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)

Awkward Situations...

Aug.5 Wednesday

AH!! I saw half naked little things when I visited the nursery today getting ready to go play in the little blow up pool. It`s adorable! They all have little swimming underwear on that have their names written on their butts and have swim caps. Some of the more genkier kids said hello to me when I came over to help them put on their sandals. XD I couldn`t resist going over to them. They were like "...Who is this creepy chick who keeps grinning and staring at us?" lol I ｌｏｖｅ little things too much I think. Heheh. I can`t wait to teach them and play with them >D.

Today some guy came in to invite me and Su to go play badminton with them at the gym. It`s supposedly all the younger people from the second floor and some others. Even though I was kinda tired, I still said yes, because it`s a good chance to get to know people. And being in a town where everyone will know who you are it`s best to be friendly with everyone. At the gym the elementary volleyball team was having their practice so Su and I waited on the side. One of the mothers noticed me and came over to talk to me. Because I look asian and am female （the other JETs were all male) she didn`t expect me to be the new ALT (Assistant Language Teacher). She was shocked but then told her daughter when they were done practicing. The little girl looked at me and was like: "What!? Really? It`s a girl! Wow, we haven`t had a girl ALT!" And she spread the word to all the other students. They all looked at me in shock and surprise. I hope they were pleasantly surprised to know that their ALT this time is a chick. Cuz I heard a lot of them say よかったね！ So I`m going to take it as a good thing. I tried to talk to some of them in English, but they were like わからない。So I just decided to try to learn their names which failed because I could only remember Natsu. lol

Anyways, I met some new people coming in to play Badminton with us and some of the people from the young people welcome party. Mago-chan and Tama-chan were there so I felt comfortable. And then I met the cutest girl! Her name is Uno-san and she works in the Health Center. She was an adorable Japanese girl. Not gyaru, but a little close to it. Except super cute!! I might develop a lil crush on her she was so cute. =P So I was playing my A game out there and then I noticed 3 people come in. Two were middle aged and one a younger male who looked like he could be a host. He was pretty good looking. I learned from Su that these people all worked at the supermarket. Hmmm....well I`ll be sure to visit that market quite often. Anyways, he came in and I got totally distracted. I kept missing the bird and lost a couple of times. lol Damnit men. >.< I didn`t even know we had guys like that in my town. I thought the only young hawt guys were going to be my high school boys. lol Which would be jailbait for me. And I would be a cougar. on several occasions I did think that I would become one. And that`s just depressing and terrible. lol

Afterwards, Su, Mago-chan, and I went to Yamamoto-tei which is an izakaya to eat dinner. I swear, everywhere I go I cant escape the town hall peoples. They`re everywhere here. And they`re constantly at izakayas. lol Man town hall peoples drink a lot. Oh the chef there was a young guy who was decent looking. I think all the young hotter guys work at supermarkets and restaurants and stuff. There, one of the local gov`t officials came over to talk to me. In town he`s on par with the mayor because he works as A correspondent for the Hokkaido area gov`t. Or that`s what I think they were trying to explain to me. =P Then other town hall people were there whom I have not yet met, so I introduced myself and they invited me to go to their festival that they`re having. I`ve been getting constant invites to festivals and events. It`s cool, but tiring. Fun, but tiring day.

Aug. 6: Awkward situations
So I come in to the office and the first thing I see is the local newspaper on my desk. Local as in this town and surrounding cities. And on the front page there is a little section that has my picture on it and my name. It was a section devoted to explaining about me and me being the new ALT. Once I scan it or take a picture of it, I`ll post it. It`s pretty cool. Actually everyone in the office was talking about it Ａｎｄ Su said that everyone will now know who Iam. And it`s true!!! I went out on errands with Su and I started getting stares from everyone around me. Those passing by in cars stare at me for the longest time before they look back to the road. When I went into the car shop to look for a car to buy, Su tried to introduce me, but the lady there was like "Oh, yes, I know her! I read the newspaper this morning when I was in Shibetsu (neigboring city)." O.O Wow...

