Nothing but the Sports

Sports festival this weekend -14th. On the green team, which gives mi mixed feelings. Have a lot of my fav students and co-workers on the team, but green is my worst color. Yeah I know its just a color but really, the animosity is deeply routed lol. 

Everyones all jazzed up at school, daily practices, etc. Wish I could participate more lol. The teachers keep asking mi to run and etc. Really wish I could, but for reasons best left untold at the moment, I can't do that. 

All the same I plan on having as much fun as I possibly can....

Been a Minute

Random message: 
One of my students has a crush on a teacher at school and its the most adorable thing ever!! Festival today, she was dressed in the cutest yukata, had her hair down and curly and etc....but then she was sad cus she didnt get to talk to him for a long time. All the while she was being sad and sulking, I just couldn't get over how adorable she was!! And better yet, he knows....this is about to be a fun semester....

Meanwhile, the jury seems to be hung on the decision regarding the personality of said teacher. While half the school, teachers included, seem to think he is cool/hot/insert other adjectives here (females only), the other half can't stand his guts. 
As expected, my interest has been piqued and I shall watch this fine piece of human to formulate my own opinion....of course, it doesn't hurt that he is easy on the eyes. 

Pool and Dinner et al

Yesterday was a fun day (Sorry for the late update). 

Swimming season begins next week, so the teachers cleaned the pool at school yesterday at school. I decided to help :) 

Apparently, that was such a big deal to them - I seem to be doing a lot of firsts for ALTs at that school haha. 

Anyway, I got to wear a jersey for the first time, and went to clean the pool....wait for it....in the rain!! Yup, it was raining all day yesterday. But rather than change the schedule and move the cleaning till....oh idk, today, lol, the PE teachers decided it must be done yesterday.....

So, we all marched, umbrella in one hand and scrubber in another, to the pool. Was quite a bucket of fun, as I had expected haha.

Afterwards, the VP took all those who cleaned out to dinner (yup, the good kids gor rewarded) lol. Had a nice meal of gyoza et al, where I found out everyone else has been thinking I was 30 for the longest....should have included my age in my intro I see....that and I need to get on Vi stat.....but thats for a different location. 

In other news, I got two new students at church!!!! I get to teach privately.... I can't actually explain how or why I am so excited about this, but I am. Been planning lessons for the entire week now lmao....I'd let you know how it goes.

It would be nice to have someone to complain/exclaim to every now and then who reacts in the right manner. The only person thus far is my bff and she's busy of late sadly....

Anyhu, off to go learn Korean lol

xo

Tuesday's Report: Take 5

  They say Monday is the worst day of the week. But for mi, Tuesday is fast gaining ground in that regard. I refuse to have a worst day though, so I just try to look on the bright side all day - no one said that job was extra exhausting.

My Tuesday starts off with a class that insists on saying Isi (my name), instead of itchy. They have an 'Isi-fetish' I dare say. But compared to the other classes, I'd let them pronounce itchy any way the feel. They always have way too much energy, like a 5 year old bunch on speed. 

Next I'm off to a senior class, where my presence is of little to no difference to them - depending on the day, time and people. Once in a while, they do perk up and react as I talk. Its those times I relax a notch. This would have been my favourite class of the day, except for the fact that I always feel like I am on pins and needles around them. 

Drum rolls please, as we flip the coin. 

I'm off to a class where I get a headache even thinking about. The kids are the noisiest bunch on earth, with more ADHD than a properly diagnosed patient (if it were countable). Another fascinating aspect is the fact that they seem to be obsessed with the word 'gay'. Everything, and I mean everything, has gay as its synonym. As far as they are concerned, as long as its an English word, it can also mean gay. 

