Tales of the TRULY Bizarre!

Now, tell me if you've heard this one already... seriously....

Tonight, I come home. Having fallen in all the snow (separate story entirely) and smashed my knee (ouch!), I decided to check my email and ice my knee. Suddenly the curtain near my computer table moved. Thinking that it was the wind (my house is anything BUT airtight!), I moved aside the curtain... and it was SO not the wind. What it was was a CAT!!! Yup, there was a cat sat on my windowsill. A big grey fluffy one. How did it get there you ask??

Well, two weekends ago Lauren and I went up to our friend Kirsty's. Lauren shifted cars around so that her car could be in the protection of my garage. Not warm, but not snowy either. In that time, the cat must have gotten into the garage... Last week I saw paw prints on the windscreen of my car, but the last time I saw anything like that was last Thursday. So, I figured the cat must have gotten out and is happily at home.

Apparently not...

Now, if I'm telling you the same story you heard from a friend last week... let me know! If not... please tell me, on a scale from 1 to 100... how BIZARRE is this story?? Holy cow!! I didn't know things like this happened - to anyone... EVER!!

Wish me luck, I have NO idea what I'll be doing with this cat... or how to get rid of the thing.

Next blog: the conclusion to this interesting conundrum!! ;-) I hope...

Weekend fun!

This weekend has been SO busy!! But a great weekend all the same.

From Friday night I lived at Lauren's... we had some serious baking to do. :-) This weekend was the shower that we decided to throw for our friend Kim who's due on Feb. 19th. So, we had baby shower stuff to plan. :-)

Friday after kendo, I went to Lauren's and we baked. She'd already been baking for awhile... so I felt a bit bad. We were up until 2, baking and watching movies. End of day.

Saturday, we got up at around 9 to go snowboarding with our good friend Kirsty. WoW!!! We had such a great day. The weather was PERFECT. Lauren was able to begin mastering the use of her front edge, and Kirsty discovered something rather startling: my board was put together backwards. Therefore explaining some of the reason why I haven't had much luck with the whole front edge. Before next weekend I'm going to get that sorted out!!

After finishing that up, Lauren and I returned to baking... we produced some AMAZING cookies and a scrummy cake.

Today... well... today we awoke to horrendous weather. Strong winds, lots of snow. It was just really bad!!! In fact so bad that my car (I hadn't driven it in 2 days) didn't want to start. I eventually got it started (I reckon the gas lines were dry...) and headed home for a massive blitz on my house.

I'm happy to report that our baby shower went fantastic. Kim and Peter got some lovely things for the baby... and we played some fun and silly party games. I was astonished that we had as many people as we did... with the weather like it was. Oh, well... just goes to show that people will come out for friends. :-)

Hope your weekend's been great!!

The beginning of the day... before we decided it was too hot for our hats and fleece!! :-) And before I fell and bruised myself! ;-) 

Break time... I gave in to my stomach... and chose the ever-lovely katsu-don for lunch. Not healthy, but oh-so yummy!!  

Live action!! I look like I know what I'm doing... heehee... what you don't see is 5 seconds later... me on my bum! 

Kirsty and Alisha... we can't resist the peace sign... can't... resist... 

See!?! I can even STAND on a snowboard... ;-) 

FINALLY FRIDAY!!!

So... I finally made it. It's Friday!! I don't know why, but this week has seemed SO long. I'm tired. I need sleep. I need a break. I need a holiday. Heehee... I sound like a big wuss, eh?? Holidays actually ruin real life. You do know that don't you?? Ruin! Because all I can think is... man, I wish I were in New Zealand at Urban Jungle having a mocha bowl, oggling the hot Maori behind the counter, and gorging myself on potato wedges. Argh!! And I'm not...

Have a great day! Hope it's your FRIDAY!!!

Bizarre-ness...

So... today I was really excited to get to teach 1st years in elementary school. I love those kids! They give me loads of energy and are just SO much fun to teach. They seem to catch on to everything REALLY quick.

Today... first class... it was like pulling teeth to even get them to understand which direction to pass the "hot potato" (it's actually an elephant)... let alone getting the stuff we'd practiced right. I just thought... Geesh! If this is how the whole morning's going to go... I want to cash in my chips and go home.

