count_frogula

Angela to Daniel: Uhm... was that my doorbell?

Daniel to Angela... *stares* I guess so?

*pauses Heroes on computer*

*opens door to reveal two Japanese ladies I don't know*

..."Hello?"

Ladies: *stuttering* Do you speak.. Japanese?

Me: ...*looks at their bags, determines it MIGHT be a smart idea to say no* Uhm... a little..

Ladies: Ah... English, then?

Me: *nods*

Ladies: *struggling* We are Jehovah's Witnesses. Do you know?

(*Note: they are first saying all this in Japanese in a desperate attempt to trick me into showing that I do in fact know what they're saying. Or more likely, they must say it out loud before they can piece it together in English in a collaborative effort. Either way, it was REALLY hard to fake not knowing.)

Me: Yes, I know.

Ladies: Please read this page...

Page: (English version, one page of SEVERAL different versions reads..) Hello. My name is _____. We are spreading the joy of blah blah blah if you would like us to come back and bring you a copy of our teachings we'd be more than happy to.

Me: *looking interested* Ah... I see. But I am a Christian.

Ladies: Protestant? Catholic?

Me: (figuring Catholic would be an easier way to persuade them away from me) "Catholic!"

Ladies: Ah... I see. You have Bible?

Me: Yes.

Ladies: Do you need a copy of ours?

Me: Uhm....... no.

Ladies: How long (have you been in) Japan?

Me: Uh.. about one year (if they knew how long I was REALLY here, I'd be in trouble. No matter what you're going to pick up some of the language at some point).

(Daniel: coughs in background)

Ladies: Oh! Friend? Here?

Me: Yes yes!

Ladies: Ok... ja, mata... *scrunchy face of concentration* Mata.. mata... Again? See you again!

Me: Oh, yes! *closes door, runs away*

Oh MAN I thought it would be easy to fake not knowing Japanese, but dangit!! I've been so trained to show reaction even when I DON'T know what they're saying (makes social situations much less awkward--but that too is a difficult feat to accomplish... take for example, a proper fake response to "Some people think we can solve all wars if we bomb the whole planet" would NOT be "Oh yes, I agree! *cheerful nod*" despite the fact that you didn't know that was what was said..) I didn't know to what level of Japanese I should "know."

So I tilted my head and furrowed up my eyebrows and watched them struggle to translate for me.

Me to Daniel: Oh MAN I just lied through my teeth and pretended to have no clue of what those Jehovah's Witnesses were saying!!

Daniel to Me: Ah, so THAT's why you were playing dumb!

Not easy my friends, not easy.

Current Mood: think they figured me out?

...What!?

That is quite possibly the WORST mess up of "finger pointing" that has ever escaped anyone's lips. *hangs head*

I mean... PEENTER FOINGING!?

Ok, moving on.. with a new quote!

"..Just look for the happiest man in town!"

*turn to big smiley guy*

"Not me friends, he's talking about himself! But THANKS for looking!"

SO!

I am, quite possibly, the HAPPIEST GAL IN TOWN! Because... I got... a phonecall... from...

SHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

He's near Okinawa now, and should be arriving back in Japan on December 4th. He still has work to do for the ship, but he'll finish with that on the 13th or so. Then he can come back to Takayama! YAY YAY YAY!

I will elaborate later--Must clean school now.

P.S.
*GLEE!!*

Current Mood: bursting with joy

--Ryan

Haha! Ryan and Daniel had quite an adventure in Kyoto it seems... after piecing together their stories of one night in particular and looking through the pictures we notice that hey...

That's a picture of two Japanese male bartenders...

...who AREN'T kissing but PRET-TY darn close.

And wait a minute... that guy that they were hanging out with really seemed to like Ryan...

And WAIT a minute... there were no WOMEN in that bar!

(Ha! Just thought of Homer's reaction to being in the lesbian bar... "Waaaaaait a minute... this lesbian bar has no fire exits!! Enjoy your DEATH TRAP, ladies!!" -Exit Homer.)

Ryan's reaction was hilarious to say the least.

"Didn't he seem a little... FESTIVE... to you?"

hee hee

The quote comes from all honesty, not a doubtful way, of trying to figure out where there were at what time. Priceless.

Throughout their trip, they called me now and then for help.

"Dude, we had the Daisy Signal up! Didn't you see it!?"

"...Huh?"

"The Daisy Signal! It's been on for like, half an hour!"

"...Buh?" (*Angela was shopping for a kotatsu blanket and was utterly confused by this)

"...Like the Bat Signal, but for YOU."

"Ohhhhhhhh! The DAISY Signal! Well, I'm indoors... so maybe if I go outside I can see it.."

Heh. I reminded them to be good boys and get omiyage/souvenirs (cinnamon cookies are gooooooood) for Yuka and Emi, cause if you don't get your fairly new girlfriends something nice from where you went without them, it can be ugly. Ha! Not really (at least I certainly hope so) but it's just a darn good idea and gets super brownie points.

And when they came back, they hand me a bag and say "And this is from us!" Upon opening reveals a beautiful silk scarf and I just about melted. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... {: 3 Thanks guys.

Now I'm going to CHANGE the subject completely and move onto this manga/anime called Death Note.

I've been rather curious since I started to ask my students "How many comic books do you have?" in English class, they say however many, and I ask what kinds of books they are reading.

"Death Note!"

"Hmmm... Death Note."

"I like Death Note."

Oooooooookaaaaaaaaaaay.... It seemed ragingly popular and there's a live action movie out about it now. Wanting to A) keep in the loop of hip cool things even though I'm old lady and B) find out if this is a GOOD thing for my kids to be reading, I youtubed (ha! I can't believe that's become a verb..) the first episode.

HOLY CRAP. It's addictive in a very creepy yet cool way.

