The End

July 26
I didn't have anything to do before 1, when I had to be at the city office for the last time, so I ate breakfast slow and then spent the morning packing. After lunch I rode over to the city office and met up with Will and Andrew, then the three of us were given certificates that showed our completion of the volunteer program and sent on our way. I went over to Yamazawa's to do some shopping, but didn't really find anything so I went home. Mama-chan got home a little after I did, so she took me to sell back some clothes to a recycle shop called Odin; I only got like maybe fifty cents, but it freed up space in my luggage and paid for half of a souvenir I found at the shop. We went to Yoku Benimaru to shop for dinner, then we ate, and I went to bed.

Last Weekend in Shinjo

July 24
Woke up, had breakfast, and then headed out to grab my bike from the city office since I had left it there the night before, since drinking and riding your bike is as big a no-no as drinking and driving your car. That only took me a little under forty minutes or so, so I got back and showered, and then headed out again to meet up with Will to do a little shopping.

Now That's What I Call a Friday Night

I tried to sleep in a little today, but it's pretty much impossible to sleep much past 7:30 now for me, so I woke up a little bit before then and had breakfast, then got ready and biked over to the Nishidas' around 9. I hung out there pretty much all day, only leaving like twice--once in the morning to buy stuff for lunch (soba, sashimi and grilled eggplant), and then again after lunch (and an unintended nap) to do purikura with Aya, Mai, and Mai's boyfriend at the game center that we always go to to do purikura. Then we went back to the house and chilled, just kind of talking and hanging out. Taku came home after school around 4, and then I left  around 5:15 to head to the Shinjo city office to meet up with Will, Andrew and Takahashi-san so we could go to an izakaya for a party with some of the Shinjo city office workers.

The Final Countdown

July 20
I biked to a new school today, Meirin Junior High, which is right next door to Numata Elementary. A few minutes after I'd arrived and sat down and cooled off a little, because it was freaking hot, the phone rang and apparently it  was for me--Nishida-mama had seen me riding my bike up the overpass on my way to school and had called to see if I wanted to get together tonight and eat dinner. Of course I did, so we made plans for me to head over after I was done at Meirin. I was really happy to hear from her--she had said previously she would let me know when her days off from work were, when I was at the Tamiyas', but I never did get a message from her... oh well, better late than never.

Summer Fun

July 18
Happy 19th birthday to my little sis!
Anyway, Misaki came to visit again today from Yamagata. She got back at a little bit after 11, so we hung out for a while and ate lunch, and then I helped her study some English. Her textbooks for her English class are really interesting; in the one for listening and dictation, there are songs from like Mariah Carey and the Backstreet Boys, which is really funny because not only do the worksheets have the students fill in the missing words to the lyrics, they actually have them analyze them as well.
After a while the two of us went out on our bikes and did a little shopping, Misaki buying a new wallet, and then we went to the library, where Misaki studied some more while I watched Nausicaa and The Nightmare Before Christmas in Japanese. It makes me want to go find and buy a copy of the latter movie, just so I can have the Japanese version since the way they translated the songs was amusing.

A Full Day

I slept in today--and by slept in, I meant woke up at the same time but didn't get out of bed until a couple of hours later.

When I finally did get up I went downstairs and ate breakfast, and then at about 9:30, Mama-chan took me to a place about five minutes away to make some pottery. It took me back to my kindergarten and elementary school days; it was good to make something like that with my hands again. It takes about three weeks to bake and glaze the pottery, so I won't have to worry about taking them home with me and them breaking in my luggage. Mama-chan says she's going to send them to me when they're done--just another example of their insanely selfless hospitality. I really need to make sure to send them lots of American goodies when I get back.

Nothing New

July 15
Andrew came to Numata for today and tomorrow, so we hung out a little at school and watched some of the first Evangelion movie during our break time. He left a little after lunch and I had to stay since I had a class during fifth period, but I just watched some more Kimi wa Petto and then went home.
After dinner I went for a walk with Mama-chan, came home and showered. I must have pulled something on the top of my right foot though, since it had been hurting during the day and then when I got home from our walk I realized it had swollen.
Luckily Mama-chan and Papa-chan put some ice on it and then one of those gel pads that takes away heat, so it's getting better. It's just kind of sore.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

July 13
Nothing of note happened today. I got up and went for a jog, joined half-way through by Papa-chan, and showered and had breakfast when I got home.
I rode my bike to school, helped out with the classes and went home by 3:30. I got back and had some jell-o-like (calorie free!) grape-flavored snack, then worked on uploading some pictures and even watched some Kimi wa Petto, a drama with Matsu Jun in it. Had dinner, went for a a walk by myself since Mama-chan and Papa-chan (that's what the parents asked me to call them, tee hee) were gone at a concert, and then went to bed.