Luck, however was on my side. The second class was brilliant. The kids were all really excited. Listened better. Caught on quicker. Everything went so much smoother. They knew what to say when we were playing hot potato... it was AWESOME!!!! I was still shocked afterwards though. Shocked at the differences between the two classes. I guess you just never know when the class is going to be off... let's hope that's all it was!

Best Purchase EVER!!!

I forgot to put the COOLEST thing I got in Sendai yesterday. I was walking past this socks shop... this was when I was starving and hadn't had any food yet... and something caught my eye. SUPERMAN SOCKS!!! I HAD to get some... because afterall, he's my idol!! I LOVE Superman... now if you're Jason reading this... stop laughing! ;-) I can't help it... maybe it does mean that I'll never find the perfect guy... but I'll always have the man of STEEL!! ;-) Or at least I'll have socks. :-D

Weekends...

This weekend started beautifully on Friday. Lauren and I headed up to our friend Kirsty's. We talked into the wee hours of the morning, catching up about all sorts of holiday goings on and just having a regular catch-up. It was great! Our original intention was to get up the next morning and go boarding. Ummmm... that didn't quite happen, but that's alright.

Then off to Sendai. We went for dinner at a LOVELY Indian restaurant. We've been twice and it's been amazing BOTH times. We will be fathful patrons of this restaurant until we are shipped away in August. Heehee... amazing food. Leaves the lips a tad bit tingly and everything. :-)

Now, the fun really began when we met up with our friend Rafael. We went to nomihodai (all you can drink) for two hours and then went dancing. Now... the drinking got insane right near the end of the two hours... we were interrupted by a Japanese university student... now, this student was particularly special because he had no shirt on AND had been written on by all of his friends. Now, it was quite the spectacle... amusing (especially when you've had a few drinks) and a bit sad. The thing was... this guy was such a sweet kid... and his friends weren't particularly malicious. I talked with him afterwards and he said his English was very bad (every Japanese person I've ever met says that!) and he wanted to practice.

Anyway... then the real fun began. We took our fairly drunk (or in the early stages of drunkenness...) selves to Bar Isn't it? Where Lauren and I were excited to find that the Hip-Hop was still playing... so we jumped right out onto the dance floor! Now things got very interesting (as nights out tend to...) and at the end of the evening we left in a hurry. The night was a success for everyone involved... I think, anyway.

Today was great as well. Instead of being aimless shoppers, Lauren and I decided what we wanted and went about getting it. Basically, we wanted herbal tea (it's COLD here in winter!! you go through it like mad!), a visit to the cute Japanese goods shop, a stop at the Nike store (no sports bras, but a really cool runing jacket that I couldn't justify getting!), and then out to The Mall. The Mall has lots of very nice stores... Lauren and I could have pillaged the NEXT out there. I tried on the most amazing looking pinstripe suit jacket. It was GREAT! But I couldn't afford it at the time... so it hangs away there... all lonely because it really wanted to come home with me. I did get a great sweater and other jacket (casual) for cheap though. Yay for the bargain hunter in me!

We both needed new running shoes, so we headed to the sports store as our last stop. Oh man!!! It was MECCA!!! There were so many different types of shoes... a HUGE selection of road flats... and generally good shoes. The problem was sizing and finding the perfect shoe. SO... I decided to give Mizuno's a try. I found some nice ones that feel nice and light. Wish me luck!! I can't wait to run in them tomorrow. :-)

There was the weekend... terribly exciting I know... ask specific questions... it was an INTERESTING weekend... but I don't feel like posting all the details.... ;-)

Body surfing for beginners...

So... after I finished a long day of teaching at elementary school, I kept good on my promise to visit the kindergarten nextdoor. So, the kids were so excited to see me that within 5 minutes I was being mobbed by 4 and 5 year olds. Which is fine, in fact all of them wanted to hug and talk to me at the same time. Quite a sight actually... the thing that occurred to me first off was "this is a perfect crowd for body surfing." Now that sounds weird, but they were packed in so closely that I wouldn't have touched the ground...

