Hi.

It’s been a while. Nothing much has really changed since my last post… I have been MIA for the past few weeks online, because the internet was “down”. And by “down”, I mean the internet cord was unplugged from the computer for a WEEK and none of the Japanese people I work with figured it out. So I finally said something to the teacher who works with computers. (Read, I asked someone to translate that the internet was broken and I needed it fixed ASAP.) Of course, he figured it out, and then I had a week of elementary school visits… where I don’t have access to the internet anyway. All in all, I am happy to be online again. I really am.

May went as fast as I thought it would. Tomorrow is the last day of May, leaving me only 55 days until I return home. You have no idea what a “light at the end of the tunnel” that knowledge has been for me. I am finally ok living here… or rather, dealing with it anyway. I don’t panic about all the things that drive me CRAZY about Japanese culture or and I certainly don’t cry out of exasperation. But I certainly get frustrated. And it is with the same things I was frustrated with 10 months ago. The only difference now, is that in two more months I am going home. To be with my family…. to see my boyfriend…. to shop in stores where I can read labels and buy pants that fit. 🙂 Yes, I am ready to go home. And yes I will miss the life I had here in Japan… it just might take a while. (Like till the next sumo tournament.) Just kidding.

On a positive note… I have lost 25 pounds since I arrived in Japan almost a year ago. How cool is that? Just another 30 until I reach my goal. Cake, I tell you…. Cake.

The turtles are still there. The tadpoles are swimming. And the birds never looked happier.

Dun dun dun…..

Just so you (my mom) don’t freak out or anything, the “earthquake” happened at 1:42am on Monday morning. If I were dead, missing random body parts, or homeless… you would have heard about it by now. 🙂

I say “earthquake” because it was more of a gentle swaying. I woke up, but then tried to go back to sleep… thinking I must be imagining the slight back and forth movement of my apartment. Nothing moved on my shelves, nothing fell… but it was happening. And I was too sleepy to get out of bed and enjoy it. 🙂 Just kidding.

The only way I knew it was real, and it only lasted maybe 10 seconds… was because, even in my state of sleep… my subconscious sensed the danger. I couldn’t fall asleep afterward because my adrenaline was RUSHING. Heart beating fast and everything!!!

So, Caleb Trim… I was not on top of a bunk bed… but it was a bed. AND it was an Earthquake. 🙂 I have now… experienced that list that you posted last year… in its entirety.  ( I think.) 🙂

Ok, so not an original headline but it works.

So today is Friday. Today is also the first sunny weather I have seen in 4 days. It has been raining since Tuesday, and quite frankly… the rainy season isn’t supposed to come until June and I think it came WAY TOO EARLY. Of course it WOULD be raining now, when otherwise the weather would be nice and warm with cool breezes. But no. It will rain now and then when the weather gets really HOT and humid, the rain will stop. So that my walks outside will be most uncomfortable.

Ok, venting over.

On the upside, since the rain started… the little turtles have been MIA. Today all five of them got on that little buoy again and were sunning themselves. There is one turtle that likes to make it hard for the other turtles to get on the little buoy. He gets on first and the others have to climb over him to get to another open area.(Actually I made that last part up… I have NO idea if the turtle in the middle got on first or if he got on last and pushed a bunch of the other turtles out of the way…) But like I said before… I am surprised 5 turtles even fit on the buoy.

Sumo news: Asashoryu pulled out of the May tournament due to elbow injuries on the 2nd day. What a bummer. I mean, he could have waited two more months to get injured until AFTER I left. 🙂 Sumo just isn’t the same without him… 😦 At least I have my Kotooshu and Hakuho. YES for my gajin Sumo men!

Have a great weekend! Mine begins in 45 minutes.

Go me.

Golden week is done and done. It was a pretty incredible 5 day vacation. The three days that were weekdays were absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It felt like spring… FINALLY. (Warmer weather has finally hit… yesterday I was HOT and SWEATY just from walking to my elementary school that is 10 minutes away. ) The weekend days were drab though. It was overcast on Saturday and rained ALL DAY on Sunday. I didn’t mind so much though. It was refreshing.

If any of you have the Silly Songs DVD (The classic one with Hairbrush and Cheeseburger) There is a DVD “Easter Egg” in the chapter selections (the last chapters 13-16 or something like that) with the Hairbrush song in JAPANESE!!! I played it for my class today… they loved it.

Internationalization of talking vegetables… YES!

May just started, and it is almost over. When school schedules are different, the time passes quicker. This week there are no afternoon classes. Next week is Trial Week, which is a week of community service for 2nd years. So they will be gone all week. And the 3rd years are going to Tokyo for their 3rd year trip. (I think Disneyland: Japan is the destination) All of that means I only have two classes on Friday. Yeah… NIIIIIICE. The last full week of the month is testing for the JHS, which means I have two days of JHS and 3 days of elementary school.

Oh, and SUMO started Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those two weeks always go quickly.

Suddenly, it will be June.

I saw 6 turtles today on a floating buoy that probably only had room for 2. Somehow they all fit on it. Somehow they got on top of this white Styrofoam buoy that is in the middle of the lake. I didn’t think turtles were climbers. hmm.

I really love Japan.

I will leave a piece of myself here when I leave. Part of that piece will be able to be gotten back, should I chose to visit again… the other part will be lost forever.

What I have now, I will never have again.

I will miss it. Absolutely.

Today is my one, and only, day at the junior high school. Tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are all apart of a wonderful time called “Golden Week.”

This is due to a group of Japanese officials who got together one year and decided they needed another long holiday sometime in spring. This holiday also represents the “oneness” of Japan, since EVERY SINGLE Japanese person will travel during this week. ( And a large part of the reason why I am choosing NOT too.)

Japanese people keep asking me where I will go and what I will do. Having spent my vacation time in America, up till now, I have decided to not allow myself to make any plans. Instead, I plan to spoil myself by spending the afternoons outside in the sun, sleeping in, and whatever else I feel like.

Try explaining that in Japanese.

In anycase, for the next 6 days I will be MIA. No school = no computer and no internet.

Japan is really beautiful right now… 85 days until I have to leave. 😦

Golden Week…. Bring it on.