So, I had a really long morning at kindergarten today and have been reflecting on my experience so far this year with 3-5 year olds!
Although I had a smattering of babysitting jobs when I was younger, it was never really with children of this age group so even after only 2 months I feel like I've learned a lot I had no idea bout before. Also, despite having had a younger brother and sister, storytelling and communicating with these kids is a lot more challenging since English is not their first language!!!!!! This can lead to lots of bumps in the road and frustratiooooooon!!!! RARG!!! So sorry, this turned out longer and more rambly than I thought....maybe I will go and get a coffee to wind down later tonight. x__X

Overall, you just need SO much patience to teach kindergarten! They are still learning many things, not just reading and writing, but also exploring crafts, how they can move their body and jump around...even the concept of "boy" and "girl" is still a bit lost on some of the 3 year olds. They still need help putting on their shoes and undoing the buttons on their cardigans.

It can be so rewarding working with these kids when they start picking up even small English things you have exposed them to. It's very different from primary school, where you often don't really know the full English learning background the students have had. In kindergarten it's a lot more transparent....pretty much nothing!! I will be very excited if even 1/3 to half of my students by the end of the year can look at a word they don't know starting with "b" and know it's starts with a "buh" sound O____O Despite the language barrier, body language works to a certain extent, and kids will try to talk to me anyway in Cantonese and indicate their curiosity with facial expression and puppy dog eyes! (for example, they will use a pleading voice if they really want to try on my watch....if they don't just try to grab it and pry it off my arm first!!).  Also, they are adorable and small, and easily excitable when it comes to games and songs!! They delight in telling me any English words they know in their efforts to communicate, even if it's just pointing out the colours on their clothes or tennis shoes(older ones), or excitedly screaming "APPLE!!" every time they see my face (youngest)..... ^^ It is really cute, and I get excited too when they have something they want to show me!!

But many situations are complicated when I can't ask them one important word....."why"!!!! Without the "why", i can't really help to mediate kid conflicts (fighting over turns wearing a princess tiara, who gets what glowy ball, or who pushed whom) or ask them why they are leaving the classroom (could be misbehaving, or a simple case of "I have to pee!"). Also, since they can't understand what I'm saying, often they just keep messing about and being mischievious and disruptive the second the local teacher leaves the room!! Aaarrg!! X___X With less experience, I still have not learned well how to show kids I mean business (I'm pathetic with the stern look to be honest...big surprise....) or chastise the naughty ones. Without the use of language to explain and command, I have to find alternate ways to convey the same messages and intent but so far I've been shaky at best!! >__< With kids of this age, it seems sometimes other teachers will just have to take them by the arm physically remove them from the situation. I need to start up a naughty chair or something to help curb particularly disruptive kids, but sometimes they just won't budge! What to do???

Overall, I guess it's just really humbling working with these kids. I lose confidence a lot when planning lessons and activities since sometimes if something doesn't work, i feel it's due to my not thinking as critically as I could about how things will run. Also, kids can take a lot longer at things than I anticipate (especially crafts and colouring..) and I wish sometimes I was better equiped with more background knowledge about the general development of 3-5 year olds!!!

Still deciding whether or not I'd like to try teachers college next year and/or apply to the JET program in Japan. I have really enjoyed living in Hong Kong, but 3 years will be a long time to have stayed here! In the end I still get nostalgic and have a longing to go back to Japan and live there some more. There are good kindergarten days (lessons go well, have lots of fun playing games and rewarding interaction with kids), and there are baaad kindergarten days (kids go wild when local teacher leaves the room, kids randomly wandering out of the classroom, hardly get any activities done, and getting smacked on the ass by a couple of hyper 5-year olds...). So, I guess there is really a bit of both! I'm just hoping that things will get a bit easier and come a bit more naturally as the year progresses.

Here's hoping...!! ^^

Gaaaaaaah, so somehow last night I came down with some awful bug and have had to take the day off from work. Last year I was a trooper about going to school when I was sick, but a sinus infection lets you be a lot more mobile as compared to frequent vomitting @____@;;; Sooo, no chance of me going in. I think Kento had been getting sick before as well, so that seems to be where I caught it from. Now we're both sitting at home like invalids sipping on de-fizzified pop and sports drink with electrolytes >__> Haha, mom's tips!

Was really weak this morning, so when I went down to grab the proper drinks I found I was not up to the trip >__< Ended up sitting on the ground a couple times (no thanks to my legs, geez...), but otherwise came out unscathed. Woohoo!

Currently perusing work email and settling down on the couch with a magazine to continue my convalescence.... if anyone has msn, come and talk to me cause I'm ill but bored!!!
<3

Well, I'm headed home tomorrow morning! My flight leaves at around 8:30am, so not too pleased about that cause I'll have to get up early...but if I pack all night then it could possibly help me sleep the hours away! I think I'm gonna buy one of those squishy neck pillows... ^^

Anywho, SUPER SUPER excited about coming home! Can't wait to see all family and friends I haven't seen in a year and a half (and one or two whom I have), and hope I've grabbed enough gifties for all! : D Yay!!! I suppose I can always finish up my shopping in Canada, as there should still be lots of good things there.

