Welcome Party!!!!

Oh Japan and its parties. I'm sorry I didn't update about the par-tay sooner, I've just been lazy :/

HERE WE GO! This is my welcome party! My camera DIED, so all of these pictures were taken with my iphone...
Me and my buddy Yutaka:

ME AND ASUKA!!!!!!

I love this. Ayako with her face in her drink, Shigeru and Edo :)

HAHAHHA. This is the best! Nobu couldn't come to my party - he was taking an English test in Tokyo so I promised him I'd take a picture holding this sign. And Asuka is making her 'squishy American face' which is priceless!

Bunches of people in this... eating lots of food.

Tatsuya has a headache?

Aww Yutaka's way in the back, then Yoshio, Nozomi and ... I don't know.

Yutaka, Tatsuya and Yoshihito. We made a pit stop at this little hole in the wall bar, where such a cute old man works. He tried to talk to me in English.

Putting our names in for KARAOKE.

Edo and Nozomi look very happy while waiting.

Edo with the special drink list.

SHIN CHAN HELPS US SING AT KARAOKE!!!!!!!

So that's a taste of how the Japanese party. It was really fun and karaoke is a BLAST! Each group gets its own private room and it has cool lighting plus an air conditioner because it gets REALLY hot when you're belting out Japanese/English tunes. Funny part of the night: being kind of tall there, I totally didn't see a tiny bench in front of me while I was walking to karaoke and walked smack into it. Now I have a really cool softball-sized bruise on my left shin! Ah, I look so tough.

Watashi wa yoppara...ta?

Japan really knows how to party it up! More on this development later.....

Hirosaki trip (the un-seen photos!)

By request from my mom, some more pictures of the castle... haha.

 Very pretty, around the entrance to the park.

The castle and the cherry blossoms.

Oh boy. Me (not a friend... just a random guy) and the flowers.

 Close up of the castle. COOOOOL!!

 Here you go Mom, a face to the name... it's Miwa!!! :)

Along the lake, on a row boat ride!

That's not us, but it was a very pretty ride (with great mountains!)

Ugh, I look awful. Notice the wind? IT NEVER STOPS HERE.

Hungry?! Ew, no.

Aren't I cute? Not for eating, for a pet. I WANT IT!

Traditional Japanese restaurant in Hirosaki city. You can't wear shoes! So always wear socks when you're in Japan.

Traveling first class (literally, it was the first class cabin. That seat folded out into a BED!)

So there you go people! Next update will probably be in 2 days because a party in Japan lasts until the sun comes up... they REALLY know how to party. And there will be loads of pictures uploaded then! :)

Wow I HATE when sad songs come on my iTunes!

There is a happy little neighborhood store called Family Mart that's about 2 minutes from my work building. Once I was recognized by the head guy who runs the store the second time I walked in (and he told me he knows some English, which practically made me cry tears of joy), I decided to go to Family Mart every work day. Now all of the staff know who I am and they are so sweet and nice whenever I come in. I love the girls who work there... one of them told me I had beautiful eyes. Money is tight until June 10th, and now I have to start thinking of a budget, which may knock Family Mart off the map. I mean, they have pretty good broken English skills, but it may be impossible for me to explain that seeing them brightens my day and that I'm not buying anything, I just wanted to walk in and smile for a few minutes.
I ended up wasting 120 yen on a hash-brown looking thing (I thought it would be BEEF) and it turned into fried curry. Le sigh. One day this will be funny... it will all be funny one day. Weird, if I were back at home right now, I'd be unemployed since the school year is over. That's certainly not funny. 11 months seems like a long time to see my mom and dad. And dog.
But I have to put in one positive thing - ever heard of that video game, Pokemon? Yeah, that stupid thing first got me interested in Japan over 10 years ago and tonight the TV show was on... and I watched it and wondered what that little 12 year old girl would think of herself now? She'd smack her older self and say "be HAPPY you're away from your parents! go drink some diet pop... and OH MY GOSH - GO BUY POKEMON CARDS."
Mmkay, those cards won't ever happen but I think the happiness might.  :)

Booorrrring.

There is absolutely nothing new to report guys... I'm sorry. Actually, there's probably lots I could write on, but to me it's not new/interesting. Let me rack my brain for a moment. Well, I managed to find a Japanese soccer game in advance and taped it! It's hard when you push 'guide' to see what's on TV and all you see are psychotic symbols everywhere. So that was somewhat of a victory. And American baseball is on every morning! They typically only show American League teams (or teams that have Japanese players) so I have never seen the Reds. Still, it's nice to watch our teams in English.
I miss English TV. So I watch it every chance I get -- which means like yesterday, I watched an episode of the PowerPuff Girls JUST because it's in English. Oh, dear.
Okay, one more piece of news. My head boss came to visit last week and today and she said I'm a really good teacher TWICE. She didn't even say it to me today, but told someone in the office. So at least I feel somewhat confident that what I'm doing is on the right track! Yay Melissa, you're so awesome :P

a DIY kind of girl!

