...whether I'm voting for Koizumi or not... I swear... arrrgh!! SO many people around the office asked me if I am gonna vote tomorrow for the Japanese election.
Seriously guys, you've gotta be kidding me, right? I mean, it's one thing to forget that I'm not Japanese because I look Asian, but that can't mean that I have voting rights too!! After I replied:"no, that would be silly. How is it possible for a person to vote when don't have citizenship in that country?" Then they just said:"Why not? You live in Japan!"
hmmm...
I suppose they're somehow right. There are so many foreigners living in Japan, and in some ways we are entitled to make our voice heard. I mean, sure for those of us who are only staying for a couple of years, I guess that doesn't matter... but what about the Zainichi Chinese and Zainichi Koreans! They were mostly born in Japan, and some of them can even only speak Japanese... They should have the same rights after they turn 20. They shouldn't have to carry the alien registration card like us the actual gaijins...
The other day I was reading Japan Times and an article mentioned that some of the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party in which the PM Koizumi is the leader) members in the Diet were trying to pass this bill to force all foreigners coming or currently residing Japan to carry the alien registration card that is an IC card which would have ALL our personal information, including our name, birthdates, nationality, visa number, passport number, school or employment status, and whatnots. If that happens, I'm outta here. Despite how many Japanese people think that you can just marry a Japanese person to become Japanese, I know better. (Jenn, I'm sure you do too.)
Anyways... today's Saturday... while there were a few schools having their sports day (the Tasaki-sho had theirs and it was friggin loud! I heard so many pop songs but it was all echoing around the neighbourhood. Quite annoying. And then once in awhile you would hear the election trucks passing through with their annoucement adding to the "excitement."
Went to this yakitori place just off the Internet cafe place with Rina, Joe, Nanette and Alyson (she's this girl who teaches at a local engish school. from the states. Really cool gal~). After awhile Nha-thy came and joined us too. It was a nice change from all the nomihodai and tabehodai. It's seriously bad for your diet...
Especially I went to a nomikai with my office last night too. And I gotta tell ya, it was a weird thing... And I discovered that Japanese men (esp. Kyushu men) can dish it out but they can't take it in. Maybe it's just my co-worker... but seriously... you gotta grow up! Geez!
Yeah, marrying a Japanese man. That'll happen... not :p
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Friday, September 09, 2005
Typhoon #14...
I felt terrible for escaping to Nagoya when there was typhoon coming. But we had decided on the expo trip long time ago and I simply can't change… and you think I wouldn't have loved to stay at home when not having to go to work?! I would love to sleep away half a day and then wake up to watch some DVDs.
On the morning of the expo day, I even got a phone call from my section chief (kakari cho) and he sounded really worried: "Sandy, the storm is very strong so don't come outside. Just stay home today, okay?" I was standing in front of the bus terminal and waiting for Aki and Tanicchi with Nami, and felt extremely guilty as I told him: "actually, I'm in Nagoya right now…" He was shocked but relieved that I wasn't in Kanoya. After that I kept getting e-mails from friends in Tokyo, family in Canada and Taiwan calling to see if I was alright. Apparently the Typhoon # 14 was quite famous even in Canada. My mom was so worried that she called many times even after I told her that I wouldn't be back until Wednesday.
This time the typhoon was serious, and at least 5 people were confirmed dead because the landslide in Tarumizu. I became really worried after watching the TV news when I was in Gifu (couldn't book any hotel in Nagoya so had to stay in Gifu), so I started e-mailing all the ALTs to see if they were alright. It was good to know that they were mostly fine, except for some blackouts.
I guess this tells us that we probably shouldn't joke about not having much typhoon this year… as how natural disasters are… they caught us off guard when we least expected.
On the morning of the expo day, I even got a phone call from my section chief (kakari cho) and he sounded really worried: "Sandy, the storm is very strong so don't come outside. Just stay home today, okay?" I was standing in front of the bus terminal and waiting for Aki and Tanicchi with Nami, and felt extremely guilty as I told him: "actually, I'm in Nagoya right now…" He was shocked but relieved that I wasn't in Kanoya. After that I kept getting e-mails from friends in Tokyo, family in Canada and Taiwan calling to see if I was alright. Apparently the Typhoon # 14 was quite famous even in Canada. My mom was so worried that she called many times even after I told her that I wouldn't be back until Wednesday.
This time the typhoon was serious, and at least 5 people were confirmed dead because the landslide in Tarumizu. I became really worried after watching the TV news when I was in Gifu (couldn't book any hotel in Nagoya so had to stay in Gifu), so I started e-mailing all the ALTs to see if they were alright. It was good to know that they were mostly fine, except for some blackouts.
I guess this tells us that we probably shouldn't joke about not having much typhoon this year… as how natural disasters are… they caught us off guard when we least expected.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
The Aichi Expo 2005
WARNING: If you haven't been to the Aichi Expo or would prefer not to know what are inside the pavilions or anything that goes on in there… please skip this entry. Oh and the entry might be a bit too long for some…
On Sunday morning, I boarded the airplane from the Kagoshima Airport and therefore escaped from the crazy typhoon #14 (there will be another entry for the typhoon). After I landed in Chubu International Airport (Centrair), I was overwhelmed by how hot it was. It wasn't much of the sunny and sweaty hot in Kag, but those really irritating humid, wet kind of hot.
Maybe it's because of the sudden increase of people flooding into the city for the expo, the garbage on the streets increased as well. Last time I came it was at least clean, but this time… ah…
Then I met up with Aki and Tanicchi for supper, had some nice yakitori and great agedashi tofu (it tasted almost like cheese!). We decided to get up early in the morning and meet again at the bus centre at 7:45 to board the shuttle bus to the Expo. The ticket was 1500 yen for roundtrip, about 200 yen more than the price for taking Rinimo shuttle train. (But, we were glad to have taken the shuttle bus because we were all able to sit, whereas if you take the train, there's a possibility that you would have to stand or rather squeeze with other people for 35 minutes or so.)
Next morning, Nami and I were so excited to see each other we chatted on the bus the whole time, but Aki and Tanicchi decided to catch some sleep (after they were late for the meeting time, and they blamed it on the typhoon…)
(LEFT: Nami and I posing in front of the Korean pavilion which was one of the most popular pavilions in the Expo. Becauese the Han-ryu Boom [Korean Craze] that's going on, many people in Japan are suddenly very much interested in Korea.
After we got off the bus, there were people herding us to the entrance… It was only 8:30 am, and we were already lining up to get in. It was at that point, Aki said that we'd better give up any hope for getting in the Toyota group, because there's no way we would be able to get in with this number of crowd. And sure enough, when we got in, there was already a long line of about 100 people lining up to get the ticket for reservation of Toyota group.
