Friendship

Point #1: I still have a great fear that no one watched the awesome video I linked to, therefore I will post it again! GO HHHHEEEEERRREEEE I don't even know why it's so vitally important that you watch it (Becca- You already have ;P ) but maybe because I talk about this stuff so much, I want everyone to see how amazing it is. Now imagine living in the same place as this. That's what I'm going through... it's like... before all the things that I loved were amazing and I adored them, but now... they're REAL. They literally live in the same couple square mile radius!
This is the typical Chloe "Share this with me!" stuff =)


Soooooo...I had another awkward chikan in Tokyo come up and start talking to me in Japanese. He was asking if I was alone, how I learned japanese, what I was doing in Japan, and if I wanted Japanese friends. Not only was he creepy, but I was about to buy a new Arashi Magazine and he ruined it >=(
No Mr. Tokyo street man...I don't want to get coffee with you. No... I don't care if you think my eyes are pretty. No I don't care if you're impressed that I speaketh Japanese. No I don't care if you say that my smile melts your heart. You're standing too close and smell bad.
So I looked at him, and said, "Peace out. Saki ni." And walked away.

One more slight complaint... TISSUE DISCRIMINATION!!! SO there's this thing in Japan where people give out tissues as advertisements... I happen to collect these tissues. Yesterday I was hoping to really add to my horde, as there were a myriad of unique tissues in the area, and I was really excited about it. But alas...I was offered NO tissues. I guarantee that I was the only person who actively and proudly wanted them, i didn't see a single person accept the tissues being desperately thrust into their midsection, but I was the ONLY person who no one offered them too. I even thought that they probably just missed me, so I passed by again. And again. And again. AND AGAIN. BUT TO NO AVAIL!!!!!!!! Oh the tragedies that come with being white. *sigh* ...tissue discrimination.

The person I mentioned in my last blog, had a little bit of a break down during dinner yesterday. She started crying, at which point I took her on a several hour walk and we talked for a very long time about various things. Yes.... she does have a difficult personality and she says things that are straight up insulting. But I can live with that. She's not a bad person, and she has feelings, and weaknesses just like anyone else. She also has strong points, and qualities that are very rare in people- I like her a lot. I enjoy talking to her and hanging out with her. But the other girls in the dorm simply can't adjust to her. Which I understand! I don't blame them, and I mean, they were also raised in an entirely differnt culture, and they're already adjusting to japanese life, and the unchangable american is hard to deal with. But at the same time, I refuse to have her blatantly left out of things. So I found myself begging Teddy to let me invite Amy to our drama watching session tomorrow, Teddy finally said okay. But the Ling said that she didn't want to go. AAHHHHH.
But I still think it's not right to leave her out. So I'm gonna make a point of spending time with her. I talked to Nascha too, and she said that she's totally willing to hang out with Amy, and Lin(not Ling) also has been talking to Amy recently. It's not much, but it's something! I just can't stand to see someone so upset and so hurt, and so very alone. That's not okay, especially when I'm loving Japan and everything so much. There's nothing I've done to deserve enjoying Japan more than Amy, if anything, she's studied the language longer, she knows an insane amount about Japan's history, and coming here has been her dream for a long time.

I bought the first pokemon manga in Japanese and have been reading it! Yaaaaay!

Hmmm....Octopus tentacles taste odd, but I don't mind them until I consciously think about the fact I'm eating octopus tentacles. Then I feel nauseous.

Okay... I realize that I really need to start taking more pictures of the food I eat...because sometimes, it's just unbelievable. I mean that in a good way. The best way possible in fact =)

I've been getting to meet a lot of new people through the chatroom! Which is great. I met people who are in some of my classes, so I've been moving around and sitting by new people, which I love doing. I've also gotten on a great teasing level with all the American guys, which makes me feel right a home. My japanese friends and I are at the "hang-out on weekends" stage, and hahaha...Nascha <3 Nascha and I are at the stay up till 5 am never once stopping laughing stage. Which happens more often than not! It's so bizzare to think that...a month and a week ago I didn't even know she spoke English. Now she spends hours upon hours in my room making up silly/awesome plans. For instance: we have decided to befriend Dimitri (the most strangest ever guy) in a bright and happy way, because of all the great quotes we'd get from him.
"Dimitri, what did you do in childhood"
--"I played with Grass."
"Is that because you didn't have any friends?"
--"No. I had friends. We played in grass

Hmmm...We're also making a list of useful things to do with this giant slab of stone that one of my students gave me as he confessed his love to me. Along with a seashell and a perfume bottle. It's a very heavy slab of rock.

