Man, I want some new icons!
Since I've gotten back to America, most of my dreams have involved being back in airports, being back in Tokyo, missing my finals and having to go back to Gaidai to do them, or being plopped the middle of a big city with all my luggage and being told to find my way home on foot. There was also a dream in which I was marrying a guy I had never met in real life, I ran a stressful wedding but looked great in my dress, and then when we went off to work at a hamburger joint I sat in the car, waiting for our honeymoon, and just bawled because I was so surprised I had just gotten married. There was also a dream in which I was eating some very sticky, not-very-tasty ice cream while listening to young people I had never met talk about politics.
One of those Tokyo dreams was a lot of fun, and reflected the day I actually had there and enjoyed thoroughly. The others were all more or less stressful.
Last dream of 2008: Involved my winding up in an acting test in front of a bunch of college professors who surprisingly really liked my communist dictator comedy routine I got stuck in. It was all impromptu and I really wanted to bring it to a conclusion, but they all kept giving me prompts. Finally I yelled, "off to China!" and ran off the stage. They came looking for me because they wanted me to perform it all again from the top so they could record it. I ran away and found that art work I supposedly did was on display in the middle of a busy street. To make myself feel better, I wore a shiny bright blue and pink kimono, and then overheard a couple of guys running the acting test say that I was probably hiding because I was embarrassed about popular my act wound up being, and they proposed to make me feel better by inviting me to dance. Since they were already on a crowded ballroom dance floor, I walked out in my kimono and said, "okay, let's dance" and then we danced, and I found it surprisingly fun and I was actually good at dancing.
First dream of 2009: I was back in Tokyo again, having been told I had to spend another semester there anyway (though I hadn't been in Tokyo). I had a very cluttered room to stay in with a new host family, but it was obvious they didn't know I was coming and couldn't take care of me so I left and was homeless. There was a large indoor complex of rich people or students or something where I seemed to need to be, so I dropped my belongings somewhere instead of having them weigh me down, and I went there hoping to find a job or something so I could take care of myself. There was also a part of the giant building which had movie theaters, but none of them were playing anything worth watching. I heard from some people there that everything played was based on the whims of the rich people who ran the place, who the rest of us lived under. When one of them was being carried out on a hammock, the ninjas (yes, ninjas in bright daylight) around me all all bowed on the bridges and instructed me not to bow my head until the rich person was completely carried out of that place. I was wearing a maiko outfit by this time, complete with the heavy wig. I was reverting back to my knowledge of Japanese manners and was sitting in suiza to bow as the rich man was carried by, but the ninjas laughed whenever my hands touched the ground in front of me. The wig slid over my eyes, and when I looked back up the ninjas were all gone, and I was alone, kneeling on a bridge in bright daylight in a maiko kimono and heavy wig. I let the wig slid back over my eyes again and decided to sleep while kneeling there.
---
Going from an island nation to the dry Colorado weather has not only been a shock to my sinuses, but also to my hair. I happened to read something about a treatment for dry hair, so on Tuesday night I tried it out: mayonnaise! It smelled terrible, but it worked, and the next day my hair was nice and soft again.
I was preoccupied at midnight last night and missed all the fireworks or whatever. I didn't care, and went to go brush my teeth. That's when we got the blackout: Y2K came nine years too late!
Tonight as I was reading picture book after picture book after picture book to my 2-year-old sister, my 7-year-old sister asked to play with my hair. I had been avoiding it, but she's been asking to play with my hair for months. In fact, she asks every time she catches me sitting idly, so I figured I'd let her do it as long as she promised not to tangle it.
An hour later, Oneechan had to help me pull 11 hair clips and 25 bobby pins out of my hair. That's the last that any little kids will be playing with my hair for a while.
--
I am so not ready to pack up and head back to Valpo on Monday. Usually I get excited at the prospect of travel, but right now all it sounds like is a pain (all those luggage and airport dreams haven't helped!). Now that I'm finally feeling more adjusted to being back in the US, I have to pack up again! Grr! There are certainly things I'm looking forward to back at Valpo, like being able to settle in a bit, but does it have to come so soon!?
One of those Tokyo dreams was a lot of fun, and reflected the day I actually had there and enjoyed thoroughly. The others were all more or less stressful.
Last dream of 2008: Involved my winding up in an acting test in front of a bunch of college professors who surprisingly really liked my communist dictator comedy routine I got stuck in. It was all impromptu and I really wanted to bring it to a conclusion, but they all kept giving me prompts. Finally I yelled, "off to China!" and ran off the stage. They came looking for me because they wanted me to perform it all again from the top so they could record it. I ran away and found that art work I supposedly did was on display in the middle of a busy street. To make myself feel better, I wore a shiny bright blue and pink kimono, and then overheard a couple of guys running the acting test say that I was probably hiding because I was embarrassed about popular my act wound up being, and they proposed to make me feel better by inviting me to dance. Since they were already on a crowded ballroom dance floor, I walked out in my kimono and said, "okay, let's dance" and then we danced, and I found it surprisingly fun and I was actually good at dancing.
First dream of 2009: I was back in Tokyo again, having been told I had to spend another semester there anyway (though I hadn't been in Tokyo). I had a very cluttered room to stay in with a new host family, but it was obvious they didn't know I was coming and couldn't take care of me so I left and was homeless. There was a large indoor complex of rich people or students or something where I seemed to need to be, so I dropped my belongings somewhere instead of having them weigh me down, and I went there hoping to find a job or something so I could take care of myself. There was also a part of the giant building which had movie theaters, but none of them were playing anything worth watching. I heard from some people there that everything played was based on the whims of the rich people who ran the place, who the rest of us lived under. When one of them was being carried out on a hammock, the ninjas (yes, ninjas in bright daylight) around me all all bowed on the bridges and instructed me not to bow my head until the rich person was completely carried out of that place. I was wearing a maiko outfit by this time, complete with the heavy wig. I was reverting back to my knowledge of Japanese manners and was sitting in suiza to bow as the rich man was carried by, but the ninjas laughed whenever my hands touched the ground in front of me. The wig slid over my eyes, and when I looked back up the ninjas were all gone, and I was alone, kneeling on a bridge in bright daylight in a maiko kimono and heavy wig. I let the wig slid back over my eyes again and decided to sleep while kneeling there.
---
Going from an island nation to the dry Colorado weather has not only been a shock to my sinuses, but also to my hair. I happened to read something about a treatment for dry hair, so on Tuesday night I tried it out: mayonnaise! It smelled terrible, but it worked, and the next day my hair was nice and soft again.
I was preoccupied at midnight last night and missed all the fireworks or whatever. I didn't care, and went to go brush my teeth. That's when we got the blackout: Y2K came nine years too late!
Tonight as I was reading picture book after picture book after picture book to my 2-year-old sister, my 7-year-old sister asked to play with my hair. I had been avoiding it, but she's been asking to play with my hair for months. In fact, she asks every time she catches me sitting idly, so I figured I'd let her do it as long as she promised not to tangle it.
An hour later, Oneechan had to help me pull 11 hair clips and 25 bobby pins out of my hair. That's the last that any little kids will be playing with my hair for a while.
--
I am so not ready to pack up and head back to Valpo on Monday. Usually I get excited at the prospect of travel, but right now all it sounds like is a pain (all those luggage and airport dreams haven't helped!). Now that I'm finally feeling more adjusted to being back in the US, I have to pack up again! Grr! There are certainly things I'm looking forward to back at Valpo, like being able to settle in a bit, but does it have to come so soon!?