miércoles
RUEDA DE CASINO STAGE
こんな間RUEDAのステージにでって楽しかった。 ビデオを又リンクするね。 ♪ マイアミのCONGRESSを楽しみにしているねん。。。
I have finally gotten around to post a video... I didn't take this (because I was dancing... so, I am linking from my teacher's You Tube account.)
私は踊ってたから自分でビデオを取れなかった。 (当たり前でしょう？！） で、やっとビデオを見附ってこれで私のRUEDA先生のYOU・TUBEにリンクをします。 是非、時間が有ったら見てください。
こんな間RUEDAのステージにでって楽しかった。 ビデオを又リンクするね。 ♪ マイアミのCONGRESSを楽しみにしているねん。。。
I have finally gotten around to post a video... I didn't take this (because I was dancing... so, I am linking from my teacher's You Tube account.)
私は踊ってたから自分でビデオを取れなかった。 (当たり前でしょう？！） で、やっとビデオを見附ってこれで私のRUEDA先生のYOU・TUBEにリンクをします。 是非、時間が有ったら見てください。
Tania and Maria's B-day
It was Maria and Tania's B-day. They threw a nice TIMBA party at Tania's. It was so much fun (^_^)/
¶ miércoles, noviembre 28, 2007
It was Maria and Tania's B-day. They threw a nice TIMBA party at Tania's. It was so much fun (^_^)/
lunes
My first Month in H-town!
I just can't get over how long the days seem and how slowly every hour goes. Nonetheless, the weeks and month just pass like nothing. I will officially have been in H-town a whole month tomorrow. It is crazy. At the same time that I still have YUU-PAKU boxes unopened from Japan and still randomly utter interjections or talk to myself in Japanese, I feel like I have been in Houston longer.
Two weeks ago, I started my "real" job. During the summer, I was working a temporary summer program, but now I am in a permanent, full-time position in education. For the sake of privacy (as small as this world is) that is about all regarding my work that I will post here for the moment. Although work is consuming most of my time and energy at the moment, I have managed to make it to San Antonio for the past 2 weeks. Once for a crazy reunion w/ my good friends, and once to see my brother and spend some time with my family. I've been overwhelmed these past two weeks, to say the least, but at least now I have a 3 day weekend to catch up and work ahead.
Two weeks ago, my room-mate from college who visited me a couple times in Japan and whom I've visited twice in Taiwan including for her amazing wedding, came back to visit the states.
Having her visit was a great excuse to get a whole bunch of us back together. I got to also see my best friends in SA and got to meet new people who are friends of friends. At one point, I think we had a party of 12 at a sushi restaurant. We mostly ate, but when our mouths weren't full we got a chance to catch up.
I got a chance to spend an incredible time with my parents, brother, my brother's friends, and the cutest little big doggie in the world out in Canyon lake last weekend. It was really a fun time. It was really important to have this, since we won't be seeing each other again for a relatively long time.
As far as my daily life, I have come to the realization that maybe I am just a workaholic-- regardless of where I live. It is something that I need to work on. But luckily, I was able to find a really nice Rueda instructor and a very welcoming group of salseros y casineros. We are learning some fancy moves to prepare for the Casino Congress in Miami in November. I am so--------- excited to finally get to go to a Congress. Houston Salsa Congress will be in September and although I probably won't be able to get a pass for the workshops, I am going to deffo try to make it to some of the performances.
The only thing that I haven't gotten to do is go to the gym. I am a bit bummed out about that, but the Gold's gyms in Houston don't have a lot of Les Mills and they are pretty far anyway just to go for yoga. But we'll see what happens... Maybe I will get out there soon when work starts becoming more natural. ¶ lunes, septiembre 03, 2007
Two weeks ago, I started my "real" job. During the summer, I was working a temporary summer program, but now I am in a permanent, full-time position in education. For the sake of privacy (as small as this world is) that is about all regarding my work that I will post here for the moment. Although work is consuming most of my time and energy at the moment, I have managed to make it to San Antonio for the past 2 weeks. Once for a crazy reunion w/ my good friends, and once to see my brother and spend some time with my family. I've been overwhelmed these past two weeks, to say the least, but at least now I have a 3 day weekend to catch up and work ahead.
