Random Pictures

Outside Entetsu and Hamamatsu Station. Christmas decorations are EVERYWHERE!! This tree is massize and twinkles so pretty!! I especially love this shot because of the two people standing in it. I think they're holding hands, and notice how their heads area tilted at the EXACT same angle?? Adorable!
Elliot stands on his back feet to give Gary a hug. =D
Ai enjoying the massage chair at Aprecio!
Would you LOOK at all these CONTROLS???? There are dozens of choice combinations!!
Random shopping pictures. ENJOY! =D
Assembled puzzles at the Toys R Us in Hamamatsu. You wouldn't BELIEVE how big, intricate, and expensive these are! Why don't we have these in America?? Marci and I would never leave the house, LOL!
You can't tell in this picture (sorry for the glare, the picture was high above the shelf so I couldn't get it at a good angle!) but everything is very irridescent. It actually reminds me of the SpectroMagic parade at WDW!
This entire wall, with several dozen puzzles are all different Disney puzzles. Holler!

These picture frames are perfect gifts for when someone gets married! Well, if they really love Disney! =D
Several kimono at the Duty Free shop in Hamamatsu City.







This reminds me of Disney World, haha. As soon as you walk out of Hamamatsu Station there are some pieces of topiary art. Very cool!

Did that 8 year old just say, "Obama? OKAY!" ???

Okay, so this happened a few weeks ago but it still makes me laugh so I'll try to share it with you. Granted, this will be one of those "you had to be there" stories but I'm hoping that my enthusiasm will carry it through!

On Wednesdays I have a class with three adorable girls. Two are eight years old and the other is ten. They're all hysterical in their own way, from the youngest yelling at me that Sumire is pronounced "sue-me-LAY!" to the middle one impersonating a monkey for most of the class! But the high point of their quirkiness had to be a few weeks ago, right after Barack Obama was announced as America's new President Elect.

The girls are quietly working on their phonics worksheet. Actually, they're intently grasping their pencils and I can actually see the wheels turning in their heads while they try to solve the puzzle I've just given them. After two minutes of utter (oh-so-rare) silence, the eldest comically pops her head up and looks to me.

"Obama, okay?" she asks.

"Obama?? What?" I reply incredulously, thinking I'm mishearing some Japanese word I'm unfamiliar with.

"President Obama. Okay??" she says again, more insistently.

I laugh. This child uses "okay" any time she means "yes" (like when I ask her if she can ice skate, she says 'okay!') so I'm unsure of exactly what she means. Is she asking me if I voted for him or is she asking if he was announced as the winner of the vote?

At my laugh, the little monkey faced cutie pops her head up in the exact same hysterical fashion and just stares at me. I think this is the end of it when suddenly a very lengthy conversation erupts between the girls in Japanese.

I hear one say something that basically sounds like, "titter titter tut tut titter titter -Obama- tut tutter titter tut."

The other one, still grasping her pencil in her paw doesn't miss a beat. "tut tut tut ka titter titter tut ka -McCain- titter tut tut tut tetter tutter."

I can't discern any emotion in their words and my mind is racing, wondering exactly what they could be saying. The eldest one turns her attention back to me after two or three minutes and says, "Bush?"

I can't stop laughing at this moment. I'm just slain by the idea of two children suddenly talking politics and (for the most part) keeping me out of the conversation entirely. It's hysterical and makes the girls seem much older than they really are. It's quite endearing really. And I laugh so hard that the other teacher tells me later that he heard me say, "I can't believe you guys are talking politics!"

They don't understand much above "Hello! What's your name?" so I felt safe saying that, haha.
These kids just slay me!

No Gaijin Allowed

Oh my gosh, did anyone else know that Gaijin (foreigners) are not allowed in some bars in Tokyo's fashionable Roppongi district??? I found this hilarious t-shirt that really captures what is probably the typical American's response, te he!! ENJOY!


And now for something completely different:
Has anyone heard of Re-ment? They make these amazing miniatures that have exquisite detail! Lately they've even taken to making Disney series (like Mickey's 50's Cafe! SO CUTE!) and they're extremely inexpensive and well-made. I think I smell an obsession brewing, LOL, but for now I'm happy just to look at the pictures online! They are super cute!!

