London - day 1

We gathered to leave at 2020 from SLC to London. The first ominous sign was that our flight was oversold by ten seats. Delta begged people to fly to London later and offered increasingly impressive flight vouchers. The last one went up for $1000. I saw many families waiting to board. Great for them, worrying for me. It wasn't long before off we went and the baby started to cry. Though the flight was only five hours, I'm told, but it felt as though it were a million years long. The baby cried, my neck, and elbow hurt, Joda kept jabbing me (on accident) and also tried to wrestle my jacket away at one point in her sleep. Funny now but man it was a long flight. I watched Big Bang Theory and napped a bit. By the time we arrived in London it was 1320 their time and my brain felt ... funny. Then we had a running tour of London. You think I'm joking, and we didn't actually run, but we sped walked and still were late for dinner! We walked THROUGH the British Museum ... straight from the entrance to the exit. It was ROUGH on me. My feet were hurting and we didn't even have time to take pictures. :/ HOWEVER, we had an INCREDIBLE dinner. We had a turkey/chicken pasties/pies and with mash and gravy. I hadn't had lunch but get a look at this...


GLORIOUS!! Also our guide for the beginning of the tour was a riot. His name is Umar and he was a peach.

In any case, to the hotel we went with my abdomen throbbing and an ankle to match it. I'm so glad to have time to sleep and excited tomorrow for a bus tour of London. YAY!!

Never-ending Moooonday!

Traveling back in time does that to you. Part of the problem is that our hotel had a 10 am checkout time. I set an alarm for 8 am (so we could shower and get breakfast before we checked out) and I woke up, literally, EVERY SINGLE HALF HOUR. I was so paranoid I would oversleep even though I'd set an alarm. It was quite stressful. When I woke up at 7:54, I found JT was already awake and talked him through our plans for the morning. He showered and then I did and we grabbed a shared/traded breakfast. We headed back up to the room and tried to make sure we had all our stuff. We also discovered we'd forgotten to pack our umbrellas so we did so. We went down, checked out, and asked them if they'd hold our bags for around an hour. We then walked to the neighborhood grocery store where I bought little bags of candy for the flight attendants. I've read about people doing that online and always wanted to do it. So wahoo! We then went back and collected our luggage. We spent a few hours in Tokyo Eki (station) trying to find this bakery JT LOVED. We looked EVERYWHERE and finally gave up. I bought this AWESOME skeleton tea towel I want to put up somewhere in my home. I'm so psyched! We spent quite a while trying to find somewhere to grab something to eat and finally decided on a crêpe place. It was decent! We then headed to the airport. We arrived two hours earlier than we needed to, but we were FINISHED with Tokyo Eki. (Oh! JT also was able to find a cool Naruto Shirt at the Jump shop so that was cool!)

So now JT and I are waiting at the airport. I don't believe I will write anything else on this entry unless another funny story happens. We've got 12 hours worth of flight to LAX, a seven hour layover, and then home to Utah. So as I said, never-ending Moooonday!! (Sung to the tune of "Neverending Story.") -- We're leaving 1850 Tokyo time and arriving 2107 Utah time (there's a 15 hour difference). Kinda fun and crazy to fly into the past. ^ - ^

Funny story: When we were at the grocery store, I found some candies that looked distinctly Japanese and had a fair amount and they were individually wrapped. They looked like exactly what I wanted to give to some flight attendants. I didn't know, however, what flavor they were. So I went over to a clerk and said, "Sumimasen, kore wo yomimasen. Nan aji desu ka?" (Excuse me, I can't read this. What flavor is it? -- At least that's what I was going for.) He tells me the flavor in Japanese, which means nothing to me. So he goes, "Amai." "Sweet." Wow. LOL I laughed about it walking back to the hotel with JT. Do you know how many flavors are housed under SWEET!? Cherry, grape, kiwi, watermelon, chocolate.. you get my point. They're all very different. PLUS, I'd gotten it from the candy section. I should HOPE it's sweet. HAHAHA Just a funny experience. (Not the guy's fault that I didn't know whatever flavor he actually told me. Poor dude.)

I'll give it a shot...

Japanese crêpe

So, as long as I check the number I can pick what luggage I want?? YAY!

Limor's Wedding

JT requested that we have an easy day where we're not running around and catching trains and hiking all over the city. Today was that day. I figured it should be this Sunday as I was going out in the evening alone anyway.

Morning - JT and I grab the free breakfast from the hotel. Then we go out to a grocery store to grab snacks and food for the rest of the day. (I meant to do this yesterday to not shop on Sunday. :/ Dang it!)

Afternoon - JT watches Naruto, my exhaustion hits me like a ton of bricks. Even with my sleeping pill I've been averaging 5 hours of sleep a night. That plus the jetlag has been rough. I conked out for a nap. It was funny because at first I thought I'd had this long nap and all this time had gone by... and I had passed out for some two minutes. I asked JT if he had snored (since I remembered hearing snoring). "No." "Oh... did >I< snore?" "Uhhh no." "How long has it been?" "Like two seconds! What's going on!?" HAHAHA I thought that THAT meant no nap for me. But I turned over and passed out. I woke up a few minutes before the alarm I had set to get ready to go to Limor's wedding party.