But man, my flight's gonna be brutal.....around 16 hours, plus a two hour stopover, plus another two hour flight...........graaaaaaarg. Let's hope I arrive with my sanity intact! Maybe I'll get lucky and have some interested person next to me on my flight but... not likely >__< nuuuu

Well, see everyone soon! <3 And keep warm, heard there's been recent snow... ; ) Think I'll take a nap...had a school picnic/staff development meetings today and I need my energy for a night of packing..
Later!

Okay, I know it's still November, but December is coming up in just over a week's time!! I'm coming back on the 19th of December, and want to get some planning done for what i'm doing when!!

So, what I want to do is brainstorm what to do when I'm in Oakville, when I'm going to Toronto, karaoke, everything! Can everyone tell me their ideas for Christmas get-togethers? I'm SO excited and I want to do as much as I can while I'm there!

Here are some proposed ideas so far with various people:

- Karaoke with Eddie and friends
- Dim sum!!! I want to see how Canada compares to Hong Kong
- pre-Christmas dinner get-together (an excuse to dress up nice!)
- Shopping. Shoes. YAY!
- Eating okonomiyaki in Toronto with Isabel
- Binge-watching of Gundam Wing (okay i made this one up...but i know nikki has it...)
- playing of video games (Majora's mask!! i want to beat youuuu)
- spending as much time chilling with Nikki as possible (drawing! candies! SPAZ!!!!)
- night out at a bar? Bars in HK are too smokey, so i'll be glad to make the most of Canadian places!
- ANYTHING ELSE!! Give me your ideas.


So yes, please make suggestions and let me know when you're free!!!!!!!!! I'm there until January 5th, so I want to see everyone!! : ( It's going to have been a whole year and a half since I've been back, damn... I miss you all, can't wait to be home!!

Uuuuuugh what a crummy Friday O__O I suck at arranging meetings, blah. Next week's not gonna be a piece of cake either : \ Ah, work.....
I'm going to spend the rest of the night vegging on the couch >__<

Maybe draw?

Okay, so here I am, home on my lunch break, and I've just gone and done a quiz that I stole from Nikki's deviantart (it's been going around it seems...ignore the ridiculous girly slang in some of the Qs). Was mostly just curious what I'd get, comparatively ^^ Although, I almost suspected I'd me more girly than 23%, but I suppose not! Some of the questions are rubbish though (Brit lingo), which I realize. I think they should have put something in there about fruity alcoholic drinks, or hand moisturizer, or something else. Ah well : P Some of my answers were kinda ambiguous too, not sure if it shoulda been yes or no, but here goes!

( I am 23% girly )

Thoughts?

Just got back from the gym, gah, so tired! Feeling accomplished though, and pleased I didn't wuss out and stayed for 2 classes...RAAAH!!

Uploaded a picture of me with my "thanksgiving" dinner! Despite the fact that I'm eating salmon, I figured it was the thought that counted and I got a bit of the traditional with my mashed potatoes and green beans. On the plate:
- cheesy garlic bacon mashed potatoes
- portobello mushrooms
- fried up buttery green beans
- salmon pieeeeeeece



YAY! So yes, was very delicious, and I made sure I had plenty of leftover potatoes so I can eat them for a few days ^__^ Even had some leftover salmon, so I had a second "thanksgiving" meal today for lunch! Yum-o! Ignore my white arm, etc : P I was being a couch potato. But, observe my new haircut! I clipped the front back, but that sorta shows how short it is now! : 3 What do you think? I went to a rather more expensive place this time, cause every time I don't I feel like I end up regretting it... bit hit and miss over here in HK!!! The place was kinda swanky, and they had an aquarium in the area where you get your hair washed. Sooooooo amusing to watch those little fishies swimming about, never would have guessed. They had an anemone with a nemo clown fish, and even a puffer fish!!!(which was grouchy and chased the other guys away. In the end it was still a local stylist who cut my hair but it turned out fine so I can't really complain ^^

That's pretty much all that happened between now and that last post, lol. This Friday planning to watch Phantom of the Opera with Kristy (co-worker) at my house!!!!! It was on tv last Friday but I missed it and Kristy couldn't come over, so thought I'd wait til this week! Also gonna make cookies... I'll see how many people I can get to come over and watch it with us ; ) Although, I don't really have enough comfy seats...my couch can seat maybe 3 people but you can't lounge out and stretch your legs. I need an even bigger and more awesome couch!!!! Maybe one of those L-shaped ones...but......$$$$.........
(plus I'd have to get rid of the old one, annoying.)

Will see! : D Mostly, have to choose a kind of cookie to make ; ) Cookieeeeeeeeeees! *CHOMP*

Happy thanksgiving!