A book falls from the Death God world to Earth.

A high school boy named Light finds it.

It's called Death Note. He proceeds to read the instructions of said book.. (The directions are written in ENGLISH, as it is the most popularly used language in the world, the Death God says.)

--------------------------------------------------------------

How to use it: I

*The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

*This note will not take affect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name shall not be affected.

*If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.

*If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.

*After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

-------------------------------------------------------------

A little crazy... right!?

Ok, so boy finds said note. He doubts its validity. He sees a bad guy on TV-a live broadcast of a hostage situation. The man's name and face are posted... he gives it a shot and writes his name. Forty seconds later and........ nothing happens. Ha, I knew it was fa--the news bursts with the hostages running free out of the building, and the man was dead. Someone took him down? He did it himself? No, he simply... fell to the ground. Heart attack.

Whoaaaaaaaaaah... no, no way, just a coincidence... so he must find another person to prove it.

He finds a biker gang assaulting a girl--man makes the mistake of saying his name (and therefore nickname). Light writes it down, and specifies "traffic accident."

(*At this point, I apparently had the same thought of the author. "Hey! Japanese names can be written SO MANY WAYS, both first and last! There's no way he's gonna get his name on the first try!" Then I look at the picture in the manga and sure enough.. Light's written a whole list of possible name kanji combinations. Smart author!)

Girl manages to get away, doomed biker guy goes chasing after her on his bike. Bang--smashed by a semi.

Light realizes hey... this is the real deal!.. and decides to use the book to clean the Earth and wipe out all the people who do wrong and become this world's new god. End--Episode one.

Chills anyone!?

It brings to light the question of "Do bad people deserve to die?" and what is justice and what is not. Is he saving the world from evil or evil himself for his "cleansing"?

Overall, I'm not sure how I feel about my 12 year old students reading this... But I know I'm hooked. When I mentioned it at Red Hill the other night, all my Japanese friends knew it! A big conversation broke out. Very surprised.

The first eight episodes are on Youtube right now. Luckily I have access to the manga so I can read more, more, more!

「あの。。何故そんなに時計を気になさってるんですか？」

「ああ。。。これ？これはですね。。。キラだから。 さようなら、南空ナオミさん。」


"Uhm... Why are you paying so much attention to your watch?"

"Oh... that? See.. that's because... I'm Kira. Goodbye, Miss Naomi Misora.."


...AAGH!!

Current Mood: aww guys... shucks... {:3

All right--before I get into this post, I want to first shake my fist at live journal as whenever I WANT it to put in my saved draft from before, it never does... and when I've simply written something about the weather and can of peas, it's there when I bring up the entry screen. I don't understaaaaaaaaaand...

This all means that the past two posts I was meticulously writing are not here. See, I wanted to tell you all how glad I am to have you and my days were looking very bright.

So let's re-examine...

I got an awesome comment from Bree!! I wuv my Bwee... and I got to chat with her and laugh and laugh and laugh. MAN I really hope to see her (that means YOU!!) in CO!!!

I got kidnapped in school by the special ed teacher AT school and taken to a reeeeeeeeeeally nice onsen for a "class fieldtrip".. for free!

I went to Meiji-Mura (Meiji Village) with my J-Mama!

I had a good couple weeks and weekends hanging out with my homeboys Daniel and Ryan (and their ladies).

I got a Thanksgiving package from Mom and Dad that had two brownie mixes, stove top stuffing, warm fuzzy socks, and various T-Day decorations and napkins in it!!

So... I had a big potluck dinner at my place with said homeboys (later to be joined by Yuka) at which we all stuffed ourselves into the dreamy "food-coma" like state.

My supervisor basically agreed with me that my school situation is NOT good, and they will try to do something to make it better! Whoo!!

I got to do video chat with my sister and parents and even aunt and uncle whom I haven't seen in what seems like ages!

I got my second letter from Shin!!! And in it is a big red paper heart with a trademark Shin Smiley Face on it. Awwwwwww....

It's been a good couple of weeks. I've been trying to write it all down to let you all know how very much appreciated you are, but I didn't want to post it yet because it "wasn't good enough." Thus it got erased. *hangs head*

So thank you! *love love love love love beams*

Ok, now onto the harshing of my mellow...

Because I was going to post about it earlier but didn't know how, but I just got off the phone with Daniel and I feel much clearer in my head about it now.

Ok. Last night I put on some snazzy clothes and met Yuka, Rie, and Kumiko at Red Hill. There are always fun people around, so we moved to the big table. There was about ten of us.... then *this* guy sits down. Immediately the atmosphere drops. Well, let's just say we're not impressed with his conversation skills. I learn that he is not well liked by the general company, and it seems as if some people have either left or changed from the big table back to the bar.

Hmm.

I get up to go to the bathroom. I come back and sit down. I hear Kumiko saying, "Etchi.. etchi... how do you say 'etchi' in English?" I responded with "Hmm... dirty.. or perverted.. you know, that kind of thing."

And the next thing I know, that guy is leaning over people, pointing his finger at me and demanding to know who I am and what I'm doing.

.....Ooooooooookay.......

I thought this was odd because we'd JUST been all jovial before I went to the bathroom... so I thought he was kidding.

In fact, we were all a bit confused...

Well, after being called the worst names I've ever been called in my life, being accused of "talking shit" and "stabbing him in the back," and generally having my A) validity of being in Takayama and B) my length of time being in Takayama questioned, and having frothy spit fly in my face to shouts of "I know your type!! You *insert slanderous words here*!!!"... I think we all realized that hey, this guy is A) serious and B) completely out of his gourd.

Not to mention completely unable to be reasoned with.

And I'm thinking...

"...I just sat down!!!"

(*Note: Upon talking with Daniel and for the record, he WAS being very "etchi," in saying he wanted to be sleeping with at least three of the ladies at the table. I didn't know this... all I heard was a translation question.)

