Build Me Up Buttercup

That song's been in my head for a bit this evening.  A nice change from the usual mix of Anpanman songs that get stuck in my head.  I guess it's only natural that happens though since i hear the songs multiple times on an almost daily basis.  

Been working a lot more hours than when i first started as an 'official' employee, which is fine.  Mama Ann (my Filipino coworker) needed shorter shifts because of her hip/back problems, so we traded hours.   More hours equals more money!  Initially my days off were Friday and Sunday, but the past couple of weeks there've been no Saturday students, so i've had three-day weekends.  Despite that, i'm still working about 40 hours a week anyway, about 10 hours a day.  The work isn't stressful, but it is physically quite exhausting.  Imagine lifting 10-12kg weights all day.  Weights that wiggle and squirm in your arms, scream and cry in your ear, leave rancid poos in their diapers for you, run (or crawl, really) amok when you put them down and throw toys and books around and blow raspberries when you feed them, spattering drool and food bits all over.  I can't lie, they are still adorable and i enjoy being with them and watching them grow and learn and acquire new skills.

Wednesday i went with my boss and a couple coworkers for a little nomikai (drinking party) after work.  We went to a neat little local place not far from the daycare, run by a couple of old biddies who were losing their memory and hearing, it seemed!  We all had the all-you-can-drink meal.  A bunch of small dishes were brought out in succession- first some sort of fish liver with wakame seaweed and some sort of dressing.  I passed on that one.  Then was a really amazingly delicious tempura fig.  It was a rather large fig, at least compared to the ones i remember seeing on my aunt's tree growing up.  Still, really really good!  Then we had a type of "mountain potato", cooked with butter, which was also really good.  Finally, the huge nabe hot pot was brought out and i had my first experience with nabe, as well as fugu!

You can see some pieces of the fugu on the left, between 9 and 10 o'clock, if this were a clock face

Veggies, mushrooms, tofu, and fugu were thrown into the hot pot of water in the middle of the table, and once it was all cooked we each helped ourselves straight from the pot with our chopsticks, dipping the stuff into some ponzu sauce.  When all of it was eaten, one of the old ladies brought out rice and a couple of eggs to add to the remaining water in the pot.  Super yums!  And at the end of it all, my boss insisted on paying for me.  He keeps telling me he wants to be my Japanese dad, so that's really nice, and while of course i still offered up some money he refused, and who am i to refuse a free meal?  ;)

Rained all day today but tomorrow is supposed to be mostly sunny, so i think i'm going to go out to the local Aeon Mall or Ito Yokado in search of a little toaster oven.  We'll see how that goes, and i'll write about the rest of my uneventful weekend later.

Shopping Date in Harajuku

So yesterday, i had a little shopping date with myself since there were no Saturday students scheduled and i had the whole day off.   :D  

Initially i was going to go on Friday but the weather was really crappy (rained from sunup to sundown), so instead i just went to the mall near my station.  It's a really high-end mall (read: everything is way to frickin' expensive!) so i didn't expect to find anything i'd like or could afford.  I really don't like shopping at these types of places either, because i'm a really indecisive shopper- part of the reason i do shopping dates by myself- and the girls who work at these stores are way too in-your-face.  Of course they all chorus the whole "Irasshaimaseeeee!  Douzo goran kudasaiiiii! (Welcooooome!  Please look around!!!)" that you hear walking past any store anywhere in this country.  But then once you're in the store, they're practically breathing down your neck and anytime you so much as look at something they're right beside you giving you a detailed explanation of the product and pointing out it's cute features, etcetera etcetera.

One store in particular, i went inside because i saw some cute jackets on display.  I was looking at them and one of the workers was of course right there next to me, talking about the jackets and showing me the matching shorts that go with the jackets too.  Initially i thought it was a really good deal, because the sign read "￥3420" for the shorts set.  I decided to try them on, only to look at the price tag on the jacket, then on the shorts, and realize that there was a little "+" in front of the "￥3420", meaning that if you bought the jacket you could make it a set with the shorts for 3420yen.. the jacket itself was about 9000yen, and the shorts on their own were 5900yen.  

I opened the door to the dressing room to find the lady waiting there for me, meeting me with an "Ikaga desuka? (Would you like it?)".  I told her i wasn't going to buy it now, that i wanted to look around a little more.  Of course she was cordial. "Yes, I understand!"  And then she proceeded to follow me, stopping with me each time i stopped to look at something and she would pull it off the shelf and we'd talk about how cute it is, before i finally made it out of the store. 

