Date Night with Bunny

Like I've mentioned before, every Wednesday is what Boris and I like to call 'Date Night', where we simply spend the evening together going to various restaurants, or catch a film at the cinema. Last Date Night, we decided to drink our hearts our at Syzeria! Not my first choice, (or second, or third...) but it is without question a cheap place to drink and eat. And not everything on their menu is putrid like most of their pastas are!

It was fun!

obon

I've been counting the days for my Obon Holiday, and now that it's finally here I am in complete bliss! I painted my nails, I sorted and picked out holiday clothes, and I've been paying my respects to the bars I love! So far, I must say that I've been having a lovely start to Obon, and I can see that things will be picking up fast! I'll make sure it does.

The only two things that I think are less than perfect are that Boris has work during my days off, and that I'm a little short on cash. Oh, and also that I feel like I'm stepping into some kind of torture-by-heat-and-humidity-machine each time I step out the door! Really, this heat has got to give us a breather soon! What is it trying to do, kill everyone? Ugh!

Anyway, check out my awesome new 'thing' from Zara!! LOVE IT!

some crazy women

Every Wednesday, from 10:15 to 12:00, I teach a lovely group of 8 ladies in their 40-60's. Each one of them is unique in their own special way, and although their personalities are so different from each other, they are all very close as if they were friends for years! 

Initially, I was quite intimidated by this group as I had no idea how to interact, much less teach older ladies. But after getting to know them through the many lessons and discussions we've had over the past few months, there's so much that I absolutely LOVE about them! i HAVE to share this with you all...

Yu:

....is your typical polite, nice 50-some year old Japanese lady.  She's got puppy-dog-eyes that have a twinkle of youth, and a very cute face with short hair that frames it perfectly. She's petite but healthy looking, and if I had to choose a word to describe her it would be 'adorable'!


 What is special about Yu is that she has a thing for hot guys with muscles. And when I say 'muscles', I'm not talking about your everyday toned, well-built-Joe! I'm talking about no-neck, larger-than-life, bulging, Vin-Diesel-muscles!! In fact, she's in love with the dude! She's already met him twice during his premiers to Japan, and she said she almost fainted with pure, undiluted delight! 

Her hobbies: watching movies, obsessing and fantasizing about the hot men and their muscular bodies, and chasing celebrities down when they visit Japan (well, only if they're hot actors, anyway...) Just this Wednesday, she excitedly announced that she went to see Tom Cruise on her day off at his premier! She really glows when she talks about movies and celebrities! 
Not only does she know the actors' names, but she's quite versed in their general background, filmography, and the other basics like age, who they're married to, children, so on and so forth. Coming from a typical, Japanese, 50-some housewife, it's quite... well... different! And I love it!

Me: What would you say if you had 5 minutes with Vin Diesel?
Yu: O.M.G!! My heart would beat out of my chest!! I would tell him 'I love you!'
Me: Yeah, but you have 5 minutes. I love you would only take up 3 seconds to say. 
Yu: I'll say it over and over again! 
Me: Is your husband OK with your ... um (cough)... hobbies??

K.K

This is a beginner's class, but K.K is quite fluent in her English. More than anything, her pronunciation surprises me! She doesn't seem to struggle with her 'R' and 'L' sounds, and apparently, she was quite the hottie when she was younger. Even now in her late 50's or 60's, you can tell that she must have  been a real knock-out back in the day. She takes good care of herself, is not stuck up, very friendly, talkative, and outgoing. She can even be quite girlie at times, commenting on the other ladies' romantic life and husbands in a good-natured way, and is inclusive in her actions and speech. Love her.


What is special about K.K. is definitely the amount of alcohol she can chug down!  We had all gone to an izakaya once during the summer, and I do believe she drank at least 10 drinks, and seemed to be doing just fine! We go for lunch every now and then and always has either wine or beer with her food. She's also a smoker, and when asked by one of the other students during a lesson centered around health if she thought of changing her diet and unhealthy habits, she shrugged her shoulders and frowned, 'I don't have to because I really don't care! At this age it's not worth fussing about.'

Haru

...is very pretty, has what anybody would call doe-eyes, takes good care of herself, has nice hair, perfect nails, very fashion conscious, and oh-so-young, despite really being in her mid-50's.

What is special about Haru is that she's just absolutely wild!! Really, really wild! I'm talking about partying till 4:00 am, drinking with friends, singing in Karaoke, dancing, going to Ginza for a night out with girl-friends, late nights over wine and singing along with YouTube, going to the cinema with her 26 year old son (who I also happen to teach as well), flying around the world, playing tennis, sporting bikinis in the summer, attending three English lessons and two yoga lessons a week, wears high-heels, comments on how men look, takes purikuras, goes bowling, and is queen of organizing anything to do with fun and partying! 

One time, we were at a student's English speaking/drinking event, and everyone was handed a small piece of paper to write a short question, which would then be tossed in a bucket, and from where people will randomly draw from to get conversations going. Her question? 'What was your first kiss like?'

Koko

...is very short and small. She has pitch black, emo-style hair that shags into her face. (You know, where the hair is shading one eye and all?) She's always wearing black and grayish tones. Her shirts often have writings on it--definitely punk. She wears leather and hoodies. She has a pretty face. I'm guessing she's in her early 50'sor late 40's. She's a smoker.


What's special about Koko is her insane schedule and hobbies. Let's start with hobbies. She LOVES dancing hip-hop and attends a hip-hop dance class 5 times a week. She also LOVES Korean drama! I think she spends at least 3 hours a day watching 'em! Her love for Korean dramas has lead her to study Korean, which means she is presently studying two languages at the same time. She also works 5 times a week in the kitchen of some restaurant! How she manages to follow such a crazy schedule every effing day baffles me! How on earth can one tiny person fit all of the above, not to mention the housework in a week? I couldn't do it.


