I need a beer!

I am grateful for Fridays and beer and that hair grows back.  I am grateful for fried shrimp, sushi and America's Next Top Model.  There is no better day than today.  

I was dreading school this morning on the brink of a panic attack as to why I moved to this country that I know nothing about and who knows nothing about me.  But I realized I was just stressed out because I was going to get my "bangs trimmed" tonight after school and I was nervous because I was going to a place I'd never been to with one of my (favorite) coworkers...who doesn't speak English.  And if you know me, you will know I'm very very very very very particular about my hair.  I was preparing for the worst.

I get to school and the rain comes.  Sheets of rain pouring down, which is great for 2 reasons and shitty for so many others.  It is great because it might just kill that fucking ugly ass GIGANTIC spider that lives outside my front door - waiting to eat me.  Also, the rain reminds me of home.  On the other hand, the rain sucks balls because....it reminds me of home and makes me involuntarily homesick, and I have to ride my fucking bike in it - sans umbrella.  But whatever...this conundrum also amuses me to no end.  After the first period of me sitting at my desk writing Kimmie a letter, the thunder comes.  It sounds so close I'm sure I felt the room shake...more fun.  I am envisioning my solo "teacher's" bicycle outside the side door getting drenched and how soggy my ass will get to have to sit on the puddle that is a bicycle seat.  But I move to 1 of 3 computers in the teachers office to check my email.  My previous blog was a bit over the top so I had to see if there were any comments.  Probably best if there wasn't.  

To my surprise, I find Ms. Amy Phillips on gmail!  We chat for about 30 minutes or so and I felt like it was a real conversation.  We typed at the same time, we LOL'd at the same timed and HAHAHAHAHAH'd at the same time and even talked about Macy's big belly at the same time.  It felt good to be in sync.  Plus, I love her soooooooooooooo much she is my inspiration and reason for living so I was happier than a fly on shit to see her name marked available!  Her Jeffy got home and my teachers were getting restless so I let her go and went to sit solemnly at my desk.  I think it must bother the other teachers that I have nothing to do, when they are back and forth and in and out busy all the time.  So I sat.  I have started a vocabulary list from the book I'm reading: Love in the time of Cholera...good book.  So I was studying my English words.  YAY me...revolt against the culture you live in! 

well...I was also sitting there hoping - all the fruit flies in my apartment would die! (sidenote) and that I wouldn't have to stand in front of the whole classroom today. I much preferred face to face time when I was helping my girls with their speeches.  I packed up and headed to the first of 4 classes today.  It was a fucking miracle...today I was going to sit in the library and have the students read to me 1 at a time ;)  Yay!  there is a god.

So I did that for 2 classes....by then I was starving.  What was for lunch?  Another egg stuffed fish with a face?  Please no!  When I arrived at my desk there was....fried chicken...no shit.  Japanese fried style but fried none the less.  What a great day.

My last 2 classes were sorta....off.  I wasn't as prepared as I should have been for either of them and my last class had the same kid in it who strangled another student and kicked over a girls desk last I saw him.  Today he decided to wail on the poor chubby 12 year old in class until he was crying.  And no, nothing happened to the mean kid.  Nothing ever does.  They "discipline" their students different here.  They just don't.  I got back to the teachers office in time for cleaning.  The students have to clean the school for 15 minutes at the end of the day and today I was ready for them.  I was tired, I didn't help clean, I pointed out where they needed to do more and made them talk to me in English.  I was a bad ass and felt kinda like a teacher.  When they left I high "touched" one of the (unsuspecting) teachers and stated proudly, "I need a beer!"

How strange it felt to feel something so familiar.  I was almost giddy that my entire body was in agreement.  But first I had to get my hair cut.

I raced home and changed into something more comfortable (which wasn't as it turned out because they don't do boobs here and most of my tops do) but whatever.  So I met my coworker Iho Sensei at the station in Adogawa.  We were driving to TOPS.  Iho sensei brought her English dictionary and I brought my pseudo Japanese dictionary.  It looks huge but has large font so no words of use as it turns out.  The first word I tried to look up was cool....because the salon was actually pretty dope.   Did I take pictures? no...I have a fear of looking like a tourist.  But the word cool actually means cold so fuck...fortunately after about 5 minutes of acting, I remembered the word ---  sugoi (sue-go-e)  and she looked it up and sure enough it meant wonderful.  So we jumped out of the van and into TOPS.

They took me to the shampoo station.  A cloth was placed over my face (geniuses) while they massaged and shampooed for about 15 minutes.  Then, more massage at the cutting station itself.  The hair cut was described as - trim it, bangs shaggy (stylist's word - awesome) A-line (curses I'll never get anywhere beyond that fucking A-line - I'm sorry I ever left you Jennifer).  Then she began to cut.  And as usual I hated it.  But she kept cutting.  And cutting.  I knew I shouldn't have got the whole thing cut.  Every time I want to grow it out...I need a trim which turns into a cut.  DAMN IT.  But after the cut there was more shampooing.  What the fuck ever I thought...it couldn't get any worse.  I was just going to enjoy the fact that a man's hands were touching me.  So I was relaxed for just a bit.  More massage and back to the chair for more massage...I could get used to that.  Iho is looking up words and phrases and is being such a great friend chatting about hair and salons in America and such and she is just so cute and wonderful.  My new boyfriend is now blow drying my hair.  And as he is so gently rolling out every section my hair transforms into something almost cute.  Yes.  cute.  He adds a bit of waxy gel to the top and the woman who cut it sprays it.  And, what do you know it's not half bad.  I was even asked to come back and be a hair model! 

      

The transformation into a Japanese person is well on it's way.

Now it's time for a beer!