice. Then she and John took us around the corner for dinner at one of their favorite hawker stands. It was Chinese food and soooooooooo good! We ended up ordering a lot of spicy food that was even spicy for them, but man was it tasty! Such a relief from the blandness that is Japanese cuisine. We then proceeded to shop for pirated DVDs, only to find out that the price had gone up from about $1/DVD to about $3-$4/DVD.... not such a big deal and we came away with quite a few!

The next day we decided to go to the Batu Caves a little outside the city. The caves are in a big limestone hill and house several Hindu shrines. (For better and more accurate info go to this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Caves) In order to get into these caves we had to hike up 272 steps which were conveniently numbered! (No, I didn't count them all the way up!) We took time to take pictures and watch the macaque monkeys along the way. Most of them were very cute and stayed out of our way, but they have been known to steal and snatch at purses and bags (!!!). One monkey had a little baby clutched to her and he was sooooo cute in a very wrinkly and homely sort of way. Anyway, we perused the cave a little and took our pictures with a giant boa constrictor this guy had. He offered to let you hold it for a picture for 10 ringgit (so like $3). I think it was worth it since I love snakes. This one, however, was a bit "affectionate" and was trying to hug me a little too tightly... I got a bit nervous and was told Kendra to hurry up with the picture before the snake got any other ideas! I didn't notice until now, but the snake was getting friendlier than I thought with his tail there....! Then we took a tour into the "Dark Caves" which were, as the name suggests, very dark! We had headlamps to help us see and it was pretty cool. I must say that the caves Adam and I went to in the middle of nowhere Texas were much cooler.... but these were fun as well. After that we headed back into KL and since it was our last night there, opted for eating in an Irish pub since we were craving western food!

So that's about it! We had a wonderful time and had some crazy experiences for sure. Josy was the one with the camera so I'll be posting more pictures when I get them from her -- I only have a few. I'll also work on downloading the software for transferring the video to the computer so I can email it or post it somewhere for you all to see. Hopefully, I get that done soon!

Singapore and Borneo -- Part 2

After that, we made the arduous trek over the border to Malaysia. We took the subway, then a rickety bus which shooed everyone off at the border to go through immigration, border patrol and customs. We could have re-boarded the bus, but opted for a taxi instead since we just needed to make it to the hotel for the night. We flew out to Kota Kinabalu (the capital of Sabah, the northern province in East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo) the next morning. The city itself is rather boring but the thing that impressed me the most about Sabah was the fact that everyone was soooooooo friendly and nice! Guys might have stared at us like they do everywhere, but apart from the old muslim men who looked at me as if I was a whore for wearing shorts, most of them would just smile and say hi, or wave. It was really cool. (Note: I saw many local girls wearing shorts, so it wasn't like it was inappropriate attire.) Plus the men there are taller, beefier and more gorgeous than mainland Malays. I think they might have more Polynesian blood in them. Whatever it is, I like it! How I ended up with a pasty white boy who can't tan is still a mystery to me, haha! ;)

There are a few islands off the coast of the city, but they were just ok. Not nearly as nice as some of the ones in Thailand and Vietnam, but they had beaches and coral and were fun anyway. One day we decided to go white water river rafting! That was an adventure for sure! First we had to take a mini-van out to a po-dunk little town called Beaufort. From there we had to catch a po-dunk, clittety-clack, 30-year-old train into the middle-of-nowhere-jungle where the river was! This train, despite ONLY being 30 years old, might as well have been from the mid-1800's. The tracks themselves were "100 years old and haven't been rebuilt at all!" (And this is meant to instill confidence?) Anyway, it was a steam-engine little thing with no lights, no A/C of course, and hard bench seats. The windows, I noticed, were new and you could open them for a nice sticky tropical breeze. In any event, it was a very rough one and a half hour long butt massage and sauna experience, but very interesting! The country side was gorgeous and I have some footage from the train as well. We passed one house where a mother was attempting to bathe her little girl but she was having none of it! Screaming and crying and hitting her mom away.... I guess kids do the same thing everywhere, huh? It was pretty funny actually. What also amused us to no end was the group of Korean girls that were on the same train. For some reason they thought it'd be a splendid idea to wear clubbing clothes and high heals to go river rafting. The rest of us normal people were wearing appropriate clothing and rolling our eyes at these girls. Not only were they dressed for a night on the town, but they would shriek and squeal at every bump or turn (pretty much the entire friggin' ride). I don't know what they thought "white-water-river-rafting" was exactly, but someone lied to them!

Anyhoo, we finally get off the train in the middle of nowhere jungle and are briefed on the safety procedures and padding technique and then whisked off to our boats with our gorgeous local guides! (Ours were named Andre and something like Julius I think....) Kendra and I were very gung-ho about being in front where all the action was and had these manic perma-grins on our faces the entire time! The front was pretty hard but definitely the most fun. Once we were in the river we had to learn what to do when the boat capsized so he made us all jump out and swim back to the boat. The water was mocha-colored from all the silt, but it was so warm compared the the rivers back home where you need a wet-suit. The only part that sucked was when water got in your eyes -- there was so much silt and crap in the water, it kinda stung. Anyway, it took us about an hour and a half to get down the river and some of the rapids were REALLY big. We had the choice at one point to go down a particularly treacherous part of the river so we could capsize, but one girl who was with us couldn't swim very well and was nervous about it so we didn't do it. Kendra and I were a bit disappointed, but on the last big set of rapids, two big waves were converging and we hit them at just the right spot to launch me out of the boat and into the river! I was in the water before I knew what had happened! Luckily, our hotty guide, Andre, came to the rescue and grabbed me as I went by. Everyone took a hold of my life-jacket and I was back in the boat within seconds. Interestingly enough, Adam, who was in front of me, didn't even notice I had flown out until I was back in the boat again! (Thanks a lot, hun....)

After the rafting, there was a huge buffet lunch with drinks and an opportunity to watch and buy the DVD of everyone going down the river. We didn't get the video but opted for the pictures and a t-shirt. At about this time, some thunderheads rolled in and it started to pour. Now, if you've been to the tropics, you'll understand that when I say "pour" I don't mean a nice steady rain like we get in Seattle.... no, no, no. I mean more of a complete monsoon/shower, if-you-step-out-in-the-rain-you're-soaked-to-the-bone-in-2-seconds-flat kind of "pour". I love it! It's just so dramatic!

We then had to re-board the rickety contraption that brought us out there, so we ran to the platform and jumped on the train only to be told to get off again because the train had to turn around....?? In any event, I was standing on the platform with a miniscule umbrella, which was pretty much useless, when 3 of the most gorgeous guides came running over and wanted to get under my umbrella as well. No argument from me, muahahahaha! :) That was nice!

