Liss' Journal

11:46am: Itty-bitty update, for I have itty-bitty time this morning, unlike the weekend (why didn't I do it then? :P). On the weekend, just when I'd given up hope of doing so in this strange foreign land, I RPed again! Huzzah! Allelujah! XD One of my private students has had to finish up lessons on Saturdays, so for now I appear to have a smidgen of free time around then. Ohjoy!

In less ohjoy, I must renew my visa AND pay for my insurance this week. An expensive and bothersome week it is. And I'm NOT looking forward to the week after, which is Golden Week - usually a week of public holidays for the Japanese, but the busiest time of the year for we poor, poor, suffering Nova teachers. I have to get up at 8AM! 8AM, DAMMIT! AM I HUMAN OR AM I A MACHINE?

... Yes, well, I'm off to work now. XD

12:25am: Sold out?
I think I have! I wonder why it's taken me a year to realise it? XD

Fully cognisant of my massive private ego, I once completed one of those 'How People Should Think Of You' tests, and the latter ratings went a bit like this:

I don't care if ... people think I'm ugly or untidy.
I would prefer it if ... people think I'm kind and friendly.
I couldn't stand it if ... people thought I was stupid or ditsy.
I would rather be thought ... cruel and unfriendly than stupid or ditsy.

Enter Nova!

Today, just as a case in point, I spent 15 minutes scraping lint off my suit with sticky-tape, because fluff is apparently unprofessional. I spent nine hours squealing and playing cute, because cute is the image we want for girl-teachers. I spent every lesson feigning total ignorance of any vaguely intellectual subject like history, politics, geography or mathematics, because female instructors who know anything of that sort are too intimidating. And I spent every warm-up talk bubbling about how much I love shopping and talking to my friends, because ... well ... what else would I be doing?

The things we do for money, eh? XD I wonder if I'd even have noticed if Yuka hadn't used such an astonished tone when she tried to compliment me today? "Oh! Alyssa, you are so clever about this!"

So is it a -good- thing that my ego's chosen this point to wake up again ..? ;)

1:51am: Updateage
Kate is gone. All was joyful time. YAAAAAAAY.
Nicole is gone. Apartment still all mine. YAAAAAAY.
Had contract evaluation. Was offered promotion again but chose to stay. YAAAAAAAAY.
Cherry blossoms almost out. Going to hanami (flower-viewing) party. YAAAAAAAY.
Bought shiny new superphone. Love shiny new superphone. YAAAAAAAAY.
Family is coming to visit in August. Entire family.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Spring is rolling on nicely!

Love to all I haven't talked to in ages - extra YAAAAAAYs in particular for Currykins' long-awaited green card!

1:44am: Happiness, happiness, happiness. I can't believe Nicole actually moves out this weekend! I shall be joyfully single (apart from Kate, who leaves later next week, and is cheerful company anyway). I doubt I'll stay in Freebell long - I'd rather move to a single apartment - but it's kept me chirpy for days.

Last night I met Yujin's older sister, Asako, who was visiting from Kanazawa with her husband (she's the youngest-looking 35-year-old I've ever seen ... damn the Japanese!). She lived in the US for a year - in Wisconsin, of all places!! - and is beautifully fluent in English. And very funny. It was a bit tough, though ... the sibling banter that went on reminded me really, really strongly of how much I missed Carly. I really can't wait for August.

Favourite sibling moment -
Yujin to Moi: Asako is only two day visit from Kanazawa. Her husband will taking a test tomorrow's morning.
Asako to Yujin: Um, what language are you speaking, Yujin?
Yujin: Eigo da yo! ("It's English!!")
Asako: Eigo ja nai. ("It's not English.") You sound like a five-year-old.
Yujin: (lengthy Japanese tirade, attempt to swat sister with wooden chopsticks)

It was nice. Especially considering there were TWO of us in opposition this time when Yujin tried to pay for everything. It's really funny, though - not long after we finished up at the restaurant, I had this really intense urge just to go off and be on my own for a good while, and it hasn't actually gone away yet. It would nice to have my own apartment right now. Have to start looking into the Imaike-area apartments soon!