The few other stores i braved weren't as intense, but still, nearly every time i showed the slightest interest in something, i felt like someone would just appear from nowhere next to me and start advertising it.

Anyway, Harajuku, in my opinion, is a much better place to shop!  And i was glad i decided to wait until Saturday, since the weather was wonderful for one, and the place was also quite bustling with life.  I am claustrophobic, but oddly i don't really mind crowds.  It just makes things feel a bit more cozy, and it also makes people watching a lot more fun!

Harajuku can also be a really cheap place to shop too, especially if you stick to the famous Takeshita-dōri.  Lots and lots of shops, with lots of cute and fun clothes for any style.  I wrote about the Thank You Mart before, and there are also some used clothing stores that are fun to check out as well.  

I came away pretty well i think!  Starting some winter-clothes shopping, since i mainly only brought summer clothes with me when i first came here in April.  

Modeling my new cap and sweater!  Yes, i know i can't model/pose to save my life, haha

New sweater, thick socks, sneakers, spiffy leopard-print shoelaces, and knitted cap!

 Came away with all of that for about 4000yen, pretty awesome deal if you ask me. :)

And of course, for me no trip to Harajuku would be complete without some delicious crepes.

I chose #13, the "Blueberry Ice", blueberry sauce and ice cream yumm!

 

 There are quite a few crepe shops around in Harajuku, and there are so many different kinds, even savory kinds like pizza or potato salad, that i feel like i have to go and try a new one each time.  It's okay, they're worth it.   :D

Another Pre-typed Entry

November 3rd

Health Checks

Had my first experience at a doctor's office here yesterday.  Everyone at my school has to have yearly physical examination (健康診断, kenkou shindan), since we work with babies and young children.  My friend who came here as an ALT through the JET Program had written about her health check experience so i had an idea of what to expect. 
Actually, the first part of the examination was a couple weeks ago, when i was given a little plastic vial-like thing and a set of instructions.  I'll let you figure out exactly what was involved.. 

Yep!

So anyway, yesterday morning my boss dropped me off at the doctors office around 10am.  The waiting room was fairly crowded, but i only had to wait about 15 minutes before my name was called.  First part of the exam was the urine-collection.  As far as i can remember i've never had to give a urine sample for anything, although i remember being with an unnamed family member as a young child when they had to give some, and they kept having me run the water in the sink because they just couldn't go.  I was afraid i'd be in the bathroom forever as well, since i'd peed just a little over an hour before and didn't have the urge to go again so soon.  Luckily, sitting down was enough to muster up just enough for a sample for the little cup they'd given me with my name written on it in hiragana.  I left the cup in the little basket as they had instructed me, and moved on to the next bit.

They led me over to another little area where they measured my height (169.7cm) and weight (50.5kg) and took a measurement of my waist (or hips, i'm not sure what you'd call that area).  Then they had me lie down on a bed and they attached little suction cups and clips to various points all over my body.  I forget what they said that machine measured- my pulse or something- but they lifted up my shirt and bra to attached some of the little suction cups just under my boobs.  Then they took my blood pressure, but i forgot what they told me it was.  I have no idea what's considered a good or bad blood pressure reading anyway.
After that they brought me over to the vision chart, where i had to cover each eye and then tell them which way the "C" was facing.  Both eyes got a 1.0 (i think.. my right eye did at least and i'm pretty sure my left was the same), which i'm not sure what that means, haha.  I can see well enough though.

Next was an X-ray, i believe.  They didn't really tell me what they were doing at this part, just gave me instructions on what to do.  They led me to a different room and had me take off my bra but leave my shirt on.  I had to stand facing the wall while resting my chin on this little chin-rest and wrap my arms around the front of the whole chin-rest-stand contraption.  They turned off the lights briefly and they came back on and told me i could but my bra back on.
They told me to head back out to the waiting room to wait for the doctor to come see me, but called me back a couple minutes later to the X-ray room because they forgot to do the hearing test.  Just had to put on some headphones and push a little button each time i heard a noise.

After waiting in the waiting room again for a few minutes, the doctor called me in to his office to ask me about my medical history- if i had had any major illnesses or injuries in which i was admitted into the hospital for.  The only incident i could think of was my whole toe-incident in high school where i caught my toe on a sharp metal part on my bed and split the part in between my baby toe and the next toe over, then got staph infection and needed IV drips and all that fun stuff.  Then he made some small chit-chat with me about where i'm from, and his few trips to the US for various medical conferences and stuff, before he sent me on to the last part of the check that i was dreading.