So yeah, I rarely post, and here I am going on about shoes again! But I must say, that's one of the things I miss the most over here! Along with cereal ; )



Anyways, these are my newest shoe acquisition from Nine West, I couldn't resist! The black suede part is so soft! Was also the first shoe I tried on in the store, lol, I'm so easy to sell stuff to sometimes... I haven't worn them out yet, but am definitely looking forward to it! Just hope nothing happens to them ^^ They weren't exactly cheap... noooo, not cheap at all.... O__O probably the most expensive shoe I own now. YIkes!...but, Love!!!!!! <3

As for me, I've been feeling really accomplished and energetic lately about my past few months of going to the gym! I've got more muscle now than I can remember having ever, and it's nice to have that extra control of motion that it brings with it. My next goal is to get rid of the layer of fat over top of them, particularly on my arms. This has always been a goal of mine, but for the first time I feel as though it's really within my reach! Okay, so I know it sounds as though I'm really fixated on the physical aspects of getting in shape, but I feel bouncier and more energetic these days, and it's easier to hop up stairs and lift things. I also want to increase my flexibility and try out yoga sometime! I don't know if it will be boring or what, but I think that while I have the chance at this gym I should try it at least once ; )
So who knows! Maybe by the time I come home for Christmas this year, I'll be really in shape! Will see how that goes... ^^ I've never been one for dieting, though I try to eat healthy....however, baking cookies in my house and having them lying around certainly isn't helping!!!!!

More motivated to draw nowaways, and was recently flung back into the world of Gundam wing! I know it's ancient and I haven't watched it in years, but I did really enjoy drawing the characters and hope to get started with art again. There are a few art studios in Hong Kong offering things like "art parties", where you and a group of friends pay to come and use a canvas, all their brushes and paint and create a piece of art to bring home with you! Going to look in to one that's HK$500 for the canvas, paints, and free-flowing wine..... sounds like a lot of fun! I like images of flowers, particularly waterlilies and stuff my Monet, so perhaps I can create something like that to put up in my house. I have a canvas lying around my living room but I haven't done anything with it =__= perhaps trying in the studio will help give me the confidence to try one at home without worrying about committing to a subject or that i'll majorly screw it up O__O Got a few people already interested in going, just need to gather a group of 6+.

Oh oh, back to clothes/shoes... I couldn't resist checking out a sale yesterday, and bought a black cardigan and a dress! Was worried about the fit since I couldn't try the dress on in the store, but it turned out to be great! Now I'm sooooooooo happy about it, can't wait to wear it somewhere! I'll probably bring it home and wear it at Christmas time ^___^ Plus I got my hair cut this past Monday and am really loving having a bit of change to have fun with... it's now just a bob I suppose, a bit above the shoulder. All this stuff put together is making me a really happy camper ^^ hehe...

I'm looking forward to Halloween this year, haven't dressed up in a few years, so hoping I can go somewhere that makes that possible this year! Weeeee! And getting *veeeeeery* excited about Christmas, even without a plane ticket yet, I dying to go home and see all my friends again! It's been too long! I want to cram as much into that time as possible! Hopefully I can make it for at least 2 weeks off work ^^ Fingers crossed!

Okay well that's all for now (after jumping wildly from subject to subject!), maybe I can take a picture of my haircut when it's looking decent (currently clipped up and in a falling-out ponytail... not too glamorous ;), and my new dress! Yay!! And you people in Canada, let's plan to meet up while I'm there!! <3 Miss you!!!!!!!!!!!

Finding big shoes in Hong Kong has been a bit of a pain since I got here, and the shoes I brought here with me that I've been using for work are starting to fall to pieces o__O For casual shoes, I can wear mens shoes just fine, but for work, it doesn't really go with a skirt ^^ I've already been asked by some students why i always wear the same shoes :P Well!! Now I've got some new ones! Found this interesting brand of shoes that are sold in a little mall near my house, and turns out they can order in a size 44!!! weeee (don't carry them, but they can get them!) Usually I get tired of asking what size shoe stores carry up to, cause they don't have anything higher than a 40-41. These particular shoes have lots of weird/cute/crazy designs made from stitched-on fabric pieces and jewels, etc. Some are kinda tacky, but others have cute rabbits, animals, and designs!!! Ordered a pair about 2 and a half weeks ago, and picked them up this weekend! I'm gonna wear them for a week or so to make sure they fit alright, and then I think i'll buy another pair O__O;;; I can't resist...

Here's what they look like!



I've never owned a pair of gold shoes like this before (maybe with the exception of some dress shoes long, long ago), so it's kinda fun ^^ The designs are always different on either shoe, but have a theme or common design. The next pair I want to get are white, and they have a kid with a bunny hat on one side, and a schoolbus with a little rabbit, fox, and cat on the other! XD Very cute....will post a picture later if i buy em : D

Sorry for those who have no interest in shoes : P But I'm excited about it, so I thought I'd post an entry ; ) Show & tell!
Today's my day off, but i've been sitting like a lump on the couch most of the day...hence why i've actually picked up my camera and uploaded a picture...at least I'm "relaxing" i guess! ;3

My friend Nikki took this test ^^ I was curious because hers sounded pretty accurate, so I decided to take a little time to try it out :D see what it says about me XD

Just a little weird that i'm apparently somewhat lacking in "mercy" >__>....
lol


My Personality

Neuroticism	47
Extraversion	34
Openness to Experience	41
Agreeableness	60
Conscientiousness	26

