Constant Motion by Dream Theater... really it's just a random metal song to me. =P
I have forgotten about the days. You know what happened? I was thinking a day ahead of you. I mean I thought today is Friday. But its actually Thursday. Crazy yeah, what's in my mind?
I just can't wait til its weekend. I just like weekend so much because I get to spend time with my family and that's the best time for gathering too.
Many of my friends are not blogger so its hard to know what they are doing. Most of us just be able to communicate using email only. Like email to update each other once a month. But you know, I am the one that have to email them.
Constant Motion by Dream Theater... really it's just a random metal song to me. =P
BYOB again... different people at least, but I didn't want to record the same song - I first tried to record Toxicity by System of a Down but apparently I was on photo instead of video. :P So I just recorded the next song and it was BYOB.
I had a nice surprise from the kooky monsta!
Guys, meet Vern.
She my housemate and she's my crazy woman! :D
Vern asked me to check the fridge one night and i found this in there.
Attack by 30 Seconds to Mars
And Justice For All by Metallica on expert.
BYOB by System of a Down
Well. I would talk a little bit about myself. I'm simple. My name's Lina. I love listening to Japanese music and be entertained by Japanese celebrities media. I'm very fond of artists: Utada Hikaru and Kinki Kids. I don't play sports and don't like to play them unless I'm forced to...my sister. I watch alot of J-doramas and used to watch K-dramas before knowing J-doramas even exist and out-better. heheh jk. I also listen to different types of music around the world including here in America. I, myself is in college and not knowing what I want to pursue at the moment that's why I'm in fortuitous Island right now heheheh...I listen to Johnny's too, but I'm not fond of all of them. I like Nishikido Ryo, Domoto Koichi, Takizawa Hideaki, and maybe Mr. Johnny himself. lol Jk. I don't even know how he looks like. hm..bet he's very old of course. Anyways, I'm friendly, and I like hanging out with friends, but don't like wasting money and making new friends especially online because that's the most unique way of getting diverse friends and chat with different people from different backgrounds, but I'm not the type of wanting to chat with strangers. I would only love to chat with people who are interested in what I like and what they like to share with me.
I don't have anything on my page for the moment because I just joined
and not knowing my way around so..let's just sit and see...=]
Hit me up anytime beautiful people of all ages! JK! =)
8:30pm
So, I've attempted to buy healthy food to give me energy and motivate me to get my ass into gear, but I can't afford to buy enough of it for that to really work. But, that's okay. I've found a really great store that I want to work at even more than the health food store (because it's bigger, fancier, and has WAY more organic and local stuff... and it's closer). And the best part is, I can apply online. XD So, at some point today, when I stop feeling so tired, I'm going to do that.
I can't believe how long I slept last night. I went to bed at 2am and woke up at 3:45pm. I never sleep more than twelve hours unless I'm sick. I wonder if all the raw organic fruits and veggies I've been having this week are doing a bit of a detox number on me. I really don't know what else would make me so tired.
I think I'm a bit clingy. I get sad if it gets to like 8:30pm and Cameron hasn't contacted me in any way. It makes me feel forgotten. Or if I don't see Niki for like a week, I get scared that she doesn't want to hang out with me. I try to let my friends initiate the plan-making every once in a while, just to make sure they actually want to be around me. Am I just paranoid? Maybe I wouldn't feel like this if I had more friends.
I just went outside to bring the trash can back to the garage and get the mail. The sky was the pinkest I've ever seen, and the most brilliant molten, glowing gold near the horizon. Is it sad that that phrase makes me think of moltres flying up into the sky in Pokemon Snap? Anyway, that gave me more energy than I've had all day, so I'm definitely doing my application now. Go me!
]]>Jennie: So I watched "The One with The Proposal" last night
Me:(whipped around real quick) Did you? And did you cry?
Jennie: Yes! Like a baby!
Me: I know, right?!?!?!
Often, when I'm looking for something to read and don't have the time or inclination to hit up the bookstore, I just raid my mother's spare room. It is home to a gazillion books she's collected over the years.
The last time I was there, I came across a hardback copy of Black House, the sequel to Stephen King's/Peter Straub's jointly written novel The Talisman. I finished rereading The Talisman earlier this summer, so I figured this was a good time to start in on the sequel.
Last night, as I was reading, I realized that this book wasn't one of my mother's after all. It was one that had been given to me a few years ago.
You run into some wonderfully interesting people at The Pub. Several years back, I reconnected with a guy I knew vaguely from high school, Wes. He'd become something of a regular on Ye Olde Barstool. It seemed for a while that he was there just about every time I stopped by (which made sense, since he was always there).
Although just a few years older than me, his life had taken him down a much rougher road. He had medical issues, addiction issues, and financial issues, all stacked one on top of the other like a haphazard Lego concoction. But in spite of all the crazy crap he'd gotten himself into over the years, he was an avid reader and something of an aspiring writer.