So when everyone is trying to make sense of this situation (oh yes, I apparently was using Japanese solely for the purpose of talking shit about him), Yoda (that's my nickname for him) finally stands up to him, literally towering over him since he was still sitting) and tried to talk him down.

I couldn't believe it. Thank GOD Yoda was there... I don't know what I would've done.

Said guy is British (I believe?)... and yelled to Yoda that he "is a fucking Jap! (and SHE's *finger in my face again* a #@$% #$%$%^$ @#$@#$@$...)"

Yoda's response was "Yeah! I am! I am a fucking Jap! But you need to BACK OFF."

All I could say was "I wasn't saying anything..." which of course wasn't doing any good, but if I told him he was a raving lunatic that wouldn't have bettered the situation, so self-preservation kicked in and said "Yoda obviously has a better handle on this than anyone possibly could, Yoda please please get him away from me."

The "fight or flight" instinct nudged at me, but more in the sense of "Would I make things better or worse if I got up and went somewhere else...? the counter? outside?" I thought it was best to stay so as to not be attacked from behind.

Finally, Yoda finally convinced him to "go to YHC," and he got up, paid, and left.

Meanwhile my heart is ready to burst out of my chest.

I didn't really want to go home right away after that, but I didn't have enough money to get into the YHC trance night let alone the possibility that HE'd be there, so I decided to suck it up and go home.

Then I learned there was a discount on tickets if you got them from Red Hill...

THEN I learned that the crazy guy did not in fact go to YHC.

So I went... had a good time, chat with many people and got my mind off it all. Course, the thoughts were still there when I got into bed and closed my eyes... but that's to be expected.

I just hate when people say "He drank too much" as if that's supposed to make it better. No one ever says, "Yeah, we KNOW the people in the other car were killed, but you know, he just drank too much." Why should any other situation be any different? Why do people tend to make excuses for other people? I told Daniel that when a dog or other animal attacks a human, it gets put down. When a man does the same thing, excuses are made. Just... I don't get it.

As usual, I know Daniel has the power to make it better and after discussing what happened from a psychological and emotional point of view of what kind of person does such a thing, I feel much better.

We ran over thoughts of what the next possible confrontation may be like... if he remembers, if he feels remorse... if he apologizes... or if he feels justified even if he doesn't remember. Also, how I should react. For now, I'm thinking that I forgive and move on, but I don't want to talk to him or be in the same vicinity. Therefore, if he sits down, I should feel perfectly ok in getting up and finding a new seat where he is not.

This is a step that seems incredibly difficult...

Dan: It really is an amazing liberation when you get the paradigm shifts from the victim of people to understanding... that those people are sick. and deserve compassion. forgive and surrender to god
Dan: but that is hard to do.

Current Mood: ...that was a bit crazy...

You know what really gets me about that darned show? Those moments when something touching is happening, and they play that classical/violin version of the theme song.

That and when Tamaki plays the piano.

Anyhoo... I was having a conversation with Greg the other day about a dream, and have one piece I want to post:

"bloopityblahblah: Well, I think the clear moral is... when looking for evil, find that evil and know where it is not so you can play grabass NOT where it is."

Ahhhhhhhh... just too funny :)

bie!

And I'm too hot. I push the heater nine inches away, and I'm too cold.

Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

So..............

You remember me mentioning how I knew I'd get hit by the loneliness whip eventually, I just didn't know when?

.............it's here....

*super duper slumpy sad face*

Like, tonight, I was starving, but I didn't want to eat. I DID, I even cooked myself dinner, but my stomach did and still feels... churny and heavy.

I'm sure this is a sum of many things, including but not limited to...

A) womanly things and womanly times
B) three weeks of Shin being gone and only one letter in that time to tide me over
C) this newly found and utterly bizarre need for contact with people.

See, when Shin and Bree left at about the same time, I was in a bad place for awhile. The two people who made up my days were suddenly not there anymore. So I decided to try and be more social... I think I've done a pretty good job... I'm no butterfly by any means, but compared to before, I'd say I'm at least a moth. And a pretty one... not one of those icky looking ones. ANYHOO, I've made new friendships, rekindled some old ones, with people of all ages. Then when I'm alone with myself again, on a night like tonight all I can think about is how I wish Shin were by my side, or how I wish he could've eaten the other half of dinner I cooked, or go running with me. So really, it's created a dire NEED for me to be with other people. I enjoy when I'm out. It's being home alone that gets me sometimes.

And here's an interesting story...

Don't make your former students your honorary second boyfriend if you happen to be lonely at the same time.

Ha... that reminds me of how Christina and John Cole had this thing where they were "married" and he would call her "Honey" whenever he came over.

Back to the point... Ok. I saw him play taiko out of coincidence. It was awesome. Before they played, he came and chat with me for awhile. After the performance, I gave him my phone address (a few of my students, m/f have it) and said to contact me when they play again or just to say hello. So he wrote, and we had a rather lengthy text conversation that night.

He asked about Shin so I said "Well what about you? You must have a girlfriend!" to which he replied that no, he in fact didn't. So I said, "Aw, you can be my honorary second boyfriend" in that playful friendly manner.

I DID remind him I am still his teacher, and that will not change. His is aware of how things are. This is good.

But remember how I said I'm weak against Ouran High School Host Club hosty things?

Like, who *doesn't* like being called "boku no o-hime sama." Ok, probably quite a few of you out there... but for me, even though I *know* it's fake, but it's still nice to hear.

Especially when you check your mailbox everyday telling yourself "It's going to be empty, don't get your hopes up, don't get your hopes up... *check* ...see, I told you so," waiting to hear *something* from my real Prince Charming.