So after leaving the gay fanatics, I walk into a war zone, where the enemy is as predictable as the Second Coming. This class, as a whole, is bipolar. One minute they are happy, next minute, in a mood. Soon after that, they are mad! Having not decided if they hate mi or just want to ignore mi, their reactions flip back and forth where I'm concerned. Its like I am being bullied in Junior High all over again by boys in early puberty that are just starting to realize girls don't have cooties either! They seem preoccupied with the word 'sex', and occasionally, let that be included in their answers to questions. Its here however, that I sometimes wish I did not understand Japanese. 

So after a day of 'hyper active 5 year olds', 'gay fanatic ADHD undiagnosed kids' and a 'war fighting bipolar class', who can blame mi for saying I'm exhausted afterwards? My only consolation is that I do get to see the rest of the school in between. And my handicapped class, bless their little souls, with the proper diagnoses, are the light of my day as always. Cause regardless of how bad the day has gone, nothing beats seeing their eyes light up and the smile that appears when they see mi walking away from hells gates and say 'Hello!!'

Wish I had someone I could complain to for a bit....since they say talking makes you feel better. 

In other news, the teeth-less teacher at the school purchased a brand new set of teeth!! He finally took the permanent mask off and smiled, smiled, smiled all day today. I couldn't be happier for him. 

Off to bed to pray away this headache.

Till next time.

xo

Welcome :)

Today, two of my co-workers took mi out to dinner (shh, don't tell lol). Both of them make an interesting pair, you wouldn't guess they had things in common haha. But it was pretty fun. We went to an Okonomiyaki store, which I love by the way, and had three different kinds. While eating, I remembered the last time I had Okonomiyaki, I wasn't full - Random thought lol. 

Anyway, we had dinner for about two hours, and talked about the most random things. I admit, at first, going there, I was a little unsure of how the evening would go cause I had no idea what kind of things they were interested in. But the two of them were nice and in the end, paid for my dinner!!

On the way back, the one who dropped mi home asked about Christianity and church and I invited her to church and she said she would come!! She was very excited and asked if it was ok for her to come though she wasn't Christian. Interestingly, this is the first time (church wise) I have wanted to invite people to come to church with mi. And it came so naturally too.... i guess I must be growing up huh??

Work was quite interesting. Regular classes, but in the 5th period, I went to watch the student's power point presentation. 6th period, we had CPR training, which was interesting. The teachers found the mini drama hilarious, and so did I haha. I remember having CPR training sometime in the past, but can't pinpoint when exactly. 

Afterwards, spent about an hour goofing off with some coworkers in the office. Mi and Mr S, next to mi, would make a fine comedy duo I think. And everyone thinks my Japanese is so cute, as usual, and at the same time very Kansai - I guess my reactions and etc - which makes it more interesting lol. 

Needless to say, I loved my job today and thank God for giving mi a smile yet another day.

Now then, need to update Chrome before it crashes on mi lol.

xo

Why I Love My Town

The Day:

At 7:30am, the group of doting parents seeing their kids off outside my house tell mi 'itterashai' (have a nice day) as I leave. 

10 minutes from school, across the street from the convenience store, the lady who greets the elementary school kids and helps them cross tells mi good morning. 

2 minutes latter, the constantly smiling man on the bicycle smiles at mi as he rides past, with a 'good morning' in his wake. 

At the last store, Welcia, I begin to see students on their morning run. 

Around the corner, another group of doting parents await the school bus for their kids. They all chant 'itterashia'/ 'ohayogozaimasu' (good morning) as I walk past. 

There are the kids from the other JHS, who, I think, heard about mi from my students. They all say hi/hello/good morning, mid their run. Some stop to tell mi their names/ask for mine. 

There is the one kid who thinks he is super cool (and I do too, sue mi haha), and simply says 'hey' or nods as he jogs past (lmao the girls in his future are in for trouble).

Then there is the kid who asks mi daily if I like spagetti. Can't decide if thats the only English sentence he knows, or if he seriously forgets each time haha.

Of course, the icing on the cake: My kids. Ever surprised to see mi, like they did not expect mi to show up again!! 

They have the loudest and most joyous hellos, some screaming and waving vigorously from across the field.

.

.

.

.

