I'm sooooo busy!!!
So this will be very short. Have to go to work in a few seconds.

My laptop finally arrived yesterday, but I didn't have time to touch it yet at all!!!!
Will have to wait for a day off or so.

I finally went to the hospital today which was more or less my last hope!!!
I wanted to tell the doctor what happened. That I've been sick for so long. That I can't take the heat anymore. That I have no clue what's going on anymore and that I've almost reached the point to leave this country!

The doc didn't even listen to me more than a minute. He just checked my throat (only for a sec, not sure if he actually even looked at it) and took my blodd pressure. That's all!!!
He then didn't listen to me anymore and just insisted on giving me the same medicine as before!!!!!
For that I had to pay OVER 40$!!!!!!!!

This really was my last hope. I was so disappointed and depressed after it. I almost cried!!
I'm not sure if it was a bad doctor or if it's because I'm a foreigner or both.
I have some serious problems and I'm worried and instead of listening to me at all and checking my body carefully, I got THAT CRAP!!!!!

Don't know what to do anymore.
Won't take the crappy medicine either. That's just too stupid!!

Okay, gotta run to work now.
Will update in a better way once I have more time!

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....

Okay, I'm trying to stay calm while writing this entry.
I just had a nervous breakdown, so forgive my maybe sloppy writing, k? (-____-'')

I HATE summer in Japan. That's not new.
It's my 4th summer here in Japan and it's never been so bad!!! Even last year when I didn't have running water for about a week it was still OKAY!!!
I never was a big fan of summer in Japan, but I could bear with it somehow!
THIS YEAR I CAN'T!!!!
I have no clue what's going on! I'm not sure what's different from the other 3 summers!
One would suppose that your body gets used to the extreme temperatures after 3-4 years, but ... uhm, no?!


Note: This and the following photos have been taken today from my balcony with my Pentax :3

( Read more... )


Let's completely change the topic to something much more interesting!!!!
I was talking about the Japanese school system a little bit when introducing my job.
As most of you know Japan's school system is very strict. Kids need to go to a good kindergarten in order to enter a good elementary school. Then they need to go to "cram schools" after normal school is over in order to prepare for the entrance exams for a good middle school, then high school, then university etc.
They're drilled from a very young age on!!!
There's this saying in Japan that a "nail that sticks out needs to be hammered in" (or at least something to that degree). Character building is not important at all. "Special" people, especially artists or eccentric people have a hard time and often leave Japan to live in more "open-minded" places such as America or Europe.
Maybe that's the main reason why there is so much bullying in Japan. Most of you have already seen in it anime or drama anyways. It's really extreme and a lot of students also commit suicide because of it.
I know that this is a problem not only in Japan, though.

Here's a documentation about bullying in Japan: School Bullies in Japan (@youtube)
Side Note:
Here you could hear very well the level of Japanese "English teachers" - and his English was still pretty good compared to some other teachers I've met so far! Other people on my f-llist working with JTEs can probably confirm this.
Also, they say that only "weak" students or students that "are not as smart as others" are being bullied. I know from experience that this is not necessarily true! One of my students, she's SUCH a nice girl, was bullied in her school, too!!! And that's because she was the best in class!!!! It's so sad, really :/

Now, and that was the original reason for this entry today, there are some exceptions even in Japan!!!!
When I found this today, I was really moved after watching it!!!
Please definitely watch it!!!!! I wish we all had such a teacher when we were young!!! I wish Japan had more teachers like that!!!



So, how do you feel after watching it?
Please tell me your thoughts! Please also tell me about your country's school system and if there's bullying and what you think about the whole thing.



Last but not least: Seen at Poupéegirl

( I'm Japanese, so I only understand Japanese, sorry! <-- WTF??!! )

And that's enough of my ranting for today.
I hope you have a better time than me!!!
Let's hope for better and COOLER days!!!
Luv ya ALL!!~

Hello.

Thanks to everybody for the "Get well soon"-wishes here. It seemed to help, after a week I'm slowly getting better.
My nose is still running and I still keep killing millions of innocent tissues, but it's somewhat getting better.
I still have a slight fever. I just took my temperature and was shocked to see that it's still slightly over 37°C!! (o__o'') ..... AGAIN!! Actually it was gone for 1 or 2 days and now it's back (o_o'') ...
My nose or my whole breathing system still don't work normally, I'm coughing every now and then and that after SEVEN days (with!!! medicine).
That's a little bit strange. Maybe I should go to a doctor after all. Especially because I want to climb Mt. Fuji in just a few days and in my current condition this is not an option!!!!!

( Laptop Ranting again (yeah, I still don't have it ...) .. you can skip this if you want to x___X ... )

People suggested I should eat healthier, but honestly, I think I eat quite healthy already.
Of course there's always a lot of room for improvement!

I don't smoke or drink.
I eat cereals (without sugar) with fresh fruit (mostly banana, kiwi and whatever else is in season) + milk/yoghurt or soy milk for breakfast.
Lunch is usually bread (unfortunately no German whole-grain bread :( ... but I try to get dark bread, e.g. genmaicha bread) with cheese or ham, and raw vegetables (cucumber, carrot, tomato), sometimes also with olives (so expensive in Japan!)
And dinner is often packed lunch I bought in the supermarket (which I think is still healthier than the conbini store food!!!) or - if I have a day off like today - rice with natto/vegetables or spagetthi or something like that (I usually don't REALLY cook).



