Children and nightmares and classes OH MY!

So I just realized my last two posts were about how things in Japan tried to kill me. So for a bit of a change, lets talk about how people in Japan are trying to kill me.

As you all should know, I have been working at Bunchkins recently. Up until last week, I only worked with the preschoolers. Last week though, I taught two classes of older kids. My Wednesday night class was with Yuha, and Miu. They are sweet, third grade girls, who are silent. Seriously, we spent an hour long class, with me talking, them doing the work I gave them, and only speaking to me when I asked a direct question. I was worried I had done something wrong. Aren't children supposed to be loud? Aren't they supposed to talk with each other, and with me? Am I just a horrible teacher? Or maybe it's just those girls are very quiet. The class went very well, and the girls were very nice. They did their work, understood what I was trying to teach, and thanked me at the end of class. I was still a little worried, but mostly I felt like I had done a good job.

My next class was Thursday night, from 4-6. This was a class of eight, with six boys and two girls. Yuha was in this class too, and I found myself looking forward to it. Kenta, my host brother, was also in this class, so I was less nervous then before. I did a short self-teach on my family, and had them looking at family photos. They guessed which one of my sisters was the oldest, and how old she was. *Maeda, I'm sorry but none of them chose you at first. When I finally told them it was you, and they guessed your age, they guessed you were 23.* It was a good way to break the ice, and soon we went on to talk about the book they were reading. I expected the boys to be rowdy, but they were all very quiet too. I made it through the two hour class and felt pretty good about it, although I have to say it still worried me how quiet they were.

When I got home that night, I wanted to get lots of sleep, because I was working with the preschoolers the next morning, and I knew they would wear me out. Unfortunately, my subconcious was not on board with me sleeping through the night, because at about 4 am, I woke up from a horrific nightmare. The nightmare included Selena Gomez, Junhyung, *one of the boys from a k-pop band I'm in love with* and a demonic fire-lady *who looked like the girl from the ring* who wanted to kill everyone. With fire. I was, of course, terrified. In my panicked state, I somehow managed to convince myself that if I just stayed curled up in my fear burrito of blankets, The fire-lady, who had somehow gotten into my room, wouldn't kill me. I literally sat shaking underneath the covers for half an hour before I managed to get the courage to snake my hand out and grab my computer. I finally got back to sleep around 6 am.

That morning I went into Bunchkins at around 9 am, to clean up from the night before, and get ready for the day. I was exhausted, and running on about 4 hours of sleep, and one cup of coffee. I was so tired, I could feel myself think. The morning was pretty uneventful, the kids came, we played around a little, all in all a good time. Then lunchtime came. Cocomu, my favorite little girl, didn't want to finish her lunch. She had been quiet and sleepy all day, and she said she was too tired to finish. That didn't mean she was too tired to eat her dessert. When I told her she couldn't, she burst into tears, and broke my heart. One of the other teachers took her aside to calm her down, and once again I was her best friend. Coco sat on my lap while I was kneeling for a good 15-20 minutes, effectively cutting off all blood flow to the lower half of my body, and making it impossible for me to walk. It was a good day.

At about 2:30, I started back towards the train station to catch my bus home. I was walking along, bobbing my head in time with the music coming from my NEW IPOD!! *I'm a little excited* I noticed people were kind of looking at me weird, but I decided to ignore it. I've gotten used to the looks, because not only am I a gaijin, (foreigner) I am also amazingly cute. It was beautiful out, and the 30 minute walk was just what I needed. I caught the bus, and got home by 4. It was a good day.

I hope to hear from ya'll soon!
Rainbows&&Kittens!

How cats are trying to kill me, and other things I want to whine about.

So, I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Setsuko (my host-mom) has 4 cats and a dog. Her cats are Daisy, Sunny, Alex, and Karen. Daisy is Alex and Karen's mom, and is an ally cat. Setsuko found her on the road after she had been hit by a car. Because Setsuko took her to a vet right away, and cared for her lovingly, Daisy survived. She was so badly hurt that she couldn't be fixed, and therefore had kittens. Now Setsuko had already had Maren, (I'm really not sure if I'm spelling that right...) her dog, before she found Daisy. Maren is a female dog, and has a very strong mothering instinct. She adopted Daisy as her baby because she knew she was sick. Daisy still drinks Marens milk, and they cry for each other if Daisy has to be locked up. The cats are all indoor cats, and never go outside. Maren does of course, and that is where the story begins.