And also Ayako, who is the shrine priestesses daughter who I`ve become really good friends with, pulled me aside to talk with her in the locker room about helping her with her English conversation skills cuz she still wants to continue learning. I was more than happy to be able to help this refined and regal girl. She carries herself beautifully. And she`s the epitome of a wonderful Japanese woman. Fitting for a shrine priestess in training. Just think of those great mikos you see in anime and stuff and that`s basically her.

Anyways, that evening was the BOE enkai. BOE people are really crazy at parties! lol They even described themselves as being like a zoo. lol I felt pretty comfortable with these people as I`m with them everyday. So I thought it would be awesome. Well, it still was pretty awesome, but... Before all that weird stuff happens I`ll explain the plesantries. The man who organized this event found out that I LOVE uni and ordered an extra set of 5 uni sushi just for me to eat!! Uni is freakin expensive but he still ordered it all for me!! I was so touched! I was full beyond belief, but I couldn`t be rude and not eat it all. And then they ordered these giant bowls of ramen. I mean they were GIANT!! I took pictures. SO FREAKIN HUGE!!!

I sat next to the chairman in the seat of honor. He was so sweet and nice to me and during work he would always come over to my desk and give me sweets and stuff. It`s really cute actually cuz he`ll walk around making sure everyone`s happy and doing well and whenever he gets an extra thing of chocolates or mochi or whatever, he`ll secretly shuffle over to me and put it on my desk. lol Such a cute old man. He was telling me that I should go over to visit his house sometime, because its only his wife and him. Both his children are married and in different cities now. So he would like to have some company. He treats me like his daughter. AND he called me 美人。～o～　I think I will give him my little bottle of wine that I brought as a souvenir. All the other older men also Ｔｒｅａｔ me like their daughter because I`m so young I think. But I love all the elderly people who work here. However, they keep trying to set me up with all the younger guys who work here. These points are when I pretend I know no Japanese whatsoever. all the older men know that i dont have a bf, so they were like " Find one in Kenbuchi and get married here, but not until after 30." lol This was pretty awkward because this went on for like a good hour. I just pretended not to understand what they were saying and just say that all the guys here are really cool. I know that they were all probably drunk and just having a good time, but it was still awkward for me and the other younger guys around me. I even heard my boss say to one of the boys "If you date the ALT and people see you with her it`s pretty prestigious." LOL Hmm...maybe I`ll use that to my advantage with the hot guys who work in restaurants and supermarkets. >D Nah, I`m too intimidated by good looking men and I black out near them. So that wouldn`t work. lol

So then here`s the really really awkward situation, hence my title. The weirder and more perverted guy of the BOE started drinking alot and getting drunk. And he came over to sit next to me. And....he started to get a little touchy feely. Yes...I had known that these situations happened all the time during these enkais and knew the best way to handle them, but when it actually came to it, I wasn`t sure what to do. I did pull away and tell Su that I felt a little uncomfortable and kept getting up to go to the restroom. But he would still keep caressing my hands and everything....And Su and the other girls did tell him to stop doing it, but they said it more playfully than I would have liked. Some other men who were drunk would also come and sidle up beside me, but not too much problems with that. I know that this is all just a one time thing and they won`t talk about this at work the next day or most likely forget everything, but it was still a little awkward during the time. Hopefully, this doesn`t happen again.

~Actually, nevermind, they just started talking about it in the office. Okay I`ll just be really into writing this blog. I`m doing this all at work btw, because I have nothing to do right now. Weird, the timing. ~

So anyways, we went to a second place to drink and sing karaoke as that is usually the custom here in Japan. You always go to a second place. So there I sat in between the younger guy and Su and more awkward comments ensued. More uncomfortable moments with the perverted guy happened too. they keep asking me how I felt about the younger dude, and asked him about it too. It ended up being REALLY awkward and uncomfortable for the both of us. So I was really glad to be able to leave. '-_-

Right now at the office, there`s still a little bit of awkwardness between me and the younger guy. We dont really look at each other and we kinda avoid one another...lol Great, 2 weeks I`ve been here and already awkward weird situations have happened. >.< I was hoping to develop a good friendly relationship with him and borrow his Bleach mangas too, since he has the entire series to date!