My day ends with the unanimous 'See you!!' or 'Bye, bye' from the kids as I walk out the gate. 

Sometimes, I meet the bicycle man on the way and he nods with his constant smile. 

On my street, there is some little old lady or stay at home mum who is out and about, and ready with the 'okaeri' (welcome home) as I pass.

I get into my house and count the hours till the cycle begins again, with all the warm smiles.

Whats there not to love about my new home? 

My Weird Kids and Other Stories

So I have concluded that I weird kids.... Its not yet a law, but given time I'm sure it would be. Here are a few whys to back my theory up .....

For some reason, beginning yesterday, my kids, mainly the boys, have been staring at mi, then laughing, then whispering to each other. I have no idea what the are staring at or why the are laughing, and it is beginning to be very odd. 

The girls, in their quest to speak English, have taken up to asking mi odd questions with regards to a certain female teacher. The first day I walked into one of the classes, a student asked mi if I liked Miss. K.... I'm like huh? Then she rephrased and said 'Do you love Miss K?' Against my instructions, I had to ask her to say it in Japanese cause I was certain she was not phrasing her question properly. A lass, she was. I laughed that off. But over time, I've gotten random questions related to said Miss K. All suggesting some sort of feelings or something. Such as 'Do you think Miss K is cute?', or 'Do you like Miss K with short or long hair (after her hair cut)?' and so on.... I'm choosing not to read anything into all that. 

The adorable side exists too, thank God. There are the oh so adorable ones who run up to mi and say 'You are very cute!!' all the time - mainly a group of girls with messed up teeth (bless their hearts). Or the boys that debate, in Japanese - in front of mi - which one of them should tell mi I'm cute.... Then, as they all lack the balls, give up giggling and run away. 

A few laughs for my day....

xo

JHS #101: The 'Hello' Attack

I don't know where it started, or whose bright idea it was, but it seems like all the JHS kids learn only one form of greeting - HELLO. 

In the last month since I've been working, I can honestly say I have used the word 'hello' more times than in the rest of my life in total!! From the 1st years to the 3rd years, they all want to, innocently, say something to you, and at some point in time, someone said the universal form of greeting in English was 'Hello'. Which I can say is honestly not true. 

When I was growing up, I don't know about you, but I was taught to say 'Good Morning' in the morning, 'Good Afternoon' after noon and 'Good Evening' the rest of the day. At no point in life could I say 'hello' to someone older and get away with it. 

One could make the argument that the American culture doesn't exactly teach those 'greeting etiquetes', and are less formal than other cultures, but still 'Hi'/ 'Hey what's up?' are more frequently used. And I doubt kids at school say that to their teachers in America either. 

And its funny though cause in Japanese, they use 'Good Afternoon' (Konichiwa) for the general greetings. No one says 'Ossu', which means 'what's up/hello' regularly as a form of greeting....

And the volume with which they scream it, bless their little hearts. They all have megaphones and believe they need to propel their feelings with the volume of their voice. So the louder they are, right next to your ear, the more sincere they believe the hello comes out. I get scared out of my wits cause I'd be walking alone, and suddenly this loud voice from behind mi yells 'hello' at mi!! 

I think from tomorrow or so, I'd tell them what to say when they see mi. Maybe not in class cause the teachers have their own agendas, and it would be more of a pain getting to explain to them what I am trying to do to begin with.... idk. 

Anyway, in other news, I started teaching the Special Class today. They are called 'Handicapped Class' here, but that can come across as confusing as none of the kids are actually physically handicapped. Was fun but since it was the first lesson, I was a bit cautious. I did however make a few provisional diagnoses. 3 DS, 1 or 2 possible CD and a possible BD. Lets see how the rest of the time plays out. But the kids are lovely though!! So innocent, it makes them look more fragile than they already seem.

Thats all for now. 

Tudles. 

