OMG SNOW!!!! And my car battery died while I was an hour away from home...

October 31st HALLOWEEN!!!!

So today is Halloween right? But rememeber, there is no such official day like that in Japan. So instead, for my town, today is the town`s cultural festival. Or specifically the old people`s culture festival. It was a small little thing held at the town hall with a gallery displaying all the works of the elderly in this town. The work was amazing!! I have to say, old people really do have a lot of time on their hands. So much that they perfect their hobbies of artwork and calligraphy. It reminded me of my grandma because she`s the same way. Old people don`t have alot to do during the days so they go to art classes and stuff. I loved the gallery. I really really wanted to learn all these things that the grandpa/mas do but, sadly, I don`t have the time. After the gallery I went to go eat some free soba that some of the grandpas were making. They asked if I wanted to make it too and I did. Except that Su was in front of me making it so I had to wait as there was only one table for this thing. ANd i was kinda on a time constraint. I had to get back home to get ready to leave for Asahikawa and the Halloween party tonight. So I couldn`t make the sobas. Sadness. ;=; But after Su was done making her portion she brought alot of it over for me with sauce. Hurrah! I also bought some deep fried curry flavored potatoes called "Curry Balls". Yes. lol

Anyways, I went back home to get myself ready for the party tonight and discovered I don`t have a costume!! So I decided to just wear a nice black top and jeans. Hiraga-san came to pick me up at 5pm and I discovered that she lives right behind me! We both didn`t know that we lived so close to each other. So from now on when she goes to the local bar, which they call "snack"s here if they include Karoake...i think, she will call me up and we will go drinking! lol I normally don`t talk to her at the high school because she always seems super busy. But now that I`ve talked to her she is awesome! I like her alot! haha. ^^ So we talked the whole way to Asahikawa. When we got there we parked at the station and walked along Kaimono doori to meet up with her ALT friend from Kitami city who invited us to the party. He apparently knew about it from before and he has friends who are going to the party. Hiraga-sensei used to work with him at her previous high school. He`s from England and super tall, and so were his two other friends who were both from the states. Well, everyone`s taller than me, except for my elementary students. lol The street was freaking cold though! And I saw so many girls/gyarus wearing short shorts or skirts and heels or boots and was like "AREN`T YOU LADIES COLD!!?" Yes, they were, but they choose sexy fashion over protection....sure. But I have to admit, I like that fashion style alot and would wear it if I could. Just maybe not in this cold.

We decided to go to someplace to eat before the party which started at 9pm. So we walked all over the place in the freakin cold until we found an izakaya to eat at. Oh, and one of the guys` costume was a girl`s seifuku/school uniform so he was wearing a skirt and looked pretty cold. The Japanese people were staring at him as we walked around because of his costume. lol haha. After the izakaya we decided to head to a nearby place for more drinks. So we headed in to a British Pub named "Bank of America"....something`s wrong here.....LOL But it had a bar and a TV showing the baseball game and felt like a foreign pub, except for the fact that the bartenders were Japanese. The girl bartenders were pretty cute though. So I drank this cocktail named Blue`s Blue which had grapefruit and blueberry juice/alcohol in it. And around 9pm we headed to Club Den which was where the party was held. This club/bar area is owned and operated by foreigners. most of them all work here as ALT`s or for companies and stuff around here. It was a small place, but had a good foreign atmosphere to it.

But here`s the problem. I did meet a couple of the other foreigners around here, but for some reason, I couldn`t talk to them as well as I used to back in the states. I remember myself being super social and being able to hold conversations with alot of people. And people who know me can hopefully attest to that. I did say hi and try to talk to them, but I think it might be partially because lately I haven`t been in contact with much other foreign peoples and then I`ve been kind of isolated in my lil place, and the fact that most of these people already knew each other was a bit of a problem. Hiraga-san knew no one at the party aside from me and the Kitami ALT, so I decided to stay with her otherwise she would be alone and left out. So I ended up sitting with a bunch of Japanese people and actually holding a decent conversatino with the Japanese peoples. Me and 2 Japanese girls became quite good friends and decided to exchange phone numbers and emails so that we can hang out and stuff. One of them`s a nurse and the otherone used to live in Kenbuchi. haha. So I don`t know if it`s sad or not or if it`s a good thing or not, but I was able to have a better conversation and connection with the Japanese people then with the foreigners. I felt bad for a little bit that I wasn`t able to talk or connect much with the other foreigners aside from the three I had dinner with, but then quickly got over it because I was able to make new friends anyways. It`s fine. I think.

