Hellooo!
I hope everyone is well! Merry Christmas! I'm feeling fine during this festive time of year. I had a good birthday. I went to Shibuya for lunch with some friends, where I was suitably embarrassed when the restaurant not only brought cake over, but preceded that presentation by turning off all the lights in the restaurant and putting on a cheesy 80s sounding birthday track. Yeah. Then we went and did purikura then Nicky and I rode a roller coaster in the cold rain. But it was super fun, so worth it. Then I we had a team dinner for our church street teams (outreach) at the Outback Steakhouse, which was fun.
A lot of people have been asking about work. Work is fine. While I sometimes have moments of immense satisfaction while teaching, generally, I think I'm more suited for an office job. I'm happy at work and my only complaint is the hours. I generally work 1-9 pm which puts me out of work too late to hang out with any of my friends during the week. Also, I work Saturdays and have Mondays off which is also annoying. Asside from that however, work is good.
Thanks to every one who sent gifts and birthday and Christmas cards! I was so happy to receive them! Before you know it it will be 2009, how time flies, ne?
I love you all! Hope you're having a very merry Christmas, I miss you!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Random Blessings..
So some of you may recall that my not-even-day-old bicycle was stole. It was a sad affair, but I have since moved on, and my heart will soon be whole enough to commit to a new bicycle. At any rate, I was feeling pretty...unfortunate. I had also wanted this green rug from Ikea which they were supposed to restock within two weeks, back in October, and when I went back two weeks later, they had NO rugs I liked, not just ones in the wrong color...then this week I had to stay home one morning to receive some document from my cellphone company, so I couldn't go to the coffee shop to study Japanese, and then my nice fast internet got cut off (because...as it turns out I forgot to return a document to finalize my set up...but in my defense, I mailed it and they sent it BACK because my boss left one part incomplete...) I was, in short, having kind of a crappy week.
But the tide turns and the document from my cellphone company turned out to be free money. Apparently I got some rebate so they mailed me a check for 10,000 yen, which is about $100. All I had to do was take it to the post office, where they handed me cash. So, yeah, there's my bike right there, only returned in a different form..hahah. Then, I was planning to go to Ikea to get some little Christmas decorations and I checked the website to see if they had any decorations shown, they didn't, but on a whim I checked the stock of the rug I wanted, and bam! It was in stock! So today after work (I get off at 7 on Saturdays since I go in at 10am instead of 1pm) Mish (another foreign teacher) and I took the free shuttle bus to Ikea and I bought my rug.
But not only did I buy a rug, I totally bought a Christmas tree. No kidding. I was kinda sad and figured I wouldn't really get to have a tree, but Ikea had tiny trees for only 2000 yen, and not only THAT, but you get a coupon, and after January 5th, you can take the tree back with the coupon and they give you 2000 yen store credit. Basically I get a free Christmas tree, that happens to be the perfect size and it's just so cute sitting in the corner next to my tv....haha...I was so happy and giddy picking it out. It was pretty funny. I also bought a Christmas tin with ginger snaps in it and it's really cute.
So, now I happily have my rug, and a tree to put my gifts from Grandma Sandy under! Yay! (Thanks Grandma!!)
Recently, I was also feeling a little crafty and made this little...banner...thing as decoration. I likes it.
In other (old) news, I have gotten involved in a church here. It's in Tokyo, full of young hip, loud rock-out Jesus worshipers. Every one is so friendly that you get sucked in so quickly. I didn't really have the chance to stay uninvolved. I was quickly recruited to the welcome team, hahahahah. This church is all about getting involved and finding a team to serve on. I'll soon be quitting the welcome team, however because I can't really be involved in that and the worship team at the same time, and I'm trying to get involved in that, since it's a bit more up my alley. I'm also on the magazine team, which I'm really excited to get involved in. It seems to be a place I can use my editing/writing knowledge to great purpose. Of course, this also means I have friends. Yes, actual friends that aren't co-workers. Awesome right. It's like I'm a real person! With a whole life!
My only complaint is that my work hours are so late, since I don't go in until 1pm, that I can never do anything after work, and I work Saturdays, while most people have that day off. It always feels like I have very very little free time. But I'll get over it.
So, aside from that I also still have a billion photos from some trips I took weeks ago. These past few weekends, I've not done much but Church. Nothing photo worthy really, but I'll update with my backlog of pictures.
So, here are phots from a day I spent with a coworker Moto, and two of his friends. We went to a garden...somewhere. I'm not sure where it is, or what it's called. Then we went to Tokyo Tower, which was fun...
