What the crappy day

Well I guess its about time one of those good ol' crappy days comes along. I guess you could say it started when I woke up this morning and saw that the Chargers lost. Its a damn good thing I didnt wake up at 2am to watch the game or Im sure Id be even more irked right now, seeing that its 7:30 and I just got home and am finally eating dinner.

So I get to work this morning and I sit down at my desk and try logging on to the internet. It wouldnt connect. So I left it alone for a little bit, even went to one of my classes, came back and it still wouldnt connect. Then the teacher sitting next to me says "The interent isnt working today, they are doing maintenence." Really people??? You have the fastest train in the world, and have train times so exact and down to the T, yet you havent figured out that shutting the flippen internet down for a day to do maintenence in the middle of a flippen work day is a little inconvenient?? Why couldnt the maintenence have been done after school hours, or on a Saturday, let alone on a Monday when school is in session. So I was stuck, without internet all day. Didnt get to talk to my parents on Gmail, didnt get to email Justin, couldnt get the number to PSD so I could try and get information about a Mac flight to Guam, couldnt print out important papers that needed to be faxed to Justin, nothing.

So I survived that, and got off work and headed to base. I had a list of things that needed to get done, for example exchange cash into yen, pay rent, pick up Justins uniforms, go to the library to print and fax Justin the paperwork (because I couldnt do it at school today), pay the Gas bill, go to the cell phone store... I mean the list just dragged on. I go to exchange the money so I could pay rent, exchange rate changed so I didnt have enough money to cover rent. Good thing its due in a few days otherwise I would have been screwed. But then that just tacked on another chore to my list, go to the ATM to take out more money, and now that just means Ill have to go back down there tomorrow when I get off of work to stop by Sanae's office to pay her. Whatever so Ill deal with that. Then I start on my looooong walk to the library, on the complete opposite side of base. Get everything done there. Then as Im walking off of base, I look down at my phone and what do ya know, 5 missed calls. 5!!!!! Justin had tried calling me 5 times and I didnt hear it because my stupid phone was in my pocket on silent. Ughhh!! What a great way to end a crappy day.

Hopefully tomorrow is better, Ill let you know.

Abundant Sunshine

So the other morning I checked the weather forecast on yahoo, like I do every morning before leaving the house because like I have said a thousand times before, just because its sunny one minute doesnt mean it will be sunny the next. Come to my surprise the forecast said Abundant Sunshine! I was sooo excited! That had to have been sometime at the beginning of the week, and now here it is Sunday here and it still hasnt rained! Woohoo! Almost a week with no rain! Its pretty exciting dontcha know.

Anyways nothing new with me. On November 2nd Sanae and I are going on a one day trip. Its a bus tour that will take us to (some of the websites are in Japanese so I feel your pain, just bare with me)
Tokyo bay Aqua Line
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Bay_Aqua-Line

Umihotaru Parking Lot
http://www.umihotaru.com/pa/introduction.asp

Kamogawa Sea World
http://www.kamogawa-seaworld.jp/english/index.html

Mother Farm
http://www.motherfarm.co.jp/en/

It sounds like a fun day... but... I might have to cancel on her. Justin pulls into Guam Oct 31- Nov 4. I guess he heard something about this guys wife got a free Mac flight from Japan to Guam to visit them while they are in port there. I looked at my school schedule for those few days and Oct 31 is a friday, and I dont have any classes that day, the students will be testing. Then its the weekend, and that Monday is a holiday. So I am going to see if I can find out more info about this Mac flight and who knows, I might be going to Guam for free! That would be sooo awesome!

Alright well its time to get back to my Sunday chores of cleaning the house. Oh and Sam, the reason why my husband has been looking like a tard wearing his regular shoes with his uniform is because he had an ingrown toenail. Haha sounds gross but its gotten him off of work for a few days! But thanks for lettin me know cuz I didnt know he was doing that haha! Now I can make fun of him lol!

Oh and Justin will be home in a month and 2 days! Can you believe it?? I cant believe these words are about to come out of my mouth but, time sure does fly!!

And just a side note, Justin said he hopes the man that opened my can for me never sees him with me because I am an embarassment. Hey I got my green beans didnt I???

