FINALLY there!

I don’t remember Saturday too well… It must’ve been quite average… Either that or it was so amazing that my memory couldn’t handle it and decided to erase it! I’m going to assume it’s the former.

On Sunday morning I actually had a really good cup of tea and a really nice breakfast. So I was in a really good mood already. And, Ayano came back! I quickly went to the toilet before going to work, and when I walked in, there she was, washing her hands. I actually gasped and said “AYANO!” We talked for a few minutes about how I’d missed her and asked if she was ok and everything. This made me even happier.
In fact, I spent the whole day feeling really cheerful Ayano had given everyone these pastry things as a thank you for being so nice to her. When it came to getting one, I read the packets. One was apple and the other had, in katakana “chizu” written on it… And I just said “cheese” out loud, trying to imagine what a cheese pastry would taste like. Then Misaki-san was like “you can read!” this made me grin. I don’t know… It just pleases me that I can read hiragana and katakana… It’s so useful and makes me feel special. In the end I had the apple one… I was in the mood for something sweet. It was tasty.
We had to do a wedding service, which I’ve never done before. We had to wear these really uncomfortable white jackets that made us look like sailors. So, Dennis, Mel and I were stood at the door, waiting for the bride and groom to arrive so we could open the doors for them and smile. We then followed behind them towards the royal balcony. It was so funny, as we approached, everyone was still clapping, at the bottom of the stairs were Helen, Misaki-san, Saito-san, Ayano and Yukina, clapping. Mel, Dennis and I started bowing and saying thank you. Then Dennis started walking as if we were welcoming him. So Misaki-san linked arms with him. Oh god, it was so funny. Misaki-san is awesome.
Anyway, during service, loads of guests left a lot of food unfinished, either because they were busy socialising and doing wedding stuff or because they just didn’t want it. So between serving we all just sat in the back “sampling” the foods. Oh god, it was good. As we were clearing away I had 5 cakes… They were only small, but still… Two slices of wedding cake, some green thing, some pink thing and a chocolate cake. Doing wedding service is fun, although a tad stressful… With the constant fear that I’m going to trip and throw soup all over the bride and ruin her day forever. Also, there was an adorable little girl there, who was, supposedly 4... Although she looked about 2 (Japanese kids are TINY!)… Yeah, while she was adorable to watch, I actually found myself missing my baby. I tried to imagine what she’ll be like now… She must’ve changed so much. I tried e-mailing Abby the other day to ask how she’s doing, but apparently it didn’t send. I really need to try again.
The rest of the day was pretty cool, I gained a few fan girls too. I noticed one girl had four slices of cake and two sorbet’s and she was scoffing them down really quickly (I assume because everyone else was ready to go). This caused great amusement for all of her friends and one of her teachers… And me. So, just as she was finishing her last bit of sorbet, I approached her with a plate holding yet another sorbet and two slices of cake. Oh god, it went down well. Everyone killed themselves laughing. Then, as I was walking away a load of the girls cooed “kawaiiiiiiii”…. Heh. They then asked for endless pictures.
After everyone had gone I ate the leftover sorbet… Otherwise it goes to waste… I ate nine! I can’t believe it!! But I couldn’t stop… I’d finish one and want another… Afterwards I felt really sick and twitchy.
After work I headed over to the pub with my studying bag. (I need to take a picture of my study bag, it’s adorable!). I talked to Ayano for a bit before sitting opposite Yuta on the table and studying. I studied nice ‘n’ good! I really feel as if I learned a lot while I was there. In one of my breaks, I was talking to Ayano and told her that she should sit with me and Yuta and study English. After a while she came over and she had a flick through my book and really tested my Japanese listening skills, then Yasu joined us. Yuta, Ayano and Yasu then just sat there talking to each other really quickly in Japanese while I sat there trying to pick up the conversation (I’m getting far better. I can now pick out important words and get the mood of the conversation, even if I don’t know the details). Then they started randomly writing in hiragana and kanji. (Apparently Yuta has very nice hiragana… Although I find it really scruffy…). Then Ayano was like “we want to make your name in kanji”. I then sat and watched the three of them scribbling down random bits of kanji, talking to each other really quickly. At one point Yuta and Yasu were both waving their phones at Ayano saying “kore! Kore!” (Here, here!). It was amazing to watch. I really felt so honoured that they were trying so hard to give me a kanji name. I felt so happy I could have cried, honestly. In the end they agreed on ““. (Fu E I) Apparently  means a flower that is still beautiful, even when it dies. My translator translates it as “Lotus”.  Means drawing and  means reliable. So there we go. I’m a reliable drawing of an endlessly beautiful flower. On the “I” part of my name, they were torn between the one that means “reliable” and another one that apparently means something like “loved by everyone”… Although I can’t find the character they’ve written here. Oh yeah, I felt so touched by this that I decided to keep the paper they scribbled it down on.
So yeah, awesome day. Plus, I learned so much Japanese and finally felt like I was understanding bits of it… There’s still a lot to learn… But I’ve already learned so much. I just need to kill my fear of getting things wrong. I’m going to be fluent one day… What an exciting idea, ne?