He told me one night that reading was what he liked most about being in jail, a place I think he'd spent way more than his share of time. He said this with the casual offhandedness that I'd describe how I spent a free Saturday morning.
"When I have to go in, I just use the time to hit up the library and clear out my head," he explained. He made his semi-regular jaunts to jail sound like going off to college. But in spite of his strangely skewed version of life and the things he always seemed to get himself into, there was just something kind and hopeful about Wes. I know that sounds strange, but there it was.
It was more than just his view on time in jail that made Wes .... different. Another thing was his aversion to shoes. He just flat-out hated them. He was always coming into the bar barefoot, and it didn't matter whether it was August or January.
"Don't your feet get cold?" I asked him one bitter night, and got a "oh, hell no, honey." So I asked him if he'd ever thought about the fact that he was trekking those bare feet into the men's room every hour or so, and we knew damn well that drunk men don't exactly have the best aim.
"Never thought of that," he said, after a moment's consideration. But he still wouldn't wear shoes.
One night we got to talking about Lord of the Rings, and the next time I stopped by the pub I brought him in my finished copy of the trilogy and gave it to him, joking that now he wouldn't have to go to jail to get something to read anymore.
Shortly after that night, he left town. We'd talked about his plan a bit. He was moving to the Eastern Shore, to try to get away from our city and the people and habits that kept landing him in all sorts of holes. He was hoping to start over in a quiet, rural area and find some peace. Do some reading on a back porch instead of in a jail cell, maybe.
But before he left, he brought his copy of Black House up to the pub, and since I wasn't there he asked my mom to make sure I got it. Mom said he was so excited about giving it to me - I don't think Wes had many "book exchange" types of friends.
My own life turned upside down for a while not too long after that. Nothing like his, but my own version of falling on my face and floundering around for a bit. I wasn't doing a whole lot of reading during that time period. By the time I got back into the swing of my more normal habits, I had forgotten about the book. So it has sat at my parents' house all this time, just waiting for me to remember it and the friend who gave it to me.
I hope he found his back porch, complete with leaves rustling in the trees and crickets chirping in the background. I hope he kept it together and has a lawn to trek through barefoot. And I hope he's still reading.
Thanks, Wes.
]]>Tuesday, August 12th
After
my last post, I headed to my last normal class at KCP… ever. We learned some
new grammar and vocabulary, though class still ended a little early, and
Saitou-sensei encouraged us to use this time to say our farewells. She had those
of us who are leaving tomorrow (ie. Evan, Caslyn and I) make short speeches, and
I used the opportunity to distribute my business cards. Saitou-sensei also made
a little speech because it turns out it was her last day at KCP as well. She’s
moving to Hungary
to be with her boyfriend.
I had to do my weekly intonation and pronunciation check after class, after which I got talked into walking down to the office with Saitou-sensei, Caslyn, Evan, and Gyeong Mi. The latter three all had tests to retake, and though I hadn’t failed anything and thus had nothing to retake, Saitou-sensei told me I should come along anyway. I didn’t mind too much because I honestly didn’t have anything else to do. I didn’t really do anything… just chatted with Evan and Saitou-sensei a little, and then left.
There wasn’t any dinner waiting for me at the dorm, so I decided to have dinner in Shinjuku before heading home. I ended up going to one of the many meal-ticket restaurants, where, rather than ordering from a waiter or waitress, you buy a ticket for the dish you want, give it to one of the cooks, and then they bring you your food. I actually hadn’t been to one of these places yet, so it was an interesting experience. The food is pretty good, even if the restaurant didn’t win any points for ambience. For a quick, tasty, and above all, cheap meal, they’re good places to go.
After that, I wandered around the area a bit, looking for last-minute things to bring back. I went back to Kinokuniya one more time to look for a book for a friend, but no luck. With nothing else left to do, I got on the subway and headed back to the dorm.
I had two main things to do tonight: packing and studying. To be honest, though, I was never too concerned about the latter. I didn’t learn enough new grammar or kanji this term to feel like I’d benefit from a long cram session. I just read through the important parts of the textbook, reviewed particles, briefly reviewed vocabulary, and that was about it. The better part of my time and energy went into packing, which was already a good 2/3 along by this point, but it’s the last part that’s always the hardest. Trying to cram in the last few things, making final decisions about what to keep and what to throw away… It’s tough.
Anyway, aside from a few remaining odds and ends and things I can’t pack until Thursday morning, I’m pretty much done now. Even though I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to sleep too well, I’m gonna head to bed.
Wednesday, August 13th
I
ended up sleeping okay, but I woke up crying. The reason shouldn’t be any
surprise—today was my last full day in Japan. I was very, very conscious
of this from the minute I woke up.
