久しぶり Hisashiburi!!!

So many things have happened in the past few months that I had to check my calendar or look at pictures to remind myself what I did. Work has been extremely busy but productive. I don't want to sound like I am bragging nor I can go into details right now but I am doing well - basically making the company a good amount of money and most of all, keeping my students happy. Outside of work, I am having a lot of fun. There are always good dinners, drinking, clubbing, karaokes, shopping, beach, Starbucks, getting out of Fukuoka etc. I could hardly keep track. So I made a vow - I am going to update this blog more often with things that I did, even if it's just a short entry.

Starting with this weekend...after work, I went out to dinner with a couple of my favorite students - Masami and Hisayo. Masami found us this awesome kushikatsu 串カツ place - essentially deep fried skewers of meat, veggies etc. The place was small - only 13 counter seats and it's what Japanese people called a Ｂ級グルメ (B kyuu gurume), second class gourmet restaurant but I came out a happy buddha over good food and wonderful new friends.

Left to right: Hisayo, me, Masami

But that wasn't over yet - after dinner, the night was still young so I went out to karaoke with Tanya - my wife in Japan and her co-workers. Seriously, Tanya and I have bonded since our training in April and we have been hanging out more and more since. In fact, our iPhone calendars sync every weekend when we meet because we make and got plans for each other (hehehe)! Going back to karaoke - one of my favorite pastime in Japan. I always have a ton of fun singing songs I'd never imagine I would be able to sing or not sure how I even know. This week, I have been to karaoke twice. Once on a weekday when another friend Sachiko came from out of town and I stayed up until 3:30am - a handful of us stayed out on a school night. Anyway, on Saturday night, I sang with Jeff, my fellow American, and one helluva karaoke rapper. We had a lot of fun singing Crazy Train, End of the Road, and many more songs both cheesy and cool.

Jeff & Tiff

Next day, Tanya and I went to Higher Ground Musical Festival at 海の中道 uminonakamichi. We stayed there the whole day, listened to a lot of cool J-Pop music, got drunk, sunburnt, and managed a few laughs with the locals. It was a really great day and so glad we did it even though no Japanese person came with us and we hardly understood anything. Anyway, I'll post some more photos and write about this event again later when I have more time.

Higher Ground 2010

Tanya & I

Today, Monday, is my Japanese lesson day. These days, I take 2 lessons a week - one, today, at a community center taught by volunteers, and a private lessons which I pay a lot of money for at the Japanese language school. Monday is usually my chill day where I would spend a good amount of time studying Japanese at Starbucks. Of course, there are also errands to run, laundry to do, apartment to clean but it's typically my chill-day. Last Wednesday, my bike was taken away by the city because I parked it at an illegal spot with hundreds of others because there are not enough parking in the area. To retrieve my bike was a real pain in the ass but luckily, Masami, my student, kindly offered to go with me as my translator/caretaker, and I was able to reunite with my bike without a glitch. I am soooooo grateful to her. After getting my bike back, Roger and I met up for some frisbee at the park where we both got some good exercise. Then onto Starbucks where I met up with Tanya to study some Japanese for a couple of hours. Before heading home, we stopped at the supermarket to pick up a bag full of half-priced bentos as our lunches for the rest of the week.


So that's my life here. Tomorrow, it's my Monday (even though technically it's Tuesday). I dread it every week because I have so much fun on the weekends. But, I have something to look forward to - another weekend of fun fun fun. I got birthday parties, clubbing, picnic at the park with friends, fireworks and more coming up.

最高 に楽しい ね Saikou ni tanoshii ne! Yay!