On Sunday I had a 7:00am start. Normally it’s not a problem, but I guess my week of fun just decided to catch up with me on that day. I felt exhausted. After I’d finished my breakfast I found myself with only 10 minutes of break left. So I sat down in one of the big, red, comfy seats and relaxed… And fell very easily into a surprisingly deep sleep. I even had a dream. I was woken up about 5 minutes later by Yuki moving tables around. So I carried on working… Then, after my initial cheerfulness at having had a few minutes of sleep, I suddenly felt exhausted again and wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. Slowly this exhaustion turned into irritation… And then into a migraine. Oh god, it was awful! I actually felt sick from the pain. For buffet we had 200 odd kids, so we had to do another set up straight away, which added to the work. I was trying so hard not to let it get to me. I even snapped at Yasu, which I felt awful for! Nobody snaps at Yasu. He’s the nicest person ever. Earlier in the day he told me not to worry because “every day is a party!”. After I’d snapped at him, I instantly apologised and just felt awful. Thankfully, Ingrid was one of the teachers having dinner with the kids and after I told her about my agonising pain, she went and got me some pain killers! Ingrid is a saint.
I did get over the pain eventually, but the rest of the day really dragged… I even missed out my second break so I could finish half an hour earlier. Although I stayed for another 15 minutes because Saito-san was making “butter beer” for the Harry Potter event… It’s really tasty!
Anyway, once I got home, I took all my revision stuff and laptop downstairs. The plan was to finish writing this and then do some revision. So I put The Matrix on and started typing. 30 minutes later I was fast asleep… Part way through the film I woke up and thought “Oh, I get this film now!!!” and went back to sleep. Then woke up to watch the last hour or so, then took my laptop and books to the pub instead. About 15 minutes in, loads of people came down the pub and decided to start socialising. This was fine, I put my stuff away and started socialising. Then, they all decided to go again. They all went off and played chess or talked to people at the bar… In the end it was just me and Nolan sat talking about random stuff. For a bit Yuta came and joined us, but then disappeared again. I then realised that he’d gone off to study without telling me! Some study partner he is! So yeah, I then went and studied with him. I’m starting to get the hang of verbs, I think. Which is exciting. I think once I’ve got a handle on verbs I’ll really begin to excel at Japanese. I just need to find the best way of remembering all the different ones. I already know a few… But there are billions!
Yeah, one of the guests here was at the pub, socialising with everyone. He’s a nice guy. He kept talking to me in Japanese, except he did it really clearly so I could understand. I thought it was really nice of him. Yeah, Japanese people are cool.

So, we’re FINALLY all caught up!!! This morning… I slept… In fact, I woke up at 1:30pm… So, desperate not to miss lunch and end up eating my emergency food (for when I miss meals accidentally) I quickly got dressed and rushed down to the staff kitchen, arriving at 1:45. As I pushed the door open I read on a sign “Closes at 14:00, last meal order at 13:30”… I was gutted. I went in to find the rice cookers empty and the “example food” all packed away and the guys in the back packing all their stuff away. There was a little bit left on the cold buffet, so I piled some of that into a bowl. Just as I put my food in the microwave I heard The Chef (the one who got drunk at the staff party) call my name. He then spoke to me in his usual ridiculously fast, incomprehensible Japanese. All I could pick out was “tabemasu” (eat) as he poured half of his lunch into a bowl and handed it to me. Oh god, that was so sweet of him… He’s such a lovely guy! I’ve been telling everyone, just so they all know how kind he is. (Even though everyone already knows he’s awesome).
I then went home and did some washing and ironing before having yet another good cup of tea (it must be the milk I’ve bought). Oh yeah, Helen went to Shirakawa today and bought me some pain killers… Which I’m so grateful for. I just need to get someone to read the instructions, so I don’t end up taking an overdose.
At 4pm, Yuta finished work so we decided to hang out for a bit. As we drove off he was like “I need to go to the convenience store, do you mind?” No problem, right? Convenience stores are convenient in their location. About 20 minutes into the journey, after passing SEVERAL convenience stores, Yuta was like “we’re nearly there”… Apparently he wanted to go to the one in Aizu (his home town)… But this was fine, I actually really enjoyed seeing some different scenery. Aizu looks really pretty. We then went to a different shop and Yuta bought an Arashi CD and we looked at some DVD’s… Oh god, they’re cheap! He got The Ring for 380 Yen and X-Men for 400 yen (both about £2). I then saw Enchanted and was like “that’s an amazing film” but we both said it was too expensive… Afterwards I realised it’s just come out in Japan and it was only 1000 yen (about £5)… Seriously! Also, I had a quick look at the PS1 games and was so happy to find FFVIII at number 3 best seller (the top two were games I didn’t recognise), with VII and IX below it. Maybe it shouldn’t have pleased me so much… But 8 was above 7... That would never happen in the UK.
Yeah, then Yuta got a text. Apparently his friend wanted to “look at me”… This made me laugh. He wanted to come and look at the gaijin! Ahh, language barriers. Whenever I say “meet”, Japanese people blatantly think I mean “meat”… It’s the same with when I say “wear” and they instantly think “where”… Ahh, I need to learn Japanese.
Let’s see… What words have I learned recently…
Ryouri - Course (of a meal)
Tsugi - Next
Kyoukenbyou - Rabies (there is an incredibly long, hilarious explanation to the reason behind knowing this. Maybe tomorrow…).
Oru/Tadamu - The verb for “folding”
Imo - Potato (pronounced “emo”… Now imagine that emo potato! I can’t remember the longer version because I had too much fun repeatedly talking about emo potatoes!)
Komatta - Confused
Komatteiru - Confusing
Yukurri - Slowly
Zoo - Elephant
Kusai - Smells bad
Ii ni oi - Smells good
Itamimasu - The verb for pain
Um… There are more… But I’m too tired… It is quarter to 2 though so… There’s good reason… Oh god, I can’t let my sleeping pattern go crazy.
Oh yes, I’d just like to quickly mention…. It’s snowing REALLY heavily… And, after 3 weeks of being here I’m beginning to believe I’m in Japan… Not fully there yet though… I’m sure it’ll hit me eventually…