A couple days later we decided to rent a car and drive to another city in Sabah called Sandakan. Had we had more time, I would have liked to stay there since there's a lot more to do around there. Anyway, we were preparing ourselves for the possibility that the car would be 4WD and stick shift. In that case, only Kendra and I would be able to drive since neither of the 2 Brits, Josy and Marc, could drive stick (Marc didn't even have a license and Josy had just gotten hers!), and Adam wasn't comfortable with stick either. However, we lucked out and it was automatic. We still had to drive on the left side, but at least we had 3 drivers to make the supposed 6 hour journey. Keng ended up driving the whole way there since it was "just like home!" in New Zealand and she was really comfortable. And I'm soooooooooo glad she did! on our last leg of the trip that actually took us around 8-9 hours, it got dark.... and then started to "pour". And on those roads there are no street lights and since we were driving through a huge palm oil plantation all the roads were riddled with pot-holes from all the big trucks. Luckily, the truck we were following wasn't going unbearably slow so we decided to follow him all the way to the city. It's a good thing we did, too, because there were definitely a couple times we would have gotten lost had he not been there! Once we reached the city we searched for a hotel and on the 5th try we finally found some rooms in a ratty-yet-clean establishment above a curry shop and across from some bars. Outside, though, we saw some of the biggest rats I've ever seen in my entire life. One that was squished on the road was the size of a small cat! Didn't phase me much and I was actually more fascinated than anything, but Kendra and Josy were totally grossed out so we stepped over it and went to the hotel to sleep....

The next morning we headed to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center for the morning feeding at 10am. We saw a film beforehand about the project and it brought tears to my eyes. Basically, the center was set up because the wild population of orangutans is declining due to deforestation etc. They'll take in babies who have been orphaned, adults who have been caught and sold to circuses or zoos and mistreated, or others who have been trapped and kept as pets illegally by locals. The point is to rehabilitate them to be able to live in the wild again. Many of the babies who were orphaned didn't have their mothers to teach them all the essential skills, so the handlers have to help them. The feeding we were watching was a platform in the jungle where a handler would go and set out bananas and such. Those orangutans who were living in the jungle but still not quite ready or able to find food for themselves (or maybe they were just lazy and couldn't be bothered?) came to eat there. They were soooooooo beautiful and fun to watch!! I got quite a bit of videotape of them as well. I was thinking what a wonderful and fulfilling job that must be. Sad that there's a need for a rehabilitation center, but I'm glad they have one. Some of the orangutans take 5-8 years to finally move out to the forest and some never do, but others move out quickly and never come back. It seems like it'd be a bittersweet experience to raise these apes who are so eerily similar to humans and then have to let them go after a few years -- not unlike being a parent of some sorts. Anyway, that was definitely my favorite part of the trip :).

Interesting tidbit: The word "orangutan" is actually two words: orang - which means man/person, and hutan - which means forest. So "orangutan" literally means "man of the forest". Cool, huh? (This is in the Malay language.)

I was able to drive for a couple hours on the way back to Kota Kinabalu which was an interesting experience. Driving on the left made me feel 16 all over again and I had a tendency to hug the shoulder, especially when huge tour buses, semis and trucks would rumble by.... eek! I made it, however, and by the end was much more comfortable driving on the left. Adam drove the rest of the time and was also very good.

I'll leave the rest for Part 3 since my fingers are cramping and my eyes are getting fuzzy. (And so I have something to do tomorrow.... hehe.)

Singapore and Borneo -- Part 1

We just got back on Sunday after about 10 days in SE Asia. Yes, we keep going back, but that's because we have such wonderful experiences every time we go. We started off by flying China Eastern Airlines -- kind of a rinky-dink airline service that we picked because it was cheap. Well, it was cheap, we found out, because it scrimps on all the amenities such as music and movies and such. We got food, but it was nothing to write home about (but still a step up from some American airlines!).

We had a layover in Shanghai this time (thank god it wasn't Beijing) and I swear they keep the airport at 10C/50F so that no one will stay there for too long. The place was FREEZING! Not only that, but the benches themselves were metal and had holes in them, so screw trying to build up some body heat. We tried to get something to eat but only found one restaurant with venues in various places and very over-priced food. We were kinda confused by this and figured there had to be another restaurant somewhere but at the time just couldn't be bothered to look any farther. So, of course, after we order our extravagantly priced food, what do we see but a bunch of Chinese ladies coming in with KFC to-go bags! They sit down at a table and start chomping away! Damn.... not speaking Chinese can be a real pain sometimes, especially when you're running around the airport like a chicken with your head cut off trying to figure out where to go and which bloody form to fill out next -- we felt like little blind, deaf and dumb gerbils in a maze. Craziness.

One interesting thing about China is the fact that when you arrive there, even if it's only a layover, you need to go through customs and immigration to enter the country, only to exit again before your flight. So now I have Chinese stamps in my passport even though I never left the airport -- schweet!

After we arrived in Singapore we were finally able to relax a little. Adam and I went and bought a video camera which has proved to be a fantastic purchase! I think it cost us around $300, but the thing I like the best is the anti-shake feature. Usually when you zoom in, even the slightest movement of your hand will make it look like there was an earthquake while you were filming. Buuuuut, with the anti-shake feature I was able to zoom in super close and get some great footage that is just minimally shaky! Anyway, Singapore was probably the most beautiful city I've ever seen! Instead of bulldozing the nature flat to cover it all with concrete like Japan did, they decided to incorporate it, more or less, into the city. Despite seeing skyscrapers and concrete and cars everywhere, you also see loads of tropical trees and flowers everywhere. It's really cool. The people all seem really nice too and they can all speak English (such a plus!!!!). The rainbow of faces is astonishing as well. Coming from such a homogenous culture where all we see are Japanese faces, it was quite a shock. You saw Chinese, Malay, Indian, some Africans, some whiteys -- pretty much the whole spectrum. I also saw many faces of mixed origin and that was really interesting. I have to say the mixes are usually much more beautiful! I think I was drooling the entire 10 days at the sheer volume of eye-candy!

While we were walking around and getting to know the subway system intimately, we decided we wanted to do something kinda crazy and go reverse-bungee-jumping. It's basically a bench where 3 people can sit and get strapped in, that gets flung into the air like a slingshot! It was pretty wild and we have a DVD of that as well :) I was VERY impressed that Adam agreed to go since he and heights don't go together so well. He took off his glasses, which I think in the end was better for him -- if you can't actually see how far up you are, there's nothing to be afraid of! And instead of screaming like a little girl he ended up cackling like a mad-man.... it was kinda creepy (but I suppose more manly -- maybe that was what he was going for?). I LOVED it!

We went to Little India at one point to get some tasty curry but then realized after we sat down at the restaurant that not one white person was being served. Several other white tourist couples were in there and none of them had food, some had drinks. It donned on us that we were being shunned and ignored when a Japanese couple walked in and were served within 10 seconds. Anyway, after a few more minutes of uncomfortable waiting we just left and went somewhere else. That really sucked. Also, we noticed toward the end how Big-Brotherish Singapore is. In the subways you'd see signs like: No food or drink in the Subways -- $1,000 fine; or NO SMOKING -- $5,000 fine. If you looked up you would see cameras EVERYWHERE! I'm not talking about just a couple per room, but all over the place -- 2-3 feet apart! They must have footage of us from every single angle imaginable.... and probably not very flattering. Spitting is illegal and I assume this is because mainland Chinese tend to spit everywhere (this is true). Chewing gum is also illegal because one guy decided it'd be funny to stick his used gum on a subway train door. Well, the doors got stuck and the train was late. I guess that's a big enough deal there to outlaw chewing gum...?

In need of a break!!

And I bet you're all wondering: "From what? You don't do ANYTHING all day... why in the world do you need a break?"

Well.... not doing anything can actually be really tiring, as lame as that sounds. I need a break from doing nothing so that I can actually do something.... quite the opposite of most cases. Adam and I and a couple friends (Josy and her bloke, Marc, from England, and Kendra from New Zealand) are heading to Singapore tomorrow and then to Malaysian Borneo (state of Sabah) on Sunday morning. We're going on vacation not to relax, but to stimulate ourselves so we don't go completely batshit crazy in the next month to come. And, well honestly, do we REALLY need an excuse to take a vacation??? I think not! Plus, who wouldn't want to pounce on the opportunity to go to one of the most beautiful places in the world, trek through the jungle, snorkel and lay in the sun, and play with orangutans?