I realized today that when our texts were simply friendly, without the frills, I was a bit sad. But I also realized that was silly of me, since really, what I need is simply more friends. I'm pretty good friends with many of my students...

And heck, Yusaku proposed his undying love for me on film! (Ok, so that was part of a scripted dialogue... but they wrote it!!) And I do enjoy the "Angela Fan Club." Ha... no really, I get pretty close to my kids after being here this long, and when you can speak their language it takes off even faster. (Because really, we are learing their language through immersion/study/daily survival than they can possibly learn English with textbooks.)

So overall... It's a bad time of the month, and for various reasons, I'm really lonely. Like, broke down and cried kind of lonely.

....so don't leave me alone.. please...

Current Mood: ...

Haha... I always think of Whacking Day... "You people make me sick!" "Yaaaaay!!"
I think there's a Barry White song that says "Just be a lady baby.." in it somewhere, and because of my costume this year, I've had that in my head.

"And now, Larry White."
"That's Barry White."
"It says Larry."
"I think I know my own name."

Ok! Halloween Party 2006. Even though I've already talked to pretty much all my readers of this blog in person, I just really want to type it again so bare with me. ^.^

I decided to not be a specific character this year as the past couple years yeah, I had cool costumes, but not many (if any) people knew what they were--I'll leave those costumes for the cons! So this year, after looking through Halloween costumes online, I decided to make my own ladybug costume. I'm a lady... so it works out pretty well. :D

All in all, I got first prize for ladies' costumes (yay!!) and my wings and flowers glowed in the blacklight. There were cool costumes this year: Woody was Jack Sparrow (I should never be attracted to Woody!! AAGH!), Mike was an enka singer, Naoko was a hockey player (with one of her front teeth blacked out--ha!!), Katie was a Soul Calibur 3 character, Kat just looked cool as a witchy character, Daniel was Cookie Monster, Ryan was Tupac after getting shot, there was a Doraemon, a frog, Pinocchio (like, four of them!), Kiki of Kiki's Delivery Service, Camille and Nick were a magician and his lovely assistant, Jon was "rock," Jeff (?) was "scissors," and Becca was "paper," for a complete Jan-ken game, Nancy was a refrigerator, and much much more. Fun fun.

As soon as I walked in the door, I saw people I knew all over, then turned around to see Tatsuya (from here on, "T"). He waved, and I turned back to my friend Natsu (or Nuts, as she tells us to call her) with a surprised "oh shit oh shit oh shit!" face.

Well, things ended badly over a year ago, and we hadn't talked or seen each other since. But he was very friendly and nice... He bought me a cassis soda, then some orange juice later. We chat like normal people, and it was really good to see him. He said, "I think your costume is number one out of everyone here!" Aww.

Nancy was talking to him and I came by. She said, "Do you two know each other already?" and I was just like, "Uh... yeah, you could say that!" Anyhoo, he gave me his new card, started going to English classes again, and said we should meet at Red Hill sometime.

It was a fun party. I left at about 2:00 or 2:30. On my way out the door, there were some people cooling off (the club is REALLY SMALL and crowded) and a couple guys asked if I was going home. I wanted to say, "No, I'm just putting my stuff in my bike basket and undoing the lock for fun..." but I simply replied "Yep, goin' home!" "Aw, stay longer! Go and get a bite to eat with us!" "Uhm... no...." Ha! Oh yeah! The guy asked me what my costume was... as if you couldn't tell... so I told him "You can tell by looking..." and the other guy said, "But it's sexy so he was blinded by that." Psh!! Lame lame lame. So yeah, I got my ladybug butt on my bike and came home as planned. (^_^)

Ok, I'm pretty tired out and think I'll write a bit more letter to my Honey-chan. I wonder if he's in Singapore right now... Aww... I wish he could've come with me to the Halloween party this year!!

Ja neeeeeeeeeeeee~
*mwah!*

P.S. Christina, yes, I'm hugging a rock. But it's a FROG rock!

Current Mood: HALLOWEEN!

I found this in my 9th graders' textbook:

-----------------------------------------

This Is Just to Say...

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

-by William Carlos Williams

Current Mood: *blinks innocently*

Let me take a moment to express my utter glee for the Simpsons, season 8.

GLEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

While flipping through the book, I couldn't stop squealing because...

1) SCORPIO!
2) La Maison Derriere!
3) Insanity Peppers!
4) PRETZEL WAGON!!!
5) Rocket House!
6) "He thinks I'm gay?"!!
7) CECIL!!!!
8) Beer Baron!
9) Mister Sparkle!
10) Grimey!
11) And many more.... including the hilarious shot of Mulder flashing his badge, ID picture being him lying down in either a speedo or his tight black undies. HA!!

I honestly don't know which ones to watch first. My parents are THE BEST for sending me this. Yay yay yay!

Unfortunately, I have to go to school now. *slumps*

Bye!

I begged my school to let me go to see Shin off at Yokohama port. I had a special invitation and "golden ticket" giving me permission by the captain to board his ship that day. Shin's parents, his brother, aunt, cousin, boss, and his boss's wife were also there. I got to see him for about two hours as he guided us around the ship which is freakin' HUGE and really nice.

Only a couple hours... but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. (^_^)

I got one small kiss in the two seconds we were out of prying eyes.

I got to see him in his swank uniform--oh yeah.

I got to see his room, and the pictures I'd given him just over a year ago (remember that Bree??) set up around it.

I got to wave goodbye in the blowing wind and rain as his ship got smaller and smaller...

