Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Sugar Shock!!

Hey there! SO... I was informed that my last blog was a bit sugary sweet! And it might have sent some of you into sugar shock... sorry!! I'm just really happy is all... and wanted to share... will just make sure to mix it up a bit!!

Yeah, so I have a really stupid principal at my favorite school. He won't let Garret come visit school with me. Apparently he's worried there'll be an ACCIDENT at school or something!?! So, for this last week that Garret's here he gets to be bored at home twiddling his thumbs. Am SO annoyed!! But what can I do... literally the principal's school is his castle... so what he says goes. STUPID MAN!!! ARGH!!!

Well, I'll be going to school... I'm still as happy as ever... Mike is fantastic! And that's your update! :-)

Sunday, November 28, 2004

Weekend...

So, I've had the most spectacular weekend!! Friday I had kendo... not spectacular, but enjoyable enough. All the sensei were away, so it was just me and kids. Which... wasn't so good, because they can't seem to tell me what to do. I need to give my kids some bossy lessons! ;-) I'm sure I could do that.

After that I met up with Mike, a guy that I've been texting for about two weeks and had come up for the Thanksgiving party on Saturday. Mike is probably the most amazing guy I've met in a really long time... and I really like him. SO... we just hung out and talked for hours... until it got too late (around 1:30...) and I needed to go home to sleep because I had to be somewhere at nine the next morning.

The Thanksgiving party was a massive hit on Saturday. Lauren, Kim and I had organized and done the cooking... and about 50 people enjoyed the benefits. We had really nice turkey... and all the Thanksgiving treats... including a bajillion pies... I think we had about 12 pies. I can't remember what the final count was. We just kept on making them until all the pie pans were filled. Hahaha...

Then we watched a bit of football... and Mike and I left the rest of the group and hung out at my house. Looked at pics... and talked for hours. He's the best. We can just talk... and be honest. He doesn't bullshit me... and I in turn try not to bullshit him. But sometimes telling the truth is scary... especially since I like him SO much.

It's funny, we had similar reactions to our situation. I wouldn't tell anyone about him because I didn't want to jinx anything... and he did pretty much the same thing. How funny is that?? I was highly amused... and relieved that he was thinking along the same lines.

Tonight, I had to say goodbye to Mike after one of the best weekends EVER!!! It was amazing... having a guy that wants to be with me and that I want to be with... *sigh* Just wish that I didn't live 2 hours away from him. Oh, well...

So, I hope the weekend has been as prosperous as mine... I'm the happiest I've been in ages... and the happiest I've ever been with a guy!! ;-)
Giddy, silly, ecstatic me!!

Yeah, so that's me! I'm on cloud 9 (or even 999) today... it's amazing. I talked to my mum today about my guy... and it's hard because half of what makes him so great is the way he looks at me, how he speaks to me, how he gets nervous (very cute!) when he's with me... how do you explain that to your mum?? I don't know. I think the fact that I'm insanely happy is probably evidence enough of what kind of effect that he has on me.

So... I've had the most amazing weekend! The Thanksgiving dinner last night was AWESOME... last night with Mike (yup, that's his name) was amazing... and now, I'm going to go have lunch with him as well. :-D

Hope everyone's as happy as me!! :-D

Saturday, November 27, 2004

PERMA-GRIN is here to stay!

So, I just got back from the most amazing first date! It didn't even start until around 10... but as I write this, it's nearing 2:30... ample date time I suppose. I just needed to tell someone how happy I am!! I've had this grin on my face since I started off the night... I can't help it. This is the happiest I've been in AGES... and it looks like it's here to stay.

Now, I'm not counting my chickens... but this guy is amazing... and he likes me as much as I like him. I've found someone who appreciates the tomboy in me, the runner in me, and so far... all the stuff that he knows. Either appreciates or accepts... which is great...

Just needed a bit of a share... now I have to try to go to sleep! Wish me luck!

Friday, November 26, 2004

IT'S FRIDAY!!

Yay... finally Friday! It's taken ages to get here. Figures, whenever you want Friday to hurry up and come it seems that time actually SLOWS down. But it's here at last. :-) Am so HAPPY!! Am actually a bit sleepy, but that kind of goes with the territory of it being the end of the week.

So, this weekend is the BIG Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner's tomorrow... we've got 5 turkeys (all about 10 pounds), LOADS of potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, broccoli/cauliflower, and pie stuff. Should be a fantastic meal. Wish us luck! Nont of us has ever cooked for this many people before. Heehee...

Enjoy TURKEY DAY!!!

Thursday, November 25, 2004

OVER THE MOON!!

Well, I'm a tiny bit sleepy this morning... nah, that's an understatement... I'm really sleepy this morning. But content and happy to be sleepy. Does that make any sense? I've met an amazing guy recently... and our late-night texting sessions have me a bit tired today. I was wound up so tight afterwards it took me AGES to get to sleep. But that's ok... because this is the happiest I've been in a long time.

I won't bore you with all the details here... but if you want, email me and we'll chat.

