Reverse Pedo
So, I'm totally loving my job so far, and I'd say that most of the kids love me too! XD
I mentioned last post that I'd be taking a day trip to Sendai and doing some cosplay stuff. Well, that was about a week ago now, but it was awesome! The night bus to Sendai wasn't too terrible to sleep on. Paula and I arrived in the city far more rested than when we'd tried sleeping in the parking lot outside of Comiket. 8D We didn't do very much in the city that was Sendai specific, but we did visit Osaki Hachiman-gu, a Shinto shrine that was founded by Date Masamune or something like that and was named one of Japan's "National Treasures." It was nice and peaceful and pretty, and Paula and I bought some fortune slips while we were there, so we could see what would become of us in the near future. XD; I got "small luck" with the suggestions that I go out and approach that person I'm waiting for and drink lots of vitamins to avoid getting terribly sick, plus the promise that I'm good to go traveling, but I should watch out for car accidents. XD Not bad.
After the shrine, we briefly considered going to the location of what was once Sendai Castle (now it's a lot like my town's Obata Castle, in that it doesn't exist XD;). but we decided that we'd rather just go to Big Echo and sing karaoke for something like 4 hours instead. :B It was nice so sing some Kimeru songs right before going to his concert, and what an awesome adventure that was!!!
Because Sendai isn't exactly the most happening place in Japan, the venue where Kimeru was performing was relatively small. There were only about 100 people filling that underground and seemingly unairconditioned room. Nevertheless, that concert had such high energy! Kimeru really fed the crowd and had everyone jumping and clapping and yelling and pumping their fists in the air for every song that wasn't a ballad. And then for those slower songs, there was so much emotion that he was bringing himself to tears. He expressed during one of the breaks between songs that it was his hope that at least some fraction of his true feelings reach us through his music. Language barrier or no, they really really did. ♥
After the concert came a really special sort of treat. By buying his newest CD at the event, we got to have a handshake with the guy at the end. Handshakes in Japan do not mean the same thing as in America; rather, you hold the person's hand while you chat for 30ish seconds. My God, Kimeru is so damn nice and absolutely sparkly. I told him that the concert was wonderful and that I had a lot of fun. He told me that he had actually seen me smiling and dancing in the audience and was surprised that this was my first concert of his. I got to tell him where I was from, and he thanked me for making the trip out to see him. Guh. *o*
That night Paula and I absolutely passed out on the night bus and arrived in Tokyo early enough to use a public bath before going to the Layers Cosplay Festa. We debuted our new outfits from the Magdalana Maria musical series: me as Maria Magdalena and Paula as Cecil. We didn't expect anyone to know our characters or want to approach us, because the series is a little obscure and we're foreigners on top of that. But! After we got some shots of ourselves and were just wandering around, I saw one of the members of the Maria cosplay group from Comiket!!! I believe my exact words were "Holy fuck! It's Grace!" before I took off running, trying to figure out how to get to where they were. In the end, I called out to them from below their terrace, and they came down to meet us! Because this was our 3rd time running into them, they said it must be fate that we met. XD Feels like we actually made some Japanese cosplay friends. ^o^
For a more in-depth report of the weekend, Paula's got an awesome post over here on her travel journal.
And for the full gallery of my Sendai and cosplay pictures go here~.
Now to address the title of my journal post! XD
I've finally finished introducing myself to all of the kids, and I've got some cheeky little third year at my first school who keeps hitting on me. ^^;;; It might would be more flattering if it weren't so totally weird, because he's the same age as my sister. x.< I don't mind too terribly, so long as it doesn't disrupt class or draw too much of my attention away from the other kids. It's not like he's entirely serious, but yeah~. First it was just curiosity about my hair color and whether or not it's natural. Whatever. Then he wouldn't shut up about the belt I had modified into a necklace and kept staring at my neck, telling me it was really cool, pretty, and interesting. o.O Today he kept putting himself in my path during cleaning time and telling me that my hair looks very "sara-sara" aka silky smooth. ^_^;;; I anticipate the day he confesses his "love" to me and debate whether or not I should just hit him over the back of the head and tell him to grow up or what. XD
I'm much more fond of my second-year fangirls. XD ♥ I had one of them look at me in awe and pronounce me "kakkoii" (so cooool~) when I expressed my hatred for natto to the school's principal. X3
Really, I've been getting an overall positive reaction from all of the kids. They call out to me when they see me, and often go out of their way to say "herro" or "see yuu." X3 I often keep my sketchbook out on my desk in the teachers' room, so kids will stop by on their way to or from talking with other teachers, to see what I'm working on.
The teachers too, have been really open to my personality and my hobbies and are making me feel very welcome. I think that maybe it helps that they can see the kids coming in and talking to me and can see how I connect with them. :D ♥
Tomorrow is the annual Sports Festival for 1chuu. The pricipal has actually requested that I wear a costume and hopes that I'll participate in some of the games. v(^_^)v I'll let you know how that goes~.