Lucky, Lucky!

July 12: Almost Sick with Optimisim
I knew that the Kontas were awesome the first moment I met them, but I didn't know just how awesome.
After I had finished my blog last night, Misato came in and asked me if I knew how to call overseas, which I didn't; then she left and came back like ten minutes later with the house phone and a number to use to call numbers in the US. Apparently since I had told them I missed my mom, in passing, they wanted to let me call her and talk to her. I asked them how much it would be to call overseas and they wouldn't tell me--they told me not to worry about it and just to call her! I about cried. So I called Mom and we talked and I've decided I'm going to get their address so I can send them lots of American goodies when I get back as thanks. I'm really so grateful to have gotten placed with this family, I can't express how much I love them already!

(One of) The Best for Last

July 11
I woke up this morning a little earlier than I had wanted (I had wanted to sleep in till about 7 or 7:30 so I could have a late breakfast, get ready and go without lolly-gagging too much), so I kind of paced around my room for a little before going out and eating, and then getting everything together to go.
The Kontas were a little late in picking me up, but that was fine because they are awesome. The mom, Eriko, and two daughters, Misaki (who's 18) and Misato (who's 14) came to get me and take me to the Ajisai Festival ("ajisai" are hydrangeas).

By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea

July 8
This is my last day at Numata for the week, thank the gods. We have some sort of opera performance we`re going to go see tomorrow instead of going to school, so we`ve got pretty  much a three-day weekend, which is much needed on my part (and probably Andrew and Will`s, too).
Anyway, rode my bike to school, sat through fifth grade classes in which we did the exact same thing (literally) as the first graders yesterday. After I was done with classes I rode over to a Japanese supermarket and bought an apple for a snack, then rode home, ate the apple, napped, had dinner, showered and went to bed.

Nothing New

July 7
Nothing remarkable today. I biked to school, where I helped out with the sixth graders, came home, napped, watched Fight Club, ate dinner, showered, and went to bed. It`s almost not even worth blogging about, except for that it`s Tanabata (a Japanese festival--look it up on Wikipedia or something if you want more details) and that`s kind of cool. We got a yummy peach dessert in honor of the occassion with lunch at school.
I managed to keep Sonomi and Hiro from coming in my room in the afternoon, by holding the door shut whenever I heard them running up. I felt bad, but they can`t just come into my room whenever they please. Sue me if I want a little privacy.
I wrote some tonight, too, which pleased me. I haven`t written anything (creative) in far too long, so I`m glad I finally made myself sit down and do it.

Same ol`, same ol`.

July 5: First day at Numata Elementary
A teacher from the school, Sato-sensei, picked me up this morning and took me to Numata, the new school I`ll be teaching at for the next two weeks. The principal, Takahashi-sensei, showed me around the school and talked a little bit about her time in Colorado when she visited the States about twenty years ago.
I helped out with the third graders today. Nothing new to report, since we`re basically doing the same stuff here as at all the other schools; introductions, asking questions, number practice, et cetera.
I got home a little after 3:30 and sequestered myself in my room for a long nap, since I was really exhausted for some reason. I woke up and went for a walk, then came home and ate dinner, then showered and went to bed.

O Say Can You See

July 2: Last day at Hokushin
I bet you can`t guess what I did in the morning. If you said woke up, ate, and biked to school, you`re right on, good for you. Have some gold stars!
Anyway, when I got to school some students came into the teachers` lounge to give me a little momento of my week at Hokushin, which was some laminated photos that I took with the classes, and of me helping out around the school. I read some Densha Otoko in between classes, then ate lunch with the teachers and biked over to Shinjo Higashi High, Tamiya-sensei`s school, when I was done.

Over the Hill

Over half way through, whoo-hoo! I`ve got a little over three weeks left here, and I am really looking forward　to getting home even though when I do I`m going to be freaking busy. I`ve got GUIDE training that starts the day after I get back, then that same weekend I`m moving in to an apartment with Edie and Megan (YAY!), and then I have to kick my ass into gear to finish my Harley Quinn cosplay for NDK. It`s a good thing I`m getting used to going to bed late and waking up early here.
Anyway, here`s what I`ve been up to the past couple of days.

Two updates in a row! Rolling right along.

