i saw the sign

this sign basically says (over and over) that if you are under 20 years of age, you may NOT even come into this resturaunt... we read this sign (in tokyo) on our way out after dinner...



this sign is telling you to watch out for perverts... see the shadow behind the girl?
for some reason, it just doesn't sound right...
don't put cat tails in subway doors!
make sure to fish for hats when you are with a conductor...
better move your cars, it's streetsweeping day... in the mall?

pictures galore!

ok, these pics are in reverse chronilogical order... but, enjoy!

this is the shrine we went to... what you do is walk up to that box, toss in a 5 yen coin, clap twice, and make a wish.
that's me, sleeping before midnight...dont worry, i woke up 5 minutes before midnight :)
here is tomoko's (my bro's girlfriend) family
the raw octopus and tuna that i ate some of... yum
new years eve dinner.... towards the end
mt. fiji from the bullet train
this is while waiting for the bullet train to tokyo... see the police?
having fun with the camera :)
as the sun goes down...
VW in japan!!!

food food food

ok... now, when experiencing the japanese culture, youve got to eat (sorry, this keyboard doesnt have apostrophees). anyway, eating is probably the thing we have done most. before i came to japan, i was trying to figure out how far i would go with trying new foods. it started with only eating things i could pronounce... i would go hungry if i stuck with that guideline... i threw that idea away as soon as i got on the plane :) so, i had to figure something else out.

at dinner the first night, we went out to a resturaunt, and as soon as we were seated, little appetizers or starters were given to each of us... and there sat in front of me octopus tentacles. at that moment, i had a new guideline in place... go big or go home... and going home would be a little hard to do at the moment. right then, a whole new world of food was ready to be experienced.

since that night of cooked octopus tentacles, i have eaten a lot of dishes that i would never ever think i would eat...here are some of the things i have tried:

cooked octopus, raw octopus (suckers and all, twice), raw tuna, raw salmon, bamboo, a tiny fish (the whole thing, eyes and all), campachee (raw fish with cream cheese), and fish eggs. i have also had fish cake, egg cake, and chicken covered in raw eggs.

now, i did eat each of these things, and some of them multiple times, but that doesnt mean i liked all of them. i ate octopus three times, but i hardly enjoyed it. the third time, it was actually decent tasting. i really liked the bamboo and the campachee. the chicken with raw egg was really good.

so i have esperienced some interesting foods. of course there are the noodles and chicken, but i have had that stuff before.

well, i am still trying to figure out how to get my pics up from a different computer, so i will try to do that soon.

hooroo :)

from tokyo...

hello all!

im in tokyo right now, and i have been for the past few days. we came here on new years eve to have a traditional japanese new years eve and new years celebration. i have　a ton of pictures to put up, but not enough time right now. we are at tomokos (my bros girlfriend) house right now, and i cant upload my pics to her computer.

it is raining here in tokyo right now, which means it is亜　ぽprobably snowing in nagoya(back at stevens house. i keep on hitting random japanese chaあracters on the keyboard... i dontknow how to get rid of them,,, so bare with me.

i have some really good pics toput up... i will be doing thatlater today when i get back to nagoya.

well, i just posted a lot of pics and some reflections... make sure to check em all out if you haven't seen any yet... there are quite a few :) enjoy them!

we will be going to tokyo tomorrow for new years celebrations. we're going to be taking the bullet train... it should be pretty awesome :)

all is going well
i dont know if i'll be able to update in tokyo, but i will if i can.

i hope all is going fine and dandy back home... enjoy your new years celebration, whether it be sleeping before midnight or staying up and watching the countdown. it's kind of weird to think that i am going to be entering the new year 17 hours before you...haha, i still cant get over this whole time difference :)

hooroo

24 is HUGE in japan... they have every single season and every episode... 24 takes up a whole aisle at the video store. they must have been stoke this past week because 24 was being filmed in tokyo over christmas. anyway, here are some more pics!

