A weekend to look forward to.

Jan. 30th Saturday

Yay snowboarding day! Today I went to pick up Alan after going to buy a super cute stomp pad for my board. The pad`s this super cute looking blue bear. I love it! ~_~ But of course I had to wait 24 hours after putting it on my board to be able to use it. So I didn`t use the pad that day because I was gonna go boarding. I figured if I got on the lifts I`d just do something. Alan told me to just hop off when I get to the top. But it still freaked me out a little to think I`ll be riding the lift this time. I like high places and am not scared of them, but snowboarding down them when I barely know how to board? Freaky. So when we got there some of my lil nursery babies were inside the rest area. When they saw me they were like "O! Theresa-sensei da!" I knew that I was gonna see at least one of them while here. I am only in the town next to mine which has the closest ski hill to my town, so I figured my kids would be here too. When they saw Alan they were a little taken aback as I`m pretty sure they don`t see too many foreigners who are caucasian as I`m the only foreigner most of them have had contact with and I`m not so different looking from them. However, the surprising thing is they weren`t scared of him or shy around him like I thought they`d be. They still came and sat next to me or him and started talking (in Japanese lol). Although they would show off how much English they knew of which I felt so proud.

So Alan told me that the only way to learn is to get up on the lift, as I`ve heard from many others say the same thing. The ride up the lift was amazing actually. It was so beautiful and the weather was so nice. The higher we got the better the view. So once I got to the top, I hopped off the lift with my board attached to my feet and managed not to fall over. And then I had to sit down and put my board on because I was still not used to putting it on while standing. But standing up after that was extremely difficult as I wasn`t really on a hill yet just the flat area before getting to the hill. Standing up is much easier when on a slant. So I basically walked to the edge of the hill with just half my board on. lol It was pretty difficult and really worked my leg muscles so that they kinda cramped...

So finally when I got over to the top edge and looked over, the view was breathtaking and amazingly beautiful! I could see the town of Wassamu stretched out on the horizon and white glittering snow and the afternoon sun shining over the town. Beautiful. However, once I looked down that beautiful scene went to the back of my mind and I just went blank and freaked a little. The hill from the bottom didn`t look so bad, but from the top it was freaking steep! I didn`t know what to do. Alan said that we`ll start out slow and try going down inch by inch of which I wasn`t too sure I could do because I wasn`t so sure of my abilities yet. But the first time we went down it was just a warm up to get me to remember my abilities. After that everything started to get better. A couple of middle schoolers from Wassamu town were there too and they started talking to Alan. I was just the Asian person. lol Anyways, I saw more of my kids as the afternoon went on. Finally, I was able to board down the hill without falling and discovered that I leaf instead of carve. Well, I`ll learn how to carve later. Right now, if I can leaf my way down and not fall, I`ll stick with that for now. hehe. =)

At the end of the day around 5pm, Alan got on the train and went home. I had a dinner date with wonderfully cute Yuki. We had so much trouble deciding where to eat, but in the end, since she hasn`t been to Myu we decided to go there. Her leg seems to be getting better after she ripped a tendon in her achilles heel (I think). We talked alot that night and had so much fun. Actually, the only not cool thing she told me was that Mr. Wonderful is actually leaving this March for another school. And he just came to Kenbuchi in September like me! >.< That sucks! So she told me that I only had 2 months left to talk to him and try to get him. I dunno, 2 months is kinda short and I`m not ready to confess to him or anything like that. lol In the end I figured the best thing to do is to just get his email address under the guise of if he wants to practice his English with me. =P But that was all. I haven`t really had too much of a chance to talk to him. So it`s been difficult. Ah well. Hopefully the guy who comes after him, if it is a guy at all, will be better and hotter. lol

Jan. 31 Sunday

Today is the Sapporo Farmer`s Philharmonic Orchestra concert as well as the town mini-volleyball tournament. I heard Mr. Wonderful is going to be in the volleyball thing so I decided to go watch. Of course I also knew my supervisor and my girls that I hang with are also going to be in it. They divided the game areas into two gyms. One for those who are over 30 years old and then there is the one for those under 30. So a couple, not many, of my teachers were in the older one. But majority of my teachers are young so they were all at the young people`s court. So when I first got in I saw my girls standing up on the balcony overlooking the games. I went up to say hi to them and then I noticed all the teachers sitting at the bottom. When it was the male teachers of the middle school and elementary`s turn it was hot. All the guys are young and good looking and fit. They were the best looking male group out of all the groups there. Yes, some of them were pretty skinny, but you can tell they do sports. Mr. Wonderful in just his t-shirt and trackpants looked hot because you could totally see his body shape. He isn`t skinny and scrawny but lean and muscular/tone. And all the male teachers were fierce in the game. Immediately they won each round and in the end came in 2nd. My girls, however, not being the sporty kind and used to just office work lost almost every game. lol I love them still.

