Aloha Pacific Ocean

Hawaii: December 21st, 2010-January 2nd, 2011

During the entire flight to Haneda I could feel my body readying itself to accept the warmth. Freezing my ass off in Western Japan was not quite my idea of the ideal Christmas, so I decided to shake it up a bit and meet my whole family in the rainbow state. Quite on a whim, I called mom sometime in October and this is how our conversation went.

"Hey mom, wanna meet in Hawaii for Christmas? You, me, Andrew, and Papa?"

"Yea sure, I'll just ask everyone else."

2 days later

"Cool when should we book?"

Totally a random decision turned out so GLORIOUS! I love Hawaii. I've only been there one time before and I'm pretty sure I didn't do any of the main touristy things except for sit of a beach and burn my ass for 12 days. It was the epitome of vacation and I promised myself that one day, I would move there.

Unfortunately, half of the fam fam couldn't make it to the land of misty mountains and serene light blue sea. But one day, they will come and see why I love it so much. Andrew still came to spend some quality non-Christmas feeling Christmas time. I packed some little presents for his new apartment and wrapped them sloppily in magazine paper. Then hung up Christmas cards that my Buddhist Japanese students had made for me and decorated the room with one string of lights I bought from the 100¥ store. It was quite the Christmas sight to see, with the Waikiki skyline in the backdrop. I let him open the presents and throw the wrapping onto the floor like we do at our home. Just a small tradition. I didn't make breakfast casserole and I didn't make deviled eggs, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls or a pumpkin pie for dessert. We just celebrated the two of us being able to be together on Christmas which was perfect. After, we took advantage of the incredible sales running. Every store was open on Christmas. As I said, it didn't even feel like a holiday. Different but comforting, nonetheless.

Andrew and I did a lighthouse hike with Shawn to see one of the most amazing sunsets of our lives. The sky literally turned bright pink. Honestly, we didn't think there would be such a good sunset that night but we got really lucky.

After Andrew left, I spent my time sunning on the the beach. He's not such a fan of laying in the sun and burning, but I am! Shawn, Ali, and I went and played a bit on the beach and watched some awesome sunsets. I think, no I know, that is my favorite time of the day. Sunset.

And then there was New Years. I pick Shawn up from work at like 8ish and we go to eat in Hawai'i Kai's Outback. I ordered a much needed steak, seeing as they aren't too popular in Ramen-land. After stuffing ourselves to the brim, we settle on going to Waikiki for a couple.. a COUPLE of drinks... watching the fireworks at midnight and then coming back the house. Hm. So we started at this bar that was right next to the Jimmy Buffet restaurant. I'm pretty sure the bars name was something like 'The Surf Bar.' It had lights hanging from surfboards and some 1970 video of men ridin cute little waves replaying on the TV. After the 4th Vodka Sprite with lime and a balloon penis hat gift from the bartender... we grabbed a Blue Moon at the Jimmy Buffet restaurant. At 15 minutes to midnight we decide... "We definitely need champagne for midnight!" and we scurried to the nearest ABC store to grab 2 $7 bottles and sprint to the beach... avoiding all cops.

We found a prime spot next to a paddle boat in front of the water and waited 5 minutes for the countdown. Shawn popped his champagne 2 minutes too early (and he'll kill me for writing that bc I made fun of him way to much for it). At midnight we shook it up at blasted the top into the air with the crowd screaming and craziness ensuing. Behind us was a family (bros, sis, and cousins) of Japanese people and we joked with them while watching their drunk 17 year old cousin run back and forth into the ocean in sheer bliss.

Walking out of Waikiki beach I jumped in a photo with these 4 Japanese boys who all turned out to be my age. From there, complete insanity ensued. We went to the boys hotel room, chugged a beer and ventured to the Red Lion for some $3 LITs and a ridiculous amount of tequila shots and dancing. Shawn discovered his international translator that night.

Somewhere between Red Lion and tequila shot number (##)('92837498'"#)(987 Shawn and I woke up... sand in our mouths.. vomit on our shoulders.. sunrise in the distance... on Waikiki beach... with no recollection of how we got there. Perfect. :)

The next couple of days were pure recovery and then I said my goodbyes to the tiny pacific island that I would one day return to and ventured onto the land of motor tricycles, famous pig head meat, and never-ending hissing from ambitious Philippine men.

Philippines: January 3rd-January 8th

Arriving in the Manila International Terminal is easy, but getting anywhere is quite the adventure. I had booked a flight with ZestAir to Kalibo at 11:40 for the same night but supposedly 6 hours after the previous arrival from Hawaii. Here's a quick rundown of how I got to Kalibo...

-Waited 30 minutes for the shuttle to ZestAir terminal.

-Waited 3 hours to check-in (my fault) but watched the most ridiculous soap operas of my life on tv with at least 20 airport workers not doing anything.

-Met a really Philippine man named Patrick who works in Saudi Arabia. He showed me photos and let me play with his amazing cameras while we waited an extra hour delay for our flight.

-Got to Kalibo at 140am tired and ready to crash.

-Took a trike, the driver took me to the wrong hotel trying to sell me that one instead of mine... after telling him I had a reservation at the other hotel he delivered me to La Esperanza Hotel.

-Woke the hotel staff up at 2ish am to grab my room.

To Boracay.

I ate at a Chinese fast food place for breakfast called Chow King. Then asked where to take the bus to Caticlan to get to Boracay. They said take the Ceres bus which was right around the corner. So, I got on a bus.. But it was the wrong bus.. So they stopped and dropped me in the middle of the road. This other dude got off who was Philippine and 19 and was like I have to go back too... So we took a tricycle and chatted a bit back to the bus station. Then a little man selling spicy fried shrimp in a bag helped me find the right bus but I still didn't buy his nasty shrimp...

I took a 2 hr bus ride for only $2 to the ferry port. Took a ghetto ass speed boat for like $10 to the island. Then a Trike for too much money PHP100 (It should be PHP10-14) to some dirt road... Then walked along the beach to get to my hotel. But the hotel was so nice. I stayed at Villa Camilla. By nice I mean it was nice for 3rd world. The staff was so cheery and kind which was a change from the non-working people I had previously come in contact with. Immediately after getting into my room, I put my bathing suit on and headed for the clear water, white sandy beach. It was so beautiful and hardly anyone was around. Peace.