I'm doing fantastic over here in Japan. And this is with winter right around the corner (the really cold wind blew in last night, no lie!)... and grey skies all around! Hope you're having a great day... :-)

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

FAVOUR/FAVOR!

Was just wondering how many people actually look at my blog... so, if you all could do me a massive favour/favor (I get Lauren yelling at me if I spell it just the British way...) and sign my guestbook once just letting me know who gets on... that would be great! Thanks...


COOKING FOR FORTY-SOMETHING...

Yesterday was another national holiday in Japan. And as Saturday is our big Thanksgiving dinner here (yes, it's a few days late!), Kim, Lauren and I had to do some shopping. We went to the cheap grocery store... where we had two carts going... double decker style!! It was funny... Lauren and I could barely push the carts!

We're cooking for over 40 people. Thanksgiving is going to be AMAZING!! But we're going to start off super early on Saturday... Cooking begins at 9am... and we're eating at 4! Wish me luck... this is going to be one heck of a cooking project. We've got 5 experienced cooks going to do the bulk of the cooking. So that'll be good... just no forgetting anything... and no stressing!! :-)

BRING ON THE TURKEYS!!!

Sunday, November 21, 2004


A night out in Sendai... here's what we saw last night...  Posted by Hello
GREAT NIGHT OUT!!!

So... last night it was girls' night out! Lauren, Jo, and I headed to Sendai to go dancing. We got there (after some issues with navigating...) around dinner time... we met up with Mike from Yamagata City and then headed out to find food. After walking around for awhile... Lauren offers to buy my dinner if I ask and find an Indian curry restaurant. That was ALL the incentive that I needed...

And... a nice Japanese man gave us directions... and we had the most AMAZING curry last night. Yummmy!! So oishiiiiiiii!

Dancing was great... had a LOT of Eminem... needed Peter there to play the part... even went as far back as 1993-94 to start the night off. Was really good fun!! Next time... we're taking a whole group of us...


Saturday, November 20, 2004

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT!!!

Yup!! There's some girls stuck over in 'inaka' (country) Japan who are taking on the city tonight! Heehee... the city is only Sendai, but it's over a million people... don't know if we could handle Tokyo... we might go into culture shock. :-) Dancing, drinking and shopping (not necessarily in that order!)... will be a great day!!

Hope all of you at home have great things planned for the weekend!!

Friday, November 19, 2004


Another Tribute to Kendo! Posted by Hello
I LOVE KENDO!!!

After far too long away from kendo, I was able to practice tonight with my junior high kids. Wow!! I had such a good night. I feel like things are all coming together... only problem is my main guru, Shinko-sensei, wasn't there tonight. I need to ask her about doing the ikkyu (ee-kyou) qualification test. I think I can... we'll just have to see. But tonight I left kendo on such a high.

I've only just now eaten dinner (that's right at 11 o'clock!!) and am not really feeling tired, but I know I have to get up and run tomorrow morning, so definitely want to rest up for that. SO... after an AWESOME night... I wish you all a great Friday as I head to bed!!

Night, night!

Thursday, November 18, 2004

GOT ME SOME LOVIN'!

Yes, that's right... I got me some lovin'... from my 4th grade special kid, Shoyo!! He is so cute! Every time I see him I get a BIG hug and he says 'Alisha-sensei kawaii!' ('Ms. Alisha's so cute' is a rough translation.) And today, boy did I need that hug! And it's been a great day ever since. Three great classes at elementary school, yaki-imo for lunch... what else could a girl want??? Not much more than that, let me tell you! ;-)

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

I did it!!!

So, I finally did it! I passed that bloody driving test yesterday! YAY!! Now all I have to do is go back Friday morning and finish up the paperwork that goes along with it. And THEN, I'll have a Japanese driver's license. How fun is that?? :-)

I'm stoked! I wish I'd been able to do it in one try (like I did at home...), but alas... I did not. Just glad it didn't take 4-5 times. I would have been SO embarrassed if it did!

SO... watch out JAPAN... Alisha's got a license and she's NOT afraid to use it!! ;-)

Sunday, November 14, 2004

HILARIOUS!!!

Oh my gosh! I haven't laughed so hard in AGES! This is SO funny... So for all of you who want to laugh about what the next 4 years could bring... try this on for size. ;-)

http://zapatopi.net/cascadia.html

Other news...

This weekend was a good one. I went to a friend's birthday party on Saturday... we ate, drank (only Coke!) and sang karaoke for ages. Peter busted out Eminem, Will made a fab Bob (Dylan), and Lauren and I managed a GREAT Busted impression with "Thunderbirds Are Go!!" (Ben, you were with us in spirit!) We had a really good time... Hope all your weekends are going just as well as mine!

Saturday, November 13, 2004

GOOD LUCK BULLDOGS!!!!

SO... the girls have done it!! They've made it to Nationals... and made everyone out here in alumni-land REALLY proud. Just giving a major shout out to all of those fantastic girls carrying on "the BULLDOG" tradition. I'm starting to sound like Coach... what's that about? ;-)

Anyway... I'm over here in Japan WISHING I were closer to Evansville! Oh, well... I'll get all the up-to-date infor from our friend the Internet.

