Look how tough they are?? Funny, eh? Watch for the pinky patrol!! ;-) 

Kobe beef!

Now, I've never been one to advocate eating meat with a lot of fat in it... and the whole premise of Kobe beef is that it is marbled... so it's kind of pink in color because there's fat well mixed with the meat. I was always a bit like "ewww, gross!" Not anymore! I now know the merits of meat like that... it's DELICIOUS!!! WOW!!

I went to a barbeque last night and we had this kind of meat. It was the best meat I've ever tasted... no joke! Not only was the meat good but the sauce (REALLY REALLY garlicky!) was amazing as well. Just enhancing the eating experience. Now, thank GOODNESS that kind of meat is so expensive. Otherwise the temptation to eat it all the time would be very high!

Yeah... so... that's my meat blog!

the UN-genkis...

I knew something must be wrong today when I saw my buddy (and student council pres), Kazuki... usually this kid yells "Alisha!!!" as he holds up his hand for a big hi-five. He just looked at me and held up his hand... no hello, no Alisha... no nuthin'! And it didn't stop with him... oh no! It was all of my fave 3nensei boys!! They were all completely un-genki today. Now, I've heard of a case of the "mondays," but usually everyone I hang out with doesn't have them! *sigh*

Here's to hoping my boys go back to normal tomorrow. Kazuki has promised he'd be more genki tomorrow... but am not holding my breath! :-)

adventures in teaching...

Today I got to teach with Nishiwaki-sensei... notorious for not using ALTs, but one of the best teachers I've ever seen. The class was brilliant!! The hilight would have to be when a kid started getting a bloody nose... and instead of letting him mop up his nose... Nishiwaki-sensei walks over and sticks a piece of tissue up his nose to stop the bleeding! Just like the kid was out on the field and had gotten smashed in the nose or something!! It was hilarious. :-) Man, I love Japan!

This afternoon I finally got to see "Hitch"... I laughed SO hard!! SUCH a funny film... Kevin James rocked and I must say... Will Smith was hilarious as well.

After that I met one of my old students for coffee... Naoya is like a little brother. We just ramble on about ALL sorts of stuff. He's so funny! We just talked about all sorts of stuff... and I taught him the ever-so-useful term "indecisive" (優柔不断＝　yuujuufudan in Japanese). And the best thing... he can actually pronounce most of the funny words we talk about. I've decided that he has to come to Hawaii or Alaska to visit. He'd LOVE the adventure of it. :-) Yay for cool students!

I'm wrecked from not doing anything. Heading to bed soon... have a good one!

I have a place to LIVE!!!

A truly exciting thing happened yesterday... I checked my email and had an email from my dad indicating that Mom had found me a place to live... so, being very excited, I called home. Sure enough my mother (who is awesome at stuff like this!) had found me a place to live... 4 blocks from campus!! This is such good news... I've been so disgruntled and undecided about things because of the housing issue. Now, I can just relax and get finished with things here... and not worry TOO much!

In other, VERY EXCITING news... Our local Seattle's Best now has Macha Frappacino's!! Oh BABY!! Lauren and I are going to be going to Jusco that much more... :-)

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Contrary to the tone of that earlier blog, I am NOT trying to depress myself. I'm actually really happy because even in a few or even 20 years... I'll not say that. Even if I'm never famous or never do anything particularly notable... I've lived. And not just in America and not just behind a picket fence...

So, no... was not trying to depress myself. ;-)

A great quote...

(something to fear...) that we'll reach a certain point in our lives, look around and realize that all the things we said we'd do and become will never come to be -- and that we're ordinary. - Anne Bancroft

I haven't seen a really great quote like this in awhile... makes a person think...

My Chinese brother...

So, I have a Chinese brother. :-) He's actually a 2nensei student in Tachikawa who only JUST came to Japan in March. This kid's amazing!! He's so happy and friendly, he makes my Tachikawa kids look downright docile (which is SO not the case!!).

The funniest thing is that he reminds me of my brother... even though he barely speaks English and speaks even less Japanese! He's just goofy and always joking around. Kind of like bro-bro! So, even though I miss my brothers... it's nice to have Ryusuke to fill in once in awhile. Makes me look forward to going home just a little bit. :-)

Those are my thoughts for the morning...

Cute things abut Japan...

One of the endearing things about Japanese gas stations (yes, I called gas stations endearing...) is that the little attendants who pump your gas (there are some self service stations, but I really don't like them...) stand in the middle of the road, sometimes stopping traffic, to make sure that you can safely continue on your merry way.

Well, today, I was making my way home from the grocery store right about the time my students were getting out of their after-school sports/clubs. I was tooly-ing down the road when I was stopped by the friendly gas station attendants... who, instead of helping their customer, were helping my kids get safely across the busy street near my house! How cute is that? That's not part of their job, but they did it anyway! Plus, they bowed and yoroshiku-onegaishimasu-ed a ton as well.

I LOVE JAPAN!

Oh... and later when I was eating... I talked to some of my kids... they're all starting to catch on that I'm leaving in August. This one boy says to me "when are you coming back?" Not "are you coming back?" not "will you be coming back?" but "WHEN are you coming back?" That left me with a warm fuzzy feeling as well. :-)

Hope your day's great!

Don't make me go!!

