Thunder and lighting outside now! One minute the sun's out, the next it's raining. The guys were supposed to shoot up some fireworks tonight but because of the weather, I don't think it's going to happen till next week!

Some topics in the today's news:

* FUKUOKA -- A department store has sold a box of rare mandarins for a staggering 105,000 yen (~$1000).

* East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) intends to develop a new bullet train with a top speed of 320 kilometers per hour for its Tohoku Shinkansen Line

Oh i forgot to write about the first real earthquake i experienced. I was teaching some time last week when suddenly the table started shaking, so i looked at my student strangely thinking she was shaking the table when in true fact it was actually an earthquake! When i finally realised what it was, i was a little freaked out but it was a cool experience. Buildings in Japan are built to withstand earthquakes and shake/sway when they happen kinda to absorb the force of it...hard to explain...but yeah it was a pretty big quake, especially up in Niigata...I have a friend up in Niigata. Lucky for her and her family, the earthquake didn't affect them.

Here are some photos taken the last few days...

On Monday I met up with Yuuko again in Tokyo. We went shopping the whole day and grabbed some extreme bargains. I ended up buying 2 dresses, 1 skirt, 1 pullover one piece thingymajiga, 2 jeans, 5 t-shirts, earrings, a ring, and 3 tops for gem and it didn't cost me a fortune coz everyting was practically 50-70% off except for the jeans...i love everything i bought. Yuuko bought heaps too...but more worky/feminine stuff...mine were more casual...anyways fun fun day and i even got to eat those yummy eggy ramen noodles at Shibuya...mMmmm...EGGSsss!!!! =)

Oh and getting into the whole facebook thing now...but i still dont know how to use it...

Remember me?

Yeah im still updating even tho ever so infrequently =P going to try the good pizza shop now everyone recommended...will continue this when i get back!

Wadup bizz snitches! It’s been a long time since the last update. We haven’t been doing much so there wasn’t so much to write I guess. We’ve only been working a lot to make up for the swaps we did for Australia. I’ve just I finished my long stretch. 14 days nonstop working is a long time I tell ya. How ya’all doing? I’ve heard snippets from Mish that there’s holiday plans for Loz soon, Julz will go back to Australia and also a holiday for the end of the year and June’s job thing. Update me please! Tim’s arrived in Japan. I haven’t had much of a chance to go see him yet. He’s settling in ok he tells me and already has a job at NOVA lined up… Good luck pal!

I played poker on the weekend with me NOVA mates… it was a 5000 yen buy in ($50). We started at 8:30pm and didn’t finish until 4am. By the time I got back home the sun was out and I had to work the next day too!! 8 hours of poker whoaa it was worthwhile though because I came 2nd and won 10,000 yen woo hoo. I losted the first time we ever played a few months back and so everyone underestimated me this time around and used that to my advantage muahaha At the first game I assumed it was only going to be a laid back game with everyone piss farting around so I didn’t concentrate, but only to find out when money is involved, shit starts to stir and people change! At the game just pass, again hostile personalities started to show, a lot of bitching, anger and even tears were present. It wasn’t a good place to be I tell ya, especially when it’s from people you least expect.

i love my IPOD!!!!

I had the most amazing self reflection relaxation time in the world yesterday!!! As usual I went to teach private lessons, only to find out my student cancelled on me at the last minute and because it was pissing down I was too lazy to ride back home and then back again for the next student. So I had two hours to myself waiting in a room with nothing to do. With the IPOD on, I stood by the window staring at nothing from the sixth floor for about an hour. I didn’t even realize I had stood there for so long. I was totally alone, in my own world, without a worry in the world. It was the best feeling ever. I think the music from the POD played a major part; music plays an ENORMOUS part in my life. I can’t even find the words to describe how good it felt. I don’t think I’ve ever achieved such total relaxation before. After that hour, still in my own world, I started observing the people, the cars, cats, people on their bikes riding by, people in their garden, houses and apartments as well as the way the rain was falling on the trees, the leaves and in the puddles. A million random thoughts ran through my mind. I started to think, “where that guy going?”, “it must be so boring to be a cat eh?”, “these people I’m seeing for the first time will probably also be the last time I’ll ever seen them again in my life”, “this past year has gone really fast”. It was “really” strange.

Being back in Australia last month, having sufficient money to survive, not having to work and having no worries whatsoever yet I couldn’t get this same feeling when I was there. Being back home wasn’t what I expected it to be. I don’t know if it’s my house, my surroundings or whatever but my mindset jumped back a year and it was like I never went to Japan and it was all just a dream. It was a terrible feeling. It felt like I had lost a year of my life when in actual fact i have gain heaps. Having been back to Japan and going to LIAM’s and ANGELA’s goodbye party, it really made me rethink about relationships. While I was back home I thought to myself, “if I quit right now I would never see my Japanese students again EVER”, I don’t totally adore my students but I don’t know why it started to make me really sad. I think if anything, Japan has made me learn to treasure friends and those around me more and become a better friend and person to others.