And the pressures on

Sometimes it still hits me that Im in Japan. I dont think I have fully grasped the concept that I live here yet, because I have been sooo busy since the second I arrived. I mean the day after I arrived was spent apartment hunting, then training began and right out of training I started working, then Justin came home, and now its like Im already settled in to my way of life here that I never had a moment to stop and think holy crap Im living in Japan! I mean its not like I wake up everymorning and say to myself Woohoo Im in Japan!! I pretty much go about my business here as if I were in the states. I get up, go to work, come home, make dinner (which is new to me), clean (another new concept to me) and my weekends are spent doing laundry and grocery shopping (both new concepts to me). Every now and again, like for example the other night, it will occur to me that Im in Japan and at that moment, the thought seems larger than life. Like the other night, I was sitting out on my balcony enjoying a cup of hot chocolate, staring into the distance at the city lights of Yokohama and the thought hit me. Its an awesome feeling, and I cant really describe it, other than the fact that it puts a huge smile on my face. Today was another day that this realization set in, but this one wasnt in such a good way. In all of my classes, at the end of each lesson the students have a speaking check in which I ask them questions related to the topic we covered, and evaluate their answers based on how well they grapsed the concept, and are able to speak the target expressions we covered in the lesson. Today was a speaking check day for my Speaking and Listening class. Nothing hard, I just asked them to give me 5 simple sentences about the natural disaster that they had been researching. Everything was going fine until half way through one of my students speaking check, she completely burst into tears. I felt so bad and didnt know what to do or say. I gave her a few minutes to calm down and pull her self together, but what I really wanted to do was give her a big hug and assure her that everything was gong to be ok. Thats when it hit me how much pressure is put on these Japanse students in school. She kept saying to me "My english is bad, my english is bad." I felt horrible because here I am, grading her on her english speaking skills, and there is so much pressure on her that she cant even make it through 5 sentences without crying. She ended up finishing her speaking check, but it made me feel like a mean or intimidating teacher when she cant even talk to me without crying. As if that wasnt enough for me for the day, I had been asked to sit in on an interview of 3 students who are interviewing to study abroad in Australia. Out of the 3 students they were only going to send two. I had been asked to come up with a few questions to ask the students so we could determine the best candidates to go. Half way through the interview, 2 of the girls burst in to tears. Again I just wanted to run and hug them and tell them that everything was going to be ok, but I followed along as the other teachers were doing and just sat and stared at them. I should also mention that you could cut the tension in that room with a knife! Im glad I was on the side that I was on, and not one of the girls being interviewed otherwise I probably would have cried too! Anyways today was a complete reality check for me and just a reminder that I am in Japan.

Aside from that I just got a phone call from my company saying that she just spoke with the director from the board of education for my school, and the director spoke with my school and they said they just love me and are really pleased with me. She also said "I understand you work with a JET (david) and the director of the board of education said your school said he pretty much copies what you do." Haha Im glad they realize that cuz lately Ive been doing ALL the lesson planning while god knows what he does. Its alot of work but I dont mind it though. Keeps me busy and at least I get to do lessons my way. :D

Green beans and a can opener

Oh man do I have a funny story. Well I find it funny at least and hope that you all can share in my humor. So awhile back I bought a can opener. They didnt have any at the store on base so I bought it out in town thinking a can opener is a can opener right? Wrong. The first time I went to use the can opener was after Justin had left and I had no clue how the darn thing worked. I did however, know that it worked because Justin had opened a can of corn or something for dinner one night. This can opener is different than the one I was used to using at home. So Im screwing around with this can opener, and even have my mom on the phone at 4am her time trying to help me with this thing (I had called her for other reasons than the can opener but while we were on the phone the situation came up). Anyways so after becoming completely frustrated with the stupid thing, I gave up and decided to open the can with a knife (which Justin and my mom both yelled at me for). So the next time I talked to Justin I explained to him my situation and after minutes of laughing and making fun of me he decided to try and explain to me over the phone how to use it, but by then I was pissed that he made fun of me so didnt really feel like listening. I told him I didnt want to hear it, that I wasnt going to try, I wouldnt learn how to use it over the phone, he was just going to have to show me and I just wouldnt open a can until he got back.