mas fotos

circle-k

a trip to the conbini store (convenient store, circle-k)

after a quick trot down to the corner and jog across the busy street, i’m greeted by a wall of warm air and the nasal Japanese greetings from the cashiers behind the counter (the nasal voice is customary and required of people in the position of service to others, like cashiers and greeters/hosts at resturaunts and stores...). I quickly bow my head and smile (not having a clue as to what they said) and I make my way to the hot drinks and breads. after grabbing a few things, i walk up to the cashier… another nasal greeting and some additional phrases as she rings up my hot green tea and bread—430 yen… that’s about $4.30 in US currency. I rummage through a bunch of coins in my pockets and pull out 500 yen (i’ve got the yen down now) and place it in the plate (you never hand money directly to the cashier).

she grabs the yen and is talking in that nasal voice the whole time as she grabs the change… my bro says that they are explaining what they are doing with your money, you know, “I’m taking your money, you gave me this much, you get this much back…” and so on. she places the money and receipt in my hand and I am off, back to the house.

who would know that a solo trip to the circle-k down the street in the mornings would prove to be such a fun adventure to me :)

now, here are a few things that are different about the service here in japan compared to the service in america. in america, we have the saying “the customer is always right.” in japan, they say this saying too. but when you translate their saying from japanese to english, it literally means “the customer is god.” and let me tell you, they take this to heart, and they will do anything to satisfy the customer. I could go so much further into this, but this is getting long. I’ll talk more of this later.

time for the list of lessons learned!
-the automatic doors are a little more delayed and slower than back home… I have walked straight into two because of this reason.
-another door had my face smashed into it because of its being semi-automatic… you have to push a button that’s on the door…I’m telling you, the button is disguised as a part of the door.
-it’s very difficult to tell the difference between the guys and girls clothing department

oh ya, this is random, but I had a dream that I was covered in cactus last night… weird.

anyway, hooroo for now!

just a few more :)

lots of pics because of lots of time

my mum and bro wanted to go shopping for some stuff, so i asked if i could go on my own and stop by the internet place to put up my pics since pics take a long time. ere go, i am here, posting pics.


this is inside the dressing room...











This is japanese graffitti
octopus tentacles... prepare to be eaten

the foreigner

well, I didn’t have a chance to say all I wanted to say, or show all I wanted to show from yesterday… so a lot of this is leftover. and this one did get a little long, so you can just skip to the list and pics if you don’t want to read two paragraphs :) actually, i dont have enough time to post pics, so i will do that later.

image means a lot here in japan… not that it doesn’t in California too… but here, it’s to another extreme. I mentioned earlier that the fashion here is mini skirts with boots. when I am walking in this freezing cold weather and see this, I figure that they are just used to it. however, this is not true. my brother mentioned to me that he had asked someone he knew about this, and they said that the girls here will put themselves through the miserable cold just to look good. wow… I could never do that… mini skirts in cold weather (or any weather :) just aren’t my thing.

I was thinking about how I have never been the foreigner before… I have seen foreigners before and observed them, but I have never taken on the role as one. Now, far from home, I notice that I am really enjoying the role as a foreigner…it’s actually a lot of fun. trying to communicate, learning new customs, taking in the different lifestyle, learning the way around a place that’s not home…it’s so awesome. being a foreigner isn’t so bad… I can’t quite explain why, but I just love being out of my element and adapting to the new one. however, I do miss having my friends around. next time I take a trip, I am definitely taking my friends with me :)

more things I learned today:
-check out the prices on these fruit (in US currency): 1 cantalope=$94.50 ; 1 orange=$85.00 ; 1 mango=$21.00… getting some yummy fruit= definitely not priceless
-octopus tentacles do NOT taste good
-the graffiti here is not so hard on the eyes
-the massage chairs here have people inside of them… well, at least it feels like it :)
-everyone either walks or rides bikes/scooters and uses the train (we walk and use the train) the bikes and pedestrians are on the same sidewalk, causing a lot of close calls
-almost all the stores in japan will play the song “Auld Lang Syne” at closing
-america isn’t the only place that have starbucks within a mile of eachother

there’s a ton more, but I can’t quite remember some things at the moment… so I will tell some more later.