The others are funny too!!
One other lady shared the story of how she had stripped down to her bra and panties and dived into a pool (with her entire family as the onlookers) after realizing that the resort they were all staying at had an amazing indoor pool and that she hadn't packed a bathing suit! You would never guess that she were the type to do such a thing if you just saw her!
Another lady had the time of her life attending a SMAP concert. Another shared us her concerns about her hair... it's just never glossy enough!!! 




My bounenkai with this happy group is coming up soon! It's going to be exciting!

bounenkai 1

First bounenkai out of the way! It was a big, lively one of 38 members and was held at an izakaya which we had booked for the party a month or so in advance. The fun  began at 8:00 after our English discussion, and went straight on through the night, past last-train time, and into the next morning. For the party, The bounenkai's official cut-off time was 10:00, but seriously, in who's twisted world is two hours of drinking and partying enough? A lot of the members stayed until much later, reluctantly excusing themselves from the party  to catch their last train. I briefly considered catching my last train as well, but the fun was on, I was with good company, it was my first bounenkai of the year, and I HATE rushing for my last train (Really, the excuses were endless). So I ended up sticking around till the first train with a handful of members who, like me, didn't want the partying to end with midnight. We wrapped things up with an hour and a half of surprisingly energetic singing at karaoke! And by then, believe me, I was exhausted! That's 10 hours of partying straight with no breaks in between! No more, thanks! I had quite enough!

And oh, damn! I definitely drank too much. It's Japanese etiquette to pour each other's alcohol, and also to make sure that each other's glasses are full or that they have enough to drink. The student sitting directly in front of me was a very polite man, and made sure that my cup was always full. This was very nice of him, but it also made it difficult for me to estimate exactly how much I was drinking and at what rate. But I do remember exactly what I was getting drunk on: lot's of beer, umeshu nihonshu, and sake! It was the perfect recipe for a smashing hangover! Thankfully, I had my head screwed on properly that night, and I was very conscious of the need to keep my drinking at a moderate pace at a year-end party with students. I also didn't do or say anything embarassing, and was able to keep a good conversation up with the members that were sitting at the same table as me, despite feeling the affects of alcohol quite strongly. I'm very proud of myself! Well done! Oh, and love the fact that my face doesn't change color when I drink! Yay!

But despite drinking too much, and the long night, and feeling exhausted the next day with a horrible hangover, I had so much fun and don't regret a thing! Looking forward to the next one, on the 13th!

seriously...

I'm at a cozy Starbucks, enjoying my lunch break with a cup of hot coffee, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and a bit of blogging on the side.


It's a perfect December day: the piercing cold, heavy clouds, gray sky, and Christmas decorations and music everywhere! To be honest, I hate the cold. My body doesn't seem to know how to cope with crazy-low temperatures and has the tendency to shut down a bit during the winter. I've been trying to figure all this out for the many years I have had to suffer through the cold seasons, and I think I've finally figured out what's going on! My body is trying to go into hibernation, just like any other sensible mamel should! But since it's December, one of the bussiest months of the year, hibernation isn't anywhere close to being even an option to cope with cold. So I don't hibernate and struggle on. My body freaks out because it's not hibernating! My body starts shutting down certain functions as a result, and I start feeling and looking awful! I'm brilliant!!


Every year when winter rolls around, my neck and shoulders cramp up, my back starts hurting, my toes change from healthy pink to a dangerous grey-purple, my usually lucious lips crack and consequently are a bloody mess, the time that it takes to tumble out of bed is anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, and if you were to only look at my hands, you would think that they belonged to someone 30 years older! But despite all these symptoms of badness, if it weren't cold during December, something wouldn't seem right. To me, winter time is what it is because getting up in the morning and crawling out of bed is so difficult. Because I can see my breath. Because I get to wear my favorite winter boots. Because I have to sleep under layers of blankets to keep warm. Because when I come back from the bathroom around midnight, my bed is no longer warm, and finding sleep after that takes forever. Without these things, winter wouldn't be winter! It would be something entirely else, and I don't think I'll like it very much.


Speaking of winter, it's almost Christmas. Christmas is all about family, love and  the food!! Speaking of the food, I can't believe I'll be cooking Christmas dinner this year after I repeatedly let the family know that Boris and I would take little to no part in cooking for everybody this year! We were so determined not to, you should have heard us!


Over the phone with Boris:


Boris: Eiko, let's not cook Christmas dinner this year.


Me: Yeah, forget it! I'm not gunna be anywhere near that kitchen! Ugh! HATE my hair and clothes smelling like fried chicken! (HUGE pet-peeve) Hate my fingers smelling like garlic days after! Hate my finger nails being fucked up by my sloppy knife skills!


Boris: Let's just relax and let everybody else fuss and take care of stuff we do every year! I mean, I'll have work at Ikegami that day! I don't want to come back and cook dinner! I just want to spend time with you and relax! (Awww!) It's their turn anyway.


Me: Totally. I can't enjoy anything laid out on the table after slaving away in the kitchen, cutting, tasting, preparing, marinating and cooking all of it! I smell and look bad after a day in the kitchen, and I feel full. Can't even enjoy drinking when I'm like that! Dangerous sign! No ways, man! I'm not gunna cook! But who's gunna cook if we aren't?


Boris: Eiko, don't worry about that! If we won't, somebody will HAVE to! We're a smart family AND we're a big family. Somebody will figure something out eventually. I'd rather a whatever dinner, or even ordering pizza or eating out than cooking! Seriouslly, Eiko. This year, we're gunna be the ones enjoying the dinner while everybody else runs around fixing things up. I'm NOT.GOING.TO.COOK!!


Me: True. Why has it always been us anyway when there are so many of us?


