Hi!

Okay so this is what i've been thinking, prepare yourselves for a long one.

i decided that since the babies are not reading this i'm going to tell the mommies (and hopefully someone will mention this to brian) what i got and they can pick what they want their babies to have, or who would like what most. and unfortuneately heather gets no choice and neither does caleb because they are baby babies. but for Anna, Eric, Becca, and Jack this is the list of what i was thinking about sending.

Zen- Toy Sushi kit and japanese candies
Caleb- a japanese pop gun, handful of random small toys and candy
Anna- Japanese dolls and a japanese wooden comb and play-Japanese money
Eric - Origami sets and a japanese drum
Jack- A japanese game that i can't pronounce and a handful of smaller toys
Becca- Japanese bracelets and hiragana and katakana workbooks, and The English Point and Speak guide to Japan.

and that is actually part in parcel with why i wanted to ask everyone about what to get/rearrange for their kids because for Eric, Jack, and Becca if they are ready or would like to learn, then i want to send them books to get them started on japanese. It's really beneficial for kids to learn a second language when they're young and i'm gonna be in japan for a really long time while they're still growing so i'd want them to visit me. and if they learn japanese and then come to japan, imagine how much ahead of everyone else they'd be! think of how awesome that'd be!

okay that's what i was thinking. let me know.

anyhow so i had my finals yesterday, and for the third time in my entire life a guy asked me out. not that i've only been on three dates but it was the third time i didn't ask. i'm starting to notice just how forward a person i am. oh well, i haven't been shy in a long time i guess. Oh and the guy? He's a Navy Seal. He's taller than brian and he kinda looks like The Rock, not to mention he's samoan like the Rock. so i'm not sure why he asked me out but it was so cute. he blushed and ducked his head and said, "電話番号教えて(can i have your phone number)...I want to ask you for a date."

The only problem is i'm not sure if he really speaks english, not to mention that everytime he times me his name it sounds like nonsense and i may have sort of kissed his friend Sergio right before i met him. But Sergio is cool, i think he's from colorado and we talked for a really long time. He got shot in the knee! Ah, the scar is so weird looking. but he explained that because of the type of bullet it didn't shatter the knee cap so after a few surgeries he's okay i guess. but yeah, so i'm really glad i met them because now maybe i can get some taco bell.

Little Note: the only taco bells in all of japan are located in military bases. too bad.

but anyways, i guess i've been feeling really pretty lately or something because everyone just keeps telling me how cute i am and i, me, gets checked out on the train and asked out twice by two different people in the same week. but it's not like i've dropped down to a size 10-12 or anything, i'm still big. i just don't know if it was the mental epiphany i had the other day where i told myself "i am damn beautiful and if other people can't see that, then it's not my fault that they're blind."

because last week i let myself get down because the whole japanese size -4 really hit me and this week it just occured to me that there is nothing i can do right now that will make me that size in the next few minutes so there is no point worrying about what i have or haven't got, i want to just appreciate what i am and then maybe god will see it and help me out a little.

but anyhow i think i passed my finals i'm really proud of myself. but wouldn't you know it? the last day of class, i got another cold. so i'm just chilling around the house today and i've got no plans to do anything. I'm not gonna do any studying and this time i won't feel bad about being a bum. i can literally sleep as much as i want from this point forward and it will only matter to me!

i'll find out on christmas eve, if i remember to call them, how i did on my final and whether or not i'm going to level 3. if i am, i have to study hard so that i don't become a moichido student again. Oh, moichido student is someone who always fails every test and has to take a moichido(repeat exam). and maybe i'll finally get ahead in my kanji.

on the money front, mom, please ask dad for the 2500. not that i'm desperate but i'm getting pretty deep in credit card debt. and this time, can you send him a new message and not forward all of our olds ones, there's times i'd prefer he not read what i write to you.

well, today i am applying for this teaching website and hopeful someone will want me to teach them english at 25 an hour. (that's the rate, but it really not that much since it's always like 1 hour only sessions) or call lena about that daycare job. but she might not tell me about it cause she's trying to snag it but man am i jealous. i love kids, i'm good with kids, and the only requirement is to go and speak only english with them. how easy. not to mention it's like roughly like 11-13 bucks an hour. i just don't know how she finds all these places when the only things i find are dry cleaners and restaurants that only want fluent japanese speakers.

anyways, suzanne, my favorite person over here will be going back to america tomorrow but i won't see her before then so when i said goodbye at her closing ceremony i started bawling. all the people that i spent the most time with are going home. i mena i'm glad lena, jo, anthony, aj, kim, and mike are staying but i'll really miss Elena, Suzanne, and Sumiko. And Lester! He's so nice and handsome and he always makes people feel good about themselves. Not to mention i sort of went out with him once. but only once, tuesday of this last week. I'll really miss him.

yeah, i guess there's a lot of catching up i have to do. I mean, i know i can't possibly fill you in a every little thing, and i can't call up mommy 15 times a day and tell her every interesting thought i have, or gossip with elizabeth over chopstick nachos. but it's not like i wouldn't if i could.

so here's a list of some things you might not know (not a complete list)

i tried to dye my hair blonde and so it's funky now
my school rearranged things so i'm staying in this dorm until 1/7
i missed out on seeing wicked in tokyo cause i procrastinated and then ran out of money
i am planning to go to disney land next year before school
i now weigh about 203-5, not so good at kilograms yet, so that's like 15 pounds off of when i came. still enormous
i am running out of durable shoes
i'm running out of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wask, american toothpaste, and fabric softener.
i have figured out how to have a really good lunch for only 188yen. buy the 88yen curry at 711, and walk four blocks to the corner market and pick up a 100yen block of precooked rice. yummy.
japanese people seem to both hate and love foreigners. they mimick american culture so hard that it comes out really funny. and at the same time, they get mad because that is "their culture" not ours. they changed it apparently.
i was warned that when i go home, EVERYONE will look ridiculously ugly. in comparison with the japanese people. because american boys don't try like the japanese boys do and the average size will not be -4. i'm gonna miss boy candy. but i still have time.
i came to the conclusion, i am who i am. not appearances but inside. so if i genuinely think something i should not pretend i don't or say otherwise
i like swings but japanese swings suck.
japanese merry-go-rounds are the most awesome invention ever
i'm not a good photographer
i like fanta, i wanna wanna fanta.
and Calpsis Cola is better than any drink in the world. if you took crack or meth or something really addictive and mixed it with like the yummiest flavor in the world, it would still not be ask good as this drink. and it's also like one of the cheapest drinks in japan. less than coke.
japanese people have improved the marshmellow. exponentially.
japanese people make their slang to shorten their talk time so as not to dominiate the conversation but in america the point is to dominate the conversation. weird, huh?
i can fool a good deal of japanese people into thinking i speak practically fluent japanese because i have a knack for correct facial expressions at appropriate times.
being sick sucks, even if you have no where you have to go
japanese thermometers are the bomb
i have run out of excedrin migraine medicine


ok that's all i got for now. hope you liked it. Love you, bye!