I'm visiting at my parents house and am adjusting to an English keyboard again. (It's not really all that different.) I am relaxing and taking it easy for the next few days. Next week I'll be in Michigan visiting my grandma and cousins. Hope to see you soon! ** hugs **

Well, I'm in Tokyo. I took the night bus. It was okay, but I didn't sleep much (as predicted) and I woke up to the announcement we were arriving in Tokyo just as I was having a very bad dream. :(

I experienced the morning rush of "salarymen" surging into the city, and I have took advantage of the exchange rate while doing a few errands near Tokyo Station. I've been checking off my "to do" list...I feel so on top of things right now that I'm looking out for something to go wrong. Also, I didn't remember the Empirial Palace being so close to the station...it's only about 3 blocks away! From now, I will take the express train to the airport to be there well in advance of when my flight takes off. I might even have time to buy a couple fried apple pies for you-know-who!!!

I'm happy. My suitcase in presently on route to Tokyo. I will follow it on Sunday. Tonight is, I suspect, my last Mos Burger meal for a month or so. yummm...

Last Saturday I went bowling with my Japanese class...because most of them are international high school exchange students. It was pretty fun. Miraculously, I did better than anyone in the first round. 3 strikes. I must be a natural. (ha ha.)

I had a simply wonderful evening tonight. As usual, I fretted last minute about what I'd do for my English conversation class tonight. At work today, I was going through my CDs, and I found a wonderful Michael Jackson song gSpeechlessh that I wanted to share with my conversation class.

I was hoping they'd think it was a beautiful song too, but I didn't expect the shivers that went through my body as I played the song in class as everyone in the room was singing along and genuinely sharing the moment together...it was wonderful.

At the end of class Mrs. Komori surprised me with telling everyone to take out their homework. gHomework?h I thought, gOh no, I forgot about the homework I assigned them again!h (There are about 2 weeks between classes.)

Mrs. Yamatani started to read her hand-written paper: gThank you for everything. I've learned a lot from you and I always enjoy your class. Take care on your trip.h The next lady said gI appreciate you teaching our class and thank you so much for helping our class. We enjoy having you as our teacher. We really like you!h

Every person said something special and personal for them. I was surprised and embarressed, but really happy. It feels wonderful to be appreciated and know that maybe I am doing a good job. More importantly, I knew I was in a room with dear friends, and though it gets lonely sometimes, I am not alone. They all are there for me if and when I need them. A flow of love was tangible all around the room, and left me gspeechless.h **all smiles**

JULY 22 - JULY 28ish: Cleveland, OHIO
JULY 28ish - AUG 5ish: MICHIGAN
AUG 3: My cousin Bill's wedding: Charlotte, MICHIGAN
AUG 5ish - AUG 9ish: To visit my wicked cool sis: NEW ORLEANS
AUG 10ish - AUG 15: Cleveland, OHIO
AUG 16: Wendy tries not to be late for her REALLY early flight.

I'm happy. My flight is booked. My 12-hr busride to Tokyo is also booked. I should have celebrated, but I still have lots to do before I leave in less than a week. This weekend I went into Hiroshima (that's an hour and a half trek via bus, ferry, and streetcar, by the way) and settled my travel plans, hung out with Elisa's family, skipped my Japanese class (to do laundry), went bowling with some exchange students from various countries (Venezuela, Brazil, Philippenes, ...), and walked along a beach for a bit. I admit I wasn't very impressed with "the beach" after the almost 2-hr drive and seaweed-ridden and toilet-decorated coastline. (Okay, there was a toilet and a shoe.) I swear you can find more litter and rocks on a typical Japanese beach than shells and sand. :( Oh well. Yesterday I went to a new onsen (hot springs spa) with Elisa, her daughter, and youngest son. I was too tired to really enjoy soaking in the hot water while trying to spot stars in the cloud-covered night sky, but it was nice to try to relax. (That's what onsen are there for!)