Last night I was sideswiped by weird/unexpected emotions! I was watching my Monday drama... where people were all saying goodbye to each other... which made me think of leaving my kids and the goodbyes that I'll soon be making... and the next thing I knew... I was bawling crying! I don't know what it's going to be like to say goodbye to my kids, my friends, etc... but I can only imagine the buckets of tears I'm going to shed in that process...

Yeah, so that's what's been on my mind lately...

Rockin' Good Times!

This weekend was great! Saturday I did some sports spectating... as I had kendo AND gymnastics to watch it was quite fun. (Though I did the Tsuruoka to Sakata shuffle! Eeek!) My kids were doing really well and I found out one of my old students was top 8 in the ken for kendo!! GO YUSUKE!!

After all the sports, Lauren and I headed to Sendai to have a night out. We started off with Indian curry... which we scarfed to avoid missing meeting up with friends! (Shouldn't have scarfed! But it was still good!) We met up with Raf and Andres and a collection of their friends to attend a birthday party. (We always seem to crash b-day parties when we're with those two!) Anyway... off we went to an izakaya... for all you can drink and eat (though since we were stuffed we just drank!). The highlight of that bit was the spontaneous karaoke session... we ended up singing the Backstreet Boys I want it that way... I can't explain the joy from that! There was no music, no mics... just a bunch of random people belting out the lyrics!! CLASSIC!

Then we headed out to Bar Isn't It? Lauren and I had made an earlier, pinky-swearing pact... and I'm pleased to report that the pact was fulfilled (for more info on the pact... just ask!). We danced and enjoyed ourselves... until about 3am... then we decided to enjoy ourselves right home for an uninterrupted 4 hours of sleep!! Haha...

Yesterday in Sendai, we had our hang-over cure lunch (without hash-browns we seem to make due with french fries A LOT!) and headed home.

I had dinner in Yuza... and managed (through no fault of my own) to get beer spilled ALL over me (thank you, Alex!) and finished off the meal in borrowed clothes. Fun fun... but had an AMAZING (as usual) dinner at Oi-san's before rolling into ed for a solid 8 hours of sleep.

Hope your weekend adventures were great! I'm outta stories!

Just so we all know... patronizing people make me want to scream!! I'm not bloody well three years old thank you very much. In case anyone was wondering... ARGH!! And I was having SUCH a good day too!

Scary or Reassuring...

Yesterday after soccer practice, I hung around chatting with some of my old students... currently 3rd years in high school (seniors!). We chatted about school and English and whether they were still studying English... etc. But eventually the talk came around to girls and who's the most sukebe (perverted) of the bunch, who's had the most girlfriends, and you can imagine what all else. WHY??? Why does it always come down to that with boys? Haha... am not sure whether it's reassuring to know that ALL boys at that age are the same!?! It was almost a relief... they're normal afterall.

ALSO, learned that there's an actual term for a girlie-man/manly girl... (most of the time I just say otoko-onna which means manly girl). If you think that's bizarre, then you'll think it's weirder that I know EXACTLY what that means!! The women's field hockey team for Japan was almost entirely composed of otoko-onna! That's just a funny side note.

So what's the verdict... is it reassuring to know that all high school boys are the same... or is it kind of scary!?

MY IPOD!!!

Yes, it's come. The era of the iPod for Alisha... I now own an iPod photo!!

I got home from school yesterday and I had a delivery slip in my mail-slot. I called the number and told the lady I'd arrived and that I'd be here all afternoon. And not an hour later, I was in possession of an iPod. I feel a bit bad because it distracted me from being sociable with my kendo boys... but they'll understand. :-)

That saved the day yesterday... I hope today's a bit better... and I don't feel like strangling 7 year olds. The only problem today is that I'm teaching my fave kids... minus my FAVORITE!! His dad's a policeman and got transferred... so Retsu-kun is no longer around... I almost cried last time I was there. Ganbatemasu!!

who knew!?!

If I had known that today was going to be such a bust... I probably wouldn't have gotten up this morning!! GEESH!! Talk about a discouraging day... I had a class full of 6 year olds that the teacher wouldn't help me control (I've never wanted to smack anyone that young before), but I rush back to a junior high lesson of kids that was uncooperative and boring to teach (no imagination on part of teacher and no prior notice as to what we were doing... leads to boring lessons!!).

Can I go to Tachikawa tomorrow?? PLEASE!!! No really... I'm serious... PLEASE!!!

Nothing Much

This weekend wasn't all that special...

Friday watched the season finale of One Tree Hill (10 cliff-hangers!!)...

Saturday went to the beach at Sanze... was pretty unspectacular, but hanging out was pretty fun.

Yesterday I read Harry Potter, did a bit of weeding, talked to some of my kendo boys... then Lauren and I met up with Kirsty, her mum and gran to visit Gyokusenji in Haguro. It's a temple with the most amazing garden!! Truly beautiful... and the koi were evening getting a bit excited. Haha.

Today I have a full day at school (have a class EVERY class period!)... should be good...

The middle boy is Ryohei... he almost lapped a kid in the boys 1000 meters!! Holy cow... it was AWESOME!! 

This is Chihiro... the younger brother of two of my fave elementary school students! He's 3... but is tall enough to be about 4-5! And MAN does he have ENERGY!!!

How many people are MISSING from this pic?? Haha... giving a camera to a 5th grader doesn't always result in great camera work!! ;-)