massive update... sorry everyone!

Time for an update isn't it?!
My business classes were pretty great. Wednesday's classes were super fun and the advanced group has some extremely well spoken individuals. Plus, a few of the guys love soccer - like me! Thursday was okay, I won't be teaching that class, and all of the men were busy, so it ended up being a private lesson with me and some pretty important guy in the company. And Friday was painful for the first hour, but it got a bit better and I even made the students laugh when we looked at a role playing exersize about how to re-act over birthday presents. Going around Japan this past week... it's indescribably beautiful. On one side of the train, I look out over a small (REALLY) small town and on the other is such a dense forest. It's really like something out of a movie.
Funny, on Wednesday, I was so terrified. And I was sitting on my train, trying not to get motion sick, when Hirosaki's stop came up... and out of the window was a massive rainbow. Just, possibly the biggest one I've ever seen. And I know WHY they appear, but I like to think it was a message from The Big Man telling me it's going to be alright. THANKS.
Our new teacher is here and he's great. He has nothing, just like me. So Friday night I took him out to dinner and today we (plus our schools secretaries) went shopping at the home improvement store... I BOUGHT A REALLY SWEET CHAIR!! It's like one of those 'on the ground' chairs for playing video games - but it also completely fits in with the Japanese lifestyle so now maybe my neck won't hurt after staring at my computer for so long. It's coming tomorrow.
I ALSO BOUGHT AN AIR PUMP FOR MY BIKE! HOORAY!! THIS SPONGE IS STILL MOBILE!!!!
PS- I also also watched the 9/11 coverage. I said I wasn't, because I watched it all like, 2 years ago and bawled my eyes out. But I felt like I had to because I'm not home this year. It was beautiful and I cried again. A LOT. I even wore black today in the memory... wishin' I was home :/

So busy!!

Sorry people - I've been a bit busy. Tomorrow I will hopefully have some time to sit down and write all about my business classes and our new teacher!! Things are going good, so I've got that goin' for me. 9/11 isn't a big deal here, but you better believe I will be remembering on my Sunday night. Still a bit miffed at my mom who decided to leave me in school that day (JEEZE MOM!) Nah, I'm kidding. Or am I? ;)

Good dreams too!

Keeping up with my dream posts.... for every sad, WEIRD dream, I have some great and funny ones too.
Last night starred some of the teachers I used to work with back at CPS. And I remember lots of us were carpooling to get a feel of the area because they built a new road (?) but there were lots of NEW teachers, because this year = change for the school (in real life too). And I was in the backseat of some van with this mystery CUTE guy, and one of the other teachers in ANOTHER van was giving me grief through the window. Then we stopped for hamburgers at some shack and .... stuff got kind of blurry/weird but I woke up with a laugh.
But then if I think about it and the people too much I get really sad. MOVIN' ON TO PREVENT THE TEARS!
Tomorrow is my first day at my SHORTER business. I'm a little excited because I get to travel! On 2 trains!! I hope I don't get lost, and I hope I don't cry. Let's just hope it goes well.... which I know it will - it CAN'T be worse than that 3 hour business class. No way. I am exhausted though... can't wait until the 11th -- my first day off! YAAAAY.
PS - I can read クリアランス (Clearance). Found that out watching Shin Chan (A CARTOON! MOM AND DAD!!!) See, cartoons are helping me learn!! And that's a BIG Japanese word! Not like, something stupid like 'blue.' Ready to be a bargain hunter!!!! :)

Weird nightmares

I have this haunting reoccurring dream. Every time in the dream, I've flown back to home to visit my family, but I've flown home on a weekend and only have literally a day at the most to see them - but I never realize this in the dream until THEY tell me. Last night's dream was the same, only I had to book the ticket and get on the flight to return to Japan in 12 hours. If I missed the flight then I wouldn't be back in time and I would miss work and I would risk getting fired.
What really bothers me is that EVERY TIME IN THESE DREAMS I'm wanting to see my parents, but I get so caught up in wanting Taco Bell that I literally give up interacting with them (in my dream) to eat Taco Bell, that once I take a bite out of it, I find that it has NO TASTE and I get a bit miffed, like WHY DID I EVEN COME HOME?!
Honestly, I want this to go away because it's annoying, strange and a little sad. No joke - I've had this exact same dream at least 4 different times. Only the amount of time I have to stay at home changes, and the price tag of the flight ticket.
I would also just like to go home right now.

Found something tasty!

Every summer in Japan, Pepsi comes out with a new flavor. A few years ago they had cucumber - I heard it was pretty good. This year, here's the winner:

It's REALLY hard to describe the flavor. I mean, honestly, I've tried a lot of things in my years, but this is weird. It kind of tastes like bubble gum? Maybe kind of like a bubble gum mixed with rum? Or does it taste like vanilla.... peachy? People, I hate to say it but you're just gonna have to try it yourselves -- oh wait. You can't . Sorry about that. Just another reason to get your butt to Japan to visit Melissa!!! :D
My mom and dad get to try it. Lucky them!!!!

Clean apartment!

Man that business class was ROUGH. I really don't enjoy teaching/talking for 3 hours so it was intense. I made it, and surprisingly my second hour flew by (I was reviewing business and friendly introductions) but I always feel like I'm not teaching them the correct things. Like, have I ever worked for a corporation in a company? Nope. Can't really teach you how to introduce other clients because I've never SEEN IT IN PERSON.
I hope I don't have to do this. I hope they find someone else. Honestly, it wouldn't be bad at all, BUT IT'S 3 HOURS. I have 2 classes on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to them. They're ONLY 90 minutes!
In other news, Melissa ordered food at McDonalds all by herself!! She only wanted a cheeseburger, but didn't see it, so she just ordered the "Big Mac Set." There was a very nice lady who stepped in and tried to help because she knew some English. She told me just a minute (because the fries weren't ready) then brought them and 2 packs of ketchup over to me after a few minutes. That was SO SWEET. SUCH NICE MCDONALDS WORKERS! I TOOK A PICTURE OF MY ACCOMPLISHMENT:

Also went out and bought some crazy stuff. A piece of crap vacuum (but I can't complain. It worked and picked up a TON of hair.... thaaaank you!!) and a SUPER bright LED clock... didn't realize it's as bright as it is. But at least I can sit in my living room and never have to guess the time anymore! And finally I bought a toy for Little Lexi.... it's a baby shoe, with a squeaker in it. She'll destroy it in 5 minutes I'm sure, but they just don't make durable, fun toys for big dogs because they're not very common here. Oh and then I bought a bobble head that reacts to sound because it's cute AND I LIKE TOYS.

Which looks brighter to you?!

Boring update :)

There's not much to update about tonight.
But I found a site with info on our impending typhoon!! (It's going to be a tropical storm when it affects Aomori city) You can check it out here.
My adult students think I'm crazy for being so excited for this to hit - and they say that this is a scary storm because it's a slow moving one. They aren't kidding... it's moving at a blistering 6 mph.
In other news, my new business class starts tomorrow and I got advice from my mom and my work buddy in another city, Colin. Lots of good ideas - and I'm sure I'll be doing most of them in my 3 hour class. Colin at least says it's the same as a regular class at school. Guess it's just in a formal setting and WAYYYY longer than usual. Fab.
That's it. There's your update for the day. Pretty informative, I must say.