Thanks for reading all this up to now and otsukare for doing so! It`s all really long, so thanks for holding on. And I just found out that one of the old guys in my BOE had gone outside during work to help fix the chain on my bike. I didn`t even know what he was saying until a couple minutes later and just had a delayed thanking moment. lol SO NICE!!! BOE, you rock!

役場の若者宴会 My welcome reception from the 30 years old and under workers at Town Hall.

So, August 4, Tuesday. I was making my errand rounds with Su at all the schools and banks and stuff when I met Sakurai-san. He was the coolest and cookiest teacher at the middle school. He`s my new favorite teacher cuz he`s so funny and laidback and treats me like his daughter or niece or whatever. Super nice man. Anyways he was wearing a blue jumpsuit and was on the side of the road doing some gardening of some sort on the school grounds. I wasn:t exactly sure what the school grounds. I wasn:t exactly sure what he was doing, but I think it`s cute that the teachers in doing, but I think it`s cute that the teachers in Japan do a lot of random things on campus besides just teaching. Anyways so we talked to him for a while and he asked us to eat lunch with him later. So we went to Seico Mart to buy bento and went to the school. A couple of the teachers were there as well and I met the English teacher who I will be working with at the junior high. And damn he was good looking. Immediately when I entered the room my eyes went straight for him because he was the hottest thing there. And then Sakurai-san introduced us and I was like "WHat!? Man, I`ll definitely enjoy teaching with him, that`s for sure." Seriously, I heard that all the teachers here are all in their early 20s and that I`ll be teaching with male teachers around my age for both high school and middle school, though for elementary I`m not sure what gender the teacher will be. I`m ｑｕｉｔｅ looking forward to being with them. Although I`ll be massively distracted in class. lol

So anyways I ate lunch with Sakurai-san and his best friend teacher Momo-san. They were the old men teachers that were young at heart. Such funny guys! I opened up to them immediately and they told me to come back the next day as they will be waiting. So far, I`m loving my job.

At 6:30 I came back to town hall for the 若者宴会 or the 30 years old and under people`s welcome reception. There were about 14 of them and we all sat down in a tatami room to eat pizza. Yup, Japanese style pizza. I had the curry one, which was amazingly good, but for some reason, these days I haven`t been able to eat very much. I`m not depressed or anything. Just not eating as much. Maybe that`ll be good for my diet. Anyways, I only ate one piece and was full. There were about an equal amount of boys as there are women in the group. It was a little daunting at first, but everyone`s so friendly and super nice that I became comfortable with everybody. Although everyone still thought I was nervous or something. Anyways we drank alot and I feel that even though I eat very little, the beer makes up majority of my calories. I`ve had a lot of beer lately and I dont think its good for me. lol =P The head of the young people enkai was a funny loud and perverted dude. And he would fart alot. It was a little unnerving for me to have someone pass gas so freely in front of everyone else, but I think I slowly started getting used to it just like everything else. The girls there were super awesome and really nice. They even invited me to join their 乙女会 Otome-kai, which is the women`s drinking gathering. It`s kind of hard to translate it. lol I became really good friends with the girl who sat next to me. She`s the daughter of the local Shrine priestess. So she told me that I can go and 'play' at the shrine anytime. Quiet and reserved, but really great girl.