Boris: I know, right? So many able-bodied Matsuokas! There's Yoko, there's Tom, there's the sisters-in-law minus, I guess, the pregnant one, there's Mom (Boris was very desperate), and there's well, ...Dad! (Desperate!) And Ai-chan and Akari-chan will whip up the deserts! Voilla!! Christmas dinner is served! Oh, and there's Yasu and Yuya! Oh, and there's Sam! Wow!


Me: OK, Boris, let's do this! We're going to retire! (for this year, anyway)


Boris: This is so awesome! We need to let the family know we've retired!


Me: OK! Let's post this on FB!


Boris: Seriously!


Me: I know, seriously!


Boris: OK, good.




And after all that and then some, where we are, planning and fussing over Christmas dinner. I'm going to need a box or two of fags!

golden silence

I hurriedly stomped my way through the painful cold to the station to catch my train home. It had been a long day of teaching and all I could think of was hot food, and relaxing in my warm room with David Cook's sexy voice in the back ground, helping me erase all thoughts of work, negativity and annoyances from my mind.

My work is by no means difficult or physically taxing. I enjoy teaching, and my working environment is generally relaxed and casual. My students are very nice, and the colleagues are too, usually. But somehow, I find myself feeling quite drained by the end of each week. Perhaps it's the constant interaction with people that my job requires of me. It could also be the 'teacher-face' that I have to keep up all day that gets to be so exhausting. (You know, when you have to keep smiling, agreeing, nodding, being polite, being gentle, laughing, commenting, instructing, complimenting, when that's the exact opposite of what you really feel at the moment.) But whatever it is, I just want to be alone when I'm not working. I don't want to have to open my mouth unless I want to. I don't want to be polite unless I feel like it. I don't want to have any thoughts of keeping up a conversation unless I want to be conversing in the first place. I don't want to have to be thinking of what the right thing to say might be. I want to be silent. I want to be alone. I want to be with company that understands this, and that can even appreciate a healthy silent streak.

I love chatting and sharing thoughts and opinions with people. I love getting to know people better and of course, I want to be closer to my friends. But there's a time for everything, and after I come back from work is just not the time for it.

I'm counting the days till my winter vacation. I want to be with my family!!

no effin' ways

My boss and I were waiting at a cross way for the lights to change, when the conversation that changed my whole attitude towards the Holiday season happened!

He began out of the blue, "You know, I attended 17 'bounenkais' last year?"

Out loud, I replied with a, "Wow, impressive!"

In my mind,
Wow, Sir! I used to wonder where you got that fine beer belly of yours, but not anymore!

Our conversation consisted of the Holiday season, year end parties, and about some of our mutual students, but what he had said about his bounenkais really got me thinking. I had initially found the connection between his beer belly and the 17 bounekais funny, but after giving it more thought, I remembered that I had 5 year-end parties already marked in my schedule book, and being that it's not even December, I wouldn't be surprised if more were on the horizon! Somehow, the connection between my belly and those year end parties weren't as humorous. In fact, the thought depressed me.

Year-end parties are unavoidable. And even if I could avoid them, I wouldn't want to! For me, they are what make the holiday season quite exciting! The drinks and food are usually free for me as the English Instructor, so obviously that's an attractive, great factor. I also enjoy hanging out with my students/colleagues outside of the classroom/office setting, Everybody is generally more relaxed and 'themselves'. And it's no secret that I genuinely enjoy drinking! Unfortunately, the reality is that these bounekais are exactly what they are because of all the drinking, eating, late-nights, second-hand-smoke (or in my case, first-hand smoke) and the rest of the unhealthy package! In Japan, December is just as much 'bounenkai-time' as it is 'Christmas-time'. Put them both together (oh, and don't forget New Years and vacation) and you've got the perfect recipe for 'get-super-fat'! It really is depressing!

For me, skipping a bounenkai to keep my waist line in check is not an option. But neither is not fitting into my favorite winter outfits, or purging. I felt quite hopeless after mulling this all over in my mind, but I did come to a conclusion and a definite decision. I simply would NOT allow myself to gain weight with the rest of the nation! Ugh! No ways!! The big, unanswered questions is 'how?' How I'm going to manage maintaining a healthy weight during the weeks of partying and celebrating is still a little bit hazy. But I am DETERMINED!

Below are some steps I'm taking right now to avoid the year end weight gain.

*I ONLY drink on the weekends, or at parties.
*I drink loads of water everyday to flush out the crap I've fed my body at the last party.
*I work out frequently and passionately.
*I balance out my enormous calorie intake throughout the following week of the party.
*I make a conscious effort to keep track of my daily calorie intake, and what these calories consist of.

Yep.

And seriously, Sir? seven-effing-bounenkais? Seriously?

holiday begin

Eiko says...

1:26am, tipsy, relaxed, happy, relieved that I was able to make the last train home, amused that I had to break into my own house due to all the keys to my apartment being lost by idiots, loving friends, listening to 'More Than Words' by Extreme, and am beginning a 9-day payed-holiday.

Life is a truly beautiful thing. Although full of disappointments, there are flickers of beauty that far out-shine, and at this moment, I can't help but reflect on those past and present moments of beauty and feel like the luckiest alive on the planet.

Let the fun begin!

Life is damn good!

es sick

Eiko says...

Four days and counting till my summer vacation, and I can hardly wait! Boris will be coming down to spend a few days with me, and we've got very wicked things planned this time around. So, as long as I don't have a heat stroke, collapse and die, I should be having the time of my life in just a few days! I think I can manage to hold myself together until then. Besides, work isn't all that difficult. I enjoy English teaching overall, and the best part is that our office keeps the cooling system running at a healthy level. We contribute to the energy saving in other ways like turning the lights off during the day etc. as opposed to torturing ourselves by turning our English school into a sauna. People aren't paying us to sweat and lose water weight. They pay us to study and to become geeky and successful!

