A few months ago I asked for suggestions about which Jason Mraz shirt I should buy. This is the one I ended up getting. The back says "Jason Mraz" with an picture of an ear next to the name. Mrs. Fujino commented that it was cute and red. Indeed it is red.

Another night at the Happy place

Nights in Japan like this I will remember for years to come and will look back on with fondness.

It sometimes seems strange to be living away from the home that I know. Often I feel like I'm living in a non-existent world, and I think of Japan as some sort of alternate universe. But it hits me at times that Japan is a real place. People live actual lives here, they work here, and they will die here. They have been here before I came and they will be here after I leave. I don't understand how some people consider their time in Japan (or anywhere abroad) as "putting life on hold" and/or they talk about post-Japan life as returning to "the real world." Folks, you are not putting a one or two or three year pause in your life; you are living! And you are living life to the fullest! Japan is the real world. Everywhere is the real world. When you do leave Japan, whenever that shall be, may you forever have a broader understanding of the "real world." Thank God for expanding my scope and perspective.

I remember the first time
I drove through Indiana
Watching fences in the distance
Fade away
Once there was a girl I knew there
And she was pretty
We kept in touch until we just
Went our own ways
I remember the first time I drove
Through Indiana
Waving goodbye to the towns
That we drove through
Far away I know they're deep
Inside a city
Running back and forth wanting
Only to get home
Once I was there in a dream
Meeting people
WIthout names and without
Faces they lived
I remember the first time I drove
Through Indiana
Watching semis hauling grain
To the west
They're gonna make it all the
Way to Colorado
Where the mountains touch
The sky and rivers bend
I remember the first time I drove
Through Indiana
Thinking to myself how big
This land really is
Amber waves of grain, from a highway
Who lives in that house so far away?
I remember the first time I drove
Though Indiana
Watching fences in the distance
Fade away
I remember the first time I drove
Though Indiana
I remember the first time I drove
Though Indiana...
--The Samples

The Love Shack

Welcome to Angie's improved Love Shack, now spring cleaned and fully equiped with colorful lanterns.

Wakarimashita!

I understood everything spoken in Japanese in one of my elementary school classes today. Why? Because it was kindergarten. And things said at kindergarten speech- level and speed-level are at my Japanese level. Thanks to Japanese class last night, I understood the following being said about me: "Everyone this is Angie-sensei. She came to Japan in July. Does anyone know where she is from?" A little girl raises her hand, "America!" Teacher replies, "Yes, she is from America. Very good! She will come to our class once a month. We will do things like singing, playing, and looking at cards. She will show us cards of things like fruits, animals, and colors. She will leave at 10:10. What animal will she leave at?" (There is a wall clock with animals at each 5 minutes.) Children yell, "Cat!" Teacher says, "Yes, she will leave when the big hand points to the cat. She will go to the elementary school and teach first and second grade now. How do we tell her goodbye in English?" Children yell variations of "bye" and "see you." Teacher concludes, "Yes, say 'thank you, good bye.' I will go to the school with her now. See you later." Thank you kindergarten-sensei for unintentionally speaking slowly enough for me to understand. This is a great achievement.

This week's mission: somehow hang paper lanterns in my apartment despite not having anything proper to stand on. Pray that I don't break my neck. I will post photos when the mission has been accomplished.

You're never gonna know.

Muuuhahahahaha!!!! ;)

Happy Birthday Laura/Happy Easter

Shimonoseki Birthday Party

In celebration of Wakako and Laura's birthday, we had a grande night in Shimonoseki. Parts of the night were enjoyable, other parts felt like I was a character in a bad high school movie. Got to love Laura in this first photo wearing my birthday gift so beautifully atop her head.






And that was that. Stick to your guns, folks. Be true to yourself. Be real. And as Shakespeare said: Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. Peace.

On Beauty

And a poet said, "Speak to us of Beauty."

Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?

And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?

The aggrieved and the injured say, "Beauty is kind and gentle.

Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us."

And the passionate say, "Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread.

Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us."

The tired and the weary say, "Beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit.

Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow."

But the restless say, "We have heard her shouting among the mountains,

And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions."

At night the watchmen of the city say, "Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east."

And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, "we have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset."

In winter say the snow-bound, "She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills."

And in the summer heat the reapers say, "We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair."

All these things have you said of beauty.

Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,

And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.

It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,

But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.

It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,

But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.

It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,

But rather a garden for ever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.

People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.

But you are life and you are the veil.

Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.

But you are eternity and your are the mirror.

--Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

A Slightly Different Look

Yesterday I got my first J-hair cut, in every sense of the word. Despite my Japanese friend explaining how I wanted my hair cut, the hair dresser cut it however she wanted. This is the result:

Latin Quarter

Becky, Laura, and Selena took me to the Latin Quarter for the first time. What a relaxed, fun atmosphere. The main bar tender is a funny little man who speaks a bit of English. In our favor, we were some of the only females present. And after a short conversation with one of the customers, he kept offering us free shochu for the rest of the night. Highlights of the evening were chatting with friends who I hadn't seen in two weeks, singing random karaoke duets with Japanese men, and watching Becky spill her drink and then spill another drink.

Sakura and Randomness

During the last ten minutes of lunch break, two of my office friends--Mr. Fujinaga and Yayoi--took me to see the sakura in town. We drove to a lookout on top of a mountain. I had no idea this place even existed. Although the blossoms were not in full bloom, the view was stunning, nonetheless.



Just after I took the above photo, we noticed there was an enkai occuring below where we stood consisting of many elderly people. Of course they all stopped drinking to look at us. I nodded my head a bit to say hello. As we were headed back to Mr. Fujinaga's van, one of the enkai members came up to us and introduced himself to me. Turns out the group wanted me to introduce myself, etc. Mr. Fujinaga kept saying that we had no time for it, but the group would have it no other way. So I did my little ditty in Japanese, then they made me shake everyone's hands. Ha, I felt like I was teaching elementary school. These kinds of things used to unnerve me, especially when I first arrived to Japan. But this time I was quite relaxed. So if anything, I am improving my public speaking skills by working in this country, which is definitely a good thing.

Hong Kong--Days 1 & 2