yamaonna

well, yes, being on holidays, i am spending my days like holidays.  not doing all that much…..   alas, tuesday is sneaking up on me quick, and there are many things i need to do……  so this will probably be a short post.

Um, what i really want to say is that I will be emailing ppl in the next few days, but dont expect too much content.  I really dont have the time, and since i will be seeing almost everyone soon-ish, i think that it would be kinda pointless for me to go on about whats been happening.

but i will say some stuff here….

I missed out sending my books home on friday, so I have to wait till monday.  I have about 15kg, so I am very very worried about the weight.  but they have a special rate for ‘books only’ so hopefully i can get that.  apart from that, i have almost everything I wanted to buy while over here, the last things left – a few small trinkets for ppl and some makeup of me.

I still havent had the chance to go to the botanical gardens….  I was planning on going today, but I have just been soooo exhausted that i slept into 10. so tomorrow it is.  and I was also thinking that getting my haircut would be a good idea too, but that depends on how much it costs to send my books…. 

I have to pack.  and I have to get some study done for the physics.  I have to email a few teachers and make appointments.  um, today I am meeting with some friends, we are going to go bowling i think.  and karaoke. unfortunatly i am unwilling to put some of my friends first and meet up with them tomorrow.  I have too much to do and i dont want the added stress…

life is intresting right now.  looking forward to going back home.

its official!  I am on holidays! (well….  i finished my course)

its such a liberating feeling!

 

I think I’ll just sit here for a little…..

 

*falls asleep with head on keyboard…. drooling…..*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

i just had my bath washed ‘japanese bath style’ (as was proudly shouted in my ear)

yep, someone washed my back for me….  hisami is quite the character here at the dorm.

i taught her ‘whatever’ and ‘talk to the hand’.  she has no idea what they mean….

i also taught her ciao, and now she runs around saying chinese….  yeah, a little mad, but it make life fun…

 nekobasu!!!!  nekobasu!!!!

 

(runs away giggling madly….)

its official.  at this moment my brain doesnt work…  in either english or japanese.  i just spoke to someone, and i have no idea how she actually understood me.  and then i emailed someone, and I dont think they have a chance of understanding me…..

 

strangely enough this does make sense

okay, that didnt work….  it was just my 43things list anyway. 

i bet you never knew –

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okay folks – did something with my weekend – went to zao!  check out my photos –

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www.flickr.com michelelisa’s Zao photoset

oh i love flickr (if that worked that is….)

so, one place down, one last place to go…  find it hard to believe!  I’ll go the the botanical gardens on either wednesday or thursday afternoon, so next weekend will be very relaxing…..

neway, Zao – in winter a very popular ski resort.  in summer, well, pretty, cooler than most other places around, but unfortunatly for me cloudy and very windy when I decided to go.  Well, actually i had a blast – i love being in clouds, but i kinda wish i bought a sweater or something, was a little cold.  took a little over 2 hours to get there, and about 5,000 yen, so it was a bit of an expensive expedidtion.  would love to drive there!  so many facinating things to see, but unfortunatly using the bus was pretty restrictive – only 3 each way all day long….

um, obviously i didnt go to the island like i had orinally planned.  After getting a mild sunstroke on friday i thought it wouldnt be the greatest idea.  so instead i went out with the dorm mother yesterday for lunch.  we also went shopping and she bought me heaps of stuff.  put it this way, if she had her way I would have a half meter koteshi coming home with me….  but i managed to talk her out of it….  heavy things…

kinda stressing about packing.  i have far to many books… 

oh, today was a public holiday, so that was a very nice change. 

now i just have to prepare for my history lesson tomorrow.  we are looking at WWII, so it will be intresting…..

I have just watched the best movie ever!  Okay, well, I’ve just watch two very good movies, and one of them has now gone up in the ranks to be my favourite movie – Bayside Shakedown 2. 

BS2 (ehehe) is a japanese film of course, it was actually released last time I was here, but i never got the chance to see it.  Hired out the movie from the video store this week – it comes with english subs as well, so thats a bonus.  Its basically a police film, along the lines of police academy, but more serious and not quite as in your face with the gags.

I wasnt sure what the plot was before watching it, accept i knew it was set in Odaiba, and it had something to do with the slogan – “Save the Rainbow Bridge”.  now that made me think – terrorist activies, but it actually wasnt.  It was about a murder case in Odaiba.  I had very high expectations for it, and i was very surprised and pleased when it lived up to them.