That was today's dinner. Spaghetti Carbonara with a half-boiled egg on top (*___*)v Yummie!!!!

( Sport Advice please and ThE WoRlD cUp! )



In other news I FINALLY updated my SALES ENTRY!

Quite a huge update this time!! Make sure to check it out! Don't tell me later you missed something!!
And I hate the character limit here on LJ!!! At least paid accounts shouldn't have that!!!!

In a few days there's a reunion of high school graduates. I graduated from high school 10 years ago. Some of the people I haven't seen ever since then.
I'd love to go, but of course I CAN'T!! I'm in Japan, so there's no way! Some of my friends are going, though. I already told them that they need to tell me every little detail! XD


Last but not least: My Poupée month(s): June and July

June Bride Event:



Traditional in kimono :)

( ~ Dress-Up TiMe, Baby! ~ )


And that's it for now!!!
A lot of whining again. I wish I could update about more interesting and happier things!
I don't like how things go lately. I hope it'll get better again from now on!!
Also, sorry that I'm sooooo late with answering comments, e-mails etc.!!! I tried to catch up a bit today, but couldn't completely finish and since my fever seems to come back I'm not sure what'll happen in the next few days.
Wish me luck (>_>'') .....

Bye-☆⌒ヽ(*'、^*)chu

I'm sick! .......... AGAIN!

( Read more... )

And what's more, today was supposed to be a huge "otsukaresama"(=good work!)-BBQ and of course I couldn't join :( :(
I was looking forward to it sooooo~ much!!! *cries* And the weather is great today, too!!!
We all deserved this BBQ so much. And now I don't get any of the good food. Not fair! :/
Also, I wasn't able to do the things that need to be done. Reserve some more things for summer vacation etc.
This sucks so much!!!



Photo: My new best friends! Stuff I'm taking right now. There's also the infamous powder medicine! It makes you extremely sleepy and you'll get it no matter WHAT you have! Even if it's not a cold! XDDD

Why does one get sick in summer anyways???
And why TWICE in such a short time???
That's not normal! I wonder what's wrong! :/
All my coworkers seem to be fine. A lot of students are sick right now, though. And that's probably where I got it from.
I definitely get sick more often since I live in Japan.
Reasons:
a) I'm a teacher. Most teachers get sick more often, just because they get in touch with lots of bacteria every day. Especially if you teach small kids who don't care about hygiene at all!
b) I live in a foreign country. Most of us have been sick more easily as kids. Here in Japan it's a reset for your body!! He has to fight brandnew bacteria and all! Japanese virus =/= European virus.
c) I do eat partly healthy (= fresh fruit and vegetables every day), but I don't do ANY sports!

It could be the weather as well. It's sooo humid, so you sweat like hell. Your hair, your clothes, your bra, everything is wet. Then you finally get to work or any other building and a very cool wind from the AC greets you. ThE kIlLeR!!!!
Then again, it's been like that the last few years, too, and I've never gotten sick because of it!!! Hmmmm.


Being sick in summer sucks.
Being sick when there are so many things to do sucks.
Being sick when you have a bitchy laptop that doesn't let you watch things when all you want is to lie down and slowly fall asleep while watching something.
Being sick when you live all alone in a foreing country and having nobody who could take care of you sucks a loooot!!!

( Cute! Click! ^-^ )

I hope you guys are okay???!!!!
Waiting for dinner time, eating something, taking meds and then I'll crawl back into my bed (x_X) ...

Hullo.

When I came back from work yesterday night, this is what was greeting me in the staircase of my apartment building:

( *click* )



This is the larger one. Definitely as big as an adult's hand, maybe even a little bit bigger ;o;



I told you I hate summer in Japan mainly for the monster insects, right?
I came across one of those huge spiders last year. It was INSIDE at my workplace. So horrible!!!

I hope they're not poisonous, but what really freaks me out is that the bigger one seems to protect her eggs. EGGS!!!! = 2342523123 more monster spiders to come!!!!
If they're still here when I leave for work in a few minutes, maybe I should ask the apartment management to do something about it??
It can't be my job to get rid of them. Furthermore I'm too scared! It was hard enough for me to get close enough to take those photos!!!
I don't hate spiders and I'm not afraid of them, but if they're THAT big??!! Jesus!!! ;o;

I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep last night, knowing that they're only a few meters away!!!
Definitely not going to open any windows or doors in the next few weeks!!! ;o;

Okay, off to work!

Hello! Gudn' Taaaa~ch!

