Monday, October 18, 2004
I'll have the cheesesteak and fries, please
Today I am taking a “sick day.” I’ve had a cold and cough for a couple of days and this morning when I went into the junior high they took my temp and I also have a fever so they sent me home. I have to take nenkyu (paid vacation days) for this which angered me so much, but at least I also get to spend the day lounging around the apartment with Daniel. We’ve been downloading TV shows from the internet and have been watching American television for the entire morning! =) We’ve watched four episodes of Joey and Lost, one Six Feet Under, and one Sledge Hammer (a horrible show DT used to watch in the 80s) Now I'm downloading Fahrenheit 911 and Whose Line Is It Anyway? to watch later this week!
Dan’s trip here has had an “American” theme! It seems appropriate enough—but two food deliveries have come since his arrival and so I have all the foods I miss: cereals, beans, cheese, whole grain breads, berries (I bought canned Oregon blackberries!) and more! Dan also taught me how to download TV that I’ve been missing, and I get to speak English all day! It’s so great!
Yesterday (Monday) I was really miserable at work so at the Junior High they gave me a project of drawing/coloring a cheesesteak, fries and salad. They asked me to make a complaint dialogue so I said something like, “Excuse me waiter, this is a salad. I ordered a cheesesteak and fries.” Then I paid the consequences of using a word like “cheesesteak” in Japan and had to draw one out for the kids. But, hey, it made the last two hours of work fly by and I really impressed them with my coloring! Maybe they believe my mother is an artist now!
My cheesesteak and fries...
...and a salad.
Monday night I went to a volleyball game alone because Daniel’s getting really sick and someone form America had to represent! We’ve won all three games now! Anna, can I get a whoop, whoop? And the best part of all, was that Ai came to the game. She’s the girl I met at Friday Night Feber last week. It was like being reunited with a best friend! She came right up to me and sat down and started talking! She wasn’t shy at all! I felt like I had a friend—a real Japanese friend! We used both English and Japanese, which made me absolutely glow, and talked for a really long time. I’m so excited I want to invite her over for a slumber party and paint our fingernails and stuff. I even pinned a number on her back so that she could play in the games too. …I’m so excited at the possibility of meeting someone Japanese, outside of school, that’s my age, to hang out with sometime. I didn’t even realize how much I was craving that until I typed it in this silly blog! Interesting what we can learn about ourselves!!
Here are some of my teammates.
I sat out the second game because I was playing poorly. Here’s my team ready to spike!
Our opponents! Their team name is “mousetrap” but we still managed to win!
Catherine’s team was also playing a game on the other court. On the far left, there she is looking prepared!
Getting back to today: In the afternoon I was feeling much better and had to make a trip to the P.O. to pay a bill. Getting out of the apartment felt really great so I decided I needed to buy a blender. DT and I bundled up and made the drive up north to go shopping. We went to the Discount Store, a “Do-It-Yourself” store and Maru, a grocery store that seems to have a good selection of international foods. We ended up buying a lot more than we came for, which usually happens, I guess. I got tons of kitchen stuff: mixing bowls, a new pot and pan, rubber scraper, a spatula, a can opener (my old one was really rusty and I cringed each time I opened a can) a fun blue cover for my couch, potting soil and tulip bulbs for the spring, a fixture for the shower… oh! and a pink blender! Then we went to Maru and got some groceries and realized that right here on my island I can get sauerkraut, pickles, hot chocolate, taco shells, coconut milk, good jams, digestives, and some not-white bread. I am really excited to have really explored this store and made a nenkyu-suppose-to-be-sick-day productive.
Daniel was amazed at this 4 liter bottle of brandy.
Also got this fun picture of a sliver moon as we were coming out of the grocery store. The picture doesn’t really do it justice, but you can see the profund darkness that I am blessed with in my sky. Great for star gazing.
We also stopped by Laura and Kerry’s apartments and chatted. It’s good to see them during the week. We got some much needed chicken bouillon cubes and entertainment. As we drove back to Narao we realized how stormy it’s getting. There’s suppose to be a typhoon tomorrow, but I’m hesitant if it’ll really come. They seem to change direction quite of their own accord and, like most weather, are hard to predict. But if one does come I just may luck out and have another day off tomorrow.
Got to go watch more American TV! I love Six Feet Under!!
Love, Sierra
Daniel put the shells he collected this weekend in my bathroom sink.
I got this picture of my mama. She’s working a registration table somewhere!