Believe

I hate it when I get a couple days behind. I know that I'll forget some good stories, and meaningful moments. Here's a couple of very important shout outs:

1: Happy Mothers Day Mom!! I know I called you on Mothers Day, and now it's long past. But Hey, I think people should appreciate their parents every day of the year! Yeah, we have a special day but...parents are awesome. On that note: Happy Early Fathers Day Dad!! Hahaha <3

2: Continuing Luck with Comedy!!! May the Force be with you guys =)

3:
Chloe Wandler
434- 1 Eda-Cho, Aoba-Ku,
Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, 225-0013 JAPAN

I pity the fool that doesn't write to me. Also, I have lost every ones address. That literally only excludes my parents. Send it to me please! Facebook...e-mail...in a comment here- anything! I just need to start sending postcards and stuff!


Now onto life!

I'm gonna attempt another day-by-day and then general follow up, mmmkay?! Mkay!

Friday: I had 2 classes, and then officially started my third part-time job! I work as a teachers assistant. Kinda like I did for Jackson, but even more fun and random stuff. The teacher is freaking amazing. I was all nervous going in, because I'd never met him. I was sure he was going to take one look at the frumpy American and banish me from his office. But alas! He was amazingly awesome! The second I opened the door I was totally at ease. He's from London, and has that chill english thing going on. I'll be working on excel sheets, updating random stuff, working with students, being interviewed, formatting an encyclopedia...and a TON of other awesome sounding stuff. AND when I come back to the states, I'll continue to work for him! Yee-haw! It's a nice $14 an hour, and as many hours as I want! (With limits, I mean, I'll probably get in about 8 hours a week with this one, 5 hours a week with chatroom, and then my private students vary, and the pay is $15-20 and hour. It's pretty sweet yo!

Saturday: Met with a student, and then walked around crazy back roads in an unknown district of Tokyo just to see how long it would take to find Shibuya. Then I walked around Shibuya, not doing much in particular, just enjoying myself! I had a lot of fun listening to WaT, Arashi, NEWS and Ayumi for 6 hours non stop! Then I got back, and hung out with Nascha until 3 AM or so. Basically showing her videos and pictures of WaT =)

Sunday: (See Cookie Story)

Monday: Aw... Monday was great! On the way to class, I ran into 2 of my Korean friends, and talking to them is always an adventure because they speak almost no english. Literally...maybe 5 sentences. But it was really awesome! Me and JeauUn and Game Friends, because we talk about video games, and movies and all kind of awesome things. We decided to watch a drama together that night, a new one that was going to start coming out. Now, might I simply say that it's almost pointless for me to watch any more Drama right now? I'm currently in the middle of 4 different drama's. (Kaibutsu-Kun being the best!) But I really wanted to watch it with them! Then I saw Dan (for the first time in almost a centurey) and my friend Makoto. Which was just a lot of fun. In Japanese class, we did Taiko, which is a traditional Japanese type of drumming. It was aaaaamazing. Seriously...I think I might join a Taiko Circle or club. Then I had Nihongaku. Which is singly the most boring class ever, but me, Mike and Makoto passed math equations back and forth the whole time, so it was pretty fun. Um- I watched the Drama with some of my Chinese friends instead of the Korean ones because Jeuen got back from school reeeaaallly late. Which was fine! I love hanging out with Jamie,Teddy and Ling! <3 It was suuper fun actually, it was a long time since we'd spent time together, and it was simply wonderful!

Tuesday: Two classes, two chatrooms, and Japanese Chatroom! One of my chatrooms was awesome cause I had two complete goofball guys who were just off the wall and super ridiculous. Our chatroom was just cracking up in hysterics which was just a blast! We had a great teasing vibe going on and a lot of intergroup sillyness. You should have seen them when I tried to explain Ultimate Frisbee. It took so long to convince them that people played with frisbees outside the dogpark, and I'm still not sure they believed me.

Wednesday: Ugh...My first class on wednesdays is an absolute drag. It's so...japanese. Which is definitely a bad thing when it comes to school. It translates to: monotone voices by a sensei sitting in a chair at the front of a lecture hall speaking very fast Japanese for 1.5 hours. The class is also very anti-america, which just makes it a little bit stingy. Then I had chatroom again, and Japanese class. After Japanese class, I went to BooKOff with Hana and we got some Manga and stuff like that, which was very fun. I love Hana-Chan! She's Mongolian, and adorable. Imagine JJ...now give her asian. She's also a bonafied Mongolian Popstar and when she gets back has a 5 year contract with the best recording studio in mongolia. Then I got home, and went and met my one mildy creepy student. Then I got back and hung out with Jaimie and Ling for quite awhile just being silly! <3

And now today! Yay for catching up!!
Thursday/today: Today has my favorite classes! I have Intercultural Communication, Performance Studies, and Intercultural Dialogue. I also randomly got two of my friends chat sessions because he went to china after 2nd period. Go figure...
But I ended up having to awkwardly break sushi planswith Nascha and I felt really bad about that >_<; But I mean...he was frantic and going to china! There was no one else to take his chat sessions------- What else could I do!
Got Back to the dorm, had dinner with friends, watched a drama with friends, and now really need to do some work for my part time job!