Two weeks ago, my room-mate from college who visited me a couple times in Japan and whom I've visited twice in Taiwan including for her amazing wedding, came back to visit the states.
Having her visit was a great excuse to get a whole bunch of us back together. I got to also see my best friends in SA and got to meet new people who are friends of friends. At one point, I think we had a party of 12 at a sushi restaurant. We mostly ate, but when our mouths weren't full we got a chance to catch up.
I got a chance to spend an incredible time with my parents, brother, my brother's friends, and the cutest little big doggie in the world out in Canyon lake last weekend. It was really a fun time. It was really important to have this, since we won't be seeing each other again for a relatively long time.
As far as my daily life, I have come to the realization that maybe I am just a workaholic-- regardless of where I live. It is something that I need to work on. But luckily, I was able to find a really nice Rueda instructor and a very welcoming group of salseros y casineros. We are learning some fancy moves to prepare for the Casino Congress in Miami in November. I am so--------- excited to finally get to go to a Congress. Houston Salsa Congress will be in September and although I probably won't be able to get a pass for the workshops, I am going to deffo try to make it to some of the performances.
The only thing that I haven't gotten to do is go to the gym. I am a bit bummed out about that, but the Gold's gyms in Houston don't have a lot of Les Mills and they are pretty far anyway just to go for yoga. But we'll see what happens... Maybe I will get out there soon when work starts becoming more natural. ¶ lunes, septiembre 03, 2007
miércoles
El Caballero de la Salsa in H-town!
My feet hurt after work & I had heard that the concert had been rained out... but thanks to my new salsa buddies in H-town, I was able to get the info & make it on a weekday. Although I had a great dance partner, I didn't do as much dancing as I would have liked to because my feet were burning!!! But Gil was great. (^_^)
martes
やっとSKYPEアカウントを作ったよ！
Hey-- I finally got a SKYPE account. If you are a SKYPER, please add me to your contacts. I am hoping I can keep in touch with everyone. Miss y'all so------ much.
☆SKYPEって分からんと？ ←ココにクリックしてね。☆
今週本当に忙しかった。 前の仕事を終わってすぐHOUSTONに来ました。 新しいアパートかなり好きだけど、まだ落ち着くじかんがぜんぜんなかった。 明日、新しい仕事の契約といろな手続きをしに行って来週から小学校4年生の先生になります。 まだHOUSTONの知り合い一人も居ないなの昨日第一のお客さん新しいアパートで泊まったよ。 誰でしょうか？？ 大好きなSAYOちゃんがCOSTA RICAの旅後HOUSTONで一泊できて、二人でSALSAを踊りに行きました。 SAYOちゃんは最高だよ。 楽しかった。
Finalmente tuve un momentico para respirar e ingresarme en Skype. Cuando les quede facil, favor de agregarme a su lista de contactos para poder chismear pronto. Estos dias se me han pasado tan rapidamente. Ya termine la escavitud en mi ultimo trabajo y de repente me mude para Houston donde trabajare de maestra de 4o el ano escolar que entra. Como la ven? Mi nuevo depa me agrada mucho y poco a poco ojala k agarre la onda. Aunque todavia no conozco ni a una persona por aqui, ya tuve mi primera huesped! Sayo estuvo en transito por aqui en su regreso de Costa Rica. Fuimos a bailar salsa y no la pasamos rico. Ojala k todos ustedes anden bien y que pronto podamos desatrasarnos. Muchos besos!!!!!!!! ¶ martes, agosto 07, 2007
☆SKYPEって分からんと？ ←ココにクリックしてね。☆
今週本当に忙しかった。 前の仕事を終わってすぐHOUSTONに来ました。 新しいアパートかなり好きだけど、まだ落ち着くじかんがぜんぜんなかった。 明日、新しい仕事の契約といろな手続きをしに行って来週から小学校4年生の先生になります。 まだHOUSTONの知り合い一人も居ないなの昨日第一のお客さん新しいアパートで泊まったよ。 誰でしょうか？？ 大好きなSAYOちゃんがCOSTA RICAの旅後HOUSTONで一泊できて、二人でSALSAを踊りに行きました。 SAYOちゃんは最高だよ。 楽しかった。
