Birthday Weekend

A more chilled out celebration this year.

It started with a BBQ yesterday afternoon, then a camping party on the beach and then spending the whole day day basking in the glorious sunshine.

And getting a well nice tan!

God, the weather was GORGEOUS today! It's like my perfect temperature. Hot, but not that sweaty, humid hot that comes from July. There was only 4 of use loafing around today but it was so nice just to kick back and chill and chat and just have a laugh. I didn't have my bikini though because the weather sucked all last week and because yesterday was cloudy, I assumed today was gonna be the same.

How wrong I was!

And now I have a racerback and capri tanline!

Doh!

I hope the weather stays like this. I wanna hit up the beach everyday after school. Only a couple of months to go and I wanna make the most of it coz I'm not gonna get this in Tokyo!

xx

Setting The Wheels In Motion

You know what, it took me like over an hour to book a reasonable place to stay in Tokyo.

Man, what a mission!

I've had to dorm it again. Most of the cheaper hotels are all in Asakusa, but seeing as the area that I'm gonna be flathunting in is Nishi-Shinjuku, it would be too far to commute.

So I'm staying in Ikebukuro instead. I'm not really a fan of north Tokyo. Or North anywhere for that matter! But it's only like 8 mins to Shinjuku and costs only 2,500yen a night. Which is only 300 yen more than what I was paying for a bed in a dorm in Kyoto.

I don't have issues with dorms. I really am only gonna be sleeping there after all. I can share showers and toilets. Obviously, I'd rather not but when it's a case of paying 2,500 yen a night or 7,000, then I really don't care.

I've decided to go on the Thursday night so that I can have 2 completely full days there. I already know that I'm gonna be absolutely knackered by the end of it because it's gonna be a whole load of walking around. Mainly to scope out areas and see what they have in terms of gyms and stuff, but I will be looking at a few places as well. The problem is with the places that I'm going to look at, is that they may not be available when I want them. But I can't leave everything to the last minute and then only go up there once in July. That's pushing it too close. I can use this time to check out different areas that I wasn't considering before as well.

So much to do in such a short amount of time.

But what can you do, eh?

xx

Stress!!!

I have spent hours today flathunting online.

Now I'm in a whole flurry of dilemmas. I hope you're ready for this!

So basically I'm trying to decide about whether I want to go into a flatshare. From what I've seen so far, the cost of living alone and in a flatshare and pretty much the same.

But, you can pay 8man, have your own space but then that space would be the size of a shoeox.

Or, you can pay 8man, have a decent sized/average sized room, but then you would be sharing with other people.

I'm leaning towards the flatshare more and more. Yeh, I've been living alone the last 2 years and it has been awesome. But it's time to be realistic. I will never be able to afford something in Tokyo that's as big as the place I have now. And yeh, you might pay the same for just a room, but that room is likely to be bigger AND you have more living space and a better kitchen and bathroom. Getting dodgy flatmates is just the risk that you have to take. It could also work the other way and you could be landed with awesome people. Plus, I've found in flatshares that the asking price also includes utilities/internet etc. whereas a single apartment would add that on top.

Then there's a third option.....renting a 2 bed place and then finding a flatmate. I've seen places for rent at around 12-15man and this could lower my rent if I could split it in half. The best thing about this is that I would be able to choose who I live with - on my terms. The mammoth problem with this is that I would have to put up the initial money which would financially cripple me. And on top of that, I'm planning on going back to London pretty soon after I move in, so I wouldn't have the time to find a flatmate....not during August anyway...and I can't afford to pay that kind of rent on my own - even if it is only for one month. Not if I won't be getting paid for the time I'll be away.

That's financial suicide.

So there's a lot of things I have to think about. Trying to do this from where I am as well is a complete pain in the arse. I'm gonna fly out there in a couple of weeks but even then, there's no guarantee that I will get to see all the places that I want to. Plus the fact that they might not even be available anymore. It's pretty good because you can put a reservation on some places so it doesn't matter if someone can move in now, if you've reserved that room in August, then no one else can take it. Unless it's for like a month or something.

This is proving to be rather stressful. It's not like I knew it wouldn't be, but now that I've started, finding the time that this actually needs is pretty tough.

