3 More Birthdays- January 30th

Tonight was fun going out, doing nomihoudai, bar hopping, then finishing up at karaoke for ehat else but 3 more Birthdays. My friends Tim, Ilean, and Pete all had birthdays and were celebraing them all at the same time and same place- in the Hash!!! I'll have to keep in mind that January will mostly always be a busy month for birthdays!!! 

Hellsing Ultimate- January 29th

I finished watching the anime Hellsing Ultimate which consists of 10 episodes each around 50 minutes long. The anime is about the Hellsing organization who is Britians best defense against the supernatural/undead, vampire, threats in the country. Lead by Sir Integra, her trusty butler Walter, faithful unstoppable lapdog Alucard, and the new member Seras Victoria the team gets more than they bargained for as a threat 50 years in the making test these wouldbe heroes and sends them into the fight of their lives! I thought the anime was pretty good and further accentuates my liking for supernatural themed shows and anime. 

Marathon Practice- January 28th

Today I ran with the 1st year and 2nd year boys during their marathon practice which consista of running for 12 minutes around the baseball field. I'd been starting running in order to get back in shape, but I'm starting to realize my age a little bit after seeing a ton of students fly past me as well as some of the younger teacher- "ding"...shame😣. The marathon is next Thursday and I heard its a race to see who can climb Mount Zao in Tahara the fastest. I don't think I'll race, but I'll definitely try to run none stop to the top. 

J.S.B. Dream-January 27th

So the first song I have officially learned from Sandaime J Soul Brothers is  J.S.B. Dream. Its a song about following your true passion and until it's realized. This song really resonnates with me considering I'm now trying to realize my dream by putting in the work and making moves to make it happen. I also found out in my music research that the two singers , Ryuji Imaichi and Hiroomi Tosaka, both joined the group after winning the EXILE Vocal Battle Audition 2 in 2010 which is held every couple of years. Hopefully, I can't try the competition before I age out! 

Joumon Sugi- January 26th

Today I learned about Joumon Sugi one of the oldest loving sugi trees in Japanese. Sugi trees are Japanese cedar trees that live past 1000 years. Joumon Sugi ia believed to be over 5000 years old and is featured in the Japanese animated film Princess Mononoke! 

Dinner at Denny's- January 25th

This evening I go to eat dinner with Mr.Fujimoto my landlord/Japanese father who has helped me so much since I've been here in Japan. He is really good at English and is one of the kindest men I have ever met. Without him, I pretty much couldn't have done anything here in Toyohashi. I'm sure my fellow English teachers and international folks in Fujimoto Height aka Gaijin Heights would agree that he has made our stay in Japan a lot smoother by being so helpful abd accommodating. I haven't gotten a picture with him yet, but I will make sure to and post it to my blog before I move hopefully. 

Song for Japan Nodojiman The world- January 24th

Today was a lazy day for the most part except I finally made it to the nodojiman the world website during my music research of Japan. This show attracts people from all over the world who love to sing Jpop. This singing competition and live TV show has helped further the careers of quite a few international musicians here in Japan including someone who I had found out about when I first came to Japan, Chris Heart. I'm thinking if I want to futher my music career in Japan I moght wanna give this a shot. 

Birthday Celebration!- January 23rd

I went to cafe Ibiza to club again, but this time it was to celebrate my friend Eric's birthday! I got way to drunk, but I had a really nice time- cough cough those of you who know what really happened let's keep it between us haha. Despite some questionable decisions, I managed to get a feelw nice pictures so I thought I'd share them. 

NaNoWriMo- January 22nd

When I first studied abroad at Chubu University in Kasugai imI found out anout NaNoWriMo or National November Writing Month. After my first failed attempt at tryinf to write something I decided that I would try again in 2015. I still failed to finish my novel, but I fell in love with the story so I'm going to try and finish it. Currently, I'm about 25% finished without edits. Its a supernatural/horror genre about a high school sophomore named Soak who goes to a special boarding school to start her training to become a doctor. Ita the beginning of October at the Divine boarding school for the spiritually inclined the most important month for the school since it leads up to a very special day, All Hallows Eve. Unlike previous years though, this sacred month has brought about a serial killer, a peculiar new student, and a drastic life change for Soak. I just made of drawing of what I think Soak would look like and it turned out pretty well. I can't wait to finish the novel:-) 

