|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 or 5 stops later, we emerge from the subway station to find ourselves in the Middle of Nowhere (a.k.a. Japanese Semi-Ghetto, as I have stated prior). We walked for what seemed like ages, asking random people along the way where the frickin' library was. And old man told us it was very far from where we were. We had been walking for about 25 minutes when we reached downtown Japanese Semi-Ghetto. Here are some of the better aspects of town. Is it just me, or does it look like this playground is where you would find a murdered corpse? o.O; This town was uncharacteristically deserted compared to other Japanese towns. It was trés eerie. We stopped by this little fountain for a rest. My feet were killing me, and there was no library in sight. We were semi-lost. The only reason why we weren't totally lost was because we still knew where the station was. We sat here for about 10 minutes wondering what to do. We walked further down into the Japanese Semi-Ghetto, when I spotted a Manga Café. Everyone unanimously decided to check it out. People were hungry, and HAL suspected that we could study there. Now, I had heard of these Manga Cafés, and I must say, my first thought was that many young people and perhaps some dorks would hang out there. I thought it'd be a good place to meet many high school kids, since it seemed to be that kind of thing. Right? WRONG. When we entered it was kind of dark. We proceeded into the area and there were shelves upon shelves of manga, and tables where people could eat, read, and play video games. There were also computers and small TVs that you could use, for a price of course. We got a table and sat down. It was then that I realized that my little perception on Manga Cafés was to be proven dead wrong. Or at least Manga Cafés that are located in the Japanese Semi-Ghetto. Once again I was encountered with many middle aged men perverts. Smoking. And reading, naturally, porn manga. When I glanced to a middle aged man about 3.5 feet away from me, I saw that there were a naked women with GIANT breasts smeared all over the pages of what he was reading. It made me cringe. A lot. A view of the café. So I dunno how long we were in there, but I had this baseball thing to go to. I didn't want to have to drag Messa along, so I left alone. However, I had a little problem. I forgot to bring extra feminine items with me. So I thought that I'd make my way home to pick up some stuff, and then proceed to the Dome to get a hot dog or something. I agreed to meet the others at Nana-chan again at 3:00. I left at 1:00. "I have plenty of time!" Or so I thought. I walked what seemed like miles back to the frickin' subway, and boarded. I headed for Yagoto, so I could board the Meijo line to Sogo. However, to make a long story short, the house was locked, there was no one home. I tried picking the lock, but it was in vain. I called Host Madre. She said that if I had called sooner I could have gotten a key. Crap. I was sweaty, feeing disgusting, and without feminine products. CRAP. What an idiot I am. However, I am also quite smart. I enjoy outsmarting my bad luck. So I headed to Jasco. At Jasco I saw a Gaijin. However, I swear I had seen him before! And I had! It was when I was with Rei at Jasco the week before at McDonalds. I decided then that any Gaijin I saw more than once would get a special Gaijin nickname. I have henceforth dubbed him McGaijin. Anyways, I purchased some feminine products, but then I realized what time it was. 2:40. There was no way I could go to the dome. I was already going to be late meeting everyone at Nana-chan. So I quickly made my way to Nagoya. It was then I conjured up this fake itinerary of my day to tell the Host Padres. When I got to Nana-chan I was nearly 25 minutes late. They were still there, though, watching some people preform on the streets. It was then I saw and old drunken man dancing wildly. I took some video of it, but I have no where to host it. Once I find someplace, I'll tell you where it's up for download. Anyways, we watched this man and this band for a while, although eventually the drunk guy left. Even though the bad sang kid-songs, we became their Gaijin posse. However, Kind of Tall and LORNE were very antsy to leave to get Mexican food (we found a Mexican restaurant! YES!), and frankly so was I, so eventually we left. Around 4:20 or so (I forget, really) we came upon the restuarant. I had a taco, french fries and some nachoes that we shared. It was bliss. By the time we left it was around 5:00 maybe. LORNE had to leave to go back home, but Flaming Red, Kind of Tall and HAL and I were still available for a little while. We headed into this electronics store where there was a FFVII Advent Children preview showing. It looks really good. We looked around for a while. I accidentally walked into the, of course, porn section. I was surrounded by pink, manga women with HUGE breasts, and horror of that variety. I tried to get through it, but there was a dead end, so I ran out the way I came. LOL. Kind of Tall is planning on buying the white PS2 that is very small. It's cheaper than the real PS2 here, surprisingly. It's really cool. There was a lot of really cool stuff there, minus the porn. Sooner or later, we split up and left. Kind of Tall went off with Flaming Red to the JR, and HAL and I headed off to the Higashiyama Line. However, it was only 6:30 when we got on, and I said to the Host Padres that I'd be home at 8:00. So I decided to go back to Jasco to pick up some things with my newly cashed cash. I hadn't been shopping in a while, so I made it a plan. By the time I got to Yagoto, I had about an hour of free time. I picked up a bag (which I really needed, a good totebag - and it was only 1092 yen!!), and 4 packs of stationery, and some stickers. I also bought a fashion magazine (S Cawaii!) that had Ayu on the front. Then I headed home. I got home at 7:45, but oh well. 15 minutes early is better than 15 minutes late. And so, there is my longest day ever. I'ma go read now. <3<3 -Erin
+about me+
name: Erin
+contact+
AOL: Gingitsune18@aol.com
gmail: ShadeKeiko@gmail.com
msn: rainbowgingi@hotmail.com
AIM: rainbowstargingi
+links+
I have henceforth removed links. You know where to find them. ^.~
+tagboard+
+previous posts+ +schedule+
+archives+ +counter+
Sunday, July 31, 2005
東京 ディズニーラーンド！
mood: ^.^;
listening to: fat japanese d00ds eating delicious steak (TV)
OK, sorry I had to end so abruptly at that last post. I ran outta time. LOL. But it was a good stopping point. Now I can tell you all about my Tokyo Disneyland ADVENTURE EXTRAORDINAIRE~!!!1!!11!!!2!
Rei and I left accompanied by Host Madre and Pouch/Poach/Porch for Sogo Rehabiri Center station at around 8:25. At the elevator Host Madre and us parted ways. Yurika card in hand, Rei and I made our way to the platforms.
I hadn't ever rode the subway into Nagoya so late before. It was weird. Most of the people on the train (there were a lot since Japanese people are workaholics/drunks/both and don't come home until really late) were probably heading for their homes or bars or something.
When we got into Nagoya we were running a tad bit late. But we made it to Nana-chan (that giant statue of a girl that does NOT look like a girl, no matter how many girly clothes they put on her) in time to meet up with Rei's two friends, Rina and Ayuri. We headed up to the bus stop and in about 20 minutes we were off~!
By that time it was 10:00 or so. I was sitting next to Rei and Rina and Ayuri were sitting next to each other. We talked for a bit, but soon we decided to go to sleep, since tomorrow was to be an early morning.
It was hard to sleep on the bus. REALLY hard. For one thing, I was a bit too tall to be comfortable. Secondly, I'm one of those people who can't really fall asleep without pressure on me, like a blanket or something. Even if I'm at a good temperature. It's weird, I know. Anyways, I was drifting in and out of sleep for about 4 - 4.5 hours when I realized we were stopped outside of Disneyland. I decided I would just stay awake for the next couple of hours since I wasn't sure what time we'd be going in. And it was already rather bright out (not entirely, but here in Japan the sun comes up at like 4 in the morning) so I just gave up. I applied some makeup, redid my hair, and waited.
Slowly but surely, more and more people were waking up. I was feeling a bit sick since I hadn't had anything to eat. If I wake up really early in the morning and don't eat anything, I feel really sick. I ended up accepting about 2 small bite-size melon pans from Rina, but I didn't have anything REAL to eat for many hours later. o.O;
At around 6:30 Rei and Rina went out to the bathrooms. Ayuri and I were to go together after they were done. I guess to make sure nothing of ours got stolen or something. I dunno. When Ayuri and I got to the bathrooms, I practically dashed to the sink to brush my teeth. Once we were finished, we headed back to the bus to finish getting ready.
At 7:05 we recieved our park passes and made our way out (by foot) to the Disneyland gate. We got there at 7:15, and waited in line for the park to open. For 45 minutes. I was still feeling a bit crappy, but I pushed it out of my mind. At 8:00 sharp we got into the park.
The first place we went (besides getting a fast pass for a ride) was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Since we rode it first thing there was litterally no line whatsoever. In fact, I think we were the first people to ride the ride. It was pretty much the same thing as the American one (or at least the California one) except some of the voices were re-recorded in Japanese. o.O; Some of them were in English, though. That proved to be the case in almost all of the rides we went on. Some English voices, some Japanese voices. It was so weird!
After Pirates of the Caribbean we made our way to Space Mountain. Now, by this time I saw how many people were in the park, and rationalized that the chances of me seeing Fuckison were slim to none. In fact, I hadn't seen any Gaijin whatsoever yet. Well, besides myself. My mind was put at ease. Well, that is until I ended up seeing Fuckison anyways. It always seems to work like that, doesn't it?
We were waiting in line for Space Mountain when I noticed a group of Gaijin behind me. One of them looked really familiar. It then struck me like an axe to the head that the 4 of them were fellow AFSers from orientation! O.O;; 3 of them were Italians. 2 of the girl Italians were in my room at orientation. The guy Italian I vauguely remembered, and then the one American with them was none other than the guy with the sunglasses whom HAL fondly dubbed "Sleeping Beauty" on the flight from Tokyo to Nagoya (long story...I still haven't typed out the orientation stuff, have I? o.O; )
I told Rei, Ayuri and Rina that I knew those Gaijin, and they were all really surprised. As we progressed in the line, I heard someone call out my name. I looked up and nearly passed out. It was FUCKISON. In my mind I was like "HOLY SHIT." But I regained my composure, and waved back. I noticed that Maybe-Her-Name-is-Chelsea was with her. I wondered if she knew that her friend Fedison was a fucking manwhore.
Luckily, I didn't see anymore of Fuckison nor the other group of AFSers (I wondered if they were together. I never found out) again. I was glad for that. Space Mountain was a lot scarier than I remember it. But nevertheless it was pretty fun. Wasn't too good on my stomach though. It left me feeling a bit sicker than I was before, but I tried not to think about it.
The rest of the day consisted of riding Toy Story (an inventive ride where you are in a little capsle that can rotate 360 degrees, and you try to shoot at targets with laser guns for points) a ToonTown ride, Winnie the Pooh (another inventive ride where you ride in a little capsule while they tell the story of Winnie the Pooh [a.k.a. Pooh-san] finding "hunny" and it's magnetized, so you don't see any tracks on the ground), Splash Mountain (5 fucking times, HELLS YEAH. Although, I never want to hear Zippity-Doo-Dah ever again in my life. LOL, it was in Japanese too), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted House (semi-scary, but made more scary since Rina kept on screaming next to me, LOL) Canoeing through an "American River" (that was hilarious. Plus, to my own amazement, I could understand everything that our guide said. Like nearly EVERY WORD. It made my day. Plus he was so funny and cute). We also rode Space Mountain again, did a bunch of shopping (crap. 100 bucks down the drain.) The food was SO EXPENSIVE though. Like, food alone cost me over 3500 yen. Which is roughly 35 bucks. But I did buy some cute things.
