This is my journal of randomness. Discover the not-so interesting story of a not-so interesting teen.
My name is Kokoro, or Taylor, as many people choose to call me. I am a junior in high school. I like to ramble about uninteresting things. =3
I returned from Japan and was a jetlagged zombie for a good amount of time.
Japanese class turned into one big "I wish I were in Japan" discussion. xD Even now, it always directs back to that sentiment.
For those of you who read my H!P Blog, I freaked out over the fact Morning Musume was performing in LA this summer. I persuaded my parents to let me go as long as I get good grades this semester. I'm on track, but I'm a little nervous...
I took the SATs.
Holy geez that thing is mind-draining. English was easy, I owned in that section, but I bombed the math.
Oh well. I might retake it in September, I don't know. I'm taking the ACTs in June.
Most of my time was spent doing homework and fangirling over music.
Oh, homework. How you killed me!
I started a dance class in PE.
OHHH THE DANCE CLASS!
So we walked into the temporary dance room (a sectioned off portion of the cafeteria that once served as the temporary library) and were surprised to find the principal, our teacher, and a random woman standing there. My elementary school's principal was there, too.
Anywho, they introduced the woman as Mona, a professional and highly regarded dance instructor. Apparently they were putting together a video to help teach teachers who to instruct PE students in dance. And we would be the guinea pigs!
The good news? No weekly 20 minute runs. The bad news? We'd have to perform in front of the school at the good-bye rally.
We're doing a hip-hop routine. It's fun, but the first few days I felt like crying because for the first time in my life, I felt objectified as a woman. But it got better, and now it's fun.
My legs were hurting for weeks, too.
Anywho, on Monday it was announced that Mona was switching to 4th period, so we'd be learning from the PE teacher the next day after watching Mona teach it to 4th. Yup. So less pressure. But now we are a bit lost. xD
Spring Break was last week. I went camping. Kids injured themselves. Badly.
I finally got a Facebook. Why? Because I wanted to share my Japan photos. And now I check it at least once a day. I'm not that obsessed, but I do kinda like it.
We're currently in pretty bad heatwave.
Here is me as of yesterday:
IT WAS HOT.
We're currently doing STAR testing. After next week, I have AP testing for two weeks. And then miscellaneous tests until the last week of school, when I have finals. And then the ACTs the first day of vacation.
Now, here's the news on the boy front.
I don't have a very exciting love life, almost none. The rejection back in January was just about the only dramatic thing to happen me.
So the guy I liked and I were emailing each other about a week or so AFTER the rejection, so I thought we were fine. He wanted to stay friends, I wanted to stay friends, good, right?
Not so much.
All of a sudden, he stops replying. No big deal, he always cuts off our email conversation after a few days. But this time, he wouldn't reply back to any of my emails.
I pulled back, thinking that maybe he was busy and that spamming his inbox would be irritating. But I emailed him again about every month or so, and still. No answer.
By now, I was frustrated that he wasn't emailing back, but it was fine. I was sure that I was pretty much over him, and this would ensure that I really WOULD get over him.
A few weeks ago, it started to get troubling. He would be online on a website, and ignore my messages or comments. I knew he was avoiding me, and I didn't want to lose his friendship without him saying SOMETHING.
But it didn't take over my thoughts completely.
I thought that that was it, and sometime he'd feel like responding and we could start our friendship up again.
(How come with guys, I have to work so hard to maintain the friendship? I don't have a single close guy friend that ever puts in any effort on his end. It's always me starting the conversations and being the friend, and he's just kind of... There.)
Anywho, today we had lunch right after testing, so my friends and I were hanging out in the quad under our tree like normal. The ten minute bell rang, indicating we had five minutes until the end of lunch, so we stood up and started putting our stuff away.
My friend Stephanie came over and Sarah, Leah, and I talked to her a bit. We still had time before class, and Stephanie hasn't been hanging out with us all that often. She has a boyfriend, so we don't blame her. ;D
So we were talking about a book plot Sarah had about a society of beautiful people where all ugly people are forced out (it was an amusing and pretty creative plot) and having fun when all of a sudden, I hear a "Hey."
I look up and my heart stops.
It's the guy.
Standing there.
Smiling at me.
Now, I've imagined what I'd do if he ever decided to come visit me at school (this was the first time a daydream came true for the most part) and this was definitely nothing like my imaginary reaction.
I'm pretty sure the expression I had was like nothing he had ever seen before. I mean, I have a feeling I looked pretty shocked. And I was feeling a mix of emotions like never before.
There was an awkward silence, and then Sarah quickly jumped in with a "Heyyyy! It's you!" and pointed. Thank god. It gave me a chance to think, breathe, and regain my composure. Of course, I laughed and said "It's rude to point," before smiling back up at him.
I'm not sure if it was just me, but the moment I made eye contact things got awkward. It might have been my imagination, but he looked a little tense, like maybe it was a bad idea? My initial reaction was probably pretty discouraging.
