Lunch.
New Fashion Day.
Halloween party with the English club members.
Thanksgiving in Japan! A bone-fide 4 star chef cooked the full-course meal for 20 odd foreigners. Complete with magic show! (Grandma, you're still number 1!)
This is a basically random picture. I just thought it looked cool.
The weather today was fantastic! Too bad I had to stay inside at work all day. I stepped out for a breather around 1 o'clock, and it was beautiful!
After work at 4:30.
The dragonflies are out and about this week. On Tuesday, all the dragonflies decided to get a little romantic. I wonder how they all know exactly what day to do that? There are a lot of dragonflies in my town-- which I think is fine. They're one of the few insects I actually like. Now, put the world's last two mosquitoes, a can of pesticide, and myself in a room; and you're going to have yourself an extinction.
It's Pocky Day once again in Japan. I didn't personally eat any Pocky-- I don't think I did last year either... I just checked Nov 11, 2004 on this site to see if I mentioned Pocky Day last year, but I hadn't added the comment function to the site until December. I'm going to be adding some additional features, including a navigation sidebar soon. Probably after my trip home in December. I have my Japanese test again on Dec 4th. And I leave for Wisconsin on the 9th.
Me and my girl in Akabane. Singing some karaoke, taking purikura, generally having a fun time.
I just realized that to those who don't know what purikura is, "taking purikura" sounds a lot like "taking heroin." Purikura are little photobooth pictures. I'll show an example sometime.
I just thought this was funny. I never really thought of eating Ritz with beer. Personally, I'm a Ritz with Cheese kinda guy-- but that probably goes without saying.
On the way home from the 100yen store, I noticed that Mars was visible next to the bright full moon! I hurried home, and setup my tripod. Ended up with a few nice shots! You've probably heard that Mars is very near to the earth right now, which is why it's so bright. I live way out in the country, so there isn't too much light-pollution. The moon always looks amazing here!
This is my own homemade chahan.
Buttercup, you know... She's into that hard-core techno stuff. Always out at the club, getting home late...
A nice juxtaposition of old and new. My grandfather has hundreds of photos he took in Japan in the 1950's, and I wish I could show them to you. But they're all on slides, and I don't have the equipment to scan them. It's too bad tho, these shots are amazing! Downtown Tokyo with horses everywhere and single story buildings. It looked like a western movie. I wonder what Tokyo will look like in 2050 when my grandkids see it?
As seen in a boutique near Chiba station. I'll let you draw your own conclusions. I don't know what they intended.
My home-made soup! Not too bad for a first try.
I went to Narita to hang out with Shashi, and on the way back the train from Chiba was late due to an accident. The train left Chiba 30 minutes late, but I arrived home only 10 minutes late. I've never taken the Shinkansen, so I can safely say this is the fastest train ride I've been on.
I remembered after I got in bed that I hadn't taken a picture yet today, so I grabbed my cell phone, and pointed it at the brightest spot in the room.
This morning was stressful, but all in all it was a good day. I have a coworker who for some time has felt that I was his personal servant, and was always making condescending comments, and I think I finally got that resolved. I love my job, and all the other people I work with are great-- I hope he leaves me alone from now on. >__<
I popped in at lunch time to look for a missing student, but he was not to be found.
The little lady and I biked out to Tako for some Tako-pizza. It's my favorite place to get pizza in Japan. Large thin-crust with salami, shitake mushrooms, and green peppers; $17.
Yesterday was the second coming of the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes in Japan are not as fast and vicious as those in Wisconsin. No, these vampires are far more patient. They wait in your apartment until you turn off the lights and go to bed. Then they float around your head waiting for the perfect opportunity. They'll buzz your ear a few times, judging your reaction. And when the time is right they'll strike.
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We had a Christmas party in the long homeroom, so I showed up as Santa! Let me tell you, that guy must have a heck of a circulatory system. I was roasting in that red suit. But we had a great time, and the kids went crazy. After class, I went around the school with a "Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho!"
This doesn't strike me as being a particularly safe brand of canned gas.