And doing it all alone is even harder. If I had someone looking with me, to share the burden, man, how that would make my life easier!

But here we go!

xx

Poor Thing

I actually felt sorry for my supervisor today. I went in with a load of questions and the poor woman just didn't know what to do.

I was speaking to a friend yesterday and she pointed out that it seemed unfair I wasn't getting any compensation for my transportation costs for when I leave.

It hadn't even crossed my mind.

I pointed out today that I'm planning on going back to London..and that I fall within the 30 day perios where I'm eligible for them to pay for my flight. At first she wasn't going for it but then other people intervened and they WILL pay for my flight from Fukuoka-Haneda and then Narita-London. I'm gonna stay in Tokyo for a couple of days to move into my new apartment.

The shit thing with this is that a one way ticket is like 10man more expensive that a return. So I'm still gonna end up paying a fortune to get back here!!!

But I'm working on that!

xx

Priorities

I went back into the staff room after one of my classes, just in time to see some guy finish setting up a massive flat screen TV.

I would've thought it was cool....if anyone in the staffroom actually watched TV. In the 2 years I've been at that school, I've only seen it switched on twice.

Man, they should be putting that money to better use. Like getting aircon or fans to cool the classrooms down.

Once again, the priority goes to the teachers.

Silly Girl!

The gym was fine - all that fuss about nothing.

Man, it felt good to be back there. Although I should've waiting til next month to start going. I had to stay and argue my case about why I shouldn't have to pay the 80 quid for May seeing as I'd only been one day.

In the end I paid the rate for a visitor - 2525 yen. For one day!!! It basically means I can't really go the rest of this week. I'm not gonna pay 6000 for one week when I normally pay 11,000 a month! Doesn't make sense.

Bit sad though - I was really looking forward to my aqua class on Thursday.

Oh well. I guess it gives me another week to rest my foot.

xx

Scared!!!

Man, I am so anxious bout starting back at the gym today.

It's gonna be the first time in 6 weeks that I've had any kind of workout. I'm so unfit and I've managed to undo all the hard work I've put in over the last 8 months.

I already know that it's gonna hurt. I just don't know how much.

My ankle is still strapped up as well. It still hurts when I twist it a certain way so I'm just gonna take it easy and see how it goes.

Should it STILL be hurting after 6 weeks?!!? I thought this was a micro fracture?!?!?!!?

Wish me luck!

xx

Recently....

.....I've been thinking about so many things.

There's only so much you can do before you start to need help....

Blindin

Don't you just love it when you spend the entire weekend with friends?

I had a great time this weekend. Chilling, watching movies, mini BBQs, birthday parties and lots of drinking.

Although I'm really knackered today.

And probably gonna be knackered for the rest of the week!

Totally worth it.

Love y'all.

xx

At Last...

...it's the weekend.

The week has dragged on so much it was painful.

Or maybe it's really catching up with me not going to the gym or something.

I've just been at home doing absolutely bugger all and the boredom has knackered me out.

Not that I have much choice - I really have to get down with this saving lark.

I've been watching movies like nobody's business. I forgot how funny films like 'Love Actually' And 'Notting Hill' are. They left me in stitches. But more than anything, they left me with an overwhelming desire to go back to London. Seeing London on the screen, looking at places and thinking 'that's 10 mins from where I used to live', has really made me wanna go and visit. Go to the supermarkets and go SHOPPING. Hit up the clubs and receive the VIP treatment that I had gotten so used to before I came here...and started paying for my own drinks! LOL!!

Yeh yeh, princess! I know! Hehehehehhe!!

I'm gonna make it happen!

Watch this space!

xx

More Finales

This time it's Prison Break and Gossip Girl.

One left me with a tear in my eye and one left me grinning my arse off! LOL!

I'm not surprised Prison Break ended up the way it did. But I also think it's such a shame to kill off the mastermind behind the whole thing. I loved seeing the ending with where everyone was 4 years down the line...Fernando with his family, Lincoln back with Sophia and LJ, T-Bag back in jail, Self completely crippled, the General shitting his pants in the electric chair...and then

Sarah with her son...visiting Michael's grave.