Overall Comments:
When I comeback, you all may notice some added vocabulary. I absolutely refuse to EVER stop using the word Chigaou. It is simply the best word ever. It means that whatever someone just said is wrong, misunderstood, BS or something of that sort. Basically, it's the greatest vocabulary word of all time and I will fight to integrate it into the US. If you think that I will fail... chagaou da yo!

I feel really bad, because there's a couple odd layers of dorm dynamics going on. I'm ridiculously fine with everyone. But there are some feelings of dislike that aren't known by the disliked party, and she feels left out, andI like her and want to see her, but other people don't like to invite her places. *sigh* I'm not surewhatI should really do- I mean, she's a nice person. Yeah, she comes across strong at times. But she's a good person. I think I'll just make more of an effort to hang out with her just with me. Maybe Cat will too, I think she's starting to like her. At least I hope so! It's really lame not to invite her places. I mean, we're all here together, you know? She's also only here for a semester, and I want her to go back with a whole bunch of good friends, not like...just one person, you know? Anyway, I think she'll like Dr. Horrible, so I think I'll bring it to her room tomorrow or sometime this weekend. Project- Incorporate Said Person starts...NOW!

Also, My sister's Birthday is coming up. I would VERY VERY VERY VERY much appreciate it is on May 15, everyone called her and told her that Chloe loves her and Wishes her a happy birthday.
I know it sounds silly, but I'm dead serious and geniunely asking all of you to do this. I'm sending her a card, but I can't figure out how to send stuff yet! So It will probably be late.

Seriously guys... I'll owe you big time.
425-299-2632

That's MAY 15 anytime of day- just leave a message! Hell- You can even send a text!
Please please please please please please!!!!!!!
PLEASE PLEASE!
She's the best sister ever, and there's only so much I can do from over here!

R-E-G-I-N-A 425-299-2632

Your Song

Hey all-
I'm sure it is a very very exciting time for most of you! Kristina is at Linfield which is pretty awesome. Comedy started and I heard Steven was fantastic and dead sexy- AND I heard Nick does decent slapstick! wOOt!

Nana: I MISS YOU AND YOUR FACE. A LOT. You never write to me.... which is fine, I mean... I know your busy, but I really do miss you. And worry about you, and <3 you.

You guys realize that when I say I miss you, I mean it right? I like to write about my fun times and such, and for me writing about anything that isn't positive is not in my nature or character. I'm also picky about who I give this link too, so that I know exactly who I'm saying I miss you too. (By the way- HI KELLY!!! The I miss you applies to you too! And I can't wait until you come to Japan! My dorm isn't really all that far from Yokohama! If you guys want, I could even meet you at the airport or something like that!)

Anyway- That was my conscious clearer- I was talking to Milo recently and mentioned that I really missed people, but because my blogs are always so Japan Happy I didn't think people believed me. So I'm going to make this as clear as I can: no matter what i say about the people here, or how much I rave about everything, I LOVE YOU ALL and think about you all the time. Believe me, my mind is constantly thinking about things back home-
I really miss my family
I think about my Uncle Max a ton
I miss people who understand my Star Wars and Star Trek refrences (though rare...at least in America I could find SOMEONE who would understand)

Sorry... I just worry that my friends think I'm forgetting about them, but I'm not. However, I am in Japan. And I don't want to forget what it's like, SO I take a lot of pictures and write a lot of blogs about it.