Finalmente tuve un momentico para respirar e ingresarme en Skype. Cuando les quede facil, favor de agregarme a su lista de contactos para poder chismear pronto. Estos dias se me han pasado tan rapidamente. Ya termine la escavitud en mi ultimo trabajo y de repente me mude para Houston donde trabajare de maestra de 4o el ano escolar que entra. Como la ven? Mi nuevo depa me agrada mucho y poco a poco ojala k agarre la onda. Aunque todavia no conozco ni a una persona por aqui, ya tuve mi primera huesped! Sayo estuvo en transito por aqui en su regreso de Costa Rica. Fuimos a bailar salsa y no la pasamos rico. Ojala k todos ustedes anden bien y que pronto podamos desatrasarnos. Muchos besos!!!!!!!! ¶ martes, agosto 07, 2007
sábado
When you think things can't get any worse...
It is about time that I scare away some of the digital dust cumulating on this blog. When I have time to write, I am so idle that I really have nothing to write about. And when things are happening, I am so overwhelmed, overworked, and things are just too overhappening all over the place that I don’t have even a second to write about them. I guess my life right now is just like a Japanese toilet—you never know what you are going to get.
If you have never used a Japanese toilet, I guess you probably don’t know what I am talking about. Basically you can have a high-end toilet with the motion sensored seats that lift up automatically—you know, the ones with a bide, the special sound effects, and the controlled temperature. (No, I am not kidding or exaggerating.) If you get something on the other end of the spectrum, you will be on a “squatty potty” that may not be a whole lot fancier than a hole in the ground. But, even most of the low-end toilets now days have running water-- but you better pray to all 8th happy god—he’s in charge of the toilet paper. Now that you know the two ends of the spectrum, just know that you can get anything in between, and sometimes you have a choice (western/Japanese). Well, that is what my life feels like now.
Four weeks ago up to last week I was up north in the most luxurious hotel I have probably been in. I had a huge ‘heavenly” bed, a bath robe fit for kings, a great shower, tons of amenities (including FREE Starbucks coffee every morning!!) and room service/house-keeping. On the contrary, today I have come to the hill country and checked into a university dorm room… hmmmm… basically I feel like this is just half a step up from a jail cell. Basically if you took away ½ the square footage, removed the window, and added bars, we’d be in jail! Boooooooooohooooooooo… I am supposed to get changed to a different room tomorrow. The week in between I was driving back and forth from SANCHOUME to the east apartment hunting. Why all this instability, you may ask? Why not pick a toilet and stick with it?
Well, this moving around is partly for a summer program that I am a part of. It is my first job in the US since I came back from Japan. It is actually a really cool “gig”. I get to work with gifted munchkins, an awesome staff, and great curriculum. All the staff and all the munchkins live together for a week and spend from breakfast to bed-time together. The days are long, but I guess it is all worth it in the end. We get to do all kinds of activities, experiments, and projects. One of the most exciting thing I get to do with the munchkins is dissect a cow’s heart! (Cows must be really nice, because they have a big heart.)
The other part of my moving around is the possibility of taking on a more permanent job in H-MACHI. I think I found a new home after my two weeks in Jail. Who knows?