It's finally raining, rainy season has officially started and although I hate rain this time I'm actually GLAD that it's finally raining.
Here's why:



That's not sand or anything, but millions of tiny, yuckie insects!!!!!!! I'm not even sure I know exactly what they were, maybe baby mosquitoes, maybe flies .... (>_>)
But what you see on that photo is actually harmless!!! That's only the leftovers the next morning!! They already cleaned most of it up!!
The night before in our school, they were everywhere!! Inside, too, so we had to spray (I hate insect spray as I also get affected by it easily, headache etc. ...), but we really had no other choice!!
They plastered all our windows and what was worse: the entrance door!!!!!! It was like in a horror movie, I kid you not!!!
Some female students waited outside (at night!!!) because they were too disgusted to come in! One of our male teachers went outside with the spray and sprayed the door from the outside for a few minutes.
After a while we had thousands of insect corpses lying around on the floor inside and IN OUR SHOES etc. .... it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo disgusting!!! (;o;) ....

... I can't say it often enough: I hate summer in Japan!!! *sigh*

( More disgusting facts! )


And we're not done yet!!!
I decided to buy a new notebook after all as I just can't figure out how to fix my old one (that is - if it can be fixed at all anyways).
A friend of mine who knows quite a lot about computers in general suggested to look for the following things:
brand: Acer, HP, Fujitsu or Sony
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or i5/i7
Memory: 4GB

( Read more... )
VAIO Eシリーズ VPCEB18FJ for 100.000yen (~1000$ / 900€) (in ugly blue or black for 98.000yen)



( more details here )

Anyone owns one of those brands and can tell me if they could recommend it or not (and why/why not??). I think that would help me.
My current Toshiba laptop is my first laptop ever, so I have no experience with any other brand :/

THANKS SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!! (^-^)>


( I finally have a credit card again!!!!!! <3333 )



Funny, dorky and yet smexy faces of Toma! That's how we love him (*___*)v

( The Seaside Motel - Official Photobook! <3 )

Alright.
Still so many things to do!!
I also wanna watch Germany's next game tonight (Japanese time)!! (*___*)
Yay! Japan's team actually won!! ^-^

That's it.
Read you again soon!

Hullo~

I have the feeling it's been a while since I posted a non-photo, non-travel related entry? *scratches head*
Well, there you go, but I warn you, because it's been a while this entry is loaded with random stuff like WOAH!!

Where to start?
A rant? Yeah, let's get that one done first, so we have some time later for more interesting stuff XD
Lately, I wonder what I've been doing. I'm sure some of you remember my rants about "not having enough time to study" / "wanting to have time for other things than study and work" / "getting off the internet some more" / "experiencing Japan some more instead" etc.
Well, I guess this is just a sequel to it. (〃´o｀)=3
( Gero geeeero!!!!!~ XD )

Let's move on to more amusing things, ok? :D

Like ... the AnAn issue with Toma ON and IN it?!↴



( But Toma is not the only interesting thing in this issue, wanna know more about the sex manual ??!!!!! Read on! )


Let's get back to my internet obsession and thus to Poupéegirl.
It's gotten more and more evil lately. The newest event is probably one of the BEST and cutest EVER!!!! THE ZOO AND AQUARIUM EVENT!!
I'm a sucker for cute animals as you probably know!!

( Read more... )



( ........ and even more Poupée stuff )

P.S.: If you're reading about Poupée here for the first time and want to try it out, let me know. Signing up and playing is free of charge and if you sign up via me we both get benefits (*_*)v [/advertisement]



And for those, not interested in Poupée at all, I'm sorry to bore you!!
Maybe the next one is more to your liking???



Yesterday night I FINALLY watched "パコと魔法の絵本" - or "Paco and the Magical Picture Book". It was awesome! I was really surprised!
I think this is actually a movie I keep so that I can watch it again some other time.
I loved the colors of that movie!! I loved the actors and crazy characters. It's like a modern fairy tale, but actually I don't want to tell you ANYTHING about the movie!
You have to experience it by yourself! That movie lives from its colors, atmosphere, soundtrack and crazy characters. I'm afraid that my words wouldn't come up to the awesomeness of this movie.

Instead, I'll throw some screencaps at you and I hope that they'll lure you <3
Once upon a time in a hospital ....

( Let the magic begin (*_*)v )


That's all folks.
Congrats if you actually managed to read and browse through all the pics until here. Great job! Now go and watch the movie, go to Poupée and get the Limiteds or get a Japanese bf/gf to test if the above is true or not! XD
Can't believe it'll be already May tomorrow (o__o') ... gotta go and wash my dishes and then my hair.

(´∀｀*)ﾉｼ　ﾊﾞｲﾊﾞｲ❤

Hullo.

