Sunny People

Sunday, December 3, 2006

I've been looking for presents to send home and to also give at Christmas parties this year. Surprisingly enough, I've been having a hard time finding things.

However... *sneaky grin* ...I did find one present that not only do I want for myself but I'd also love to give to everyone! It's the most pointless present ever! It's called Nohohon Zoku also known as Sunny People. It is a little .... character that looks like it's lounging on a hill and it sits there rocking it's head back and forth. The whole thing has solar powered and all it does is rock back and forth. There is nothing more to it and it actually is a bit creepy the first time you see it. You just stare at it wondering what the point is and before you know it you're mesmerized by it's simplicity.

I love it!

They come in a variety of colors and scenes. I think my favorite is the one that is fishing. They just look so calm and at peace with the world. I want to put it on my desk to help me relax if things ever get too stressful. If I were working in an office in America, it would be a great conversation piece to just talk about while shooting the breeze with coworkers. But I could just see my mom giving me this weird look if I sent one home. "What is the point of this thing? To collect dust?!"

But I love it all the same ;)


Anyway, in other news, I have finally made plans for my winter break! On the 26th, at 8:00pm I am going to hop on a bus and at 6am I will arrive at Nagoya. (This all night trip is going to save me about $150) from there I am going to meander around the city until 8pm (again) at which time I will hop on a boat with Aozora and we will be on our way to her home town of Tohoku (way north). We will arrive the next day around 5pm. The boat is also saving me about $100. I'll stay there until about the 4th and then I'll probably hop on another bus and ride down to Ibaraki (about an hour and $30 outside of Tokyo) where I will spend a long weekend with Dave (same guy I had the funny story about way back when. Talk about a small world!) Finally, on Monday morning, I'll probably take a super expensive Shinkansen back home. That will probably cost me about $250 if not $300 to get home. But it's better than spending $200 every time I move around the country (which this trip alone is making me change locations....4 times.)

Still on topic (though you wouldn't know it) I saw Nishimura-san today. That's the woman that I lived with the last time I came here. She called me and asked if I would take a present to the Shinozaki's since she knew I'd be going there today. While she was here, she asked if I would be in town on the 8th. Nope, I told her, I'll be in Ibaraki rockin out to the Tokyo beat. She told me that Yuumi would be in town (my old host sister) and that since she'll be turning 20 at that time, she'll be having a special coming of age party complete with super kimono! (coming of age kimonos are always very elaborate). But, it's impossible. Damn. Sounds like it'd be a fun party too. Eh, Dave is fun too ;)

AND FINALLY! I must share my greatest accomplishment yet!

So, when Kae first started helping me out with things, I really wanted to say "Thank You" to her and really explain how much she'd been helping me. But my Japanese just wasn't good enough at the time. I figured that after a while, I'd be able to tell her exactly how grateful I really was. Unfortunately, 4 months has gone by and she has continued to help me and I have continued to never be able to say just how much I appreciate everything she does.

So, I wrote her a letter. And then translated it into Japanese. And it looks fantastic! I'm so happy to finally say what I have wanted to for so long. I wrote it on really nice ($1 store) stationary complete with complicated Kanji and everything. I just hope I didn't make any dumb mistakes. I had people proofread it a bunch of times too. Maybe one day when I'm bored, I'll rewrite it here in English. But I doubt I will ;)