At around 11pm we decided to leave because Hiraga-san was driving and I don`t think she was having too much fun at the party, so I didn`t mind leaving. When we got outside it was snowing for REALS!! I was like "WWWWAAAAAAAAHhHHHH" I got so excited and happy. And it didn`t help that I was a little buzzed from the all you can drink bar at the party. I drank quite a lot. And they give you generous amounts. So on the way home I was really animated and talked to Hiraga-san alot, although I don`t remember what I talked to her about. lol When I got to my apt, the place was covered in snow!! I was like woah and in my buzzed status wobbled over to the door and tried to put the key into the lock for like 2 minutes. haha. Either my hands were super cold or I was just super buzzed. =P Haha. And I conked out.

November 1st Sunday

It`s so damn bright outside because it`s all covered in white!! Everything was white! And super beautiful!! Just wonderous! I was like wow, winter wonderland! I couldn`t believe it! So in the morning I put on my winter clothes and went outside to play in the snow by myself....lol XD I made botched lobatomy snowmen and buttprints in the snow. Haha. I also made snowballs and threw them at my apt or tried to see how far they would sink when i threw them in the snow. I think if you were watching me, you would`ve probably thought it sad. lol I bet the neighbors were like, wtf is she doing? =P So then I decided to trudge my way through the soft powder snow over to Su`s apt. Oh my feet sank to the ground almost 1ft. And I at first couldn`t open my door because there was so much snow piled outside my apt. lol But I had so much fun just walking in the snow. I felt like a lil kid again. haha. I went over to Su`s apt, rang her doorbell, just to tell her it was snowing. haha. And she laughed and thought it funny. I sat over at her place for a lil bit and then went back home after a few minutes of walking through snow covered Kenbuchi. My feet however were getting super cold because I didn`t have real snow boots. Just my velvet black ones. So what ended up happening was that I wore plastic bags over my socks and then put htem in my shoes to avoid them getting wet and my toes hurting from the cold. =P

And then at night I decided to head over to Aoi to eat. It was snowing like crazy outside and I couldn`t really see the road that clearly. And just when I neared the place I stepped on an area that had frozen over and was like black ice and basically slipped and fell. I landed hard on my butt, but thankfully, not my head. It hurt and reminded me of when I fell when I used to ice skate and wanted to go ice skating again...haha. funny. ANyways, it happened again when I left the restaurant. Terrible, stupid clumsy me.

November 3rd Tuesday

Today is Japan`s culture day so it`s a holiday evryone has off. Thank god, because I needed a day where I could go buy winter stuff. I desperately needed snowboots, a thicker jacket, a hat, a shovel and a snow brush for my car. And Su said she would come with me today. So I first headed over to SHibetsu city to find the cheaper things. At Homac I was thinking of getting an extra thing of car batteries and a rope/cable tug thing just in case. And then thought better of it. I was like, "oh, I don`t need it" That will come back to bite me in the butt later tonight. I bought some of my cheap stuff in Shibetsu then headed over to Asahikawa AEON JUSCO to buy the rest of it. I drove super slow and let people pass me because I was really scared of getting into an accident in the snow. Especially slipping. We passed by one car where the girl had slipped into the snow next to the road and some dude was trying to help her out. THat`s when that cable would come in handy.

Well after an hour or maybe a little over because I drove so much slower than usual, we got there. So today AEON`s clothing section was having a huge sale on winter clothing, so I went and bought some, particularly my jacket. And then i bought a humidifier, a mini heater for my toilet beause it`s freakin cold in there since it`s not in my main apt area, just in the entryway which is an awkward place to put it I tell you. And then I bought my snow boots!! Yay! THey`re super cute I love them! They`re brown with pink words written in French all over it. I had liked the black one too, but I have too many black boots already. I wanted to buy these really hot heels, but because I doubt I`ll be able to wear them much during this time, I didn`t.