Blood test!  I have a long history of pure dislike for syringes/injections/needles piercing skin.. the sight of syringes or other medical needles makes me cringe and writhe involuntarily.  So when the nice nurse set me down and had me set my right arm up on the little arm rest i kept my head turned to the left the entire time.  She warned me when she was putting the needle in though.  I tried to not think about it but i could still feel it in my skin and the thought of it was making my nauseous.  I hadn't eaten anything that morning, as instructed, so i was also getting very light headed (the hyperventilating didn't help).  I don't know how long it took but it felt like a while, and when she was done the nurse tried making some small-talk with me, to try to distract me i think, but i was still feeing like i was going to throw up and/or faint.  So she led me over to a bed, covered me with a blanket, and told me to lie there until i felt better before closing the curtains around me.  Luckily the yucky feeling passed after just a couple minutes, so i was free to go after that.
Fun-fun times indeed!  Time from walking into the office to the time i left was about an hour and a half.  At least i don't have to dread doing this again until next year!

Long Time No Post/ Halloween Weekend

Again!

Getting used to this whole no-internet thing.  It's not so bad really, but i just feel so out of the loop when i log on again and see what's happening in the world (i don't have TV so i can't watch the news or anything either).  Haha.

Anyway, a couple pre-typed entries of recent happenings:

November 1st

Halloween Weekend

Halloween has definitely been gaining popularity here in the recent years, within the past 5 years or so, from what i'm told.  I was surprised when, at least a month before Halloween, i found tons of Halloween decorations for sale at the 100yen stores in my area, and both Don Quijote and Tokyu Hands had big Halloween displays selling decorations, candy, and costumes.  There was also a really huge Halloween parade in Kawasaki on the 30th.  I wish i had gone to that.. my friend showed me pictures and it looked pretty awesome.  Next year for sure!

So i definitely did get a pretty good celebration in for Halloween.  Saturday i headed to my old guesthouse for the party with the students and teachers.  I had bought a Pikachu kigurumi at Don Quijote the day before, so i brought that with me in my backpack and put it on once i got there.  (I considered wearing it on the train, but i'm not brave enough to go out in costume here on my own!  I bring enough attention to myself as it is, just being not Asian).  Lots of the students there loved the costume, especially the ladies: "Oh, Pikachu!  How cute!"  "Kawaii!!" (a word i hear far too much..) as they played with my Pikachu ears and tugged on my sleeves.  It was a lot of fun, and even Mr. Boss Man, who is usually very mellow/monotonous/disgruntled, was in good spirits and pulled me in for a picture with him, which ended up being named as the "Best Picture of the Night".

The "Best Picture of the Night"

Package from Mum!

Sunday i spent a lot of time cleaning the apartment, and putting up some of the decorations my mom sent for me (thanks Mum!).  As i wrote about before, i did get a couple things from the 100yen shop, but was about to go out and buy some more the day the package arrived.

I also made some Halloween onigiri and bought some candies.  Gaki-chan showed up around 5, and we hung out in our costumes until S arrived, then we started feasting and drinking.  Mr. Rich Man had said he would come when i asked him a few days before.  Him being who he is, is very fickle and despite him saying so, i didn't think he'd actually come.  But he did!  Ohhh, did he ever.  Of course he, being who he is, had the most amazing(ly inappropriate) costume ever.  He showed up in his normal clothes, motorcycle helmet in tow, then went into the bathroom to change.  He was in there for a while, so both S and i were expecting something great.  Gaki-chan hasn't known Mr. Rich Man as long as we have so i don't think he knew what Mr. Rich Man is capable of.  Despite our expectations, we still weren't expecting something so spectacular!  I think the video speaks plenty.

Couldn't even laugh properly.  Listen to my ridiculous hyperventilating!