Anyway ... on a more explicable note ...

( Random questionnaire I ripped from someone's journal ... can't remember whose! )

2:36pm: Whoo. Long time no write. (Yes, yes, I know everyone's been waiting breathlessly.)

What an eventful time I've had! Having Kate here has been absolutely awesome for me - at last, a cheerful face to counteract the constant bellyaching! And I think her visit may have been a catalyst for something even better ... Nicole has decided to move out in April! JOY!! BALLOONS!! STREAMERS!! Of course it means that I'll have to spin the lucky Nova lottery wheel again and see what kind of roommate I get next time, but I'll just have to stay optimistic!

Fujikyu Highland was awesome. My new favourite thing (just under chocolate) is now rollercoasters. The best one I rode travelled at around 180km/hr and had a drop of 90 degrees - totally, totally exhilarating! It was horribly expensive, but really worth it. And Mount Fuji looks absolutely beautiful on a clear day, which was luckily what we had.

Everything else has been work, work, work. I think I've finally come to the unpleasant realisation that I really don't have serious online time any more until I go home to Australia - no RP and very little writing. There may be a chance if I move to my own apartment at some stage, but by now I've said 'may be a chance' so many times that it's really wearing a bit thin. ;) We'll see, I guess. Life certainly isn't dull without it, but it would be nice ...

1:17pm: Intermission ...
It's been a quiet almost-couple-of-weeks, hence the long radio silence. Lots of things looming on the horizon, but not much actually going on now, though last weekend I did go to a restaurant with Natsuko/Saki/Yujin/Manami and to the pretty little girls' festival in Asuke, the Ohinamatsuri (OLD old dolls on display ... pretty, but scary) with Mari, Jose and Lety.

On Friday, Kate will finally be arriving in Nagoya - good times! She'll be staying with me and Nicole about two weeks, which will be very squashy, but hopefully fine. Spring is well and truly stepping out here, so that'll be nice for excursions and so on (no karaoke at first, though ... Selly gave me a cold and my throat is like sandpaper). I can't wait for the hanami, when all the cherry blossoms are out. (First place I'm going in April - Nagoya Castle's gardens.)

On the first weekend of March, I'm going with Tsubasa to Fujikyuu theme park, as I may have squealed before. :D At last! My first rollercoaster! And we'll stay in a ryokan for one night, a Japanese-style hotel, which will be super-comfy but pretty damn expensive. Still have to pay for the August tickets when Carly and Oscar come over, too. With what, I'm not quite sure ...

Towards the end of March I'm apparently going to climb Mt. Fuji, though I've informed Yujin in no uncertain terms that the moment my feet start to hurt, I'm sitting down and he's climbing the rest of the way alone. And at the end of March, Megumi and Nori will finally be returning to Nagoya, and all will be joyful and happy, not to be exceeded until summer.

Wow. That was actually a pretty boring post. Sorry.

9:48pm: The aftermath.
Wow, mega-lazy day today. No wonder it went so quickly. ;) I got up at 2pm, sat around in my PJs and cleaned a (tiny) bit. Talk about relaxing!

My birthday was awesome. In the morning I talked to Mum, Dad and Carly for a while - apparently they're thinking about selling our house back home and moving to the Eastern Shore, which is a bit nearer to the city, but still a nice outer suburb. I think it would be nice, though I'll miss our old house. Our old house rocked a lot, even if it was structurally unsound and Dad used to cite all the violated building regulations.