Anyway, while we're in Singapore I hope to find a really good deal on a video camera so that we can actually film our time there instead of just taking pics. Pictures are nice, but a video would be so much better. No worries, I'll have my camera as well. One of these days I need to get a new one, though. Since receiving it for Christmas in '03, it's seen its fair share of use and abuse and is getting a little crotchety (me dropping it at regular intervals probably didn't help either... oops!).


This past week, Aaron and Helen came back to Japan for their spring break so it was really cool to see them again! I don't think I realized how much I missed Aaron until he got here. Then it was like we'd never been apart. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a really long time... actually I take that back. Christmas wasn't so far long ago, which was the last time I saw him and we talked and talked and talked and laughed until I almost peed my pants. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to spend with either of them so that really sucks, but at least we got to see them!

So, I'm sitting at work without an ounce of inspiration to write beyond the feeling of obligation to keep this thing going and keep everyone in the loop. Not that I mind keeping people up-to-date with what's going on with me, but there really hasn't been much of anything besides the humdrum of life to write about. Sorry to be so honest, but hopefully after we come back I'll have plenty to write about and will be sure to post pics! I've now brought my headphones to work so I can listen to music via YouTube and Google videos.... I've also spent a couple hours today watching and listening to interviews by Barack Obama. After having read his book and now seeing the interviews with him, I'm even more convinced that he would be an excellent president. He's articulate, very intelligent, open-minded, realistic and most importantly: he's REAL! He's human. He's not a puppet or someone put into power by his daddy or his daddy's money. He speaks more than one language (having lived in Indonesia as a child and learning their language: Bahasa I'm pretty sure), and he's lived in a different country. Not only a different country, but a predominantly Muslim country. He went to both Muslim and Christian schools while he was there as well. I think this is really important if we're to improve our image abroad. I think it's also important because he'd have an easier time empathizing with other countries. Anyway, bottom line is: Barack kicks ass and if he becomes president it would do a world of good for our country, its people and its reputation. Oh and I agree with a lot of his perspectives... he's pro-choice, supports gay marriage and doesn't believe that he should be forcing his religious values on others (hooray!) -- that's not what a secular president (or any other politician) is supposed to do.

Anyway, I'm signing out now. Will be posting later with pictures from Borneo!!!!

Rovery Engrish Paaato 2!

*Lovely English Part 2*

Here are some amusing answers that I read on the students' homework they handed in. When I say I teach English here, you should really take it with a grain of salt. I'm not with them long enough to make a difference and the teachers themselves don't speak enough English to properly teach the kids either. As a result stuff like this happens.

I was doing a lesson on New Year's Resolutions and for the homework they had to talk about the best and worst things that happened to them in the previous year. I gave them a "hint" in class on how to answer correctly (basically how to start the sentence). I told them to write, "The best/worst thing that happened was when..." on their papers and they only had to finish the sentence making sure to write it in the past tense. They seemed to get it in class, but obviously they ignored me or didn't understand what to do. Here were some of the really good results (and a poignant example of why I want to stick a pen in my eye every day):

Best thing: "My love beared fruit and I was very happiness."
(They don't seem to be able to tell the difference between a noun and an adjective despite having both in Japanese)

Best thing: "I could see my love's face when leave junior high school's graduation ceremony."

Same student's worst thing: "I could not do a declaration of love to my love."

And this one is a hope for the New Year: "I hope to be a massive girl."
(Someone should fire the guy who did the translations for those damned electronic dictionaries!)

And here are some of the worst/most mangled ones I got:

Best thing: "beautiful the my room" (Uhhh... what the hell is THAT supposed to mean??? I couldn't even correct the English on this one. I just didn't know where to start!)

Best thing: "was when I heavied my body." (...*sigh*...what?)

Best thing: "was when I give to bargain." (*hitting my head against my desk*)

Worst thing: "was when broken foods." (I'll tell you what's broken, darlin'. Your head is broken! What in the world are you thinking??????)

And a hope for the New Year: "I hope to be King of eath." (I could only assume that "eath" meant "Earth". This kid is creative and cool and he was only missing the "r"! Congrats buddy!)

The sad part about all this is the fact that I've given up on teaching myself Japanese but still am able to pick up more day to day and can actually translate the majority of the important parts of my lesson. I go around to students and have to explain how to do the activity in broken Japanese -- but at least I'm trying AND they understand me! I only half-ass taught myself during the first year here and can speak more Japanese than they can of English despite having "learned" it for years!! They can't speak to save their lives! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!?!?!? GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I suppose the positive side of this is that it's much more amusing to correct homework when they butcher my language to such an extent. If their English was perfect, then it'd just be boring!


Edit: I just looked up and realized that the teacher sitting across from me had a folded towel on her head..... why does she have a towel on her head???? She's acting perfectly normal and no one else seems to be disturbed by this.

Wait, she just took it off. Was it just for temporary storage? I guess that makes sense. I mean why put it on your lap when you could just as easily put it on your head.... where the hell am I? Africa? *panicky feeling starting in my belly* What's going on????

Beautiful and Interesting Concept

Adam's brother, Alex sent me this link and I just want to share it with everyone since I found it to be really interesting and definitely something I would like to have for both of us.

http://www.touchwoodrings.com

It's a couple who live in BC, Canada on a 50 acre sustainable farm. They earn their living by selling these eco-friendly wood rings. The artist, David, makes them all himself and will spend at least 8 hours on each ring to make it perfect for the customer. Each ring is different and unique -- made to order. The wood they use is collected from wind blown or bug fallen trees on their own property (so they're not killing trees to make the rings). Any specialty wood they need that they can't find on their property they get from companies scrap piles (saving it from going to waste). All the electricity on the farm is solar powered as well. These rings pretty much are as green as you can find AND completely unique. No one will have the same ring as you.

I also found the meanings of the different woods very fascinating. There are pictures on the website of many of the rings he's made. I must say, he's an incredible artist and I would feel very privileged to have a pair of rings made by him. Not only are they absolutely gorgeous but they promote a way of life that I want to follow as much as possible. We'd know exactly where our money was going and what it got us. I'd love to be able to promote their business this way.

They also have a blog (http://warmthofwood.blogspot.com) where they've posted more pictures of recent rings. When Adam first saw the sight, he wasn't very impressed (I don't think he spent more than 30 seconds looking at it....) but when I loaded the page at home and was showing him all the different kinds of rings and the different possibilities, he thought they were beautiful too. I've copied a couple pictures of the rings I like from his sight and put them here. But please look at the others! They're all really cool.


This is an African black wood (Grenadilla) ring with blue spruce liner and a juniper heart wood braid. Adam REALLY liked this one. However, the braiding isn't as durable as the regular bands that he does. Basically, this ring should be worn for special occasions only.


This is a Grenadilla (African black wood) ring with a blue spruce band.


These are a pair of wedding rings: blue spruce and Grenadilla. He says it's the same wood clarinets are made from. I like how the colors are inversed here.


I think these are beautiful too. It's rosewood lined (on the inside) with blue spruce and banded with juniper heart wood.