Its the story of a cop, who is getting a bit bored with local police work.  But no sooner do they establish that then a very serious murder occurs, and higher ranking cops get called in.  The woman in charge is very strict, and keeps causing trouble for everyone – even interferring with local police matters.  Things come to a head when one of the local police women is taken hostage, and the search is on, with potentially disasterous results.

You can easily tell that this is the second movie of a series, and in fact i think it was quite possibly a tv show at some time.  There is a very large cast, and all the characters are developed well, with out actually being introduced to us.  Its quite easy to fit them into the sterotypes that they represent, but as sterotypes go, they arnt all cliche`.

It combines romance, action and humor all very very well.  And theres even a vampire, which surprisingly fits so well with the plot, and yet does not seem utterly ridiculous.  PLUS, its set in Odaiba – my all time favourite place in Tokyo.  Oh, and the plot is stella – enough action, but good plot twists too, so that it doesnt get boring.  And, as a side note, the song on the credits was sung by the lead actor.

watch it if you get the opportunity!

Other than that, i watched My Neighbour Totoro, a kids animation i had been meaning to watch, and Chris had recommened to me.  Very very good.  Its pretty old, I think it was made in 1988, quite simple but not boring at all.  Its about 2 girls who move into the country with their dad while there mum in in hospital. 

Shows the older japanese lifestyle very very well, and combines positive messages about nature, and also touches on imagination and the japanese spirtual, uhhhh,  stuff.  Exellent kids film!  They dont make them like they used to 🙂

Mind you, totoro was larger than i thought he would be, and if i met him, even now, i would be scaired sh*tless (excuse the french, but that thing roars!).

oh, i finally remembered another thing i wanted to address in my last post…  Anger.  Yeah, its really strange, but in japan i become a very angry person.  I dont think i am angry by nature, but here, sometimes the silliest things just set me off.  This time my cheif problem is the girl next door and her video games or music.  She doesnt seem to realise you can hear it through the walls..  and it really really ticks me off.  I’ve caught myself saying to myself that i hate her. just because of that!  its kinda scairy…  and i dont know what i can do about it…

hmmm, I have many things i want to talk about today, but i doubt that i will remember them all.

I finished reading interview with a vampire.  and all i can say is I dont get it.  lets see, on the cover it says – “here are the confessions of a vampire.  Hypnotic, shocking, and chilingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force – a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses….”  yeah, I dont agree with most of this. 

Hypnotic?  No, infact, because there are no chapter, i found the book a bit of a pain in the arse to read.  I understand why there is non, but the formatting is not good at all.  Shocking?  No, vampires kill people.  we already knew that.  and frankly, the main vamp isnt much of a vamp.  Chillingly erotic…  yeah, like ive read a teen vampire book that was more chillingly erotic.  Exactly what part in this book was?  Mesmerizing beauty?  I’ll admit that the world she paints is beautiful, but not to the point of mesmerizing.  not enough focus on it…  Force?  where?  danger and flight?  well, a little, but its not scairy, and there is no tension.  Love and loss?  I didnt feel the love.  did feel the loss though.  suspensnce – only at the climax. resolution?  well, we really dont know what happens in the end of the main vamp, do we.  sure she ties up lose ends, but not to the important one!  Power of the senses… tell me how a book can have this?

Overall, i think it was poorly formated, kinda boring, and really not worth buying.  But i will read the next few i think.  call it morbid curiosity.  i acutally want to see the films, but want to read the books first…..

hmmmm, what else…  Terminal. Watched that last night with Kei-chan, and really really enjoyed it!  the true story would be vastly different i think, but it was an movie adaptation, so i will let the romance rubbish with the hostess pass.  pretty heart wrenching at times, but a happy ending.  And Tom Hanks’ acting was brilliant as per usual.  Go see it if you havent!

Thursday was my last day helping teach at the high school.  It was pretty non-eventful.  We all went to the library and they chose books to do a review on over summer.  they were suppose to choose a classic, but most chose modern books.  Hey, did you know that a lot of books are released in japan shorted to about 500 to 1000 words for ppl learning english!  hehe, reading something like Jane Eyre in about 30mins…  hehe…  neway, they were all pretty sad to see me go, but i think i will gain a few new pen friends.  One even cried!  which almost set me off… 

hmmm, thats all i can think about for now. 

 

Oh, no wait!  Yesterday is was sunny, and even though I was only in the sun for about 20 minutes, i got sunburnt a a bit of sunstroke…  i was soooo surprised!  just becuase it hadnt been a clear day for….  i dont know how long….  so im going to buy a parasol!