I laid out and floated about in the water for a good hour or so before this little man name Aroli approached me trying to sell me some boat ride. Although I didn't want to do anything after not sleeping for 25 hours the day before, he said something about an ATV ride through the mountain to see a view of the whole island. This sounded like a cute little adventure so at 330 I took another overpriced PHP100 trike to the ATV place. I received half price because Aroli was friends with the guys that worked there so I only paid PHP1600 for the trip. I received a guide a whole head shorter than me but the same age, who told me to call him two different names. He was a sweetie though. We trekked along the smooth, non-dangerous concrete path stopping at a bird farm and then the peak of the mountain. We climbed some stairs at a hotel in order to see the real view. It was beautiful and you could see the whole island- 1/2 where they do windsurfing and the other half with White beach where the waves are calm and the wind a slight breeze. That night I settled on the restaurant next to the hotel for a San Mig beer and some pork something for dinner. Cost PHP350.

The next day, laying on the beach, Aroli somehow found me again. He offered me a boat tour for PHP1000 for four hours to go around the whole island with lunch included. Sounds like a plan... and I had a nice relaxing day seeing the surrounding tiny islands and eating traditional Philippine foods for lunch. Along this journey I met 2 really sweet Singaporean girls and another single traveler from S. Africa, Craig. Quite fun and chill people. Although the trip wasn't full of crazy wave crashing and boulder diving, the relaxing wind and one vitamin D was much needed. Although I had a bit too much sun and ended up with the sexiest not so sexy burn I have ever experienced all over my body. No, I take that back.. the 2nd not sexy burn I've ever had. (1st was the first time surfing in Hawaii - blisters covering the entirety of my legs)

The third day it rained. I studied some Japanese and sipped tropical drinks at the hotel bar. One of the hotel guys also fixed my boot with a huge bottle of some kind of glue while we watched the first season of glee on TV.

Getting to Manila was impressive.

I woke up at 6am showered ad took a tricycle to the port... Then some guy like greeted me and asked me if I was going to Kalibo airport (which I was). And he said he had a service boat+bus for $4 (PHP200) so I took it. Got on the most ghetto ass boat with all my luggage.. Then got into a van were they had to bungy all the doors shut.... So then I waited 4 hours for my flight .. I was thinking "maybe I should get a pedicure". They have a place in the terminal that does it. It was hella cheap so I said what the hell. I sit down and one girl starts doin my feet and the other starts doing my nails. Like I got a manicure for free. Then I felt bad so I tipped them extra. And then they felt bad so they gave me a full body massage. Then I studied some Japanese and ate a hamburger made many days ago. It was weird and the ketsup here is sweet. Weird.

So I got on the plane.. When I got off I waited like 30min to catch a taxi to the right bus terminal. When I got to the terminal they said the last bus going where I wanted to go left 3 hours ago. And they directed me to another bus line to take. So I trekked around the block... Men whistling from all directions. It was hilarious.

Then I took the bus called "5 Star Bus" and meet an old Australian dude who lives in Manila named David. We take the bus for 2 hours and he says he should probably help me get to my hotel bc it's a crazy place.

So we jump in this party jeep (is what it looks like but it's actually used to transport people). It's called a jeepney. And we pay like $.14 and jump... Literally jump off when we want to get off and we jumped off in the Redlight district. Then I took another jeepney to my hotel.

I slept in 'America Hotel' which I think is code-named for 'all Australian men hire a Philippine woman for the night and bring her here for fun times yay!' I was the only white female guest. But the staff was really sweet and the hotel was only PHP1150 for the night. Good deal.

I took an overpriced cab PHP400 the next day, directly to Clark International Airport. I decided to avoid jumping off a jeepney in the morning. I waited in line for them to fix some glitch in the system. In the meantime I took advantage of their wireless connection. I paid my PHP600 terminal fee and eased through inspection. It's very nice for that. I flew AirAsia to Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: January 8th-9th

I had a row of 3 seats all to myself on the flight. Row 26 SCHWING! The seats were really tight with no leg room but what the hell.. the flight was really cheap.

Arriving in Kuala Lumpur LCC Terminal is like complete day and night change from Manila. There are actually stores and places to take busses. Its really organized. The only prob.. my bank froze my account... but easily resolved by cashing in all of my Japanese Yen an USD to get Malaysian Ringgits. Hah it was definitely enough. I took a bus for RM8 (like $3) to KL Sentral and then an Monorail to the Bukit Bintang station to take a 5 minute walk to Pujangga Homestay. (a hostel for RM32) So cheap (US$10). Granted its next to a night club but if you have ear plugs its no problem. I walked to the famous Petronas Towers and ate a place called Dome with amazing fish and chips. As I started walking back I met an interesting guy named Ezz and his friend Ash who are here studying engineering but originally from Dubai. We walked for about an hour, chatting and then settled on some coffee at a posh little cafe. Such interesting people. I learned a lot about the Muslim culture in just 2 hours. I feel like I should study. ... ok...

note to self: study some religion before coming back.

And now I'm on my way to Tokyo then off to Roanoke for 2 weeks to help my momma! Rock and rollllllllll yo.

Phnom Penh and the Heart of Darkness

Landing in Phnom Penh at night is like landing in the middle of a black hole. There are no lights to be seen anywhere for kilometers and kilometers. We had pre-reserved a hostel about a week ahead of time and they said they would send someone to the airport to pick us up. Little did we know we would be toted back to the hostel by tuk-tuk. Yes, a tuk-tuk. It sounds like one of those mouth noises you think African countries make, although, it’s actually a two wheeled box attached to a motorbike usually with shiny metal spirals for handles, a tricked out roof, and seats for four facing each other. Quite the crafty design, I do believe. We tuk-tuk-ed our way 7 kilometers and 30 minutes to our riverside abode. What I read about the riverside area: Cambodian foreigner haters will drive by in SUV’s and throw bricks at your head. super.

After freaking out at Allen and Ayumi for booking a murder hostel.. we arrived to “Nomad’s”- a quasi deserted place run by a maybe British man. The room was a bit musty upon entering due to lack of circulation. Three wooden boxes lay on the floor with bright orange futons laid into each one like puzzle pieces. Each box had a stand up fan located in front. Air conditioning was another $1 more per night. On top of the pounding $10 a night we were paying, which is quite expensive for Cambodia, we decided to live life in the rough. To the right was a shower... wait.. not a shower.. maybe a shower.. there was a toilet, a sink, a sink hose, and separate shower head. No bathtub. Yes, you just shower in your bathroom. Simple enough right? I later found out that the ‘sink hose’ located next to the toilet is not to be used for dishes but rather as a bidet so no paper is needed. Definitely tried it... gotta try everything once, yea?