You rarely get angry and it takes a lot to make you angry, however you are sensitive about what others think of you. Your concern about rejection and ridicule cause you to feel shy and uncomfortable around others. You are easily embarrassed and often feel ashamed. Your fears that others will criticize or make fun of you are exaggerated and unrealistic, but your awkwardness and discomfort may make these fears a self-fulfilling prophecy. You lead a leisurely and relaxed life. You would prefer to sit back and smell the roses than indulge in high energy activities. You prefer dealing with either people or things rather than ideas. You regard intellectual exercises as a waste of your time. You dislike confrontations and are perfectly willing to compromise or to deny your own needs in order to get along with others, however you are not affected strongly by human suffering, priding yourself on making objective judgments based on reason. You are more concerned with truth and impartial justice than with mercy. Mostly you work towards achieving your best, although in some areas you are content just to get the job done.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report. The best Dangle Earrings

Also, I haven't posted here in what seems like forever ^^
So, hello again to anyone who sees this.... ;P

*waves*

Well, my travel plans are done! Well, the big things anyways, like plane tickets! Leaving the I-house on June 11th. From there:

Hong Kong - June 11th-June22nd
Tokyo - June 22nd-June 26th
Return home - June 26th!!!

So that's my new time frame. Haven't actually got my hands on the HK ticket yet, but it's kinda booked, just have to pay. :) So I have about 5 weeks left of travelling/time abroad...YAY!!! ^__^ I'll be working hard from now to tidy up my room and toss stuff I don't need, while at the same time trying to see everything possible in Fukuoka/Kyushu that I haven't had the chance to see yet! I'm worried all my stuff won't fit in my bags o__O April (one of the people living in I-house) just left yesterday, and she had to leave soooo much stuff behind!! Mostly clothes...coats, scarves, shoes...o__O Wow. I think it's cause she received a lot of small gifts from her friends that just added up...but it still makes me worry about my own situation!! Also gotta get/send stuff for people that's been sitting around in my room for a while *__* oops.

Got to make our own name stamp/seal thing in our last calligraphy class! Carved a little marble stamp with kanji/hiragana/katakana of our choice to represent our name :) I did a kanji character that just reads as "sa" and means sand. ^_^ (suna) It was soooo fun, like stone carving with a chisel and everything, so I had a great time making it!! Stamped my finished calligraphy work too, very rewarding to have a completed piece from that class : ) Even though it may not be the best XD
Here's my stamp!!




Did "purikura" with Laetitia and Katya before they left, and also the next day with Jennie, April, and April's friend Daichi. So that was fun, thore are only the 3rd and 4th times that I've done purikura pictures since getting here...a lot less than I'd imagined!!! ^^

Well, nothing else to say really...had a good time at our commencement ceremony on May 19th.
Here's me and Kento with our fancy certificates!! :0 Along with a fuzzy group picture that they gave us a print of!! Took a picture of the print since I don't have a scanner, and in all my pictures everyone was just talking anyways ^^ Sorry for the bad quality!

Well!!!! As of today, I've been in Japan for 8 months!! Seems insane when I think about it, that the exchange I had always wanted to go on is almost over and I've been living here for that long a time. There's only about 2 weeks left of classes now, and then we have our exam period. Last day is May 19th!! After that I've got plans to travel around, explore and relax a little!! I want to look around more interesting, small towns around Kyushu, and see some more pretty landscapes!!! The city area of Fukuoka has been really convenient; the subway makes it super-easy to get around, and a convenient store is always within a 5 minute walk of anywhere. But despite that, seeing the natural landscape and more out-of-the-way places of Japan is better! I'm going to travel around with Kento, and planning to make a trip to Hong Kong :D My last stop-off is going to be Tokyo where I'm going to visit Atsuko, and I intend to fly back from there to Canada. All I have to do now is finalize those plans o__O I know the general agenda, but the exact timeframe is pretty foggy at the moment! :\ I'd better get working on it!!

Today is a humid 27 degrees (yipes! that's what it reads online) T-shirt weather for sure, it really feels like summer! Sort of giving me flashbacks to the feeling I got when I first arrived here. :') The sakura are long-gone, but there are tons of other flowers blooming. (I'll post pictures of my sakura experiences soon, I swear!!) Now that May is here though, the returning-home issue is really looming around. I'm both looking forward to going home, and dreading it!! That will mean the end of my time in Japan, but at the same time I get to see everyone I miss from back home!! It's really been like a vacation. School isn't particularly difficult here, and I've been on lots of trips!! It's also been fun doing things with everyone from I-house (residence), living so close together makes getting together much easier!! First and second year in university I guess I spent a lot of time in my room not doing anything really productive, so keeping more busy this year made me feel a lot better :) I really want to be productive when I get back, not necessarily with school work, but really thinking about things I like to do, like art, and making some projects for myself over the summer ^__^ Been doing more thinking over here and I'm confused about a lot of things and what I really like doing. My previous hobbies and interests are becoming less of a focus, and I'm not sure what I'm into anymore!!!...I need to get some enthusiasm back :| I could take some art classes in Dundas next year, that would be one way to get myself going!!! :) Raaaaaah!!!