I must say, that if you ever need a pick-me-up (and I'd already had a GREAT day!!)... go to kindergarten (this might only apply if you're in Japan). The kids will make you feel like a movie star. I know I've been spouting the virtues of kids this week... but I'm just constantly amazed at how amazing they are.

Anyway, I have to get my beauty sleep... I'm knackered and I have a seminar to get ready for in the morning. Wheee... wish me luck! ;-)

OUCH!!!

You know those really nice carrier mugs... the ones that you buy from Starbucks?? They're supposed to keep your drink nice and hot while you drink it. I know this. And I also know how hot tea is when it's first poured into one of these mugs. But this morning... I didn't wait long enough before taking a drink of my lovely tea (Mandarin Orange Celestial Seasonings *sigh*)... and I SCORCHED my mouth. Oh, yeah! I thought I was going to have blisters on the back of my throat... yup. It really hurt!! And what's worse... I didn't have anything cold handy to drink right after. I think that Garret had the right idea... just wait until the drink is nearly cold. No scorched tongues then, eh?

What you can learn from the kids...

Today I went to kindergarten. In short, I got to play with 36 four year old children. Now, the fact that these kids have more energy in their pinky finger than I have in my entire body... makes for a long morning (was only there from 9:30-1:00).

You know one thing I noticed though... how easily kids show affection. They're willing to jump up on you and give you a hug when you've walked in the door... they want to talk to you... tickle you...be in contact with you from the moment that you walk through the door. It takes months and sometimes years to form those kind of connections when you're an adult. Where is it written that when you grow up you have to forget all of the great social skills that kids have?

I haven't felt so uplifted in such a long time. Boy, am I glad that I teach junior high, elementary school and even on occasion, kindergarten... I might be wrong, but I don't think the high school ALTs get to have all the fun that I had today. Oh, and if a little kid called Tatsuya goes MIA any time soon... you know where he is! I fell in love with him today... and I think he was at least kind of smitten with me. Or at least I hope he was. ;-)

I'm no good at that...

Now all of you know... I don't take too well to doing things I'm not good at. In fact I avoid all things that I'm bad at... sports in particular. So, things like softball, tennis, volleyball, golf... and even basketball... I generally avoid... like the PLAGUE!

Ladies and gentlemen... I'm proud to announce I played basketball today! Of my own free will (more astonishing still!). Every year at this time of year there's a mini-tournament at the special high school in Tsuruoka. The people playing include kids from the local orphanage, students and alumni... oh, an ALTs as well. I decided to play basketball instead of snowboarding. Which, considering the amount of joy I get from boarding (lots) as compared to the joy I get from basketball (not much), is saying a lot.

I'm pleased to report that I had a pretty good time. I just ran around a lot and caught and passed. Shooting being my main weak-point, I left that to others. However, I was warming-up beforehand (read: pissing about) and I made 6 baskets! Count them 1-2-3-4-5-6!! I NEVER make that many baskets, ever!! Needless to say I was really chuffed with myself. :-)

The rest of the day I cleaned my house and ran. The new Ibex sports gear my parents sent me for Christmas ROCKS!!! I had the shirt and a jacket on... and was perfectly warm on top. The tights are amazing... and I haven't tried out the vest yet, but I'm sure it'a AWESOME!! THANKS MUM AND DAD!!!! :-)

There's a bit of a get together at my house tonight... I think it's going to be fairly low-key... I'd actually rather snuggle up with a cup of tea and a movie, but whatever... I've been really anti-social since coming back from NZ, so tonight should be good...

What to do when you feel particularly stupid...

I think I need help answering that one... I just went through a bunch of arithmetic problems on a GRE prep site. Hmmmm... I thought arithmetic was that stuff we did back in grade school... and once upon a time I was quite good at that. Something has happened between 6th grade and now... I've become a math DUMMY! I feel really stupid when I can't read the problems correctly (yup, I mixed up some of the letters... oh, and even managed to miss that one of the Ys was actually an exponent!). ARGH!! Woe is me... I feel like a big idiot.