The garden we went to was apparently having a Rose...festival, or exhibiton or something. It had a large old western looking house, and all these different varieties of roses. That was at the entrance, then, as you went further in, it opened up even more and you saw this.
Then, if after walking through the rose portion of the garden, there was a more traditional Japanese garden that I found very pleasant. As you can see there was a nice pond, and this was just before the leaves began to change.
After a short time at the garden, we took the train to a station near Tokyo Tower and enjoyed some coffee in a very cute cafe. It was a very nice rest after walking, and conveniently served to while away the remaining afternoon hours. We left the cafe, and headed to the tower as the light was just beginning to fade. This is my shot on the way to the tower as darkeness begins to settle. We wanted to visit at night to appreciate the astounding night view. It was a great time. This is my monkey friend we met as we left. And these are two shots I took as we left.
Sorry, I wasn't feeling particularly poetic, and so I just wrote a short description.
One night a week or two ago, the moon was so deliciously low and luminous, hovering heavily just over the horizon. She was being coy, peeking out from the thin hazy clouds, and I couldn't resist attempting to take some photos. It was incredibly difficult to do as even when I set the camera on something steady, I still managed to wiggle it just pressing the button down. Hah. But these are what I managed.
Also, I went to Akihabara, Anime and Electronics mecca, in search of a super cheap dvd player so I can read wikipedia AND watch a movie at the same time, which is currently an impossible feat. I came away defeated, however, as it turns out that electronics are cheap there, as long as you aren't looking for something imported. I need a dvd player compatible with American dvds, and that apparently is too much to ask and they were charging entirely too much money for them. Then I was seriously considering the new Ipod nanos. They're so pretty! I've been waiting for them to come out with them in colors and with larger capacities and I'm super excited about the new 16 gig nanos. Thats the size of my nano....squared! Hah. But they are also more expensive here than in the States, not by much when you factor in tax, but still. It's a little annoying. And I can't decide between the teal blue and the bright green, they're both so nice. Ha. So, after much thought, I decided to wait to buy one, since I've got bills to pay and Christmas gifts to purchase.
On that same day, I went to a store called Thank You Mart, which is only slightly entertaining in itself, but the elevator revealed an infinitely more entertainingly named establishment in the same building and I couldn't resist a picture of this either.
Alright. I'm very tired. But I love you all, and I'll be talking to you soon!
But the tide turns and the document from my cellphone company turned out to be free money. Apparently I got some rebate so they mailed me a check for 10,000 yen, which is about $100. All I had to do was take it to the post office, where they handed me cash. So, yeah, there's my bike right there, only returned in a different form..hahah. Then, I was planning to go to Ikea to get some little Christmas decorations and I checked the website to see if they had any decorations shown, they didn't, but on a whim I checked the stock of the rug I wanted, and bam! It was in stock! So today after work (I get off at 7 on Saturdays since I go in at 10am instead of 1pm) Mish (another foreign teacher) and I took the free shuttle bus to Ikea and I bought my rug.
But not only did I buy a rug, I totally bought a Christmas tree. No kidding. I was kinda sad and figured I wouldn't really get to have a tree, but Ikea had tiny trees for only 2000 yen, and not only THAT, but you get a coupon, and after January 5th, you can take the tree back with the coupon and they give you 2000 yen store credit. Basically I get a free Christmas tree, that happens to be the perfect size and it's just so cute sitting in the corner next to my tv....haha...I was so happy and giddy picking it out. It was pretty funny. I also bought a Christmas tin with ginger snaps in it and it's really cute.
So, now I happily have my rug, and a tree to put my gifts from Grandma Sandy under! Yay! (Thanks Grandma!!)
Recently, I was also feeling a little crafty and made this little...banner...thing as decoration. I likes it.
In other (old) news, I have gotten involved in a church here. It's in Tokyo, full of young hip, loud rock-out Jesus worshipers. Every one is so friendly that you get sucked in so quickly. I didn't really have the chance to stay uninvolved. I was quickly recruited to the welcome team, hahahahah. This church is all about getting involved and finding a team to serve on. I'll soon be quitting the welcome team, however because I can't really be involved in that and the worship team at the same time, and I'm trying to get involved in that, since it's a bit more up my alley. I'm also on the magazine team, which I'm really excited to get involved in. It seems to be a place I can use my editing/writing knowledge to great purpose. Of course, this also means I have friends. Yes, actual friends that aren't co-workers. Awesome right. It's like I'm a real person! With a whole life!
My only complaint is that my work hours are so late, since I don't go in until 1pm, that I can never do anything after work, and I work Saturdays, while most people have that day off. It always feels like I have very very little free time. But I'll get over it.