Waking up in a pitch black room is not easy. However, our excitement for the upcoming touring masked our tiredness as we stumbled downstairs to collect our free breakfast comprised of two very grainy pieces of toast, fresh squeezed pineapple juice, and coffee with condensed milk. Memo #3: Condensed milk looks like goopy madness and is only good on strawberries, not in coffee.

Instead of tuk-tuk-ing our way to the first destination, the Royal Palace, we decided on a nice sweltering river walk which soon turned into drinking Angkor beer in the comfort of a beautiful outdoor cafe. Before our nice cooling beer though, we ventured into the temple of Wat Phnom. Walking up the many stairs to the florescent lighted prayer corner, we were greeted by a man selling “luck bird”.. he had captured at least 100 birds and set them in cages. You pay for a bird and you set it free. Like at funerals. How warming. Up the stairs and around the temple were some stray kitties and another small temple where bare-footed half naked boys ran in circles chasing each other. I put 500 riel into a donation dish and descended. At the foot of the hill was a family feeding the fattest monkey I have ever seen in my life, then about 10 more stray cats.

At the restaurant/cafe we sat down our already tired butts and took in the scenery of a very Cambodian decorated building. The chairs were wicker with bright red cushions, beautiful metal lanterns hung from the ceiling, and on the wall hung the sign for “happy hour $0.50 draft beer” along with about five geckos. It was just Allen, Ayumi, me, and the geckos. ahhhhh. However, what they don’t tell you is that the restaurant staff conveniently seats you outside next to the road so that random sellers can come up and offer their services. While sitting at the cafe for 30 minutes such people approached us: a four year old child with his hands pressed together in the ‘prayer’ or ‘please/thank you’ position asking for money, a motorbike driver who can obviously fit only one person on his bike, a decrepit old woman with a child (which was probably not hers) begging for money, a girl and a boy selling real..yes very real.. Ray-Bans for $3, an English newspaper seller.. no wait.. a shoe shiner.. no wait.. a shoe fixer- never mind.. this man had many talents, lastly a monk, and a tuk-tuk driver. Ayumi and I had previously decided that we wanted to see the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek from the Khmer Rouge reign about 30 years ago. Even though it seemed hella depressing, we figured it was a very important part of the country’s history and should know exactly how much the people suffered. Allen, no so keen on depressing things, wasn’t 100% on going but the tuk-tuk driver offered to take us the 15 kilometers for $4 a person each way which didn’t sound like such a horrible plan.

The tuk-tuk driver went by the name Mr. Horn. He wrangled us through the traffic jammed streets of Phnom Penh into the countryside. After 30 minutes or so, we arrived at the entrance to the killing fields, and were greeted by begger with an overly sunned body and a crutch to support the half of his body without a leg. He obviously survived the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge regime was centered around making all of Cambodia a peasant dominated society; therefore, executing anyone educated, politicians, teachers, writers, religious figures, etc, and anyone who “disobeyed.” Almost all people were sent marching to the countryside, some never to be found again. They turned Tuol Svay Prey High School into a place called S-21 where Pol Pot (the Khmer Rouge leader) and his troops tortured thousands of people. The people were then taken to the Killing Fields dead or almost dead to be disposed of into the mass graves.

At the center of the Killing Fields is an enormous tree that serves as a memorial to how brutal the torture was. This tree was used to smash babies’ heads’ in. The Khmer Rouge member would hold the baby by the leg then sling it numerous times until the screaming stopped although most of the time the screaming was masked by a large speaker hanging from the tree that they blasted while killing ensued. Then, the officer would decapitate the child and sling it into the grave next to its mother, who was also often decapitated. Beside the mass graves, we walked over bits of clothing that had surfaced but the worst was the crunch of the bones you could hear with each step as some of the smaller fragments hadn’t been recovered. This period between 1975 and 1978 was the downfall of Cambodia, as nearly 2 million people were murdered. It’s just baffling to know that there are people in this world, and many of them, that have such a mind to do these horrible things. And to think, this only happened a little over 30 years ago. You can see the difference in the younger population who never lived though the horrors and the elderly who turn a sideways untrustworthy glance your direction each time your eyes meet. They don’t smile and they aren’t kind, but who can blame them after what they have lived through. The Cambodian government is forced to rely on the upcoming youth to reform and fortify their country, therefore, the children are more educated any many find themselves understanding the act of running a business by the age of fourteen or younger.

Towering high above the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek is a shiny monument with 8,000 skulls arranged by sex and age.

After being slapped in the face with the nightmare of Cambodian past, we tuk-tuk-ed back to the city where we forced Mr. Horn to let us walk a little. He wanted to drive us block by block and we needed to walk. Instead he dropped us off at a tapas restaurant called “Friends” run by former Cambodian street kids learning how properly serve customers in order to get a fine dining ‘high paid’ job. They were all extremely polite and spoke great English, but most of all the food was incredible. We ordered a traditional Khmer fish wrapped in banana leaves with the usual lemongrass seasoning, mushrooms in some kind of delicious sauce, and spring rolls with a wonderful mayonnaise-type dressing. To drink, I had a raspberry marguerita in a martini glass filled to the brim with yummy smoothy alcohol. After indulging in Khmer delicates we walked to the Royal palace, and finally made it after being stopped by numerous tuk-tuk drivers that also wanted to drive us one block. For some reason Allen unconsciously engages in conversation, undoubtably EVER time with someone offering their services or merchandise. I think he first attracts them over then bombards the confused pesterers with excuses as to why he can’t buy what they are selling... which in turn causes them to make us excuses and this goes on for a good five minutes until I decide to stop waiting on him and walk away. He’s too nice... no excuses needed Allen-san.

Fortunately the Royal Palace was closed but planned to open in the next hour, so we took a seat along a ginormous pathway with hundreds of monks in bright orange cloth with shaved heads and yellow umbrellas passing us as we relaxed. After trying to secretly take pictures of the beautiful monks against green backgrounds, we went for a stroll to find the building the monks were coming from. It was an old building with strong smell of incense protruding through its orifices. The sound of humming and chanting echoed through it’s hallways. This is so not American. We were afraid to walk much farther seeing that there were monks changing their robes at the end of the road so we made an executive decision to turn around and cross through the gates again. At the gates was, of course, a tuk-tuk driver ready to tackle us with services. Still not needing such assistance, I decided to strike up conversation as we moved toward a bench.

