My First Day Off

Oh man today was AWESOME! Last night I didn't get to sleep until around 03h00 so even though they were serving a free breakfast in the lobby, I was determined to sleep in.

Bing! I woke up at 06h45. I forced myself to go back to sleep (closed the window first because it was freezing) and was able to sleep until 09h50. At that time, I got up to take a shower. I had used all the vinegar I'd brought in my white rinse bottle so I started hunting for the small bottle of vinegar I brought. Ya, I tore my suitcases apart to find it... guess I had it sent forward to my apartment. Dang it! So I pulled out my Japanese dictionary (thank you Cinch), and looked up vinegar. I didn't actually want to drink it, but I figured that would be the easiest thing to say since I didn't know how to explain it was for my hair. So I called down. The first girl spoke no English and though I thought I was saying "I want to order vinegar, I want to drink it," apparently I wasn't as she didn't understand. She got another person on the phone. That girl could say "Sorry" in English... ya we didn't get any further. Then a THIRD girl got on the phone and was about the same as the second girl. So I said I would come down (she had no idea what I was saying I think), and thanked her and headed for the lobby. I thought about putting on a bra but since I was just going to shower, I went down (I was wearing my scrub pants, and a baggy black shirt with a skull on it) like that. I took my dictionary and money to pay for it. Turns out the hotel didn't have any. So I asked where I could buy it. She gave me a map and explained with motions and sounds and I was able to throw in a few Japanese words I could remember. I stood in the lobby for a minute or two wondering if I should dress and then thought, "Forget it! I'm not putting on clean clothes to get them dirty!" So off I went.. braless... in my pjs (though they could pass as otherwise). I found the shopping center (mmm), and a lady helped me find the vinegar. All the lines were fairly long and I felt pretty self-conscious, at this point, about my appearance then I saw they had self-checkouts. As I worried, they were all in kanji! The lady came over and helped me though and now I know some basic buttons to press. :) Then off I was back to the hotel with my vinegar (I don't even know what type of vinegar it is. I showed it to the lady who had shown me the vinegar to double check!) and suddenly it occurred to me... I'm going to LIVE in Morioka. What if one of my future students saw me!? o.0 You know... it was a bit late, but at least it came!

When I got back to the hotel, I showered and got dressed. I read scriptures and repacked my bags and wrote some emails. I then made a worksheet and a lesson plan and sent them to my MC (they were due by noon tomorrow). I wanted to go down and hang out and wanted to go buy food (I ate the rest of my sunflower seeds and some peanuts since I had missed breakfast) but I knew if I left I wouldn't be very motivated to go back and finish. I also texted my mom to skype but I sent the message too late and didn't get a chance to see everyone :/. That's what I get for sleeping in! (And for not doing it until I was repacked - it was after I tried though that I did my lesson plan and worksheet.) Then off I went downstairs.

A lot of people had already gone to get phones and I was waiting to see Shawn to ask him about going (I asked him to go with me yesterday as he knows a lot of Japanese). As luck would have it, he came down (according to everyone else) for the first time that day a minute after I got down (mmm). I asked him again if he'd go with me, at his convenience, and he decided to do it right then. Ally and James (the Kiwi) decided to go with us. We got all psyched after looking around and I was finally HAPPY that all they have are iphones and knock-offs as I tried to look up directions to the branch (church building) and ... well they had them but to me they were unintelligible! It was intimidating. But I thought, I'll just call the phone number listed when I get my phone and ask for help. Then I remembered I would be shown around by a local and thought, "Oh! I'll give her the address and ask her to show me where it is!" THEN I heard that you can use google maps on the iphone and it tracks where you are and tells you where to go to get to your destination. DONE. Well after being at the shop an hour or two, bureaucracy won out! We weren't allowed to get phones as we haven't yet registered as citizens of our city. AAARRRRGGGHHH! And we're not allowed to ask the people who show us around to help us get our phones. So I have to go to the cell store BY MYSELF and none of the employees speak English. :c <--- dismayed face. Hopefully it all works out. Limor got her cell elsewhere and she said this company charges ¥7000 for the contract and unlimited tethering. And actually I found out today that the only way I could do internet alone for my computer is to get a landline and THEN get internet. Sheesh. For a technologically advanced country they're in the dark ages! How can DSL NOT be available!? Anyway the guy at the phone shop said to send back the people who had signed up in the morning (that was fun to do), and they were made to return their phones and their contracts were shredded. As our residency cards are run through the municipal (at least to register as a citizen of that city), the company was worried because they were breaking the law! Plus the bureaucracy stuff. Sheesh. In any case, as Shawn was getting the details, James, Ally and I took off because we were starving.

We walked across the street (well, we walked down the street, went down into the train entrance -like a subway entrance-, walked under the street and came out on the other side) and went to Mister Donut! SOOOOO funny - their mascot is a gigantic man in drag! - James made the comment, "You'd never see that in New Zealand or Australia. I imagine the U.S. is the same. I mean, a fat person selling donuts!? Never!" So I got to try Japanese donuts. Some were AMAZING, but some were ... not good. They had a little sampler plate with 6 different donut holes and some of those were so dry they sucked all the moisture out of my mouth! Then there was a very light and fluffy strawberry iced one. Very good! I also got a cream filled donut that I ate later *makes a grossed out face* - the cream filling tasted like Cool Whip. Yuck. The donut part of it was light and fluffy and good though. I have one other I haven't yet eaten and I'll have to let you know about it. When we got back to the hotel, we asked everyone about going out for dinner (since I'd had sunflower seeds, peanuts, and donuts for the day I was craving real food something fierce) and decided we'd leave at 18h45. In the meantime (round 18h00), I headed back up to my room to finish the blog post from yesterday (well early this morning). I finished it just as the time was coming up and headed down to the lobby. A big group of us got together and out we went. It's FREEZING out, btw.

So off we went to Ichibanya - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! It was SO good! It's a curry katsu place! So I got chicken katsu over curry with veggies. And not only that, you can choose how spicy you want it... *grins* Guess what I did! They showed me the heat index and though it was ¥100 extra, I went for the highest level of spice. Out of 1-10, I got 10! :D It was delicious. I mean, it's the first real food I had all day, but it was more than that.. the chicken was so tender and juicy, the katsu sauce was amazing, the katsu was very crispy, the curry was almost spicy! ;) - My nose ran a little. :D That doesn't happen to me very often. About halfway through my food I was stuffed. I said aloud to my table (Limor, Shawn, the other Aussie girl whose name I don't yet know :/), "I need a box." They all looked at me funny and said, "Japan doesn't do that." o.0 WHAT!? They don't tip for service and they don't take food home. However, I was really passionate about taking my delicious food and they do take out so they had boxes... Yep. I went up to the guy and gestured about what I wanted. He was a good sport and got me one. When I came back everyone was shocked. "They gave you one!?" -"It's cuz I'm pretty. I get what I want!" LOL I'm so glad I got to bring it home though. I found out they're not feeding us at this training so I'll take it for my lunch tomorrow if I can manage to not eat it tonight! I can't wait til I have my own cupboards and a fridge. That way I can stock up on foods and not have to rely on snacks and eating out. After that I shivered violently my whole way home (but I will take it! The more cold the less insects!) and here I am. :) Pretty sure I'll just hang out in my room for the rest of the evening so I can do some reading.. might be able to skype my family (those up early), and GET SOME SLEEP!

Funny moments included above.

XOXO, A