It was Saturday night, and Yui had left the day before, so the cats were whining at me to come play with them. I came down, and immediately was attacked by Sunny and Karen. Daisy was yowling because she was locked up, and Maren was whining for Daisy. Kenta had already gone to bed, so I wanted to quiet the animals down. I went to check on Maren, while still holding Sunny. As I tried to reassure Maren that Daisy was not, in fact, being killed, Sunny managed to slip under the door, and outside. Now this was really too much for me. Sunny is Yui's favorite cat, and she soon became mine as well. I didn't know what would happen if she went out, and Maren was still whining. I did what any logical, quick thinking adult would do. I burst into tears and called Setsuko. As she tried to calm me, letting me know that Sunny had gotten out before, and she would most definitely come back, Maren sensed my tears and started to whine louder. I tried to comfort her, while tears ran down my face. I soon realized that was hypocritical, and calmed myself down. As all this is going on, Karen was trying to run out too. I was horrified. There was no way I was letting that happen. So I grabbed Karen, pushed her into the kitchen, and went back to the door. I could hear Sunny meowing outside, and I could occasionally see her. She would come up to the door, and try to get back in, but Maren would block her way, sniffing and licking. Trying to help, but really just making it worse. Sunny came around to the other door, and I let her in. I closed both doors, and latched them tightly. Sunny was very upset, because it was wet and cold outside. She wasted no time scolding me, and biting my ankles. These cats are a handful, and I'm sure I will have many more stories to tell. This was just my favorite.

P.S. Kenta didn't wake up once.

Now, on another note. I don't want to whine about not getting any comments, but here I am. I assume people like my posts, because they are following them, but I have no constructive criticism to base my posts off of. Do you like my writing style? Is there anything you particularly want to hear about? Is there anything I said that you didn't like? Let me know. Or just let me know you're reading my blog, because I do appreciate it. Every time I get on my blog and see I have more followers, my heart does a little happy dance. When there are comments, my heart gets out the "Yay I'm happy!!" hat. So please, let me know what's going on in your head too. I don't want to beg for comments, but yeah. I'm begging.

Thanks for reading!!
Love and sprinkles~~

Harajuku, chocolate, and how I almost killed myself with a bike

Ladies and gents, this is a tale of epic proportions. It all started on Saturday around 11. Azumi and Samantha had invited me over to make valentines chocolates. It was a wonderful idea, and I had a great time. I was fed delicious food, and I learned how to legit make chocolates. *hint, it's really super fun* Afterward, Samantha realized she had way too many friends, and needed to buy chocolates for them. We decided to bike to the store, which was about 30 minutes away. (I could be totally making these times up.) Now, I haven't ridden a bike in years, but I was convinced I could do it. I rode that bike like a pro.... For about the first 10 minutes. Then I realized that not only was it freezing out, but that bike riding is hard. Very hard. And I was tired of it. This being said, I suffered the rest of the way to the mall. Once we got there, we walked around, took pictures, and generally goofed off. Of course, we still had to bike home. This was even more painful, and I was very sad. My legs stopped hurting once I let them rest, so I figured everything was good. I figured wrong. The next day, I went into Tokyo with Fumika, Yuri, and Moeika. *not the real spelling. I murder spelling.* We took the train, and went into Harajuku. Harajuku is basically a long street with tons of really awesome shops and fashion. I saw some....interesting people, and got some super awesome clothes. It was really cool, except for the fact that I was exhausted. The entire time. It got to the point that the girls were leading me around, and giving me good natured pushes to get me to go places. On the train, I fell asleep for a bit, and was just kind of spacey the whole time. We got back to the station at 5:16, and I had to catch the 5:20 bus. We ran. I made it, luckily, and got home okay. I decided to take a hot bath because my legs were a little sore, and I thought it would help. I got out of the bath, and my entire body ached. The skin on the tops of my knees hurt. I didn't fall, or scrape my knees, or do anything to hurt them. I was just in so much pain, it was almost visible. My legs screamed at me everytime I tried to move. It wasn't a "Oh wow, it's been a while huh?" sort of pain. It was a "WLKJDKFJ WHAT WERE YOU THINKING I AM DEAD NOW THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE WHEN YOU DO THIS!!!! NEVER ATTEMPT TO MOVE AGAIN!!! I WILL STAB YOU IN THE FACE!!!" kind of pain. And yes, my legs did indeed threaten to stab me in the face. I am still afraid of them. I woke up this morning, and my legs were so stiff I could barely move. I have decided that the only response to this is to never exercise again. On the plus side, I got really awesome stuff in Harajuku, and I got to make chocolate. Now I am going to take some advil and sleep off the pain I am still feeling. Happy Valentines day!