Another funny thing was that Rina and Ayuri were obsessing over their tennis coach the whole time. So they kept on saying "KOCHI!!" over and over again, since that's the word for coach in Japanese. LOL, it was hilarious.
By the end of the day I was pratically dead. Ayuri and I watched a parade while Rei and Rina went on this spinny ride. We had just ridden Space Mountain for a second time, and it was after eating a turkey leg, so we opted out on that one.
The one thing that amazed me was the fact that at the end Rei and Rina and Ayuri were all scrambling to buy souvenirs for practically everyone they know. Me, only having brought barley enough to feed myself, didn't buy anything for anyone. Host Madre gave Rei like 250 bucks, which is about the amount I had left for the next week.
At 9:50 we began to make our way out of the park. I took one last look at Cinderella's Castle, and we moved on towards the bus. By 10:10 we were the last ones to make it back to the bus. We then left Disneyland.
We drove through Tokyo. We went over the Rainbow Bridge...it was so surreal. Seeing Tokyo Tower again was like this amazing feeling. It reminded me how much I fucking love Tokyo. I wish I could have gone. But there is time.
As I watched Tokyo Tower, I vowed to live this last week in Japan to it's fullest. You see, it occured to me at Disneyland that this is my last full week in Japan. As I type this, this time next week I will be in the Tokyo Narita Airport, getting ready to return home to the US.
I can't belive it. It's gone by so fast. I mean, I think I'm ready to return home, but I'm going to miss Japan and the freedom it gave me.
I drifted in and out of sleep once more. I woke up at around 4:45, and knowing that we were going to arrive back in Nagoya at 6:00 or so, I decided to stay awake for the remainder of the ride. I just looked around and listened to music while everyone else slept.
When we arrived in Nagoya it was so weird. I mean, the street which is normally bustling with activity and tissue kubari people was dead silent and empty. Well, empty minus the occasional homeless man sleeping on the side of the street.
At the station Ayuri parted for the JR line, while Rei, Rina and I made our way to the subway. Rina got off at Sakae, though, so for the rest of the time it was just Rei and me again.
We arrived home at 6:45 AM. I took a bath, checked my email, had some apple pie, and then slept for pretty much the next 7 hours. LOL.
So that was Tokyo Disneyland. It was a blast, to say the least. Rina and Ayuri were so nice, and I finally felt like I was, I dunno, accepted or something. Anyways, there is still more to tell, so I shall part here, and post a new post about what happened last night...
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 2:24 PM
0
comments
Saturday, July 30, 2005
rezu
mood: x_x つかれた。。。
listening to: one guess, I shall give. (yoda moment)
Um...WOW. This has been a really long weekend. Wait. It's not even over yet. Holy CORAPON. OK, I guess I'll start from Thursday night.
Rei, Host Madre and I gathered around the table for a pre-departure sashimi dinner. Tru Calling (volume 3) was playing since Rei hadn't watched it yet. Anyways, in this one episode there is a storyline in which we find out that these two girls are lesbians. Anyways, of course Host Madre asks me all of these questions about America and gays and lesbians. (she had already seen these eps, but I guess she wanted to hear my take on it). It went kind of like this (it was all mainly in English, FYI):
TV: *two girls kissing in the forest*
Me: *anticipating and bracing for Host Madre's imminent comment*
Host Madre: OK.
Me: *basking in my l33t clairvoyance skillz*
Host: I have a question.
Me: Yes?
Host Madre: In English, gay is between a man and a man?
Me: yeah, but it can be used for women too.
Host Madre: then what is "rezu?"
Me: *blink blink* "rezu?" You mean "lesbian?" ("rezu" is japanese for lesbian, I educationally assumed)
Host Madre: Yes, lesbian. What is that?
Me: Between a girl and a girl.
Host Madre: Oh, so not a man and a man?
Me: No.
Host Madre: so gay is a man and a man and rezu is between a girl and a girl?
Me: yeah (in my head: "rezu, lesbian, close enough"), but gay can be both.
Host Madre: oh I see.
TV: *girls are discovered by one girl's "boyfriend" who didn't know she was lesbian, and by Tru*
Boyfriend: *pissed off and leaves*
Girl with Boyfriend: (to girlfriend) Remember what we said we'd do if people found out?
Other Girl: I dunno, I've lived here my whole life...
Girl with Boyfriend: *disheartened* So-and-so, it won't work here. We don't work here. We have to leave this place.
Other Girl: ...OK.
Host Madre: Where are they going?
Me: I dunno, somewhere else?
Host Madre: Another state? Isn't it only allowed in some states?
Me: (in my head) OH BOY. Um...no. *wonders how to explain to Japanese people* (Out loud) UM...no. You can be gay anywhere you want, you just can't get married in many states. Only one or two states allow it. (I couldn't remember exactly...I think Massachusettes, and maybe California, but that may have been repealed or what not. Feel free to correct me Nups).
Host Madre: So you can only be gay in one or two states?
Me: NO...you can be gay ANYWHERE! *spreads hands around* but you can't get married in most places.
Host Madre: OK, I see.
*pause*
Host Madre: are there any rezu in your school?
Me: *caught slightly off guard* Um, yeah, of course!
Host Madre: NO WAY REALLY??? (in Japanese; she seemed very surprised)
Me: yeah, there are gay people and bi people in my school. (she probably didn't get the whole bi part but whatever. she pretended to understand I guess).
Host Madre: I don't believe it! (in Japanese)
Me: *tries to grasp what the Japanese think of gay people but fails miserably*
Host Madre: In Rei's school, there are rezu also. *looks to Rei for confirmation*
Rei: Yeah. (in Japanese) Kimochi warui. (It's a phrase that doesn't really translate to normal English. Literally it means "bad feeling" [like for when you don't feel well] but I'm guessing by the situation that it means like "yeah, it makes me really uncomfortable" or "yeah, I don't really like it.")
Me: *grasps what Japanese think of gay people, or at least a little*
Host Madre: Rei likes boys. (in Japanese)
Me: (in my head) Thanks for clarifying that, Host Madre.
Host Madre: You like boys, right? (in Japanese)
Me: *caught REALLY off guard. Obviously she doesn't understand that you don't just ask someone like that if they are gay or lesbian* Yeah.
Now obviously that was the simple answer. To tell the honest truth, I do not know. I have never had a significant other of any gender, so to say I'm straight isn't really the truth. But as to not alarm my host family (who would probably then mention it to my mother), I just said yes. LOL.
And then it was over. But the whole "you like boys, right?" comment reminded me of another thing that often bothers me about Japanese poeple. It's the whole fat vs. thin thing. They obviously don't understand that in America you don't really call people fat to their face. But she is always saying how I am thing and Rei is fat. It's really uncomfortable for me, and I think even for Rei, too. To tell the truth, Rei could stand to loose a couple of pounds, but she really isn't that bad. I think she's pretty, actually. Anyways, I just had to get that out.
MORE TO COME...
Erin
managed to blog @ 10:25 PM
2
comments
Thursday, July 28, 2005
disneyland here i come~!!
mood: ^.^
listening to: the chirping of the birds through the open window, basking in a slight breeze
Today I didn't really do much. Woke up at 9, got dressed and whatnot, had some choco bread and read some of my Sailormoon manga for a while. Speaking of, I must say I am trés proud of myself. I mean, considering it's in Japanese and I'm over half way through. OK, so I have read it in English before, but there are times when I can read full sentences without consulting my dictionary. *applause cue*
Then Host Madre asked me if I wanted to go to GEO (the video rental store). I was like "OK!" And off we went. Rei was having a piano lesson, so it was just the two of us.
At GEO I got volumes 3 and 10 of Tru Calling. You see, I started watching right in the middle, and while I wanted to watch more as the story progressed, I also wanted to catch up on missed events.
When I got home I watched 10 first. Let's just say OMG SHOCKER because I was on the edge of my couch. Seriously, I was crying slightly by the end. Tru Calling is actually quite good. At first I was skeptical, but I really do enjoy it. A pity it was cancelled this year. Don't get me wrong though, my loyalty remains with ALIAS as my favorite show. Tru Calling comes in second.
I just finished watching volume 3, and I decided to blog a bit (plus Rei and Host Madre are out golfing [lol, i opted out this time] so I have the house to myself). Since each volume has 2 episodes on it (cheapos. Each disk of ALIAS has 4!) I had been watching TV for about 4 hours. Switching screens seemed like a good idea, since Japanese TV sucks for the most part (especially at this time of the day; nothing remotely good comes on until later in the evening).
This will be my last blogging entry until Saturday morning at the earliest. You see, I'ma going to Disneyland with Rei and her two friends! Happy, happy, joy, joy. Well, unless I see Fuckison. Then I'm going to have to make a run for it. But don't worry; expect a full play-by-play, curtosy of yours truly. Haha. Tru. OK. Wow. I am, yappari, over my head.
See you~!
<3
Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 5:03 PM
1
comments
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
from me to you
mood: =)
listening to: 中日DORAGONS!!!1!!111!!1
http://www.urbanrail.net/as/nago/nagoya-map.gif
For your reference, I found a Map of the Nagoya Subway Network (Chikatetsu). I am located at Sogo Rehabiri Center (Purple; like a 26 second walk from where my house is). To get to Nagoya I usually go down the Meijo Line (purple) and switch at Motoyama to the Higashiyama Line (yellow). From there I make my way down to Nagoya. To get to Sakae, I can either switch to Higashiyama, or just ride the Meijo line around to it. Anyways, I thought a visual would help. LOL. By the way, the Japanese Semi-Ghetto is also known as Shonai Ryokuchi Koen located on the Tsurumai (blue) line. For those who were wondering.
JA.
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 10:49 PM
0
comments
a tiring (yet fun!) day and a horrifying realization
mood: =_=
listening to: lame japanese tv...AGAIN
I think I'll skip to the horrifying realization first, and then get to how tiring my day was.
I just realized that I got my days wrong. I'm going to be in Disneyworld the SAME FUCKING DAY as that idiot MANWHORE Fuckison. Holy SHIT. This sucks. Being a gaijin, I stick out like sore thumb around here, which means most likely if we do happen to cross pathes, he will see me first. You see, he is an Evil Looking Asian, so he's harder to pick out, even though he is Chinese and not Japanese. Shit. This really sucks. Maybe I should wear a hat and sunglasses, even though I don't have a hat, and I don't know where I put my sunglasses. ...Hm...where ARE they? ...o.O;
Anyways, that should be interesting. I hope I don't see him. That manwhore.
Um...oh yeah, my day. This morning I woke up at 8:00, the time we were planning to leave. You see, today I went with Rei to her sempai's handball mach. Rei is a member of the handball club, and although she wasn't playing today, she had to go to cheer for her sempai. So she invited me to go along.
Anyways, 10 minutes later, I was looking pretty shabby, but we made it out the door. We ran to Sogo Rehabiri Center to catch the subway to Motoyama, and then we took the Higashiyama line to Chikusa to meet up with the other handball clubees. From there we took the JR to someplace. It was sorta in the middle of nowhere. And I could have SWORN that we passed by the Japanese Semi-Ghetto. I swear to you I saw it.
