Chocolate and Fluffy Things I was so paranoid about getting to the right airport early that people were snickering, but I left at the first opportunity anyway. I ended up sitting next to a fascinating guy (I had actually met him at breakfast two days ago) who studies linguistics. He was telling me all sorts of random Japanesy linguistic things. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is how he said the particle "ni" is for an indirect object more than it's for a location. He made the hour journey to the airport shorter and I ended up hanging out with him until his plane left (he's in Chiba.) We bought chocolate omiyage, then split it between ourselves and he also made an impulse purchase of a fluffy cute animal-bag at an airport gift shop. It was very cute. It would have been even if he wasn't gay.

Woo Hoo I happen to be within a relatively reasonable time to get a single bus back from Osaka instead of a shinkansen/streetcar/bus. I did have to call the Hankyuu Bus Company myself (the reservation counter only gave me their phone number, then left me to my own devices) but I managed to make it back with no problem, all because I was familiar with the bus system when I used it when my sister was visiting. During the ride, I got some story brainstorming done and some sleeping done. Go me. But when I got home, I couldn't pull into my driveway because of the excess snowfall that had fell when I was gone (the roads were clear, but not my driveway.) Jeez, it snows a lot here. I spent about an hour shoveling enough out of the way just to get my car to fit, then I plowed a path to my door. Back to work tomorrow, and it's the Valentine's lesson.

Inspection Class Today, we had one of those "We're being watched" classes again, but unlike the school open house where every teacher in the county showed up, this was only being observed by Inoue-sensei, the social studies teacher, and Nosohara-sensei, the vice principal. I never understood why we were being watched exactly, but we planned the hell out of it. Our topic was Months of the Year. I even enlarged AND COLORED IN a bunch of month drawings from this nifty word book from the elementary school. The coolest thing we did was have the students play BS (which, in Japanese, is called "Doubt!" or, to be more accurate to the pronunciation, "Dauto!") but instead of saying "3" or whatever and putting down a card which may or may not be a 3, you say the corresponding month "March" and put down a card. To challenge someone, you say "Doubt" instead of "B.S." but Tomomi understood me when I privately explained what B.S. meant later. I guess he knows his swear words. Anyway, we had to take out the kings to play, but it really was a brilliant way to drill the month names, especially since Japanese essentially calls them 1-month, 2-month, etc.

Finally Taking Alarm Action My Japanese teacher was really impressed with my journal. Surprisingly, I made less mistakes than I had expected, despite that I told her to be 'strict.' Yay! I drove to UFO afterward to finally buy a new alarm clock. (My Japanese teacher even knew exactly where they were in UFO.) I made sure it was digital, even though I don't like digital, so there would be no physical barrier to changing the alarm time after it goes off. It was $20. We'll see how it does...

Karma? My new alarm did not go off this morning. Weird coincidence? No. I just never actually turned it on. The upside was that I did not need to wake up early because today is a holiday. I just wanted to get up before 9. Yeah, like that would happen.

How Hard Is It To Find Such a BIG Place? I spent most of the day at my computer with one break for, gasp, exercise. Then, in the evening, I drove down to Shobara to meet some of the other Bihoku gang (who had gone skiing today and invited me, but I decided I would be too tired after Hokkaido) at a bar. I met Katie at "The Big" (which is a mega supermarket shopping complex) but only after taking a wrong turn and getting lost. I made the faulty assumption that the big mega supermarket complex would be in "Central Shobara." No. I was trying to be smarter than the highway numbers. It was a good thing that A: I saw the DeoDeo (those electronics store signs can catch my eye from very far away) and that B: DeoDeo was on the map I brought. I was able to navigate back to the correct street to find The Big. I must have been hungry because I swore I smelled an Old Chicago pizza as I drove. I was an hour late to The Big, but Katie waited for me, then led me on a side road for awhile before turning off to a dirt parking lot I would have never, ever found on my own, leading to a bar in the rear called Scarecrow. It had a few big, wooden tables, a lot of English signatures on the walls, and an awesome bartender. Because of the gaijin invasion, however, they were out of nearly everything, even every variety of pizza they advertised. I ended up eating some oily spaghetti with one glass of coke (because they ran out after that) as I talked to a whole bunch of first-time snowboarders. They were actually still smiling, even poor Carina from London and the two from Thailand, but they also were quick to admit they had very sore bottoms. Odd eavesdroppings: I heard Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore referred to as "hot" by a male peer. I heard a woman my age talking casually about different porn stars, porn movies, and snuff (while me and Carina stared blankly forward). Then they got off on a British TV tangent (since they were all from Britain or Ireland) and I barely kept up, though at least I recognized the Are You Being Served? reference. Interesting language correlation: "anaba" which literally means "hole spot" in Japanese, is defined as "a little-known, but good place" just like "hole in the wall."

Cigarette Theory Carina is a nice person. Carina is a smoker. I found out that she is the second nice smoker I know who used to Hate and Despise the smell of smoke. I Hate and Despise the smell of smoke. Does that mean that if I, for some reason, decide to smoke a cigarette and get addicted, I'll eat my words? Although I can't imagine ever having the slightest temptation to pay money to suck tobacco fumes into my lungs and have everyone in the vicinity smell it, it did happen to them. Maybe it was a social thing? If so, the chances are reduced since my friends are much more likely to get together and watch muppet movies and eat chocolate and popcorn than go out to a smoky club. Then again, I am severely addicted to chapstick with no social stimulation toward that whatsoever...

Hmm Although my alarm clock goes off nice and slowly, starting with a single beep, I swear it goes off every three minutes, not every five. And it SEEMS like I can't change the alarm time on the spot either, which is annoying. Then again, I have yet to confirm either of these observations when I'm actually awake enough to...