So tonight Im making dinner, grilled chicken and rice, and decided I needed something else to go with it. A vegetable. Too bad all of my vegetables are in cans in the pantry. I grabbed a can of green beans and thought to myself ok Kristen, youre smarter than the can opener. Was I? No. I twisted and turned and tried it every which way and just couldnt get it to open the can! I was determined though, I wanted those green beans and was going to do anything to have them. So what did I do? I resorted to the hallway of my apartment complex, can opener, green beans and all. I figured someones got to be coming to or leaving their apartment right now and maybe if I "bump" into them they will help me. So I step foot into the hallway and what do I hear? Silence. Not a single person was in the complex. So I roamed my floor for a little bit thinking come on someones got to be coming or going soon. I hung out mostly by the elevator, watching for any sign that someone might be using it. I even went down to the first floor where all the mail boxes are hoping that someone might be down their checking the mail. Well after a good 15 minutes I returned home and decided to try the can opener again. No such luck with the thing, so I resorted back to the hallway. I kept my eyes glued on that elevator and before I knew it, it started to move. Someone was coming up! I hoped and prayed that the elevator was going to stop on the 2nd floor so that I didnt have to jump in the other elevator and chase the person with my can opener screaming open my can!!! Haha not that I would do that, but anyways, the elevator stopped on the second floor and I was in luck! A man stepped out. The second he did he saw me and I said "Sumimasen" (excuse me) and showed him my can. He put down his things and started talking to me in Japanese and I, having no idea what he was saying, showed him the can again. He took the can from me, and the opener, and began opening the can! Just like that! What do ya know, the one way that I didnt try to use can opener was the way that it worked! I was so thankful, but also so embarassed! I thanked him for opening my can and walked back to my apartment. He probably thought stupid American girl doesnt even know how to use a can opener. Haha oh well, hopefully I dont see him on my floor again, he will probably remember me as the idiot with the green beans. Ha!!

Just one of those days

Do you have ever one of those days where at the end of the day you wonder how you function? Today was one of those days for me. My day in itself was fine, I kept myself busy at work, lesson planning for next week and such. I decided that I was going to go see another movie on base tonight. Well actually Bonnie and Justin told me that I should go because I had nothing better to do, ha! I was indecisive because I googled reviews on the movie and they werent very good reviews (I should really stop doing that). Anyways so I got off work and I headed to base. I went through the normal procedure of getting on base, which Ive done a thousand times where I hand the MA my ID card and he scans it, only this time I didnt hand him my ID card, I handed him my Suica card (my train card). I was wondering why he was giving me such a funny look and after realizing what an idiot I was, I fished through my backpack for my ID. Then Im at the movie theater paying for my $3 movie, and I handed the guy a 20. He gives me my change and I began to walk away. I realized he had given me too much money (or so I thought). Thinking I was being a good citizen I turned around and gave him a dollar back and said "You gave me too much change." He seemed so surprised that someone would be so honest as to return a dollar and thanked me. As I walked away this time, I counted my money again and only had 16 dollars. Haha I scare myself sometimes and really wonder how I am able to make it in a foriegn country alone, but cant count change or even use the right card to get on base.

Aside from that, I have decided that Japanese people are only nice until they get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, or even a bicycle for that matter! When they are behind anything that moves its like they are out to get you! I swear they think they own the road, and they dont care if you are in the way or not. Its the worst when its raining. I think they see me and think "Oh poor little American girl walking in the pouring rain, how about we speed past her right as she is walking next to that huge puddle!" Okay so its really not that bad, but pedestrians definitely do not have the right away here, hardly even when its your turn to cross the street! Even then, cars that are waiting to make a turn while you are crossing the street, when its your to to cross for crying out loud will inch closer and closer to you, practically pushing you across the road and out of their way so they can complete their turn. Whats even better is I constantly have to remind myself where Im at, am I on base or am I out in town? I swear when it comes to driving they are 2 completely different worlds. On base, you can be approaching the end of a side walk and cars will begin to slow down and stop before you are even near stepping foot into the cross walk. They also have these cross walks that you push a button and they light up so cars know that you are crossing the road in the dark. In Yokosuka, you're lucky if you can cross the road if the little green man is telling you to.

I've also decided that the weather here changes faster than a pregnant womans mood swings. I feel like everytime I leave the house, I should prepare for every possible weather situation known to man. I should probably start packing a bathing suit, a light sweater, rainboots, an umbrella, a scarf, a heavy jacket and uggs just so Im prepared. I swear one minute its a beautiful day outside, with a cool breeze and the sun shining and the next minute its pouring down rain. Whenever Im talking to my Dad he often asks me if its raining out (because 99% of the time it is!), and if it just so happens not to be, my response is "Not right now but that doesnt mean it wont be in an hour." I shouldnt complain though, cuz I did have a dream the other night that I came back home to the states and was really depressed. I didnt get to say bye to my students, I went back to working at stupid Olive Garden, and I didnt have a car because we sold it and public transportation sucks compared to here in Japan. I hope Im not like that when its really time to leave!! Oh well, only time will tell! :)

One week down

One week ago today the GW left Yokosuka, Im one week down, but technically have a little more than 6 weeks to go. They pull back in on a friday, so as of friday I can say only 6 weeks left. Yay!

