Ballads and Rock Music

Today is the last day here in Japan before I leave for the US. I will be in Oregon from the 22-30th then the 30-12th I'll bei n Hawaii on an amazing cruise with my family. My grandma Seese is blessing us again with a wonderful family trip. She's blessed us soooo much through the years with these trips. I pray that someday I'll be able to bless my grandchildren with such adventures.

I can't believe that I'm about to leave for 3 weeks!!! Its been 10 months to the day when I came. I feel like its gone sooo quickly. I will be turning 25 in February but it just seems like I was celebrating my 24th b'day! I'm kind of excited about celebrating it in Japan. My first international birthday!!!! The week before my b'day I'll be going to Hokkaido with Amy. We both really want to see the northern island of Japan. Tatsuya is from Sapporo which is the main city of Hokkaido and he says that Hokkaido is the best part of Japan :) I'm excited. We'll be there for a week and there is a really famous festival in Sapporo while we are up there so we'll go see it. It's called the Snow Festival because. . . it snows a lot up in Sapporo and it will be like -10 degrees Celsius while we're up there!!! Brrrrr. . . . I'll need to get some long johns when I get home.

So if you are wondering. . .I am hoping to stay another year here in Japan. . . it seems like a long time to commit to again but I'm sure it will go by fast just like this stint did. I'm sure at times it will feel slow and I'll be soo ready to come home and then other times it will feel like it's going by too fast. I already have another job with a company called Interact where I"ll get to work with the actual Japanese school system. I'm looking forward to this new change in work. Of course this is if my loan company will work with me and let me make smaller loan payments for year. I know that I can't live here in Japan forever as a teacher but I'd like to stay another year to travel some more and to get to know Tatsuya better.

On the 19th I went to a concert of his for the first time!!! It was pretty fun and Tatsuya's band was really great. All the bands were talented and I think that over all Japanese players are better then in the US and my friend, Bernice, said that they are better then the Brittish too. I mean comparing young artists to young artists. But seriously. . . Tatsuya is amazing on the drums. . .not just okay but AMAZING! I'm not saying this just because he's my SUPER TALENTED boyfriend ;) but because he really is super talented.



(not my picture. . .their pic on their website.)




He's on teh drums

I wish I could post more pictures of their band but I'm waiting for my friend to e-mail me the pics from her camera because I didn't take mine. I really wish I Had a little digi camera :( I wish I hadn't lost it in CA before coming to Japan.

Yesterday I went with Tatsuya to the airport at 7am! Which ment I woke up at 5:45 to get to Ikebukuro by 7am. I was surprised by how very small his bag was. . .it was the size of a very small carry on. Like a backpack on wheels. He can't wear the same clothes he wears in Tokyo in Sapporo so he didn't pack many cloths. ( Me on the other hand. . . I am packing 2 bags to check and taking my backpack and a purse as my carry ons!!! goodness gracious. . .I'm blaming it on the gifts ;) ) We got there early and were able to have breakfas together. As we ate he grabbed something out of his little bag and passed it across the table. . ..it was 2 mixed cds labled "Ballad" and the other "Rock" and a letter. Instead of sleeping he'd stayed up making me the cds and writting me a sweet letter in Japanese. He also had to clean his place up but. . . .he'd gone to sleep at 5am and gotten up at 6am. Poor boy. We finished eating and then walked to the gate. We said our goodbyes and I watched him leave. I arrived home at 10:30 and he arrived in Sapporo at the same time !!! funny huh? :) But my ticket home to Toda was around 68,000 yen cheaper then his ticket to Sapporo :)

I am heading out of here at 5:50 to meet my friend in Akabane by 6:45 but i have to walk all my crap into the station. . .. ugh. . .not looking forward to that. . .not at all actually. . . . blugh.