I asked some small talk questions like, "What are you doing here?" and "How long have you been here?" I put on my charming face, the one that I use in awkward social situations. And when I'm nervous. The more charming and charismatic I act, the more I feel like I'm in control.
I think he wasn't expecting that, or was sensing the awkwardness of it all, because I could feel him pulling back a bit. My friends were completely silent, busy watching us. xD
I was a MORON and cut the conversation off quickly. I didn't know what to do, and I felt like I should go to my class, and...
I felt like crying.
His expression really hurt, and my brain screamed at me to follow after him and have a normal conversation the moment he said "Good seeing you" and went to say hello to his other friends.
When he was far away enough, my knees gave out. That's what he does to me, he sucks the energy right out of me and I always end up as a trembling mess.
I quickly went off to class before watching him talk to his friends a bit.
(Surprisingly, his friends have grown quite a bit, so he doesn't look that tall. He's around 6'1", I think, so it looked a little strange)
When I got to the locker room for PE, I started to cry.
I was sad that I couldn't talk to him more, I was angry at myself for being so STUPID, and I was happy that he had come to talk to ME before he went to talk to anyone else. Not Jonathan or his other friends or that girl Ferheen said she saw him hugging...
(When your friend tells you that you just got rejected by a guy you liked for nearly two years, you don't tell her that you think he likes another girl anyway, and that you saw them together before.)
Of course, Ferheen played the 'good friend' role again (sarcasm intended) and told me that I'm too good for him. Bad timing.
I thought I was over him. I really did. But after this, my heart's been pounding non-stop, my legs have been weak, and I've been thinking only about him. I wasn't able to pay attention in any of my classes.
When changing classes, I'd look for him and pray that he was still on campus.
After school, I did the same. If I could just get the chance to talk to him again...
Sadly, I couldn't find him.
I'm completely confused. I don't know if I like him or if I was just caught up in the moment. I don't know if this means that things will be okay between us again or... I don't know what it means at all!
I wish that he could come again tomorrow, but I know he won't. That might have been my last chance.
Tiffany very lovely-like woke me up at 5 this morning. (I forgot what it was like to be woken up by a person rather than an alarm) I stuffed my things away and checked my email once more.
Here was the plan:
Leave the hostel at 7 AM Get on the Shinkansen to Nagoya for about an hour Ride another train to the airport for another hour Fly to Narita at noon Switch to a 3:30 PM plane to SF Arrive at 7:30 AM that same day.
But no.
We arrived in Nagoya airport and were in line to get our money changed when Hurley announced that our flight was delayed due to mechanical troubles, and we would miss our second flight if we waited.
So, speedy-quick, we decided to take the... scenic route.
We rushed back onto the train to Nagoya Station and hopped onto another Shinkansen for Tokyo.
(Actually, if we had stayed on the first shinkansen we would have ended up in Tokyo. Huh.)
This was kinda fun. The train was really empty, so I got a row of 3 seats to myself. I stretched out and drank Coke. Adam ate a tonkatsu sandwich, which I wanted, but he got the last one... Sad...
Another plus?
We got a freakishly AMAZING view of Mt. Fuji. I got photos~
Finally, the shinkansen arrived outside of Tokyo, in Shinagawa. We VERY QUICKLY switched trains. The weird part?
From Shinagawa to Tokyo, we had to stand in the baggage area. From Tokyo to the airport, we had seats.
Peachy, right?
Nope.
Turns out, there was no way to move from the 7th car, where the conductor stuck us, to the 4th, where our seats were. Apparently he forgot to tell us we had to get out of the train and move around, so we missed our chance.
Somehow, Hurley managed to talk the train people into letting us use the emergency corridor. It was scary.
Finally, we were in Narita.
We rushed through the airport, made some wrong turns, but the airport staff were really going out of their way to help us. I was so impressed.
(The security/customs section in Japan is so ridiculously smooth and fast. The only problem we had was when Josh to take off his belt when going through the metal detector)
Long story short?
We arrived at the airport at 2:35. Our flight left at 3:30. We were all in our seats on the plane by 3:15.
Hurley was so impressed and relieved, when he tried to give us a congratulatory speech, he couldn't even put the words together.
Currently, as I am writing this, it is 5:08 AM in Cali and 10:08 PM in Japan. We all filled out thank you cards for the chaperons (and discreetly had everyone write a message without the adults noticing) and we have less than 2 and half hours left on the plane. I'm listening to Dekiru Onna, and I'm wondering how much money I'm gonna los by changing money in America instead of Japan.
I woke up at 6. But no one else got up until 8. =__________=
I went downstairs and took a shower, and then watched a program about an island off the coast of New Zealand. Apparently it's the happiest nation in the world. But I just saw people in palm-frond-houses eating weird crab things, working at 24 hour markets, and swatting the flies away.
