Yummy!

My friend sent me my mail from the States and stuck a bunch of Reese's inside! Last time I asked her to bring a bar or two of Twix and some Reese's pieces...she brought a case of each! I put them in the freezer, so I'm still thawing and eating them when I feel like it, but I still have a whole lot more left =). My friend must've wanted to test my will power =).

Several years ago, I asked her if she could bring some fruit roll ups for me when she came to visit, and from then on, she took to bringing me what seemed like a whole years worth of fruit roll ups every time! After the 2nd or 3rd year, I had to tell her that I really appreciated the fruit roll ups, but I needed a break from them.

Two Birthdays!

So this is about last weekend again, after Kaoru and I (and more than half the Resilience staff) went to the talk on Sunday. We had a surprise party for Kaoru, since it was her birthday in a few days. The Resilience staff is nice about picking vegetarian-friendly restaurants if we go out to eat, so I get to enjoy the food too, instead of having to worry about what in the world I'm about to put in my mouth.

Kaoru didn't realize we were having a birthday party for her...until Nosaka san decided to spill the beans as we ordereded drinks =).

To a new life!!

The next day, we had another surprise birthday party for Kaoru's son, Hiroki, since it was almost his birthday too. We made an assortment of food and it was a whole lot of fun. Never thought there'd be a day like this, where I'm actually just enjoying hanging out with friends...in Japan!

Yes, it's a birthday cake, but the way they're posing, it kinda looks like a wedding cake, huh?! hee hee.

I don't know how she did it.

I went to Tokyo last weekend to listen to this lady from Canada speak. I couldn't really tell from the title what she was really going to talk about, but I'd heard about her several times and was curious to hear what she had to say. Another reason I went was because I wanted to learn more on how my friend, Sachi, translates.

Let me tell you, Sachi is REAL good at translating. But this day's translating must've been more than challenging even for her. Of course, she pulled it off without hardly any glitches. (Although she has the funniest look of "what in the world are you talking about lady!" on her face in the pic above.)

Man OH man, the speaker was incredibly difficult to translate. I tried to take notes and practice translating in my head, but I gave up after the first 5 minutes. I don't know how Sachi did it. I think if it were me, I would have thrown my pen and said "sorry, no can do ma'am" and walked out. It wasn't the topic that made the whole thing difficult, but just the way the speaker's train of thought worked...anyways, what I learned was that you gotta basically be able to think like the speaker and kinda try to read the speaker's mind, on top of knowing the content well, if you wanna be a good translator. Just knowing the words doesn't help.

Carrying around the gods

This was just the oddest thing. I was in Tokyo waiting in the restaurant for the rest of the group to come, and I look out the window on a busy street and I see a bunch of people wearing green clothes carrying a....what do you call it...it's a portable alter that carries the gods around...omikoshi(??) around. Now I see this happen once or twice a year in Sanda, and even that strikes me as odd, but Sanda is in the country so I can understand people sticking to those old traditions....but here in Toyko? In the middle of a busy street?!

I don't understand it. Do the gods here have to take certain route to get to their destination? Why's it gotta be on a busy street where they end up stopping traffic? It's awesome how old traditions are kept alive in modern times, but I still am so surprised by it whenever I see it happening before my eyes. You don't know what to make of it.

More flavors!

This time I found grape flavor and houjicha(roasted green tea) flavor! Grape flavor and Kit-Kat didn't go that well together. But I liked the tea one. I don't really know what houjicha is supposed to taste like, but it seemed like a good match.

Repainting the deck

The other day, the weather was so nice I suddenly decided to take on the patio deck re-painting project I'd been putting off for quite some time. I had to first move all the stuff my mom had put on the patio, which was a pain. Of course, the mosquitos were still out trying to fill their stomachs, so I had two katorisenkos going. After several hours of moving, cleaning, and repainting, I finally finished and was quite exhausted, but satisfied with the outcome. I actually made this deck couple of years ago! Above, I've just started painting, but already tired.

Students and vegetables

It's so interesting how students often bring home-grown vegetables or fruit for us here. It's really nice of them!

Kit Kat-watermelon flavor!

 

People over here absolutely love "limited edition" stuff. This goes for food too. Something I've noticed lately and like trying out are the different flavors of Kit Kat they come out with every few weeks or months. I've seen some pretty odd flavors that get me thinking "why would I want a Kit Kat in THAT flavor??"

I noticed this watermelon flavored one recently at Seven-Eleven and I tried it. It really tasted like watermelon! That's something that amazes me over here...if the package says such-and-such-flavor, then they really make it taste exactly like that!

Randy Pausch

I happened to pick up his book called "The Last Lecture" at the Seattle airport in August. I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting(well yes, it was a long flight), along with another book I picked up. Wow, what can I say? It was so inspirational. After I got back to Japan, I found his last lecture online and was mesmerized. It really made to think about how I'm living my life and how I want to live my life.

I've always had this philosophy of wanting to live my life in a way that I won't have regrets when I die, which usually means jumping at the chance to take the road less traveled. Watching Randy Paush's last lecture reconfirmed that's how I want to live my life. Here's a man who knew death was approaching, but was so brave and stood firm in his beliefs, and did all he could for his family before he went. I think it's true, what he said, "It's not the things you DID that you'll regret, it's the things you DIDN'T do that you'll regret."

I sent links to a bunch of my friends recommending the video to them. I also bought the Japanese book with the DVD too, 'cause I wanted my Japanese friends to see/read it too. After reading a bit of the book in Japanese though, I realized the humor Randy brought into his talk didn't translate into JP too well, so that was too bad 'cause his humor is a big part of him being so inspirational. I mean, he's dying and he's making people laugh. That's amazing.

I only hope that when my time comes, I'll be able to look back and be able to say "Yup, it was a good life. I did everything I wanted to." One thing I'll definitely be happy about is to having gone to the Marshall Islands to volunteer for a year. It was an amazing experience I wouldn't trade for anything.

I read that Randy passed away on July 25. My heart goes out to his wife, Jai, and his three kids that he absolutely loved with every bit of his heart.

Care for a $20 mango?!

WHO is going to buy a 2000 Yen mango??? It's all wrapped up in protective foam and encased in a plastic container, but really....it's just so ridiculous!