The rest of my birthday was, as mentioned before, awesome ... ( but that's a spammy story-and-a-half, so if you don't want to read it, don't click here! )

So that was it. The best birthday I could possibly have had without my family. Speaking of which, when I have pictures of the five NEW additions to my family, I'll put them up here. Be sure to view and worship their cuteness when I do! XD

3:13am: Happy Valentine's Day, my darlings!
Extra love-love-love for you all, and snuggles, and so on. XD

I'm looking forward to today, when I actually wake up again. ;D I'm going to get a looong phonecall from my family, and I heart my family, so that's good. Then I'm going to get a yummy birthday luncheon, and I heart birthday luncheon, so that's also good. Then I'm going shopping for a birthday hamster, and I heart hamsters, so that's REALLY good. And lastly there will be a birthday dinner at an Undisclosed Location, because Selly is an Evil Wench and has plotted something which I fervently hope doesn't involve any kind of dancing, because I do not dance. Even badly. Singing, yes, but no dancing. I have enough bruises from skiing.

Most of this incoherent bounciness comes not from birthday joy, but from the news - however cautiously received at this sudden juncture - that my parents may well get back together again. Dad is moving back in to 'see how it goes'. And I guess we will. Quod erit, erit.

1:23pm: Using words - a rant.
I love words. Most people who read any of my spam quickly come to this conclusion. ;) This is why it troubles me when people don't respect them, and start using the really beautiful ones in the wrong way. People who use a calligraphy brush to paint their front porch are gifted, but blind to their own gift.

Drama is nice. But it has its place. When people start applying beautiful, dramatic speech to how they feel a bit off, or have a headache, or saw something a bit sad on the telly, it's wasteful and it weakens the rest of their words. In situations when they really have a reason to use the words - when they're uplifted, inspired, crushed, miserable, anything - no-one will notice, because they've been using the same words for trivial thoughts for a long time.

Leeching all the potential beauty from true, deep experience will only weaken your voice. I want you to save your gift and then stun me at intervals with it ... because it is a gift, and the way you use it now makes all the difference.

Don't wax lyrical about how you felt a little lonely when you were home alone for two hours. Don't strum your harp for how miserable you feel after a noisy kids' class. It's not worth prose or poetry.

Yes, Nicole, this IS written for you, and maybe one day I'll even say it to you. Maybe when I'm moving out. ;)

1:30pm: Lo, the gods of procrastination have delivered me another way to avoid the post office ...
RULES:
1. Put your birth month in an entry.
2. Strike out anything that doesn't apply to you.
3. Bold the four that best apply to you.
4. Put all twelve months under a livejournal cut.


FEBRUARY:
Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. (Hence I strike out the 'humble' allusion later on. XD) Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy (not since the necessity of Nova ...) and humble. Honest (mostly, cheesy grin?) and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but those not show it. Dislike unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizing dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. (Not inside, not outside, nuthin' ...) Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

Urrrrm ... lotsa strikeouts there. Damn. >_<


( Months here. )

12:35am: Itaiiiiii-yo!
Japanese for 'IT HURTS!!!'

Oh. My. God. Now I know there is a REASON why the universe made sure there wasn't a snowfield near my previous residences. And I also know why there are never any particularly good Australians in the Winter Olympics. WE SUCK, MAN.

Well ... actually the only empirical evidence here is to suggest that -I- suck. But I feel better laying it on all Australians.

I fell over sixty times in five hours. Count them: sixty. There is no exaggeration involved here - in fact I'm probably being a bit conservative there by leaving out the ten-minute training part of the day. Part of this may be due to the wrong turn Tsubasa and I took onto the 'intermediate' ski course at the end of the day, where I pretty much bumped, flopped and rolled all the way to the bottom. Time on mountain: 5 hours. Time on skis on mountain: approx. 5 min.

I can't believe I got up at the ungodly hour of 6am for THIS. I literally can't sit down (am typing by bending over to peer at my laptop) and I feel like my feet have been screwed on backwards (after breaking off at the ankles at some point on the slopes).

