...to go the extra mile...

I'm in the process of making all my journal entries "Friends Only" and have removed some inactive journals from my Friends list. If you are a friend and were accidentally cut, I'm sorry and please let me know. If you don't update your own journal, but still like reading and making comments on mine, please tell me. If I have not friended you back, please introduce yourself. Thanks!

Inocchi, the new and highly approved of family man, has become Japanese's newest insurance salesman. ^^ So cute!



You can probably find his poster in every single post office across Japan. And of course his commercial is no less adorable. ^^

:( I was going to try and post a few pictures of my current life here in Japan, but I'm having some real issues with imagehosting. :( Not just my own photobucket account, but images loading everywhere I go in LiveJournal. Anyone else having problems?

Lots to see! Some new pictures are up. Click here for my newest set of pics from this autumn. For the new pic themselves, start in the middle and work your way up. Included in this set:

1. Kat's visit (Arashiyama, Kyoto, Tojinbo)
2. Spring & Nancy's visit (Ryoanji, Uji, Byodoin, Fushimi Inari) NEW! start here
3. Kaoru & Toshiyuki kino (Shirakawa, a village with old-fashioned thatched roof houses.) NEW! start here

Byodoin was one of my top "must see" places. I finally made it there. ^^

Oh my! Tonight's Gakkou looks at fencing! And it's hosted by Inocchi and Miyake! I want to see them in the uniform! I want to see them fence! XD

HOT! Wow...

*poke*

Miyake the Elder makes a pretty good fencer. :D

I did a little fencing a loooong time ago. :)

I just found this.

For anyone really curious about what my work and life has been like in Japan, check out this website designed and maintained by my co-workers:

http://jtjapan.com/

It's very detailed, but very easy to follow. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make something like this myself. XD

Hey, I'm back. :)

Mmmmm... I should admit something. You know those kids who run around the house, wreck it, then deny it and point their fingers at each other? Well, I was never one of those kids.

Thus, I freely admit, I broke my host's internet. >_> My bad.

Well, I think I did anyway, but my host blames our mistakes on the old box. ^^

That old box was replaced today, so I'm back online. What's happened in the last five days? Let me see...

Wednesday, I moved. Took less than a day. Let me introduce you to my host sister and brother. ;D



Kaoru, on the right, was my student, now, she is my roommate. :D She and her husband work at a cram school, leaving in the middle of the afternoon and working late into the evening. But we find lots of time to relax and just chit chat.

Thursday and Friday were days for adjustment. Friday evening, I had dinner with some good friends of mine.

Saturday, Kaoru and I ran errands around town. Then, she took me to a local culture festival.

Saturday evening, my hosts and I watched "SP". Seems they were already anticipating the new drama as they usually watch the late night drama at that time. It was delayed a good half hour, having to make room for the volleyball championship.

Sunday, we woke up early and headed towards Shirakawa-go, a real-life town showing off old style thatched-roof houses. On the way there, we stopped at a Family Mart. Lookie what I saw: :D



I'll be uploading quite a few pictures soon, so look forward to it!

So, now I'm finishing up my packing even though I'm not 100% sure if I'm moving tomorrow or not. =/ Things are very uncertain right now. Nobody knows what's going on or what any of us jobless people should do. A friend of mine went to a General Union meeting yesterday; they say don't worry about moving, it may not be necessary. I'm thinking, I don't want to pay another month's rent which might be doubled since I don't have a roommate. =/ I've already made plans with my Japanese friend and her husband to move in with them tomorrow. She will come early in the morning. She's been really nice about this catastrophe even though she lost a lot of money herself. =/

I don't want to burden someone unnecessarily, but I have to admit, I LIKE the idea of moving into their house. They live way out of the town limits where I can calmly enjoy my life even more than I already have been living in a rural town outside of Kyoto. It'll be MORE calm. I won't be bored. I won't be lonely (they work evenings). I know how to take care of myself in that sort of situation. I LIKE that kind of situation.

So even come tomorrow, I don't even know where I'm going to be on November 1st! XO

On the happy geeky side of things, I have a V6 concert report in the works. ^^ It's been really fun to write, but it's not even half done! XD = Details I don't want to forget because it was the best night of my life!! XD

^________^

I wanna go again. XD

Hours: Negative seven.

Last hour before I leave. =/

...

*squee*

Hours: Seven, only seven... =O

Looking outside, today is a "Good, good, good day!" XD

Now eating breakfast and watching some PVs to pump me up.

Hours: Eight.

I didn't sleep very well! Too excited! XD

Hours: Nine. Nine? NINE?! Only nine now?! HOMG!

Good night, everybody! No time to post in the morning. Voyaging out early! Going to meet bisang at the venue. :D

Hours: Sixteen--sleep--Seven!!

Oke! Finished product...

...is a bit messy, but that was with no pre-planning (no time!), and oops! the bottom was cut out of the picture (I promise there's an “う" at the end of "ありがと..." :).



Hours: Seventeen, going on sixteen!

Time for gluing. Yum.

Hours: Eighteen, OMG!

Oke, this puppy is a LOT bigger than I meant it to be. =/

Hours: Nineteen

This is taking longer than I thought. Dinner break!

Hours: Twenty-none

Progress:



I'm foregoing dinner for this... XD

Oh, and for you graphic-designers: I compared the font used on the "Voyager" albums" and that's Helvetica I'm using there. It's a set! XD

Hours: Twenty-one

Oke, these were the last colors I thought I'd choose, but standing in the store with absolutely no immediate ideas, I decided on the pink and green of the limited "Voyager" CDs for inspiration. ^.^



Large size pink and green construction paper. Cheap-ish. Those are pink and green Copic markers. Never used them before. They're expensive! The rest of the supplies I scrounged for in my half-packed room. Wish me luck!

Hours: Twenty-Two

I've decided to go ahead and make a poster for the concert. Gotta run to the art store. :P

Hours: Twenty-Three