It Was The Worst Of Times...

So I've been debating on how to tackle this post for awhile.


And I guess I'll start with what the world has been hearing.  OMG! I just felt an earthquake! I have to interrupt what I was writing!  That was scary!  And it was just shock-waves from Shizuoka!  The building was swaying!  WTF!?!?!?

Okay, so back to what I wanted to say.  Japan is in a tragic state right now.  Off the eastern coast (just north of Tokyo) there was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the ocean ( I think it was 200 km away from the coast), and it resulted in a tsunami that devastated the Sendai area.  An estimated 10,000 people are dead (that's considered a low estimate), and they're having problems recovering bodies from the water because of all the debris that is still there.  The Sendai coast has dropped 70cm, and it's left water covering most of the coast and new lakes have been formed.  People can't find loved ones, and the damage seems insurmountable and endless.  And to top things off, there are problems with the nuclear reactors.

I'm no physicist, but I know that  there are 6 reactors, and they're having problems with reactors No. 1, 2 and 3.  From what I last heard, No. 1 & 3 are somewhat under "control", but they're having problems with No. 2, and today it started leaking radiation today, more than what is legally allowed.  Trace amounts (not dangerous amounts) have been found in Tokyo (South East of the Fukushima nuclear plants).  That is pretty much what I know about the situation as of right now (the short version, anyways)

Here is a map I would like you to look at:

As you can see, Osaka is very far away from Tokyo and the Sendai area.  Around 320 miles from the Fukushima Nuclear Plants (514.88 km, for those who use the metric system).  I am not in any danger right now, and I haven't been since the earthquake hit last Friday.  A lot of people see Japan as a small country (which it is), but when people in other countries see all this damage, I think they're kind of assuming that it's happening to all of Japan, but it's not.  Osaka area is very safe right now.  However, lots of damage has been done to the affected areas, and I ask you that if you can, please donate to help those people (I don't really know who through, but maybe the Red Cross?). I know that you are seeing some images on TV, but I guarantee you it isn't doing this horrific damage justice.  Oh yeah, did I mention that a volcano started going off in the south?  Don't worry, it's still really far away.  Still safe!

On a much darker note, please click on the following link:

http://i.imgur.com/sfrkK.jpg

First of all, I just want to say that this obviously isn't what the whole of America is thinking.  But these people are awful.  Nobody deserves to die.  It sucks what happened at Pearl Harbour, but nobody deserves this.  These people should take the dildos out of their vaginas/manginas, and they can shove it up their a**, where my swift kick will make sure it's lodged up there very well.  

Now, I guess I'll get on to my "lighter" subject about my house.  It was awful!  I ended up living in it for 4 days and 3 nights.  My main motivator for getting the house was to save money, but I totally overlooked the standard of living.  There was limited heating in the house, and I hated waking up and seeing my breath every morning.  Even after I had cleaned it up, I was afraid to use it.  I didn't want to bring food into the kitchen, or use the washroom, or anything.  I wasn't eating or drinking while I was there because I was so scared/upset with myself.

I was so upset with myself.  I couldn't believe it.  I had tried to make a big move to be independent, and I failed, it felt like I couldn't do anything on my own, and that I never would be able to do anything on my own. Fortunately, the school helped me get some of my money back and move back into rez last Saturday the day after the earthquake.  Actually, I never felt the earthquake that caused so much damage, but one of my friends texted me after it happened and asked if I was okay, because she didn't think my house would be able to handle that earthquake.  That was definitely the final straw to get me out of there!

Here are some pictures of my house that I took as I was packing up to go back to rez:

My Super Scary Toilet with a seat cover.  It disturbed me, but I couldn't take it 

off or else my a** would stick to the seat.

My Super Scary Shower (that blue thing is actually a bath tub. :S

My Super Scary Bathroom Sink.  Notice the shower is in the room to 

the left, the toilet to the right.  Yes that's a squeegee, cleaning was tough.

Entrance to my house

Super Scary View of my house from the entrance.  That door in the center-ish is the bedroom

that I wanted to live in, but for some reason the landlady made me take the room upstairs.

This picture and the next 2 are of the room I wanted.

A couple picks of my Creepy A** Kitchen.

View of the Lethal Stairs from the bottom

View of the Lethal Stairs from the top.

A few pictures of the bedroom I was given.

My Scary A** House from the outside.  LOOK! It's DESTINY!