I packed my bags and gave them my gifts as we left. Apparently my family forgot that there was supposed to be a mutual gift-giving thing, so they freaked.
We drove to the Nagasaki History and Culture Museum. They had an exhibit on Egypt.
Yeah. It was interesting. They kept trying to buy me stuff.
Then we went to a shrine for about 5 minutes before heading over to Chinatown.
I tried Nagasaki champon. I was gross. So I pigged out on fried rice.
Chinatown was kinda spiffeh.
Then we went shopping. Hikaru linked arms with me and wouldn't let go. She dragged me all over.
She was intent on "strengthening our bond", so she bought matching necklaces for us. Oh, I'm sorry. She bought her necklace. She made me buy mine. Incidentally, I have the same necklace at home, bracelet form. I got it for my fifth grade graduation.
(I found a shirt that said "Love is confontable love full")
I wanted to go to a CD store and Naichau Kamo, but I was pulled away. ;______;
We got to the station and met up with Azusa and Tiffany. We ran into almost EVERYONE at Tower Records. I FINALLY bought my single.
(BTW, Yowamushi is made of pure win. I hate Shige, but Risa rocked it. Hotaru-Kokoro-duet-much?)
We grouped outside and said goodbye. Josh was crying, which startled all of us. Even Hikaru cried, which was awkward. She hugged me really tightly and sobbed "I love you!" which made me feel bad, because I kinda found her annoying. ^^;
We took a bunch of photos.
BTW, there was this random woman who kept on lurking around us. She first asked Adam and me, "doko e ikimasuka?" (where are you going?) and I replied "Osaka" around the same time Adam blurted out nervously, "No, we're just friends!" which won a spot in my weirdest Japan moments list.
But this woman wouldn't leave.
We rode the train for a few hours before arriving at the hostel at 10 PM.
(The guys got a huge room with a shower. The other group of girls got a four-room suite, a bathroom, a TV, and a phone. Well, at least we got beds.)
By then, we were starving and exhausted, and were getting hyper/silly/moronic. I filmed it. ;D
Rachel wanted to go the "legendary" Mos Burger at least once, so we headed down to the nearest chain. Which was 20 minutes away.
So we rand through Osaka late at night and acted stupid.
The 8th floor of the hostel is haunted, you know.
We returned at, like, 10:45 with NO CHAPERONES. xD Wewtt!
We sat in the lobby, ate Mos Burgers and ice cream until we all passed out without even changing into PJs. In fact, my roommates and I only got as far as taking off our pants to let our legs breathe. xD
I overslept by 25 minutes. Good thing everyone else did, too. So Mrs. Kitahara drove us to to school instead of taking the bus. <3
I hurried upstairs and glomped onto Marsha. Uwaah, I was so happy to see the group!
Apparently everyone else went out to dinner, were attacked by cookies and peach juice, and looked at their house on Google Earth. I watched an Angelina Jolie movie and wasn't given anything to drink.
Anywho, we were very popular at the school.
First was chapel, so we went and attempted to sing along with the sheet music they gave us. We were introduced, and the students freaked. According to Hikaru, they were very impressed with Alea, Marsha, and me.
We watched a video on Kwassui before taking a tour.
Girls stared at us as if we were aliens, and many said "Harro" to us as we walked past.
We met up with the class we meet on the Moodle, and I was stuck next to Sumiyo, who was INCREDIBLY pleased to hear from Hikaru that I like Pokemon.
We talked for a bit and then played the game "Fruits Basket" (from which the manga got its name). Basically, there's a person in the middle who names a type of person (i.e., people who like ramen) and those who fit that description must get up and sit in another chair. The person without a seat is the next person to choose.
I was made it the last rounf, so didn't have to say anything. ^.^v
We had math class. Joy. Geometry. I don't remember anything from Geometry.
Then we played Karuta, a fun card game.
Lunch. I had udon. I'm sick of udon.
Then was social studies. The teacher was nice, but I felt bad for hime that none of his students would be quiet.
He was teaching us about the supply-and-demand curve, and drew an example (it made a curved 'x'). Then he drew one part and asked us to finish it if the graph represented the supply and demand for ice cream in spring and fall.
Sarah stood up immediately, walked up to the board, and finished the 'x' VERY proudly. But that wasn't the answer.
So Jeremy stood up as well and went up there to help. But he couldn't figure it out. The whole time, the teacher and the chaperones were repeating "parallel. Parallel, Jeremy" but they still didn't get it. So Asher stood up, marched to the front, drew a line that was parallel to the one there, and bowed. xD
After that, we went to the junior high and did origami--again!
After making a crane or two, I took Sarah's cootie-catcher and transformed it into "Taylor's-uber-jetlagged-sleep-deprived-cootie-catcher-of-fun". Yay.