We first lined up to see the Orange Hall + Mammoth Lab. I already made reservation for it, but then Nami and Aki wanted to see it too, so we all went anyway. Before we got into the Orange Hall, they gave us this card with small pokey edge that has a hold for listening and we were to get the magnetic strip side facing all the red bars on the ceiling so we can hear explanation about each exhibit. The Orange Hall also had a high definition show of many beautiful places in Japan. Kyoto and Mt. Fuji were of course expected, but then suddenly I saw a rocket launch scene… hmmm it can't be?! And sure enough, it was our Kagoshima's Tanegashima Space Centre!! I was surprised that Yakushima was not on there, but oh well. After that we lined up to see all the interesting knickknacks that were collected from the Moon (the moon rock brought back by Apollo 17), and some technology used to navigate on the Moon. When we walked by the real size model of Mammoth, the lady there held up a sign for those people's ticket number ended with 06 or 80 can get a free photo postcard with the Mammoth. It turned out that Aki's ticket number ended with 80 so all four of us stood in front of the Mammoth as the lady who took our picture said:"Manmosu (Mammath in Japanese)" and we said:"Daisuki" ("We love it"). Aki promised to scan the photo and send it to us… We'll see how long it would take~ hee hee.
(LEFT: A musical performance in the Mongolian Pavilion. The big cello kinda like instrument is called "Matochin 馬頭琴" and we actually have a small one in our Museum in Kanoya! It was nice to watch it live. There was also a video montage of Mongolian Fashion show. Really cool stuff.)
Although we all gave up on the corporate pavilions, I did manage to make reservation for the Mitsui-Toshiba pavilion so Tanicchi and I went there when Nami and Aki went to line up for the Korean Pavilion (which was quite nice too I heard). The Mitsui-Toshiba was like a "futuristic casting system" where they take CG pictures of all of us and then put our faces on the characters, hence the futuristic casting. There were so many rules on how to put your face correctly so you can be photographed, and also to make sure there's no hair or glasses… I couldn't get my bangs out of the way, but then there's nothing I could do. Then we watched this short movie completely done by CG. The story line is basically how a crew living on this new planet found a sound echoing in the galaxy (which was the sound of ocean) but couldn't figure out what it was. Then they decided to go back and look for the source of the sound. And then encounter this mysterious girl who… (I had no idea what was going on because we were too busy looking for oursevles on screen.) Anyways, so there's the film with our group's people's faces on the characters!! It took me awhile to figure out where I was, but then I was surprised that I didn't realize it sooner! I was the girl who stands next to the Captain of the crew. And I had a nice sexy voice J hee hee But too bad we couldn't figure out where Tanicchi was. Either he didn't photograph well or we just completely missed him. The funny part about it was that a little boy (about 5 years old) had a sticker on his face. It was not a teeny tiny sticker, but a HUGE square one. So as his face appeared on the screen, everyone laughed while he was like:"あれ？あれ？" ("huh??") wondering why he was on the screen. And his character actually was quite big in the film too…lots of speaking. Hee hee it was hilarious.
The rest of the time we spent mostly going to the global pavilion. The Asia one was mostly comprised of souvenir booths. We went to the Yemen pavilion ONLY because Aki saw the TV program introducing Aichi Expo and that the Yemen people are "great" sales people. They would just put bracelets, rings and other things on your hands, and when you said you are not interested, they would just keep putting on more as you take the others off. Eventually, some people couldn't escape and ended up buying some things they might regret when they get home. Nami and I went in and started walking around, then this guy extended his hands holding this shiny bracelets and motioned to put it on my wrist. I quickly put my hands behind my back and shook my head. He kept saying:"Kawaii, Kawaii" ("cute" in Japanese) to Nami and I, but we just shook our head and said thank you then walked away.
To show my Canadian Pride, we also went to the Canadian Pavilion and checked it out. It was actually a lot better than what I expected. Heather had told me that it was kinda abstract and some people might not appreciate it. But I thought it was quite fitting for Canada. We lined up for about 30 minutes and then got in to stand in front of this wall of mesh. Then the show began with music and rainfalls, basically sound of nature. With visuals of northern lights, the Rockies, and the Niagara. After that we moved a bit to the other side and then watched another big screen introducing 6 ordinary Canadians (they said ordinary people, but I know better…) from Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax and Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island) and their daily lives. One thing that's interesting to me was that the Charlottetown person was the lady who plays Anne in the "Anne of the Green Gable" musical play in PEI. Hee hee very Canadian indeed! After the show, we went into the other room full of computers with further info for the 6 cities and the 6 people. Then there were lots of postcards of Canadian nature for people to take. (yes, free!) I couldn't find my friend Teanna who was probably not working on that day. And I heard the rumor that if you told them you're Canadian, you can get a pin too… well, I did mention that I'm from Vancouver, but then there's no pin giving out… :p
Most of the popular pavilions were all full of people lining up. Nami (who had been to Germany 4 times and studied German) really wanted to get in the Germany one, but the waiting time was like 2 and a half hours just to get in. Too bad it was Theresa's day off, otherwise we would've gotten in with "connection" and enjoyed one of the few rides available in the Expo. We went to the Ireland one, which was quite nice too. Photos of Irish greens and the lambs… Also the Celtic crosses were there for people to take photos with. Then we lined up to see this short film introducing Ireland and the natural habitat…etc. We waited for about 25 minutes, but it was well worth it. I don't mean that the film was interesting (well, not bad), but the sitting was REALLY relaxing especially after walking all day long. It was like a couch, but then reclining so you can see the film projected onto the ceiling, and the speaker was right next to your ears (but Nami used her speaker as a pillow). The position was so nice and relaxing and soothing celtic music was playing in the background with the narration. We were too relaxed to hear what the narrator was talking about. Aki fell asleep (couldn't blame him) and woke up with a jolt for some reason, hence woke up Tanicchi who was also sleeping next to him.
We also went to the UK pavilion and it was quite interest as they have many b
iotechnology on how to observe nature and how to preserve the nature and all that stuff. They have hands-on things for you to play. Like a virtual book that you can just put your hand on the virtual page and do a page turning motion, the page will follow your hand and move on to the next page. (like the photo on the right!) The souvenir shops sold some tea and biscuits and stuff… but then they were mostly made in Japan (actually I think they were ALL made in Japan so what's the point of buying them there in the pavilion, right?)