All the finishes/varnishes they use are vegan and waterproof. I probably wouldn't wear them in the water even though they say it's perfectly fine. They're very durable and even if the finish wears off, you can send them back for a small fee or they'll tell you how to buff them up yourself (and therefore not waste money on shipping and fuel!). The FAQs on the site answered a lot of my initial and obvious questions (I guess that's the point), so before you criticize take a look at the FAQs.

Anyway, I'm totally in love with these rings and just wanted to share it with you all. Comment away s'il vous plait!

Valentine's Anniversary and "Chikan" Experience

Sooo I haven't had internet in a really long time, and therefore, haven't been able to update this thing -- honestly I have no idea who still reads this, but it continues to be my little outlet regardless. I was just pulled aside to talk to the computer guy through the sketchy interpretation of my supervisor and fellow English teacher. Out of that 15 minute quasi conversation (during which I desperately had to use the little girl's room and was subtly trying to cross my legs), I found out that they'd updated all the computers in the school and now have wireless internet. Well he asked me which operating system I had and when I said I had Windows 98, he said, "No, no. That's too old. It won't work." I told him that it was working because I had just successfully written a couple emails. Well I don't think that got through to him because he was telling me how the virus definition stuff wouldn't work with Windows 98 and all that jazz and that I needed to use the school computers for internet yadda, yadda, yadda. When I finally insisted that I could, indeed, access the internet from my computer, he seemed really surprised and then worried that I might get a virus and unknowingly pass it onto the school (a reasonable worry). I said, "Well I have a virus protection program, as well as spyware and adaware protection that I update every day. Is that ok?" This took about 5 tries to communicate with him and he finally said that if I kept my word and was sure to update every day, that I would be allowed to use the internet from my computer... whew! No pressure, though, right? Haha!

Anyway, yesterday was our 5 year anniversary which is pretty impressive. We went to a Turkish restaurant in Osaka and had a wonderfully delicious meal while listening to a Turkish group play traditional music. As we toasted Adam said, "Well, here's to 5 years... holy crap!" Hahaha! I couldn't have said it better myself. When I think about how we were on our first date and even within that first year, it amazes me to think about how much we've changed already and how much we'll change in another 5 years. "Holy crap" is right!

I finally had my last class yesterday and will now be stuck with nothing to do until about mid-April... 2 months of nothing. Woohoo... As long as I can use the internet I'll be saved. I'm also planning on dipping into the herbology and homeopathy books that I brought home. Hopefully, I'll learn something!

So the main point of this blog is to expel some anger about an incident that happened on Tuesday afternoon as I was walking home from work. It was a beautiful day and I was actually in a pretty good mood -- the sky was blue, the sun was warm on my face, and I'd just taught my last classes at that school. Well, as I was almost to the train station and coming up on a small residential parking lot on my right, I saw a guy run toward it like maybe he was in a hurry to get to his car or something. Not thinking anything about it I continued. (Note: between me and the parking lot was a huge concrete ditch about 1.5 feet across and 2 feet deep, and a fence.) So as I pass the parking lot I see this guy fiddling with the zipper on his pants and I think, "Oh great... another nasty guy taking a piss in public... what is it with this place that they can't just go to the toilet?" Anyway, I was wrong... as I got closer he whipped out his dick, which happened to be fully erect, and started beating off as I passed. Not only did that completely shock the hell out of me, but he was staring at me the whole time with the creepiest look I've ever seen, and he was muttering something that sounded like "chikan" which strangely is the word for "pervert". Anyway, I shouted out "CHIKAN! Fuck you asshole!" and walked off without giving him another look. Anger, rage, a feeling of violation and embarrassment started coursing through my body. Had I been able to, I would have liked to rip off his balls and throw them in the gutter on the side of the road. However, the thing that angers me the most about this situation and beside the obvious feeling of "Why the hell did he just do that?! What makes him think he can do that and get away with it?!", is the fact that, as a foreigner, I really could not have done anything about it. In the States, I'm pretty sure that if I socked the guy in the nose, or repeatedly kicked him in the groin (which would have been lovely revenge), I probably wouldn't have gotten in any trouble. However, in this society, I would have been charged with assault because he didn't actually touch me. If I'd have gone to the police down the road, they wouldn't have done anything and would have probably suggested that I had liked it or had brought it on myself, or that since I was a tall, blond foreigner that I should expect such things. The point is: as a gaijin, I have NO RIGHTS. And THAT is what angered me the most. On the way home I fantasized about all the ways I could have kicked the crap out of the guy or thrown something at him or cussed him out (had I been able to speak angry Japanese) and I tried to control my emotions and keep the tears at bay. When I finally walked through the door of the apartment I collapsed in a weepy, angry mess (much to Adam's surprise since I couldn't tell him what happened for a good 5 minutes). Here's the scary part about all this: "chikan" are actually reallllly common here. They're everywhere and it's kind of strange that I'd been here for so long without seeing one or experiencing something like this. This country is full of f'cked up, emotionally repressed people and it manifests itself in cases like this. This is also pretty common for foreign women here and I'm actually pretty worried now that this guy might be a stalker (he seemed to know when I'd be coming). He's planted that seed of uncertainty and fright in me and I resent the power that that gives him and the feeling of helplessness it gives me.

When I was in Ecuador, guys would say dirty things to me on the street and grab me as I walked by. The difference, though, was that I was more prepared for that and I expected it. I would cross the street if I saw a man on my side I didn't have a good feeling about. I took Taekwondo classes for exercise but also for protection if I needed it. I remember my coach would tell me, "Always be ready. Always. Expect that something might happen so you can react and fight back. They want to startle you because it's easier for them. Keep your eyes open and BE AWARE of everything and everyone around you." I was pretty good at this but one day outside my family's shoe store I was day dreaming about something and suddenly someone jumped at me as if to attack. I jumped back, startled of course, only to realize it was my coach. "What have I told you? You weren't aware. You were off in your own world!" He was testing me and I failed... damn. From then on, I tried to be aware of my surroundings -- much easier said than done.

I realize now that I was much more street savvy in those times and much more prepared at the age of 16 to deal with stuff like this. Ecuador is a 3rd world country and I expected it there. They tell us when we first arrive in Japan that it's a really safe country. Well, low crime may be true but as far as perverted asswipes go that's bullshit. I was lolled into a feeling of security and complacency. Maybe I'm taking this to an extreme (it's not like he raped me or anything, but it was f'cked up nonetheless), but I'd rather be aware next time, or at least have something in my pocket that I can throw at him.... I need to be aware of what's happening around me. If he does turn out to be a stalker, then I need to keep my eyes and ears open. I'm also going to tell my other teachers at the school nearby. All my students walk on that road to the train station and I'm worried he might do the same thing to them as well. I need to warn the school that he's there -- maybe they'll do something about it if they're worried about the students. (Unfortunately I got a better view of his dick than I did his face, so if they ask me all I can say is, "well, he's maybe early 30's and definitely Japanese".)

When I get home, I've decided to get back into some form of martial arts. Not only is it great exercise, but it also gives you the skills and awareness needed to protect yourself.

Anyway, I'm still dealing with a bit of residual anger, but whatever. It'll pass and life will go on! Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

Post-vacation blues or something

It's been a week since we've gotten back from our delightful trip back home after 1.5 years! It was so wonderful to see my family again! I really had a great time, so thank you to everyone I was able to see for making my trip truly memorable :) I have to say it was a much needed and much appreciated vacation and I finally feel like I can see the end of my time here and will be able to maintain my sanity for another 6 months... maybe. That's the hope anyway -- we shall see what the reality is soon enough.