Some of the humor and jokes said were a little confusing to me during this whole thing. I think I still prefer sarcastic dry jokes or some stupid American jokes, but they still try their hardest to explain these jokes to me and make me laugh. I did smile and laugh alot during the party though. Afterwards, some people went home, and the others and I went to the second party as they call it. We went to an izakaya and ate some more food and drank some more beer and alcohol. Man, Japanese people can seriosly eat ALOT!!! I couldn`t believe how much food everyone kept shoving into their mouths yet they`re all so slim!!! They kept shoving food at me too, but I really couldn`t eat anymore. I felt like I might`ve been a little rude refusing the food so I took small bites and couldn`t eat anymore. Some people were passed out and drunk so conversations went in wierd directions. =P I probably normally would never talk to them like this, but after drinking evreyone was like wheeeeeee. lol There is one guy that really enjoyed talking to me. I thought he was awesome, though he was a little odd at times. lol I believe his name is Keigo. He just got married and has the cutest wife ever! He`s so nice to me and he walked back home with me. I love the people here. And also, I`ve been invited to another guy`s wedding. ^^ I dont really know who he is other than he was one of the guys at the party, but he`s getting married and invited all of us to go. At 11 everything ended and we all went back home.

I think I might be getting second hand smoke or already have it. There`s just too much smoking that goes on here and I feel dizzy alot of the times during enkais, but I try to power through it to show people that I really enjoy being there. Anyways, I`m currently at work with nothing to do, so I`m typing away on my blog. I really should be studying Japanese or coming up with lesson plans, but my brain is really tired from last night so all i can do right now is just write this thing. So more blogging to come later, hopefully, not during work. lol

桜岡祭り！！！Sakura-oka festival!

Yay for sunday the 2nd of August and the day of the Sakura-oka festival! Sakura-oka is the name of the lakeside resort next to Kenbuchi. It's the area that's super green and beautiful! And the lake is man made, but it still takes your breath away to see the greenery plus a huge thing of water. Breathtaking.

Anyways, so I had expressed interest earlier that I wanted to check out the Taiko group they had here. It's also called Wadaiko. And the man in charge of it works in the town hall. He just so happened to be in the BOE office and Su told him about me. So he told me to go check them out at practice and he will take me with him to the festival where they would be performing. There were two little kids there who were soooo good! I was like "I have to play next to them? I'll look stupid and inept!" lol Then one of the only guys in the group also came in. Su told me he works at the town hall as well. (i have a feeling that everyone I know or will come to know works at the town hall.) She also told me to be careful of him and never go home with him in his car, which by the way, is one of those sexy Audi sportscars that I so wanted. It's because he's known as the player here. He's not really that good looking. He just thinks he is. Anywho he did try to be suave with me for a little bit. But I just kind of ignored him...lol Well, not really ignored as I didn't want to be on bad terms with him, just didn't acknowledge what he was doing. =P

So the Taiko leader, Tanaka-san, who resembles and reminds me of that one french actor dude who's in a lot of American movies, like say Godzilla, piled Su and I into his car and one other man. They were both so nice to me! The other man complimented me on how pretty I was o*.*o, and has a daughter the same age as me. Both of them were fathers, actually. And they were just such wonderful men that I started having a strong affinity for the both of them. At the festival it was kinda rainy/misty. But everything still continued.There were some okay looking guys there, but I wasn't really interested. The mayor noticed me walking around and called to me. I was still alittle unsure of what I should do when around him, so I just stood there quietly and let Su talk. I swear, the people here believe I know nothing of Japan and even though I've been speaking Japanese to them they still think I can't really speak it...it's really kind of funny actually. Anyways, we watched the taiko group perform. They were wonderful, although not as good as ICU's wadaiko (I'm a little biased), but still good nonetheless. After it was all over the player dude came over to Su and I and told us to go eat with them as my welcoming party. I was like "What?!! Welcoming party? I haven't really even decided on joining yet!" But gave up and decided to join them anyways. I do like Taiko.

We went to eat at Yamatake sushi-ya-san. It was sooo good! AND OMG THE UNI!!! THE UNI!!!! I guarantee you'll never have uni this good anywhere besides Hokkaido. Damn that was like the best uni I've ever had! The Taiko people knew I liked it and so let me eat majority of it. I tried to leave some for people but everyone was like take it take it. So far, the people in this group are super friendly and open and wonderful people. Tanaka-san and the other man who was in the car with me sat across from me and talked with me majority of the time. If they weren't talking to me, I kind of just sat quietly because I wasn't exactly sure what to say to people. I'm still in the period of adjusting. If anyone can help me with conversation topics, please tell me!!!! So they started talking about me getting married. And since they were both fathers, they told me that I shouldn't get married until after 30, which was so cute of them. And it endeared me to them in some weird way.

