Fifi goes to nippon~

Keeping up to date!

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:16:36 GMT

Hey all!

Well, I FINALLY have internet and cheap phone service again, so all those phone calls I've been putting off should be going out soon :)

Until I got internet, though, to keep my friends updated with my life, I started posting more and more often to my Japanese blog (in English, of course, so don't be scared) -- as it allows me to post from my cellphone, and even include pictures. You can find it here:

http://ameblo.jp/fencer-x

Entries are short, but the pictures probably tell more than I could write. Enjoy!

I live!

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:58:10 GMT

Hey guys!

Yup, I'm still alive, and yup, I'm still without net :( BUT! I *should* be getting it next Wednesday, so keep your fingers crossed. I'm posting this from work right now, and thought I'd let you guys see the kind of place I'm living now.

You never really got to see my old place in Hikone, so you can't compare, but know that I really like this new place. It's the perfect size for me, though I wouldn't turn my nose up at a closet, haha.

Address update!

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:37:48 GMT

All right, I'm going to go ahead and post my new address here--I'll probably take it down after a few days, just cause I don't want to have my address sitting around online, so remember to write it down somewhere. Also, I won't be at this address until JULY 26, 2008, so please don't send anything there that's going to arrive before then :P

Courtney Cummings
Palazetto Higashi Shinjuku, 201
Okubo 2-8-13
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo-to, JAPAN
169-0072

〒169-0072
東京都新宿区大久保2－8－13
パラゼット東新宿201号
カミングズ・コートニー

Eee, I love putting TOKYO up there :D My phone number (cellphone) will stay the same, so if you'd like it just leave a comment or email me and I'll let you know the number. My landline number will change, though, so I'll have to update you on that if you've got it (currently it starts with 0749). I won't have a new line until I actually move in, though, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there :)

I can't wait to move--I'm SO excited to move into my new place, be in the middle of everything I love to do, near friends I can visit whenever I want, and around STUFF! Also can't wait to start my new job--even if I don't get to be around kids all day (because sometimes that's really fun XD They can definitely be cute and sweet :D) at least I'm not in an office MELTING 8DDDDD

My New Apartment!

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:31:29 GMT

Hey guys! Well I've certainly let this blog fall on the wayside, but I'm back updating to let everyone know I've found my new apartment in Tokyo! It's in Shinjuku-ku (there are 23 ku [wards] in Tokyo, and Shinjuku is one of the few in the 'main' part of the city), about 8ish minutes walking to the nearest station, and a 10 minute train ride from there to my office in Minami-Aoyama. Altogether, it should take me less than 30 minutes from my front door to work, so I'm REALLY excited!

The most imporant room: the bathroom! As soon from inside the main room. My apartment is one big room + a separate bathroom area. The kitchen and bedroom/living area are all one big room. When you walk in you're in the kitchen, and a little further forward is the main room. Off to the side on the right is the bathroom area.

Toilet! Not QUITE as fancy as my current one, it doesn't have a sink on the back. Drats :P

BUT! I GET THIS AMAZING SINK AREA!! It's got a real HUGE basin, an awesome makeup mirror, and tons of shelves and cabinets for storing stuff. I'M IN LOVE. I'm not kidding when I say this was a HUGE part of the reason I wanted this place :)

The shower! Unlike my current place, this new apartment only has a standup shower (however small it may be, my current place DOES have a bath tub). I'm not anticipating taking too many baths, though, so this is definitely deal-with-able!

The view of the bedroom/living area from the bathroom door. As you can see, it's hardwood floor. It'll be nice to be able to just sweep my place clean, because the vacuums here aren't very good (or maybe I just have a bad one :P). I'll probably buy a floor rug at least, though.

Stepping forward out of the bathroom from the previous shot and turning left, we see this! Behind me is the wall in the right of the previous pic. There's a nice full-length mirror already on the wall there :)

The kitchen...area XD There's no fridge yet (I'll be renting that when I move in, but it'll probably go to the right of the sink there).

A bigger shot of the room, from beside the sink. This is how you see the room when you walk into the apatment. It's got lots of light coming in from that window, something the other two places didn't have, so a plus :)

Another angle, so you can get a better idea of the layout. This is also part of what you'd see upon stepping into the apartment.

My door! It's got this nice modern feel to it with the bright red and the corrugated steel outside :)

The stairs leading up to the apartment on the 2nd floor (where I'm standing). It was POURING down rain the day I went visiting, so you can see the steps are all wet. But they're all covered with a thick rubber matting, with texture for traction, so definitely a plus over the others when I almost slipped down them XD

So how much is all of this gonna cost me? For living in a shoebox in the heart of Tokyo less than 30 minutes from my workplace and all my play-places as well--92,000yen per month (~$920). This'll be about 1/3 of my paycheck, so a sizeable chunk :( I'm hoping next year more friends will move into The City and we can room together. A nice 2-person apartment usually runs ~$12-1500, so I'd be paying quite a bit less if I lived with someone.

Well, that's been my biggest purchase of late! I'm saving what I can now, and hopefully will have a nice little cushion to land on when I make the move Tokyo-wards. I've got one more week of real classes, then I have to give my goodbye message around the 20th. The final week of work students will be off on summer vacation, so I'll be sitting around getting restless pretty much! I move in on July 26th, and I can't WAIT to start this next step of my life.

Hope you're all hanging in there, and I'll update more when I have, well, something to update about!

My bday~!!

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:40:18 GMT

Hey guys!! It's been a while since I posted, so here I bring you an update on my birthday and my date with Curry Guy!!

Saturday the 22nd was my birthday, and YAY that it was a Saturday! Lil got in the previous evening, and we wasted Friday night watching Secret Box and gorging on delicious curry. Saturday morning we lazed around until noonish before we finally dragged ourselves out of bed and hopped the nearest train to Nagoya.

UNFORTUNATELY I realized belatedly we'd gotten on the Shirosagi (or however it's spelled) which is a special train from Maibara to Nagoya and which requires a special ticket, much like the shinkansen. Because it's really fast, the tickets are quite expensive, something like 3000yen. Lil had a JR Rail pass, meaning she rode for free, but me? I had a ticket for 190 yen from Minami-Hikone to Maibara XDDDDD Because I was just planning on paying the difference in Nagoya.

Of course they check your tickets on these trains, and I was looking QUITE guilty as the guy approached us. But then--I'm convinced it's because it was my birthday--the GAIJIN POWERS saved me!! The ticket guy was so worried we were foreigners and wouldn't understand a word he said, he mumbled a quick, "Where are you going?" in English, quickly glanced at Lil's Japan Rail pass, and then LEFT 8DDDDD He didn't even ask for my ticket XDDD Just wanted to get as far away from us as possible. When we got to Nagoya, the ticket machine there assumes you came the normal way, so I wound up paying about 1000yen. Happy Birthday indeed!

It took us a while to find the Outback, since I couldn't remember where it was from last time, and had to rely on a bad map, but eventually we found it!!

Lil, looking thrilled to be eating fake Australian food!!

Our appetizer--Aussie Cheese Fries aka MANNA FROM HEAVEN. French fries with different kinds of cheeses melted all over it topped with bacon bits and with a creamy ranch dipping sauce on the side.

And my entree, Alice Springs Chicken, which is really just a grilled chicken breast smothered in cheese. It comes with a mushroom sauce, too, but ugh, mushrooms :P I told them to hold that XD

After we stuffed ourselves to bursting, we left Outback and headed for the Big Echo right around the corner. Across the street was some weird shopping center with a ferris wheel o_O

Let's karaoke-ing!!

We of course sang Depend On Me (we sang almost all the songs together, just too much fun!)

And Juuden Kanryou ♥ And of COURSE we took video, too XDDDDD

Since most of the songs were Japanese songs, I'll spare the non-Japanophiles reading this and upload Lil singing a Little Mermaid song :D

After karaoke, it was about time to leave, so we hopped the next rapid train back to Minami-Hikone. All in all, a GREAT birthday!!

So, I was supposed to go to dinner with the guy Monday evening, but I was feeling tired and a bit frustrated with paypal, so I asked if we could do lunch the next day instead. I had work to do in the morning, so he said he'd come by my place around 11.

I was SUPER nervous--cause he's really sweet and cute and nice and...I don't go on dates XD;;; But! I'm really glad I went. We talked a lot, and he's very...very Japanese XD The things we talked about are I guess what I'd expect on a date with a Japanese guy. We went to Starbucks and had frappacinos, and of course he paid for everything ♥ what a sweetie. I had poppy-seed pound cake and he had a cinnamon roll.

We talked about our families, what they did, what we wanted to do when we got older. When I told him about my brother and sister, he did this thing that he wound up doing a lot that really amused me, where he's ask me what I thought about him--like, "So, do I look like I have brothers or sisters?" or when we were talking about sports, "Do I look like I could play sports" or "What kind of sports do you think I play?" XDDDDD I dunno, it strikes me as a really Japanese thing--to flirt and make the other person guess stuff about you XD

He also was a lot more keen on talking in English than I would've thought--he can understand a lot more than he gives himself credit for! We biked the whole way there, and he'd say things like, "Okay right turn here!" or, "Next is left!" and would ask me to ask him questions in English some too (but not to the point where I thought he just wanted free English lessons; the majority of the time we spoke in Japanese).

He had plans with a friend later on, so we had to cut our time a little short, and I rode with him back to his house before we parted ways ♥ God he's so cute XDDD

Sayonara~!! He graduates tomorrow and is moving to Nagoya this weekend ;___; But we'll be keeping in touch ^_~

Last but not least, I got a huge package of presents from my family Stateside, and to feel a little closer and properly thank people, I'm including a video:

Thank you guys SO MUCH for the presents--I'll call later for some more personal thanks :)))))

My next few weeks...

