sick and tired

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.

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

making wasabi

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