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| I've been feeling really lazy this week. So I haven't done much
after work. Usually I have just been watching movies and making a
scarf that I ment to make for a friend last year. But now I am
just about finally done. All I need to do is add the pretty
fringes to the ending and I can use it till I give it to her. jk
Last weekend I went to Osaka and had a wonderful time. I always
have so much fun with Nina. On Saturday it rained, like we
predicted, but we still went to Universal Studios. I had so much
fun. I turned into a kid again. It was weird because
everything was in half english and half Japanese. And my
childhood dream came true: I danced with Ernie from Seseame
Street. On Sunday, it was pretty warm. I was
suprised. The weather was really nice. But when I came back
to Kurayoshi, it was really cold. It seems like over the weekend
when I was gone the weather got really cold. But I love the fall
weather here. All the trees are turning colors. It is
amazing. I'll try to get some good pictures. My japanese is
improving but it is still really frustrating. I can understand
more but I have a hard time talking myself. Ah, I just need to
not get really frustrated and take it one step at a time. As far
as work goes, this is my last day in the plating section and next week
I start moving around to the different sections. A lot of new
names to learn. wish me luck
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| So I have been meaning to write in here all week. And now it is
Friday! I dont know where the time goes... I am very excited
because this weekend I am going to Osaka to play with Nina. We
want to go to Universal Studios Japan on Sat but it may rain, so I am
not sure if we are going or not. But I REALLY want to.
At work I have been working with Adachi-san. Every week I have a
new intstructor/sensei. Well Adachi-san is really funny and knows
english. So eventhough my work isn't hard, exciting, or
challenging, I am still having fun. I am working on the line in
the factory. I take off the full reel of contacts for connectors
and put on an empty one.
Yesterday I showed my coworkers how my elbows can hyperextend and
Adachi-san said "you are not human, you monkey!!" I was laughing
so hard. I carry my dictionary around with me and I look up good
english phrases to teach him and he looks up japanese stuff to teach
me. I learned that a japanese-english dictionary can provide
hours of entertainment. But since I carry around my dictionary at
work, some coworkers talk to me know. They point to the
dictionary in my pocket and I give it to them and they look up the word
so that we can communicate better. I am so glad that I bought
that thing.
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| More about the welcome dinner...
The dinner was a lot of fun. They made me and Kashihara-san give
a speech. I said about three sentences in Japanese and that was
it. But it was ok because I am the foreigner. Because you
cook the food infront of you, the room was SO hot. I was wearing
a sweater over a sleaveless shirt. I wanted to take off the
sweater but I didn't want to do it at the table because I am sure that
Adachi-san or someone else will make some type of comment. So I
went to the bathroom and took of my sweater there. Well... when I
walked out Adachi-san called me sexy loud enough for everyone to
hear. I just blushed. It was really funny. Adachi-san is a
bit of a trouble maker. A very unique person. I eventually moved
over to sit with Taketa-san. I talked to some boys over there and
they asked me where I was from in Cali. So I said I was from
Sacramento and I immediately thought that there was a good chance that
they would not know of Sac so I was just about to say San Fransico when
they said "Oh... Sacramento Kings" I laughed. I found some
Kings fans in a small town of Japan. So we talked about the Kings
for a while. They knew all the players and even the move that
Doug Christie would do when he made a basket. It was great.
Who would of thought that I would find Kings fans all the way out
here. Finally it was time for the good bye words from someone in
the plating section. So this one guy stood up and said something
about Kashihara-san and then when he went to talk about me all the said
was "Burijitto-san wa KAWAII desu ne........" which means
'Brigitte is so cute'. I couldn't believe it, that was all they
said. So my life is proving to be even more interesting in the
factory. If I am not careful I am sure that someone would set me
up to marry someone here. jk.
After dinner we went to a karaoke bar. And I just validated the
point that I can not sing to save my life. Who would have thought
that the Beatles would be so hard to sing. Oh well. I tried
to sing Hey Jude. It was interesting. I also had about 6
more glasses of my favorite plumb brandy. So lets just say that I
was a little more than buzzed by the time I was at my last glass.