His English was very broken but still understandable. The first question they always ask to get your attention is “Where you from?” To which I often respond “Where are YOU from?” Not all drivers are from the city where they work right? This driver lived outside of Phnom Pehn with his wife, three sons, and one daughter who he named Helen. It turns out he only wanted to have two children but his wife kept wanting a little girl so they tried again and again. Every day he commutes to the city for work. His tuk-tuk cost him $900 which he knew would bring him more work than just the motorbike. The job before was at medical clinic supervisor, sponsored by the French government, although the French quit sponsoring after about 6 months and everyone lost their jobs... leaving tuk-tuk driver man helpless. “I was very good at my job, but it doesn’t matter now”, he said. Jobs are so unreliable in Cambodia. I had heard about how sponsor programs can just drop funding so quickly for companies, and the Cambodian government isn’t strong enough yet to fend for themselves. But especially in the medical field, companies shouldn’t stop funding seeing as hospitals in the country are horrible and most people, in order to get proper medical attention, must travel to Bangkok, Thailand. I remember passing a children's hospital in the tuk tuk and across the street were close to 50 people holding their sick babies in their arms, and this was only outside. I’m sure people were lined up inside as well.

This tuk-tuk man also told us about how if someone wants to become a tour guide they must pay $1500 to get their license and be assigned to an agency. I guess that does pay off in the end because you can easily be hired to tour around the attractions and whatnot; however, it is very expensive and many people can’t make nearly that much in a year. Some people even live off of $20 a month. Perspective.. this is not America.

Entering the Royal Palace is like trying to get in a Catholic church with goth clothes on. There is a dress code because it’s a very religious and sacred place. Ayumi had a shaw on her shoulders and the woman behind the glass still wouldn’t let her in. You have to be wearing nice cloths and absolutely no tank-tops. Shirts should come down to your elbows at least; hence, Ayumi bought a souvenir Royal Palace t-shirt... which some how is considered nice clothing. Logic? We strolled through the palace paths and found a temple (most of the palace was comprised of temples), one of the most beautiful ones with perfect white stairs and shiny tiles, matching carpet on the inside and intricately designed doorways. The top of the building was caked in gold and glared from the sun. Clouds behind made the gold just a little bit brighter and enhanced the already perfect setting. Within the Royal Palace is a place called the Silver Pagoda. On the floor lay 5000 silver tiles weighing 1kg each. Although, much of the floor is covered in carpet you can still hear the clank of silver and see a shine along the edge. If you look closely you can see the carvings engraved into each pane.

Psar Thmei or the Central Market was next on our list of Phnom Penh sites and although nothing looked extremely appealing to buy the market building was exquisite. It looked a bit Babylonian with its towering dome, underneath slews of jewelry sellers were auctioning their possibly real gold, silver, and diamonds. While Allen spent a good bit deciding on sunglasses, Ayumi and I were entertained by 2 small boys playing with a bouncy toy they treated as a hacky sack. They were soon joined by 2 military men and 2 store clerks, making the game age range from about 4 to 54. Grins from ear to ear and the sound of genuine laughter, each person was thoroughly enjoying kicking this little plastic thing high above their heads like children. It’s nice to know that there can still be smiles even after so much suffering.

Browsing and walking had taken a toll on our genki-ness and we subsided back in our hotel room for an hour nap then went on a quest for some delicious Khmer dining again. On the way we ran into a French bead shop owner who pointed us in the direction of a restaurant called Lemongrass which was by far some of the best food I had on the trip. We ordered three dishes, each person getting a side of coconut rice served in a coconut bowl which rolled around because it was a real coconut. Coconut. I accidentally ordered a large beer which was definitely close to a liter and drank it all despite the enormity of it. This was then added to the next cafe/restaurant that we went to to grab another drink. We all ordered some Angkor beer sat back for 2 seconds before children came around to our table trying to sell us books, flowers, and sunglasses.

One girl in particular was quite crazy fun. She had shoulder length brown hair with some bad English writing on her clothes and booming sarcasm that radiated. We joked around with her for a bit.. she called Allen a “girly boy,” said Ayumi was from “AUS” instead of “USA” and tried to make me learn Khmer. I appreciate the children that learn English and can use it conversationally because it is by far 10 times better than the majority of my students. Finally, I agreed not to buy her a book, but buy her some food. Upon taking her to the little convenience store down the street, she scampered about collecting canned foods, eggs, milk, bread.. the necessities.. then got some Nestle cocoa which was fine and finally pointed to a big pack of six, 1 liter bottles of Coca Cola. She said “I want Coke,” to which I replied “Um, I don’t think so.. Coke is not too healthy.” From then on things went down hill and forced me to learn a lesson about small adorable begging children. She brought the Coke to the register even though I had told her no, and I still didn’t buy it for her. We walked out of the mart with a good amount of essential food which cost $8.37, but she pouted all the way back to where Ayumi and Allen were still seated, screaming “I really want Coke, I really want Coke! You say you buy for me then you say no... WHY?” It was so heartbreaking but REALLY? COKE? You really don’t need Coke homegirl. So we finished our drinks with her horrible pouting eyes locked on me the entire time. Then grabbed a tuk-tuk to a “popular” dance club we found in Lonely Planet.

Said club was named, inappropriately, “Heart of Darkness.” Before entering the club you must be wanded down to make sure you aren’t hiding any guns or knives on your person. Flip flops were not allowed; although, because of the extremely booming influx of customers (or flies) going inside, Ayumi and I were an exception. The three of us went upstairs and sat at the eloquently lit bar and realized we were the only people on the second floor other than the bartenders who were either on their cell phones or admiring some interesting dust fragment on the wall. It really was a beautiful place though, with amazing lighting and a huge chandelier which hung down the center of the two floors with laser lights flying in and out reflecting off the glass in a variety of colors. Occasionally, when the ear piercing house music would peak, they let the fog machine loose so that the entire club filled with smoke and random lights struck your face from every angle. I imagine it would be an excellent place to be on drugs.

Before leaving the club we danced on the tiny dance floor for a bit, then realizing there were no actual Cambodian people in the room other than the hired and possibly underage girls the creepy old foreign men picked up from a phone service or at the club entry, we left.. ready for bed and ready to begin another day in another city.

