Jo-lo in da snow
Snow "angel" and Yoko Yoko taking a rest before her next run
Karuizawa...
Mandy with her new board
The Fab 5 after their day in powder
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Boarding pics...
I know you have all wanted to see me with all my new gear, or to make fun of me all bundled up with my ultra cool goggles on... well here is your chance! Enjoy!
Jo-lo in da snow
Snow "angel" and Yoko Yoko taking a rest before her next run
Karuizawa...
Mandy with her new board
The Fab 5 after their day in powder
Jo-lo in da snow
Snow "angel" and Yoko Yoko taking a rest before her next run
Karuizawa...
Mandy with her new board
The Fab 5 after their day in powder
Monday, February 21, 2005
"Texas Hold Your Bollocks..."
So P dubbed our poker night. It was the first I've played since the days of my "youth" back in D.C. with my Phi Psi boys. And I had almost forgotten how addictive it can be! I was getting up for snowboarding the next morning at 6am, so we started early with the intention of finishing at a decent hour. Less than decent ended up being 2:30am. We had 5 players and more than enough tacos to start us off. The round up included PG, co-worker in a former life and poker "otaku," i.e. "I'm British but should be from Vegas," his girlfriend A-chan who is Japanese but has the best British accent ever, O-chan, P, S and me. PG, A-chan and I were the only ones who knew how to play, but a few bottles of wine/beer/shampoo later (note the red face in the pics), and everyone had gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. Also P's family tradition of hat-wearing spiced things up a bit. Choose your hat, choose your luck. If the luck runs out in the white fuzzy beret, no worries, just change to another. The boys were looking loverly in pink, of course (it's basically the only color hats P and I own)
They always say, the most memorable rounds are the ones you [almost] won. In my case there was one in particular, a big loss to S with a sad story behind it. I was dealt pocket aces. The flop and turn were all low cards-- nothing looking too promising for anyone, not even a face card on the table. And then the river brought a possible straight. Someone only needed a 5 to win... but both the blinds had folded, and who would have stayed in so long with a 5 until the river!? Perhaps I temporarily forgot we were playing with beginners, or perhaps I was too excited by my pocket aces... I'd been trying to run up the pot and then found myself trying to buy it. But P and S are (unfortunately) no quitters. They call and flip one card each to be cocky... they had nothing. I reach for the chips!.... until, S decides to be a smart a$$ and flips his other card, which is THE 5, of course. Little does he know it was a very expensive hand for him because next time I'm doing him no favors. Anyway, in the end, the money ended up with PG and A-chan-- I think they teamed up and pulled a fast one on us. I broke even, and S, P and O-chan (who ended up curled up on the couch before the night was over) lost maybe 3 drinks in Roppongi each. Not a bad night overall.
The 6am wake up was a less than deserved challenge, but the boarding was fun. I finally feel as though I can do it properly and just enjoy without having to focus too intently on staying on board and off ass. In less than 2 weeks I will be tearing up the curves in the powderly bliss of Niseko (in Hokkaido, the northernmost island) for a long weekend with 5 Frenchy boys and the KVH posse. Kid in a candy store? You read my mind!
They always say, the most memorable rounds are the ones you [almost] won. In my case there was one in particular, a big loss to S with a sad story behind it. I was dealt pocket aces. The flop and turn were all low cards-- nothing looking too promising for anyone, not even a face card on the table. And then the river brought a possible straight. Someone only needed a 5 to win... but both the blinds had folded, and who would have stayed in so long with a 5 until the river!? Perhaps I temporarily forgot we were playing with beginners, or perhaps I was too excited by my pocket aces... I'd been trying to run up the pot and then found myself trying to buy it. But P and S are (unfortunately) no quitters. They call and flip one card each to be cocky... they had nothing. I reach for the chips!.... until, S decides to be a smart a$$ and flips his other card, which is THE 5, of course. Little does he know it was a very expensive hand for him because next time I'm doing him no favors. Anyway, in the end, the money ended up with PG and A-chan-- I think they teamed up and pulled a fast one on us. I broke even, and S, P and O-chan (who ended up curled up on the couch before the night was over) lost maybe 3 drinks in Roppongi each. Not a bad night overall.