From the middle of nowhere station, we got a taxi to a nearby high school where the match was to be held. Now lemme tell you: these Japanese taxis are SWEET. The drivers are all groomed and have these suits on with spotless white gloves. They help you with your bags into the trunk, and the doors are automatic, so they automatically open. LOL. Then, when you get inside, the tops of the seats have white lace draped over them (I'm not kidding you LACE people. WHITE LACE.) and a white sheet pad thing over the seat. All spotlessly clean.
Meanwhile I'm chatting it up with Rei's friends and sempai. "Sempai" is upperclassman by the way. But they have to address them as So and So-san. Never So and So-chan or whatever. There is a clear line of who is superior here. Rei has this friend, Komame, who is possibly the CUTEST GIRL I HAVE EVER SEEN. She is SO cute. Her face, her voice, her hair. I swear to you, she is like the manifestation of cute. Anyways, another one of Rei's friends was Mina, who I got to know a bit. She always was trying to talk to me in English, LOL. And this one girl, Aki, reminds me SO MUCH (even her name...) of one of the girls I met 2 years ago on Shinkansen. I'm beginning to think that it WAS her. I mean, they were from Nagoya, and I think that she is Ninensei...which means 2 years ago...well, I think it fits. I'll have to check my picture when I get back home, because seriously, I swear to you I have met this girl before. I seem to remember one of the girls' names was Aki.
Anyways, when we got to the high school, it was around 9:00 or so. We eventually (10:00 o.O;)made our way to a dusty field, where everyone practiced handball for nearly 2 hours. I sat there and contemplated the idea of me writing a book. I think I outlined the entire thing. By the time I thought of perhaps listening to music, we moved to somewhere else. There was a lot of shuffling about the campus doing what seemed like nothing. The match didn't start until 1:00.
Handball is actually really fun to watch. It's like a mixture between basketball (the 5 players minus the goalie, the way it moves back and forth in the gym) and soccer (there is a goalie, and the ball is like a miniature soccer ball and the rules of gameplay are sort of like soccer in a way - it's hard to describe). Anyways, the game was split into two 20 minute halves with a 5 minute break in between. I'm guessing if there was a tie there would have been a 3rd game to break it, but since we managed to loose 16 to 6, I dunno. Our team was pretty good, but we had a bad goalie. They had a really good goalie, so whatever.
After the game ended (around 2:00) we eventually had lunch at around 2:35 or so. I had a melon pan. We then took a bunch of pics, since, well, I was there (lol being a gaijin is hard sometimes) and since it was the last match of the year.
By 3 we got into the taxis once more and drove back to the station. Instead of going back to Chikusa, me and Rei got off later at Kanayama so we wouldn't have to switch to Meijo after the Higashiyama; we could just ride the Meijo line the entire way.
When I got home I was practically dead. But I had a lot of fun. I got to know Rei more, it seems, in that time that I had gotten to know her from these past 4.5 weeks. Plus her friends are uber nice. And funny. LOL. They wanted to know what this Japanese word "nanpa" means, and it means, you know, to "pick up girls" or whatever. Guys say it often in this TV drama, apparently. (They must go to an all boys school or something!) So the entire time they kept on repeating "pick up a girl." It was hilarious. They also kept on saying "joint party" because in Japan students often have these "joint parties" called "Goukon" that take place at school. I am guessing they're like Advisory Parties, since I happened to watch the drama 2 days ago.
Anyways, I pretty much watched TV the entire time since. Curry Rice was for dinner. Yum. I also finally broke the news to Host Madre that the way that she pronounces her dog's name (apparently her name is Porch (o.O; ??) but she pronounces it "Poach") means to kill animals illegally, not your front doorstep. Before I thought her name was pouch...but then Host Madre was telling me that she thought that "pouch" and "porch" were pronounced the same. UM...NO. Porch has an "R." And who in their right mind name's their dog after a place you step on to wipe off your muddy shoes anyways?!
Now I'm just hanging around. I wanted to see Yoshie-san's play tomorrow but I can't because it's way to early. Zannen. Tomorrow Rei has English tutoring and piano lessons, so I'm just going to hang around until 8:00 when we leave for Nagoya station to go to Disneyland. Which should be REALLY fun. I'm really psyched. If going to the handball thing where I pretty much sat and waited and watched was fun, then Disneyland should be 10 times more fun. Plus I find it hilarious when Japanese high school students try to speak English. Because they try so hard it looks like, it makes me crack up. It's so cute.
Anyways, I just hope the fun isn't ruined if we run into Fuckison.
Well, I'd better go. I want some ocha or something.
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 9:42 PM
2
comments
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
HOLY FUCK.
mood: O_O
listening to: DOES THAT MATTER NOW?!
I was checking my gmail and decided to email one of the guys (Nicknames: Evil Looking Asian because he looks evil and Fedison, since he has 2 names; Fei and Edison, since he is Chinese or something) in Tokyo who I met at orientation briefly, since I hadn't emailed him back.
HOLY FUCK. And no pun intended. I think I will let this email conversation speak for itself.
July 25th (1 day ago)
Hey, sorry I haven't emailed in a month. School's out, and Nagoya is pretty boring. For the most part. We do have some good shopping though.
How is Tokyo? I heard you all had an earthquake the other day.
Anyways, I gotta run. Hope Tokyo has been AMAZING. =)
-Erin
**
Today 1:45 PM (5 Hours ago)
well there was an earthquake but i didn't feel it.. and Tokyo is the best place to live in. Casey did a 28 year old in northern part of Tokyo. And I am going to that place maybe on wednesday.. :P
Edison
**
At this point I was like HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP. I was trying to remember who Casey was. When I did, I couldn't IMAGINE that that guy would do something like that. I remember that he was my partner at the very first day of L.A. Orientation for some actitvity. I was shocked. So I sent him back THIS:
**
Today 5:28 PM (2 hours ago)
Erm, what exactly do you mean by "did?" I think I know but I think I'm going to need a clarification there. Anyways, I hope you have fun on Wednesday, wherever that place is.
Speaking of Wednesday, I'm going to be in the Tokyo area too. I'm heading out to Disneyland with my host sister and her friends for a day. Have you been yet?
Talk to you later,
-Erin
**
Obviously now to him I look like a complete and utter pr00d, but I frankly don't care. (I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN YOU FUCKING JACKASS). Anyways, I recieved this reply about 5 minutes ago:
**
Today 7:00 PM (31 minutes ago)
did as in fuck. Anyways I have been to Tokyo Disney last year. It was fun but also crowded. This Friday we are going to Tokyo Disney. Thursday there is a Tea Ceremony which everyone is invited in Tokyo area.
later
**
YEAH, UM LATER YOU FREAKY EVIL LOOKING FUCKISON!!
I couldn't believe it. I'm still in shock. I can't believe these people's host families don't GIVE A SHIT THAT THEIR HOST KIDS ARE GOING TO ROPPONGI OR WHEREVER AND FUCKING PEOPLE WHO ARE PROBABLY 10 YEARS OR MORE THEIR SENIOR! HOLY FUCK!!!
I am truly sorry for those of you who probably did not want to read that. But I really needed to rant my shock out. Thankyou.
later.
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 7:30 PM
1
comments
sakae adventures
mood: =__=
listening to: japanese tv
ikebana with teh ladies
this morning I woke up at a timely 9:10 feeling even more sore than yesterday. Even though I wore those icy-hot pad things. I hate golf.
Rei had a piano lesson at 9:30, so I had to clear out of the room. I was going to go with Host Madre to a neighbor's house for an ikebana lesson at 10:00 anyways.
We ended up leaving at 10:10, but it didn't really matter since it is like 5 steps away from our place.
When we entered the house, it smelled rather musty. There were 3 other women already there. I soon figured out that the owner of this house was the Sensei, and she didn't live there; she had another house. So she used this house for ikebana lessons and English lessons. Pretty innovative in my opinion.
The Sensei reminded me of Maude. I dunno why. Actually I do. The hair, although brown, reminded me of hers. Her face and her stern expression. But she was pretty nice. The other ladies were nice too. There was this one who was practicing her English on me. She even brought a map for me to point out where I'm from, LOL.
Ikebana was pretty interesting. I'll give you an outlined explination of what we did:
1. We had these ikebana bases made of hard clay or metal or something. They are shaped in this thin, long rectangle.
2. We took these weird spongey things (reminded me of those mountain potatoes that we always eat) and put them into the bases.
3. Then we dug little cavities into the sponge and filled them with shiny black rocks to make there be little hilly things. You know, to look more like real nature or something.
4. Black bamboo was then inserted into the sponge. Thick and thin, short and tall, to make there be symmetry and stuff.
5. Then we cut the heads off of these flowers. They are bright magenta and look like brains. We stuck them in clusters around the bamboo.
6. then we got these willowy yellow flowers and put them swooping across the bamboo. It looks really pretty, actually.
7. Then we filled in the rest of the sponge with the shiny black rocks.
I'll post up a pic later.
After getting evaluated by the Sensei, we talked a while with the other Japanese ladies and had coffee and stuff. Then, we left.
I left the house for Sakae at 1:10 or so. Why? Because I managed to convince my mom to send me more mulah!! YES! $250 bucks wire transferred. So I was off to go and find the bank in Sakae.
When I got there, I got off at exit 8, just like Host Madre told me. She drew a little map, but I didn't know which way was north. It was either left or right, so I chose left. I dunno why. I should have chosen right. I walked around Sakae for about 25 minutes (in the rain because there is a typhoon coming) trying to find it. I asked a chef if he knew where it was. He pointed across two blocks. I had taken the wrong turn at the exit. So while I was waiting for the light to let me walk across the street, a skeevy looking old man (actually, they ALL look skeevy) started talking to me. He showed me where the bank was. Without him, I don't think I would have found it. It was in this shady corner practically, and I had to take this creepy elevator to get to it. When I walked in it was 2:30, and I was soaking wet, even though I had an umbrella. The wind kept on pushing the rain on me. I was seated, and then filled out this form. 10 minutes later they took the form, and I had to wait for 15 minutes. I swear, I think they make you wait so you think that they are doing important work or something. They probably already had my money ready and waiting, they just wanted to look official or something. I was forced to listen to classical music the entire time. It was that kind of classical music that you hear in fancy hotel reception lobbys. And their elevators. This bank probably gets like 3 customers a day since they have such a short open time (they fucking close at 3:00! that's why I couldn't go yesterday like I wanted to).
Anyways, when I got my money I was pleasantly surprised. Because of the exchange rate, my $250 became 27300 yen. Which is more like $273. I love exchange rates.
After I got my money, I was SO in the mood for a grande chai latte. Convieniently there was a Starbucks across the street, so I went in. I sat and drank for a while. Then I saw a black guy come in. I rarley see black people around, so I was intrigued. When he sat down, he smiled at me. I asked where he was from and before I knew it, I had moved to his table and I was talking with him while drinking my chai.
