snapshots

my blob feels quite disjointed due to random outbursts and my not finishing my golden week travel log yet (you all are still waiting on the rest of australia and the hong kong surprise, in case you forgot!). no bigs that they happened over two months ago.

but now i'll try to recap a few of the stand-out moments of the past month or so. get ready, kiddos!

june 25: early 4th of july party in kobayashi. aka lots of homemade foodstuffs, print-out decorations featuring uncle sam, fireworks, almost losing our football in the nearby cornfield, singalongs, police showing up, and beer. i tried to hit the sack early, then got eaten alive by mosquitos. luckily, everyone had salves, balms, and creams, so i had a cocktail of healing powers slathered all over me by my dear drunken friends.

a bunch of non-americans celebrating america by wearing wifebeaters!

the next morning, we went for brek at a nice little coffee shop. i had cake and ice cream for breakfast. I'M A GROWN-UP!

sam kindly drove us back to miyakonojo. you can't see me behind his big fat english head. but our car was totes international! 5 countries reppin, say what!

june 28: went to dance with tracey again. our usual sensei wasn't there, instead the male teacher took over. i hadn't brought any sneakers (aka because none of my sneakers are "indoor sneakers"), so i had to borrow some from the studio. i hilariously ended up with a humongous men's pair, which flopped about and made my feet look gigantic.

more importantly: our friends matt and martine had their little baby, noah!! so excited! as a present, kibbuh and i had given a noah's ark mobile a month before...and we hadn't even known the bebe's name was gonna be noah! fortuitous much?

june 29: had to attend a CPR-ish practice in the gym with other teachers. each of us had to perform on the dummy, including me. when i had to practice bringing the AED machine, i didn't know how to say "i brought the AED machine," so instead i shouted in japanese, "THIS IS AN AED MACHINE," causing everyone to pee their pants laughing. haha!

essay excerpt: I want to visit America. But I have one question. It is if I visit to America, I get fat?? American are almost put on fat. I don't want get fat. What do you know to America?

june 30: found out who is replacing hansam mattsy. nice married couple from utah. got a little sad!

july 2: mattsy drives up, gets his long locks shorn. samson effect. jokes!

also, tracey and keith's birthday party! we went to some izakaya that's famous for their fried pork. i got some, and my goodness, it was tasty! we followed it with some baskin robbins "easter party," aka ice cream with candy chunkos and fudgey swirls. mmm!

july 3: matthew reveals a surprise he had brought up to nobeoka. behold....POAP CLOCK!

handcrafted, no less! so now jp2 is overlooking my kitchen, keeping the time and the faith! heyo!

then, as if my day couldn't get any better, my hello kitty ipod touch case arrived!

cuteo cuteo!

july 5: my kyoto (vice principal) and another teacher started shouting a little, then kyoto started stomping around. there was a centipede, and all the teachers were freaking out because mukade (centipedes) are poisonous. after killing it, kyoto wrapped the squished mukade into like 20 layers of newspaper and made a ball. then he walked around tossing it in the air and saying, "mukade bo-ru, mukade bo-ru," while everyone watched. then, seeing my squeamish face, he chirped, "riri, CATCHI!" and started to throw it at me. i screamed, "NOO!!" and everyone cracked up.

also taught in third year classes that i usally don't attend. students could ask me whatever they wanted, and the class clown bellowed at me, "why...skin...white?" i answered, "because my mother's skin is white," and everyone thought that was just priceless. but really? that's like me asking them, "hey, why are you japanese?"

july 6: tracey's birthday! we went to get haircuts at a different salon--a smaller, more intimate one. jokes on jokes, thought i'd end up with bangin' bangs, but instead ended up with a useless cowlicky chunk. disappointing!

july 7: was walking home from school, when i spotted this mini-hawk (according to wikipedia, probably a northern goshawk) chilling on a road mirror. he let me get really, really close, about a foot away. but then his yellow gaze proved way too intense for me, and i backed away!

PRETTY BIIIIIRD, PRETTY BIIIIRD

july 8: jessica alba sensei (the one who thinks i look like JA and always puts apple juice on my desk) was blabbin to another teacher about the vending machines not having apple juice anymore. then i was all, "ima, watashi wa painappuru ju-su kaimasu" (now, i buy pineapple juice). he started screaming in japanese, "I BOUGHT SOME 10 MINUTES AGO!!" then i said "onaji idea" (same idea), and he and another teacher cracked so hard the windows rattled.

party for all the departing JETs in miyazaki city. about 50 of us had a nice dinner in a restaurant, then went out dancing. in true lilly fashion, i became rather comatose circa 1am. i've never been nocturnal, and i think i never will be!

july 9: breakfast of champions at mcdonald's. drove back to saito with kibs and napped until it was time to return to nobeoka!

july 10: ran two miles. after an 8 month hiatus. it was really nice, besides the heat turning me into mrs. tomatohead

july 11: brought a hot glue gun to school to fix my supervisor's broken necklace. i had bought it at the 100yen store here, but everyone was amazed by it. after i plugged it in, 3 different teachers stopped to ask me about what it was! i'm glad my purchases are so impressive.

walked to the yuubin kyoku (post office) to mail some letters, and a taxi driver who always says hello offered to give me a free lift. i declined, then on my way back home, trotsky appeared and gave me a ride FO FRIZZLE. it also happened to be a beautiful day, so i snapped a wee pic:

pretty, ne?

july 12 essay excerpt: I have a dog. It is violent, is a small lion. I have a father. How old is he? I don't know. LoL. I have a grandfather. He always says "Into early bath!" I'm tired. I will have a wife. But she must be very cute. This is my family. Do you understand?
july 14-15: kurasu machi (class matches), aka sports days! i got to sit around in the heat and watch the kiddles battle it out in volleyball, soccer, and basketball. it was way fun, especially since i got to know some of the students a lot better, and practice lots of japanglish. a few choice pics:

not everyone can go to a school framed with such beautiful hills. then again, not everyone can go to a school where p.e. uniforms are made to be as dorky as possible.

cheering on their classmates!

boys tryna be fly in the gym; mission impossible

then and only then, on friday i had to hustle to the train station to ride on down to takanabe to see mattsy for our last full weekend together! we started things off right with a tasty meal at our favorite udon restaurant...weekend adventure deets to come! maybe next week? don't wait up!

oh yes, and for good measure--here's me at my desk, with my japanese bebe. surprise!

air conditioned,
riri