A few random stories

Insect count: 1 small flying bug

New feature: Top 5 blessings of the day: 1) Taiko practice was really rewarding tonight. 2) I finally heard from Dre (I got to msg my bff today!). 3) The bar in my shower is working great (for drying laundry)! 4) I have a problem that I don't care to mention but with which I have been struggling for a while. I have fasted about it, I have prayed, I have wept, and today I got my Liahona. I prayed before I read it that I would get an answer, a solution to this problem. As I read, I just KNEW it wouldn't be a problem for me anymore. This should have been number one. I feel so incredibly blessed. One less demon with which I need to try and deal/cope. :,) 5) I am blessed with musical talent. Often I wish for more than that which I have, however the remarkable truth is, I DO have a gift when it comes to music. I have to work hard, but if I do, then I am blessed with success.

So today I MEANT to accomplish stuff... but then I mostly read all day. *laughs* ~ However, come evening I went to taiko practice and got a heart attack. We were told something by our teacher guy (no idea what) and I followed my other class members (from the beginners) and we entered the main room. Well, everyone in there was doing a DIFFERENT Taiko rhythm. I IMMEDIATELY felt incredibly stressed. We only have one more practice (next week) before we perform and I may miss it if I go to Hokkaido with Tara and Abbey. I was FREAKING OUT. I finally went over to Ann and Alice (they're both English) and asked them what was up. Alice told me that at the end of our performance they make two big circles (one with my rhythm I have been learning and one with this new one). She said it was optional. WHEW. That immense relief allowed me to learn the rhythm almost completely. The dance though... I got some steps. We'll see what happens day of. Alice told me that last year she didn't do it because it too much and that she only did the other one I learned. (Which reminds me of a story. I can't remember if I told you already - I'll include it below.) My first thought, "Oh awesome! I can do this one next year! Wait... will I be here next year?" I wonder if there are taiko groups in the US. I want to join one badly! They have them in AUS so perhaps I will get lucky. :) Man I wish the US had this kind of history! In any case, I got the rhythm mostly down then they lined us up. And then they played ANOTHER new rhythm. At this point I just laughed and laughed and tried to follow along. Then we did the one we all know and danced all over the ballroom over and over and over again. We went for 15-20 minutes with a 5 minute break and then did it again. I got SO sweaty but it was so fun! :D When I went home it was cooler outside but I was craving a cool (tsumetai) shower. So I took one (and it was almost cold and felt great)! After that I sat down to write this. I was going to cook some curry for the week (as I used to do for my school lunches) but I put the chicken in the fridge and am going to cook it tomorrow morning because I will have time before training to do it. I had planned on cleaning today and just didn't do it. I will straighten up tonight though and clean tomorrow or Friday. Training starts at 10h30 - God bless the office. That is a great time to start! My brain is fully awake at that time. :) Oh one other thing I forgot to mention: when I went grocery shopping yesterday I saw the Green Dakara (an electrolyte, vitamin drink) and HAD to have it. I figure I am still not hydrating myself properly. After Taiko, I came home and had a grapefruit, popcorn, and Green Dakara for dinner. Mmmmm!

Okay here are some stories I think didn't make it to the blog. If they did, sorry for the repeat.

Story 1: When I told Kanako-s (the jhs JTE at CS) about Sansa she was excited for me. I told her I was doing Taiko and she was even more impressed. I told her how it was difficult for me initially to combine the drum with the dancing. She asked what the rhythm was and I sang it for her. "AH! The most basic rhythm." "Hey!? Basic!?" LOL She backpedaled and said, "I meant to say popular!" I told her I was teasing but she said she really DID mean to say it was the most popular one. LOL

Story 2: My last day before summer at MM when I left the building, M jogged up to me. (This is the boy with 2 girlfriends, lol.) He started to say, "My name.." "Is M!" He looked shocked I had remembered. Then started to say, "I am..." "In the boxing club!" "Yes! I love boxing! My favorite color is blue!" I told him how my favorite color was black and then blue. He was so excited to talk to me. He asked me what I was doing for the summer. "Tabun, Hokkaido ni ikimasu." "Cool!" One other boy hovered close. This other boy is one of my third graders (M is a first grader) and on that day I had helped him with his worksheet that he hadn't even planned on filling out. I found out at that time that he was a boxer so when I saw him with the team I cheerfully waved to him. It was nice that he was nearby - he is warming up to me. :) ~ I think it helped that I tried to speak a little Japanese when helping him with his worksheet. The students LOVE it when I mess up. LOL Then they get to be the teacher and help me. :)

Story 3: Passing another first grade class I stepped inside to say hi to a student by name (last week) and to show him I remembered his name. Then Hashimoto-s looked back and I had disappeared. LOL Oops! I reappeared, apologized, and we went to class. Oh!

Story 4: Also last week I was waiting and waiting for Hashimoto-s to show up so we could walk to class together. He's a smoker so when I didn't see him I figured he was out smoking so I decided I would go ahead. When I got to the class, there he was! My eyes wide, I exclaimed, "Here you are! I was looking for you!" He had forgotten I was teaching. LOL He erased what he had written on the board and allowed me to write on the board (the reason I wanted to be early). LOL

Story 5: The jazz concert was so awesome and was made more so by the 750 other people from the school and PTA there with me. They kept clapping on the white-man beat. AHAHAHAHA! I was dying (with laughter). I loudly clapped on the right beat but they just kept going. LOL Every now and then the band would get them on the right beat but then they would get back off. AHAHA! It was especially funny to me because Nod, my dad, and I like to do this to audiences in the US. They know on which beat (or at least most of them do and lead the rest of the audience) to clap so we like to clap on the white-man beat to make people around us cringe. :D

Story 6: Since the teachers are supposed to be the role models (really third parents) to their students, they have to be really careful about their conduct. We were told in training that if we were smokers we had to do it in secret - not get caught by the students. Since I'm not a smoker, I shrugged it off. So fast forward to a few weeks ago. The students and I are doing cleaning duties and the first thing we do is empty all the little trashes into a big one. Well as we're wheeling the garbage cart (I'll have to get a picture later so you can see what it looks like - it's not like the big US barrels) suddenly Toki-s walks up and pulls garbage out. That already for me was shocking. In fact the other students and I just gaped at him. THEN he put it in his pocket. !? THEN he pulled it out of his pocket, crumbled it and put it back IN the garbage. My brain asked my eyes if they were transmitting correctly. Then it hit me - he's throwing away his cigarette package! OH! Then he did it again. TWO!? In any case, lol you should have seen our faces. The whole time he had that, "Nothing to see here" face. Funny.

Have a happy Wednesday! XOXO, A