And of course, I plan on doing as many things as possible with my friends....Nikki, I must kidnap you and we can talk and draw and eat tasty food, and I'll subject you to foods I learned to make over here!!!!!!!! That also goes for some more of you....Danielle, we have a date to make some Sanji-style curry!! Etc, etc.... XDDDDDD I'll probably be staying in Oakville, but I'm also thinking of Hamilton as an option. My family has finally, after like 10 years of thinking about it, decided to get a puppy, so it will be there when I get back!! I'd hate to miss out on that, but putting together my room in Hamilton is an exciting prospect too. Being right above Bubble Tea, and so close to Second Cup/Tim Hortons is gonna be convenient....foooood. Don't plan on getting a job this summer though, even though I'd love some extra money to buy things... :\ (Like maybe a teensy tv for my room so I can play video games or something ^__^ hehehe) I guess I will decide later which place is better ;)
As for next year, hoping my class schedule will work out so I can get all my necessary courses completed. Looking forward to Japanese class again, for some reason, but not really French o__O I'm going to be sooooooo behind!! X___X;;;; NooooooooOOOOOoooooooooooooo!!!!

Anyways, sorry, this was full of disorganized thought fragments, just felt like typing about all my plans...my not-so-certain plans :\
I just have to make the most of the time I have left here!!!!!! :'D
...and now, to go grab my laundry X3
weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

About 3 weeks ago (Wow, was it really that long ago??? Yes, this is another belated entry) us international students got a Friday off from classes because the Seinan Gakuin students were having their graduation ceremony!! Go three-day weekend!!!!!!!!! So rather than waste it sitting around, Kento and I decided to go travel someplace cool and stay at a ryokan again!

This begins our neat adventure to Oita, an area about an hour and a half by train from Fukuoka (past Saga) on the eastern side of Kyushu. It was a really sweet town, pretty out-of-the-way, and very quiet/peaceful!! Compared to Fukuoka there was *tons* of nature and fun things to look at!! The town we were in was a pretty small stretch of houses/restaurants along the side of a river (small enough that we walked from one end to the other a few times trying to kill time). But, the adventure started even before that, on the train!!! Witness our spectacular find....




Great scenery from the train window. But...what's that in the seat pocket..?...!!! :0 Jehovah's Witness even in Japan, geez o_O



But...what's that that caught Kento's eye...? ....Gasp!!!!!!!! ...Ch-chiiiing $__$ .....
...The fate of that money will remain a mystery.... ;3


( Continue the adventure..!! )

[WARNING] Um, this is kinda long...sorry ^^ Picture overload x_X;

I think next year when I go back to McMaster, the workload is going to be a huge reality check!! Whereas middle and high school in Japan are really serious, and you need to pass crazy exams to get into both a good high school and university, once you get past the university exam hurdle, it's the time for students to relax and enjoy life!!! Classes have less/no homework, so most Japanese students have part-time jobs to make money on the side for themselves. In Japan I think it's pretty much expected that parents pay for their children's education, so all their part-time job money goes toward recreational use....thus you end up with a group of stylishly (crazily?!?!) dressed students who look like they're headed for clubbing or something...geez, those girls and their skirts/boots!!! ^_^;; Anyways, so the international student classes are kind of the same, there is a lot less homework, and most marks depend entirely on final papers and exams. (I say most...Japanese grammar and kanji classes still have plenty of homework :P ) The Natural World of Japan class is awesome cause it consists of lots of field trips!!!!!!! My parents came to visit me and the Nakanishi's in Japan, which I will get into later, but that weekend we went on a trip to climb volcanos!!

Like I said, this gets long, mostly because of all the pictures! If you're intimidated you don't have to click em all anyways :P Right? ;D

Well......( here goes!!!!! )
Today is giant blog update day I think, cause I have lots of stories to tell and have to get them all down before I forget!! So expect another update soon....XD

Well, here's a belated entry and pictures about my trip to Saga prefecture!! Meg, Kento, Caelan and I all went on an overnight trip to a ryokan (japanese-style inn ;) in Saga, which is one prefecture to the east of Fukuoka. Mind you, this was back in mid-February...I didn't get around to writing something about it til now!! ^__^ It was a lot of fun, the first time we all took initiative and went some place together! :D The whole thing didn't cost a lot either, it was a deal, so only 11500yen per person! That included one night at the ryokan (+ dinner and breakfast!), as well as our Shinkansen transportation fee. It was really convenient to take the Shinkansen cause it only took us an hour to get there...more time for fun...? ;D This place also had an onsen, which I got to try out for the first time since coming to Japan!! Definitely a very Japanese experience!!!!! Even though I knew I should at least try it once during my stay in Japan, I actually idn't see myself having the nerve to do it x_X Of course, once you get it over with, it's really not bad XD It was pretty sweet, they had a hot one indoors, but also different temperature pools outside!! Meg and I went in at night, so there weren't really many people. Could see the moon, lots of steam, a shoulder-massaging waterfall...overall pretty neat. I'd definitely go again! We all agreed we should do another relaxing trip like this again. XD
The region we were staying in, Takeo-onsen, wasn't very interesting though. The whole place was pretty deserted! (lots of boarded up buildings) We had a really tough time trying to find a restaurant that was open around lunch. Actually, we walked around for like 2 hours trying to find some place...good exercise, but really tiring =__= At least the ten-don (tempura shrimp on rice!!) was tasty once we finally found a place! Mmmm! And there was a tasty bakery that was open too, really tasty cream-puff things! Dinner was, of course, really Japanese-style, deeelicious. Some things weren't my favourite, like this oyster custard stuff, or clam miso soup at breakfast, but generally tasty. The lady who brought us our food in our room was really funny, though I only understood about half of what she was talking about...We also tried out some shochu and sake after dinner, and got to wear Yukata!! Caelan showed us this drinking game too, that he learned from the French students. Hey, we weren't going to make it to the onsen on courage alone!! O___O;;;
And noooow for some pictures! And even though I loath pictures of myself, I stole a couple off Meaghan anyways, just to prove I was really there. : P