Feeling restless, I left the dorm very early. I needed to mail my rice cooker home, but even so, I left the dorm far too early. After a good hour spent at FedEx dealing with all the paperwork and personnel who spoke very little English, I ended up wandering around Shinjuku and Kabuki-cho, looking for a restaurant to take Fujimura-sensei for his birthday dinner later. I’d texted him yesterday asking what he’d like to eat, to which he said, “If it’s a birthday celebration, then I want to eat cake!” …which wasn’t really the kind of response I’d been expecting. I’d intended it more as a Japanese vs. Indian vs. western food question. I’d kind of freaked out, because where was I going to find a restaurant that serves cake? Dessert in general isn’t too common at Japanese restaurants. Where was I going to take him so that we could have a delicious dinner and he could also eat cake?
I ended up finding three restaurants. One was a café that wasn’t really suitable for dinner, but I supposed we could always go somewhere else for dinner and then come there for dessert. Another was a very European restaurant that only had a grand total of six items on its menu, and it was pretty pricey, too. The last was Jonathan’s, a chain of western-inspired Japanese diners that’s pretty famous. Out of the three, I liked this one the best because it had a very varied menu, including curry, which I knew sensei would love. Though I was a little afraid that Jonathan’s might have the reputation of being cheap, I decided that, for the sake of having a nice variety of choices for dinner and sensei being able to have cake for dessert, unless sensei had another idea, we’d go there.
I still had about an hour left, but I headed over toward the school. I used the remaining time to read over my notes one more time and just relax before the long exam. We started off with a 50-minute essay. It wasn’t very difficult. 50 minutes is a lot of time and I actually ended up writing a page and a half when they only expected us to write a page. After that, we had a listening test which was very easy. I can happily say that my listening skills have improved a lot over the course of the summer. Then we had grammar, reading, and kanji. The grammar was pretty easy, though I know I messed up some particles. The reading was a little more difficult, mostly because they asked some strange questions I wasn’t sure how they expected us to answer. The kanji wasn’t particularly difficult, but I know I missed a few. By that point, though, I didn’t care anymore. I was so ready to get out. The entire exam had taken three and a half hours.
By the time we got out, though, we weren’t done yet. Evan, Caslyn and I had to head over to the main building for a short closing ceremony for our summer program. It was fairly informal. We were in one of the bigger classrooms. Tanaka-san and a couple of the other administrators made short speeches, and then they handed us our certificates. Those of us who had participated in the speech contest also got an envelope of pictures taken of us at the event. They asked all the students to make short speeches in Japanese about our experiences here. Since almost everyone said variations of either “I had a lot of fun” or “I went from knowing next to nothing to understanding Japanese just a little”, I chose to say 「皆さんは、この後で色々な所へ帰っても、日本語の勉強を続けて、頑張りましょう。」 which roughly translates to, “Everyone, even though after this we’re all returning to various places, let’s continue our study of Japanese and persevere.”
Afterwards, they had snacks, drinks, and ice cream for us while they encouraged us to mingle with the teachers and exchange contact information with each other before we said our goodbyes. I felt awkwardly out-of-place and was really ready to skip out on the whole thing and go to my dinner date with Fujimura-sensei (who wasn’t present because he hadn’t really been too involved with the U.S. students program), but leaving early seemed to be in poor taste, so I stuck around. I exchanged contact information with Lane (who, I only just learned today, actually spells his name Laeyn) and talked with Takahashi-sensei for a while. She said she still wants me to keep writing articles for the School Newspaper Club even if I’m no longer at KCP. That makes me really happy.
In the end, though, I just ran out of people to talk to and felt far too awkward, so I made my escape before the shindig was officially over. I assumed Fujimura-sensei was at the other building—he said that he was officially free for the day as soon as exams were done, but that he’d stick around and start on grading—but he wasn’t, so I called him and had to wait a little while before he walked up, with Takahashi-sensei. While he went inside to get some papers, Takahashi-sensei and I got to say farewell all over again. And then Fujimura-sensei and I were finally able to go to dinner.
Sensei seemed surprised that I wasn’t off with the other American students, but while I know that my decision to have dinner with him instead might in some sense seem antisocial, it made perfect sense to me. I imagine that almost everyone was spending their last night with the person or group of people who have been the most important person to them during their stay in Japan, and I guess it’s true that, however odd it might seem, that person, to me, is sensei. He’s the one person whom I feel understands me on more than a surface level, who doesn’t dismiss my quietude as a lack of interest but realizes it is the effect of thoughtfulness, and who has helped me gain the sense of emotional fulfillment I’d been lacking all this time.
