Waiting

I am so excited for this weekend! BJ and her husband will be arriving on Saturday! On SATURDAY!

Japan will never be the same again! BJ + me = fun!

It's like I'm five years old and waiting for Santa Claus to come. I keep waking up at night hoping it's morning time. I keep watching the clock, to see that another hour has passed, and I'm one hour closer to seeing BJ's smiling face and curly hair.

But for some reason, this week is moving like molasses. Usually my time flies by because I'm so busy with work, classes, and Jude. But this week, time seems to have slowed down. It's like all my anticipation has somehow slowed the clocks of the world, forcing me to be without BJ for an even longer time.

Waiting sucks! I'm not good at waiting! I'm the most impatient person on the planet, and now I have to wait...

Back to Paradise

Since I'm sort of on vacation until the next school year begins (in April), I've decided to go back to Guam. Because of Husband's work obligations, he cannot go with Jude and I. So, Sister will be going in his place.

Wish me luck!

Mt. Naeba

Two weeks ago, we went sledding at Mt. Naeba. We had a blast. It was my first time and Jude's first time to play in deep snow. We loved it, and we can't wait to go back!

The end is near

Since the Japanese school year starts in April and ends in March, today was my last teaching day for this school year at my school.

My students graciously honored me with songs, dances, pictures and kind words.

There is something so pure and honest when you surround yourself with children. You get to see the creation of future leaders in the world. Even in elementary school, you can tell who will succeed and who won't. You can see who will lead and who will follow.

I feel honored and blessed to be able to witness the creation of greatness.

I'm so thankful I have a great job where I get to motivate and make learning fun. I wish all teachers would do the same.

Lost and Found

This could only happen in Japan!

Okay, after our friends ran past us at the Tokyo Marathon last Sunday, we headed home. We took the subway and then the JR train. We had to take 2 different trains to get home.

On the first JR train, we fell asleep. Since it took about 55 minutes to get to the next train station, the 3 of us (Husband, Jude and I) took a little cat nap. Husband was kind enough to carry my backpack, which contained my Nikon camera with my high powered lens, the cowbell and other annoying musical instruments required to cheer on our running buddies, and 2 sweatshirts, just in case we got cold. Well, when we got on the train, Husband put my backpack above him in the overhead storage area. I mentioned to him that that was a bad idea. If it's out of sight, it's out of mind, I reminded him. He dismissed me and told me not to worry. The next thing I knew, we were at our stop and raced off the train, hurrying to catch the next one.

As we stepped onto the second train, Husband gasped. "Shit, I forgot the backpack," he yelled. We raced off the train in hopes of catching the previous train to retrieve the backpack. Unfortunately, the train had already left the platform.

At this point, I was pissed! I mean fuming, raging, pissed like an out of control bull. I had smoke coming from my ears.

#1. I told Husband not to put the backpack in the overhead storage, but he chose NOT to listen to me.

#2. Husband reassured me that he wouldn't forget the damn bag, but he did!

#3. He forgot the backpack with my VERY expensive camera and VERY expensive high-powered lens!

Pissed off doesn't even fully describe the amount of pissed-off-ness I felt as the train pulled away from the station. I breathed deeply, trying not to physically beat my Husband in front of Jude and all the Japanese passengers. It took every ounce of me to not verbally abuse Husband. You stupid, fucking, moron, I told you not to put the fucking backpack up there, and you didn't listen to me, and now my new Nikon camera is gone, you jackass, I thought to myself. Instead of letting this rant out, I controlled myself and thought of countless ways I could kill Husband with my bare hands. That thought brought comfort to me.

When our train finally arrived at our train stop near our apartment, we exited and I ran to the train station manager in hopes of getting some help. Unfortunately, the guy didn't speak a word of English and couldn't understand my half-ass Japanese. So, he handed me a phone number and said gambatte, which means good luck.

I immediately called the number, but the lady on the other line couldn't understand me. She didn't speak English either. I was so completely frustrated...frustrated because Husband didn't listen to me in the first place and frustrated because my new Nikon camera with my new Nikon lens was gone and frustrated because no one could help me. Just frustrated!