Snackies on the Shinkansen...seems like the middle of nowhere! Arriving at Takeo-onsen, and our ryokan building!


Wandering the town


Caelan's a pretzel!! Plus, our big japanese dinner, and me and Meg in yukatas!! (stolen from meg's camera)


Unfortunately, we had to leave :( Me with Caelan and Kento waiting for the train (Also stolen from Meg), and some awesome socks and shoes!! Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! I've been having a fun time buying lots of crazy socks these days, and I got some cool new plaid converse shoes with my new years money too!! Kento found some immitation ones in Saga for only 100yen...pretty good o__O!! Can't go wrong with 100yen shoes!! ;3


Well, sorry for all the pics...is this too many, or should I keep posting away?? More perhaps??? I do so love photos...;D I'll post again soon with some slightly more recent events/photos. My family is coming to Japan this Friday to visit (2 more days!!! EEEEEEE!!!), so I'll be busy with that, esp. the weekend of the 17th cause I'll be going up to Kyoto with them!! Plus this weekend we have another class trip to go see some volcanos, Mt.Unzen and Mt.Aso...sweeeeet! Though the teacher doesn't do a very good job of assuring us it's safe... :P Seems we have a wonderful uphill hike and potential flying lava rocks and super-hot steam to look forward to... : \ Wish me luck!! ^__~

Oh, and I've started writing letters to people and sending things lately, so I'll try my best to get something to all of you!! I made a huge list even before Christmas time of people to send letters/postcards/stuff to ;D Hopefully it will all get there safely! Thanks for all your comments, I like getting replies...bwahahahaaa! And a big HIIIIIIIII to everyone I haven't talked to in a bit!! ^^ *waves*

Well, i know in Canada it isn't really my birthday yet, as it's still February 20th, but!! In Japan it is!! I'll just use this as an excuse to have an extra-long birthday, where I can wake up the next day and it will still be my birthday back home....sweeeeeet. So far so good! As i just woke up I guess there isn't a lot to judge yet, but it's super-sunny out and it's supposed to be the warmest day this week (16!!!!) Things going as planned, I even woke up to study kanji like I planned too! Good times. Today is a fun-filled day of double-kanji class, yippee, but at least we get a lunch break in between the classes. Currently munching on my second bowl of tasty and delicious cereal, not many solid plans for a birthday anything with people either now or later in the week, but prolly eating dinner and hanging around with friends, so that's good ^__^ I received a package from home on Saturday with awesome stuff, so

I know I was gonna update on the Ryokan trip, i'll post some pictures later. Overall it was a SWEET trip, we're definitely planning to go on another weekend excursion like that sometime later in the year (hopefully more than once!). Mind you, we have a class field trip to Mt.Aso that I also suspect will be in a ryokan-like establishment...fun times ahead!!!

I'll maybe update later today as a progress on how stuff went ^^ Yippeeeee

In hopes to conserve my delicious "corn frosties" cereal, I have recently opened my "Special K", which was purchased on that same happy day in Costco. However, I've been presented with a new dilemma. Instead of conserving the "corn frosties" by switching off with another less-delicious cereal every so often, I have discovered that --GASP-- yes, the "Special K" is just as tasty and delicious and I have been forced to consume a bowl of each every morning. DOH.
Somebody stop the madneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss!!!!!!!!!!! KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! *CHOMP*..?!

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Yeah, i'm just being a dork. ;P I just woke up, gimma a break!!
On another delicious food note, I made some guacamole yesterday! YAY! It was delicious, next time I will buy more than one avocado to make a substantial, shareable meal. Also, note that plain tortilla chips cannot be found in regular grocery stores in Japan. The only reason we had some is because Kento received tortilla chips, which arrived suspiciously in the mail that very day....Coincidnce?!?! *scary thriller music!!* REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!!!!! Ah well, all strangeness aside, they were delicious tortilla chips and made for a nice snack as we sat around and Meg knitted a scarf for Caelan. Earlier in the week, due to much free time, I also made some peanut butter cookies!! MMMMM~~!! With cookie mix mind you, but that didn't decrease their tastiness. Still some left---up for grabs!!