Sensei was okay with Jonathan’s, so we headed there. As expected, he ordered curry, while I went for udon noodles in curry soup. In the meantime, we toasted to his birthday. He said he was really touched that I’d insisted on celebrating his birthday because he hadn’t done so in years. Aside from having few friends, he told me that his father usually forgets when his birthday is, or how old he is. Not only that, but it turns out that his mother had died in 1995 during the big earthquake in Kobe. (We’d read an article about it in class and I’d thought about asking him if he’d been there at the time, but I’d held off, fearing that maybe somebody he knew had died. I’m glad I’d decided not to ask.) He has an older sister, but they don’t get along—to the point where he doesn’t know where she is or what she’s doing, and he doesn’t want to know. I was quite shocked. I’d gotten the sense that he’s a slightly lonely person, but it turns out he’s a lot lonelier than I’d thought. Unfortunately, I did not know sufficient words in Japanese to express my sympathy.
His revelations made me all the happier, though, that I was able to do something for him and to spend my last night in Tokyo brightening someone else’s life, rather than selfishly indulging myself with something or other. Of course, the act was by no means entirely selfless. I was glad to have such good company for dinner, as well as such good food, which I’d rounded off with my favorite green tea ice cream while sensei had cheesecake.
To my relief, sensei allowed me to pay for dinner. I grabbed the tab before he could and though afterwards he tried to talk me into letting him pay for half, I insisted, and he didn’t argue. I felt much better about things then, because his paying for everything on Sunday really had made me very uncomfortable and unhappy. Now I felt like I didn’t owe him quite so much.
On the walk back to the subway station, I grew very quiet. I tried to find things to say, to try to remain cheerful, but it was hard, knowing that I was seeing and walking through Shinjuku for the last time. It took most of my strength not to cry, but I was determined not to. Today was for sensei, not for me.
We parted at the station, at the crossing where the paths for our two subway lines diverged. I still couldn’t manage to say much, but I think sensei understood that it was hard. He said that when he’d left Germany, he’d felt the same way. He hadn’t wanted to leave, but he had to. Anyway, he promised me that next time I come to Japan for an extended period of time, we’ll go to Osaka and he’ll show me around. In return, he said that if he ever makes it to the Netherlands again (he’s been there once, on a day-trip to Groningen), he expects me to show him around, to which I said, 「はい、もちろん。」 (“Yes, of course.”). And then it really was good-bye.
…But not really. I knew he’d text me by the time I got home, and he did. And even after I really leave tomorrow, I know we’ll still e-mail, probably fairly frequently. This is by no means the end. So I don’t feel too sad, aside from regretting the missed opportunities to hang out on Sundays and help each other feel a little less lonely. I do worry about him a little, and I hope he can make some good friends soon. Otherwise, I might feel just a little guilty for leaving.
At any rate, we’d taken our time with dinner, but by the time I got home, it was still only around 9:30pm or so. Evan had invited me to join Kevin and he as they planned to cross the Rainbow Bridge and walk around Tokyo all night. I’d told them I’d see how much energy I had when I got home. Turns out the wine I had with dinner went to my head more quickly than usual, meaning I feel pretty tired. I think I’m gonna have to pass on the all-nighter adventure, however much fun it sounds, and try to get some sleep. After all, knowing me, even if I did stay up all night, I probably still won’t manage to sleep much on the flight tomorrow.
Thursday, August 14th
Before
I begin writing, I will admit that this is being written retroactively. As
such, it may be more or less detailed than it would have been had I tried to
write this at the time. I don’t know, but the fact is, by the time I’d made it
home (when it was still August 14th, though I’d spent a good 15
hours traveling) I was too tired to write this, and it has taken me a few days
to find the time and the energy. Just as an FYI.
I woke up around 6:30am to finish packing the last few remaining things. I ran around the dorm taking a few pictures, which somehow I’d never gotten around to. At the very beginning, I’d been too jet-lagged to deal with it, and after that, it had always seemed like there was still plenty of time left for things like this. And then, before I knew it, it’s the last day and I still hadn’t taken any pictures of my living environment. So I set about to rectify this at the last minute.
My train was leaving Ikebukuro at 9:30am, so even though it’s only a 3-5-minute subway ride, I left the dorm at 8:30—I’d planned to take a whole hour for the trip from the dorm to Ikebukuro. After all, I had two suitcases to transport by myself, and there were a lot of stairs. Kotake-Mukaihara (my station) doesn’t have any elevators. Though I love them to pieces, I will say that the Japanese are not the most helpful people in the world. Only once did a man passing by offer to help, and he happened to also speak English very well.
Taking out an hour for the trip to Ikebukuro turned out to be a very good idea. By the time I’d made it to the platform for the Narita Express train, it had been a good 40 minutes. The hardest part had been getting my suitcases up the stairs to this platform. All the other places had either been stairs going down, or there had been elevators going up.
The good news was, once I’d made it to that platform and then onto the train at 9:30am, my luggage did not pose any more problems, and getting to the airport was very easy. I suppose, in the end, I’m still happy that I’d decided to forego the expense of paying a courier to take my luggage to the airport, and had decided to take the most expensive train instead. Reserved seats were a godsend, and the train itself was very spacious and nice. They even came by with a cart selling drinks and snacks.
