"Happy Recipe! ~Ikemen afternoon!~"

We have a Christmas tree for the staff house! Keira, Angel and I decorated it a few days ago. David brought it home from his trip to town. It's a pretty good size. And it has fake pinecones on it. It's actually nicer than my own tree at home! Crazy, eh? We don't have lights yet, but I'll pick some up tomorrow. And we need to put a star on top. Lol.

Cute, eh? We're rather fond of it. And we didn't have enough ornaments, so we improvised. Ahahaha. My UFO catcher obsession came in handy after all~ <3

So, it snowed here recently and then it got warm-ish again. So, we had snow for maybe 2 days. And now it's kinda melting. But, it's still cold. I've been bringing my red Olympic mittens to the desk because it's too cold for my hands to wave without them. When we go outside to wave we've gotten into the habit of wearing the cloaks, mittens and scarves. Yep. I hate the cold. Lol.

In other news, OMG! Tokyo Disney trip in about a week! I'm SOOOO excited! Yay! We booked a night at a hotel in Ueno as well, so that'll be fun. And we've got the talent show on the 1st. Some of the teachers set it up and Angel and I are going to do a song and dance number. Nagisa no Sinbad by W (originally sung by Pink Lady). I'm gonna see if someone can tape it so I can post it here.

And I was given a random gift today. It's called "Happy Recipe! ~Ikemen afternoon!~" (Ikemen means hot, cute, cool boy.) ...Yeah. It has drama and stage actors in it. The guys in this were all in the Prince of Tennis musicals. Apparently it's basically 5 guys sitting around and chatting while making a fancy lunch. So, like a chat interview DVD. Or something. Lol. I've never even seen this DVD before in stores, so I'm kinda curious to watch it. Ahahaha. Everyone here knows how much I like watching dramas, so maybe that's why it was given to me. Lol.

In anycase, time to go finish my current drama with Keira. We're watching Ikemen Desu Ne (roughly translated, "You're Beautiful/Handsome"). I've already seen it, but Keira hasn't so it's fun to watch.

Not sure what we're gonna watch next, though. ...Hmmm. Maybe Honey and Clover... We'll see.

I originally had a pained grimmace on my face, but whatever.

And now for the second part! :D

So, we had to get flu shots recently. Boooooooooooooooo! Tonya, Angel, David and I went with Kyoko to town and got the shot. Bah. I hated it. The only photos I have of the ordeal is from Tonya, taken as we were in the car driving to the shots. She said to smile, so I did. I originally had a pained grimmace on my face, but whatever.

After it was over, Kyoko took us to 7-11 to grab a snack for the ride home. I got an ice cream and some iced White Mocha with Marron (chestnut) Starbucks drink. It was pretty tasty, actually. And Kyoko bought us all a snack. I had a pizzaman. Like a nikuman, but pizza! Basically a meatbun.

 David and I had the next day off, so we went to town.And I had NO LUCK with UFO catchers! I was pretty depressed, actually. So, David bought me a cute ice cream to make me feel better.

And then today we did some decorating in the manor house. Well, the interns and I decorated the 2 smaller trees yesterday. But, Angel, Suzi and I did the main tree today. And that was an adventure. Lol. We had to put the tree together, then the lights weren't working, then we got some of the lights to work, but they didn't twinkle like they were supposed to. They're the kind that you can control how they light up. So, in the end we gave up and just kept them on the standard, plain glow. And we aren't tall enough to reach the top of the tree, so we enlisted the help of Bryan and Glenn, who just happened to be passing by. Lol. And, as we decorated we quoted How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And it was totally awesome.

We don't have a star for the top, so Angel made a bow. <3 Oh, and Belinda came over to say hi, but didn't have time to help decorate. Awww. ;__;

They reminded me of Inukshuks.

So, I have lots of photos from our pottery day trip. I kept forgetting to upload them. Sorry. Ahahaha. So, to start off, Tatsuru was laaate! He was our chauffeur for the day. Lol. He was like 15 minute late. So, while we were waiting we all hung about and took photos. I wish David was able to come, but he had to work. Booo. But, eventually tatsuru showed up and we took off. Shinta came with us, too! It was nice. He's one of our chefs and he's a sweetheart. :3

 So, the trip to Tatsuru's parents house was pretty uneventful. Although, George put his iPod on. He has a really, REALLY eclectic taste in music. Like, more weird than Angel and I. As such, I popped on my headphones and just chilled.

So, when we got to tatsuru's place, we were served tea and strawberry cream cookies. Yummmm~ That taste like those wafer, ice cream cookie things that we love so much. The electric pink strawberry ones. Yum.

 After that, we wandered about outside for a bit, just chatting and taking photos. And that's when we discovered them: THE CATS. They have like 3 cats. And they were all sooooo cute! We're all starved for fuzzy, cuddly affection, so we all started chasing the cats around so we could pet them. The cats were scared of us, though. So, for most of the day they avoided us. ;___;

After failing to harass the cats, we went for a short tour and intro to pottery. They use a special kiln and ash to make the glaze. George was our translator, and man, was that a mistake. But, still, it went ok. And then it was time to start. Tatsuru's father made a few things for us as examples, then we all took a stab at it. Although, george had to go twice since he screwed up the first time. Lol. It was harder than we thought!

I might add, everyone was speeding the turn table around 90 miles an hour. And I... I went slower than gramma's driving. (Sorry gramma. Love you!) Ahahaha. Yup. We all put our... creations together on a board with Tatsuru's fathers. Betcha can't guess which are the professional ones... Lol.

 After the wheel pottery experience, we tried just hand sculpting. I made a leaf dish, an owl and fish. Big, square mouthed fish. With googly eyes. Yes~ I know they are amazing. They look ever better in person. They're supposed to be chopstick holders. Lol.

After washing our hands, we played with the kitties. We procured some food for them and suddenly they were all about being with us. Go figure. And then it was lunch time! Cold soba noodles and tempura! With tea~ Yuuummmm!

 We ate and then played more with the cats, then it was time to pile back in the bus. We took a trip to a national park and walked about. It was kinda cold and grey outside, but the park was pretty neat! The leaves were all cool and it just looked cool.

 At this point, however, we had to cross a bridge. A bridge that was like 20 feet above the water. With no real barriers. And it wobbled when people crossed it. It was awesome. However, some people failed to see the novelty of it. 

 Yeah~ We all felt bad... as we jumped about making the bridge move more. Muahahaha. There was a little area that had little rock piles. They reminded me of Inukshuks. Pretty neat.

 So, after that we walked up some RIDICULOUSLY steep stairs and took a look around. Very pretty. But again, poor Angel. She was having kittens.

She made it back down ok and back across the bridge without incident. After we had finished, we left and went to Regina. No, not that Regina. The Regina onsen and spa. It was really relaxing. I loooove onsens! They are amazing!

And then we went home. The end~ <3