The 6am wake up was a less than deserved challenge, but the boarding was fun. I finally feel as though I can do it properly and just enjoy without having to focus too intently on staying on board and off ass. In less than 2 weeks I will be tearing up the curves in the powderly bliss of Niseko (in Hokkaido, the northernmost island) for a long weekend with 5 Frenchy boys and the KVH posse. Kid in a candy store? You read my mind!
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Yikes!
4:46am = HUGE earthquake!! The biggest that I've felt yet! It's the first time things have fallen off our TV... seemingly not such a big deal, but actually pretty freaking scary. When the shaking continued I jumped out of bed, met P in the lounge room, and we ran downstairs to open the door. When all seemed calm, we headed back up and turned on the TV, which at first said to stay on alert for tsunami. We freaked out for about a minute, and then they changed their statement to say no danger of tsunami. Ugh, it just gives me the shivers, though (a bit too literally).
The cold, pouring rain didn't help my mood. I've had a bad cold the past few days and decided it was best to spare my body the pain of going to the office today. My first sick day. I slept until 2 and am ready to go back to bed again now, 4 hours later. I just can't seem to keep my head up.......
The cold, pouring rain didn't help my mood. I've had a bad cold the past few days and decided it was best to spare my body the pain of going to the office today. My first sick day. I slept until 2 and am ready to go back to bed again now, 4 hours later. I just can't seem to keep my head up.......
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Valentine's Day...
Here in Japan it somewhat reflects the sexism that still permeates the workplace. Valentine's Day is a "man's day." The women are expected to give chocolates not only to their boyfriends, husbands, or "crushes," but to the men in their office as well. Hence we have the giving of "giri choco," which literally means "obligation chocolates." Quite literally, when a woman gives chocolates to her co-workers, she will say, "Giri choco desu."--> "These are your obligation chocolates." What a way to show appreciation!
On March 14th, one month later, the holiday "White Day" was initiated to let the women get even. This is the day for the men to give chocolate to the ladies. The thing I don't think is fair, is that the men can see which women gave them chocolate, and then they can simply just return the favor to those women, and in true male fashion, not give it much thought at all. The burden of "how much should I spend" and "who should I give chocolate to" falls yet again to the women.
In the midst of these J-traditions, it was a basically Valentine-free Valentine's Day for me. S thinks that Valentine's Day is commercial, and that a holiday shouldn't dictate to him when to be romantic (of course he's French, so NO ONE can dictate how to be romantic to him, haha). So, though up until now, I have pretty much been a V-day believer, like most American girls, worrying what type of present is most appropriate for the current status of my relationship, and getting way too excited for what kind of surprise date I could possibly be in for, I've found myself more cynical this year. Is Valentine's Day simply a day of "giri romance?"-- the day when every couple feels obligated to do something romantic just because it's Valentine's Day, though every other day of the year lacks any romance? And doesn't obligation defeat the purpose of romance anyway?
A work party on Valentine's Day evening prevented me from doing it the "traditional" way anyway, but S and I did still manage a last-minute, totally unplanned rendezvous, which I guess was spontaneous enough for him and still romantic enough for me.
I've concluded that all the Valentine's Day fluff of roses or chocolates or "romance" won't make anyone fall in love anyway. So why not make such a holiday just an obligatory day to break up the monotony of a hard-working February? I certainly will not be opposed to receiving my "giri choco" on White Day next month !!
On March 14th, one month later, the holiday "White Day" was initiated to let the women get even. This is the day for the men to give chocolate to the ladies. The thing I don't think is fair, is that the men can see which women gave them chocolate, and then they can simply just return the favor to those women, and in true male fashion, not give it much thought at all. The burden of "how much should I spend" and "who should I give chocolate to" falls yet again to the women.