The total train ride took about 80 minutes. I wasn’t sure whether to get off at the Terminal 2 or Narita Airport stop, so I made a lucky guess and got off at the latter. Korean Air did indeed leave from Terminal 1. Lucky me.
Check-in didn’t take too long. My flight left at 3pm, and I was a good 3-4 hours early, so there weren’t many people in line. After that, since my stomach was growling, I decided to go search for lunch. I ended up indulging myself just a little by having takoyaki and beer. I wandered around the souvenir shops but didn’t see anything of interest, even though I had some ¥3000 left to spend. I later used the remaining money to buy McDonalds fries and another beer, and changed ¥2000 back into dollars just so I’d be carrying a little change when I got to the U.S.
At the gate area, I ended up meeting up with Kevin, who was on the same flight. (This wasn’t a surprise to either of us. We’d been on the same flight coming here as well.) We chatted a little. He told me about his nighttime adventure with Evan. We also discovered we were only sitting one row apart, though once we got on the plane, somebody asked him to switch seats with her so she could sit by her friend, and we ended up being pretty far apart. We were both pretty unlucky, too. We both sat in the middle section and had families with kids on either side. Kevin’s were babies, while mine were a girl of about 3 and about 6 who decided they wanted to be friends, and spent most of the flight trying to get over to each other’s side of the plane. I don’t know who had worse luck—Kevin or I.
There isn’t too much to say about the flight. It was only 10 hours this time instead of 12, but that’s still a long time. I decided to take advantage of the free alcohol this time, hoping that if I drank enough, I’d just pass out, but I only slept for a little bit, after which I just had to use the bathroom a lot, so it wasn’t that effective. For in-flight movies, they showed What Happens in Vegas and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I hadn’t seen either, but I’m not a big fan of romantic comedies, so I only watched the latter. Aside from that, I just listened to music a lot and tried my best to go back to sleep, which didn’t happen. I guess the flight also didn’t feel quite as long as I’d been expecting. Before I knew it, we were on the ground.
I was happy to have the long flight over with, but I still had a good five hours to go. I had about a two-and-a-half-hour layover at LAX, after which it was a little over two-and-a-half hours to Houston. I also got to deal with the joy of going through customs (first time doing so with my green card—it took all of 10 seconds, which was a big relief), waiting for my baggage (huge-ass flight so it took forever), rechecking my bags, and then navigating LAX to the Continental terminal (pain in the ass). At the other terminal, the lines for security were very long, and by the time I made it to my gate, my flight was about to start boarding. Quite a fortunate turn of events.
The second flight was fairly uneventful. We got a small snack, and they showed Kung Fu Panda. I tried to watch because I hadn’t seen it but really wanted to, but I only made it about 2/3 of the way through before dozing off. We touched down in Houston at almost exactly 5pm local time. Recall that I’d left Tokyo at 3pm local time. It was the longest day of my life.
August 14th also happens to be my mom’s birthday, so aside from the heartache at having to leave Japan, it was nice that I was able to be there—to be my mother’s birthday present, in effect. She came by herself to pick me up at the airport, though my sister was waiting at the house by the time we got there.
Though I was tired, I forced myself to stay up until past 11pm, to try to get into a normal sleep schedule as quickly as possible. Watching the Olympics helped; I got caught up in watching the gymnastics finals, and actually ended up making it past midnight, though I crashed immediately after that.
I’ve been working on a follow-up post, wrapping up remaining business (such as pictures and videos that I wasn’t able to post earlier) and dealing with the overall aftermath of returning to the States—my thoughts and feelings since then. However, to prevent this post from getting too long, I’ve decided to post the two separately. I’ll put this up for now, and the other post will follow probably within the next day. I want all this stuff cleared up and squared away before I head off to Pittsburgh on Thursday—though, as I’ll explain in my next post, this is likely not the end of my posts here. But I’ll save that for later. For now, apologies for the delay, and thank you all for sticking with me this long.
]]>Friends have send me an email about this and like to share with you. As my other friends wanting to know about it but they don't access their email to read.
Date: 22 to 24 August (Friday to Sunday)
Time :
10:30am -
9:00pm
Venue :
Hall 1 & 2, Mid Valley Exhibition Hall, Level
3
Admission :
Entrance is FREE
Major Exhibit :
-
Fitness & Slimming Beauty Services
- Maternity & Children's Clothing
and Accessories
- Medical Biotechnology & Management of Infertility
Services
- Natural Nutrition Food for Weaning Babies & Organic Toddler
Formula Products
- Diaper, Furniture and Toy Retailers
- Infant &
Toddlers Safety Products
- Breastfeeding & Mommy's Groups
- Early
Education Products
- Financial & Insurance Institutions
There
are many exciting activities, workshop for parents, contests for your family and
you to join in the fun.
Today was the first time I've had a hard day at school.