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:23:12 GMT

...are gonna be really busy!

March 15 - off to Kobe to attend a Remioromen concert--SO psyched about this!! They're my favorite Japanese band, but I didn't think I'd have time to go see one of their concerts during this tour. Turned out I not only have time, I scored an AWESOME ticket for cheap, and am going in a mere few days!

March 16 - Running up to Yokohama (about 30 minutes from Tokyo) to meet with Lil (sarahofcroydon) and ROCK OUT to the "Prince of Tennis 100-song Marathon" and finally see all the amazing voice actors we've been obsessing over for years now ♥

March 20 - Get to meet my replacement! She's an ALT at a Notogawa high school right now, and she asked if she could come up to check out the town and apartment before she officially moves here.

March 21 - Lil (same as above) comes to Hikone, and we party like it's 1999 for a few days~

March 22 - Uh, my 23rd birthday? Will be dragging Lil to Nagoya in all likelihood where I will make this Aussie chick eat fake Aussie food at my traditional birthday restaurant--Outback Steakhouse! XD I'm very much looking forward to her pointing out all that is wrong ♥

March 28 - Stamp myself in the attendance book at the Board of Education in the morning, then hop the next shinkansen to Tokyo for an AWESOME AWESOME WEEKEND OF AWESOMENESS. That evening: 8th row seeing the Rock Musical Bleach CodeLive:002!

March 29 - Two more CodeLive shows, FRONT ROW in the evening :D Hanging out to be had with people like analineblue et al.

March 30 - Two shows for Rock Musical Bleach The All, including senshuuraku (the final show, also the best show *____*)

March 31 - Skip work and see two more CodeLive shows, including the biggest senshuuraku of them all, the VERY LAST ROCK MUSICAL BLEACH SENSHUURAKU EVEEERRRRRR (that matters XD) ;_; I'll be packing tissue, people ♥

Some time between all those shows, I'll be doing things like going to karaoke, enjoying curry, speaking far more Japanese than is good for me, and trying to get backstage ♥

In other news, though--I just completed my first assignment for my new job working as an editor for DMC Corp, and I'm getting paid for it! I think I'm gonna funnel all the cash I get for this into my "Move To Tokyo" fund :)

These are the pictures I got to take with Nagayama Takashi last weekend. "Nagayan," as we call him, is really cute, really sweet, and a really FUN guy, and those of us who attended an event held in a bookstore last weekend for the release of his most recent concert DVD got to get their picture taken with him. I bought 4 DVDs (one for myself, and 3 others for friends who asked)--and so I got 4 pictures!

Me = IN HEAVEN!!

I'm updating, I'm updating!

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:29:48 GMT

Hey guys!

Sorry it's been such a long time since I updated, I've been running here and there in life lately. As many of you are probably aware by now, I've got a job!

Well, yes, I had one already. HAVE one--with JET. But my contract's up in August, and I'm really wanting to move to Tokyo. What I needed most, then, was a new job--but finding a decent paying one there where I won't want to shoot myself after a few weeks is harder than it sounds.

I managed to stumble upon, however, what seemed to be the ideal job: working for a company called DMC in Minami-Aoyama in the Minato ward. Famous businesses based in Aoyama include Sony, Honda, and Louis Vitton among others. It's a happening place :)

I interviewed at the headquarters in Tokyo a few weeks ago, and they loved me! Since I can't come to work for them formally until August, they want to hire me on parttime for now, and hopefully hire me full time come August. What is the job? I'll be editing and proofreading English translations of Japanese scientific articles submitted by laboratories and hospitals across the country for publication in overseas scientific journals.

It'll pay, supposedly, a good bit more than JET does currently, but I'm not sure the exact rate yet. Next step is to find an affordable apartment! I'm not holding out too much hope on being able to find a roommate, so I'm probably going to have to rough it for the first few months, and then after I've saved up some more money and got a stead income coming in I can upgrade to a bigger place in a better area (better area = closer to work or play, not better as in less crime, since that's happily really not an issue in Japan :P)

This weekend I'm off to Tokyo for an event celebrating the release of a DVD I've been looking forward to, and next weekend Lil from Australia and I are heading to Yokohama (a little south of Tokyo) for a huge concert--I'm SO excited!! The next weekend is...MY BIRTHDAY! I'm hoping to get a few friends together in either Nagoya or Tokyo and go out to Outback ♥ Can't break with tradition, after all.

I'm most looking forward, though, to the last weekend in March, when foreigners will descend upon Tokyo for the final Rock Musical Bleach--myself included. I've got a ton of friends coming in that weekend, and it's going to be something I never forget.

Other than that, though, my life's been pretty tame. On the 20th, I'm meeting up with my successor for my JET position--a girl in Nodogawa a few stops down who used to be a high school ALT was moved to fill my position, so it'll be nice acquainting her with my schools. The guy who delivers my curry who's been flirting with me for the past 4 or 5 months finally got the nerve to give me his email address, and we've been texting back and forth for a weekish now ♥ It's March, and it snowed a good few inches yesterday. Crazy weather.

How are you guys doing???

Super...Wednesday?

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:46:11 GMT

Hey guys! Did everyone in the states applicable voooote?? Louisiana's is February 9th, and as it's the 6th here and I didn't realize, absentee ballot is a no-go for the primary >_< BUT! I'll get it in for the Big One.

It's kind of scary how I'm getting vaguely interested in politics lately. I blame this largely on my recent obsession with The West Wing. It's making me feel eerily patriotic.

Scarier, though, is how much my coworkers and students are paying attention to what's going on in the election! They know stuff I don't, up to the minute election results and all! Forget CNN or MSNBC, I have 8th graders who can tell me who's doing better in the polls, Obama or Hillary.

Lately I've been getting questioned more and more about "who I'm for," by my coworkers and students. And before I can even get a word out, they're all talking amongst themselves about who would be the better person for the job--amazingly enough, the idea of (among the Democratic candidates--because that's all they know) a black President or female President never even crosses their minds (and I know I've thought about it a lot, just like I thought about whether I wanted a female governor or a non-white male governor for Louisiana when it was Blanco vs. Jindal), it's always about who's the more qualified.

They cite Clinton's experience as First Lady, and Obama's youthful ideas, but not once have I heard them--in this country that has SO many stereotypes about black people--mention anything about a black guy leading America. A few did mention that they thought Hillary cried too much--one of the female teachers was talking to me, and said the first time Hillary cried, it was good, because it showed she had emotion, but the second time it painted her as weak. At that point, I didn't even KNOW she'd cried a second time (because it'd only JUST happened, wtf).

On a more personal note, I'm not really sure who I'm going to vote for. I'm 22, and have never voted before (I was eligible last time, but wasn't motivated--I would've voted for Bush anyways, though, because that's What You Do in Louisiana). No state elections, no parish elections, no city elections, last time I voted was for student council president senior year of high school >_>

But this year I feel like I WANT to vote, which is something it's kind of hard to get younger voters to feel about nowadays. I find myself more aligned with most (MOST, not all) Republican idealogies, but I'm really really excited about the potential for change that could come with either Obama or Clinton. Strictly from an outside view, if I had to choose between a female president or a black president, I can't say I'd be unhappy either way (though I kinda want a female president more). I certainly don't agree with all their platform, but the parts I do care about I find myself agreeing with them on.

McCain, assuming he wins the Republican ticket, seems a more liberal Republican, not as strict on issues I wished Rep's would lighten up on, yet still protecting the stuff I DO care about. In the end, I find myself agreeing so much more with his stance on most issues, but I can't resist the siren call of Obama/Clinton, whose stance I support somewhat as well...

If Obama or Clinton wins and takes the other as their running mate, this may all be moot XD

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:55:49 GMT

Hey guys!! I know it's been forever since I updated, but I kinda wanted to wait til I actually had worthwhile stuff to update about, so here I am :)

It's almost the end of January--hard to believe it! It's almost been 6 full months--a half a YEAR--since I moved to Japan, and I'm pretty comfortable in how used I've gotten to life here. Things that scared the pants off me at first--ordering in Japanese, trying to get somewhere by train by myself--no longer are that big a deal to me, and I find myself adopting much the same personal lifestyle here as back in the states (read: my apartment's a wreck and I spend too much money XD).

For an update, I went back to America for 2 weeks over Christmas/New Year's and had an awesome time--though I ate out far too much and probably gained back any and all weight I might have lost, whoops :) I got back to Japan on Sunday Jan 6th and had to start back at work bright and early the very next day, fuuuuun :P But I'm back in the swing of things now, more or less.

I already updated some of you on this, but shortly after I got back, I began my new job search in earnest. For those of us joining us now, I'm not going to be recontracting with JET another year. I love the job, especially all these days off (that are almost gone XD), but I just can't live this far from Tokyo being as into Japanese musicals and theatre as I am right now--it's too expensive, and wears too much on me going back and forth. It'd be different if I lived in Yamanashi or Kanagawa or Chiba or something and was only a short, INEXPENSIVE train ride away--I'd WANT to live in Tokyo, but there'd be no financial or time-burden on me to do so--but I live a 2-and-a-half-hour VERY expensive train ride away, and there's no sense in staying that way. And since I don't plan on stopping my love for musicals and theatre, it's gotta be the job that changes :)

With that in mind, I've been searching many online forums and Japanese job websites, and have hit upon a few that look very promising, so I hope they get back to me. One actually did--a representative from East West Consulting. They asked me to come in for an interview, and since I was in Tokyo last weekend, I did so.