ALT Corner

So my school has this thing called "ALT Corner", which is essentially a part of the notice board where I get to design with pictures and information about my country. I am super flattered, but at the same time unsure of what to write. They wanted to know about events like National festivals, independence day, etc. But my country is so diverse that would be a little challenging to summarize into a maximum of 16 pictures!!!!

xo

School Crazy

The main theme for school today, was mi sleepy and cold. From the time I stepped into the school compound till I left.... I get sleepy when I am cold, so you could say one affects the other. 

Anyhu, I had the pleasure, for the sake of politeness, of being once again flung into the dark with this lovable teacher (of of the many) I teach with. He told mi on the first day of school he never has any idea what he is going to do in class till the class time. 

I should have known he was not one for jokes. 

We had a lesson today, and after I had spent a good amount of time coming up with questions based on my last under the bus adventure - courtesy of yours truly as well - I cant say I was shocked to walk into the class and hear the kids say he already did that activity with them, then hear him say lets do another activity then begin with lesson one!! 

When I had finally gotten accustomed to the pages in lesson one and had mentally fine tuned my act for the next class, we walked in and he chose a different page for the lesson!! By 12:30 I was caught between blowing up from frustration versus from hunger. Needless to say, hunger won. Besides, getting frustrated would do mi no good, I have long realized in life. 

For this guy, I have learned one thing - I just need to ask him what the students did in the last class, so I prepare myself for possible lessons from that, the future or something totally unrelated. lol.

Moving on.

I walked around the sports clubs today, and played some basket ball!! I don't want to brag (who am I kidding, lol), but I think I was pretty good (if you compare mi now with my last froggy attempts). Might even consider playing from time to time, though it means hanging out with the kids who can't decide if they have a crush on mi or think I'm an alien they are fascinated with. Either way, as long as they can't speak English, we are both spared from mi having to try my best to be as polite as possible while failing miserably and hurting them.... or worse, getting in a situation where I need to apologize. Thats just both annoying and cumbersome. 

Final topic change.

So, I climbed a tree at school today. 

.... pause for effect .... ^ ^

The tennis girls, whose names and faces I better remember tomorrow, got one of their balls stuck in a tree. I was on my way home, and walked on over - nosy mi. Well at first I tried to find out, with English (like that was possible), if the kids were allowed to climb the trees in school. They said no, but I am more sure they thought I asked if they could climb it, cause a few seconds after the 'no' one of them stepped forward and began to climb. She didn't go too far before she climbed back down. 

So mi, being the movie-scene-reenactment-lover that I am, decided to climb it. 

I guess climbing trees is kinda like riding a bike, you never actually forget. That and the combination of a little prayer, I got up high enough to get the ball down for the girls. It was quite amusing to mi cause as soon as I started climbing, they began scrambling around for English words like 'stop, don't do it, come down, it's dangerous - I know, I was shocked at that one too' and so on. lol. So, though on a regular day I can't get them to cough up more than the basic 'how are you, hello, my name is....' with my tree climbing affair, I got them to use dictionary words as well!! I should say yay mi!! haha. 

Anyway, they were so scared I would fall, they called a teacher passing by to come ask mi to stop in English - bless his heart. He also joined in the unanimous search for the English words for 'get down from there you moron, you might break something....'

Mercifully, I got the ball down, got my round of applause and was on my way. Now that both branches of the school was adequately represented, I am sure I would not hear the end of it, or even close, tomorrow. All students would know I climb trees, and the lovely teachers would also like to hear more about mi and my tree climbing history tomorrow as well....

Speaking of teachers, I forgot to find out from the teachers I have tomorrow what the lessons would be on - not that I would be likely to get any answers.... on that note, I'm out....

xo

Church 101

Went to my first church service in Japan today!! Its almost 7pm and I just got back. lol. Haven't had this much fun in church in a while. The service was from 10.30am till 12. After that we had tea time, the singing for a while (people were free to leave but I wanted to stay). The youths, I guess thats what we are called, spent most of the afternoon singing - didn't realize time was even moving!! Then they wanted an English class, which I absolutely was happy to do. Spent about an hour and a half just having English conversation. Then we went site seeing!! Well more like had to go drop two people back at their school, and it was a long way from church so site seeing on the way.