It turns out he's from Nigeria, but he grew up in Wales. He had an interesting accent. He's an English teacher in Nagoya, but during the break he works at the local TV station. His name is Felix. We talked for a while about stuff. However, I was running low on time, so I left after about 30 minutes. It was nice talking to him though. I emailed Alyna about it. She probably would have liked him. He was a pretty cool guy, that Felix.
I headed over to M-Stage, the talent shop to go shopping for Almost. I will not disclose what I got for her, since I want it to be a surprise. Let's just say I got some really hot things, and they were a really good deal for her. Muahaha.
I returned home, and had the house to myself. I like having the house to myself. About an hour later Rei returned home. Then Host Madre. Now I must watch TV, since the Host Madre bids it.
Do there is my day actually ON the day~! Hope you enjoyed.
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 7:16 PM
0
comments
so much to write about so little time.
mood: x_x
listening to: the hum of the computer
I think I'll just pick up where I left off.
Sunday
We headed over to the new electronics store with and iPod for Rei in mind. I now know how different this family is from mine. They can somewhat spontaneously get their daughter an expensive item. I had to wait AGES and AGES for mine. When we got into the store...well, to make a long story short, Rei got another mp3 player instead of an iPod, and the family bought a $1000 digital camcorder. Just like that! O.O We were in the store for around 2 hours, too.
After leaving, we (unfortunately) headed for GOLF practice. Now, if you know me, you know that:
a) I hate golf
b) I cannot play golf for my life
c) I suck at MINI GOLF. What does that tell you??
Anyways, luckily it was just driving practice. I sucked. Rather badly, actually. Towards the end I started to get the hang of it though. Maybe it's because they actually let me use the DRIVER. o.O;
We golfed for a while, and then headed back home to take a quick change of clothing and then, naturally, headed out for a restaurant. I had a feeling by that time that I wasn't going to have any time to memorize my speech. Why? Because this family could stay in a restaurant for DAYS. I swear to you, when we have family dinners, we stay in the resturant for usually 2-3 hours.
It was a tempura restaurant. I was comforted by this. Well, I was at least until I was almost forced to eat fried shrimp head. The cook was like "it tastes like cracker!" in English. I was like, in my head "YEAH, A CRACKER WITH FEELERS AND EYES YOU FREAK!!" I gave them to my Host Madre. I almost had to eat the head of a fish, too, since it was literally the entire fish fried (it was small). However, I just ate up to the neck area, and put the heads down. I told my host mom that in America we don't eat heads.
After that though, it was pretty much smooth sailing. =)
We got back home around 11. I knew I was just going to have to wing the whole speech thing the next day. Oh well.
Monday
Naturally I woke up later than I wanted. However, I quickly got ready and headed out for what was my last day at I.C. Nagoya. Also my last day of seeing the Italians and Hong Kong people. Which made me sad, since I really liked Italian Cool Guy.
I found my textbook and electronic dictionary, which gave me much relief. I also scribbled down a romanized version of my speech on a piece of paper to read off of. I tried memorizing it, but I knew that there was no hope.
Soon, the teachers ushered us all out into the hallway, and we then made our way to another building, which happened to be the old crappy building in which we had that one class with Airheaded-But-Nice&Cute Sensei the first week of school. In the building was a small room with seats and a podium. We practiced our speeches, and learned a song that we were going to sing *cougheyeahrightIasifIllsingcough* Then it was lunch break. I headed out with Quiet Korean One (for lack of a better name), Queen of Hearts, and Rainbow Girl. We went to the SCoco conbini and then we took purikura together. We got back just in time for the graduation thing.
We got ourselves seated and then we recieved our certificates by class. Then, we gave our speeches. There were 30 total. I was number 14. I did OK, but I wrote too small, so I had to hold my small paper to my face in order to see, LOL. I'll post my speech up later, for those interested. I think I spoke too fast, too. It was kind of distracting though, because LORNE's host mom brought with her a mentally retarded girl who kept making strange noises pretty much the entire commencement.
After the speech there was some other stuff. We got back our hankerchiefs that we made at Arimatsu ages ago, and we sang the song. I noticed during my speech that Rei was filming with the new camera, so during the song I managed to stand right behind Kind-of-Tall, hidden from sight. YES. VICTORY.
After the graduation, I left pretty quickly with Rei and Host Madre. Instead of heading home like I thought we were (I was feeling a bit below par for some reason), we headed to Takashimaya. Why? I do not know. We went to this extrodinarily lame Universal Studios thing where you walked through this little Jurassic Park and E.T. thing into this area where you could get your picture taken with Snoopy, etc. They had this thing called the BREAKMASTER or something like that. I forget. But it was like this "ride" thing. I supposed it was supposed to be one of those, you know, virtual rides where you sit/stand on the moving thing and there is movie playing in front of you and you feel like you're moving or something. Host Madre said that it was about firefighters or something. Well, I was SO wrong. We litterally walked in, stood on this metal piece of scrap, and watched 2 doors fly open, a ladder drop down, and a bucket get pushed out, and then the floor made a slight shaky quake. And that was IT. I almost laughed out loud. It was possibly the STUPIDEST THING EVER CONSTRUCTED. It was SO LAME. What made it even funnier was that there were people actually waiting in LINE for this crap. UGH.
After that experience, we headed up to the twin tower observatory thing to get the good view. We rode in this really big elevator. Then, we saw the Nagoya Castle made of sugar and stuff on display in the Marriot, and then we went for an afternoon desert. I had a banana parfait, Rei had a mango parfait, and Host Madre had this fruit tart thing. It was trés good. While we ate, we talked about my fellow AFSers, and who stuck out in their minds. What I heard was pretty much BLASPHEMY.
1. They said Seamus looked cool and he looked like Matt Damon. UM...NO. I told them that Seamus was a self-absorbed, arrogant asshole (well, not really, but I told them that he was arrogant), and he DOES NOT AND I REPEAT, DOES NOT LOOK LIKE MATT DAMON. First I look like Dakota Fanning, and now he looks like Matt Damon? I don't think so. Just because we are white doesn't mean we look like white famous people. GEEZ. During his speech (or right before) he put down his sunglasses to look all cool. What an idiot. I thought that was the stupidest thing I had ever seen. Why would you put down your sunglasses during a SPEECH? And it was indoors! And it was cloudy outside! Why do you even HAVE your sunglasses?
2. They LIKED Fanny Pack!!! HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP! I told them that he was really creepy, and that I pretty much hated him. They kept on saying that he looked like he tried so hard, blah blah blah. Well, I have to give him that. But then I went on this rant about how annoying and creepy he is. And then Host Madre was like "He is a little strange boy" in English. And I nearly cracked up because first of all, the way she said it was very funny. Then I was like "UM...A LITTLE???"
Anyways, that was blasphemy.
We then returned home. It was the last time I ever used my subway pass. ;_; I was trés sad.
By the time we got home it was around 4:30 or 5:00. I pretty much read my Sailormoon manga (in Japanese, I feel so proud) and watched TV the entire time. We also rewatched the speeches on tape. I looked/sounded/was/is so bad. That was pretty much it.
Now for today.
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 6:15 PM
0
comments
Sunday, July 24, 2005
I always drinking!!
mood: z_z
listening to: nothing
Well, it's Sunday and I haven't started memorizing my speech yet. Typical. To my dismay, last night I realized that along with my electronic dictionary (figured that out on Friday once I returned home) that I also left my "textbook" (if you can even all it that) and more importantly, the final copy of my speech, inside the desk. SMOOTH MOVE ERIN. Luckily I have a nearly perfected copy of it with me, so I'll just make the notecards off of that, and then make sure it's right when I go in tomorrow.
Tomorrow my train pass expires. I'm sad about that because it was like my ticket of freedom. It represents my newly found independence. Sure I can still ride the train, but that means I'd have to pay. Grah. >.>
Yesterday I had practically no free time. Which explains the not-having-started-the-speech thing. I woke up at 10:30 and Rei was like "Hurry up and get ready! We're leaving soon!" in Japanese obviously. You see, she had her piano lesson and I was going to wait like I usually do, and then afterwards (since there was no drum lesson) we were planning on going to Sakae. So I was like OK CRAP. I didn't even have enough time to wash my face. Or put on any makeup for that matter. So I shoved my makeup case into a bag, and I was like "I'll just do it there~!" And soon we were off.
When we got to the Yamaha place, I quickly splashed some water over my face in the bathroom, and then went to my usual corner with the vending machine and spend the entire time putting on makeup without a good mirror. LOL. Once Rei was finished, we headed over to Sakae to go to a Talent Shop called M Stage. A Talent Shop is a little shop where you can find goods (like photos, posters, cards, etc.) on your favorite J-Artist. I, naturally, spent the entire time looking for good Ayu stuff. Since I was running low on money (4500 yen, which is like $45) I only got 2 lamenated (sp?) Ayu posters, and one lamenated Ostuka Ai poster. I am planning on going back there not only for myself, but for Almost since I noticed there was Gackt/Luna Sea/possibly SUGIZO stuff there. And since it was relatively cheap, I'm psyched about this possibility.
Rei, obviously was all over the ORANGE RANGE stuff. Her favourite is Hiroki. o.O;
After M Stage we headed over to Yaba-cho for lunch at a soba restaurant, and then we shopped around the department store for a little while. I wanted so many things, but as I only had about 3000 yen ($30) I was hesitant. However, I ended up buying a Minnie Mouse shirt anyways. It was on sale, and I felt bad not buying anything, since Rei was like "Let's go shopping!" and all. I didn't want her to think that I was having a bad time or something. I do like the shirt though. It is very cute. =)
After spending a bunch of time in the department store, Rei and I headed once more for the subway to Nonami. We were planning on meeting Atsuko-chan (Rei's cousin who was at the Barbeque...did I mention the barbeque...?? whatever.) at the bowling place to bowl.
When we first got there, we couldn't find it. Then, we saw a large bowling pin in the distance. XD LOL. We headed for it. When we finally got to the place, we decided we weren't going to bowl - we were going to take purikura. We waited a bit for Atsuko-chan, and then we headed inside.
The place was like a bowling/billiard/karaoke/arcade/UFO catcher/purikura place. You often see these "Game Centers" in Japan. They are trés cool, to say the least. We took about a million purikura, and I must say, I actually ended up looking SO GOOD! in some of them.
After purikura, Atsuko-chan's madre (my Host Tia?) picked the three of us up, and dropped me and Rei off at the house. Soon after arriving, we left again with Host Madre to go out to dinner. We decided to walk there, since it wasn't that far. In my head I was like "Is the REAL reason why we're walking because Host Madre is going to be drinking a lot at this place?"
Obviously, my hunches were proven correct, when Host Madre insisted that we all sat at the bar. The bar tender was really nice and funny, though.
2 hours later, Host Madre was pretty much drunk. You see, I always know when she is drunk because she always
a) starts pronouncing my name wrong
b) is louder than normal
c) mixes up "he" and "she" more than she normally does (in English, obviously)
d) always is saying how she "loves alcoholic" and how she "always drinking."
e) tells me that when I go home to America to "have patience" (I think what she means is "don't tell your parents that I get drunk every time we go out to dinner")
It was at the point where she proclaimed "I always drinking!!" and "I love alcoholic!" that I began to crack up. Hysterically. I mean, the situation in particular was funny, but I swear to you, if my life was a sitcom, you all would be cracking up too. My experience as a whole has been one giant sitcom, let me tell you.