I wasn't sure exactly what the job would entail, but I went with a positive attitude--it looked to be a very good job, making twice as much as I am right now and right in the middle of Tokyo no less. The offices were nice, and everyone very friendly. I thought I did very well in the interview--the only problem after it, though, was I didn't like the job :P

The company basically acted as a middle-man between Japan-based offices for foreign companies (big corporations) and Japanese employees. The comapanies wanted Japanese employees, but needed someone to convince them to come work for them, essentially. My job would be to cold-call Japanese companies, and convince whoever I was assigned to that they needed to meet with me for a conference, and at that meeting convince them to come work for another company.

And all that, in Japanese.

I could probably do the face-to-face meeting in Japanese, given enough prep-time and practice. And I could do cold-calling in English if I had to (and if the price was right). But both? And in Japanese? Oh heeeeellllll no. First of all--the level of Japanese they required was FAR below what would be needed to actually pull this sort of thing off--there are all sorts of levels of politeness that I'm not comfortable using like a native speaker, and it just would not be a pleasant experience on ANYONE'S part.

I didn't turn them down right away, but they said to keep in touch, since I couldn't come in until August--suffice to say, I PROBABLY won't be calling on them if I can help it :P

Other than that, though, I had an AWESOME weekend in Tokyo--I went to one of *pnish*'s (the theatre group I follow very closely) events and got to see Japanese friends there I hadn't seen in a month or more, so very exciting. Meg brought her boyfriend James, who was visiting from America, to one of the shows, and he had a great time too XD

It's been reeeeaaaally cold here lately, but I love it--because we're finally getting that lovely weather phenomenon I've not had the pleasure of being exposed to much: SNOW!!!

This was the view outside the teacher's office at one of my school's yesterday afternoon--all that white isn't fog, it's snow coming down so hard and fast it's a white-out :)

This was the view outside my apartment this morning--that yellow towel on the left is one I put out to dry XD;;; Whoops. It's a little hard to tell, but the snow's still falling.

This is a video I took from inside my apartment, too, so you can see the snow falling. I talk a little in it, so turn up your speakers to hear moi :D

And finally, this is a video I took while one of my English teachers drove me to school (it's dangerous to ride your bike in the snow).

It's SO pretty!! I love walking outside and just getting covered in these fluffy white flakes--though it does make getting around a real pain :P

More on life in Japan!

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 01:38:11 GMT

Well, it's almost halfway over! It's hard to imagine it, but in only a few weeks it will have been FIVE MONTHS since I came to Japan. At times that seems like a really long time, and at others it seems like a short time. Right now, it feels to me like I've been here a long time, but when I think that it's barely 4 months, that seems like a really short time. Guess it's all relative, huh?

It's December now here in Hikone (well, I guess it's December all over the world!), and the leaves have pretty much all changed now, dropping to the ground in big colorful heaps. Kyoto's famous leaf-viewing season is pretty much done now, and the little bit I saw last weekend was amazing. It's cold and wet a lot of the time, but the temperature hasn't dropped to freezing yet (the coldest it's been is in the upper 30s). I hear in America it's hitting the 20s and below in some regions, so I hope all my friends and family there are staying warm! At least you people have insulation! I'm ALWAYS cold here, blah! Schools have no heating or insulation, so it's pretty much always cold enough to see your breath inside. At home, all my doors and windows have no insulation, so even closed they let in cold air. Add to that the fact that there's no central heating or air, and about the only warm place in the apartment outside of the shower is directly underneath my wall unit. Which is where I stay most of the time XD

I'm SO excited about coming home and seeing my friends and family. Marissa's staying with us for the break, Jamie's coming down to visit (and maybe Bri too?), and not to mention a lot of my school friends will be in town for the holidays--this time it's REALLY going to feel like a homecoming! My biggest worry right now is what's the first thing I want to eat when I get back (hint: MEXICAN FOOD OF SOME SORT). Who's going to come meet me at the airport??

I had a BLAST with Brandy the week she was here. We had a few rocky spots (like, oh, me getting her lost in Hikone and her having to try and call me from a payphone because she didn't know where she was XD) and only getting to spend half the day with her because of school was not fun, but we still managed to have a great time, and I can't tell you people how good it felt seeing a familiar face and being able to ask someone directly about home.

Speaking of talking to people at home, I have REALLY cheap calls to America now. I just found out with my Yahoo!BB Internet plan, since it works with my phoneline too, I get calls to America for about 5 cents a minute! You guys can't call me for that cheap, but I can call you--so if you see some unknown number--pick up! It might be me :)

Last weekend, December 2nd, was the JLPT--the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. This is a test administered worldwide that measures, surprise surprise, your Japanese language ability. There are four levels, with 4-kyuu being the most basic, and 1-kyuu being the hardest. They measure reading ability, listening ability, and writing ability (which surprisingly isn't WRITTEN, it just tests your recognition of certain characters assuming you COULD write them if you had to).

I had never taken the test before (because all US test sites were too far away, with Chicago being the nearest one), but decided I'd try and take 2-kyuu, the second hardest, because I felt 3-kyuu was too easy (and God forbid I did something easy to go ahead and gauge my ability, right? :P), and so it was for this reason that I was frantically waiting for the next bus to the university in Kyoto in the FREEZING COLD.

Unfortunately, because the leaves changed later this season, there were still a TON of people in Kyoto sightseeing, and the buses were over-crowded. I was in the last group to get on the bus and made it into my seat at the test site 1 minute after the test had officially begun. I don't know what the people behind me did--because there were definitely people behind me, yikes.

The test itself was...well, a test. I didn't study enough, I know, but I still think I did decently, but not sure if it was enough to pass. First was the writing part, which I knew 45 of the 65 questions definitely, and felt decently confident on the rest. Next was the listening part--which I was most worried about. But I think I passed at least 85-90% of that. There were a couple of ones I kind of spaced out on, which is your downfall in a listening test, hehe. The last part to come was reading and grammar comprehension, the part I was most confident in. However, I think I did worst on this, because I didn't practice this section TIMING myself, so while I found it easy in practice, this was probably because I gave myself plenty of time. I barely managed to finish in time, and didn't have any time to go over my answers. I hope to have gotten at least 50% of the questions right in that one.

Results for that come out in February. A decent score on the JLPT gives you official certification of your Japanese ability that is recognized by businesses around the world, thus potentially helping me get a better job some time in the future. We'll have to see how that goes!

As far as work goes--I'm really enjoying this, but feeling more and more that teaching English perhaps isn't what I'm cracked out for. I definitely love it, and love teaching, but I feel like I'm not really helping the kids that much. I feel more like a friend than a teacher, and perhaps there's something to be said for still being there and being available to answer cultural questions even if I don't help that much as far as learning the language goes.

I find myself wanting to talk to everyone more and more in Japanese, though I am occasionally asked by students to speak to them in English (I had a fun little convo with some of my 3rd years yesterday about the weather!) and am thrilled that they seem to show even the slightest interest. Just a few days ago a bunch of my 1st year girls asked me how to say random pop-culture phrases in English (like, "どんだけー！" ["Dondakeeee!"] which is a phrase you say when something's so totally off the radar you want to go, "What the heck?!" which is what I taught them to say, haha).

We had our JET Mid-Year Seminar just last week, and many of the opinions expressed there is that the ALT should speak in English around teachers and students as much as possible, to foster the feeling that time with the ALT is "English Time" and get them more confident in speaking it. But I still have this strong urge to further my OWN Japanese language learning, and school is my best place to do so. Plus it's so much fun talking with the students when they're not afraid of you, and doing that in Japanese is pretty much the only way.

Am I being selfish? Should I try and speak more in English? Or can I hope that these little progresses in the language will invite them to speak more to me in English of their own accord? It makes me worried for getting a job at an eikaiwa school like Berlitz or Gaba, too, since there it will be part of my job contract to speak almost entirely in English (if not entirely so), and I don't want to be reprimanded or something for using Japanese with my students. Aah~ so much to learn!

The only job I can see where I'd get to work in a predominately Japanese-speaking environment and still use English is as a translator for a company or something. Maybe I should look into that?

I'm eager to order my curry today, the delivery guy's gotten to know me now (he even knows my name...and I never told it to him o___o) and he's kinda cute--I wanna get his name!

Tonight I'm going to Osaka for a concert for Nagayama Takashi, and I'm SO excited! Meg had to back out at the last minute, but I know I'm gonna have a blast--my first time REALLY hearing Nagayan sing live, I'm psyched! He sang a little at his fan club event last month, but this will be him on stage with a band backing him up singing songs I've wanted to hear live for a long time, YES! Very excited :D

This weekend and next weekend is *pnish*'s yearly On performance--On6! I'm even MORE excited about this, because very very YAY for ONLY *pnish* on stage and no guests (or well, maybe ONE guest) to distract, hah! I'm sitting 3rd row on Saturday and couldn't be more thrilled. Plus I get to stay for the NaiPani TV show taping on Tuesday, too--this will be a week to remember!

All right, my hands are about too numb to type now--going to refill my hot chocolate! I'll talk to everyone later--ciao!

"Oh the weather outside is frightful~"

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:49:43 GMT

"But my apartment heater's soooo delightful~"

Hey guys! I'm back from another awesome weekend in Tokyo! This weekend I picked up Brandy from the airport to spend a FUN-FILLED WEEK together. We've got a lot planned--going to Kyoto for Thanksgiving Thursday, hitting up Tokyo again Friday, going sight-seeing, and maybe even to see Phantom of the Opera or Wicked...in Japanese of course! XD

This weekend was also my first time to get to participate in one of Nagayama Takashi's fan-club events. I'm a huge fan of his, if that wasn't obvious, because not only is he hot, he's an amazing singer and actor, and his events are NOT to be missed. That definitely held true, as I was treated to two straight hours of his singing songs he hasn't sung in front of an audience for 3 or 4 years, lots of little insider bits about his previous performances, friends, and his own past.