Yeah the food… Since there was no outside food allowed in the Expo, we all had to buy lunch and supper inside. We had chicken curry with nan at the Indian Pavilion and supped at the main food court. I bought bibimba in the Korean booth… and it was only okay. The egg was very well done and there was no meat whatsoever. Hmmm… should've gotten bulgogi, at least it would've been hot.
On Sunday morning, I boarded the airplane from the Kagoshima Airport and therefore escaped from the crazy typhoon #14 (there will be another entry for the typhoon). After I landed in Chubu International Airport (Centrair), I was overwhelmed by how hot it was. It wasn't much of the sunny and sweaty hot in Kag, but those really irritating humid, wet kind of hot.
Maybe it's because of the sudden increase of people flooding into the city for the expo, the garbage on the streets increased as well. Last time I came it was at least clean, but this time… ah…
Then I met up with Aki and Tanicchi for supper, had some nice yakitori and great agedashi tofu (it tasted almost like cheese!). We decided to get up early in the morning and meet again at the bus centre at 7:45 to board the shuttle bus to the Expo. The ticket was 1500 yen for roundtrip, about 200 yen more than the price for taking Rinimo shuttle train. (But, we were glad to have taken the shuttle bus because we were all able to sit, whereas if you take the train, there's a possibility that you would have to stand or rather squeeze with other people for 35 minutes or so.)
Next morning, Nami and I were so excited to see each other we chatted on the bus the whole time, but Aki and Tanicchi decided to catch some sleep (after they were late for the meeting time, and they blamed it on the typhoon…)
(LEFT: Nami and I posing in front of the Korean pavilion which was one of the most popular pavilions in the Expo. Becauese the Han-ryu Boom [Korean Craze] that's going on, many people in Japan are suddenly very much interested in Korea.After we got off the bus, there were people herding us to the entrance… It was only 8:30 am, and we were already lining up to get in. It was at that point, Aki said that we'd better give up any hope for getting in the Toyota group, because there's no way we would be able to get in with this number of crowd. And sure enough, when we got in, there was already a long line of about 100 people lining up to get the ticket for reservation of Toyota group.
We first lined up to see the Orange Hall + Mammoth Lab. I already made reservation for it, but then Nami and Aki wanted to see it too, so we all went anyway. Before we got into the Orange Hall, they gave us this card with small pokey edge that has a hold for listening and we were to get the magnetic strip side facing all the red bars on the ceiling so we can hear explanation about each exhibit. The Orange Hall also had a high definition show of many beautiful places in Japan. Kyoto and Mt. Fuji were of course expected, but then suddenly I saw a rocket launch scene… hmmm it can't be?! And sure enough, it was our Kagoshima's Tanegashima Space Centre!! I was surprised that Yakushima was not on there, but oh well. After that we lined up to see all the interesting knickknacks that were collected from the Moon (the moon rock brought back by Apollo 17), and some technology used to navigate on the Moon. When we walked by the real size model of Mammoth, the lady there held up a sign for those people's ticket number ended with 06 or 80 can get a free photo postcard with the Mammoth. It turned out that Aki's ticket number ended with 80 so all four of us stood in front of the Mammoth as the lady who took our picture said:"Manmosu (Mammath in Japanese)" and we said:"Daisuki" ("We love it"). Aki promised to scan the photo and send it to us… We'll see how long it would take~ hee hee.
(LEFT: A musical performance in the Mongolian Pavilion. The big cello kinda like instrument is called "Matochin 馬頭琴" and we actually have a small one in our Museum in Kanoya! It was nice to watch it live. There was also a video montage of Mongolian Fashion show. Really cool stuff.)Although we all gave up on the corporate pavilions, I did manage to make reservation for the Mitsui-Toshiba pavilion so Tanicchi and I went there when Nami and Aki went to line up for the Korean Pavilion (which was quite nice too I heard). The Mitsui-Toshiba was like a "futuristic casting system" where they take CG pictures of all of us and then put our faces on the characters, hence the futuristic casting. There were so many rules on how to put your face correctly so you can be photographed, and also to make sure there's no hair or glasses… I couldn't get my bangs out of the way, but then there's nothing I could do. Then we watched this short movie completely done by CG. The story line is basically how a crew living on this new planet found a sound echoing in the galaxy (which was the sound of ocean) but couldn't figure out what it was. Then they decided to go back and look for the source of the sound. And then encounter this mysterious girl who… (I had no idea what was going on because we were too busy looking for oursevles on screen.) Anyways, so there's the film with our group's people's faces on the characters!! It took me awhile to figure out where I was, but then I was surprised that I didn't realize it sooner! I was the girl who stands next to the Captain of the crew. And I had a nice sexy voice J hee hee But too bad we couldn't figure out where Tanicchi was. Either he didn't photograph well or we just completely missed him. The funny part about it was that a little boy (about 5 years old) had a sticker on his face. It was not a teeny tiny sticker, but a HUGE square one. So as his face appeared on the screen, everyone laughed while he was like:"あれ？あれ？" ("huh??") wondering why he was on the screen. And his character actually was quite big in the film too…lots of speaking. Hee hee it was hilarious.
The rest of the time we spent mostly going to the global pavilion. The Asia one was mostly comprised of souvenir booths. We went to the Yemen pavilion ONLY because Aki saw the TV program introducing Aichi Expo and that the Yemen people are "great" sales people. They would just put bracelets, rings and other things on your hands, and when you said you are not interested, they would just keep putting on more as you take the others off. Eventually, some people couldn't escape and ended up buying some things they might regret when they get home. Nami and I went in and started walking around, then this guy extended his hands holding this shiny bracelets and motioned to put it on my wrist. I quickly put my hands behind my back and shook my head. He kept saying:"Kawaii, Kawaii" ("cute" in Japanese) to Nami and I, but we just shook our head and said thank you then walked away.