Well ... maybe it's not fun now, what with the excruciating agony and all (*violins*), but I actually did have a ball. The ski-lifts rocked - SHUDDUP, I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE BEFORE, LET ALONE BEEN IN ONE - and the scenery was absolutely spectacular. Gifu prefecture is just beautiful ... not quite so built-up as other areas of Japan, too. And the hot springs we went to afterwards were divine, even if I took up a good twenty minutes with Western adjustment. ("I'm NOT skinny-dipping with a bunch of strangers! No way!") In short, I'd go skiing again in an instant.

Just not tomorrow.

Or any time this month.

Maybe next winter.

1:21pm: So begins February.
Yep. Looks a lot like January. I freeze, work too hard and get cheated by Yujin again.

"I'm not going to dinner with you again," says Liss.
"Nan de, why?" says Yujin.
"Because you never let me pay, and I don't like it," says Liss.
"But I'm hungry," says Yujin.
"If I'm not paying, I don't care," says Liss.
"OK, you pay," says Yujin.
"Yeah, right," says Liss.
"No, you pay, it's promise," says Yujin.
"Yeah, right," says Liss.
"We take turns - this time you, next time me again," says Yujin.
"..." says Liss.
"Promise," says Yujin.

So we go to dinner on the premise that I'm paying this time.
Yujin drives us to a 180-yen ramen restaurant (probably about $2 Australian).

... I will win eventually.

In other 'news', I am going SKIINGSKIINGSKIING this Sunday. SKIINGSKIINGSKIING!! EEEEE!! Finally, I shall realise my dream of making a BIG ball of ice to throw at my friends, and a BIG pile of ice to hide behind while I do so, and a BIG blob-shaped man with sticks for arms to witness it all, and above all I will finally be able to miserably bruise myself and risk my neck like all the other NH-ers by sliding around on two flat sticks! DUUUUDE!!

I love the Fukunishis to bits and pieces. And soon, Megumi and Nori will be coming back to Japan! And I have the plane tickets for Carly and Oscar to come visit me in August! And it snowed (just a bit) in Nagoya yesterday! And I have new socks!

I want to bring my whole family here ...

1:27am: Well, I ran out of real January news, so ... Quiz Attack!

You represent... hope.
You're quite a daydreamer and can be a hopeless
romantic. You enjoy being creative and don't
mind being alone at times. You have goals, and
know what you want in life... even if they are
a little far fetched.


What feeling do you represent?
brought to you by Quizilla


( ... And a bunch of others, because I was WAY bored waiting for dinner to cook, and no-one was online, dammit... )

3:33am: I had a visit from Selina tonight, my bestest Australian pal in Japan. She'd just been out shopping with Nicole (her tolerance for supremely negative whingers - and anyone, in fact - is superhuman, probably why I like her so much).

But she was acting weird(er than usual) this evening. Lots of sidelong looks and thoughtful pauses instead of bubbly observations about Care Bears, socks with toes and deep-fried cheese. [Only very dense people jump to the conclusion that Selly is a total airhead after spending enough time with her, mind you.] Something was obviously eating her, and Selly being Selly, I certainly couldn't guess what it was. :P

( Liss relates another rambling, uneventful experience in that irritating narrative style, dammit ... )

The moral of this story? Boys, if you buy a Japanese girl a drink, don't be at all surprised if she's already got the colours of the reception flowers mapped out in her head by the time she's finished it.

1:33pm: Brrrrr. So. Cold. Cusp of February-January not fun. Work fun, but super-busy. 5 extra kilos of padding from Christmas now totally gone after a week of no lunches. :( Them at Home had better send me lots of Easter chocolate so I can catch up!

I worked my last shift in Kariya on Wednesday, which was a bit of a shame because I really got to like the place. Next week is somewhere called Okazaki. Since I at least have a week's notice this time on how to get there, where it actually is, etc, I'm not as ruffled as last time. 45 minutes on the train will not be fun if I can't get a window seat and gawk like a tourist, however.