My washing machine and "drying racks."

There you have it.  It might not seem so bad, but the ghosts in this house mentally destroyed me.  Being back in Seminar House feels so good.  I have a new roommate, but it's Fran, my Chilean roommate from last semester (and she rocks!).  My landlady was awesome.  We called her Obaachan (literally translates to Grandma, but in a very friendly way).  I hope her the best!

So I'll end this now.  Please keep safe!  I will do my best to also keep safe too!

Hugs and Kisses!

Kelly

Hisashiburi! *Long time no see!*

Something awful has happened.


It's called Bejewelled Blitz.  It's a silly game on facebook that I'm completely addicted to and it is one of the reasons why I haven't been able to update this blog in awhile.  Sorry!  But I guess I'll backtrack through my first month here and tell you the things I've done.

My first weekend here, I went to Nara to see the deer and the giant Buddha statue!  My roommate Jacqui went with me and we met up with my Japanese friends Hitomi and Mayumi in Nara.  We arrived there, and walk maybe half a kilometer from the station, and there are deer everywere!  And they were so cute!

Meow Meow Meow I'm a deer that's the size of a large dog.  Meow Meow Meow.

They were everywhere.  And scary!  You could buy biscuits to feed them, but if they see you buying them, you get surrounded!  There were two babies that I was feeding, and then all of a sudden there were 7 around me, and then I felt when bite my ass and I turn around to find more!  I pretty much just threw the biscuits away after they started head butting me.  Apparently they "bow" for their food, and the Japanese people think it's super cute (kawaii!!) but their bowing turned into painful headbutts.  Even though the males had their antlers sawed off, the little stubs left behind were pretty painful.  And I had a huge hankering for a venison steak when I was around them.

Deer-kabobs, anyone?

If you notice the left hand side of the picture is blurry, it's because my camera sucks!  I cleaned the lens so many times but that blur won't go away!  And when we went into the temple to see the giant Buddha,  my camera couldn't take a good picture.  At all.  I tried all the settings on my camera (flash, no flash, indoor, outdoor, party, etc).  No dice.  And it was soo cool.  AND SO BIG!  It's one of those things where you have to see it to believe how big it is.  And all the cool statues that were inside of it too.  I did get to climb through a hole (that was the same size as one of the Buddha's nostrils... I could fit through one of his nostrils, does that put it in perspective?)  After that we had a nice omurice dinner (rice wrapped in an omelet) and me and Jacqui returned home.  On the train ride home, I fell asleep and whacked my head on the window.  Good times! 

I had picked 2 classes (besides my 2 Japanese courses and my online course from Carleton) to take this semester, but then I found out that I had to change them (that's making the long story short).  Thankfully I found this out on the last day that I could add classes, so I added 3 different classes and dropped the other 2 (I added another one so that next year I only have to take 4 courses a semester at Carleton, making my 4th year a little bit easier, and maybe allowing me time to work a little more next year too).  So I added my new classes and attended them for a week (one of them was economics... NOT my forte!).  That same weekend (last weekend),  me and my friends started thinking about moving out of Seminar House for the following 3 reasons:

1)  It's expensive, around $677 CAD a month.  Apartments and houses can be cheaper.

2)  It's strict.  I got in trouble for hanging my laundry inside, because after 2 days hanging outside they weren't dry yet.  Hello! I need dry clothes to wear! And then I was told that I probably don't know how to hang my clothes "appropriately."  Do I look stupid?  I know how to hang clothes!  And I don't even have friends over because they can't stay pasat 10:00, and they can't have food or drinks here either.  We can't drink alcohol in here (it's not that big a deal for me, I don't drink often anyways), but I haven't lived with this many rules since I was maybe 12.  It's time to get out!

3)  I really want to do this.  I want to make this decision in a foreign country because sometimes I feel like I've been cared for too much and that maybe my life was too easy.  That's not to say that I think I'm spoiled, but I feel like whenever I do something, I always have people helping me with the decisions (Decision making, also no my forte), and I feel like it's high time for me to make a big decision by myself.  I feel like it's time to start taking responsibility (and not just by making sure I feed the goldfish).

So we checked out a house last weekend and some apartments.  Sketchy as f*ck!  There were dead cockroaches in the bathtub in one of the apartments (and after seeing them, I realized that I lived with cockroaches in Ottawa.  I thought they were giant crickets.  Maybe I am stupid.)  And that freaked me out!  And the house looked like someone had died in it and that there was a ghost committing the murders.