To show my Canadian Pride, we also went to the Canadian Pavilion and checked it out. It was actually a lot better than what I expected. Heather had told me that it was kinda abstract and some people might not appreciate it. But I thought it was quite fitting for Canada. We lined up for about 30 minutes and then got in to stand in front of this wall of mesh. Then the show began with music and rainfalls, basically sound of nature. With visuals of northern lights, the Rockies, and the Niagara. After that we moved a bit to the other side and then watched another big screen introducing 6 ordinary Canadians (they said ordinary people, but I know better…) from Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax and Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island) and their daily lives. One thing that's interesting to me was that the Charlottetown person was the lady who plays Anne in the "Anne of the Green Gable" musical play in PEI. Hee hee very Canadian indeed! After the show, we went into the other room full of computers with further info for the 6 cities and the 6 people. Then there were lots of postcards of Canadian nature for people to take. (yes, free!) I couldn't find my friend Teanna who was probably not working on that day. And I heard the rumor that if you told them you're Canadian, you can get a pin too… well, I did mention that I'm from Vancouver, but then there's no pin giving out… :p
Most of the popular pavilions were all full of people lining up. Nami (who had been to Germany 4 times and studied German) really wanted to get in the Germany one, but the waiting time was like 2 and a half hours just to get in. Too bad it was Theresa's day off, otherwise we would've gotten in with "connection" and enjoyed one of the few rides available in the Expo. We went to the Ireland one, which was quite nice too. Photos of Irish greens and the lambs… Also the Celtic crosses were there for people to take photos with. Then we lined up to see this short film introducing Ireland and the natural habitat…etc. We waited for about 25 minutes, but it was well worth it. I don't mean that the film was interesting (well, not bad), but the sitting was REALLY relaxing especially after walking all day long. It was like a couch, but then reclining so you can see the film projected onto the ceiling, and the speaker was right next to your ears (but Nami used her speaker as a pillow). The position was so nice and relaxing and soothing celtic music was playing in the background with the narration. We were too relaxed to hear what the narrator was talking about. Aki fell asleep (couldn't blame him) and woke up with a jolt for some reason, hence woke up Tanicchi who was also sleeping next to him.
We also went to the UK pavilion and it was quite interest as they have many b
iotechnology on how to observe nature and how to preserve the nature and all that stuff. They have hands-on things for you to play. Like a virtual book that you can just put your hand on the virtual page and do a page turning motion, the page will follow your hand and move on to the next page. (like the photo on the right!) The souvenir shops sold some tea and biscuits and stuff… but then they were mostly made in Japan (actually I think they were ALL made in Japan so what's the point of buying them there in the pavilion, right?)Yeah the food… Since there was no outside food allowed in the Expo, we all had to buy lunch and supper inside. We had chicken curry with nan at the Indian Pavilion and supped at the main food court. I bought bibimba in the Korean booth… and it was only okay. The egg was very well done and there was no meat whatsoever. Hmmm… should've gotten bulgogi, at least it would've been hot.
We also went to the Italian one which exhibits some artworks and also the Italian brands... 
(most Japanese OL can relate to, easily) There was also this statue that was only on exhibit in this expo before it would go into storage or some repair or touchup or whatever... and then we walked in this room smelled REALLY nice... while we were walking, there was this little girl who stretched out her hands to touch this car shell... and her father jokingly said:"Miss, please refrain from eating the exhibit." And that's when I realized, "OMG! This car shell is made of CHOCOLATE!!!" No wonder it smelled so good!! hee hee leave it to the Italians to make an autobody into gourment~
Overall, it was a great experience, and I couldn't have enjoyed it more if I hadn't gone with my old friends from Shizuoka University, Aki, Tanicchi and Nami. They were awesome and we pretty much just had fun ourselves. The rain was never a problem, except when there were a couple of times I was very close to being poked in the eyes :p) Good time, man, Good time...
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Well, isn't this ironic...
Okay okay, I know that Alanis Morisette had the meaning of "ironic" all wrong in her song, but I just think this is kinda the same thing she was getting at in her lyrics..
As I'm preparing to go the Aichi Expo (FINALLY!), guess what I see when I was watching TV news weather forecast? A TYPHOON!! great.. so it's gonna rain all day, plus a slight chance that my flight might even be cancelled because of the storm. FANTASTIC...
Well, I don't really have a choice, just gonna go to the airport tomorrow and see how it goes. Oh and I wrote 40 postcards (by hand...) to register for the Satsuki to Mei no Ie house that was in Totoro movie... no reply, so I guess I didn't get it. I probably used up all my luck when I got the tickets to see the DCT concert... oi..
Last night a bunch of us Kanoya JETs and some other friends from Miyazaki, juku teachers... we got together at Weiss and had a few drinks. It was good time~ I like that bar, such a nice little place with great music videos playing in the background and some blacklights to make your shirts and drinks glow.
These days I've been cutting comic strip clippings and getting them off internet... thinking of making a English conversation class with some comic strips. They're nice and short. Mostly they don't use big words, so pretty much like daily conversation type of English.
Oh yeah, the other day I got told that a lady complained that a girl picked up the phone and didn't reply "Otsukaresama desu, Osewa ni narimasu." blah things they always say when they call... okay, so there's not many female around and the only person who would do that is just me... Well I was told that I should answer it no matter what. But in my defense, they were talking so freaking quickly, the best I could do is to listen intently of who they wanna talk to and then just transfer the call. heck, if I say that WHILE they were saying the name of the person they wanna talk to, how would I know whom to transfer the call to??!! Anyways... after that I'm just gonna say it no matter what... just to prove that I can do it... although it's just stupid... if I've never talked to them, how do they "osewa ni naru" me??
Well that concludeds today's rant... tomorrow morning I'm off to Nagoya, to meet up with Tanicchi, Aki and Nami. We're going to see the EXPO!!!!!
oh... gotta pack my umbrella too...
As I'm preparing to go the Aichi Expo (FINALLY!), guess what I see when I was watching TV news weather forecast? A TYPHOON!! great.. so it's gonna rain all day, plus a slight chance that my flight might even be cancelled because of the storm. FANTASTIC...
Well, I don't really have a choice, just gonna go to the airport tomorrow and see how it goes. Oh and I wrote 40 postcards (by hand...) to register for the Satsuki to Mei no Ie house that was in Totoro movie... no reply, so I guess I didn't get it. I probably used up all my luck when I got the tickets to see the DCT concert... oi..
Last night a bunch of us Kanoya JETs and some other friends from Miyazaki, juku teachers... we got together at Weiss and had a few drinks. It was good time~ I like that bar, such a nice little place with great music videos playing in the background and some blacklights to make your shirts and drinks glow.
These days I've been cutting comic strip clippings and getting them off internet... thinking of making a English conversation class with some comic strips. They're nice and short. Mostly they don't use big words, so pretty much like daily conversation type of English.
Oh yeah, the other day I got told that a lady complained that a girl picked up the phone and didn't reply "Otsukaresama desu, Osewa ni narimasu." blah things they always say when they call... okay, so there's not many female around and the only person who would do that is just me... Well I was told that I should answer it no matter what. But in my defense, they were talking so freaking quickly, the best I could do is to listen intently of who they wanna talk to and then just transfer the call. heck, if I say that WHILE they were saying the name of the person they wanna talk to, how would I know whom to transfer the call to??!! Anyways... after that I'm just gonna say it no matter what... just to prove that I can do it... although it's just stupid... if I've never talked to them, how do they "osewa ni naru" me??