I've been more than a bit busy stressing about my plane ticket for the last week or so. The problem, of course, is that I mistakenly thought I could book my flight through the Hiroshima branch of the travel agency IACE instead of the one in Ohio. In Ohio, I think all of the travel agents speak fluent Japanese and English, so I naturally thought the same of the one in Hiroshima...No. In fact, I have only talked with 1 man in the company that was somewhat uncomfortable with using English. I called again a few days later and was told "NO ENGLISH" from an annoyed employee. "Why the big problem?" you might ask...just break out in Japanese. After all, I've been in Japan for 2 years. Common sense would say that I could use Japanese, right? Wrong. I don't know all of that good-to-know travel vocabulary like: "arrival", "departure", "money transfer", etc. Now I know a couple of them, however a bit late. Common sense might also tell me to have learned that vocabulary BEFORE I called them, but, refer back to my original thought: IACE probably spoke Japanese AND English. Anyhow, I have a flight booked now that I'm fairly happy with, though it will require a 12-hr overnight busride to Tokyo instead of the 7-hr one to Osaka, an airport I'm much more familiar with. Oh well.

Meet my pet-for-the-week. Last week it was a long-horned beetle or kamikirimushi I found outside my door. (He's now happily playing in Kirikushi bushes.) This week, meet a rhinocerous beetle or kabutomushi. In Japanese, "mushi"means "bug" (or "worm"). Kabuto is a samurai helmet. So, this is basically the samurai bug! I am keeping him company until I give the option to a responsible student to keep it as a pet. You may think me insane, but these samurai bugs are actually really popular pets that I've heard cost about $10 apiece to buy. Hiroshi found this one in the street near my house.

I spent today mostly at my desk. Note that my desk is in it's "mostly neat" state. And actually, I do pretty good compared to the other teachers who have nearly ceiling-high piles of papers and whatnot. The second is of all of the 7th grade teachers' desks, together. The last is of the teachers room at Etajima JHS. This is a room which houses all of the faculty at the school and only has air conditioning after school. (Probably in fairness to the students who have to suffer in a humid 30+ degrees in their classrooms, praying for a crossbreeze.) ...Why?? These are my guesses:

Point 1: It's a great way to save on the cost of air conditioning.

Point 2: There is no central heating/air conditioning. (It would be EXPENSIVE to install.)

Point 3: Fans are loud.

Point 4: It builds character. ha ha. ha.

Point 5: It's just the way it has been, and no one questions the status quo. (like girls having to wear skirts all winter--Do private schools in the U.S. make students do that too?)

Point 6: I guess I was spoiled. Many kids in the world don't have enough desks to sit in (Bangladesh), let alone air conditioning.

Today was a very productive "free day." (I didn't have any classes.) All my classes are going to have an auction either this week or next, and I and Ms. Mizutani (one of the English teachers) have been collecting English or American things for the students to bid on. The students won't be bidding with real money. I have an incentive program in place, giving anyone who attempts to speak English in my presence a "Wendy Dollar." Anyway, today I made a few CDs for the auctions sampling from Pop, Rock, Dance, and Indian music. (The students just finished learning about Bangladesh, which is right next to India.)

Speaking of entertainment from India, have any of you seen an Indian movie? I HIGHLY recommend making the effort to find one to watch. They are highly entertaining, with song and dance numbers throughout. I believe that kissing scenes are forbidden as well, making for some interesting diversions at that point. Also, most of the music is really cool. On a movie I taped off TV, a song is included that was also on an international mix CD my sister lent me! Unfortunately, being the very forgetful person that I am, I can't recall the name of the movie or the CD is.

I'm also procrastinating. I HAVE to clean tonight as well as do laundry and the dishes. Finding my bank book would be an added bonus. Oh! I was somewhat scolded for not eating all of my lunch today. None of the students (or I) wanted to eat the fish tempura. I like fish tempura in many forms, but not drowned in oil or with the head and tail attached. These particular 2 fishies, each about 6 inches long, fit into both categories. The homeroom teacher (who always eats with the students in their classroom) told them to scarf down at least one, or something... (I didn't understand.) Anyway, I didn't eat my fishies. The students almost held a riot, so I took my fishies "to go", telling them that I'd eat them for dinner, ...and carried them carefully to the teachers room and neatly placed them in the trash. I suppose I should have taken them to my neighbor with 6 billion cats. Oh well.