Moving on:

So...tonight in the dorm there was a potluck of sorts, where everyone was to make food from their home country. I had a student tonight, so I decided to make cookies in the morning and then just join the potluck when I got home. So Nascha and I decide to make food together in the morning. This starts with a shopping trip, because we didn't bring flour with us to Japan. So we go shopping: and let me tell you, ingredients are hard to find in a Japanese supermarket. We did a lot of impromptu substitution, such as I used yogurt instead of butter, and various other stuff.
Now the biggest substitution? Weeeellll...here in Japan I don't exactly have an oven. So I fried chocolate chip cookies. We were in hysterics while cooking. We didn't have bowls- so we were mixing in a cooking pot. The ingredients we had were retarded (I used chai latte seasoning because I couldn't find cinnamon in any other form) I used a spoon as a spatula, and the cookies looked like pancakes. It was so much fun though. And so embarrassing. We hid in the tea room to do all the mixing because we knew we looked dumb, and then my friend panda camein and was excitedbecause we were cooking. "Teach me!" she said. And Naschaand I just start cracking up and turning bright red. "Tabun...condo mohou ga ii" I manage to squeak out. (maybe next times better) and then during the frying process, whenever anyone asked what I was doing I said that I was making American style cookies. So a whole bunch of Japanese girls think Americans are ridiculous....just a heads up.





Okay, it's once again almost 2 am so I leave you with this:
If you didn't watch the video I linked to in the post entitles WAVE, then shame on you. You should watch it =)

There's so much more fun stuff that happened, I really need to fill in some blanks at some point. (Yeah...I know, "There's stuff she hasn'twritten!?"

OH one more thing- I missed the potluck =(

WAVE!

We have a new watcher!
I'm now welcoming BECCA-CHAN to the pool!

I'm very excited about this because I miss her dearly, and I do believe that she will understand all my Japanese Pop Culture References!!

Also- She will soon be joining me in Japan <3
Her Japanese also Kicks my Japanese's ass and makes cower in a corner praying that the Yakuza will come because they aren't as scary.

Sometimes I assume it's about 9pm, and then I look at the clock and realize its 2am, and I have to get up in just a few short hours.

It's at this time I reluctantly beam out.

Peace-

WISH

Hey you guys!
1: BREAK LEGS WITH COMEDY! Steven I wish so much that I could see you! Seriously- I need to see pictures and you should blog about every second of it. You're gonna be AMAZING! Tell everyone I wish them the best- I believe in all of you! ROCK THE HOUSE!

2: A update on my recent adventures!

Here in Japan it's been Golden week, so I had a couple days off (just started back today) and it was really nice! I didn't do anything massively epic. But lets see if I can do a day to day =)

Thursday: I went to Harajuku again! It was UNBELIEVABLY crowded! Even for Harajuku! And that's saying a lot. Vivian, Nascha, and I went in search of the Daiso there. Cause it's an epic 5 stories, and we needed art supplies for class!

Friday: Hahaha....okay I went to Harajuku again, but this time with Cat, and NOT the usual way. We took a whole bunch of randomcrazy backroads and just enjoyed walking around. Then we looked for a place we couldn't find- but it was fun to look! And we saw some random fun stuff.
Oh! Okay the picture I posted? That's an advertisement Van. They're all over Shibuya. Now the guy on the van is Jun Matsumoto from Arashi. This Van is chased where ever it goes with people desperately trying to take pictures of Jun. I just took it because I wanna keep the memory of the girls RUNNING after this van with their cameras. Not because I love Arashi...that'd be...silly... THOUGH- for the recorod- Jun isn't my favorite member!
That honor belongs to Ohno Satoshi (the one from Kaibutsu-Kun! Which I added a picture of for Good Measure- He's also just kick ass in general, CHECK IT
No...Seriously- Watch that Video, it's AMAZING. I'm begging all of you to watch it! Really Stand by for about 1:20 on, where the dance solo gets AMAZING. But watch before that too!

Saturday: I gave a Yoga class! Teddy's been begging me to teach her Yoga, and so I finally relented. We did Yoga for about 2 hours. Then I hung out with Cat and Yuka, which was really fun. Then Cat went cak the the dorm and Yuka and I went into Azamino and spent some time together. Then, Saturday night...That's when I watched kaibutsu-Kun for the first time! Seriously...AMAZING!! Then I introduced Nascha to wonderful things like WaT and Arashi and a whole bunch of silly things.

Sunday: I met with two new students! Yaaaay for jobs! They both asked meto permanently be their teacher! I spent a lot of time in Shibuya walking around and had a lot of fun! I got Teddy a birthday present and then helped Vivian with her English chatroom at the dorm- that was fun too!