It was a rough trip to Yokohama this time around. Staying with his parents can be a bit trifling due to the amount of worry and completely out of the blue questions. Also today my period hit me like a ton of bricks... and it's the heaviest it's been in a looooooooong time. The rain, the worrying of his mother, the repeating of "I'm ok!!!," the wind, the butterflies in my stomach, my aching feet (I had to borrow a pair of dress shoes because I forgot mine (>.<)), a headache, backache, my umbrella kept blowing inside out, I dropped my last tampon on a wet bathroom floor (who knew I'd need four in one day!?) and well, you get the point. I was also a bit stressed about my daunting return back to Takayama, as I'd miss the 4:00 Shinjuku bus to Takayama and had to take the Shinkansen to Nagoya, going on "giri giri" timetables (cutting it close), then the last train (or bus) up to Takayama, then ride home on my bike, tired in the rain.

But as I said before, it was worth it. Absolutely.

He was so excited to go! He was so happy to see me! So many people there knew me because he'd talked about me before (and I was easy to spot because I was the only white girl there). He gave me a letter and a sheet of stickers with different types of eyes on them, including googly eyes. It made me laugh and smile.

Quite possibly the best thing that happened was just before the ship left when we all went to wave goodbye. First he called me to ask where I was, and the people near me laughed that we were talking on our cell phones like that. I could see him mouthing "I love you!" and blowing kisses my way, then later he just yelled out, in front of everyone, "I LOVE YOU!!!" and without hesitation I yelled back.

Tears welled up as the ship started its engines and puttered away, gaining pretty remarkable speed rather quickly, but I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of his family and didn't let them drop from my eyes. I ran as far as I could down the deck to wave goodbye.

It's just a short time... he'll be back in two months. I'm feeling rather indescribable... one moment it's pure happiness from seeing him, then sadness upon his leaving, then a pang of "dangit I wanna go too!!" to happiness FOR him, and aagh, I really don't know.

He's very lucky and perfect for this. I'm very proud of him, and he'll be back JUST before Christmas. Really, that's not too far away (heck, some stores are already selling Christmas stuff already!).

He can't call me nor email me... He can write me, though. I can't write him. "I think you'll need a pigeon for that..." Ha! So this may be difficult for me. I'm sure the loneliness will hit me. Just remind me I've got wonderful friends and family like you all and I'll be better.

Ja, I'ma gonna go to bed ned. (!?! I mean "now."--sleepy)

Current Mood: too many feelings at once

...and that day, shall be forever known as The Day Bree's Package Came, on which day The Grand Opening of the Package was held on the Grand Debut Sitting on the New Green Fluffy Flower Rug.

Scene: Angemuhla spends her day being "guided" around Takayama by Nakayama JH 9th graders, followed by cake and coffee at Cafe If with friends, followed by The Buying of the Rug, followed by The Picking up of the Package, followed by my return home.

I cleaned up the living room, sweeped the floor meticulously, and laid it out in its glory. Then came the package.

And oh such glory!! So many Halloween things I can use in school and play with at home! Deeeeeeeeeelicious goodies (the Skittles and choco-cherries were opened first.. and I already made rice krispie treats..) a lovely bison postcard, the message written on it much boosting my ego, and HOLY CRAP it just rocks my pants a thousand times over!!! I can't wait to spray those kids mouths with the sour spray!! Hee! *evil plan*

Bree now has permission to ask literally ANYTHING of me. (not like she didn't have permission before... ;D)

Funny thing: I missed said package's original delivery by about 15 minutes (Nooooooooo!) and the missed delivery slip that the postman left was pretty amusing. For SOME reason, my name was written in cursive... The ONLY thing written in cursive, actually. Bree's name was written in all caps block letters... ooooooooookaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay....

When I GOT the package, immediately understood. The postman, not wanting to make a horrible mistake, decided to copy Bree's writing exactly. It was priceless.

The Day I Got Package. Wonderful day. Its contents are still scattered about, just waiting anxiously to be used in comical fashions or consumed in what could possibly a comical fashion.

I wuv my Bweeeeeeeeeee.... *heart heart heart*

(Could you let me know what the last FMP book you have or if you can find the name, lemme know so I don't miss any or get ones you already have!!)

Tropical island, here we come!!

Current Mood: Yay yay yay!!

Hey there.... so uh, my post last night just kinda spilled out in Japanese.

*sheepish grin*

Here's a summary:

I was feeling sad because I did something really dumb yesterday--I counted the days that Shin's been gone, then I counted the days left before he comes back. By some weird act of fate, it was exactly half. Half.... ONLY HALF!?! It's seemed so loooooooong! Plus up 'til now, we've met four times in Yokohama and Takayama. From now, I'll only get to see him once, and that'll be for 3 or so hours before the ship leaves.

So having realized that, and having made dinner (enough for two-d'oh!-but eating half) and drinking wine for two, the post came out as it did.

At the end I asked if you could all send out a bit of support for me during these next couple months. (*^_^*)

That is all!

Current Mood: ...aheheh... heh...

...moshi, kono honmono no nihongo (toiuha, roomaji dehanaku no) wo yomenakereba, encoding wo check shite mite kudasai~

今日は。。。本当のバカなことをしてしまいました。

ハニーが、いままでいない日を数えて、そして、残ってる日も数えた。

いままでは75日間、

これから、私の腕に帰るまでのは、後75日間だそうです。

その大事な違いはね、いままで、4回逢えた。横浜、高山、また横浜、また高山。

これから、1回逢える。。。船の出発の日。それだけ。

この5ヶ月間～6ヶ月間は難しいけど、実は感謝しています。ハニーの大切さをよくわかる。でもいままでは半分だけと気付いて、すごくがっかりました。クリスマスまで1回しかいない。そのうえに、その出発の日は3時間だけで、バイバイしなければならなくて。。。苦しい。

今朝、ハニーは私を一緒に学校に歩いて、最後の二人の時間でした。アパート出る前、自分に「波でを見せてダメ」と決めた。本当に彼のことをわくわくする。。でもさぁ。。私は恋してる女性だね。仕方ない。

だから今夜はまた二人の分の夕飯を作ってしまって、土曜日のワイン（ハニーの誕生日のディナーのワイン）をもう1回を開けて、一人で夕飯を半分を食べて、ワインを二人の分を飲んでる。　

この残ってる75日間をがんばっていくけど、時々、みんなは応援してくれませんか。。。？

Current Mood: 悲しい～

Ok! So thank you to those of you who have provided me with input to Shin's b-day present/event! Now I have one more thing to ask of you... you can get the gist of it by reading the following conversation I just had with me seester:

------------------------------------------------

Angela アンジェラ says:
I'm gonna make a nice dinner methinks...
Angela アンジェラ says:
OH!!
Angela アンジェラ says:
You can help me by telling me what the word "relief" means to you...