Have fun sleeping!

So I said no.  My friend Antonio took one of the apartments, and Tom Kaspar and I went and looked at 3 differents apartments.

The first apartments we saw were nice (not furnished), but clean and in a nice neighbourhood.  However, after everything was said and done (rent, utilities, furnishings etc.) we would have come to the same price as Seminar House.  

The second set of apartments were AMAZING!!! They came furnished, utilities were included in the price, and we would have saved money if we could have moved in immediately, but we would have had to wait a week, and then we would only save about 2000 yen (approx $25).  And they were pretty far from the school (15 minute bike ride.  Might not sound far, but it's far by Japanese standards).  So we didn't get them.  But they were GORGEOUS! 

My friends Tom and Kaspar ended up moving into the first apartments we looked at (the ones with the dead cockroaches) and I am still in Seminar House.  I did look at a house yesterday that I think I might move into (rent is 20,000 yen, approx $250 a month).  I just have to get over the washroom.  It needs a little bit of cleaning, but that's not the problem.  The problem is that it's a Japanese washroom and they're just so different from Canadian/North American ones that I'm scared.  But I will save a buttload of money moving in there.  Standards of living are definitely lower, but if I want to save this much money, it's something I'll have to deal with!

And because I was looking at apartments all week, I missed all my English classes (my 3 new classes), so I've only been to my new classes for a total of one week.  EEK!  This week I will be dedicated to going to them! I need to catch up!  Especially in econ (though I just made a bunch of good notes for econ! I'm so good!).  So whether or not I move out, I have to attend my classes! Who knows when the midterms will come up?  Prob this week with my luck!

Today my co-worker at Town Hall, Barb, her husband Bill, her daughter Wendy, their friend from Indonesia, Fir, and my roommate Jacqui all went to Kyoto to do some sightseeing.  I was planning on taking them to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the Golden Pavilion and the Silver Pavilion.  I had already seen the 2 pavilions, but I was excited for the Palace, but it turns out it's closed on weekends! :(  We did get to take lots of pictures of the plum blossoms that were blossoming around the Palace grounds:

Plum blossoms smell soooo good!

And then we trekked over to the Golden Pavilion and then the Silver Pavilion.  I won't get in to too many details, but it was a very enjoyable day, and it was awesome to see people from back home.  I'm not homesick, but seeing a friendly face and exploring together is always fun!  My mom also sent some things with Barb (I have Frank's Red Hot Sauce now.  Epic win!)

And this brings me back to now.  I have put Bejewelled Blitz on hold for awhile, and not it's time to get back to it and consider moving into this house.  Hopefully it won't take me so long to update again!

Hugs and Kisses!

Kelly

P.s.  I also went to a club last weekend, and this picture pretty much sums it up:

I'm SUPER happy, Tom's on the edge, and Antonio is pulling off his Italian lover look.

Arrival in Japan

21 hours later.

I have made it back to Japan, the land of crazy.  I'm currently sitting in the Kansai International Airport waiting for a limousine bus to pick me up and bring me back to my roommates. I'm here to tell you about my flights and waste time while I wait for the bus.  

So my day started at 2:30 Saturday morning (January 29th), but really it started at about 12:30 am because my mother's snoring kept me awake (not her fault, she has a cold... that I gave her :P).  I woke up, got dressed, grabbed my stuff, said a quick and tired goodbye to my mother, and hopped on a bus to the airport.  There, I had to wait an hour and a half before getting my boarding pass (the first thing you have to do at the Toronto Pearson International Airport).  From then on it was pretty much smooth sailing.  This 45 year old guy in front of me kept trying to flirt with me (I saw his info on his US customs sheet), and I was just like "Really? Do I look like I'm anywhere near your age? Or are you just trying to be nice? Because I don't do 'nice' at 3:30 am, and I probably won't start doing nice until around 10:00 on a regular day, when I'm not travelling halfway around the world."  He got the picture soon enough.  

All of my seats on the planes were window seats.  My first plane to Chicago, I was doing everything I could to watch us takeoff.  2 seconds after we cleared the clouds, I passed out.  I woke up 15 minutes before landing.  The flight was only 1 hour and 15 minutes, but sleeping the whole time was a great way to pass it by.  It wasn't so great when I found out that the flight attendants didn't wake me up to give me my complimentary beverage.  Ugh.  