When we got home, I called my favorite Japanese student. She was a great help. She called the station for me and explained the situation. They gave her a phone number to give to me. The phone number was for a help line for foreigners. Unfortunately, the line was only available between the hours of 10 AM and 6 PM. And by this time, it was already 7 PM.

On Monday at 10 AM I called the number. A very nice, polite woman with a very thick Japanese accent listened to my story. She asked me to describe the contents of my backpack and to describe the color and brand of my backpack. She told me she would call me back later in the day. Yeah, right, I thought.

Thirty minutes later, my cell phone rang. It was the same woman. She told me that she had located my backpack and my camera was inside. She told me that I could pick it up at a particular train station about 45 minutes away from my apartment. I graciously thanked her and told her how wonderful she was and how lucky I am to be able to live in a country where people are good, honest, hard working and not willing to take something that doesn't belong to them. I told her how this would never happen anywhere else in the world. I praised her for her great service and rapid response. I thanked her over and over. I wanted to reach into the phone and hug her and thank her until her ear fell off and ran away from the crazy gaijin (foreigner).

So, yesterday I went and got my backpack. Everything was inside. I was overjoyed when I saw my camera. I was so thankful to have it back. So thankful to live in Japan.

Just so thankful!

I need more cowbell!

So, I didn't run the Tokyo Marathon this year. At first, I was bummed I wouldn't be able to torture myself with the 26.2 miles. But then when I saw the conditions the runners had to endure, I was relieved and almost thankful for my IT Band injury (which by the way, doesn't hurt unless I run more than 15 miles). The weather sucked for the race. It was cold, rainy, windy and COLD!

Since we didn't have anything going on on Sunday, we decided to go and cheer on my fellow running buddies who were running the marathon. We packed our necessities (a map of the race, a subway map, and the most annoying musical instruments known to man...a Dublin whistle, a tambourine and a giant cowbell) and headed down to the race course.

Let's just say that if there was an award for the most annoying side-line cheerleader, I would have received it. My cowbell and Jude's whistle were so loud countless Japanese people moved from their cheering spots just to avoid us and our annoying noise. Young children plugged their ears with their fingers tips, and others moved away from us like we had the plague. I was so proud!

Guam's Beauty

Here are just a few pictures I took in Guam...

What I learned in Guam

...my son can jump off a floating crab 682 times and not get bored!

Drug addict

I'm not abusing cocaine, I promise. But I am a mochi addict.

Let me explain. Mochi is a traditional Japanese food prepared around New Year's Day. Sticky rice is pounded to create a little, round ball of yummy goodness. Some mochi is plain, some is sweet, and some mochi has sweet bean paste inside, but my favorite is the sweet, pink kind covered in flour. (Mochi is dusted heavily in flour to prevent it from sticking.)

The other day I bought some at my local supermarket, and now I'm addicted. I usually buy small packages containing four sweet, delicious, little pieces of heaven. The packages only last about a day or so in my house.

If you've never tried mochi, you should. Your life will never be the same again!

Well, the other day I grabbed a piece of mochi and headed out the door. I stuffed it into my face, hopped into my car, and headed for my next English lesson at my elementary school. Unfortunately, I never looked at myself in the mirror.

When I walked into my "office area" shared by my fellow colleagues, my vice principal gave me a strange look. I wasn't sure why she was looking at me so strangely. I just dismissed the encounter and headed to my class. As I stepped in front of the class, one of my students pointed to my face. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, so I checked myself with the mirror in my purse. I was horrified to discover that I had white mochi flour right below my nose. It looked like a white, powder mustache, and I looked like I had been sniffing something powdery. I quickly brushed away the remaining flour and mentioned to my students that I had been eating mochi before class.

Now, I'm sure my vice principal thinks I'm a drug addict.

Oh, the power of mochi!

Anniversary present/Valentine's present

Husband gave me the big one pictured on the left. He gave it to me for our 7 year anniversary and for Valentine's day. And let's just say it was the best present ever, not just for me, but for him as well.

Toting around such a luxurious gift that my husband gave me, makes me hot! This is the purse that just keeps giving and giving, if you know what I mean.

So, I'm sure many more Louis Vuitton purses and bags are in my future!

I know, I'm such a spoiled brat!