GANBARE!!!!

Friday, November 12, 2004

HELLO!!!

Hey everybody! I know it's been AGES since I've posted anything on my blog. It's just been very busy around here. And most of this week I was at a teacher's conference... separating me from my computer. ;-)

I took my driving test on Tuesday. Needless to say, I did not pass. Now I am a bit ashamed of losing my cool following the test... but to be fair, I'd had enough disappointment for one week (no concert and a freaking AWFUL conference go to... and then no license!! the concert was a MAJOR disappointment!) and I just couldn't handle a Japanese man patronizing me and telling me that I have to do all these stupid little things in order to be able to pass the test. Was SO not up for that!! AT ALL!! But... I have another test next Tuesday and driving school the day before. Going to kick its butt next time around!! ;-)

Then I had the Tendo Mid-Year Seminar for English teachers. I'm tired of doing these teacher's seminars because it's the same old stuff... every time. One time of telling us how to teach is enough... and this is the third of these things that I've gone to. NOT that impressed... but... I did have fun in the cultural workshops and my friend Bryan did a GREAT multiple-intelligences talk. The rest of the seminars (to be honest...) I picked based on people (and a little bit on usefulness, just a little). What can I say?? After 3 years... I should be exempt from this thing!!

This afternoon after we finished, Lauren and I headed to an onsen and then into Yamagata City to pick up her dad. He got in just after 7. Then dinner and home... I'm happily home... and really tired. Tomorrow... is an all-day study day!! ;-) I swear.

Saturday, November 06, 2004

HOW????? (to recover...)

I just read an article that gave me hope. As long as there are kids out there that care this much (check this link http://cnn.aimtoday.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20041105%2F0259819650.htm&sc=1110) we may have a chance. Maybe... they make me proud to be an American. NOT our election process, NOT our president, NOT even my state. Kids like this make America what it is.

So even though I am not proud of this past week in American history... as long as there are kids like this in our country... I'm proud that they belong to us. Thanks, kids from Boulder. You've started the process of restoring my faith in America. There's a LONG way to go... but it's begun.

Friday, November 05, 2004

MOVING ON!!!

Ok... so, now that Bush has won re-election, I'm moving on. I am NOT going to think about that fact again until I have to... which is about the time I have to come back to the US sometime next August. ;-)

Today... a wonderfully sunny autumn day in Shonai. This morning I had to get up and take my car in for the vehicle inspection that they do here. It's called "shakken". Basically, the inspect your car to see if anything could break in the next year (or two if you get it done for that long) and fix it. SO, there's a lot of things that are unnecessarily fixed in this process and it's no wonder that it costs a good chunk of change (mine will cost about $750). The morning was pretty... but just the thought of emptying my pockets made me want to cry.

Today I have ONE class. Afterwards I was surrounded by kids that wanted "seals" or in real-speak, stickers. But just because they said "seal please" I was not going to give them a sticker. Instead, I insisted that all of them answer a couple questions in order to earn their sticker. Heehee... only after about 5 minutes did the mod around me dissipate so I could move to the staff room. Crazy, eh? Over a sticker... I really wish that some of the innocence these kids have wasn't lost on our junior high kids in the US.

So... there you have it... my day... not so exciting. A bit of kendo tonight and that's it. I have to be off to study Japanese. I have a month until I take a REALLY hard Japanese proficiency test... no more procrastinating for me. :-)

Thursday, November 04, 2004


For everyone else out there who'd like to be wearing one of these... I mourn for my country... just because a man wins a position, doesn't mean he is the right man for the job. It may just mean that people are too cowardly to try for a change... I mourn the fact that I woke up this morning embarrassed and ashamed to be from the United States. Embarrassed because in the next four years I cannot see that there will be any changes for the good. I see our country on the course that it is presently on, which is not the road to peace and international alliances, but the path to alienation. These next four years are going to be some of the hardest in our country's history... let's hope we can weather them.

Good night.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004


in honor of this very important day... please, go out and vote! Posted by Hello
VOTING!!!

I had the BEST day today! First off, got to school and realized - I have NO classes. Some people would be very annoyed and MOST of the time I'd be really annoyed. However, now, I've got so much on with grad school applications and the big proficiency test in December. Yeah, got LOADS done today...

Then I got home... and the best surprise awaited me. MY ABSENTEE BALLOT!!! I got to VOTE today. Yes indeed! I am more excited to vote in this election than I've been since I got to register to vote. Wahoo!! How cool is that!?! AND I think I got a good omen... there was a MEGA big rainbow in the sky as I walked to and from the post office. Hmmm... good sign?? Maybe?? Let's hope.

And then tonight... there's kendo. I went and was a bit worried when none of the girls showed up... then my buddy Mami showed up and told me the younger girls have a tournament tomorrow. Well, with no girls around... I got SO much practice in. Which made me very tired. But I'm getting a whole lot more used to my bogu. So that's great!! I LOVE KENDO!!!

Anyway... GET OUT AND VOTE!!! If I can from JAPAN... you can from wherever you live in the States!! :-)