first day in town, experiencing the culture

well, first of all, the girls here... CRAZY... absolutely crazy... here i am, wearing long underwear, and two jackets, and gloves... and then these girls in miniskirts and boots come walking down the street... crazy!

some fun things i learned:
-you have to take your shoes of when you go in the dressing rooms
-i had no idea that they drove on the other side of the road
-they seperate all the trash
-the toilets are in the floor

here are some pics of what i saw today:
i would put more, but my bro and mum want to leave,.. more fun pics later!

this is my brother's "living room" and on the left is me drying my hair with the space heater... i didn't want to catch a cold!

planes trains and automobiles

ha, it's wednesday morning here and it's 4 pm tuesday back in CA... i think
i am adjusting just fine... i didnt notice the time difference at all...
maybe that's just because i was exhausted :)

well, three airports, two planes, one bus, and one train, and a quick walk later, i am in nagoya, japan. you know what, i can do this traveling stuff... i really like airports and changing planes and what-not.

my brother's place is sooo small... i love it! i don't know why but i just
love tiny places. now, i am not exagerating about how small it is... you'll
see in the pictures. the entire bathroom is so small, that i can't fully
extend my arms in any direction. his kitchen is a little under a yard wide,
and the place where i sleep (on the floor) is about one and a half of my
body lengths. he has a loft... that's where my mum sleeps. also, his
heater is broken, so he has this little space heater that actually does a
decent job. i didnt really need it, though, with all the layers i was
wearing :)

anyway, i have decided to just start using pictures with captions... it's a
ton easier and a lot faster to read... and probably more interesting. i
haven't had a chance to connect to the intrenet yet, so i have just been
typing out the stuff and will post it all at once... along with some pics.

well, we are off to check out some convenient stores and what-not.

in transit

i've got the necessities: ipod, pillow, food, and a lot of time to sleep.

seven hours in...

lets see... i have been inside a big chunk of metal with wings on it for
about 7 hours. so far, i have slept a ton (with a little help from
dramamine) while listening to my ipod. my music has been keeping me sane.
i just got done watching "fantastic four"... a lady in front of me and to my left has watched "wedding crashers"about three times... when i saw that we each had individual tv screens, i
thought i would be glued to it. i am happy to say i have only watched one movie, and have been reading and sleeping the rest.

luckily, i don have a five year old kid behind me kicking my seat. also,
the food is delicious... they are full-on meals. i had terryaki chicken with
rice and a salad for lunch... i'm wondering if we get dinner soon.

well, i am thinking i am going to sleep some more... hope all is going well
on the earth below outside of this chunk of metal!

at the airport

well, i am sitting in a chair at a window in the airport near the food court
and being attacked by the strong smell of McDonald's. after spending a very
long time in line to check in our baggage (not carry-on stuff), i am
interested to see how i will handle this very long flight. i am tired, so
hopefully sleep will come easy.

christmas yesterday went well... my family got a kick out of my christmas
movie, but sometimes i wonder if they are just easily amused :) also, the
desert i made, eclair cake, was a hit (thanks for the recipe!) i'll be
posting pics later when i have a better internet connection.

packing last night was a blast... jenny and i spent a lot of our time seeing
how much we could fit our own bodies into my bag. we both fit fairly well..
those pics will be posted as well :)

hooroo

some random pics

well, i was cleaning out the pics in my digital camera, and somehow, i found some pictures from all the way back in april and some others in between. some of them are pretty good, so i'll put a few up. (you can click on them to make em bigger)


On the left is when we went snowboarding back in april... of course, this is afterwards. Then, on the right is my pumpkin pie i made for our tennis anquet... that's when it was about half deflated... it was really weird... i thought it was going to explode.



