Saturday, February 01, 2003

*... technically ...*
although it is technically past his bday over here, it's still his day over there, and I would like to request that in honor of that fact, all y'all traffic get yo' butts outta the way. Have some respect, it's his birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my big brother MIKEY!

(though if *you* call him Mikey, he might wail on you. You've been warned.)
3:02 PM

Friday, January 31, 2003

*... somebody kill me please ...*
"...I'm on my knees, pretty pretty please, kiiiill me..."
I can't seem to get this song out of my head every time I have to go to class for the past few days, and I will continue to sing it for the next 3 weeks seemingly. I have to give a speaking test to every student at Koshin JHS. Initially, I thought "okay, this will be a drag, b/c it means that I have to visit every class till i get thru all the students." And I have to pretty much ask the same 10 questions to each student, so that means saying "How's the weather?" 375 times. What I didn't realize is that the winter winds seem to have slowed down the thought processes of the kids, at least when it comes to English, so i only average 8 students per 50 minutes. Which means I will be doing this 'til Kingdom comes. I would say "til hell freezes over", but I think you all know my opinion on THAT one... now, everybody, sing along!

Actually, I DO have something to live for. A future career, in fact. My mother was very excited that the new ballpark in San Diego will be called "Petco Park". She figured that since I had worked for Petco, I should have no problem getting a job at the new stadium selling hotdogs. I, of course, have much higher aspirations, and told her that I would hope that I would have the relationship with the people at Petco to get a better job than that. She was very excited that I have "connections", as evident of her enthusiasm that "if you know the people in charge, maybe you can get promoted to ticket seller. I heard that's a much better job!" Uhh, thanks Mom. Actually, i am not sure if this is an improvement when it comes to her career ambitions for me. Last time we checked, I was advised to become a stripper and then told that I was going to become the manager of a Baskin Robbins (after dropping out of school, that is).

And of course, she will deny this quite vehemently.
2:03 PM

Thursday, January 30, 2003

*... ha! just kidding! ...*
Everything that I said about the wind yesterday can bite me. Seriously. I am in such a foul mood b/c of this foul weather. This is why I stay in SoCal. Sunny weather = sunny *britt*. Pretty simple formula to follow. After leaving the Internet Banana, I tried to get to the grocery store. After standing at the bus stop for 45 mins more than I should have, the bus finally came, though by this time I was literally covered head-to-toe, despite the efforts of 2 three-foot tall grandmas trying to clean me up (this particular bus makes a stop at the hospital, where many of them are anxious to get to, but they always try to get on the wrong bus. So by the time the bus comes, I usually have a herd of 4 or 5 old people that I have saved from getting on the wrong bus. Yeah, look at me, the little Girl Scout.). After shopping, the bus wasn't coming for another hour (plus however late it was), so I decided to take the good ol' Heel-Toe Express and hoof it. BAD IDEA. As soon as I set off, the blizzardy winds kicked in again (this time with thunder and lightning... oooh!) and visibility was zero. Not that it mattered, b/c I couldn't lift my head up to see where I was going anyway. I got a great study of my shoes, a headful of snow (my eyelashes had about a cm layer on 'em), and I prayed I wouldn't fall into the ditches they like to line the streets with over here. As soon as I got home, and shed the coupla tons of snow I was carrying, Kelly called me with her own snow story. (This is why I like the girl, we see eye-to-eye on important issues such as why the weather sucks in Niigata. And boys.)

Same thing happened on my way to school this morning, but this time I at least had some disco music playing, so me bobbing around and dancing kept some of the snow from settling too much. The wind is wretched on my face though, even if the principal insists that it makes me look like "a beautiful rosy-cheeked cherub." Thanks, guy. (I don't EVEN know where he gets this stuff!!). The homeless people that live in the train station agreed (we're all buddies now, since i brought them some chocolate (see, I told you I was a Girl Scout!) and was terribly interested in how they get such elaborate constructions with their cardboard boxes. Seriously, you should see it, it's quite impressive!)
And I think JP is right. We are going to die next week. More to come on that...
10:27 AM

Wednesday, January 29, 2003

*... it's only a little flurry... in the kitchen. ...*
The wind here is out of control. The vents in my kitchen have started to spout snow that has been pushed thru by the wind, so when I woke up this morning, there was a light dusting across the sink. How charming. (?) I was woken to discover this by the wind shaking my apartment enough to wake me up and knock most of the things off the wall. Ah yes, that is quality Japanese construction!
When I do leave my house, I can only go in one direction, which is back-to-the-wind way. And seeing as the wind is CONSTANTLY changing, I eventually get to where I need to go, even if my route is not the most direct. And, to my advantage, the wind helps in the little pointed-toe fairy-leaps over large puddles of slush. Even in my oversized, mannish jacket and big, clunky shoes, you can't get that dancer part outta me... (LoLo would be so proud!)

Yesterday I got one of the coolest things EVER in the mail, which was the 2003 RyueiRyu Karate calendar. So fun! And how they actually managed to get pictures of Poncho smiling is amazing. (none in the blue tights, I noticed... haha, sad!) I showed a coupla friends the calendar, and they all pretty much had the same observation: "uhh, britt, why are there no pictures of you actually doing karate? You're just kinda standing around..." I told them yeah, that's pretty much an accurate representation of me and karate. I don't do much... hehehe.
And in today's mail, I got some bras! YES! I LOVE the mail!
1:15 PM