World Traveler: Training

Insect count: 0!! YAY!

Top 5 blessings: 1) Training was decent (I was worried it would be torture). 2) Training let out early. 3) The Shimai (sister missionaries) came by with a present for me!: a fish! 4) I have a new roommate: Donut. 5) I cleaned most of my apartment.

Today started out earlier than intended. I was really stressed last night and didn't fall asleep for a very long time. Then I had bad dreams that woke me up early. Since my alarm was going to go off in a half hour anyway, I got up and started cooking. I made my curry while I got ready. It ended up being a blessing in disguise that I had awoken early as it was pouring rain. I love rain, but seeing as I had planned on biking to training and it's illegal to use an umbrella while biking... ya I decided to walk. I had put my hair in socks last night after my shower and my hair looked AWESOME. When it was time for me to leave, I did so. By the time I walked the 14 minute walk to the office, I was pretty soaked. AND my hair was ruined. GRR! I should have just taken my bike! LOL It was ok though.

Training was a lot better than I thought it would be. There was a lot more round table discussion and I was not forced to do something I was really dreading doing. So it all worked out. We all had mini heart attacks though! Our BM (Branch Manager) came in and wanted to talk to us. He said, "Did you know about the two ALTs who were arrested?" We all FREAKED. Andrew looked at Marta and me and said, after we found out it was a few years ago, "I thought if anyone it would be one of you two. That's why I glanced over at you both!" LOL In any case, scary stuff! (Not good, for sure.) Sato-san said, "They cried. Their mom and dad cried. I cried." Heavy. *wince* I will decidedly NOT being doing anything like those two (one breaking and entering and another smuggling drugs into Japan). I wish I could remember everything Sato-san said. He was cracking us up. He did a mock self-intro and said his hobby was driving NSs to school in the morning (I believe that was directed at someone in our training, lol). Then he said his favorite food was jerk chicken but that he never had tried it (a girl in our group was from Jamaica). He's a funny guy. I'm glad he's our BM. He's a really good guy.

As I said above, training let out early. And not just early, an hour and a half early! YIPPEE! The walk home was pleasant (I msged) and when I got home I cooked the other half of my curry. I ate some of it for dinner and stored the rest in the fridge. Because cooking in the humidity is steamy, I had peeled off most of my layers. I had just finished dinner and was contemplating reading when suddenly my doorbell sounded. AH! I had to jump up and throw some clothing on. I called out, "Hold on! Coming!" The whole time I was thinking, "WHO is at the door!?" It was the sister missionaries! And they had a present for me!! A NEW FISH! I'm so happy. Also, I am very worried. I put in some of the fish food I had, and he doesn't like it/can't eat it. I tried putting crumbs of other things in and he didn't eat that either. I feel horrible like I'm starving him. :( Shawn is going to visit me (he's coming for training tomorrow) and I'm going to ask him to drive me to a pet store so I can get the right food. Please pray with me that Donut (named after Franklin Delano Donut) will be ok until then. :/ I hope so! In any case, I got to visit with the sisters for a little bit and that was nice too. So... guess what I learned: thumbs down in Japan means "Go to hell." And it's worse than it is for English. Not only THAT, blowing a raspberry is very rude too. So guess who did BOTH at the same time in her first grade classes!? 0.o I was like, "Oh noooooo! Oh noooo!" LOL While I was teaching present progressive, I talked about the previous Saturday. I said, "Now it is Saturday. I am (I gave several examples, and then) shopping with my friend. *blows raspberry and does an emphatic thumbs down.* I don't like shopping." The kids all burst out laughing. I thought it was because I'm funny. Oh no. Well, I mean yes. BUT I just did two no-nos at the SAME TIME! ARGH! LOL The JTEs never said a word to me! *chagrined* I'm going to apologize as soon as I get back to school. *wince* LOL

After that, I cleaned my place. It looks great now! I am ready for visitors! Then I read for a little bit, ate some popcorn and here I am. Please, as I said, pray Donut will be ok. (I know he's just a little fish, but I love him! ~ This is sorta why I stopped having fish in the US. I would get so upset when they died and my fish didn't ever last more than a few months. :/) I'm happy to have him! Have a great Thursday! XOXO, A