I hope everyone is doing well! I'm not up to anything new, mostly working and relaxing in my free time.
I'm saving my pennies to pay off debt and finance little excursions around the country and it's going well. =D

I wish I had something more interesting to say, LOL!
Ah, for those of you who don't know, my friend Sara has a great blog about food (and life) in Japan. You can find it under the "blogs I subscribe to" section. This week she has some hysterical pictures of the many flavors of Kit-Kats here in Japan! Today I had muscat (green grape) flavored! Sara has tried melon (I'm so jealous!), strawberry (in milk and white chocolate), blueberry, and orange! I told her the Cherry ones are AMAZING if she can find them! The only one she tried that I wouldn't go near with a ten foot pole is the "sweet red bean paste Kit Kat!" Why in the heck do they put sweet red bean paste in EVERYTHING here??? It's nutty! =D

Alright, that was my interesting thing from this week! Thanks to Sara Sensei and jbox.com for making it a success! =D Take care!

Can't shake my cold!

I feel bad writing anything any a little negative on here but it's been a week without a post so I wanted to give you all an update!

I came down with a really harsh cold 7 days ago and I still haven't been able to shake it! I'm taking medicine but there isn't much time to rest, especially when three days per week you teach six hours straight, without a break. I'm doing everything possible to conserve my energy, from having my Rocky classes color to spending all my free time in bed. Because of that, I haven't *done* much exciting this week BUT that doesn't mean something exciting didn't happen!!

Assuming nothing happens to get in our way, three of my friends from the interview session in July will go to Kamakura with me next month!! Rich in history, Kamakura is the home of many temples and shrines and was the seat of Shogunate power in the late 1100s! The government there ruled Japan for over a century before power was switched over to the Ashikaga government in Kyoto (who eventually lost the power, too)!

The second largest statue of the Buddha in Japan can be found in Kamakura, along with a shrine that I'm particularly interested in seeing! If you wash your money in the shrine (coin money here goes up to $5.00 if you don't want to risk getting paper money wet) it's supposed to make it double! (Sounds good to me!!) Kamakura is also known for it's long, sandy beaches and it's located about one hour south, southwest of Tokyo.

I spent an hour in a massage chair last night and it was the best $6.00 I ever spent! I've only cracked my neck once since then, and it was just a few minutes ago! I can only afford to go once a week but man oh man is it worth it!!!

I hope you're all doing well! I love and miss you!!
~Sarah

Ecstastic!

It has been an incredibly fun day!!
For the last two nights I've managed to get a MINIMUM of 9 hours (the night before last I slept for 11 actually!) because I'm not getting much sleep during the week, haha! So I decided to go into the city by myself today to do some poking around! (Keep in mind that figuring out the buses took a little bit of ingenuity on my part as nothing is in Romanji [our alphabet] and the city isn't laid out in simple "block" pattern, but rather a bunch of swaying, intersecting streets!) So I get into the city and track down the Duty Free shop where the employees speak Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and English! Good times!! I made buddies with the woman working (who was Japanese but insisted that her Japanese wasn't very good, LOL!) and bought a few souvenirs for my dear ones!

So I decide to wander around the malls and stumble across Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton (sp?), and Burberry (HEAVEN!!)! Knowing I couldn't possibly afford anything, and really don't want or need anything, I still decide to kill time browsing. I found out this way that Burberry scarfs (as in kerchiefs) are only $15 each and come in a huge variety! I was very good and didn't buy a single thing for myself but I'm thinking that would be a nice, cheap, easily portable treat when my first paycheck comes in at the end of this month! I mean, $15 for Burberry anything is pretty fabulous!

I was trying to search for Christmas gifts but came up with zilch because everything here is WESTERNIZED! I even went to the Disney Store and Toys R'US today, LOL! I almost went to McD's but then saw a Denny's and thought "OMG! I WANT BREAKFAST FOR DINNER!!" Yes, it's the chain of Denny's that we know and love in the U.S., but here's what they don't tell you: the only breakfast item is two pieces of french toast; no bacon or sausage or eggs! Everything else was Japanese except for a BLT which I tried and actually LOVED because they put parmesan cheese on it! (Mom, this is a tip I recommend! It was SO YUMMY!!)

