Today I started my last week of work before my holidays and before leaving for Canada. I really have no idea what I will be doing home, but I am extremly excited about this trip. I don't even know what I will be doing for New Year's Eve, but just the thought of being home is enough for me. I know that counting down the days to my trip must make it seem like I just can't longer stand Japan, but that is definetly not the case. Japan has made me think very hard of many things I have left behind, and it will be nice to go back and revisit all of these wondeful things just for a little bit. I know that once I am back in this country and back at work, the rest of the year will not seem as long. I just need to go to what I know and what I love just for a short time. It's like adding fuel to the fire in a way. Also, there is a great possibility that I travel to Thailand in March and that my mom comes visit in the spring, so that gives me other great things to look forward to before my contract is over. And to tell you the truth, I dont think a year will be long enough. I wouldn't want to stay an extra year, but maybe a few more months to continue travelling and saving up for some upcoming trips. Ive been thinking about doing an European tour when I get back with some of my savings. Anyone interested? Don't worry mom, I will make sure to pay off all of my debts before I pay for an expensive trip. :)

On other news, I really didn't think it would snow this much in Japan. It has snowed non-stop since sunday afternoon and everything is covered in snow. It is quite beautiful especially since we are surrounded by mountains. I'm sure that the skiing in this country is great and I can't wait to hit the slops when I get back from my holidays. Im thinking of investing in some snowblades. I wonder if Santa will be generous this year... *ponder*

Last Saturday, I went to one of many christmas parties. It was the James School christmas party, the school for which my friend Diane and neighbour Jason work for. It was another night spent meeting new people, mostly students and their friends. One of the guests was this one French guy from Paris, who my friend Diane thought of hooking me up with... but meh. She thought, "hey, he's French and she speaks French. This is a match made in heaven." I wish it was that easy, in fact I am looking for a French man to give me European citizenship so that I can live my dreamlife in Paris. Wouldnt that be grand?! But alas, he was 20 years old and although he looked little like Sam Roberts (but much younger without all of the facial hair), I would still give him a few more years to mature. I'm still single and I'm planning on staying that way for a VERY long time. I never thought I would enjoy being alone this much. I just love coming back home from work take a hot bath, make myself some dinner, read a book or watch a movie and go to bed at a decent time to wake up the next day completly rested. I don't owe anything to anyone, no commitment. It's super! And what better thing to do in the winter time anyway!

So here is one picture from that party. Here you see Diane, myself and Donna:

Donna had a good laugh that night when we were returning from the second party. As you can see in this picture, I was somewhat dressed up and of course I was wearing my heals. Heals or no heals, riding my bike has become second nature for me. In fact, I can't imagine not having a bike when I return from Japan. It is just so convenient. Anyway, that night my heal kept on getting stuck in my peddle, something that has never happened before. So after a few drinks, getting my heal stuck in my peddle for a last time was sure to end in some kind of incident. So as we were turning a corner, my foot locked in my peddle and this time I wasnt sharp enough to get myself out of what was about to happen, and this is what I told Donna, "Donna, could you slow down a bit, my heal is stuck again and I will have to fall." Yes, I had time to say this before actually hitting the ground. I literally let myself hit the ground because I knew there was no way for me not to fall. My foot was stuck and there was nothing I could do about it, but fall off my bike to fix it (at that point in time and in the condition I was in). There were a million other options other than falling on my ass, but I chose that one. Needless to say, we had a great laugh as well as other passing drunk japanese business men. I would like to give a big thumbs up to alcohol for making the fall less painful than it actually looked. It was a long and high fall, so I woke up the next day with somewhat of a bruise on my left bum cheek. Playing with the kindergraten kids this morning was somewhat tricky, but it does give me and Donna something funny to laugh about.

The next day, streets were filled with snow and ice and I rode my bike everywhereno problem... go figure. I also had to go to 3 different supermarkets to find some chicken for dinner. It was quite frustrating, but the chicken curry was excellent Diane, thanks.

I would like to give a shout out to Nayeli my dearest Mexicana who has left Canada for an indifinte period of time. I wish you all the luck in the world beautiful and I really hope that you come back to us in September. I have a feeling that we will have a giant reunion in the next year. 2006 is announcing itself to be great.. I can't wait to start fresh in a peaceful state of mind. Life is beautiful.

e.

So I haven't been updating my blog as frequently as I promised I would, but that is because I just didn't want to bore you with my unevventful life. I got really sick for a bit, and I had to postpone my trip to Tokyo. Instead, I have been staying home reading books and watching movies drinking tea and Hot chocolate with Baileys. Its incredible how cheap liquor and spirits are in this country. They dont over tax their alcohol here. For example, my bottle of Baileys only cost me $15, and I saw them selling the good Tequila for only $13 the big bottle. Unbelievable, but true. Just cheap enough to make anyone an alcoholic, including the poor.

I guess the most interesting thing that has happened in Fukushima as of late is the first snow. I didnt think it actually snowed here until I woke up one day and saw everything white. Here is a picture of my street on the first snow day:

The yellow building on the right is my building. Yes it is a horrible colour, but it can be a good thing in a country that doesnt have any street names: "Turn right at the second 7Eleven and you know that puky yellow building at the corner of that street? Yeah, that one. The ugly one that really stands out? That's actually my apartment building.. Pretty ugly huh?" Unless the architecture is not Japanese, every building here is somewhat of an atrocity. Mine just happens to be puky yellow.