It was on the way home that I was intrigued by something that Host Madre said. She said that my character was very "Japanese like." I was like "But I am Gaijin!" As I think about it, it reminds me of Pinoccio (sp). Gepetto is all like "You are like a person!" and Pinoccio is like "But I'm not a REAL boy!" Anyways, she was basically saying that she was surprised that I wasn't an obnoxious American. I had a feeling that that was going to be said sometime. I mean, there are obviously obnoxious Americans, but to say that everyone in America is obnoxious is an overstatement. I know a lot of people, and although we may be louder, I know a lot more civilized Americans than obnoxious ones. Then again, I'm only 15.
Well, there you have yesterday. Sorry I've been a slacker. XD
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 10:00 AM
4
comments
Saturday, July 23, 2005
mood: =_=
listening to: one guess. just one.
I am such a slacker. I'm sorry. To make it up to you in a lame way, I have compiled some stories over the past couple of days to show what has been a happenin'.
Did I mention I have this Japanese stalker? It's this old droopy fat woman whom I've seen 3 or 4 times already on the subway. I saw her TWICE on Monday. Once in the morning and once when I was coming home. It was teh creepay.
Tuesday in the subway, I was debating whether to get on, since it looked pretty full, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to be squeezed all the way to Sakae. But it was then that I saw a group of about, oh I dunno, like 13 people in bright red shirts. At first I thought that they were a tourist group coming back from expo, but then I saw the cowboy hats. I knew right then and there that they were from Texas. So, I boarded. I started up a conversation. Now usually, I don't talk to other gaijin, really. I see it as a sign of weakness, you know. But these people seemed pretty open and nice, and they were from Texas, so I talked. Anyways, it turns out they were at Expo doing some stuff. They were from Boerne (or however you spell it) One person had a guitar with her. I told them that "oh my dad is from Texas" (lol, or so he says) and he went to A&M. Two people went to A&M who were in the group. One was class of 1970, and one got her master's in '80. They asked what year he graduated, but I forgot. I said 1970 something. It was when they left that I realized it was 1979/1980. Whoops. Anyways, they were like "oh where are you from" blah blah and stuff. And so we talked for a while. They got off at Sakae though. LOL, before they got off they bombarded me with these Texas pins and whatnot. They were really nice, and they seemed really glad to see another American. They said that they hand't seen any other Americans outside of the Expo yet, and they were all excited about it. LOL, it was really funny.
Wednesday I talked with a French guy in French at a subway station. (!!) XD At first I thought he was American or something, but then he had an accent trés famillaire, so I was like "where are you from?" and he was like "France" and I was like "OH! JE PARLE UN PETIT FRANCIAS!" And he was like "How long?" and I was lke "OH! DEPUIS CINQ ANS!!" I was so happy to practice my French in the field, even though it's a Japanese field, LOL. Eileen, you'd be so proud, I know it.
Wednesday was also the Sumo Wrestling Experience EXTRAORDINAIRE! Well, not really but whatever. It was pretty interesting at first, but then it got rather redundant and boring. You see, there is hardly any actual fighting. Most of the match is taken up by going to the corner, picking up sand/dirt, walking back into the center, throwing the sand/dirt, smacking your fat, sqatting while facing your opponent, standing up again, going back to the corner, smacking you fat loudly a few times, taking a drink, walking back to the center again, squatting while facing your opponent, standing up again, going back to the corner, smacking your fat loudly, washing your face...and on and on and ON. This can take like 10 minutes, no joke. Once one of the wrestlers actually starts the fight, it lasts for about 10-25 seconds and then you repeat the process. Meanwhile, you are sitting very uncomfortably on purple pads, without food, yet smelling food from not-so-far away. You see, we were in the non-eating section.
The very last part was really interesting when people cheered very loudly when the d00d won, and then threw their purple pillows towards the ring. I was besieged.
I have about 4 videos of sumo, so once I find a place to host my vids, I'll post them up. LOL. I have some good action ones. And one where the purple pillows are being thrown about, and when one is coming straight at Rei you can hear me shout "危ない!!!!" ("WATCH OUT!") loudly. LOL.
For those who are currently not finished with Harry Potter, I will not be discussing spoilers on this here blog until Sunday. That way everyone has a week to read it. If you aren't done by now...well, you are a blasphemer. I will not spoil it, though. I am totally against that. Well...not entirely. LOL. LORNE really wanted to spoil it for someone (he tried doing it to Queen of Hearts, but I stopped him), so he was like who hasn't read it yet? And since Fanny Pack (who else?) had just seconds later tried to steal my copy (oh how I twisted his opera loving arm) as I was discussing it with Queen of Hearts, I told LORNE that he hadn't read it yet. MUAHAHA. He spoiled the ending. But I shall not, since you are my darling blogger buddies, and not Fanny Pack Wearers, Opera Lovers, Creepy Smilers, Grin Reapers, Bad Jokers, or anything else that relates to that man whom I will NEVER call by his true name. For he is not worthy of such an honor from me.
Well, today was my last day of classes, but I still have to go in on Monday. And I still have to spend all weekend memorizing my idiot Harry Potter speech, which sucks. Well, it sucks that I have to memorize it, and the speech in general just sucks. But whatever. We're allowed to make notecards, so I am just going to write the entire speech down on notecards just in case I forget it all. Which I will, by the way.
I haven't hung out with the group for a week. Or maybe even over. I've just been keeping to myself. Today I went to Jasco after school feeling rather down (I will miss our daily B Class antics, minus the self-absorbed arogantness of Seamus, who, by the way, I still think likes me x_x) and I went to the Panya in the grocery store section, bought some delicious bread and ate it alone. I like being alone, but at times I enjoy being with friends. I have been talking a lot more with Queen of Hearts and Rainbow Girl again recently, but Rainbow Girl gets on my nerves sometimes when she talks in Japanese. Also she says "wicked" a lot, and it really, really annoys me. x_x oh well. I may be going karaoke-ing with Italian Cool Guy and the other Italians next week though. But I dunno yet.
Well, that's a wrap for now. I will try to be less of a procrastinator. I'd better get on that speech.
-Erin
P.S. Once school is officially and finally over, I'll post a bunch of new pics for you guys. ALMOST - I got you a new compact and a magazine (Cawaii, and Ayu is on the front, convieniently. Actually, Ayu has been on the front of pretty much every single magazine this month). I saw pinky mints in the makeup store, but they didn't have blueberry. Will the other flavours suffice? I'm going to try to get your other requested items soon.
Erin
managed to blog @ 10:45 PM
2
comments
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
cockroach on the loose.
mood: =_=
listening to: crappy japanese tv. what else?
I'm so sorry I haven't blogged. I have been reading Harry Potter, procrastinating, and watching Tru Calling, procrastinating, watching ALIAS...
Anyways, I'll post a long post about the past week or however long it has been after this. I just need to get this day out of the way.
Today I woke up and flet surprisingly refreshed. I saw yet ANOTHER sumo on the subway today. That makes it 3 times I've seen a sumo. And it's been on the same train car, so maybe the key to seeing more sumo is to go on that specific train car.
School was boring, as usual. We're writing this speech for the last day of school, and mine is on Harry Potter. What pisses me off, though, is that we only have 2 hours to write it, 1 hour to perfect it, and it has to be over 2 minutes. What's worse is that we have to memorize the fucker. I can't memorize over 2 minutes of Japanese! I can't even memorize over 2 minutes of ENGLISH! HOLY CRAP.
After school I decided not to hang out with the Group. I don't think they like me anyways. And don't say, "Oh Erin, of COURSE they like you!" because they don't. And I'm not saying it to try and get attention, but I really, strongly feel it.
I went to the makeup store and spent 50 bucks. Smart one. Although I like, obviously, what I got, I only have like 120 bucks left. For the next 3 weeks. This is not going to work out very well, methinks. I'm going to try and ask Dad for more money.
After the makeup store, I felt quite, I dunno, independent, mature, and pretty since my hair is all nice now. So, I naturally headed for the Starbucks in the Unimall underground. I had a short (here it goes Short, Tall, and Grande - there is no Venti) chai tea latte to be frugal. I then went to the Sanrio to look for a fan for my mom. However, they didn't have any good ones. I spent a long time in there. It really tested my willpower. I didn't buy anything. If I had 25000 yen on me, I may have bought a Hello Kitty DVD player. Or maybe the phone. Or the toaster. Or the rice cooker. Whatever. It was very hard to leave without buying anything, but I feel good about it.
I decided to return home early. On the way to the Higashiyama line, I bought a nice hairclip. I don't feel guilty, since I have been planning to buy one for nearly 2 weeks (once my hair was all nice).
When I got home, Rei was here and Host Madre wasn't. I don't think Rei likes me. Whatever. Anyways, I was wishing to get home and have the house be empty, since I really needed some alone time in the house. You know, to blog, relax, watch Jumanji or something.
Rei and I ended up watching some of the Borne Supremacy until dinner. It's pretty good, but after dinner when we watched it, I started to fall asleep. I was in and out until 8:20 or so when I headed downstairs to take a nap. And to be alone. I decided against it though, since I probably wouldn't have woken up, and I kinda wanted to wash my hair, since I haven't washed it since Saturday (I couldn't becauseof the perm; don't think I'm unclean like my host family does).
Anyways, now I'm up here blogging. I don't feel like doing my homework. When do I ever feel like doing my homework? At least yesterday was a holiday. I never have to see Old-And-Annoying Sensei ever again. I only have one more day left of Airheaded-But-Nice&Cute Sensei. That saddens me. I don't like ending off badly. Since, you know. I have JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-Sensei on Thursdays and Fridays. But whatever.
There was a cockroach on the loose. I have seen this cockroach before. Once with Rei when we were making breakfast or something, I forget. Then once when I was passing by like 2 weeks ago. I then saw it again a few minutes ago. I've seen it 2 times since then. It moves so fast. Host Madre managed to get it a little with her spray thing, but it got away. It's a fast fucker. I hate cockroaches. It makes me cringe that there is one in the house. You'd think Japan being such a clean country...nevermind. Whatever. I'm just glad it's not near me anymore.
I'll try and finish the other big post soon. But don't get your hopes up, LOL.
OH YEAH.
Harry Potter.
HOLY.
Fucking.
CRAP.
I cried too, Nup. I cried too. That's all I'll say. I don't want people complaining to me about spoilers.
Holy.
Crap.
Okay, off I go~!
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 9:53 PM
3
comments
Thursday, July 14, 2005
WOW
mood: O_O
listening to: nothing
gaijin count: 191
WOW. I cannot believe I haven't blogged in 3 frickin' days. X_X I'll explain it all later, as I have no time (once again) to blog it all out. I promise an update soon! Just letting you know I'm not dead or something. Anyways expect an update within the next 12 hours.
Also, 1 more day until Harry Potter 6!! YES!!!