Evening - Took the Hibiya line to Ginza station. I asked for some directions and found the club. It was SO MUCH FUN! There was taiko, cake, .. an open bar! LOL I told JT, "It was like TV or the movies!" The bartender gave me weird looks the two times I went to him to get grapefruit juice. I, seriously, ordered from the kid's menu. I bet he thought that >I< thought I had to pay for my drinks (drinks are expensive in Japan). Nope. I don't drink dude! It was really fun!! I hope you all had as rewarding a Sunday. I got to see Limor, Shingo, Jake, Tom, Saz, Kelly, and Nathalie. (In that order too I believe.) I also met some of Limor's family and friends. They were really nice. -- I was also briefly mentioned in a wedding speech! Crazy! HAHAHA

Anyway, happy Sunday to all you in the US! XOXO, A

Limor & Shingo

Cake!

Tokyo Day!

JT and I allowed ourselves to sleep in since we were planning on staying in town anyway. We got up, showered, grabbed some breakfast, and headed out. A note on breakfast - there are two choices. Breakfast A has toast, a small cabbage salad, a hardboiled egg, and a drink of choice (coffee, orange or grapefruit juice, hot chocolate, etc). Breakfast B featured a croissant, that same small salad, plain yogurt with a small spoon of blueberry syrup, and a drink of choice. I finally figured out I could trade my own brother. I gave him my toast and took his yogurt. I also took a small bite of croissant. We were much happier that way. I had salad, plain yogurt (that JT hated, lol), and an egg with one bite of a croissant. He had more carbs to get him going. It was perfect! In any case...

The very first and probably most exciting thing for JT is the fact that it was raining. He had been saying everyday that he hoped it rained so he could use his clear umbrella that he had purchased. He was STOKED to be out in the rain with it. ^ - ^ We started with Asakusa and saw the local shrine. One guy chatted JT up. That was, interesting to say the least. I was worried he might be trying to scam JT in some way. He'd stopped JT and when I saw JT was back there, I headed back and listened to all the questions this guy was asking. Everything little thing JT said, the guy trotted out everything he knew about that place. I answered all the questions he had in Japanese. I wanted him to know that if he had something in mind we were savvy travelers. Maybe I was paranoid, but this is my baby brother! Plus he eventually goes, "Ok, BYE!" And just abruptly turned and left. It was a very strange meeting. In any case, JT and I looked at the shops and got our omikuji (fortunes). JT got a very good one and I got "best fortune!" Great news everyone - according to my fortune this is a good time for me to get married. Any takers? ;p (Guess I should have been dating all this time! Woe is me! HAHAHAHA!)

After Asakusa, we went to Tawaramachi stop to visit Kappabashi. I accidentally overshot it (oops), but we headed back and got to see lots of cool kitchen stuff. We also saw the plastic food they make. ^ - ^ I got a sushi fridge magnet. I ALMOST got an ebi one (that nigiri I almost threw up), but decided against it last minute, lol. I want to go back to Kappabashi with lots of money and get really cool stoneware bowls and plates and Japanese dishes. Not sure how to get them home safely but... it's on the list for me.

We then headed to Ueno Koen (Park) and walked around. We saw some really amazing architecture and got to chat with some people who work at the park. ^ - ^ JT and I, I think I said this before, found out we're ideal traveling companions. We got to the park and meandered for a while and that was good enough for us. We thought about hitting up the zoo but since it was raining and we didn't feel a pressing need to do that, we skipped it. We didn't see every corner of the park and didn't go in any museums. That being said, we were happy with our time in the park. We saw some incredible things, took some pictures, and headed to Ameyoko. Ameyoko is a giant open air market. A few years back when it hit it up with Saz and my ex, it was really fun. JT and I REALLY disliked it though. So many bodies, plus humidty, plus the smell of cigarettes everywhere was making me violently ill (kept having to try not to puke), I got a massive migraine, and we just disliked the whole thing. We were looking for manga type stuff and no one would/could help us find any. We wandered around some 2 hours and I told JT I was DONE. He agreed that we should leave and we hit Mister Donut on the way out. We headed back to our hotel.

At the hotel I was able to take a pain pill and just rest. I couldn't eat my donuts until my stomach settled. (JT and I had eaten on a bus bench near Kappabashi.) After I felt better, I started researching the Daisos in Tokyo. If you have never been to Daiso, maybe stay away so you can live happily far from them. They are AWESOME. JT is already in love with them (as he should be). I found the biggest one in Tokyo and we headed over. It was really fun and in Harajuku. That was my first experience with that part of Tokyo. It had that classic Tokyo night crowd scene you see in movies. It was so amazing to share with JT. We found another little shop we checked out and just had fun being out there. It was, all in all, a wonderfully successful foray into Tokyo.

JT getting to use his new umbrella

Next to Sensou-ji

Ueno Koen

Looking into Tokyo from the park

Ameyoko

Harajuku

Japan from the movies!

And now for the English funnies portion ...

(My personal favorite)

Friend Day

Today JT and I got to have a small non-adventure in the morning (I took us to what I thought was a hyaku-en shop... but it was a hyaku-en car rental place... errrr).

In the afternoon we met Limor and Jake (surprise!) for lunch. We met them at Shin-Ookubo station and went to a katsu place. It was SO FUN to catch up with them! I think JT was a bit scarred afterwards though... we are a fairly open bunch, lol.

In the evening, we went to dinner with a former student of mine. We met her at Ueno Station and went to get sushi. She ordered SO MUCH. JT and I were sort of inwardly panicking at the price of the meal, but she paid for it! (Actually her friend did... it made us feel all sorts of awkward! I'm glad that I brought her a gift!)