I caught a cold and feel like crap :(
I hate it when I can't breathe through my nose (>_>) Makes me aggressive! XD
I wonder why I caught a cold, though. It's finally getting warmer and nobody around me is sick, so from where/why did I get it? I already took some of that yuckie Japanese powder medicine that makes you super sleepy and knocks you out quite fast. I don't like it, but it helps you recover faster. If I write crap, it's due to the meds! [/excuse]
It's raining again today. They say it's the coldest April since 30 years or so. What's wrong with the weather?
Also, did you hear about the volcanic eruption in Iceland? Are you affected by it?
Since Sunday (early!) morning people keep driving around in their cars and screaming through a megaphone: "My name is XY! Please vote for me!". That woke me up on Sunday.
For me as German Sunday's are supposed to be quiet, even supermarkets and stuff are closed on Sundays. And I'm pretty sure that in some countries "propaganda" like that is not allowed. Either way it's REALLY annoying! :/ - It will go on until next Sunday when the elections are (x__X)/

Anyway, today is my day off and I try to relax to get healthy again and I also use the time to update LJ :)

Let's start with a photo I took exactly 2 month ago:

( Read more... )


-+-RANDOMNESS-+-



I stumbled across this video the other day. It's really interesting and funny, though, not all the information might be accurate and misleading and it might be a bit cruel/rude, but it's still interesting, so if you have time, go and watch it :)
Takes about 11min. and is in Japanese only (the English version was taken down for some reason).

( Read more... )


-+-POUPÉEGIRL-+-

After my spring vacation, I decided to quit "MeroMeroPark" and only concentrate on Poupéegirl from now on.
As I was so busy (with my new camera and stuff) before I left for my spring vacation, I didn't post anything Poupée at all lately, so now there's a BUNCH of pictures, sorry! (^-^')

( Read more... )

In other news, I changed my Poupée's hairstyle and color:
→

What do you think?
The only problem with the "reddish" color is that some things just don't match with that color (^-^')> .....

( Comparison❤ )



And that's it for today.
The "old vs. new camera comparison entry" (*rofl*) is coming up soon as well as the next "travel entry" (day 2 in Hiroshima).
Hope you're all doing well.
I need to get back to my Japanese studies ASAP - too much of a break (since before spring vacation) = not good :(

バイぶぅぅ(´∀｀*)ﾉ♪

Hello

it's been a while since my last post. Actually there's a reason for it, bascially only ONE, but I'll explain that later. Indecisive me might also need YOUR help!
But first things first. I'm sorry that it took me so long and I should have posted this RIGHT AFTER I came out of the cinema *hits herself*

Yepp, I FINALLY went to watch "Ningen Shikaku (人間失格)" starring Ikuta Toma (生田斗真)
My No.1 Japanese actor and Johnny (*_*)v



Of course I couldn't resist and bought the movie pamphlet as well (and as you can see I also already grabbed the "Liar Game" one, too XDDD).

So, how was the movie?
( Read more... )



Enough about movies, but what kept me from posting? Actually I'm super tired right now, I feel like a zombie and it's my fault! I'm completely OBSESSED and I really hope by posting that, I can get rid of my obsession and finally DECIDE!!!
I'm talking about SLR. As I already mentioned in one of my previous entries I was thinking about getting a SLR. Why? I think it's time. I've been in Japan for 2 years now, only using a normal compact digicam. Although you always praise my photos, they could be so much better, sharper, more colorful etc. Especially when you have awesome motives such as castles, shrines, temples or CHERRY BLOSSOMS, right? I hope that's the right thing to do.
Well, the problem is not whether to get one or not, but WHICH ONE!!! After reading tons of tests, reviews, forums and watched thousands of youtube videos about the latest first-time user DSLR I was able to narrow it down to these 4

( Please, please help me decide!!! x__X )

Side note: Pentax color variations (small selection out of the 100!):



( Snow, and I mean a lot of snow!! And that in JAPAN and in MARCH!!! Where's spring???!! Where are the cherry blossoms?! ;o; ... XD )

☆~~ヾ・ェ・)o尸~ マタネ~

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2 years since I came to Japan.
I left Germany on February 29th(!) 2008 and arrived in Japan on March 1st which was a Saturday 2 years ago. It's interesting to read about my feelings right before I left and also how I felt last year on my first anniversary. Some of you have been my LJ-friends since then or even longer and I want to thank especially YOU guys for sticking around for such a long time!
I hope we'll get along in the future as well.

( Read more... )


That's all.
Let's hope that my 3rd year will be better than my first 2 years and that I will be able to accomplish more than last year (^-^')>
I hope you'll stay with me for the next year(s) as well <3

今までありがとうございました！
これからもよろしくお願いします！( ｀・ω・´)ﾉ～❤

Hello,

Thank you very much for all of your lovely comments to my last entry.
I'll try to keep my English LJ alive somehow, but can't promise anything. Probably I'll still be posting rarely.
Today is my first DAY OFF in .... years!!! At least that is how it feels!
And was I able to relax?
At first, not really.
When I came back home yesterday night after work, my internet suddenly didn't work anymore! Of course I was worried, because I needed internet in order to finish planning my trip and print out all necessary documents and stuff.
Plus why is my internet working when I don't have any time and am at work 24/7 anyway, but decides to disappear as soon as I have a day off???? (-_____-)
I decided to stay calm and go to bed, hoping that the internet would be back in the morning.
But ... of course it wasn't. So I spent half the day making phone calls in Japanese to my internet company and the landlord. It took forever, but as you can see it's working again!
A cable was plugged out over there, so they had to plug it in on their side. *shakes head* MY NERVES!!!!!!!(-.-)

At least I managed to do almost all of the housework (laundry, dishes etc.) while I was internet-less (^-^)>
After that I used the chance to get all documents I need for my trip before my internet decides to go on vacation without me again.
And the rest of the day I decided to RELAX !!!! I finally was able to modify photos and stuff and upload a bunch of them (^-^)v
As a result here is the first entry out of a few (hopefully) <333
(I still don't really feel relaxed, guess that's impossible after only half a day...)