They told us this morning that we can't wear flip flops to school. I know this probably seems trivial but I had thought we could, and it was what I was used to. They are practically the only type of footwear I wear. I don't really like shoes. I have ugly teacher shoes but they only work with pants. So what do I wear with capris and skirts? Heels are out of the question.
Then there is sharing a room. When I first got here I was told that I would be sharing a room with the 8th grade science teacher. There wasn't really anything I could say but, "OK, that'll be fun." We get a ginormous (my favorite word of the moment...no idea where it came from) room because we are sharing. Just right now it looks like it was hit by a tornado (and it might have been judging by the water leaking through the cieling - I thought I was done with that kind of stuff in MS). School staff transfered everything from our old rooms and so now we just have the task of sorting through the chaos.
Adjusting to sharing a room is really the hardest thing I've encountered at school. More than being patient with housing and administration and adjusting to riding a big yellow bus to school. This is going to be every day all year (the bus might be every day too but I've done it before and at least this isn't a short bus). Julian is awesome and I think we are going to have a fantastic time but right now as we figure out the details of setting up the classroom...it would just be so much easier if we could do things our own way. We are both pretty independent, but also obsessively organized and clean. If I had to share a room, and I do, then I couldn't think of a better person to share with. I only hope I don't drive him too nuts.
Our house still isn't ready. It was supposed to be cleaned on Saturday, then Monday, now Wednesday or Thursday. I'm not holding my breath. It really doesn't matter anyway because we don't have beds. Jenn and I don't want to buy them because the school has quite a few that it loans out. They give away furniture through a lottery for new teachers so we don't have to buy everything and then try to sell it in two years. The lottery was supposed to happen last week.
I guess on top of all this I'm really missing home. I don't even know if home means Mississippi or Washington. I think it's both. On of my best friends just lost her dad and it's been so hard not to be there for her. I almost came home but it didn't end up working out and that's actually okay because she is going to get to come stay with me for a month. I know it won't always be a big party but I'm looking forward to that more than I can say. I miss my MS family. Especially that last month, we were having so many good time and we had all grown so close. I love you all so much. (just thinking everyone makes me cry, I thought I would be over this stage by now) Then there is my other home with more friends and family. What an amazing summer I had! I think I spent more time with my family that I have in past summers and I can't imaging anything I'd rather do more. I did new things with old friends and was even able to reunite with some dear friends I hadn't seen since college. I love all of you too. I'm sorry that I keep moving all over the world and can't stay around for more than 2 months at a time. Every now and then I wish that I didn't have such close friend and family ties because then it wouldn't be so hard to say goodbye. But I wouldn't ever want to lose any of you. I know I've said it before but I love y'all.
There are so many good things at the school that more than make up for my little complaints. Our 8th grade team is arguably the best in the school. It's a crazy group that likes to do wacky skits and get really involved, but when it come to teaching everyone is very serious about the students learning. There is already a miss america skit being planned to introduce us to the students on Thursday. When we were making rules for the team yesterday one of them was that we have to be friends and hang out together. I love it! Of the seven of us, only two are new. While this could be difficult, they have done a great job of inviting Lindsey and I in. I absolutely cannot wait to see what fun/adventures we will have this year.
At our staff meeting this morning (the same one where Ric broke my heart with the no flip flops rule) we were also told that we were NOT expected to turn in lesson plans. At this point I had to halt in the middle of making my to-do list. I was sure that I had heard wrong. But then he said it again. "I do NOT want you to send me lesson plans." I still felt like I should clean out my ears. No way was my principal telling me this. Not in a million years. But I guess I must be really really old because that was exactly what he was saying. He did follow up with expecting to see lesson plans when he visits classrooms. I'm fine with that. He is trusting us to be adults and do our jobs. It's a good, and new, feeling to be trusted at school (as a group).
Aside from my 8th grade team I'm making a lot of good friends with other new teachers. Why, I'm not sure, but I keep finding myself surrounded by Canadians. Maybe defection is somewhere in my future. Jenn (the lady I'm going to be living with) is awesome. We are at the same hotel and so have been able to spend a good bit of time together. It's been nice to get to know each other a little before we start sharing a house. Our friend Ryan, also from Canada, has been along, and even started, many of our adventures. Mike and Wendy, the other two that were on the plane with Kammie and I, are amazing and now have a house right up the street from school. I'm envisioning many afternoons sitting on their balcony after classes. There are some other people who I have been able to spend time with and whom I enjoy a lot. I hope that we all stay close friends once we get busy with school and are involved in our own sections.
But it's bedtime now. The contacts have gone blurry. Good night. And if you are dedicated enough to have read this whole post, I love you too!
]]>1: I am not that emotional.
2: What?! You're not emotional?
1: Not really.
2: You are very emotional. You're like Oprah's used tampon.
What were you afraid of when you were younger that seems silly to you now?
