Sorry it's been so long...

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I know, I know. I have been way to slack in updating my blog. I've either been extremely busy or extremely exhausted. So, here's what has been going on. Weekend before last, I went to Osaka with about 20 other JETs. Osaka is the 2nd biggest city in Japan, so I was really excited to go there. When you get 20 people together, things can sometimes get messy. Luckily for me, I was with a great group of people. Since we were all coming from different areas and leaving at different times, Kristine and I made the 2 hour train ride alone. I know it doesn't sound like much, but navigating the trains and subways through Osaka on our own was a huge accomplishment. We had the name of the hotel and the subway stop it was closest to, but that was it on directions. I'm feeling much more confident about traveling around Japan now. Our first day there, Kristine and I were on a mission....to find a McDonalds. So we wandered around the city until we found one. It's the little things that make me so happy.

That night one of the girls had made reservations for us at this place called Cafe Absinthe. The food was incredible and they had this Japanese singer performing this soulful kind of music. It was a great atmosphere. Since we were at Cafe Absinthe, we of course had to try the Absinthe. For those who don't know what it is, it's a type of alcohol that originated in Europe. You poor the alcohol over a sugar cube letting it drip down into a glass. You then light the sugar cube on fire and wait for it all to melt. You then poor a little water over the top and it's done. It's a really cool little ritual and although VERY strong, it was actually really sweet and tasted good. After dinner, we had reserved the balcony at a really popular club. The balcony overlooked the entire club, had it's own bathroom, and it's own security guard. We spent the night in style.

The next day we went to the Danjiri Matsuri. It's a really famous festival in Japan. Groups of over around a hundred or so men pull these huge....well, I'll call them floats, down the street by ropes. There are men hanging all over the float and one man standing on top doing dances and hopping around as the float is pulled through the streets in a parade. Every few minutes, the men stop, and then run full force. This is when many accidents happen. Sometimes the floats flip over on the crowd, sometimes the person dancing on top flies off, and sometimes one of the pullers falls and gets trampled. Many people have died during this festival. That said, the festival was alot of fun!! That night, we went to eat Mexican. This was the best food I've had in months. There is no Mexican food in my city. We have Italian, but really it's Japan's take on Italian and not that great. This, however, was real Mexican food. We then went to an English sports pub, another thing I've been craving. There are NO sports bars in my city and I miss sports so much. We watched soccer and then went out to an American Rock and Roll club. This night was so wonderful because I got a taste of home (mexican food, sports bar, and rock music). We ended up leaving the club a little before dawn and playing an impromptu game of limbo with some random Japanese people that were walking down the street.
On our last day there, we went to a Buddist Temple, but I can't remember the name. I've been to several Shinto shrines, but this was my first temple. The statues and ornate carvings were amazing. Before heading home, we decided we had to have one more Mexican meal and went back to the same place as before!

Last weekend I traveled to Matsusaka for the Mie JETs pubquiz. My team lost, but it was alot of fun. On Sunday we had soccer practice and it reminded me how much I miss playing sports. Since then, I've been busy with teaching and the various classes I am taking (Taiko drums, hip hop dance, Japanese). My students continue to amaze me. I've got several pen pals now that right me letters and I've even received gifts from 2 of my Elementary school students. Today I had 4 of my 9th grade boys tell me they loved me (in 2 different classes). Each time I just stood there and blushed. I've been doing my self introduction lesson and the kids get to ask questions. They love to ask personal questions about my love life. One boy today even asked me if I liked any of the male teachers at the school. I told him I was not answering his question and laughed. There was no right answer to that question.

This weekend I'm going to Nagano (where the Olympics were held a few years ago) for the soccer tournament. I am so excited to get out there and play again. I'm kind of disappointed that most of our team has never played before, but Kristine and I are going to try not to go insane when they mess up. There were other things I wanted to write about, but I waited so long that now I can't remember what they were, haha. Guess I need to be better about posting when something happens. I just figured out how to get on this site at school, so now I can post in my free time. It's in Japanese, so kind of hard to navigate. Take care everyone and I promise to write again Monday or Tuesday after the soccer tournament....unless I break my arms! I hope I didn't just jynx myself.