Funny story: So, the very first nigiri-sushi that JT and I tried was the ebi (shrimp). I'd not had it raw before and was nervous but I always say I'll try something once. It was actually offered to me while I was living in Japan. I guess luckily I was full as that one had to be dug out of the shell. In any case, I was steeling myself for the experience. JT went first. I looked at him and asked, "How was it?" under my breath. "Not bad." Whew... oh wait, JT IS A LIAR! Oh man, I had to rip that thing out of it's shell with my teeth and I kept chewing and chewing and it wasn't breaking apart or going away. I felt like I was turning green. I was taking deep and slow breaths through my nose and this ball of mushy, sinewy, ebi was just globbed in the center of my mouth. I had to pretend I wasn't about to ralph (and there were a few close moments), and I just tried and tried and TRIED to chew some of it off to swallow. The longer it sat in my mouth, the less I felt I could finish it. I decided I just had to swallow the whole thing. I was afraid it would lodge in my throat and I'd throw it back up. (As I explained this later to JT on the subway I told him, "Can you imagine if I puked it all up? Um, excuse me our sushi is covered in vomit. Pretty sure it came that way." He was laughing so hard I thought he was going to pee his pants. So I had to follow it up with, "There's vomit on my chin and then *pointing to him* 'He did it!'") Luckily I was able to swallow the entire thing. Yeesh. Everything else was great other than the uni (sea urchin). So yay for good sushi and boo to the disgusting texture of others! HAHAHA

Today was another great day in Japan!

Highlights

Here are some of the highlight stories:

Sunday 13 - I told you all how I caused us to miss our first Shinkasen by a whole two minutes, well I was NOT going to miss a second one. JT and I went to the platform and waited in line to board. That is, we lined up to enter the car in which our seats were found. We were first in line. We chatted and were chilling and next thing I know I realize that the Shinkasen that had pulled in previously was our ride! By this time there were Japanese people lined up behind us. I asked the guy behind us in Japanese if it was the right one and he nodded. Well the doors are all closed.... I start to panic. We're going to miss another train when we're standing outside the door! I take off to check the other end of the car. I walk up to the door and am looking to see if there's a button I can press to enter the door. Then a lady comes up to me and says, "Excuse me. Line." Then she points to all the waiting people who are irked at the fact that I tried to cut in line. So we walk back to where we were waiting and the nice man who helped us before leans over and says "クリにング" - cleaning. DAH!!! I lived here... In my defense I didn't travel by Shinkansen - too expensive for me.

Monday 14 - At the end of the day JT and I had our shopping finds with us. When we weren't able to find my friend, I took us three blocks over to catch the でんでん虫 bus (snail). It's a bus that runs a clockwise and counterclockwise circuit around Morioka (盛岡市). All rides are ¥100 (essentially $1). This is a nice and cheap ride and we wanted to go to the station so off we went to the stop. As we were waiting, I took my goods and set them on the bus stop marker base (stone). We chatted and shivered and I talked to JT about Morioka Koen (park) which was right behind us. By the time the bus came, we were ready to jump on. Which we did. I turned to look at JT and saw him holding his things (at this point he was carrying my bag - he is a very sweet boy and has periodically done that for me - he'll notice I'm in pain and help me in that way). I realize then ... I don't have my things. I panic and ask JT "Did you grab my bags?" "No." I jump up and start running back and forth on the bus, lol. Well I ran to the side door (where we entered) saying, 「ちょっと待って、ごめん！ごめん！忘れ物！」(Sorry! Sorry! Forgotten things!) The bus driver says something and I run to the front of the bus since the bus driver has opened the door (the official exit). However since I had first gone to the side door, he has already started closing the front door and is opening the side. So I ran back to the side, which is open. And jump down and grab my things. I get back on the bus to bow and apologize to everyone who had to wait for me. JT apologized and said "I didn't know I was supposed to grab your things." I set him straight and told him I'm in charge of my own things and that it was my own fault I'd forgotten. I was just hoping he'd been more aware than me. LOL I apologized one more time when I got off the bus and thanked the driver. Good to be back!

Tuesday 15 - So when we checked into our hotel, they gave us the thing with the room keys in it. She explained our room was on the 5th floor. And off we go. Well on the paper it looks like (legit) 5.7. On the way up the elevator I remark to JT that I've never seen hotel rooms written that way. I've seen 507 but never 5.7. As you may have already foreseen... Our keys did NOT open room 507. We stood there a good 3-4 minutes trying our keys and jiggling the handle. Then JT tilts his head, "Maybe that's a 1?" Yeah.... Our key opened room 517. There may or may not have been a poor panicked person in room 507. "Foreigners are trying to invade!! At least they're not breaking the door down...." HAHAHAHA It's like I forgot how to function as an adult on this trip... Lol. Poor JT. But hey - at least I've been providing him with a valuable "don't" list as well as recovery from those don'ts if you commit them.