I had to race through Chicago airport.  It wasn't confusing or anything, but I made it just in time for the last call onto my second flight, where I managed to get my complimentary beverages for the 5 hour flight (which was taken up with short naps and episodes of That 70's Show). 

At the San Fransisco Airport, I got lost inside, but I thought it was all right because I had an hour between flights.  I found my way to the proper terminal, but I stopped to grab a sandwich and some water so I could finally eat ($14 bucks US for the lunch, I'm glad the dollar is slightly above par right now).  I grab it, and was planning to eat it at my terminal gate when they're calling for the final boarding call for my flight! So I run for it, make it on the plane and it's filled with people.  I was sitting beside a Japanese guy (probably around my age), and I had to get him to move so that I could get to my seat.  The little bugger had bought so much stuff at duty free though, so there was only enough room for the smaller of my carry ons in the overhead compartment.  So my giant backpack had to sit at my feet (and I had to hide it from the flight attendants, because if it doesn't fit under the seat in front of you, it has to go up).  I was successful at hiding it (Ninja skills I acquired), and it proved useful in finding different ways to sit and nap on the 11.5 hour plane ride.  Before taking off, I quickly ate my sandwich and shoved that under the seat in front of me.  Then it was nothing but sitting for a loooong time.  I only had to get up once to use the washroom, and I felt bad because the boy beside me was sleeping. I hate waking people up.  It's one of those "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  I hate being woken up, so I hate doing it to others.  Unfortunately, nature called so I had to wake him up.  Whoops.  He took it pretty well, even though he was back to sleep when I got back from the washroom and had to wake him up again.  Other than that he was a pretty good seat buddy on the plane.  We never said a word to each other, he slept the whole time and then woke up for maybe an hour to read over some scientific looking notes.  At one time, during my creative positions of napping, I woke up and found he was napping, but he had totally leaned over and was half on my seat (I was crouched in a ball on my seat and foot rest a.k.a. backpack).  I didn't mind, I went back to sleep, but when I woke back up he was back on his seat again.  When the flight was over, he was even kind enough to pull down my carry on from the overhead bin.  I'm going to miss that bugger!

One of the greatest things at the end of a long flight (which has only happened today) is when you get through customs quickly and easily (can't say that for the U.S.), and when you go to pick up your luggage, your one of the first ones there, and you see your bright, pink-spotted bag coming off the belt with perfect timing.  it seems to make the whole trip so much better, just to have it end so simply and easily.  

Okay, 25 more minutes till the limo-bus comes.  I can't wait to get back to the Seminar House and hear what my friends did in Japan over the break.  I wish I could shower tonight, but my towels are locked in my other suitcase that I left in Japan, and I don't have access to it until tomorrow.  I will remain a dirty-rat for a while yet!  Also due to this, and the fact that I packed my camera in my suitcase, there are no pictures on this blog post (as I'm sure you've figured out by now).  So, use your imagination as to what the inside of a plane looks like for 19 hours, and then get thrust into the future 14 hours.  It's, so much fun.

Bus just pulled up! Peace and Love!

Heading back...home?

Oh, it's been a lovely break.

That was a little bit of sarcasm.  I loved seeing my friends and family, but I was sick for the last 4 weeks of my time being home, and I still couldn't move much because of my knee (but slowly, it's feeling better!)  It made me into quite the miserable little thing.  Not too mention that my friends were all back in school and the constant snowing made visits between us a little difficult.  But all in all, I loved being home, seeing my friends and family, and having an unlimited supply of fruits and vegetables.

Strawberries, in particular

Alas, it's times to return to Japan.  I'm looking forward to it, a lot.  Mostly for the people I've met.  I miss my roommates, Yu and Fran, and my friend Jacqui (who will be my roommate this semester).  And I REALLY miss my guy friends.  It is what I'm most excited for.  

My mom is trying to get me to get to bed (have to wake up at 2:30 am for my 6:25 flight to Chicago, San Fransisco, and then Osaka), so I guess I'll appease her now and head off to bed (without my retainer, which I forgot at home, and probably numerous other things that I'll figure out as I get to Japan).

Sayonara people!

Also, I was introduced to South Park while I was at home.  If you have time to watch it (not the first two seasons) I highly reccommend it!

Happy Late New Year!

Yay! We made it to another year!

