Lotsa naked ladies! >D

Jan. 21st Thursday

So all this week I`ve been fretting like crazy about tonight`s Parent-child english conversation class. If it was just the children it wouldn`t be so bad, but I have to incorporate the parents in it too, and that`s what worried me so much. And teaching in front of parents is also very nervewracking. I love your children parents, please don`t hate my class. Oh and the lil kids are ranging from age 3 years old-2nd graders in elementary. Yeah, this is going to be pretty difficult to teach. Attention spans don`t last too long.

I seriously could have an ulcer this week for worrying so much about it. Come this day, I was freakin out. The day went by okay, but once the evening came along, I was like, damn, I can`t believe I`m doing this. I have about 27 people who applied. 17 kids and 10 parents (mainly moms). So I got the whole room set up for things and teaching and stuff. My kids started arriving and they were so adorable upon seeing me. When they say me they were all like "Theresa-sensei" *glomp*. XD I love them. But the parents I felt so awkward and restrained around them except for the ones that I have spoken an extensive amount to. So when all the people arrived and it was 6:30 I started the class.

I was so f-ing nervous that my intro and first half of the class went terribly. I confused the students as well as myself and spoke in very jumbled English. Man, and I was fretting about how the parents would take to this. But luckily in the second half of the class things started to take a better turn. The kids started to get really into it and I started becoming more relaxed. I actually got the kdis pretty tired because of all the actions and activities we were doing. lol The parents got pretty tired too. haha. Anyways, one student who totally was not into it in the beginning actually came up to the front in the middle half and started doing all the activities with me and all. At the end he gave me an enthusiastic high 5 (which they call high touch here) and said he can`t wait for next week. I was so proud. But I was still hesitatn about how the parents took to my class. One of the parents invited me over to her house for dinner, so i take that as a positive sign. ~_~;

Jan. 23 Saturday

So today I woke up nice and early to get ready to head off to Asahikawa to catch a bus to Sounkyou`s Choyou Hot Springs Resort in Sounkyou. Sounkyou is a hot springs town. It`s famous for it`s natural spring waters and it`s beautiful mountain setting. Su and Mago-chan also went with me. Actually it was Su that suggested we go and Mago-chan made the reservations. I appreciate it very much! So it was actually quite a nice day today. The sun was out, it was just cold and had a tad bit of snow falls. Mago-chan almost missed the train because she was a lil late, but she totally ran for it and got on at the very last minute just as teh train was about to leave. whew. Upon arrival at Asahikawa we met up with Su and went to go get lunch at "American Box" which actually had no american food, just pasta and hamburg steaks. lol But it was quite good since we got the set that came with a drink, entree, and dessert. At 2:30 we caught the bus that would take us to the resort. Apparently there were alot of people going this weekend so there were 3 buses for the resort and all of them were full. If you booked a room at the resort, they provided you with the bus, so you had to be on the list to get on.

It was a very nice and comfy bus ride and it took us all the way into the mountains 1 1/2 hour away. I really like natury scenes so I took massive amounts of pictures of the nature outside on the way there. When we got there some of the hotel staff came outside to welcome us. (I love Japanese service, makes you feel all high class). We then went to go check in to our room. It was a cute lil Japanese style room with tatami mats and futons but with a very nice view of the mountains and stream outside. Absolutely breathtaking. I just sat in the chair next to the window for a lil while staring outside. And then we quickly took a towel and got on a bus that would take us to another hotel where we can use the hot springs there for free since we`re staying in this one.

So at first when we got into the changing room, I had to get comfortable again with undressing and being naked in front of strangers. Of course they were all female (no males since the baths are gender seperated, so no worries on anything happening there ^_~*) but I was still like, oh that`s right, I can`t wear clothes in the springs. My friends all undressed super quickly while I was still taking my time trying to be somewhat modest, but then I gave up on doing that and just quickly went into the springs area. It really reminded me of when I was on EAP with my Irvine EAP buddies and we stayed a night in Hakone hot springs town. And I was reminded of how quickly and comftorable all us girls just undressed and got in while the boys seemed to have the most problems with doing that. Ah, memories. But I think I`m starting to get used to seeing naked old women. lol

So when you get into the hot springs you have to first wash yourself clean at the open shower area before you can enter into the springs themselves. It`s to avoid dirtying the springs since so many people use it. When I got in, I was reminded of how hot they usually are. It was about 42 degrees Celsius, so it was damn hot. But my skin quickly got used to it. We first went into the inside one where it was on the 17th floor of the hotel on top of a mountain and was protected by glass windows so the view was beauitufl. You could see down to the ice festival and stream below. It was wonderful. After being in the inside one we then went to the one that`s outside. yes, outside. In the snowy weather. We`re still on the 17th floor, but there are hot springs in wooden tubs or built into the floor stone hot springs that overlook everything below while sitting outside with not really a roof over it. So it was f-ing cold when you walk outside naked cuz it was still snowing and in the mountain areas but once we sat in the tub, it was amazingly relaxing and wonderful. You get to sit out in the cold while your body is in the warm/hot water and watch the snow fall aroundyou and gaze at mountains and streams. It was a very wabisabi feeling for me, i think. lol I felt so at peace, but sad at the same time. Yeah, I`m becoming super Japanese with wabisabiness. And I was there to enjoy it with 2 good friends. ^^ I wish there were more of us though. It would be funner. But all the same, I enjoyed myself.