After a bit we decided to head over to the station in costume.  Mr. Rich Man of course covered up a bit.. we didn't want any issues with the police.  We stood around for a while at the east exit, greeting people with "Happy Halloween!"s.  Some people ignored us completely, others gawked as they walked by without responding to our greetings or waving, some gave a smile or nod and maybe a reply of "Happy Halloween" in return, and then there were some who were so thrilled and estatic to see us!  They would shout "Pikachu!!" or "Buzz!" or "Michael!", and "Happy Halloween!" and jump up and down or wave both arms high over their head, or come up to us for hugs or high-fives or pictures, it was a lot of fun.  Pikachu definitely got the most attention though, while poor Santa got next to none.  At one point, a group of policemen walked by.  We actually weren't doing or saying anything as they approach, and at first they passed by us and i thought they were just on there way to the koban at the end of the station, but they stopped a few meters from us in a little group, chatted amongst themselves for a few seconds, then a couple of them broke away to come tell us "お静かに".  Please be quiet.  Was kind of miffed at that.  For one, we weren't being any louder than a lot of the drunken groups are that wander around at night.  Two, we were outside of a bustling station which is loud anyway, not in a quiet neighborhood where people are trying to sleep.  I think since all they do all day is sit around in their police box and give directions to people they feel the need to hastle someone to make themselve feel like they're "protecting" their neighborhood.  So yes, protect your neighborhood from some excitement and Halloween cheer.  We decided next year we'd probably head in to Tokyo instead, maybe around Harajuku or Shinjuku or Shibuya, a place with a bit more nightlife where we can't be heckled for being "loud". 
The others were wanting to head back at that point, but i convinced them to just go walking around a bit and greet people as we pass.  We headed down one of the busier streets with a lot of pubs and shops that were still open and got a few more great reactions.  One guy from a restaurant standing outside (workers often stand out in front of their stores advertising and trying to coerse people inside), said "Pikachu!" as we walked by.  I waved and jumped excitedly for him, and then he went on (in English!) "Pikachu, I love you!"  So i echoed back, "I love you!" 
He continued- "I want you!"  I echoed him again.
"I need you!" 
It was too funny, so i ran back to him for high-fives and hugs.  I hope i made his night, because he sure made mine, haha.

We finally headed back to my place, changed back into normal clothes, then headed back to the station- west exit this time- to an izakaya.  Enjoyed a lot of delicious food, and by the time we got back to my place again it was around 3am and we were all exhausted and crashed on the uncomfortable wood floor.  Well, Mr. Rich Man was smart and crashed on the sofa-bed but the rest of us were sharing a blanket on the floor.

Spooky cobwebs in the genkan!

Halloween banner!

Halloween onigiri

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

Pikachu texting to find out WTF people are

Michael Jackson back from the grave to Thrill(er) us on Halloween!

And of course, sexy Santa paid us a visit too.  Couple months early but whatever.

Some girls that were very happy to see us at the station  :)

Zonked out after a long night

 The next morning we all got up and showered and changed, and since we were quite hungry and there was nothing left to eat but candy, and since Mr. Rich Man was wanting some soba or udon he looked up restaurants around my neighborhood and discovered that what i thought was a house just across the street from me is actually a really nice restaurant!  So we went there and had some amazing food before everyone parted ways and i headed in to work.

My lunch set, soooo goooood!

G-chan's lunch

S's lunch

And Mr. Rich Man's lunch!

Monday i had to work, but i did wear my Jack Skellington shirt S had gotten me for Christmas last year, and the pumpkin socks my mum had sent me, to be festive.  The only group of adult students that day brought in cookies and candy and we snack on them while we talked, and when i got home that night i watched Hocus Pocus (as is my Halloween tradition!) while i ate dinner, so i did do some celebrating on actual Halloween as well.

In short, Halloween this year certainly didn't disappoint, but next year's will surely be better.  :)

Monjayaki Adventure

Last Saturday i met up with Gaki-chan in Ueno after work (which wasn't actually work because the only student that day ended up not showing up).  We walked around chatting, looked at costumes in ドンキホーテ (Don Quijote), and took purikura while waiting for another UW friend to come pick us up.  Komo-chan picked us up in his parent's cute red Beetle, and took us over to Roppongi for dinner.  Neither G-chan nor i had ever tried monjayaki before so we decided to do that.  My favourite Japanese food for sure is okonomiyaki, and monjayaki i guess is the "Tokyo version" of it, though it's a lot less solid than okonomiyaki, and to be honest a lot less appetizing-looking.  To be blunt it kinda looks like someone just threw up on the table.

But i'll tell you what, if only throw up tasted so good!

I'll stop with that now.  I'm sure no one will want to try it with a description like that.

It got Gaki-chan's stamp of approval too!

Oh, the purikura machine spit out some fake eyelashes with our pictures (why??), and the guys were both good sports and modeled them for me.

We followed the monjayaki with good-old okonomiyaki, then finally some yaki-soba.  After eating we walked down the street to a club, but not before stopping in to the really exciting Don Quijote to try on the Halloween hats they had on display.

So festive!

Bit blurry, but the lights kept changing color.  It looked awesome!  And for some reason kind of makes me think of the Cell Block Tango, from Chicago.

