I'm being sucked dry....

Aug. 7: もう祭りか？

祭り(Matsuri=festival)s galore! There was another little festival today after work at 6pm. It just so happened that I had walked by one of the really friendly old lady janitors the other day and she told me to go to the festival and watch her dance in it. It was an obon. Meaning people dance around in a large circle. So I couldn't refuse and it was a good way to really get to know what this town was all about. Su and Ayako (the priestesses daughter) came to pick me up and we walked to the baseball stadium where the festival was held. There, alot of the town hall people were serving shaved ice and stuff. And alot of the town children were there. I suspected that they were all my students...lol I teach the entire town's kids. Which is actually a little burdensome because that means they're all in my care and all the parents will expect alot out of me...>.< I’ll try my best!

One of the top guys from the BOE who lives across from me was also there doing playing the samisen for the obon dance. He was really good at it. As I was standing there watching the dance I spotted the janitor lady. She was in a weird outfit with a blond wig. I was like: “Janitor lady? Is that you?!” She looked totally different. But she was pro at dancing. Then one of the little girls from the nursery saw me and ran over to me to say hi and grasped my hand. She was soooo cute! She was wearing her little pink yukata and had a big smile on her face! I bent over to shake her hand and ask her name. It was Sara. My new favorite student. ^O^ haha. I didn’t think that the children were brave enough yet to come and talk to me. But she did and I was pleasantly surprised. I melted as soon as she came running over. I said it was “nice to meet you” in English and she just stared at me…lol So I just said “okay, your name is Sara” and she then ran off to play with her other friends. Su and Ayako were shocked and surprised. But they were both like “良かったね”. Yeah, It was really良かった. Then Ayako said that she heard a lot of the students and parents passing by me talk about me. I didn’t really hear them as I was engrossed with watching the townspeople do their odori, but she said that word has spread already or they had looked at the newspaper.

After an hour of mindlessly watching the obon dance and matcha shaved ice, we decided to leave. Su left first cuz she had to return home to Asahikawa. So Ayako and I decided to take the long scenic route home. We walked and talked for an hour about lotsa stuff and then decided to go to the izakaya across from my apt. And, man, this girl can drink! I was a pansy and ordered Calpis Sour カルピス　サワー cuz I didn’t feel like drinking too much. I’ve had more than I would usually allow myself to drink in the past week. And then we had fresh Tako (octopus) and salad of sorts. I met some of the other townhall people there too. It seems like izakayas are their favorite place to hang out. Or its just a Japanese thing. So Ayako and I sat in there talking for about an hour and decided on her coming over to my place in two days so I can teach her basic English conversation. I’m not exactly sure what to teach her just yet. But I will think of it. She paid for everything for me and said that I didn’t have to pay her back. She said that I reminded her of her sister so she loves talking to me and being with me. And so do I. Wonderful gal. I’m learning a lot about Japanese manners and stuff from her since she grew up in a strict family that revolves around her future occupation. But that night was pleasant and awesome.

Aug. 8 MY HAIR!!!

So I woke up bright and early to get on the train to go to Asahikawa to get my hair done. It takes about an hour to get to Asahikawa from Kenbuchi via train. So I left at 9 and got there at 10. I would’ve gotten it done over here, except for the fact that the owner here was trying to rip me off. He said it would cost me 13000yen for a straight perm and a cut which was wayyy to expensive for my taste. He actually also knew who I was as well as the hot guys who work there. At Asahikawa I visited a lot of the hair salons and originally wanted to go into Aveda hair salon to get my hair done, but they were super expensive. At R Hair, which is where I ended up going to, a hot iron straight perm and a cut for short length hair plus a hair treatment so my hair doesn’t die was only 11550yen. Not too bad. In Taiwan it’s only about $80 but I expected Japan to be more expensive anyways. They didn’t have an opening until 1pm so I ended up browsing the dept. stores and stuff. Come 1 I went to the salon. The salon was cute and artsy! It’s located on the second floor with giant windows that overlook the street below. The mirrors looked like canvases and the walls were covered with bricks. The seats were white leather chairs that you would find in a fancy restaurant. It was awesome looking. The gyarus who work there were super nice and intrigued by me cuz they all knew that I wasn’t from around here. And once they all found out I’m from LA and went to school in the OC they immediately started gushing. Lol The owner who is a strange man who did my hair for me loves the OC series. So he started talking to me about it and I was like….please don’t think of us all that way. Lol

Anyways, the process was a little different than I remembered and I don’t think it was a very good job. My hair isn’t as straight as I would’ve liked it nor is it the sexy sleek v-cut short hair that I had during “Tokyo Romance”. It was cut to look like the in fashion Japanese girl pear shaped cut. I quite dislike it actually. I mean it looks cute in a way and on other Japanese girls it looks perfect, but it’s not my style and not my favorite look for me. I’m not even sure if my hair will really stay straight for longer than a month. >.<>

So afterwards, I headed over to Tully’s coffee to order something and read my book as I waited for the train to come around. There was about 2 hours until the next train would come. So I ordered a honey milk latte and sat down to read my book. Just as I opened my book one of the hot young guys who works there came and sat down at the table directly in front of me. I would occasionally glance over at him over my book and saw him constantly checking his cell phone. Maybe he was waiting for his gf ‘s text or a lot of Japanese people just tend to look at their cells a lot, which is true btw. I prefer to think it was the former cuz that would’ve been cute. Lol I’m a sap I know. After an hour of staring at hot young people walk by the store and barely reading my book, I decided to go into the Seibu Dept. Store. I went up to Loft and bought some random things as well as these really cute little half slippers that is supposed to be healthy for your feet. They’re really small and tiny. This is how they look like:

And then I went into another dept. store and discovered something....Ale, Kelly, Sachi, Sawanya, Niko, Ryan: I found the Animate...There is one here in Asahikawa, although not as massive as the one in Ikebukuro or Akiba, but it still has all the necessary items. lol First thing that went through my mind was you guys. I was like: "aw man, I have to tell them this. I don't know why, but I have to." And then right next to it was the 100yen shop. I flipped and splurged on all the stuff there. I spent about 2600yen? Yeah, I bought a lot of stuff because I needed it all for home equipment. I LOVE 100YEN SHOPS! They save my life!!! I've actually been spending more money than I had hoped to save because of stuff I need to buy for my apt. It's ridiculous. I need to also buy a new microwave which is going to cost me like $300 bucks! I need to also buy my cell phone and my car.

I need to get paid soon otherwise I won't have any money left! >.< style=""> It’s terrible.

On my way back home on the train there were quite a lot of good looking guys on there. And the stop at Pippu had a lot of hot men getting off. Maybe I should pay that city a visit. A lot of the boys however were either high school students or young host boys. It’s a little hard to tell sometimes. Same with the girls. The ones who are gyarus I don’t know if they are high school or college. They look the same. And all the girls here start wearing heels at a young age, so it makes them look older is the problem. Anyways, I did a lot of checking out of the boys. >D I won't be a cougar I swear. I just like to look. =P As I was biking to Seico Mart (local conbini) I passed by more cute looking guys. I’m slowly starting to discover the cute guys in my town. It’s just really hard to find them. Lol

Alrighties, pictures and videos are being posted right now so look at them along with this note if you care to. Thanks! Otsukare! (btw, I really like how everyone in the salon will say otsukaresama deshita after you wash your hair. It's like saying thanks for your patience and hardwork as we wash your hair. lol I love the service here)