Anyway, that's probably a big part of the reason why I'm still functioning. Although, there's something else that's been eating away at me little by little which has been pushing me to my limit! And not in a good way, either!

It has come to my attention that a great deal of neglect (NOT, mind you, on my part) of cleaning after one's self has been accumulating over sometime around the kitchen and dining room area of my flat. Whenever I have time to notice, I have been making an effort to clean up the mess and left-out food that ppl tend to leave out before or after an understandably long day at work. Recently though, I haven't been able to clean up more than just after myself, and that has been manifesting itself in the sick form of FLEAS! Furious, I dedicated a day-off to scrubbing every inch of my flat, but there are still fleas flying around (although noticeably less than before). It's just sick! I'm not talking about 5 or 7 fleas happily announcing their presence around the garbage bin and the kitchen sink drain. I'm talking about fleas in the bathroom, in the bedrooms, in the kitchen and dinning room area, in the hallways and closets! In these temperatures that we're all experiencing right now, the consequences of leaving any kind of food out even just over night, (or less) is disastrous! I feel like murder!

I finished venting. I'm going to focus on the awesome pairs of shoes I recently purchased and how comfortable they were walking in today. I'm going to start breathing now.

Black nail polish ftw!
It's actually not black. It's deep purple. I just painted on four coats of polish, and you can hardly tell it's purple unless in sunlight. I kinda like that! It's more classy!

perfect sunday

Eiko says...

I was in very high spirits ever since last night after exerting myself with a mid-night workout, that I decided to treat myself to a hair cut. I'm actually trying to grow my hair out, but I've got hair enough for 3, and it was getting to be far too heavy for this year's summer. So I asked my barber to just layer and thin my hair out for me without changing the length. She did a decent enough job, and I was generally happy with her work.
I ended my day with a bit of shopping at my all-time-favorite shopping place--Nishiarai Ario. I think I made some pretty good purchases today that I'm flipping over as of now. All around, today was nothing short of perfect!

The new hair.
My barber curled my hair a little at the end, so the length of my hair is actually around 10cm or so longer than shoulder length.
I briefly considered bangs, but that thought was almost instantly disposed of by me. It's just way too hot for bangs and they also require far too much work to keep them looking decent.


The shopping.
I LOVE Randa! When it comes to shoes, the first place that comes to mind for shopping is this shoe store. They've got awesome shoes that are trendy, but also original and they offer excellent quality. Their foot wear is generally comfortable as well--a huge plus in my books. You have no idea how excited I was when I found out that they were doing a massive clearance sale! The majority of the shoes were over 50% off! Made my day!



And I saw this tunic and fell in love... so I bought it.




Tadaaimaaa~!
Man! I'm so proud of myself for walking in 'this heat' in heals with all of that stuff for 4 hours without collapsing somewhere and passing out! I mean, just breathing normally without sweating buckets is next to impossible these days.


Dinner.
I made a sea-food salad after a long day out, and washed it all down with beer! Best way EVER to end a day.

beer ftw

Eiko says...

As unhealthy as I know this is, the only thing I can manage to stomach in this gross weather is ice-cream and beer. Just to ease my conscious I throw in a leafy salad at the end of the day (to eat with my beer) to give me the impression that I'm eating tons of vegetables and balancing things out. Of course, I know full well that lettuce isn't all that high in nutrition. But I like salads, and as of this summer the only things that will be making it past my throat and stomach are things that I like or feel like eating. The problem seems to be that the list of 'foods I like' is limited to 3: ice-cream, beer, and salad.

Wait! Make that 4. I can't make it through a day without coffee!

I just can't seem to help not eating! This heat and humidity is killing my appetite! Even if my brain still remembers how delicious pasta is and how satisfying sushi can be, when I'm face to face with food, I just can't bring myself to eat. The sensation of hunger is fast becoming a mere memory to me.

I'm not intentionally torturing myself. I simply don't have an appetite and I'm not doing anything special about it. If I don't feel like eating, I won't eat. I am concerned though that I'll pass out during an English lesson, or while I'm on my way to work, or just silently die in my sleep for lack of nutrition and energy. Dehydration may even do the trick, given that the majority of liquids I take consists of alcoholic and caffeinated beverages. I'm not cool with that.

The solution seems to be fairly simple.

a. drink more water
b. eat more food
c. stop being an idiot about all this

But since I love eating so much, the idea of forcing food and drink down when it's not welcome or when I don't feel up to eating it, is just down right unattractive to me.

We'll see what happens.

Zara

Eiko says...

Right next to Starbucks to the left of the station is the awesome, way-too-expensive Zara that I frequent for wishful window shopping. Rows of clothing too expensive to randomly buy simultaneously temp and depress me whenever I take the time to drop by and lust. The beauty temps me. The prices depress me. I lust in vain.

To be honest, Zara can be a bit too vibrant and loud with their colors, and tend to have a very distinct, loose-fitting 'look' and cut that can become a bit cliche after a while. But I love their class and the quality they offer. Zara's style is also a welcomed change from this summer's look in Japan which is starting to become an eye-sore for me.

Anyway, I was heading for my daily Starbucks before work when I noticed that Zara was quite crowded for a week day. I decided to drop by and see what everyone was gathering for. And that's when I noticed that the black, anorexic manikins that faithfully greet everyone at the entrance were clad in white T's with a single word in black italic that would make any girl's heart race--'sale'!

I was ecstatic! I could hardly believe all those goodies were actually within arms reach--literally! I made an on-the-spot decision to splurge. A fantastic decision, really. You'll NEVER get Zara at these amazing prices! Most of the items were 50% off. A perfect opportunity to get my wardrobe together for 2011's cool-bizzing! Wee-hoo!

The Kinshicho Zara

The creepy, face-less, black, Zara manikins wearing the 'sale' T's.


