Tuesday, July 26, 2005
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