In the midst of these J-traditions, it was a basically Valentine-free Valentine's Day for me. S thinks that Valentine's Day is commercial, and that a holiday shouldn't dictate to him when to be romantic (of course he's French, so NO ONE can dictate how to be romantic to him, haha). So, though up until now, I have pretty much been a V-day believer, like most American girls, worrying what type of present is most appropriate for the current status of my relationship, and getting way too excited for what kind of surprise date I could possibly be in for, I've found myself more cynical this year. Is Valentine's Day simply a day of "giri romance?"-- the day when every couple feels obligated to do something romantic just because it's Valentine's Day, though every other day of the year lacks any romance? And doesn't obligation defeat the purpose of romance anyway?
A work party on Valentine's Day evening prevented me from doing it the "traditional" way anyway, but S and I did still manage a last-minute, totally unplanned rendezvous, which I guess was spontaneous enough for him and still romantic enough for me.
I've concluded that all the Valentine's Day fluff of roses or chocolates or "romance" won't make anyone fall in love anyway. So why not make such a holiday just an obligatory day to break up the monotony of a hard-working February? I certainly will not be opposed to receiving my "giri choco" on White Day next month !!
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
WOW Zao!...
My second weekend of snowboarding has come to a successful close. This time it was 5 of us girls, pretty much beginners, facing some wild wind and about 3.5 meters of snow. From start to finish it was a fun trip, almost like being a kid at camp again. We did this one cheaply-- took the bus and stayed in an anachronic lodge that was literally usurped from the beginning years of the Bubble economy. The 5 of us stayed in one room-- think 5 sets of bunk beds and a bright orange carpet-- it was room 217, which actually wasn't even written on any of the signs at the hotel. Officially, the room numbers reached only 215 and we are convinced we were actually hidden in a storage area. But actually in the end it wasn't even that bad. The place had an onsen (hot spring), so it's not like we were bothered by the shared bathroom/shower, and I was so exhausted I could have slept on a rock-- the futon was surprisingly quite comfy anyway. And meals (basic washoku style) were included and pretty good-- even had mangos (possibly not as good as in Dominica, but I digress).
By the end of day 2 on the slopes, after having had a lesson the day before, which helped a lot, I was smoothly dismounting the lift without falling, skating along flat surfaces with one foot in the binding and the other on the board, and most importantly, maneuvering down the slope (unsteadily but still maneuvering) in "S" turns. The challenge was the last run-- A. had convinced me to come up with her to try the intermediate slope, which we knew immediately was a mistake when we saw it. I ended up facing the mountain and braking down the whole thing! But hey, if you don't try, you never know, right?
Anyway it's really fun learning a new sport, I realized. It's been a while since I've worked on a new physical skill-- the days of learning to do backflips are over. I guess for a soon to be 23-yr old, snowboarding is a good sport to pick up, however expensive! On Sunday I realized I was $100 short of spending my entire budget for the month... and $800 of it has been spent on snowboarding (gear, trips) for this month only. Incredible. I have now limited myself to weeknights straight home from work, canned soup and blogging-- at least for the next few weeks. Be prepared to hear much more from me!
Upon arrival to... summer camp??! On the slopes with Amy
Our dodgy lodgey ranchi I heart Mandy
Yuka survived her first day! Happy faces!
That's me in action! And me on my butt... a common theme...
The post-onsen pic... we feel normal again!
By the end of day 2 on the slopes, after having had a lesson the day before, which helped a lot, I was smoothly dismounting the lift without falling, skating along flat surfaces with one foot in the binding and the other on the board, and most importantly, maneuvering down the slope (unsteadily but still maneuvering) in "S" turns. The challenge was the last run-- A. had convinced me to come up with her to try the intermediate slope, which we knew immediately was a mistake when we saw it. I ended up facing the mountain and braking down the whole thing! But hey, if you don't try, you never know, right?
