Day 65 - online shopping

May 31, 2011

This is my first time buying things online in Japan. After much consideration, I had decided to buy those two items. haha! I guess it's ok to treat myself sometimes eh? =P

Wow, the delivery was very fast! I paid on Sunday and I got my stuff on Tuesday. That's tooo good. Oh, and yea, free shipping. =) Oh, one more thing. It is good to be able to pay at convenience store for sites like amazon.jp. Since I don't have a Japanese credit card and I don't wanna use my Canadian one, being able to pay at convenience stores is sooo convenient!! That'll be something that i'll miss about Japan! =P

Hehe, I'm currently enjoying my FMB cd. =P

Day 64 - Stormy day...

May 30, 2011

Hmm, this is actually not a good picture to depict how heavy the rain was. I was going to take a picture of allll the people outside the Kita Sendai station, but I didnt' want to stand in the rain...

It was a super rainy day. Well, I was really bad actually. I slept in til REALLY late. When I arrived the station, I felt super lucky that the train that I usually take was still at the station! (btw, I was like half an hour late...so scary...so bad...) I managed to put myself into the super packed train, and I immediately called school say that I would be late. Everyone waited for another 30 minutes in the train, and the train STILL didn’t move! After the long wait, there was an announcement saying the train wouldn’t run until 12pm. HA...how nice. Many students were happy that they couldn’t go to school. I called school again to tell them the situation. When I was returning my ticket, the station attendant was telling me that there will not be trains to and from my school!

I was literally soaked when I got to the bus stop. I figured I actually didn't really have classes today, so I used my very few holidays to stay home. Well, because I went home, I had the chance to call my mom! yay! =)

I certainly hope the rain wouldn't stay for a looooooooong time.

Day 63 - Happy birthday, Mom!! =)

May 29, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!! It seemed like you had a great bday!! Awww, I wished I was at the dinner too!! Well, hope you had an awesome day....and more awesome days to come! God has truly blessed our family. It is our honour for our family to have so many great people around us. We are blessed. 願您“新”的一年繼續充滿著恩典，平安，健康，喜樂，愛啦~~

媽，生日快樂！=)

Day 62 - I'm famous...in Shetland!! XD

May 28, 2011

To satisfy Amanda's crave for Indian curry, we had that for lunch today. It was nice~~ We then had a MV & movie day at Em's. It's always nice hanging out w/ the girls. =) Awwww, seeing all those MVs made me really wanna go sing k!!! Tooo bad I was still coughing and stuff! It's ok. There's still time.

Haha, yay, I'm famous in Shetland! =P Emily wrote articles for the Shetland newspaper (I think). She was interviewed about her experience in Japan during the incident. They happened to publish the picture of Em and I having our dinner at the refuge centre. Btw, for those who don't know, Shetland is in UK. Um....well, that's all I know actually. There are puffins? I think...? Haaa, with my limited knowledge, I'll stop at that. =P

It was a nice day. Nice and chill~

Day 61 - 想，但如何。。。？

May 27, 2011

I recently have many possible ideas for school. I do want to give my students more opportunities to use/experience English. I was doing some searching for lesson ideas at work. I saw some ALTs created an English room that would foster a positive learning environment. There would be English posters everywhere for students' references. There could also be an English "conversation" board so students can freely express themselves in English. This idea sounds very good...at least theoretically. This is a potential room that I might be able to use in school. Ugh...there are sooo many things I want to do in school, but I don't know how!!!!! I do want to inspire these students to at least not repeal English. I have a looooooong way. I hope to be able to do something.

Oh, so I did my colour and number activity with the special needs class. It actually was a lot better than I thought! =) Thank God. =) I was a bit worried before class because the students are required to say the colour and number out loud. However, some students are really shy. I remember a number of them cried when I asked them "How are you?", so I didn't know if that activity would be too stressful.

To my surprise, the students reacted very well to the activity! =) All the students put up their hands to say the colours and numbers! They got very excited about the activity! One of the students tried many times, but he still didn't find the treasure. During the last few minutes of class, because he was the only student who didn't have a sticker, so I kept on calling him to reveal the colour papers. The others students who put up their hands were laughing so hard since I kept on calling that student's name. It was a fun lesson. It was good to know that the students at least knew how to say the 9 colours and numbers 1-10.

Yay, it's weekend. I like it. =)

Day 60 - Treasure hunt

May 26, 2011

This is a “game board” that I’m planning to use tomorrow in my Special needs class. We are going to review colours and teach numbers 1-10. It looks colourful and stuff and fun. Hope the kids would like it! I’m glad that I am able to recycle the materials that I made before for this lesson. The colour papers were used in the 3rd years for a comparative/superlative review. They were also used in the special ed. Class when I was teaching numbers. The big cardboard was used as a game board previously in the special ed. Class.