He's such a personable, friendly guy, and tried to strike up a conversation with me in English (tried XD) when I shook his hand as we left.

I also got to meet up again with Takada-san, a girl I met a couple of weeks ago when I went to see the final performance of Switch. I mentioned in my previous post that I only BARELY managed to get in in time, through a strange series of coincidences. One of those coincidences was, when I got to the theater, I asked a random girl in the crowd if she knew if day-of tickets were still being sold. This girl was Takada-san. She took care of EVERYTHING for me, a total stranger (and more so, a foreign stranger!), and gave me her own card to try for the chance to get a ticket (since it was a lottery), and because of her I was the VERY LAST person to get in. Suffice to say I was VERY happy to meet her again and have the chance to thank her. We exchanged cellphone info, and we're going to hang out some more at future events.

I also figured out this weekend that I have very cheap long-distance and I THINK I can call home with a simple code for about $5 a month! Expect calls from me soon, everyone *evil cackle*

The past week or so for Courtney!

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:19:02 GMT

Sorry it's been a while since I updated! I've been busy busy busy! With what?

So, let's start off with the weekend before last--October 27/28th!

...I went to Tokyo! Again! Big surprise there, as I seem to be a weekend Tokyo-ite now :D This time I was going to see Switch wo Osu Toki ("When You Push the Switch") starring Nagayama Takashi, an actor I'm a huge fan of. Those of you who'd like to know what it was about (because it was a very emotional play) can read up on it here.

The next day I went to the NHK building near Harajuku to watch Kitty Guys (an up-and-coming theater group) put on a street performance involving dancing, singing, and a little skit now and then. It was really fun, and afterwards you got to hang out and talk to the guys if you wanted.

I confess, I had an ulterior motive for going--I figure if I can get close to Gaku (the actor who keeps spazzing out when he sees me) then I can get close to HIS friends too (who are the actors I'm REALLY a fan of XD). Gaku himself I've always thought was really annoying and didn't like. He's still annoying when I see him on video, but in person he's fun--mostly because it's SO much fun to tease him (because the reactions he gives are really effected XD).

So, to accomplish my great plan, I decided to talk to him after the show and see if he remembered me.

Yeah, I'd say he remembered me :D He thanked me again for coming to Secret Box (where I saw him last, when he spazzed seeing me) and asked what I was in Tokyo for (since he had found out earlier I lived in Shiga teaching English). I said I'd come to see Switch (which he figured XD) and then since I found out about the Kitty Guys thing, I decided to come see it too.

Deciding to test just HOW much these guys trust foreigners with secrets (since I've already found out a few things fans shouldn't know just because Japanese trust us more, thinking, "Who are THEY gonna tell??") and asked Gaku something I was pretty sure I knew the answer to already: "So...are you going to be in Nagayan's concert next month?" Gaku had appeared as a guest in the 2 concerts before, but it was always a "surprise." Since it'd happened twice before already, I was pretty sure he was going to again, but wanted to see what he would say.

He looked from side to side and leaned in, as if telling me a secret, then put his finger to his lips saying, "Now, I can't really say anything about that...buuuuut maaaaaybe :D You'll just have to see, huh?" I think that's pretty much yes, ladies and gentlemen! XDDDDDD

I went back to Hikone after that, and the next week in lessons we did Halloween lessons! I didn't have time to get a costume ready for Halloween, unfortunately, but I did wear these handwarmers I bought with little skulls on them that all the kids loudly proclaimed, "SO COOL!!" Yes, I have been validated by Japanese 12-year-olds. Go me :P

This past weekend (November 3/4) it was BACK to Tokyo! This time I brought with me Meg, a fellow ALT who is also a fan of the actors I follow. Saturday we went to Gain (the closet of a store that sells Blossam, Nagayama Takashi's line of clothing) and bought some shirts and had a ton of fun talking to Yamashita-tenchou. He LOVES talking to the foreigners who come into the store, throwing out the random English he knows and telling us secrets about certain actors coming out with certain collaborations in the near future that he SHOULDN'T BE TELLING ANYONE ABOUT. Geez :P

After Gain, we headed back to Ikebukuro and did a little shopping (Meg bought a few photosets from the Bleach musicals, and I bought Bleach Soul Sonic 2005 that I need someone else to buy from me because all I want to do is rip one little segment XD).

That evening we were going to go see a concert put on by one of the *pnish* members, Washio Noboru. He started off as a stage actor, but more and more he's starting to sing songs and release albums, and he's got an AMAZING voice.

The show was in Roppongi, which isn't hard to get to, but it took us nearly 45 minutes to find the Live house! We got into the place 5 minutes before the show started, and it was PACKED. Standing room only, with only about 6-700 square feet of room holding over 100 people. The show was really up-tempo (if a little out-of-season; it celebrated his 2nd CD release which was two Christmas songs XD) and being that close to Wasshi was something I hadn't gotten to do before. He's the quietest *pnish* member, and so the one I always paid the least attention to, but he's really just a great guy--definitely sold me!

During one song, he told everyone to get out their cameras and take all the video and pictures they wanted. I took lots of video, but it's really hard to hear the song because it was so loud. I did get a good pic though:

The next morning Meg and I met up with Becca and Laura, two other friends of ours, and together with Rina (a new Japanese friend I met at the Kitty Guys event the week before) we went to...another Kitty Guys event! Haha~

There was a last minute decision made to have another street live that day, so since we were all still around and they wanted to meet Gaku, we decided to go for it. There was some confusion about where it was going to be held, so to make up for it the guys allowed everyone to take as many pics and video of their performance as they wanted. So enjoy!

Here are the guys dancing to none other than the BACKSTREET BOYS woohoo!

And here we have Gaku doing what he does best--flipping! His "thing" he does in rehearsals to show off is backhandsprings, and he's really good at them, too!

After the show, I didn't have time to hang around this time, unfortunately, and bid farewell to everyone as I ran (literally XD) off to get to the final performance of Switch--the final performance is usually the best one, and special stuff happens at the end (like the actors talking about how it felt for them), so I wanted to try and get in if I could.

Long story short, a LOT of weird, strange coincidences came together that eventually allowed me to be the very last person into the theater, and I got to see one of the best plays I've ever seen before at the best time I could have. I was SO happy, I had no words. I still have no words.

Today I'm at my base school, and for the next two weeks we have two exchange students from Michigan at all the schools in Shiga (there are exactly the same number of middle schools in both Shiga and Michigan, so every school exchanges with one school from America). Isabelle and Nicholette seem to be having fun--they were obviously really relieved to have someone to really talk to them and help them out at school, though the students they're staying with right now are probably the best English speakers in the whole student population, so they're in good hands.

Three of the exchange teachers came by today as well, and I was asked to go talk to them for a few--they were really interested in what I did and how I got there, it was a ton of fun. I never get to talk to people who I don't already know who are that curious, so it was like a breath of fresh air.

Curry for lunch, YAY! I'm starving :9

My life in pictures so far!

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:20:59 GMT

Ready to see what my life's been like so far in Japan? While these are far from fully descriptive of how it's been, I think it's a good insight into what I've experienced thus far! So click the cut if you're ready to see! (Warning: image-heavy, DUH)

This is...well, Tully's! XD One of the biggest coffee chains in Japan, this one was right across the street from our hotel in Tokyo, inside a secluded little shopping area. My motive for going? 1) I was hungry, and 2) TUTI.

This is a water fountain inside the shopping area. You can see a little boy who was playing near it off to the left there XD

This is a pic I took while we were all waiting for the shinkansen on our trip to Shiga from Tokyo. This is the Nozomi, the fastest of the three that run along the Kantou region.

Mt. Fuji! I pass right through Yamanashi prefecture every time I go to Tokyo, kinda nice knowing I'm that close to Tuti's hometown :D

These are the mountains surrounding Hikone! Well, they're kinda all throughout Shiga prefecture, but it's just amazingly beautiful scenery.

The view from my apartment when you step out my door...and look off to the right!

And now the view straight forward :D

These are some of the fireworks we got to see our first night in Hikone--it was the summer fireworks festival (great timing!) and it was AMAZING.

These are lamps outside our Board of Education set up for Obon, the Japanese national holiday in which everyone takes some time off to spend with their families remembering ancestors, spiffing up graves, and having some general nice family time together. These lamps represent all the Shiga Japanese citizens that died in the WW2 (Obon was also right around the anniversary of Hiroshima).

Another ALT, Nikki, and the official mascot of Hikone, "Hikonyan" (hee-ko-nyan)! Hikonyan is seen EVERYWHERE in Hikone and all around Shiga, because he's really famous since he was made up to help celebrate the 400th anniversary of the building of Hikone Castle.

My desk space at Hikone Middle School (my alternate school, a 30-minute bike-ride away). Yes, TxN-ers, that is The Bag there :D

The sign one of my English teachers put up on the door to the room where I worked helping students prepare to give their English speeches at the oratorical contest. The Japanese says, "To students who have come to practice English: Let's make sure we give proper greetings."

Now for some "play" pictures--this is an Outback Steakhouse in Nagoya, and yes, it's pretty much exactly like the ones in the US, YAY! Pretty much all the waitstaff either speak English or are actually foreign themselves.

This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space, where Secret Box was performed!

And THIS lovely theater is the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Kobe, where Aru Hi and Secret Box (and NCITBH!) were performed.