Submitted by wandie
Nothing silly about my fear of the dark, let me tell you! A fear that shadowed me through time and stays with me still until this day. Of course, my vision of what actually was worth fearing has changed quite dramatically. Take a time travel device back to Katrina circa 1994 and what lurked would probably be a warped version of Chucky hiding stealthly in my closet. Hit the red button circa 1997, the big bad beast would most likely be the silver drain found in a harmless, white, porcelain tub. Currently, don't you dare fucking leave me in the dark by myself. You find yourself alone in the darkness. Suddenly, from your peripherals you see some mad creature dash by and the remnants of the wind brush past you. Don't worry, thats just me trying to get the fuck out.
Now that I have opened with a relatively mundane, useless topic I can move on to more important things. This is a project, one I hope I can stick to. Write everyday about anything! Here is a little information about me for people who might be trying to keep up.
Bonjour! My name is Katrina B. and I am currently (and unfortunately) located in Miami, FL. Why unfortunate? Ive been dying to live away and feel that independent breeze for years. There is nothing nonindependent about my household though, my parents don't really give a fuck (excuse my french) what I do, where I go, etc. Sunday lunches with Mom usually include a story or two about my underage drinking, chronic school skipping and drug experimentation. It's a fun topic though, and her shocked faces are too priceless. I am a college freshman at a local university who's declared major is UNDECIDED. That dreaded word, it haunts me to my core everyday. I am a worrier, constantly fearing my place and happiness in the world will be managed in the hands of one simple wrong desision. Should I be a writer? Should I be an EMT and follow in the footsteps of my firefighting father? Become a film critic? Should I work at Whole Foods as a Cashier for the rest of my life? Who knows. When anyone asks why I havent been able to make a particular life desision, my simple answer is I have too many interests and not enough passions. Maybe theres more good linked to that statement than bad, but this I have yet to see. There is a serious list of things I need to do before I die: Study abroad in Europe, Move to New York, Work & Play in Orlando. Hey thats not bad right? It can and will be done.
I have two best friends, one named Christy who I have sold my soul to since I was 7 happily and a recent best friend named Giovanni who is the cause and cure to all my problems at the same time. Christy & Gio have since begun dating, so its me on my own :D
Welcome to my world, enjoy the ride!
]]>Wedding planning continues apace, with our vows chosen (we went for the traditional required statements, and that's it. Why make people sick having to listen to you promise to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every second Tuesday for life?) and everything important booked. The dressmaker for the bridesmaids dresses is popping over to the house for a chat on Sunday and that just leaves the flower girls' dresses which I'm not remotely worried about.
Talk about grown up, though. My mother-in-law was chatting to the eldest bridesmaid, Georgia, about the day. She's 7. Going on 45.
MIL: Are you looking forward to being a bridesmaid?
Georgia: Of course!
MIL: What sort of dress would you like?
Georgia: Whatever Alex wants us to wear.
I liked the kid anyway, she's beautiful, smart and thoughtful which is a winning combination in anyone, but now I like her even more.
Last night we also went to see a diamond setter / ring designer / jeweller who's a friend of the family. MIL has - with tremendous generosity - offered me part of a multi-gemstone ring for me to make part of my wedding ring. Which means if it works I'll have a row of diamonds, eternity ring style, on one side and a plain band on the other, so I can wear it as bling or more muted as I choose. He's studying it now to see if it can be done. Even if I can't, I'll be eternally grateful that she offered - it's not about the diamonds but the sentiment. What a way to show that I'm part of the family; she offered it to me because the ring was left to her by one of Ashley's favourite relatives who adored him.
I also met his wonderfully mad aunt at the weekend, who is just brilliant. She's a headteacher at a private boarding school and her husband is equally lovely. They have ducks! And a gorgeous cat! Plus she's an amazing cook and has a sense of humour about everything. What's not to like? She was going to play the harp at the wedding but can't get the instrument down to Oxford which is such a shame.
Sometimes, despite all the aggravation life and hormones can throw at me, I do know I am one of luckiest people on earth.
If there's one personality trait guaranteed to fuck me right off, it's people being unnecessarily childish.
By this I don't mean childlike or playful. I'm quite happy for my friends and family to scuttle around like hyperactive terriers and enjoy reading children's books or watching kiddie films. Personally, I love Disney World, for example.
But when it comes to any sort of relationship, professional or personal, close or distant, once you let the element of the playground in, it's all over. I just realised while I was having a followee cull on Twitter that someone I worked with before this job removed me and took me off their Facebook etc, etc. None of which would really have any significance for me (because we don't work together now, or even precisely in the same field, and we're not really friends) if I hadn't bumped into her at a mutual acquaintance's shindig the other week and had her be blatantly rude to my face.
Having met Ash on several occasions before, she was always very nice about him. On this occasion she ignored him completely and grunted a pained "hello" at me because I unsuspectingly went "Oh hi! How are you?" (I know, wasn't that terrible of me? I'm such a bitch.)