So I think most people who will be reading this already know this, but I came home for Christmas!  I was trying to surprise all my friends, so I was not telling them that I was coming home.  Anyways, my mom was talking to some of my friends parents and she did not tell them not to say anything, so some of my friends found out that way that I was coming home.  And then my mom posted on one of my facebook statuses "See you in a few days" and some of them found out that way I was coming home.  So I got home and waited around for a few days in my house so that I would be able to surprise them all at a Christmas party.  When I arrived at the party, I had my video camera out and was ready to get everybody's surprise on camera.  But they were all expecting me.  Nobody was surprised.  I was holed up in my house for 4 days for nothing.  Oi Vay.  I did surprise one friend, Bridget.  She did not have a freaking clue I was coming home.  Small victory! Next time I am trying to surprise people though, I will not let my mom in on the plans.  Sorry mom!

Christmas went well.  Had a lazy day with the family and an awesome prime rib for dinner.  I got the new Victoria's Secret coat that I have been asking for since forever! It's so cute! My sister and I got my dad a new pair of snowshoes (Ha, almost wrote snowhoes, that would be fun too, I suppose).  Hopefully these will last awhile! Erica and I made my mother a recipe book that was a compilation of all the recipes she's received from her friends over the years.  She started crying! So cute and unexpected! But it's always nice to see a gift well received.  The four of us also got a kind of miner's headlamp for hunting.  This was our Christmas photo after we finished opening gifts:

Attractive, I know.

The following week I underwent a major identity change, and I look more like this now:

That's me in the middle!

Yep! I'm a brunette again! I have been blonde for the last two years, but it was time for a change.  For a number of reasons.  

1. Hated it when the roots grew in.  It gave the whole secret away and therefore
2. Hated upkeeping the roots and the price of it.  Too much of a bother.
3. Attracted TOO much attention in Japan.  Always harmless attention, but too much of it (the final straw was when an old, drunk Japanese man came right up to my face in a convenience store and was just pointing and staring at me and saying cute.  I literally ran away).

So, no more blonde.  I've joined the brunette force of the world.  My Swedish friend will be disappointed, as will my friend Jacqui (but she just wanted to dye my hair really vibrant greens and reds and purples because my hair was so light).  I kind of miss being a blonde, but I am THRIVING as a brunette!  Even as I'm writing this though, one of my friends from Germany has commented saying he like blonde better.  Too bad buddy!

I had a good New Years.  From 2005-2009, I was only able to see 2 New Years.  It was because of my own lack of control over alcohol consumption that I failed to ring in some New Years, so I take it very easy now on New Years.  I make sure I get a good buzz on, and that is all! I like having fun with my friends, not praying to the porcelain god.  Here is me during the last few hours of 2010 with my friend's sister Krista:

I don't know why, but I always seem to have lots of pictures of me in washrooms at Stag Does

I started work the following week.  I only made it to 1 day of work though.  I went in on the Tuesday, woke up sick on Wednesday (I was feeling sick for awhile, but I woke up feeling a lot worse that day), and Thursday through Saturday I was in Indianapolis, Indian at the Archery Trade Association!  I went with my family and some of my dad's friends to promote Just Us Hunting and find product sponsors.  And we got to meet somebody VERY special!

Jim.  Shockey.

Yeah, that's me and Erica with Jim Shockey.  No big deal, but he's a BIG DEAL!  He's one of the biggest names in hunting television (and he's Canadian!).  It was great.  Erica and I walked up to him and Erica pulled out her business card and wrote him an autograph and she was pretty much telling him that he was super lucky to be able to meet us.  And he totally went a long with it too (or maybe he thought he was lucky to meet us?).  It was hilarious.  I was super flustered and excited to meet him, so good thing Erica was there because I probably wouldn't have been able to make a complete sentence.  We told him about Just Us Hunting and he told us to never give up, no matter what anyone says.  Yay Jim! He also wrote on my autograph I got from him "Meet me up on the mountain!"  So I'm pretty sure I'm invited to go hunting with him.  Jim, if you're reading this, don't be surprised if you run into up on a mountain!

We saw lots at the trade show, met a lot of people and my mom won a free bow from Bowtech and hunting gear from Prois!  She wasn't even going to enter the competition, but we finally convinced her too, and look what she got.  Way to go mom!