This is an inset from the above picture in Kobe--this is the walkway down which the actors came after the show--where "demachi" was held. See that one pillar on the left almost cut out of the picture? That's the pillar I was leaning against as Gaku walked out, saw me, and had a conniption fit ♥

And the inside of the theater--this is the Central Hall. One guess as to what performance I was going to see :DDDDDD

The Coco-ichi Curry in Sannomiya, Kobe! Very very tasty--ate here after Secret Box as well as Aru Hi.

Aaaaand the shrine Jamie and I went to after Aru Hi to....pray for good backstage footage XD

And last but not least--these are a set of handwarmers/gloves that I bought on eBay to give to Nagayan at Switch this weekend XD I thought I'd bought one pair, but actually turns out I'd bought FIVE PAIR. So I kept one for myself and gave the others away~

Japan and Health

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:22:30 GMT

All right, everyone, today we're going to talk about the Japanese and how they are aaaallll hypochondriacs...for the wrong reasons XD

If you follow the actors' blogs for any length of time, then you know by now that the month's between October and March are sad, sad months for us fans, because these are the months when pretty much every Japanese citizen walks around with surgical masks plastered over half their face.

For the uninitiated--Japan is OBSESSED with sickness and germs and remaining germ-free...to an extent.

Wearing a short-sleeve shirt when the temperature's below 70? You WILL be asked, in a concerned voice, "Aren't you cold?"

Got a little cough? You WILL be asked if you should see a doctor about that, regardless of the severity.

Is it fall/winter/spring? Most of the people around you WILL be telling you to watch out for catching a cold.

Seriously, the concept of catching a cold is perhaps one of the most prevalent in this society, and I have NO idea why. The Japanese think even the SLIGHTEST gesture can render you helpless to the virus's attack. Step outside for 5 seconds with damp hair, and you're headed to the hospital. Go outside PERIOD when the weather's below 60 and you're courting death. Not wearing your mask when someone else has a cold? Well sir, you've just signed your DEATH WARRANT.

It's laughable how "health-conscious" the Japanese are about things they DON'T need to be so worried about (wearing surgical masks all the time, staying out of the cold--which is an old wive's tale anyways--gargling after every meal and using the bathroom to get rid of germs [HAH]) and yet still have some of the worst problems with cleanliness!

Let's start with the toilets: while yes, I will admit squat-toilets are probably more efficient at using their water, I'm still not getting how they're cleaner. Because they're not. I'd rather lick the floor of a western bathroom than a Japanese one around the toilet--because it's quiiiiite a bit easier to "miss" when you're just squatting. Yikes. Plus they smell horrible >_> I try and never use the bathrooms at school if possible.

And while you'd think the schools and other buildings would be really clean--what with the kids themselves cleaning up every day, everyone taking off their shoes before entering places--but you'd be wrong >_> Some parts of this school are the nastiest places I've ever seen >_< Of course I'm sure building cleanliness differs from city to city, based on upkeep, but STILL!

...And don't get me started on the state of dental care :P

I'm going to die in this country if I stay here much longer.

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:59:22 GMT

You know what I'm getting tired of?

BEING RUN OVER.

Today was the 2nd time this month I was almost run over by a car riding my bike >_> And I don't mean the car screeched to a halt before hitting me, I mean they HIT ME, KEPT GOING, and it was only the screech of metal against metal that alerted them to the fact that they were about to put me in the hospital, GEEZ.

You would think that Japan, being a country largely populated with bikers and walkers--more so, it seems, than America at least--would have better road safety rules and regulations, better maintained sidewalks, and generally be a safer place to bike or walk. You would think that, BUT YOU WOULD BE WRONG. Sheesh. I survived 22 years in America without a scratch and I come here and within 2 months I'm pawing at the hospital doors!

I haven't been hurt in either of these encounters, and thankfully neither has my bike (cause I'd rather NOT pay the $200 and get a new one >_<). The first time I was riding to the station for a weekend in Tokyo, with my laptop in my bike basket, my purse on one shoulder, and my overnight bag on the other--not exactly good for stopping on a dime. Then of course a lady in her car starts to pull out of a parking lot onto the street, right in front of me. I guess she didn't see me, because she just keeeept on scooching forward even when I was practically on top of her. She knocked me over (and kept on going!) pretty much trapping me under my bike so I couldn't move if she'd come forward much more. Luckily she stopped pretty much as soon as I went down and got out, frantic, asking if I was okay. As I was, and was in a hurry to make a train, I told her I was fine, hopped back on the bike, and kept going.

Then just today, maybe an hour ago, much the same thing happened on my way home from school! Except this time it was 2 guys in a car. Now, you'd think, that even if the driver was looking one way and missed me, HIS PASSENGER WOULD SEE AN ONCOMING BIKE AND TELL THE DRIVER TO STOP. ...Not so *headdesk*

Japan. You're going to be the death of me. LITERALLY.

Japan as a cash-based society...and the HORROR that brings.

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:19:27 GMT

All right, time to actually put this journal to some good use!

Sure sure, ,I know you people are just thrilled to be getting weekly updates of my life here, but what use is that to those of you thinking of coming over at some point?

I think I'm going to try to, at least once a week, post on some topic of Japanese life, some little quirk that will trip up the people visiting (at least Americans XD). And if you've got any questions or something you've been wondering, you people can take that opportunity to ask it :D

Yeah, it's kind of a broad subject, but you'll quickly realize upon getting to Japan--if you haven't already--money and paying for things is REALLY different here from America.

America is a largely credit-based society, I feel. I hardly ever carried around more than maybe $10 in cash at any one point in time, and for anything else I tended to pay with my debit card, just because I didn't feel comfortable walking around with that much cash on me. And since debit/credit cards are accepted almost EVERYWHERE, this was How Things Were Done.

Japan, though, is very much a CASH based society. I find myself carrying upwards of 10,000yen (about $100) or more and not giving it a second thought now. Perhaps this is somewhat reflective of the low crime-rate here (violent crime at least), 'cause I'm pretty sure if people were getting mugged left and right, they'd quickly rethink this policy of no-debit-cards.

Because there aren't any debit cards, and credit cards aren't accepted in many places. I have a bank card, sure, but all I can do with it is use it to withdraw money from one of my bank's ATMs, or try and find a 7-eleven to use one of their all-bank ATMs. And speaking of ATMs--they close in Japan :) Yes, after a certain hour (usually about 9 PM on weekdays) you're SOL if you don't have any cash on you--convenient huh? Yes, Japan, THAT was a good move.

Fortunately, this is reflected also in making online purchases. Pretty much all major online services in Japan offer one of many ways to pay, from credit card online, to furikomi (a method in which one goes to either a bank or post office in person, gives the teller the cash, and the teller deposits it into the bank account of the retail service), to paying at the nearest convenience store (simple as giving the cashier the money!).

Perhaps the most convenient payment method, though, especially for monthly services like TV, internet, cellphone and all, is the option to have the money automatically withdrawn from your bank account (kind of like the automatic bill payment service many banks in America have). You fill out a form with your bank account info, send it in, and never have to worry about paying that bill again (so long as you have money in your account, of course XD). I do this for many of my bills, and while it's a PAIN to set up, it quickly makes up for it in convenience :D

But even if you have cash in hand, actually paying for something is still a little different. Let's look at an example: You walk into the post office, take a number, and sit down. They call your number, and you walk to the appropriate window with a letter in hand--you want to send a letter to your family in America/Canada/England/the Moon, and need a stamp. Simple enough, right?

The teller tells you how much the stamp will be, and you hand them the cash.

Right?

Wroooong. The teller will look at your outstretched hand like you just pulled that bill out of your cleavage or something (or will smile uncomfortably at the very least XD), and then probably gesture towards a little padded tray on the counter. This is the tray you set everything you need to give whoever you're interacting with--be it cash, a form you've filled out, identification, the letter you're sending, and is also where THEY will give YOU stuff--your change, your stamp, your receipt, etc.

...There's this THING with not touching people, apparently. It's especially awkward for me when I don't SEE a tray and hold it out for them--this was the case with McDonald's for a while til I realized I was supposed to use the little tray where change comes out that sticks out from the registers.

You'd think the language would be the hardest thing to overcome in this culture--but no, I'm being slowly, quietly done in by red-tape and money trays ♥

My life of late--and I'm coming home for Christmas!!

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 01:38:48 GMT

Hey all! It's been a while, but I'm doing preeetty good here. I'm in Tokyo right now, for my last little excursion for a while (not exactly cheap riding the shinkansen practically every weekend!!), and just got back from an AWESOME weekend in Kobe last weekend.

I went to Kobe to see Secret Box, the same play by the 4-man theater troupe *pnish* that I'd seen in Tokyo a couple of weeks before. All in all--I wound up seeing the play 6 times, because tsk, *pnish* is THAT amazing!!

This time I went with Meg, my friend in JET who lives up in Kinomoto, and met a Japanese girl I knew from Mixi (a Japanese blogging service) named Tenkuu-san. We also met another Japanese girl along the way who's really nice and sweet, named Chisato.

The four of us hung out together most of the time. Saturday evening was ANOTHER handshake event with the members of *pnish*, and I was a wreck by the time we finished XD Those guys are all just so AMAZING and SO nice, they're absolutely THRILLED to have foreign fans. After seeing the Sunday afternoon show, we had an hour or so to kill before seeing the last evening show, so the four of us hung out at Starbucks and talked and realized we had a lot more in common than we thought, and all exchanged phone info to keep in touch.

The very last show of a play's run is called senshuuraku and is usually the best one. I had gotten to see Aru Hi's senshuuraku at the beginning of September, but this one was COMPLETELY different. So many adlibs and flubs and just hilarity all around, because the guys were just having fun since it was the last show.

Meg had to leave early because Kinomoto's pretty far from Kobe, and she wanted to get home in time. Tenkuu-san lived in Fukuoka, the prefecture at the far southern tip of Japan, and so she had to leave immediately after the show ended to make her bullet train. So Chisato and I hung out afterwards waiting for "demachi"--where the actors come out after the end of the show and tell everyone goodbye.

Unfortunately, she didn't get to stay until *pnish* came out (because they waited until over TWO HOURS after the show ended!!), but she WAS there when one of the guest actors, a man named Katou Manabu, came out.

If you don't remember who this was, he's the actor I ran into randomly waaaaaay back at the end of July my first time out in Tokyo. I talked to him then and told him I was going to see this show, but he really must not have believed me.

Because when he came out, he was waving politely to everyone, thanking them for coming, but as soon as he spotted me, he stopped--did a double-take, and started SPAZZING OUT, seriously! He was pointing at me and going, "You came, you came!!" Out of the hundreds of girls there that night, he randomly remembered ME, who'd casually run into him in a store in Shibuya TWO MONTHS before!! Haha, best moment ever!

That was the highlight, pretty much, of my fun weekend in Kobe, and this weekend I'm going with Jen and her friend Nicolah to see a musical based on the anime Shounen Onmyouji ("The Young Exorcist").

Also--I booked my flight home for Christmas!! I'll get into Dallas at 5:10 PM Friday, December 21st, and will leave back for Tokyo at 7 AM Saturday, January 5th. Two glorious weeks in America :) Look me up when I'm back!!

Alive!

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:45:14 GMT

Sorry for the long time between entries, I'm here!!

The past week has been interesting. I've not been in the best mood, for a number of reasons. A lot of stuff jumped up and bit me at once, and it really got me down.

I no longer have cats, in case you haven't heard. Last Friday, my Board of Education found out I had them, and before you could say "nyanko" they'd called me up and asked me to find another place for them (or find another place for me) ASAP, because it was against my apartment contract to have pets. So yeah, there went all my company in my apartment.

I gave my kitties back to the shelter (and the people were so nice and understanding, and said if I ever want them again they'll have them), that evening, and hopped the next Shinkansen to Tokyo. I was planning on leaving Saturday morning and coming back Sunday, so my cats wouldn't be alone for a long time, but since they were gone I didn't want to stay any more and just left.

I did have a great time in Tokyo, though. Cate, Debs, Becca, and Laura and I all went to "Panic Studio"--a radio show that's recorded live in Kiba, and you get to see the members hosting it through the glass. It's run by the actors of *pnish*, my beloved acting group, so I was very excited to see it for the first time.

Aaaaand, if you check here and scroll down to the second picture, you'll see a figure in a bright teal blue shirt outside the window--thaaaat's me!

That was Saturday evening, and Sunday we all went to Shibuya and dropped in at GAIN, the closet of a store where I went the first time I came to Tokyo and me one of the actors I follow. No fateful meetings this time, but we did manage to fill the ENTIRE store with our presence, and the manager was SO nice, as usual. Yamashita-tenchou loves telling foreign fans secrets he really shouldn't be revealing, hehe.

Monday afternoon I headed back to Hikone, to find my internet was STILL not working (and by then it had been over a week since it had worked). I didn't have anyone I could call, so I just decided to do without for the evening and call the next day.

Tuesday I went to Koura city for the regional English Speech Contest. 3 of our 4 students placed high enough to go to Prefecturals on October 12th, woohoo! Free trip to Oumihachiman~ So what if it's not that far--after that it's Tokyo!!

I called my Board of Education to complain about my internet, and the response was roughly, "Hmm yeah that sounds tough. You should call Yahoo or NTT (the phone company) and get that checked out." *headdesk* I DON'T SPEAK JAPANESE WELL ENOUGH TO RELATE MY PROBLEMS, PEOPLE.

Sometimes they really irk me -_- but that's the way the Japanese society is sometimes, I think. A lot of agreeing that your problem seems tough, and that someone should do something about it. Still annoys me, especially when I DON'T HAVE INTERNET.

So yesterday (Wednesday) I got one of them to come out and look at my problem, and call NTT, and the phone people are supposed to come out and look at it today. So HOPEFULLY I should have reasonably stable net by tonight. HOPEFULLY.

I'm going to Kobe this weekend (leaving Saturday afternoon and coming back Sunday evening likely) and won't be in touch until I return, but I hope everyone's doing well!!

Bye!!

Secret Box Weekend Extravaganzaaaaa!!

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 02:27:59 GMT

Well, my looooong 4-day weekend is, unfortunately, over! I'm back in Hikone now (actually, at work XD).

Monday I managed to get a seat for the evening performance of *pnish*'s Secret Box, and Laura, Becca, Deb, and Cate and I all enjoyed a WONDERFUL performance. This was one of the two shows that were taped, so some of us might actually show up on the DVD! And of course, for those of you living under ROCKS--NAGAYAMA TAKASHI CAME TO THIS SHOW. Yes--my life is MADE. It was one thing watching Tuti and Nagayan perform together, but another thing to see Tuti on stage and watch him and see what Nagayan sees *____*

Immediately after the show, though, was the NaiPani talk event (where the actors sat on stage and talked about their new TV show Hottokenai! *pnish* aka NaiPani). Since I was in the very back for the show, I actually was the 3rd person in line, and there had to have been at least a couple hundred people there for the event.

What did that mean? It means, ladies and gentlemen, I got to sit FRONT ROW DEAD CENTER for this event. I sat not 5 feet from Tuti, Daiki, Eiji, and Wasshi, for a good 30 minutes, and it was SUCH A RUSH (especially now, in light of recent knowledge about certain people who were waiting backstage through it all XD).

Those of you interested have likely already seen my report on it over on the *pnish* comm, but it was taped, I believe, and should be on the next NaiPani DVD due out in November~

Tuesday, I used nenkyuu (paid leave) and stayed in Tokyo to see the afternoon show, and it was GREAT! Not only did I manage to somehow get an AMAZING seat (FRONT ROW!!!!!! THAT'S, LIKE, UNHEARD OF!!), but we saw Goumoto Naoya and Hayashi Shuuji (two actors from the Bleach musicals and good friends of Tuti's and Eiji's, and actually Osamu-chan is about to perform with Sano Mizuki, Daiki's brother :D)--and while we didn't see him INside the theater, we saw Kitamura Eiki OUTside the theater (and I embarrassed myself saying hi to him), though it turns out he had gone to see probably the later show that evening.

And of course, not to be forgetting, THE HANDSHAKE. Yes, I'm typing right now with hands that have touched all four *pnish* members (and Nagayan!). Wasshi was just amazingly sweet and touched that foreigners knew his music and wanted to hear more, Daiki was...Daiki XD and just generally ADORABLE ALL OVER, Eiji frightened me at first, until I recovered my wits and put him in his place, and TUTI OH TUTI OOOHHHH TUTI. So. Much. Love for this man.

Everyone who's ever said he's cold at handshake events needs to ADJUST THEIR THERMOSTAT. Because he was just...WOW. So friendly, and curious about everything, asking questions and giving those utterly Tuti reactions, GEEZ. ]

I think that I can die happily now. Provided the wait until the Kobe shows doesn't DO ME IN FIRST.

お久しぶり！ (It's been a while!)

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:11:42 GMT

Hey guys! Been a while since I posted here, sorry about that! Let's get everyone up to speed on what my last week's been like.

Last Saturday was my base school's "Sports Day"--which is like the equivalent of Field Day in America. It involves all the kids taking part in various events--marathons, high jump, long jump, and events that involve whole classes going against each other, like tug-of-war. Really fun for everyone involved, but definitely takes a bit out of you!

Because I had that on Saturday, everyone automatically got last Monday off, so I took the opportunity to finish mailing off my application for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), a test which, if you pass whatever level you try for, gives you official recognition of your Japanese ability. Very nice when applying for jobs.

I'm trying for 2kyuu (there are 4 levels, 4 is the easiest, 1 is the hardest) this year, as is my friend living in Tokyo, Jen. Meg, another JET from Kinomoto who I've been hanging out with, is going for 3kyuu. I actually bought a few books to help me study, so here's hoping I can get myself ready by December 2nd!

The rest of the week was pretty slow, mostly because I was looking forward to the weekend SO MUCH! Because right now, if you didn't know, I'm in TOKYO again!

Meg and I got into Tokyo station around 9:00 Friday evening after a lovely (read: horrible) trip on the Shinkansen (standing for 2 and a half hours is NOT fun!) and collapsed into heaps of tiredness in Jen and Jenny's apartment and slept until Saturday morning.

After whiling away the hours waiting until we could order from this really good Italian take-out place, Donna Donna, we had full bellies and were off to Otome Road (the area of Ikebukuro that caters especially to anime and Japanese comic fans) to meet up with Susan and her Japanese friend, Yuuko.

After more Italian for dinner, it was off to Tokyo Metropolitan Art space, a really spiffy place:

Inside this theater we spent the next 2 hours of our lives--and arguably the BEST two hours of our lives *_______* I spent a TON of money ($200 at least, not counting the price of the tickets) and regret NOT A PENNY. Hora, lookit this swag:

The show itself was AMAZING, SO funny, and I plan on (trying) to go back at least two more times before I leave. Monday evening is a talk event the guys are hosting regarding the DVD release of the first 3 episodes of their TV show, and--are you sitting down?--Tuesday afternoon is a HANDSHAKE EVENT.