Big Giant Boss came and went without dramas, though apparently he stayed a LOOONG time before he left. Nonami school has the lowest sales in our area, which is why we're always so busy now and why the office girls are always under so much pressure to BOOK A DEMO LESSON BOOK A DEMO LESSON DAMMIT. Considering that Nova still have the same expansion and growth quotas that they had in the booming 80s, I think quite a few schools like poor Nonami will fold soon ... but not, thank goodness, while I'm here.

What else? Um ... not much, actually. Roll on Sunday!

12:40pm: HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!
#Aust-ral-ians all drink lots_ of beer
#And like to eat their snaaags* ...

(*snag = Australian for 'sausage')

Stirring school rendition of the Australian anthem there. Not that I'm convinced anyone knows the Australian anthem outside Australia (except when it's poolside time at the Olympics, heh heh). Well, even if you aren't Australian, have a fantastic day and try to listen to Men At Work's 'Land Down Under' at least once if you can. XD

I'm feeling happy today. I had a terrific time last night - went to a really lovely 12th-floor restaurant at Nagoya Station, which I enjoyed in every aspect except the morning discovery of my half-share of the bill sneakily tucked into my coat pocket >_<, and then went out with Selina and Nicole to a karaoke bar later for some painful renditions of 'Smooth' and 'One Step Closer'. (We were hoping to find 'Land Down Under' when the clock hit 12, but the heathens didn't have it.) Then we got home and watched 'Pirates of the Carribean', which is definitely the trashiest movie Disney have put out for a while, and probably my sixth-favourite movie as well. ^_^

Work should be fun today - time to bring out the Vegemite and teach all my lufflies how to speak Strine in Voice Extension class. Muahahaha!!!

2:10pm: Wow, am I tired. Work this week was as insane as I've ever seen it - I worked for 12 hours on Friday, four of them unpaid! Sales, files, darling students ... noo, nothing to do with the Big Giant Boss coming to Nonami next week, we always work like this, really. ;) Some of the guys were kicking up a bit about it, but a) most Japanese people ALWAYS work like that and b) our 'work' is teaching people we mostly like, cleaning the place up, and writing our files (okay, those ARE a killer, but only because they're so boring). It's not like we're working in a mine.

Actually, it's nice to be working so much at the moment - I usually feel much more cheerful at work surrounded by so many friends, and there's no time to start thinking and worrying about things back home. But I talked to Mum yesterday, and she told me a story that made me want to fly back home for some quick chop-busting. Apparently one of our family 'friends' has put Dad up for the moment. Dad offered him our old barbeque (they got a new one for Christmas) in return for the inconvenience, even though considering Dad planned AND built most of the guy's house for nothing, I don't think he owed this guy anything.

"Oh, nah, mate," says Loyal Family Friend, "that'll be on the inventory."
"Inventory?" says Dad.
"Oh, yeah. My ex-wife took me for everything I had. You just wait for Angela to start listing it off."

..!!!!

Apparently Dad told this guy that Mum would -never- do anything like that, and he just grinned and said something banal like 'chin up, mate'. I would have left the jerk's fucking house. And if I was in Australia now, our friend would be getting a loud visit. He'd already have an email if he had the brains to use anything more complicated than a calculator. I just couldn't believe that someone who's known our family for so long - eight years - could say something like that about my mother! She was so offended and upset when she told me (Dad told her the story, since he still goes around to mow the lawn and stuff).

I'm still steaming about it, especially when I write it all out, so I should probably stop thinking about it before I pop a vein. Or scare my friends under tables. Yujin called me about two minutes after I finished talking to Mum, and evidently I must have answered the phone in a rather forbidding manner, because he opened the conversation with "Ahh! Kowai! [Scary!]"

I'll go and have a nice dinner tonight. That should improve things.

12:39am: ( Suck this down, Nova. XD )

1:06pm: Right. I think I've snapped. And just in the last 48 hours, too.

