"today" or "those crazy japanese"
was an incredibly long day, but it was SO worth it.
after getting notsomuch sleep last night, i got up, took a shower, grabbed a bowl of cereal and was out the door by 9 to catch the train to nakano where i volunteer. we cleaned. and cleaned. and cleaned some more. then we had lunch at this dingy, but SO tasty ramen-ya-san, where i had japanese chinese food, which is pretty much just like american chinese food, except that there is like twice as much of it. that and rather than being able to take it out, the owner feels insulted if you say "gouchisousamadeshita" before finishing every last grain of rice.
then we went back to cleaning. for another 4 hours. i was soooo tired. and then there was that chick who showed up last minute and seemed to give me a bad tude. luckily i had a book in hand, so i mainly ignored it. and i'm glad i did, because she is super cool.
but i digress.
after the 10-7 something cleaning session, we went out to the sentou. it's a japanese public bath. it was SOFUN. first of all, on the way there, yuka and i talked and she is really cool. i also spoke more with shingo-san, and he is a pretty awesome guy ^_^. and then there was mikako poking her head around everywhere. basically we were all getting to know each other on the way there.
then, the sentou itself was an AMAZING experience. first of all, there were like 3 seperate huge tubs. one was outside made of stones and super hot. me, mikako, and yuka played around in there for a bit, and that was hilarious. and then we tried out the other ones. the outside one was pretty small. so we went to the the big inside one next. it had 4 different sections-color coded with lights underneath. super cool. one was regular plain hot water. we got in there, and decided to wander around the sections. but of course, mikako had to find the most EXTREME BATH! it sent a tingle through my arm that felt very familiar. in fact, it felt like that time i accidentally electricuted myself a bit because i didn't turn off the light before changing that bulb in the bathroom in the japan house that time...
that's because it was the electric shock bath. no, i'm serious. electric currents are sent out through these little holes in the walls (where normally water jets or something like that would be). a normal (i.e. american) person, whould say that water and electricity are a bad mix, but not the japanese. and apparently the japanese using the bath believe that this electricity and water mix is good for them too. as mikako's fingers curled of their own accord, she said "wow, this could be really good for your back".
i gave up on that section. i was wearing too much metal, and my arm was too tingly for comfort. i loved the red section.
this section was in a corner, so that you could rest your arms on the side of the tub and feel teeeny bubbles massaging you. that was really comfy. i liked that section the best.
also, there was a normal water jet section. this one was colored blue. it was set up so that there were seats. and the water jets hit you on your back, and at the bottom of your feet, so that after a hard day's work standing up or whatever, you could be all massaged and made to feel better ^_^
then there was the cold bath. which i thought would suck to got into. and it did kinda the first time. but after being in super hot water, then getting in the super cold water, then getting out, your skin feels so fresh and so clean clean clean.
so yeah, that was a blast.
after that, we did karaoke. and i love karaoke. and they kept singing these songs from anime, which was cool, but i couldn't sing along because the theme songs in english are always different! sad!
however, not to brag, i apparently melted hearts and brought people near to tears at karaoke today.... i actually really surprised myself too. it was like, i was singing with a voice i didn't know i had. i sang a song called "everything" by an artist called misia. i gave myself chills. and there were gasps, followed by dead silence...and i know it makes me sound like a terrible person saying this about myself, but... yeah...
it made me think... maybe i should try to do something with that... i've always wanted to sing, but i never thought i was any good. but... maybe i was not all correct?
well, dreams are dreams. right now, i know what is most important.
oh, and speaking of what's important, i've been thinking and listneing to advice. maybe i should just let her go for a little while. she did say break... some breaks do work out, right?? maybe there is some hope for the fall?
we'll see. i still want to hear what she has to say on sunday.
but i do want to go the distance. and if the only way to keep her is to let her go for a little while, then i'm willing to do that.
but first i guess i need to focus on my homework.
night all!
after getting notsomuch sleep last night, i got up, took a shower, grabbed a bowl of cereal and was out the door by 9 to catch the train to nakano where i volunteer. we cleaned. and cleaned. and cleaned some more. then we had lunch at this dingy, but SO tasty ramen-ya-san, where i had japanese chinese food, which is pretty much just like american chinese food, except that there is like twice as much of it. that and rather than being able to take it out, the owner feels insulted if you say "gouchisousamadeshita" before finishing every last grain of rice.
then we went back to cleaning. for another 4 hours. i was soooo tired. and then there was that chick who showed up last minute and seemed to give me a bad tude. luckily i had a book in hand, so i mainly ignored it. and i'm glad i did, because she is super cool.
but i digress.
after the 10-7 something cleaning session, we went out to the sentou. it's a japanese public bath. it was SOFUN. first of all, on the way there, yuka and i talked and she is really cool. i also spoke more with shingo-san, and he is a pretty awesome guy ^_^. and then there was mikako poking her head around everywhere. basically we were all getting to know each other on the way there.
then, the sentou itself was an AMAZING experience. first of all, there were like 3 seperate huge tubs. one was outside made of stones and super hot. me, mikako, and yuka played around in there for a bit, and that was hilarious. and then we tried out the other ones. the outside one was pretty small. so we went to the the big inside one next. it had 4 different sections-color coded with lights underneath. super cool. one was regular plain hot water. we got in there, and decided to wander around the sections. but of course, mikako had to find the most EXTREME BATH! it sent a tingle through my arm that felt very familiar. in fact, it felt like that time i accidentally electricuted myself a bit because i didn't turn off the light before changing that bulb in the bathroom in the japan house that time...
that's because it was the electric shock bath. no, i'm serious. electric currents are sent out through these little holes in the walls (where normally water jets or something like that would be). a normal (i.e. american) person, whould say that water and electricity are a bad mix, but not the japanese. and apparently the japanese using the bath believe that this electricity and water mix is good for them too. as mikako's fingers curled of their own accord, she said "wow, this could be really good for your back".
i gave up on that section. i was wearing too much metal, and my arm was too tingly for comfort. i loved the red section.
this section was in a corner, so that you could rest your arms on the side of the tub and feel teeeny bubbles massaging you. that was really comfy. i liked that section the best.
also, there was a normal water jet section. this one was colored blue. it was set up so that there were seats. and the water jets hit you on your back, and at the bottom of your feet, so that after a hard day's work standing up or whatever, you could be all massaged and made to feel better ^_^
then there was the cold bath. which i thought would suck to got into. and it did kinda the first time. but after being in super hot water, then getting in the super cold water, then getting out, your skin feels so fresh and so clean clean clean.
so yeah, that was a blast.
after that, we did karaoke. and i love karaoke. and they kept singing these songs from anime, which was cool, but i couldn't sing along because the theme songs in english are always different! sad!
however, not to brag, i apparently melted hearts and brought people near to tears at karaoke today.... i actually really surprised myself too. it was like, i was singing with a voice i didn't know i had. i sang a song called "everything" by an artist called misia. i gave myself chills. and there were gasps, followed by dead silence...and i know it makes me sound like a terrible person saying this about myself, but... yeah...
it made me think... maybe i should try to do something with that... i've always wanted to sing, but i never thought i was any good. but... maybe i was not all correct?
well, dreams are dreams. right now, i know what is most important.
oh, and speaking of what's important, i've been thinking and listneing to advice. maybe i should just let her go for a little while. she did say break... some breaks do work out, right?? maybe there is some hope for the fall?
we'll see. i still want to hear what she has to say on sunday.
but i do want to go the distance. and if the only way to keep her is to let her go for a little while, then i'm willing to do that.
but first i guess i need to focus on my homework.
night all!