So, aside from that I also still have a billion photos from some trips I took weeks ago. These past few weekends, I've not done much but Church. Nothing photo worthy really, but I'll update with my backlog of pictures.
So, here are phots from a day I spent with a coworker Moto, and two of his friends. We went to a garden...somewhere. I'm not sure where it is, or what it's called. Then we went to Tokyo Tower, which was fun...
The garden we went to was apparently having a Rose...festival, or exhibiton or something. It had a large old western looking house, and all these different varieties of roses. That was at the entrance, then, as you went further in, it opened up even more and you saw this.
Then, if after walking through the rose portion of the garden, there was a more traditional Japanese garden that I found very pleasant. As you can see there was a nice pond, and this was just before the leaves began to change.
After a short time at the garden, we took the train to a station near Tokyo Tower and enjoyed some coffee in a very cute cafe. It was a very nice rest after walking, and conveniently served to while away the remaining afternoon hours. We left the cafe, and headed to the tower as the light was just beginning to fade. This is my shot on the way to the tower as darkeness begins to settle. We wanted to visit at night to appreciate the astounding night view. It was a great time. This is my monkey friend we met as we left. And these are two shots I took as we left.
Sorry, I wasn't feeling particularly poetic, and so I just wrote a short description.
One night a week or two ago, the moon was so deliciously low and luminous, hovering heavily just over the horizon. She was being coy, peeking out from the thin hazy clouds, and I couldn't resist attempting to take some photos. It was incredibly difficult to do as even when I set the camera on something steady, I still managed to wiggle it just pressing the button down. Hah. But these are what I managed.
Also, I went to Akihabara, Anime and Electronics mecca, in search of a super cheap dvd player so I can read wikipedia AND watch a movie at the same time, which is currently an impossible feat. I came away defeated, however, as it turns out that electronics are cheap there, as long as you aren't looking for something imported. I need a dvd player compatible with American dvds, and that apparently is too much to ask and they were charging entirely too much money for them. Then I was seriously considering the new Ipod nanos. They're so pretty! I've been waiting for them to come out with them in colors and with larger capacities and I'm super excited about the new 16 gig nanos. Thats the size of my nano....squared! Hah. But they are also more expensive here than in the States, not by much when you factor in tax, but still. It's a little annoying. And I can't decide between the teal blue and the bright green, they're both so nice. Ha. So, after much thought, I decided to wait to buy one, since I've got bills to pay and Christmas gifts to purchase.
On that same day, I went to a store called Thank You Mart, which is only slightly entertaining in itself, but the elevator revealed an infinitely more entertainingly named establishment in the same building and I couldn't resist a picture of this either.
Alright. I'm very tired. But I love you all, and I'll be talking to you soon!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
My Neighbor..
I still haven't met my neighbor, but subtle contact has been made..
Upon returning to my apartment after this evening, I found a short hand-written note stuck in my door's mail slot...
It could either have been from my landlord, or as I more highly suspected, one of my neighbors, and I immediately began to worry that I had inadvertently done something to offend...it's easy to do when you can't read signs, and one never knows if one is breaking rules or something...
I thought maybe my music could be heard or...I don't even know....so with trepidation I got out my dictionaries and began the translation process.
After a little work I was relieved to find it to be a note of apology rather than a note of derision or chastisement.
To the best of my translation ability, the note reads as follows....
This is the person from room 308. The wind blew a cooking paper away. It was unused. If it is on your veranda, I would be happy if you'd please discard it. I am very sorry.
Sure enough, there was a stray paper towel on my balcony. I found the existence both the note and the renegade "cooking paper" quite amusing.
Here's to polite neighbors!
Upon returning to my apartment after this evening, I found a short hand-written note stuck in my door's mail slot...
It could either have been from my landlord, or as I more highly suspected, one of my neighbors, and I immediately began to worry that I had inadvertently done something to offend...it's easy to do when you can't read signs, and one never knows if one is breaking rules or something...
I thought maybe my music could be heard or...I don't even know....so with trepidation I got out my dictionaries and began the translation process.
After a little work I was relieved to find it to be a note of apology rather than a note of derision or chastisement.
To the best of my translation ability, the note reads as follows....
This is the person from room 308. The wind blew a cooking paper away. It was unused. If it is on your veranda, I would be happy if you'd please discard it. I am very sorry.
Sure enough, there was a stray paper towel on my balcony. I found the existence both the note and the renegade "cooking paper" quite amusing.