I'm not tired of being careful, just tired of being too careful. I'm tired of avoiding any calculated risk. I'm tired of 'thinking the better of it' and I'm dead tired of 'cooler heads prevailing'.

My Dad swallowed his dreams and more ambitious ideas for twelve years, and look what he ended up doing. My Mum walked the careful road, 'made do' with everything, and now she's fifty years old and miserable. I've learned what I can from caution, so now I'm going to take a look at what the other side will do for you!

( All right, idiot, just say what you did already. )

4:48pm: ( And this is why I'm a humanist ... )

2:49pm: Surprising how quickly one can get used to a sudden switchback in life. I don't feel happy, but I feel okay already. Mostly just worried about my sister stuck back in Tasmania in the middle of it all, while I have all Japan to separate me and distract me from it.

The circumstances are just so crushing. It sounds weird, but I wouldn't have minded if Mum and Dad had just decided they didn't really love each other any more, and would be happier apart. Well, of course I would have been sad, but if that's what it would have taken to make them happy, it would've been okay.

As it turned out, though, the man whose incredible integrity and fucking anachronistic honour I've worshipped all my life had an affair - or tried his best to - with a woman at work. If this was anyone else in the world who'd hurt my mother like that, I would have dedicated a lengthy period of my life to making -their- life miserable, but ... this is my own, wonderful Dad.

I'll forgive him eventually. I've just found out that he and Mum have been deeply unhappy for some time now anyway, so that and a severe mid-life crisis are definitely to blame. (This is -such- a stark lesson for parents who try to base too much of their lives around their kids, and don't keep anything for themselves for when the kids are gone.) But the fact remains that a bright, steely part of my trust in people has just been snapped in half. Because if my Dad can be so underhanded, can break his word and betray someone so fulsomely - my Dad, who chases people interstate to return their wallets and does eight extra hours of free drafting for people who 'just ask' and devotes his weekends, even Formula 1-watching weekends, to helping strangers build their patios and fix their cars - then no-one on Earth can fully be trusted.

If this comes down to the lonely lesson of 'love everyone completely but trust no-one completely', I'll be very, very sad. But I'm hoping that's just a side-emotion from the shock. I like relying on myself, but it would be nice to know that there's some kind of security somewhere else if I ever want to reach out for it.

Maybe from Carly. I'm so worried about her. And I don't want to let her down in a similar way by not coming home next year, but ... I don't know. Tasmania in itself was never a home - only my family made it that way. Perth is my home, but I can't afford to go back there yet. Japan feels ten times more like the place I belong now. And I don't want to do the stupid 'Flip a coin - which parent will I live with?' thing, and that's what I'd have to do back home, because I'd have no job and no income.

Carly will leave, but she has to finish her degree first. She's waiting for me to come home in 2005 so she's not quite so stranded. And I really don't know what the fuck I'm going to do.

But that's about all I'm going to say about that. I'm not going to whine in my journal for half a year or write godawful poetry about how much life sucks and I should be dead, because life is beautiful chaos and in every tiny crevice of the world you can see something bright which will still be there and mean more long after your unhappiness is gone.

Or something.

I'm going to try to come online a lot more (yeah ... been saying that for months!), so if any of you do see me around, please don't tiptoe or try to be solemn. I don't feel that way myself and I don't want you to try it. Just show me your usual happy insanity, and it'll comfort me infinitely more than anything else. :)

2:14pm: Kind of an awful day today. My parents have split up. So if you can see me online and I'm not hullooing you, it's because I'm talking to my sister rather than ignoring you, okay?

I'll be fine; I just don't think I'll be writing for a while. Big hugs to you all.

3:29am: Warm fuzziness!
Ah, there's nothing better. My students always know how to cheer me up. I'm still fairly homesick, particularly since I know Dad's gone in for a (minor) operation and I'd like to be there, but I feel much happier than before. It's been lovely to catch up with all the smiley faces I missed in December.