Sandaime J Soul Brothers- January 21st

As I begin my transition as a performer I have to think about my prefered genre in style and also about what Jpop groups really personify the look and feel that I want to emulate as I transition into the industry. I'm still learning a lot about Jpop, but one band that immediately caught my eye is Sandaime J Soul Brothers!!! They are a pop/R&B group comprised of 7 members. Besides the amazing vocals for two of it's members their performances also feature some absolutely fantastic hip-hop dances including some crumpin, pop lockin, and even was body rolls with a little bit of nene thrown in there. I can't wait to see what I can do as I learn for my mentors, by myself of coarse, and see where it takes me. Also, Sandaime's J Soul Brothers is just heating up so I can't wait to see more from them.  

Snow in Toyohashi!!!- January 20th

Despite multiple of my fellow co-workers and international English teachers telling me that it will not happen we got a snow storm in Toyohashi. This come at no surprise really since all around the world the weather as gottwn pretty ridiculous and unpredictable. This is the view from outside my window before I tried to make the trek to my school. The wind was absolutely ridiculous and everytime the train doors opened people were covered with snow. I guess the seemingly possible is possible lol! 

Planning to Move to Tokyo!- January 19

So it's been hard to decided where I would like to go to next here in Japan, but I have finally decided to try and move to one of the biggest cities in the world Tokyo. As part of my other New Year's resolution to myself, I will make my way to Tokyo in order to further my aspirations of becoming a singer-songwriter, performer, and producer. Toyko is one of the most musical cities in the world and provides a plethora of opporunities for anyone,no matter the nationality, to raise to stardom and make their dreams come true. Realizing that one of the obstacles holding me back from realizing my dream is lack of opportunity, I'm pushing myself foward and taking steps to bring my dream to life. I have already began job searching and have since applied to 2 jobs. Wish me luck! 

Staying in Japan for Another Year!- January 18th

So it's official I applied to extend my visa today to work in Japan for another year. Aparently, I just haven't had enough of this beautiful and astonishing country. I'm hoping that as I continue my studies in Japanese language and culture that I will also have many more amazing experiences as I continue my adventure in Japan!!! I can't wait to see what new things next year has to offer. 

Boruto- January 17th

I finally got around to watching Boruto: Naruto the movie and I just have to say-Wow!!! The movie was absolutely fantastic and rekindled my love for Naruto. I'm so excited for the new naruto series manga and anime that features all of my favorite characters and their kids! 

Nomihoudai at Tap- January 16th

I went to a British style pub called Tap that is in Toyohashi across from the station on a strip popular with the locals. The strip has a lot of shops, restaurants, clothing stores, and more and in the summer, fall, and maybe spring small festival events are held there. Anyways, I went out with some friends and a ¥1500 or $15 nomihoudai which is all you can drink. I had a really great time talking and hanging out with the Toyohashi crew, ala all the other international English teachers, and some friendly Japanese people that came up to talk to us. It was a successful Saturday night and I definitely felt the after affects. 

Playing Basketball with Students- January 15

Today I played basketball with the students at one of schools. I had been meaning to play since I started started working at the school 10 months ago, but it just didn't happen and so I just brought some basketball cloths and shoes to school today and said I want to play. I also felt bad cause an Alumni from the University where I studied abroad at is the coach for the team... Playing with the kids was a lot of fun, but I quickly realized I an incredibly out of shape compared to the kids. I was tired afterward. My team pur up a good fight but we lost the game. If I had to say why its cause the other team kept up the pressure and the defense while also not being afraid to run through players and shoot the ball. Plus one of the players from the other team was able to layup over 2 of my teamates like 10 times. I had a lot of fun but all I can say is HANDS UP!!! 

Feelin Myself- January 14th

So besides doing this blog for 365 days this year, my other New Year's resolution is to start working towards my dream which is to be a professional musician. Currently, I want to be a R&B/Pop singer-songwriter and performer and eventually produce my own music. Today, I got back into some serious practice by singing some possible audition songs and revisiting some songs I wrote over the last year. If feels good to get back to music which is my true creative passion.

My student passed the English Step Test- January 13th

The student who I tutored this fall passed the English Step Test, which is a really difficult interview test unlike most others that mainly focus on reading, writing, and listening. It felt good to know that I made a difference as an English teacher. No matter what I end up doing I want to help people and continue to be a positive influence in other peoples lives!!! She gave me this gift without even knowing if she had passed too:-) Its a tin that had specially made cholcolate pikachu cookies with a special note!