Christina says:
"when i think of relief, I think of antacids"
Christina says:
or feeling 'better'
Christina says:
or topography on a map

Angela アンジェラ says:
See, kanji is a funny thing, in which each character has at least a few different pronunciations... now, the word "anshin" means relief, comfort, all that good warm fuzzy stuff... well, "angela" = an, and "shinji" = shin... so put it together, you get "anshin."
Angela アンジェラ says:
HAHAHA! No antacids!
Angela アンジェラ says:
I'm thinking like, "that feeling I get when I passed a test," but better, you know?

Christina says:
you are relieved by shin?
Christina says:
haha

Angela アンジェラ says:
I asked the same thing of my teachers today, to make small collection of sorts for him... and one teacher said "family," then expanded on that a bit... (This is the crazy male science I've prolly mentioned before), then at the end, he said, "P.S. Please make a family soon!!"
Angela アンジェラ says:
Well, the idea behind this is that when I think of the word "anshin" in Japanese, I think of us.

Christina says:
um, he wants you to get pregnant? i would decsribe relief as the feeling i get when i find out i am NOT pregnant! hah
Christina says:
awwwwww...... that is so sweet.

Angela アンジェラ says:
Oh my........ :)
Angela アンジェラ says:
"Creating a family" and "getting knocked up" are two entirely different things!

Christina says:
they both make a family!
Christina says:
well, in theory anyway.

Angela アンジェラ says:
Not in the traditional sense... :)

Christina says:
if I was knocked up it would just be like me and a kid
Angela アンジェラ says:
See, exactly

Christina says:
haha!
Christina says:
hehe - you said knocked up. haven't heard that term in a while

Angela アンジェラ says:
Ha!
Angela アンジェラ says:
Well, getting BACK to the point... if you could come up with something actually NICE about relief, or being comfortable, or something along those lines, it'd be greatly appreciated

Christina says:
oh, besides the feeling of not being pregnant eh?

Angela アンジェラ says:
Yes, please
Angela アンジェラ says:
Although I'm sure he'd find it pretty funny

Christina says:
Relief = pleasing change..... Shin is the light in your life that has been the most wonderful change you have ever experienced
Christina says:
he has changed your life for the better

Angela アンジェラ says:
Aw, it's so true!

Christina says:
so, what do you think?

Angela アンジェラ says:
Very nice!

Christina says:
then throw in the pregnant thing

Angela アンジェラ says:
Also, what does that word mean to YOU? (other than the aforementioned things)
Angela アンジェラ says:
hahaha...
Angela アンジェラ says:
...(all this brought to you) by Christina

Christina says:
LOL!
Christina says:
um, so don't put in the thing about antacids....I was just being a smartass

Angela アンジェラ says:
Oh, I believe I will.... heh heh

Christina says:
relief = mountain climbing.... relief is the difference in elevation from bottom to top. Mount everest only has 12,000 feet of relief

Angela アンジェラ says:
*cough*nerd!*cough*

Christina says:
but many mountains in alaska have greater relief, even though the elevation isn't as high

Angela アンジェラ says:
Aye, 'tis true!
Angela アンジェラ says:
*cough*NERD!!*cough*

Christina says:
see, I am very concerned with relief in that context!!
Christina says:
HEY! (*cries*)

-------------------------------------

So that's the deal! What does it mean to YOU?? Help me please! \(^O^)/

Current Mood: creative

Aw man...

I just finished the last episode of Ouran High School Host Club, and I'm sad because I WANT MORE. Tamaki exudes this innocence and complete obliviousness that makes me remember good things in the world. If there were more people like Tamaki... Aww...

I guess I have no choice but to start from the beginning and just watch it all over again.

The only problem is after I watch the show, I sometimes end up fantasizing that Shin is saying these host-y type things to me (although sincerely, not in the "this-is-fake-I'm-only-talking-to-you-this-way-because-you're-paying-me" kind of way), and although Shin is very sweet, he doesn't go that far. So I shake my head violently to bring me back to Earth every now and then. It just happens without me even thinking about it!

Speaking of Shin, his birthday is coming up. Actually, he will be here in Takayama next weekend, and although his b-day is AFTER that, I won't be able to see him... I'm trying to think of nice, personal gifts I can make for him/give to him... Or just something nice I can do for him, you know? Anyone got any ideas? I always wonder and wonder and wonder about these things, only to get a magnificent idea JUST before the actual day and end up rushing like mad to get it done in time.

So REALLY... any ideas or suggestions would be welcome... tanomu wa! p(^_^)q

Current Mood: warm and fuzzy

The following happened last Friday, September 15th:

Fifteen minutes until lunch...

(Yes, I'm typing this at school again. Well there's someone sitting at my desk in my chair!! I'm using this as a good opportunity to uhm... I dunno.)

In approximately three hours, I will be on a bus (to St. Cloud *ha ha!*) to Tokyo to see my beloved. Yay!! I still gotta pack and go to the post office and buy omiyage to give to his family and holy crap I've got a lot to do. Good thing I'm taking my classless afternoon off! Eat school lunch, leave. Aaah...