Wednesday 16 - A story of how I messed with other foreigners: as JT and I were leaving 清水寺 (Kiyomizudera) to catch a bus to Ginkakuji, we passed some other Caucasians who loudly said, "Hello!" I answered "Bonjour." Then the guy repeated back "Bongiorno!" I laughed and turned, "J'ai dit bonjour" "Bonjour!" "Ah! Parlez-vous français?" "Uhhh un peu." Other guy: "Hablo español!" "Oh si? Yo también de haber vivido en Argentina!" "I uh... Estoy necido (sic) en México!" "I speak English too!" *collective sigh from the two guys and girl* I'm a mean guy - what can I say? In our five minute conversation some Japanese slipped in and they were shocked. They told me I'm the ideal traveling companion. Then they introduced a friend who walked up that they called "Our Russian." Vlad was born there and speaks the language but grew up in the US. In any case it was a pleasant conversation and Anson (the guy who first greeted me) wished us well saying, "Do weird things!" I thought that was a fabulous send-off!! The girl's name was Sarah and they all were drinking fairly heavily but my favorite part of that conversation was the guy who told me he spoke Spanish. When I started speaking Spanish to him he got that "Oh crap what have I done!?" Face. Hahahah - I think I just made him super nervous. (He did make a mistake with the past participle but hey I understood him!) Great times on a hill in Japan!!!

Wednesday 16 - A story through me from JT. I didn't realize this until he told me last night but when we got into the station, we showed our Rail Passes and Shinkansen tickets to the gate guy. I have been entering first (so JT can follow me and we don't hold anyone up) and each time I've been told 「はい！どぞう！」(Yes/good/ok go ahead). Apparently they've been saying "Yes! Continue!" to JT. I didn't know until last night he said to me, "Apparently you look more Japanese than me." Me: !? He explained and I theorized that I probably just walk more confidently than he does. I'm not afraid of anything they may say or do. JT's been paranoid about speaking Japanese and people speaking to him this whole trip. Part of it, I'm sure, is handing things the Japanese way, bowing at the correct time and to the correct level, etc. Just something you learn living here. Made me really happy to hear that! After all, こころの中に日本人です！ - In my heart I'm Japanese! - One member from the church told me that. It was very kind of them to say and made me feel great that they have really loved and accepted me to that degree - even with all my Shinkansen missing, line cutting, wasuremono (forgotten things), bus ladders (which I hated in gym but hey things are always better when you're not being graded on them, eh?), and being mean to other foreigners! Hahaha What a fabulous country! Luckily they are very forgiving, lol.

Nara & Oosaka

Three highlight stories from the day - Nara Koen is the place where the deer bow to you to get you to feed them. I overheard someone say "They train them to do that." WE train them to do that. They learn that they get more food if they make the people squeal in delight. So...

1) While JT and I were buying deer senbei, a deer ATE MY MAP OUT OF MY HAND! I felt something tugging on it and I tugged back and the deer sort of snorted at me (which startled me) and I didn't know quite what to do... I tried again to wrestle the map back but the deer wouldn't give it up. JT then fed him a cracker, big mistake! Then it knew JT had food and wouldn't leave him alone. When JT didn't give him another senbei, it started nibbling on and pulling at his shirt. Poor JT started to panic. His shirt was all wet with deer slobber for an hour or two.

2) Further into Nara Park, JT and I suddenly hear this loud grunting sound. JT looked before I did. The guy was out of food, but his hands were still up. He was videoing the deer, but the deer thought he was withholding snacks. So the deer starts to nibble on his shirt. Dude flips and tries to jump back. He got caught on a low chain and down he went (from JT). I look back and the deer is FREAKING OUT. The guy was sitting with his back to the deer and the deer is, essentially, screaming at him and kicking him in the back. We are all stunned (I tried to get it on video and failed). This dude's friend runs over screaming (in Korean I believe) and throws at empty can at its head. The can just glances off this deer's head (in hindsight it was hilarious, "LAKJDFLKDJFLKJ *dink* LKJOWIEJ!!" (Korean screaming)). The friend starts trying to kick the deer so the deer decides the odds are not in its favor and runs off. I was shaking and really disappointed I didn't get a video!

3) As we're taking the local train to Oosaka, an old woman boards with all these bags. I jump up and motion her towards my seat, "Douzo, suwatte kudasai (go ahead, please sit)." She tried to wave me away but I wouldn't have it. As she's sitting there, she realizes I'm with JT (who, poor kid, is now sitting between two Japanese strangers) and she starts trying to chat with us. She tells me she knows no English but then doesn't simplify her Japanese! I did my best to talk to her and found out a few things. Next thing I know, she's giving me two little paintings she'd made that day. I tried to turn them down. They are beautiful and I was so grateful to her. JT and I wished we had something to give her. Then later she gets another seat and had me sit back down next to JT. Well... fast forward a few stations and this obaachan is asking us why we're not getting off the train. Well, we're just going to Oosaka-Namba. Oh no, we're not. Obaachan ain't havin none! She gets these two boys who JUST graduated high school and forces them to get us to Oosaka station. JT and I felt so badly. They had to pay a fare adjustment (as did we), but they got us to the right place. Oh man, I believe we all felt super awkward. Yeesh! Sorry boys!

Hope you enjoyed these highlights and have a nize day!

Yup that's pretty much how they are... 

The biggest bronze statue in the world!

Kyoto!

JT and I were up early but didn't get out the door until 740. We grabbed breakfast at our hotel and then headed to Tokyo Eki and grabbed our tickets for Kyoto. The train there took three hours. I listened to music. JT slept.

ARRIVAL! We got our bus day passes and headed to Sanjuusangendou. It was beautiful!

Sanjuusangendou

Yay! Cherry blossoms!

I made him take this picture.

Then off we went to Kyomizudera!

Kiyomizudera

In front of Kiyomizudera

Then off to Ginkaku-ji!

Isn't it beautiful!?

Good thing we didn't live back in the day...