That's definitely it for Prison Break. There is absolutely nowhere else they can go unless they bring in a whole new storyline with different characters. And let's face it, it's not Prison Break without Michael Scofield!

As for Gossip Girl - AT LAST!!! Chuck comes to his senses and tells Blair that he loves her! Awwwww!!! I think they make such an awesome couple - I'm so pleased the storyline went this way. I have absolutely LOVED Chuck this season. He wasn't as horrendously sleazy as he was in the first season....is that why he suddenly became seriously hot!??!

I always wish Dan and Vanessa got it on though. They just go so well together!!! Seriously excited for the next season!!

Man, everything is finishing!! Prison Break, Gossip Girl, Lost, House, Project Runway....soon there's gonna be nothing left for me to watch!!!

xx

Back to the Grind

I started studying Japanese again this morning.

The last time I studied anything was probably back in Jan/Feb when I submitted the monthly test for book 3 of the CLAIR course.

I was looking through a book I was working from last summer and I couldn't believe how much I've actually learned.

And forgotten.

I'd be doing pretty well if I'd have kept up that studying. I definitely would've given 2kyuu a shot in December. Instead I'm gonna take it next December instead. Only because I just don't have the time this year to give it the studying time it needs. But I will get stuck in once I'm settled in Tokyo.

I'll tell you what I have noticed though. How NEAT my kanji has become. It looks so damn nice written down there in my notebook.

I actually write Japanese a lot. Or at least I used to. When I made lesson plans, they were always in Japanese. All that school lingo, I got down!!!

On a completely different note, I noticed that this woman at my BOE has been flirting outrageously with this younger guy who got married back in February. I came in this morning and she was wearing this really tight dress and strutting around and bending over in front of him.

It made me cringe watching her. Especially because he wasn't paying her the least bit of attention - keeping his eyes fixed on the screen while he was talking or taking anything from her. LOL!

Oh, the humiliation!

xx

Dirty Burger

Over the last few days, all I've been able to think about is sinking my teeth into a big, fat dirty burger.

Well, it's not all I've been able to think about, but you know what I mean.

One of those burgers off the street. Thick meat smothered in cheese, onions and all the relish. Served in nothing but a napkin. That first bite is sooooo satisfying. Wash it down with a can of coke.

*drrrooooooooooolllllll*

Where Next?

Itchy feet are striking again.

I'm already thinking aout where to live after Japan. I said before I wanted to do a stint in Hong Kong. That hasn't changed.

After going to Bali, I've been thinking more and more about an extended period of time in Australia. This is all years down the line, mind you. A complete 180, seeing as I had no interest in going there before.

And then I'm also thinking I'd like to do a stint in New York. I can't put my finger on why...but it's just something that I've been thinking about.

I love living in other places. I don't know if I'll ever get round to doing all of this - I mean, I wanna be settled in a career so there won't be a lot of room for moving around as freely as I have been.

But these itchy feet aren't going away any time soon....

Suddenly....

...it's all becoming very real. I went into the BOE today and my supervisor just started bombarding me with questions.

'When are you moving to Tokyo?'

'When are you planning on leaving your apartment?'

'How are you planning on making your final utility payments?'

'Are you going to close your Saga account and open a postal account or wait until you get to Tokyo and open an account there?'

'Where are you going to be living in Tokyo?'

'Have you found a new job yet?'

'Do you know when the new ALT is coming?'

It was awful. My answers to all these questions were either 'No', 'I don't know' or 'I haven't decided yet'.

It's crazy though because it does put into perspective the amount of stuff that has to be done before I go. Such a pain in the arse.

The other thing is, is that it's too early to be thinking about closing accounts and finalizing payments. I'll deal with all that crap in July. I need to concentrate on finding a house and a job first.

I hate moving house back home. But it's nothing compared with moving house over here. And trying to do it in Japanese.

*sigh*

Naps

I haven't been to the gym in over a month and it feels disgusting.

Not just because all I'm doing is sitting on my arse and eating, but because I'm sitting on my arse, eating and then sleeping!

I have a nap at lunchtime 4 days a week. I call it a nap but I get the best part of 1.5 hours sleep. And then yesterday, I got home from school and then fell asleep for 3 hours. I just felt so tired.