Shanghai no Banpaku WATCH ME ROLLLLL! (9/18-19)

“Banpaku, banpaku... Are you going to see the Banpaku???” “ANKOR WAT??!?! ANKOR WAT?!” .. The most commonly asked questions from my Japanese co-workers four weeks ago. First off.... what the hell is Banpaku? I told them I was going to Shanghai and Cambodia then they start off with this Banpaku business. Come to find out this is the Japanese word for “World Fair” which is in Shanghai until the end of October. “Ankor wat” is a very famous world heritage site (temple) outside of Siem Reap in Cambodia. I like how AFTER I book the tickets to Cambodia, I learn about where I am going. It’s better that way sometimes though, yea?... like having no idea where you’re going in a country and then finding out that there are so many amazing things to see there. I became more and more excited as the time grew closer about going on my nine day vacation. Youtube even helped me learn a little Khmer (the Cambodian language). Some kid with way to much time on his hands made a cute little video speaking useful Khmer. I learned “thank you” ~ “Au-kun’ although the most useful phrase happened to be “Otay-Au-kun” which is frequently used when poor decrepit old women approach you trying to sell rotting fruit. ~means No, thank you.

Although the World Fair was happening in Shanghai, Allen, Ayumi and I decided that we couldn’t waste our one allowed day (under 40 hours, and large Chinese stamp taking up one page of our passports given to us by a Chinese man who could care less about life...) standing in line to get into each countries exhibits. So, after a 2 hour subway ride into the city, we scampered to drop our backpacks off at the hostel and head to The Bund for some drinks and sightseeing. The hostel, as stated, was “located close to The Bund” - a very popular shopping district with old French style buildings and bright lights. This however, proved to be false. It was a 30 minute subway ride. Nonetheless we made it to bright and crowded pedestrian street... crazy Chinese men on attach-a-wheel-to-your-shoe watch your every non-rolling step and tell you every 5 seconds... “You roll like me look! Only 100 Yuwon!” and throw light up wheels in your hands. It’s actually quite an endearing gesture. I usually just pointed them in Allen’s direction saying “I think he wants some.” We played that game a lot on this trip... to Allen’s disapproval.

After embarrassing ourselves in front of a slew of questioning tourists, we finished our touristy jumping photos, and touristed ourselves onward down the never ending street of lights. We were soon greeted by an attractive Chinese boy about my age offering a secluded 7th floor cafe with food and drinks which we happily accepted and ventured our way through the tourist trap of a first floor filled with EXPO (World Fair) souvenirs, made our way to an elevator at center of the room and ascended into luxury. The cafe was equipped with large comfy sofas and nice lighting, overlooking the central area of The Bund. We ordered some “traditional” Chinese food (which was questionable), couple drinks and relaxed. As we were paying we heard a cat meow.. remembered that Chinese people eat cats... saw a neon glow sign with the word “restaurant” spelled as “retsaurant” and quickly left, re-questioning the ‘comfort’ of said cafe with cute worker.

We decided to stop at a convenience store to grab some cheap beer and bring it back to the hostel. After cracking open our drinks, a wonderful man named Alfredo, from Spain, Japanified himself by sitting on the floor with us and chatting for a bit. He was quite intriguing, a professor of engineering at a University who was sent on holiday to help some students in Seoul, Korea for three months. Alfredo also agreed that Chinese people don’t care too much for those who are not firm believers of the communist way.... or those who don’t hock up every ounce of spit in their throats to spatter inch by inch of the Chinese sidewalk. Ok, China is cool.. I’m just really afraid of vomit.

Memo #1: It’s not such a great idea to tote your luggage around for a full day. You will endure pain. Waking up early is no problem, but trying to be quiet while the live-in-a-youth-hostel-Chinese girl dorm mate you were placed with is trying to sleep... not so easy. Although she was on the phone until the weeeee hours of the morning. Ayumi and I tip-toed around, showering and preparing ourselves for the day, then met Allen and began our trek to see the Yuyuan Garden. It began by asking the clueless youth hostel about “‘#&%”’$ Gardens”.. seeing as we couldn’t remember the word “Yuyuan,” which was followed with much lack of communication until an English speaking worker came to help telling us to take a bus 10 stops. We then trundled down to the bus stop, waited for ten minutes then flagged down a cab, showed them the kanji for Yuyuan Gardens and ended up in front of a non-garden looking building about fifteen minutes later.

The Yuyuan Garden isn’t accurately named but it is quite a booming cultural abyss! It was my favorite place we visited in Shanghai actually. We never really found any ‘garden’ per say.. just a lot of really beautiful ancient Chinese buildings turned into shops (even a McD’s and Starbucks) and plenty of bustling artisan shops. It was jam packed with tourists and maybe some locals finding a good bite to eat.. mmmm... duck blood. After walking our booties off and souvenir shopping, we exited the ‘garden’ to look for a subway to take us to The Bund again but after walking a good thirty minutes through packed backroads with motorcycles and carriages our path opened up into a beautiful Shanghai skyline in perfect view.. the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

Of course we took some tobu (jumping) photos...

Looking down the river in Shanghai, we spotted The Bund again... set apart by it’s cute little buildings. Again, we picked up all belongings and began to walk but were quickly exhausted by the 40 degree weather. So, we found an expensive cafe with air conditioning, ordered some coffee and aired out our bodies for a good hour. After continuing onto The Bund we walked through only ONE shopping mall. By "walked through" I mean we went in one door and out another. The exit door, however, had some some saying "Come come shopping shopping" who where shocked when Ayumi and I looked at each other and sarcastically said " OMG is this a SHOPPING mall?! Can we SHOP here?".. One man was obviously offended in some way so he proceeded to caw (yes, like a crow) at us until we were out of sight. ??? mmmmm....k.MAYBE a communication barrier.. maybe.. At that point we found ourselves walked out and shopped out. NO MORE.. we walked to the end of the road and ended up in People’s Square which also has a gigantic park. Allen spotted a vendor selling deep fried crab and quickly jumped on such a rarity. No, this was not just the crab meat deep fried.. that’s not how the do it in China, it was definitely the whole crab breaded and dropped in a boiling vat of oil, shell and all then jabbed in the middle with a huge skewer. We found a nice little secluded place to sit and eat our crab kabob (which turned out to be pretty tasty) but were soon approached by an angry homeless man ready to rudely verbally abuse us in Chinese to give him money. I gave him like 1 Yuwon but he still wouldn’t leave us alone so we tried to give him some crab meat which he didn’t appreciate and ended up stammering off in a huff. Damn. Memo #2: Crab shell tastes like yummy chips if you deep fry it, but homeless old Chinese men will not appreciate it.