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 8:37 AM
2
comments
Monday, July 11, 2005
i want more munny
mood: =____=
listening to: sound of Host Madre cooking
gaijin count: 145
Today when I got to school, I was dead tired. I didn't do my homework either. Whoops. I didn't even get to watch the Empire Strikes Back last night, since Host Padre was hogging the TV!!! AGRRGHHH!! >.>
Anyways, since today was Old-and-Annoying-Sensei day, I nearly fell asleep in class. Partly because of sheer boredom, and partly because I was really, really tired. I guess since I had such a long day yesterday. Which doesn't really make much sense when I think about it, since all days are 23 hours 56 minutes and .4 seconds or whatever.
By lunch time I was nearly dead. What made me even more dead was opening my obento. I instantly decided it was conbini-time, and went down with HAL. We both grabbed some soba, and went back up to eat.
I didn't eat with the main group today, because I think they think I'm a stalker. I dunno if they like me or not. Why am I always SO PARANOID about these things!?!?! Why can I not just have friends and not care if they truly do like me??? ARGGGGHHHHHH!
So I was talking with Queen of Hearts, who has been suffering a cold these past few days. We talked about Harry Potter and how excited we were. I told her I'd lend it to her when I was finished, since I didn't want her to get spoiler-full. Seamus was there, being his annoying self. This morning he followed me to the other room when I went to go talk with some people. UGH. His voice is annoying me too. I dunno why. He just has one of those voices that makes you want to cringe with annoyance a lot. x_X
This morning Cubic Cube and I were talking about how we wanted to get straightening perms. She suggested we do it together. I told her I had to ask my Madre (my REAL Madre) since the last time I did it she was semi-pissed. However, maybe I can convince her to let me (lol, I may just do it regardless - she cannot stop me! We are in completely different countries! Muahaha.) if I make a little compromise. Which is, I get the straightening, but not the ridgid ends. She hates those ends. Maybe if I tell her that, she will let me. Maybe I'll get ridgid ends and tell her that it was a miscommunication error. LOL. Although I do want to get better bangs. I'll do that.
After 5 hours of boringness, I went out with The Group minus Sister Sister #2 and plus Evangelica and BeBe. We of course, went to McDonalds, which has become our little hangout. It's a very nice McDonalds, as I have mentioned, so it's cool. We stayed there for a while, and then went to drop off LORNE at his train stop. Evangelica left then. We went into that electronic store from yesteday. LORNE almost bought the small white PS2, but it didn't play American games, so he didn't get it. Kind of Tall is still planning on getting one though. He apparently only wants to play Japanese games anyways. XD
After a while HAL and BeBe and I went to go and pick up Hot Japanese One, and then me and Hot Japanese One went to Tower Records again. Since I wanted to buy a CD. We talked music and I bought BoA's new Korean CD for 1980 yen and Mai Kuraki's ダンシング for 1250 yen or something like that. I got a free poster with BoA's CD!! YAY!!
OH! And Emmie! In Tower Records, there was this Billy Corgan stand with his new CD, and his Japan concert tour dates. He is going to be in Nagoya on August 3rd - and I'll still be here! Isn't that weird? You were there when he was in London and Philly, and I'm in Nagoya when he's in Nagoya. Hm. Maybe I'll go and look for him around and try to get a picture for you. Heh, it's not hard to spot white people around here. XDD I can't go because frankly I don't feel like paying 6800 yen (about 70 bucks with tax) for a concert of someone who I have never really heard. Lol. But if I see him, I always have my camera~! ^.^ I got a flyer for you too. It has his pic on it from the new CD the Future Embrace or whatever it's called. I'll give it to you along with some Pocky when I get back. XD
Anyways, we also went to the bookstore and I reserved a copy of the UK version of Harry Potter! YAY! This means I'm ensured a copy. I am SO happily happy. Only 5 more days! I love how Japan is 12 hours ahead of the US. And I love how July 16th is a Saturday. Although I suppose I could have gone before school if it was any other day...but then I wouldn't have had weekend to read it. XD I cannot wait.
Well, I had better go. I have homework to do, and I kinda wanna do it since I have Airheaded-But-Nice&Cute-Sensei tomorrow.
じゃ、待ったね！
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 7:43 PM
4
comments
Sunday, July 10, 2005
longest. day. ever.
mood: x________X
listening to: bad japanese drama. again.
gaijin count: 121
Today was such a long day. I took 12 frickin' subways. I wouldn't be surprised if that was some kind of world record. Here is my day:
Sogo Rehabilitation Center (home) -> Motoyama
Motoyama -> Nagoya
Nagoya -> Fushimi
Fushimi -> Japanese Semi-Ghetto (I forget the name)
Japanese Semi-Ghetto -> Yagoto
Yagoto -> Sogo Rehabilitation Center
Sogo Rehabilitation Center -> Yagoto
Yagoto -> Motoyama
Motoyama -> Nagoya
Nagoya -> Motoyama
Motoyama -> Yagoto
Yagoto -> Sogo Rehabilitation Center
I woke up at 8:30 so I could meet up with LORNE, HAL, Flaming Red and Kind of Tall at Nana-chan in Nagoya. We were planning on studying Japanese. LOL. Yeah right. When I got there HAL said that there was a library in Japanese Semi-Ghetto (although we didn't know it was a Semi-Ghetto then, obviously). To get there we had to go to Fushimi, switch lines and go north. Before we left I cashed some traveler's checks, and then we headed off.
At Fushimi we bought some crap at a conbini. We then eventually made our way to the next subway to Japanese Semi-Ghetto.
Kind of Tall, pictred above, able to stretch his legs on the oddly empty subway seat. Then again, it IS Sunday. 
I found this sign very funny. It says GIVE!! YOUR BLOOD! on it, in case blogger made it too small to see. (by the way, I'm testing this whole blogger image uploading dealio).
Poor HAL tripped and cut her knee. ;-; It was soon afterwards that we decided to keep on moving. Somewhere. We weren't really sure where. LORNE and Kind of Tall wanted to head back to Nagoya to go and have Mexican. I was beginning to agree with them. However, HAL was determined to find the library, or at least a place to study.
We ordered melon sodas, and some ice cream. We talked for a while about some stuff, but I couldn't get my mind off of the perverts in the room. They were probably all part-time chikans. I swear to you, Japan has a huge Porn Problem. Everywhere you go - bookstores, movie rental places, DVD places, even kiosks with magazines stocked with porn. There are even porn vending machines. You can buy DVDs of porn by just putting a couple o' coins in the slot. Bingo. Instand porn satisfaction. What is even grosser is that apparently near where LORNE lives (the Real Japanese Ghetto) there is a vending machine with dirty underwear in it. DISGUSTING. THAT IS DISGUSTING. HOLY SHIT. But whatever. I digress.Erin
managed to blog @ 10:11 PM
2
comments
Saturday, July 09, 2005
something I NEVER thought I would witness.
mood: x___X with a touch of O_O
listening to: the sound of rain~!
gaijin count: 86 (or something...)
Today I was planning to wake up at 7:50/8:00-ish to go to the Takashimaya Book Store in Nagoya, since they have an English section. It takes, as you may already know, about 35 minutes to get there by subway, so when I woke up at 9:00 this morning at feared I would have no time. I had to be back by 11:30 in order to each lunch before Rei's drum lesson, since I was going to be participating in that once more. But more about that later.
So I stuffed some Corn Frosties down my throat and left. I was determined to get to that bookstore because I was desparate for something to read.
Since the Takashimaya is the same route I take to school in the morning, the way there was pretty routine. I mean, when I go every morning, it seems like my feet just carry me while I sort of daze off into my music that I'm listening to. It was the same way this morning. Well, that is until I boarded the subway at Motoyama bound for Nagoya.
Everything seemed perfectly normal for a Saturday. In fact, everything was perfectly normal. The seats were mainly full with a moderate amount of extra people standing, but it wasn't packed like sardines. Subways are set up in Japan with a set of three seats at the front of the car sitting opposite from each other, then 2 sets of seats that can sit 6 or 7 people, opposite from each other. Then the car ends with three seats opposite from each other like the front. Always in the front of the car there is are 3 seats reserved for elderly/pregnant/crippled people. I was standing by one of those. Opposite from Priority seating is normal. All of the seats were full though, I was sort of floating there in between. In priority seating was an older man with gray hair and a white hat, then a young woman who was slightly on the cubby side with glasses in the middle, and then another young woman by the door.
Everything was fine until Sakae. I was listening to my music when all of the sudden the girl with glasses starts hitting the old man. She stood up so she had the advantage and was literally attacking him. She took off his white hat and started hitting him with it, and then threw it onto the ground. Meanwhile, the older man is resisting and yelling at her, although I didn't really catch what he said. Probably "get the fuck off"or something, but I dunno. I instantly took off my music and stared at the scene in awe. It took me a second to actually process what the hell I was witnessing.
Okay. There is a young woman attacking an older man in priority seating. Less than 3 fucking feet away from me. The woman looks very upset. The man is yelling at her and resisting. And the rest of the FUCKING SUBWAY DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT?!?!?!?!
I then examine the possibilities:
Okay. So the man is older. The woman is younger. Perhaps he is her father, and she got frustrated with him? UH...NO. That is not it.
Okay, so the man is older...the woman is younger. They are sitting in priority seating. AHA. The old bastard is a CHIKAN*. He molested her, she's fighting back, but since she is in priority seating, and the man is acting like he doesn't know why the fuck the girl is hitting him over the head with his white hat, the people cannot take sides against him. Only really skeevy men think up things like this. This is defintely what is going on.
I then react to my conclusion:
HOLY MOTHER OF FUCKING SHIT!!!! THERE IS AN ACTUAL CHIKAN ON THE FUCKING SUBWAY!!!! AND NO ONE IS GIVING A SHIT ABOUT THIS GIRL!!!! HOLY FUCK!!!!
Now, this all happens in a matter of seconds in my brain. The brawl is still going on. I then notice a kind-looking woman who looked to be in her mid to late 40s get up from across priority seating. I then back her up by shouting "Stop! Stop!" in Japanese. I didn't want the girl to get hurt. Not that she could get her ass kicked by an old man or anything. By this time the old man was standing and so was the girl. After I shouted stop, they eventually stopped, and the man sat down. The kind woamn offered the girl with glasses her seat, but she refused. I reasoned that the reason why she refused was because she didn't want to seem weak against the old-man chikan freak. She seemed very strong. Upset, yes. Strong also. She then put her headphones back on. The kind lady sat down, and looked at her with this semi-worried face. Things almost seemed to calm down a little. Only a little. However, it was when this started to happen that the subway started to slow down. It was one stop before Nagoya - Fushimi. The old man then got up and taunted the girl to get off of the subway. She sat there, stoic, with her headphones in. I looked once again to the kind lady, and we exchanged worried looks. The old man kept taunting her until and even after the subway started moving again. There was tension in the air all the way to Nagoya.
It was at Nagoya that the kind lady and I got off. The old man and the girl both did not get off, so I was a bit worried. I still wonder if anything else happened between them.