So after that onsen we went back to our original hotel and went to eat at the buffet. So yummy and I got to drink warmed cherry wine like at the Mulhenn festival in Sapporo. Nummers. After stuffing ourselves full we went and collapsed on our futons in our room for 30 minutes then got dressed in these horribly garish yellow pajama things with felt green vest jackets that the hotel provides all its guest to wear and headed to the onsen in the hotel. I also went into the sauna in this one. Trying to lose all the water weight to know that I will gain it back later. lol

After the onsens, my body felt really light because all my muscles are relaxed and I know that when you bathe in an onsen it releases some kind of chemical in your body that gets rid of the toxin built up in muscles. So ya have to drink lotsa water after it. Or so I think I`ve heard...correct me if I`m wrong. =P Then we went to the ice festival that`s just a lil ways away from our hotel.

IT WAS AMAZING! They had built structures and igloos and sculptures and a slide out of snow and ice. And they lit each one up with bright colored lights. So it was just fantabulous looking! I went into all the igloos and climbed up the structure to the very top and watched the fireworks from atop the tallest ice structure there. It was cool! And I drank amazake for the first time! Damn that`s good! It`s the leftovers from when you finish brewing the sake and they make it into a drink. There`s barely any alcohol in it, so children can drink it too. XD People also decided to have wedding ceremonies out here in the cold as well. Now that`s crazy. It`s freezing outside, but the women all have these beautiful wedding dresses on. But I can see on their faces they were f-ing cold. lol Poor couples. But congrats to them. ^^

Afterwards we went back, took another dip in the springs, and then collapsed on our futons playing shiritori until we passed out at 12am. Good day.

Jan. 24 Sunday

Woke up this morning at 6:30am, grabbed my towel, and went to the hot springs on my own. It is opened 24 hours after all, why not use it to its fullest. So I bathed and stuff for another hour, went back up to the room and got ready for our breakfast buffet. After breakfast we got dressed in our normal clothes out of the garish yellow green things and went to the souvenir shop. I bought this cute lil crystal phone strap thing that`s called the water star in the sky. And then we boarded the bus home at 10am and got back to Kembuchi at around 2pm. I got home and wanted to do absolutely nothing, so I just chilled and watched "Where the Wild Things Are" online. And then after the movie, for some reason, I broke down...again. I`ve been feeling pretty bipolar lately (thank you Doug for that word, I almost forgot its use lol). I`ll be fine one minute and then feel like the world is ending the next. And then after 10 minutes of crying I was bright and happy again. *sigh* I think because it`s the winter time and I really missed being home with family and friends and familiar faces all around, chillin, drinkin, and being me. But after crying I felt fine and it was as if nothing happened. lol I dunno. I love my job and all, but it does take a toll on me.

Jan. 26th Tuesday

So today i came home and discovered that I have a package. A very large one in fact. And it was heavy. I brought it inside the house, opened it and discovered 20 boxes of Swiss Miss hot chocolate (each with 10 pouches inside), a box of caramel apple candies, and a box of exotic flavored hot chocolate all sent from my best buddy back at home. I love her. I really didn`t need 20 boxes though. lol I only wanted about 14 to give out to people who requested them here in Japan, but 20 is good too. lol Thank you uber much! I couldn`t stop laughing when I opened up the box though because I`ve just never seen so many boxes for one person before, ever, and the thought of it just cracked me up. lol

After that episode, I went to the elementary school`s shinnenkai or a party to bring in the new Year. This time however, when I drew the paper from a pile that would rtell me where my seat is, I got the one to the very end, the last seat on the left. And Mr. Wonderful, being one of the hosts that night, sat at the last seat on the right. Boo~ Ah well. I spent alot of the time being quiet and learned a new word in Japanese, "kamakasu". Not exactly sure what it means ( i think it means mix or shake). I wasn`t sitting with people I can talk easily too. We had our small convos but that`s it.

Afterwards, I decided to take Yuki home and gave her 2 boxes of the swiss miss that I got to give to her family. They`re very sweet to me and treat me like their own. So I appreciate them quite alot. And Yuki`s a cutie so I love her. lol

Otsukare-sama for reading! More pictures will be posted soon! oh, and I quite miss cultural diversity. I miss seeing the different peoples around. Japanese people are awesome and all, but homogeniousity is kinda gettin to me. >.< lol Loves!