Then we returned to the class and Hikaru, Azusa, Tiffany, Rachel, Marsha, Alea, and other homestay girls went to the mall. One of the girls' father work for the mall or something, so we got free tickets for the ferris wheel.
We bought candy and did purikura, and I got change. xD Yay for arcades and their change machines.
Hikaru and I went home and watched TV. <3 Doraemon, Crayon Shin-chan, and Music Station.
(Naichau Kamo reached #2! Yay MM~)
We had dinner at 9.
They looked at me funny when I didn't use sauce. They also told me to stop saying "huh" or "eh?" when I don't understand because it makes them uncomfortable.
Tiffany got horribly homesick today, and even I cried a bit. I really hate this.
(I know it's been almost a week since I returned, but I finally now feel like updating this thing. xD)
So we rushed to the shinkansen early in the morning. Of course, I was all okay to go, because I had my handy-dandy "Shinkansen Bag", consisting of some good bread, drinks, and the latest Hana to Yume magazine. I was all set~
We rode for about 3 hours before switching to a normal train in Hakata, which in the southern-most island of Japan. Another 2 hours, part of it I dozed on and off, before we arrived in Nagasaki.
We immediately met an Italian man named Sergio (I think), who is a professor at Kwassui University. It was raining pretty hard by then, so he led us through the rain to a bus. We all packed in and we drove to the school.
We entertained and scared some college students before taking a quick tour. We visited a small museum and an even smaller chapel-thing, and then we met Sergio's students, many of whome I had met through the video exchange we did in class. First it was awkward, but we formed groups and talked about everything, from future careers to Facebook. I got to talk to an English professor, a Canadian who recommended Temple University~
After our party, we took the bus again to the high school. Immediately Hikari pointed me out; she recognized me from my photo on the Moodle. She's really cute, really energetic. Her English isn't the smoothest, but she understands a lot. She kept on laughing at me for saying "hai", and told me to use the informal "un".
We walked with Tiffany and Rachel and their homestay sisters until they went separate ways. Hikaru and I took the bus for a while, and then walked a bit through these dark streets.
It sprinkled on and off, just barely, but it was enough for Hikaru to call her mother to pick us up. We walked a bit more until Mrs. Kitahara pilled up. She introduced herself as Junko (Hikaru playfully said that I could call her "Junko-chan", as a joke) and she drove us up to their house. We talked about my father's height. xD
We walked up the stairs to their house. It's cute, two stories, three bedrooms. I met Mr. Kitahara, who reminds me a bit of Dad (they're the same age, too) and he helped me drag my heavy bags up the thin staircase.
My room is about the size of mine at home, and has a heater and a table and what looks like a futon-- Joy.
They let me hang out in my room until dinner. I was so freaked out, my hands were trembling when I wrote the first part of this.
Dinner... was ugh. It was shu-mai, and stew. I tried both. I thought I would be sick, but I smiled, at it anyway, and said it was good. Thank goodness I wasn't that hungry-- I practically filled up on rice.
(Since Marsha's breakdown, Lauren and Hurley have been making sure we're all eating 3 times a day, even if we have pigged out on snacks. I've been full all day)
After dinner, we watched my favorite talk show, Utaban, for a bit before I took a bath.
Thank god I took the public bath the night before and knew how to use it...!
Now I'm back in my room, reading The Culture of Fear, writing, and trying to stay awake.
We got to sleep in today, but instead of sleeping until 7, we woke up at 6:20.
Last night, around 3 AM, a bunch of sirens went off and a man yelled on a megaphone. It was strange. I wonder what he was doing...?
We got ready and met a little after 8, but because some people had to do laundry, we were almost late for our shinkansen trip.
The new strap I bought for my purse snapped when we were running.
We met up with Chris at Kyoto Station. Yay...
We walked from the station to Sanjuusangendou temple. We went through, I answered all of Hurley's questions correctly because I had already heard his lecture thing, and I bought a charm for my cousin.
I got a fortune. It said that my lost item is outside. Outside of what...?
I got cornered by a group of middle schoolers who wanted to take a photo with me and ask me questions in English. They were so cute!
Then we walked to Kiyomizudera.
Last time, I nearly died. I could not breathe, and it was hell. This time, I walked up the millions of stairs and the hills without even breaking a sweat!
We visited one of the special shrines at the temple, this one dedicated to love. There were a lot of cute couples praying for their relationship's future and many single girls buying love charms. Josh and Jeremy prayed at the temple (Jeremy rang the bell too long!) and I wanted to, too, but I was too shy.
We walked around a bit more, and then had kitsune udon at a small shop. It was really good. I shared a table with Adam, Steven, and Janine. Adam was really nice. =3 He covered my purse with his jacket so no one would take it.
We walked around the shops for a bit, and Lauren, Hurley, Janine and I all got crepes. Chocolate banana FTW.
