Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Sayanara....

With the contract year drawing to a close, the goodbyes began. The Saiyanara parties were stretched out over the past 2 weekends. The official Oita JET Saiyanara Party was on July 11th at a beer garden in Oita City. Now to be completely honest, the whole night is a bit hazy in my memory. All I know is that I ended up at McDonald's, which proves that my judgement was seriously impaired. Luckily, I got some really great pictures out of the night despite everyones'  inebriation. 

all my friends are tall and blonde....
I've gotten really good at these one-armed pictures. If by some tragic accident I lost my arm, I think I'd be able to handle it okay, much like Def Leopard's drummer. 
candid. 
 
Me, Danielle, Darin, and Nick
Me, Greg, Hunter, and Darin. I'm not quite sure why Darin was so pensive. He does study Anthropology, which makes him a modern day Indiana Jones, minus the whip and the hat. Lucky for Darin there are plenty of costume stores in America. 
Shazana's boyfriend stole the flower from my hair, but I think she liked it. 
Karaoke...
Gross. I sat at a McDonald's. Worse yet, I ate at a McDonald's. WORSER STILL I LOOK HAPPY ABOUT IT! 
Where the night ended, our favorite bar in Oita City. Shortly after this picture was taken Danielle and I headed back to her apartment and fell asleep while holding hands and watching "End of Days." Why "End of Days"? Because if anyone can save the world from the devil, it's Arnold. 
**********************

The following weekend the crew and I decided to head to a waterfall about 45 minutes away. It was gorgeous, and I can't think of a better way we could have spend our last weekend together. Plus, Betsy's sister Jennifer was visiting, so she was able to see a side of Japan that a lot of tourists miss.  


This is the waterfall. There were several little lagoons to swim in, and you could slide down the smoother rocks on tubes. 
The Girls: Jennifer, Betsy, me, Caitlyn, and Danielle. Notice a height difference? I told you, all my friends here are tall and blonde. 
The Boys: Ryan, Darin, and Stephen 
Jennifer took a picture of all of us together! 
I can't get over how much they look alike! 

After a day of swimming, diving off the rocks, and riding down the waterfall on the tube I was famished, so Ryan, Danielle, and I decided to go to a Mexican Food Restaurant in Oita City. Lucky for me, they had a birthday special... Said birthday special included a complementary margarita in a festive cup, and a costumed group photo.


our group shot. 

Alright, dinner is calling. That's all for now...

23?!?!

Well it's official, I'm somewhat of a grown-up. July 15th I turned 23. I don't know why, but 23 just seems like an adult age, 22 was too close to 21 to be taken seriously I guess. 

Since July 15th landed on a Wednesday this year, so I found myself at work at 8am decked out in my Star Wars t-shirt and some cargo shorts, because for some reason I have a serious aversion to adult clothing. 23 or no, some things will never change. 

Now, I don't know how they figured it out, but I swear all my kids knew it was my birthday. All my classes sang to me, and about 300 kids shouted "ELLIN! HA-PI BU-SU-DAY!" It was cute, but occasionally startling. 

Right after work I grabbed one of my teachers and headed to Oita City (the closest movie theatre 90 minutes away) to see Harry Potter 6 on opening night. 

Before the movie a few of us met at an Italian restaurant for dinner. Whilst waiting for our food, I was presented with a birthday crown, a Harry Potter wand, and an R2D2 with a removable head for all your robo storage needs. 


Danielle and one very happy birthday girl
This is Hunter and Kate. Kate is a bit leery of our dear Hunter, because he reminds her a bit of Jason Van Der Beek.
Meet Saito-sensei and Watanabe-sensei, two of my favorite teachers. 
This was the biggest bowl of pasta I have ever seen. Hunter's a trooper

Now, if you don't already know, Winston ordered me a bike!!! Tokyo trains are over-priced and over-crowded, so I've decided that biking is my new choice mode of transportation. Here's my bike: 

Coordination is not one of my gifts, so naturally my friends and family have been a little concerned about my safety. Well fear no more, because Betsy and Darin gave me a very practical present: 


Nothing says "SAFETY!" Like Mega Man. Bets painted this helmet for Darin earlier this year, and rather than haul it home they decided to bequeath it to their clumsy friend. Rock on. 

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July, with love, from North Korea

July 3rd Kunisaki was host to an epic storm. It was pouring rain, there was thunder and lightning a plenty, and it was nice and windy. It reminded me of that storm at the end of "The Shawshank Redemption" when Andy finally busts out of jail. 



July 4th the sun was shining, and everything smelled like the ocean. That's what I love about summer storms in Kunisaki, they make everything smell like the ocean, which sort of smells like salami, but in a good way (bizarre I know, I can't stand meat). 

So I woke up around 8 am on July 4th to sunshine and the smell of MSG, which put me in a pretty good mood. I opted for a morning jog.  Of course it was so muggy I was practically breathing water, AND since I'm not a fish that was rather uncomfortable. After a cold shower I threw on some shorts and a tank-top (my summer uniform) and drove to Hiji (a few towns over) to have dinner with one of my old teachers. 

Kawatani-sensei was one of my favorite teachers last year, but in accordance with Japanese bureaucratic rules she was transfered to another school. Lame. She's also friends with Betsy and Darin, so she invited the 3 of us to her house for 4th of July dinner. 

Kawatani-sensei is the most American Japanese person I've ever met. She loves beer, her and her husband love basketball, they live in a beach house, and they have the coolest toilet I have ever seen. The seat has a motion sensor, and it lifts automatically when you open the door. There's also a nightlight in the bowl, for midnight potty missions. Sweet. 

Once it got dark, we lit up some sparklers and sang America a Happy Birthday song. Well, Bets, Darin, and I did... Kawatani-sensei and her husband just sort of hummed along.  "A" for effort though


Kawatani-sensei and her husband
Sparklers IGNITE
...and the rockets' red glare
the bombs bursting in air...
so pretty 



We were all having a good time, and after driving Bets and Darin to a train station I headed home around 11, Brooks and Dunn blaring. There was a 4th of July bonfire in Kunisaki that I'd planned on attending. However, I assume all my friends were a little too "patriotic" to answer their phones. So I went for a late night walk on the beach hoping that I'd be able to hear them. But no luck, so I headed home and watched "Independence Day" all by my lonesome. Nothing says FREEDOM like Will Smith sucker-punching an alien hell bent on mayhem and destruction of the human race.

So today, July 5th, I woke up at 9 to the sound of rain and a buzz saw. Damn buzz saw, buzz saws are worse than alarms, because buzz saws don't have snooze buttons. So I decided to check the news. After filtering through all the Michael Jackson related articles I stumbled upon a few about North Korea. EVIDENTLY North Korea celebrated the 4th of July too, with missiles, in the water between Korea and Japan. Yeppers, I'm now feeling a bit nervous in my current country of residence, because missiles are unsettling. 

Happy 4th, keep it safe...