(So….I originally wrote this yesterday [Wednesday] but forgot to post it….)
Last Friday I woke up with the craziest dream. I’m not sure that it could technically be considered a nightmare, but I did bolt upright in bed when it was over. I dreamed that we were back in Paducah after coming home from Japan. I had gone back to work at the Parlor but was screwing up darn near everything. I couldn’t remember table numbers or orders and was falling very behind. One of my tables who had just sat down was being rude and said to me in a very snotty way, “We just want three Mr. Pibbs. That’s all. You got that? Three Mr. Pibbs.” I nodded and went back to the drink station to make them, but once I got there I couldn’t remember what they had ordered. That’s when I woke up, bolting upright in bed saying, “Three Mr. Pibbs!” I rolled over and looked at the clock. 6:18 AM. I giggled, thinking about how silly the dream was and went back to bed.
That morning was my ES graduation and THIRD graduation to go to in the past two weeks. I’m not sure why, but that was the most miserable graduation to go to. It seemed like it would NEVER end. I prefer ES graduation over JHS graduation because the kids are dressed in their best clothes and are just so darn cute! The boys all wear dark pants and some type of dressy sweater which is usually a little baggy because it is presumably an older sibling or father’s sweater. The girls generally wear cute little blazers with skirts and knee socks. They are seriously just too precious for their own good! However, even the cutely dressed students couldn’t entertain me. The speeches seemed too long, the pomp and circumstance just a little too drug out, and to top it off the gym (where graduation took place) was freezing! I spent the rest of the day trying to knock the chill from sitting in that gym for two hours.
All weekend we wanted to have a hanami (picnic under the cherry blossoms), but the weather just wouldn’t cooperate with us! Please remember how we wanted to go last Wednesday, but we were rained out. Well, we tried to go on Saturday, but the weather was kind of icky. We decided to go on Sunday even though it was still cloudy and not perfect hanami weather. The sakura of Mizukami are absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It was a little breezy, so some of the blossoms were falling off, and it seemed like it was snowing. The snowing sakura trees surrounding the mountainous reservoir were absolutely breath-taking! Since Mizukami is known for its sakura, the Sakura Matsuri (cherry blossom festival) was going on when we went. There were bands playing, games for the kids, and lots of Japanese carnival food. We found a nice tree to sit under away from the crowds and enjoyed our picnic lunch before taking pictures. I hate to take so many pictures because I know you, as the viewer, think that it’s just ANOTHER cherry tree. However, the pictures just don’t do it justice. Sakura season in Japan truly is a beautiful and magical time of year.
We stayed in Mizukami until the weather finally turned, and it began to rain. Ian and I invited our fellow hanami-ers back to our house to watch a movie. Devin suggested we watch Rise of the Guardians. Ian and I hadn’t seen it yet, but it was a cute little animated movie about the guardians of children, namely fictional characters like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, Jack Frost, and the Tooth Fairy. I was pleasantly surprised at how good and funny the movie was and definitely would recommend it to anyone!
Monday morning began this long, boring week of work. It’s Spring Break……but not really. Instead of all the the students and teachers taking the week off and doing whatever the heck they feel like at home, everyone comes to school even though there are no classes. The teachers still work, and the students come to school during the mornings to practice their club activities. Even though it’s Spring Break, I don’t have the time off and must use vacation days to get any time off. So…..what do I do everyday? ………….. a whole bunch of nothing! Monday morning was absolutely miserable for me because I was trying to think of what I could do. The first couple of hours I was bored to tears, but then I got into the rhythm of it, and by today (Wednesday) I’ve created plenty of little tasks for myself. This is what I have to do to survive Spring Break! I’ve written a blog everyday so far, planned my English board for the month of April, checked Facebook regularly, cleaned my desk, planned our Golden Week vacation to Cambodia and Vietnam (more about that in a sec), and done other little odds-and-ins to keep busy.
And speaking of that Golden Week holiday…..it’s planned! After deciding if it was financially possible for us to go or not, we decided that yes, it was. If that means that we pinch pennies by not going out to eat as often, I’m fine with that. If that means that we don’t get to go up to the city one time that we really want to, that’s fine. If that means that we’re poor as church mice for a while when we go back to the States, so be it. I’d much rather do without a few things and be able to take this trip. Once we get back home, we’ll have far fewer opportunities for traveling, so carpe diem!!!
Since we’re all at work today (minus Ian) but have nothing to do, Ian, Melissa B, Mollee, and I decided to get online at 1:30 and research/plan our Cambodia/Vietnam trip via g-chat. In about two hours, we found flights, decided where exactly we wanted to go, what we wanted to see, how to get from place to place, and even found places to stay. I was impressed with our research today! So here’s a breakdown of our vacation to Vietnam/Cambodia: We leave from Fukuoka on April 29th and land in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam that afternoon. (Ho Chi Minh used to be called Saigon….as in where the Vietnam War ended.) We’re spending the 30th there before catching a bus and hopping the border to Cambodia on the 1st. We’re going from Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap that day, a whopping ten hour bus ride. Then on the 2nd, we’re exploring the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The next day, the 3rd, we’re heading to Sihanouksville, a beautiful beach town on Cambodia’s Gulf of Thailand and staying until the 5th. Then we’re heading back to Ho Chi Minh, where we fly out on the 6th. Back to Fukuoka it is! I’m VERY excited about this vacation! Plus, (bonus!) I only have three weeks of work in April. I took off the first week for Spring Break, and Golden Week starts during the last week. Woot! After I burn through that vacation time, that means that I only have one vacation day left to use, and I probably won’t use it until the end of July. With all of the packing, cleaning, and last minute things that need to happen, I’m sure I’ll need a day off!
That’s all for today! I’m sure that I’ll have plenty of time to write another blog tomorrow!
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