We met up with Shiokawa's mother and she led us through all these cool alleyways and temples to the bus. We entered Gion, walked a bit to the bus stop, but no one wanted to pay busfare, so we just walked FOREVER.
We walked and walked and walked and walked, and then we got to the International Manga Museum.
Josh was so happy he said he felt like crying...
And he almost did once he found out that the museum is closed on Wednesdays.
So we sat there, blaming the closed-ness on Josh's extremely bad luck fortune he got at Kiyomizudera.
So we just headed over to Teramachi early.
The guys found some great anime stores and the girls found good clothing stores, and Sarah, Alea, Marsha, and I went off to do karaoke.
Tower Records was under construction so we could not buy Naichau Kamo. ;________; Sad...
We headed over to the closest karaoke place and rented a room for an hour. We ordered drinks and got started!
Alea is an amazing singer. Holy geez.
I sang As For One Day and Sarah and I sang Love Machine. Alea sang rock songs and Marsha sang a Maroon 5 song. Then, I was going to sing Kanashimi Twilight or the ayaka medley, but I accidentally pressed Aruiteru... twice. So instead of Sarah singing iDOLMASTER songs, we sat there and watched Aruiteru and Mr. Moonlight play....
I felt really bad about it.
We headed back to meet everyone and we all chatted excitedly about what we did.
Marsha was feeling dizzy, so she sat down.
And then she started to cry.
Adam was the closest one to her, so he tried to comfort her, but he looked like he was at a loss, so I stepped in.
Eventually, I was sitting in the middle of the main Teramachi street with Marsha sobbing on my lap.
Hurley came up and asked what was wrong; I guessed that it was extremely low blood sugar. Marsha was trembling and couldn't even stand.
Hurley called a taxi, and Sarah and Lauren and I took Marsha to the Starbucks across the street from the station.
Marsha was a wreck. She hugged me the entire time we were in the taxi, and wouldn't stop crying. She was just so beyond hungry. It didn't help that she was taking it too hard, like she was being a huge burden. And Sarah wasn't being the most... sensitive person there. But I was surprised at how well I managed to calm Marsha down. I call it my "mommy moment".
We sat in Starbucks for about an hour while we waited for everyone else to catch up with us. We fed Marsha snacks and Sarah and I had green tea drink things. xD
Hurley caught up and escorted us to the Shinkansen before getting dinner at Kyoto Station with everyone else. He said that with me there, there was no way that anything could go wrong. That made me happy. x3
We rode the Shinkansen back to Osaka. Lauren took Marsha back to the hostel while Sarah and I went to Lotteria Burger for dinner for the three of us who eat beef and weren't about to faint. xD
The food was good. x3 How come Japanese fast food is so good?
We all ate in the lobby and now here I am, typing about my day. Everyone else will be back in about ten minutes, so I think I will take a shower soon. We're leaving early tomorrow and heading to Fukuoka, and then Nagasaki. So I'll probably be without internet for some time.
It was freezing. It was uncomfortable. I felt like crap.
I cannot sleep on futon.
We went to a ceremony at 6 AM. We watched the monks chant and then listened to a lecture about... words and how they affect water and rice...?
We walked out to find it snowing.
We had breakfast and then packed up and left.
God.
It was FREEZING.
I had on a sweater, my coat, gloves, and my scarf. Eesh.
We walked with a tour guide from the temple to another temple. We met up with a cameraman.
From TV Asagi.
Asagi is like ABC or CBS. It's huge.
And they filmed us and interviewed us.
Then we took a bus to a cemetary. It's the largest cemetary in Japan.
It was freezing, snowing, and boring. And it was a death trap. If you look into the well and can't see your reflection, you'll die within three years. If you trip on the steps, you'll die within three years.
To make it more interesting, I pretended like it was a videogame, and I designated different events as passing levels.
We did this thing where you have to lift a heavy rock with your palm to a second level inside a box in order to have your wishes come true. Only Tiffany was strong enough to do it. So she's the only one who passed that level. The rest of us used cheat codes to get by.
Then we had lunch (Hurley paid for Marsha's free rice balls with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!) and went to the station. Now we're on the train. I'm writing. Josh is drawing, Janine is reading, Hurley is on his laptip, and everyone else is playing the game we played yesterday.
Today... has kinda sucked.
I tend to be excluded in groups. I try to stay in, but people start to ignore me. I think some people are annoyed with me because I kept hassling them to be quiet at the temple (there are other guests, you guys) but Alex did too, and they're still okay around him.
Sarah has been in a crappy mood around me. She's perfectly fine around everyone else.
Even the room arrangements and partners. Hurley obviously tried hard to put friends together, because everyone else got their best friend. I was the one who had to partner up with someone I didn't know.
It makes me want to cry. I want to go home.
We checked into the hostel and I share a room with Rachel, Tiffany, and Janine. The girls' rooms are much smaller than the guys. In fact, the guys got the rooms we got over the summer. Asher, stay away from my fun memories....!