The first day back at work was nice. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and after 3 weeks at home of 95% gray and rainy/snowy weather, this was incredible to come back to! This winter here has been a balmy 50F -- much warmer than usual, but I'm sooo not complaining! I like having my own computer back and sleeping in my own bed again and getting back into the routine felt good. It all felt... normal again I guess. Normal in its abnormality. And it all felt really good for about... one day. Then the novelty of being back was over and I wondered if my trip back home ever happened at all! It seemed to go by in such a blur of activity that it all seems like it was just a dream -- a good dream, but a dream nonetheless. This realization makes me really sad. I don't want to be readjusted so quickly to life as a foreigner (read: funny monkey clown to point/gawk at and take pictures of). Being back in America was so much more relaxing in a way. Driving was the pits, though. People say it's like riding a bike, which it kind of is, but you still might be a bit wobbly and uncoordinated at first, which I was (mostly on the freeways in the dark and pouring rain). And I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I wanted to, though hopefully those who did get pics of Christmas etc. will post them online soon so I can steal.... I mean look at them, hehe! (That was a major, not-so-subtle hint to GET YOUR PICS UP! ... though I've been lazy and haven't gotten around to it either...)

The food back home was oh so yummy, but we didn't end up taking back any peanut butter -- something I really needed here. Oh well. And I would have liked to pack some cheese, too, but that would have been really heavy. As it turns out, our bags were overweight as it was and we had to unpack all our stuff at the counter (my pajamas, socks, and dirty clothes tumbling out for all to see!) and put it in to a 3rd bag (thank goodness I thought to bring an extra!). The flight itself was ok, pretty uneventful. We were conked most of the time due to Adam's sleeping pills and a glass of wine -- it was amazing! And I'm proud to say I didn't drool all over myself this time, hehe. However, since we were late taking off in Seattle due to de-icing, we were late getting into Seoul, Korea. We'd only had an hour for our connection to begin with so 3/4's of the way into the flight I started getting kinda panicky that we were going to miss the flight to Japan. I knew if this happened there wouldn't be another flight until the next day and we'd miss a day of work. We didn't have classes so it wouldn't have been THAT big of a deal, but I had no way of contacting people to let them know what had happened.... AND they could have been bastards and made us take an extra day of vacation.

BUT, we ended up JUST making the flight! Running off the plane some guy was shouting out "Osaka! Anyone for Osaka?" "YES!! YES WE ARE!!" we screamed. So he ushered us and one other guy past everyone else and to the gate where they were all ready to close and take-off! We were the last ones on and before we'd even buckled our seat-belts we were already pulling away. I instantly broke into tears from stress, fatigue, the screaming little kids in front of us and general miserableness... and the thought that I'd have to be at work the next day (grrr).

When we got into Osaka, a lady pulled us aside and told us that since we got in so late, they hadn't had time to transfer our luggage and we'd have to fill out all these forms in order for them to (maybe) come tomorrow. By this time, I was so worn out I was beyond protest but made sure she knew that ALL my clean work clothes were in my luggage and I absolutely needed them by the next day. I admit, I exaggerated slightly, but I really did need my bag! (I had packed an extra pair of undies, but that was it. I had to wear the same clothes to work the next day.) We finally got home on the last train at 11:30pm, were in bed by 12:30am and up again for work at 6:30am!

Anyway, sorry for zipping around in the time-line here... that was a pretty exhausting day, but we're finally back into the swing of things and I had my first lessons of the new term today. I only have 3 weeks of lessons and then am off again from mid-February to mid-April. "Off" meaning sitting at my desk with nothing to do, of course. During those 2 months, however, Adam's brother Alex and his significant other Chesney are going to be visiting, which should be a lot of fun. We're also taking a trip with some friends to Singapore and the Malaysian provinces on Borneo. I'm really looking forward to that!

I'm sure we'll continue to try and keep ourselves amused here. There's still a lot we haven't seen so we'll try and do something every weekend. This last Sunday we went to a market at a temple near Kyoto, called Toji. They not only had typical yummy festival/market food but also loads of random stuff to buy from used kimonos to art to honey and knick-knacks. Basically, a huge flea market but with nice things. We sampled some locally made honey, which was sooooo delicious we had to buy some! The kind we got was mikan-honey. Mikan are satsuma mandarins, so I'm sure you can imagine how yummy it was!

Then we saw this guy selling his calligraphy. It was one Chinese character on a beautiful background. They came in many different colors and were absolutely gorgeous. Adam and I kind of have a calligraphy/Asian theme going on with our decorations so we bought a couple. Actually all of us (Josy, Kendra, Leigh, Adam and I) ended up getting them! During this time, however, we attracted quite the crowd of onlookers for some reason. I really didn't understand why they thought we were so special since I'd seen quite a few other foreigners there besides us. In any event, they all got out their cameras and started taking pictures of us buying the prints. I still have no idea why they thought this was so fascinating. At one point, I turned to Josy (who, btw, is fluent in Japanese and works in the Board of Education), who was standing on my left, and she looked a little freaked out. When I asked her what was wrong she replied, "They're all taking pictures of us! Why are they doing that?" I said, "Really?" because by this time, I still hadn't noticed them. "Yeah," she said, "Look over your left shoulder...." As I turned my head all of a sudden I see this huge paparazzi-size telephoto lens practically sitting on my shoulder and snapping away at our faces! (This time, I'm not exaggerating and Adam and Josy can back me up on this.) I was so startled that I turned toward the perpetrator going, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!!" The lady smiled and laughed a little and said, "Ah, gomen!" ("Oh, sorry!") Well... she sure didn't look sorry!

I just can't believe that someone would have the gall to stick a camera literally IN our faces 1) at all; 2) without permission; and 3) without feeling like a complete asswipe. Honestly, now?! Josy, who NEVER gets mad or raises her voice, was just as shocked and offended as I was and neither of us said anything in retaliation because at the time we really were too stunned to say anything at all. She said they liked my blond hair, but then countered that with "But, my hair isn't blond! Why are they taking pictures of me??" Anyway, baffled and tired of the crushing crowds of mean old women, we retreated to the 1 public bathroom and waited in line 15 mins for a 30 second wee and then stumbled out of the temple grounds to slightly less populated streets. During this whole ordeal, which was fun, 'cause we got some really neat things, but irritating because the crowds were so dense you could only move a centimeter per second, I said to Adam, "You know, I really don't understand why they think it's a bad thing that the birthrate is declining so much. Sure it'll affect the economy and they're scared as all hell about importing foreign workers, but shit... who the HELL can stand so many people??? This country is sooo overpopulated, it's ridiculous!" He agreed.

Another incident last week that harshly reminded me I was back in Japan and NOT Japanese was the other day when Adam and I were making the 100yd stroll to the supermarket. Waiting to cross the street where a mom and her 3 little kids were waiting as well, the kids start pointing and saying "Ohhh foreigners! I wonder if they speak English?? I wonder if they're American?" The mom had the decency to slap the kid's hand as he pointed but didn't stop him from jabbering away. "They probably are American, honey", she calmly replied.