Late, but as you know I had to work on Christmas (which is on the 24th in Germany btw.).
I hope you all had a great Christmas!!!
I didn't really have any Christmas ... yet again! It's kind of sad :(

( Presents and yummie food (*-*)v )




Talking about food! I wanted to post this for a while now. I stumbled upon this a while ago.
It really looks cute and yummie, what do you think? Hehe~

( Tweets = Japanese + study + time ?! )

Random students' talk at work:
Students: Sensei, sensei, today is Aiba's birthday!! (not talking to me, but a coworker)
Sensei: I know. Happy Birthday, Aiba-kun!! *claps*
Students: Sensei, do you like Aiba-kun?
Sensei: Yes, he's my favorite!
Student A: Uso! He's my favorite, too!!
Sensei: Guess who's her favorite in Arashi? *points at me*
Student B: I know!!! Ikuta Toma!!!
Me: That's right! Hehe .... ((apart from the fact that he's not a member of Arashi XDDDD))
Sensei: Wow, they are well-informed about your likings.
Me: Well, last time in class we were bored so we talked about Johnnys and ... uhm .. yeah XD
Somehow the conversation sounded even funnier in Japanese XD


And that's it for this entry.
Again, thanks so much for your warming and nice comments last time. Sorry, that I couldn't find the time to answer to them yet.

(´∀｀*)ﾉｼ　ﾊﾞｲﾊﾞｲ

It's raining, it's cold.

I'm so busy lately. I told you this would happen. I've been working every day since ... I don't know when. Even Sundays. I'm tired and exhausted. I wish I had some time for myself. It doesn't feels like Christmas at all (yet again). With 2 teachers leaving at the end of this month, another teacher being fired and yet another one in the hospital things are EXTREMELY busy! The few hours I'm home I have to do things I couldn't do on Sunday or days off as I have no days off lately (laundry, dishes etc.). And January will be just as horrible. We're supposed to look for a new teacher again, but this time we really don't have any free time at work, so nobody can do it. It's a vicious circle. Dear Santa, please give me more time!!!! And also time that I actually can enjoy! Thank you. *sigh*

I'll try to post one more time before I FINALLY can leave for my short winter vacation, but with things as they are right now, I never know when I'll be able to post again.
Also, it seems that lately people aren't really interested in my rare entries so much anymore. I might neglect my English LJ eventually and only post in my Japanese one.
Or neglect both if I continue to be "time-less".



I hope at least you guys will have Happy Holidays and a nice CHRISTMAS!

Hello~

I still think that 24hrs are not enough per day (probably even 48hrs wouldn't be), but I have some time to post right now, so here we go!
I have 2 days off right now (yeah, those weeks again) and yesterday I managed to do quite a lot, although I couldn't finish everything yet again.
I did all of my laundry, studied, saved quite a lot of my data (am still doing so, burning 24252629348203948 photos and stuff takes a ... while). I also updated my sales entry (*___*) .... took me 6hrs (x___X) SIX HOURS!!!! Ahem.
And after that it was midnight and I noticed I still had to wash my dishes .... which I actually really DID!! While watching the uber-boring Bleach filler epis (ep 227+) *yawn*

Today nothing much is going on either. I'm trying to finish some LJ and lang-8 entries, finish the rest of my laundry, keep track of my sales entry and HOPEFULLY will be able to study a little bit as well.
That reminds me of a short conversation between me and my coworker(s)

Coworker A (Jap.): What are you going to do on your days off? Me: You know WHAT!! So why're you asking anyway? Coworker A (Jap.): Because I just wanna hear it! I think it's great! Me: I'll study, of course. As always. Coworker B (American): Yeah, we all know you don't have a life!

I know they just were joking around, but I think many people think like THAT!!
( Read more... )



Yesterday, late afternoon. View from my balcony. It was grey the whole day, but finally it got quite nice :) (Just still very cold.)

As you all know I might stay a 3rd year in Japan. My 2nd anniversary is soon (°_°'')>
( Read more... )

But one REAL problem is: PENSION!
It's getting tough now that I stay a third year. If I've had been enrolled into Japanese pension from the beginning, then those years would "count" for German pension once I'm back.
I am not enrolled, though. I was told there's no need when I came without knowing better. If I enroll now, I would have to pay 2 years backwards without having the advantage of those 2 years counting for my homecountry!!! Pretty bad deal, huh?
So, right now that doesn't seem to be a good option.
I was thinking about looking into private pension back in Germany. Maybe there's a way I can pay into that while still living in Japan.
Anybody knows any details? (-___-') For Americans it seems to be completely different which is why they told me in the beginning that I wouldn't need pension at all C= (-。- ) フゥー

( Winter vacation???!!!! ... and no Christmas AGAIN this year? ;o; .... )


That's it!
Now it's study time!!! ....φ(・ω・｀ )ｶｷｶｷ

*.♪。★*・゜・Bye!(ノ*'-')ノBye!・*.♪。・゜・。.☆.*

Hello,

Oh, you can't remember who I am? And yes, I'm still alive (-___-'')
For some reason my day doesn't seem to have 24hrs. I never have enough time for ANYTHING!!!
Actually it's almost midnight and I should go to bed soon, but I HAVE TO WRITE an entry NOW otherwise I'll never write it .... I guess (^-^)>

The latest "news":

Germany's most famous goalkeeper commits suicide:
He suffered from depressions and stuff and now everybody in Germany seems to talk about this mental disease.