After our fried crab deluxe, we found an open park with less creepy homeless people and napped for a bit then headed to the airport by Maglev (the high speed 7min and not 2 hour train) from Pudong. We each settled for different food for dinner: Allen-pizza, Ayumi-dumplings, Me-much missed Burger King... hell yes. Then headed to Phnom Penh.

Simpsons and dead bojangles

Just a quick post.

We started the second term today... or today was the first day of classes.. yesterday was the ceremony. I was checking one of my students' journals for summer vacation and came across one that said "I used a computer with my brother. It was delicious." and another one talking about her vacation to Nagasaki with a vividly drawn picture of the whole Simpson family (Homer's not OJ's) at the bottom. Hmm... did the Simpsons originate in Nagasaki? ... I was lost somewhere between delicious computers and Nagasaki Simpsons.

Last weekend I was feeling a bit lonely so I bought a fish and named him Mr. Bojangles. Not after the famous tapper but after the greasy fried chicken wonder paradise of a fast food chain... slash I really hate that place. "Bojangles" is how Kyle, the new ALT in Shibushi, and I refer to the south. Whenever we want to use a trashy southern accent we insert the word "bojangles" into the conversation to show we mean real southern business. Hence, the name Bojangles fit my life perfectly. Southern trash.

Today I remembered I had a fish and realized he was dead.

Tally of animals I have personally accidentally murdered+

-decapitated hamster

-the hamster on top of the refrigerator.. why was he there?

-the punted hamster

-Mr. Bubbles aka 'Bubba' - left on top of my car in a cup

-maybe another fish

-Nuggs the green baby chick that was adorable..... suffocation

-The kitten from my parking lot I tried to revitalize... not revitalized.

-Mr. Bojangles aka "Bo-jo"...

I really want a kitten.

This summer 'vacation' sitting in the office has been much more delightful than anticipated. Normally I sit at my desk drooling over some Japanese study for 2 hours realizing I have been looking at the same page, the same sentence, the same word, and the same kanji for the entire time. However, my drooling was pleasantly interrupted by Kyle and the 2 Japanese girls in my office Juri and Nami this time.　I draw random pictures of people in our office .. pictured to the right are me, Juri, Nami, Kyle, Ryan, and the Osaki ALT, Nick.

At the beginning of the 'vacation' I helped with a summer camp that Shibushi High School puts on for their 1st grade (equal to 10th grade) special English homeroom. My group was the best (which each ALT will say about their group). Marie, Ai, Misa, Satoshi and I rocked the final skit making it a fight between 3 girls wanting one boy. I was the narrator. Pretty much amazing.　　

The next week Kyle and Ryan came to Shibushi. Crazy kids... We pretty much spent the following 2 weeks running errands, trying to make Tsukamoto Sensei (my new boss as of April) do lots of fun things like automatic bank withdraws, septic tank emptying, and dance parties in karaoke boxes.

During such errand running escapades we developed the story of Goya kun. Goya is a special Japanese vegetable... which looks like a cucumber with syphilis. It's bitter and scary. So of course we made a character of him.

We also helped with an English Speech camp on Aug 18th. My school visits this summer consisted solely of helping all my students prepare for the speech contest on the 24th.

Kyle and Ryan went to KAPIC (where you learn Japanese for a week) as well as orientation, leaving me in a small puddle of water on my desk apart from slight distractions by Juri and Nami.

The Shibushi port fireworks festival also took place in the past weekend. Kyle, Nick (the new Osaki ALT) and I were joined by Juri, Nami, and Jianni (Keiths girlfriend)... I had a vat of stomach something which is always enjoyable but the fireworks were SCHWEET and HUGE! I didnt know Shibushi could do that. Pardon me for underestimating my own city... damn.

One of my schools, Toriyama Elementary school also finds baby turtle eggs on the beach every year and nests them at the school until they hatch. Then they set the turtles free. This year I became better friends with the vice principal and she called me when she was setting the turtles free! There were about 60 of those little suckers! So freakin cute. Nick and Kyle came too.

I also joined the Shibushi Taiko group! Taiko is Japanese drumming. Aside from the fact that all my rhythm lies in my feet and not my hands... its incredibly fun. I think one day.. after 50 jabillion hours of practice.. they will let me wear the tshirt.

This summer I also passed my Japanese driver test.. 4th times a charm..

＜☆☆＞V

Reminice.

I apologize for not updating the internet on my life. I will attempt to do better, I swear!!! This is a quick rundown of the past 6 months. :)

September - road trip for Silver week with Sa-rah. Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Oita, Beppu, Kag city

October- went to Yakushima, Kagoshima ( an island south of kagoshima) And bought a surf board. Necessary.

November - saved money.

December - for winter vacation ... Kobe to see Sa-rah, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji and Korea (Busan and Seoul)

January - NOW! :)

My schools are awesome.. life is great. I love Japan and the Japanese people. Everyday I am thankful that I'm here. It's so amazing. My kids play with boxcutters in class... it's normal.. and ok. Every day, 6 times a day, we do "aisatsu" "greetings" ... and we bow to each other to start and finish class.

At 10:00am everyday Adel Weiss plays on the loud speakers throughout the city for everyone to stop and have 15 min of tea time. A different song plays at 3:30pm for tea time.

I sleep and sit on the floor in my apartment. I have a heated table that keeps me warm while I watch TV.

My friends here are great. James is my kooky British pal who lives about an hour away. We actually met on a random website in June and started emailing each other because we both knew we would be in Kagoshima together. Pretty cool eh? Allen lives on the other peninsula but comes over here often. He just got a Japanese boyfriend... so cute. I guess life is to short. Al-lee and Cassie are my Shibushi babes. They are amazing but I never see them. Cassie has her American boyfriend, Chris, with her and Al-lee has a Japanese boyfriend named Takashi now. I mainly keep to myself during the week. I have an amazing Japanese friend, Miki, who lives with her husband in Kanoya (about 30 min west of Shibushi). I meet her once a week to gossip... which is a wonderful dose of reality. :) She's a 3rd grade Elementary school teacher but her English is soooo amazing. She's one of my favs. Im actually meeting her twice next week. Once to study some Japanese and again to have a small nabe dinner with some Korean spices I bought her. :) yay!
I have another friend who lives fairly close.. his name is Cody - pretty freakin cool. If I ever want to do nothing with someone and just hang out.. he's the best person for that I do believe. We have very similar personalities. I think he could make me a more creative person. I enjoy him.