Tonight I also went out with some of my student-friends (Natsuko, Sakiko, Yujin, Manami and Rika), and we had a ball. We were all speaking the weirdest, choppiest mix of Japanenglish -ever- (both practising each other's Mysterious Foreign Speech), but it's amazing how little grammar you actually need in either language to get your point across. XD The food was terrific. You'd be surprised how good eel tastes if you give it a chance ...

Yujin, in the meantime, hasn't said a single thing about another date, and has simply reverted to being a(n idiotic) friend again, which I appreciate beyond words. My job is safe, my social life is joyously free of stress, and things in Japan are looking even more fun and more homely than they did before, which is saying a lot. I'm homesick now, but I know for sure it's going to be a struggle to go home at the end of this year.

Kanpai! ^_^

9:59pm: It never rains but it pours ...
Lookit! Three posts in one day! Work finished early (sort of unfortunately - I have too much to do!!) and no-one is online to chat to, that's why. I promise it won't happen again.

Anyway, Nonami being Nonami, there was no shortage of surprises when I got back. Firstly, the sad news that Yoshie was given her three days' notice while I was gone, and now works in Imaike. Roll on, corporate machine. Secondly, the intriguing news that Jane and Wayne split up five days ago. (Jane said that it was amicably done, but a few remarks she made through the day made me wonder. I hope the office isn't going to be drawing up battle-lines over this ...) Thirdly, the puzzling news (from Jose) that the Christmas party they had was a bit of a fizzler and most of the teachers turned up late even though they were hosting it. Come ON! Even -I-, Australia's most celebrated wallflower, know how NOT to mess up a party! Particularly a Christmas party! Geez.

Speaking of Christmas, I also found out yesterday that I put on 5 kilos over the Christmas munchie period for the first time EVER! I am -so- stoked. I've been trying to build up body mass (and hopefully muscle mass eventually ...?) for YEARS. 50 kilos was way too unhealthy for my height (170cm), which is why some people used to assume I was anorexic rather than just a feeble runt. The only annoying thing is that now none of my jeans fit me, and I have to go buy some more. Curses.

Here's to deep-fried schnitzel, 2kg chocoboxes and potato wedges with extra sour cream!! XD

(Please come to my funeral next year when I die of heart disease ...)

12:09pm: Ah, sleep.
Sleep is a wonderful thing. I've finally shaken off the effects of a 12-hour sleepless flight from Oz. I'm still pretty sad about being away from my family again, but at least I feel capable of instructing students in clear, coherent English rather than 'Uhhh. Muhhhh. Gruuhhhh.' XD

I had some wonderful news today - my old roomie, Katie-much-adorey, is coming to visit in February! JOY! A counter for the Queen of Gloom! (Though lately I appear to have become the Duchess of Gloom ... dammit. XP) We'll do heaps of super-fun stuff and stuff, and stuff, and I am SO LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. In just two months she became like my family, and it will be so great to see her again. Kate, Selina and Fish, together again! Fear us!!

Or give us sweets!!

My flat is looking cleaner than it's ever been - probably because I spent six hours cleaning it on Sunday and another four yesterday. It was a bloody pigsty when I got back. Someone will hear about this. But anyway, it's nice to be in a clean place, and the deep muscle aches are vaguely satisfying. XD

On Thursday I'm going out (indeed, I waste no time) with a bunch of my mucho-luffed students, and all will be joyous and fun, and the only thing particularly ticking me off at the moment is a last-minute message telling me to go work in Kariya tomorrow.

Where the fuck is Kariya? :P

I guess it's Nova's way of saying 'Welcome back!' Anyway. I don't care. If I find a better job, I'll probably ditch them later this year for a different company that gives me public holidays off and doesn't shuttle me around every two months.

The staff still have it worse, though. I know - I'll CONQUER Nonami school and make them all work for ME, and keep all my beautiful students! Muahahaha!!

... I feel better.