Driving there and back wasn't much fun.  I get carsick now very easily (I think it's because I was never really in a car in Japan).  No vomiting or anything, but I do feel very nauseous.  Not fun!

Went in to work again this week.  I was still sick and today I had to call in another sick day.  Sick day's suck.  You don't get to do anything and you accomplish absolutely nothing.  But, I think I am feeling better, so hopefully tomorrow I can go into work (and get the bird out of the basement.  Yuck!) and then head to Waterloo this weekend to hang out with some friends (because I probably won't be able to see them for almost 5 months anyways.  Fun times!

Speaking of bummed up knees (nice topic change).  I went in to see a doctor when I got back  into Goderich about my knee.  He pulled and tugged on it and told me I stretched and strained a tendon above the knee cap.  For the next two weeks my leg felt worse than when I went in.  I went to see another doctor then and she pulled and tugged on it and told me all the ligaments in my knee were stretched out.  And it feels even worse now.  Note to self: doctors can cause pain.  I hate it.  I can't do anything.  I want to be able to go for a run and actually do some exercise.  But I have literally been sitting on my ass for 4 weeks.  I WANT TO MOVE! This sucks!  I'm going to see the doctor again next week and hopefully they will give me and actual answer.  I really don't want to go back to Japan with a crap leg.  Well, I really want to go back to Japan, I'm really pumped for it.  But I don't want to be limping around everywhere while I'm there.

So let's all hope for the best!!!

Peace and Love!

Whew! Exams!

Hey all!

People have been asking for a post but it's been exam time, so today's post may be short and sweet and maybe boring because that's what exams are all about!

So my last post was almost two weeks ago, and things haven't been that exciting.  My knee still hasn't gotten better, and I can't do much walking on it without needed to rest and elevate it for an hour or two.  This lead me to skip some classes in the last two weeks, and I feel bad because I had had a perfect record up until then.  It was necessary though, because some days I would wake up, and the last thing I wanted to do was to move my leg.  I talked with my friends about seeing a doctor, but we all kind of figured that nothing was wrong with my knee, and that is most likely just needed some RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation).  I've done lots of that though these past three weeks, so I think it's high time I went to the doctor to get it checked out.

My leg has caused me to be much more restless too.  I worked out 4 times a week and ran 4 times a week, but I haven't been able to do anything with my knee like this.  It's so frustrating! I want to be outside! I want to be moving!  It's the most frustrating thing!

Anyways, my exams started this past week.  Monday I had my Reading & Writing Japanese final, and Tuesday I had my Speaking Japanese final.  They were a little hard, but I prepared very well for those ones. Wendnesday I had 3 exams all in one afternoon: Japanese Monsters, International Negotiations, and Japanese Pop Culture.  I didn't bother studying for Monsters, which was all right, there were only 2 question that I would have needed to study for but I don't mind losing a couple marks over those.  International Negotiations I studied some key parts for and those were the only things that happened to be on the test.  I've never lucked out like that!  Oh, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but the whole class got t-shirts saying we were in Negotiations Boot Camp.  And mine was a men's large and it was more like a paper bag dress than a shirt.  But, I took my sewing kit, and what little knowledge of sewing I have and pimped them out:

That's Malaika, from Uganda.  She's wearing boots, I'm wearing socks.  Go figure.  I was actually only wearing those sandals because of all my shoes they have the best support and I thought it would be good for my knees.  Anyways, back to exam talk!

So Monsters and Negotiations were done.  And I was the first one done both exams.  So I made it my mission to be the first one done my Pop Culture final too.  Of the three exams I had that day, Pop Culture was the only one I put a lot of effort into studying (because I didn't take any notes all year.  Oops!)  I'm glad I did.  The test was so easy, but only because I had studied.  One of my friends didn't study and he asked me what I should know.  I told him 5 things, and those 5 things were big parts of the test.  I must have used up all my luck that day on those tests.  Oh, and I was the first one done that exam too.  No big deal, but I'm kind of a big deal. :P

Thursday I went out to get Christmas gifts to send home.  I went shopping in Shinsaibashi with my roommate, Yu, and it wreaked havoc on my knee.  I felt so stupid, the way I was walking.  It probably looked like the grandpa from King of the Hill (he has no knees or something like that).  Anyways, Yu and I went to do some purikura (insane photo booth pictures), and we rented some Santa costumes for 100 yen to take the pictures in:

Afterwards, when we were waiting to change back into our clothes, some high school girl came up from behind me and said "Sumimasen." *Excuse me*  When I turned around, she said "OH! GAIJINDATTA!" *FOREIGNER*  And ran away to her friend saying how she wanted to ask me something but I turned around and I was a Gaijin and she was so surprised that she had to run away.  I know that there are some crazy girls in Japan who dye their hair blonde, but I think even from behind, my body is definitely not Japanese (I have some muscle on my, Japanese girls tend to be super slim), and I'm blonde.  I so curious now as to what she wanted to ask me.  Wherever you are little girly, I can speak Japanese, I understand the things you said!  Yu was losing her shit laughing about it though.

