Honesty is the Best Policy


....because the truth, no matter how deep its buried, will eventually come out. Someone will get hurt, and someone will revel in their pain. And THAT is the saddest truth of all.

Today...I found out the truth.
Tomorrow I will get over it.




And Monday I will go to Korea...I guess things are looking up already ;)




.

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

A set of screwdrivers,
A cordless drill, and
A black lace bra...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

One friend who
Always makes her
Laugh...
And one
Who lets her cry...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

A good piece of furniture
Not previously owned by
Anyone else in her family...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

Eight matching plates,
Wine glasses with stems,
And a recipe for a meal that will
Make her guests feel honored.


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

A feeling of control over Her destiny...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...


How to fall in love Without losing herself...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...


HOW TO QUIT A JOB
BREAK UP WITH A LOVER
AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...


When to try harder...
And
WHEN TO WALK AWAY...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...


That she can't change
The length of her calves,
The width of her hips, or
The nature of her parents...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...


That her childhood
May not have been Perfect...
But; It's over...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

What she would and Wouldn't
Do for love or money...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

How to live alone...
Even if She doesn't like it...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

Whom she can trust, Whom she can't,
And why she shouldn't Take it personally...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...


Where to go..
Be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
Or a charming inn in the woods...
When her soul needs soothing....


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

What she can and can't accomplish
In a day...
A month...
And a year...

Me from A to Z...

...in case you were interested.

A is for age:
21!!!

B is for beer of choice:
Corona

C is for career right now:
English Teacher

D is for your dog's name?
Blaze Mc Peabody…damnnn straight!

E is for essential item you use everyday:

Lip chap... (Flavor of Love, gotta watch it)

F is for favorite TV show at the moment:
House! Grey’s Anatomy. Flavor of Love.

G is for favorite game:
Trouble! (awe it makes me miss my bros)

H is for home town:
THE NARD!!

I is for instruments you've played/play:
clarinet when I was in Junior High…all the cool kids were doing it!

J is for favorite juice:
Kool Aid- purple…not grape. purple

K is for whose butt you'd like to kick:
ha… different day different name

L is for Last restaurant you ate at:
Very Tasty (ha ha honto)

M is for marriage:
Whenever I think it may be a possibility, I think about the millions of married people who wake up each day looking at their partner and just hope they would just stop breathing. My independence beats their regret, especially right now.

Just some knowledge for you:

According to a recent survey, nearly 15 percent of Americans say their biggest regret in life involves a love relationship. Of those, more than half say they would choose a different mate or dump a former love sooner if they could change their past. More than a third of those who would have chosen a different mate are married, and half have children living at home.

No thank you. Next question.

N is for your full name:
Kristen Kykuye Hirashima

O is for overnight hospital stays:
none that I can remember..knock on wood.

P is for people you were with today:
an entire junior high

Q is for quote:
"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny"

R is for biggest regret/mistake:
Ha..if I wrote it, it would just be plain mean. Im going to keep this one to myself.

S is for status:
SINGLE, sexy and free! And lovin’ it!

T is for time you woke up today:
ugh.. 6:30 A.M. You know you are getting old when 6:30 is the time you wake up and not the time you go to bed! So sad for me!

U is for the underwear your wearing right now:
next….

V is for vegetables you love
Edamame!

W is for worst habit:
spending to much money…or as my mom says: living beyond my means

X is for x-rays you've had:
a lot…but most recently a chest x-ray to come to Japan

Y is for yummy food you ate today:
kyushoku (gotta love school lunches) and curry rice!

Z is for zodiac sign:
Sagittarius! Yup yup!

Today's Forecast: Miserable and Cold


Rain Shower

54°F
Feels Like
54°F

But I need to remember:

"Into each life some rain must fall, some days must be dark and dreary."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


Here is one for Pam and Decky:

“May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.”

--Irish Blessings quotes

Looking on the brightside of things: it is only 4:00 and I am already off of work and in my apt. Just in time to watch some Flavor of Love and take a nap before being productive.... :)

Sanjo Rehearsal Weekend
Oct 21-Oct 22

Thursday:

After work I was exhausted! But, Ros had mentioned something about going to watch a Papua New Guinea traditional dance show, so I sucked it up and decided to go along. It was a different/strange/moving/calming and amazing show! We hung out with the dancers for a while. It was so nice to finally talk to people in English! After talking to Geo about his life as a vanilla farmer, he also told me that he spoke 6 languages. As a matter of fact, every person in the dance group spoke more than 5 languages. Since PnG has 832 official languages, it is pretty much a necessity to be a natural linguist. It was Geo’s dream to come to Japan and it had finally come true!

