I`m Quite Elated. ~_~

March 17th Wednesday

I waited today for Mr. Wonderful`s text message, but nothing came. So I`m assuming that he either forgot about it and was too busy or he didn`t want to eat with me. Ah well, I wasn`t too bummed about it. I had taiko practice today, so I put all my passion into it. Next Tuesday is my taiko debut at an elderly care center playing alongside my elementary babies. haha. Yay!

March 18th Thursday

Today was big setting up for the graduation ceremony for the 6th graders at the elementary. Again, I had no classes at the high school, so I stayed at the elementary the whole day. =P After school was over and everything, all the teachers went to the gym to help set up. I went as well. There were so many flowers, a red carpet, and a huge backdrop of sakura trees. So pretty!

So, obviously, Mr. Wonderful was there helping as well. Though I minded my own business, I still couldn`t help but look at him. lol As I was helping with putting the graduation banners against some tables I had to move the craftwork that the kids made that were on the table. Mr. Wonderful was on the total opposite side of me with many other teachers in between us, but then he came over right next to me, right where I was working at the other end and started moving the stuff with me. It was the first time in a long time that he actually got that close to me. I originally thought that he was ignoring/avoiding me so I didn`t give him too much thought before since he hasn`t really been talking to me, but when he came so close to me-like serious, it was close, our shoulders were kinda touching, or rather my shoulder to his biceps..lol he`s tall- I kinda was taken off guard. I was not prepared for him to be so close to me. And I wondered why exactly he came over here when he was at the other end fixing up things over there. Still a mystery to me, but I did get a lil nervous, even after my whole confidence burst thing.

One assumption I`d like to make about this action is that maybe he found out where he`s placed so maybe he knows that it`s nearby so he doesn`t mind striking up a friendlier relationship. Maybe because, originally, he didn`t want to talk to me too much or become friends with me too much because he was going to move soon, and he wasn`t sure how far away he would be going to. He doesn`t want to make ties and then have to cut them. But I found out after asking him later that he`s actually just in the city next to my town. So only 15 minutes away. YES! Close! So maybe that`s why he`s nicer and doesn`t mind getting close to me now. I could be wrong and it`s just nothing.

So he would reach right across from me to move things, so his arm is like right in front of my chest and he`d lean over just a little. I wasn`t sure what to make of it, but I kept my cool and went about my work, hardly talking to him. (playin hard to get =P) Later when I was walking with Yuki and he was behind us, I decided to take the oppurtunity to talk to him and ask him about dinner/lunch plans. He said he was still busy and he hasn`t emailed me about it yet. So...yeah, nothing for that night. Boo...ah well.

March 19th Friday

6th grade graduation ceremony. I was supposed to go to the middle school this day, but I ended up going to elementary all day today because of the graduation. I got to see all my kids in their new middle school uniforms. I was so proud of them, like a motbher would be. They were growing up, and those uniforms were the beginning of their maturity. When I got there, I once again, missed the picture opp. The ceremony was even more serious than the middle school one. I`d say that the middle school one was really casual compared to this one. All the graduating kids, upon entering, had to bow once and walk to their chair, then walk on the red carpet slowly and deliberately, stand a certain lenght away from each other while walking, and then rise up the stairs to the stage slowly and with care, bow once to the principal, bow again after getting their certificate, walk to the other stairs, make a little comment of appreciation and what they want to work on in middle school, get down the stairs, bow to the teachers, bow to the PTA, bow to their parents, give the diploma to them, bow again, and walk back to their seats. (whew! saying all that was tiring actually) No smiling or anything like that. Just straight faces. It was total opposite of an American graduation. But then again, we don`t really hold grad ceremonies for elementary kids. I wasn`t sure how i liked it though. It was moving because each of the younger grades sang a song for them and made a speech, and by the end of it, all the 6th grade kids were crying. Dude, it`s just elementary too. There`s still the another 6 years before graduating high school. THat`s when the tears really come in.

Anyways the ceremony was long, but it was moving. After that there was the party at Lakeside Sakuraoka. That was awesome! The mom`s all did a dance performance for the kids, the Dads all did one too to Arashi, and the teachers did the awkward Pirameita dance. haha. Mr. Wonderful looked sooo cute in it. And he was wearing a tight white shirt that showed off his muscles in the totally right way. >D At the end all the kids gave us flowers. I got two bouquets! Whoo. After that, we all went back to the school to clean up. There were so many extra flowers left over so we were able to pick and choose a crap load of flowers to take home.

