Saturday, December 31, 2011

OH HELLO THERE 3DS~!

Alrighty~ Time to get the Christmas post out. I was THOROUGHLY spoiled! Like crazy!

So, first of all, we held a small Christmas Eve gathering at the pub. I'd call it a party, but it was more of us all just sitting around, chatting and passively playing a game. The teachers and WH staff got in on a Secret Santa exchange, so we were all chilling and waiting for everyone to show up. The game we played was noise charades. Basically, you make noise for the clue, instead of acting. So, you might pretend to make heart monitor beeps for a hospital. It was really funny listening to Jack and Sam. Lol. Those two are hilarious. But, eventually we decided to get exchanging. I had Gayner, and I bought her a few practical things. (Alarm clock, tupperware and pocky.) And guess who had me? Yep. David. And you wanna know what he bought me?
OH HELLO THERE 3DS~!
Yes. David gave me a Nintendo 3DS! The 3DS he won during Bingo at the party in Aizu! I was floored to say the least. It's amazing, I might add. It's all in Nihongo-speak, but that gives me even more incentive to learn Japanese quickly. We all had a good time exchanging, but too soon it was gtime to boogaloo back home and go to bed. Almost all of us had placed our Christmas gifts under the tree at this point, so I snapped a photo. It looked awesome.
Next morning Angel and I woke up early so we could Skype with Dad and the family. We also made plans to have a big Christmas breakfast with the girls. Sara came over, too. It was great to see everyone! And we had awesome seats for the carol singing. And for Dad's American Pie. Angel and I both cried when he started. We miss you, dad! But, we ate breakfast while the singing was going and Sara has decided she loves our family. Lol. She wants to come and do the carol song sometime. It was nice having a girly breakfast. We ended up making French toast, pancakes and BACON. Yummmmm~ And Sara brought hot chocolate and some juice and Gayner brought some amazing rolls. Yum.
After breakfast, Angel had to go to work and the girls all left to do there own thing. Sara and I made plans to go to tea room for lunch and we started walking over. We ended up meeting up with Sam about halfway and it was then that he informed us that tea room was PACKED. Like, no room at the inn. Poor David. He was working. So, we ate at the pub instead. It was nice to hang with Sam and Sara. Sam's got an awesome sense of humour and we just chatted and joked for like an hour. Lauren joined us about halfway and I think I'm in love. Lauren is Yuta's girlfriend. She's from Windsor, ON and I adore her. I only just me her, but it's like we've known each other forever. We have the same sense of humour, like the same music and shows and she's just hilarious. I wish she was here forever. Ahahaha.

Well, we could only stay in pub for so long. Sam had to go do some skyping and Sara, Lauren and I really wanted tea, dammit. So, we walked over to the tea house and found it almost empty. The rush had died. Thank god. Did I mention there was like 15 feet of snow outside?
We grabbed the table at the back and ordered tea. Dharmesh joined us after a bit, too. We spent an awesome 3-4hours just sitting and bantering. Dharmesh is the funniest man alive, I swear. He can keep a straight face during everything he says which makes him even more awesome. I love talking with him. And when Sara and Lauren left, he and I stayed until the tea room closed and just talked politics. Like, we both talked about American politics (or lack thereof) and then compared Canadian and British. I told him about Rick Mercer and he actually looked him up after our discussion. Lol.

So, when tea room closed, I went to reception to visit Angel. She was all alone at the desk. I took a few photos on the way. It snowed all day! Sooo much snow! We definitely had a white Christmas! It was nuts!
Sorry. My camera takes crappy night photos. The snow looked really pretty falling all thickly like. Anyways~ I hopped over to see Angel and Michie-san was just leaving. She actually had prepared a Christmas gift for me! I was so touched!
We decided to open gifts at the pub, since George was working. He'd be the last one home, if we hadn't gone there. He usually doesn't ask for much, so of course we agreed instantly when he asked. Before I went to the pub, Angel came home for her dinner break. And she gave me part of my gift. I collect Jiji merchandise. (Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service.) George went to the Ghibli museum in October and she had him pick up a few things for me.
 A cute Jiji pin and a pouch to hang off my purse. It has a breadroll zipper pull and a clear card holder spot on the back. Lovelovelove. So, we all got to the pub eventually and hijaked the area in front of the fireplace. We all sat in a circle and opened gifts together.
We'd pick a gift giver and then all open the gift from them. We opened George's first, since his was the most interesting. Now, George is a nutjob. We love him, but he's crazy. His gift idea was to make us all draw numbers from a hat and then we'd get the corresponding gift. Sounds fair. But, of course, George bought gag gifts. And he wrapped them all in tin foil. True story. I got number 3. And look what I got.
Yes. I got an air soft hand rifle. Be still my beating heart. Oh well. It could be worse. We all wondered who'd get the porn, since George mentioned he bought some. And guess who got it. DAVID. AHAHAHAHA. We all nearly died laughing. It came in a big tin and he couldn't figure out how to open it. Lol.