20th anniversary: East and West Germany and the fall of the wall XD
Even here in Japan it was all over on TV! It was kind of funny when I sat in the waiting room of my hospital and suddenly saw Angela Merkel speaking GERMAN on Japanese TV! XDDDD

Japan is a scary place:
The young man who obviously killed the young British English teacher 2 (?) years ago has finally been caught. Scary what he did to her. Scary that the police couldn't catch him until NOW!
When I was out shopping the other day I saw a really cute kid with a teddybear cap and while smiling I stared at him and his mother(?) from behind. Suddenly the mother started kicking the kid and screamed at him. I'm not sure what the kid did, but WTF there's no reason to KICK a kid or be violent to a kid, right?
A few minutes later I was in a bookstore browsing through some magazines when I noticed a really strange smell. An old woman, obviously completely drunk was browsing through magazines as well.
And here Japanese people think their country is so much better and safer than other places. I doubt it, really.

Swine flu spreading like WOAH here in Japan especially among young kids / teenagers:
Probably still the biggest topic - not only here in Japan.
And it's really extreme. The last two weeks we've had almost NO students at all! I had quite a few classes with only ONE student ... or two. That was last week's average (-_-')
Either they're sick, someone in their family is or their class OR school is closed due to the flu which means they're also not allowed to come to our school then. Scary!!!
Very empty classrooms, at times more teachers than students in a class and the students who come wear masks and cough, sneeze etc.

( Read more... )


Food:



My typical rice (mixed with raw egg (*_*) .. well, actually not raw, but onsen tamago) and "tofu burgers". Unfortunately not selfmade, but they sold them at my local supermarket and they were fresh and still warm and tasted AWESOME!!
I hope they'll sell it again soon, because I'm sure I'm tooooooo stupid to make them by myself (never have cooked anything with tofu although I LOVE tofu ....)
Btw. anybody knows any EASY and yummie tofu recipes??? (*_*)> .....

( Read more... )



Japanese:

Lately I haven't really made any progress that would be worth mentioning here. As always I could write a long rant about many things regarding my studies and about how I never have enough time and stuff, but .... let's skip that for today.
I was ranting a lot about my HORRIBLE handwriting skills over at Twitter and people asked me to show some photos and stuff.
I really don't wanna do it because it's soooooooooooo~ embarrassing!!! (/・ω・＼) ハズカシイ

( 見ないで！！！！ )



Teddybear day ❤

( Read more... )

Oh, well .... to be fair, you guys should get a chance to get fat as well, so here you are: + + +
バイ☆⌒ヽ(*'、^*)chu

Hello,

just a short update. I've caught a cold a while ago and especially today it's really bad.
I went to see a doc on Wednesday. It's not the flu and I only have a very slight fever, but I feel like crap, even with strong medicine.
Luckily it's a week where I have Thursday, Friday and Sunday off.
Problem is that I have to work tomorrow as we have a Halloween special. I was looking forward to it soooo much, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to teach at all tomorrow.
I feel very dizzy and can barely walk, so how am I supposed to scream and jump around tomorrow? -__-
But as you know I don't get paid sick leave and I HAVE to go tomorrow *sigh* ..... I really don't know how to manage tomorrow, though!
Even typing this is kind of exhausting and I can barely do it.

( Read more... )


♪♪ <- XDDDD

( Read more... )


Oh and in other news, I finally started using Twitter. I've had an account for quite a while, but never used it.

If you're interested in my little rants in between LJ posts, feel free to add me :)
I often also post Japanese words, sentences etc. I discover while studying XD


I still couldn't plan anything for my winter vacation. There's always something keeping me from doing it.
Now it's because I'm sick and can't really concentrate properly (x_X)/

I think that's all for now :/
I really hope I can manage to survive tomorrow somehow ;o;


Bai~chuu　ヾ(=・ω・=)o☆バイバイ☆ヾ(=・ω・=)o

Wow .......... it really has been quite a while, huh?