 And this is completely unrelated to anything, but i still laugh every time i look at this:

Things I (Dis)Like About Japan

I wrote before a "Things I Like About Japan".  There are a lot of things here that i like, but still, no place is perfect, so to keep things balanced i'm also going to post about things i dislike about Japan.

First thing- the lack of clothes driers.

Before coming to Japan, while i was living on my own, i actually did hang-dry my clothes a lot of the time, to save energy/electricity/money.  But when it's rainy or extremely windy outside, or in the winter when the days are extremely cold, hang-drying sucks.  You hang your clothes up outside because it's sunny, but a freak storm blows in and gets everything wet.  Or the wind simply picks up and blows your clothes to the ground and they need to be washed again.  Or in the dead of winter it takes ages for anything to dry and the shirt you hoped to wear is still damp the next day.

But still, the majority of people here don't use driers, and most apartments will have a washer but no drier.  So, on days like those mentioned above (in the case of this past Saturday, my laundry day, it was rainy) you have to get creative with your hanging and end up with clothes and various linens up all around the house.

Towels hanging above the washer

Futon mattress cover hung between two chairs

Futon blanket cover tied up in the window

Clothes hanging in the window, and futon mattress and blanket draped over the couch

In my abscence

Oh the times we live in.. depending on technology for everything.  Being without internet for almost 2 weeks was pretty tough.  Not only did i feel really disconnected from my friends/family/the world, but i was really. stinking. bored!

Now, what did i do with myself before the days of the internet?  (Saying that makes me feel kinda old... "Aah yes, i remember those days before the World Wide Web!") 

Well, i'd play video/computer games (i always remember having a computer, even before the net... we had games on floppy disks!!)- while i have my DS with me i only have a couple games, and i did play Oregon Trail once on the laptop, but i don't have any other computer games with me.

I'd read- and i did.  I have a short novel in Japanese that a friend lent me (「蛇にピアス」, "Snakes and Earrings" if you're interested.  It's been pretty cool so far, but i'm only 1/4 of the way through).  Reading kanji though is still a bitch and it's very time-consuming.  I didn't bring any books with me from the US (aside from a textbook) due to the fact that i'd have to haul them all with me across the country, so most of the reading i do is on the internet..

I also did a lot of drawing and writing back in the day too.  I always had a notebook with me and was working on writing some story or book or other.  I wish i still had the same imagination/creativity that i used to.. I did do a sketch in my sketchbook the other week.  I've realized i really miss drawing.  It sorta died once i entered University and that sort of ate up my life.  I keep finding myself wishing that i'd brought my PrismaColor pencils and Bristol board with me..

Play with friends- which i did on occasion the past couple weeks.  Met up with my old housemates on the 9th.  One of the guys does Thai massage so he had a little demo that we all went to at a nearby public city center building.  Thing.  Then after that we all went and bought food to bring back to the guesthouse and we all watched The Princess Bride!  That movie never gets old.  "Mawwige!  Mawwige is what bwings us togevah, today!"  "Have you the wing?"

Watch movies- i definitely did plenty of that!  Coming home from work at night and not really having much to do to kill time, most nights i did dinner and a movie.  I was afraid i would have to go through all my movies, then would have to re-watch them all over and over and over..  Got through Lord of the Rings Pt.1 (would've watched the rest of them, but for some reason i only have 1 and 3, so i put off watching 3 until i can find 2 somewhere..), Dances With Wolves, Heathers, Wayne's World 2, and Wristcutters.

Watch TV- Definitely couldn't do that.. no TV here!  I might invest in a little one eventually.  Maybe.  I did watch an episode of Rugrats (omg, so nostalgic!) that i had downloaded last year to my laptop.  The Passover Episode, i love it.

What did you do for fun or in your free time, before there was internet?

First night of Dinner and a Movie.  That curry was bomb, if i do say so myself!  Lasted for 3 dinners too.  Gotta love curry

.

In a moment of extreme boredom, i discovered some exciting and silly photo options on my phone, so spent a while taking silly pictures too:

Silly Glasses Only

 

There was an option where the phone would take six to nine pictures in rapid succession, so i had fun trying to see how many different expressions i could get in at once.  Here are just a couple of those- me in all of my un-makeuped, pajama'ed glory.  Also, these made me realize just how ginormous my eyes really are.  I guess it doesn't help that i was opening them really wide anyway..

Found this when i went to the convenience store with the old housemates.  We all agreed that this tea sounds rather naughty.  And for some reason whenever i see this picture i get that "Sex on the Beach" song stuck in my head, except that it goes "Break! Break! Break on the desk!" And then i see my crazy Korean friend KJ doing his "Sex on the Beach" dance, in my head.  Same as the guy from the video, but with much more exaggerated pelvic thrusts, lol.  By the way, Break on the Desk would be an awesome name for a cocktail, if it's not already!