Just think about this and tell me 1) if this would ever happen in America; 2) if it did, what would the mom have done to the kids? 3) if the mom and kids had done the same thing, how would the foreigner (or anyone who looks slightly different) have reacted? We obviously understood everything they were saying and they obviously thought we didn't. We had the urge to turn around and, in Japanese, say "Oh Adam, look at the Japanese kids! That's amazing! I wonder if they speak Japanese?" (Actually it would have had a better and more insulting effect if we'd openly wondered if they were Korean or Chinese.) Unfortunately, we didn't think of that until later and were then kicking ourselves. I wish, for once, that I would think of these retaliatory remarks on the spot instead of 5 minutes later as I'm steaming from the incident. It didn't bother me so much that the kids were curious -- kids are kids and that's normal. I was bothered by the fact that the mom didn't stop them or say, "Honey, shhh, that's rude" or something of the sort. Anyway, stuff like this happens every day and I had forgotten about that. (Last night there was a gross, creepy old man who was standing in front of us and staring intently at Josy, Leigh and I as we were talking and then later he went over to Adam and asked if we were from England...)

OK well enough of all that. I'm back in Japan. I'm weird, I'm blonde, I'm tall and I have a bumpy face. I speak English, I have hips, I have big feet, and I have long legs. I don't wear skanky mini-skirts with fish-net stockings, nor do I dye my hair orange. I smell like cheese, I brush my teeth, I need deodorant and I'm not ashamed of using tampons. I don't eat natto, I'm not a fan of fish heads, but I LOVE spicy food. I hate my job, but I'm here for 6 more months so I might as well make the best of it, suck it up and deal with it. Right? Right.

Pre-vacation Giddiness!!

I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but things have been a little hectic these past few weeks... but I guess I say that every time. Sorry.

Annnnyway, in exactly 2 weeks from today I will be getting ready to head to the airport and go home to Vashon for the holidays. I'm seriously so excited I can barely contain myself. When people here ask me what my plans are for New Year's, I get a really goofy grin on my face and say "I'm goin' home!" However, I'm sure I'm romanitcizing this waaaay too much. Knowing how much I wanted to leave the States in the first place, I have a feeling the reverse culture shock will be a bit harsher than I'm used to. Suddenly being able to understand ALL the conversations and small talk going on around me might be a bit overwhelming if not downright annoying at times. I've become really accostumed to being in my own private little world, which can be very peaceful and nice at times, but also has the drawback of allowing me WAAAAAY too much thinking time -- hence, all my seemingly wild and crazy plans.

On the other hand, apart from the angst of reverse culture shock, I know there will be a lot of things about America that I'll appreciate, when I took them for granted before. I'm sure through my previous rants that these things are already apparent: central heating/AC, insulation, clothes that actually fit me, SHOES that actually fit me (losing weight won't make my feet smaller...), whole grain bread, a wide variety of rice, cheddar cheese, cheaper veggies and fruits, washers that DON'T ruin your clothes, dryers (!!) etc. With the prospect of raiding the malls during the "End of the Year Sales" (not sure why we don't just have Boxing Day like in Canada), I've been preparing by looking at Gap.com, AnneTaylorLoft.com or Victoriassecret.com to see what's "in" at the moment. After such sessions, I have a strange consumeristic high, even though I try to resist such feelings. It's been way too long since I've been shopping for myself and honestly, some of my clothes are becoming a little, how should I say, raggedy.... Even though I feel guilty about contributing to the consumeristic atmosphere that surrounds the holidays, I think I can allow myself to go buck wild this year, especially considering how much I HAVEN'T bought in the last year and a half, AND how much money I've saved (I won't write the amount here, but let me just say that it's a very comfy amount, hehe!).

NOTE: To anyone who still needs to get Adam a Christmas present -- namely parents -- he desperately needs a classy, good warm winter coat! I might even buy him one myself if I see a good deal....

Other things I'm looking forward to when back are: seeing my parents and family again of course! I do want to mention here that the first couple days will be really weird for Adam and me. I've heard that the jet-lag going back in time is much more stressful on the body than it is going forward in time. Just to give you some perspective as to what we'll be feeling: We'll be leaving Japan at approximately 1:30pm on Thursday and, after flying to Korea, waiting a few hours before flying to Seattle, will be arriving at Seatac at around 11:15am the same day.... theoretically BEFORE we left Japan. At 11:15am in Seattle it's 4:15am the next day in Japan. Basically, you'll be seeing what Adam and I look like after an all-nighter in Osaka (minus the hangover but jet-lag might be similar!), soooo please be gentle! It's not like we can just go to bed at noon when we get in either. If we do that, then our schedules will be permanently messed up. The next day, mom wants us to decorate the Christmas tree, then we go to my dad's and Eileen's house for dinner, and THEN over to Sean's (if we're still alive).... Mom -- don't be surprised if it looks like a couple drunks decorated the tree! Dad and Eileen -- wine might not be a great idea, and please don't expect too much intelligent conversation out of us! Sean -- if you're lucky enough to see us alive after all this.... well, don't be surprised if we just pass out on your couch!

Ok, that will be all for today I suppose. It's not like I have anything more important to do, because I don't. I just really have to pee, and I need to go to the combini (circle K) to get some lunch... my belly is grumblin'! So I'm signing off for now and hopefully will get in another post before I leave.

OH OH WAIT!! I can't believe I almost forgot to mention this and thank God I remembered it on the way back from the bathroom (too much info?)!! One other thing that I'm very much looking forward to is our trip to Vancouver! Aaron will be coming all the way from Chicago to visit me on January 3rd!!!!!! Then the next day Adam is flying in from Texas and we'll be heading to Vancouver (BC.... not Washington) along with my mom and Kirk (brother)! It's going to be so much fun and guaranteed to be interesting. I wish Aaron could stay longer than 6 days, but I guess the price goes up a lot after that. Oh well.... we shall meet up again at some time! Ok, now I'm really going, for real.... I'm gone.

Internet issues and Halloween Happiness!

Quite a bit has been on my mind since I last posted. I received a few comments about how negative I seemed and how miserable I sounded. Well, I'm really not miserable at all, so please don't worry. The thing that is going on with me right now is that the novelty of living in Japan has loooong worn off and I'm just dealing with things that cease to make any sense to me. I get frustrated because often when I see there's such an obvious solution to a problem (I'm thinking the morning train squeeze here), no one else seems to notice it and, therefore, causes what I see as easily preventable and unnecessary discomfort. Call me crazy, but literally prying my way onto the train while there's room to the sides (yet NO ONE will move out of the way to make room) seems a little ridiculous. Those are the times where I wish I could speak enough Japanese to stand up for myself or tell someone what an idiot they are.... Oooor tell them when the old ladies cut in line, "Please don't cut in line in front of me just because I'm a foreigner and you have one foot in the grave. I've been standing here for 10 minutes, my feet hurt and Im tired." Instead all Im able to say is "Oi! Dame (no)!" and point behind me. I know they're old and we should be thoughtful and whatever, BUT the old ladies here are vicious! Honestly, Im not lying. They'll cut in front of you in line or shove you aside assuming you'll just let them do it cuz they're old.... well, screw that. If they're bent over 90 degrees and look like they might be in a lot of pain, I'll let it slide, but when they are disrespectful, then I usually feel no obligation to be respectful back... am I really mean or does that make sense??

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!)

Where's my personal bubble?

Every morning at 7:45am, I see my train pull up and observe the many body parts and faces smashed against the windows on the door. I give a heavy sigh knowing that I'll have to shove and pry my way into the negative space provided for the 2 minute ride to the next station where everyone and their cousin will transfer to the trains heading to Osaka. The location we live in is nice enough -- clean, quiet, convenient. However, there are some drawbacks to living in a sleeper town: Rush hour is hell on Earth! Now, I've never really had a problem with being in small spaces, but even the most claustrophobia resistant people can get a bit on edge here after awhile.