--------------------------------------------------------

And now I'm back. Yay! Was a good weekend--saw X-Men 3, went to what WAS the REI in Japan (and has since become Mont Bell, however the building is still the same), went hiking with Shin and four of his coworkers, had dinner with his parents, went to the Ueno Science Museum (the one with the full scale, 100ft. blue whale sculpture outside), and got to go to Kinokuniya, the yummy yummy bookstore in Shinjuku. WHEE! (I'll leave all the sappy stuff out... nobody but me wants to hear it! (*^_^*) )

So yeah, about that bookstore... I was finally able to get the last two books in the Earthsea series which I have mentioned in here before. See, Bree lent me the collection of four, which is how they're usually sold. However, there are two more books! Gah! Finally got them, finished one already, and am making decent progress in the last.

Plus I've been scouring Takayama's puzzle stores for puzzle of Arren (the boy) and the dragon... I've seen in before.. SEEN IT HERE, but noooooooooo... I waited, and now it's gone. So I ordered it. Hopefully it'll come today.

*hopeful beyond all belief*

In other thoughts...

Do you ever have this type of dream?

You're going somewhere or doing something, and man, you just. gotta. pee. Like, right then. So you go to where you know there's a bathroom, but when you open the door, it's just a huuuuuuuuge open room with toilets... but no stalls. Just toilets to sit on, in front of everyone, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Whenever I see this, I'm the only one who has to go--no one ELSE apparently has to go as no one is sitting at any of the toilets, but as soon as I get up the guts to drop my drawers, the bathroom suddenly floods with people, chatting people, people doing make-up, etc... and it's not just women, either! They're co-ed bathrooms! Gah! You think, "Ok, I'll go to a different one," and it's the same way. As soon as people start to clear out, you realize that you're going to be late to wherever you needed to go, and for some reason this is a fate worse than death. So, you still gotta pee, and you're weirded out completely.

Eh? Eh??

Ok, so I know it's just me. *slumps*

I don't know which is worse; the bathroom dreams, or the teeth-falling-out dreams...

Now, is my puzzle here yet??

Current Mood: eager for puzzle!!

All right, I'm cooped up at school with no scheduled classes, I'm cold, I'm bored, I've studied about as much kanji as I can without shooting the cards, so I'm updating. Take that, school! Hyah!!

Anyhoo, I had this bizarre dream the other night. Permit me to fill you in.

I was planning my elementary 5th grade English lessons (which were oddly enough situated in the 5th grade rooms of Rudy Elementary, but.. in Japan...?). The theme was going to be science and we were going to grow mold. (Man I wish my English lessons were really like this.)

The talk of mold somehow leads to the atmosphere and the ozone layer. Me and some other people I can't recall are thrust outwards into space to observe.

We see the sunrise over the Earth and the oceans and the deserts and all these super spectacular sites. (During this, I realize that we don't have a ship or suits or helmets or anything, and we should be really cold and well, dead. But hey, we were alive, so all right!) Then, out of nowhere, someone pokes a hole in the Earth (which I can only assume is the hole in the ozone layer) and it fizzles and deflates like a balloon. (!?!)

As it collapses in upon itself, all of us space bound are thrown screaming into the ocean... a dark and scary ocean. (Note: the author is absolutely terrified of the ocean at night. Daytime ocean is also quite scary, but the idea of being thrown into the ocean at night sends me hyperventilating.)

So, panicking and screaming for help, a boat comes by and lassooes (sp?) us with rope and at the yell of "JUMP!!" we jump into the boat. Wow! That was cool! So cool, in fact, that I discover there are other rescue squads out there.

I join the Motorcycle Rescue Squad... where we use ropes to lasso people--both good guys and bad guys. The tricky part is that you have to jump rope the motorcycle while you're moving. Dang! My first night on the job is pretty rough--I'm having a hard time getting used to this whole jump-roping thing and my first bad guy goes whizzing by me, I miss, and have to turn around to pursue him. (Note: this may've been influenced by the fact that I was having trouble riding my bike in the rain while holding an umbrella and balancing a really really heavy basket full of groceries on the front of my bike.)

As I'm turning around, I find a big parking lot and decide to get some practice in... and lucky me! There's a color-coded obstacle course just waiting there for me! I tried it, and failed miserably. Deciding to call it a night after the practice, I make my way home.

Then I think I miss a big chunk of the dream, because now I'm in a car with some guy I don't know and Irena, a girl from high school I never really knew but have had the occasional dream about. (!?!) We're riding along the streets at night, and they were my familiar "dream city" streets--that city I've never been to in real life but often frequent in sleepy time. Then, Irena turns into my Japanese ex-boyfriend, T, and we're in the back. He kisses me once and I go all googly eyed and lovey dovey. (!?!) When the car stops, we are serenaded by three rats who can't sing, so they played flutes with their noses...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's when I wake up saying, "Ok, what the HELL was THAT!?" Overall, I'm still prety impressed by that Rescue Squad. (^_^)

Current Mood: ...the HELL?

Mike, aka The BUURMINATOR, actually asked this question to an eagerly listening group of Japanese 5th and 6th graders. Ha!

"Do you have black face?..."

I just can't get enough of it!

It was game night at our English workshop and Mike's station was a board game called "Who's Who?" Now, to keep things simple, he wanted to use the same question of "Do you have...?" For example, "Do you have glasses?" or "Do you have long hair?" Well, the person in question was, in fact, of African descent, so, keeping along the same lines, he came up with "Do you have black face?" Why not "skin," you ask? Because kids know the word face, but not skin. Simple as that.

Priceless.

On a completely unrelated topic...