Anyway it's really fun learning a new sport, I realized. It's been a while since I've worked on a new physical skill-- the days of learning to do backflips are over. I guess for a soon to be 23-yr old, snowboarding is a good sport to pick up, however expensive! On Sunday I realized I was $100 short of spending my entire budget for the month... and $800 of it has been spent on snowboarding (gear, trips) for this month only. Incredible. I have now limited myself to weeknights straight home from work, canned soup and blogging-- at least for the next few weeks. Be prepared to hear much more from me!
Upon arrival to... summer camp??! On the slopes with Amy
Our dodgy lodgey ranchi I heart Mandy
Yuka survived her first day! Happy faces!
That's me in action! And me on my butt... a common theme...
The post-onsen pic... we feel normal again!
Friday, February 04, 2005
Such a great mix...
Event: O-chan's birthday dinner, organized by moi since I wasn't back from snowboarding in time to make it to her party on Sunday...
Participants: O, my beautiful, first real Korean girl friend! Hehe, sometimes I feel like she is (or should be) my sister.. I don't know, she just kind of "gets it." I often wonder what I would be like had I grown up in Korea, and I guess she kind of gives me some sort of idea of it. We are alike in a lot of ways, I think, but not even in very tangible ways. It's just a strange feeling I get.
T-Kennedy, O's boyfriend, an American lad who was my best friend and confidant here 2 summers ago when I was caught in my messy web of European lovers, yet was still, ironically, so alone. T was unemployed at the time, so we would get to spend lots of time with each other while our significant others were busy/living in Korea. Since then he has become an elite member of the banking bourgeousie, also known by initials GS. We're so proud of him!
A., my Hong Kongese-American long-time partner in crime, who, as I mentioned before just moved one station away from me. Also a member of the elite GS crowd, A. planned this weekend's snowboarding trip to Zao. We will fall together!
The four of us studied together in Nagoya, so we go waaaayyy back!
And finally, Han, a Korean colleague of O's, whom I met for the first time. Very sweet guy and everything I expected of a fine Korean young man.
Venue: Good Honest Grub, Harajuku -- O's choice as it was her birthday.. she wanted Western food... masshisoyo?
The mix: I just can't be more amused by the stares we were getting from people. We have 4 Asians in the group-- All speaking Japanese, though not quite natively. 1 obvious gaijin also speaking very good Japanese. Out of the same five, 3 were speaking native level English with American accents, 1 conversational English, and 1 not much at all. I don't think one person could figure out who the heck we were or where we were from. Even Han didn't figure it out after we had been sitting and talking for 2 hours. In the middle of the conversation, he looked at A and said, "Nihonjin? (Japanese?)"
Highlights: A. teaching us to say, "Are you full?" in Chinese (Cantonese), T trying Beijing style (he lived there a while), and O and Han noting that the same word (pronounced slightly differently) means F*ck off in Korean. Me? I couldn't contribute much to this conversation.
O. styling all of our lovely locks in a butterfly, diamond-studded comb and taking various pictures of us (boys and girls) in our best modeling poses.
All finished off with lost diamond from said diamond-studded comb.
I find comfort in the fact that I am not the only crazy one in this city.
Participants: O, my beautiful, first real Korean girl friend! Hehe, sometimes I feel like she is (or should be) my sister.. I don't know, she just kind of "gets it." I often wonder what I would be like had I grown up in Korea, and I guess she kind of gives me some sort of idea of it. We are alike in a lot of ways, I think, but not even in very tangible ways. It's just a strange feeling I get.
T-Kennedy, O's boyfriend, an American lad who was my best friend and confidant here 2 summers ago when I was caught in my messy web of European lovers, yet was still, ironically, so alone. T was unemployed at the time, so we would get to spend lots of time with each other while our significant others were busy/living in Korea. Since then he has become an elite member of the banking bourgeousie, also known by initials GS. We're so proud of him!
A., my Hong Kongese-American long-time partner in crime, who, as I mentioned before just moved one station away from me. Also a member of the elite GS crowd, A. planned this weekend's snowboarding trip to Zao. We will fall together!
