Warmin' Up

Got home safe and sound from Hokkaido last night. The whole weekend was amazing- I had such a blast despite the cold weather and actually, I wasn't too cold. I thought I was going to freeze my behind off and granted, it was cold, but then again we were prepared for it with more layers than I ever wanted to have on my body at once. On the bright side, though, once I got home it seemed nice and warm in my hometown, not nearly as cold as Sapporo. All I can say is, snow's nice to play in but not nice to live in. I'm glad to be in Tokorozawa.

Pictures coming soon...

Sapporo- More Than Just Beer

Tomorrow morning I'm leavin' on a jet plane for Sapporo, located on the northern island of Hokkaido. I'm excited, lemme tell you, but I'm gonna freeze my behind off. I don't even have snow gear. Duh, I know I'm not really prepared, but that's half the fun, right?!? We'll see.... being wet and cold is not so much fun, so I'm gonna try and stay warm. Most excitingly, there's a Snow Festival coming up in Sapporo, where they carve enormous sculptures out of mounds and mounts of snow/ice/anything cold. From the pictures I've seen, there are mini versions of the Parthenon and Big Ben. Well, that and of course a huge Hello Kitty or Pokemon. True to Japanese nature there is a bit of outlandish cuteness/anime obsession in ever corner of this great country. We're going to Sapporo (which is also famous for their beer) a little before the festival starts, but hopefully we'll get to see the workers forming their creations. If not, we can always hit up the beer tour! Enjoy the festival pics for yourself in the comfort and warmth of your home!

http://www.reggie.net/album.php?albid=636

p.s. I haven't yet mastered the link field, so you'll have to use good ol' fashioned cut and paste!

2007

Today, I stared down the blank sheets of paper sitting on my desk, waiting for one simple signature. The papers forced me to circle one of two options, and then scribble my signature deciding the fate of my time here in Nihon.

1. Yes, I would like to recontract for the 2006-2007 JET term.

2. No, I would not like to recontract for the 2006-2007 JET term.

Hmmmm.... faced with a challenging decision. So, which did I circle, you ask? Well, being that I'm still not fluent in Japanese, I figured I would need a little more time here to get the knack of things. When my contract ends this July I will be staying another full year. So, until then, get used to this blog, cause that might be all ya see of me for a while. Yup, I'm officially tied down to Tokyo until 2007.

The Little Ones

Here's my class of third year students. They are getting ready to graduate and this was our last class, so we got together for a family picture. Me not having my camera on hand, on of the girls offered to send it to my cell phone email. Attached with the picture were the following emails. If anyone can translate these for me I would bow down to your deciphering skills, because I got nothing.

Let me also say these three texts are typed, letter for letter, as I received them on the ketai.

Number 1:

"Hello. My name is mami. picture present for you."

Number 2:

"It..voice..disregards it when It not good? we graduate and it meets so mewhere Because Cristena..me..talk..is put."

Number 3:

"You may see
Let's email a lot
Because happily to the person in a different country the dream it's glad."

So......

Did anyone catch what that all was trying to say?! Nope? Me neither. Yeah, um, imagine trying to respond to that text message. What is there to reply to? Then again, I could probably say anything and my students really wouldn't get it. They are still irresistably cute, though, I'll give 'em that.

Snowy Tokyo

So, here's the wrap up of the weekend.

Friday:

1. Went to Kumagaya for a joint birthday party thrown for me and Jillian. (Happy birthday, Snake!)
2. Stopped at Mark's place, the usual crash pad for pre-funk drinks and birthday presents. (I got a rockin' plant, a mini violin, an ever so thoughtful bottle of wine from Catalunya, yummy chocolates, and a velvet brown/green blazer.) I thought I made out pretty well.
3. Headed to Daikoku, the local bar, where the ruffians there gave me a hot pink fleece top (what's up new pj's), a Mickey Mouse birthday cake, and, best of all, a clam shell bra. Weird. They made me pose with the clams on. Over my shirt, fortunately, but they seemed hopeful for a different decision. That wasn't gonna happen.

Saturday:

1. Woke up at Mark's place to SNOW!
2. Had coffee and toast and headed to Tokyo for the afternoon.
3. Stopped in for lunch at a Freshness Burger- Jillian can tell you every location of the chain restaurant in Tokyo.
3. Walked to the Mori Museum to check out an exhibition and see the view of Tokyo. But... the exhibition was over and the view was too hazy because of the snow... boo. So, to stay out of the cold, we headed to Tully's and grabbed a cup of joe to pass the time before we...
4. Met up with Temple University Japan crew in Shibuya to hit up the nomihodai (all you can drink) session at I Love New York restaurant. Met lots of new friends and had some good grub and drinks, too.

Sunday:

1. Chilled. All day. I went to bed too late last night and church was just too early. Instead, I did nothing but relaxed, watched an episode of Lost via ITunes, made some toast, grocery shopped, went to the 100 yen store, pretended to study Japanese, and, of course, posted this riveting blog entry.