And I do today too. I'm fighting the urge not to just crawl into bed. It's only 5.55pm. But I know I'm gonna end up there.

Why?

Because I don't have anything else to do! I don't wanna go into town and I'm trying to save some money. I'm too tired to watch a movie.....

I didn't realise how much of my time the gym was taking up. I can't wait to start back - although my foot still hurts when it gets into certain positions. I'm gonna give it another week (*sigh*) and then take it slowly from next week.

Hate all this sitting around and eating though. Especially when I'm not burning it off in anyway - feels really gross.

Not to mention I can feel myself undoing all the hard work I've been putting in for 7 months.

Grrr....

Do you have swine flu?

Before I'd managed to park my arse onto a chair, one of the elementary teachers asked me this.

Er....no.

That's all I said and then he goes 'That's good' and went back to doing whatever it was he was doing.

He had a mask ready in his hand and everything.

What the hell?!?!

Swine Flu

There was another massive meeting about swine flu this morning. The 3nensei kids are supposed to be going on a school trip to Kyoto at the end of the month. The 2nensei kids are supposed to be going on a school trip to Fukuoka.

Both have now been cancelled.

They are so panicked by this first case in Kansai. And they were telling is not to take any unnecessary trips to big cities. Especially Fukuoka. Being an international city, they are convinced it's gonna hit there next.

Not go to Fukuoka?

Na-ah.

Not that I'm not taking this swine flu business seriously. Of course I am. But Japan has a tendency to panic a little bit too quickly. Like that whole business with the protesters in Thailand just before Christmas. Even though they were called off before I left, my teachers were still worried and telling me that I could die.

So could you if you walked outside and got knocked down by a car. Much more likely with this country's reckless drivers.

I remember coming back and one of them said to me 'so, you didn't die then?'

Evidently not.

I just feel sorry for the kids. They've been talking about these trips for ages. There's a massive meeting tonight with the teachers coz some of the parents don't think that the trip should be cancelled. If they're that worried, they should just postpone it til September. There's that week where we're gonna get like 4 days off in a day. They should just go then instead of cancelling the whole thing.

*sigh*

She's Still Going!

This woman!

During the first period, I was alone in the staff room. After raiding the biscuit tin, I decided to have a snooze on my desk.

That peaceful moment lasted all of 20mins before it was broken by that woman's horrible voice.

And she didn't stop yapping and screeching until 2 hours 5 minutes after she walked in.

I wouldn't mind someone constantly talking (well, actually that would still be annoying) but this woman is so damn loud! Even when she's talking to the woman sitting opposite her. I just don't get why she has to screech in my ear when she's talking to someone on the other end of the room. Get off your lazy arse and go over there!

Shut up already!

Arrrggghhhh!!!

Finales

You all know how many TV shows I watch.

Well, they're all coming to an end - what am I gonna do!!!

Recent finales that I've watched are Lost, House and Heroes.

Loved them all.

I can't believe they've finally killed off Sylar...or so we think - you never know what's gonna happen with that one!

And I was balling my eyes out by the end of the House and Lost finales.

I can't believe House has lost it. I was so happy when he and Cuddy supposedly got together. Even if I did think his Vicodin detox was happening a bit too quickly!

And it was so nice to see Sawyer stick to his guns by the end. There was a split second when Juliette confronted him that he might reveal his undying love for Kate. But he didn't. Yay!!

Man I can't wait for them all to start again!

xx

Shut Up Woman!

One of my elementary schools has the most ridiculously loud staff room.

There are 3 women with seriously loud voices. Two of them are unbearable to listen to.

The woman I sit next to is the worst. Not only is she annoyingly loud, she NEVER stops talking. And she is always shouting across to people at the other end of the staff room.

It wasn't that I couldn't concentrate this morning - but the constant NOISE was so damn annoying I wanted to turn and smack her one. I mean, she spent 15-20mins talking about toilet paper!

I mean, seriously?! Toilet paper??

It wouldn't have been so bad if I'd had my normal classes. But I went in and got told they'd been cancelled so I had to spend the whole morning listening to that racket.

