Wanna hear what Laryngitis sounds like?

I'm definitely being very open with how horrible I look in the morning, but this is basically what I sounded like for 3 days and then the gradual improvement still made me sound like I was sick. I'm still being affected by it and I still have a slight cough and my voice is still not 100 percent.

It's not fun being sick.

Making a leap

I'm no longer going to be a Kyoto resident as of tomorrow evening. I fell in love with this city in 2005 and vowed to myself I would return and live here. Mission accomplished. Little did I know that Kyoto socially is probably the worst place to be. As an older 20-something, it's simply filled with married couples and/or families that come to settle here. It's no place for someone who looks for the entertainment a hub of activity that Osaka can provide. I love Kyoto for it's beauty and it's history.

I still love Kyoto. That hasn't changed, but spending the ungodly amount on train fair to get back and forth between Osaka and Kyoto is just ridiculous. There is a downside to the move. Britta leaves the day I move into my place. It's starting to hit me now a bit more after she gave me her financial info so I can send her home her last paycheck. It feels so bittersweet. She and I really had a connection and now I'm losing the one friend I think that I truly felt I found a best friend in. She will always be my friend and I know that I will visit Vancouver just to see her. It's not if but when. When I move back to Austin, she plans on coming to see me eventually. Who knows when, but it will happen one day. Maybe not for a couple of years, but I promise to make it happen.


I'm ready to make the jump to Osaka though. It means access to so much. I'm moving to part of Osaka called Juso. In this area, I'm about an equal distance from Kyoto, Kobe, and literally minutes from Osaka. I'm on a train line now called the Hankyu line that is much cheaper than the JR line that I am now on.
The new schedule starts Friday and what's great is that all my schools are one shot away on the Hankyu line. There are no change over's like I had to frequently do with where I live now. I have been lucky so far in acquiring things that I need for my apartment. I found a really amazing couch for only 8500 yen which is about $70 USD.

Thanks to Les, he's been letting me slowly take bags of things day by day to store at his place to store until I move. If everything goes as it should, the movers should be coming tomorrow to pick up my things to move. It's amazing how much crap you somehow acquire only in 10 months. His roommate is less than thrilled to have another girl kinda invading the apartment a bit, but it's not like I get in her way. They have a third room where this couch is sitting and it's quite out of the way with my stuff on it.
He's been quite the help. I don't get my piece o' heaven mattress until the 3rd, so I have a place to stay until then. I can start moving everything in starting on the first though. I have to be there on the 3rd to get my gas turned on and also have the mattress delivered. My internet won't be installed probably within a couple of weeks, but I will still be available through my iphone. It's times like these that I'm glad I have that little machine.

A lot will be happening within the next week so I will do my best to try and keep my blog up to date with progress. I'd love to take pictures of the new apartment and show my first real place that I got myself and it's mine. Finally, at 27. I did this myself. (well, with a lot of help with Les) :P

Day trip with Britta to Nara

I had a day trip with Sciby literally maybe 2 weeks ago before he set off back to Australia. Britta has never been and I had been itching to take my good camera with me to take some photos of Nara. I find it very amusing that both times I went, it started raining. So, I'm gripping my camera under my umbrella while also making sure my bag doesn't get wet because my lenses and phone are in there as well.
I think she had a pretty good time. It wasn't rushed and everything was just relaxing. I wish I could take away some of her anxiety for her move and what's to come in the near future, but I think once she's home, she'll feel better about life in general.
These are just some shots of our day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/g00nie9183/sets/72157626212226963/

I also went through the nostril sized hole in the pillar a second time. That means that I should be able to reach complete enlightenment by becoming a giant Buddha booger. Twice! I wanted to get video of me going through and I went pretty fast compared to my time with Sciby. It's a bit awkward because all the Japanese people stand around and watch this blondish foreigner make her way through the hole. I was like "eh...eh...eh... through! Ok. Moving on!"

It's funny you can literally see me at the end be like, ok let's go.
But, otherwise it was a day just for me and her. Sunday I'm taking her to Koyasan because I am in love with Koya. It was the reason I vowed to return to this country and this will be my third time there. She has to see something like Koya before she goes. I'm not a spiritual or religious person. But when I'm there, it's literally a spiritual and calming feeling that envelopes me. I still don't know why.
So, It'll be a busy weekend. My favorite school's end of year party is on Saturday night, so I have to make it a easy going night. It needs to be that way anyways because I'm recovering from laryngitis and pharyngitis.
Voila, I am on antibiotics yet again. This time the doc told me I have to use a mask because I have bacterial laryngitis and it is contagious. I guess those stupid things do serve some purpose. I sound like Marge Simpson's sisters Pam and Selma on crack. I sound horrid. It happens at least once a year though. Usually I get bronchitis. Another day of rest and possible stir craziness. I guess I can just continue on packing.

It's a difficult time in Japan

I'm sorry to take so long to write in my blog. I've been preoccupied and extremely busy especially with the heavy burden of Friday March 11, 2011 on my mind. I had been in my apartment simply enjoying hanging out with Les when Sciby skyped me asking if I was ok. All I thought he meant was "How is it going?" I thought he was asking about my general well being. "Hey, yeah, I'm fine!" I was more concerned about how he was doing since he had landed home in Australia after 3 and half years here literally two days earlier. Little did I know he was watching footage at home in Australia about the massive quake. He mentioned the earthquake and I didn't really think much of it. Japan is full of the. But, when he said it was an 8.9 magnitude at the time, I threw on the news and saw the devastation in progress.
I watched as the tsunami waters receded and saw all the overturned boats and the footage of the massive wave simply wiping out the small towns on TV. I couldn't believe the devastation. It took a few days for the damage to be fully exposed and it's been on everyone's mind since. All my lessons seem to steer towards the subject. A few students of mine are in an unhealthy state of mind because they've stuck to the TV screen about everything occurring. I don't recommend this because it only puts you in an extremely low state and only effects your well being when everything is out of your hands.

