What a week!

This week (well, last week to be exact) has been a rush with tons of stuff happening... all of sudden the weekend's over and I'm back to work again (actually, I worked through last weekend so... it didn't really count...)

On Monday, I went to Tokyo for the Re-contracting Conference in Shinjuku. The hotel that we're all staying in is Keio Plaza. hee hee~ Actually we're all required to book the rooms through this designated travel agency, but then it actually costs more to book with them than booking it through the hotel pack with another travel agency. So as the policy of our city hall, we had to choose whichever that's cheaper. I was more than happy to do that. If we book the room with the designated one, I'd have to share a triple bed room with 2 other people, but then I booked with hotel pack. I had my own room, with lots of space ;)

The room was just awesome! It was nice and big (2 times size of my apartment), with a HUGE queen size bed, and amenities for 2 people (I actually used 2 toothbrushes in 1 day... just cuz). Then the mornings, I GOT NEWSPAPERS! It was complimentary newspaper of Mainichi Shimbun, and I couldn't be happier. I read the newspaper while eating breakfast. It was fantastic.

Oh yeah, about the conference... I think I learned more in this conference then the past ones. Probably because this one is all by professional people, and they really know what they're talking about. Especially the translation and interpretation one. The lady who taught our class translates and does simultaneous interpreting for TV broadcast. When 9/11 happened, she got phone calls at 1 in the morning to do the interpreting for CNN. She really had lots of good info about the industry. However, she mentioned that the pay is not as good as what people have imagined it to be, because there are so many people who can do it... the market is too small for such a big group of people who can do it. Hmmm made me re-think about my career choice now.

I think I asked too many questions and pretty much dominated the whole conversation... cuz most of the CIRs could care less about interpreting... since all they do is school visits and eikaiwa (which is pretty much what I do too, but I just love talking... :p) Then I asked her about the famous translator T. N., then she said that "OFU REKO (off record), T. N. actually has really poor reputation in the industry... because she's getting old and not that capable of doing things like before." hee hee~ I especially asked the question for Maru-chan, cuz we were just talking about T.N.'s poor translation for movies the other days. hee hee~

Then at nights, I met Noriko, Eriko on first night, and Naoko and Yuki on second night. It was definitely awesome to see them after 1 year! (Noriko, not so long since I saw her last Dec in Chiba) We went for great food (Korean the first night, and then Yakitori the second night), some nice drinks, and LOTs of chatting. Heard from Yuki about this getting married business and I'm really happy that this guy seems pretty sincere. Yuki has the tendency of being attracted to dame-otoko (scrubs..?), so I'm actually really surprised that she found this guy that seems quite honest and treats her quite well.

Did lots of shopping in Shinjuku, bought a few skirts for work, that's it. Couldn't buy any more stuff cuz then they'd just not fit in my bag and had to carry them... etc etc... Went to Tokyo Station before heading to Airport, shopped a bit more. After that, got to airport with lots of time to spare. Bought the new version of Tokyo Banana for work ppl. The new Tokyo Banana is like a bound cake, but REALLY good. The taste is not too sweet and quite good with coffee. Next time when go to tokyo, I'll get more (for myself~~).

Got back to work on Thursday, then dived right into preparation for Ajisai Matsuri. Had to get the "Trivia Hunt" ready, the trivia questions ready for prints, the gifts for winners ready (the flags of diff. countries made from beads and safety pins),...etc. So many things to do with so little time. I also still have to do the report of re-conctrating conference and hand it in within 10 days. Ahhhhhhhhhh...

Finally, when Sunday came, the Ajisai Matsuri in Minzokukan was a hit! The photo session with trying on different countries' clothings was really popular, and people all seemed to enjoy my trivia hunt. I especially loved it when the kids yelled "Atta!!(Found it!)" when they found the answers. It was a great feeling. Also the gift in the end surely made lots of them really happy. The Brazilian flag and Jamaican flag were really popular, and my original design Canadian Maple Leaf Flag went quickly as well. In the end, we had to close it early before 2pm because we've run out of flags to give people. oops~

However, throughout the whole day, I had a cold (actually still have as of this moment), and was quite sickly. The people around office were all really nice and kept asking if I was okay. Yoshioka -san even gave me some meds to take. For the event to go smoothly, I had to make sure that everything is okay.

HUGE THANKS to Nanette and Joe who came out to help me and be the quiz masters for trivia hunt. They seemed quite happy, so I'm happy ^_^ Too bad the food coupon thing didn't work out that the vendors wouldn't let them use their food coupon for cotton candy. oh well... anyways.. I was just too grateful for them to be there... (Jenny and Chris said they would come too.. but then they were nowhere to be seen, and still no idea why they didn't show now. No mail whatsoever,... ah, don't care anymore.)

Today went to work with a heavy body and a mind that's barely working. School visit in Sugawara, the school by Kinko Bay. It's one of my fave school cuz there are only 30 kids or so there, and they are all really sweet, especially the 1 and 2 graders... so cute!

After lunch, played dodgeball with the whole school kids in the school gym. As usual, the kids get too serious and there bound to be a few that cry because they didn't get the ball or other kids got the ball from them... etc. Finally, when the game is over, the boys still didn't want to give the ball back. The girl got impatient and started chasing... I got impatient as well, so I yelled out "やめろうつーの!!"("Quit It!!"). Then the boys suddenly gave the ball up and everyone's like "Sandy せんせい、カッコイイ！"(Kakko ii, basically "cool!!") hee hee~ sometimes being loud has it's merits :)

Then got back home... took afternoon off from work. went to post office, mailed out the airplane tickets that I canceled. Got back home again... slept until 5pm.

Having a cold sucks!