Here's to polite neighbors!
kissaten
kissaten
decorated for winter
the sun through its windows
casts snowflake shadows
about tables and chairs
while the breeze outside
tosses golden leaves about
like careless swirling flakes.
decorated for winter
the sun through its windows
casts snowflake shadows
about tables and chairs
while the breeze outside
tosses golden leaves about
like careless swirling flakes.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Ode to a Stray Cat
a patchwork cat
sits at the top of the stairs
and speaks to passersby.
i wonder what she says...
apparently
she only mews at
the gentler sex...
are you big with kittens
or the sympathy of friends?
koneko,
cold meat is your dinner tonight...
if only because
i haven't cooked it yet.
sits at the top of the stairs
and speaks to passersby.
i wonder what she says...
apparently
she only mews at
the gentler sex...
are you big with kittens
or the sympathy of friends?
koneko,
cold meat is your dinner tonight...
if only because
i haven't cooked it yet.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Alas, and Say Goodbye. A Song of Memory.
Alack, alack.
The police do not have my bicycle. It was indeed stolen. I didn't know it had a lock on it, and shame of shames, didn't lock it. In the US our bikes don't come with locks! The embarrassing part....since I didn't know it had a lock, I left it sitting, with the key still in the lock.
It has been reported stolen to the police, but I don't expect to see it ever again, my sweet sweet bike.
My coworker Maki holds out hope...her stolen bike was once returned, but I have not the smallest hope.
At any rate, sometimes I sit on my tiny balcony and listen to music...and sometimes I write..
Nothing complete usually, just thin phrases of jilted prose...
"musing,
insignificant snatches of words...
do you like them?"
but the other day I wrote something when a certain song came on...
(these are just ghosts that broke my heart before i met you...)
this is a song of memory.
i can't hear it now without remembering
hot summer nights on the porch,
or better, the roof,
and those almost cool breezes.
the late night stars,
driving past cornfields,
singing so loud the whole town could hear,
and laying under that sky
watching for falling stars.
toilsome jobs during hot hot days,
and friendships at night...
i can't hear this without
saying sorrowful goodbyes
to those short months,
those few days i'll never see again,
yet never forget.
it's a habit, now
to sit out and watch the sky.
and while the stars remain,
it's still not the same
without you.
The police do not have my bicycle. It was indeed stolen. I didn't know it had a lock on it, and shame of shames, didn't lock it. In the US our bikes don't come with locks! The embarrassing part....since I didn't know it had a lock, I left it sitting, with the key still in the lock.
It has been reported stolen to the police, but I don't expect to see it ever again, my sweet sweet bike.
My coworker Maki holds out hope...her stolen bike was once returned, but I have not the smallest hope.
At any rate, sometimes I sit on my tiny balcony and listen to music...and sometimes I write..
Nothing complete usually, just thin phrases of jilted prose...
"musing,
insignificant snatches of words...
do you like them?"
but the other day I wrote something when a certain song came on...
(these are just ghosts that broke my heart before i met you...)
this is a song of memory.
i can't hear it now without remembering
hot summer nights on the porch,
or better, the roof,
and those almost cool breezes.
the late night stars,
driving past cornfields,
singing so loud the whole town could hear,
and laying under that sky
watching for falling stars.
toilsome jobs during hot hot days,
and friendships at night...
i can't hear this without
saying sorrowful goodbyes
to those short months,
those few days i'll never see again,
yet never forget.
it's a habit, now
to sit out and watch the sky.
and while the stars remain,
it's still not the same
without you.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
A Mind Melting Experience
You may be expecting something big...
but really, it was a small experience....
I flipped on my tv, watched some silly game shows, then turned the channel to what I soon discovered to be a language show. They were teaching Korean, but....quite clearly...in Japanese. That was pretty melting in itself, I mean...just trying to distinguish between the Korean and the Japanese....
but then it got worse..
Then it changed to a Japanese show teaching Arabic. I swear, at first I thought they were teaching elvish. Frillz. And now my brain is so melted at trying to understand the backwards arabic loopies through a Japanese filter. Impossible! Also....mind melting.
Also...did you know know how fast camels can run!? So fast! Also, apparently they race them...but they don't ride them, they put tiny robots on them...
but really, it was a small experience....
I flipped on my tv, watched some silly game shows, then turned the channel to what I soon discovered to be a language show. They were teaching Korean, but....quite clearly...in Japanese. That was pretty melting in itself, I mean...just trying to distinguish between the Korean and the Japanese....
but then it got worse..
Then it changed to a Japanese show teaching Arabic. I swear, at first I thought they were teaching elvish. Frillz. And now my brain is so melted at trying to understand the backwards arabic loopies through a Japanese filter. Impossible! Also....mind melting.
Also...did you know know how fast camels can run!? So fast! Also, apparently they race them...but they don't ride them, they put tiny robots on them...
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