We immediately left the hostel for Umeda.
When we were walking to the station, I got a very pleasant surprise.
Hurley was arranging to meet up with none other than...
Chris Simpson!
Yes, the anime club president for the past three years, who held the club together for my first two years of high school.
He goes to college in Beppu, I think, but he was on vacation.
Anywho, I told Natsuki and Josh and Jeremy and Janine, and they were incredibly excited. Sarah thought it was stupid.
I led the group to the subway and got us on the right one. x3
We headed over to Hep Five, the mall, and I helped Hurley navigate us through the station. We met up with Chris, who looks EXACTLY THE SAME. xD
I honestly thought Natsuki was going to cry. He was almost hysterical, he was so happy.
I had to find a bag so I went shopping with Sarah, who had to buy a jacket because she didn't bother bringing her's and Hurley didn't want her to get sick. I got a cute bag and removed the strap and attached it to my purse. x3
After shopping, I was dead. I'm sore, there were no places to sit, and I felt like dying. So Lauren (Ms. Uyeshiro), Natsuki, and I walked back to the hostel while everyone else went out to Nanba to eat dinner.
Yeah. I'm exhausted. The part I am looking forward to is tomorrow. Yay, karaoke, yay, MM single.
But after that, I'm ready to leave. It's too tiring, too stressful, too frantic, too many people.
We fled the hotel and took the Shinkansen to Osaka. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel (I got to lead!) before returning to the station. We boarded a few trains and made our way to Mt. Koya. We took a funny tram up the mountain. x3
Then we took an a bus to the high school. It was pretty old-looking...
We were greeted by a group of students, including a SUPER HOTTIE named Kazuya. Upon further examination, I also discovered that he's around my height or taller. <3
We went into the school's temple and listened to people talk. Then we had to meditate. It killed my hip. It still hurts. Then I got a cramp in my foot and almost died. It was the longest 25 minutes of my life.
Then we had lunch. OMFG it was delicious. There was rice and miso soup and fruit and this wonderful stir-fry-okonomiyaki-latke-thing. It was a clump of peas, corn, other veggies, and shrimp, all fried tempura-style. I talked with Emiko and Erika. I was so confident about my Japanese. Even though Emiko laughed at me when I said I liked Morning Musume, because that was a group she liked back in elementary school. Oh well. They're all Avril Lavigne nerds. xD
We then watched a picture show about the origin of a guy-person.
Then we went to practice calligraphy. A cute girl named Akane taught me, and told me my kanji was cute, even though I sucked. xD
Then we went with the class to the gym. Other people went to play basketball and volleyball while Janine, Alea, Jeremy, and I taught people how to play a game Hurley learned. Even Kazuya played. <3
Then we bounced around a volleyball and then Janine, Akane, Erika, and I played badminton.
We then had a party.
BTW, Alea was super popular. Her partner for calligraphy was obviously in love with her, and Shou, Sarah's partner, also paid A LOT of attention to her. Even Tiffany was popular.
I've fallen in love with Kazuya. I took stalkerish photos of him. x3
On the way out, Shou held both Alea and Sarah's hands. xD We were the Shou/Kazuya fanclub in the back of the bus. We decided that if there were a person who had Kazuya's looks and Shou's personality, he would be the perfect man.
Han got a great photo of Kazuya, so we're all going to get a copy.
The temple in amazing. We have a two-room-thing for the girls. There are two kotatsu (best invention evar) and we're sleeping on futon.
We had a strictly vegetarian dinner, Jeremy had his second nosebleed so far, Sarah is in a crappy mood and snaps back at everything, and I'm too tired to keep my eyes open.
Good night.
BTW, It's still not terribly cold. I've only had to wear two layers at the most.
We flew on a different airline than before. This was definitely better. The food was edible, the entertainment didn't suck...
I sat between Tiffany and Janine.
We flew for about 11 1/2 hours before switching to another plane from Narita to Nagoya. By then we were all exhausted and it was dark, so we tried to sleep.Tiffany used me as a pillow for most of it.
We arrived in Nagoya, went through customs, got our luggage, dropped off some things for Shiokawa, and exchanged money.
We took a train to Nagoya station.
Hurley still had to buy our train passes, so he let us look for a convenience store. Since I was the only person who had been before, I led everyone. xD
I got an Aquarius. x3
It\s 11:30 here, and I'm in EXACTLY the same room as last time. It's about... 6:30 AM back in Cali? I've been up for over 24 hours. I'm going to shower, then sleep. I share a room with Janine, by the way. ;D
It's not that cold in Nagoya. Warmer than the bay area, I think. I was comfortable with just a coat.
(Note: Because there are so many dubs, I'll feature one with every post. Just so we get them done. xD)
Resonant Blue by Kirei Musume of Kirei Project
Minna-san, I now have a H!P blog. Please access it through my page if you are interested. =D
And for those of you are simply interested in the random moments of my life, you will be pleased to know that no more Hello! Project reviews or rants will be posted here.