I was looking at the flag posters for soft serve ice cream at the conbini recently. There was cantaloupe, green tea, vanilla, chocolate, mango, black sesame seed (which is really really good, by the way), and blueberry yogurt. Wow! Yogurt! Angela exclaims to herself. Honest to goodness frozen yogurt! But.... it really looked like ice cream to me. So I thought I'd better ask just to be sure...

"Ok, so is your blueberry yogurt really yogurt or is it ice cream?"

"It's blueberry yogurt."

"Ok... I see that that is in fact written there... but is it REALLY yogurt, or is it, I dunno, blueberry yogurt FLAVORED ice cream?"

"Oh, yes! Yes! It's ice cream, but it tastes like blueberry yogurt."

"...*blink, blink*... ok... I'll pass."

I dunno about you, but in MY country, ice cream and frozen yogurt are two entirely different things, and therefore "Blueberry Yogurt Flavored Ice Cream" just shouldn't exist.

Ok, be warned, a easily sustainable level of gushing will come next...

"Shinjio, Shinjio, Where for art thou, Shinjio!"

"Why, Angeliet, I'm right here!"

"Oh!... Right! Yay!!"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... unfortunately, as I write this, he is on the bus BACK to Tokyo. *slump* But man was it a good 4.5 days...

There were walks by the river, the BEST fireworks show I've seen in Japan YET, a trip out to Kamikochi for nature strolling, bike riding, swimming, a trip to the foot onsen and "sample buffet" at the Green Hotel, lots of movies, Shin's home-made curry (Ohhhhhhhhhh yeah!!), and lots of tickling.

What surprised me is that he kept saying "I'm home," meaning Takayama, and that really made me happy.

Well! Looks like it's my turn to head out his way in a few weeks! (^_^)

Current Mood: aww...

And by "him" I mean "Matsuno Sensei." Needless to say, without hesitating I hurled that rock at him, and the look on his face was fantastic.

It was even better when he realized it was a fake rock that I bought at the 100 yen store. I just finally brought it to school when it hit me that I could use it for elementary games. My principal and I had a good time freaking people out with it.

I wondered, though, how many ALTs out there have had their principal order them to throw rocks at other teachers?

「石で打つかって！！」

Ah... the memories.

--------------------------------------------

Runaway Garbage

Ever since Shin moved to Tokyo, my apartment fell victim to a horribly messy and apathetic tenant because well, I just didn't care. But with the new ALTs in town and seeing their spick-n'-span (because they just got there) apartments, and the fact that Shin is on the bus RIGHT NOW from Tokyo to Takayama, I decided it'd be a good idea to do some cleaning.

Hoooooooooooooooo' boy.

It looks SO MUCH BETTER than it has in probably at least a year if not longer, even though I'm not done yet (when I finish this I gotta clean my bathroom and shower room... eep!) It's just taken a really long time to get to this point, and a lot of sweeping up of dust bunnies.

And on more than one occasion, I'd sweep it all up into the dustpan, and a piece or two would quickly skitter to the edge and jump off. *grunt... sweep again* *skitter skitter jump!* Repeat.

That's because I have all these darned spiders in here... They're harmless cobweavers which means they spend the majority of their lives hanging upside down in their web minding their own business (making them A-OK in my book) but they had babies.... *sigh* It's more just annoying than anything else... but kinda funny when the garbage keeps running away.

------------------------------------------------

"Cut Cut...*menacing looking scissor-cutting gesture*"

I think I always post about new haircuts. ^_^

So... I went to Nagoya with Haba Sensei/My Japanese Mama and we stayed at her younger brother's place. She warned me ahead of time that he is a rather strange person, which made me look forward to staying there even more. (By "younger brother," I mean 48 years old... He also has a younger wife and a 1.5 year old baby girl.)

As soon as we got there, we walk through the open door and I see this man with long-ish hair, a moustache and beard, wearing only knee-length shorts, lying on his back on the floor with his feet up on the couch playing on his cell phone. I looked at Haba Sensei and told her "I see what you mean!"

Imagine Genghis Khan... but as a Japanese family man in the present time.

Anyhoo, the first night we were there, I put my hair into pigtails with sunflower hair ties. His wife told me she thought it was very cute. I accepted the compliment, but added that I was just frustrated with my hair because it was too long and doing strange curly things I didn't want it to do.

That's when I learned that Japanese Khan is, in fact, a hair stylist.

"I have tomorrow off... you wake up at 5:00, and I'll take you to the salon and cut your hair! Free!"

I wasn't exactly sure if he was serious or not... And of course I WAS a little nervous, but he's actually an old classmate of my current stylist in Takayama. Anyway, I went to bed that night, and the next morning...

I hear the door creak open...

Look over my shoulder toward the door and see him standing there, and all he said was...

"Cut cut...(add gesture)"

He was kind enough to let me sleep in until 5:50 or so, instead of the original plan of 5:00. We hopped into his convertitble Porsche (!?!?!), put the top down, and head off to the salon.

My goodness it's one of the best haircuts I've ever gotten! It's short, and light, and sassy and cute and sexy all in one! I can't believe he did that for free! I tried to offer him money, or a tip, or SOMETHING, and we agree on a pack of cigarettes, but I didn't get a chance to do that. (Plus, being against smoking, I have a hard time buying them for people...)

Anyhoo, I should have a new user pic up here soon, as soon as I get around to downloading the pics from my phone. \(^O^)/

Ta!

Current Mood: Shinjio is coming to Angeliet!

Holy crap.

Ok, so my first 1000 piece puzzle, a nature/waterfall scene, took about two months to complete.

My second one, a Mononoke Hime (Miyazaki/Ghibli) scene, took considerably longer, about five or six months, and that was with help!

My third one, The Strumpet (aka kimono clad beauty), I just finished..

In

THREE

DAYS.


*blink, blink*


It's pretty... (^_^)

Current Mood: buh!?!