We basically spent a whole day out until 7pm and decided tohead on back to the car to go home. And my car wouldn`t start up. I had realized too late that I had forgotten to turn off my headlights and it sucked up all the battery life. And now my car won`t run. And we were in Asahikawa. And it was -3 degrees celsius outside. Great. Luckily, we were stuck at the AEON parking lot. And AEON just so happened to be the largest mall/dept store place in Asahikawa. So there were alot of people to ask for help in there. The service people called the guardsman to come and try to charge my car`s batteries or give it a little boost for it to run. And it didn`t. So the guardsman/police dude told us to call JAF which is the AAA of Japan to come help us. He said it might not just be the problem with the batteries. Su called JAF and had the guy come out to help find the problem with my car. And what happened was that the problem was just that my batteries needed a boost!!! And just for that it cost me $120!! If I was a JAF member, it would`ve been free. But apparently I wasnt, when I thought I had signed up for it, and it cost me. BOOO!!!! So I decided to join them in case anymore things like this happened which prolly will cuz my car`s so freakin old. STUPID GUARDSMEN! If only you were able to charge it properly I wouldn`t have had to pay....Whatever. I still thank him for having tried several times. Honestly, I`m really thankful to all of the people who helped, because otherwise I would`ve been hin huge trouble.

I had originally wanted to stop and eat at Kohrinboh ramen with Su, but because of this problem I cannot stop the car until I get home because I need to let the batteries run awhile. So that was that. And then at midnight, as I was blowdrying my hair, the electricity went out. And i was like "oh shit, if the electricty is out that means my heater will go out, and it`s -4 degrees right now. Not good" So I donned my winter clothing and went outside and shoveled my way through the snow at 12am to try and find the circuit breaker. And then realized that it was not outside but inside my apt, above my door. I wasted my body heat outside....lol anyways, it worked. And then I forgot that when you reset the heater, previous settings are erased and I had forgotten to put it on save mode so that when it reaches a certain temperature it will stop for a little bit until the temperature drops and it will start again. So it saves a lot of kerosene and electricity while keeping me warm, hence the name Save mode. I had left it on normal nmode all night and was unsure why it was so hot in my apt until this morning when I realized that it was not on save mode. There goes a lot of my money......Not a good night.

My new car!!

Aug. 26 Wednesday

So after separating all my freakin trash and throwing it out for the people to pick up, I left to go to the middle school. I really hoped I separated it right. Because if not I`ll get my trash back with a large red tag on it that has a big white X for “you separated me wrong, bitch!” ...eheh…that`s what happened last time with not taking the caps off the plastic bottles. So I got to the middle school just in time before the morning bell rang. I saw a lot of my students running out with a bunch of traveling bags. I was like what`s going on?!! So I went inside put my stuff down and saw some teachers heading outside to where the 2nd graders were standing around with their luggage. I asked Iwata-san and she told me that the students were going on a trip and the teachers were sending them off. NOOOO!!!! My beloved second graders! They`re my favorites! Aww…I wish I could go with them and not go to school too… All the 3rd years also came out to say goodbye. And I have to say that the 3rd year boys look pretty good in their normal clothes. Yes yes, I know, they`re technically 9th graders in high school so I shouldn`t even be looking at them. But they`re already on their way to being total hotties. I can`t help but evaluate. lol I`m not a predator I swear. =P So as they left on their bus it was a tearful-well not really- good bye with lotsa waving. Then the 3rd years went to go pick up trash around campus as part of their morning once a week class of sorts. But I was like "What trash?! Where is it?!" It`s super clean so I doubt there was anything for the kids to do.