Sorry about that, but like I said I was very busy and then I didn't really feel like writing anything. I still don't really feel like typing right now, .... for no special reason!!
Anyway I'll try (^-^)>

Quite a lot of pleasant and not so pleasant things happened at work. There will be some huge changes it seems.
I don't wanna talk about that today, though, and will write about it some other time instead :)

Last week we had the "tea party" I was talking about in one of my previous entries.
In short: 1 "native" English teacher + 1 Japanese teacher + #xxx mothers of students + a lot of cake, tea, cookies etc.
It was the first time we did that. It was in the morning before working time (~ 2pm), so it was a little bit tiresome to work from 11am-10pm 2 days in a row. I was the only one who (had to) join(ed) both days!!!
On the other hand it was a really nice experience. It was free for the mothers. They were invited to come and talk to us teachers and ask any questions they might have or even just have a random conversation with us. We didn't know how that would end, but in the end it was really nice ^-^



( rant ..... meeeh~ )

In other news I have to start planning my long awaited winter vacation !!!! Yay!!! (^______^)v
I haven't been travelling in Japan since APRIL!!! (O_________O)> ..... It's about time, huh????
As much as I'd love to go to Tokyo again, this time I wanna spent my winter at a warmer place! I yet need to decide where to go, though.
SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!!!!
One of my coworkers is sooooo sweet!! When she heard that I'm gonna spent "omisoka" (31st) and "shougatsu") (1st) alone she invited me to join her and her family!! I'm very tempted to accept her kind offer :)
Although that means I'll lose a few days of my winter vacation which is probably from December 29th to January 6th, I think it might be nice and interesting ^-^
Her family lives in Fukuoka, so wherever I go it'll be from Fukuoka to ...?
Actually I only have 2 things on my list right now: Okinawa and Kyuushuu!
I've already been to a few cities in Kyuushuu, though: Kokura, Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Kumamoto.
Anything you could recommend that might also be INTERESTING IN WINTER??????? And for only 5-6 days????? Is it stupid to go to Okinawa in winter??? AAAHHHH!!! *headdesk*


And because I haven't done it in a while some snack photos ^-^

( ヾ(@⌒￢⌒@)ノ ウマヒィ  )



Today's outfit. It actually helped as it didn't rain today XD .... if I knew that I could have done my laundry (　´_ゝ｀) .......
That umbrella was quite expensive (x_X) ....

Okay, that's all folks!

Jesus, this week was so busy and what do I do when I finally have a weekend???

Yeah, ... I spent BOTH DAYS (!) cleaning my whole apartment!
And I mean WHOLE!! Every tiny edge! Everything! I think my apartment might have never been SO clean! It's still not 100% clean, guess that's not possible (especially because I always have the feeling that I suck at cleaning ... like using the wrong cleaning utensils and stuff).
I also moved everything that was movable. I didn't find anything suspicious at all, just a lot of dust (especially under the bed when I moved it. It's one of those types where you can't clean under it unless you move it completely and as it's really heavy I've never done it and judging from all the dirt underneath I'm pretty sure the teacher who lived there before me didn't either (x_________X) ......

On Friday I went out before work in order to buy all sorts of cleaning utensils, airtight containers for my food and more roach traps.
I've spread all the traps now and so far I haven't caught anything which is a good sign, I guess?!
On Thursday after a night without sleep at all (partly because of the typhoon, party because of fear of more roaches) I talked to my Japanese coworkers.
They couldn't really understand why I was freaking out so much, because for them seeing roaches from time to time is just natural. They told me it just happens and that it doesn't mean that there are more.
It might really only have come through my balcony door.
Furthermore they told me that they keep their food waste INSIDE not outside. I wonder if I should do that as well, but I thought that keeping garbage inside would attract even more insects. Hmmmmmm.



In Japan everything is cute! Even cockroach traps XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD ............ (((((￢_￢)



I bought quite a lot of stuff in the 100-yen shop. This pink tray was one of the things. I also have a little bit more space than before.
In order to clean out the cupboards and shelfs I had to remove everything first and after putting it back I suddenly had more space XD .... YAY!!!

( Read more... )


And that's it for today!!!
Bye~bu! <3

It's past midnight now.
I'm so exhausted and yet I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep.

Apart from all the crap that's going on at work right now .... plus all the busy times ... there's a typhoon coming now!
I barely managed to ride my bike home.

I had my balcony door open because I didn't know there would be a typhoon.
I was worried the whole time.

When I finally came home and turned on the light.....


... I saw a cockroach quickly disappearing behind some boxes.

WTF????!!!!



It's the first roach I've ever seen in my life.
They are quite rare in Germany.
And it wasn't too long ago that THAT HAPPENED!!!

After coming home from work at around 22:15pm, it took me until 22:45pm until I finally managed to "get" it.
I had no idea they were so fast!!

( Read more... )

WHAT SHALL I DOOOOO??????????????????????????????????????? HELP!!!!


I still had roach traps luckily. I never used them, because I thought they might just attract them (if you don't have them).
But now I've spread them throughout my room. I hope they're not dangerous for me, but I think they have to eat it in order to be killed, so as long as I don't eat the traps I should be safe??!!

That's what I'm using right now. Do you have any better ideas?

I also tried to kill the monster with an insect spray, but it didn't work!! Only on me, I don't feel well now, but luckily I only used a little bit and turned on the air conditioner afterwards.

What about their eggs? Is there any way to find them???


So, I know quite a lot of you who live in Japan already had problems with those little monsters here. Any tips?
Anybody else who can help me??????

I'm trying to reasearch in the internet as well, but seriously I am sooooooo tired, I really should go to bed and try to sleep for now.