Everyone at the church was nice and warm. They answered questions, asked, I felt quite comfy there lol. Oh and I also got invited to 'English Time' on saturday, as a teacher hehe. Its in the afternoon so I have no problem going at all. Funny I found myself thinking 'Ah, I won't be able to come over till next Saturday again....' thats totally a first for mi!! 

Japan so far: Take 2

As promised, here is the second half :)

School. 

I'm not being a doting parent or anything, but I think my kids are the cutest bunch there ever was!! Sure there a few here and there with their quirks and stuff, but as a whole, they are adorable. The first day I taught at school, I got more rounds of applause, screams, shouts, smiles and waves than I have ever had!! Felt like an international celebrity. A friend had told mi to expect silence and a blank stare when giving my introduction, but I got none of that thus far (God willing and some more), and that really made mi happy!! 

Sometimes the kids look at mi funny - as they should - when I talk to myself randomly if I make a mistake, or cause I am constantly laughing (God save mi), or when I try to gesture to explain things to them - I would get a PhD in Sherades soon. 

Teaching with the teachers is a whole new experience. Granted, there are some ways I would rather not teach English, but at the same time, I am glad to just be there and help. Plus I don't have to bring work home (which we all know is one of my preferable criteria for choosing work ^ ^). The teachers are nice and easy to relate to. Though I would rather know what I would be teaching the next day the day before, its not all that bad cause I get to school early enough (God willing) that I can work on something when I arrive. 

I think the system at my school is different from other schools, as I don't really get a segment where its all mi teaching, but team teaching all the time. Which I think is good as there is less pressure. Like someone is watching mi....that can't be fun, no?? haha.  

So my seat in right infront of the Principal and Vice-principal ^ ^ (whose bright idea was that??) lol. Essentially, I cannot be late, cannot sleep on breaks, cannot use my phone....pretty much cannot goof around at my desk especially when the principal is around....lol. He is nice though, well they both are, but the principal is ever so curious. I am either the first ALT to speak Japanese at their school, or the last one didn't speak Japanese....not sure what the translation was when they told mi lol. I know they were shocked when I said 'I speak Japanese' instead of 'I speak some Japanese/I am learning'....

School - Clubs

So I walked around the school and sort of got myself attached to the drama club. Well that was until I had to leave at 5.15 today, and they had not even gone half way through the practice >< I have to ask myself just how much commitment do I have for all that.... I mean I love hanging with the kids and all that, but I do like going to my house too lol. 

School - Cleaning

The dreaded cleaning happened today!! I was torn between sitting at my desk and walking around (note, helping to get on my knees was not on the list), but then the staff room was empty so I kinda couldn't go with option 1. Walking around felt kinda odd, cause the kids kept laughing and looking at mi like 'what is she doing/what does she want?' Eventually, I asked a teacher if I could help, and she said maybe tomorrow cause they were done for the day.... with a broom, I am good, but most of them were on their knees cleaning the ground seriously!! Thats all well and good in gym clothes, but I had on a full suit pls!! 

Well thats all for now.... ;)

Japan so far: Take 1

So I know I have been way behind on this update, and I think I would have to make this about two posts in order to convey all that has happened so far. 

Today marks a month since I've been in Japan, and a loooooot has happened in this short time, feels like I have been here for way longer. 

Where to begin.... forgive mi but I'd have to summarize, as best as I can....

Placement.

So I got my placement (trumpets!!!!) At first, I was a little disappointed, mainly cause I wanted to teach elementary school but got Junior high school. I had a week of complaining and whining, I finally got scolded by a friend to stop whining and being negative, and, it seems, by God as well. Though I must say He was quite indulgent with my whining. Felt like a spoilt kid as I listened to myself. 

Anyway.