Afterwards I went back to get ready for the concert at 1:30. I arrived there and there was barely anyplace to park. So I spent 10 minutes trying to find a parking spot. I saw a couple of my students there too. When the orchestra began with the start of the cello/bass starting off "William Tell" I immediately sunk into a different world. Damn, do I miss classical music and their concerts. I actually quite like classical. I listen to it when I go to sleep back in the states as it soothes my mind and helps me study or learn better. The sweet melody of the violin mixing with the oboes and the fagottos and even the trumpets brought tears to my eyes as it reminded me of my life back at home and a life I could lead. Through this concert it strengthened my resolve to make my dreams a reality and strive to create my company and become it`s owner. So I felt pretty damn good after the concert even though there were times I did feel pretty sleepy because they started playing the more mellow slower music and that`s usually what I listen to when I sleep. But they did play Carmen as well! Awesome.

Feb. 5 Friday

I was let off early today to catch the train to the Yuki Matsuri or snow festival in Sapporo. At the station I ran into my middle school`s health nurse. We talked for a little while until I had to get off at the next stop to wait 20 minutes for the rapid service train to arrive. I got on and sat next to this awesomely nice old man who helped to put my stuff up on the rack above even though I could`ve done it myself since it was so light. The trains were all 5 minutes late because of the blizzard going on. But since this is Japan and these were Hokkaido trains they wouldn`t stop the train because of some snow and they would usually never be late except for these reasons or suicides. So yes, I arrived about 5-10 minutes late and left my friends wondering what`s going on because I believe they know too that trains in Japan are usually never late and that I should`ve been there already. haha.

Boy was I glad to see my friends who I haven`t seen in 2 months. I mean I totally have friends in my lil town but they were all Japanese people who didn`t speak much English and I could never be my weird joking self around them lest I ruin my good teacher`s image. And believe me, in this little town where everyone knows who you are, you cannot do anything bad or stupid. Always have to keep up a good image because you teach the whole town`s children. And plus I just miss being my crazy self without restrictions of sorts. And these friends of mine are like a piece of home to me. And being cooped up in my lil town for several months I was desperate to go out and chill in a different place with different people. I like my job and all, but it really takes a toll on your mental strength, especially if your in a small country town like mine. I love being in the country however, don`t get me wrong, it`s just many things pile up and living away in a different country away from all your old friends and family where you have to always keep up an image and cannot be your total self all the time is hurting me a little. I think that maybe it`s just the winter season and I`m pretty sure that by summer/spring I`ll be bright as a rainbow. But for now, this is what I`m feeling. Boo...

So back on track, I met my friends and we decided to go check into the hotel first. We were all a little worried that it was going to be sketchy and a love hotel or something. So were quite relieved to see such a nice place. The room is a lil small, but it was big enough for 3 of us girls to cram into. Erika hadn`t come yet though since she couldn`t come until later in the evening. So we first decided to go out to eat at Sapporo Station. We ate at "The Don" lol. I love the name. It was just a bunch of rice bowls with katsu, oyakodon, katsudon, gyudon, and the like. It was good though. I got a katsudon with mini curry Udon set. So good! We hung around there for awile and then went to meet up with Erika who had just arrived. Yay! We put her stuff in the station lockers and then went to the Yuki Matsuri in Odorikoen.

It was beautiful! And very very awesome! ALthough the weather was not for the best and everything was actually closed. So nothing was lit up. Couldn`t see too much. So we decided to head to an izakaya for drinks and stuff. We ended up sitting next to this super hot group of young Japanese guys who I believed were hosts since all of them seem to have the same hairstyle and were pretty fashionable and were all really hot. lol But they were all pretty drunk and one of them was passed out. haha. After 2 hourse we decided to head back to the hotel. But first, we had to go back to the station to getErika`s luggage. So Collin and his gf went back first and I went with Steph and Erika to retrieve it. However, the station looked pretty dark upon arrival and realized that it was closed. We missed it by 15 minutes. Damn! But still we didn`t give up hope, we walked all the way to the other side and discovered that the lights were on, but the outside doors were locked. Man.

So we decided to give up on this one and went back to the hotel for the night and just get her stuff tomorrow. We got in the room, played "rock, paper, scissors" for who got to sleep on the bed and who on the floor and I ended up being the one on the floor. lol It actually wasn`t that bad as I was lent Steph`s wonderful electric heating blanket. Thanks Steph! We spent the night talking and making fun of things on TV until 4am and then went to sleep to get up in 4 hours for breakfast. lol

Anyways, I will continue more of this in my second posting of Yuki matsuri. Otsukare! Pictures of this and the trip to the Sounkyou hot springs/ice festival will be posted. Love you all!