 

I'm baaaaack!

Oh my God,

internet!

All i'm going to say is i hope Mr. Laptop had a good rest, because he's not going to get shut off for a while!  I was actually going to head over to McDonald's today, because they supposedly have wifi.  Well, when i woke up this morning around 8:30 (all on my own, shock!  See, being without internet has left me bored enough to get me to bed before midnight most nights.  I actually like this routine, we'll see if i can't keep it up~) i went and turned on my laptop like i always do in the hopes that there will be a connection.  First boot-up, no go.  Restarted once and low and behold, we have contact!  I even whistled a little "Hallelujah" tune.  Or maybe i was actually excited enough to sing it.

Anyway, a long-past-due post!  Sorry it is so long and uninteresting and un-picture-ful.

October 4, 2011

Just as predicted, the laptop isn't connecting to the internet again, yay!  So now for another pre-typed entry to upload when i can get connected again.

I never really talked in detail about my job.  I don't think it's that interesting to talk about but maybe some of you might be interested.  I work at a small hoikushitsu (also more commonly called hoikuen), which most people take to mean preschool/kindergarten, but the place i work at is really more like a daycare.  None of the kids are older than three years old.  Right now there are three babies under a year old, and then about five kids between one and three years old.  In the early afternoons when i go into work i usually help in the baby's room- reading to them, playing with them, putting them down for naps, consoling them when they get fussy, etc..  It's quite a lot of fun, actually.  The youngest right now is about 6 or 7 months and she's the only girl in the baby room, so she's gotten the nickname of The Princess, or The Queen (a couple times she's even been called The King, lol.  I don't know why though).  With such royal titles it's natural that she'd act like a princess or a queen, and that she does!  She won't take any milk whatsoever.  No formula from a bottle, no milk pumped from her mom in a bottle.. we even tried giving her both formula and breast milk from a spoon, and that was a no-go as well.  It was rather sad, because she would be so hungry and cranky and inconsolable (my poor ears!) but just wouldn't eat.  That went on for the first few days she was with us, until we finally tried giving her some okayu, which is just a soft watery rice porridge, and that was finally a success.  She's still pretty cranky most of the time, but is usually fine if she's being held and bounced around.  That would be all fine with me, except that she is a *big* baby!  Seriously, she looks like a mini sumo wrestler, and we joke (quietly) amongst ourselves about her looking like a big sausage rolling around on the ground (she can't crawl yet, but she's a good roller).  So my arms usually get a good workout with her, trying to get her to stop crying as i stand and swing or bounce her around.  She does like when i sing "Five Little Ducks" to her though, and will usually fall asleep then. :)

Then there are the one-year-and-ups.  They are mostly taken care of by the Japanese teachers, but they get "E-time" with me for about an hour every day.  I know it's not good to pick favourites, but mine is definitely little R-kun.  He's about two years old, i think, and is definitely the most out-going of all the kids, and always smiles at me when i come into the room and is the first to approach me with his toys or books for me to play with or read to him.  He's also easily consoled by being picked up and taken to the window to look at the ブッブー driving by (bubbuu.. that's the kid's word for car in Japanese, the sound the horn makes).  He's always the last to be picked up by his family too, usually between 6 or 7pm, so if there aren't any adult lessons in the evening i'm down there with one of the other teachers keeping him entertained.  Last night he'd run over to the bookshelf, pick out a book, run over to me holding it out, then sit on my lap for me to read it to him.  He's adorable!  We probably with through almost 10 books, haha.