On my first visit to the school, I got a surprise - one of the English teachers at my school also went to Ritsumeikan, the school I studied in. He was quite pleased at that fact and I think we sort of bonded over there (shhh....company prohibits haha). All the teachers were warm, nice and receptive - still are till date. So, I currently teach at a JHS school, more on that later.

Move.

Moved to a new apartment (trumpets!!!!) Its kinda odd though, cause it looks exactly like the old place. But I am happy here cause I finally get to unpack and make it look like somewhere I would have picked out for myself. Got my legless chairs coming in (which would follow mi to mars and hack hence fort), my futon would be here soon (I don't think my body would forgive mi if I don't make that sooner rather than later) and I am in search of a nice cabinet like thing for storage....Would put up pictures as soon as I have the place set up :)

Only down side is we - old apartment girls - are no longer together but thats not too bad. We are not too far apart and can meet from time to time. Plus I get to have to talk to my neighbors.... well more so cause I don't know where the trash can is in this area and need to find that like ASAP. lol. Should be fun knocking on some doors.... hopefully they are young and nice people who answer hehe. 

Feeding.

I am in need of new recipes ASAP. Like the amount of rice and spagetti I have consumed in this month can't be healthy. Everyday, my choice is between rice and spagetti....like all other things are additions but it doesn't go beyond that. Today I got some minced meat for my beloved hamburger, but the base is once more, rice.... I forget all the things I used to eat all of a sudden haha. Found out there was an African store in Tokyo, might make a trip soon over there.... if only I could drag someone with. 

Ropongi Today

Had a pretty nice easy day today. Went up to Mori Tower with a friend and got a paranoiac view of Tokyo. If I didn't have to pay the 1500 unnecessary Yen to get up to the Observatory first, then 500 for the Sky view, that would have been fine. Up on the Sky deck, I was thinking it would be a nice date spot if you wanted, especially at night. Only problem was you can't really stay for long cause there are no seats and it is hella cold up there. haha. 

Walked around Ropongi, less crazy than every where else we've been thus far, but fun. Had a nice Turkish dinner, would be cool to go back to that street and chill. Seems like there were a lot of nice restaurants and mini food shops. Just a bit far with 3 train rides but all in all seemed like a worth it experience. Oh forgot, got super lost trying to navigate our way out of Mori tower, while my mum was telling mi about how there was an earthquake in Japan. lol. We here didn't notice it, so I guess thats a good thing, no?? Super tired so off to take a bath, read a few pages for my exam (out of guilt), watch a movie then sleep (Yes, thats what tired people do. A long list of chores then they go to bed at like 1am or so in the morning. When you have a free day coming up.... well lol). Ciao. 

Male Make Up Section et al

Before I begin, my door just randomly closed a second ago, which is kinda creepy since I'm home alone....just wanted to write that out.

Now then.

Today was semi-uneventful - only in the sense that I went sight seeing Japan. lol. Well my friend and I discovered a new town (based on recommendations) called Makuhari, not far from ours. We walked a bit so I am perfectly exhausted, but got to find two super stores and a series of semi-moving pedestrian bridges. They probably weren't moving but we felt they were lol.

All in all, it was a pretty regular day walking, but more fun cus I had nice company.

Anyway, when we got to the first shopping area - I refuse to call it a mall simply cause its not big enough by definition, we were a little taken aback to find out they had a male make up section.... I mean I've always known the celebrities wear make up, even in the States, so thats nothing new, but to think there was actually a section in the mall dedicated to make up for guys - foundation et al - was down right shocking....lol. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the scene, so you'd have to take my word for it. If I happen to sport another section at a different mall - as I seem to believe there are a lot in this awesome country - I'd be sure to update this with a very nice picture.