This activity is very simple. Under the 90 colour cards, there are 12 stickers hidden behind the cards. The students will call out the colour and number of the card for me to reveal the “surprise”. There will be 9 students at most in my class tomorrow because all the 2nd years don’t have to come to school. I figure each student should at least get 1 sticker. However, I am a bit nervous about the activity. Although it seems interesting, most 1st year students are very shy and they refuse to speak publicly. I remember a kid would cry everything she had to speak publicly. Oh well, whatever. I’ll give it a shot anyway. You never know until you try.

Yes, you never know until you try. You never know what the result would be until you actually take the “risk” the flip the card. That’s my random thought when I was designing the activity. Haaaaaa, yea, it’s very random. I guess this activity is kind of like life in general. Well, at least a super over-simplified “life”. We often have to make different choices. We all want to good outcomes from the choices that we make, like getting the sticker (or treasure). Yeah, we often need to put effort to even have the chance of getting the treasure (the students need to know how to say the colour and number of the card). However, there may be many times in our lives even when we made our decision and put our effort, all we get is….nothing. Some people may be lucky enough to get what they want in a few go’s, but some may try many many times and still get nothing. Well, is it fair? I guess it’s just part of life. However, I guess those who try and try would still get “something” out of the process, like my special ed. Students. For those students who will try many times to find the stickers and fail, at least they got A LOT of practice in saying colours and numbers! I guess that is still some sort of gain…eh?

Haaaaa, I’m not sure if I’m even making sense….XD Since there are chances for us get something pleasant out of our effort, I guess the best thing we can do is to try our best. We could only keep on trying…and trying…and trying…

That’s right. Get the most out of every opportunity!~

共勉之。

Day 59 - 朋自遠方來~

May 25, 2011

It was great to chat w/ Lisa again. Although we couldn’t meet up in Japan, it was nice to chat with her on Skype.

Yeah, I agree. Things change. It would be interesting to see the different environments again. It may take some getting used to as well. Oh well, I just hope things would turn out well…eventually. God has His time for things to happen. Add oil sis. =)

Enjoy your time in Japanland! You are in my prayers. =)

Day 58 - ともだち～

May 24, 2011

It was a regular work day, but went out for dinner w/ Andy & Winsy. We went for that cheap but good Chinese place for dinner. It was good. Haha, after we met up, we found out that we were all Chinese! Haha, having random Chinese conversations made me felt like home.

Haaaaaa, well, dinner isn’t complete without dessert, so we decided to go to BR31. Hmmm, have I fully recovered from my cough yet? Ehm, nope. I wasn’t going to order ice cream, but I couldn’t resist! How can I not get ice cream in an ice cream store? Well, I got the kid’s size just to make myself felt better. =P

Day 57 - 哈日~

May 23, 2011

I went back to school today. Well, I still didn't have a good night sleep. I woke up at 5am because I was coughing a lot. My JTEs were all very understanding. I actually only taught one lesson today. Haaaa, I actually wasn't that prepared for that lesson...so bad. I probably bored the students to dead. My normal work shall resume tomorrow. It was very cute that a few students approached me and said "take care" to me. =) I somehow felt I haven't been at work for a looooong time.

Well, my sick days were quite unproductive. I guess sick days are for people to get rest eh? I certainly did! Well, at least rest for my brain. I watched a lot of drama during that few days. I guess my addiction to Japanese drama isn't new. haha! Unfortunately, my Japanese ability is still quite low. My speaking is HORRIBLE!!!!! I could only use very very simple and choppy Japanese to communicate with others. Sigh.....that's sad. Hope my Japanese would improve! Well, I BETTER IMPROVE!! I'm in the ideal situation/environment to learn the language, it would be such a shame to have not improvement.

Recently, I had been watching a lot of SMAP related shows. SMAP X SMAP is on TV every Monday at 10pm. I usually watch it. To be honest, I don't know a lot about SMAP. I only like Kimura~~ =P Well, I mainly like his dramas. Wow, they had been in this field for soooo long! It's their 22nd year this year! I was watching their annual special show during my leave. The show was showing clips of their performances when they were young. The youngest one started to be in SMAP when he was 11! That means he had devoted 2/3 of his life in the entertainment industry as of now. Yeah, that's true. I think SMAP is not as popular as before. There are so many more young idol groups nowadays. Well, I still think it's pretty amazing for the group to still be around after 22 years. I don't think they had really stopped performing...well, I might be wrong.

I found their only "Chinese song" on youtube by chance. I think the original song was a big hit back then. They are going to have concerts in Chinese later this year. That song is probably for their China visit. I believe this song was used to cheer people up after the 311 earthquake. To be honest, I couldn't really understand their Chinese, but it is cute to see ppl attempt to speak/sing in a foreign language. =)

Haha, I can't wait to sing K again. XD When are we going to sing K???? =P I recently quite like Funky Monkey Babys. Many of their songs are quite encouraging. I might be wrong, but I feel like there are more "non-romantic love" related Japanese songs...compared to HK/TW pop...

Haha, I guess I'm in the right place to 哈日!! Yay~ =)

Day 56 - Delivery~

May 22, 2011

It's a rainy day today. Since I still cough a lot, I didn't go to church and I re-scheduled my tutoring session. Ugh, still couldn't sleep well. Well, I guess it was a bit better than the other days.