The kind lady then spoke to me. She said that it made her heart skip a beat, or something like that. That it was pretty scary. She said that things like that are scary. I was like "Yeah, me too. It really scared me." And it kind of did. I mean, you don't see young women totally kicking an old man's chikan ass every day. Especially on Saturdays. My legs were trembling the entire rest of the train ride, and even afterwards. The kind lady and I parted ways. She said "Sayonara" to me. I was so glad she was there. She was the ONLY FUCKING PERSON besides me who even acknowledged the situation. The girl who was sitting next to the girl with glasses didn't even MOVE when she was fighting the old man. No one else seemed to give a shit, since they're so obsessed with maintaining peace. They pretend everything is fine, when in reality, it isn't. I think that's one of the reasons why my legs were trembling so bad.
After I got out of the subway station, I was still thinking about what happened. I quickly walked to Takashimaya and got the elevator to the 11th floor. I checked my watch. I only had 30 minutes before I had to head home. I quickly picked up Harry Potter 1 in English so I could compare it to my Japanese one. I then looked around for some light reading for the week before Half Blood Prince, since it's coming out next Saturday. I also cruised the manga section, but I didn't pick up anything.
I made my way to the cashier. I gave him my two books, and the total came up to ￥2450. I check my wallet. I only had a ￥1000 bill so I was like "Oh what the hell, I'll just give him the traveler's check." My traveler's check was for ￥10000, which is roughly $100. However, the idiot cashier told me they didn't accept traveler's checks. So I was like, "But it's in YEN!" I mean, I could understand why he couldn't take it if it was in dollars. He said I couldn't use it. I sighed and looked to my right by chance. There was a sign that had a travler's check and a big red X through it. Sometimes, I swear to you, someone is sending me signs or something. x_x I was thinking "OH GEEZ. First the chikan incident, and now THIS?!?!" So, I put down the ￥1000 bill and began counting coins. Just to piss him off. I knew I didn't have enough money to buy the books. But it gave me time to think about what to keep. Harry Potter vs. Digital Fortress. After the cashier realized I didn't have enough money, I told him I'd buy Digital Fortress. I then left as quickly as possible. I was already running late as it was.
I got home tired, pissed off, still in a bit of shock, and 10 minutes late. I ate some weird shit that tasted OK while explaining the chikan story. And the fact that the idiot department store doesn't accept it's own fucking currency. Almost everywhere you go you can use traveler's checks as cash! UGH!!
I then went back onto the subway with Rei and my book and I read until we got to the place where we have the drum lesson. It was pretty fun, although I can't read sheet music, so I have to imitate. Everyone has an advantage over me, since they know when the drum riff things come in the song, and I don't, so skip them, even though I can play them. Stupid Xes and lines and dots.
After the drum lesson, the drum-sensei (who I might add, is very hot and nice and unfortunately smokes cigarettes) asked Rei and me to go out to lunch with him and I think the rest of the drum classmates. So I think next Saturday is going to be busy - firstly, I have to get HP6. Bright and early, so I can avoid that cashier, and so LORNE and I can hang in a coffee place while reading silently. Then, I have to go to drum lessons and lunch and then there is some sort of barbeque at Host Madre's sister's house. I wonder if that makes her my Host Tia?
I then read for an hour while Rei had a piano lesson. When we got back home I had a slice of pound cake, and Host Padre told me I was going to a baseball game with a friend. I now have to decide who to go to, since I guess it's not an option to not go. Everyone else in the Host Fam is busy...so who should I call?? Maybe HAL...she lives near me I think. Hmm...
Well, I should go. If there are any more chikan, I'll be sure to tell you.
-Erin
*Chikan - men (usually business men, but also sometimes old men) who molest young girls/women. Often a chikan molests during the morning rush hour, since that is when the trains are most crowded, and full of attractive young high school girl students. However, a chikan can molest at any time and any day, as shown by my story. The molesting in Japan has gotten even more problematic in recent years, so all-women cars have started to be established. They are in effect only on weekdays from when the trains start running to 9:00 AM. However, it seems that molesting still does occur even with these special women-only cars.
Erin
managed to blog @ 4:51 PM
2
comments
Friday, July 08, 2005
ありまつ & たかしまや
mood: ^_^
listening to: Attack of the Clones...in Japanese?!
gaijin count: 78
Today we had a school field trip to Arimatsu, a place about 30 minutes from Nagoya by train. It's renowned for it's tie-dying techniques, and is a preserved town. This morning I woke up extra early (ok, like 10 minutes) so I could get to school earlier, since we were leaving a bit earlier for the train to Arimatsu.
When I got to the Dainagoya Building, I walked my usual route to the school inside. Before I reached I.C. Nagoya, however, I spied LORNEat one of the better vending machines. I went over to say hi. Somehow the topic changed to Harry Potter. I told him I was going to try to find the new one when it came out. He told me he saw an add for it in the Takashimaya book store. I was SO psyched, and it totally made my day.
LORNE and I made our way to school and sat down by Hot Japanese One, Kind of Tall, Flaming Red, and HAL. Queen of Hearts was here today (she was out sick yesterday), but she was still feeling bad. Rainbow Girl was being antisocial as usual. Have I told you that I really hate her Japanese voice?
Anyways, the usual group talked for a while. It was pretty fun. I always enjoy talking with them, since it's always really funny. XD Silent Creeper came in as annoyingly as usual, and tried to butt into our conversation, but we shot him down.
Hey...you know how backpacks often have those little buckles on the bottom and sometimes top, that you can sometimes buckle to make the backpack more secure on you? I mean, no one buckles them, but they are always there. Well, actually I lied. Silent Creeper buckles them. And it makes him look more like an asshole than he already is. Anyways, he came in and pretty much wore his backpack with the top and bottom straps buckeled the entire time we were at Arimatsu. And pretty much everywhere in between too. He is SUCH a douchebag.
Anyways, we made our way to the Meitetsu Line, and went on the train for 30 minutes to get to Arimatsu. When we eventually got there, we went inside a building labeled "Arimatsu Shibori Tie-Dying Museum" or something like that. The first floor was a souvenir shop, but upstairs there was a museum and a room that was like a conference room. We went into the conference room and watched a short movie on Arimatsu Shibori. Although it was rather 80s-made, I enjoyed it. I mean, it was rather interesting...and the narrorator (I KNOW that is spelled wrong. Gr) sounded suspiciously like Lauren from ALIAS! So I thought about ALIAS a lot. XD
After the movie we got some hands-on action on the tying part of the Shibori process. It was rather hard and rather boring. But WOAH those old ladies can Shibori fast! O_O Basically we had to sew thread through little dots to make the pattern of a flower. The thread was then scrunched all up and tied so that when the handkercheif was dyed, the flower outline would remain whiteish. I chose navy blue for my color. We apparently are receiving our Shibori-ed handkerchief at the end.
After we finished, we were allowed to shop around the outrageously expensive souvenir shop for 15 minutes. I didn't buy anything. It was SO not worth it. Then, we were allowed to roam around the town for a little while. We had to be back to the train station by 12:35. So Flaming Red, HAL, Hot Japanese One, BeBe, Evangelica, Kind of Tall, Seamus, Cubic Cube, Sister Sister #2, LORNE, and I all walked to a conbini that was close to the station. Since we frankly didn't really care very much about Arimatsu. I bought a box of chocolate Pocky and a box of ToPo. Kind of Tall bought a white Qoo that everyone seemed to like (remember, I'm a germophobe so I didn't try it, lol). I decided that the next time I see a white Qoo I'm going to buy one. XP
We hung out in the conbini for a while, and then made our way to the station to wait around for everyone else. By the way, have I said that I officially hate Ghetto Boy? He's such an asshole. >.< Plus he has this totally fake and wannabe-not white accent. He thinks he's so ghetto, but he's not.
Eventually we got back to Nagoya, and I was pretty much stuffed to the brim with chocolate goods. That's a good thing, since I really didn't feel like eating my obento. Again. Lol. I did eat my cherries though, but I when I was eating them I was talking to Hot Japanese One, and I swallowed a pit! X__________X why me??
Lunch was pretty fun. Actually it was really enjoyable. The Group* of course, was gathered in Room 4, and we talked about old and amazing TV shows. Like, for instance, Johnny Quest. Now, I'm talking about the NEW Johnny Quest. The one with the cool intro with all the green and black. Anyways, Flaming Red and I formed a bond when we both expressed our love for Johnny Quest. I don't think I had ever talked with anyone about Johnny Quest before. XD LOL! I have decided that I'm totally finding Johnny Quest on DVD or I'm going to download it via Bittorrent, because it is seriously the best show. XD It was so fun! We also talked about, you know, Doug, Rocko's Modern Life, Prometheus and Bob, and other good stuffs like that. It was really, really enjoyable.
Then we had 1 hour of class. That was the best part about having the trip to Arimatsu. Not only did we get to go to a conbini, but we only had 1 hour of class! After that, The Group (minus Sister Sister #2) went to McDonalds. Again. XD We made LORNE get us all food/drinks. I only had a coke, since I was still stuffed with Pocky and ToPo, surprisingly. Anyways, we all gathered around 2 tables and read Cosmo. For TWO HOURS. You see, we read there for a while, lauging hysterically at the crap, and then we had to stay while HAL went off to go fetch Hot Japanese One from I.C. Nagoya. Anyways, reading Cosmopolitan for 2 hours with 2 guys and 4 girls was pretty much the funniest thing I have ever done in my life. Besides the karaoke and the talking about old TV shows. When the 2 got back, we finally left for Takashimaya, since LORNE wanted to buy a camera, and I wanted to see the Harry Potter thing for myself.
When we got there we decided that we didn't have enough time for LORNE to get his camera, so we headed up to the 11th floor instead to look at the books. I really wish I had bought one, because now I'm going to be stuck bookless all weekend long. Which will suck. Anyways, they will in fact have Harry Potter next Saturday so I am SO EXCITED. I hope this upcoming week goes as fast as this week did, since I cannot wait. I was saying to LORNE that I was totally going to get my ass down there at like 6 in the morning to get Harry Potter. He said that he was planning to do the same!! LOL! I had no idea that LORNE was such an avid Harry Potter fan. To me he just didn't seem the type. ^.^ So, LORNE and I have made a plan that we will meet each other and we will go and sit in a Starbucks all day and read Harry Potter. YES. XD
Anyways, we left the bookstore and shopped around other places for a while. However, we eventually all had to leave. Especially me, since it takes about 35-40 minutes for me to get home, unfortunately. >.> And it was 6:05, and I had to be home by 7. GR.
So, now I'm back home, and stuffed with food once again. The HostFam, minus Host Padre of course, is watching Star Wars Episode II in Japanese. How annoying. I can only watch movies in their native languages. I hate live-action dubs. They are so annoying! I can barely watch anime dubs without cringing!