I mentioned last post that I'd be taking a day trip to Sendai and doing some cosplay stuff. Well, that was about a week ago now, but it was awesome! The night bus to Sendai wasn't too terrible to sleep on. Paula and I arrived in the city far more rested than when we'd tried sleeping in the parking lot outside of Comiket. 8D We didn't do very much in the city that was Sendai specific, but we did visit Osaki Hachiman-gu, a Shinto shrine that was founded by Date Masamune or something like that and was named one of Japan's "National Treasures." It was nice and peaceful and pretty, and Paula and I bought some fortune slips while we were there, so we could see what would become of us in the near future. XD; I got "small luck" with the suggestions that I go out and approach that person I'm waiting for and drink lots of vitamins to avoid getting terribly sick, plus the promise that I'm good to go traveling, but I should watch out for car accidents. XD Not bad.
After the shrine, we briefly considered going to the location of what was once Sendai Castle (now it's a lot like my town's Obata Castle, in that it doesn't exist XD;). but we decided that we'd rather just go to Big Echo and sing karaoke for something like 4 hours instead. :B It was nice so sing some Kimeru songs right before going to his concert, and what an awesome adventure that was!!!
Because Sendai isn't exactly the most happening place in Japan, the venue where Kimeru was performing was relatively small. There were only about 100 people filling that underground and seemingly unairconditioned room. Nevertheless, that concert had such high energy! Kimeru really fed the crowd and had everyone jumping and clapping and yelling and pumping their fists in the air for every song that wasn't a ballad. And then for those slower songs, there was so much emotion that he was bringing himself to tears. He expressed during one of the breaks between songs that it was his hope that at least some fraction of his true feelings reach us through his music. Language barrier or no, they really really did. ♥
After the concert came a really special sort of treat. By buying his newest CD at the event, we got to have a handshake with the guy at the end. Handshakes in Japan do not mean the same thing as in America; rather, you hold the person's hand while you chat for 30ish seconds. My God, Kimeru is so damn nice and absolutely sparkly. I told him that the concert was wonderful and that I had a lot of fun. He told me that he had actually seen me smiling and dancing in the audience and was surprised that this was my first concert of his. I got to tell him where I was from, and he thanked me for making the trip out to see him. Guh. *o*
That night Paula and I absolutely passed out on the night bus and arrived in Tokyo early enough to use a public bath before going to the Layers Cosplay Festa. We debuted our new outfits from the Magdalana Maria musical series: me as Maria Magdalena and Paula as Cecil. We didn't expect anyone to know our characters or want to approach us, because the series is a little obscure and we're foreigners on top of that. But! After we got some shots of ourselves and were just wandering around, I saw one of the members of the Maria cosplay group from Comiket!!! I believe my exact words were "Holy fuck! It's Grace!" before I took off running, trying to figure out how to get to where they were. In the end, I called out to them from below their terrace, and they came down to meet us! Because this was our 3rd time running into them, they said it must be fate that we met. XD Feels like we actually made some Japanese cosplay friends. ^o^
For a more in-depth report of the weekend, Paula's got an awesome post over here on her travel journal.
And for the full gallery of my Sendai and cosplay pictures go here~.
Now to address the title of my journal post! XD
I've finally finished introducing myself to all of the kids, and I've got some cheeky little third year at my first school who keeps hitting on me. ^^;;; It might would be more flattering if it weren't so totally weird, because he's the same age as my sister. x.< I don't mind too terribly, so long as it doesn't disrupt class or draw too much of my attention away from the other kids. It's not like he's entirely serious, but yeah~. First it was just curiosity about my hair color and whether or not it's natural. Whatever. Then he wouldn't shut up about the belt I had modified into a necklace and kept staring at my neck, telling me it was really cool, pretty, and interesting. o.O Today he kept putting himself in my path during cleaning time and telling me that my hair looks very "sara-sara" aka silky smooth. ^_^;;; I anticipate the day he confesses his "love" to me and debate whether or not I should just hit him over the back of the head and tell him to grow up or what. XD
I'm much more fond of my second-year fangirls. XD ♥ I had one of them look at me in awe and pronounce me "kakkoii" (so cooool~) when I expressed my hatred for natto to the school's principal. X3
Really, I've been getting an overall positive reaction from all of the kids. They call out to me when they see me, and often go out of their way to say "herro" or "see yuu." X3 I often keep my sketchbook out on my desk in the teachers' room, so kids will stop by on their way to or from talking with other teachers, to see what I'm working on.
The teachers too, have been really open to my personality and my hobbies and are making me feel very welcome. I think that maybe it helps that they can see the kids coming in and talking to me and can see how I connect with them. :D ♥
Tomorrow is the annual Sports Festival for 1chuu. The pricipal has actually requested that I wear a costume and hopes that I'll participate in some of the games. v(^_^)v I'll let you know how that goes~.