Well that concludeds today's rant... tomorrow morning I'm off to Nagoya, to meet up with Tanicchi, Aki and Nami. We're going to see the EXPO!!!!!
oh... gotta pack my umbrella too...
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Surprises everyday
Just when you think the JET community is quiet... Nick in Amami's lost and found episode when he was rescued from the beach (after being sucked into the ocean while surfing), by not one, not two, but dozens of people in rescue team and several helicopters became quite famous as soon as it broke out. Everybody was wondering if I knew this ALT...
The good news is that he is safe and apparently felt so comfortable on the beach that he actually told the rescue people to come get him later cuz he wanted to enjoy the sunrise... pretty cool, eh? But I heard that he has to pay for 3,000,000 yen for reparation because of all the work put into searching for him... I never heard that people would actually have to pay for the search operation if they are responsible for the incident... hmmm... I wonder if it's the same in Canada.
Anyways... speaking of surprises, last week I sent a mail to Rina and asked if she wants to come see the Kinko Bay fireworks with me Nanette and Joe... Then she replied and said:"hey you know what, I am in the hospital right now because I just had an appendicitis operation, and have to stay in the hospital for 10 days. So I can't make it." I just about fell off the chair after reading the above message. APPENDICITIS?? I don't even think people can get those anymore?! not since my cousin drank too much pop and had to be rushed to hospital when I was 14...
Then I asked Rina what she would like when I go visit her in the hospital, she wrote:"wet tissue"... hmmm... interesting request. Well on wednesday, I took the afternoon off and got wet tissue at the Midori Drugstore, got some cakes in the cake bakery downstairs, and went to visit her. Since my bike was still parked at the bus centre ever since I went to Taiwan, I had to walk there. Took me awhile to find her room because the hospital had 2 buildings and the rooms are marked most confusingly. Eventually I found her room and gave her the cakes, the wet tissue, and the notebook I got in Taipei 101 as a souvenir for her.
After we talked for awhile, I talked about my birthday flight and incidentally asked her when her birthday was. She smiled and said:"It's today." At first I thought she was joking, but then after a few times of confirming and reconfirming, she assured me that it's today... Poor girl, it was her birthday and she had stay in the hospital... Thank goodness that I brought cake! Rina, we gotta go for a drink when you get out of the hospital... probably not anytime soon though, eh?
Went to a daycare visit today and the kid Ren-kun was driving me nuts again... I don't know why some kids just behave so badly so they can get your attention. Wouldn't it be better for me to notice you if you're listening intently and enjoying the game, rather than rolling around the floor and tried to pulled my shirt then stretch it to a lenght that I can wear it as a dress?? Goodness...
Have been really addicted to "Veronica Mars" and now anxiously waiting for the new season to start. Now moving onto "Arrested Development," and glad to say that it's another great show too.
Ah... TV...
The good news is that he is safe and apparently felt so comfortable on the beach that he actually told the rescue people to come get him later cuz he wanted to enjoy the sunrise... pretty cool, eh? But I heard that he has to pay for 3,000,000 yen for reparation because of all the work put into searching for him... I never heard that people would actually have to pay for the search operation if they are responsible for the incident... hmmm... I wonder if it's the same in Canada.
Anyways... speaking of surprises, last week I sent a mail to Rina and asked if she wants to come see the Kinko Bay fireworks with me Nanette and Joe... Then she replied and said:"hey you know what, I am in the hospital right now because I just had an appendicitis operation, and have to stay in the hospital for 10 days. So I can't make it." I just about fell off the chair after reading the above message. APPENDICITIS?? I don't even think people can get those anymore?! not since my cousin drank too much pop and had to be rushed to hospital when I was 14...
Then I asked Rina what she would like when I go visit her in the hospital, she wrote:"wet tissue"... hmmm... interesting request. Well on wednesday, I took the afternoon off and got wet tissue at the Midori Drugstore, got some cakes in the cake bakery downstairs, and went to visit her. Since my bike was still parked at the bus centre ever since I went to Taiwan, I had to walk there. Took me awhile to find her room because the hospital had 2 buildings and the rooms are marked most confusingly. Eventually I found her room and gave her the cakes, the wet tissue, and the notebook I got in Taipei 101 as a souvenir for her.
After we talked for awhile, I talked about my birthday flight and incidentally asked her when her birthday was. She smiled and said:"It's today." At first I thought she was joking, but then after a few times of confirming and reconfirming, she assured me that it's today... Poor girl, it was her birthday and she had stay in the hospital... Thank goodness that I brought cake! Rina, we gotta go for a drink when you get out of the hospital... probably not anytime soon though, eh?
Went to a daycare visit today and the kid Ren-kun was driving me nuts again... I don't know why some kids just behave so badly so they can get your attention. Wouldn't it be better for me to notice you if you're listening intently and enjoying the game, rather than rolling around the floor and tried to pulled my shirt then stretch it to a lenght that I can wear it as a dress?? Goodness...
Have been really addicted to "Veronica Mars" and now anxiously waiting for the new season to start. Now moving onto "Arrested Development," and glad to say that it's another great show too.
Ah... TV...
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Back in Kanoya... facing the reality...
Well, I know that I had a looooong vacation... and I should be happy that I even got to take times off to see my family (compare to alot of people in my office..) But, 10 days is JUST NOT ENOUGH!! Especially when you know that your family are still touring in Tokyo, having fun without you... :(
Anyways... I'm back to Kanoya, immediately resuming the regular work schedule, eikaiwa classes, meetings, unexpected nonkatas... It's all good.
I'm working on getting my pictures uploaded to either this blog or another space so we can all share what Taiwan is like~ So stay tuned!
(BTW, I think I ate really REALLY too much and it's not even funny anymore. I need to do some serious working out...)
Anyways... I'm back to Kanoya, immediately resuming the regular work schedule, eikaiwa classes, meetings, unexpected nonkatas... It's all good.
I'm working on getting my pictures uploaded to either this blog or another space so we can all share what Taiwan is like~ So stay tuned!
(BTW, I think I ate really REALLY too much and it's not even funny anymore. I need to do some serious working out...)
Thursday, August 11, 2005
I'm off to Taiwan~
Okay, folks... sorry that it's such a short notice, but from tomorrow I'll be taking around a week off from work and go to Taiwan... after being away for 10 years! whohoo~~
So, if you see any irregular activities (which would be blog entries...), don't worry~ but still leave comments all you want.
alright, I gotta go to bed, got an early morning tomorrow!
So, if you see any irregular activities (which would be blog entries...), don't worry~ but still leave comments all you want.
alright, I gotta go to bed, got an early morning tomorrow!
