Ok.. Where to start. mail! bus!

Alright, so slight catch up with back story, and then the newer bit. The rest of the back story to follow, maybe.

So, last weekend we were scheduled to go and see the illumination in Kobe with Kubo, who is a friend of Tanyas from last year, and who apparently makes friends with all the new exchange students. Ive met him once before, and he hangs out with Scott sometimes. Anyway, in Kobe they have big Xmas lights every year, and so we all decided to go. Kubo brought his friends - 5 girls from Kansai GaiDai, and this guy who goes to our Uni - Shinichiro. They were all very nice - the girls were a bit quiet, and Shinichiro kept hitting on Julie. Talking about wanting a foreign gf and wanting to study English - a bit of a shame, since he was a little cute, albeit totally strange. So we take the loooong train ride to Kobe (its pretty there), and wander around a bit, since it was too early for illumination. We stumbled across an amusment park - lots of fun! We went on the semi lame roller coaster, and the ghost house. Julie was in front, then me, then 3 screaming japanese girls all clinging to me. It was really funny. At one point Julie was so shocked she fell backwards into us, knocking us all backward, and causing the girls to shriek even more. Good times. Then we went on the really big ferris wheel - it was dark by then, and since the amusment park was right by the ocean it was reeeeally pretty. I ended up on the ferris wheel with Shinichiro and Julie - a bit odd. He made Scott ride the ferris wheel with three of the japanese girls. The whole ride, Shinichiro kept saying things like "gee.. it would be romantic to come here with your sweetheart, hey?" (in japanese, of course) It was really funny.. and odd. When it was done, he says in English, "happy time.... thank you". Sweet, but still odd. From there we go to China Town - very very cool, and the food was great, but SO many people. I was instantly lost. Luckily, Shinichiro had asked for everyones numbers, so i found him and Julie, and then we found everyone else. But yum, coconut odango. Worth being lost, people. So after that we line up forever for the illuminarie - like two or so hours? It was pretty - pictures to follow if you guys are really good. So after this it is getting a bit late, and Alex has to go back so that he`ll make the last bus. I decide to stay on with everyone else, who are going for a drink. We train to Osaka, where Shinichiro has a friend who works in a restaurant. (This friend, btw, knows a guy from Kat-tun, Shosho`s fav boy band. Neat) So we all pile into this tiny-ish place, and he introduces his friend, who calls me and Julie beautiful, and tells us he`s foreign too, since he is half korean. (He was reeeeally cute, too :D) Then we drink and eat and are merry, ish. Julie keeps ordering me more gin and tonics - which for once are made properly and are good. One of the girls drinks a little too much, and gets reeeeeally red in the face. Then we stumble to the station and train to Kyobashi, where we are going to stay overnight with one of the girls - so we dont have to worry about the last train. I email my host parents - and Otousan calls me - semi drunk japanese is really hard. >_< Staying overnight is fine with them, but imagine cramming 9 people into a tiny tiny room. It was interesting. We get to her place, and everyone does a little more drinking (Julie and i were doing vodka shots - i dont know why, it was terrible, blech) before falling asleep. After a certain point we didnt do much speaking in Japanese, or them in English for that matter, and it was a bit strange. Oh, and after we got there, Shinichiro leaves the room, and comes back in what i can only assume are girls pants. They were 3/4 length khakis with drawstring legs.. maybe he spilt something on his pants? No clue, but boy was i confused. Just before we fall asleep, Julie follows Shinichiro into the hall and kisses him - or so i was told. After that he kept patting her leg, and trying to cuddle into her. And i kept trying not to laugh hysterically.

Unfortunately, I had to go out the next morning to have lunch with Sayaka and her mom and my mom and all their tea ceremony buddies. Well, we left at 12, but still. So the three of us got up early - 7 30 ish- after a couple hours sleep, and stumbled home on train, feeling cruddy. We kept falling asleep and almost missed our connections a few times. I got home around 9 something and slept for a bit before getting dressed and going out for lunch. It was a LOT of fun, even without much sleep. Sayaka was great to talk to, as per usual, and the tea ceremony teacher and her husband, who ive never met before, were there, plus a few other ladies that take tea ceremony lessons. Unfortunately, we were suposed to sit seiza the whole time - where you sit without a chair and sit on your feet, right - and i cant do that because my stupid ankle tries to kill me when i do. So i sat in various other horrible awkward positions for the whole lunch. Like FOUR HOURS. God my legs hurt after that. Was worth it though. The food was really really fricking good, and i scored an amazing lipgloss out of it, too. A few of the ladies decided to bring everyone presents, and Sayaka`s mom`s present to everyone was Lancome lipgloss - Juicy Tubes! Now i have been eyeing these suckers up for probably a year, but always thought it was a bit pricey for a lipgloss. So i am beyond pleased that i got one, without having to drop the twenty bucks for it! It smells like melon, and is super glossy without too much color - exactly as i like. I love you new lipgloss! I love you Sayaka`s mom! And Sayaka too, since she said she would take me to a used bookstore with lots of manga!

So, that was all the 16th and 17th, and the monday after that, just as i suspected, Shinichiro tracked us (more specifically Julie) down on campus. He was wheezing and panting from having ran all the way there too. Turns out he spent the next couple of days being where ever Julie was at school, puppy dog esque. Wednesday she complained about him following her around, and then said that he told her he loved her (he didnt though, because the words were wrong, so it must have been something else, although similar, i think) in japanese, and then, in english "i need you" - im thinking he wants in her pants? Anyway, that day I went up to the computer lab to watch Veronica mars on youtube after school. Norie was sick with norwalk (its going around japan) and so i didnt want to make noise at home. After an hour or so, Shinichiro comes in, and starts talking to me, saying that he and Julie had been in the other lab. Which i knew, and had been avoiding them so as to be able to watch my lovely tv in peace. Then he says that Kubo wants to have dinner sometime. I had already had an email from Kubo saying that we should all plan to get together again once Alex gets back from Hawaii, so it was no shock. The next part was, though. No no, he says, not that. Kubo wants to have dinner, with me. Full stop. My response is to do my world famous impression of a deer in the headlights. Shinichiro then goes on to mention how he is going to go on a date or something with Julie.. as if that makes some difference. I tell him i would love for everyone to have dinner together sometime. And he says "and if its just you two?" And the deer face becomes a guppy, as i flail pathetically looking for the right words in Japanese to turn someone down. Kubo is very nice, but a) ive barely talked to him, and b) he`s not really my type, so. I was blushing so much even my ears were pink. It has been a while since i was that caught off guard. Anyway, i think I got the point across, and he left. On the way home, i was completely distracted thinking about the whole thing, so much so that i forgot that people drive on the other side of the road here, tried to cross the road and was almos t hit by a bus. It honked, i jumped backwards, and it roared past my face. Scary. But also damn funny, all things considered. As the bus whoosed by, i thought about that scene in PGSM. Where is tuxedo mask, i ask you? This is what my life amounts to people. Asked out by the cute guy for his non-cute friend, almost run over by a bus.. Its like a combination between Georgia Nicholson and Sailor Moon, except the boys in my version are less cute. Boo.