yamaonna

once again, japanese tv is strange.  Whats even more strange is the things that ppl willingly put themselves thru to provide ‘quality entertainment’.  Dont get me wrong, i love it and find it very very amusing…..  but why?????

todays tale – the story of two men who decided that they could eat a whole tuna fish by themselves.  non-stop…..  I only walked in on the show for the last 50%, but it was the funniest I imagine…  After making it thru 60% one guy began to falter (on the tuna hamburgers….).  and I am sure that much raw fish is not good for you at all….  they finally finished the body, and were then told theres another 10% left…..  the head…..  they took the head outside to eat – with tokyo tower in the background.  Thankfully they actually cooked that.  Then the lights went off on the tower and the sun began to rise…..

So they made it thru the head, once again to be told – theres still some left….  the eyes…..  you should have seen the looks on their faces…..  just eating the head you could tell they never want to eat tuna ever again…….  but they made it!  12 hours after they started…….     crazy, but very very funny to watch….

So, michele stuff now….

went to yamagata yesterday after I finished uni.  the 5 of us hired a car, and went to a cherry orchard.  On the way we stopped at a waterfall, which looked soooooo very nice and cool….  to bad you cant swim there….

it was a lovely day at 30something degrees……  in the car was stinking hot…..

then the cherry orchard.  these things are really popular in japan – you go to the orchard and pick your own fruit!  but you cant take any of it home, so basically in the space of an hour we pigged out on cherries.  Japanese cherrys are so perfect looking!!  I dont really go for the red cherries, but these were cute and pink and yellow and oh so very sweet!!!  (really, I am not a big fan of cherries, so I was very happy that I liked them yesterday!)

isnt megumi there in the last picture the cutest thing!!!  i love that shot!  if the photos dont show up, you can see them here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/12471157@N00/

then it was on to an onsen.  the water was yellow…..  which was kinda strange.  and it was really weird to go with ppl who where relativly self conscious….  no one really cares here at the dorm….  neway.  it was a little too hot to really enjoy, but at least I can say that I went this time as well.

and then on to this famous soba shop.  it was very cool, authentic and all.  the soba we ate was made at the shop, and cut all wonky (which i really didnt appreciate that much).  but it was tasty, and i hadnt had it in a year or so.

All in all it was a really fun day.  We made it back home by about 9, so I was really pooped and went to bed without doing my homework……  but the teacher was okay with that…  its due next wednesday now….

speaking of, must finish tomorrows…..

watching japanese news is always intresting.

Today I saw footage of ppl committing suicide.  and Im pretty sure I am right with that guess.  and that was shortly after 6 o’clock.

Then I learnt that it rained 26 cm (yes, thats centimeters) yesterday.  hoorah for rainy season.

and finally, the roses are starting to bloom.

lovely end there.

i figured that using the internet soooo often is my downfall.  (yes, i know, you call all stop saying ‘finally’) so wont be using it so, intensively….  i hope

I would like to think that I am the kind of person who gets things done.  at least when i really want them to be done.

i shouldnt have opened my mouth yesterday to say I was looking forward to this week.  things turned sour not long after that. grrrr.

Xina a her b’friend broke up, which isnt a happy topic.

i couldnt get to sleep, so I slept in.  And I neglected to do my homework, so instead of breakfast I had to do that.

it started to rain on me on the way to the bus stop.

bus was kind full.  the girl behind me was chewing her gum really loud.  i despise that.  and my foot was stood on ( and i was only wearing thongs).

uni was okay.  i could have been more awake. 

But things got better after lunch.  so I really shouldnt complain.

Really really missing western food.  Actually its a little worrying that I seem to have lost my stomach somewhere, and Im not eating enough.  and I just cant seem to get my sleep cycles right.  Keep napping the the arvo and waking up 2 hours later, and hence not falling asleep easily.

sorry to be a grouch, but Im not as happy as i could be at the moment.  dont worry though, its just a day thing i think.  going to yamagata on wednesday, so that will cheer me up lots i think.

hmmm, will listen to happy music i think.  and do my homework….

what a nice day!  Slept in, went to a buffet lunch with my dorm mates, and now homework.

well, it would be better without the homework.  but somethings cant be helped. oh well.

the lunch was really nice.  and free  always the best way to my heart!  buy me food!  i will love you forever (or at least the next 30 minutes)

well, thats no surprise now is it…

looking forward to this week, despite the fact it will be busy

Your Virgo Drinking Style

Hey brainiac, you are compelled to impose order onto your bender. Your famously fussy quest for purity could lead to drinking less than other signs, sure… But it could also lead to drinking booze neatly (like sucking down organic wine or having extreme brand loyalty). You rarely get fully shellacked — but, oh, when you do! Virgo’s controlled by the intellect, but there’s an unbridled beast lurking within, and they let it loose when walloped. It’s dead sexy (and surprisingly unsloppy). As one Virgo friend used to declare, “I’m going to drink myself into a low level of intelligence tonight.” A toast to the subgenius IQ!

Your Signature Cocktails

Many Virgos prefer clear, simple, untreacly drinks like vodka tonic or a real margarita, though you can be found drinking anything from unflinchingly downing Cuervo straight to smirkingly ordering a dirty virgin. You also tend to like bitter, low-alk guzzles like Campari and soda. However, you rarely change your signature drink once you’ve found it.

