Day 5 Sans Bret

Today it was windy. I rode bicycles with my friend Michael for a long time. Then it started to rain but it wasn't that cold so we didn't care.

We watched Toy Story 3 and some other bad movies. Why is TV so much better than most movies? All I need is good comedy TV, movies are not interesting to me anymore. Generally speaking.

Things without Bret are really different. I've been painting a lot, sleeping less, and trying to exercise more.

There's going to be a flea market in February so I've been making a lot of Totoro paintings for that, I'm really excited. We're also going to make banana and pumpkin bread, and I might make some totoro pillows and things, but I'm totally covered on the paintings. I hope I sell a handful and who knows, maybe it'll lead to more things. I would love to have a hobby I can make money off of. And if not, I'll just give them away as presents ;)

I'm happy everyone in Bret's family enjoyed their presents and got to see Bret this year .

I found Pop's present today and will send it in the mail soon!

I miss everyone!

Worst Cat Ever

Adventures in cat sitting

She was being nice and sitting still in my lap for about five seconds so I took a quick photobooth picture. She then attacked me and is currently meowing outside my bedroom door. Ugh.

New work outfit + car

I love dressing up for work.

Samurai Swords!

These were Bret's Christmas presents :)
an extremely attractive photo of me

Winter Holiday

My vacation from work has not officially begun, but Bret has gone to begin his epic journey back to America for the holidays.

I am watching a friend's cat, so I have a little company, and I'm trying to do some projects to stay busy. It won't be so bad. I think the fact that so many friends and students oooo-ed in shock that he was going and I wasn't helped make it not such a big deal. I appreciated their concern, but it was fun laughing it off and seeing their shock.

Things have been s0-so. Lots of ups and downs, but everything is more or less calm and things are good. I was pretty nervous about getting everything ready for Bret's departure. I wanted to get everyone something, but finding the perfect present is hard. I will make it up to the tricky present people as soon as I can!

I also made myself an enourmous to-do list. On the top of that list is emailing all the people I care about and miss that I don't take enough time to correspond with on a regular basis. I really do think about my whole family and friends every day, and I hope that the lack of communication doesn't make anyone feel like I don't care. I really do, I'm just busy and a little stressed and maybe a little selfish with my free time. When I'm not working I just want to sit on my couch and watch a million hours of tv in a row! I love listening to people talk fast.

I had a friend over a while ago and she wanted to watch an American TV show to see what it was like. I had to hit the pause button and explain what was happening at every 5-10 second interval. And my friend's English is pretty good, too.

I'm learning a lot of little words here and there and feel like I'm slowly learning more and more. It's funny because I almost actively don't try to learn, because I have so little free time, but every once in a while I get bombarded when Bret's not around to translate and I have to face my fear and attempt to answer curious stranger's questions. I usually guess and just start saying things back. America! Seattle! Ichiro! (the first question is usually, where are you from)

The other day I was visiting a friend and rode in an elevator up to his apartment with someone else from the building. Surprisingly, this was the first time this has ever happened. While we were waiting for it to get down to the lobby, we were both shivering a bit, and without meaning to, I said, "samui des, ne?" because that's what EVERYONE says in the winter for small talk/in passing. Grocery clerks, convenience store workers, grandmother's--they all say, "it's cold, isn't it?" So I said it on accident and then I was stuck in a conversation. While we were riding up he asked me where I was from, which I could understand and answer but the conversation quickly got too complicated. I had to admit I didn't understand Japanese and shuffle out of the elevator in shame. haha. But! One small step for me!

I have one more small story before I sign off this rant of a post.

The other day, or rather, last week, I attempted to purchase a hot lemon drink from a vending machine. They have hot drinks in machines here and on cold days it's soooo nice. Plus the lemon drink has vitamin C and I am always getting coughed on. Anyways, I put my 100 yen coin in and push the button--but no lemon drink! And it was my last dollar! Oh well, life goes on.

Two days later, I come to that same vending machine and guess what's down at the bottom? A HOT lemon drink. Even though it was already expelled from the machine, it was still hot! A Christmas miracle! I was so excited to get my lemon drink, which i had PAID for so I put it in the pocket of my coat and went off to my car. Upon getting out of my car, I realize I am sans lemon drink once again! I go back to look, but it was dark and couldn't find it.

Fast forward THREE more days and guess what I find!?! My lemon drink! Propped upright in someone's garden in the vicinity of the vending machine and the parking lot. It had a dent in the lid and everything. Someone had set it down upon a garden stone for it's rightful owner to find. And I found it! it was no longer hot, but I drank it happily nonetheless!

Happy holidays!

Long time no post

So nothing much is happening. Just the usual.

It's pretty freezing here at the moment. Makes me miss insulated housing. Waking up and going downstairs is the worst.

Good part is it's onsen (bath house) season again! We haven't had time to go recently but we'll try to go this weekend. It's the best way to get warm for longer than a minute.

I'm trying to get things ready for Bret's departure to Seattle in the next week and a half, so if there are any requests, please send me a message. Putting things in the luggage is way cheaper than shipping.

Hope everyone is having a good start to the holiday season!