In the last month I....

showed my fams Nagoya, moved, said goodbye to great people, went to oodles of Japanese temples with the Moms, went to Japanese Disney, turned 24, went to the west coast, visited The Kyle Davis, saw otters, read Monster Hotel, ate at too many fabulous eateries thanks to Samantha, was underhandedly traded sheep, lost cell phone(s), karaoked with the bestest/funnest person in the whole world (duh, it's Jayne), saw good bands, saw sh*tty bands, got a few decent job prospects, went to college with Steve (totally Back to School style-without the Oingo Boingo), drank delicious beers.

And so friends, this is the end of our road together. The main reason for ceasing this blog: too many memories.

I'm not sure where I'm going, however, I hope that I will blog again. If nothing else, I hope you enjoyed this blog. There were great times, bad times, and weird times. But there were, most definitely, times.


If you need me, I'll be doing the crossword puzzle...........

Easy bake......

The last two weeks have been absolutely insane. Just read the article.

I sent out four resumes today.

I stayed in a temple last weekend with my friend Shiho. Her family lives here. They are great!! We had an awesome time.




Yesterday some goon came over from the recycle center to buy my high quality sh*t. With shiny ¥¥ signs in my eyes, I invited him in.
It went like this:

Dude: Okay, so we’ll give you about ¥3,000 for these things (reads huge list) but you’re going to have to pay us about ¥12,000 to dispose of the TV, microwave and chair.
Kate: !!!!! Um, what?
Dude: You see, the television and microwave are old and you have to dispose of them.
Kate: Yes, but everything works. Nothing is broken. And the chair is brand new.
Dude: …
Kate: …
Dude: Yeah, so we’ll be back on Thursday to pick everything up for you!

Like, huh?! Apparently this is the norm for recycle centers. They will get money for my stuff, and then most likely turn around and sell it at decent prices. As if!! I have already beat the system and this weekend have a dude who sells secondhand crap coming over to take it all for no charge. Take that, Japanese secondhand bureaucracy!

Yay! Click here.

I'm not covering my mouth when I cough.

Chelsea came to visit me this weekend. We had a blast and did a lot of neat things all over Nagoya like art museuming, shopping, buffet eating and more! She got all the good photos, but I did manage to snap one!



In Japan, if a dog is cute enough, it can do anything it wants, like jump onto the table of complete strangers while they’re having tea. His name was Shorty-notice his fancy Chanel coat.


The next three days at work are test days. I spent today sitting at my desk wearing jeans openly drinking a carton of grapefruit juice with a straw. And I looked for work on the Internet. So pretty much broke every rule I could have. Well, there wasn't any vodka in the juice. Three weeks to go people.

I have a sore throat, which I think is directly attributed to hay fever. In other sickly news, they had to cancel 2nd grade classes (equivalent of U.S. 8th grade) because everyone is getting the flu. That’s a little thing we like to call, “karma”. They are mean, and I will surely gloat over their misery.



I need opportunity, I need skills!

hmmmmmmmm

I had a great weekend in Toyama. I realized several important things.

1) Just about everyone I know there is fun and interesting.







2) I love babies.



3) Pink wigs are where it’s at. And I like wine.



Thanks to everyone for their awesome hospitality. Miss you guys a ton. And Rachel, for goodness sakes I didn’t get any pictures of you-send them!!

As of right this second I have some pretty good job stuff lined up for return to the motherland, at least I think so. As long as I can make enough money to buy a drum kit and support my candy habit, I’ll be okay.

Today I read one job posting that said "Seeking Exceptional People who can change everything!" Naturally I clicked on it and went straight to their website about saving lives in Africa and giving back to the world. And then I saw a picture of Bono. Sorry exceptional people seekers, Bono is a tool. As denoted here.



Yeah, so things are kinda f*cked. Am I faking it well?

Only two decent things to report.

1) I passed the Level 4 Proficiency Test, i.e. I am now certified to run a snow cone stand at the Zoo.

2) Keds are comin' back. You heard it here first.