Thank you Hiki!

Akari says...
Thank you so much for the clothes Hiki! The pants that you gave me were very comfortable and easy to work out in. Here's a picture of Me and Nozomi doing Taebo.

Yum, yum!!

This is my Yum Yum post! I'm always ready for a...

*Sandwich. I like it with lots of fresh lettuce, ham, cheese, avocado, and think slices of onion. Tomatoes are optional.


*Roast BEEF!! ALWAYS!! Too bad our oven decided to desert us.

*It's not an always food, esp since I'm trying to put some distance between myself and refined sugar, but I still like chocolate. It's especially nice when it's dark. If it's junky chocolate, (as in cheap chocolate/ extra junk-food like chocolate, nothing beats snicker bars!!)


*Salads. All salads, really. But there's got to be a good dressing to go along with it, and if there's avocados, all the better. I'm such a fan!
*I'm absolutely attached to mixed nuts! It's nice if there are lot's of pistachios and peanuts in the mix. Wasabi Kaki-peeees are almost as hot as mixed nuts.

*Shrimp and Avocado go together like peas and carrots. This combination is a winner.
*And last but not least, my very favorite Jim Caviezel! I'll always be hungry for seconds!!
His smile and biceps are TODIEFOR!!! My dear friends Kaori, Mitch and Shiro know this very well. Kari and Mitch made a Jim Caviezel 2009 Calendar for my Birthday, and Shiro drew me a super impressive picture of Jim Caviezel. In this way, I'm pathetic.




The above is my "Yum, yum!!" list.

It's actually a lot longer.
*Pasta (Not the creamy kind. Simple is best)
*Green Tea
*Brad Pitt
*eggs in all forms.
*Baked Chicken.
*Chicken salads.
*Heath Ledger
*Grapefruits
*Rainbow Trout
*Owen Wilson
*Most white flesh fish
*etc.

It's longer yet, but I'm stopping here.

Home Improvement day!

Akari says...

Everyone was very busy cleaning this home. We (the kids) and Ken weeded the parking lot area. It was a tough job because the temperature was 35c. But since the wind was blowing, it wasn't that hot, (although it did blow sand in our faces, making us feel very dusty and the cars looking very grimy. )
I don't have any before-and-after pictures of the parking lot, but here's just one example of how bad our home looked before, and how good it looks now after the scrub!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Bromance

Eiko says...

Bromance.

You see those two dudes in the corner getting almost a bit too comfy together with beers in hand. They've got their arms around each other's shoulder and seem to be having a bit too much fun. You almost expect them to start making out, but the party ended without any such act. You approach them later with the big question:

"So...you two are homo or something, right?"

As an answer, you get punched in the face. Not because they were offended by the word, "homo", but because they weren't anything close to it. One of them is married (to a 20 some year old hot chick), and the other one is head over heels in love with the bartender in the mini-skirt. Definitely a girl.

So,...they aren't really gay, but they sure have some heat there. We call this bromance. I know some bromanticaly involved individuals...

The #1 most famous bromantic couple would doubtless be:

(drum roll)

Hiki and Sean!!

Then there's Sho and Shunnie.

Toshi and Yuta (you don't know them)

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

Chase Crawford and Ed Westwick

etc.

All those of you who found your names above and found it offensive,...well...don't be offended! Bromance is THE word nowadays! And there's nothing bad about it. It just means that you guys are,...well,...close!! (and not in a weird way either) You're great chums. You hang out together. It's brotherly love. Simple as a pimple. It's just that some people in this world have perverted minds, and just to make things clear to these people, they needed a term for this brotherly love. If it's not gay,...it's gotta be bromance!

this 'n that

Eiko says...

Hiki is coming to Japan!! I am SO happy! I've been missing Hiki since last year's summer! We all have. You happen to be THE talk at most of the meal times. "When is he coming?" "How long will he stay?" "Can't he stay any longer?" "Is he gunna run off with Sean at UNO?" "Will he still be just as perverted?" "Has he changed any since last year?" "Does he have more chest hair?" etc.
Hurry up and get your hiny over here, Hicks! And next time, bring your gorgeous wife and adorable child over. They need to meet the family, and we need to meet them too.

