Well, I don't know what to say ( Read more... )

I ended up going to the doctor's office when they opened at 4 p.m. yesterday. People there always get this wild look on their face that means "I didn't know the doctor speaks English!" He doesn't, I assure you. He can write illnesses down on paper, but forget speaking any English. Anyways, I don't expect the doctor to speak English at all. If ( Read more... )

Nope. Today's test made me feel so very low. It was ridiculous for me to show up and attempt it. It was a totally different monster from the 3rd level I took several years ago ( Read more... )

Since the date of the proficiency test was a day out and I was anticipating tomorrow's impending D-day, I decided first and foremost to stake out the test site so that I knew where I was going on test day. Anything to relieve the stress, right ( Read more... )

As I was starting to teach my first class of the day, a knot suddenly popped out of my lower back that nearly had me on the ground. I was able to get through my first class, but the second class of 1st graders always calls me to be more upbeat, and that gave me a little difficulty. No one could tell that my back had thrown out on me, and my ( Read more... )

Winter came at about 10:00 a.m. on November 18th ( Read more... )

I started my day going across the street to the community center for the annual culture festival. During the festival, all the culture clubs that meet at the center display what they've been doing for the year, and some of them sell their wares. I looked at some paintings, photographs, calligraphy, and flower pressings and they were all beautiful ( Read more... )

Amidst the Autumn chanting permeating the air and the hauling of danjiri around my neighborhood this evening, stopping traffic for kilometers at a time, I managed to skid my bicycle down to the Yamaha dealer for a look at the scooter I've been looking at from the bus since last March ( Read more... )

Last night, I had my first motorcycle practice. Since I was going to buy the bike next weekend I wanted to be prepared for what I was in for, so I asked one of the other ALTs who has ridden a bike for 4 years to teach me ( Read more... )

While a fellow coworker and I decided to parade around Namba on Friday with a few drinks and some really tasty food, she was telling me about a television program that came on the night before about a new diet ( Read more... )