Whirlwind

The last couple of weeks have been nuts. For ages I was thinking "ahhh another ________, plenty of time!" Then all of a sudden it was my last day at school and I had 4 days left in my aparto! ARrrgh!
At the moment I'm sat amidst the semi-organised remnants of my life in Japan-*note to self-don't buy so much crap and never throw things away.* I will have about 15 rubbish bags to take to the tip tomorrow (at least). I'm a fool!
I knew I was seriously putting things off when Keith and Mark were surprised that I hadn't booked my flight! So it's sorted now-I will leave Japan (boo!) on August 8th from Narita. I'll leave the Guch on about the 30th so I hope I get to see all you Japan peeps before then ^_~
In the meantime catch me chewing my own hair and talking to the praying matis that crawls around my walls and has become my confidont. This is so not fun. ^o^

Things I Will Miss About Japan #11-Reading Other People in Japan's Blogs!

Seenas I have quite a few computer hours a day (usually) I always have time to check the other Yamaguchians blogs. In this ken, out of about 75 JETs, about (i think) 32 of us have blogs-this is pretty impressive! It means I can catch up on whatever everyone has been up to, or read their accounts of our shared experiences. In general JETs are quite a creative, funny bunch so its usually entertaining stuff. Weird photos, Engrish anicdotes, only in Japan stories, gossip, trip reports and loads more. Plus we're all nosy buggers and love knowing about each others lives I reckon! So heres my own personal ***Blog Awards***:

Funniest Blog:**Louise's "ZenZen Wakarimasen"**(almost as funny as Lu in real life. Almost.)

Best Pictures:**Ellen's "Turning Japanese"**(yes we all know Ellen is pretty damn good at the old photography lark! A lot of people are good here though...maybe because Japan has a photo oppertunity at every turn! Shes got a great eye though)

Best Written Blog: **Jessica's "Obsessions Anonymous"** (I like her diction yo!)

Most Informative Blog:**Cindi's "Jagaimogirl"**(as well as telling us about stuff, she actually takes the time to explain it-be it bugs or japanese traditions. you can tell shes a mum. )

Most Natural Blog:**Sarah's "Japanese Adventure"** (It doesnt need photos of jazzy effects, just her opinions and experiences, like it)

Most Filthy Blog:**Matt's "Japanese Mash"**(No holds barred here, Matt lets us in on all his corrution of his co-workers! honto ni daikon?!)

Most Honest Blog:**Lauren's "Where in The World?"** (whilst its easy to fall into the trap of jazzing up your stories and steering off the mark, Loz's blog is just like her-straight downt the line but a bit cheeky! I like the frankness)

Most Intellectual Blog:**Marko's "chibimarukochan"** (he's a clever sod. i like a bit of intellectualism)

Most Reliable Blog: **Alex's "Alpot's Charmed Life"**(you can always rely on old potterchan to update and keep us informed! nice recipes too)

Best Newcomer: **Hannah's "J-Mouse"**(keep updating hanachan! i like your dry wit and you have enough amusing anicodtes ^_~)

Most Stylish Blog: **Christine's "Tales from a broad"** (digging the new layout missy!)

Keep blogging everyone! Even if all you have to repot is "i ate jam on toast today", hey, we're interested! ^_^

I Love this Photo...

Christine looks like she's a bit special and Louise is her care worker! ^_^ (sorry chris!)