It's Official I saw one of my 7th graders hit his desk repeatedly and go "Heeeeey, Heeeeey" Okay, this show needs to be exported. Somehow.

Q & A How Late Did I Stay? 6pm. Did Anyone Ask Me To? No. What Was I Doing? Um, well. What WAS I Doing?! Um, making, um, a (whisper) a celebrity love match wheel. A WHAT? Well, I need something for my February Corner. What's a Celebrity Love Match Wheel? Well, I take a bunch of color pics I printed out, cut them out and put them on a circular piece of paper and there's a heart on one side where one celebrity shows through... Isn't that kind of abusive toward celebrity images? No, because I used a picture of me, too. Do I Have a Life? Yes, I'm just get enthuzed over arts and crafts. But a Celebrity Wheel of Love? Shhh, I'm trying to retain my dignity here.

My Logic Went Out for Dinner Tonight Let's look at tonight's thought process: "I'm tired. But I should eat dinner. I'm actually not that hungry, so should take advantage of the fact and not stuff myself. But I will be hungry. I know I will, so eat, Melf. Here's an apple and a banana and a croissant. Hmm. I would really like soup. I am in a soup mood. I'm really in a soup mood. But I don't want to stand in the cold kitchen for 15 minutes cooking. I just want a warm bowl of soup on my table. Maybe I'll have some cheese with my apple. Mm. That was good, even for lowfat Japanese processed cheese slices. Maybe I'll get another slice of cheese. Oh, look, I have LEFTOVER SOUP in the fridge!!" That was on, let's count, my Fourth Opening of the fridge, where every opening I was thinking about soup, just not SEEING it. Oh, dear. Where's that coke?

Chocolate Happenings I got a care package from my parents today which included, among lots of other goodies, a Big Box of chocolate. Not only chocolate, Belgian chocolate. My parents love me. I also gave Tomomi some chocolate 'cause girls give guys chocolate for Valentine's Day in Japan (guys they like or just guys who have been helpful.) I think that is terribly backwards since it is really men who should do the wooing and it is really women who appreciate chocolate. But I gave in and bought some chocolate for myself along the way of course.

I'm Impressed Tomomi knows his American pop culture! Not only does he know Frank Sinatra and what B.S. actually means, he also knows the significance of Friday the 13th!

Random Trip to Hiroshima! Tomomi said I could leave at 4pm, yay, so I left early and drove down to Hiroshima city to meet Denise and Ann, who I had never met before. I hit Random Traffic outside the city (just outside the city mind you, not actually in it) and was very late, but it was all okay. While looking for a parking tower (I learned that I am only capable of finding them by accident) I saw people carrying signs. At first I thought they were advocating some slimy politician, but no, they were actually protesters! Yay! Go Japanese people! They were protesting the Iraq war, I think because Japan recently sent in (non-fighting) reinforcements. I learned a New Protest Term: SENSOU HANTAI. It literally means War Opposite, but I was told later, it was the equivalent of "Against War" or "No War" The thing about "No War" though it that it looks good on a sign, is short, and can be read from far away unlike "sensou hantai" which is four complex kanji characters. Anyway, I parked, and watched my car go up into the mysterious tower o' cars, did my old "use the public toilet on the 2nd floor of a nice department store" trick, and realized that, for the first time in awhile, I didn't need my coat! Then I walked to Sogo where we had agreed to meet. Then I met Ann! Ann rocks! Finally, a person like me who lives near me. We spent most of the night talking in a coffee shop, it was awesome! The best parts besides all the same movies/books we both like are 1: she is a writer and 2: she has DDR! She also watches Odoru Daisousasen, which is just another bonus. Anyhoo, after midnight, we walked back to the parking tower, passing many men in long coats, many women wearing high boots, and a dodgy pet store that was still open for business. (Shiver) Anyway, we made it safely and I figured we'd go to Hotel New Hiroden because it is open 24 hours, near the station (where people need to leave from), reasonably priced, and has parking. Since I'd been there before with Laura over New Years, I figured I'd have no problem finding it. Right? Wrong. I drove around the station I don't know how many times, but didn't see anything close. I had to stop at two convenience stores to get directions. The clerk of the second convenience store pointed at the map and suggested I go back the station, since that would be the easiest path, but I politely ignored that suggestion (I've been to the front of the station six times and I haven't found it!) and looked at the map on my own. Despite several illegal U-turns and other maneuvers, I finally found that evasive hotel that is not-quite-on-the-river-front and not-quite-by-the-station and doesn't-always-light-up-its-sign. It all went smooth from there, yay.

Sunday's Sun Due to staying up late chatting, we woke up barely in time to check out. They trusted me enough to get back in the car with me as I searched for a place to have breakfast. I could not find the initial place, so we went to Sunday's Sun. I have never been to Sunday's Sun, but I passed four, count 'em four, on the drive here yesterday. There is even one in Miyoshi. It is basically a Denny's without a Grand Slam breakfast. Also, there are either less choices or less choices that look appetizing because I had trouble finding something I actually wanted. They did, however, have fries, yummy sundaes, and best of all, a drink bar! (Self serve drink stations are called "Viking" in Japanese, which for some inexplicable reason, means smorgasbord.) This one rocked! It had self-service espresso drinks, even. I got an iced mocha with hazelnut syrup and vanilla syrup and whatever else they had all mixed into one. Way too much fun.

Wind and Refund Weather update: It was really, really windy today. I've never seen wind like this in Sakugi. It reminded me of home. Also, I got a very encouraging email today. It looks like I will get a refund for that unused Osaka plane ticket after all! Granted, it is only a partial refund (after cancellation fee was taken out) and granted, I paid $100 more than what the ticket would be worth, but still, definitely better than nothing! Yay for the other Melissa (the not-stupid one) checking this out for me!