I live on the beach.

I can't wait for summer again but the cool weather is nice. I started running again. I love the feeling it gives you. It definitely sucks for the first 10 minutes or so but after that you just get in a pace and it's really beautiful. I feel wonderful afterwards. I entered a 5k at the beginning of March :) First time ever! I'll be running with Keith and Andy- the other two 5th year ALT's in my office. They're not leaving me hanging yay! I'm pumped.

Kori, my friend Terri's daughter, is coming to visit the first full week of April! YAY! I'm not really sure what we'll do but I'm thinking of going to the awesome shrine in the water in Hiroshima. Sounds pretty amazing eh?! Also thinking of going back to Kyoto to see some incredible temples and shrines. There one shrine where you walk up the side of this mountain and it's like a maze... I so want to do that! Anyway... we'll see.

RIght now I am saving some dollas.

My mom is coming in late April and staying until May 11th. YAY! I'm thinking about booking us a vacation to Okinawa. We both love the beach soooooo much so I think it'll be a great vacation. :)

Hopefully I'll update more later :) Japan is spectacular. My life is so cool.

Yakushima monkeys ya'll

Today, an elementary school student at Toriyama shou gakko asked me if I had a baby in my stomach.  This is normal in Japan.  However,  this was the biggest girl in the whole school and she was asking me this.. I wanted to be like.. yo.. do you have 4 babies?  Unfortunately she's only about 7 years old and the Japanese also have a hard time understanding sarcasm and rude comebacks.  Eh.. I've lost weight here.. it's whatevs.

This past weekend we had a 3 day holiday because Monday was some day they justified as having off.  Soooo awesome!  I went to Yakushima with my friends Al-lee, Cassie, Topher, Allen, Cody, and Chris.  We took this hydraulic  ferry boat called "Toppy (or i)"  from Kagoshima City to the island on Saturday morning hella early.  After waiting at the ferry terminal searching for our rental car, we soon realized that we may have told them the wrong port.  Pretty sweet.. so we waited for the fun men to drive over to our port then take us to a car dealership that was literally a few minutes walk.  Yay Japan :)  

Throughout the day, we drove around the island on the west side where the road curves and traps you into this one lane road that looks like it was meant for bicycles... when in all actuality it's the main road.  I wanted to see some freakin' monkeys.. seriously.. and as soon as I said this.. the road was blockaded with a band of wild monkeys defleaing themselves and lounging for a mid-morning sunbathe.  It was sooo perfect..  I proceeded to make friends with one particular monkey that let me get really close to him/her.  I wish he would've sat on my shoulder eating a banana just hangin' out - so I could take more pictures of him/her.  

Yakushima is also famous for deer .. and the deer on the island are different from the deer anywhere else.. they special.  These animals are held on a pedestal and are known for being sacred beings of earth... I forget what they symbolize.  It was just a normal deer to me though.. I mean.. pretty.. but it's nothing I haven't seen.  

That night we scampered around to find a campsite, finally settling on one in the south western part of the island.  It was pretty sweet and right next to the beach.. we saw this amazing sunset too OMG woah.   We also wanted to try one of the famous onsens where you can only go into the hotspring when the tide goes out.. because when the tide is in.. it is overtop of the pools.  It was slightly strange - this process - as are many in Japan.. but even a little more difficult to maneuver seeing as though it was nighttime making our adventure a bit more dysfunctional.  Nonetheless, we dropped hyaku-en into the trustworthy box and ventured down to the incoming tide with only a short time to spare before the pools overflowed with colder sea water.  It took no more than 2 seconds to realize that this was a co-ed onsen where we'd all be naked together.. and having been put into a slew of awkward situations already in these past couple of months.. we all stripped down and jumped in.  After relaxing for a bit, my good friend Cody held up his foot to Topher and says "hey man can you get this thing off?"  Turns out it was a crazy sea urchin attached to Cody's foot.  He threw it off with his hand, scaring all of us out of the hotspring.  So that was the end of our onsen adventure.  However cool it may be to bathe in ocean-hotsprings.. the incoming tide can bring unexpected predators.  That's right.. Kyotsukete!! - Be careful!   

The next day we got up super early to do the beautiful hike that took about 6 hours.. I think there was a 3 or 4 day hike too but we obviously didn't have that much time so instead, we decided to embark on a journey through the enchanted forest.  And enchanted it was.. It was literally one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  I mean, the entire 6 hours was fantastically incredible.  I can't describe it in words but there is a movie made from this forest with "Princess Mononoke"  it's a Miyazaki film so everyone should look it up and watch it.  Totally awesome.

Flying fish is a specialty on Yakushima which the majority of our group decided to indulge in for the evening.  Awesome food.  We then retired to the same campsite after about an hour of waiting in the rain. 

So that was pretty much my weekend in a nutshell.. 

On Wednesday I had a super awkward experience.  I signed up to have my office-required health screening on Tuesday.   The Friday before I left for Yakushima I was not in the office and Keith sent me an e-mail late in the afternoon saying "your fecal sample kit for you health exam is on your desk."  WHAT the hell?  Really?  A fecal sample Japan?  Really?  Ok.  So I was already in Kanoya when this email took place; I figured I'd just wait till Monday night when I could go pick it up.  Let me tell you, I never want to do a fecal sample again.. that is gross.  So Tuesday I showed up to the office at 8:15, fecal sample in hand ready to do the health screening.  Then I see this piece of paper on my desk.. all in kanji.. to which I said "uh... Zushi sensei!!! Can you read this for me"  ... "Ok, 1. Did you eat breakfast?"  Me:  "Yes."  Zushi Sensei: "OH NO MEARRRY MAAAGAREEETOO.. no eat breakfast no no !!"  Me: "So... uh... tomorrow.. health test.. ok?"  "Ok."

I think there were like 4 things I wasn't supposed to do: 1. Eat breakfast. 2. Drink alcohol the night before.  3. drink anything the morning of and 4. smoke cigarettes.  Yep.. Hence.. my health screening moved to Wednesday.  