The thing is apart from her voice, she's actually a really nice lady. But everyone has their breaking point. And today she was really pushing my buttons!

xx

Silly Old Bint

Well, she's not even old really.

From the off, I have told every single person who has ever offered me a drink that I don't drink coffee.

I've been working with this woman for nearly 2 years, and every week she STILL brings me a cup of bloody coffee! And every week I pour it down the sink and make myself a cup of tea. While she's making the coffee, I've even gone into the kitchen to remind her that I don't drink it. And she STILL comes out with a cup!

What the hell? It's like a silent vendetta. Maybe because I got given her chair when I mentioned that mine doesn't alter low enough to fit my legs comfortably under the desk. That wasn't even the true reason. Everyone else had a really cushiony looking chair and mine was so hard I may as well have been sitting on a slab of stone. So they swapped mine with hers.

Ooooppppssss!!!

Hell, I'd rather she didn't bring me anything at all instead of bringing me a cup of that ghastly stuff.

Grrrr....

Nooooo!!!!

I've really done it this time!

Since I first started at school I've had to listen to every version of 'Do you like/eat/touch/see weener?' joke that exists.

Today I was drawing a very simplified map on the board of Japan and it's surrounding countries. I can't even remember why now.

So it came to drawing Korea. Little did I realise that the shape, and then the north/south border and the arrow pointing to it, ended up looking like a penis!!!! And an ejaculating one at that!!!!!!

Suddenly all the points broke into hysterics and were going '何それ、何それ？？？？'

And then it started all over again.

Jeido, do you like that?

Jeido, do you see that?

Jeido, do you touch that?

Jeido, do you eat that?

Jeido, do you put that in your mouth?

*GRRRROOOOOAAAAAANNNNNNN*

I couldn't rub it out fast enough.

And if the kids weren't bad enough, my JTE spent the whole morning ripping the piss out of me and then told anyone in the staff room who would listen!!!

I haven't blushed that hard for a LONG time.

Doh!

Naughty Naughty

I woke up this morning and was so knackered I called in sick.

Might have been a bad idea coz my supervisor has changed and might not deal wiht it in the same way. Oh well - I'll deal with that later.

So after getting up ridiculously late (:-)), I've spent the day, downloading music, uploading photos and catching up with online TV.

Not doing the lesson prep that I should've been doing.

And I still can't be arsed to start it!

I'm still in holiday mode. In my mind I'm replaying awesome moments from the last 10 days.

And more than anything I wish I was still hitting that club scene in Kuta with my 2 girls.

Argh! I totally need to go back.

You go to some places and you have a good time but you don't plan on going back or if you do then normally it's not anytime soon.

It's not a debate - I HAVE to go back to Indonesia. I would still make the stop in the south but I wanna see more of the north and head over to the Gili Islands in Lombok. And back to Java to see the volcanoes there.

Definitely won't be happening this year though. I'm trying to make it back to the UK in September and then I wanna spend Xmas in Oz. After seeing all those aussies in their natural environment, I definitely have more of an inclination to go there! LOL!

K - I really need to work on this damn worksheet now. So can't be arsed.

xx

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga and Akon were all over the club scene in Bali.

That was when I was waving my arms in the air in the house clubs.

I absolutely LOVE Lady Gaga. I heard her songs in my step aerobics class but I never knew who it was. And now I've downloaded her album and I LOVE it!!!

Plus, it's keeping me in holiday mode! LOL!!!

xx

Back from Bali

And it ended all too soon.

The last four days of the trip were easily the best. Those were the beach and party days.

And man did we party! Well, 2 of us did anyway!

I loved the clubs. I always get into my house and trance on holiday. I love being able to club and bar hop with no cover charges. To wear flip flops and bikinis all the time. And to just have a laugh.

Suffering a bit from post holiday blues again but I'm trying not to let it get to me as much as it usually does.

Definitely not as tanned as I would've liked either. We all burned on the first beach day so we were hitting the beach after 3pm every time because it was just too hot. Seemed like most people had the same idea because after sunset the beaches became packed.

It was awesome to see my girl from home. I only got to spend a day and a half with her but I loved every minute of it.

And now I don't have any holidays to look forward to! Better start looking lol!

Pictures to come!

xx