The fact is she started being an arsehole to me around three months before I left the job and I probably complained about this to someone who told her. I hold my hand up - I should have just asked her what the hell was wrong and fixed it if I'd done something to upset or offend her. But then she seemed to stop freaking out and even sent me a message or two after that so I just filed her in the "polite acquaintaince" box.
I actually respect her for trimming the fat - we've all done it with friends who are basically no longer friends and it's easier still if you were never really friends in the first place. But simple manners wouldn't hurt. She can be as rude as she likes to me but why drag Ash into it? He was just being friendly (he does have some terrier-like traits, it's true).
You know, I started this post thinking I could muster some righteous indignation at the person concerned but really it's about all childish people, from those who throw their toys out of the pram in website comments to those who let PMT dictate not only whom they want to speak to but whom they do actually speak to.
Sad to say, 90% of my experiences of this kind - and they are thankfully few in the grand scheme of things - have been with other women. So much for the sisterhood...
Ringo H.W. Chiu / Los Angeles Times
Vegan sandwiches and smoothies at the Vegan Spot in Silver Lake
IF YOU think vegan junk food is an oxymoron, you've obviously never had a dairy-free "Twinkie" from the Vegan Spot. So great is the public desire for them that Silver Lake's newest vegan destination -- it's been open for three months -- regularly sells out of the golden-cake tubes filled with rich white frosting.
"I hadn't had a Twinkie in probably 25 years," says the restaurant's co-owner and chef, Sara Radovanovitch, about her first taste when the baker brought them in. "It was amazing. I'm eating something that totally tastes like my youth and it's not going to give me a heart attack."
The 31-year-old Radovanovitch has been a vegetarian for 20 years and a vegan for 10. Her robust complexion, tan skin and long, shiny blond hair repudiate the old myth that you'll waste away if you don't eat meat or dairy.
Still, Radovanovitch found she couldn't shake a hankering for all the forbidden foods she grew up with in the Midwest.
Like many vegans, she spent much of her time cooking for herself and became an expert at making what she calls "vegan comfort food."
She opened the Vegan Spot with her friend Miranda Megill, who owns a popular vegan restaurant near Sunset Junction called Flore. Radovanovitch was waiting tables there when the two hit on the idea of opening another restaurant with more playful, less straight-up healthful leanings.
At first glance, the menu makes die-hard vegans feel guilty just for looking at it. Roast beef and cheddar sandwiches, Philly cheese steaks, corned beef Reubens, turkey dinner sandwiches, nachos and French bread pizza are listed alongside a lengthy roster of salads, wraps and shakes that include decadent-sounding flavors such as orange cream and chocolate-banana-peanut butter.
Radovanovitch says the most popular menu item is the roast beef and cheddar sandwich. Made with homemade seitan (gluten flour and seasonings), sliced deli thin and marinated in a browning sauce to give it a beefy color, it's served on a crusty French roll and smothered with a cheese sauce made from nutritional yeast, flour, pureed carrot and soy margarine.
The result is eerily addictive but pleasantly light.
As Radovanovitch says, "I want to give people what they miss and what they crave. Only I want to give them a healthier version."
Vegan Spot, 3206 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A.; (323) 667-0116. Sandwiches, salads and wraps $8.95 to $9.95; shakes $4.95; street parking; open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; delivery available.
]]>Well, if you are think about Party for sure you will need to find party supplies. Yes, my friend Pauline who has a baby gal is wanting to celebrate her baby gal's one year old. So that mean there's going to be a party. Personally, I have not have any party for my birthday at all. How about you? I think children today are really lucky to have birthday party with friends and family.
Pauline wanting to find party supplies but have no idea where to find them. She told me that the party supplies which available at local shop are having limited supplies. I have not tell Pauline a website which I have found, I am sure she will be happy to know about this Party Supplies . I am so happy to have found this website PartyPro dot com. They have over 60,000 discount party supplies. You have to see it for yourself to know what I am trying to tell you.
I am sure everyone have a reason to start a party with your favourite one. I am sure Pauline will find the Discount Party Supplies to celebrate her 1st Birthday Party. I am checking out this website and I found there's many type of party supplies for boys and gals. I have no idea which to choose from, there's so many choice and variety. I am sure Pauline wants to celebrate her little gal's 1st Birthday Party with very cute banner. Gals loves pink and maybe she can choose Pink Party Supplies.
If you are wanting to have a party and not sure where to find the party supplies. I assured you that you can check out these site for All Birthday Party Supplies . I would love to throw a party for Sean, but hubby is telling me to hang on first. Maybe wait a few years from now. Almost forgot to tell you that there's Free Shipping available with orders over $50.00 within 48 States but thats for Green Site Only. Be sure to find out more info about these great party supplies.
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