two posts because I suck

Well it's been a while. I can say I've been having a bit of a hard time lately but I think I'm pulling myself out of it. As I say jokingly, "I think I'm on the up-swing!!!"
Soo here is what I MEANT to write last week and also a little something about today:


The Pumpkin Fiasco:
SO as you all know Halloween is quickly approaching. I've got a party to go to (where I will be dressing as God for the second time!), and ohhhh does it make me miss home. The colors are different here than they are back home. Also the air has a different feel to it. It's just too humid!!!! (It also doesn't help that a typhoon is on it's way as I type this).
Well in order to bring back some fond memories of home, late one night I mentioned in passing that it would be a lot of fun if we carved pumpkins together. I can't say it's one of my favorite things to do but I thought it would be a lot of fun considering the circumstances.
So my host mom suddenly gave this "light bulb turned on" look that she does on occasion that makes me rather nervous and says, "Well I actually have a pumpkin that I'm carving right now! Why don't you carve it for me?".
Great! I thought this would be a fun way to spend time with my host family. What was I possibly worried about before?! This is going to be a lot of fun! So I reply, "Sure, I'd love to!".
"Wait right here I'll be right back!", she says.
Then I realize what's happening. She wants me to carve the pumpkin right now?! It's ten pm!!! I'm just about to go brush my teeth......
Then in she comes with her pumpkin....The look on her face is sheer excitement. The pumpkin had already been half carved which left just a nose and mouth for me to do.
"Here are some templates", she says "so all you have to do is carve it".
So she hands me a swiss army knife and away I go. I was going to just do the run of the mill face when she says,
"This pumpkin cost me 25 dollars".
Sooooo now I was kind of stressed out. I'm about to butcher this poor woman's pumpkin she spent 25 dollars on. So I run back into my room, grab a sharpe, and trace the best damn face I can (keep in mind it's 10pm).
Doing my best not to fuck this up I carve a face and luckily it turned out okay......
But my host mom loved it and for the next several days had it placed outside where she could tell everyone she talked to about my pumpkin experience....


Phones:
Today I woke up rather late (I'm also a bit pressed for time because I have to be running in a little bit). I had my usual "crazy ass hairdo" that one gets when you throw yourself around in your sleep. When I finally got downstairs to eat breakfast my host mom was in the middle of her flower arranging class. The house was more crowded than usual so it was a good call I put on a shirt before walking out of my room. Since my host mom was busy she had me make my own egg with breakfast and showed me where everything was.
While I was making the egg she was saying a lot about something that I couldn't quite understand. It had to with charging her camera battery and for some reason she couldn't do it. So after helping her with that she told me to come and get her when it was done charging so I could take a picture of the pumpkin I mentioned earlier (At this point it's a little.......soft to the say least). So she goes back to her class when the phone rings. Now I usually don't answer the phone in the house because I'm awkward enough as it is on the phone in English, let alone my broken Japanese, and this was no exception.
After a minute my host mom returns and after I tell her she had a phone call. She then tells me, "It's okay if you answer the phone, just say 'Isohata's' and then bring the phone to me".
Well great! I've been wanting to practice my Japanese over the phone anyways so this would be a good way for me to do it. So after a few minutes the phone rings again but this time! I answer it. :D
Me: "Hello! This is Micah of the Isohata's!"
Other person: "Warrffbbblleeegraaarrabbbellleeaarrrbbbllee" (I couldn't understand what they said)
Me: "I'm sorry what? My host mom is teaching a class but wait a moment please"
Other person: "WAAARRRBLEEGARRBLEE!!!! Please get her for me"
Me: "Okay, just wait a moment please"

So I head into my host mom's classroom but then it occured to me....my hair is still crazy!!!! It looks as if I've been struck by lightning and now I'm about to walk into the middle of her class with a bunch of women I don't know in a country where looking good is crucial...fuck!!!!!!!!
So what else could I do?! I knock on the door of her class and one of her students opens the door and sees crazy haired me asking where my host mom is.
"Oh....uhhh.....she went downstairs into 'Hane Hane'" (the name of the tea shop that's downstairs).
Okay, well that place is usually empty so I guess it's okay. So I head downstairs, go to the door of Hane Hane, and it's filled with women I've never met before!!!! Well there's no way in hell I'm going in there!!!! This phone call can wait.
I turned around and placed the phone back, washed the dishes as quickly as I can and....the phone rings again....
So I go to answer it, but accidentally hit the wrong button on the phone and hangup on them. (PHEW!!!!!).
After that I washed the last of my dishes and quickly escaped into my room. Talking on the phone sucks!!!!!!!!!