Work is extremely tiring. I only work 3 times a week now, but that's pretty much all I can take if I'm trying to survive on 5 hours and less of sleep. But recently Stephan's been a real sweeto and has been driving me to my work place which saves me the 30 min. walk there. I honestly enjoy the walk back though. I probably wouldn't mind someone picking me up, but walking is just as good. The 30min walk back is just enough time to listen to some of my favorite songs on my MP3 player, and gives me time to clear my head of work and my hair of the sushi smell, and gets me ready for some good sleep time. And yes. I still use an MP3 player. I need an IPod, but I think I'll give it a wait till IPods are out of style, and buy the latest "hot item". I'm sure there are plenty of those out already, but I'll wait a little longer till they are withing my pocket book's reach. Ima wa nanto ittemo muri.

My boss looks lazy. He looks lazy ALL the time. His eyes look like they're only half open, and it's not because he's Japanese or anything. I've seen guys with smaller eyes that were much more open and 'awake' than my boss' eyes. And I think he not only looks lazy, but he IS indeed lazy, and I can prove this point too! While I was scrubbing the tables clean of soy sauce, and making sure there were no rice bits on the couches and floor, my boss comes in with a bowl of miso soup that looked awful good, sat down 2 tables away from where I was scrubbing my heart away, and starting drinking it--slowly, blowing occasionally to keep his tongue safe, and casting lazy glances my way. I was only slightly annoyed though. Mainly because I wasn't that tired then. I rarely am during work hours. Tiredness hits the next morning when it's time to drag my feet up the stairs to 6th floor lounge for devotions. Also, I like my lazy looking boss. I'd rather have a lazy looking boss that doesn't speak too proper around us workers than a boss that won't ever sit down, is always running around and barking at us to do better and do faster and clean this and don't touch that. I'm sure there's a balance between the two, and I have yet to see that 'sharp' side of my boss. But I'm not eager to. He's just fine the way he is.
He asked me about my home schooling the other day, and proudly told all the workers that were working till last about my English speaking abilities. I got a few oooohs and ahhhs from them after saying something super cool like, "Yeah, I speak English fine. It is after all, my first language." He didn't seem to have a problem with the fact that my Japanese is flawed and my pronunciation needs improvement. He's too lazy to mind that kind of stuff. I was happy to find out that he isn't too lazy for laughing and a sence of humor.
I am learning more and more about exactly how much I can speak and understand Japanese and how far I need to go in order to be up to par. I've got quite a ways to go actually. But just the fact that I'm forced to talk and answer and ask questions in Japanese there at my work place is helping me to use the knowledge I do have, and is giving me opportunities to expand that knowledge. I asked one of our sheep about my Japanese, and he said my Japanese was very clean and that I could speak fine. But the problem was that I pause at the wrong times. Huh?! Well, there isn't much wrong with my pronunciation and my speaking abilities. It's when and where I put the "ettos" and the "anos" and the "nandattakes" that make me sound like I'm stupid. I was only slightly disturbed when our sheep said, "But that's something that probably won't change, so don't mind that. Really. You're Japanese is fine!" What does he mean by "probably won't change"? I am so gunna prove him wrong. Believe it or not, I happen to only be 18 years old. My brain ought not to be that stiff for change and improvement. I'm gunna make it happen. I'm gunna sound 100% Japanese. Hell! I AM 100% Japanese! Yipes!

And I need to go for another hair cut. I'm having great difficulty fitting all of my big hair into the kappa zushi hat! This is another factor that made me doubt my boss' mental state. During our first interview, I had my hair down, and since I was late I had ran the last 15 min stretch, so my hair was everywhere. He noticed that it was long, so he gave me the biggest kappa zushi hat and told me to stuff all my hair into it. The thing is, he gives the biggest kappa zushi hat to all girls that have hair that go past their shoulders. But it's more than obvious that my hair is not normal hair. My hair is special. I've got an unnatural amount of it, and it's also way longer than just past my shoulders. It's a miracle that I manage to shove all my hair into my work hat and that it actually stays there. Whatever. My boss is weird. So is my hair. I need to cut it. Not short, but I need to decrease it's volume somehow. Soon.