Right, that's enough of that XD Hope everyone's staying warm wherever they are!!
And may you all eat much tasty cereal in the days to come!!!!
*bestows cereal-blessing on the people*


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Well, I've had the most awesome week eating cereal for breakfast every day! YUM!!! ^__- Was chowing on some this afternoon when i woke up and felt i should get another blog entry up! This time with pictures!!
And what did I get up to this week...? Well, it was the beginning of the spring break!! YAY!!! Mostly I just lazed around all weekend, played some KH2!!! Caelan was supposed to go to Sapporo with April, Jen and Daniel, but their flight ended up being cancelled cause of the snow up there, doh!! But then he, Meg and Jen took an impromptu trip to Tokyo!! NOOOO!! I wanna go ;__; *sniff* So they sorta made super-quick plans to head over and were gone later that afternoon!! I didn't even know about it until the next day when I was checking Meg's blog, what a surprise!! Lol. o_O Kento and I were a little baffled, and with nothing better to do we made our own day-trip and headed over to Ohori park to have a look around and maybe see the ume (plum) blossoms which are blooming this time of year. No luck finding those, but it was a fun trip, if a little cold!! x__X Took lots of pictures, it's the first time I've really had to explore the place even though it's only a couple subway stops away! The sun was out, so the place was crowded with tons of people, children, and dogs! Was generally a nice day to have a walk around, until the sun started getting lower in the sky. Here's some pictures!!!! Let's hope these work...




There was a mini-rainbow hiding in a bright spot in the sky, so i took lots of pictures of it, haha! The park features a large pond, lots of trees, a park, and lots of seagulls!






We walked around the path a while more and in this center island there was a kid throwing bread to some birds, so there was a huge mass of them flying around...what a good photo op ^__- Yay!! So i took tons of pictures trying to get a good one of them flying around. Sun was going down at this point, so my hand froze without my glove on o.O Second one has some other onlookers ;D







Turned out to be a lovely sunset, despite the cold, and I got some silhouette pictures thanks to the light!! So here's one of all the seagulls, and one of Kento looking out at them ^__-

Monday we unfortunately had classes for some reason...why they only made us have classes on Monday i'm not sure. XP Booo!! But first class was kind of fun, for some reason i can't remember our prof Dr.Johnson couldn't make it, so we went to have class at their house and Mrs.Johnson made us breakfast!! So we got to have a delicious breakfast and watch a volcano movie in his absense...too bad our Natural World of Japan class can't be like that more often!! Waking up wasn't fun, but the eggs, scones and blueberry muffins were worth it!! Mmmm!! The Johnson's house is also always festively decorated, and Letty commented that it looked like some school dance or something because of all the Valentine's day decorations....heheheheheh....




Here's the group of us that showed up!! Looking mostly awake...=___=

After that day though, break had officially started! YAY!!! I think I must have played some more KH2, with Kento's helpful translations XD Otherwise I sorta have these long concentration pauses trying to read what the Japanese instructions say when it actually lets me look as long as I want, but besides the language problem, the Japanese version is kinda cool ^__^ My first Japanese version gaaaaaaaame~! The plot's picking up too, I think! YAY!!! Tuesday the Tokyo-vacationers returned home, all sporting new hair cuts!! ooooOOOOOOoooo!! So here's Meg's lovely new short hair!!





Phew, well I think that's just about enough pictures!! ^__- I will make sure to include more from now on, now that I think i've figured it out...: D The rest of the week I've mostly just lazed around, did some shopping Wednesday, and lots of sleeping in every day. Last night I got a delicious 14 hours of sleep, yikes, sleeping the day away!! Well, daylight... ;D Thursday Meg, Caelan, Kento and I went to plan an overnight ryokan (japanese inn) trip!! Omg it's going to be so fun I think!!! There's an onsen too, which I'm both dreading and looking forward to. Should be an interesting experience!!! GO TRIPS!! It's in Saga prefecture, just one over to the east i think, so we'll be leaving Sunday afternoon and taking the Shinkansen there for a super-fast transit-time. I'll make sure to take lots more pictures to show!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Another general update on what i've been up to these days!!
Gonna be long and filled with random bluthering, so i'll put nice headers to break it up for ya : P oops...
sorry ^^' Read at your own risk!!!!!!!! : (

