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.

It is weird to be sitting thousands of miles away from the chaos I used to know. I remember how it feels… to have an infinite amount of work to do with finite time. Yes, I remember. Those days of Mt. Dew filled veins, sleepless nights, weak days, and wanting nothing more than to be DONE.

This year, I am not consumed with senior thesis, final exams or the frustration of moving out of an apartment.

I have to say….life after college,  is exactly that… life.

And yet… here I am. Feeling gross again for the 3rd time in less than two months. I blame it on the stupid sand being blown from China.

Now I am sick. I have 5 days to sit and do nothing next week… HECK YES. And this body better be feeling better by then!!!

P.S. I found “IT” . The perfect one! Now, all I have to do is wait, the way I did before… except now I know it’s coming!

I apparently forgot to include a few things on my last post…

Besides all of the time I spent with Jared and friends and in Texas, I did have some GREAT quality time with my mom. We haven’t had many opportunities since I came to Japan, to just go shopping and hang out. (I suppose it is ok for me to say that now… since I am of the age where it is cool to hang out with your mom.) *** FYI: It has always been cool to hang out with my mom.

When I came home, I had two dresses to buy, one for the wedding I went to in Texas, and one for my one year anniversary with Jared. So my mom took a day of her spring break and went shopping with me! WE ended up finding the two dresses I bought at the first store, but we went to other places “just to make sure”. We had the most amazing lunch at Red Lobster, which included 1lb of crab legs, shrimp scampi, baked potato, and a virgin Strawberry Daiquiri. ( AND I paid for it! My mom’s Christmas present this year was a gift certificate for me to take her to any seafood place and treat her. So that was cool too!!) The lunch in itself was amazing, but to add it to an already great day was the icing on a WONDERFUL cake.

My dad, well.. he did something great too! He co-signed for my Prius which made it possible for me to get my loan approved. He also paid for my birthday dinner, which was at this amazing Asian buffet (Which also has GREAT crab legs!) He complained a little, since he thought Jared should be paying for me, and that he shouldn’t have to pay for Jared TOO, but I reminded him that Jared was taking me out the next night for our anniversary, and that he would be paying plenty. :)My dad is such a cool kid! 🙂

After dinner, my mom bought a cool ice cream cake (which I am hoping will still be in the freezer when I come home 🙂 ) and my mom and Jared decorated it… using red hots for my name, since the frosting wouldn’t come out of the tube. 🙂

It was a cool trip home. I can’t wait to make it a permanent visit.

So, here I am.

My whirlwind Spring Vacation… was exactly that, a WHIRLWIND. It was a good thing I had scheduled out every single minute, 2 months before I even left. I don’t think it would have been possible for me to do as much as I did otherwise.

The four days Jared and I spent on our vacation to Texas were pretty great! It was a LOT of driving! But it was good. Even in spite of having strep throat the weekend before I left to come back to the USA, we were able to get down to Houston for my friend’s wedding on time. (Seeing a few camels on the way.) The wedding was good, even though the only people I knew were the groom and his family and Jared. 🙂 That night we got to see my sister and her boyfriend and had dinner at TGI Fridays… (quite possibly my new FAVORITE restaurant!) And spending a night and day with Jared’s parents also proved interesting. 🙂 We got to play with some new kittens… and Jared’s dad took off the day from work (at Lockheed Martin!!) to spend time with us too! And the gave me birthday presents! The 4th season of CSI on DVD. Heck YES!!!

The time I got to spend at home went well too! I got my $30,000 loan approved for my NEW 2006 Toyota Prius. YES! Got to test drive a Prius too! AND made a deposit on the car to be made so I will have it in time for my August return. In the midst of all that, I celebrated my 23 birthday! And Jared and I celebrated our one year anniversary! I think my entire time back in the states, I got about an average of 4 hours of sleep each night. I have been back in Japan for a week and a half, and I still feel like I am catching up.

Overall, the trip was a good one, and something my soul needed. I don’t think I could have made the next 4 months… my last days in Japan, without having a boost in morale. Now that I am refreshed, I can face the next days head-on.

Things are going alright back in Japan. The new school year started last Monday, and it has been a little… a LOT intimidating trying to figure out how to work with my two new teachers. But so far so good…I am really excited for classes, and especially one class- an English conversation class with my 3rd year students. I was nervous about that one the most, but it turns out.. it might be the most fun! The teacher is a little intimidating, just because he seems REALLY type-A, but the class size is about half the size of my other classes: 14 students, and most of them have a laid-back, good-humored personality.

One of them even invited me to come play with the brass band yesterday after school… it was the first time in 6 months that I have picked up my oboe. It was SO great to play with other people again, even if it was playing in a sectional/practice your own music time.

God has blessed me so much… and in spite of it all, I still can’t wait to be home. I guess I made the right choice to only stay for one year. 🙂

More to come later….

The above items in my ‘title’ loosely translated, mean:

enkai: a drinking party designated for any kind of event, where there is lots of beer, Japanese tea, and never any water. Usually, there is only food I can’t eat… or don’t WANT to eat. (Ususally the former… physically unable to swallow uncooked nastiness.) It begins with a kampaii speech (‘Cheers’) and ends in everyone standing around the table yelling ‘BONZAI!’ three times. (Congratualtions… I think)

karaoke: A chance to embarrass myself in front of important people. (ie. MY BOSSES at the Board of Education), by singing random selections such as: Spice Girls, Wannabe; Madonna, Like a Prayer; Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway…. and YES, in that order.

It was a pretty great night. I figured that since it was a school night, we would end early… like 9 pm. Yeah, 11:20 rolls around and I am finally walking through my front door. 🙂 Tired…. but good. 🙂 It was a fun time. Probably one of the best enkais I have ever been too. 🙂

The rest of the world will never understand.