Seriously what's going on lately?? Gimme a break!!!!

Hello everybody,

First of all thank you very much for your comments to my last entry
I've been so freaking busy this whole week. I guess I'm still not used to work that lasts from Mo-Fr without a break C= (-。- ) フゥー
I know I shouldn't complain, that's your normal work schedule plus it's only every other week anyway, but I feel that I don't really have enough time for ANYTHING!
Yesterday I finally managed to finish another step in my Japanese studies, doing almost (see later) nothing but studying.
Today I won't have so much time to study as I have to clean my apartment, wash my laundry, answer e-mails, write entries etc.
It's amazing how fast time runs and you never have enough, huh? (And here it's September again! )
I was invited for lunch today by one of my Japanese coworkers, but I had to turn her down as I was way too busy. Such a shame :/

My usual day looks roughly like this: (~ means until in this case)

• ~8:00am: getting up (I usually set my alarm clock around 7.50am, but in the end I can't get out of my bed before 8am, sometimes I even sleep until 9am *sigh*)


• ~10:00/10:30am: after finally getting up I get ready for the day (brushing my teeth etc.), prepare my breakfast, eat my breakfast while browsing the internet (lj, news, japanese sites, e-mail etc.)


• ~12:30pm: what happens now depends on what I need to do (laundry, shopping, cleaning, run errands of some other kind etc. and/OR study Japanese)


• ~13.30pm: prepare and eat lunch while usually watching something on my laptop


• ~14pm: getting ready for work which starts at 2pm


• ~22:00pm: I come home from work, but I often can't leave at 22:00 and have to stay a little bit longer


• ~0:30/1:00am: I browse the internet one more time (sometimes I have to wash my dishes at night, so I watch something on my laptop while doing so) / I watch a drama/anime and around 0:00am I go to bed to read some Japanese material (just started another novel last night)

( Rant about not having enough time, work, translating and students who're being bullied )



Friday night I wanted to go to bed early so that I could get up early on Saturday to study, but then I got caught by the last few episodes of "Smile". I never write about the jdramas I watch anymore, huh?
Smile was horrible to watch and I almost wanted to stop watching it at some point, because it was so hard to watch and bear it. At least "1 litre of tears" warns you with its title, but you don't expect THAT from a drama with the title "Smile", right?
I'm not going to give you any major spoilers, so don't worry. I think the drama has at least ONE good thing, though. It's very self-critical about the Japanese society in general, but prejudices (against foreigners) in particular. I also hate the fact that Japan still has the death penalty!! I'm completely against it! And I heard prisoners often won't know their execution date until the morning of the actual day!!! (SPOILER FOR SMILE LAST EPISODE: and it was the same in Smile .... SPOILER END)

What about your country? Do you have death penalty and what do you think about it?
Jesus, I really should update my "watched jdramas" page (x_X) ....... *headdesk*



Regarding my last entry: I was not very lucky!
It seems it was on TV after all! On Thursday one of my Jr. high students told me. She didn't say much about it, just that she saw me, so I'm not sure if it was horrible or not. Good thing I didn't see it.
Ever since then I haven't heard anything about it anymore, so I just hope that the people who saw it will forget about it soon again.

Regarding the curtains I bought a while ago, I managed to send them back successfully.
Now it's time to look for another set of curtains. They should be thin and white or lightpink(?) to match the curtains I already have. The most important thing is that they are almost transparent so that I still can see what's going on outside.
Something like this, just cheaper. I'll let you know once I've decided what to buy in the end :D I hope this time I get the right ones ┐(-。ー;)┌ヤレヤレ

( I cooked!! Yah, for REAL!!!! You don't believe me? ;__; ... )



( Japanese green tea ← question! )


Jesus, what a long entry. Sorry! And so random, too!

Pikachu? Raichu? No, it's a bye☆⌒ヽ(*'、^*)chu　(((((￢_￢) ....... ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(;￣◇￣)┘

Hello,

quick update because something really weird and embarrassing happened just now!
I went to the shopping arcade to get some food (was looking for dark bread, brown rice, fresh cheese and some other healthy things) when a local TV team stopped me and asked me a few questions.
I've seen people with microphones and cameras quite often in that shopping arcade. I guess they often do public-opinion polls about various things.

And WHY, oh WHY out of ALL possible poll subjects does it have to be POLITICS?? WHY?????

So, they asked me about Hatoyama, of course. I hope everybody knows what I'm talking about??

I told them so much garbage! And this time not because of a lack of language but because of a lack of political knowledge (-____-'')
I just brabbeld about that it's a huge change, that I was surprised and that I think that it's a good thing. I was almost as surprised when Germany got a woman to be Prime Minister and after Obama as well.
When they asked me about more details ... like what I expect now and stuff ... I really talked rubbish -___-;



I hope it's bad enough so that they just throw my interview away and that they won't show it on local TV!!!
I don't wanna imagine my students or their parents seeing me talking that rubbish ;o; .....

GAH!!!!!

After the interview I got some nice ideas what I could have told them.



Well, now it's too late.

Gotta go to work now.
Bye~bu (^-^;)/~