A friend of mine once said about New York City that you could sit on a bench in the middle of the city for 1 hour and see the whole world walk by. I think the same can be said of Tokyo. I am in Tokyo this weekend visiting my mom's cousin and he and I agreed to meet at Shinjuku Station, the biggest and busiest station in Japan and perhaps the ( Read more... )

Last week I was searching the internet trying to figure out what to get my friend Denise for her birthday and I finally came up with an idea... a pedometer! I always read about Meghan's pedometer and I thought it might be a good motivational tool since she is trying to be more fitness minded. So, being the dork I am I did some research and tried to ( Read more... )

I keep reading about the new Dixie Chicks CD and how it is surrounded by so much controversy because of a comment one of them made a few years ago about Bush. I really dont understand why her comments created the firestorm they did. I mean I do understand that the typical demographic of a Dixie Chicks concert is made up of Red Staters but still. ( Read more... )

Everyday at school I eat the school lunch just like everyone else. Each day the menu is different but we all get the same items. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are rice days, Tuesday is bread day (the students' favorite) and Thursday is noodle day (my favorite). Today we had this fried hamburger thingie, miso soup, rice and a small salad. Most days I ( Read more... )

"You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." --> El Doctrow

Because I work as an assistant teacher I have been able to observe many teachers and their various styles. I think it has been a valuable experience because I have learned so much about how to and how not to deal with students. I also have noticed how very different each teacher's style is. I really admire Shiga sensei, one of my English teachers, ( Read more... )

On Monday I played tennis with Akiko, a girl from my conversation class, and some of her friends. I played with this group several times in the fall and the spring season just got into full swing. The "coach" of the lesson, Mr. Yokoyama, was working with Akiko and I while the 4 other people were playing on the other court. For some reason Mr. ( Read more... )

This may sound silly but until recently I didn't fully understand how to have a balanced diet. I always knew I should eat my fruits and veggies and stay away from the sweets and fried stuff but I never really knew the different nutrients and stuff that I should be getting and what foods have these nutrients in them. Recently however I have become ( Read more... )

Yesterday morning I stopped at a convenience store about an hour from my house as I was on my way to meet up with Chen to celebrate our one year anniversary and I accidentally locked my keys in my car. I pleaded with the convenience store workers in Japanese to help me so they searched the phone book and called a locksmith for me. After wandering ( Read more... )

I've been reading the script from Stephen Colbert's White House Corresponts Dinner speech and I cannot stop laughing... He is so amazingly witty. Here are some highlights ( Read more... )