And FDTP is rolling around!! Or should I say boot camp? *shudder* I still don't know what to make of it and the fact that I'm going. When I think about FDTP, I go, "FDTP...right. Right. Riiiight. Okay. Right. Um. I hope I have enough money by then. Of course I will. Okay. Um. Right. " I know it's going to be fun, and difficult, and strange, and a good change and a lot of other things. I know I'm suppose to go too because Jesus made it clear to me that I ought to. And that's what I suppose I'll do.

And I'm so cutting off here. This post is getting long and tedious. I doubt any of you actually read through all of the above. I betcha you skipped till the last paragraph,...the one you're reading now. Well, I don't blame you cause I do that all the time, and by me, you can do that whenever you feel a blog post is boring you. Anyhow, I'm getting sleepy and my fingers are getting stressed from all the fast typing I've been doing. I'll write more later. I'll try to add more pictures to this blog. Pictures bring life to a blog!

Night.

Going Through My Day...

Akari says...

I thought it would be nice to let you all in on my normal day to day schedule. So,... here it is!

Wake up at around 7:30. (If early 7:00) Then I shove my older brother (Yuya) awake, wherewith, he answers with a grunt or so. If we don't' wake up at this time, than we won't be able to fit in breakfast, JJTs and memory work. Then we, (Nozomi, Ai.C, and myself) pile into Eiko's room fro some fun Word time. The next thing we do is school. First, we have 1 hour of English studies and the next hour, Japanese. Then we are dismissed from the school room to eat lunch. After we finish cleaning the room and stuffing ourselves to the full with some Udon that A.Noel always makes for us, we have Quiet time with Eiko. Then again, school for 2 hours with A. Maria or sometimes Mathematics with Stephen. Then after our school is done, it's time for the most dreaded time of the day. P.E. time. No, that's not true. It depends on what I'm going to do. For example, if it's P.E. with Yasu, it would most likely mean that it would be sports, which I dislike very much. But when we're with Eiko, we get to do girly exercises like exercise videos, walks, skating, etc. It really depends on the 'what' and 'who'.
After some vigorous exercise, (at least it's suppose to be vigorous), we take showers and go straight to dinner. (My hair is still wet from the shower because I don't use hair dryers) Then comes the long awaited time of day: Free Time! I sometimes go visit my niece, Kiyona (I usually find her in the nursery room) then, run up to do some knitting with A. Noel. I'm usually late for story time with my older sister, and she often gets Nozomi to call me downstairs.
Story? Uh...sometimes we read the Horn Blower series and the occasional White Feather. AFter begging my older sister to read us some more, I am chased up to bed. Up? Yes. In our room there is a triple bunk that Isamu so kindly made for us. I sleep at the top, Yuya at the middle and Nozomi at the bottom. Then lights are out.

P.S My "older sister" is Ai. Not Ai. C.

Working at Kappa-Zushi!!

Eiko says...

I don't know what I was expecting when I agreed to the night shift, (which is from 9-12pm), but it wasn't this....that's for sure. Not that I don't like it or anything. I like it fine! I've got a friendly boss who has a sence of humor, my co-workers are polite and good teachers, my costume is by far, an improvement from Omuraisutei, and the work is easy to remember. But I guess the whole, walking-30min-to-work, working there from 9-12 (which is a time I usually unwind and do stuff that's more of a relaxing nature), than walking back and getting home way past the princess hour, is definitely more tiring than I expected it to be. But the plan is to get used to the schedule, and than eventually, be tired less.

It was interesting though...
My boss called me over for an hour of "practice" and getting to know my job, and we quickly ran through what I'll be doing. I will be the person who will count the plates and bowls and give ppl their checks, and also the person who will be cleaning up after everyone's messy meals, and closing shop, etc. It was a good hour of crammed information, and I was doing my best to absorb every bit. You see, my boss has a bad habbit of slurring the end of his sentences, especially if he assumes that you get what he's trying to say. Very annoying though, because I'm the kind of person that you have to go over the same point several times in order to feel confident to do the given task. Anyway, I did my best to keep up with his poor explanations and half-sentences, and I think I did a relatively decent job with what was given. But I seriously doubted my boss' sanity when he asked me to fill in the 9-12 slot the very next day!! I even told him so. Not that I thought he was crazy, but that I didn't think I was capable just yet. I mean, although he did go over the stuff that I was suppose to do with me, there was no real "practice". It was mainly manuals and word instructions. Well, his reply to my saying I wasn't so sure of filling in a full slot without more practice was, "No worries. You'll get used to it."
Right. Okay. Sure.