Check out the shirt I got! Love the 'I miss you' going on with the picture of the red phones.


And I got these super aaawesome pants that I wanted for the longest time!
Love the fact that you can adjust the length of the pants, their loose, the material is very comfortable and totally ventilation-savy!
Also, check out the cream-colored pumps I bought a while back. I think they look pretty good and summery. They also hurt my feet like ****!! The longest I'm willing to stand in them are 2 hours! Stupid pumps.


I'm wrapping all that together with a leather-y, light jacket I got at Uniqlo. Way too hot for now, but if it's ever cool in the evenings, it's my first choice to throw on.

torn

Eiko says...

My boobs are getting fat! It's time to panic and to put them on a diet! Of course, as much as I'd like to I know I can't just selectively put my boobs on a diet. I would have to go on a diet for my boobs to size down, and I'm not sure if I want to go on a diet right now. Sure, it's summer, and I can't hide behind layers of clothes to hide the layers of fat, but summer's the time for ice cream and cold beer! I'm torn.

And it seems like I've got another cold! I had just recovered from a month long, throat/nose/head cold 2 weeks ago, and the symptoms are back! Argh! I sound like a she-man, my nose is running, I feel dizzy and weak. I haven't seen a doctor yet, but unless the doctor is super-eye-candy I don't think it's worth my time and energy for a stupid cold. Or is it just a stupid cold? I'm torn.

Stupid post.

life pics

Eiko says...

I find myself religiously dropping by Starbucks for a coffee, (these days ice, no milk, no sugar) and a macadamia cookie before work. The newly opened Starbucks right around the corner from my work place has a nice atmosphere, is pretty big, and is convenient to stop by as it is situated just to the left after getting out of the station. It's also a good place to get some reading, writing, and studying done as there's a big table where you can spread all your papers and stationary out on, with surprisingly comfortable, un-cushioned chairs.

I've got the perfect view of the Skytree from my office. I don't know what all the fuss is about concerning the Skytree to be honest, and I'm definitely not one of those Skytree worshipers. But heck! I've got the view, and I'm not gunna complain!


The summer of 2011 is now upon Japan and consequently me. That with the whole March 11th disaster, I am face to face with possibly the most unbearable of summers in all my 20 years. With all the energy conserving going on, and with people still struggling to get back on their feet since the Earthquake, I believe surviving this summer is going to be nothing short of memorable! So memorable that I see myself telling my grandchildren about how I made it through the summer of 2011 in Japan with minimal air conditioning, as if I were some kind of hero. ..
How the hell did I start talking about grandchildren and heroes? It's got to be the heat getting to my head. I actually wanted to talk about how I believe focusing on fashion and how to look good and stay cool despite the humidity and heat would help me stay all around more upbeat, positive and happy this summer.
So acting on that thought, I went out and bought this beige, net throw-over thingie. Since I'm not so comfortable showing shoulders all the time, I thought it would be awesome to have something full of ventilation to throw over when I wanna wear something a bit skimpy like spaghetti strap or less. I think I found what I was looking for. I like it!



I also got myself new shoes. I love them for the fact that they give me an additional 13 or so centimeters to my height and that I can actually stay in them for long hours without feeling the need to chop my legs off! I actually went clubbing all night in them and my feet were fine!

suicidal *uckers!

Eiko says...

It has been a very long week for me and I just wanted to go home. After teaching 7 classes with a bad cough, a runny nose, and a migraine, the only thing on my mind was to rush home, take a shower, and watch an episode of Desperate Housewives over a bite to eat and a glass of chardonnay.

I stretched and twisted my achy feet--which I have been torturing in my new, way-too-high heels--as I glanced around to see if there was any eye-candy in the form of men to rest my eyes on, while I waited for my train. To my left, a nerdy looking group of businessmen were chatting about i-don't-wanna-know-what. To my right, a posh group of ladies in their late 40's were gossiping about this and that. Neither were eye-candy. Highly disappointing.

My train was a few minutes late, and by the time it finally arrived I had scored the platform through, and instead of eye-pleasure I ended up with just an eye-sore! The worst part about it was, I was one of those eye-sores as well. I sighed. This just wasn't cool. I couldn't stop coughing, my nose was out of control, my head was throbbing, and there wasn't anyone pleasant-looking to offer me at least a visual pick-me-up. I climbed into the train with a humph and a sigh.

To make matters a notch or two worse, an announcement is being made about a 人身事故 (they really should just call a spade a spade and say 'suicide') which occured 5:00ish, and that we would be doing some waiting until they've completed the safety check! So that's why my train was late! Brilliant! Fucker!

This morning, on my way to my first English class, the Yamanote Line was late as well, thanks to yet another fuck who probably thought, 'Train, don't wanna live. Jump!!' Geeez!

Patience is one of those virtues--among many others--that I just don't have a lot of. I hate being told to, or made to wait for anything or anybody. I hate tardy people, and I hate myself when I'm tardy too. Being made to wait when I'm sick and really wanting to go home, not to mention hungry, is a VERY bad combination. But I wasn't so worried. According to the announcement, the accident happened more than two hours ago, so I wasn't expecting a long wait. I pulled out the latest issue of Metropolis and got comfortable.

10 minutes went by, and I kept smiling and reading. But as soon as 12 minutes passed, I had had enough!! A searing anger towards the nameless fucker who decided to jump in front of that particular train at this particular time began to build up inside me and I really needed to vent! And vent I did! I pulled out my mobile and began angrily texting Boris about how much I hate suicidal people who lack creativity and/or are too lazy to think out of the box! I've been depressed before and I know how lethargic one's mind becomes when depressed, but seriously! Jumping in front of a train is so cliche and more importantly, it puts hundreds of people7s lives on hold! Can't you suicidal people tie a big stone to your self and jump off a bridge, or hang yourself in your apartment, or gas yourself? (Harakiri is a bit out-dated, to be honest.)

