So I got my tickets to the YG family show in Osaka and am super
excited!!! I'm going to pay the bit extra and fly there instead of
taking the ferry due to my motion sickness issues. This ticket and my
trip to Korea in December are all that are motivating me at the moment.
My English club is currently involved with creating a play for a large
and important event, and its slowly killing me. It looks TERRIBLE. No
amount of English learning will undo the horror that is this play. My
co-workers and I have created elaborate backdrops(this took months to
make), at least 20 hand made props, and hours of script writing and
dancing training. When finally it came time to put it all together, the
students could say their lines perfectly, but changes to the script were
frequent and have ruined any chance of it being good. Too many people
that should have no say are being allowed to run the show and the blame
inevitably will land on my friends and I, and the people who worked
hardest to make this the best it can be. The students are also ruining
it by looking bored and joking around. They seem to think messing around
and not doing what they should in front of the head(mayor) of the city I
work for is tons of fun.......The worst part is there is nothing we can
do anymore. The students have been reprimanded, praised, warned, and
threatened to no avail. They have gone to that magical place where
Japanese students go when asked a question they have no answer for. They
just stare blankly back at me and the worst part is, it is them, who
will look ridiculous on stage, and it is my friends and I who will take
the blame at the end of all this. But worst of all, it is the head of
juku who will be crucified for the budget, student failures, and overall
horror that the students have made. All the blame will be where it
shouldn't and could possibly end the best thing going for my city: Juku.
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| cat of doom |
But enough of my ranting onto bigger and better
things. I have felt like crap for about two weeks now(possibly stress
from the play) but I have been having some fun. Like going to ji-chan's
house for some catching up and ridiculous stories. Got to drink fanta
out of bamboo cups and enjoy awesome company and food. I made the
fabulous choice to head out for some drinking after the event. Lola
tried to steal my shoes, but I talked her and Muqing out of walking from
Nango back to Nichinan at night. I dropped them off for a great night.
Squeezed my ass into a friend's tiny car and headed to karaoke for two
hours. Nomihodai for the win and some epic singing. First time seeing
heavy metal sung at Karaoke and ate tons of french fries. After two
hours of singing with a slightly sore throat, I headed home at 2:30am
and finally went to bed at 3:30.....Woke up at 6am got ready for a trip
to mt. aso. One of Lola's English students took on a fabulous high speed
drive on the highway that got us to mt. aso in 3 hours(let it be known
it took me 6 hours on backroads to do the same thing). I got seriously
car sick. I should have known, but I felt terrible for inconviencing
this poor guy. He even pulled over so I could barf on the side of the
road.(also let it be known I bought him a $30 bottle of sho-chu as an
apology) good times, I think I scared him a bit. First stop was the
cuddly dominion, basically a glorified petting zoo. Saw tons of animals
that are wild in America but are novelty to people in Japan. Such as the
giant guinea pig petting area and cat and dog areas. At least I got to
play with animals. Next was mt. aso and an amazing soba restaurant.
Everything was soba, ice cream, teas, noodles, even salads. I have never
enjoyed ice as much as that place, who would have guessed soba ice
cream could be so damn delicious. We then drove through the expensive
onsen district where people pay upwards of $200 to bathe in black salt,
and mineral waters. We went to an onsen for $8 and enjoyed the lovely
rotten egg smell all onsens have. I even dared to go into the freezing
pond that literally gave me pins and needles it was so cold. Finally we
drove back and stopped in Miyakonojo for kaiten sushi and ate tons of
sushi. I like these places because you can pay per plate and there's
nothing better than seeing a giant stack of plates that only cost you
$5. Finally head back to nichinan where I got the best sleep of my life.
The next day(sunday) was spent on a dress rehearsal for the play from
hell. All of my superiors were there and could witness the horror for
themselves, and thus began the debate of too many cooks in the kitchen.
Too many ideas and authorities clashed. In the end I have no say and
will still be at fault at the end.
Final not: Aoshima camp is this
weekend and I plan to de-stress and work with children. I will also
help make curry and nan. Come on Korea time!!!! I need clubbing, eating,
and shopping stat. At least I'll have lots of money for the trip
because I'm too busy and stressed to spend money right now
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| making wasabi |
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