Backtracking News July 30, 2007

So much has happened within the last two weeks, and I can’t bear to think that it is slowly fading from my memory. It seems that problems accumulate at the same time and also resolve themselves together.

Two weeks ago, on an attempt to run away from all the stress of having to pass my Japanese driver’s test, I headed out to Tokyo Disneyland with my friends Jess, Amanda, Leslie, Rick and Marissa. I’ve always gone to Disney with family and with little tykes, but this time, it was an all-adult entourage that screamed, ran, danced (Pooh dance and Nemo dance), and frolicked on the happiest streets of Japan (aka Tokyo Disneyland). We also met up with Marissa’s cool teachers, Kazumi-sensei and Shinobi (NINJA!). I definitely had a blast running around, uninhibited, and feeling like an eight-year old again. I also got a cute Nemo pen from my homegirl, Amanda. I had to flaunt it at school, heheheh! I Love NEMO!

 

And on Wednesday of that week, I failed my driver’s test for the second time. Maybe it was because I was still recovering from the happy-high of Disney, maybe because I was tired. I completely fell off the course on the very narrow S-curve (my front right tire when plunk). I failed, needless to say, and I scheduled to retake it on that week.

Like the week before, after I failed my driver’s test on the first try, I had a streak of bad luck following me. I was so afraid it would come back again, but luckily (no pun intended), it didn’t. I also received great news from my big sis in L.A. telling me that she was expecting a baby boy in December! Henry and Shirley will have a son! I had a feeling about it in the beginning,

And finally, I passed that dreaded Japanese driver’s test. I think the instructor took pity on me and wanted to get it over with that he overlooked a lot of things. But it was a great day because I finally had it off my shoulders. I also arranged all my insurance papers to fix the scratch in my principal’s car, renewed my insurance, and changed the oil in my car. And I still had enough time for my Japanese lesson. What a great productive day that was.

Don’t we all look cute in jail?

Patience July 20, 2007

I will write a “Passing the Driver’s Test” guide for foreigners living in Yamanashi so it can serve for future reference.  I enlist myself voluntarily for this job!
Passing the Japanese driver’s test has been such an ordeal, and it’s not only because it takes time and effort, but also a lot of patience.  As I am writing this, I am still in the nervous stage because after two attempts, I still have not passed the test.  The conversation I had with my friend Cheryl helped me realize how impatient I was to just “get it over with”.  Because of this apathetic attitude, I’ve been failing my test and not making a mental note of what I have been doing wrong.

I reflect on this experience now and take it as an invaluable lesson in my life.  I don’t know at what point in my life I started adopting this negative attitude of getting things over with vs. trying my best to really complete a task patiently, but now I know where I have erred.   I have to stop jumping into things, and start applying my knowledge in overcoming an obstacle.  I have to carefully maneuver myself around, as opposed to sprinting carelessly and knocking down everything around me.  I need patience.

“I Really Like You” – 我超喜歡你 July 17, 2007

I’m recently addicted to this Taiwanese remake of the manga “Hana Kimi”. The plot is about a girl who, after falling in love with a high-jump student, decides to transfer to his high school. Unfortunately, the school is an all-boys school, so she disguises as a boy in order to study with him. They end up being room-mates, and that’s when it turns interesting. The drama is about how hard she has to keep the secret from him and from her friends at the new school, and also about how hard it is for this guy to pretend he doesn’t really know her secret. A funny drama; breaks the monotony for me.