I looked up from my texting and heaved a long sigh. Everybody else seemed a bit restless as well. At this point, 30 minutes went by and we still had no clue as to when our train will start. The train conductor faithfully reminded us that they had no clue either. Great! Fantastic!

I mean, seriously. If you want to end it all, keep it private! I'm not encouraging suicide by any means. But if you're going to do it regardless, than for beans sake DO NOT jump in front of a train! Or any moving vehicle for that matter! It's over done, boring, cliche, annoying, pathetic, loserish, rude, thoughtless, selfish and a hellofalot mrore! Suicide in itself is all of those things already, but the badness is doubled when you make a lot of other people's lives suffer for the already selfish act of taking your own life. I hate you!!

I ended up waiting for 10 minutes at on station and 50 freakin minutes at the next!

I'm finished...

useless

Eiko says...

Most things take time to change. I needed a change NOW. I headed off to the barber for a quick fix. I came back looking the SAME! I HATE my barber and his bowl-haircut and buckteeth! Gimme my money back!

cute student/earthquake

Eiko says...

Was it this morning? It doesn't matter. I was woken up, AGAIN, by one of those big earthquakes. The creaking walls, the windows shaking, falling books thudding, and picture frames banging against the walls of my rooms is enough noise to wake anybody out of deep slumber, and I am no exception! No worries. It was time to roll out of bed anyway, so I didn't mind being woken up so much. Never mind the fact that the time I actually got out of bed was 2 hours after that.
This one was a real biggie. A level 4 in Tokyo. Man, do they keep coming or what?

Just the day before at work, an earthquake hit, and despite the fact that it was only a level 3 in Tokyo, train lines were suspended, and two of my colleagues had to do a bit of walking to get back home. Unfortunately for them, it was pouring rain and there was a cold wing blowing--not the weather of choice to make a long night walk in, if you'd ask me. But at least they made it home, right? There's really no complaining when you think about all the people who are still stuck up North in bad-living conditions at the Evacuation centers, separated from loved-ones, homes, and stability.

Now, continuing on the subject of train lines, if there's an earthquake, and there are train line issues, there is no question at all that the Nippori-Toneri Line is out. I really wouldn't care less about this crappy, far-too-expensive-train-line if it wasn't the key to my getting home without having to walk for hours, or wait for an unreliable bus ride. Luckily, this time around, the line was only suspended for a few hours, and I was able to make it back home before midnight.

Why am I blogging about Earthquakes again?

I've got a crazy English student I wanna tell you about!

So, I have this English student that comes for classes every Monday. She's a cute 9 year old that has the memory of a senile grandma!! A.K.A, she doesn't have much for a memory! I'm not just talking about her not remembering what we learned in our previous week's English lesson. I'm talking about...

Me: Okay, sweetie. What did you have for lunch today?
Student:　アレ、何食べたんだっけ。ご飯と納豆だったと思う。
Me: Cool. So, you had rice and natto for lunch.
Student: うん。ライス・アンド・ナットウ
Me: Great. In English, we say, "I had rice and natto for lunch." Can you repeat that?
Student: アイ・ハッド...あれ？何食べたんだっけ？忘れた。
Me: Huh? You forgot what you ate for lunch? You just told me what you had for lunch 30 seconds ago!!
Student: ハッ？先生が言っていること全然わからない。
Me: Sorry. さっきお昼何食べたか先生に言わなかった？
Student:　うん。思い出せない。
Me: Natto and rice by any chance?
Student:　ソーダッタ！
Me: Yeah. Okay. Breakfast. What did you eat for breakfast?
Student: ”Breakfast"　何だったっけ？
Me:　朝ご飯何食べた？
Student:　何だったっけー。何食べたか思い出せない！お姉さんに電話しようかな。
Me： Are you serious? (I raise both eyebrows.)
Student：ハッ？
Me: Never mind. Okay, so...remember I taught you how to say 地震 in English? We just did that a minute ago. 覚えてる？
Student：　ノー。
Me: Why am I not surprised by that answer?
Student: ハッ？

*I hear a chuckle coming from the other side of the partition. A colleague finds my frustration highly amusing.*

Me: Yeah, shut up. You wanna teach her?
Colleague: Aren't you happy she doesn't know what you just said? Heh, heh.
Me: Yes! No! ARGggghhh!

And this is about EVERYTHING! I tell her how to say a phrase, and she forgets after she repeats it to you fine once. She tells me about something that she learned at school and she forgets what that was when you ask her about a minute later. She is seriously a big question mark to me. She also doesn't care for the word 'punctuality'. We're making progress on that one though. One day, she accidentally showed up 10 minutes early. She showed up at 5:20. Apparently, she thought that class was suppose to start from 5:00 instead of 5:30 which means, if class really was from 5:00, she would have been 20min late. It didn't matter! I was so shocked and pleased at her being early for class that we celebrated this with a few rounds of card games. She liked that. She's always been on the dot since! Unfortunately, her memory is hopeless. I gave up many classes ago when she had difficulty remember what her sister looked like. No joke.

The thing that I love about her though, is that she has the most disarming, guilty face! Each time she forgets something--a frequent occurrence--she has this 'guilty' look face that I simply can't hate! I still have disbelief and annoyance written all over my face when this happens but it's just SO DAMN CUTE! Annoying though. I teach her something which she forgets moments after, and she makes me smile with that 'look' of hers. It's a mixture of disbelief and adoration. I'm left with sheer frustration. Her smile wins out each time. I'll make a horrible mother!!

earthquake and french

Eiko says...

