Boo.

Well this is officially the start of the Holiday season.
In a month, it's Thanksgiving. In two, it's Christmas and New Year's.
What's difficult right now is that I'm not home. I'm here in Japan. Where they sell Halloween decorations, but yet no one actually knows when Halloween happens. And of course, Thanksgiving is not a holiday outside of the US. Christmas is celebrated but I don't think it's the same. There's no way.
Anyway, today I went to dinner at my favorite restaurant and got 500 yen off my dinner (woooo for Point Card!) and bought some milk and English Toast. I told one of the guys at Family Mart that 'Kyou wa Halloween in America.' LOL that's some major broken Japanese! And he asked if I was heading to a party.
Yep, in my sweats and wooly hat. Ya got me.
Went a bit psycho on the candy... ate a bag of Jelly Belly's and a couple of handfuls of Skittles all while watching Shaun of the Dead. I have these two decorations pictured here:

that I had going during the movie. The 'boo' candle is actually like a 10 inch long candle that I had to keep cutting with scissors to make it fit without causing a fire hazard. My mom would have freaked but everything was safe and the candles all burnt out on their own because they apparently just don't make candles like they used to (in the USA).
I miss being at home and passing out candy and having a neighborhood snack-fest. And worrying that my dog will get too close to the fire. And watching The Munsters -- I thought about that tonight. I am thankful my dad has such great taste in TV because I remember my mom telling me one time she thought The Addams Family  was better.... that show sucks!

A few shots of my parents trip.

Gomen nasai!
I'm REALLY sorry I haven't posted in quite some time. See, first my parents came and they went to bed at like, 6 pm every night. They also liked to hijack my laptop for their own personal uses. AND after they left I cried for 2 days and couldn't bring myself to look at pictures about our adventures.
But now they've been gone and I've almost made it through today without crying (but I still feel lonely), so here are some pictures:
The arrival

Mom was pretty good using the timer feature on her camera

One of my adult classes and my parents

Up in Mt. Hakkoda

In front of the Nebuta Museum (which they never went to!)

The Aomori Bay.

Me and my dad in front of a pole that commemorates something

There are literally hundreds more, but I don't want to spam my blog. I'll upload a few every day for the next few days!

and now my day is RUINED!

So I went fruit picking.
And it was really fun. It was great taking pictures and getting to try different kinds of fruit -- there was this one kind of fruit that I've never seen. The middle of it, you had to peel and then eat this grayish purple blob... it literally looked like one of those crab grass worm things. Anyway, it was horrific and possibly the worst fruit in the history of the world. The others were normal! Asian pears (TONS OF THEM. WHICH WAS FANTASTIC), normal pears, and AMERICAN grapes! Woooo!! We ate lunch there, and the mom is a great cook.
It was time to leave and I THOUGHT we were going straight home, but it turned into a 'sight-seeing' trip in the car. Which basically meant they drove me around the prefecture and said "oh this is this store in Hirosaki."
I was being so polite -- they'd ask if I was tired and 'no, not really!' But two and half hours later something was CLEARLY lost in the translation and after the fourth time of being asked - YES. YES I AM TIRED! I got home at 5 pm and threw open my front door screaming that I HAD SO MUCH TO DO TODAY AND I WASTED IT ON SOME STUPID FRUIT!!!!!!!! Then screamed some very angry sounds and went shopping. It's okay though. Looking back, I probably just should have said I needed to get home earlier. Oh well, learned for the next time!! There won't be a next time.
Whew. Well, enjoy some pictures pre-meltdown:
Mountains are juuuust starting to turn!

Mt. Iwaki... the Mt. Fuji of the north.

I have like, 5 pictures of just her taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

Fruit picking!

I'm going fruit picking tomorrow morning! Assuming it's going to be apples - that's what Aomori is famous for. So one of my students and her 5 year old daughter (one of my students too!) invited me and the mom called me earlier tonight to ask if I ate rice balls... which I do, as long as it has tuna. She said her daughter 'requested sandwiches.' HAHAH!! I love me some samma'chiz!
That just reminded me to charge my batteries for my camera... now I gotta get out of bed and  no scratch that. I'll just bring a pair of non-rechargeable ones in case these die. So obviously, pictures will hopefully be up tomorrow!!
Please pray for my grandma.... she's in the hospital, not doing so good :( Wish I could be back home.

HARRO?!