Ive had a few parties in the last few weeks, but I have been so sick that havent been able to truly appreciate them as much. I hate not attending or leaving early... but sometimes that can be a good thing. Here parties mean a copious amount of junk food and booze. Everyone bring food and drinks for everyone, and the living room table ends up looking like this:

I truly believe that the one reason I gained so much weight here is because of these parties. So lately I have been arriving at parties with bags of tangerines, popcorn and cheese and crackers, to make the whole feast a little bit more healthy for myself an for everyone else.

One thing that I used to hate doing here (that I have learned to love) is grocery shopping. At first, I had all these people starring at me wondering what I was putting in my basket: "yes I eat tofu just like you!! How crrraazy is that? huh?" Anyway... I have gotten over the whole starring thing and now I really take the time to enjoy the crazy things that I find in the stores. For example, my friend Diane and I were shopping to make a sunday lunch and we found this carrot:

I wish we had bought it, but imagine the foreign freaks riding their bikes with a giant carrot sticking out of their front baskets. Yes, I have a basket on my bike and its considered cool here. The bigger the basket, the cooler.

Anyway, better leave now, I have a class in about 20 minutes.

Love you and see some of you in less then 2 weeks.

e.

Is it an ice cream truck? no. Is it a chipwagon truck? no.
It's a truck selling toilet paper!
Here is something you don't see everyday. This morning as I was biking out of my building at 8:45am, there was a truck passing by announcing on its microphone that it was exchanging one toilet paper roll for a newspaper. Thats right boys and girls. They have such a thing here, but can you imagine for one second a truck passing slowly down your street giving out toilet paper? This country is just becoming stranger and stranger everyday! Yet, toilet paper is not the only thing that gets sold that way, but sweet potatoes and laundry polls. I have to say, however, that the japanese have a weird, yet smart way of making business. These systems work! Japan, or at least Fukushima, is almost devoid of visual advertising like posters and giant billboards. Instead they have cars and trucks with speakers on their rooftops to advertise, promote or announce anything new in town. Another popular advertising method is giving out kleenex packages with printed advertising. At home, Im used to having people in the streets giving me loads of postcard size ads that end up unread and thrown around in the streets. But if they gave out something useful with the advertising like a pack of tissue, you would be sure that their campaign would reach a little bit more people. Something to keep in mind for when I go back home to become maire.

So as you know from my last posting, I went to Denny's with my friends to celebrate my American friend Jason's longest time out of his country and American thanksgiving. While I knew that it wasnt going to be like the Denny's at home I thought that maybe there could be a few things on the menu that could satisfy my American Food craving once and for all! You see for the last few weeks, all Ive been wanting to eat is a huge American meal with the french fries and all the gravy and the grease. When I am at home, I want asian food, like viet, or thai or japanese, or Greek food or Italien food, but here I find the opposite. Denny's did not offer any sort of relief! The whole menu was loaded with Japanese food, some italien dishes and the most American of all was a club sandwish that came in a snack size. I ate a paella... The chocolate sunday was excellent though!

That was basically my meal for the night. A paella topped with mayonnaise... Yep, mayo! They put it on everything here. Sorry if the picture quality is not that great. I was using my camera on my cell phone that night. The taste wasnt better than the rubbery food back at home, but I am sure that it was much healthier. Each meal on the menu tells you the amount of calories.







Here is what the menu looked like. As you can see, it doesnt look remotely close to the Denny's that we have at home! Here you have an assortment of different sorts or rice, noodles and tempura. How American!






Here is my friend Jason savouring his untraditional Thanksgiving meal: some soba noodles, tempura and egg rolls. Yummers. It did look better than my paella though.
















So here is my plan for next week-end... I have waited and waited for some friends to take some days off to go to Tokyo with me one week-end, but none of them have been able to do it. So I have taken the matter into my own hands and will go there alone. I feel very adventurous and extremly excited about the idea. I have the travel bug and I have a feeling that it wont be the first place that I will tour alone. I really wanted to go with someone at first because its Tokyo, its busy, its big, its loud and crazy, but I thought to myself that if I find my way back to the train station on time to go back home I should be fine. Here is what I am thinking of doing: my last class of the week ends at 8:30pm and I usually go out with some friends for a few drinks. So after that I will hop on the midnight bus to Tokyo where I will try to sleep until I arrive at around 5 in the morning. From there I will get off the bus, look to my right, look to my left and randomly decide which way I will go and walk the rest of the day... Ok, I might use my guide book a few times, but I just want to see where my feet will take me without knowing where I am and where I am going. I have been thinking about this trip a whole lot since I have decided to go on my own, and I just get so excited about the idea of being alone thrown in the unknown.

I thought it was ridiculous to go back home for the holidays after being in Japan for four months without having been to Tokyo.

Its sad to say, but im counting the days to go back home for the new years. I miss you all so much!! See you in about 26 days!
e.