Again, I didn't do much today. I have to plan lessons tho! ERrrrr...why does it always take so much time for me to plan lessons??? Aiya...

Yup, I finally have access to cough syrup. I am not a big fan of cough syrup but I just want to be able to sleep! It was very sweet of my friend who lives in the southern part of Sendai to deliver the cough syrup to my station. Luckily we both live very close to subway stations. =) Thank you! Yup, it's medicine from Canada! To be honest, I've never had this cough syrup before since I'm not a big fan of cough syrup, and I rarely cough soooo bad. Again, thank you soooo much for all my family and friends for checking on my health, asking how I'm feeling. I am blessed.

With this delivery, hope I can sleep and go to work like normal.

Take care everyone!

Day 55 - Indulgence

May 21, 2011

Well, yet another sleepless night. It's crazy how the cough is keeping me from sleeping. Before I went to bed, I went online to see what I should do to stop coughing at night. I tried many of the mentioned "remedies". I drank honey water, took anti-histamine, drank something hot before going to bed. Did they work?? Nope. Not at all unfortunately. I remember cough syrup is somewhat effective as a cough depressant. I know that since I have phlegm as well, I shouldn't take cough depressant, but I think I need to sleep properly too.....

I woke up doing my laundry, watching some more Japanese drama, and attempting to prep my lessons. Leisure time often flies. It was nice to meet up w/ the girls for burgers. Yup, BURGERS!!!! Our overdue-burger date. I still remember we were going to have burgers on the day of the earthquake and a few days before that. For both days, we didn't go because of earthquakes. Well, I guess burger wasn't the best thing for a sick person to have since it's often greasy, but I went anyway. It's great to see the girls. =)

I ordered a regular burger since I thought it had the "least grease". Although I would love to have cheese with it, just having that meat was satisfying. =) We then went for Starbucks for "dessert". It was good.

I took some advice from Emily and Winsy about stopping cough. I did try my honey+lemon shot and double pillow sleep. I'll see how they work. I really hope I could sleep properly...

Well, it was a fun night as usual. Thanks girls. =)

Day 54 - Another sleepless night...

May 20, 2011

Ok, I cheated. I didn't take a photo obviously. The day was so mundane that I didn't know what to take. haha!

Ugh, I couldn't sleep again. I was actually going to work today. I woke up earlier than usual...because I barely got any sleep. I took a shower, got dressed, and "ready" to go to work. Because I had been coughing for the whole night, I was sooooo tired....and I started to cough a lot in the morning. I could barely speak. I figured even if I went to school, I couldn't really teach because I would cough every few minutes and my voice was gone. Since I could only take sick leave by the day, so I called my supervisor and I stayed home for another day.

I've actually never really taken sick days for that long (well, 3 days). I was also supposed to have our staff welcome party. My supervisor called me yesterday and she suggested me not to go as well, so I didn't go to the party. Although I wanted to go to this kind of school events because it would be a very good opportunity for me to chat with the staff, I guess I shouldn't since I was sick.

Well, I guess I was getting better. I didn't cough as much as before. It felt reeeeeeaally bad not being able to sleep tho! I had a box of tissue, a litter bag right beside my bed so that I could use them in the middle of the night. Ugh.....I really really wish the cough could go away...

Day 53 - I am blessed. =)

May 19, 2011

Ugh, I'm still sick. I still couldn't sleep. I rarely get sick (*touch wood*). It's kind of rare for me to be sick for so long. Well, I guess it hadn't been THAT long...but it's more than a week already. I guess bronchitis is a bit different from common cold..?

Yeah, I didn't go to school today. It's just hard when one couldn't sleep and would cough every so often. Mornings and nights were the worse. I was more ok today in the afternoon. After making a call to my supervisor in the morning, I went back to sleep because I barely got any sleep at night. It was good that I actually could sleep. Ha, again, not a very productive day. I tried to do school work, but drama sucked me in.......bad....soooo bad......

In he afternoon, my supervisor came w/ a bunch of food!!!!! =) The food on the picture were from my supervisor. She was soooo sweet! She came to my place just to drop off the food. She also said she was relieved when she saw me. I guess I did look ok when she visited in the afternoon. It was very nice of her! I am blessed.

Yes, I am blessed. Thank you sooooooo much for all of you who have cared for me. Your messages meant a lot to me. I am not alone. =) Little things mean a lot. Thanks everyone!

Hmmmmmm, I was thinking of going back to school tomorrow, but I actually didn't know if I would be able to teach if I were to go back. I still cough a lot and I have a lot of phlegm. We'll see.

Take care everyone!

Day 52 - Sick...