Today

Now that the bday's over, (yes sad, I know, but they do only come once a year) I gotta move on. I live knowing there will be no birthday cake for me for at least another 360ish days... and that's if I milked it a bit to get the cake early.

In light of my newfound maturity, I am posting an entry written by one of my favorite authors, Federick Beuchner. Beuchner, a Christian man, writes profoundly and honestly about the both the difficulties and joys of life. And it's about time someone told it like it is. Not only this, but he demonstrates what a life of faith and thought can produce. Today I'm encouraged to live my life with purpose in order to find the sacred in everything. No, it's not my "special" day anymore... but then again... each morning I wake and breathe and live and have the chance for life to be a endless slice of goodness. Read on.

"Listen to your life. All moments are key moments.

I discovered that if you really keep your eye peeled to it and your ears open, if you really pay attention to it, even such a limited and limiting life as the one I was living on Rupert Mountain opened up onto extraordinary vistas. Taking your children to school and kissing your wife goodbye. Eating lunch with a friend. Trying to do a decent day's work. Hearing the rain patter against the window. There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not to recognize him, but all the more fascinatingly because of that, all the more compellingly and hauntingly.... If I were called upon to state in a few words the essence of everything I was trying to say both as a novelist and a preacher, it would be something like this: Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and the gladness: touch, tase, smell your way into the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace."

- Frederick Beuchner

Before and After

Yike! I'm 23! And... just like yesterday... still look the same. However, I am certainly far more wise and mature now than I was 24 hours ago. So I guess that's something. Yeay for birthdays.

Kiss 22 Goodbye

This is it. The countdown. I've got exactly thirty more minutes till I have to kiss 22 adios and say hello to my new best friend, Mr. 23. Here's a pic of me to go down in cyberspace history. My youth and vitality at this young age will forever be immortalized on the 'net. Woohoo. Tomorrow I will take another picture of the much wiser, more mature me. 'Til then I will basque in the glory of being 22.

Sitges Shmitges

Day trips! I loves 'em! So, with the family we packed up two cars in Terrassa, and 45 minutes later we were in Sitges, a beautiful beach town in Spain. It was a crisp, warm, sunny day and we spent the afternoon walking the coastline and checking out the local shops. Here's a couple of shots of the family.



Here's the family walking along the beach... Robert (bro), Mari-Toni (aunt), Sofia (sis) and Iaia (grandma).



Here's us again. Same beach. Just a shot where you can actually see our faces.



Queralt- my baby girl cousin. Well... not so much a baby anymore. Anyway, she scootered around the whole day and enjoyed the view.



Little cousins. Obviously playing on the swings. You got Enric on the left and Queralt on the right. Rockin' kids. Don't you just long for the days when swings were the best thing in life?! I should swing more often.

Champagne on Christmas

Christmas this year was spent in Spain. The Spanish people don't usually give gifts on Christmas, although they do share a meal on baby Jesus' bday. But, I figured I wasn't going home to America, so I had to bring some American tradition to Spain. So, although there was no Christmas tree, my family and I did play some Christmas music on the IPod using our computer speakers as a home stereo system. And, I made us each Christmas stockings which Santa faithfully filled on Christmas day.

Here's a pic of the fam: Iaia, Robert, and me (duh). Sofia, my little sis, is taking the picture, hence the empty bowl of soup at the table where she belongs.



More pics of my winter adventures in Europe to follow. Stay tuned.

Back Home?

As for my recent lapse on the blogspot- sorry peeps. I was in Spain having the time of my life without a cable to upload all the pics. Boo. But, now I am back home (really this is home now?) in Japan and back to life... back to reality. (okay, who else was singing along with that song... anyone know the song I mean?) I'm still a bit jet lagged and trying to adjust back to games of charades to explain myself, weird Japanese television, and being illiterate. Good times.

Anyway, so yesterday I called my old college roommate, Tara, just to say hello and catch up with her. She was in Spain with me last year, so she knows all the fam and it's nice to reminisce with someone who knows what you are talking about. [p.s. let me just say that's why you all reading this should come and visit me in Japan... then when we talked we could reminisce about weird Japanese people and stories and it would be hysterical.]

Okay, so I'm talking to Tara and here's the dialogue:

Tara: So what are you doing right now?

Me: Uhhhhhh, I'm actually eating sushi and watching sumo.

Tara: Wow, you really are Japanese now.

Me: I know!

Both: (laughing)

I guess I really have integrated my life into the Japanese culture. Okay, well, that's if watching sumo and eating sushi make you Japanese. But, amazingly, I was somewhat eerily happy to be home after leaving Spain. Don't get me wrong, it was SO hard to leave the family in Terrassa this year. I didn't want to leave. At all. I mean, really, not one shred of me wanted to come back to Japan at the time. But, once I got back into Narita Airport, and I was on the train, I somehow smiled to be home. Weird, I know. I zoomed by all the Japanese style houses and the fields and the countryside, with the sun shining, and somehow, I felt alright about it. It was a weird feeling. Maybe this place really is becoming home.