The Internet

Guess what! I finally got the internet today at my apartment! YAY! I am so excited! I know its been a while since I posted anything, but not having the internet was kind of a deterrent. Now I have it and will have much more regular posts.

Well, I had a meeting about a week ago in Shinjuku, an area of Tokyo. Shinjuku is my favorite area of Tokyo. It is very modern (surprise!). I had follow up training there and it was so nice to see some of my friends from the training house. We had such a good time at the meeting. The meeting itself was good, kinda boring though. I got lost going to the AEON Head office building. Big surprise there! I still got there on time so no worries. After the meeting a group of us went out for some drinks at an izakaiya. It was a lot of fun, and good beer as well. On my way home I was crammed onto the train from Shinjuku. That was not fun, I really felt like a sardine! It was amazing how many people really do fit onto those trains.

Teaching is definitely keeping me busy. The students are great and I am still having fun. The "newness" of it all has ceased. This is life for me now. I am very happy about that. Being here in Japan just feels so normal. The only way it would be perfect would be to have all my friends and family here as well!

I played tennis yesterday with some of the students. We had a great time. I picked up some more Japanese. Speaking is still difficult but I am starting to get a little better. We played tennis for about 2 hours at an amazing sports complex. After that we had dinner, there were 6 or 7 of us. They surprised me by having the restaurant bring me a birthday cake. That was very nice of them and quite a surprise!

Oh yeah, last week was my welcome party to the school. It was nice. We all drank a lot! What can I say, they all love drinking! The shocker was I was out until almost 7 am. People here stay out all night because they have to take either the last train or the first train in the morning! We went to 2 izikaiyas first then to Karaoke. After that we went to Jonathon's, its like Dennys. I was so tired the next day. Anyways, we had a fabulous time and I am happy in Japan.

The best hair cut

Howdy yall, Hope things are good in the states. This week is counseling week at AEON. Which means I have to make my own lessons, again. I am teaching English for Travel and American Slang. Once again, I over-estimated my students abilities and now I am trying to completely re-do my lessons. Its kinda frustrating....I think they should be able to do something, but, the can't. Well, that won't stop me! At least the students are having fun...which to me is the most important element. If they are having fun, it is easier to learn.

Now, onto the best hair cut I have ever gotten. I went to a salon and they first washed my hair. It was an amazing experience! They treated me like a god! It was so nice. Then obviously, they cut my hair. And they were so nice, we managed to communicate in broken English and Japanese. I had to point to a picture in a magazine of how I wanted my hair to look. They were extremely nice and patient with me. They even gave me magazines, although I couldn't read any of them! Well, after the cut, they washed my hair, again! AND then comes the best part...they massaged my scalp and shoulders. Oh I was in heaven! It was so nice! I felt so good! I couldn't believe it!

On a sad note, 7 people were killed in Akihabara on Sunday because some guy went psycho and killed them. He drove a truck and ran over three people then got out of the truck and began stabbing people. Crimes like this are on the rise in Japan but I still feel very safe here. I am just happy I wasn't in Akihabara that day. It is a beautiful section of Tokyo. I am going to Tokyo this Monday to meet up with some friends from training. It is getting hotter here but I hear yall are in a heat wave! I hope it cools down soon!

Wow...2 months down

I am just 3 days shy of being in Japan for 2 months. I can't believe its been that long already...time is really flying by. I had another Japanese lesson today...it was difficult once again. I am getting a private lesson tomorrow. Hopefully that will help a little bit. We'll see. There isn't much to report right now...same old same old. Teaching is fun, everything is good at work. I need to go grocery shopping though at this point. I don't really have anything to eat. Plus I am gettin kinda hungry. I need to get more snack type foods. The food here is amazing. I love it all. I get the internet in about 4 weeks. That will be blessing. And yay! there is my apartment. That is my everything room. I sleep, eat, relax, do everything here for the most part. Its not much, but its home now. I also have a picture of my kitchen....complete with sink and one burner right next to the washer....you get to the kitchen/entrance way/etc through the white door in my everything room. Glad the pictures took this time! Enjoy!