In any case, my life is pretty weird right now—and sometimes I wonder how real it is. My concept of time and distance is incredibly distorted right now. I kind of feel like I’m in MURAKAMI’S Hardboiled Wonderland… Like I am living two lives… Sometimes I doubt that I really lived in Japan and others it doesn’t click that I am still here. I am neither here nor there. I am either living in the past or in the future—but when I am here and in the now I am so obsessed with what is going on that it doesn’t really click. It is really strange.
Yesterday was actually real-time, though… and I was living in the moment. It was the most amazing day spent with my long-life best friend that I met in Kinder. I drove Fer from my parents’ and got pulled over. I got busted for an expired insurance and thought I was going to get written up. (In the US—at least in TX—auto insurance is compulsory.) I don’t know why, but he just gave me a warning. That is unheard of. Something that could have just ruined my whole day turned into a pretty happy moment then. My friend and I then met at a town in the middle of no-where between SANCHOUME and Austin. A little town called COLUMBUS. With the rain and all awkwardness, and the adrenalin rush after almost having been written up, we decided to leave one car at a WAL-MART parking lot and took off to H-TOWN. We had the best Armanian tabouli and shawarma at a hole-in-the-wall Lebanese restaurant that was awesome & checked out the area. We looked at some pretty ritzy apartments, checked out some ghetto ones, and then consulted with a potty-mouthed rude loser and were referred to “the right” place. I think I have found a home yo! After apartment hunting, we went out for some crazy American style sushi. It was so cheap and so tasty…. and the lady who works there is the sweetest!
Now I am in a whole different world. Not in the Westin bubble anymore, but certainly a bubble. I had only found out about the horrible Niigata Earthquake because I was at my parents’ for the week. The news from Japan is disturbing and I hope that everyone I know is OK and that Japan can recover quickly from this terrible tragedy.
Well, tomorrow will be a long day with a whole new group of munchkins coming. I better get some good sleep on my not so heavenly bed. OYASUMI. ¶ sábado, julio 21, 2007
If you have never used a Japanese toilet, I guess you probably don’t know what I am talking about. Basically you can have a high-end toilet with the motion sensored seats that lift up automatically—you know, the ones with a bide, the special sound effects, and the controlled temperature. (No, I am not kidding or exaggerating.) If you get something on the other end of the spectrum, you will be on a “squatty potty” that may not be a whole lot fancier than a hole in the ground. But, even most of the low-end toilets now days have running water-- but you better pray to all 8th happy god—he’s in charge of the toilet paper. Now that you know the two ends of the spectrum, just know that you can get anything in between, and sometimes you have a choice (western/Japanese). Well, that is what my life feels like now.
Four weeks ago up to last week I was up north in the most luxurious hotel I have probably been in. I had a huge ‘heavenly” bed, a bath robe fit for kings, a great shower, tons of amenities (including FREE Starbucks coffee every morning!!) and room service/house-keeping. On the contrary, today I have come to the hill country and checked into a university dorm room… hmmmm… basically I feel like this is just half a step up from a jail cell. Basically if you took away ½ the square footage, removed the window, and added bars, we’d be in jail! Boooooooooohooooooooo… I am supposed to get changed to a different room tomorrow. The week in between I was driving back and forth from SANCHOUME to the east apartment hunting. Why all this instability, you may ask? Why not pick a toilet and stick with it?
Well, this moving around is partly for a summer program that I am a part of. It is my first job in the US since I came back from Japan. It is actually a really cool “gig”. I get to work with gifted munchkins, an awesome staff, and great curriculum. All the staff and all the munchkins live together for a week and spend from breakfast to bed-time together. The days are long, but I guess it is all worth it in the end. We get to do all kinds of activities, experiments, and projects. One of the most exciting thing I get to do with the munchkins is dissect a cow’s heart! (Cows must be really nice, because they have a big heart.)
The other part of my moving around is the possibility of taking on a more permanent job in H-MACHI. I think I found a new home after my two weeks in Jail. Who knows?