A view of Kyoto from up on the hill

JT and I planned on going to Kinkaku-ji as well but just didn't make it in time (it closed). Still, we are happy we got to see the things we did and we had a great day! 

New chapters!

I am planning a trip to Senegal in the fall. Next year I hope to get back to South America... I just want to see and do everything! So I resurrected this blog as my travel blog. I would have posted earlier but technical difficulties, blah.

Friday, March 11 to Saturday, March 12 - 

• 2:00 am - Wake up because my neighbor still has his TV blaring. At least it drowned out his snoring!
• 2:30 am - Alarm goes off
• 3:00 am - Papa and JT pick me up to go to the airport.
• 3:40-6:00 - JT and I check our luggage in (once the office opened), eat some snacks, yawn and feel exhausted, wait excitedly for our flight to LAX.
• 6:00-7:00 - JT sleeps most of the flight. I wake him up for take-off and landing since it's his first flight ever.
• 7:00-8:30 - Land at LAX, change our money to en (yen), wander around the airport, take a shuttle to our rental car place
• 8:30-9:00 - Take a mini adventure in one of the "ambassador" vehicles since they had run out of economy. We drove to JTB in Torrance and picked up our train passes.
• 9:00-13:40 - JT and I kill time until our flight is boarding. (We were able to get our seats together on each flight.)
• 14:20-FOREVER (18:50 Saturday, March 12 Tokyo time) - We flew for 11 hours. JT slept the majority of the time. I can't sleep on planes and the guy next to me kept elbowing me and moving the arm rest. It was driving me nuts! I watched a series of movies.
• 19:40-21:40 - Catch our shuttle bus to the hotel and I shower. I try to not feel crazy and scatterbrained. Set the alarm for 5:30 so I can shower and then try to sleep.

Sunday, March 13 -

• I, of course, wake up far too early and am just awake until my alarm goes off. 
• We get ready and walk to the nearest train station (Keisei Narita) and head to Tokyo Station. At the station, we activated our Rail Passes and got Shinkansen tickets to Morioka.
• We grabbed breakfast at a French bakery. JT was FREAKING OUT about how much he loved the food. I neglected to watch the time.
• Missed our Shinkansen by TWO MINUTES. DAH! Get new tickets, and have to wait a half hour.
• Arrive in Morioka, grab the first bus to Takamatsunoike to go to church
• Walk into church a half hour til finish to gasp and many hugs
• We stayed at the church for a couple hours. I asked about members who weren't present - phone calls were made, cars driven, and I got to see nearly everyone. It was AWESOME! The members kept remarking how much better my Japanese was.... Not sure if that's a compliment or not, lol.
• Shiwa-Kyoudai, my former home teacher, drove us all the way to our hotel (out in Tsunaji Onsen) and then back to Nanak in the center of the city (to give you an idea, we're talking about $80 in cab-fare or $27 in bus fares)
• Yasue comes with us and we go to Mister Donut, Michel (bakery), Tartes des Demoiselles Tatins (cake shop), Hachnimanguu (largest Shrine in Morioka), and Daiso (where JT proceeds to fall in love - as one does and should).
• Yasue rides with us to the Eki (train station) and sees us to our bus stop
• (Note: It was SO amazing to see my friends in Morioka. I gave many hugs and it was like coming home to see them all. I'm so grateful I got to spend so much time with my oneechan!)
• When we get to our hotel, I force JT to try to onsen. I only last 15 minutes because of my heat thing, but I am stoked!

Monday, March 14 - 

• JT says to me at some point, "You REALLY love Japan, don't you!?" Understatement.
• We eat breakfast, and take the bus into town (to the bus center)
• We wait and then are able to take a bus to near Morioka Minami (one of my old schools)
• None of the former Principals/VPs are there - o.0 - one VP still allows me to visit (thank goodness!)
• Only one of the English teachers is still there and my friend Oikawa Koichi - we chat with them and catch up (they had to pull Hashimoto-sensei out of proctoring a test - oops)
• It was AMAZING to see them! Hashimoto-sensei told JT that the school was so lucky to have had me, and that I was an amazing woman and he should show me a lot of respect. That meant SO MUCH to me!
• Koichi finds out that we are going to my other school and offers to drive us (saves us a lot of bus fare!)
• I show up at Chokkaku Shien and Kaori-sensei is SHOCKED to see me! (I TOLD her I was coming!)
• Everyone is freaking out and shaking my hand for a LONG time and so happy to meet JT and so happy to see me and I them
• They gather ALL of my former students who are present and not-yet graduated and we have a class period to talk and so on
• I spoke to the students (in Japanese) but Kanako-sensei translated for me (into Nihongo no Shuwa) 
• The students ask me questions - most of them just want to know if I remember them - OF COURSE I DO! They are so excited when I say their names! One girl tells me that she often looks at my facebook. ^ - ^ The whole exchange is incredibly amazing and heartwarming for me. JT feels pretty awkward as the Deaf students are all signing at him and he doesn't even know ASL. Poor guy. 
• Lunch time comes and JT and I hit the road with many handshakes and I tell them I plan to come back in 2.5 years (to pick up JT from his mission)
• JT and I head back into town and we grab lunch at a soba place in Nanak.
• We hit up Maruichi (grocery store) and buy some awesome goods (to eat, to take home, to save for later meals here, etc)
• We then walk into the center of town and visit the other Daiso
• We go to Karaoke for a half hour and then head to where we're supposed to meet my friend Yoshiko-san
• We can't find her and I accidentally drop and break something I bought at Daiso
• JT goes alone to buy a replacement for me (it was only a block away) - he gets the wrong size and I tell him what to say in Japanese to exchange it - he starts to panic and says he'll just use his money to buy me the right size since it was his fault he got the wrong one. I told him, one of us had already wasted a dollar and no way, etc. We walked back together and I showed him how to exchanged goods. ^ - ^
• We catch the dendenmushi to the station because I know I can use foreigner wifi there to message my friend who never showed up. Even though it was an hour and a half later, she answers quickly and says she's coming. We wait for her and meet her at the station.
• We go to Aeon and make JT choose where to eat (hahah poor guy) - he chooses Tiger Gyouza. We share our food and enjoy conversation.
• Yoshiko-san drops us off at our hotel and it's 21:45. The onsen closes at 22:00 so I book it to the room to grab a yukata and get in before it's closed. JT confesses he really disliked the onsen (which makes me sad because I love it so much but it's ok that he doesn't like it). 
• I onsen as long as I can and then can't fall asleep until around midnight.