I really want to go to Takashimaya, Pass'e Bazar, and Jusco tomorrow by myself. I really need to get some errands/shopping done. I want to buy some cute stationery at Merry Beans, get a book at Takashimaya, and get a little sumin' sumin' for Almost in Tower Records (don't worry, it's not a CD or DVD). I also need to get some other stuffs for my own personal benefit. You see, I have this list going, and really need to cross some things off of it. x_x
Well, I have been on here long enough. For now,
-Erin
*I have decided to refer my group of friends as the group. When I talk of the group I mean the following people: HAL, Hot Japanese One (only after 4:50 PM), Flaming Red, Kind of Tall, Sister Sister #2, Cubic Cube, LORNE, and myself. If there is someone missing I will say, par exemple "The Group (minus Cubic Cube) blah blah blah blah blah." Or, if there is someone extra, I will say "The Group (plus BeBe) blah blah blah blah blah." OK. That's settled now.
Erin
managed to blog @ 9:14 PM
0
comments
Thursday, July 07, 2005
japan photo collage PART UN
mood: x__x
listening to: lame japanese drama
gaijin count: 68Japan Photo Collage PART UN!!Okay, here is the dealio. I'ma gonna provide you a link to a photo, each with a description. I'd post 'em directly on...but I dunno if they will stretch el layout or not. So I'm playing it safe.
Behold! Los Angeles! this was taken from the Yamashiro Japanese restaurant in Hollywood. Ironic, isn't it?
Behold! Hollywood! yeah, taken from the same place. I must say, this photo turned out trés nice.
Diane Keaton's house. yes. This is Diane Keaton's house.
Tom Cruise's gate. yes. this is Tom Cruise's gate.
Brad Pitt's street. yes. This is Brad Pitt's street.
Xiao doing the peace sign thing. a cute pic of Xiao. It's at times like these that I wonder how she's doing right now. This was taken on the bus to go to the airport.
my roommate, Nosehair. Nosehair was my roommate for a night in the not-so-lovely Hacienda Hotel. You will know more about her once I publish my prior blog entries. Another bus pic.
Waiting... In the airport at last! There was a really long bag checking line.
Xiao being...Xiao. This was taken as we were waiting AGAIN for everyone's bags and whatnot to be checked and stuff. This took a really loooong time. Once again, more about all of this prior stuff to come.
Curly Man being his sweetly weird self. This guy was really funny, lol. I wish he came to Nagoya. He's in Sapporo, I believe. This was taken when we were waiting too.
Black J-Pop Lover with Fro. this is Black J-Pop Lover with Fro. He was pretty nice. This was taken when we were waiting to go on the plane to Japan!
This is all I saw. My view for what was to be a very weird 10 and a half hours.
Micki and Xiao pose for a pre-departure pic. We all got to sit all next to each other. It was pretty cool. Although Xiao slept a lot. XD
British FroMaster. This is Xiao sleeping. But I mainly took it so you could get a view of the British FroMaster. His fro was HUGE, man!
Black J-Pop Lover and Sonoma DrummerBoy in Tetris Faceoff. On the plane you could play games like Tetris. Or shall I say "Magama Zone." They all had really weird names like that. My personal favorite was "Cyber Klash." Anyways, you can kinda make out Seamus, I believe.
A view of behind me. a view of the back. We were towards the very back end of the plane.
GASP! LAND!! This was taken right after we got out of the plane. There was no ramp; we got back to the main airport building by bus.
YAY!! LAND! lol, another landing pic. The plane ride actually wasn't so bad. Thank god for Cyber Klash.FIN
Well, that's it for now! More pics to come in Japan Photo Collage PART DEUX! Featuring Orientation in the Aichi Youth Center!! Stay tuned!!
-Erin
Erin
managed to blog @ 10:01 PM
2
comments
return of the fanny pack
mood: x___X
listening to: japanese cooking
gaijin count: 68
So today I went to the conbini TWICE! during school. One during the 10 minute break, and one to buy myself a little snacky-lunch, since I'm starting to get sick of the whole leftover thing. But let's try to stray away from that. Since ye makeur...eusette is right behind moi.
Anyways, during lunch today my friends (yay!) once again gathered in room 4. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Well, until I see the Silent Creeper, creeping around as usual. I turned around, and of course I was caught off guard. I need to get some sort of Creeper Sense like Az's Kancho Sense or something, because people like him (him ESPECIALLY) need to be avoided. At all costs.
Anyway, before I could regain my stance, he (of course) began talking to me. You see, Flaming Red had gotten this Pepsi at the conbini a few minutes prior, and since Star Wars Episode III still hasn't come out yet here (7/9) there are still a lot of advertisements and promotions and such. Anyway, there was this little thingy attached to the Pepsi. It was a bottle cap that had different Star Wars characters on it. I told Flaming Red that I wanted it badly, so she gave it to me. I mean, she didn't care. She had the monkey with the gun anyways. So when I opened it, I nearly had a heart attack. It was HAN!! So I was obsessing over this little bottle cap when You-Know-Who creeps up with his little obento and is like (in his creepy-ass voice) "So you got a Han Solo Hat?" and I'm like (in my head) "HOLY MOTHER. What do I DO!?! I mean, I can't talk to him, yet he blatantly asked me a question. I could just ignore it, but...why do so when I could make him feel like an idiot somehow instead?" On the outside I said "I don't know what you're talking about. I have a Han Solo CAP...but not a hat." But since Herberto was examining it, I didn't show it to him. Besides, I had to focus on eating my little conbini lunch. And also on throwing out my obento.
Then, while I was talking with Hot Japanese One and Cool Italian Guy (silmultaniously...I'm SO good) Fanny Pack starts rummaging through all of my stuff. Like my obento that I had opened to see what was inside, and my other stuff I had scattered on my desk. It was really annoying. I hate that creepy man. Then he started asking me if he could eat my obento. Or at least some of it. I was like, in my head "Why not?" I told him out loud that I hated leftovers (big mistake), so he could have 'em if he so dared. He picked it up and was like, "this isn't so bad." Then he started talking to me about leftovers, and why I hated them (UGH! HE'S SO ANNOYING!! CAN HE NOT TELL EVERYONE HATES HIM!?!?). Then when he was done rummaging through my obento, he gave it back to me and was like "I'm not touching the egg." In his creepy and annoying and in this moment semi-rude voice. o.O; Idiot.
Then he got his creepy ass off the teacher's chair and moved over to a table with flash cards on it. We were "learning" adjectives today (don't even get me STARTED on how frustrating this fucking class is again) so the cards had like, you know, a cup of tea that was "hot" and a glass of water that was "cold" and like a hard test and an easy test...so on and so forth. He started saying like "Oh, you're learning adjectives?" and I was like "Yeah. It's really lame, since practically everyone in the class knows them already." Which is true, since pratically everyone does. Well, except Mexican Man. But that's besides the point. Then Fanny Pack went on about how, oh, "I don't understand why you're not in C class" and "this is really easy" and on and on, basically rubbing it in that we were learning this crap and he was in C class and I wasn't. The asshole. One of these days I'm gonna bitchslap him all the way to Paris. Maybe he can get a job singing his fucking operas there.
Finally he left as mysteriously as he came. Hot Japanese One shared my relief. So did everyone else in the room practically. But soon lunch was over, and we had to continue being lectured about adjectives by JAAAAAAAAAA-Sensei, whom I was sort of beginning to like better. She does speak English the best out of my 3 teachers. But Airheaded-But-Nice&Cute is still the best.
OH YEAH! Today before school started, I was hanging in another classroom with some peeps, and Seamus happened to be there. I noticed that he had the Strong Bad shirt with the "Your Head A Splode" on it. Before I could stop myself, I commented on his shirt. Instantly afterwards I inwardly was hitting myself on the head while saying "DOI DOI DOI!" repeatedly. Giving Seamus attention points was NOT part of the plan of getting him not to like me. CRAP. So then Seamus started being his semi-lame and annoying self by quoting Strong Bad and whatnot...ugh. I think the reason why he's always acting lame is because since he likes me he always is saying stupid things. I know that happens when I'm around Hot Japanese One. Or, for the matter, anyone who I like and want them to be my friend, at the least. I always say the wrong things. This is another reason why I think Seamus likes me. But whatever. No longer will he be getting comments from me, no matter how many cool shirts he wears. For he will never be cool.
I always feel Seamus STARING at me during class. You know that feeling when you can just tell that someone is staring at you? Well multiply that feeling times 5 frickin' hours. This morning he pretty much followed me and HAL to the conbini. It was so awkward...
Anyways, today after school, HAL and I once again complained. This time to JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-Sensei. We once again reiterated our frustration with the easiness of the class. Once again we were given lame excuses. I mean, I can see it's hard for them to accomodate...but UGH! I'm here to LEARN for the love of PETE!! I don't see anything positive really coming from our little chat with JAAAAAAAAAAAAA-Sensei. My liking points sort of fell after that. Although she is better than Old-And-Annoying-Sensei. ＞。＞
After our little chat, I went out with the group I went out with yesterday, minus BeBe. We walked over to the billiards (ololololol...ok, it's like a recreational building. We went to the pool floor) because LORNE was going to face of with the Obnoxious Italian Extraordinaire. Unfortunately, he lost. CRAPO. However, after that we went down to the purikura or pirikura whatever level, and took some shotz. XD Some of them came out OK, but since I wasn't decorating them, people wrote curse words all over them XD ololol. But they were still cool. Then we went to go pick up Hot Japanese One from his class, and proceeded from there to McDonalds, because we were all starving. I had, once again, a double cheese burger with fries and a coke. (muahaha, dinner number 1! XDD) I shared the fries with Hot Japanese One!!! ^____^ that made me happy. We talked too. About many things, such as his whole acne treatment thing. He apparently has bad acne, but since he takes good care of his skin and has all of these perscriptions, it isn't that bad. XDD
After McDonalds, we sorta split up. Hot Japanese One wanted to go to Tower Records in Pass'e Bazar. I had never been, so I tagged along. (SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!) The others left to go home. We hung out there for a while, and then made our way back to the Subway, since we both take the Higashiyama Line. However, he got off at Fushimi, the first stop away from Nagoya. ;-; I get off 8 stops or so from Nagoya.
Anyways, that was my day! I got back home, went online and blogged a bit (I'm editing again since I ran out of time, since I had to have dinner). The HostFam rented The Incredibles (called Mr. Incredible here. o.O; Hmph. The blasphemers.) Rei wanted to watch it in Japanese. Even MORE blasphemous. You cannot watch Pixar (especially The Incredibles) in Japanese! Or any other language for that matter!! Only ENGLISH I TELL YOU! Lol. Oh well.
I have been ever so kind as to upload some photos for you. They will be in a separate post after this.
So until then~!
-Erin
Tower Records was really cool, and I saw so many things that I wanted. Hot Japanese One
Erin
managed to blog @ 9:40 PM
0
comments
location: Nagoya, Japan
blurb: I'm an American High School girl spending 6 weeks in Nagoya, Japan.
Yes, I know Tokyo Tower isn't in Nagoya, but since I've never been to Nagoya before
(stopping briefly at the train station doesn't count, OK??) I couldn't find any
good pictures that represent it well. Which brings me to my point: I'm a newbie to Nagoya.
(thus the name, nagoya n00b. am I not the cleverest person you've ever met?) Anyways, bear
with me people. This is going to be a long six weeks!
going: June 22, 2005
returning: August 7th, 2005
click here for my full
profile!