Here's what you missed. x3
After getting teh rejects, I sulked and moped for about five minutes before my mom rudely and insensitively beat it out of me.
(My heart was broken, darn it!)
I had a four day weekend so I slept.
The Inauguration was that Tuesday, too.
So we returned to school, a new semester, a new president, and a not-so-new outlook on life.
I still wasn't over it. xD
School was school. I had some hard tests and boring classes and all that fun.
Last weekend I chatted with Syrus for the first time in a while.
I think I must have been drunk, because somehow the conversation got knocked up to an R rating. xD
My goodness.
But since then, I've felt a lot better...
Anywho.
Japan is in 11 days. =O
I know my itinerary. x3
First we'll be flying from San Francisco to Tokyo, then switching flights to Nagoya.
We'll check into the Nagoya hotel (the same from last year) and spend the night before waking up early and taking the shinkansen to Osaka.
We'll drop our stuff off at the hostel and then go to Mt. Koya, where we will spend the day at the high school (and the monks) before spending the night in a temple.
Then we will wake up early in the morning and return to Osaka.
We'll play at Umeda and Nanba and explore Osaka.
We'll spend a day in Kyoto, doing all the Kyoto things. =D Sanjuusangendou Temple, Kiyomizudera, the International Manga Museum, Kyoto Station, and Teramachi. x3
Then we'll go down to Kyuushuu and Nagasaki. We'll go to Kwassui Women's College, tour the campus, before meeting our host families.
The next day, we'll meet at the high school and spend the day with the class we've been talking with.
We'll hang out with our families for another day before returning to the hostel.
After some more fun, we'll return to Nagoya and fly back to California. =D
My host is named Hikaru Kitahara. She is sixteen and loves to shop and sing.
She has a very cute name, so I hope she is very cute, too. x3
She's an only child, so I hope to get along with her parents~
Tuesday was Physics. I just had a presentation. That was easy.
On Wednesday was English and Japanese. In English we did two essays and a 43 question test... I remember taking the test at some point last year. xD It was so familiar. And because I passed my Japanese prefinal, I didn't have to take the actual final.
On Thursday I just had math. I got 79%. Dx How did that happen? I thought I had done such a great job!
At least I got to go home at 10....
Friday was the big day. I had Computers; that was easy. But after that was AP US History.
I'm so scared. ;_______;
It was 200 questions of pure doom.
But it wasn't that bad. xD
But something sucky happened that kinda ruined my week.
On Tuesday, I was reading my shoujo manga like I also do, and I don't know, I was feeling extra emotional, maybe because of the stress... Anywho, I was feeling incredibly lonely and so I emailed the guy I like practically asking him whether or not he likes me. You know, the last time we met things had changed and a friend had said that maybe that meant that he liked me back... So I asked him. In a long, multiple paragraph rant. xD
I got an email back on Wednesday.
He said that he would be my friend no matter what, but he "can't promise any more than that".
Yeah, so instead of studying for math, I cried the entire evening.
It didn't help that when I asked if I could stay home instead of walk the dog with my mom and sister, my sister glanced at me, rolled her eyes, and said "I bet she's faking it."
And when you just received shocking news, you're struggling not to cry, and you all of a sudden receive a slap in the face like that? The dams kinda break.
I don't remember much of that night, because I spent most of it crying my eyes out, but I do remember emailing him back thanking him for still being my friend, and I was crying so hard that I couldn't sit up straight and my hands were trembling so much that my words came out all mispelled, so I had to go back and fix them.
So, yes, I received my first heartbreak.
I don't really feel like doing anything, and I'm resisting the things I used to love to do... Like watching romantic movies, or reading shoujo manga, or even singing songs that could be connected to my feelings before the "incident". I'm always trembling slightly for some reason, and I've been going to bed really early.
I don't really feel like I'm myself anymore. It sucks.
And you know what really sucks? My friends didn't really care.
Sarah just apologized absentmindedly and patted me on the head before going off to talk to someone else. It was like she hadn't even really heard what I had said.
Leah was a bit better, but it still wasn't what I was looking for. She said that maybe I still had a chance because he said "promise", which wasn't as concrete as saying something like "I'll never like you" or anything like that. But she still didn't really understand. In fact, I don't think any of my friends could fully relate. All of my friends either have never really developed a crush on someone that they could imagine being with, or have always had their feelings reciprocated, and even if they end the relationship, it was because they decided to break it off.
I dunno. And my mom played the "mom card" by saying that I'm too good for him, that someday I'll meet someone better, etc.
I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for. Maybe I just want someone to say that he'll change his mind...
I'm just so tired of waiting. I don't care if I don't meet my soulmate for another ten years. I just want someone to spend time with now.