COSTCO TRIIIIIP
Yep, they have Costco in Japan too!!! On Tuesday I got the chance to head to the one in the Fukuoka area, Mrs.Johnson (the wife of one of our teachers) drove a bunch of us over and I borrowed her neighbours Costco card to get in. Seriously, the Costco here looks almost exactly the same as the one at my house, i was freaking out XD Like i got transported back home or something....anyways, i spent more than 100$ on tasty and delicious bulk items....mmmmm bulk foooods....So yeah, as planned, i bought tons and toooons of cereal!! Oatmeal, "corn frosties", and Special K! WEEEEEEEE CEREAL!! That's definitely one of the foods I miss most!! In regular grocery stores they come in stupidly small and overpriced bags, grrr!!! Quick, easy, tasty breakfasts are the best kind. I also got a tub of peanut butter, and giant blocks of cheddar and cream cheese. I don't think I've bought cheese since coming here, so that was a new and special 'delicacy'....mmmm cream cheese baaaaaaaaagel...... Yeah sorry for randomly bluthering about food, but anyone who's gonna read this journal has to understand that if i write a jounral entry, they aren't frequent so I tend to spew out pretty much anything that's on my mind, no matter how random O__O Like all that bs about breakfasts....mmmm cereal.
Also the first time i had pizza since coming to Japan, also tasty and delicious!! Some other fabulous purchases include cookie mix, truffles, salmon, BAGELSOMG!!!!, Aquarius (a tasty sports drink), grapefruit juice boxes, a smooshy comfy floor pillow, and fresh croissants....tastyyyyyyyyy. Real bagels are tricky to find here, and are kinda expensive, so coming across a dozen bagels for a reasonable price was wicked.....It was a memorable moment, sitting and eating my cream cheese bagel...truly delicious ^__- heheheheh. And a cheese omlette....yeah so I'm fixated on delicious food, what can I say....
The weather was freakishly good around the beginning of the week too, around 15-17 degrees, so I was walking around sans coat for that afternoon!! YAY!!!! I wish spring would hurry up and get here....well, just the weather ^^ Time is flying and if I don't end up staying here for a while in the summer, i've crossed the halfway mark of my time in Japan..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Already 5 months...yikes ;_________;

MOVIEEEEEe
On Wednesday went to see a movie, which is also another thing I haven't done since coming to Japan!! o.O Really has been ages since I've seen a movie in theatres!! Went with Caelan, Meg, Keith, Kento and Clement, and we ended up seeing the Legend of Zorro.....Word of warning for anyone ever considering watching this (theatres or otherwise), TEEEEERRIBLE movie, it was filled with so much cheese it was hard to take.... =__= Gah. So not exactly the most thrilling of movies, but I got through it with the help of chocolate popcorn I stole from Clement :P Not as bad as I thought it would be.....(as popcorn is usually a salty treat) Meh, guess that's all I can say about that ^__-

IZAKAYA & KARAOKE
Emi, one of the Japanese girls in the I-house residence, is heading to Vancouver next Saturday!! :( Sad!!! She was the first Japanese friend we made here, she was really helpful and we (the canadians+jen) hung around a lot with her for the first couple weeks :') Haven't been doing as much with her recently, but it's still sad to see her go!! Safe trip Emi!!!!!!!!!! So we all went to get Nomihodai at an Izakaya (bar), which is like all-you-can-drink for a certain number of hours. They also serve food courses, which were quite tasty!! Didn't drink much, but took tons of pictures! Once I figure out pictures on this thing (too lazy right now..) i will start posting some ^^. On Friday it was also Setsubun, the last official day of winter i think, so to bring in good luck they throw these beans at someone with an Oni (demon) mask to chase them out, and say "Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi", getting luck into the house while making the demons go outside ^^ Anyways, so some of the guys at the table next to us had some masks and I threw a couple beans (soybeans), and everyone talked with them. Was pretty happy times, as everyone was drinking a lot and making friends, lol. XDDDDDDD Afterwards was Karaoke, again with the all-you-can-drink, damn that stuff adds up : \ I just sorta tagged along ^^ But i gotta watch my spending for the next bit, can't keep going to all-you-can-drink when I don't really drink much...not super-expensive, but 3000yen is more than I would drink in alcohol that's for sure! Was a chilly walk home, but we actually got some snow!! Giant flakes, weeee! First good snow that I've seen since coming here, didn't really stay much on the ground but it was enjoyable nonetheless!!!

GAMING!!!
Another awesome note...I bought Kingdom Hearts 2!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAY!! Been forever since I played a new video game, so I finally caved and bought it even though it's in Japanese : \ Borrowing a PS2 from Yu-san, a nice Japanese guy who lives on 2nd floor :D Thank goodness!! The first floor has a multipurpose hall with a screen on the wall for movies...SWEET!! Playing a video game on a giant movie screen is definitely a wicked way to spend the evening @___@ It was an awesome opening movie!! But not a lot of actual gameplay, even in the first two hours, which was kind of annoying. Didn't get to do much exploring, so hopefully they'll stop all the tutorials and hurry up with the action!!!!! XP The Japanese is a bit tricky, I can't really slow down what the characters are saying so i just have to try and get the gist of things...And also thanks to Kento's rather frequent translations (sorry Kento!!) my comprehension was greatly increased ^__^ Heheheh, hopefully I can improve my Japanese this way, at least a little though. :D Animation is sweet, even if the character's heads were freakishly large sometimes in the opening, but lovely anywaaaaaaaaaays, MMMMMMMMMM RIKU!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Did lots of squealing, definitely pleased to see more Riku in all his CG glory!!! @___@; Bwahahahahaa.....

SHOPPING..?
Yeah, I did a ton of shopping last weekend cause it was all the winter clearance sales, guess I could bluther later about cool things i bought ^__- Acquired some new hoodies, YAY, can always use more of those, some funky belts, and cute bunny gloves!! Almong other things...^___^

Right, and that's definitely enough bluthering for one day. Just had to bring things up to speed, you see....I will write about what happened today tomorrow....o__O;;; Hope this wasn't too painful, maybe my story-telling skills will improve with practice....?
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