After my last post, this will seem VERY anti-climatic.

VERY.

After sumo last week, everything has flown by in a blur. I am actually kind of grateful for the speed which time has been passing with lately. My time in Japan is coming to an end. And while that brings sadness it also brings a sense of relief, like I can finally see the light at the end of a dark tunnel. Don’t get me wrong, I still have another 4 months left in Japan after I return from my vacation back home. But in the grand scheme of things, my time in Japan is almost completed.

I guess what has been making me think about that, is all the stuff I have to do while I am home in preparations of my return in July. I just spent an hour trying to do a car loan application online, that would time out after a minute of not typing anything, and thus ended in me having to re-type EVERYTHING again. (This happened 3 times!) I have to get the application done now, so I can have a meeting while I am home, so I can order my new car, which is estimated to take up to 5 months before I can get it. ARG! I also have to find a time to have a pseudo job interview with a man at Direct Buy, so I can know if I have a job when I come home OR if I will have to continue to search for one. On top of all that, I am trying to figure out how to do my taxes with working for half a year in the states and another half in Japan. Probably one of the most complicated things EVER.

Please don’t take this as whining. Rather, a venting about all the things one must accomplish FAR IN ADVANCE. It is utter craziness.

(And then, suddenly, I smile.)

I am getting on an airplane and coming home in 9 days.

Life is good.

To convey the sheer awesomeness of sumo in mere words… is impossible. I can only hope to shed a small, match-light-flame-sized light on this extraordinary adventure.

First off, I want to send kudos to my friend Brian Patz. He braved the cold, the wind, and heavily occupied trains to accompany me to Osaka for the March tournament. Without his help, I would have gotten lost… utterly and completely lost.

We arrived in Osaka just after 10:30 ish. (This accomplishment alone from AWAJI: the island of dream vacations and the capitol of inconvenient transportation, was amazing. It meant we had to leave Awaji island  before the sun came up over the horizon… four days prior. Just kidding :). But we did have to leave REALLY early.)

Upon arriving in Namba (another name for a part of Osaka that you wouldn’t have known about until you got lost there) we quickly asked for directions to the prefectural gymnasium (Brian speaks Japanese.) Though, had we waited to ask directions for 3 minutes, we would have been able to tell which direction to move in. This is because 2 VERY LARGE sumo wrestlers were walking from the SAME train station to get to the tournament. The only thing they carried with them were their mawashi in little hobo-esque bags. (no sticks attached.) We knew where they were going, and figured it would be best to follow them. I have to say, it was pretty exciting to see real sumo wrestlers! It felt like I was entering into Hollywood, seeing actors actresses whom I have admired for years.

It was beautiful.

I almost cried.

yeah right!

So, then we bought tickets. 10,300 yen. That’s a little less than $100. I was just happy that we were able to purchase box B tickets. B seats are the 2nd closest you could get to the ring. Box A were all sold out. The cool part about it, was that no one else bought seats in our box. (Usually 4 people sit in these little squares that have floor cushions in them. and basically you sit on the floor the entire time.) So, we were able to stretch out… for half the price! (To purchase an entire box cost twice as much as Brian and I paid.) There were interesting men in the boxes around us. We initially thought they might be a nuisance, but it turned out that they were REALLY nice and made the experience all that more enjoyable… they enjoyed taslking with us too, since Brian and I know a little about Sumo. They gave us some of their food and beer… and later in the match they actually bought us ice cream.

We sat in our little box for close to 6 hours. Until finally… the top ranking guys came in. In all their sumo glory, I had to resist running up there and giving each one a hug while asking “Do you know you have changed my life forever?” (Thinking this through, I thought better of it. They would only have needed to flick the tiniest finger in my general direction, and I would have been Aris-mush.

I couldn’t believe it was all real, as one by one, my heroes walked into the room. Takamisakari, Kotooshu…. and yes, Yokozuna Asashorju himself.

The thought actually passed through my mind, that, for one moment, I was breathing the same air they were. Granted, it was rather musty air, filled with smells of unknown Japanese food nastiness… but it was the SAME air nonetheless.

Needless to say, all of my main guys won that afternoon. The newspaper said later that Kotooshu seemed to be “the most comfortable he has been in the ring” since this tournament began. I really hate to burst all of the Japanese ladies hearts, but the reason is because he had 22 year-old Aris Haines from Colorado, U.S.A. yelling her poor little head off to encourage and support him. Yes, Kotooshu KNEW I was there. And so did Asashorju.

The stares from the Japanese people in the boxes around us were pretty funny. And it made Brian and I get louder and more “American” in our boisterous manner. The men in the boxes next to ours, became friends, and shouted with us feeding off our energy.

After sumo, Brian and I went to Saiezeriya. Yes Hannah, yes Caleb Trim…. we went to the beloved place of grape ice cream that is “like Welches in my mouth” and chocolate truffles. There, I had one of the best pieces of beef I have had in Japan. It had virtually NO FAT on or in it. It was… amazing.

I got home after such an amazing day, and had to pinch myself to remember it hadn’t been a dream. The soreness of my throat was enough of a witness to  that though.

You never know if you will be able to come back. I certainly don’t. But even if I never get to see sumo live again… the one time I had was more than I could have ever asked for.

I am officially at work on a Sunday.

The beautiful sky that I saw yesterday has witnessed the injustice.

Today it cries with me.

Well, it actually isn’t SO bad. AND… I am going to get to see Mr. Asashorju IN PERSON…. LIVE…. in OSAKA on Tuesday.

Not only him, but hunky Bulgarian, Kotooshu.

Be jealous… be VERY jealous.