I'm going. To shake hands. With men I have idolized. For 3 years now.

I. Am. So. Nervous. Seriously--I know they'll be amazingly nice, and I know one way or another I'll think of SOMETHING to say and not embarrass myself TOO much. But these are guys I've been ~~stalking~~following online and through DVDs for years now, I feel so close to them and yet still so far away, and finally getting to TOUCH them is just...WOW.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Cate and Deb in the morning when they arrive from ENGLAND, and then going to try and see the play with them if I can get tickets, and after that it's the Talk Show event! Same goes for Tuesday and the handshake event, and after that it's *sniff sniff* back to Hikone!

To finish up this post, I present: MY KITTIES~!

This is Hana--the calico any Tuti/Nagayan fan must own!!

And Tart, who is quite feisty :D They both are, really, but Tart's younger :D

Classes so far!

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 05:04:36 GMT

I'm finishing up my first week of real classes at my schools, and I've really enjoyed it so far. I've got a range of students, from ones who are so shy they won't even look me in the eye, to ones who leap from their seats to speak, to ones who giggle every time I see them and join in a chorus of, "Kawaaaaiiiiii!!!" ("So cuuuuuute!!!") I really like the 3rd year students best, because I don't have to speak AS slowly, and they can say more to me than "Hi I'm _____ how are you? I'm fine thank you and you???"

Today, though, I had a fun class--it was with a bunch of 2nd years (8th graders). In part of my self-introduction speech, I say that I've been studying Japanese for seven years, and when that came up in one of the questions, one girl piped up that she wanted to HEAR it.

So Tanaka-sensei, looking a little worried, asked me if I would introduce myself. I didn't want to say too much and embarrass myself, but I decided to start off with with, "Hai, Courtney desu!" ("Right, I'm Courtney!") Some satsifed nods. "Eeeto, ikkagetsu mae ni hikkoshimashita!!" ("Umm, I moved here one month ago!") O_____O faces, followed by really loud whoops and cheers. "Kore kara no ichinenkan, yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" ("Let's work hard together for the next year!") <--I practically screamed this and still couldn't be heard over the cheers XD What the heck!

The little girl at the very front was the funniest, though. There was one question on the worksheet they had to fill out about me that was True or False, and it said, "She speaks and writes Japanese." When it came time to answer that question, she kind of gasped, and got this look on her face that was all, "I know something you don't!" because I'd given her hints in Japanese to previous questions XD So she totally felt like I'd let her in on a secret.

During lunch, they play music over the loudspeakers. Today they played three HY songs, and I got to watch the students around me all drop their jaws when they saw I knew the lyrics XD

Unlike in America, the teachers' office is just a place the teachers come sometimes, but it's totally not limited to teachers. Japan is really...laid back in ways you would NOT think it would be, and really strict in others. One of the ways it's laid back is in how it handles lazy students.

A student doesn't want to go to class? They can hang around in the office, or a study room, or the nurse's office, do whatever they want but go home, really. Don't wanna stand outside in the 95 degree heat with the rest of your poor classmates? Don't! :D Just sit in the teacher's office and talk with the teachers like they're younger than you (meaning use REALLY RUDE LANGUAGE) and you're totally cool! Don't wanna go to Math? Hang with your other buddy who doesn't want to either in the counselor's room :D

Yeah, it kind of makes me "......they actually let them get away with that?" In fact, a lot about the Japanese educational system makes me do that XD Guess I was spoiled going to, you know, good schools. But really, even in America, kids do NOT go into the teachers' lounge. That's, like, hallowed ground. I feel weird even now going to visit old teachers and seeing them in there. Like I still am not supposed to enter.

One of the "bad girls"--read: girls who think they're really cool and tough and talk smack to all the teachers and principal--has taken a liking to me, though, and likes to "teach" me Japanese. It's usually bad Japanese, or dirty stuff, and the people around her stop her before it gets into my head, thank goodness.

My 2-day-a-week school is definitely the rougher school. I definitely prefer the other. The teachers are friendlier, the students better behaved, and I don't have to ride for a half hour in 100 degree weather, oi.

sniffles

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:18:41 GMT

I just got the sweetest gift from a student ;__;

I was sitting at my desk, and the student walks in--shouldn't write her name here, so we'll call her N-chan. N-chan is one of two students at my base school who I'm tutoring for the speech contest coming up (both are also going for a homestay in Michigan later this month and are, compared to students at the other school, VERY good at English). She's the sweetest thing, and quite outgoing, so to set students at ease when I'm with them I'll do my explanations entirely in Japanese, using English only to show them exactly how the pronunciation or intonation should sound.

So, N-chan walks in, and proceeds to haul her little bag she's carrying up onto my desk and empty its contents: two HUGE books. She bucks up her courage, and explains everything to me in English (not perfect English, but the best I've heard in Japan outside of my English teachers!).

One was a kanji dictionary. She apologized for it being so torn up (it wasn't >_>) and tells me it's the one she used when she was in elementary school (she's in 9th grade now--a 3rd year in middle school). She tells me she would be happy if I used it to help me. And THEN, as if that wasn't going to kill me already, she points to the other one, and tells me it's a Japanese-English dictionary, since the kanji dictionary is all in Japanese.

...I wanted to bawl ;___;

THEN she takes out this little letter, sealed with a Hello Kitty sticker of all things, and hands it to me, and asks me to read it later if I have time. sdlifhsdifushlfiusdhfsdfs

I can't bear it, I've gotta share this. I've left in all the English as she wrote it, too.

Dear Ms. コートニー <--I'm sorry. I don't know spell your name.

Thank you very much for a practice in pronunciation for me yesterday. You are good speaker of Japanese. That's why I spoke a lot in Japanese in spite of oneself. ...sorry!

I couldn't properly introduce myself then. So let me introduce myself again. My name is N. Y. I belong to class 2 of the ninth grade. I'm fourteen years old. My nickname is "Non". So, please call me "Non". My hobby is dancing ballet. English is my favorite subject, but I am not good at speaking English.

Finally, please lessons for me after this too. And I'm looking forward to your class.

Love,
N.Y.

[*attached was a small photo of herself and a friend with the note, "This is 'purikura'. It took last year..."]

...I think I need to sit down now...!!

There and Back Again, a Fangirl's Tale

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 13:53:32 GMT

It's Monday evening, September 3rd. I've got about 30 minutes left in this net cafe, and I intend to make the best of them!

As you may or may not know, I went to Kobe this weekend! So, here's how it all went down:

Friday evening, after work, I was feeling bored, and anxious about seeing Aru Hi the next day, so I called up Meg in Kinomoto, my new JET friend who just got into Myu and *pnish* stuff, to see if she wanted to watch some DVDs tonight.

She had to stay at home, but invited me up, so I made the 45 minute trip up north to see her, and we had great fun. Thing was, I had to leave around 9 PM to get back to Hikone in order to make sure my bike wasn't towed away, and as I was leaving I invited her to spend the night, since the package she'd been waiting for had arrived.

She agreed, and we went back to Hikone, and then stayed up til 3 watching more stuff XD

When we finally rolled out of our futons the next morning around 11, I checked the play blog, and realized there were still day-of tickets, and invited Meg to come to Kobe with me and see the show (which I would have otherwise been alone to see). She agreed, but had to head home to take a shower.

However, it was after she got back to Kinomoto that we realized we were going to be late if she didn't leave IMMEDIATELY. So we high-tailed it south, and after a LOT of drama, we managed to enter the Hyogo Performing Arts Theater ONE MINUTE AFTER THE SHOW STARTED.

Nagayan was already on stage giving his opening monologue, and as soon as the opening light sequence started playing, they ushered us inside. It was just as amazing the second time as it was in Tokyo, except this time I could understand more!

Meg enjoyed the show as well, and afterwards we were actually spotted by one of my good Japanese friends, Mitsuru-san, who had gone to the show, too. I finally got to meet her good friend and great artist, Asami, so it was a fun experience :D

We headed to the station, and then BACK to the theater to wait for Jamie, who was trying to make it to the theater from Kansai Airport to be in time for demachi. I actually thought there might not be one, since I had no idea where it would be, but after following the crowd of girls, we finally found the stage entrance and waited.

About 30 minutes later, all four guys came out at once--Tuti and Nagayan together at the head of the quartet, and Tsumura and Nakamura bringing up the rear. Jamie wound up coming about 5 minutes after that and was VERY miffed she missed seeing the guys.

Since it was too late for Meg to head back to Kinomoto, because the trains were going to stop running soon, she stayed with Jamie and me at this quaint little Japanese ryokan, and headed back up north the next morning.

Then Jamie and I left for the theater ourselves and got there quite early this time, buying gifts for everyone back home.

Senshuuraku (the word for the very last show) was AMAZING. I mean, I knew ahead of time this show was going to be good, but it seriously blew me away. Everyone was so on top of their game, and that was reflected in the THREE ENCORES the audience called everyone back for, including a STANDING OVATION.

Japanese plays don't usually get standing ovations, by the way :D THAT'S how great a play it was. We all waited outside in the heat, too, after the show, to see everyone leave the theater, and Jamie and I nearly died again seeing Nagayan and Tuti pass--it was especially nice when Tuti turned to the crowd and said, "You all better come back for *pnish*!" (since Secret Box is being performed there too at the end of the month)

We went and visited the Sannomiya shrine afterwards (and most certainly did not pray for good backstage footage, oh no, not at all) and had dinner at, none other than, Coco Ichi Curry, of course! What better way to end an awesome day than with awesome food?

I'm finally starting to have classes, but my time's about up, so I'll try and update tomorrow about school! See ya!!