Next, Yu and I went to Sweets Paradise, a dessert buffet restaurant.  There was some regular food like spaghetti, salad, omerice (Omelette+rice=freaking delicious), sandwiches, soup etc.  And then there were about a hundred different cakes and desserts to choose from.  There was a giant white chocolate fondu fountain too!

 

My plate!  Pretty much the only way I can eat strawberries 

in Japan is if it comes on a cake.

Yu's plate!  With a giant green tea cake!

Yummy!

Oishii! *Yummy!*

It's really such a ridiculous place.  I mean, buffets are bad enough as it is, but a buffet full of desserts? That's just asking for obesity.  It was so good though, they did not go cheap on those cakes.  Top quality delights is what they had.  I can't go back again with Yu though, she told me it was her own policy that she always takes a new friend there every time.  I'll just bully my way and make sure she brings me back soon!

Thursday night, I had one last round of Yakiniku and Karaoke with the boys.  Our friend, Robert, was going to Indonesia and then home to Holland.  It was pretty emotional, and I don't think he knows it, but I was fighting back a lot of tears when saying goodbye to him.  It's just so strange; you go from seeing somebody everyday, and then all of a sudden their gone and you don't have a clue if you're going to see them again.  I told my friends that were leaving that it may take about 10 years, but I do plan on seeing everybody again.  I made lots of awesome memories with these people and they've made a huge impact on my life.  My friend Daisaku from Mexico is leaving soon, so I have to make sure I get my heartfelt goodbye to him soon too!

My Korean friend, Deuck Jo is in my bed right now reminiscing about his semester here, and how Tom, Robert and I were good workout buddies, and he was really glad to make friends with us. I'm really glad I made friends with him too, and all the other people.  

Guys, it's been a great semester.  Most of you I will be seeing next semester, but for those of you who only stayed in Japan for one semester, it's been fun.

Sayonara friends, we will meet again.

Peace and Love,

Sad Kelly

I'm a Whiney B!tch

Hello Again!
It's been awhile, and hopefully today's post will be entertaining for you, but for me, it's just going to be a little bit of a vent time.

So last weekend, I biked to school, and then went out for supper after class with some of my roommates.  I left my bike at the school and went to pick it up the next afternoon.  My bike was nowhere to be found.  SOMEBODY STOLE DESTINY!  I wasn't that distraught about it however (I was later, after other events occurred that I will get around to telling you about).  I was more or less like "it's out of my hands, not much I can do now." Two of my friends also had their bikes stolen in the past 2 weeks.  Wtf?  Someone has it out for the Gaijins (foreigners) I think, but it's pissing me off.  Poor Destiny is all alone with nobody to tell her how wicked cool she is.  I went to the people at school who are in charge of the international students and asked them if I could view the footage from last weekend to see if we could find out who stole the bikes.  The following conversation ensued:

CIE worker : I'm sorry, we can't let students view the footage.  Only someone with authority can look at it.

Me:  Okay, can we get someone who has the authority to look at it?

CIE: No, we can't do that.

Me:  Then why did you install cameras if you can't review the footage?

Honestly, what is the point?  If we can view the footage we can find out who did it and if it was the same person who took mine and my friends' bikes.  So stupid.  I had to go to the police station to report it and it was really cool.  My roommate Yu went with me to act as a translator, and everything went pretty smoothly.  They had to use my fingerprints as a signature on the pages (strange huh?), but the detective thought I was silly, because I would make stupid noises every time I stamped my finger.  And when he asked me how old I was I accidentally said 11 instead of 21.  He gave me a silly look and Yu called me a liar.  My bad!  Anyways, after all the paper work was done, he told me that I was a pretty girl and that I should be very careful when I am out for strangers and gropers on the train.  I then really super politely asked him to please find my bike and he thought that was really cute.  Yu and I went out for some Starbucks lunch.