You might think, "It's only a 2 minute ride, how bad can it be?" Well, those 2 minutes are the longest 2 minutes of my day. This morning I had to lever myself into the train by pushing on the walls beside the doors, and get this, I was the first person in line at my stop! There were still 5 people behind me! The funny part about the morning squeeze, is the fact that the people at the opposite doors -- a mere 5 feet away, I must add -- seem to have an enormous amount of space. How is it that they have so much room when the rest of us have our noses smashed against the windows and are struggling to breathe?? Why don't they just move a little and even out the space? These are the questions that run through my head every morning. After I fail at answering these, other questions pop into my head: Why does someone always insist on farting in these tight, enclosed spaces? Why don't people brush their teeth in the morning but insist on talking across my shoulder to their friend behind me? The mixture of last night's alcohol seeping through pores, stale cigarettes and morning breath is sometimes just a bit overwhelming. And now, since the weather has cooled down to a pleasant temperature, the train conductors have turned off the AC. Sounds reasonable enough except for the fact that they circulated fresh air around. Now every time I'm forced into the mass of commuting humanity, butt to crotch and shoulder to chin, with the fogged up windows and stale, uncirculated air, my heart starts to beat a little harder, my breathe becomes shallower and my only thoughts are "Why can't this damn train go any faster! Open the doors! Get me outta here! Move people, move!! Brush your f'n teeth!!!!!!!" (or a variation thereof...)

This has also happened to a friend of mine, so I know I'm not alone in developing claustrophobia. I really have this feeling that Japanese don't have a sense of personal space. They don't seem to have those forbidden bubbles of space that other people should avoid entering. You can't really have a bubble on the train, I know that and I accept it. However, I would normally assume that I should have one at work, right? Well, I'm wrong about that too, as I've come to find out.

My desk at work is maybe 3.5 feet long and 2 feet wide. It's crammed with English Teaching Resource books, my plant and a couple other important accessories like hand lotion, hand soap, tea/coffee/miso soup cup etc. Add my beloved lap top to this and I'm left with about 1 square foot of work space... That's really not bad and I don't mind that. Most other teachers seem to be far less organized and are lucky to be left with 1 square inch of work space, so I should be very grateful. My problem is not with my desk so much as with the bubble of personal space I assumed I would have around my chair and desk area. Well, unless I'm currently occupying that space, it's fair game for everyone else. The teacher next to me seems to be a pretty popular guy and always has other teachers coming by to chat and students needing help on homework. This always seems to happen around lunch time. I sit in the corner of the room with the kichenette, so not only do I have chatty teachers squeezing into the 2 feet of space between my chair and the window behind me to talk to Mr. Popular, but I also have people in the 5 square foot area to my right, getting in and out of the fridge, microwaving some odd Japanese concoction, or just standing around chatting. The result: me scooted all the way into my desk with my elbows firmly pressed to my sides to avoid people knocking food out of my hands, dreaming about how nice it would be to have a space as big as a cubicle!

Another odd occurence happened yesterday as I was reading BBC News. One of the PE teachers who must have smoked since the age of 5 due to the sound of his voice, and who dyes his hair a strange orange color (hiding the gray maybe??) came over to my desk area. He mumbled something unintelligible, and then, to my complete surprise, stuck his face 2 inches from my computer screen -- no exaggeration. He shook his head and mumbled "Ahhhh zen zen wakarahen!" (Ahhhh I never understand!) I was taken aback and wasn't really sure what to say. I mean ok, so he couldn't understand the English.... How do you respond to that? Too bad? Congrats? Now you know what I feel like? I kinda just laughed and shrugged my shoulders thinking, "Ok weirdo, can you please remove your face from my computer screen and step out of my bubble so I can go back to reading the news?" I think he was just trying to be friendly, but... I don't know. It struck me as slightly invasive. Oh well.

Speaking of more odd occurences, I've recently had people roll down their windows as I'm walking home from work and say something to me in English. It's happened twice now and is kinda weirding me out. The first time, one guy shouted "Nice to meet you!!" and waved frantically. The second time, another guy drove past and shouted, "Harro!!!" while flashing me a thumbs-up sign. Too startled to react both times, I just stared at them feeling like a Sims character with a "?!" floating above my head. Honestly, now, what the hell is all that about? What kind of a reaction do they expect from me? I don't know them! Ugh... strange, strange, strange. I wish I could react quick enough and have time to flash them the bird.

Apart from all that, the weather has been unusually pleasant lately! Getting up to about 75F during the day and cooling off to the 50s at night (I think), it's really been a nice change. I actually am surprised it's still so warm. I would have expected it to be a lot cooler, but hey, I'm not complaining about this! Also with the autumn weather come the wonderful smelling bushes that I mentioned in my last blog I believe. I finally found out what they're called: Kinmokusei. In English it's just the latin term for the species, Osmanthus Frangrans, because I think they're only native to Asia. Although, it might also be called "mock orange" or "sweet olive", not sure. Whatever they are, they're wonderful! Rice harvesting season is also underway, so people seem pretty excited. On the news you hear them talking about the new and fresh, delicious tasting rice that will be out soon. Ummm... delicious white rice? Am I missing something? I wasn't aware it had much of a taste... Anyway, as I was passing by a store I saw something I'd never seen before. Someone was growing 3 rice plants in a flower pot! Not 1, not 5, but 3 rice plants... in a flower pot. Maybe they ran out of flowers? Maybe they couldn't afford a rice field? Your guess is as good as mine.

Also, on a completely random note, I've decided that I really prefer using a squatter toilet when going number 2 (I told you I'd have a lot of time to think...). I've noticed that it feels much more natural and you hardly ever have to push! Adam also informed me that Western toilets force you to put a lot of strain on your colon and other areas in that region which can cause problems later in life. Makes sense to me. The only time I DON'T prefer them is when my balance is not at it's finest -- after drinking for example or in the middle of the night. So, it'd be nice to eventually have one of each in our future house. Supposedly, squatting is also the most natural way to give birth....

Ok well that's enough babbling for today. Now I just have 4 more hours until I'm able to leave. This time will be consumed with lunch, some reading, a nap, some more reading, and checking my email and Myspace. Yay...?

A Post Long Overdue!

I know I'm way overdue for a post but I just haven't been much in the mood for writing lately. I've been pretty busy these last 3 weeks with classes and all, which is great! However, I am now back to doing nothing for another 4 weeks. I'll have a couple more classes at my second school and then will have to make a Listening Test -- which takes a total of maybe a couple hours at most to put together. After that, I have time to sit around and think... sigh.

AJET has also been taking up a good deal of time and we're currently planning our annual Halloween Dance Party. We're hoping to draw a LOT of people this year by advertising early (I hope) and offering free drinks for reserving tickets early. We also have a 5,000 yen ($45) prize for our Overall Best Costume Award. The other, lesser, categories are Scariest, Sexiest, Funniest, Most Offensive (Adam and I would have gotten this last year) and Crappiest (for those who really just threw something together at the last minute!). We're also donating 20,000 yen (a bit less than $200) to our local Habitat for Humanity and will be selling food and snacks there to benefit them as well. We're trying to organize some games like Limbo and biting-an-apple-off-a-string-with-no-hands. Hopefully it'll all work out. As far as costumes go, I'll be wearing a traditional Mongolian overcoat called a "del", along with a crazy looking hat. It should be nice, but nothing offensive or startling like last year. Adam still hasn't decided on his costume but will probably want something offensive or funny. If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE let us know!