I was approached by a Brazilian who wanted me to come to his church on Sundays, but the service was in Portuguese. I explained that I actually lived in Ichino and it was about a 30 minute bus ride from my house and he acted like "soooo???" so I just kind of said 'thank you anyways!' and moved on. It felt like I was back home again at that moment!

I even had a cute moment on the street passing another Gaijin (foreigner) who smiled and bowed a little when he saw me. That tells me that he wasn't Brazilian, but probably American or English. It was a really cute thing!

So I come home and meander through our mall while I wait for Ai to get out of work. We have plans to go to the karaoke across the street from our house. She's had a great night at work and so we're both in happy-go-lucky moods! After three hours of karaoke (which is HELLA-CHEAP and includes a free drink [possibly unlimited... I'm not sure because I only needed one melon slushie at that moment, LOL]) I found out that we also had access to the massage chairs for FREE (included in the karaoke price!)!

Now, you're probably thinking that no massage chair could be strong enough to do any good, right?? WRONG! This shiatsu chair had several settings and was SO POWERFUL! It worked my shoulders, back, arms, legs, ankles, and neck in a flash and I was in HEAVEN! We only had a few minutes left before our time was up so tomorrow night I've begged Ai to come back with me (and she said yes!!)! Sooo... TOMORROW I'M GETTING A MASSAGE!!!! And it will only be $6.00 for one hour! (A huge difference from the $75 per hour you'd pay a masseuse!) This is going to be MAGICAL! I can't wait to go to work just so I can go here afterwards!!

And the BEST part?? It's open 24 hours a day and has comics, pool, darts, private karaoke rooms, massage chairs, INSANE chairs for kicking back and using the internet (Drew would be in HEAVEN!) and SO MUCH MORE!! Anyone who comes to visit, be prepared to spend a good deal of time there, LOL!

I'll try to post pictures of everything next time I go there!
Oh, and the playlist for English karaoke songs was an entire BOOK and had some REALLY obscure stuff which I LOVED!!! It was a very good day!

I hope everyone else's day is going just as well!!
LOVE YOU!! MISS YOU!!!

Kachoen (Flower and Bird Park) + Other Fun!

One of my students was nice enough to invite me to go with her, her friend, and Gary to the Bird and Flower Park. It took about 45 minutes to get there via car and we had a BLAST! You were walking around with and touching and feeding ALL the animals (though I drew the line at feeding the penguins what looked like sardines, LOL!)!! I also avoided the emus (who grabbed the food too quickly for my tastes and even took a nip at one of the girls!) but I fed the cutest, BRIGHTEST birds pieces of chopped up apples! A bird even landed on my shoulder but took off as soon as it realized I was out of food!! Sadly it was too quick to get the camera going. They were great! And there were DOZENS of different kinds of owls!! I immediately thought of you, Marci!! =D

You could eat beneath a FOREST of hanging flowers that were gorgeous but I spent a lot of time ducking, LOL! I've never seen anything so thick and plush as that "ceiling" of greens, pinks, and purples! I'm sorry my camera couldn't capture its true ferocity and beauty!

Funny side note! It turns out that one of the teachers who only comes to Hamamatsu one day a week (she's so nice!) is married and her husband is English and runs the bird show at the Park!! (He's in the later pictures.) He was nice enough to answer all our questions and let us watch while he fed the macaws! He told us that a place like this doesn't exist in England anymore because of the fear of disease from touching the birds. Luckily there were plenty of places to wash our hands throughout the day!

The penguin behind the park's front desk slayed me! He was just tottering around and decided he would start nibbling at the files under the desk, LOL! (See one of the later pictures below!!) I took over 120 pictures throughout the day but these are by far the best! ENJOY!!

P.S. Yes, a lot of the birds wear leashes which made me sad at first but I was assured that owls (the only birds on the leashes) only fly for 10 minutes per day or so anyway, and that's just to get food. Mostly they just chill so that's all they're doing now. I felt much better after that! =D