The Last Week ...

Sorry, sorry, sorry. My sincerest apologies for not blogging in over a week. I have no excuse. My jet lag excuse is no longer good.

Nothing super exciting has been going on. I'm pretty well adjusted to the daily life. I have my routines, I now know where I am going daily, I haven't got lost on the train, my bike is still in action, and my communication skills are improving. Very slowly, but surely.

We have begun to branch out. Amanda and I have gone to a few new restaurants that did not have picture menus & prayed the entire time. They've been pretty good. We went to a global cafe the other day & I ordered something that looked like possibly hamburger with gravy and eggs. I was really stretching to define what exactly was in the picture. Amanda decided the past looked safe. Usually it's easy just to point to the picture & then pray that they're aren't additional questions. I ordered a-ok but when Amanda ordered she had options, that neither of us could understand. A very nice lady helped translate and we found out the pasta could come with apricot sauce or tomato sauce. Amanda played it safe & ordered tomato sauce. When the food came I realized that what I ordered was nothing close to what I thought. It was rice with green sprinkles (no idea) and eggs covering the rice & syrup poured over the entire thing. It was different, but good. Sometimes pictures aren't as helpful as you think.

Last Wednesday Amanda and I went to a welcoming celebration for some English-speakers coming to the area. They are a part of a program called JET and we are allowed to tag along to some of their events. We went to the Gorilla Bar & it was all you can eat (& drink) for two hours & they had karaoke. This was my first karaoke experience & it was very similar to home. Some people can sing rather well and some should never pick up a microphone again, but it was fun. We met a lot of new people in the area, exchanged some phone numbers, and will hopefully have more people to spend time with. And speak English with. :)

This huge fake gorilla was hanging around outside the window ... we were on the 5th floor. It made finding the place slightly easier. Slightly.

On Saturday Amanda and I went shopping in some familiar shops. We took the train into downtown Okayama and walked around, took some pictures, bought a few things, and ate at McDonalds (my first time)! It was relatively normal, except I ate a shrimp sandwich... kind of like the fish sandwich, only shrimp. Everything else was pretty standard. Oh wait - here they have different kinds of McFlurries (which are my favorite). They have Oreo chocolate, Oreo carmel, KitKat, and some green something or another - probably green tea. It was amazing. They even gave us coupons. How great.

Downtown Okayama:

I LOVE the gap. We visit there on occasion. It makes me feel very 'at home'.


This was our McDonalds - just like home!! The fries & the drink were even normal size, as opposed to miniature like most things. I tried to take a close up of the shrimp (I felt very touristy) but there were little shrimps in my sandwich. It was good, but different.
Saturday evening we went to a movie. Naoko gave us free tickets to go to the theater & we went to see Harry Potter. Amanda and I are both big Potter fans, as everyone should be. The movie theater was huge & the seats were nice & everything was good. We didn't have to sneak candy or soda in because that's the standard here. There are vending machines in the lobby of the theater - different from $5 gummy bears back home. There wasn't any popcorn though, which was slightly sad. The movie was in English with Japanese subtitles. The previews were in Japanese - we recorded one for fun (although I was slightly afraid I might get into a tad bit of trouble ... I think even in Japan it is illegal to record in a theater). I did it anyway...

I was holding the camera kind of funny, but you can hear the whole thing. Amanda and I were giggling at the end because it was so intense & we had no idea what had happened. We gathered some ideas, but we think we might have to go to the Japanese movie just to check it out.

(Just click on the 'play' button)

There were a total of 6 people (including Amanda and I) in the theater. I was pleasantly surprised by house nice it was.



A picture of me & my new boyfriend Dobby. Isn't he cute?
After the movie, Amanda and I took the Hogwarts Express (otherwise known as the train) back to our station, Kitanagase. We rode our bikes home & that was that. Sunday was a lazy day with lots of working & a small amount of shopping. I like those kinds of days.

So far this week it has been back to work. I'll give you the details of my job at a later time ... I think a nap is in store for me.

These were some pretty sunsets I photographed from my balcony. I don't like to hang out there after the sun goes down - I'm still afraid the bat might return. Sickening.

much love,

-tara-

xoxo

Oh yes, thanks to those who answered my cry for mail. Well, my mother. Thanks mom!!