Monday: I hung out with Cat in the morning, then I had another English Session, another student who asked me to permanently be his teacher. Then it was...TEDDY'S BIRTHDAY!! Yaaaaaaaay! We went to an AMAZING restaurant called "Gut's Soul" which sounds and looked sketch, but it was amazingly delicious. Then we came back to the dorm and played games. <3

Tuesday: Bwahahaha...hung out with Nascha, Cat and...Sho. Who's DEFINITELY creepy. He's been bothering Nascha for awhile and she was scared to meet with him alone, so she asked me to go with her. Being a big strong American I agreed, and invited Cat along too. Who was none to happy with the idea of meeting Sho- who she's been avoiding for the last 5 months. But it wasn't too bad! It was really fun in it's awkwardness. "How has he been sitting behind the statue in the one place we can't see him!!???" After that though we did one of the most amazing things I've done since coming to Japan. Conveyor belt sushi. OH. My. GOD. I already can't wait to go back...and am trying to figure out when. See, it's delicious, Cheap, and there's UNLIMITED PICKLED GINGER! (LOVE YOU KRISTINA!!!!!!) Then we explored Shibuya some more (it's unlimited...) Then I hung out with Nascha till 3 am, and then went to bed at about 5am. Yay!

Wednesday: Called my parents (which was delightful) Went to Tama-Plaza with Nascha-- We just explored for several hours, and ate Mochi in celebration of Childrens Day! Awww...then I hung out with Jane in the Kitchen and she gave me Kimchi <3 Which is one of the most delicious things EVER. I love my dormmates!!!!

And that brings me to today! I gave a speech in 2 out of 3 classes, which I felt very good about. In the class that I mentioned Star Trek in last week, the teacher was talking about whaling and what it means for the future. Do you have ANY IDEA how freaking difficult it was not to bring up Star Trek IV: The Journey Home? Anyway- Then I went to Harajuku with Nascha (again!) and wen went on a poster hunt. It was very successful indeed. *looks at walls* oh yeah.

Okay! That's my last week!
I really do miss you all-
NANA- I pine for you. I have 6 worry dolls, and one of them is always designated to you, and the fact that I miss you and want you to be happy. I haven't talked to you enough and it makes me sad. Lets fix that okay? I need my Nana T_T

REGINA: RAAAWR! I miss the hell out of you. ANd you should be aware I brag about you here too. Whenever people ask about my siblings and I say I have a 21 year old sister, they always ask what college you go to. Hahahahah- That's when it starts. I miss you =(

MOM and DAD: You know I miss the hell out of you- You're the only ones I call on a semi-regular basis. And assoon as I figure out how to mail a damn letter *mumble mumble*

Alessa: I miss you! And I'm so happy your wedding plans are going well! Every time I see a facebook update about it I'm both happy for you, and sad because I know that I won't be there.

JJ: Well.. my dear...you just got a blog shout out so I don't know what to say...but I <3 you. Keep Linfield awesome for me, okay?

I know that there's probably people I forgot to shout out to- but I seriously do love and miss you all a lot. Tell me what's going on in your life! Please! I miss hearing from you!

Friendship

I miss you Ms. Jaelyn Forthun;

Remember the time it was raining really hard, and we just ran out and played in the rain, pretending to be dinosaurs?
Or the time we walked to winco at 2am just because we weren't tired?
Or the billion other fantastic things that we have done?

I miss you =(
Honestly and truly, and when I think about how long it will be before I see you again, it makes me very sad. I worry that you will be grown up by the time I get back, and as silly as it seems, think about how much people change in a year!

Anyway- I <3 you JJ dear. As amazing as japan is,it doesn't have JJ, and that's a massive flaw.

Everyone else: Don't take this as a sign that I don't miss you too!I was just overcome with a great pang of I miss JJ, and I feel like she should know in a very private public way.

LOVE.

怪物ーくん！

あああ！　怪物ーくんは最高のテレビショウ！　大好きだよ　＜３
ほんとうに長すてき！　大野智は。。。何と言う。。。すごくそごくすごくじょうずによるできる。

Okay...sorry guys. I just really wanted to express that in Japanese.
I basically said that this new TV show I just watched is pretty much the most amazing thing ever, and Satoshi Ohno is really good at acting.
AAAHHHH! It was so good! And Nascha pretty much makes my life better!
I have turned her to the way of the Japanese Drama, and I've always loved Nascha, but the more I see her and talk to her, the more and more I grow to adore her. She's so much fun, and she's funny as hell- she'll surprise you with her unique and brilliant observations. Such as pointing out that the creepy guys talking to the little boy in Kaibutsu kun was dressed as a catholic priest.
We're going together into Harajuku soon to find pictures of Kaibutsu-kun!

Okay everyone- I want you to look at the picture I posted very carefully, and let this next fact sink in, okay? The guy in yellow (with the silly cap and big ears)- his birthday is November 26th, 1980. Do the math... he's 30 years old!!!! And these pictures were taken LAST WEEK.

Dear Japan: WHHHHHHHY?

OH- One more thing:
Chole has made it's appearance in Japan =)
So has Clowy. Which I am personally very fond of. It makes me feel like a clown!