Can I attach a snow plow to my bicycle?

After a week of being the feverish, sickly mess that I was, I made it a personal mission to enjoy the heck out of the weekend. Starting with moving from the couch back to my bed! I put all my sheets and blankets and pillows back where they belong, and picked up the floor of my room so I could actually see it again. I cleared my couch of all things I'd put there to be within an arm's reach should I have needed it (books, computer games, cookies!) and returned my living room to its normal state.

After talking with Ze and doing the dishes, I met my friend Eileen at the station. The problem with meeting at the station is that our meeting point was Mister Donuts......so, naturally, we had to have some donuts before we even left for the mall. Before we even checked to see what time the bus leaves for the mall! (^_^) One of the things I love most about Eileen is that she loves food. I don't have any friends who start a conversation with "eat anything good today?" besides her. It's nice when someone has a real love for something, and when I hang out with her I find that I appreciate good food more, too. At the mall, Youme Town, we both realized we wanted to buy home goods more than clothes. While I think this might have been a relatively new feeling for my friend, anyone who knows me knows that I would almost always rather be in the home goods section! So we went to store called Nitori that was instantly my favorite non-clothing store in Kurume when I arrived here. I bought two new mugs ( because I had just bought some yummy tea at Muji)!!
After shopping we ate out at an Italian chain restaurant called Pietro. After Eileen left, I rounded out the evening with some Sims 3.

I woke up earlier on Sunday than I wanted (7:30) but oh, man, was I happy that I did. Can you even guess what was on TV at 7:30 in the morning? If you guessed Pokemon, you were right!! When I read on the TV guide thingy that Pokemon was on, I thought it would be some new episode with Pokemon I've never heard of that my elementary school students talk about all the time, but it wasn't! It was actually an episode that I saw when I was in elementary school!! This was from over 10 years ago. I couldn't believe it. Just in case you know what I'm talking about or are Jonathan, it was the episode where that girl with turquoise hair has a Ditto that can't replicate properly, and Jesse & James steal it to try to make it replicate a Dratini. It was so weird, of course, to hear them all speaking Japanese. Misty's Japanese voice was wretched--too high and squeaky. But Japanese Ash actually sounded like a boy, so that was a nice change. :) Anyway, what a blast from the past! It made me feel nostalgic.

After calling home and chatting with mom for an hour, I actually fell back asleep. I spent the rest of Sunday drinking delicious almond hazelnut tea and eating strawberries with honey. I played the Sims 3 some more, and watched a little Japanese TV (there was a program on about Japanese houses!) There was a little snowfall throughout the day, but nothing that really stuck...

Which is why I was surprised to walk out my door this morning and find inches of snow on the ground! I have never biked in snow before, but let me just say that it 100% sucks. I fishtailed and lost my balance, and when the snow was deep, it was HARD to pedal. I was so scared of losing my balance and falling into the road (in places where there is no sidewalk) that I got off my bike and walked the rest of the way to the station. So actually, I missed my train. A train that I wake up at 5:45 to give myself enough time to get ready and bike to the station to catch. After calling my supervisor and having her call the school and finding out that someone would be picking me up at Amagi station instead of me taking the bus (due to weather), I caught the next train. I waited for more than half an hour at the station while the heavens snowed down on me. The principal himself came to pick me up, but when I got in his car, he told me that the drive there from the school had been terrible and dangerous, and that since it was going to keep snowing, it would be almost impossible for me to leave the school later. He told me to go back to the office instead. Besides being disappointed because I love that school, it was a little awful that I went through all that snow, missed my train and waited half an hour until the next one arrived , took a 40 minute train ride, and waited another half hour in the snow to have to turn around and go back. I didn't even get to the office until almost 11:00! Why doesn't Japan have snow days? Being at the B.O.E. I heard of soooo many teachers and students that had to go late to school and such because of the snow. Why not cancel school?

I had an easy day after that though. I mostly read and decorated my planner (yes, I decorate my planner). You know that feeling you get when you are reading an amazing book and you don't want to stop reading but you just don't want it to end? I had that today. When I noticed I was halfway through I actually felt sad! I know that I have personally felt that way through each book of a certain famous 7 book saga...and a few other times, as well. I had a delicious sandwich at the bakery for lunch, too, which was nice.

All in all, a very successful weekend. Even though the week started with snow, the forecast for the rest of the week is a sunny 50 degrees! Yay! It'll be nice to not have my laundry freeze out there on the line.

sukiyaki and snow flurries.