Coffee!

The police kept calling though to double check the bike registration number, and it turns out I had the wrong one.  My friend Tom and I had bought our bikes together and somehow during the paperwork process our numbers go switched up.  So I had to go back to the police station on Friday, but it was a really quick visit; in and out.  So now I have to sit and wait patiently to see if any news turns up. One of my other roommates, Misty, is only here for one semester, and she said that if I didn't hear anything by the end of next week, we can switch the ownership of her bike over to me.  Thanks Misty! You're a sweetheart!

All right, another problem.  I participated in a race last Sunday, the 1st Osaka Sweets Marathon.  I was in the running group that was only doing 10km, but it wasn't easy!  It was getting so cold at night the last few weeks before the run, so I didn't practice much.  My friend Steph and I kept pace throughout the whole thing together and we didn't have to stop once.  And I came in 107 and she came in 108 place out of 600 people! Way to go us!

Crossing the finish line!  Woot woot!

Once we finished, there was a table of chocolates and sweets waiting and a man handing out ice cream to the runners who were finishing up.  It was great, but all I wanted was water, and I couldn't find it at all!  Such a silly race, it was a lot of fun though, and I had a blast with the running club!

I'm paying the price for that run now though.  One I woke up on Monday, my body was aching all over (well mostly my legs), I couldn't get out of bed to go to class.  I though taking one day off would be fine.  I also had this cream that was good for sore muscles, so I made my roommate watch as I put some on my bed.  "Kelly! You're so silly!" Yu said.  I know!  The next day my muscles felt better, but my knees were killing me.  And since I don't have to bike, I have to walk all over the place.  It's a real pain.  I've had to skip class a few times this week because it was too painful to walk.  I think they will get better if I can give them time to just rest, but exams are coming up, and I really can't afford to do that.  Last night I went to a club too, which probably wasn't the best idea, but I figured that it was one of the last time I could go before exams, so I might as well.  It hurt at first, but after I started dancing, the heat felt really good on my knees.  Today though, I'm definitely paying the price.  I can't walk one step without cringing.  Maybe on Monday I will make a stop at the infirmary at school and maybe they can fix me up!

The club was a hot mess too.  I had an awesome time, but I don't know how I drank too much but I did.  I spent about 2 hours over the porcelain throne, puking and sleeping, and then another hour recovering from that.  But once they played a Ke$ha song, I was ready to go! Full recovery made!  Me and my friends were the only Gaijins there, and we felt pretty special about that.  All the Japanese people thought we were so silly/cool, and the boys I was with liked the girls dressed up as sexy little santas.  There was one girl there who really pissed me off though.  She is a gaijin, and she has a boyfriend at Kansai Gaidai, but she was making out with guys all over the place last night (who weren't her boyfriend).  I really hate people who cheat.  It's so selfish and callous.  If you're going to be in a relationship then be committed, if not, dump the person to spare them the humiliation of being cheated on.  I can't look at her the same way now, she lost a lot of respect for that.  I also don't believe in the "but she was drunk" ordeal.  Drinking just takes down the walls that sobriety holds up; in other words, alcohol can reveal your true feelings and thoughts.  That's my opinion anyways.  Don't get me wrong! I still had a lot of fun last night!

Some other things that have bothered me: price of fruit in Japan.  I just want some fruit.  I don't want to die of scurvy, and rice has hardly any nutritional value.

People who interrupt presentations.  If someone's giving a presentation, hold off your questions/comments until the end.  This stupid girl in one of my classes keeps interrupting just to put in a stupid comment/hear herself talk.  Shut up, nobody wants to hear what you have to say.  She also said that where she comes from (Czech Republic), students don't raise their hands unless they have something smart to say.  Oh, really? Had me fooled.

People who copy me:  I'm a tad flattered, but it really just annoys me.  We got these free t-shirts in one of my classes that are huge (awesome, but huge).  So I took mine and made it smaller and then cut up the sleeves and neck and made it look really hot.  Now one of my roommates is doing that too.  I don't know why it bothers me so much, but get your own style please.

That's about it.  My boys should be back with my hangover McD's soon, so I'll hobble over to their room to have a nice dinner with them.

Hopefully the next post won't be so whiny, but I just needed a good vent!

Peace and Love
The Cripple