I remember everything and didn't have a hangover so that was
good. But a coworker was who was also drunk kept telling me how
cute I am and that he checks me out at work. I thought that was
funny.
I blame my scottish roots for the ability to drink
about 5x as much as them. So I had a great weekend with that and
on Sunday at the onsen.
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| Last Saturday night was the plating section party. The party was
to welcome me to the factory and because Kashihara-san is leaving the
factory to go work in sales at the home office in Osaka. I didnt'
realize that the party was to welcome untill I was at the
restaurant. About 40 people were there and my mentor made me sit
up at the front of the room with Kashihara-san and the main boss of the
section. It was very scary. The tables were covered with
food. Everything looked so good and fresh. We ate sukiyaki
and sushi. Sukiyaki is japanese dish where you cook beef at the
table in a soup stock. There was also tofu and other vegetables
that were cooked with the meat. In a bowl you crack a raw egg and
take the cooked food and mix it in with the egg and eat it. It
was very good. And of course there was alcohol. The
Japanese culture always refills other peoples glasses. So I drank
so much beer, I honestly couldn't tell you how many glasses. But
I would see the beer in my glass and think "oh there is some left... I
should drink it." Yeah, that is the American in me coming
out. I was fine at the end of the dinner, I wasn't even typsy
from the beer.
At the begining of the meal, the head boss gave a short speech about
Kashihara-san and I. I think he was congratulating him and
wishing him luck in Osaka. But when it was the boss's turn to
talk about me he said what I like to do. Where I went, what I
like to eat, etc. I felt like it was a dating show. "This
is Brigitte, she likes long walks on the beach, is an aquarius, and
wants world peace for all..." I was laughing so hard on the
inside. I didn't think it would be polite to laugh aloud.
Then, all throughout dinner Adachi-san (Nina's friend who works in the
section) kept asking me who was the most handsome man there. Now
remember that this is an engineering factory. So I was one of 2
girls at this dinner. I didn't answer. I think only trouble
could have resulted from answering that question.
more to come... time for bed
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| Today I bought a throw blanket at a store. It is the softest
blanket I have ever felt. I kinda miss all my pillows and
blankets at home. And it has been getting colder here, so it will
be nice to have an extra blanket around. The weather here was
amazing today. The sky was clear and it was the perfect
temperature outside. After having a nice long conversation with
Stephanie, I had lunch with Taketa-san. After lunch we had went
to an onsen. I love the onsens. This onsen was particularly
nice becuase it had these pipes that would drop water on you and give
your shoulders a massage. Since I arrived in Japan, I have been
wanting a massage. So I finally got one. I was in
heaven. I really like the baths outside mostly because I
just like being outside. After the onsen, Taketa-san bought me
softcream (soft serve icecream) But this softcream was
different. It had a higher concentration of milk because this
area that we were at is famous for their cows and milk products.
It was the best softcream that I have had. I was suprised at how
good it was. Also at the onsen I weighed myself. I lost
15lbs since my birthday. I was suprised at that too. I knew
that I lost weight because I can tell in my face and how my clothes fit
me. I also went to Taketa-san's house and played with her
dog. The dog is sooooooooooo cute. It is this white dog
with ears that stick up. I normally dont like small dogs but most
people own small dogs in Japan so I have been seeing them a lot.
Since the weather was really nice. I decided to wonder around on
my bike and on my trip I ran into some people doing the JET
program. So I was excited to find people who speak english.
We exchanged numbers and maybe we will get together sometime. One
girl is from NC, one girl from New Zealand and a boy from
England. We talked for about 20 min or so and then went our
separate ways. Tonight I went down to the dining room to make
dinner but there was a small party and they invited me join. Except the topic of conversation was how much
alcohol I drank at Saturday night's party. My friend called me a
"special drinker". Some of the english words that japanese
people know crack me up. So I had a very entertaining Saturday
night but that is a different entry for a different night. More
people are starting to talk to me more and that is fun but sometimes
they start talking really fast and I will have no clue what they are
talking about. Ok time for bed...
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