May 18, 2011

It was good that our JET adviser called my school for me so that I could take sick leave today. It was good that I didn't have to work because I couldn't sleep at night. I went to bed at around 10 (I thought that's kinda early...), and I had been coughing the whole night. It was not fun. =( I still had a lot of phlegm. According to some info on websites, the colour of phlegm can tell you what's wrong with your body. I think my body was trying to fight some sort of infection.....or there's an inflammation to my mucus secreting cells in my lung....so it's secreting a lot of mucus. Woooo...sounds so scientific.

Well, for the day, I basically stayed at home, and produced a lot of garbage. It was nice to talk to sis and my supervisor. I hope I could go back to work on Friday.

Cough...please go away!!!

Day 51 - 病向淺中醫...

May 17, 2011

Yesterday's sleep was half pleasant. I could sleep a bit better than the day before, but I still got woken up by coughs and heat. I didn't know why I felt extra hot yesterday night. Well, I still went to work. I thought I was better. As the day went on, I started to cough like crazy again...so I decided to see the doctor.

Well, I was asked if I wanted to see the doctor yesterday, but I said I didn't need to. I guess I was wrong. I had been coughing for a week and it seems like it's not getting better. I tried eating healthy, drinking lots of water, getting lots of sleep, but my cough and other conditions seem to remain. Yeah, perhaps it's time to get some professional advice.

Luckily I am in the JET program. I searched different English speaking general practitioners and found one that is super close to my place! How wonderful. =) I took an hour leave to see the doctor before going to our ALT meeting. The doctor seemed to be a bit interested that I'm a foreigner. He's probably at his late 50s or 60s. He seemed like a very kind doctor though. He kept on saying "no problem". I wasn't sure what he really meant... Was he telling me that it wasn't anything serious? Or was he saying I actually wasn't really sick? I was perplexed. OH well...it was good to know that I could see a doctor near my place. There's also a pharmacy close to my place. I am blessed. Dr. Otaki told me that I had mild bronchitis. I just needed to take antibiotics for 7 days, then I should be fine.

When I went to the meeting, I couldn't stop coughing. Ohhhhh....苦しい... =( Our JET coordinator saw that and she sent me home. It's good that she even offered to call my school for me so I could take sick leave tomorrow. I am blessed with all these good people around me. =)

It's very interesting. I was actually quite nervous about a lesson that I was supposed to deliver today. When I went to school, I found out that the class was cancelled! Wooo...what a sigh of relieve...~~

Take care everyone! Many people are sick... Gonna get lots of sleep tonight!

Ciao~

Day 50 - Care.

May 16, 2011

Yeah, I guess karaoke during a sick day was not the best activity. Well, probably not from karaoke actually. I could barely sleep last night. I kept on coughing for the entire night. I twas not fun AT ALL! I felt quite sick at work. Kept on coughing, felt dizzy....so I took half a day off work and went home. Ugh, I hate to be sick. I had been coughing since last Tuesday. I still have a lot of phlegm w/ my cough. Sometimes I would cough so much that my head would start to hurt....and I would have a hard time breathing.

My supervisor was very sweet. Before I headed home, she gave me these to bring home. Well, I guess chocolate might not have been the best food to have when you cough, but it was just very very sweet of her to give me those little treats. =) I am very fortunate. Since I went to school today, so I had to use my annual leave to go home instead of sick leave. It's also because of that, I found out that my school actually didn't use my annual leave days for the extra week holiday that I took after the earthquake! Yup. I have nothing to complain. Again, I am too blessed and fortunate. Thank God. You are good to me. =)

It was good that I was able to take a nap when I got home. I really hope my cough and phlegm can go away REEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAL sooooon....

Day 49 - Music day~~~~!!!! =)

May 15, 2011

Today was a music day. Yay! Taiko practice is back! =) Sooooo happy! =) Although Aoba festival is cancelled, we are practicing for the summer festival. Aoba festival is probably the 2nd biggest festival in Sendai. People would be dancing "suzume odori" on the street...and some people would carry the whatever god and walk around the town. It would be very interesting! However, because such a big tragedy happened in Japan, and there are probably still gonna be aftershocks, the officials decided to cancel the festival this year. Oh well, next year!! At least I can still play the drum!!!!! =) This is a clip of last year's performance from our team, Tsubasa (翼). Enjoy!

Mind you, I was still sick. After drumming practice, I went for all u can sing K. It was uberly fun! Well, we sang for 5 hours for the 5 of us. I would have to say I sang quite a bit. We sang English songs, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin. Again, it reminded me of my Vancouver life w/ my lovely bro and sis. :) You guys/girls taught me a lot of the songs. haa!

Hmmm, but yea, I was sick. I guess it wasn't the best activity for a sick person...

Oh well, it was REALLY fun~~~~ I think I'm addicted to sing K now. OHhhh nooooo... =P

Day 48 - Creep...

May 14, 2011

WOOOOO! WHAT A CREEPY PICTURE!! Yup, that's the creep. I've been sick for a few days. I was supposed to volunteer today, but I ended up sleeping in. When I woke up at around 9, I actually felt ok. I was only coughing. After shower, food, and a movie, my head AND stomach started to hurt like crazy...so I took a nap for around 2 hours. Yeah, it was a lot better after the nap. It was such a nice day today!! I felt like the more I stay at home, the more rubbish I'll feel...so I still got my butt out of the bed and went out in the afternoon.