June 28: First day at Hokushin Elementary School
I woke up kind of early and just layed around for a bit, then Sonomi came running in, looked at me for a few seconds like she had something to say and then just left. It was kind of weird, and makes me wish I had a lock on my door.
I got ready, had breakfast, and then a teacher came and picked me up and drove me to Hokushin Elementary, my　new school. There was a little mini welcoming ceremony in the gym where I had to give a brief introduction of myself, and then I went back to the teachers` lounge for the first two periods to talk to the teachers about lesson plans, and I was also able to use the internet for the first time in over a week (not counting the times Will let me use his computer whenever I went over to his house). Maybe I should`ve invested in one of those little personal WiFi things that plug into your computer. Oh well.

Guess who`s back (for now)

June 18: Last day at Hagino and the Higuchi House



Woke up and jogged, then showered and had breakfast and biked to school. I didn’t help with any classes again, but I worked on writing replies to the third years for a while and also read Hana Yori Dango.


I wrote Ume-san a pretty long note, of course, since she’s the one who impacted me the most at Hagino. I was really surprised when she came later and handed me a cute envelope with her own letter to me inside. She said she was happy to have gotten my letter and asked me to keep doing my best in studying Japanese in order to further my dream of becoming a translator; I told her good luck for her future too and then she left, and I read her letter. I was really surprised that I could read and even understand the whole thing. I don’t know if that’s because she kept her Japanese simple for my sake or what, but I was still pleased. I hope she’ll stay in touch.

The Adventure Continues

June 9: Shinjo, first day of school
I must have been exhausted yesterday ‘cause I didn’t wake up at all until I was actually supposed to this morning. Got ready, had some delicious omelet rice that ‘kaa-san made for me (with a smile drawn in ketchup on it and everything!), and then went off to school. Obaa-chan (grandma) had to show me the way though, because I couldn’t quite remember it from the bike ride ‘kaa-san took me on a few days ago. Obaa-chan rode ahead in the car while I took the bike they’re letting me borrow, and she stopped at the turns to wait for me to catch up. It was really sweet!

Still Alive

So I don`t get WiFi here, and the Higuchi`s computer is kind of slow, so updates will probably be pretty sporadic. Also, go here for pictures: http://chopstickwanderlust.shutterfly.com

June 3: Yamagata City



We left Tokyo around 9:30ish to catch the local subway trains to Akihabara again, so we could go to the Gundam Café there for breakfast. It opened at 10, but they didn’t start selling the special anko-filled waffles until 11, and we got there around 10, so we just had the sandwiches they had out for breakfast. After that we had a lot of time to kill, so we went to the JR office in the akihabara station to change our reserved seats for the shinkansen to Yamagata from Tokyo, because we were in car 14 and Beecken-sensei and everyone else were in car 13.

ひさしぶり (Been a While)

Sorry for the short hiatus; we didn't have internet once we left Kyoto until we got back to Tokyo today. I'll break it down into the past four days (including today):


5/30: Hiroshima
We woke up around 8 in the morning to get ready to go catch the shinkansen to Hiroshima. Sayumi's mom made us a delicious breakfast, again, and then her mom and dad drove us to the local train station. On the way they stopped to make a delivery of something to some sort of place, and they had us get out of the car for a few minutes to look inside the building because apparently, it was really old, dating back to the Edo period. It was pretty awesome to get to see something with that much history so close up. After a little while of admiring the structure, which looked really well-kept despite its age, we got back in the van and went to the station. I was sad to say good-bye to Sayumi's mom and dad; they were really kind people, and I hope I get to visit them again someday.

Just Another Day in Nihon

I'm just going to have to upload my photos en masse at the end of the week or something. I'm just getting back too tired every evening to try and mess with them.

We woke up early again today. Sayumi's mom made us breakfast: small portions of egg, sausage, salmon, miso soup, rice, and she even gaves us some umeboshi and something else that was delicious which I'm not quite sure what to call.

A Light Day

Despite getting in relatively late last night, I still woke up, without any prompting from an alarm or anything, at a little after 6 AM. We got ready and all packed up, then went to grab some breakfast. Will and Andrew went to Mister Donut, a chain kind of like Dunkin' Donuts here, for breakfast; I stopped by an AM PM convenience store on our way back to get some onigiri since I wasn't quite hungry yet. We checked out of the hostel and went to grab the trains to Tokyo Station to catch the bullet train to Kyoto.

Quickie

We've gotten back late and have to get up early tomorrow to catch the shinkansen to Kyoto, so I'm going to keep this update brief, and edit it when I have time tomorrow to add in pictures.