When 2nd period came along I went up with Shibata-sensei to teach the 3rd years as the only 2 classes left here are the 3rd years and 1st years. So I feel like a tape recorder in this class. There`s really not much for me to do as I just say words/sentences in English and have the students repeat after me. The rest of the class is all the teacher. But after class I got to talk with some of the students. And I found out that one of the girls liked Mr. Children! I was so happy and so was she! We started talking about it and she said if there`s a concert she`ll tell me! ^^ Another girl came up to me to talk about Arashi. Haha, it was fun. I went back downstairs and did almost nothing except chat with the teachers and go online. Yes, I had no more classes for the rest of the day. So at lunch I ended up wandering around the school and went into the 3rd year class to talk with the people. They`re still a little weary of me, but for the most part they`re warming up. When thebell rang that signified the end of lunch I walked out to find the popular boys of the class lounging outside besides the staircase. I think that`s their fav hang out spot. Anyways I was like "It`s not time for you to go in yet?" And they just stared at me for a little bit. haha. So I pointed to my watch and reittirated. They then understood and was like 5 more minutes! lol And went back to lounging. Haha, I can just see them being the bad boys of the high school now..lol

So I then just returned to my office and continued drawing my art on my post box. It`s taking longer than I thought it would. Seriously. But I finally finished it and all the teachers came over to take a look at it. lol They were amazed. XD So in the afternoon since there was absolutely nothing to do, Sakurai-san and Iwata-sensei invited me to ride over to the high school for some veggie shopping! I was like hell yeah I`ll go! So we rode our bikes out to the high school. It was such a nice day today and the 3 of us had some pretty funny conversations. I really cherish times like these. It`s lovely. So we got to the high school and they were selling eggplants and green bellpeppers outside the agriculture classroom. They just had them sitting outside with a canopy over them and a little can to put money into. The things were ridiculously cheap! Like seriously! One eggplant or bellpepper was only 50yen!! 50 yen for one!!! I bought two fat eggplants. And one of them had a penis-shaped extension sticking out of it!! Wahahaha. I took a picture of it and I just had to buy that one because it was just so absurd looking. Heheh. Iwata-sensei (the super cute female teacher) tried to be more civilized and said it looked like a tengu...but Sakurai-san and I both still think it`s a penis...>D Anyways, we went back and that was the end of my day in school.

After school, though, I decided to ride my bike around town for fun. It`s quite relaxing especially when the sun`s not beating down on you. It`s nice and sunsetty but darker because the sun was already covered by a lot of clouds. I like that. So I rode around a couple of back alley areas to get to know the area better and discovered a pen where 3 ponies were grazing! Cute fat little things! And there was a little girl standing there staring at them as well who turned out to be one of my younger elementary students! She saw me and said hi and ran over to the house next door to get a 1st grade boy to come say hi to me. Hehhe. I ended up feeding the ponies tufts of grass with her. Then 3 more girls from 5th grade rode their bikes over and was super surprised to see me there. haha. They were like "Wha? Theresa-sensei?!" They had bowls of leftover fruits and veggies to throw into the pen for the ponies. I fed them too! So cute and fat! And the little kiddies were having fun too. Then their grandma came and talked to me for a little bit and told me there were more horses down yonder. It was alrady 6pm so I bade everyone farewell and rode over the the horse ranch to see them. There were about 7 horses. 2 in each pen and 1 lone one. I then rode around more and met some old people and started talking to them. I love talking to old people, though I don`t understand a word they say sometimes...lol I baked one of the fat eggplants for dinner with beef steak strips. Yummers.

Aug. 27 Thursday

Off to see Mr. Gorgeous at the high school. I taught the 3rd year oral class and 1st year English class with him today. Though I felt like a tape recorder for a little bit. The students have started to warm up to me more so I`m happy. The first year students are really lively but the 3rd year class is totally dead....I`ll think of something for them to do like getting up and moving around. Anyways, so afterwards I went back into my office desk area and just sat and did nothing again. Well, actually, I tried thinking of something active for the students to do...but I`m not sure if what I thought of was too basic or something. Because their English level isn`t as good as I think it could be. So I think I`m just going to play some kind of self-intro game.