The four of us studied together in Nagoya, so we go waaaayyy back!
And finally, Han, a Korean colleague of O's, whom I met for the first time. Very sweet guy and everything I expected of a fine Korean young man.
Venue: Good Honest Grub, Harajuku -- O's choice as it was her birthday.. she wanted Western food... masshisoyo?
The mix: I just can't be more amused by the stares we were getting from people. We have 4 Asians in the group-- All speaking Japanese, though not quite natively. 1 obvious gaijin also speaking very good Japanese. Out of the same five, 3 were speaking native level English with American accents, 1 conversational English, and 1 not much at all. I don't think one person could figure out who the heck we were or where we were from. Even Han didn't figure it out after we had been sitting and talking for 2 hours. In the middle of the conversation, he looked at A and said, "Nihonjin? (Japanese?)"
Highlights: A. teaching us to say, "Are you full?" in Chinese (Cantonese), T trying Beijing style (he lived there a while), and O and Han noting that the same word (pronounced slightly differently) means F*ck off in Korean. Me? I couldn't contribute much to this conversation.
O. styling all of our lovely locks in a butterfly, diamond-studded comb and taking various pictures of us (boys and girls) in our best modeling poses.
All finished off with lost diamond from said diamond-studded comb.
I find comfort in the fact that I am not the only crazy one in this city.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Firsts...
Wobble wobble. Balance? How!? Fall down. Try to get up--but oh so unsuccessfully. Down on my ass again. Really gonna get up this time. Almost there, come on just stand the hell up! Ah, back on my feet again. Just before (shit!) wobbling and falling down again. The joys of learning to snowboard.
This past weekend was my first time. P's friend shares a huge 4 bedroom house in Minakami with 3 other guys, and they go up every weekend. So the two of us took advantage of the invitation and went for a jam-packed 2 days of snowboarding. I had received warnings from everyone I knew. "You won't be able to sit down or turn your neck for days." "You'd better get some butt padding." Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought. At first I was sure I was going to kill myself, but once you get used to balancing and learning to shift your weight it's alright. The first day my boots were too big, so I ended up having to stay on my back edge because my heels were coming up out of my boots when I tried going on my toes. So there I went whizzing down the slopes shakily but without falling too much. But by the second day, I realized, the point isn't to stay on the back edge the whole time. I needed to learn to turn! I had taken a pretty hard fall on my 2nd run of the day right on my lower back, and I swear I thought I had broken it. Aside from the pain, my confidence was shaken, which means I just fell more. But up I went again, and after a few more good runs and successful turns, all in all, I seemed to be alright and I had so much fun!!... SO much fun that I am going again this weekend to Zao. Everyone says that the more often you go and keep following up on what you learned, the better you get. So, in preparation, tonight I went out and bought a Salomon board, boots, bindings, a huge bag for my board and gear, a new coat, pants, and gloves-- all Salomon-- for 33000 yen ($330). I was chuffed! Such a bargain! And now I never have to worry about renting too-big boots again! P and I are now in the process of planning a trip up to Hokkaido in 2 weeks as well for a long 4 day weekend, and S is coming too... can't wait!! Yes, I warn you now-- watch out on the slopes-- I have become a snowboarding convert.
Along with snowboarding, the trip had some other firsts: Imagine having a long hard day of boarding, and every muscle you never even knew you had aches. But then, you have the amazing opportunity to soak outside in a rotomboro (outdoor hot spring-- this one was co-ed no less), surrounded by some pretty gorgeous guys, just relaxing your body in the hot pool under the falling snow. THIS is heaven!!! It might just be the best part of snowboarding in Japan! :)
Speaking of gorgeous guys, at least half of them on this trip were. Yet, while grilling thin slices of meat over the Korean barbecue, I found myself saying in the dinner conversation, for the first time, "my boyfriend." So I guess it is pretty much safe to say I do have a boyfriend now-- still S, and I'm still as happy as can be with my adorable Frenchman.