So, today I am on sick leave. (>_<) I called in early this morning when I woke up. I have been sick since Friday, and I just needed to rest a bit and fully heal up. I think I was pushing myself a little too hard. Yesterday I taught 5 elementary school classes, and those kids take a lot of energy to keep up with. I should have called in sick, but I thought I could just do it and it would be fine. It was, however, quite exhausting. My nose was so stuffed up that the kids could hardly understand what I was saying!! I was trying to say "salmon" and they kept repeating back "Seven??" Hahaha. (^_^) After school, I was invited to go to my friend Akemi's house to have dinner with her family. It was sooo nice! Her little sister is taking English in high school and was really good, even though she was really shy at first. I took a look at her English homework and saw that it was super intense. They were reading an essay about Westward Expansion in the States (so, naturally, I threw in a bit of info about Lewis and Clark and St. Louis!!) and Native Americans. The vocab was insane. It wasn't just some article written for ESL courses, it was a full-on essay. I couldn't believe what a high level of English they teach at her school. I think she goes to really nice school, though. My friend John K. teaches there, and I have gone to his English Speaking Society meetings there a couple times. I was impressed by his students' English skills, and now I see that they have to work really hard. Anyway, we had sukiyaki for dinner which was unbelievably delicious. Sukiyaki is like a hot pot dish. You spread a little fat over the surface of the hot pot and cook meat and veggies on it. My friend's family used soy sauce, cooking sake, and brown sugar to add flavor. We each had our own bowl of raw egg that we dipped the food into before eating (apparently raw eggs are safe to eat in Japan---something about how they raise the chickens). Akemi's family owns a rice shop, so the rice we had with dinner was truly excellent. Waaaay better than the rice during school lunch. I regret that I didn't take any pictures of dinner, but here is a pic I found on the internet that comes close to what I had last night:


This morning, after I called in sick, Jamie called to say she was sick, too, and that we could go to the doctor's office together. The doctor said I have a regular cold, but if I develop a fever, then actually it's the Flu and I should go see him again. But only if I get a fever....weird, huh? Jamie, on the other hand, definitely has the flu. She had to be put on an IV for an hour. I waited in her room with her, laying on the opposite bed, and we both fell asleep in the end. Luckily the pharmacy is right next door so we were able to fill our prescriptions in like 10 minutes, and the doctors office called the taxi for us.

I plan to spend the rest of the day resting/sleeping/maybe playing a little Sims 3/watching Gilmore Girls. For some reason, the doctor ordered that I cannot take a shower today....I don't really understand, but maybe it has something to do with it being freezing outside and having wet hair while it's cold is awful? Who knows, but I guess I'll do as he says.

Yesterday it snowed, and the little flurries were very cute. I tried to take a picture but you just cannot see the snow at all. I know little flurries are nothing compared to the madness back home, but it was pretty all the same.

A long awaited return

After the harrowing journey back to Kurume, I have finally settled back into my life in Japan. My luggage arrived from Chicago and Washington and words cannot express just how happy I am to have clothes to wear!!!

Today I am back at the wonderful school with the magic forest, but as there is snow on the ground, I have no intentions of venturing out there. I woke up with a bad cold and it's all I can do to not drip snot everywhere...gross. I just want to get through today and get to the weekend. These past two weeks I have talked about my Christmas break over 20 times to different classes, and guess what they asked the most questions about?? Forget Santa, these kids just wanted to know about the tornado!!! After they realized I wasn't joking, I got asked so many questions. For example: "what is the best way to get to the middle of a tornado? Parachute?" Hahaha, um, I guess so? I should keep a notebook of all the best stuff I hear in class.

During break, Lisieux and I hit up Borders where I bought a few magazines to bring back to Japan with me for my students to look at. They went nuts! I can't believe it, but I have sung Justin Beiber's "Baby" so many times now to explain whose face is all over Tiger Beat!! The awful part is that I only know the "baby baby baby" part....so it has been in my head for a solid 2 weeks (minus the few blissful moments when Bruno Mars' "Grenade" was on repeat in my head). The anime magazine I bought in the States was a huge hit!! They could not believe that some of the stuff they love and obsess over was featured. They kept saying some if it was so old, so I had to explain that it takes a while to translate everything to English. I told them how movies from the U.S. take about 6 months to get to Japan. It was really fun to talk about the things in the magazines. They totally enjoyed it! :) I did, too.

The following picture is at the school... Notice how it is in the mountains... Can you see the snow on the mountain where the forest is? No way I am playing out there today.