So the next day, I did my best from 9-12, and it wasn't as difficult as I was anticipating it to be. I also realized that I absorbed around 70% of what my boss was waying, which really isn't so bad considering all the sluring. My fellow 9-12 co-workers also helped me with the 30% that I missed, and all that put together I got the hang of it, and it was a good evening. Mom and Dad saved me the walk back home. What sweetos! Got home, took a shower, read Word, and slept somewhere past 2:00am. I gotta get used to this.


It's definitely a learning experience though. Working there has forced me to be on time, is training me to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time, is teaching me respect for my other co-workers, and is good practice for staying cheerful and happy regardless of my situation, how I feel etc. (which is usually tired and wanting to bonk every customer after 10:00). It also keeps me desperate with the Lord and the New Weapons.

It's mecha-kucha good!

Cookies

Akari says...

We made cookies for movie night. The idea was to make ice box cookies so that we could have fun shaping them, but Eiko and Yuriko used the wrong recipe, and the cookie dough turned out too soft, so we made faces instead. It was lot's of fun!

Oh, and by the way, we watched Over the Hedge and it was super funny. It made me want to eat more Junk food. I usually don't like animations, but this one was an exception! I liked it THAT MUCH!

Kiyoa's 1st Birthday EVER!!

Eiko says...
We love you soooo much, Kiyona!
Yuri and I baked these two Chiffon Cakes below, and we were very pleased when they rose beautifuly. But aren't the decorations just adorable? Yuri decorated the colorful one, and I did the boring one. BUT!! Notice the orange peel-ribbons! Ken's brilliant mind and my careful finger work created those! (Applause)

We were hoping that Kiyona would jump on the cake and get all messy like normal 1-year olds, but I think we pressured her a bit too much to do so, because she started crying. Oh, well. We cut her a slice, and she liked it that way.

And here's a picture I took of a sketch I drew of Kiyo-pee. Sorry for the bad quality of the picture. I'm far too lazy to hook up the scanner these days.

So, how do you like?

I'm back

Akari says...

The Word classes were AMAZING! I really liked the first class (We Need Jesus) we had and Michael's class was super!
And I must admit, dance night wasn't that bad after all. But that's mainly because it was more of a game night in fancy clothes!! ( Of course, I didn't bring any special clothes for dance night.) All the pre teens were so shy that the staff members decided that we'd play Chinese Telephone instead of slow dancing. Ha! Actually, I was glad for that because I didn't want to dance in the first place. Why? 'Cuz I'm no good at dancing, and as I said before, I'm not social at all.
Well, thank you for all of your prayers!

P.S
We changed the settings so that y'all can comment! So,...well, comment!! ;)

Apple pie

Eiko says...
Yuriko and Non-chan and I felt pretty left out since the JETTs and JRs of the home are off having a blast at the teen camp, so we decided to do something about it!

We made Apple pie!!
And since when are apple pies suppose to look so good? Yumm!

Changes...

Eiko says...

I have been trying to apply for a job for a few weeks now, and it seems like there's an open door for me! We have a 100yen kapa zushi nearby and they were looking for night-shifters. So I called them up to see if they were still looking for workers, and I got an interview scheduled right away. But being the idiot that I can be sometimes, I accidentally found myself 15min late for my first interview!! I was appalled! Anyway, the boss was pretty laid back, and he didn't seem to be angry with me about my being late, and despite my big "boo-boo", I got the job! Apparently though, he didn't like my hair color, and said that if I wanted to work there, I'd have to change it. So being desperate for FDTP funds and keeping my home in the black, I said, "Yeah, totally!"
I didn't actually like the idea of redying my hair black. I mean, it took me about 20 boxes of BLONDE hair dye to get my hair the color it was (I'm against bleaching hair), and changing it back in one swift go seemed so mottainai. But I did what I had to do, and I ended up liking the change!
It did take me a while to get used to it though.


Before:

After: