E. Coli!

Before we get into things, I would just like to offer a little enlightenment to all.
Sake is pronounced sah-kay, not sa-key.
Sushi is not raw fish, but it refers to the vinegared rice, in which you can place raw fish, egg, veggies or anything else in or on it (the Japanese love adding mayo). Thinly sliced raw fish by itself with no rice, albeit smoked, is called sashimi (sah-she-me).
Now you know!


Let’s start off with the most recent news shall we?
First, my infection was caused by E. Coli. Awesome.
Second, I am allergic to the cold. It’s a real thing, it’s called Cold Urticaria.

I figured out I feel like a cat or dog in Japan. Hearing Japanese has become very natural and even though I may not understand them, I can hear and predict the speech patterns and such. So while your dog or cat does know some English words (its proven), over all its just nonsense that sounds a certain way. Does that make sense? Probably not.

The other day, it was 10 degrees Celsius. I had on 2 pairs of socks including knee highs, leg warmers, long johns, jeans, 2 long sleeve shirts, a dress shirt and a cardigan. Ok, it was cold. The school is cold. Even the “heated” teacher’s room isn’t that great. I look outside and these poor kids have to run around the track in t-shirts and shorts. I was then informed I was not allowed to wear gloves in the classroom (I told them I break out in spots so they said it was ok- due to the cold allergy). The kids aren’t allowed to wear gloves, the girls drape their swishy jogging top over their legs to keep warm. And yet the windows are open in the hallways. What is going on here?!

Speaking of things that don’t make sense, I went out to buy a new pillow to sleep on last night. Not a big deal, so you would think. Lets see, feather pillows, therapeutic awkward shaped pillows, temprapedic pillows, pillows with rocks in them (I’m not kidding)… Ok… where is just a normal pillow? Oh here’s one. Oh, its $30. So I ended up buying a body pillow for $9 to just use as one whole pillow across the top of my bed. It is overstuffed and too big to be comfortable. Just like my other “normal” pillow. It’s giant and not comfortable at all. I'm going to perform "surgery" and give it a little lypo.

I did find some raisin bread I could eat and bought a couple of loaves of that. I also bought some greens that were discounted to 65 yen. When they rang up they came up as 0 yen. Awesome!

Last weekend I went to a Christmas party at a little restaurant that had been reserved for all of us and they made me special mashed potatoes and green beans and salad and mushroom pasta which was really sweet of them. I gave them chocolates as thanks. I gave out samplers of my chocolates and I think they went over pretty well. It was a good night.

Next Wednesday I leave for Hong Kong! I am very excited and look forward to a vacation and being able to buy fresh bread. The place we are staying can help get you a China visa in a day so I hope to hope across the border for some bootlegs, Taco Bell, and Papa Johns. I also have a feeling I may be out in the shops on my own at times. No one has been able to keep up the feat of staying with me for power shopping/browsing. I was gradually trained in to the marathon shopper I am today by a grand champion herself, Mom. And when I say “power shopping” this does not necessarily mean purchasing. It is the ability to go from shop to shop to shop non-stop. And Hong Kong is like THE marathon of shopping. Add on cheap shopping on top of it being in a foreign land, and I am in every shop exploring. Sorry friends, you can’t hold me back! (Actually, Jenise could keep up with me, but due to her having to try on and touch everything, the number of places to go dramatically decreases. But she’s not here so it doesn’t matter =p)

All photos pending.