Monday brought me back to Tokyo and to work, just in time for my FIRST EVER RAISE!!! Effective February 1st, I am now making 11% more than I was a few days ago. Thank you to all of you who made this possible. I will never forget you. And please, don't be fooled by the rocks that I've got... hehe.
And now for a very weird first... today was my dad's birthday so I called to wish him a happy birthday, to find out that, for the first time, I was told by my father that he got remarried-- in DECEMBER! And this was prompted by my asking, "So any other news?" and his response, "Nope, no other news, oh, except that we got married." What else could I say but "uhh, congratulations!" This is what I would call an abnormal parent-child relationship, or at least one that lacks proper communication. Dad really needs to hire a PR firm to manage his familial relationships-- too bad my firm doesn't specialize in training fathers how to show interest in their children.
Right, anyway, sorry for that tangent. Really, life is good!
This past weekend was my first time. P's friend shares a huge 4 bedroom house in Minakami with 3 other guys, and they go up every weekend. So the two of us took advantage of the invitation and went for a jam-packed 2 days of snowboarding. I had received warnings from everyone I knew. "You won't be able to sit down or turn your neck for days." "You'd better get some butt padding." Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought. At first I was sure I was going to kill myself, but once you get used to balancing and learning to shift your weight it's alright. The first day my boots were too big, so I ended up having to stay on my back edge because my heels were coming up out of my boots when I tried going on my toes. So there I went whizzing down the slopes shakily but without falling too much. But by the second day, I realized, the point isn't to stay on the back edge the whole time. I needed to learn to turn! I had taken a pretty hard fall on my 2nd run of the day right on my lower back, and I swear I thought I had broken it. Aside from the pain, my confidence was shaken, which means I just fell more. But up I went again, and after a few more good runs and successful turns, all in all, I seemed to be alright and I had so much fun!!... SO much fun that I am going again this weekend to Zao. Everyone says that the more often you go and keep following up on what you learned, the better you get. So, in preparation, tonight I went out and bought a Salomon board, boots, bindings, a huge bag for my board and gear, a new coat, pants, and gloves-- all Salomon-- for 33000 yen ($330). I was chuffed! Such a bargain! And now I never have to worry about renting too-big boots again! P and I are now in the process of planning a trip up to Hokkaido in 2 weeks as well for a long 4 day weekend, and S is coming too... can't wait!! Yes, I warn you now-- watch out on the slopes-- I have become a snowboarding convert.
Along with snowboarding, the trip had some other firsts: Imagine having a long hard day of boarding, and every muscle you never even knew you had aches. But then, you have the amazing opportunity to soak outside in a rotomboro (outdoor hot spring-- this one was co-ed no less), surrounded by some pretty gorgeous guys, just relaxing your body in the hot pool under the falling snow. THIS is heaven!!! It might just be the best part of snowboarding in Japan! :)
Speaking of gorgeous guys, at least half of them on this trip were. Yet, while grilling thin slices of meat over the Korean barbecue, I found myself saying in the dinner conversation, for the first time, "my boyfriend." So I guess it is pretty much safe to say I do have a boyfriend now-- still S, and I'm still as happy as can be with my adorable Frenchman.
Monday brought me back to Tokyo and to work, just in time for my FIRST EVER RAISE!!! Effective February 1st, I am now making 11% more than I was a few days ago. Thank you to all of you who made this possible. I will never forget you. And please, don't be fooled by the rocks that I've got... hehe.
And now for a very weird first... today was my dad's birthday so I called to wish him a happy birthday, to find out that, for the first time, I was told by my father that he got remarried-- in DECEMBER! And this was prompted by my asking, "So any other news?" and his response, "Nope, no other news, oh, except that we got married." What else could I say but "uhh, congratulations!" This is what I would call an abnormal parent-child relationship, or at least one that lacks proper communication. Dad really needs to hire a PR firm to manage his familial relationships-- too bad my firm doesn't specialize in training fathers how to show interest in their children.
Right, anyway, sorry for that tangent. Really, life is good!