It's really tough trying to survive on your own.... actually, the only thing that's been super tough on me is the assembly of furniture. You know, before I left, my dad did everything for me. Or my mom, but she isn't a do-it-yourself type of person. Since coming here, I've assembled 2 dressers all by myself. I finished the first (littler one) about a week ago and yesterday I decided to tackle the big one. It doesn't help that the directions are all in Japanese and that I'm a wimpy looking girl. Let's do this.
Lots of yelling came with this one. A lot of banging (the frame just would NOT stay up, and I often thought during this time that I desperately needed someone else's help). I actually punched the wall in sheer anger at one point... but it didn't break and I didn't break my hand. Anger management? Eh probably won't find it here!
But once I took a small break, calmly looked at it and tried again, it worked. Haaa that figures! And after a long and grueling day, it was finished.

Why, hello GIANT pain in my back/arms/legs. See the upper right drawer? It doesn't close fully! I really don't CARE, but I think it's possibly because the two drawers need to be switched... like it's on the wrong side. But I also don't want to waste more energy to find out I was WRONG. At least the little one is put together perfectly... and this drawer just barely sticks out - so I'm satisfied.
Just another tough day of roughin' it in adult country.

Please don't send noodles down a water slide in the theater!

It is SUPER late, so I have to keep this short.
Tonight I went to a Japanese movie theater and saw Pirates of the Caribbean 4.
Okay, first - IT WAS IN ENGLISH. It had subtitles, which was kind of annoying and occasionally I found myself glancing at things I couldn't read, but they didn't really get in the way.
Second - I was the only American in the theater and omg people, apparently the Japanese don't laugh at movies. Or they didn't understand ANY of the jokes. THAT actually really bothered me because guess what? I laughed and I was alone in it. WHATEVER.
Third - movies aren't GA in Japan... you get assigned seats which is outrageous and so stupid. My friend reserved ours ahead of time, so we were lucky and got to sit dead center to the screen. But still, part of the joy of movie-going is waiting for an HOUR in a sold out setting. I dunno, at least during midnight screenings of Star Wars and Harry Potter, it's highly entertaining.
Fourth - All the previews were American movies and all were in English with the exception of Cars 2, which is apparently dubbed. PEOPLE, THEY SHOWED THE FINAL HARRY POTTER TRAILER!!
Fifth - okay, how to behave in a Japanese theater as explained in a happy cartoon complete with LOUD buzzer signaling "NO" before the start of the movie:
- Using a cell phone
- Eating too loudly
- Video taping the movie
- Don't DOWNLOAD the movie at home
- Talking to other people
- Cuddling and other romantic activities (this was classic)
- Sending ramen down a chute of water... seriously, they showed this! I WAS DYING.
 And lastly - Japan keeps their rooms on a stifling hot setting. These people must be cold 24/7 no matter what temperature it is outside. It was without doubt, the most uncomfortable movie I've ever sat through. But, still fun :)

An Almost Japanese McDonalds!

Well Japanese McDonalds was a massive let-down! It's basically the EXACT same thing as America's McDonalds. I mean, even the BAGS are the same! However, this McD's was located in a home improvement store and the sign for it is obviously different than America's:

Because my parents are nuts, I took pictures of what they asked for. Okay, the inside of a burger:

And of course, "take a picture of it after you bite into it" (because you know, it may still be MOOING or something - who knows what they're thinking!):

Happy Meal choices - CORN. EW! WHO WOULD WANT CORN?! I'll take my American apple dippers, thank you!:

People, brace yourselves for the MEGA MAC:

This is so disgusting and yet everyone loves this sandwich over here. Actually, my friend was going to order it for me but you know, I want to LIVE. This is the greatest difference about McDonalds here vs. the USA: there are so many overweight people in the USA that McDonalds is forced to dish out healthy options/meals. But here, you're hard pressed to find a single "fat" person and apparently McDonalds wants to change that!!

A shrimp burger... I'm gonna go throw up:

My teriyaki (non-LETHAL) burger:

Hahahaha awww look at Ronald living it up! The happy meal milk is very Japanese (with an English crossword?!!?) but not so much for my grape Fanta in a very American looking cup:

And of course they have American bags. Really, McDonalds isn't that Japanese. I'm a bit disappointed!!:

Whatever! I HAD FUN and it tastes exactly the same. Except for the teriyaki burger, which doesn't exist back home. Sad face for you guys!!

Nice weather for once!

