Winter is rapidly approaching!

Sometimes you just gotta remind yourself how fine you are (and take lots of pictures to remind everybody else!). So I decided to dress up Monday for the monthly meeting in the city. Everyone said I looked like a fly flight attendant. Ok, so maybe I added the "fly" part...HAHAHA! I went back into the city on Tuesday for another meeting. A bunch of people were going out to eat so I tagged along because I heard the word "RIBS!!!" Boy, oh boy. The name of the place was...I'll let the pictures do the talking:
I'm sure your next question is did I eat there...well the answer is yes. The reason? I wanted to know how Japan does ribs. The critique? It was cooked like steak...steaky marinade...tasted like steak...NO SPICE RUB...NO SAUCE! Leave the BBQing to the pros. So aside from the questionable sign outside, the confederate decor and country music inside, I won't be going back there because $12 for three ribs and $4 fried potatoes ain't gonna cut it if they don't taste good! The only good thing about the place was the tea, and not because the tea tasted any better than any other unsweet oolong tea...LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THE CUP! This is the biggest cup that I've seen since I've been in Japan!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in downtown Fukuoka...long before Thanksgiving. I busted out the kerosene heater the day before yesterday and tested it out on the balcony…that thing is heaven sent just like everyone says it is. So I’m gonna use it. It’s either that or pay over 100 bucks a month on electricity for the next four months to heat one room in my place...enough said. It reminds me of living in Korea cuz they use kerosene heaters a lot there too and the smell took me back to my yesteryears. They actually make me think of a Charles Dickens family…huddled around a fire…which is technically what I am minus the family part…living in what is essentially a cardboard (and concrete) box with a shower and a laptop…lol! I’ve been freezing. I covered my windows with shrink wrap plastic that’s made to keep the cold out. My feet are freezing all day (when I’m not at home) no matter what shoes I wear. Today I wore thick socks and sneakers and were still cold. Today I stocked up on all things warm. There are little self starting heat packets called kairo. You take them out of the pack, shake em, and put them in your pockets. They even have some for shoes and some that stick to the inside of your clothes. The latter come with a warning to put a layer of clothing between it and your skin as to not burn yourself. I sure am glad someone told me that beforehand because I probably would have done just that in my ongoing effort to stay warm! The one I shook up at about 10 this morning is still going strong at almost 10 pm!!! WOW! They are supposed to be kept in a kind closed place like your pockets because, thanks to platinum catalysis, iron powder, water, salt, activated charcoal, and vermiculite, they react when exposed to air. They are my new favorite things in Japan! Now if only I could find one in the shape of a person to live in...I also stocked up on thick men's socks (because of course the women's socks aren't big enough!), tights, and leggings to wear under my work pants. I'm sure I'll be using/wearing all of the above on Sunday while I'm freezing my butt of at the Yabe Festival. I'm going to be dressed like some lady...as you can see I don't really understand what's going on with that quite yet, but I'm participating because I have to.
While waiting for my bus from “Heaven” to home, I always see a brother and sister who go to the elementary school up the street from where I work. Yesterday (in the freezing cold) I waved and yelled hello and their faces lit up as they waved back and giggled as usual…except this time the little girl is running toward me saying “ageru” (I’m giving you something). So I put out my hand and she gives me a piece of green goo! You know the stuff that you get from the bubblegum machines that looks like neon snot in a plastic stocking egg…yeah that stuff! I fell out laughing and thanked her in very formal Japanese for the booger. They giggled and scampered away. Kids will be kids…everywhere!