Japanese Names

Well I've been in Japan for almost 4 weeks now. I'm starting to get a feel for the Japanese way of life but one thing still eludes me. I've made a lot of new friends here and have been introduced to so many different individuals it's been great. My Japanese is flourishing from it and although there is still much I don't know I'm really getting into the flow of the language. However, I cannot for the life of me ever remember these names!!!! Hiroyuki, Tomogawa, Takki, Hitomi, Erika (okay that's easy to remember), Mayu, Miwa, Emi, and a host of other names just seem to flow into one ear and immediately right out the other. When I first got here they thought it was a fun to ask me "Do you remember my name?"
Nowadays that's died down (thank God) but the problem still persists. So now, whenever I see someone I just have to play the "I know you but I'm going to dance around your name" game.
Also, the "all Asians look alike" thing is sometimes not so far off. Sometimes I'll meet someone knew and before I introduce myself I think (dear God have I met this person before?!) They don't look familiar but that doesn't mean I haven't met them...So instead of taking action I just stand their awkwardly...they look at me, I look at them, back to looking at me, I quickly look away, repeat. Eventually they either build up the courage to introduce themselves (if they haven't already), say hello to me (if they already knew me), annnnd that's pretty much how it's been.
Not only that but I've yet to come up with any sort of sensible plan to remember these names....I'm screwed!!!! Oh why do Japanese names have to be like this?!

Patience

Japan is truly an interesting place.
This culture is introverted yet quick to grab the newest, coolest, thing from abroad and make it their own.
They're open to new ways of thinking but yet close minded at the same time.
They're quick to advance in technology but slow to change as a country.
They're on time all the time and to be but a minute late is quite the offense. But at the same time they take their time with everything they do. Everything has to be perfect down to putting a stamp on a postcard or covering a bird cage with a blanket.

Now I don't believe in God but I do believe in something greater than man. You can call it whatever you want but I'm pretty sure everybody will be right on this because only you can determine your own faith....anyways!
I don't believe in God per say but let's have a flashback to the 4th grade in Mr. Clift's class. During one of our Bible sessions he talked about patience taking a lifetime to learn. He said that when he was younger he asked God to teach him patience and God had never forgotten.
So I, being who I am, on that same day I stepped outside of the classroom, either for recess or because the day was over, and I put my hands together and I prayed and I said "God, I want you to teach me patience". You see I was quite the impatient individual. I still am but I'll get to that. Back then I couldn't wait 5 seconds for something. I had to have it now!
If I couldn't get whatever it is I wanted in a reasonable amount of time I would usually give up and move onto something else.
Well over the years and through various events occurring in my life, my patience level has increased quite a dramatic amount.
I can now wait quite a long time for things and not have it bother me. Waiting 45 minutes on the side of a ride for a car to pick me up, Waiting several hours for a breakfast at a nice restaurant, waiting three years to come to where I am now.
So before coming to Japan I really feel like I've gotten quite a handle on my patience...well I was wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.
The Japanese people spend a grand amount of time waiting. While doing a group activity one day everyone waited in the hot sun for a good 45 minutes for other people to show even though the shade was so close...
The last time I was here I waited over two hours in heavy traffic, thirty minutes to find a parking spot, two and a half hours in a line and for what? to through five yen into an altar, clap my hands twice, and pray to the gods to favor me for the coming year.
At the swimming pool last Sunday it was so crowded that I had to swim behind some of the slowest swimmers ever, and everyone was okay with it! Walking down the street yields the same results. Everyone walks to slowly, everyone!!! Now I know I walk fast but wow, I'm like The Flash here!
Eating also seems to be a problem. I eat fast. There's no way around that. But man I am literally the fastest eater out of everyone, every time I eat with people. Every time!
I think the worst part is after a long day and I'm starving, it takes a very long time to make dinner...and also breakfast. Now my host mom is a fantastic cook and I would never rag on her cooking. It's just it takes. so. damn. long!
So needless to say God, Buddha, Shiva, Allah, or whatever you want to call it, has clearly not forgotten my childhood plea, and probably never will.
So either I'm blessed I have so my attention doted on me by this being or I'm cursed and forever doomed to live a life where I will never truly learn what it is I thought would take a very short amount of time when I was small, impatient child.