Yes, I was wearing a mask. For those who don't know, Japanese likes to wear masks. They mostly wear masks for 2 reasons: to protect others from getting their sick germs, and to prevent from getting disease from others. I am not a big fan of wearing masks. You're pretty much breathing in and out your own gas...that's kinda gross. Oh well, we should be considerate of others.

Something random...

I was reading my elementary school classmate's blog. She just did a bike tour around Taiwan. It was refreshing just to read her blog! It looked like an awesome experience! It made me think that maybe I should have some sort of challenge for myself too. I guess I did make my first step in coming to Japan by myself. I feel like more challenges are ought to come. What are they? I don't know. It's interesting to read her blog. One of her posts was 人總要離開一陣子...so I'm glad I'm where I am. Recently, some various interactions with different people, I seem to learn more about myself. Sometimes I don't even know why I do or think what I do/think. It's very odd sometimes. I sometimes somewhat regret I did what I did..or I said what I said... Oh well, I guess I'll try my best to do the right thing, then the result will not matter anymore. I guess 有些事情嘗試了，用盡我知道的去做了。。。就算結果不盡如意，也沒甚麼好不快。世上大概有很多事我們掌控不了吧。。。 Sometimes I think I creep people out. Ohhh......I'll try not to.

While I was walking to town today, I heard 在你手中 again. I was very touched...once again. Yeah, everything is in Your hands. I shall enjoy everything I have...whether what I have as a person or the things I experience. Although I am not that young anymore, I still sometimes wish I could be different in certain ways. Well, I don't know. Like what my ex-classmate wrote in one of her posts, sometimes I think I am in the 迷 stage. I sometimes don't know what I'm doing, why I'm doing what I'm doing, or what I should be doing. I guess as she said, feeling "lost" can be good. At least we realize we're "lost". It could be a good chance to grow...to improve as a person. I guess I'm somewhat still trying to find my place in this universe. I want to find home too.

Another realization...self confidence brings beauty... I guess it's true in a way.



Hmm...challenges. When will be my next? What would it/they be?


I wonder......

Day 47 - Wounds can be healed…

May 13, 2011

Dedicated to my sister, Grace, this is a post for her. Well, specifically, it’ll be about her cow.

If you’ve read my post a few days ago, you would know that a cow that my sis gave me had a broken leg. My students broke his/her leg when they were passing the cow during our ice breaking activity. Since I wanted to use the same passing object for the other classes, I decided to perform an operation on his broken leg. I’m glad that I got some sort of glue a while ago for my bulletin board. The glue actually worked a lot better than I thought! The cow can stand again!! Woohoooo~ =)

Ha, after the “operation”, something popped into my mind. Yeah, wounds can be healed. It might take some time to find what's the best thing to heal the wound. I was lucky that the glue I had miraculously worked quite perfectly. =) After the wound is healed, it can stand again! Although sometimes there might be scars, at least one can walk again like normal~ =) Well, it takes time to heal. God lets the best to happen at His best time ma. Meanwhile, it would be good to get the most out of the given circumstance.

Haaaa, it was nice to dine w/ Amanda & Winsy. Too bad Emily couldn't come. Haha, we all shared our "random thoughts/happenings". I was actually still kind of sick, but some random stuff gave me smiles. =)

I was having lunch with one of the 3rd year classes. I was sitting in front of a boy in the baseball club. It was vvvvvvvvery cute that when he found out I was going to sit beside him, he was thinking of asking me some English questions. Unfortunately, he forgot his textbook. They tried to use English to talk to me, and they also taught me some Japanese.　　After lunch, one of the girls introduced me to her boyfriend who was in 3-6. Haha, it was very cute. We were searching for her bf. She is a very cute and funny girl. She is those 大哭大笑 kind of girl. I then went to the library. Usually if I didn't have to prepare things for the afternoon classes, I would walk around in the school to talk to students. The students can see the field from the library window. Every time I went to the library, I could see students (mostly girls) stood by the windows to see the people at the field. One of the 2nd year girl showed me her ex-bf. Hmmm, I actually was not sure if I misunderstood her Japanese..........I was like...WHAT?? U'RE ONLY 13! Hmm, I guess so....前 means "before" right? Then she kept on telling me how cute that 3rd year ex-bf was. It was very interesting. That girl never really talked to me because she thought English is totally useless. She figures she's never leave the country, so she doesn't need English. It's interesting to see how the dynamics between the students and I change. They are mostly pleasant changes tho. =)

Yay! Weekend. I like. =)

Day 46 - Coughing my lungs out....

May 12, 2011

Yeah, I am currently coughing my lungs out. I had no idea how it started, but since I think Tuesday, I had been coughing like crazy. Since Japan is a “mask” country, I wore masks every day. Wow, I actually couldn’t really remember when was the last time I coughed so much. I still remember during class on Friday, I almost lost my voice speaking to the students.