Hm, nothing new to report today. Shockingly, the weather has been beautiful and warm. It's been sunny for 3 solid days and in the 70's! It's nice when it's like this... every night on my walk home from work, there's a guy out singing and playing guitar. I don't think he's homeless. But I don't even bother to look because no one acknowledges each other on the street anyway. Just blatantly ignoring people makes it easier for me or else they tend to fake me out if they stare at me a bit too long and then I nod, or say 'konnichi wa' and look like a FOOL when they just keep walking by. But the niceness of the weather comes to an end tomorrow. Which figures!

Oh! So TOMORROW get ready for a killer post with pics - I'M GOING TO MCDONALDS.
JAPANESE MCDONALDS.
And I'm being forced to eat a teriyaki big mac.
But I'm buying a happy meal too... cause I want the toy :)

Didn't expect this!

Fun fact: Japan apparently doesn't censor English cuss words. They were showing clips of the NFL on one of the sports channels (whoa! THAT was a pleasant surprise!!) and as much as I love rap music, hearing the 'F' bomb over and over in songs was absolutely hilarious... but a bit strange. Pretty sure America censors cuss words in other languages -- with exception to the movie channels. Anything goes on those things. Always entertaining here in Japan!! XD

Some differences between America and Japan.

Here's some things I've noticed in my nearly first month here in Japan:

-People DRIVE on the sidewalk. Especially taxis... if they're waiting for someone to call for a cab, they just park on the sidewalk. It's super annoying, trying to dodge cars.
-Fiber doesn't exist here. No Fiber One bars... or anything. Not even wheat bread. Never thought I'd miss fiber as much as I do (wow, do I sound 50 or WHAT?!)
-Streets and sidewalks are spotless. I rarely see trash and have yet to see even 1 yen on the ground.
-I adore my children students. Even the JHS groups who tend to be a bit more rowdy. They're just so funny and love to play games and get candy for rewards :) Kind of like my old students back home... and I miss those JHS kids like WHOA.
-On occasion, I burst into laughter. Especially in a store when I see terrible English that makes absolutely no sense. For example, THIS:

-They're a bit too into EXTREME health. I'm watching a commercial right now for "Placenta 100" pills. Barf. And of course there's JESUS BODY! diet pills:

-People tend to bike way too close to walking people. I accidentally hit one person a week ago with my umbrella because they were behind me and literally zoomed past, 6 inches from me. Personally, I enjoyed accidentally smacking them... serves them right, they are just ASKING for it!
-Everything is just SO CUTE. I can't walk into a store without "Awwwwww"-ing outloud, even if I'm ALONE. It's dangerous because at this time, I need to be saving money - not blowing it all on cute little stuffed animals and keychains and general things I'LL NEVER NEED IN LIFE.

Those are my big observations for Japan vs. America right now. I'll be adding more for sure in the near future! ;)

Picture post!

Hello internet on my computer! My, how I have missed you!! Now I'll be posting DAILY, so check back often! Okay! Let's jump right to it:

This is Melissa in front of the most famous cherry blossom castle in Japan... Hirosaki. Doesn't she look GORGEOUS (sarcasm).

Please take a moment and bow your heads in respect for the literally thousands of baby octopus who gave their lives for this picture.

Got mud all over my jeans bending down to take this picture.

Many different kinds of cherry blossoms.

This tree is older than the United States! Know your roots.

My favorite blossom picture.

Near the entrance to Hirosaki Park.

I PROMISED the 6th graders I'd post a picture of Japan's high-tech toilets!! XD

Awww! Engrish at its finest!!

The view from my apartment. Power lines are ALL OVER and it's kind of scary. But the mountains are utsukushii (beautiful)!

So there you have it! My first picture post!! It's rarely sunny for the record, it's typically chilly and always windy. I miss warm weather (like you people back home have been having). I also miss having a CAR. But at least I'll have toned legs!

I LIVE!!!!!

I cannot apologize enough. When I came to Japan I really thought it would have the most advanced internet system on planet earth - but no. They fail so badly that having to wait for Time Warner to call you back in a half hour (because everyone loves to complain) seems like heaven. I still don't have internet on my computer but I got a killer iPhone today that thankfully keeps me connected to the outside world - of which lately I've had no knowledge of. I'm pretty sure I was the last American to find out about Bin Laden. That's how bad I've missed the Internet.

Anyway, Japan is pretty neat, I guess. I survived my first earthquake!! Not really scary - it lasted 15 seconds and i was laying in bed watching tv when I started rocking side to side. First I thought it was a big truck driving by - but no sound came from outside. Then I thought it was a fat person going up the stairs but I didn't hear thundering footsteps. I figured out what it was and thought it was way more cool than scary. I knock on wood religiously anytime I think of an earthquake... just did it! The people below must hate my constant knocks on the floor.

When I get full Internet on my computer I will post pictures and videos. If you want to make my celebrity wall of card fame let me know and I can email you my address. The people I invite over really like to see cards I get from people and I like to look at them when I feel gloomy :)

PS: my iPhone is WHITE!!!!