Haircut

So I'm giving up on only posting once a week, cause too much stuff happens that I NEED TO TELL YOU. Also, don't get excited and think I'm gonna post all the time. Cause that's not gonna happen either. But what this post is all about, is what I did yesterday. Namely, get my haircut. As you can see, not that big of a difference. Basically it's a little shorter. But it was an adventure! Because as you well know, haircutting involves scissors. Around your head. And I don't speak Japanese. So it would have been a horrible bloody mess, if I hadn't had Yui there to save me. Luckily, she does speak Japanese. Very well too. So she was able to tell the hair dresser that I did not want her to remove my entire head. (Because that is what would have happened if I had tried to explain what I wanted) First, I had to get shampooed. I was very confused as to how this would work, considering the fact that the chair was higher than the little sink thing. I sat down, and was just kinda quiet. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, THE CHAIR STARTED TO MOVE! Yeah, that's right, the shampooing chair realigned itself to fit the sink. I was very confused, and I'm pretty positive the shampooer made it move more than necessary just to mess with me. But it was a very nice shampoo. After all this excitement, it was time to get my hair cut. The hair dresser was very nice, and attempted several times to make conversation with me. It generally went like this:
Hair Dresser(HD): *unintelligible rapid Japanese*
Me: *...............*
HD: *slightly slowed down Japanese, of which I can catch maybe 3 words*
Me: *Tabemasu...that means eat...judging by the way you're staring at me questioningly, I'm going to assume it was a question...* "Yes I like Japanese food!"
The entire time was basically like that. With her trying really hard to explain things to me, and me trying really hard not to insult everyone. Overall, it went well, with little to no blood. Yui got a really cute bob, and I just got a trim. As we were walking home from the bus stop later, I suddenly realized what one of the questions was. Of course I wanted to turn around and tell her, "Yes, I do want to travel Japan" but alas, it was too late. After being out all day, and having adventure after adventure, I was happy to be home. Unfortunately, this was not to be my last stop of the day. Setsuko has a class on Wednesday night of 4 girls. 3 of them wanted to take me into Tokyo. So we met at the class, and decided when and where. I was slightly exhausted, so it must have been slightly confusing for them. Setsuko has decided to teach me Katakana. That's like 52 MORE LETTERS (characters?). Yeah. They have a bazillion letters in their alphabet. But I am just rambling now. I am going to go, probably take a walk on the river. It looks nice out, and I'm in the mood.
Miss you all!
<3

So it's been a while....

Alright. So it's only been two weeks (and a few days). And I have a lot to share! I started helping out at Bunchkins, the English preschool for Japanese kids. I mostly watch the little kids, but everyone is really cool. There are two little girls, that have decided I'm their favorite. Their names are Cocomu, and Lala. No lie, those are their legit names. :) Coco likes to talk to me in Japanese, ignoring the fact that I can understand none of it. I have yet to hear Lala talk, but here's hoping. Today, we went to Kamakura, which was the capitol city of Japan in 1192. We went to a shrine and made prayers. And I hung a wish. >.< Afterward, Yui and I went for a rickshaw ride, and it was really fun. The guy who pulled us was really really nice. Then we went shopping, and I got a Totoro! (Picture above) I also got chopsticks, and other fun things. All in all, it was a great day. Sunday was Yui's goodbye party, and my welcome party. It was so much fun! After the party, I went to the mall with Samantha (Canadian exchange student) Kana, Momo, Azu, Rina, and Yumi. It was super fun! We took photo booth pictures, and walked around. We got ice cream! Later that night, I watched American Idol with Kenta and Yui. Setsuko is trying to teach me katakana. It's really hard, but I think I'll get the hang of it. The band I like, BEAST is having a special event in Tokyo, in March! You have to buy two of their new CD's, which also come out in March, to get the tickets. I already reserved my copies! I am having a lot of fun here, and I know it's only going to get better. The food is amazing, and I love my host family. I am slowly picking up words, and I have found that I can now separate words in a sentence. It feels good to know I am learning. I love being in Japan, but I do miss some things about home. It's strange though, because I don't miss actually being home. Just certain things. Like the Super Bowl. I missed it. And I'm not saying I want to go home, but I miss things that I never thought I would miss. I guess that's all for now...I'll try to report back soooon!

>.<