So the baby's room and toddler's room are both on one floor of the building, and the floor above is kind of the 'grown-ups' area.  There's the kitchen, our boss' desk, our lockers, etc..  This is also the room where the adult English lessons are held.  From 5pm to 8pm we have English lessons for adults, mostly.  There are a couple elementary school and junior high school students, as well as a couple university students as well.  Most of the people who take the lessons are acquaintances of my boss, and they're all really nice people.  Lessons are usually pretty simple, since most of them are pretty low-level English.  Sometimes it's all just conversation, sometimes it's half conversation then we do some sort of exercise like flashcards, grammar worksheets, or whatever appeals to them and fits their level.  To be honest i just wing it most of the time.  I'm really not cut out to be a teacher, i've realized, haha.  And with no actual training i still feel kind of lost sometimes.  With the little kids it's just fine.  I bring them some books and read to them and play with them and that's good enough.  But with the adults, they're actually paying for these lessons so i feel like i have to give them a good lesson and teach them something to make it worth their time and money.  Although the lessons are super cheap compared to all the big corporate English schools out there, so it's definitely not anywhere near as demanding as it would be working for one of those companies, and i'm very glad for that.  Last night there was only one lesson with one of the regular ladies, Mrs. Y, who seems to really like me, always calling me Mei-chan and smiling when she sees me.  She's an elementary school teacher and recently started bringing one of her colleagues in for lessons with me, because she thought her colleague would enjoy them too.  Yesterday she also brought her daughter for the first time, who's in college training to be a nurse.  I guess she had been trying to convince her daughter to come for a while too, so that does make me feel good that at least some of the students are enjoying their time with me and are bringing their friends. :)  Mrs. Y's colleague told me last night that one of her colleagues also wants to come, because she had mentioned how "cute" i am so now he wants to some see me.. haha, awkward!

Then there are my coworkers.  My boss, Mr. Big Bear, is a really nice older man, very laid-back and easy-going.  In my head i've started calling him Papa Bear, because he has this kind of fatherly attitude with all of us and with the kids there too.  Then there's Mama Ann, as i've taken to calling her in my head.  She's from the Philippines, and from the very first day she kinda took me under her wing, told me that if i had any questions or trouble or needed anything to come to her.  "We understand each other," she had told me, "we're both foreigners you know."  Although she's been in Japan for about 10 years, so she's a lot more in the know about everything, and she's very outgoing too, which i enjoy.  She knows it too.  "I'm very forward," she says.  She says whatever's on her mind, and that's rather refreshing here where a lot of people tend to be very reserved.  She gives us all good laughs.  But she does really look out for me, and is always sneaking me snacks and chocolates in between taking care of the kids and cleaning and lessons, haha..  "Here, Mei-chan, hurry eat this!" as she shoves some sort of snack at me.  Then there's M-sensei, who's second-in-charge behind Mr. Big Bear.  She's very nice too, and always makes an effort to talk to me and include me in conversations, even though my speaking level is still shit.  She seems to genuinely appreciate my presence and efforts there, which is nice for me.  Then there are the two teachers who take care of the toddlers.  I don't really get to talk to them often since i really only see them when i have English time with the kids, or if there are no adult English lessons and i'm down there with one of them when the other leaves early.  They're nice enough, but not as easy to talk to as M-sensei or Mr. Big Bear.  There are also a few other teachers/cooks that i only get to see in passing since they work in the early morning and leave shortly after i arrive.  They're all very nice to me, greet me and chat with me as i'm coming and they're going.

So, for now i'm quite happy with where i'm at.  The pay isn't as good as what i could be getting elsewhere, but as i've said before i'd much prefer a good working atmosphere to a huge salary.  I'm good at living minimally, and good at saving, so it's definitely just fine for me.

That got to be quite a novel about my job, and with no pictures either, i apologize!  I would love to adorn this post with pictures of the adorable kids i teach, but we're not allowed to take pictures of them, for safety reasons which i totally understand.  I did get one picture of Baby R-kun (a different R-kun than the one i mentioned.. this one is one of the under-one-year babies, the first baby i met on my first day there, and he's very adorable!  Again, not nice to pick favourites but he's my favourite baby~) on my cell phone, when i was told that we couldn't take pictures.  Though i secretly sent it to my email before i deleted it, so i could have it for my memories.  Still, won't be posting that though, sorry!

So this may be good bye for a while

Contemplating leaving my laptop on forever, since i'm afraid that once i turn him off he won't be able to connect to the internet again for weeks like before...

But well, here's one more post before that happens then!

For dinner tonight i attempted some Korean bibimbap, with quite successful results if i do say so myself!  I wanted to use up some of the veggies in my fridge, so i julienned some carrots and cucumber, sauted some spinach with sesame oil and soy sauce, marinated some sliced tofu in a mix of soy sauce, sugar and ginger, arranged all that on top of some rice, and finished off with a fried egg and some sweet chili sauce all mixed in.  Usually it's a raw egg, but that's just a bit too... egckh! for me.  Also chili paste is more traditional, but i had sweet chili sauce so that was good enough for me.

The results-

    

In the words of Brenda Dickson, absolutely delicious.

A little bright spot at work today- was reading a counting book with the little three-year-old girl in the toddler's room, and got her to count up to six.  A few minutes later she was sitting off on her own and counting all her stuffed Pooh-chans.  In English!  Cue me being overly exciting and high-fiving her.  :)  Totally made my day.