What irks me is the level of sensationalism America and other countries have decided to take this to. While Japanese have been stoic and calm throughout this catastrophe, Americans are stockpiling on anti-radiation medicine. WTF?! The shit happened here in Japan. If anybody needs those meds, it's these people. If you are kind enough to donate, please find the local red cross in your area and I'm almost positive that they have a fund set up for Japan right now. So many places do.

Here are some links that my personnel department sent to us located in the Kinki region:

A site that has collected very credible information is the MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering Nuclear Information Hub http://mitnse.com/. They have dedicated their homepage to providing up-to-date and accurate information available from Fukushima. Please take some time to read through the entire page as they even go into a highlight review of what has happened over the last couple of days.

For information about current radiation measurements throughout Japan, please have a look at the Nuclear Safety Technology Center’s website: http://www.bousai.ne.jp/eng/.

Gaijinpot has created a special website which posts regularly updated information about the current situation, along with advice and precautions that people should take. Please have a look at the following: http://injapan.gaijinpot.com/earth-quake-information/

I'm fine. As of today, so far nothing has sent me packing. But, I'm still on the cautious side of things and will remain there until I'm 100% sure it's ok to stay. I'm moving April 1st into Osaka to be closer to my friends and have the ability to make new ones. I love Kyoto, but the general state of people placed here are that they are married men and/or set in their ways and not open to making new buddies. I will be farther away from my friend Shoko, but taking that train is nothing compared to having her as my friend. I'll take photos of my new apartment which I really love and be more regular with updates of things happening here. 

My  kid classes ended today and I'll post photos of them soon. It was a heartbreaking day and I got nothing but love and presents from all of them. I brought them presents too though, so hopefully they felt the love as well. Next year is going to be a doozy. 

Goddammit, addiction!

R.I.P. Mike Starr

I remember exactly where I was when I heard Layne Staley had passed away and I was crushed. Now another one of the founding members of Alice in Chains has passed away to yet again, addiction. Alice was a big part of my youth and my angsty teen years. They have been a big part of my musical history because I listened to them more than any band excluding David Bowie. I remember going to the beach with my family and my mom and dad would be blasting Facelift while we were building sandcastles.
Any Alice fan I've met has been pretty cool in my books.
Their song on Facelift called "We die young" has started to become a prophecy. I just hope that Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney can dodge this bullet. I only wonder what both of them are thinking right now. After Layne passed away, I knew that the band had dealt with his addictions for a long time and that's one of the many factors the band parted ways. It's also why the later albums had more of Jerry taking over in vocals and Layne kinda layed back a bit more. He was so involved with drugs that his involvement with recording and singing took a backseat a bit. I remembered how upset Jerry was in interviews when discussing Layne's passing.
Now Mike Starr has passed away and it's just another blow.
RIP Mike Starr. RIP Layne Staley. Both of you are missed and going to be missed forever for all the Alice fans out there. It's just another reason why people should realize addiction is not something that should be taken lightly. It's a disease.

My last times in Japan with Sciby

I missed Sciby's going away shindig because I could not for the life of me leave my apartment. I've been exhausted lately because sleep hasn't been so kind. I look really tired and I think things that shouldn't bother me do.
My ex has barred all communication. Even for an email that is me trying to be civil to ask him if he'd like some of the photos and video/production footage I have on my hard drive. I also have tons of press kit stuff and also just general photos. I don't plan to get rid of them because they are a chapter of my life. An important one. But, I get nothing back. Silence. I think I understand why and I'm not going to get mad about it. It's more that I'm feeling like I'm not even respected enough to at least get a "yes." It could be a one word answer and that would at least let me know he would like these things. Either way, I'm sending all of it to him whether he wants it or not. What he does with it all, I guess I will never know.

Putting that aside, Sciby and I went to Nara on Sunday and just moseyed around the area. I hadn't seen the Daibutsu (giant Buddha) yet in Todaiji temple, so we headed there and I got to crawl through the hole in a pillar that is supposed to be the size of his nostril. If you make it through, you should be blessed with a lifetime of good luck. If anyone needs it, I do. I am now a booger of good luck hopefully.

He wanted to go to another area around Todaiji which was another smaller temple that overlooks Nara and Todaiji. We didn't understand why so many people were just standing around and there were very official looking people walking around. But, we went up and just took in the view. When we realized something serious seemed to be happening soon we both decided we might as well stick around and see what was up.
Well, this was what was up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuni-e

So, we stayed up top on the temple rather than down below. When we looked down, the amount of people was overwhelming. I couldn't believe how many people were down there in the rain. We were nice and comfy up at the top covered under the temple and close to the bell and the men running with the fire. It was quite an amazing experience.
Here's 3 videos I have from behind the scenes rather than down below:

It was a fantastic experience and one that I love that we just happened to stumble on. That's what I'm going to miss most about Sciby and I. We always ran into these random happenings whenever we went out and explored some area of Japan together. I'm going to miss him a lot and it's really bittersweet he's leaving. Sweet because I know he knows it's time to move on from Japan, but bitter because I'm losing one of my closest friends here. It doesn't feel good. That much I can say.
I know he'll always be my friend though. It may be across the world, but I know he'll always be there. I just want to keep in contact regularly or as much as either of us can do.
Sniff.
This post is just making me sad.