Earthquake
On the 7th night, there was yet another earthquake, (or aftershock) a level six in Miyagi, killing 4 and injuring over 100 people. We felt it strong in Tokyo as well, and although I'm only on the 2nd floor, everything on my table, not to mention the windows, were shaking and making a very disturbing, 'earthquake' noise.
I had just finished watching the epic film 'The Next Three Days' starring Russel Crowe and Elizabeth Banks, and with my mind still in awe, I was in no mood of making a run for anything. I did feel a bit strange though, sitting on the floor of my tiny room, hugging my legs, resting my chin on my knees, deeply contemplating the depth of the film and also feeling, seeing, listening, and experiencing a fairly big Earthquake at the same time. At one point, the idea of opening the door 'just in case' the Earthquake decided to throw a bigger fit than it already was throwing, crossed my mind, but the shaking turned into a small tremor while I was calculating in my mind whether the act of opening the door was even worth getting up for.
Earthquakes have stopped making me jump ever since the 11th of March.

Anyhow.

Coffee and French
These days, I have been spending a lot of my morning/early afternoon time in a variety of cafes, studying French and reading whatever book I'm going through at the moment. I have just finished The Picture of Dorian Grey and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wild, and now, I'm going through '127 Hours'. But notice the 'French' part!! Yes, I'm studying French. I'm experiencing, for the first time, the joy of learning a foreign language. Being that I can't say I studied either Japanese or English, (and the bit of Khmer that I learned doesn't count either) French is truly a new experience for me, and I'm loving every bit of it! This is a lie, of course. There's nothing more annoying than learning how to count in French! For example, 'Soixante0-dix huit' is seventy eight in French, which is all well and good. But wait for the explanation! The idea is anything past 69 is that you cannot say sixty nine, seventy, seventy one, seventy two. Instead you go, sixty nine, sixty ten, sixty eleven, sixty twelve!! And that's just one example!! This coupled with the very different pronunciation system than we have in English can get to your head at times. Which is why I generally choose cafes that allow you to have a puff. Unfortunately, I do love a good Starbucks coffee every now and then, not to mention their generally relaxing atmosphere they've got going. So despite the fact that they are strictly zero-smoke, I frequent Starbucks on a fairly regular basis. Lucky me, they recently built a new Starbucks Cafe right near my work place, so it's perfect to go to before a day of classes. I must admit, it can be expensive but a good cup of coffee plus the relaxed atmosphere is worth it.

Damn! Need to make more money.

run for your lives!

Eiko says...

It's been exactly a week since the big, 9.0 quake, and things have definitely NOT calmed down! A day hasn't gone by without an earthquake big enough to feel and fuss over. The so called 'scheduled' black outs don't always follow the schedule, and this affects every part of work life and transportation. No electricity means no classes. It could also mean no trains home. But the biggest fuss right now in Tokyo seems to be the fear of radiation.

"Hey, dude, are you evacuating Tokyo?"

"I dunno man. Radiation levels are barely above average in Tokyo, and there are suffering people up North with hardly enough food or warmth, but I'm a pansy, so I'm gunna make a run for it!!"

*I roll my eyes*

Anyhow.

All that aside, Anna paid us a short, surprise visit, and we had the funnest of times drinking through the quakes! Love you, girl!

Quake story

Eiko says...

Everyone has their own story of where they were when the quake hit, what they were doing, how they coped, and what thoughts went flashing through their mind as the ground shook under their feet and things started falling all around them.

Apparently,...

-Sunny got stuck in a train during the quake and got home 48 hours later than planned.

-Yasu and Dawnie and Kippins were in their loft 3 stories off the ground when the quake hit.

-Ken was making afternoon tea on the 4th floor of Lodge Home.

Here's MY story, if you like.

I was 3 hours early for my first English lesson for the day in Kinshichou. Having missed my last train accidentally on purpose the night before, I remember being tired and in desperate need of more sleep. So after dropping by my office and letting the staff there know that I was in Kinshichou and that I'd be back for my first lesson, I decided to go for a cup of hot coffee at Mc.D to wake me up, and also hoping to make some progress on 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', a totally addicting, twisted book by Oscar Wild.

At the counter trying to figure out whether or not I wanted any munchies with my coffee:

Me: エーットデスネ。。。
Mc.D person: はい。
Me:コーヒーとですね。。。
Mc.D person：はい。

And that's when things started shaking.

BUT! There was really only one thing on my mind at the moment, and that was coffee. And perhaps something sweet on the side since I like my coffee black? Definitely not fries. Or I could really just have a cigarette with my coffee in the smoking area. I didn't have much for breakfast though. A pack of natto was it? I'm kinda short on money this month though... I just could NOT make up my mind!

I held on to the counter to steady myself from the now much stronger shaking, and quickly glanced up to see if the 'Mc.D-person' was still with me. さすが！！Her lips were still holding that plastic smile! Eyes were a bit worried, but the smile was still there. Great!

Me: そうですね。。。アップルパイにしようかな。
Mc.D person: ホットコーヒーとアップルパイで？
Me:　フム。でもどうしようかな。最近甘いものバッカだし。。。

By now things were really shaking up, and all the customers were looking very alarmed and jumping out of their seets. I held onto the counter a bit stronger and cursed myself for not being able to make my mind up quicker. The girl who was taking my order still had the plastic smile going, but her eyebrows gave away her true feelings about what was happening inside. She was terrified! I decided to be nice and just order!

Me: じゃ、それで。
Mc.D person: ２２０円になります。

I let go of the counter and pulled out my wallet and put down the coins. By now though, things were quite crazy. All the staff in the kitchen were jumping over the register counter and were heading straight for the exit. Fuck the customers! Save your own asses! I decided to junk the idea of sitting down for a read, and decided to just take my coffee and leave. The problem was that she just wouldn't hand me my coffee!! I didn't really care for the apple pie, but my eyes were on that black energy drink, and she just wouldn't hand it over. Well, fair enough, I guess. Things were shaking so hard I thought I might as well join the crowd and make it down to the first floor myself just in case things got even more shaky! I wobbled/stumbled through the shakes to the escalator and half ran, half stumbled down and stepped outside.