I just noticed that in exactly 2 weeks I'll be in America now. Wild. I suppose I should get cleaning. I'll see you very soon! I'll be in Ohio from July 24th through about the 31st. I'd like to go to Michigan for the first week in August and then hopefully down to New Orleans to see my sis before pretending to relax back in Ohio for a few days before I leave. ...I'm really looking forward to the heavy rains from the 2 typhoons headed this way. :(

In my wish to find something to make for dinner tonight, I found this mildly interesting game: Tomato Attack. Actually, I'm just avoiding all the laundry, cleaning, and dishes I have to do tonight. I have a couple movies and cds to keep the work interesting. TTYL.

More pictures!! This week has been bug-filled. I came home to find a large black bug with white spots and huge antenae on my door...so what did I do? ...Well, after taking some pics, I captured the little creature to show to my students. Unfortunately this was test week, so not many students actually got to see the little guy. I researched on the net to find out what it was and what it ate. My best guess was wood. At work I got answers varying from cucumbers to leaves to sugar water. In the end, I went with a 4th grader's input (who was holding his pet beetle): Jell-O. Anyhow, my beetle didn't seem to be doing very well, so I let him go today before the teachers' luncheon in Hiroshima.

Long-horned Beetle & Centipede & yes that's my hand.

Most of the Kirikushi faculty headed to Hiroshima port to have lunch around 1:00 today. We ate at a very expensive place with beautiful food. I've been there once before, and they change the 6 - 7 course meal's design based on the season. Because it's summer, the first course was in a dish garnished by morning glory leaves. (In fall, there might be red maple leaves.)

The most unusual course for me was something that looked like a sundae, but it was pork slices on chipped ice. Mmmm...

Oh...and today I learned that 10 years ago Christmas Eve in Japan was a day for ------ ---. Or so the mass media tried to make people believe. Interesting. And gdisgustingh as my boyfriend, Hiroshi, put it. (He goes to mass on Christmas Eve.)

Good morning (or evening for you). Happy 4th o' July. I get to go have a regular day at school, come home, and teach english. Yippee. Actually, I think I might (though I've never done this before) go to the local convini (convenience store) and buy some fireworks. Where I will have fun with them, I don't know. Perhaps I'll ask for some advice today. Well, I have to get ready for school. Have a fun day!

Nathan and I made our usual stop at Mos Burger and Mister Donuts last week. This is one of the doughnuts I bought. Particularly because of it's pink Mt. Fuji in the middle of it. (Why not?) For those of you that don't live in Hawaii or Japan, Mos Burger is the best fast food chain on the planet. Their menu varies often, including riceburgers (the bun is packed, shaped rice), salads, onion rings, and it's most recent addition, "Nann Tacos." (yummmmm...)

Work isn't going so hot. The 8th graders have changed my outlook on teaching. They are a bunch of students who enjoy pastimes like painting their nails, applying perfume, playing janken (rock, paper, sissors), and chatting non-stop with their friends DURING CLASS. Most other classes are more enjoyable to teach. I have asked for help and advice from other teachers, but I haven't received anything usable yet. If any teachers have any helpful hints on how to deal with a class who doesn't listen, please let me know. ...I'm thinking maybe more interactive games?? Speaking practice in pairs is usually not a great idea because the students just chat in Japanese. My most "favorite" question is "Do I have to write my name in English?" *sigh* ...It is English class, after all.

3 weeks and counting till I'm back in America, visiting!! I'll be in the Cleveland area, Michigan, and New Orleans until August 14th. If you'd like to see me, either get in touch with me, or I will with you!! :) I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again!!!

**much love** --Wendy