I've been tagged!
I got tagged by Jenn... so thought I shouldn't be rude and just write it out for fun... (ah who am I kidding, I LOVE this stuff!!) Okay, so here goes~
What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm let's see 10 years ago this time... I was getting ready to go to Canada with my dad and two lil sisters. We packed carefully (or rather, my mom packed carefully for all of us) and we were getting ready for our departure... right after my entrance exam for high school in Taiwan. Now that I think of it, if I studied really hard and didn't get addicted to comics and novels, I would've probably gotten into a decent high school... ah well :p I went to Canada anyways.
What was I doing 5 years ago?
Okay... I think that's about the time that pretty much determined what I am right now. That year, earlier in Spring I had won the Japanese speech contest in intermediate category...and then went to Ottawa for the first time and got invited into the Japanese Embassy to do the speech and compete in the National Speech Contest. Then in Summer... something amazing happened to me... I got a free trip to come to Japan, all expenses paid, AND they give us allowances so we could go out and eat and shop and...etc. I wrote an exam in the Edmonton Japanese consulate, and ended up being the person chosen to join 67 other students learning Japanese around the world and come to Japan as their fancy gaijin guests in Kansai Kokusai Koryu Centre. We went to Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo~ That's when I actually realized that I want to keep learning Japanese and eventually work here.... hence here I am!
What was I doing 1 year ago?
Exactly 1 year ago? Hmmm... I had just arrived in Kanoya, and everyday seemed so boring with the office time but without anything to do. I hung out with the other new ALTs, Daniela, Jeni, Dan in Kihoku, Joe, and Heather. Those good old days we had fun... OOOh I think it's around this same time a year ago, we went to climb Mt.Kaimon... well, Team Canada didn't make it (that's me and Heather), Team UK and Team America made it to the top. (although Dan in Team UK argued that the water in Daniela's water bottle was a bit suspicious, that it had a little something extra in it...) :p hee hee
What was I doing yesterday?
I spent the morning chatting with Chris (the new ALT from London) and changed his keitai e-mail address into something comprehensible, then took the afternoon off so I could go the Yamada denki to get my beloved DVD player back (yes they fixed it and without any charge because of the warranty!! hee hee nothing to do with the lightning!), got photos developed for my grandpa, went to Uniqlo to buy presents for my grandparents...etc. Watched "In America" to prepare the Film Night event I'll have tonight... I had to watch it first in Japanese subtitle to see how the story is distored through the horrible translations...(actually not too bad, just not as good as the English lines..) Then last night I went to DUSK eikaiwa class and was pleasantly surprised that Chihiro became REALLY good! She managed to tell us a long story about why she wants another person to take her clothes to the dry cleaner.. all in English!! Very impressive!
What am I doing today?
Hmmm right now I'm just killing time until I can take the afternoon off... I gotta run some other errands (shopping for necessities...), and then the Kuroneko people will come pick up my luggage so they can send it to the Fukuoka Airport. yep, getting ready for myjourney back to Taiwan!!!! I'm so excited! Oh and then tonight (yes I have to work again..) I have the Film Night event and show the film "In America," and tell them why I am showing the film.. and try to get them to talk about it... if they would open their mouths.
Five snacks I enjoy
-"Cheese Arare" that you can get in 100 yen stores,sooo good
-"Chicken Ramen" dry noodle bits in many different flavours, like yakisoba and all kinds
-"Maccha pudding" or basically anything maccha~
-"Senbei(soysauce flavour)" Shoyu aji is the only togo if you are gonna eat Senbei...
-"Green Onion Cake" a specialty from Taiwan... yum~
Five bands I like
Maroon 5, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Orange Range, ThreeDays Grace, and Nickelback!! (Alberta!)
What 5 things would I do with a million dollars?
-take my family on a cruise
-backpacking in Europe
-buy a car..?
-get a HUGE screen TV
-open a bookstore (HOW I would be able to do ALL these with only a million dollars, I have no idea... ;p)
Five locations I would like to run away to?
-to where my mom is
-to the beach
-movie theatre..(any movie will do)
-Uji in Kyoto Prefecture (I just love the place)
-Edmonton... to see my gals~
Five bad habits?
-I tend to talk too loud to the point that people had to tell me to be quiet in the public places.
-I don't tidy up in my apartment unless guests are expected.
-Very VERY forgetful sometimes... (which is why I need my dayplanner with me at all times...)
-Everytime I take a long trip, by the time I'm well out of my house and on the bus/train/airplane... I almost always wonder whether I locked the door/closed the window/turn off the stove... I worry too much.
-I get upset when I don't get to finish the story I'm telling people (like getting interrupted..)
Five things I like doing?
-watching TV/DVDs, blogging (duh!), dip my feet in ariver, reading, talk about books/movies/TV with people with equal passion about these things.
Five TV shows I like?
The Simpsons, 24, Will & Grace, Amazing Race, The O.C.(yeah yeah, I know :p)
Five Famous people I would like to meet?
(I assume living and dead are all fine, right?) J.K. Rowling (so many questions!), Ewan MacGregor (just to look at him~), Thomas Hardy (to ask him if he did call his maid Tess), Li Shi Min (the greatest Emperor of Tang Dynasty in Chinese history), Murasaki Shikibu (so many things to ask her too!)
Biggest joys in my life at the moment?
That I can depend on my family to be on my side, and that I have friends that I can count on. Finally... doing a job that doesn't feel like a job!
Favourite toys?
I know I'm too old for this, but I love bubble blowing things that you can get in festivals and stuff...
Five people to tag?
I don't have that many people to tag this... so am very sorry, Jenn, this will stop here..
Alright here it is~ whew~ took me awhile to get this up.
What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm let's see 10 years ago this time... I was getting ready to go to Canada with my dad and two lil sisters. We packed carefully (or rather, my mom packed carefully for all of us) and we were getting ready for our departure... right after my entrance exam for high school in Taiwan. Now that I think of it, if I studied really hard and didn't get addicted to comics and novels, I would've probably gotten into a decent high school... ah well :p I went to Canada anyways.
What was I doing 5 years ago?
Okay... I think that's about the time that pretty much determined what I am right now. That year, earlier in Spring I had won the Japanese speech contest in intermediate category...and then went to Ottawa for the first time and got invited into the Japanese Embassy to do the speech and compete in the National Speech Contest. Then in Summer... something amazing happened to me... I got a free trip to come to Japan, all expenses paid, AND they give us allowances so we could go out and eat and shop and...etc. I wrote an exam in the Edmonton Japanese consulate, and ended up being the person chosen to join 67 other students learning Japanese around the world and come to Japan as their fancy gaijin guests in Kansai Kokusai Koryu Centre. We went to Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo~ That's when I actually realized that I want to keep learning Japanese and eventually work here.... hence here I am!