The Life and Times of a JET without Internet...

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 01:58:21 GMT

Well, today is August 27th, 2007 in Hikone, Japan. It's a balmy 31 degrees right now (which go look nup the conversion yourselves, I'm too lazy to think in fahrenheit anymore!), but it's only 10:15 in the morning--by this afternoon it'll probably be over 35.

Today is my first day back at Chuuou, my base school, after spending three long weeks over at Hiko-chuu, which is a 30 minute bike ride away. In the hottest summer in Japanese history, this is not fun at all. So I'm VERY glad to be back at Chuuou, which is all of 1 minute from my front door :D

Tomorrow is the opening ceremony for the 2nd semester of the school. Japanese kids go to school year-round, so their school year is divided into three semesters, one from April to August, September to January, and January/Feb back to April, with breaks in between of varying lengths. Tomorrow I'll have to make a speech of some sort in front of the whole school, along the lines of, "Let's all work hard together everyone! Yay!" and generally just introduce myself.

Life in Japan has now kind of gotten into a nice pleasant rhythm that I hope won't be rocked too much as we segue into the actual JOB part of being a JET. Up until now, my work has consisted of helping kids practice for the upcoming English speech contest--this includes helping with pronunciation, intonation, stress placement, all that good stuff. Of course, none of the kids know what they're saying soooo it doesn't feel like I'm helping any, but that can't really be helped until I'm actually in a class.

Yesterday, I went to Inae, a little town about 10 minutes away from Hikone by train, and dropped by the home of two English teachers who run this cat foster care facility. My reason? To adopt two of the CUTEST cats I've ever seen.

I'm updating from school right now (because alas, STILL no net) so I can't upload pics of them yet, so descriptions will have to do. One is a dark brown tabby, maybe a year old, and very much still a kitten in her mind--she CRAVES attention. If I sit down to watch TV, within seconds she's in my lap wanting to be pet. If I walk from one room into another, she's right there beside me, waiting to be pet some more. She walked right up to me at the facility, and I knew I had to have her, and she's taken WONDERFULLY to the apartment.

I didn't want to leave a cat alone at home all day while I was at work, though, so the caretakers recommended I try two, so--being the TxN fangirl that I am, I of course followed in the footsteps of such great fandom beings as KY and Fuchiya-san and got a CALICO :DDDDDD Seriously, I can't properly ship this two and NOT have a calico, apparently.

The calico is, well...going to take a while to get used to the apartment XD She hid behind the curtain from last night until early this morning, hissing at anyone who came near, and then this morning she finally came out, and seemed fine around me, but it still hissing and clawing at the poor tabby. I'm worried about this, since the two were really close in the facility, so I thought they'd get along swimmingly, so I hope this is just nerves from the move. Other than that she's just as lovable and attention-wanting as the other :)

The two had/have names already--Miko for the tabby, and Birdie for the calico (because she chirps like a bird, it's so adorable), but you know me--if I have any possession it WILL be TxNish in some form or fashion, so I'm thinking since the two have such clashing coat colors (stripes and spots) it's almost as bad as tartan and flowers, and since the tabby gets along with anyone and is just the sweetest cutest thing, she's obviously the Nagayan of the pair, and thus Tartan, and the calico's the moody one who still wants attention, and is the Tuti of the pair, so Flower (Hana maybe?).

I think this fighting is just them working out their post-GradMyu anxieties :D

I absolutely can't WAIT for next weekend--Aru Hi TWICE in Kobe, YAY! Jamie comes in at 6 PM, which is right when I'll be settling in at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center to see Tuti and Nagayan strut their stuff on stage again, and we're HOPEFULLY going to meet up for demachi and kill Jamie with being able to touch Nagayan. Then we're spending the night at a cute little ryoukan near Sannomiya station where we'll get a good night's rest and be up and about for KANSAI LOVE MAGIC the next day 8D People--find out when Sunday at 1 PM in Japan is in your respective time zones and PRAY FOR KLM!!

Then, because I'm the luckiest person in the WORLD, I actually managed to get a fellow JET (she lives in Kinomoto, about 30 minutes north of me) into the Myu and *pnish* fandoms!! In ONE NIGHT. We watched some BuriMyu and TeniMyu, but she REALLY fell for the *pnish* guys--and this is a first! Because was she captivated by The Sexy One, Moriyama Eiji? Nope (well, not as much as most are XD). Was she drawn in by Tuti's body and moves? Surprisingly, no! Did Wasshi's silence render her speechless? HAH. No.

DAIKI. Daiki, Daiki, Daiki, our little hardworking leader-mode-succumbing-to PANISSHU NO RI-DA- SANO DAIKI...was the one to capture her heart. And Tatsuya with his smile and his "EIJI-SAN GAVE ME PEANUTS!" and his general ADORABLENESS. She fell hard and fast for Leader after seeing him in Treasure Box, and her first question after we finished watching it was: "...Can you get me Secret Box tickets? ;_;"

So...yes XD She's coming to Kobe with me to see the September 30th matinee XD Unfortunately, I've already got tickets to see it with Tenkuu-san, a fan I met on mixi who I went in together with for tickets, but that goes to show you how hard this girl's fallen for these guys! THE MORE THE MERRIER, I SAY!

Okay, bah, I need to work on my introduction lesson for my first class on Wednesday, so I'll catch you all later!! Bye!

The Best Day of my LIFE!

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:37:26 GMT

So yesterday was the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!

We got up early and headed out to Tokyo Big Site for Comiket 72...along with 300,000+ other Japanese fans. It was PACKED--but I stuck with Briana and managed not to get lost. She bought lots of comics for herself and friends, and I finally met the Japanese fan I'd been talking with for a long time online, Mitsuru.

She was SO nice and just kept shaking my hand and saying how glad she was to finally see us--and of course she loved that I was wearing Decossam and carrying the bag XD She told me she and Asami would both be going to the Hyougo shows, so we will probably meet up again in Kobe in two weeks--Jamie, be ready for some fangirling!

After a successful raiding of Mitsuru's and her friends' tables, Bri and I left for Ikebukuro again--I was to meet up with Becca and Laura (English chicks rock!) and Laura's mom in front of Gain in Shibuya. Since I was there, though, we popped upstairs to chat with the manager, Yamashita-tenchou, for a few, and I bought Jamie and myself one of the new Blossam tanktops.

We headed to the theater, Space Zero, in Shinjuku, and got there with plenty of time to spare. After about 30 minutes, they started letting people in and taking tickets, and we got to raid the lobby. They threw a huge packet of flyers at us for other shows (Secret Box and Switch's saien show were among them!), and I bought pamphlets and CDs for the people who'd asked me to. If you got to me late, I'll get them in Hyougo ^_~

The play itself was AMAZING--The premise was there were 4 actors playing 8 roles--each man played a detective in some scenes, and a kidnapper in others, so there was lots of cutting back and forth.

Tuti, Tsumura, and Nakamura were all detectives or kidnappers already, while Nagayan was the new recruit learning how things worked. It was really funny and light-hearted at first, but got so dark and sad at the end! I was really impressed with Nagayan's performance--he had his part down PAT. I can't WAIT to see it again.

After the play, we waited to see if the actors would come out for demachi, and they DID! Tuti avoided everyone as usually, but he did give me an, "Arigatou!" ("Thank you!") when I told him "Otsukare!" ("Good work!"). Nakamura and Tsumura were equally evasive.

But Nagayan. Ooohhh NAGAYAMA TAKASHI. YOU WONDERFUL MAN, YOU. You sweet, kind, caring, grateful, AMAZING MAN.

When he came out, he was all alone--his manager had long since gone ahead, and that meant there was no one hurrying him along. So he stopped at EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. And thanked them personally. There had to be at least 40 or 50 people waiting out there. And he probably spent a good hour and a half going through everyone, but he DID IT.

Back in May, when I first learned about this play, I was so excited and hell-bent on going. So hoping for an opportunity like this, I decided ahead of time what I wanted to say, but was so worried I'd forget how I wanted to phrase it, or completely fumble it.

"This was my first play-going, so I just want to thank you so much for making it such a great show."

But I didn't. I said exactly what I wanted to say to one of the people I most wanted to say it to. I didn't slip up, I felt confident in my pronunciation and grammar, and just...I felt really fulfilled. And that was only compounded by him turning it back on me and responding in Japanaese, as he shook my hand in a firm grip, "No no no, thank YOU--that's what *I* should be saying." He thanked everyone in our group over and over, throwing out as much English as he knew, regardless of whether it fit the situation or not. When Becca told him the performance was, "Kanpeki" ("Perfect") he responded with a smile, "MARVELOUS!"

He was just...so nice, and so caring of his fans. He was definitely the most popular guy in the show--the only one with his own personal fan club, AFAIK (that I did join :D), the guy most of the flower wreaths were there for, the guy with a whole table of goods dedicated JUST to him. He's THAT big a deal, and he took the time to talk to every single person, shake our hands, and forget about everyone else for some 60 odd seconds. He might not remember me beyond the moment he moved to the next group, but for that one moment I really got to connect with someone I never dreamed I'd be able to string together a coherent sentence around.

*tries to move on*

Okay XD So after we finally left the theater, the English ladies went back to their place, and Susa-chan and her two friends and I went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Shinjuku station (where she kept hearing someone saying "Tsuchiya-san" and "Nagayama-san" >_> But we never saw anything more). We parted ways eventually, and thus ended the best day of my life *_____*

I had a GREAT time, so thank you again to everyone who made it possible!! All my friends who hung out with me, Nagayan who'll never see this, and everyone who told me to go for what I want to do most! THANK YOU!