Ah, I remember thinking 'I have to write about this when I get home tonight.' earlier today.
At this point, I am very used to people staring at me. Occasionally they try to say 'hi,' which I usually tolerate. Such was the case today: but I can't lie - I never looked at the guy. I was going down the escalator to get on my second train and he was coming up into the station. And I heard him yell "GAIJIN!"(it's means foreigner) and then he yelled "Hello!!"
And I didn't move.
So then he SCREAMED "HELLO??!!!!"
I didn't even flinch.
I heard him mutter something in Japanese and I just rolled my eyes. First of all, I was trying to nap on the inbound train, and that's not easy.... anytime you start falling (literally, we've all  been there), the train lurches or blows the horn and you're violently made aware of your situation. So I was exhausted. And secondly, I'm tried of being noticed. SO TIRED OF IT. Most people are not as bold as this guy, but that's the kind of crap I don't want - ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF A VERY CROWDED TRAIN STATION. As shocking as it may seem to these people, I am not an animal and I do not belong in a zoo. Please don't act as if you've seen a wild lion walking through Hirosaki station.
It's embarrassing (maybe more so for him) since I didn't even give him a glance. In my mind I was loudly shouting that I was French since I wouldn't pass for Spanish - it just draws even more unwanted attention. I can't wait to go home and NOT have people look at me. Seriously, if you even think of telling me I look great/hideous, I will smack you in the face.
A simple, 'I missed you!!' will suffice.

Short update!

No exciting news today - except telling my students my parents would be sitting in their classes in 2 weeks!! The junior high kids seemed ... well, I'm not sure how to describe their emotions. It certainly got them all chattering to each other. That's Halloween week (the school's celebration) anyway, so we'll be doing some crafts instead of actually studying from the text.
And the adult class seemed really excited. One of my students was asking why people were losing their houses and if it had to do with the loans they took out. Couldn't even try that - so when my dad comes, he can have a LONG discussion because he's an expert! Yay Dad!! You won't just be sitting there, smiling while Mom won't stop talking!!!
Also tonight I'm starting to sleep with goofy things for my parents to take back home and let Lexi sniff and play with them. Like a bandana and a baby shoe... maybe I'll find some socks for tomorrow. So pathetic but today she was really trying to look for me on the computer!! It made me so happy!!!! I miss her so much :(
Weather was great today. Tomorrow looks nice too. But then rain and rain. See you tomorrow (I think!)

 Wish I was back home with my best friend!!!

SNOW?!

My parents got their itinerary for their trip and so, it's ALMOST official. It'll be official official when I see them. I'm getting a little excited. I've been making a list of things I need to buy before they come (which stinks, because it's been cold, and it's a long trip on my bike to buy these important things) and what we could do when they get here. Personally, I think just sitting in my apartment sounds like a fabulous option, but they might be pretty disappointed if that happened.
Remember in my last post that I wrote about maybe seeing the snow on the mountains if I woke up early enough??

THERE IT IS. Look past the hundreds of wires and THE SNOW HAS LANDED!!! Waow, I love snow. I hope it snows soon!! But maybe hold off until my parents get here and bring me my winter coat.
This will definitely be the longest week of my life. Boo to that :P

I caved, the heater is ON!

Yesterday was SO productive that I felt today should be lazy.
And so, it was. Unless you count me filling up the kerosene and starting the heater - which always gives me a splitting headache. That's the only time when I keep my windows open anymore. Actually, on the Japanese weather channel it showed that it was going to snow in the mountains today/tonight. Maybe if tomorrow is clear enough first thing in the morning and it STUCK, I could see it!!
The past few days have been too cold to go out to shop or eat. So I've been eating in - it's a record 2 days in a row!! That's why I've asked my mom to bring 100 Easy Mac packets when she comes. Seriously, you think 45 degrees isn't bad. But when you factor in rain and a BIKE, it's a big Debbie downer. I envy you people with cars.
Oh, okay so I know all of the school's are back in session now. Remember backpack shopping for your kids, and how you occasionally complained when they wanted a 60 dollar backpack because it was 'cool?' (I know I do!) This is a standard backpack in Japan, and this is the cheapest I've seen... so I took a picture!

It costs $258.10. EDUCATION IS A SERIOUS BIZNUSS HERE!!!

my 7th graders!

Sorry it's been a while.
But there's really just nothing new. All I do is work and then go home and play games on my new PS3. I tend to lose track of time and then glance at my blinding blue clock in the living room and yell when it reads 3:10 AM. 
It has gotten cold, fast. Right now the temp is at 46 and it's been raining for a few days. Today was super windy too. I haven't used the kerosene yet but I really may have to this weekend. Cold rain is the worst. I'd really prefer snow at this point.
MY PARENTS ARE APPARENTLY COMING IN UNDER 2 WEEKS?!!? (Not a good sign that even THEY don't know what day they'll arrive... aaand I'm not sure how they'll call me but we'll figure something out)
So tonight my apartment was in serious need of cleaning. And that's what I did: vacuumed, did some laundry, cleaned the dishes, the sinks, the mirror, the toilet, cleaned out the 'garbage disposal' (a disgusting and smelly task), took out the garbage and now all I have to do is change my sheets and pump! Up the bed -- HAA!! If you read that to the tune of the 80's song, you're the greatest.

JHS KIDS: