frigid

wow, so its been a while since my last post. its hard to explain the whirlwind of things that have happened since my last post. most recently ive been sick. i think... i think i had allergies that somehow morphed into a flu... ive never really had allergies, nor do i have any idea what i might be allergic to... so theres no way for me to prevent it really. -.-

in my last post i had just gotten back from tokyo i think... since then many things have happened. such as:

my favoritist restaurant closed down. issa, the owner, was having problems with the building owner so he decided to close instead of move... BUMMER! i really want misoya too... i need to make friends with another store owner real soon.

THEN the bar mandy and i liked also closed. apparently the owner filed bankruptcy and committed suicide. wtf...?? it closed down just 2 weeks after my birthday too... geez. perhaps my patronage brings bad karma? o.O i donno... but i was majorly bummed. im back in search of new places to hang out here in nagoya...

earlier in october i headed down to kyoto for a day trip with mandy. we realized that she and i had never actually "vacationed" together. odd isnt it? im with mandy all the time... but being friends with someone and travelling with them are two entirely different stories. hanging in a mutually desirable for a few hours at a time is easy. spending 24 hours in close contact with someone doesnt always work out the same way. im kind of a moody person. i dont really like people after being with them for too long. also, i dont like nature, or all that icky stuff that people tend to enjoy on their vacations... so my needs are often different from most. all i need is good food, good cityscapes and nice weather. i dont want to go hiking or skiing or anything too complicated. just relax and take some pictures.

thankfully mandy already knows this about me, so when we embarked on our tour of kyoto together, we didnt plan to see temples or hike or anything like that. personally, i think if youve seen one temple, youve seen them all. same with castles. after a while they all look the same and i dont care if there are peaches, or sakura... or if theyre gold or silver or neon green for that matter.... mandy and i instead went to a really super large flea market and bought some pretty delicious dried fruit. then we went to visit jennifer in her macha cafe (macha = green tea) and then we had dinner with ariel and nicky and josh.

it was really great actually. i love my friends. i have no greater sense of peace and belonging than when i am with them. this is us at the restaurant near the kamo river. who would have thought we'd all be here 5 years ago? i certainly didnt.

other highlights from october... i got a flat stanley! my old friend from junior high school sent me an email asking if her daughter could send me a letter.... so i said sure. when it got here i was surprised to see what i got!

her name was mya and i had her for about 2 weeks. i took her pretty much everywhere i went....  like this:

 and then before i sent her back home i collected a bunch of random things from japan for her class. i really had a great time with her. 

also in october i went to little world. little world is basically a living city/amusement park where you go and experience living in another country. kind of like a real life small world... hence little world. lol. you can eat foods from different countries, dress up in foreign clothes, watch performances, and shop! 

i chose to do archery at the native american exhibit! ^^

i also made pottery! theres a famous place in tokoname where you can make your own pottery... 

my teacher is making sure my vase is stable. ^^

i made a vase and a cup. i should be able to get it this weekend! weeeee!!!!

one of the highlights for me was of course halloween! i love love love halloween so it was really exciting to make crafts with all the kids. i am also apart of the kindergarden visiting program so i went to quite a few preschools to give special halloween event lessons. ^^

this was right before an event lesson with my friend sean. hes goku from dragonball. ^^

this is me with my regular class at handa, with my friend atsumi. ^^ i love this class. theyre all crazy. as you can see we're all holding black spiders... that was our halloween craft. ^^

so yea, i had two costumes, one for work and one for after work. i went to a place called "red rock." its an australian bar... did you know they dont celebrate halloween in australia??? insanity. but, mandy was a great sport anyway and dressed up. ^^

this is our group. ^^ it was sooo much fun!

so... that brings me to november already. i VOTED! i find voting to be a right of mine that is quite precious.... in a way thats difficult to explain. politics are important to me and i want to see the u.s. do well... the only way that happens is if we make politicians accountable for their actions- which we do by voting. anyway, without going on a political rant, i voted. i voted for obama. there was very little doubt in my mind that he was going to win because if you follow politics at all, the electoral college was almost certainly in his favor.... anyway... it all turned out neatly in the way i had hoped. 

the night of the election we had an obama party. ^^ dubbed "the democratic party." yes, we are all geeks. -.-

so lets see... that was last week. i finally broke down and bought a heater and a humidifier last week because my throat kept bleeding. probably tmi... but it was sooooooooo painful. now my throat is moist and my room is toasty. now if only i could get over this flu.... ugh.... 

sometimes i wonder how i got here. its weird. i always used to say id live in japan... the idea is still slightly surreal. how did it actually happen? i donno. i wonder about my life sometimes. 

sometimes i wish i was- ok very infrequently- but once in a while i wonder what my life would have been like had i settled down and had kids. but i think, i think i am really in tune with myself. i basically know whats good for me and whats not... though the choices are not always easy. 

right now i am feeling my life changing again. this month, on nov. 30th, it will be one year here in japan. it boggles my mind. i still pick up the phone to call my dad, only not is he gone, but ive never called him from this phone. 

soon i will have to make more choices. hopefully they wont be too difficult... but saying goodbye and starting anew is always bittersweet. my goal is by this time next year to be in a place where my life is finally on a steady and forward moving path. it kinda is now... but im changing it. heh. ^^;; but next year....!

on that note, i will be home in *5* weeeeeeeeeks! but who's counting...? ^^ i am soooo freaking excited im gonna wet my pants. ok maybe not... but i might be willing to dish out a few hugs. o.O *gasp* i have a list a mile long for when i get home... i really want to go to le pappillon... i wonder if i can convince jason to take me again... then id really need to get up north... hehe. time time time... never enough time... 

also, might i add WE NEVER HAD FALL! ITS FAWKING COLD ALREADY!!!!!!  I HATE JAPANS WEATHER! *deep breaths*

i guess i should sleep now. thinking about my future is tiring. -.-