I suddenly couldn’t remember how to get rid of a cold. The picture shown was kind of my cough “medicine – grapefruit and 川貝枇杷膏. I did take enough rest. It is very interesting. I guess I have nothing much do to here…so I usually sleep at 10 something on a week day. I tried drinking more water, but it hasn’t been working yet. I guess it takes time to heal…like many things in life. Haha! Ugh, really hope I can stop coughing reeeeeeeeeeeeeal soon. I still need to sing K on Sunday. Ahaha! =P

Take care everyone. =)

Day 45 - 二か月... (2 months...)

May 11, 2011

It has been exactly 2 months since the quake. I would have to say that I was very bad for not remembering it had been 2 months until I arrived school....seeing a bunch of students cleaning.

This picture is another "not taken on the day" picture. I was going to take a picture in school, but I THOUGHT I forgot to bring my camera.... BOOOOO!!! =( Oh well, too late.

Anyway, this is a snap shot of a commercial here in Japan. When I first came back to Japan, I used to see this commercial literally every other commercial. Now thinking back, this commercial hasn't been played as many times as before. The commercial started w/ the members of SMAP (Hmmm, are they even famous now??) saying some encouraging messages telling everyone to stay strong and fight together during this hard time. Then the commercial ended with another actor (I think he's famous..? at least I've seen a few of his dramas) saying something similar. With my limited Japanese, I think he said something like "Japan is a strong country. The road to normalcy may be long, but if we fight together, we can go through this hard time." Then it ends with the snap shot on the pic saying "Believe in Japan's strength!"

Soooooooo, what actually "happened" on the 2-month anniversary of the catastrophe? At school, the students all had to come to school at 8 instead of 8:25. All the students were either cleaning the school or the nearby streets. All the students were required to bring a garbage bag and pick up at least 5 pieces of garbage on their way to school. Some students in the student council walked around the neighbourhood with flags saying something like "let's rebuild Japan! Strike oil, Sendai!" I had NO idea I was supposed to go to school earlier too. Luckily I usually get to school by 8...but if I knew things were supposed to start at 8, I would go earlier........... Sigh, one bad thing of not fully understanding what they were saying... =(

After the students picked up garbages for half an hour, everyone gathered at the field. We first did a minute of silence, then our guidance councellor did a speech on reminding the students how they could help rebuild Japan: saving power and water, helping others, making their environments clean.

My life has been pretty much back to normal. However, I do know there are still many places that'll require more help. Hopefully I could volunteer again some day.

Day 44 - Oh my cow.... =(

May 10, 2011

Awwwwww, ohhh my cowwww.. =( It's from my sister... =( Apparently, my students quite like the cow...XD I used it as passing object for "hot potato" ice breaker. Man, I had NO idea how the kids were passing the thing...A LEG WAS BROKEN!!! =( sad...

Man, I had been arm wrestling w/ the kids in all the 3rd year classes. My arm is soar... Well, but I think it was a nice way to review comparatives & superlatives tho. =)

Hmm, yeah, I guess "home" is where I am. Although I would love to "settle" somewhere, I guess as what 林姨姨 said, God will let me settle where He wants. All I have to do is to trust that He will lead and do what's in front of me. Yeah, I guess this JET experience has been training me to be more independent. Hopefully I wouldn't become a total loner laaa. haa..

cheers~ =)

Day 43 - I miss you, mo & mao

May 9, 2011

Well, this picture is obviously not taken in Japan. It was before I left Japan in July. It was nice to see mo mo again. Since Mao mao immigrated to heaven in Feb 2009, I really missed seeing cat. I still remember Mo mo was Mao mao's childhood "enemy" back then. Haha!

It was sad to say goodbye to a loved one. Mo mo went to join Mao mao in heaven today. Hope they wouldn't fight like the past. Eva, cheers sis. =) Thank God for giving him 16 years in this world. Mao mao, I miss you too.

Yeah, it's a reminder for us that there's an end in everything on earth. Let's continue to make the most every opporunity we have... Let's make our every encounter with people the most precious ones. Let's get the most out of everything we're doing.

Every moment is a precious one....so treasure it. =)

Day 42 - A box of love~

May 8, 2011

This is a package from Vancouver. I call this "box of love". =P Thanks sis for sending me this!!! It must have had costed a fortune!! =S The stuff in the box brought others joy too! You are truly a blessing to others. =)

Very chilled and lazy day. Not much to say...not much done.

Haaaa, well, somehow I feel that there had been a lot of good news lately. May God continue to bless you all and your future! =)

cheers!

Day 41 - Sing sing sing~

May 7, 2011

I love weekends, but they never seem long enough..XD Well, I can't complain at all since I had a 7-day holiday not long ago. It was a chilled day. =) My "only" activity was probably singing K.