Here is when we went to manhattan beach on wednesday (when school got out... half day). The waves were so huge! Nobody was aloud to go on the pier because the waves were so big that water was spilling over onto the pier... it was pretty crazy. I'll be puting up some more pictures soon...

i hope everybody's breaks are going well...
ta-ta

Simply Genius

Well, this year i decided to make my Christmas Movie a little bit different. Last year, it was more of a pretty picture show... this year, i tried (key word, tried) to add some humor by making a movie of the rush on Christmas morning if one decided to procrastinate. Most of you have seen/will see the movie, but just to make a smooth transition into my next topic, i will say that it was done in the style of an old silent film... it was kind of inspired by this fellow:




















yup, charlie chaplin. I have been having a blast watching some of his films the past few days. This stuff is just genius... it's where it all originated. You can't help but laugh when watching his films. When you can laugh as hard as you do without the dialogue, that says something about the acting and the writing. Good stuff, good stuff. If you ever have the chance to see some of his films, go for it... seriously, they are great.

well, i am off... tomorrow is my last day of school before break, and then i am done... it's nice to have my college friends around. i look forward to the next two weeks with them... who knows what we'll get into...

What a way to end the season!

Today we had individual CIFs (we being me, and our no. 1 doubles team kim & erin). Get this... our matches were at the Peninsula Raquet club. Now, you may not have heard of this place, but let me tell you, this place was BEAUTIFUL... it was so incredibly awesome. It literally was located on a cliff on the ocean. On top of that, it was a beautiful day and we could see catalina so clearly, that it was like we could almost touch it! I could see the ocean from the court i was on for my second match...

now, i dont know if you caught that, but i said second match... yup, i won my first round cif match... 6-3 6-1. it was such a great feeling winning that first match... that was my goal. praise God for the good draw!

and then i lost my second match... 1-6 1-6. this gal was good... she could place the ball on a dime. I got my two games off of her, and so no bagel was given.

doubles also won their first match (two sets and a third set super-tie breaker!) and then lost their second... they played really well.

so ya, it was a great place and way to end the season. I am super bummed that the season is over. but hey, i have got next season to look forward to!

well i am off

ta-ta

By the way...

I now have a way to moderate comments, so all those people who have some sort of weird program watching my site waiting for me to post so that it can spam me the moment i do will get rejected by me... i get to approve the comments i want to now!!! In your face spammers... haha, three spammers tried spamming my last post... REJECTED!

Dry Courts

There has been so much tennis going on, i love it! I have been playing and watching tennis a bunch this past two weeks (except on wednesday when practice was rained out). I also went to watch the WTA tour tournament at the Staple's Center on thursday night with the tennis team... ton of fun. We all went after our team CIF match... and that's where the story begins... the CIF match.

I woke up on thursday upset to see that the street outside was wet. Then, as i walked to my car to leave for school, i was attacked by a violent drizzle (a drizzle on a match day is just the same as a downpour to tennis players, so excuse the exaggeration). Upset by the drizzle, i took off for school. When i arrived, i was greeted by a huge puddle in place of where our tennis courts were. In addition, the drizzle turned into rain. It was looking like our match, scheduled for 1:00 pm was not going to happen.

But wait...

During second period (AP english), while working on group work, i caught a glimpse of blue skies through the window and jumped out of my seat. I shouted, "Blue skies!" and pointed out the window. Being the only one on the tennis team, everyone else looked at me and didn't share my excitement. But, sure enough, there was a tiny patch of blue and it was getting bigger. I knew that third period (Teacher's Aide for PE) was going to be filled with squeegying (sp?) the courts and trying to dry them. Sure enough, that's what I did... however, i was joined by the PE class... with Allison being the PE teacher and the tennis coach, she could have her class dry the courts. So, by the end of third period, the courts were looking a ton better than a huge lake. They were probably half dry.

At the end of third period, i decided i would ask my ceramics teacher (4th period) if i could skip ceramics and work on the courts... surprisingly, she said yes. So that's what i and the 4th period PE class did all 4th period. God sent more blue skies and a warm sun, and by the end of fourth period, the courts were bone dry! Isn't that amazing?!?!? Praise God! Plus, what a way to end the school week (the team got out at lunch because of the 1:00 match start, and we had friday off). Yup yup, so that's the story. We didn't win our CIF match... it was 7-11. This team was from one hour north of santa barbra (cabrillo lompoc). They were good, but we totally could have taken them. I did win all three of my sets though, so i was super stoked :)

well, i am off... i have an appointment with myself to do nothing :)

Service Pics