In any case, my life is pretty weird right now—and sometimes I wonder how real it is. My concept of time and distance is incredibly distorted right now. I kind of feel like I’m in MURAKAMI’S Hardboiled Wonderland… Like I am living two lives… Sometimes I doubt that I really lived in Japan and others it doesn’t click that I am still here. I am neither here nor there. I am either living in the past or in the future—but when I am here and in the now I am so obsessed with what is going on that it doesn’t really click. It is really strange.
Yesterday was actually real-time, though… and I was living in the moment. It was the most amazing day spent with my long-life best friend that I met in Kinder. I drove Fer from my parents’ and got pulled over. I got busted for an expired insurance and thought I was going to get written up. (In the US—at least in TX—auto insurance is compulsory.) I don’t know why, but he just gave me a warning. That is unheard of. Something that could have just ruined my whole day turned into a pretty happy moment then. My friend and I then met at a town in the middle of no-where between SANCHOUME and Austin. A little town called COLUMBUS. With the rain and all awkwardness, and the adrenalin rush after almost having been written up, we decided to leave one car at a WAL-MART parking lot and took off to H-TOWN. We had the best Armanian tabouli and shawarma at a hole-in-the-wall Lebanese restaurant that was awesome & checked out the area. We looked at some pretty ritzy apartments, checked out some ghetto ones, and then consulted with a potty-mouthed rude loser and were referred to “the right” place. I think I have found a home yo! After apartment hunting, we went out for some crazy American style sushi. It was so cheap and so tasty…. and the lady who works there is the sweetest!
Now I am in a whole different world. Not in the Westin bubble anymore, but certainly a bubble. I had only found out about the horrible Niigata Earthquake because I was at my parents’ for the week. The news from Japan is disturbing and I hope that everyone I know is OK and that Japan can recover quickly from this terrible tragedy.
Well, tomorrow will be a long day with a whole new group of munchkins coming. I better get some good sleep on my not so heavenly bed. OYASUMI. ¶ sábado, julio 21, 2007
martes
The Westin Bubble
Haven't posted in ages because I am living in a bubble-- a Westin bubble.
I am learning a lot but have a full schedule with limited pee breaks.
I think this is what they call baptism by fire...
I guess I am a sink-or-swim type learner anyway-- whatever that means. I've always worked well under pressure. Tomorrow I get to dissect a heart... Wooooooooooooooheeeeeeeeeee
It is such an awesome experience... I get to work with really wonderful people, a well-thought out curriculum, in a super fancy hotel. But, yeah, it is challenging and the hours are reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllly long. I still have energy at the end of the day (sort of) but my feet just can't make it! I am actually wearing tennis shoes to work!
Well, hope to have more time to say more next time... I will be doing this "gig" for three more weeks after this one... so by the time I get it down to a T it will be time to go look for an other job.
Boooooooooo hoooooooooooo! ¶ martes, julio 03, 2007
I am learning a lot but have a full schedule with limited pee breaks.
I think this is what they call baptism by fire...
I guess I am a sink-or-swim type learner anyway-- whatever that means. I've always worked well under pressure. Tomorrow I get to dissect a heart... Wooooooooooooooheeeeeeeeeee
It is such an awesome experience... I get to work with really wonderful people, a well-thought out curriculum, in a super fancy hotel. But, yeah, it is challenging and the hours are reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllly long. I still have energy at the end of the day (sort of) but my feet just can't make it! I am actually wearing tennis shoes to work!
Well, hope to have more time to say more next time... I will be doing this "gig" for three more weeks after this one... so by the time I get it down to a T it will be time to go look for an other job.
Boooooooooo hoooooooooooo! ¶ martes, julio 03, 2007
lunes
miércoles
ワンちゃんのコーヒーはアボカドの泥簿だ！ PARA MI HERMANO
La Coffee se robo un aguacate el otro dia. Here is the chase... XOXOXOX ¶ miércoles, junio 13, 2007
La Coffee se robo un aguacate el otro dia. Here is the chase... XOXOXOX ¶ miércoles, junio 13, 2007