Man, karaoke here is soooooo much cheaper than in Vancouver!! I guess because karaoke places are everywhere in Japan, and most people don't sing K in the afternoon. The deal we got included a deesert, unlimited soft drink & soft serve, and 3 hours singing. It was only 1,290 yen!!! Because it's a Saturday, it was 300 yen more expensive than normal days. It was very cheap compared to Vancouver in my opinion. It would be 200 yen more if it was all u can sing. However, we figured 3 hours should be enough for 2 ppl.

In Vancouver, the cheapest I knew was about 2,000 yen (including tax & tips) for all you can sing within 5 hours on weekdays from 2pm-7pm. If you wanted drinks, you would have to order drinks one by one. I also remembers paying more than $50/person (about 5,000 yen) when I went singing with some friends back in Vancouver. However, I do miss singing K w/ friends in Vancouver. =)

It was fun! =) It was great to hear some "new" songs and get my Chinese song fix. There are a number of Chinese songs. We sang some English songs, Chinese songs, and a few Japanese songs. I missed singing Chinese songs. It reminded me of my life in Vancouver. haha! =P In terms of Chinese songs, I was surprised to find some perhaps not as "famous" songs, but not be able to find some perhaps more famous songs. For example, we wanted to sing 好心分手 since we were looking for a duet. However, we were a little bit surprised they didn't have it. Oh well, everything was good. =)

Interestingly, I suddenly felt like I have an "epiphany" (笑). I felt like I really need to change one of my habits in speech. I guess since it's a habit, I find myself do it unconsciously. By the time I said something like that, I've already said it. haha! Well, I'll continue to try. =)

Thanks for the company. =) I figured my Mandarin is even worse now... (哭）=(

Day 40 - Yay! 給食 is back!!! =)

May 6, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANT!! =) I bet you're having fun in Van right now! That's so good. =) It's good to see family and long time friends again eh? =) May you continue to have a blessed year la! =)

Hehe, yup, school lunch (給食）is back! =) How I miss school lunch...... A little "lesson" I learnt form school lunch - treasure the things while you still have them. You never when you will lose something you like/love...so please treasure every moment. =)

Today's menu wasn't really my favourite to be honest. =P There were that deep fried whatever that is and a bowl of really filling "soup". However, they still tasted quite good. I guess things that are "hard to get" are often more enjoyable... haha!

Today was the day back from a 7-day holiday. I could see the students weren't quite "back" yet. Well, I don't blame them because I think I wasn't quite back yet too. haha! I was glad that another weekend fast approached. After school, I was glad that I had sushi and ice cream w/ great company. =) It was a nice evening~ Thanks!

Well, food for thought: treasure what's around us.

Day 39 - 仙台、ただいま～

May 5, 2011

Today marked the end of my short but sweet Aomori/Hirosaki trip. It was a nice little trip. Today also marked the end of Golden week! I love holidays!! I wish it was longer!! This morning, we took the JR bus back to Sendai. Ohhhh, Although I just had a 7-day holiday, I felt like I didn't have enough holiday. I actually dreamt of work yesterday night!! Haa, more like a nightmere.........

Hmmm, so what had I done during these 7 days? I volunteered at Natori on day 1 and 2. Well, more like day 1 I would say. Because I was late, we only made towels. Ha... I didn't do much on day 3. Well, I cleaned my place, so I guess I still accomplished something...? I believe I didn't do much on day 4 too. Ohhh, I just mailed a package and went to a bday party. Then it was day 5-7, which was my Aomori/Hirosaki trip. Wow, time flies, but I would have to say this Golden week was quite well-spent. =P

Yeah, that's true. We don't konw what will happen in the future. I believe we are in God's hands. Stick to him and He will guide us through. It is common for human to worry about things, but I guess as long as we believe we are safe in His arms, He will give us "surprises" that are for our good, and 超乎我們所求所想。 May God give me the strength and wisdom in walk in Your ways. =)

Hehe, it's always great to hear good news. May God continue to bless all these people... Be strong and courageous. God has His time for different things to happen in our lives. Do we trust that He will guide our lives as long as we stick to His words?

I am learning.

Day 38 - Hanami! (花見）

May 4, 2011

Yay! it's time for hanami~ =) After the breakfast at the hotel, we took the 9:07 train to Hirosaki.

We packed things like snacks, tarp, umbrella for our hanami. When the bus was just outside the park, I could see a lot of sakuras already!!! There were soooo many! We found a place to sit and eat, but suddenly, the sky started to cry and there were even thunders..... Ohhhhhhh, why did it rain??????? It wasn't supposed to rain!! Well, so we walked around and we finally settled on a bench with a castle view. It was nice to chat w/ the girls and of course...eat. =)

We went into the castle and walked around the castle area. It was actually not as crowded as I thought. I really enjoyed the time when we just sat, ate, and chatted. =) With the thousands of cherry blossoms, no wonder soooo many Japanese likes to do hanami! I have never seen soooooo many cherry blossoms in one place before!!! I am sooooo glad I came here~~ =) I still remember planning this trip back in January/February. I am glad it actually became true!

We also visited a few former samurai's houses. They were very interesting. =) We then went back to Aomori for some apple souvenirs. Aomori is very famous for its apples, so there were many apple-related products.