I was then invited to dinner with the elementary teachers at 5pm at the local izakaya. Awesome. I picked up Yuki around that time and we both went there together. At the izakaya, I was hoping to maybe sit next to Mr. Wonderful, but he didn`t come until late and we came early so our seats were at the end of the tables. But there were only a total of 8 people, so it wasn`t bad. He actually talked to me a lot and this is were I learned about where he was going to be placed. His English is wonderful, so we tried to talk in English alot. After this we went to the nijikai at another izakaya opened until late into the evening.

There we met the PTA parents all being rowdy and loud cuz they were all drunk. haha. And, by luck, because I came later then the other teachers, I was able to sit next to Mr. Wonderful. Man, he looked so good today with his black fitted jacket and black jeans. Although his shirt was something else...lol So maybe because of the alcohol and rowdy atmosphere he became really animated in talking to me. He used English most of the time with me and talked about alot of stuff. I was so ecstatic to be able to talk to him like this, and best of all, I didn`t lose my cool. hehe. So this is where I decided to sell my qualities to him. haha. He has a lot of the same interests as me, but I don`t think he knows or really remembers.

So first off, I asked him what his hobbies and stuff were. Just really basic questions. He likes cooking (always a hot plus) and bird watching. He really really likes birds. They`re his favorite animal and his hobby. He can tell what the bird`s species is just by looking at them! That`s amazing. He told me that when he studied nature, there were different subjects that he could choose from: plants, flowers (at which I gave a pleasant exclamation because I studied them), animals, birds, etc., of which he chose birds. I told him that I studied flowers in high school, which was the truth. I had to do a plant project so I logged flowers that I would find while treking through forests and and dry them. I quite liked it because I enjoy walking through forests and adventures. When I told him all that he was really surprised. lol I guess he tried to test my knowledge of flowers by asking what flower do I like. I figured if I said "rose" or "tulip" that would just be too boring and common. So I chose the California Poppy, although I like hydrangeas and hibiscuses better. He had never heard of it, which was good because I was able to show him my knowledge of some basic flowers, and asked me to describe it. Then he stopped and looked at me and was like, "I like poppies." lol

He also said he likes camping, to which I was also pretty ecstatic about. I told him I used to do it quite alot. I did more hiking than camping, but I did do a little of the latter. He was also really quite surprised to hear that. He just looked at me and was like, "OMG, really?" and then said "ii desu ne!" And we carried on a pretty good conversation with that. He told me that most Japanese people don`t really go camping and it`s rare to do so. So I told him if he could please tell me the next time he went camping and he said that he totally will. YAY!!! I think I`ve gotten him somewhat interested in me, somehow. Maybe it was the alcohol talking and I hope he remembers what we talked about. I don`t want to bet that it was my charm working on him because i`m sure the alcohol did help in him loosening up to talk to me. The atmosphre was prime for fun talking too.

It was really quite loud in the place because all the Mom`s were singing and dancing and just being crazy...lol So, when Mr. Wonderful was talking to me we had to get really close to hear each other so that our bodies were basically touching. It didn`t feel awkward or suspicious doing any of that because of the atmosphere. lol I felt quite happy with that. haha. I figured this was my chance to ask him for his phone info, but since he couldn`t really remember his mail address I then asked him if he had his cell with him. He said he left it at home and forgot to bring it which was entirely possible. So I just asked him for his phone number. He did his best, after drinking so much alcohol, to tell it to me. And I was just only going to type in his last name with a sensei tacked onto it, but then he told me that his first name was "Tatsuya" and to type that in. I was quite elated. I was like wow, you`re telling me your first name too? Hopefully, he really meant to give me his phone number and it`s not fake. Well, the only way to find out is to call him.

After he talked to me at the sofa area he decided to go to the bar and drink with the male teachers until he fell asleep. I could tell from when we were talking he was already quite tired. We woke him up later to leave and I offered to take him home along with Yuki and 2 other male teahcers that live in the same area. He sat in the front seat with me. heehee. When I stopped to drop them all off in a general surrounding area of where their apts. were all located he was the last to get out. I believe that he waited until everyone else got out of the car and then got out after. I don`t know if maybe he was just really tired or planned it that way, but when he got out of the car he looked at me with a very soft sweet look and said "See you." I replied the same back, but with a little flutter in my stomach. The way he said it was just so sweet and different from the other times. And it`s the first time he`s ever said "see you" to me.

That night, I went home quite happy and sure that I somehow made an impression on him of some sort. Or at least I hope I did. And that last "see you" was wonderous. I really hope that we can continue on to be better friends, and maybe something more. Right now, I`m just content with being friends with him. That`s all I want right now. If something happens later on that`s even better, then great. If not, I won`t be too sad.

Otsukare! Love you all and thanks for giving me the confidence to do all this! I love my friends and family!