**～クールービンズ～**

Got mah Visa taday. Just FYI. It's so shiny! And tiny.

In other news, my brother killed a huge-ass spider in my room today. I am thankful for man-beings because I was NOT getting near that thing. Here is my artist's rendition of the spider:

Soooo, since most of my friends from high school have moved away, and my college friends are all over the place, I was feeling a little lonely this Summer. Therefore, once the 4th rolled around, I was determined to have fun with some friends. So, the highest concentration of my college friends were a state away--about a 5-6 hour drive. At my part-time job I was scheduled to work 5-9pm on the 3rd and then the same on the 5th.

Not wanting to hit traffic on the Freeway, I decided it would be brilliant if I started driving after work. Yeah! Best plan ever, guys!

Well, I ended up driving at 11pm, because work ran later than expected. Dad gave me a Rockstar, and ordered me to drink it. A lot. Then about 10 minutes in, I stopped at a gas station for gas and a 5-hour energy. Driving the first hour was a piece of cake, considering I had done it several times. THEN. That's when it alllll fell apart. I accidentally took a route that, although it would eventually get me there, was the "scenic" route--which was kind of a waste, considering it was pitch black. So, yeah, I eventually got on the freeway, and after a couple more hours I accidentally took ANOTHER route which took longer...yeah. Then I got lost for 30 minutes in the town where I go to college. HA. HA. HA. At least that Rockstar and 5-hour energy kept me going. I swear it was like 3am, pitch black and I was bobbing my head to that my radio. I AM IN MI-SER-Y. THERE-AIN'T NO-BODY WHOCANCOMFORTME.

Anyway, my friend, Yoshio was still awake...at 4am. So we sat up and talked for a bit, and then he let me use our friend, Koki's room. Sorry Koki. Woke up later, and Yoshio, Brent (who was staying there), Mami, and I made some BBQ. Me and Mami ran to Safeway for Potato salad and stuff, and when we got back, Emily came over and ate with us. Jackie came over and Brent made us watch "Lovely Com". Tee-hee. I had been watching Beyblade earlier...because I'm totally twenty, guys.

We ate more food, and Brent and Mami left, leaving the four of us to hang. So they made a meal and I took a nap because I'm a helpful person. Yoshio really wanted to go to Portland to celebrate with Koki, but I didn't want to since I would have been driving and the traffic would have been hellish. Instead, we went and watched fireworks at the local fairgrounds.

Emily and Jackie are wusses, so only me and Yoshio rode the "Kamikaze". He kept trying to scare me. I bet he was totally freaking out.




Then later we went and bought really expensive fair food. YAAAAY.


Poor girls working at the booth looked WIPED, but were as nice as ever.

Jackie left to go home later that night, and Emily and I slept over. In the morning we said goodbyes and I started back home.

AAAAAND then I had a back tire blow up. Les Schwab came, picked me up, gave me four new tires, and I was late to work. DOUBLE YAY.

But all in all, it was a pretty kickass July 4th. And now I'm terrified of I-5 South.

Hey.


So, this morning I went to an elementary school to talk about general Japanese language to some...elementary schoolers. I think they were 2nd graders. It was their last day of official day of school, and their teacher had asked me to come in and talk about the Japanese language with them. The teacher's daughter did exchanges with our Japanese sister city, むつ市in青森県～Later she went as a JET and taught up in Mutsu :) So the teacher was pretty gung-ho about Japan. It's actually kinda nice to see a parent so supportive of her daughter; I wonder if she was always like that? Or if she grew into it? I'm kind of hoping my parents will. Ha.


Anyway, I was a little nervous, because I had never visited a class as a guest speaker before. Thankfully, it was pretty relaxed, and any time I had worried might not pass fast enough, we spent trying to quiet down the kids. They were a little rambunctious, haha. Especially the boys. I brought some 扇子and マンガ. I also snagged a Japanese fashions magazine to show-and-tell; 'course I flipped through it quickly to make sure there were no lingerie sections or anything. 


Those kids were not good sharers. Still cute, though. After I said a little about who I was, they kids were allowed to ask questions. Most of what they asked was "HOW DO YOU SAY ______ IN JAPANESE?" Thankfully, I was able to answer all of their crazy vocab questions. One kid asked how you say "Truck," though. I told him that I knew how to say car. Then he went on to ask/say "Japanese people don't know a lot about cars, huh?" 


Dude. Mitsubishi. Toyota. Honda.


At the time, I didn't point that out, but the teacher looked nervous. I just explained that in America, driving is our main mode of transportation, whereas in Japan metropolitan areas, trains are more convenient, but that in rural areas cars are used a lot. I didn't really go into much more detail than that, other than stating "It's not bad, just different."


So we went through questions, they sang a cute song that basically was like "Good afternoon, how are you, I'm fine thank you" in Japanese, and then I started to try to teach them introductions. Yeah, with boys not so much, the girls were right on board, though. Then I went to write some hiragana they were gonna learn.


Not long after we had gotten through "はじめまして” I realized these were second graders, and they were getting restless. So at that point after they were whining about not being able to do it, they were tired, can they have snacks now, I threw up my hands and said "HEY. Snack time! And I'll write your names in Japanese."


They concurred.


So I wrote their names in カタカナ, and the teacher and I handed out rice crackers and poured a little ramune for everyone.  


Kids are OBSESSED with fairness. "He got more soda than me!" "She got two!" "I didn't get to see the magazine!" "She sat on my feeeeeeet! My feet were in her sitting area first!"


...But in all truth, I think I was like that as a kid, too. And I actually enjoyed myself. IT was a great learning experience. I had expected to do more teaching, but I guess I kind of planned on a lesson for middle schoolers rather than 7-year-olds xD;; Haha.


So! Until next time~

Hi hi. I'm writing this after being off on Summer Vacation for almost a month now. And dear sweet Jesus, I am bored. I guess the upside is that I have a job so I'm not completely sitting around, wasting my parents' money. Hooray for not being a leech! :D 


My birthday is coming up in about a week as well, so...I guess I won't be a teenager any more. I would have been more freaked out about it a couple years ago, but I guess that's what a couple of years can do for a person. I guess I'll be able to legally drink in Japan when I get there; not that they would card me or that I already don't on occasion. I'm pretty sure cops look the other way when young people have booze unless they're in a car with it or are causing unusual amounts of noise. I guess the small upside is that I can go hang out with friends at an izakaya and drink with them legally in the rare event that I DO get carded.


Well, my first post and I'm talking about alcohol. Yeah, I'm classy like that. 


Actually, before I head to Japan this September/August, I'll actually be flying to another state for my high school friend's wedding. That's also where the job comes in, paying off that wonderfully expensive plane ticket. Whoo. But that's gonna be fun, I think. It'll be an interesting few days. Never been to Mississippi before.


That's about all that comes to mind presently. 


Oh! The maternal unit will be graduating right before my birthday. It's been an intense academic year for her, so the whole family is pretty relieved (along with my mother) that she's finished with that tough stuff. That, and we miss being fed and having our laundry done. We love her. 


So, yeah. That about sums up the current situation. Later gators~ :B