In other news - the et al section - my neighbors seem to have resurfaced. I was starting to get the feeling I lived next door to an 80 year old couple or something, seeing as I couldn't hear a sound through these super thin walls in the apartment, but alas, I was wrong. And from the sound of it - NO I am not eves dropping, its difficult not to be a part of their discussion with the lack of a sound barrier - its a young lad and his girlfriend. Though funny enough, their conversation sounds more like my sims' conversations than normal human convo. Anyhu, seems they plan on getting busy tonight (if you get my drift), so I need to head over to my headphones asap. 
Of course, the ones above mi, ever faithful, continue to stomp up and down their apartment like they are training for some elephant parade. 
I'm not complaining though. It at least lets mi know I am not the only one in the world. 

For now, ciao, my Korean movie calleth. 

April 7th + First Cooking Session

So I read a blog recently, http://www.thekanert.com/, and got inspired to write my story in Japan. Well, if you know mi, you can best believe this is probably not going to be a daily affair, but I hope to cover the highlights, lowlights, crazies, etc....

Ive been in the country for 2 weeks thus far, and well, I won't say it has been an all joyous two weeks, but I am not complaining either. Japan has always had a sort of nostalgic feeling for mi - kinda like the same feeling I get when I go home to Nigeria except in this case, the anticipation and excitement of seeing family is not present. Its more 'I lived here in a past life' feeling if you get my drift.

I digress.

So first week in Japan was intense training - where I learned that having a psychology background does help you develop a rather peculiar sense of humour, which saves you in times where you have to deal with BS activists (those who propagate BS) with a smile. Had the utmost displeasure of having to spend two of the 5 days at training listening to one of the most arrogant self loving humans I have ever met. Funny enough, I found him interestingly consistent. Have to applaud him. Regardless of when or why he was speaking, he always managed to get the topic of discussion to revolve around him and his rather awesome self (by his definition of course).
Anyway, aside from that, training was a huge wake up call. I realized for one thing I had no idea how to teach students English as a second language, and it was much much more different (is that grammatically right??) than past experience. I also came to discover that rather than my previous conviction, I would much rather teach elementary kids and bellow than anything above. Also that the thought of High School students scares the crap out of mi (something to do with past traumas I imagine).

Anyhu.

After the long week of training, I was moved to an apartment near Tokyo, which is where I currently reside as I await my final placement. I did get a near placement at a site which I was most pleased with, but it got canceled. Why they did not wait to tell mi about it after I it was settled rather than raise and dash my hopes, I would probably not want to understand, but either way, whats done is done. So I've been in this place for a week now. As a lot of people know, I get bored quite easily. So imagine mi in a house for a week with no set schedule....good thing is as alternates, we get placed with people near us, so I get people to talk to and all that. Thus far, the neighborhood here has re-solidified my view of Tokyo/Tokyo area people seeming (I wont say being least I get called out for generalization) cold. For some reason, the country has a different air than I remember - granted coming to school and work seem to have two different implications. But I'm sure this is just my thought cause I haven't settled in yet.

In brighter news, I discovered http://www.thekanert.com/ today. A friend sent the link to mi. Happens to be the blog of this guy from work (well one of our facilitators so I should probably have some 'sempai' attached to that but we all know I'm not one for formalities). I totally love his writing style and I can see myself turning into his cyber stalker if left unchecked. Added to that is the fact that he is kind of a hottie (kind of is not necessary though)....in a different life I would have fallen for him but I don't  do adultery so....lol.  Anyway, I'd be doing that to occupy myself, also attempting to study for my GRE as well as find a way to start studying psychotherapy to help with out with PhD. Did I mention that the boredom in this country can be charged for first degree murder??

In other brighter news, I finally cooked my first meal since I got here - with all the spice and everything nice. So since this is not my final location (BGG), I didn't want to buy kitchen utensils as yours truly has no space for anything extra in her luggage.  But after a whole week of Japanese bento convenience store food - and having to choose between some form of ramen or white rice - and pressure from family and friends, I finally gave in and stocked up my kitchen. Cooked my first meal and it was awesomely delicious. Can't imagine how people eat spiceless food really.
On that note, I would end my first, and hopefully not only, blog about my trip to Japan....ciao.