No More 3×5’s

My pastors wife Mimi works at the Hilton Hotel and recently she announced that the Hilton was getting rid of their old mattresses. So, I told Jen immediately because of her leg. Well then, she got her wonderful mattresses and I found myself wishing that I wouldve gotten some myself. But it was too late for me. I mentioned this to Mimi this past Sunday and she said that she would check if there were any left.

So, I got a call on Wednesday morning from Mimi telling me that she reserved two mattresses for me, and then Zelda brought them over yesterday, and now I have mattresses to sleep on!! Of course, I kind of miss my futons, but I was so much warmer. Its amazing how being more than an inch off the ground really keeps you a lot warmer when you sleep. So, heres to mattresses!!

My aunt sent me a fun link to test your U.S. geography skills. I admit, I had to take it twice in order to pass. Stinking New England gets me every time! Let me know how you do.

http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf

Well, I got on the train last night as I usually do, ready for my quick ten minute commute back to Kasugai. I got on the train at 9 and got off the train at 10:30. Yep, it was not the quick ride that I was expecting. As soon as I got on the train, they made an announcement that an accident had happened between Kachigawa and Kasugai at 8:43, only one train before mine and the part of the track right before my station. So, I knew that I was in for a long wait. They didnt even bother to announce when the train would be running again.

So, I found a seat and proceeded to study Japanese for the next hour, listen to my iPod, and text Jen who was at home in our lovely apartment, having eaten a good dinner already. And I was definitely starving on the train.

I made the best of a not great situation and did some good studying. And at least the train was warm. Japanese transportation is all about blasting the heat in the winter. Getting stuck on a stopped train with no other way of getting home other than to wait it out is definitely one of the downsides to public transportation, but at least it doesnt happen so often.

On Friday night, we decided to decorate for Christmas. Since we will both be gone for the holidays this year, its never too early to get in the Christmas spirit. Hiro came over and the three of us had a good time listening to our favorite Christmas tunes, putting funky ornaments on our baby tree, and taking about a hundred pictures of ourselves. If only we were making a Christmas card, we have some classic shots. But now our apartment is all festive looking and Pedro the Snowman has taken up his position in the apartment as our favorite south of the border snowman!

On Saturday, Jen and I had our Thanksgiving dinner. It was a really good time with lots of good people, and lots of Japanese, considering that for the majority of the evening, Jen and I were the only non-Japanese people there. So, it was a good chance to practice my skills and then realize that I really really really need to study way more often that I actually do if I ever want to get better at Japanese.

Joyce and I went to dinner last night to a great pasta place in Sakae. Well, we ordered a set, pretty typical, but then when we went to choose our drinks, we saw cream soda as an option, very atypical. So, we decided to go for it.

Well, after dinner, the waitress brought our cream sodas, and I will say that they werent what we were expecting at all. It was cream soda Japan style. Basically, melon soda with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it. But, it was still pretty tasty.

I woke up this morning and I definitely did not want to get out of bed because it was really stinking cold!! So, winter weather is finally coming to Nagoya and I think I will have to get my winter coat out finally. And let me tell you what, Im not so happy about it. I think I had this illusion in my mind that it would stay fall and then spring would magically come. Oh well.

But from what I see women wearing, you would have no idea it was winter. Yesterday I rode my bike to the store, all bundled up in a sweater, coat, scarf, gloves, and still feeling really cold. Then I saw a girl wearing shorts and knee-high tights. She had like three inches of skin exposed to the cold night air. I mean, I dont know how she wasnt freezing, but thats winter fashion in Japan.

Somewhere in the past two hours, the delete button on my computer just mysteriously stopped working. I have absolutely no idea why, but it has all of a sudden become extremely horrific!! So, if it persists in not actually working, I will have to take it to the Mac store, because as I typed this, I discovered that my apostrophe button does not work either. And here is the thing, I have no idea how it happened. I did not do anything to trigger the brokenness!! Oh man, my Mac and I are not such great friends these days!!

Once or twice before in my life, I have been accused of having completely random thoughts and ideas. I mean, in my brain, I know how my thoughts come about, so to me they’re not random. But, I often want to share the things that I think and ponder about on my blog, but I find that they’re more musings than complete ideas, so it seems a bit of a waste to blog a single sentence. So, I have decided to make a compiled list of things that I’ve been thinking about lately and any comments would be appreciated, even if you’d just like to share about your random musings.

~Sometimes it boggles my mind to think that I actually am from the future from the perspective of my American friends. So, I have an inside track to future events, just like Hiro Nakamura. But, usually, the future’s pretty non-descript so don’t worry.

~Why is orange both a color and a fruit, but none of the other colors or fruits are?

~What is up with English spelling? Do you think some person was a little tipsy when he decided on the official dictionary spelling for a lot of English words. It’s no wonder non-native speakers have such issues with reading. Take “chicken” for example. Why do we need the ‘c’ and the ‘k’? They make the same exact sound!

~In Japan, the “Walk/Do Not Walk” crosswalk man is wearing a business suit and hat, as well as some smart business shoes. Why are there no women in dresses?

~Often when I read British English literature, I find myself talking as though I were from the UK. Read the above sentence about smart business shoes for proof.

~I’m finally beginning to understand the train announcements. I have never been more excited to know that I should stand behind the yellow line when the train approaches the station.

~I often wonder who was the first person that thought eating raw fish was a good idea. And then I get more concerned about the first person that actually listened to that guy and ate raw fish. And along those lines, I wonder how many people died eating blowfish until they figured out the safe way to prepare it.

~Recently, Jen and I ate Thai curry and it was so so so spicy that we couldn’t even finish it. Why make food that spicy in a place that’s already so hot? I mean, shouldn’t you be making foods to even out the heat and humidity, not make you feel even more miserable?

~So, in Japan, it’s really rude and actually culturally unacceptable to wear your shoes inside the house. So, why isn’t carpet way more popular? It’s actually very unusual to find wall-to-wall carpeting here, and even large rugs to an extent. Hardwood floors get very cold in the winter, that’s for sure.

Here’s my Tuesday PIN class. They’re really great and I have more funny/embarassing anecdotes from teaching them than all my other classes put together. They certainly do keep me on my toes, that’s for sure!!