Friday:

I had gotten off work, once again exhausted from running around with a whole school of 5-12 year olds and all I wanted was a nap! Around 5, I got a phone call saying that the gang was coming into Sanjo a day early and we were all going out that night with the PnG guys. Since a lot of the people did the musical last year, they had already been to PnG and were good friends with the dance group already. It was a crazy night filled with hilarious stories. Example: Sam (who is basically royalty of one of the tribes) had taken a group of teenagers to Australia. He decided to take them to the zoo to let them see first hand the animals they had been studying in books. He explained lion to them: It’s like a dog, only bigger. period. Keep in mind the biggest animals in PnG are wild boars. The zoo keeper opened up the gates, the lion (which was just a lil bigger than a dog) came out and the PnG teenagers had taken off down the path, shrieking as they went. After coaxing them back over to 10 feet within the cage, Sam asked: “Do you want to see the rest of the animals?” Reply: “No, we want to go home!”

This lady was soo cool...

No caption needed

Me and Natasha...eating again.

KARAOKE

Sam choosing his next musical selection

me and Russel and our PnG beads...(nice pose Russel HA)

Melissa had a night to mark on the calendars. Hey is that guy from Papua New Guinea?

Saturday

Long day of rehearsals and long night of nomihodi and karaoke.

Patrick and Jenny (Melissa in the background trying not to get motion sickness)

I wonder what Reggie was screaming?

This is the strangest pic. Makiko is sleeping and Wil is trying not to crap himself.

Will again...

Sunday:

Some more rehearsing, Pizza Hut, and Kamo Onsen with Ros and Natasha. The conversation is always interesting with those two…never fails! And just what I needed after another TIRING weekend.

Tokamachi Pics from Last Weekend:

the group

Ha what is Decky looking at?

Lopaka/Troy and Evan @ Karaoke

My Ikebana: Very First One

Look what I found!

I got so excited I had to take a pic... Melissa had to wait while I arranged all the cans so that the label was facing front and sit in the middle of the aisle to get just the right picture! HA ha..Im so embarassing!

Headline reads: Human species 'may split in two'

My opinion: it already has (j/k)

Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said.

Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.

The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said - before a decline due to dependence on technology.

People would become choosier about their sexual partners (maybe there won’t be so many dirty/slut/whores running around then), causing humanity to divide into sub-species, he added.

The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the "underclass" humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures (HA HA HA, just got a mental picture, which weirdly resembles some one I know!).

Race 'ironed out'

But in the nearer future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, he predicts, while life-spans will have extended to 120 years, Dr Curry claims.

Physical appearance, driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility, will improve, he says, while men will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic (well I guess if you aren’t athletic, the least you could do, is look it!), and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises.

Women, on the other hand, will develop lighter, smooth, hairless skin (good, I wish this was in effect NOW), large clear eyes, pert breasts, glossy hair, and even features, he adds. Racial differences will be ironed out by interbreeding, producing a uniform race of coffee-colored people (good! I’m tired of seeing pale Japanese people, who would otherwise be a darker color if not for bleaching their skin and walking around with Burkas on).

However, Dr Curry warns, in 10,000 years time humans may have paid a genetic price for relying on technology.

Spoiled by gadgets designed to meet their every need, they could come to resemble domesticated animals (ha! Like cows maybe?).

Receding chins

Social skills, such as communicating and interacting with others, could be lost, along with emotions such as love, sympathy, trust and respect (hasn’t this already happened?). People would become less able to care for others, or perform in teams.

Physically, they would start to appear more juvenile. Chins would recede, as a result of having to chew less on processed food.

There could also be health problems caused by reliance on medicine, resulting in weak immune systems. Preventing deaths would also help to preserve the genetic defects that cause cancer.

Further into the future, sexual selection - being choosy about one's partner - was likely to create more and more genetic inequality, said Dr Curry.

The logical outcome would be two sub-species, "gracile" and "robust" humans similar to the Eloi and Morlocks foretold by HG Wells in his 1895 novel The Time Machine.

"While science and technology have the potential to create an ideal habitat for humanity over the next millennium, there is a possibility of a monumental genetic hangover over the subsequent millennia due to an over-reliance on technology reducing our natural capacity to resist disease, or our evolved ability to get along with each other, said Dr Curry.

Just something to make you go: hmmmmmmm.

…Because Countries with Nuclear Weapons Don’t Get Attacked

Japan's foreign minister Taro Aso has said there should be a public debate about whether the country acquires nuclear weapons.

