12.22.2005

Only for you, Kat.


Yes, she tagged me.
Ground Rules: The first player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits of yours" and people who get tagged need to write an LJ/blog/xanga entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.
So, here goes. 5 strange habits (grins only 5?).

1. This first one, I already know, is TMI. So, if you're not a girl, you might want to skip to #2. As Kat, Amy, and Carina would attest to, with some embarrassment at the hilarity of their odd roommate, at bedtime in the winter I tend to walk around in a sweater, my underwear, wool socks and the slippers that Amy got me that I spilled candle wax on. The strange part I guess, is the sweater and wool socks/no pants combo. Strange indeed, but my legs don't seem to get so cold as the rest of me.

2. I rip off the split-ends of my hair. I study the tips to see where the hairs are broken or frayed, and then I run my fingers along the strands until the split ones break off. And then I rub them together between my fingers because I think it feels cool. grins

3. I collect any scraps of paper of adds or leaves or train tickets or candy wrappers or anything that looks interesting because I love making collages. Thus I have tons of small little bags and boxs tucked here and there stuffed with interesting and fun and stupid and witty little tidbits from everywhere I go 'just in case' I might need them to make something later.

4. I don't eat Lucky Charms very often, but when I do, I ALWAYS eat the cereal part first and save the marshmallows for last. ALWAYS. The world begins to crumble if I don't do this. And so I often spend 10... 15 minutes eating one bowl of Lucky Charms (which is why I don't eat them very often).

5. I learned to brush my teeth and swallow the toothpaste while backpacking (I learned it first from Carina and then Dan pestered me until I did it - with much disgust and strange twisted faces of disgust). And now sometimes I brush my teeth and swallow the toothpaste because I'm too lazy to get up and spit. And it comes in handy when I brush my teeth in strange places like toilet stalls in public restrooms at the train station in Akita, Japan. I do this because I LOVE clean teeth. If my teeth feel gross, I feel gross, and it drives me NUTS.

yeah! now my turn to tag... (doshiyo?? [what to do])... what happens if I run out of friends (grins)
sorry all, but here goes. Dan Perrine (if you haven't already been), Rebecca Loaiza, Noel - he who never updates his blog, Deanna my sweet island friend who is currently living in HAWAII, and Amy when she decides to get her first blog. :)

So guess what Amy did to my ear. grins

hehehe

Yup!


aaaeeehhhh! (actually, it didn't hurt Amy. grins ok ok OR me.)


I have been pierced by one Amy Nordaas in the country of Japan where you can't go to the mall to get your ear pierced. You either buy a little gun and have a good friend shoot you in the ear (hehe)... or not-so-good friend and pray they don't take revenge on you for something you don't remember doing OR you go to the doctor's office and pay 50 FREAKING dollars (about 5000 yen) to get it pierced. crazy. I chose option numero uno.

And this is my last one. For real. I say this every time, but this time I MEAN IT! :) No more. Estoy satisfechada (I'm satisfied).

12.20.2005

Adventures in Akita with AMY!

I get to be a guest blogger on Rachel's fantastic blog. So actually, this post should be titled, "Adventures with Rachel!" And what adventures we've had...although too large a share has involved wandering around in the cold snow contemplating frostbite and mortality. To compensate, we have been chugging down ginger tea...it seems to be working. I love being here with Rachel and seeing her life here. I tagged a long with her one day to her English classes. Of course all the students love her (who couldn't?). Another day, I tagged along to her pottery class where within two hours, Rachel whipped out seven beautiful peices. The pottery teacher there told me that she has excellent sense and a good eye...he even went so far as to say that if she pursued her craft, she could probably make a living with it!! Yet again, strangers affirm what I (and you, since you're reading this blog) already know - simply that Rachel is AMAZING!



My one and only contribution to the pottery making was as photographer. I should have stayed behind the camera! He he he

As amazing as Rachel is, her sense of direction is not without flaw. We got a grand tour of a small town just out of Akita as we went in circles trying to find her friend's house. We did, and we had a wonderful time of tea, food, conversation, and prayer.

Tagging along to her English classes to see Rachel Sensei (teacher) at work. For those of you that know, notice the fact that I am wearing Rachel's sweater (and the blue jacket pictured above is also Rachel's)! I Love it! I Love Rachel!

12.19.2005

AMY'S HERE!!!

We walked back to my apartment from the train station (30 min)...

in a blizzard.


grins

A warm (?!) welcome to Akita!! ;)

12.17.2005

It's SNOWING!!!


So... a week ago I was complaining of no snow. Agonizing over the possibility of having a brown Christmas.

grins

Be careful what you wish for, eh? But I'M not complaining! ;)
(However, I think I would be lynched by the people of Akita if they knew that it was I who prayed for snow. hehe)

:)



mmmmmm... snoooowwww! (sorry to all of you in warm places) grins ;)

12.13.2005

amidst the craziness and demands of the Christmas season, a gift

This gift happened to come in the form of 2 traveling companions by the names of Katrina Joy Brion Lao (soon to be Shaffner in a few short months) and Amy Reiko Nordaas. The location? Sendai, Japan. The time? 24 very short hours. The occasion? Do we NEED an occasion to get together?! I think not!

So, yes, needless to say I had a wonderful time with the girls! I hadn't realized exactly how much I'd missed them!! I arrived in Sendai around 9:15 Saturday night, and as I stood up from my bus seat I heard screams and laughter coming from outside. I looked out the opposite window and there were Kat and Amy jumping up and down waving their arms. What a welcome! And of course we hugged and carried on and gave all surrounding Japanese people a very good reason to talk about the crazy foreigners. ;) That night we stayed up till almost 3am talking, laying across our futons in the tatami room we were staying in (we stayed with an English teaching couple with the church at Sendai - it was actually the house Amy grew up in!).

Church at Sendai. We got to meet one of Amy's childhood friends, Maya. A shame we couldn't have had more time with her.

Carrying on the tradition...

Me and Ames... there just aren't words enough

Naughty... kind of... grins

Nice (though don't be fooled) ;)

Goodbye so soon?! The 11:10 night bus. To Tokyo, Taiwan and beyond! And thankfully (for me), Amy comes back to Japan at the end of the week. Part of me really wanted to fit into one of their suitcases...

Good things CAN happen when you miss your 12:00 bus to Akita... good things like relaxing foot onsens in the middle of Japanese gardens... deliciously hot water seeping into weary travel-worn feet while the silence of the surrounding winter wonderland echoes back crisp bird songs and falling phoofs of white stuff from snow-ladden pines branches... and the company of a new friend and sister. Maybe I should miss my bus (on accident, of course) more often. :)