And why yes, I did a have a gift wrapped in a McDonald's bag. Lol. Brad ran out of wrapping paper and had to get creative. I actually made out really well! Brad gave us each a bowl and some candy, Gayner gave me gloves and candy, Keira knitted me a scarf, Tonya got me a pretty headband, Mike gave me a Coke glass and some pencils and Talia (who was in Tokyo until the next day) gave me a really pretty white dress. And Suzi gave me the best gift ever.
Yes. An ARASHI music box! My life is now complete! And the song is Monster! I love that song! <3

It was an awesome day. I missed mum, though! And dad! But, I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas, too! Angel and I will be going to Utsunomiya tomorrow for lucky bag shopping,. Wooo~ I already ordered my bags online, but Angel wants to buy them from the actual shop. So, off we go!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I had a really spectacular crash.

A few days ago a few of us went to Koriyama for the day. Suzi, Mike, Brad and I all went. It was fun. We were going to Round1, which is like a 5 level arcade/gaming/fun complex. It was amazing.

We left at about 7:45am from BH by a taxi. Kyoko ordered it for us and BH paid, which was nice. I slept all the way to the station. Lol. And then we caught the local train to Koriyama. Now, Koriyama is about the same distance away from Shin-Shirakawa as Sarnia is from London. And wanna know how much it cost us to go? 1,470yen. Less than $15. If only VIA had those prices. We walked from the station to Round1 and it was maybe a 10 minute walk.
So, we entered Round1 and the first floor was AMAZING. I wasn't sure if photos were allowed, so I didn't get a picture, but it was a SEA for UFO catchers! As far as the eye can see! It was GLORIOUS! I must've spent like 2,000yen in there! And I FINALLY got my Buta-Usagi keychain! Buta-Usagi (Pig-Bunny) is a plush from a drama I watched. (Ikemen Desu Ne.) The main boy character called the main chick Buta-Usagi. It's just a bunny plush with a pig nose, but YAY! And I won a few other Disney keychain things.

After the UFO stage, we went upstairs to the fun zone area. We each paid 1,780yen for 3 hours. And we had unlimited access to karaoke, mini bowling, roller skating, a huge arcade and a few other things. I wasn't too interested in the arcade, but I was all over everything else. So, for a little while, Suzi, brad and Mike went and played games and I went and just sang karaoke. And I sang what I wanted to sing which was fun.
Japanese karaoke always has weird videos. Lol. No idea what was happening in this one. Brad joined me towards the end, then Suzi and Mike came and challenged us to a game of mini bowling. Suzi and I played again Brad and Mike. And we lost. Badly. Lol. Mike's a good bowler. And Suzi and I are not. Ahahah. My score was ok, though. 107. Not bad for me.
After that we decided to go try roller skating. That was hilarious. Lol. I had a really spectacular crash. But, only the one. It was a bit easier than ice skating. Suzi refused to let go of the siding. Lol. Mike was rollerblading and wizzing around the rink easily.
After that we only had a little time left, so we changed back into our shoes and left. We took the train back and then hopped the BH bus. It was nice, though! We had gone to Aeon quickly after arriving back in Shin-Shirakawa to grab a quick snack from McD's and Suzi needed groceries. And when we were leaving, there was the BH Bus. Parked in the lot. And Sam and Talia were on it, waiting for us. Awwww! It was really sweet of the bus driver!

So, after we got back to BH we were down to cooking. We had our Christmas dinner that night. We ordered a turkey from the kitchens and a Christmas cake, as well. Keira, Suzi, Talia and I were all cooking. Keira making mashed potatoes, Talia roasted potatoes, Suzi pasta and me carrots. All the food was FANTASTIC. It was sooo good! We ate over at the pub.
After dinner, we all hung out and drank Keira's HOMEMADE EGGNOG. SOOOOO YUMMY! It was amazing! Angel was working, but we made a plate for her and brought it to her. And after work she came home with a BOX. Our package from Dad had come in! Yay!
Yes! BACON! SWISS CHALET SAUCE! And My Little Pony fruit snacks! <33333333333333
Best gift EVER! OMG~ We were so excited. REAL BACON. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! <3
We ate some of the KD last night. And We added a few pieces of bacon to it. And it was glorious. <3333

And before the night was over, Talia was playing with her hair and it was giving her issues. She decided for a laugh to spike it all up. She looked like one of those Troll baby toys. Lol.
All in all it was an excellent day. <3