Woke up early again, showered, got ready and out the door by 8:30. We hopped on the train to Akihabara and went to a cute little bakery by the station there called Vie de France to get breakfast. I got a coffee anpan (a bread pastry filled with coffee paste and cream), and a tuna and tomato sandwich. After we finished eating we went and reserved our seats for the JR Shinkansen for the rest of our trip, since the bullet trains tend to get filled up fast, and then wandered some around Akiba (short for Akihabara in case you couldn't tell) again, ducking into a few shops since the day before we hadn't had much time because of the rain and us being there so late in the afternoon/evening.

Retail Therapy

Day two was much, much better, which is among the top ten understatements of the year at least. I can't underscore exactly  how relieved I am that this trip is finally going the way I expected it to, or at least want it to--in the direction of epic win.
We woke up around seven and showered and got ready and were out by eight. I expected it to be warm today like it was yesterday, but when we got outside it was overcast and fairly cool.
We walked down a main road by our hostel and ended up stopping at a Denny's for breakfast, which was actually amazingly delicious. I got a light soup over rice, and it was freaking amazing and very, very filling.

Afterwards we had to run back to the hostel really quick, because I'd forgotten to grab some extra cash for the day of shopping ahead, and I wanted to get a jacket because the wind was making me uncomfortably cool. Then we went to the post office and Will and Andrew exchanged their money for some yen; we headed to the train station directly after to go to Shibuya.

Turbulence

I don't even know where to begin. There's a million things all zooming around in my brain and I can't concentrate on one thing for more than a couple of seconds before moving  on to the other.

As boring as it is to tell a story in chronological order I think that's just what I'm going to have to do in order to be able to accurately capture and convey the last... however long it's been. A little over a day? That sounds about right.

So, after a half hour walk whilst watching Futurama on the fancy treadmills in the Marriot's weight room at DIA, Sam and I returned to the room; then she, Mom and I went down to the lobby and got snacks. Ate snacks, watched TV, I snuggled up against Mom and fell asleep.

Woke up at 2 AM to my alarm, kind of confused, but got up and showered and got ready anyway. Then the three of us caught the shuttle to the airport.

Sleepless in Denver

So here I am, chilling in the lobby of the Marriot where we're staying tonight by DIA. I can't sleep for the life of me even though I know I should, but hey, what can you do?
There's a mere eight hours and twenty minutes separating me from Japan (or at least, the flight to LA which leads to the flight to Tokyo). It's surreal to be so close to accomplishing a life-long dream. I keep flip-flopping between being freaking pumped to get going and wanting time to speed up till when we land at Narita Airport, and then wanting everything to slow the frick down for a second so I can catch my breath and enjoy my last night for over nine weeks in the States.
There's a fist-sized ball of something thick and heavy that's settled nicely right behind my sternum and beats back every time my heart thumps; I'm assuming it's a nest of caterpillars cocooned away in their chrysalises (chrysali?) ready to burst into life as yet more anxious butterflies in the next few hours.
I wanted to wait and shower until an hour or so before we leave for the airport, as a WAKE-UP type thing, but now I'm wondering if it's not a better idea to hop in now as a CHILL THE EFF DOWN WOMAN measure.
Deep yoga breaths.

The Calm Before

Well, here's my arbitrary first post. Hurrah!
It's hard to believe that I'll be in Japan in little less than two days from now. I hope I don't make a fool of myself when we (finally) land by squealing like the hyperactive otaku fangirl I am. Chances are I will, but I can always try to brace myself to make it a quieter, less eardrum-piercing shriek, at least. I owe that much to the poor unsuspecting civilians of Nihon.
Some other butterflies ramming against the inside of my ribcage:

• My luggage will get lost. Er, "mishandled."
• Airport officials will decide I'm a homeland security threat and will pull me out of the normal line to get the "special" search treatment.
• I'll miss my flight due to the above.
• I'll lose all my money/passport/boarding pass/other important documents.
• Some sort of national/international crisis will indefinitely suspend all travel to Japan starting Monday morning.
• I'll get sick and/or die.
• There will be a child sitting in the seat directly behind mine who has an irresistible, uncontrollable impulse (see: irresponsible, turn-the-other-cheek parents) to kick, kick, kick.
• Drunk assholes.
• Outlets in Japan won't work with any of my electronic devices' chargers, thus causing my camera with it's handy-dandy rechargeable battery to die early on and I will have no pictures past the first few days.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg that is my paranoia.

Regardless, I'm freaking excited!