Currently Playing Advantage By Advantage see related

-

2004.8.13  18:54 jst, kasumigaseki

"when it rains,...well, you know how the saying goes...."

Life is no doubt an adventure...no matter if you`re in a foreign country, or just lurking on your toilet seat.  I guess in this recent case, it`s the former not the latter.  Had a surprising surprise (cause that`s what they do, they surprise) earlier this week which totally just made me count on the Lord to help take care of it.  If there`s anything that is trustworthy...i mean 100% to the dot, with no margin of error--no doubt it is Jah.

but anyways, it`s really hilarious, or at least interesting, when life events seem to follow the flow of how your mood is (or just how your mood makes you realize this)...

since it is my last week in nihon before i head back to oregon, I pre-packed my things and put the stuff i wont bring with me to the airport in boxes.  So me and yuya went yesterday morning to complete the chore and head to the post office--yuya helping me carry one box, while i held on to the other and while skating....halfway there, and--right before it happened, i could tell--I lost my footing, along with left slipper.  Crash went me with box cradled in my arms....then crunch went the box.  Luckily, just ended up with a couple of scratches on my hands...so it wasnt too bad.  until i came to the post office.

"...converted to dollars,.....that`s like $150!"

okay, i understand.  shipping internationally costs more than domestic....but it wasn`t like i was shipping out rocks.  wasnt too happy reaching into my pocket and paying for that.  but whatever--it`s not like i come to japan whenever my little heart desires for the vacation.

"act 3:  the turn around"

being my last days here, yuya made calls and got a few ppl to come along with us to go on a sort of tour boat that roams around the tokyo river(?) and provides the dandy service of all-you-can-drink.  good to pay a flat price, instead of paying too much in the land of the rising price.

anyways, we all put on yukatas (like kimonos, but for the summer) which really set a fun mood for the night.  At first i thought, we were doing it for some sort of theme to entertain the foreigner (me).  then i realized a lot of the other ppl on the boat had yukatas on also.  "okay, it`s like a tradition....cool, my buds are taking me to some traditional japanese shindig," i then thought.  so i asked yuya about it and he said that if we dressed up, we would get a discount off the regular price to get on the boat.  Thought that was pretty funny, though it kinda came at my own naive expense.

all in all, it was a great time.  there was a performance by the yukata dancers (who performed dance numbers to a brittney spears song, an inner circle song, and even the macarena).  definitely hilarious.  Wasnt even drunk (didnt plan on it)--just a good ol` fashion fun time.

well, i dunno what else to type about....gonna check out a pro wrestling show before i leave...cant wait to see that.....

God bless,

--n 

8/10/04  6:20pm JST kasumigaseki

philippians 4:6-7

"Don`t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  If you do this, you will experience God`s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Currently Playing Later That Day By Lyrics Born see related

8.10.2004    10:24am JST, kasumigaseki

Spent last week on the road with kaori and yuya and road tripped it to osaka to meet up with seiko and mond-chan.  it was a good couple of days i must say.  we first checked out kyoto for a couple of hours.  The temples over there definitely have their own style compared to ones you`d see at every other prefecture.  Didn`t stay too long, at kyoto, which was a good thing for my depleting funds.  Got back to osaka in the evening to check out a hip hop club.  The featured dj was good and had a swell time...even though so much cigarette smoke was flying in my face.  The next day, we just walked around, doing the whole tourist thing--checked out a very weird and popular statue (kui daore...meaning to eat and pass out), ate some takoyaki, and just walked through blocks and blocks of shops.

Being on the road and leaving myself to just ponder on things (which i got to do a lot since conversations in the car was mostly in japanese) proved to be pretty helpful. 

I was thinking about my high school graduation ceremony where some girl was the guest speaker.  Of course, since she was the person to speak before the class of 2000, she was successful.  I was thinking about what she said about writing down her short term and long term goals on paper and keeping it somewhere, so she could always look at it.  something about if you write it down, it`s some good way to be motivated about it.  She explained that she was so goal-oriented that she completed all her goals she had written down, some actually faster than she had originally planned.

I really don`t know how well off she was before doing all these accomplishments, but when thinking about this time, i was driven to think of what my goals were and writing them down.  So after some thinking, i wrote down my 3-year, 5-year, and 7-year goals.  It ranges from places i want to see and activities i wanna do to where i wanna live and what i wanna live in.

so the easy part is done, just gotta follow through on those goals.

--n

Train hittin` tracks

And air condition cracks

come to the floor

--that`s where I sleep

While VCR winks at me.

Sour taste and

sores in my mouth

Guide me out of bed

Ready for chats

gotta click for CAPS

over here.

The metric system

limited weights at the gym

Homonyms

at the station.

Discarding banana peels

Close my eyes and it feels

Like encouragement comes from you.

I see it on the screen

Better off by phone.