What was I doing 1 year ago?
Exactly 1 year ago? Hmmm... I had just arrived in Kanoya, and everyday seemed so boring with the office time but without anything to do. I hung out with the other new ALTs, Daniela, Jeni, Dan in Kihoku, Joe, and Heather. Those good old days we had fun... OOOh I think it's around this same time a year ago, we went to climb Mt.Kaimon... well, Team Canada didn't make it (that's me and Heather), Team UK and Team America made it to the top. (although Dan in Team UK argued that the water in Daniela's water bottle was a bit suspicious, that it had a little something extra in it...) :p hee hee
What was I doing yesterday?
I spent the morning chatting with Chris (the new ALT from London) and changed his keitai e-mail address into something comprehensible, then took the afternoon off so I could go the Yamada denki to get my beloved DVD player back (yes they fixed it and without any charge because of the warranty!! hee hee nothing to do with the lightning!), got photos developed for my grandpa, went to Uniqlo to buy presents for my grandparents...etc. Watched "In America" to prepare the Film Night event I'll have tonight... I had to watch it first in Japanese subtitle to see how the story is distored through the horrible translations...(actually not too bad, just not as good as the English lines..) Then last night I went to DUSK eikaiwa class and was pleasantly surprised that Chihiro became REALLY good! She managed to tell us a long story about why she wants another person to take her clothes to the dry cleaner.. all in English!! Very impressive!
What am I doing today?
Hmmm right now I'm just killing time until I can take the afternoon off... I gotta run some other errands (shopping for necessities...), and then the Kuroneko people will come pick up my luggage so they can send it to the Fukuoka Airport. yep, getting ready for myjourney back to Taiwan!!!! I'm so excited! Oh and then tonight (yes I have to work again..) I have the Film Night event and show the film "In America," and tell them why I am showing the film.. and try to get them to talk about it... if they would open their mouths.
Five snacks I enjoy
-"Cheese Arare" that you can get in 100 yen stores,sooo good
-"Chicken Ramen" dry noodle bits in many different flavours, like yakisoba and all kinds
-"Maccha pudding" or basically anything maccha~
-"Senbei(soysauce flavour)" Shoyu aji is the only togo if you are gonna eat Senbei...
-"Green Onion Cake" a specialty from Taiwan... yum~
Five bands I like
Maroon 5, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Orange Range, ThreeDays Grace, and Nickelback!! (Alberta!)
What 5 things would I do with a million dollars?
-take my family on a cruise
-backpacking in Europe
-buy a car..?
-get a HUGE screen TV
-open a bookstore (HOW I would be able to do ALL these with only a million dollars, I have no idea... ;p)
Five locations I would like to run away to?
-to where my mom is
-to the beach
-movie theatre..(any movie will do)
-Uji in Kyoto Prefecture (I just love the place)
-Edmonton... to see my gals~
Five bad habits?
-I tend to talk too loud to the point that people had to tell me to be quiet in the public places.
-I don't tidy up in my apartment unless guests are expected.
-Very VERY forgetful sometimes... (which is why I need my dayplanner with me at all times...)
-Everytime I take a long trip, by the time I'm well out of my house and on the bus/train/airplane... I almost always wonder whether I locked the door/closed the window/turn off the stove... I worry too much.
-I get upset when I don't get to finish the story I'm telling people (like getting interrupted..)
Five things I like doing?
-watching TV/DVDs, blogging (duh!), dip my feet in ariver, reading, talk about books/movies/TV with people with equal passion about these things.
Five TV shows I like?
The Simpsons, 24, Will & Grace, Amazing Race, The O.C.(yeah yeah, I know :p)
Five Famous people I would like to meet?
(I assume living and dead are all fine, right?) J.K. Rowling (so many questions!), Ewan MacGregor (just to look at him~), Thomas Hardy (to ask him if he did call his maid Tess), Li Shi Min (the greatest Emperor of Tang Dynasty in Chinese history), Murasaki Shikibu (so many things to ask her too!)
Biggest joys in my life at the moment?
That I can depend on my family to be on my side, and that I have friends that I can count on. Finally... doing a job that doesn't feel like a job!
Favourite toys?
I know I'm too old for this, but I love bubble blowing things that you can get in festivals and stuff...
Five people to tag?
I don't have that many people to tag this... so am very sorry, Jenn, this will stop here..
Alright here it is~ whew~ took me awhile to get this up.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Hmmm guess what slanguage I speak?
Wow... so this proves that I'm a true Canadian... finally? Thanks to Jenn for introducing the blogthings~ I absolutely love these trivial things :)
Your Slanguage Profile |
| Canadian Slang: 75% |
| Aussie Slang: 25% |
| British Slang: 25% |
| New England Slang: 25% |
| Prison Slang: 25% |
| Victorian Slang: 25% |
| Southern Slang: 0% |
If you're a true Albertan...
I just realized that Jenn in Aira is from Edmonton too!!! that's so cool :) The Canadians I've met so far are all from the east coast, and it's just not the same... (you know what I mean...)
Since Jenn said that I can link it... Here it is. A list of things what a true Albertan would do/be/like~
Check this out! Western Canada Rules!!
(well, the Eastern part isn't so bad either...)
Since Jenn said that I can link it... Here it is. A list of things what a true Albertan would do/be/like~
Check this out! Western Canada Rules!!
(well, the Eastern part isn't so bad either...)
Friday, August 05, 2005
Nomikai and Karaoke
okay so we went to the okura hotel for the beer garden, as a wrap-up party for our summer festival thing.. look at Nakano-san, talking about something amusing... probably, and Yume-chan is "romancing" Matsuyama-san, the guy who went to Niger for a year to teach automobile mechanics stuff. He was the guest of honour. We had a nice night out, under the stars~ drinking beer and having second-rate food (yeah the food left alot to be desired...)
And on the right, is Yume-chan, on Chris B's shoulder... yeah she didn't really meet him before this, but that didn't stop her from climbing onto his back so she can enjoy a great view. Well, she looks really cute in this picture, and I think it's probably all that matters anyways...
And then we went to nijikai at the karaoke close by... just me, rina, kawahara-san (my sup) and Chris B... we decided just 4 was too sabishii so I called up Daniela and Gary, and they showed up soon afterwards. hee hee here, you see Chris and Gary singing their hearts out...while Daniela posing in the back :)
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Blogthings!!
