Japan Rocks!

So I got a notice in the mail today that I had a package waiting for me at the post office. (Yay, makeup!!!) and I didn't feel like waiting until after 11 to bike down there, so I called the number on the bottom, and they have English operators!!! She said things like "Ok, would you mind giving me your address, if that's alright?" So polite. I had to give her my name like "Ki-n-bah-rii-ii Gu-roh-oh-ji-n" because that's how they spell it. I always think it's so funny to say it like that though. But I couldn't navigate the website because there was too much kanji, so I was sososo happy to find out they had English operators. That'd be like America having German operators, because I wonder if there is enough of a demand for it to be worth it.

I'm really nervous because Friday night I'm going out with a guy that's cute who is a friend of a friend, and a bunch of us are going out, but then I realized that my friend that I hadn't seen in two years was coming down to visit us, so I had to be like "uhh, it's ok that I made plans already I hope??" and it's kind've a weird combination of people, and now who am I supposed to focus my attention on? Guy or friend?? Aaah!! So should I try to postpone it until after 9 which is when my friend is going back, or should I just get over it? I just feel bad having it not be all about her if she's coming to visit me.

Today the kid that lived in America for a few years asked me for my opinion, and went on to ask me if I thought he should break up with his girlfriend. Just like that. I didn't even know he had a girlfriend, much less know the situation, much less be able to judge middle school puppy love, much less in a foreign country. So I had no idea what to do. It was weird.

I've been teaching some of the kids "Hey" and "What's up?" and now they say that to me in the hallways instead of "Hello" and the actual English teacher groans. It's funny.

I'm sad because my friend Lisa is going out of town this weekend to go job hunting in Tokyo. But it was really funny to go shopping with her yesterday, because she's so velour track suit and hot pink and cheetah print, and her boyfriend is army print and hip hop. Then here I am, employeed by the city, so I have to be a good little citizen.

On my way home from school I stopped at the produce stand and bought a head of lettuce and a pot of flowers. I have no idea what kind of flowers, I forgot when I had to look up a certain kind of fruit in my dictionary. Turns out it was persimmon, and the little old lady gave me one for free to try. Yay!!

Also, today for school lunch we had this weird fried vegetable mix thing that tasted like cardboard, and in the soup there were quail eggs. They didn't look like that, of course, they were out of their shell, but I was really surprised when I bit into it and it wasn't a soft rice cake. I didn't get to look up the translation until after lunch. It's weird eating food when you don't know what animal it came from.