Surprise Omiyage:-)- January 12th

One of the teachers in one of my high schools went to Osaka and brought me back a souvenir.m! He is always really nice and kind to me even though we both struggle to communicate with each other in our second languages. The candy looks really delicious!  I'm going to have to find a way to pay him back.

Happy Birthday Fun!!!- January 11th

I went to Cafe Ibiza with some friends for like the hundreth time it seems like for my small but fun birthday celebration! I sported my new cloths my Mom sent too. This time was really fun because along with playing all the standard club hits they mixed in some really great pop, rap, and r&b songs. We loved it so much that we stayed longer than usual, butof coarse still managing to pull an all nighter.

Haircut!!!- January 10th

I got my third haircut in Japan. Surprisingly the stylist did a great job! During my last haircut the stylist pushed back my widows peek and kinda messed up my hairline. This time the stylist didn't push it back and lined me up really good!!!

Package from Home!!!- January 9th

I was so happy to receive this package from my Mom! It was a Christmas/Birthday present and it had some new cloths, 2 Japanese study books, chips, candy, a birthday card from my Mom and my Grandma and birthday cupcakes. My Mom takes really good care of me!

Studying Japanese!!!- January 8th

I had to work on Friday this week and

surprisingly it was okay. I'm blessed to have a job that I enjoy and teachers and students that make my job all the more enjoyable. I also managed to study Japanese in my free time!!!

Happy 24th Birthday!!!- January 7th

Hey hey it's my birthday and what did I do all day... Nothing! After a busy couple of weeks going to parties, celebrating Christmas and New Year's, and going to Tokyo it was nice to just relax around the apartment. I was a little productive by paying some bills and preparing my lesson plans for English teaching tomorrow, but overall it was really chill birthday and I'll probably get around to doing something this weekend. Shout out to my twin sister cause this is the first birthday we are not celebrating together😔Woo 24 years old yay!!!

Ice Skating- January 6th

I went ice skating today with my friends at the aqua arena in Toyohashi sports park, which was my first time in a longtime. Just like I remember, my feet hurt really bad due to my flat feet and having to use smaller skates because the biggest size they had was a 31cm and my feet are 32cm-shoe shopping=impossible in Japan😡! It was fun though and cheap too. Only ¥1300 which is 13 dollars plus the ¥400 or 4 dollars to get there from the station by bus!!!

Learning Kanji from Ordering Food- January 5th

So I got the chance to go to dinner with a fellow employee and her family to a restaurant right across the street from where we live. The place is called Hayataro and they have really good ramen and karaage. I usually would just point at the menu item or read the katakana to order, but I decided to learn some kanji and try to order properly. I learned 少;shou, 中;chuu,and 大;dai, as meal sizes and 黒旨厚肉; kuromuneatsuniku, as the kind of ramen that I ordered cause it had the biggest slices of meat. I also go gyoza and sauce katsu don along with the kaarage and ramen. Needless to say I was satisfied!!! 

Great burger and fried chicken close to home- January 4th

I am turning into quite the foodie haha, but this the New orlean's cafe in Toyohashi hit the spit with its American style burgers and chicken!!! Also sharing the expeicence with some friends was fun too:-) 

Slow day and Pancakes- January 3rd

This was our last day in Tokyo so we took it pretty easy. After going to Ageha, the biggest club in Asia, we tried to get pancakes, but all the places we tried to go to were closed. So we decided to go to Slappy's on out last day and it was worth it. If you go to Shinjuku, Tokyo you should check out Slappy's!!!  

Ribs and Burgers- January 2nd

I'm a complete foodie and so eating my favorite craves always makes my day. I just moved to Japan 9 months ago and I was sad that I couldn't really get the american style bbq in the summertime llike I usually do around 4th of july that my family always makes every year. So I was happy to be able to go to hooters in tokyo, my first time going ever, and get a plate of ribs!!! I also got to eat at freshness burger not once but twice with my friends who hadn't been there before. 

Happy New Year 2016!!!

      I've decided that as a New Year's resolution I will make a post everyday with one thing that I am thankful for no matter how simple it is. So starting with January 1st , 2016 I rode the tallest Ferris wheel in Japan at Pallette Town in Odaiba, Japan. I also got to see the giant Gundam Wing and the Tokyo Tower with a fantastic 2016 light display!!!