But he stressed that Japan, the only nation to suffer a nuclear attack, would stick to its policy of not possessing or allowing nuclear weapons. North Korea's nuclear test on 9 October has triggered fears of a possible arms race in East Asia.

The US has reiterated its commitment to defend Japan in light of the test.

Following talks with Taro Aso in Tokyo, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US "has the will and capability to meet the full range... of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan."

Mr Aso also confirmed his government has no plans to go nuclear.

"There is no need to have nuclear weapons as the Japan-US security framework will be activated for the defense of Japan," he said.

But earlier, Mr Aso told a parliamentary committee that it was right for Japan to debate the issue.

"When a neighboring country is going to have nuclear weapons, one can refuse to even consider the matter," he said. "But I think it is important to discuss the issue."

He said the government's position "to stick to its three non-nuclear principles will not change".

"But the issue of nuclear possession has been discussed by many people for decades, and it is only in Japan where the discussion about its own nuclear possession is completely absent," he went on.

Popular support

His comments echo those of a top ruling party official, Shoichi Nakagawa, who said at the weekend that Tokyo should discuss the issue "because countries with nuclear weapons don't get attacked".

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has this week repeated his assurance that Japan would never go nuclear.

Japan's policy on nuclear weapons stems from WWII, when the US dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima andNagasaki. The policy has long had the popular support of the public.

But if Japan - conceivably most at threat from a nuclear-armed North Korea - ever did decide to obtain nuclear weapons, analysts say South Korea might quickly feel under pressure to follow suit.

This may persuade China, until now the region's only nuclear power, to modernize its own arsenal, potentially triggering a similar response from Taiwan.

After Ichibana class on Friday, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with my sensei. What started out to be a light small-talk type conversation, soon turned into a full blown information session that left me in awe of this woman’s intelligence, resilience, kindness, and wisdom. It also left me in fear for my life! In Japan, they get the newspaper twice a day, and her afternoon paper had just arrived. We were looking through it and read all about North Korea and the progress with the nuclear bomb testing and potential sanctions by America and U.N. (Well she read to me because I still haven’t learned Kanji) That is when she started telling her story: She was born in 1933 (and doesn’t look a day over 45) and therefore lived through WWII. She told her story proudly yet there seemed to be stoic quality about the way she spoke about death and the War. She was only in Junior High when the bombs went off in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. They had already been bombing Tokyo (where she lived at the time) and her house had caught on fire and burned to the ground. With no where to go, her family decided to send her to the onaca (country side) with the city’s other children to keep them safe from harm. The families who could afford to move relocated while the others stayed behind. Originally the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki was supposed to be dropped on the city I live in, Niigata. Niigata is where the General of the Japanese Army was born and grew up, and therefore, I suppose, a strategic military decision in defeating Japan. BUT…thanks to Niigata and its crappy weather ALL THE TIME! The day was too foggy and they couldn’t proceed with the original plan; therefore, the planes moved inland and the bombs were dropped on Nagasaki instead! This article about recent developments in nuclear testing reminded me of her story. She also told me that we used to have a ferry between Niigata and Korea but since the threat of N. Korea on transportation, they have since stopped the ferry. In Niigata airport, you can also get a direct flight to Korea which may also be stopped soon. As of now, N. Korea does not have the technology with regards to transporting a nuclear weapon to the U.S. HOWEVER, in her opinion, since Niigata is the closest to Korea, we would be a prime target for bombs, nuclear or otherwise!

I’m so lucky that I got placed here!!! This is one piece of news that I will be following EVERY DAY but I think it is obvious as to why! Wish me luck! One nuclear bomb has already been dropped on one Hiroshima, I would HATE for the second to hit another HIRASHIMA!

3 Months down.

Tokamachi Weekend Madness
October 14-15th, 2006

Running around like a crazy person!

Friday:

Worked until 12:00. 1^st lesson of Ichibana @ 2:30.

My very first piece! It’s called basic form. The flowers used are Chrysanthemums and chilies! Basically it is HOT KYKUYE! HA HA HA…k, you will only get that joke if you know my middle name. :)

…Moving right along. Onto the train headed for Niitsu @ 6:00 to meet Melissa, then take a train into Niigata City. Night of great fun and too much food @ Northern Lights, Shame, and finally Hot Spot. Me and Melissa were like bottom-less pits that night. Everywhere we went, we ate and drank then ate and drank some more. Final tally: Ramen Mashed potatoes w/ gravy, French fries, Tomago Gohan, Spicy Fries and lots of Japanese Nihonshu. Home @ 5:00 a.m. Wake up @ 7:30 am.