I'm afraid of being alone until I meet the "one". And my biggest fear is that I don't meet that person until I'm in my thirties.
This has kind of taught me something. Kokoro isn't Kokoro unless she has someone to fantasize about. Unless there's a chance that tomorrow I could walk out the door and have the most wonderful romantic experience of my life with the person I really care about, I just can't enjoy life.
I just bought my first MM DVDs. Two concerts (Single Daizenshuu and Wonderful Hearts Summer 2008) and Alo-hello 3. Junjun in a swimsuit in Hawaii. Who doesn't love that?
I only bought Alo-hello because I watched the Pepper Keibu making of. There might have been something in the water, but they were all really having fun. xD They were all incredibly comfortable and were playing and making weird faces. Well, except for Takahashi. She was the stick-in-the-mud who was too professional to make a strange sound like all of the other members. Damn professionals...
Which is another reason why I think she should go solo.
But anywho, now that Jun/Lin have been welcomed into the group and have their friends they're INCREDIBLY amusing to watch.
That's why.
The fanservice is just a bonus. =D
(I'm kidding. I actually think they look cuter in dresses than swimsuits... But Junjun is cute no matter what she wears. =w=)
Yeah, so since then, I've been itching to buy some MM stuff. =O
Like T-shirts and posters and all that fun.
I also want a ball jointed doll.
I always liked them, but I never found one that was right enough.
But then I found the perfect face...!
Everything's customizable, so I can make the perfect doll. Well, I have yet to find the perfect wig, but that's okay.
She's lovely, and I want her. =O
She'll have lavender eyes and blonde hair. x3
I'd also like to someday form a dubbing group that is as wonderful and talented and badass as Yo! Project.
They are three perfectly cute girls. Not terribly cute, not like MM cute, more like AKB48 cute. Their dance moves? Perfectly average. Not like MM dancing, more like AKB48 dancing. Their PVs? Entertaining, but pretty normal. Not like the older MM PVs, more like AKB48 PVs. Their singing? Completely average for an idol group. They don't have the random amazing singer like MM, more like AKB48 voices.
In fact, these three could all be a subgroup of AKB48. There isn't anything amazing about them visually or vocally. I never paid them much mind before.
But their music.... Holy crap!
It's so techno, it hurts. Their voices are masked by usual techno sound effects. There isn't one bit of real, honest instrumental in their songs. It's all generated by a computer or something. Their singing sounds like the vocaloids to me. It's like every single part of their music is synthesized.
They scream "ignore me!" in every way, and yet...
I can't stop listening!
I can't wrap my mind around it.
I used to hate this band. I couldn't bear to listen. But then the Kouhaku Uta Gassen revealed the errors of my ways.
I've been attached ever since.
I still think it would be impossible to dub because there's no way you can recreate such blatant techno effects, but I still feel the urge to sing along...!
The main suspects?
Chocolate Disco:
They're practically just singing the same two words over and over. It must be some sort of hypnotism.
And then Polyrhythm:
This is the one they performed at Kouhaku. Holy geez, it won't leave my brain!
And Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow:
So, yes.
An AKB48-status group with the addicting quality of Morning Musume.
So Leah got here first AND she was wearing a skirt AND had cut her hair. =O It was still uber-long, but the ends were nice and neat and she got spiffeh layering in the front.
Oooooh, she looked so cute! x3
Then Sarah came by briefly to drop off some sushi. She was sick, so she couldn't stay. ;_____;
The sushi was good, though. And this is coming from someone who doesn't like sushi. xD We took the leftovers and took out the middle and had them talk to each other. =D
When Marsha got here we all watched the Kouhaku Uta Gassen. But we lost interest after a few hours, just because it's so friggin' long! And most of the good performances were over by that time.
And also, Marsha got distracted by my sister's Flying Turtle.
Do you know what those things are? You sit on a seat really close to the ground, put your feet on the handlebars, and move your hands side-to-side until you start moving slowly. xD
So we ditched the TV and went out into the cold to walk down to the park a few blocks away. And then we filmed Marsha going down the big hills on the Turtle. xD
Good times.
When we got back, we played the Iron Chef game on the Wii. =O Holy crap, that game is fun. It's like Cooking Mama, only has more dishes, dramatic music, and an angry Japanese guy who yells at you. Like, "Zucchini!" or "Kobe beef!" or "Pressure Cook!" or "Chop?"
xDD
It was so much fun. But the Wii kept on dying. D=
And then we watched the annoying Japan DVD I got for Christmas and played with my keyboard and then we drove Leah home and when I had returned Marsha was gone. *cue Twilight Zone music*
Marsha should really babysit for Simone. xD The two really get along well.
Yup~ So after that I played on teh computer a bit and emailed Nate and then yeah. =D
The name is Kokoro. I am a seventeen year old wota. I like Junjun. I probably should be shot for half of the things that I say but I say them anyway. Nice to meet you.