First I went into this huge room with lots of stations.  They asked for my little green bag filled with my fecal sample then some man gave me a number.. 139 .. and grunted for me to move outside the door with my paper.. Next, a woman handed me a cup - to which I looked around me and placed on 3 tables were an exuberant amount of cups containing yellow liquid.  To make it better.. there were 3 people in white lab coats scurrying about with test strips... Really Japan?  In the hallway?  Really?  

So I peed in cup 139 .. handed it to the little woman then proceeded back inside the large room to another testing area.  This, I could tell, was for blood pressure... although I wasn't ready for all the other questions Obaasan (grandma) was about to ask me.  She just giggled at my lack of Japanese speaking and comprehension and resorted to gestures.. poking herself and saying .. OUch ouch.. ok? Then I said "no ouch, daijyobu".  I had my blood pressure taken then was placed by Obaasan in the adjoining station.  I sat for maybe four minutes before I realized this was the station where they take 18 pounds of blood from your body.. or so it seemed.  I HATE needles.. like most people in the world.. and literally SECONDS after realizing what was going on I was being ushered under the needle.  Really Japan?  Needles all wide open so everyone can see you getting your blood done.  Wow.  Without looking and while taking deep breaths the poor woman searched for my vein then before inserting the needle she says "GOMEN (SORRY!) GOMEN GOMEN GOOOooooo...... and in went the needle."  Hah at least she knows that some people don't like needles.. right?

After the blood-rific experience.. They check my eyeballs with some sideways and upside down C's then I moved to the tatami room where, as I entered, I removed my shoes and sat next to a cute little old lady half my size.  We were ushered into individual rooms separated by only sheets.  The Japanese nurse lifted up my shirt and bra then put suction cups all over my chest and said "Chotto matte (Just a minute)" and within a minute or so.. they had my heart on record.  Thats right.

The last phase was a little silly.  I waited in this long line of old women who spoke Kagoshima-ben (slang) to me .. for which I did not understand but thought was super cute.  Then 3 of us moved into the back of a bus parked outside .. for which I was told was the Xray bus.  I climbed in the bus... of course having to put slippers on outside the door first (no shoes - only slippers).  I waited till the other 2 ladies came in and saw them reaching into their shirt and doing something..  Soon after I realized ..oh yeah.. you can't have a bra on for a chest xray.. duh.  The little man ushered me into the 1/2 room of the bus with a tiny xray machine obviously meant for small Japanese people.  "breath in" the xray machine said in Hiragana. .. to which I did and all of my tests were then finished.  

So I poo'ed, I spoke Obaasan Japanese, I was poked in front of lots of other people, I peed in a cup which was displayed for the whole hall to see, my boobs were suction cupped, and I de-bra'ed myself with some old ladies.  Then went to school.  YEAH!  You're jealous your day wasn't as cool as mine.  But seriously, none of this was completely awkward.. just new.. and you can't make something culturally accepted for yourself until you experience it first.. right?  So next time.. this health screening thing.. will be a cinch. 

Goooooooooood times. :)

おどりましょう！Let's Dance! Odorimashou!

Today I went to Uto-chu which is my favorite Jr. high school.. yet again I will emphasize this.  I was really confused teaching the 3rd grade class (equivalent to 9th grade) because in their workbook there was a sentence that said "I like to make a cake."   I will bore whoever reads this with some grammar that I don't understand.  First off:

"I like to make a cake"  Is not completely grammatically wrong right?  I mean it works because you can break it down  as 'I' = subject, 'like'=verb, 'to make' =infinitive verb, but then cake doesn't need the article 'a' or it will mean "I like to make one particular cake," although it still doesn't sound right.  Normally you'd say "I like to make cakes" or "I would like to make a cake."  

Can someone give a better explanation as to why this is awkward?  Is it correct?  God this is boring stuff sorry.

So in the midst of my grammatical exploration I was told that 12 students from the 3rd grade are having to perform a hyaena dance from The Lion King.  WHAAAA!  Crazy!!  I watched this stuff today and I swear like half of the dance majors I know would be like "Really?  Jr high school kids with no dance experience are going to do this?"  but my friends... this is Japan and they are all super crazy strong kids ironically.  I offered to video interpret this one minute long dance so I stayed after school and worked with three boys and my JTE to get through the first 24 counts they will be teaching tomorrow.  Tomorrow is also on of my elementary school days where I get out early so I also offered to come again.  I love dance and if this is the exposure I get to it then.. go with the flow.. right?  It's pretty awesome and the kids did 2.5 pirouettes with spotting.  I know.. I was impressed too.  They also have incredible musicality.  What is wrong with American school systems.  Will someone please tell Americans to come over here and look at how amazing this is.  

I talked to my Papa and my mom yesterday.  The answer to American's failed school system lies in Standardized Testing.  I mean fo shizz.  I hated those things and every 5 minutes students are learning stuff they need to know for the SOL's.. not learning crazy hyaena dances and preparing one month for a one day long sports festival.   

I have no idea when they will be performing their lion king dance.. but I did hear they're putting on some part of the play in Japanese.  It's also sweet they take time out of their school day to do this.   Ya know, just free periods to do really fun things.  

Today I had to call Zushi sensei to find out if I could skip office time tomorrow and go to Uto-chu.  So I pulled out of the parking lot, looked at my phone, only to realize my great super amazing wonderful supervisor had read my mind.  I called him and said "Zushi sensei.. my man.. how are you today?!"  "Good Meary Maagareto, How are you? Are you tired?"  "No, Zushi sensei I am super genki today!"  "OOOOOoooooOOOohhhhh goooooood!!!!  uuhh... Meaaarry Maaagareeeto welcome party uhhhh... jyu-gatsu... uuhh..October.. sanjyu... Ok?"

"Another welcome party.. yes that day is OK!" "Zushi-sensei, tomorrow Nogami shou, 2:00.. finish.  Next... Uto-chu ikimas.  Daijyobu desuka?"  "OHhhh HAI Meary Maaagaareeto. Hai, daijyobu desu."  "Okie dokie." "okie DOKIE!"  "ok byebye!"

I heart that man alot.

So he was calling to see if the date for my welcome party on October 30th would be ok.  Weird, I thought I already had a welcome party but BRING IT ON!!! I love parties with my bosses.   Then he said it was ok for me to go to Uto tomorrow.  YAY! Life is good.

Yay! Elementary school tomorrow!