It was quite a chilled trip. I enjoyed the bonding time and of course the sakuras. =) 一期一会~ I'm not sure when would be the next time we would do something like this, but I treasure all the time we spent together.

快樂時間過得特別快, we are leaving tomorrow.

Sweet dreams~

Day 37 - Aomori trip begins~

May 3, 2011

Yay! It was time for Aomori. =) We had been planning this trip for a few months. It's great that it's actually happening! woot woot! =)

We took the 7:50am bus to Aomori today. Our member consists of Winsy, Emily, Amanda, and I. We were all very excited! =) Because it's Golden week, the travel wasn't very good. We were a bit more than an hour behind schedule. We arrived at Aomori station at around 2:15. Luckily, our hotel was close to the station.

We first got some food and drink at a little cafe, then we went for a seemingly delicious apple waffle. It was actually quite nice! I wasn't too sweet or too doughy. I liked it. =) Aomori is very famous for its apples. Most apples I've seen in grocery stores in Sendai were from Aomori. While we were roaming around near the station, we we to a place beside the station called "A-factory". It was like a souvenir store/grocery store. The picture was the apple snacks we got from the store. Oh yeaaaaa, we girls HAVE to have snacks! =P These snacks were for our hanami (cherry blossom viewing) tomorrow.

I wasn't sure if it was just Golden week or if we were not in the city centre or something. The town seemed a lot quieter than I thought. Although I wanted to see the big white dog outside of the Art museum, we didn't have enough time. Oh well, our focus was hanami at Hirosaki castle anyway. It is Hirosaki castle's cherry blossom festival now. We chose a great time to come. =)

Hope the weather would be nice tomorrow! I can't wait to see thousands of sakura! =)

Day 36 - Very slacked day...but Happy Bday EMILY! =)

May 2, 2011

It's a Monday and I had no school today...yay! =) Having today off made me feel the last Saturday that I worked was welllll worth it~ It was a very nice day today! I was very slack and lazy...as usual. It was quite an unproductive day too. haha! After having lunch at home, I went to the post office to mail a parcel, then I went home to "study". Well, I really did attempt to study, but I felt asleep...XD After I woke up, I decided to just watch some online movies~ wahahaha! guilty pleasure...

Man, I seriously have no fashion sense AT ALL..... =( That is soooooo sad..... It took me an hour to just figure out what to wear for my friend's bday dinner. Since it is suggested to dress nicely, I tried very hard to wear something decent...and I failed. Sigh...........I wish I knew how to dress nice tooo... =(

Well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY! =) I had been craving for pizza for the longest time!! We had her bday dinner at a..um...Italian..(?) restaurant. Like many party plans, there was nomi hodai (all u can drink). I ordered a drink called "peach orange", some sort of orange cocktail, and I finished Winsy's rum coke. I am not an alcohol drinker. I can only drink something that's very fruity. I guess I was thirsty or something (and not wise..). I finished those 3 drinks in..um...15-20 min..? Being a non-alcohol drinker, I guess that drinking rate was pretty high. I felt quite dizzy and acheky after the drinks. It was not fun to feel tipsy from alcohol. After a few friends saw my condition, I only had water for the rest of the night. Yeah, I guess that proves I'm not an alcohol drinker and I can't drink too much or too fast. Those were good drinks though. I guess sometimes the "potent" drinks are from those that you can't really detect the alcohol. I learnt a lesson. It was good food w/ good company. =)

Yay!!! The long-waited Aomori trip will be tomorrow!!!! I am very excited! I am excited to see the thousands of sakura outside of Hirosaki castle during its sakura festival.

I am very excited. Can you feel my joy!? \(^o^)/

Day 35 - 大掃除...

May 1, 2011

Wow, where did time go??? It's May already!!! That means I've been in Japan for 9 months already!!! Wow, time flies.... It really does.

Since I went volunteering for the last two days, I decided to stay at home (well, for the majority of the day anyway...) and clean my apartment!! I haven't vaccummed for 2 weeks....I could see dust and hair on the floor....ewwwwww... It was a cloudy day. I was so tired that I woke up pretty late today. After ingesting some substances into my system, my big clean up began. When it comes to cleaning, I am glad that my place is very small. It actually didn't take long to vaccum my place. Since it didn't take long, I decided to do a very thorough cleaning. After vaccumming, I wiped the floor. It is much better and cleaner wiping the floor instead of mopping, but of course, it's more tiring and time consuming. Well, it definitely felt good to live in a clean place!! =) Since I was in the mood of cleaning, I also cleaned all the rugs in my place. I'm glad I saved old toothbrushes. Using toothbrush with detergent made my door mat clean again! yay~ =)

After cleaning, I went to one of my favourite studying places, Mcd, to study. Well, I also got my dinner there. Yeah yeah, I guess it wasn't the most nutritious dinner, but I did some studying. It was good. =)

Hmmm, basket robin ice cream is 31% off! Hmmmm, tempted...