Fred and Wilma. Jody and I were the Bedrock's favorite couple: The Flintstones. We made our costumes by hand. He designed and sewed his, and I mine. Watch out P Diddy and J Lo!
 

Big Changes. Small Changes.

Okay. I'm awful. I know. It's been way too long and way too much has happened in the last few months to really give the long and detailed so I'll give the short and dirty.

I'm a soccer champion! My women's soccer team took home the first prize in the Japan ALT Women's Football Tournamen! VERY excited about that. Last fall we took 3rd. In the spring 2nd. And finally brought home the big one and a few cases of beer to Yamanashi. It was a very wet and crazy weekend but well worth it all.

I'm taking a linguistics course! It's a linguistics course that focuses on the Japanese language. It's very interesting but takes a lot of time to study appropriately for it. I got A's on my first two homework assignments, just sent in the third and just got the books for month four now.

I have a TEST in December! I'm taking 2kyu of the Japanese Language Proficency Test. I took 3 last year and passed. 2 is a huge jump in content and difficulty but I'm studying VERY hard for this last month in order to pass. Because of that linguistics course, I haven't been able to study like I wanted. And since I've been getting good marks in the course, I wanted to continue to put as much into it as I could so my studying for this exam has been cut back. But for the next 25 days...its JLPT TIME.

I have a boyfriend now! After a year and some change of back and forth "open relationship", if you will, BB and I are officially a couple. VERY HAPPY about that. He's a great boyfriend. I knew he would be. I'm going to meet the fam during the holidays so its pretty big for both of us and we are both very happy.

I'm going HOME! First at Christmas, then for good in August. I decided when I was in Europe that Japan was just too "samui" for me. The cold weather. How long it takes to warm up the people to actually make friends. I'm tired of it. I need to feel the warmth. So, I'm leaving Japan. Where I'm going next is still a mystery, but the big part, the decision to leave has been made and I'm very very happy about that.

I have a hole in my belly! That's my most recent one and the one I'm the most excited about. (Next to being with BB!) I absolutely love it. I don't know why I waited so long to get it done. It looks like its been there forever.

Well, that's enough updating for now. Will post pictures later!!!

The vacation of all vacations.

Yo...London was definitely off the chain. Expensive as hell (can I get a loan) but off the meter! I´m talking so crazy that B´s bank called him on Sunday morning and asked him if he was still in possession of his credit card because there was so much abnormal activity on it! Now how is that for ridiculous.

We went to a place called 10 room the first night where I met me a Bermudan hottie. I guess the London dudes are too shy to holla but the guy from Bermuda and his buddy were really cool. They hung out with us for most of the night. But one of the best things that happened was Julian Marley (one of Bob´s sons) was there and performed for us. It was quite cool and the most randome part was, he was wearing a skully with a Carolina emblem on it. RANDOME. Of course we took pictures. I´ll have to post those when I get back.

The second night we went to Funky Budda which was very ritzy. At first the club was jam packed with a bunch of drunk females but as the night wore on, it diversified. All in all not enough brown people for my liking, but it didnt really matter because I was so drunk by the end of the night I could have danced with Martians. B had us in VIP where you have bottle service only. Since we´d started out the night with Appleton´s rum and coke at the apartment, we kept it going. B ordered a bottle of Absolute Mandarin and Appleton´s. We got to mix our own drinks, which could have been the key to my demise... It was a good drunk though because I remember everything. The photos will be great...

I´m in Barcelona now...eating crackers...and soaking up the loving vibes. Its like everyone here is a couple, kissing, holding hands...just love. So I´m living out my desires vicariously through them. It doesnt look like Barcelona is the party spot during the week. So I´ll be drinking and eating at bars and local places, which is cool too. I went to a Gaudi Park today and to see a famous church he half built. On the way to the church, I got picked up by too old Spaniards and taken for a coke at a little restaurant nearby. Couldn´t understand shit that said except bonita, morena, and guapa (selective understanding...) but it was cool until they started asking me if I could spend the evening with them. At that point, I politely thanked them for my soda and got the hell out of dodge.

Curlers, blowdryer, flatirons...none work here even with my plug converter so I´m head wrapping it. Call me Erykah. I only have 2 that are long enough to wrap properly so they´ll have to go with everything.

Well, let me go find some dinner...maybe crackers.

Ciao.

I'd like to blog today and have a lot to say about my great weekend, thoughtful friends, and presents, over eating, over drinking and not leaving the last club we went to until 11...but my brain is not ready to process it into prose which would be intelligible. So I'll wait.

Ja

OMEDETO!!!!

In 10 mins, it will be my 25th birthday (in Japan time). Am I excited? UMMM. YESSSS!

I've gotten some cute little handmade gifts from my students, an nice necklace from Yumie and an email from my Granma already. I feel loved.

25 is going to be great...I can just feel it.

(more later...)

ja.