So Mr. Gorgeous would periodically come over and pull up a chair next to me and talk with me. I really really enjoy that because just being close to him makes me squeally. haha. I`m such a sap. And I get to know more about him. Heh, anyways around lunch time I went over to the elementary to eat lunch with the 6th graders. This is my first time meeting them. I went up to eat lunch with the kids and sat in one of the boy`s regular seat while he went to go do something else. I sat across from Ryo (the boy I met at the bonodori) and next to Shinpei, and diagonal from Kana. My goodness, Ryo is going to be an absolute hearthrob when he grows up, no joke. He`s outgoing, sporty, has the hair, and you can totally tell by his looks that he will look absolutely handsome as he gets older. Such a cutie. Same with Shinpei. Absolute cutie! His hair is cute and he wears little black frame glasses. It makes him cuter! Doesn`t really speak to me too much but loves to laugh when I talk to him and helps me with opening packages of my foods. I was a retard and couldn`t open a bag that contained my bread...lol He laughs a lot and I quite like that. Kana`s english listening ability was excellent for her age and grade. I was so impressed with her and so were the boys at our table group.

After lunch I went back downstairs as there was an hour before I started 5th period teaching with them. So I went down and just chilled for an hour before going back up. One of the boys from the 6th grade class saw me coming and shouted to the others "She`s here!" and then came out and said that right now I can`t go in because everyone`s cleaning. So I just hung around outside and played with the random stuff they have out in the halls with this cute little boy. He would periodically go to check on the class and finally, I was able to go in. As I walked in the students started clapping and on the board in big colorful letters with multitudes of drawings and pictures was "Welcome Ms. Theresa!" I was absolutely stunned and overjoyed. All I could say was "OMG, subarashii!" I love this class!

I then started to do my self-intro with the projector and then started taking questions from the kids. The kids were happy that I love video games and anime. Something to talk to them about. And the girls were really happy that I like the HYD drama Japanese version. Then we played a game that involved my likes and dislikes. And then aftewards we played a tiring game of simon says. I totally wore the kids out because I made them do physical activities such as sit down and then getting up and then sitting down and then getting up for 5 times. Haha. >D It was funny and the kids absolutely loved it. Will play this game again that`s for sure. Then that was the end of class.

I went back to my office desk and discussed the next class activities with the teacher. The problem is that there is a textbook I have to follow so I can`t really do much games or anything like that independently. It`s sad. >.< But it`s okay, I`ll try my best with the kids. So then all the teachers left me again to go have their meeting and so I decided to wander around the school until I heard some students voices. I found a couple of girls in the gym playing volleyball. When they saw me they were like "Theresa-sensei!!!" And ran over to me and hugged me! Such a wonderful feeling to be loved like this!! They asked me if I wanted to play hide and seek (kakurenbo) so I was like yeah! lol We played for a little bit, but when the actual warm up time for the little volleyball club started I joined in on it as well. It was fun and the kids seemed to love having me there. I`m glad.

At 4 I went to the BOE to get my car!!! It`s finally here! I`m so happy! My little white box car! I will take pictures of it when the days aren`t rainy. It`s so cute and perfect. But the wierd thing is I didn`t feel any nervousness or weirdness having to drive on the opposite side. It was like the most normal thing in the world! I drove it like I drive in the states except opposite side. Although I did have problems with the blinkers and wipers being on opposite sides though. haha. Su was just as happy for me as I was with my car. I decided to take her to Shibetsu to eat dinner with me in my new car! We were both so excited to finally be able to go to the next city in a car freely! Hahaha. We first drove around the city to explore and then went to the supermarket to buy foods for cooking. We went to the little "hillside box" restaurant. And their softcream was soooo good. I had their macha topped softcream. Su and I talked about a lot of things and gossips. Like about the secret relationships people and teachers were having at the town hall, high school, middle school, and elementary. So funny and unexpected! But as I figured, Mr. Gorgeous does have a girlfriend...or that is what Su heard as a rumor. She could be wrong...lol But someone that wonderful has to of course have a girlfriend already. >.< boo... Anyways we drove back home in the super dark and I felt accomplished. Hahah. yay for today!

Otsukare-sama for reading! Thanks!