My love for flashcards outweighs my fear of the unknown.

My Love for Flashcards Outweighs My Fear of the Unknown

Things have slowed down.

I have come into a routine of waking up at 6:30, making breakfast, checking my phone email, watching a little of the children's programming on TV (the Tuesday song is the best one), and driving to work at 8:00.

If I don't have green tea in the house, I will certainly make a pit stop at the nearby grocer's vending machines for it. I am completely addicted to cold green tea. It isn't sweet like black tea usually is in the US, and it has a strange flavor! But, as soon as I have swallowed a mouthful of green tea, a new flavor overwhelms my mouth. I don't know how this magic happens, but it is the reason for my addiction. It reminds me of chocolate, although it tastes nothing like it. Maybe it satisfies the same parts of the mouth (wikipedia tells me that it does). I'm no doctor.

This morning on the road, I only had one car swerve around a corner half in my lane. I avoided him with grace. Japanese drivers are everything the stereotypes say they are- particularly in Ine. I did however, see a monkey, which made up for it. I brought my cassette adapter for my i-pod so I can listen to music in the car, which is wonderful! There is something really fantastic about driving up a Japanese mountain while blasting Diana Ross out the windows. And with every song, I have to wonder if its the first time this particular song has ever been played in the area. Its fun to make history with some seriously bad music (read: "Dr. Feelgood").

My house is a mess. I have officially strewn boxes and papers in just about every room. I need to motivate myself to actually clean them up and find places for them so I can have a spotless, meticulous Japanese abode. Of course that will require me looking through THE DESK™. Upstairs in the study there is a desk and a chair. Both of them are littered with old books and papers from the past two girls that have lived in the house. I don't want to sort through any of it, but its getting to the point where I will have to. I should just dedicate an afternoon to it.

Other than that, I wish they had a sushi place in town where I could grab some sushi. I haven't had a proper sushi lunch since leaving Los Angeles and I am missing all the delicious foods. I suppose I should just learn how to make it on my own. I am getting a little tired of noodles and rice, which is pretty much all I make at home. Although for lunch today, since I was too lazy to make my own at home, I will venture out to a nearby store in hopes of finding onigiri (rice balls wrapped in nori seaweed, really really really delicious) and maybe some candy.

I am also trying to find more ways to pass the time at work. Yesterday I think I checked my e-mail ninety times. Today, I brought my Japanese text books and flashcards and markers. If I get bored of drawing flashcards for my elementary students, I will switch to studying Japanese, and vice versa. It will hopefully keep me occupied until the end of the day.

So essentially, I have nothing new to talk about.