Found something on Medea's blog... and just had to try this out. This is kinda interesting... hee hee check it out~
I did the Japanese name generator, and look what my Japanese name would be!
Your Japanese Name Is... |
 |
| Your Hidden Talent |
 You're the type of person who can turn a whole room around. The potential for great leadership is there, as long as you don't abuse it. Always remember, you have a lot more power over people than you might think! |
If I'm not mistaken, this picture is probably the Senbiro no taki waterfall in Yakushima... I really like yakushima, everyone should go at least once... especially those who live in Kagoshima!
The Newbies have arrived!
The newbies~ from left: Alison in Tashiro (Fergus's successor), Nha-thy in Kanoya (Mike's succesor), Chris in Kanoya (Jeni's successor). Note the glass of shochu in Nha-thy's hand! It's Osumi's own Kojika shochu!
After a long day of traveling all the way from Tokyo to Kanoya, Chris and Nha-thy had finally arrived~~ We met up for supper in the restaurant next to my apartment and then I called up Nanette and Joe. Then Daniela went to get Alison and her sup... then Michael from Nejime came as well... this tiny little bar was FULL of us gaikokujin!!
I just had to upload this picture... hee hee I love my blog!!
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
See you later, Heather
So... Heather left Kanoya this morning, and I seriously doubt if she would ever come back... :p maybe to Japan, but who knows when she would actually come to Kanoya in the near future.
I've been preped for this moment for awhile, but still sad that she's gone now. I guess I'll still see her again since she's just back in Canada. Ah... it's gonna be strange that I can't c-mail her anymore...:( Especially she stayed at my place on Sunday night and last night too... It was weird to see her go...
Well, last night we went to Nabeshima for Yakiniku, treated by Ono-san... Jeni, Chris, Mike, David, Heather, Nanette and I went...along with Ono-san and his wife. I don't even know how I got invited, just that Nanette sent me a mail and said that she's coming to pick H and I up so we can go for yakiniku at 8. Ono-san finally called me something other than Joshikosei (highschool girl--because he thought I look too young to be working...)... he called me a Joshiko Ninensei(2nd grade highschool girl).. Yeah, so I have finished my first year,and now I'm a 2nd grader in Joshiko :p
We ended up eating too much food and H had to walk around my apartment (and outside) so she wouldn't feel so bloated. It was a LARGE amountof beef we consumed... It's been awhile since I went to Yakiniku last time... I can't even remember when was the last time I had yakiniku!
Well, yesterday I also walked to Yamada-denki to take my DVD player for them to fix... On Sunday night, I put in "In America" to watch... and no sound came out. The screen on the player was blank as well... I took it there, and the guy immediately said:"is it from Saturday?" Apparently, lots of people have brought in appliances because they had stopped working due to the lightning-thunder storm on Saturday. If my DVD player was damaged because of the lightning, the manufacturer would not cover the repair with warranty... so I'd have to pay for it. I asked the guy if they could throw it away for me in case they want me to pay to fix it, he laughed and said of course. So, in a couple of days, the Yamada-denki people will call me and give me the verdict.
Am still at work, and it's gonna be lunch time pretty soon. I made a sign for Nha-thy, Mike's successor, and Daniela made a sign for Chris, Jeni's successor. D's gonna take the signs with her and Mike when picking the newbies up at the airport. I put a "Princess Kanoya" picture on Nha-thy's as well... thought she might like it. hee hee~~
I guess I'll read JAPAN TIMES for awhile before the lunch time chime...
I've been preped for this moment for awhile, but still sad that she's gone now. I guess I'll still see her again since she's just back in Canada. Ah... it's gonna be strange that I can't c-mail her anymore...:( Especially she stayed at my place on Sunday night and last night too... It was weird to see her go...
Well, last night we went to Nabeshima for Yakiniku, treated by Ono-san... Jeni, Chris, Mike, David, Heather, Nanette and I went...along with Ono-san and his wife. I don't even know how I got invited, just that Nanette sent me a mail and said that she's coming to pick H and I up so we can go for yakiniku at 8. Ono-san finally called me something other than Joshikosei (highschool girl--because he thought I look too young to be working...)... he called me a Joshiko Ninensei(2nd grade highschool girl).. Yeah, so I have finished my first year,and now I'm a 2nd grader in Joshiko :p
We ended up eating too much food and H had to walk around my apartment (and outside) so she wouldn't feel so bloated. It was a LARGE amountof beef we consumed... It's been awhile since I went to Yakiniku last time... I can't even remember when was the last time I had yakiniku!
Well, yesterday I also walked to Yamada-denki to take my DVD player for them to fix... On Sunday night, I put in "In America" to watch... and no sound came out. The screen on the player was blank as well... I took it there, and the guy immediately said:"is it from Saturday?" Apparently, lots of people have brought in appliances because they had stopped working due to the lightning-thunder storm on Saturday. If my DVD player was damaged because of the lightning, the manufacturer would not cover the repair with warranty... so I'd have to pay for it. I asked the guy if they could throw it away for me in case they want me to pay to fix it, he laughed and said of course. So, in a couple of days, the Yamada-denki people will call me and give me the verdict.
Am still at work, and it's gonna be lunch time pretty soon. I made a sign for Nha-thy, Mike's successor, and Daniela made a sign for Chris, Jeni's successor. D's gonna take the signs with her and Mike when picking the newbies up at the airport. I put a "Princess Kanoya" picture on Nha-thy's as well... thought she might like it. hee hee~~
I guess I'll read JAPAN TIMES for awhile before the lunch time chime...
Monday, August 01, 2005
The Karate Kids in Kag
Yesterday I went to volunteer at this karate tournament event in the city... and I took a few pictures of the event.
The event itself turned out not exactly as what I thought it would have been...and I was a bit disappointed. So I ended uptalking to Mike the whole time. Especially since he's gonna go back, so it's quite nice to hang out with him for a bit before he goes home.
So here are some of the pictures I took... Mostly not that interesting.. but ah, that's all I did anyways...
Here, Mike... for you~ (I don't wanna say anything offensive about this picture, so I'll let Mike tell you all about this picture.. I'm sure he'll have it on his blog as soon as I uploaded this.
The event itself turned out not exactly as what I thought it would have been...and I was a bit disappointed. So I ended uptalking to Mike the whole time. Especially since he's gonna go back, so it's quite nice to hang out with him for a bit before he goes home.
So here are some of the pictures I took... Mostly not that interesting.. but ah, that's all I did anyways...
Here, Mike... for you~ (I don't wanna say anything offensive about this picture, so I'll let Mike tell you all about this picture.. I'm sure he'll have it on his blog as soon as I uploaded this.