So, there's a spider that's taken residence outside my window at work and usually in my past I've either feared or just been grossed out by spiders. However, this spider is kinda cool (provided it stays where it is...!). I think it's the type of spider called locally "Welcome spiders" because they like to build webs near doors and windows, therefore "welcoming" you home (not poisonous). They can get about 4-5 inches from leg tip to leg tip at their largest and are quite brilliantly colored. Their body is a sort of striped yellowish-green and their legs are striped black and yellow. The one I've been watching outside my window, (let's call him Ted for the sake of this narrative) was busy re-making his impressive web. As he moved his way about delicately attaching his silk with his back leg to the appropriate part on the web, I was struck with a sense of extreme awe. How in the word could we have ever so carelessly destroyed something so masterful and beautiful. Honestly, a spider's web is a gorgeous work of art. It takes them so long to create one and I'm sure costs them so much energy, that for us to come along and destroy it with a stick (or whatever else), seems pretty barbaric. Some of their webs can get to be about 3 feet in diameter!! Ted is an amazing creature indeed!

Anyway, that's enough nature talk for now. I've been a little down lately. A few classes this last week have really upset me and made me really wonder if I can make it through another year here. Most of my classes are lovely and, especially with my candy-filled Halloween lesson, are a lot of fun! However, a couple classes are filled with students who, for some unknown reason, seem to think I'm not a human being, but instead some kind of a strange clown from a different planet. I was in the middle of acting out some vocabulary (making them guess the meaning in Japanese -- thereby avoiding the whole translation bit) and some students just started laughing. I know I didn't have boogers on my face or chalk on my butt, so I ignored it at first. But then it became so distracting I had to ask what was going on. The JTE (jpse teacher with me) said they thought it was funny that I was so "genki" (energetic). Ah... well I'm sorry for not being a boring drone! Most classes seem to like the fact that I'm positive and energetic in my classes. I know it's a pretty big change from the usual monotone lectures they normally get. It wasn't so much the laughing part that bothered me so much as the general air of disrespect. They refused to do anything I asked them to, refused to raise their hands and answer simple questions or repeat something I needed them to practice. I was so inscensed at one point I almost said "F@$# it! I'm outta here" and left the room. I didn't, but I sure wanted to. Other classes were dead-silent and seemed like complete zombies. I don't think there's anything more humiliating than having your students not respect you and, therefore, make you feel like a fool when your principal and vice-principal are watching. Every once in awhile you hear about a teacher going nuts, snapping and stabbing a student. It seems extreme, I know, but honestly... I'm not surprised! I would have loved to take a couple of the chalkboard erasers (which are always filled with chalkdust) and poof them on the kids' faces, purely for my own enjoyment.

Anyway, I've started being harsher with the "unruley" students. I don't like to be mean and I don't like having to get mad, but there's nothing else I can do. Adam doesn't think I'm acting harsh enough and that they'll continue to walk all over me.... Maybe he's right. Winning them over as the nice guy worked at the beginning, but maybe they're starting to think they can take advantage of me. I'm technically not a real teacher, so they don't tend to think of me as one. However, I'm just trying to do my job to the best of my ability and they make it impossibly frustrating at times. It's also to do with the age, I'm sure. They're 15-16 years old but act like they're in 8th grade. The maturity level here is quite a bit lower than in the states. I'd always vowed NEVER to be a middle school teacher and was very happy a year ago to learn I'd be teaching high school. Well, I might as well be teaching 7th or 8th grade. Grrrrrr!

Whatever, this is definitely my last year here. They could but wouldn't fire me for any but the most serious reasons. I discussed this with Adam and he said that up until now I've been very tolerant (in actions, not my rants) of the culture and have been trying my hardest to fit in. Well, it's kicking me in the butt. I'll never fit in here and no matter how hard I try they'll still view me, not as a person but as a strange, foreign being. It's time I literally say "F&%$ it!" and stop being let down all the time. I'm going to be the person I am and not care about trying to fit in anymore. This will probably cause people to think I'm rude (because I state my opinion and can actually say the word "no"), and abrasive. Whatever. I'm tired of caring. This isn't to say that they're ALL like this, because they're not. Most of the people I work with are very nice and helpful. However, they still see me as an outsider.

The day before yesterday there was a lecture here at school about the "foreigner issue" in Japan. Since they have opened Sumo Wrestling to foreigners, the only champions have been Mongolian or this one Bulgarian guy. This has raised a lot of issues because they think of Sumo as a Japanese sport -- ergo, foreigners shouldn't be allowed to be the champions. One of my teachers came back from this lecture and asked me about foreigners in our sports like baseball. He wondered if we had any regulations or limitations on how many foreigners could be on a team. I said, no we don't (which is true). He wondered what we thought about foreigners setting records, like Ichiro, for example. I said that it didn't matter that he was foreign. If he's playing for the Mariners and doing well, then that makes the team and us look good. The fact that a huge number of our players are from other countries, like Puerto Rico, Japan etc. didn't matter. He seemed to think this was strange. Then he asked me if I ever felt discriminated against being a foreigner here in Japan. Unsure of how much opinion to give him, I asked if he wanted the truth. He said yes, so I, in the most benign way possible said, "yes quite often acutally". We get turned away from restaurants and bars. We are stared at and thought to be very stupid. We just recently made a reservation at a Japanese style hotel in southern Nara and they actually required that a certain percentage of the people in our group be able to speak Japanese. Things like this would be considered prejudiced and racist in America.

Anyway, I tried to tell him what I experienced in a very nice way. Hope it turned out like that. He's nice so I didn't want to bitch or complain, just explain. He was surprised to hear about all I had to say and mentioned to me that since many people didn't grow up seeing a lot of foreigners, they don't know how to act or behave around them. I thought this was silly, since all we want is for them to treat us as human beings, NOT as strange creatures. I basically told him that we would like to be treated the same way they would like to be treated (read: Golden Rule). Not sure how successful I was in getting my point across. Expressing a complicated opinion is difficult in simple English.

On another note: All the women in my family got together a couple weekends ago for our annual MAD Runamuck (Mothers And Daughters = MAD). I was pretty sad not to have been able to attend. However, completely on accident I called my mom one of those nights and was able to talk to all 8 of them! It was so nice to be able to talk to everyone again after so long. I can't wait to see them all at Christmas!! 76 days and counting! They said that I was there in spirit... no idea what this meant but knew it had to be something really goofy. When I saw the pics, I finally understood! Kinda cute, kinda weird! Haha! Here are some pics from the craziness that is my family! Enjoy!
The lake house they stayed at.

View of the lake. Beautiful!

Group pic. I'm the balloon there in the back. We have to wear crazy hats for dinner time. Not sure why... just to make it that much crazier I guess!

The Cousins -- Mandi, "me" before I started drinking, Kim, Heidi, Heather.

Heather, "me", Grammy. I think I'd had a few at this point!

Ooops! Maybe a few too many...

Mandi and Julia -- the newest member to the MADness!

Mid-day cheer! Heather, Aunt Diana, Heidi.

I think my mommy really wants to be a grammy! *eek!* Mom, you're going to be an awesome grandma!

Paddleboating.... or something like it! Aunt Connie and Mom.

Time for bed! Classic, Mom, classic. :) Goodnight!