At the enkai there was also a cute toddler there named Takenoshi who belonged to one of the mom's in Taiko. IT WAS SO CUTE!!! WAAAA!!! It had a fat little tummy and the softest skin that I just wanted to rub my face on his butt and against his face cheeks!! At first he was like, who is this weird girl smiling creepily at me, but then he started warming up to me and would come over to me to give me low fives and slap my face, throw his mom's cell at me, and push his way onto my lap and eat my food. He even called me onee-chan!! AWWW! I melted. I love little fat babies just like I like the fat little sheeps here. And Su made the comment that I like animals and little kids...and i thought, they're technically the same thing. lol =P I'm a bad person, I know.

Then people started noticing my diamond and blue zircon ring that my mom made for me and asked about it. I told them about my mom and then about my dad, and now every one thinks I'm some super rockstar girl whose mom is a designer and dad a huge restaurant owner....I didn't say it like that, they just assumed. '>' Alot of them then started pulling out their phones to take pictures of me...it was kind of weird. Soon after, we all left. Oh, btw, Tanaka-san's son who is in Junior High was also there. He will be one of my students but he totally didn't know I was the teacher until after dinner. He's a really good kid though. I look forward to teaching him actually. Afterwards, Tanaka-san actually invited me over to his house to meet his wife who makes bead jewelry. IT was the coolest thing ever! This lady is so ridiculously talented and good at it and she uses the swarovski beads! It was amazing! And she was so nice to me and motherly. She worried for me about winter and wondered if I would be okay or anything. I told her I'll be fine, but she says that whenever I need anything or if it gets too cold and lonely in the winter I'm always welcome to stay at their house. I htink they're my new host family. They're so sweet and funny. And their son really is a wonderful kid. I'm really starting to like this place a lot. At first I was like. Oh no, where am I? But now it's just an amazing and cute place. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to love the city areas as I once did now that i've experienced this place. Rural life has so much more to offer.

Aug. 3rd: Some people came in to the office just to get a picture of me on the cell phones...lol I feel...popular. After work I decided to go and get my bike tricked out so that I don't kill myself on long bike rides. I got new wheels, a new cushier saddle, and tune up. My bike's still old and crappy though, but at least my butt won't cry anymore. I took it out for a ride to the lakeside, which is without a car, it's a hell of a long ride there. I left at 1 and didn't come back until 4:30pm. I did stop at some areas to sit and rest though. I loved the scenery as I was biking although I didn't like the butterflies that kept coming straight at me and flying down my shirt. I loved saying "konnichiwa" to all the old people I passed. I actually scared one old lady when I said that too. lol Anyways I finally actually get to the lakeside and I rode around the entire lake, through the forests, and back onto dirt roads. I got lost a bit, but then finally found the main street and took it to the 道の駅 (michi no eki-roadside station)。I wanted to take a look at stuff in there because it's specifically Kenbuchi's 道の駅 and they had some interesting things in there as well as おみやげ。And of course I had to eat the soft serve again. Damn, good and creamy. It was half vanilla and half 紫蘇perilla(beefsteak plant)? I wasn't exactly sure what it was. But it was good nonetheless. I finally then made it back home with my ass still hurting because even though I have a much cushier saddle, the ride was still pretty rough and there were a lot of bumps along the way. But I have to tell ya, it was the most invigorating and longest ride of my life. =P So I will have pictures up for all of you soon as I am now uploading them onto my facebook. I'll caption them so you all know what's what. Cheers and loves!

July 31st and August 1st

GAH!! So much cleaning that I had to do!! And it's all just in the kitchen!! I had to throw a shit load of stuff out because it's ridiculous the amount of disgusting grimy crap that has been passed down from male JET to male JET...I scrubbed everything like crazy!!! Anyways, it's all pretty clean now, but I'm still not done cleaning yet.