Today! Tuesday, March 15 - 

• I wake up very early again (this whole trip I'll been feeling like I'm in some sort of dream state - the exhaustion plus my insomnia -- even though I have my sleeping pills here --)
• I head to the onsen and get to spend a nice long time there while JT sleeps (JT has slept on every plane and train at this point... except for one. I am very jealous of his ability to just sleep when he wants but I wonder if he has CFS or something. It seems like sleeping every available minute is too much...)
• We have breakfast and the owner of our Ryokan finds out that we are going to 手づくり村 (Tezukurimura) and he insists on driving us there
• He finds out we're also Christian and starts shouting glorias and hallelujahs - FANTASTIC!
• We arrive there 20 minutes after the place opens
• We make senbei and wander in and out of some of the shops - we each buy one of their wooden goods and some sweets specific to Iwate
• We then wait outside for 20 minutes (under the impression that a certain shop doesn't open until 10). The wind is blowing but we find out that walking halfway down the hillside shields us. We end up dancing to some music on JT's phone while I laugh about how the Japanese may now think of Americans.
• We get into the shop and make reiman - I LOVE it and JT doesn't care for it (he doesn't care for it because it comes with kimchi - which he gave to me - and it's a cold noodle dish). I eat and relish my dish! 
• We head to the bus stop and make it back to the train station
• We had a plan to go to Kakunodate, but since things are closed and our bags are too big for the train lockers, we decide to head to Tokyo early.
• We get to the hotel (after getting help and directions from workers at the train station) and check in. We sort of veg and use internet and eat dinner from the things we bought at Maruichi.
• We head to Roppongi and I can't find the shop I had been to before - we find a hyakuen shop and stop there instead. I am able to buy a three to two prong converter and charge my laptop (thank goodness it wasn't an expensive paperweight on this trip!)
• (On the way into the hotel, I hear people skyping someone in French. I internally FLIP and excitedly tell JT how they're speaking French and I decide not to talk to them... now I'm regretting that!)
• We watch a little bit of a Chinese movie on my laptop until JT tells me he'd rather watch Naruto and I type this.

Tomorrow I will tell some highlight stories from the past few days. The nice thing about feeling this tired/weird is that the days are lasting really long! LOL Of course we're packing a lot of things into them... in any case... I have some good stories that I will eventually all get typed up. Tomorrow we will spend the day in Kyoto!! WOOOO!!!!

XOXO, A

Morioka Koen

The backwards T-Rex is gone! But at least the screaming bear is still around.

JT and I went to Tezukurimura ^ - ^

Betta watch yo baby!

I ... what!? Throw away my suitcase???

I have a new blog!

I poured so many personal feelings and thoughts into my Japan blog that I wanted to make a new one for this new phase of my life. Here is the link: http://thankfulin.blogspot.com/

See you there. XOXO, A

I remembered!

First of all, tonight was awesome. I went to dinner at the Bombay House and I love that place.

Second of all I REMEMBERED the thing I forgot yesterday! It wasn't so much funny as cringe worthy. A funny situation. So on Wednesday when I went to the gym with Jean-Mi, I wore socks that didn't quite cover my heels completely. As I was doing my cardio, the scraping started. I knew I was going to get a blister, but the cardio was more important to me so I pressed forward. Sure enough I had a small blister. Then it just got bigger! Kinda funny, right? lol

Here it is this morning (I went to the gym again but wore proper socks, no bandaids or anything):

Here it is after the workout:

Oops - it got a little bigger, but it deflated a little. LOL

More good things

• I have been going through my books with a "Good, Better, Best" attitude and only keeping the best. I've been through two shelves and already pulled over 60 books to sell. Hopefully I can make a nice profit selling them once I am able to go through everything and have a yard/book sale. 
• The paperwork for my new job is being drawn up and I expect to sign it/fill it out on Monday.
• I got to email Shan on her birthday. :) Love and miss that girl!
• I am really enjoying my work outs. 
• Phil is sending me a memorial book for Momma. <3
• I finished altering all my t shirts and they look great! :)
• I've had an opportunity to spend time with my younger brothers and it's been awesome. In fact, Jean-Mi and I were able to go to the gym together yesterday. We did our own thing, but it was nice to be there together. :)

 I have another funny story but I can't remember it... I'll type it up when it comes to me. All my best to you and your efforts. :) XOXO, A

Looking onward and upward

Happy birthday Itnaaka!! :D Love you!!