Excerpt of lyrics from the Fahrenheit song “I Really Like You” – 我超喜歡你 – Hana Kimi OST

就算世界與我為敵 我超喜歡你
Jiu suan shi jie yu wo wei di wo chao xi huan ni
Even if the world goes against me, I will still be so much in love with you
超喜歡你 不能分離
Chao xi huan ni bu neng fen li
So much in love with you, [that] we can’t be separated
我只相信這個真理
Wo zhi xiang xin zhe ge zhen li
I can only believe in this truth
百無禁忌 萬夫莫敵
Bai wu jin ji wan fu mo di
Languish in jealousy, so much I can’t resist
我超喜歡你
Wo chao xi huan ni
So much in love with you
我們能不能清醒 終於不想清醒 根本不用清醒
Wo men neng bu neng qing xing zhong yu bu xiang qing xing gen ben bu yong qing xing
Can we be clear? At the end, I don’t feel like being clear, as it needs not be
這個惡作劇
This mischievous play

Courtesy of this Live Journal

Three’s the Charm – Bad Luck is over July 12, 2007

I don’t know if this is exclusively Chinese or not, but whenever something bad happens to you, a succession of bad luck situations will follow. In order to prevent this from continuing, you have to break something to end this chain of bad luck. That’s what mom taught me and I still follow it to this day.

So what bad things have happened to me this week?

1. Failed my driver’s test
2. Scratched my school principal’s car
3. While walking home from the supermarket, almost got killed by a car that drove unto the sidewalk.

I just broke a jar to end this bad luck streak. Hopefully it will be better.
And now, I’d like to introduce two new additions to my family in Japan:

To the left is Kazu, and to the right is Gin. Kazu is my take on “kasoku”, which means family in Japanese. And Gin means “silver”. Gin’s name derives from Ginza, where he was named by my friend and fellow ALT, Marissa.

Both Gin and Kazu are green turtles. They are very low maintenance (except for the occasional trips I take. I have to get someone to take care of them).

They are two very happy fellows. They perk up when I feed them in the morning, they like to stack themselves on the stone to get some drying done, and are very avid swimmers. They are a big hit with my elementary school kids

So much to do July 12, 2007

I visited the doctor to see if there was something he could recommend so I could stop being sick. He asked me if I wanted an IV with antibiotics, and although I was apprehensive, I agreed to it. It wasn’t so bad as I thought, but now I have this bruise on my right arm from where they stuck the needle. Looks like a small bump.  It’s actually fading already.

I’ve been so out of lately. Perhaps is the fact that my easy, mundane life is being rocked up by the Japanese driving test. I hate that I have to drive an hour to get to the center, and then wait for a couple of hours around, take the test, fail it, and then reschedule. I failed it oncel, and I happen to know that people take the test, on average, three times. I just hope I can pass next week so I don’t have to use more money to pass the test.

And then yesterday, as I was pulling next to the parking lot, I scratched my principals’s car. Great, things can’t get better than that. I was very embarrassed! Now I have to fork money to fix the scratch on his car. Or maybe insurance will pay for it and the premium will hike up considerably next year.

Finally, on the downs of all the downs, I realize that a friend of mine wasn’t as close as I thought he was. I want to stop being judgmental, but a lot of things have slowly led to a deteriorated relationship between us. Maybe I was using him as a listening machine to all my problems. I think we all need to feel pitied from time to time so we can make ourselves better (or make ourselves believe that we are worst off than others). And maybe I used him so he could listen to my “oh-pity-me” stories.

Then I remember all the things we used to do as a group. There were good times, of course. There were bad times too, and I failed to verbalize my discontent properly during those down moments. Now what’s left is just a lot of bottled-up tension that I cannot share with anyone.

Am I being selfish? Am I being an attention whore? Am I asking too much of this friendship? We all have our lives and our problems to contend with, and if he doesn’t help, then should I be mad?

I try remembering if I ever offered my help to my friend, and whether he did the same thing. Maybe I didn’t help enough. And maybe that’s why I feel used now. It’s karma.

Why did I befriend him in the first place? I try thinking of same values, same interests, and although there are some things here and there, I don’t think it was enough to have kept a strong relationship. Maybe that’s why it’s drifting apart.

I hate being laughed at for not being a seasoned drunk/party animal/sex expert/relationship guru. And I hate being pawed at. And my discontent is for me to blame because I cannot verbalize it. It’s just me being bitchy.