So July 31st was the big day and the first day that I went in to "work". I had to make my rounds of seeing all the people who work in the town hall and meet the mayor. So I first met the chairman of the BOE sat down and talked to him for a little bit then moved on to the rest of the first floor then the second, then the third floor to meet the mayor of the town. I was presented a certificate from him and then sat down with him for a long time chatting...It was a little awkward, but interesting.Then we went to the 4th floor and met more people. Majority of them, none of us knew what they actually did..lol Anyways, after all that I sat at my office desk until 12 and then was free to leave and do as I like. Actually during that time a guy from the local newspaper came in and interviewed me. He said I would be in the next issue that comes out. And then he took a picture of me. I hoped I looked okay. He said I was pro at smiling. haha. Afterwards, Su and I went to the ramen shop next to the station and ate the ramen/curry combo. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD! Ridiculous good! I need more of that. Ramen in Hokkaido is awesome and the Chashu they use here is fattier and thicker. I loved it!!! Bad for my diet though. So then I biked home and just got to cleaning my freaking apt.

August 1st: Woo for saturday! Su and her mother came to pick me up to take me to Asahikawa which is the second largest city on the island and only 1 hour away from Kenbuchi. Her mother is so cute! I love her as well! She's super nice and patient and was willing to take us all the way to the zoo. The ride there was beautiful! green, green, and green again. Anyways, the zoo was situated on the side of a mountatin, so it was an upwards slope. But the scenery was very beautiful because of that. I think I've now been to a zoo in each country that I've visited. lol It was a lot of fun though and I saw Hedwig! Although it was kinda creepy. I had to buy an soft serve here because I can't get enough of Hokkaido's soft serve ice cream. It's ridiculously good here. Like no other you'll ever taste because the milk here is amazing! Cows here are wonderful! =P As are the sheep. >D

We then took the bus into Asahikawa city and stopped in front of the station. Apparently there was a festival going on in the city, but we stopped to eat at a ramen-ya-san before that. Oh, and I have to tell ya, the boys aren't as hot as the Tokyo boys, but they certainly are nicer here in Hokkaido. So we walked around trying to find the festival to find that there was a parade going on celebrating the Japan (Hokkaido's Asahikawa city)-South Korea (don't know the name of the sister city) friendship treaty. So it was a bunch of people dressed up in traditional Korean wear like han-boks marching down the street. And then, finally, after that, we found the actual Asahikawa festival. Food and good looking guys everywhere. Then we sat on the side to watch people carrying the mikoshi (shrine) down the street and to watch a performance. It consisted of these really high ladders that were held by a bunch of guys at the bottom and one guy would climb up to the top and do little balancing acts. At first it was all fine and dandy until this one youngun decided to balance on one of the ladder poles on his back where majority of his weight was tilted from torso up. I knew that the minute he let his hand go the weight, instead of being balanced, would be transferred all to the torso area in which he fell backwards onto the ground and somewhat hit his head. Everyone screamed when that happened. It was pretty terrifying. The ambulance came at last and took him away and the festivities kind of died down after that. Su and I decided to leave as we didnt' want to get caught up in the crowds flocking to see what happened. On our way to the train station we spotted a Tully's Coffee and I bought a macha latte. It was pretty good. I then headed on the one train that headed back to Kenbuchi. It only comes once every hour and then the later it gets, once every other hour. Yeah, I need a car. It cost me 9 bucks from Asahikawa to Kenbuchi. Anyways, my little train station, btw, has no platform, just grass and rocks. So I was really surprised to just get off and land on grass and rocks. Not like in Tokyo where there's platforms everywhere. But I think I might have met some of my students as they were getting off. They stared at me for a little bit like who is this person getting of at this small stop?. Yeah, I got home called to talk to Collin for a bit and went to sleep afterwards. I was dead tired. So yes, will be posting pictures tomorrow afternoon that's for sure. It'll be on my facebook most likely. Just look there.