Off to bed now.

Well, after a couple more Youtube videos.
In a Korean mood after my dinner, so i leave you with this-

Baby good night, sexy dreams all.

Ohh, technology!

((Wrote this up last night while i didn't have any connection to the internet.  L, my laptop (yes, i name my electronics, and yes, he is named after L from Death Note because i'm a nerd like that he's awesome.. L is, not my laptop) is actually being good now and connecting to my wifi, so he may not have to be replaced after all!  Yet.  *knocks on wood*))

Oct. 2nd

Well, my neighbors decided to stop being nice and sharing their internets with me and since L is old and cranky and won't connect to my own wifi, and won't even let me use Microsoft Word anymore either, i'm typing this up on WordPad and will get around to posting it whenever i can get access to internet.  Time to start shopping for a new laptop, sadly..  In the meantime i'll have to hunt down a manga/internet cafe or something, or wait until next weekend when i head up to the guesthouse for Princess Bride movie night with my old housemates to post this.

This weekend, compared to last, was rather quiet and lonely.  Friday i did domestic-y household things, like laundry and dishes, and airing out my futon.  I was told that you need to air out your futon occasionally so it doesn't get all mildewy.  Don't know how often it's supposed to be done (or if it really does absolutely need to be done..) but on Fridays when i do laundry i hang it out over the balcony for a few hours of fresh air.  I'm just waiting for the day that i forget about it and it starts pouring and gets soaked, or gets blown away or something.

After the laundry was washed and hung out to dry i walked to the next station over to have a look at the Halloween decorations at Daiso.  The selection was rather small but i did get a couple things like a little stuffed pumpkin, black cat, and a big glittery pumpkin window sticker!  Unfortunately all of my windows (except on the sliding doors in my room) are textured glass, so Mr. Pumpkin wouldn't stick on them and i was resigned to putting him on my fridge, so now when i'm on my laptop, anytime i look up he's staring at me with his black soul-less eyes and doofy toothless smile.

Well herro!

Saturday was work.  This was the first Saturday that we started doing English, since before it was always just Monday through Friday.  My boss decided to start doing it on Saturdays too since some people who were interested in doing English lessons were too busy during the week.  It went well, and the last two students cancelled so we got to leave early, which was good as i was quite tired and was having a hard time stifling my yawns during lessons!  I wasn't able to get to sleep until after 3am, and then just before 5am my phone started ringing.  Very confused and disoriented i answered it.  It was one of my Korean friends KJ, calling from his friend's phone, but the whole time i thought it was his friend who until that point i had only messaged with and never actually talked to.  The whole conversation was crazy and disjointed and was just a big jumble of Japanese and English and Korean (i communicate with KJ and his friend in Japanese, since i know 2 words of Korean, and their English is limited to swears lol) and the whole time i was thinking "Geeze this guy is just as freaking nuts as KJ!"  Who is indeed freaking nuts.  I think the "conversation" went on for almost 20 minutes, and ended with me still very confused, until i got a message right afterward from KJ's friend saying "Sorry about that, KJ is drunk..."  To which i wrote back, "Oh wait, that wasn't you?"  It all made sense then, why nothing made sense, haha!  Anyway, because of that ordeal i wasn't able to fall back asleep until around 6am, then had to get up for work a few hours later.  Hooray for drunken calls at obscene hours!
After work i headed to the old guesthouse for the Welcome Back party being held for 'Boston' who had been gone for a month visiting family and friends back in the US.  It was the first time since i moved that i had been back.  It was fun, and was good to see everyone again and hang out.  After the party a few of us went out for more drinks, although most of us just settled for tea or juice. 

Today was rather uneventful too, but it was nice to relax a bit.  Late afternoon i headed over to the station to have a look at the big department store inside, and also went into a few shops on the east side of the station too, to look for a Halloween costume.  Didn't find what i was looking for (not that i would've been able to buy it today anyway!) but it was still fun to get out and look around.  I did find some Halloween garland that i'll go back and buy if i have left-over grocery money this week, and i did indulge in some Halloween KitKats, because i just couldn't pass them up!  I mean Pumpkin Cheese Cake flavoured, come on.  Could you have passed them up??  Okay, i'm sure you could've, but as for me, i'm a sucker for pumpkin-flavoured things.  And cheese cake is just as delicious.

Hmm, i think they'll have to go in the fridge though.  I kept glancing over at them as i was writing, trying to resist, but i just ate another one.  Gotta make them last at least a little bit!