EVERYONE was out there! The Mc.D was right outide the station, in front of the bus/taxi stop, and EVERYONE from the station and buildings around were there trying and failing miserably to contact somebody or anybody on their mobile phones! So BAKA! Me too. I pulled out my phone and tried dialing BORIS FIRST!! *wink* After failing at that, I quickly text messaged one of my colleagues if everything was alright at the office, and tried to find my footing.

All the lamp posts and everything that wasn't suppose to be shaking/swaying was shaking dangerously. Everybody was in shock and freaking out! Everybody that is but the people sucking on their cigarettes in the smoking area. They looked as if they were in another world and that nothing out of the ordinary--like a 9.0 earthquake--was happening around them. Brilliant idea! I thought. But quickly remembered that I puffed on my last two the previous night. Shit.

By the time I completed that thought, the first biggie seemed to have calmed down. I must admit, by then I was quite shaken, but WAY too short on energy from lack of sleep the previous night to be freaking out with everybody else! I decided I really DID need that coffee, and since I had already paid for it, it only made sense to go back and get it.

I went inside the Mc. D and grabbed my coffee with a humph, and sat down. All the staff members were back in the kitchen, smiling and serving customers again. Very good. I opened up my lap top at a table, and started sipping and reading away. I had a bite of my apple pie. It had been ages since I had one of those! I started relaxing. Unfortunately, I think I got something under 5 minutes of peace, because the second big shake started up just around that time. I rolled my eyes and looked around. By now, everybody was already in 'freak-out-mode'! There were a few customers who instantly got up and ran for the exit. A lot of people were reluctant to leave their MSG laden, food-colored cardboard sandwhiches that they nickname 'burgers', and looked like they couldn't make up their mind whether they should drop the shit in their hands and run for it, or finish their crap and THEN run for it. I honestly was just so tired! I decided to finish my hot coffee as fast as I could without burning my tounge, finish two more chapters of the book, get a refill on my coffee, and head out.

Wasn't as easy as I thought though. When everything is shaking like that, and everybody else is freaking out around you, it's really difficult to concentrate on reading a book--especially one like 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'! Also, if I could help it at all, I didn't want to die in a McD!

I quickly ran for my refill. This time a dude-staff. He just stared at me like I had lost my mind. I stared back and raised my eyebrows. Gimme my refill so I can make it through my day without sleeping on one of my students, yeah? He awkwardly took my cup, and half pored half spilled coffee in my cup, tried hard to put the top back on and failed, and clumsily handed me my cup of coffee. I rolled my eyes, forgot to say thanks and stumbled/ran out of the building with everybody else for the second time. People were still on their phones saying stuff like, 「だめだ。ぜんぜんつながらない」 while trying to keep steady on their feet. Once again, all the smokers seemed so surreal, peaceful. Amazing.

Headed over to my office which is on the 4th floor, and was delighted to see that all my colleagues were alright and beaming from ear to ear.

"You're alright!" Andy, my boss, gushed.
"Not really. I'm exhausted."
"Oh, no! What happened?" A concerned fellow teacher at work.
"No sleep last night and horrible service at Mc. D. I really just wanted my coffee, you know? Seriously!"
"Ok...that means you ARE alright?..."
"I guess" I sighed, and took a sip from my coffee. The coffee was too hot. I burned my tongue.

Apparently, everybody was unharmed by the quake at work. All the guys at my work place are SO cool! Their totally chaos savvy! One jumped up and held the partitions up from falling on student. Another ran over to the tall book shelf and held it against the wall while keeping the door open. Andy ran over to the drinking fountain which was propped up on the fridge to keep that from toppling over. They said it was a nasty shake, and that they loved it. It was time for a drink!

The reasoning behind that was that the trains will have stopped and no students will be able to come to the office even if they were crazy enough to want an English lesson after something this big--the trains were fucked! This means work for the day was over like it or not. Also, we had a 6-pack just chilling in the fridge. Lastly it's a Friday, and we were all going to drink that evening anyway! Why not start early? We did!

We took the beers outside and toasted to being alive! A few random people joined our little group with beers of their own, and some otsumami as well. A liquor store ran by a sweet old man had lost over 20 bottles in the quake, and so out of compassion we bought 2 more 6 packs of beer off of him, and chugged them down. It was a party!!

After confirming that no students would be arriving, we headed over to the HUB and caught Happy Hour. It was a full night out! Wee-hoo! By the time I was properly tipsy, I was able to get in contact with all of my loved ones and found out the wonderful news that everyone was unharmed! Relieved. I had a few more drinks while watching the news in the HUB. Spent the remainder of the night with Andy and Aich at Karaoke. Trains won't be running till morning anyway, right? Our Karaoke box was on the 8th floor! You could imagine how all those little tremors felt like up there! Big yikes!

Got home safely though. I honestly thought my lungs will be crushed while in the Yamanote line heading for Nippori! I've never been pressed against so hard in a train before! The train was beyond packed! Since there were so few trains running, people had to wait out in the cold for long periods of time before getting a ride and were consequently grumpy! I thought I would get trampled over at one point and have my lungs squished by a fellow human who was in danger of his/her lungs being squished by yet another human in danger of the same horrible death! It was pretty damn painful! Yasu was lovely and picked me up at Nippori since the liner wasn't working. I got back home at around noon, Saturday. It was a looong night.

Showered. Slept. Stocked up the fridge with food. Watched a lot of Glee. Read more of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. Called a lot of friends. Received a lot of calls from concerned friends as well.

It's all good.

No pictures. If you want some there are plenty everywhere on the internet, if what you see when you step out of your door isn't enough.

Write more later.

Take care, all!