So today I experienced my first Japanese earthquake!! (Bonnie it was literally right after we said bye to each other on gmail.) It was a baby of all quakes. Im used to real So Cal earthquakes, this one didnt even compare. So Im sitting at my desk and I noticed that all of my Japanese English Teachers get really quite (not that it was noisy or anything but they all stopped typing and working) and I see them all look out the window. Im thinking great, what bug flew in here now that is going to send me flying out of the room the second it comes near me. Then they all look at each other and one says "earthquake." I sat really still for a moment and felt the slightest, smallest shift. It really just felt like I was dizzy if anything. The only thing I noticed was the clock on the wall shaking, and thats about it. I googled it to see where it occured and how big it was. It was a 4.6 magnitude in Tokyo. So now Ive been through a Japanese typhoon and earthquake!! Again, I had no one to share the excitement with seeing that Justin was out exploring Korea so I couldnt get a hold of him, and it was around 11 back in the states so my parents we aleady in bed. So I emailed (text messaged) my brother :)

Justin got off the boat today and did a little shopping and exploring in Korea. The shopping was for my birthday present(s) of course :D I am super excited to see what he got me!! I bet its good. He has good taste you know. Hes always nervous that Im not going to like what he buys me, but I end up loving it! Right now he is at some banquet dinner function thing on the boat. Had to get all dressed up in his dress blues and everything. All you can eat and all you can drink for free? Hey why not!

So this weekend is another 3 day weekend for me, which I am SUUUUPER excited about having monday off!!! 2 reasons and these are not listed by order of priority. Number 1. I get to watch the Chargers game on webcam!!! WOOHOOO! They play Sunday night around 5pm back home, which is Monday 9am here. Dad will set up the webcam and point it at the TV! We did this one other time and it worked perfectly! Needless to say, we are going to get our asses handed to us by the Patriots, but hey, should be a good game! Reason number 2. My BFFE Mrs. Bonnie Wallace's husband comes home from his 7 month deployment on Monday!!!! (sunday for you all). I am so super excited that I get to be around for her to text me on yahoo messenger and call me and share the excitement with me! It will be just like I am in the states and she can text me with the excitement! Speaking of excitement I know one 2 year who is super excited about his daddy coming home. The other day Bonnie asked AJ "Who's coming home in a few days?" and AJ said "Daddy! Wooohooo!!" Haha I love that kid, and he loves me too, even if I did break his leg. I will always be his "Dinen."

Anyways talking to Justin now so Im gonna get off of this. Ttyl!

Just some facts

Nothing really exciting has been going on with me, so rather than write a random paragraph about random stuff I thought I’d just post some facts instead.

Justin was able to call this morning, so my day started off good :P They pull in to their port tonight and as I quote from a News article “A U.S. aircraft carrier group arrived in South Korean waters on Monday for a visit likely to upset prickly North Korea, which has said it sees such events as military provocations that undermine nuclear disarmament talks” (www.reuters.com).

I saw the movie Nights in Rodanthe. Loved the book, hated the movie. I’m not sure if it was because I expected the movie to be exactly like the book, or if I had expectations of The Notebook, because both books are by the same author. Throughout the movie I found myself more focused on the changes made from the book than the actual movie itself. Thank god the movie was only $3.

Slowly but surely I am learning Japanese. I can count to ten, say good morning, nice to meet you, my name is Kristen, excuse me, Im sorry, lets eat, please, thank you and probably a few other words here and there. Its coming along :)

I recently realized my phone has an email address which you can email. Justin emails me when he knows Im not at home or work, and am not near a computer and surprisingly it works quite fast. The email address is kristenbruce0108@ezweb.ne.jp Try it sometime and we can chat!

Justin is getting off the boat tonight after the pull in. They are pulling in late so he said hes just going to get off and grab some dinner. Then the next few days they are in port he said hes gonna do some birthday shopping for me! It better be good!!

I made dinner last night for the first time by myself! I was so proud, but had no one to share the excitement with. It was the first time that neither Justin wasnt here to help me, nor did I have to call my mom at 4 in the morning with a cooking question. :P

Thats pretty much about it. Oh except, dont read Samanthas blog while eating. Just to warn you.