On the road again bright and early! Destination: Tokamachi. So, update: I got talked into the doing the musical! Ros, Natasha, Joey, Jenny and James (all Sanjo people) signed up to do the musical. I was the ONLY one who didn’t. Ironically, now, I am the ONLY person from Sanjo that is actually doing it! INTERESTING! Anyways this year we are doing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Since, I refused to actually act in the play, I got put on tech. I would much rather be painting/drawing and moving props than frolicking around the stage like and UMPA-LOOMPA…But, the play is for a really good cause. It’s a fundraiser to get money to build a school in Papua New Guinea. AND since I’m doing the musical I will get to travel to Papua New Guinea for a week! On the upside…the rehearsal weekends (so far) are actually really fun and the people (well most of them) are really really cool. We practice ‘til 5 then onto dinner and a nomi-hodi followed by another party, and a big slumber party of 20 people trying to squeeze into a one room apt! That’s how we know who the snorers are, we know that Fidor is the most random guy in the world, Russell has endless jokes even @ 5:00 in the morning, Jenelle acquired the names Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan/Chuck Norris, Decky woke up with a black eye, a few people woke up with pains from sleeping crooked, and everyone woke up with a hangover!

So anyways rehearsals for 2 days + 1 nomihodi + karaoke.

Home @ 8 on Sunday. Pizza w/ Melissa. Then pure exhaustion set in and I was down for the count and then up @ 6:30 for work. Lucky me, I get to do it allll over again next weekend! The only good thing is they are all coming to my neck of the woods. So I will get to squeeze drunken lushes into my TINY apt! CANT WAIIIIT! J Since everyone looooves Sanjo, I’m sure that there are going to be sooo many people coming for just the nomihodi and party. Should be a good (and crowded) time!

So..I left my camera @ Melissa's house so I will post the pics from this weekend later...but for now, here are some old ones to hold you over til next time~

The girls

Me n Shanna

Justine looks real gangster-ish.

October Thanksgiving (Canada)

YUMMMMM!

Sweet Potato Pie
– Sugar and spice and everything nice

Yesterday I learned how to make sweet potato pie/cakes with the students – a much needed break from the boredom of doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING because of testing this week. We each made our own little design and put our individual pies in the oven. All of the girls were doing cute little hearts or Mickey Mouse ears whereas the boys just slopped their mix into the tin and called-it-a-day….EXCEPT this boy:

He got a little creative with his design.

He got me in trouble though. Well, not actual trouble, just disapproving looks from the teachers. He was like: “Kristen-sensei look, look!” So I looked…and I thought it was funny so I laughed. Out loud actually. The teachers didn’t think that I should laugh and encourage that behavior, BUT they never made him change his design. His man-made sweet potato boobs sat in the oven, rising as they baked…AND not one of the teachers said A WORD! It’s not my fault if they don’t control their students! At least the students are showing some kind of imagination, unlike most other days when they are like bumps on a log because they have been up all night doing homework! He said, pointing at the boobs: “Kristen-sensei, English what means?” But I am definitely smarter than the average bear, I knew if I told him, it would be the only thing he remembered the ENTIRE year and repeat it over and over every chance he got. It would definitely get back to me that I WAS THE ONE who taught him this word. So instead, I just looked at him confused like I had NO clue what he meant and responded “wakara’nai!”

Another Funny and Random Point
Janitors

I think Jenelle put it best:

So in Japanese schools rather than having the janitor clean, the students and staff are allowed the priviledge of cleaning the school every single day. This frees up time for the janitor so they can serve tea in the morning and dust the leaves of the plants and sit on the floor to clip their fingernails in the garbage. Each room has a broom locker which contains minature brooms and rags. The students proceed to sweep the floor and then run back and forth pushing rags along the floor (because mops would be too expensive).

HA HA HA so true!

Awagatake Yama

October 9^th, 2006

I woke up to the sound of Anna whispering “Can you hear me” and Decky replying in his Irish accent “EVERYONE IN THE ROOM CAN HEAR YOU!”

Around 10ish I arrived home only to go back to sleep, wasting away my entire day!

Monday:

Hiking Mt. Awagatake

The welcome sign at the beginning of the hike: Watch out for angry bears that will rip you limb from limb…have a good hike! It’s funny though because even bears have slanted eyes in Japan! Bear in Japanese= Kuma

Japanese lesson during the hike:

Bear= kuma

Bags under your eyes= kuma

Spider= kumo

Car: kuruma

( I thought it was just all in my head that Japanese words all sounded alike, but no, in fact, the words are THE SAME)

Suburi Yasui

We started in Kamo and when we finished the hike, we were in Shitada.