So I should have updated last week - but I got an offer for my dream job! I was offered salary within the range I wanted and now I just have to get ready! I'm glad I have the summer to do that.

A couple funny stories from last week: I went to donate plasma and as part of that they check your hematocrit via a prick on the finger. Well my finger was a fountain! It squirted up four inches and sort of sprayed my hand and the counter. It surprised me so much I failed on pulse and had to retest (did fine the second time). Crazy day!

A couple days after that, ok sorry I have to back up. I have a queen-sized bed (that is mine) that I'm currently sharing with my sister before she marries in a couple weeks. She's a crazy sleeper like Jerod was so I'm used to staying in a small space. Well, I had been doing well avoiding her kicking and so on until one night she slid her finger tips under the bottom of my shirt and started to lift it. She got a few inches (I was in shock) before I cried out, "Simone you perv! What are you doing!?" She snatched her hand back and mumbled something (she was asleep - and hahaha to her future husband). An hour or so later she started speaking aloud. I couldn't understand what she said, so I remarked, "Whatever you perv. You tried to lift up my shirt!" She responded, "MMMM HMMM!" (Yes it was loudly.) I laughed so hard I almost woke her up. Good luck Andy (her fiancé)!

Well this isn't funny but it's part of my life. I've gotten sick and been throwing up, consistently, the past four or five days. I don't like it! However, each day that passes I'm able to keep more food down. I think I caught my mom's bug. :/ Thanks mom! ;)

My best to you and I hope you're all doing well. XOXO, A

Good Things

Just wanted to post about the good things in my life since I got home (even though I miss Japan and my friends there and my job there like CRAZY ~ oh and the food!).

• I am looking at getting the job of my dreams. The charter school at which I taught before I went to Japan is trying to open a position for me teaching French, Spanish, and ASL. (That is my dream - teaching languages.)
• I have a jar of REAL pickles. (What Japanese people called pickles are just brined veggies - they're delicious, but they're not pickles.)
• I have a membership at a local gym and I love being back in one. (I went to one in Japan, but now I have a cheaper one here!)
• General Conference was this weekend and it was awesome.
• I have been able to go out with Dre and that was wonderful!
• In my downtime I have watched a season of Project Runway and it reminds me of why I have a degree in fashion design. I LOVE FASHION!
• I was able to go back to the plasma center where I used to donate and I still have a few friends there. ALSO my hematocrit was 45! (Before that the highest I ever got was 41!)
•  I want to go through my stuff and streamline my life (haven't been able to really get started yet as my sister who is getting married is stashing her stuff in my room atm - BUT), I was able to go through some drawers and get rid of a bunch of stuff. I feel good about simplifying my life. My life in Japan was very simple and it was really nice. I miss having a tiny place that is easy to keep clean! 
• I am waiting to hear on my salary officially, BUT I am townhouse and condo shopping. I am very much looking forward to buying my own place AND NOT MOVING. LOL But seriously... I moved in 2011. Then in 2012. Then again in 2013. THEN IN 2014! And this year I moved around to a couple hotels before I landed home. So YA... I want there to be one last move for a WHILE. I am looking forward to an end of moving. Very much so.
• I had a movie night last night with a brother and sister of mine. We watched a horror flick. Oh how I have missed those scary movie nights!
• Oh man I wish I had video, but I brought home a bunch of Japanese foods that I love for my family to try. ... Ya they did not love what I brought. They especially disliked the umeboshi (sour plum - 梅干). However, that is my favorite Japanese food so I wasn't just torturing them!
• My days are quiet and that's nice. It's nice to have some thinking and regathering and visualizing time. (I haven't quite decided yet what I want for my future - other than that job and my own place - but I want to move forward and not stagnate.)
• I have 13 bullet points on this list! (And a good thing for this one: I have cracked pepper sunflower seeds and they are amazing!)

I hope that you are all finding happiness and joy in the small things in life. My love to you all! XOXO, A

Just trying to rebuild, having lost a large piece of my foundation. Hoping to report good news in the near future.

Ok the REAL Friday and Saturday EPIC post (March 21-22)

So I wanted to surprise my mom and show up with Jerod on Monday (hopefully a success as I am writing this post early) - this is my real NEVER-ENDING Friday. :D Enjoy:

T5B: 1) Jerod and I made our flights and we were both safe. 2) Jerod paid for a cab so we could just get to his car faster and directly. 3) Got to meet Jerod's friends. 4) The day eventually ended. 5) Our drive was fun and crazy.

Ok - this was an EPIC day:

- woke up at 8:00
- woke Jerod up at 8:30, we went and got showered
- packed up (our toiletries) and killed time until ten to for check out (mostly because our flights were late so we didn't want to be hanging around all day
- checked out, gathered our five suitcases, trekked to station, took elevators
- elevators put us on the wrong side (wrong platform), had to take the stairs anyway :/ ROUGH
- get to Ueno station, luckily only two small flights of stairs
- also luckily, since we had to get train tickets in another station that was nearby, there was an underground tunnel to that other station
- I went and got our tickets for the Keisei Skyliner (Jerod paid, THANK YOU BABE!)
- the lady asked if we wanted 11 am tickets but that one was leaving in 5 minutes, since we had 5 suitcases, we took the next train
- train arrived at 11:25, we got all our stuff on and sat down then were kicked off for cleaning :/ WITH all the suitcases, DAH
- finally let back on, train leaves at 11:40
- train arrives at airport terminal 2 around 1230
- I find the cell phone counter and tell them I want to cancel my phone, they start the processing and tell me to come back at 1340
- we chill and I go back and find out I had to pay SIX HUNDRED SEVEN DOLLARS - YUCK!
- we exchange our money for US currency, I wig out at the new $100 bills
- Jerod hears an announcement about my flight, it's delayed for an hour and a half *sigh* (and it was ALREADY leaving 1.5 hours after his)
- Jerod and I hang out, Jerod takes a nap, I play games on my phone, finally Jerod leaves at 1630 to go to terminal 1 (from where his flight is leaving at 1815)
- I finally am able to check in around 1730 (dump my bags - they inform me one is under a kilo and the other is over a kilo, I shift and no fees assessed!! thanks to Jerod!)
- the airline, for the inconvenience, gives me a meal voucher
- I find a place and grab a bowl of ramen, some ice cream, and a side salad
- Jerod messages me that his airline charged him a hundred bucks for checking two bags!! what the heck!? Sorry Jerod - it's my fault he had the other suitcase (full of souvenirs)
- I eat and charge my phone and message Jerod til he leaves
- when my phone is fully charged, I go down to wait by my gate
- my flight is delayed further
- original departure time: 1945, actual departure time: 2130
- the flight attendants are JERKS, the beverage service was awful, the food was subpar :/ STILL, we didn't crash so there's that
- I slept 1-2 hours out of the 10+ hour flight
- FINALLY land in LA around 1530 LA time (at this point I have been awake for ... 21.5 hours - well less that nap)
- customs takes FOREVER, then no sign of Jerod
- I waited for FOUR HOURS thinking he was dead (I tried to call his phone, no answer, I sent texts, no answer, I sent emails, no answer)
- Jerod was asleep at a table, grrrrr - I couldn't see him because of all the hundreds of people, and he was supposed to be looking for me :/
- we FINALLY leave the airport around 2000 (I am VERY upset)
- Jerod opts to get a cab rather than take a bus (like we were planning originally)
- the cabbie and Jerod are tense with one another (over the price), I cry because I'm so tired, and Jerod was sweet to me
- cab costs $130, we gather Jerod's car
- we go to grab some dinner and opt to get pizza (I REALLY wanted real pizza)
- we swing by his friend's house and give them the gifts we got them
- we hang out for a bit with them - I take a 30 minute nap (now I have slept 1.5-2.5 hours out of 26.5) Jerod talks to them, we decide to drive straight to Vegas (we decided to get the marriage out of the way early and on our way home - we prayed about it and felt good about just getting it taken care of ASAP)
- Jerod gases up, buys snacks, off we go
- I am alternately a loon and feeling like a narcoleptic
- we share an energy drink (I wanted to stay up and keep him awake)
- we make it to Vegas in four hours
- OH on the way, Jerod hands me some drugs his friends gave to us as a gift ... uh thanks? Jerod said he felt bad turning it down, I told him I didn't want the things near me, I threw them out the window on the way to Vegas then remembered I didn't wipe the bottle :/ hopefully there isn't some fingerprint scandal - SHEESH! I hope they got run over and destroyed - WHAT THE HECK!?
- we try to check into our Vegas hotel early, no go, they're packed, we go to Starbucks to wait out the day
- I do a bunch of paperwork and send emails I have needed to do, wrote a couple vows (as I THINK I'm supposed to do something like that.... lol), I fill out a preliminary marriage certificate and email the office for an appt (at this point I haven't yet heard back from them)
- as of now it's 7:39 am (LA time) - I have been up for 33.5 hours minus those two naps - my brain feels REALLY funky

our plans:
- kill more time here
- go to the marriage office and get our marriage license
- check into our hotel
- grab our respective showers, deck out in kimonos, get hitched at the Graceland Chapel (Elvis wedding package)
- SLEEP!!! probably watch the Food Network and potentially SyFy channel

Cool stories:
- I tried to tip the cab driver, he turned down my tip saying he couldn't take the last of my money from me (it was all the change I had - a couple dollars in quarters)
- while in Starbucks I went next door to Einstein bagels (thanks Jerod for paying for my breakfast), a lady who worked there greeted me and asked how I was doing - told her this whole saga in short form and about the wedding, she wanted to buy my breakfast but I already bought it - I thought that was very sweet :) (She asked for my fiancé's name - Jerod - Oh! That's a nice name! LOL Also she loved my ring. :) -my heart one)

I seriously feel so goofy right now (and I can hear my parents ~oh no voices too!~ saying "Your true nature coming out!"). I am looking forward to sleeping tonight. I hope I can. Right now I don't feel tired - just twitchy. LOL

Sorry about the ruse mom! Hope you all enjoyed our epic two days!! XOXO, A

That tree in the daytime - gorgeous and right on the corner!

Tunnel from Ueno Station to the Keisei Ueno Station :) Thank you Japan!

Tokyo from the Skyliner

Me on the Skyliner

AHAHA spotted in the airport

Gathering of cops

Japanese designer on which I did a poster and report in high school!

More designers

On the plane

Goodbye Tokyo :( -- Oh I forgot to mention, but LUCKILY I was on the aisle - I was in the center, FIVE SEAT section but on the aisle, MMM

Airline food (Singapore Airlines did it MUCH better, sorry Malaysia Airlines)

Arrival

Hello LA

Goodbye LA (Cypress)

The moon!

Vegas!? ... No, Primm

My sexy driver

Real Vegas!

Hotels

Gordon Ramsay!