A to Z

A - Available: not to all ^_~
A - Age: 23
A - Annoyances: japan's current nasty humidity, not being organised enough. oh, and when people speak for their child or dog. "ooh i like that" ect, you know. what is that?!
B - Best Friend: (s) too hard, too many
B - Beer: i like newky brown and stella, me
B - Birthday: dec 30th-the worst day to have a birthday ever
C - Crush: RUSSELL BRAND-oh yes, the tight trousers and dickensian diction. love him.
C - Car: nah
C - Candy: you mean sweets? jelly tots and wine gums
D - Day or night: night
D - Dream Car: i'm so not bothered by cars, sorry. a pink one?
D - Dog or cat: i like dog!!!!
E - Easiest person to talk to: loz and nat
Eggs: soft boiled with toast soldiers-oh yes!
E - Email: pufkat@hotmail.com (i came up with the name in the height of my pokemon obsession. i wanted it to be jigglypuffkat but strangely that was taken)
F - Favorite Month: mays quite nice isn't it
F - Favorite color(s): green and pink and black
F - Favorite Memory: being a "goth hippy" at school and uni years. and japan. its all good.
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: gummys
G - Giver or taker: gaker
G - Gum: is alright but i'm not keen on the japanese stuff. and i cant remember the one i used to buy back home! aaargh i've been here too long
H - Hair Color: boring brown
H - Height: 5'7 ish
H - Happy: i'm a happy girly but a bit stressed about moving
I - Ice Cream: hell yes. banana choco and most haagan daz
I - Instrument: guitars. preferably with boys attached to them
I Idol: Morrissey, Milhouse
J - Jewelry: i always loose earrings!! but i like silver and plastic stuff
J Job: only 4 more days to go in my current one!!!!!!!
J - Jail: cant say been as yet
K - Kids: i love j-kids...not so sure about the whiteys
K - Kickboxing or karate: karate yo!
K - Kindergarten: isnt it kindergarden? or NURSERY!? bloody americans when will they learn
L - Longest Car Ride: haha with sarah to tottori which took like 3 weeks! nah...ctually about 10 hours to torquey when i was little. my mum got ill and kept saying things like "stop going round corners!"haha. it was not fun.
L - Longest phone conversation: hours. like seriously. maybe to loz or nat or sam.
L - Last Kiss: couple of weeks ago. gotchas a great place.
L - Lyric: "i shouldn't even be here, much less/drinking myself into excess" -WAS
M - Milk Flavor: milk. you idiots.
M - Most missed person: pals back home and my bro
M - Movie Last Watched: royal tenenbaums for the millionth time
N - Number of Siblings: one
N - Number of Tattoos: none. i would love a star on my wrist tho
N - Name: surely you know by now
O - One Wish: that i had a remote control to slow down, speed up, pause and rewind time. how cool would that be!!!
O - One Fear: spiders
O - One regret: not going to okinawa
P - Pet Peeves: when people take ages to come and get their plate when you've just cooked for them. and lateness
P - Part of your body you like best: nose
P - Part of your personality you like best: memory
Q - Quote: "no way you spastic, you're a mentalist!"-Alan P
Q - Quillows or comforter: what?
Q - Quick or Slow: depends
R - Reasons to cry: sayounara japan! ;_;
R - Reason to smile: going to thailand and austrailia soon!
R - Rain or shine: shine
S - Song Last Heard: right now i'm listening to "The Scene is Dead" by We Are Scientists
S - Season: spring
S - Shoe: yes please
T - Time you woke: 7.40
T - Time Now: 8.02pm
T - Time for bed: 10 or 11ish
U - U love someone: pals
U - Unpredictable: to an extent
U - Underwear: cotton with cats on them
V - Vegetable you hate: cauliflower
V - Vegetable you love: recently got into aubergenes and i love peppers
V - Vacation spot: come on thailand!
W- Worst Habit: picking the skin off my fingers-gross i know
W- Where are you going to travel next: Yamaguchi city tomorrow!
W- Weather right now: HOT
X - X-Rays: teeth
X - X-Rated Porn: bring it on
X - X-tra special someone: marko-seenas i had to say bye to him yesterday!;_;
Y - Year you were born: 1982
Y - Year it is now: 2006
Y - Yellow: is the colour of snow you should never eat
Z - Zoo Animal: PENGUINS!
Z - Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
Z - Zoolander: is bloody funny

Just for Louise...

as the arctic monkeys debate rages on, i know lou will enjoy this...

Just ridiculous

hello kitty weiners-with "i love you" printed on them!

First if the Lasts

Last Friday was my last day at Nishi Chugakko, one of my favourite schools.
It has 3 badass kids that never come to class, just sit in the corridor looking hard. Apparently they threw a slipper at my predeccesor (!) but they've always been alright with me. It annoys me that no-one does anything about this and lets them terrorise the other kids but apart from that its a pretty cool school...I met my best j-pal Kayo there when she was a teacher last year and one of my fav teachers, Nishihara sensei is the Kyoto.
So today I had a fun lesson writing tanabata in English with the kids. As the class finished Nishihara made a nice speech about me being a good ALT and stuff which i was smiling along with until i realised some of the kids looked really sad...then she started choking up and stuttering her words and I felt awful. What made it even worse was one of my favourite girls was getting all angry and burst out "NAN DE???" (why?!) and looked like she was going to punch someone. Then a student stood up and read a really nice speech to the tune of "We always looked forward to your lessons. You are very kind. We will never forget you." ect. i managed to not cry but i felt like i was crying if that makes any sense.
The next class was more fun. At the end the kids all said something nice about me in turns, stuff like "you are nice" "you are cute" to "i like you hair", "I like your voice" and (all together) "we will miss you!" Bless. That was really nice. When I left they presented me with a massive (A5) card with lots of cute letters on them and origami (*^_^*) The teachers said some of the kids never speak in English class except when I'm there and get really angry if I visit and don't get to go to their class! I was pretty taken aback by all this praise as its not like I'm ALT of the year or anything...it makes me feel a bit guilty as if I would have really given my all to the job I guess I could have made a huge difference in their attitude to English. Next year I'm not being replaced by another JET, they're going to get someone freom INTERAC instead which means the kids won't see them so much...a real shame I think.
On a final note when I left some students gave me (awkward) hugs and one of them said "Welcome to Japan!" I've taught them well...

Chinpokomon!

This episode of South Park is hilarious-complete with Engrish and Japanese penis jokes!
(if you cant be arsed watching the hole thing, just go to the 13th minute to see the kids speak japanese in class)