learning to breathe

Recently, I've really been enjoying life. My routine is becoming more regular (every blog is say this) and I am learning the city at a decent pace. I am starting to be a familiar face at some shops and restaurants. It makes the city feel like home.

I feel like I've neglected my blog over the last couple of weeks... Mainly it's due to the pretty bad flu I had and follow up migraine. I had the flu for about 5 solid days. I thought you weren't supposed to get the flu if you've gotten a flu shot! Sah... also, the migraine that followed was the worst I've had in almost a year. It was really really really bad... It started about 6pm and lasted until about 1pm the next day... T_T I was exhausted by the end of it all. Thankfully its done and over with and I am back to my normal self- though few would probably call me normal.

It's been warmer here the last few days!!!! It's been soooo nice outside. Quite lovely actually. I obsessively check the weather here. It changes so often! Today it was raining and tomorrow its supposed to pour but Monday and Tuesday were divine! I used to wonder why the Japanese always talked about the weather... now I know!

I've started making a list of all the things I actually miss about home. They are (in no particular order): slurpees, beautiful weather all the time, my sister, my niece, my grandpa, my grandma, my dog (probably chibi the most T_T), princess, cheez-it, flavour blasted goldfish, laws against smoking inside establishments, my fancy smancy shoe collection, sephora, jocelyn- the lady who does my hair. I am sure there's more, but thats all I can think of as of now.

The question then becomes, should I decide to stay here longer, can I survive without those things in my life?? Not without Chibi... he would have to come here. No questions asked. I've promised little miss Beka a trip to Japan sometime when she's about 6 (which she reminds me of every time we speak). I've found a way to talk to my grandparents fairly regularly... And really, it comes down to slurpees and cheez-its. It really is a hard life without them...

Speaking of which, have I mentioned that my grandma is the absolute BEST PENPAL!??! She sent me a care package (my first!) and almost every week we exchange letters. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy checking my mail now. I never used to check my mail... ever. But I check it every week now to see if I have a letter from her. It makes me soooo happy to read them! I've also gotten into the habit of writing letters every Sunday night when I do laundry. =) People nowadays are really into electronic everything, and I totally understand it, but there really is nothing like a nice, handwritten letter. It makes my heart melt with joy. =)

Spring starts here on March 1. March 3rd is the doll festival. If you don't know what it is, you should read the link. Its kind of an interesting festival. All the little girls in my life should be getting something soon. =)

I got to meet the new group of recruits the other week! *5* guys. UUUUGH. lol. They seem like nice guys. One of them quit half way through training though... I think he's already back in the states. He said he thought the job was going to be more lecturing... I think he missed the point that they're JAPANESE and don't speak english as their native tongue... @_@ So there are 4 left.

I also got to hang out with one of the japanese girls who works with me at a local school. She grew up close by. It was really fun. We had some pretty tasty pizza and then I took her to the local pub with the really good ice cream. I swear I eat soooo much ice cream... check that, I EAT SO MUCH FOOD!

I also met up with another teacher who was an English major like meeee! She's super sweet and friendly... and low key! I think she may be joining us for some Saturday night dinner and dessert outings. We ate at a cafe/restaurant in Osu, which seems to be the place to hang out around here. I had the BEST avocado sandwich! Easily the best I've had in Japan. It tasted like one I'd eat at home. Then we had some pretty cool parfaits for dessert. Mandy was there of course. I am so glad I have Mandy! I would be so bored without her here! She's great company.

Speaking of Mandy, yesterday we went to Inuyama Castle. It's the oldest castle in Japan because it hasn't been bombed, earthquaked, or otherwise rebuilt. It's really cool. I took a CRAPTON of pictures. I will probably upload those a bit later and if I remember, Ill add a link here. lol. After the castle we went to the Jo-an Teahouse and had tea and Japanese dessert. I am not a fan of green tea or red bean... but I did it for the sake of cultural knowledge. -.- It was really a lot of fun and VERY BEAUTIFUL!! Like I said, the weather has been sooooo nice the last couple of days, it was a really awesome day trip. Also, when we got there, they offered to send us with a volunteer guide who spoke to us in English! She was so sweet. She gave us little origami samurai hats as a keepsake. I wish I could remember her name... -.-

OOOO! One last thing, we ate at the neko (neko - cat) bistro and had the BEST LUNCH! It was your basic Italian restaurant with a cat theme. I said I was vegetarian and they made my pasta without meat but added a ton of veggies. For 1300 yen (about $13.00) we had salad, bread, pasta, dessert and drinks. It was soooo good! and again, I ATE SO MUCH! do you see a pattern here?? The dessert came with little tiny cat shaped cookies, ice cream, this really awesome-i-dont-know-what-it-was bread with cream on top, and fruit. I am using this blog as a mental note to remember this place. ^_^

Work has also been going well. Since my mishap, I am working harder to improve my tarnished reputation... I got to sub a senka class. Senka is an intensive class that we teach which lasts 2 hours. It's a lot of fun but requires a lot of prep. I also did a bunch of demo lessons for the new school that just opened and the school director sent compliments to personnel about them. ^_^ Today the school director joked that he hopes someone gets a disease so I can sub for him again... though I don't actually think he wishes a disease.. perhaps just minor illness. ^_^

2 students of note: I met this guy who is 60-? now. He works for Mitsubishi building ships, though mostly his job was engineering the inside electronic equipment. He's lived in 6 countries: Russia, USA, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. He's tried to learn the local dialect of each country, so he knows so many languages! I didn't teach him at all. Instead, I asked him about his job and he stood up and went to the white board and explained all about ship building! It was totally fascinating! I learned that liquid natural gas needs to be kept at -153 c. The other gas, needs to be kept at roughly -50c. and thats the same temperature that salmon needs to be kept at... so they'd transport gas one way, pick up salmon, and bring it back on the return trip. Totally randomly useless knowledge that I can store away and use for some trivia game later!

The other guy is 32 and hes a physics professor at a local university. Already!!! A professor! Physics!! I'm jealous. -.- His hobby is making pasta, which he has done now for about a year. He's made almost every type of pasta... when I told him that my sister and I have made the actual pasta from scratch, he said he was going to try it and let me know how it turns out. ^_^ He is also into heavy metal! He said in Japan there are the big 4: Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and Pantera. They have a name for it but I forgot what it was... I think they are the big 4 in the USA too though. He was totally cool. But in the not-so-much-cool-as-geeky kinda way. ^_^

Finally, last week I went and saw my first movie (with Mandy)!!! We went on Valentines day. ^_^ We saw "shiawase no pan" or "bread of happiness." It was a totally cute movie about a woman in Okinawa who runs a bread shop. She's looking for true love. There weren't any subtitles!!!!! eeeeeee!!!! I think I understood about 80% of the movie... I think. It was really a great movie to have as my first movie here.

It's so strange to feel alive again. The last 5-6 years have been so tough. But like every winter, the clouds eventually dissipate and the sun begins to shine again... I am happy.