And the thing is, I don't see it getting all that much better. In fact, once I move on to the subjects I'm supposed to be good at (reading, writing, words...), I'll be more depressed. I've been in Japan so long that the finely tuned vocabulary that I once possessed (well, finely tuned for an undergrad anyway...) has gone missing. Yes, working in Japan has robbed me of my ability to speak English. You think I'm joking... haha! My Japanese has gotten ever so much better... but my English, wow... that's something to be concerned about. When tired, I have a hard time piecing together coherent sentences... let alone completely analogies for a standardized graduate entrance exam!! Eeeeeek! Anyway... thought I'd have a mini-moan about all that.

In good news... I filled out and submitted my online application for the University of Hawaii... I have to send out a few more requests for random documents... transcripts, etc. I have to read through my writing samples... I've finished my Personal Statement though. My best friend, Melissa (the toughest editor ever), has approved it... so it must be decent enough.

Anyway... I leave you with this rambling blog... hope all's well... I'm going to bed! (Does it mean I'm sad if my bed time's earlier than 10??)

Comedy of errors...

You think I'm joking... the first day back at school was a bit odd... first off, I must have written my schedule down before all the editings were done... I went to the WRONG school this morning. Luckily both schools had testing (how mean is that... first day after break!?!), so I didn't miss much either way. With the conference at school next week, having nothing to do gave me LOADS of time to work out what we should do for out demonstration lesson next Friday. Whee...

And then there's the application process... I got loads done on that today as well. I'm making a checklist tomorrow to make sure I get everything done in time (yeah, maybe that makes me a big GEEK... I DON'T CARE!!). I'm starting to stress a bit... I have no fall-back plan. If this doesn't work out... I have no idea what I'm going to do. BUT I'm going to ACE everything... no worries, right!?

Tomorrow... I'll be going to the RIGHT school... and I'll be teaching up a storm and studying Japanese again. I thought that three weeks off in New Zealand would prepare me to come bacck and kick some butt at Japanese when I came back. So far... the butt-kicking mentality hasn't kicked in yet. BAH!! Help!! Does anyone know any inspirational secrets?? Heehee... I'll get on it, I promise. :-)

Anyway... I'm off to bed... at the very adult hour of 10:30... none of this 9:30 business for awhile... ;-)

I'm BACK!!!

So, I made it back to Japan in one piece... heehee... I think there was little doubt that I would, but whatever. ;-) It's amazing how unprepared I was for all this snow!! There is a TON! Nothing compared to what they have at home... but when I left Japan it hadn't snowed yet. SO... it seems like a ton for me.

I've spent the last day or so just getting myself sorted out... cleaning, laundry, etc. Staying warm has been a big one... man, it's going to be a LONG winter! Oh, well... enough moaning.

I start back at school again today... I'm looking forward to it because the next two weeks will probably find me REALLY busy. My school's hosting a seminar on the 21st... and I get to demonstrate team-teaching and organize the lunch for everyone. Wheeee!! Sounds like a blast, eh? It'll be a nice change to be busy at Ama-chu... as I'm NEVER busy there.

Anyway... will probably have more to say after school... :-)

HELLO!!!!

Greetings from Kiwi-land... I'm reaching the end of my trip... I still love New Zealand. I'll DEFINITELY be back... it's hard to described how much I needed this holiday. The longer I'm here, the more I know that's true.

Sometimes Japan is just too much. Too difficult, too over-the-top, too difficult, too mundane, too exciting, too aggrivating, and the list goes on. The highs and lows in Japan make life exciting, but also make it too much to bear at times. Being here has made me realize just how important the holidays are... getting away and recharging is just as important for getting through life as the work and the play on normal days and normal weekends.

All that may sound REALLY obvious, but sometimes it's one of those GREAT holidays to bring things all into perspective.

As I finish out my last few days here I'll be... eating as much great food as possible, seeing a few films that won't be out in Japan for awhile, and just living in a society that's both my own and not. (Not sure that makes any sense whatsoever...) This vacation has made me see the importance of finding my own place... a place that really feels like home. Yes, I live in Japan... in many ways Japan is my home... but until everything fits together... living, working, loving, laughing... all that fits into my life... it's not quite complete.

So... this is a deep blog for not having written in awhile... hope that's ok. I'll be back to normal perky Alisha in short order... ;-)