Your Celebrity Drinking Buddies

Cameron Diaz, Hugh Grant, Keanu Reeves, Nicole Richie, Bill Murray, Jada Pinkett Smith, Adam Sandler, and Ricki Lake.

You are pure, moral, and adaptable. You tend to blend into your surroundings. Shy on the outside, you’re outspoken to your friends. You believe that you live a virtuous life… And you tend to judge others with a harsh eye. As a result, people tend to crave your approval.

oh, that personality test is really cool, and only takes a click!!!! try it!

oh, and hotmail is stuffing up on me again….  i had already decided to slowly phase out of using hotmail, but now Ive decided that Im going to do it sooner than i thought..  so now, my primary email address will be michele.fullarton@gmail.com please use that from now on!!!  Although I will still check the hotmail (when i can) to catch any stragglers….

guess who actually uploaded a few photos!!!! not that you will see many just yet, but its a start…..

today i had a very relaxing day – half spent in aircon!!!!  yokatta!!!  It is soooo very hot here.  It kinda went from around 15, 20 degrees up to 30 and humid in a few days.  Im not coping very well with the heat (never had I think) and I keep getting headaches, despite upping my water intake.  *sighs*  i hate the heat.  and I dont care if you dont like my complaining. just deal with it, cause its how I deal with the heat.  grrrr

in the afternoon i went to Zuihoden, the tomb for Masamune Date (pretty much the guy who established the city).  It was very intresting, in that the architecture style was momoyama, so the buildings were very ornate.  of course they wernt the originals  (they never are in japan), but rebuilt in the 70’s/80’s after burning down in WW2.

i love the Date family crest!  Its in the first picture on the doors.  Its very complicated for a samurai family crest, probably the most fancy I’ve ever seen actually…  I’m trying to find a picture…..  oh, heres some history on Masamune – http://members.tripod.com/MiyagiAJET/new_page_6.htm   banana man, hehehe…. ugh, thats a bad drawing….  at least its not mine

what else…..  um, yesterday was my final stint at the primary school.  we sung heads shoulders knees and toes, and if your happy and you know it.  both in english.  all the kids wanted to shake my hand….  and i was called ‘yummy’ by and 11 year old kid, which was quite, um, distressing??  afterwards my teacher took me and 2 other students to a place called hiko ichi, where they serve the yummiest japanese sweets.  I had the anmitsu with icecream and mochi!!!! i love that stuff!  and apparently they are taking me to yamagata next wednesday to eat soba and sakuranbo (cherries)…..  that really blew me away….  its like the next prefecture over!!!  wow!

i got a book in the mail today,  the last that I will be buying now that money is pretty tight.  well, I will be buying one more but i have a voucher for that.  i just cant decide if i should buy basic kanji book 2, or a dictionary of basic japanese grammar…  decisions……

oh, and at my local video store, you can also rent out cds…..  how dumb is that???  like ppl arnt going to copy them…….

oh, and some links that are intresting – first one’s thanks to Jeremy

http://www.johnoandsarah.com/london_underground.swf  language warning!!! song about the london underground

Second one thanks to Ian –

http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html  store wars, star wars parody with a message

and third thanks to Lauren –

http://usa.bmwfilms.com/clap.asp?template=index&country=usa&film=  bmw online short films

there was sooo many things I wanted to write about this morning…  but by now I have forgotten most of them…  grrrr

so, random observations and mumblings….

got an unpleasant surprise for lunch, what I assumed to be a cream filled bun was actually a cream corn katsu filled bun.  big difference – sweet/savory.  now I know I dont like them.

theres a building near me that over the time I’ve been living here has had their garage converted into apartments.  The apartments are going to be really really small when they are finished, but should be very clean and nice looking.  but the thing that worries me is I dont think they put insulation in!!!  and you know, I think this is the case for most japanese houses.  talk about dumb.  considering its too expenisve to build with brick, and they arent allowed to used much wood…  so I think plastic is them main material…….  ara…..

we supposedly entered wet season last wednesday (or was it the wednesday before that…)  but so far we have had maybe 2 or 3 days of rain.  I was told that this is a very bad thing, cause it means the rest of summer will be hot and muggy.  i dont really care since I wont be here….  but apparently wet season in sendai is actually quite cold….  but still humid.

stressing a little about money, cause its the time of the month I have to pay rent…  but after this lot, I only have one more payment, and I think it will only be about 10,000 yen.  so Its good that I think I’ll just make it money wise to the end.  mind you, Im going to try and be very stringent (?is that the correct word?) so that my money will go a long way.  neway, there isnt that many places I want to go now anyway.

heres the dilemma – catch the bus home now and dont get a seat.  catch the bus home in 20 minutes and maybe not get a seat…  feeling lazy today so Im going to take my chances… hence wasting time checking mail and updating this at uni…

Yesterday we went to the elementary school again.  It was heaps of fun!!!  We played a game with about 30 kids, which involved singing a song, then yelling out the names of the items we would show them.  If it was something you would buy in a fruit and veg shop they would all yell out `aru aru` and if it wasnt `nai nai`.  We also did an english version which went down pretty well.  considering I tried to be smart and yelled out the word for carrot in japanese, but got it wrong and said `human` instead.  the kids loved that…..

homework is up to date, which makes me very happy.  now I just have to work on my project… wish me luck!