Weekend Wrap-Up

Right, so this weekend was interesting. Friday night, I headed out for a Nomikai with the Board of Education folks. Went to some restaurant in Maki where we were put into an enkai room with it's own beer tap and, strangely enough, blue leather arm chairs to sit in. No floor sitting at this place apparently. The food was ok, but man, it was a seafood extravaganza. I tried the sea snails and the fresh clams, but just was not down for seconds, which put everyone into a frenzy. Why my eating habits are so interesting to the Japanese, I just won't ever understand. Anyway, so, I wasn't up for the nijikai/karaoke, so I walked home and hit the hay pretty early.

Saturday I woke up in a bit of a funk, since Kristen left that day, and that night was to be the big Sayonara Enkai for Team Sanjo. I spent the morning on the phone with my mom and Michelle, then went back into bed to feel sorry for myself. Eventually I realized this was stupid and decided to hit the beach. Sun, sand and swimming usually make a girl feel better. And it did, the weather was incredible and the water was great.

So feeling refreshed, but still with a sense of dread, we headed into Sanjo for the party. The dinner (and the all-you-can-drink) was good and karaoke was even better. The post-boozing ramen turned into a tear factory for me though. Luckily Emily came up with a great lie that I was crying because I didn't like the ramen. I think they bought it... riiiiight.


This is the last picture of Team Sanjo together!

So yeah, everyone's packing up, and so am I since I'm off to the airport in less than 48 hours. Can't wait to go home and refresh for another year in Nihon. This place has been driving me mad lately!

Summer Vacation! Shaaa-WING!

Woooo hoo! Last day of school today. Now to begin the short but sweet Natsu Yasumi. I'm lucky enough to only have to "work" half days at the Board of Ed on these days, which really means showing my pretty white face for about 2 hours... then Honma-san usually sends me home to waste away in my underwear under the A/C in my apartment. Awesome!

Also, Kate has officially booked our Thailand trip! Sept 17-23rd in paradise. I am so excited!

5 days till I get on that plane and make my triumphant return to the 'daigua.

And now I must go drink with the town office. Nomima-fucking-shou!

And the Sayonaras begin...

Well, last night was the official goodbye party for Brandon. He left today. Despite the fact that he did drive me nuts sometimes, it was sad to see him go. He's the first one. Next is Kristen who's flying out on Saturday; unfortunately I won't be able to go down to Nagano to see her. And for this Saturday, Makiko and I are working on the big, collective going away party as people are leaving in droves starting late next week... seems I won't have many friends here when I get back from my trip home. Fuckin weird. I'm still trying to have hope for the newbies, but we'll see. I suppose I came into this last year with no friends and things worked out great. I'm trying to remain positive, but man, I'm gonna miss Team Sanjo.

The most ghetto picture of the year?

Damn it! A cute little baby, a cigarette and a thong! For the love of god!! I need to work on my photography skills!

I have a serious shopping problem!

I don't know what the deal is, but recently, the only thing I can think of is shopping. Kristen says the shopping is ok - it makes us feel better in this wacky country... I don't know.
Since I'm going home in a few weeks, I have taken the opportunity to do a bit of no-import tax online shopping... I've spent about $400. No joke.
This on top of the ridiculous amount I spend in Japan. Dropped into Setan (deadly deadly deadly store) one day and went hogwild on a new bag (do I need a new bag? no!) and all kinds of fabulous things at Origins.
One Friday I went into Niigata a bit early for class. I had about 30 minutes to spare so I parked my car and stopped into Beams on the way, there was a big old sale so in 4 seconds walked out with 6000 yen of merchandise. Didn't try anything on, just decided to buy.
This is bad! But my saving 5man a month plan starts in January... after my trips to Thailand in September, Hong Kong in October, and India (?) in December/January. Yes, must save!

The Greatest Picture of the Year

How great is that? We wanted it to be a full on airborne shot, but couldn't seem to get the timing right. But getting Kayvohn in that pose is so cool!

In other news, I'm in a pretty good mood right now for a few reasons:
1. It's FRIDAY!
2. It's a three day weekend!
3. It's the first three day weekend or any semblance of a holiday since my Oz trip. That's 11 weeks of straight work, folks.
4. Have a few options for parties/events to attend.
5. Got an email from the new potential dude last night - I think we'll end up getting together at some point this weekend.
and, 6. I WILL BE HOME AT THIS TIME IN TWO WEEKS! Horray!

As for now, I need to hang my laundry and then go into Niigata for Nihongo class, which is kind of a buzzkill. But alas...

Let's try this again...

Ok, so this is my second attempt at this whole Blogging thing. First one failed cause I got all nervous about random people reading it. I'm trying to password protect it, but can't seem to figure out how. So, random weirdos, please enjoy my ramblings.

Anyway, I am trying this again in an attempt to kind of document my second year in Japan. I suppose it will be cool to look back on, and if I ever want to go into travel writing, maybe I can just tell them to look at this thing? I don't know. I am hoping I can figure out how to add pictures and make it even cooler.

So yeah, those are my goals, let's see if I can manage. Ganbarimashou!