Another Squatter!!!

Well, I met another potential roommate in my apartment yesterday morning before work. Smaller than a ghost and less menacing than a palm-sized spider...a lizard! I don't know what made me think I could chase it into the itty bitty garbage can in my room...but I tried anyway...to no avail as you can imagine. So what did I do? I did what I should have done to that spider...I sprayed it with bug spray! And what did it do...It froze, then ran somewhere! HAHAHA...now I just hope there is not a dying/dead lizard chillin' somewhere in the house!

Another Favorite Quote ... "Have you lost your way in life?" Yumi (while discussing what made me come to Japan).

Another reason why I like the office.... Well it's the same as the old reason...People give you snacks...Today one of the office ladies gave me a Shiba Mochi (steamed glutinous rice pounded into a sticky paste, filled with azuki beans boiled with sugar to a sweet paste,a wrapped in a preserved Shiba leaf). Traditionally, the eating of mochi on special occasions such as festivals was thought to ingest the spiritual power of the gods into the body and revitalize and reinvigorate the lifeforce. In addition, the custom of eating azuki beans on special occasions was believed to ward off evil spirits. I'm sure she didn't think all that when she gave it to me but I still really appreciated it. The other lady who like my "hair" just called me fashionable and said she likes my hair again today, it's twisted...lol

Wanna' here a funny story? Well, you have no choice! Monday, after someone complained about having little red bite/bumps from bugs that they have yet to see, three of us made a trip to the hardware store for some tatami (woven straw) bug killer...Since we're all essentially illiterate, we split up to find it. I went directly to the garden center b/c I figured that's one of the leading places pesticide would be found...and I hoped it would be near the household pesticides...instead of finding the proper chemical, I found a man who looked at me and kind of stepped back saying "Hwah!"...which is pretty much the Japanese equivalent to "Oh my goodness look at that foxy lady over there with the too-heavy-bookbag-on!"...OK, OK, so that's not really what it means...it's more like "Oh my goodness...I'm so surprised...It's something I've never seen before!" Now I have one question...How is it that creepy old men are easily recognized in any country?!?!?! And the conversation proceeded...mind you he was speaking in Japanese and I was speaking in only English hoping that it would make him lose interest and walk away!...He was like, "I saw you in Mos Burger." In my mind I was like well woooptydoo, b/c I had just left Mos Burger...instead I responded, "Today?" He said, "No like two weeks ago, with your friends. One is a tall guy." So I said, "yes," and continued to look for the bug stuff. In a nutshell he asked me the following questions: -Are you a teacher....Yes -Do you live near here...Yes -Do your friends live near here...Yes -Where do you teach...Far from here and here's where be started to lay it on.... "You're really cute (in Japanese)!" So I pretended that I didn't know what he was saying. So he repeats himself in English...somehow the meaning got a little stronger in English, "Sexy!" I looked at him sideways and said, "Oh no no no...uh uh" with a straight face and a slight neck roll while I tried to think of a way to make him go away...then it came to me! So I asked him in 1/2 English and 1/2 gestures, "Where is the [pointed to the pesticide] for tatami [pointed to the pesticide, then scratched the back of my hand]?" In 1/2 Japanese and 1/2 gestures he said, "Oh, for tatami bugs [scratches his side, and makes the ithchy face]?" I pointed at him and said "YES!" Well all the creepiness went out of his smile and he magically transformed into an-eager-to-help Japanese person. It was hilarious! When we got to the aisle, he picked up two cans and said one was good but the other was better. So I grabbed three of the better ones off the shelf with a grave expression on my face to indicate that the problem was really serious, then thanked him. He said, "No problem," and walked away. I laughed so hard when he turned the corner that I almost dropped all the cans. So I put two of them back on the shelf, waited a few minutes to checkout to make sure he was gone, and headed for the register. It's so funny that even the creepy folk over here are super helpful...unlike creepy folk at home who become way creepier or completely give up when you show some resistence.

Yesterday I went to look for one of my junior high schools. The train ride was about 35 minutes, followed by a 15 minute walk to the school...OMG!!! It was the longest, hottest 15 minutes ever!!! When I got back to the station I was literally drenched!!! You can't bring bikes on buses or trains So, I'm going to try to find a way to leave a bike at the station or find out the bus schedule from the station to the school...which will probably be the best idea for inclimate weather.

Besides the infinte rediculousness that is put on "English" t-shirts, here are some other things I've seen in my day-to-day:

This statue is outside a car dealership...

I'm assuming this is the site for a restaurant that is coming soon...

Yes you are!

I'll try not to!

You don't wanna know what I thought this was...just know that the first thing that came to mind was, "Why is that on his face?!"

Eating Doritos WILL NOT...

Make it okay to hurt your friends!

Make it okay to play dress up!













Make a minor on a bicycle notice you!




















Nor will they make you the best player on your
office's baseball team...especially if you play in a shirt and tie!!!


Advertising here is out of control...everytime I go into a store it's instant sensory overload! There's even a stereo in the meat section of Trial (Super Wal-Mart) that plays "Niku Niku Niku!" (Meat, Meat, Meat) all day long on blast!!!