The Great Outdoors

They call this hiking? This is climbing trees…Instead of do you wanna go hiking, it should be: Would you like to go climb some ladder attached to trees at the edge of a cliff today?

You should be able to find 3 people…Where’s Paul?

Finally @ the top…climbing time: 4 hours.

The girls of the group: Me and Takako

The boys:

I’m so cool.

Takako is so kawaii. She was so excited to ring the bell.

Crazy Paul on Awagatake’s lovely lady lump. The sun was just starting to break through the clouds. Perfect climbing weather, I am soooo happy that it didn’t rain for the first time in a week.

IITAI! My hands were sooo blistered from my walking stick! I have to toughen up!

The 3D mountain range model…

Takako wasn’t in very good shape either. Kitanai!

Resting: I don’t think I’m supposed to sit on the art…but I was TIRED.

1292.7 meters: Proof we made it to the top!

The worst part of the hike it the walk down. Coming up I am so stoked about reaching the top, but once I finally get there, I usually just want to sleep…BUT INSTEAD, we get to walk down the mountain; thus, erasing all the hard work we just accomplished! At least the scenery is pretty…Ko’yu (autumn colors, which I never get to see in CA)

Hut 2 the 7^th station…since we descended down the other side of the mountain we could see the landmarks that we reached when climbing up! It was around here that I fell and hit the splits! I was the first one to fall, but not to worry, there were plenty more to follow!

There were even really cool waterfalls.

Injury Report: fell 3 times, danced (almost-falls, we didn’t count it unless you were on your ass) many times, blisters on hands, bruise on forearm, bruised tailbone, cut on leg, and sore muscles next day! Needed: knee replacement! OVERALL a successful weekend…

Ending falling tally:

Paul: 1 time

Joey: 1 time

Kenji: 1 time

Me: 3 times

Takako: 5 times (shi’ko mo’reru)

Sakai- Too many times to count

HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!

October 9, 2006

@5:30 p.m.

Dinner party @ Melissa’s! Complete with a “proper” Thanksgiving Dinner, grace and good friends (Shanna, Paul, Jenelle, Melissa) ! Yummy, just what I needed! Thanks for making me the O’dake (token American)!

Anna’s Housewarming + Karaoke Torture

October 7^th, 2006

I hate Karaoke…but not wanting to spend the entire day sulking in my house because of the rain, I decided to tag along with some friends for an afternoon @ Maneki-Neko.

Btw: the rain hasn’t stopped for about a week. L

Me waiting for Jenny

Finally we arrive and I was content simply sitting there listening to: Harajuku Girls, Britney Spears, I’m a Barbie Girl and numerous Queen songs, all done in Japanese accents! It was actually really entertaining. It reminded me of Rush Hour when Jackie Chan is singing: WAR, huh! What it-is-it good for, a-s-olutely not-ing! HUH!

Me and Reiko

I actually think Jenny sang more Japanese songs than the actual Japanese people.

After a few beers, Takako gets bored with the singing approach and becomes a back-up dancer, showing Jenny her latest moves from Jazz-er-size class…

Needless to say, after 5 hours of this, I got bored and started reading the random food boxes that we had on the table. They are so funny, so I took pictures of a few.

Caption reads: More Beer!!! For instance~ Drink beer for a bit of relaxation.

HA. Leave it to the Japanese to try to be proper on a Styrofoam beer cup.

Is this sexism? Or just simply good marketing? This Pocky box says “Men’s bitter chocolate.” Maybe women don’t like bitter chocolate? I sure didn’t, is it because I am a woman and therefore inherently I don’t like this brand of Pocky? Maybe the Japanese know more about male/female taste buds than American manufacturers? STUPID RANDOM BOX! But it does make you think, what possessed them to write this?

After Karaoke for 5 hours, it was then onto Anna’s Housewarming party in Nakajo. Nakajo is about an hour away from Sanjo on the expressway (which you have to pay for in Japan). After picking up Melissa from the train station, we headed out for Nakajo in the pouring rain with my hand drawn directions for roads that have no names! Anna is in the red.

We made it. With so many foreigners in one room, it was like the paparazzi had taken over. Hours later, the picture session had completed and it was a great night! Well, for most of us at least!

From left to right: Pam (Ireland), Justine (Canada), Natasha (South Africa), Lindsey (England)