May 11th, 2006
Sorry, I meant to update earlier about our vacation last week but I got distracted by cleaning and stuff. Right now, Im going to mention I only have one picture, but I will explain why later.
Last week, as you know, we went to Tokyo. Our plan was to take a train to Tokyo on Tuesday and meet up with a friend there. He would show us around Tokyo and take us to a nice mexican restaurant for dinner. The next day, we were to take a train down to a smaller city called Odawara with this friend. We were going to a small house party for lots of foreigners. There, we were going to play games and just hang out with people. We thought it would be a nice get away for a little while. On Friday, we would go back to Tokyo with this friend and hang out with him until Sunday, when we would come back home to Izumo. So that was the plan.
Tuesday rolls around and we leave as scheduled and meet up with our friend in Tokyo (plus some of his roommates). That evening we spend a really good time wandering around one of the busiest parts of the city. We get some mexican food (yum!) and then they take us to a game parlor and we learn how to play Pachinko. It was pretty fun. I don't really get the obsession that some Japanese people have with Pachinko though. The pachinko part is kinda boring. Once we got done with pachinko, we headed upstairs and played some token games (only Jason, a roommate, actually won tokens). I couldn't help but think of Paul. These games were like the dumptruck game (where you roll the quarter down the tube and then try to get it in a good spot so the dumptruck comes out and pushes some quarters down into the tray). But they were so much COOLER. They had several other parts to them. We played a Monopoly style game. Mucho fun.
AFter that we headed back to the apartment to get some sleep. On the way I was able to snag this picture:
This is one of the often photographed sites in Tokyo. We went by the famous Blade Runner shot, but I forgot to get a picture. Sorry! I also took several pictures of a creepy, but really cool old shrine. Unfortunately, it was so dark, that the pictures just didn't come out. So sorry. I think this is a cool picture though.
Anyways, so we get home and just crash. The next day we get up. We spend most of the day in the apartment just hanging out with our friend and his roommates. They get us some Subway sandwhiches and it was heaven. We actually ate turkey! Yum! We also played a fun boardgame called Ticket to Ride. Very fun. Unfortunately, by the time we go to leave, around 5:00, we find out that our friend just got a call and he has a job interview the next day, so he can't leave with us. But he says he will show up the next day around noonish.
So, here is where we get the stupid prize. We head down to this small, rural area of Japan alone. We have very crappy directions that require us to be able to see landmarks. We have only the phone number of our friend in Tokyo. When we asked to get the number of the place we were going, he just assures us that if we get lost, we can call him and he will steer us in the right direction. Also, the pinacle of stupid, we only have the first name of the man who is hosting the party. *sigh* So of course, when we get there (and we get off the train onto a scary little platform in the middle of nowhere..one platform, no trainstation) it's pitch black. We instantly know we aren't going to be able to find the place without help. So we call our friend. He doesn't answer. WE call about 12 more times and we still can't get through. Apparently, he was feeling bad, so he took some medicine that knocked him out so he never heard the phone. That sucked. So we were lost in a tiny town, around 8:00 pm with no way of finding where we were going. It really really sucked. We wandered around for about an hour and a half before we stopped in a convinience store. There, God bless him, a clerk helped us find where we were going. He even drew us a pretty detailed map. So we finally got where we needed to be. Thankfully!
After that, the next few days were really fun. Thursday I did manage to get knocked out with a powerful migraine for a few hours, but beyond that, it was really fun. We got to meet a lot of interesting and new people. We also played a LOT of boardgames, which was really fun. We even bought 3 new games and all three are really fun. Kevin, the host, had a small board game store that he let us browse through. Unfortunately, our friend never showed up. In fact, we never even heard from him again. He just didn't show. So we couldn't make it back to Tokyo. And thats why I didn't get anymore pictures. Its very sad. So please don't be upset. Enjoy the one picture I had!
It was a really nice trip. completely worth it. It was a nice break from rural rural Japan that we are used to. We got back on Saturday and on Sunday, I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom. Then we invited several of our friends over for tacos (we found a mix while we were in Odawara)!! That was a lot of fun. Jason, Ang, and irish Mark came over. It was really my first big dinner for everyone. They all complimented our clean apartment. :) Which was nice.
So that was vacation. This week has proceeded like normal. Jon and Abby get here tomorrow at 10:00AM though. So Im recleanign and making sure EVERYTHING is in order for their arrival. Im excited and I know Chris is really excited that they are coming in. It should be a lot of fun.
And now, for a very important announcement. From July 21st to August 7th, Chris and I will be flying back to America for a few days. We bought the tickets today so its a definite thing. We will start deciding where we are going to be and when. I am excited to see everyone again. I miss everyone very much. Keep in mind, that we want to spend a LOT of time eating. We really really miss food. In fact, we have been talking about where we want to go when we come back to America since December. Heh. But yeah, we are coming home then. I really want to see as many people as possible. We will probably spend about 2 or 3 days in Hiawassee and most of the rest of the time in Athens. Yay for coming home! We are a little homesick.
I love and miss you all!
Anyways, so we get home and just crash. The next day we get up. We spend most of the day in the apartment just hanging out with our friend and his roommates. They get us some Subway sandwhiches and it was heaven. We actually ate turkey! Yum! We also played a fun boardgame called Ticket to Ride. Very fun. Unfortunately, by the time we go to leave, around 5:00, we find out that our friend just got a call and he has a job interview the next day, so he can't leave with us. But he says he will show up the next day around noonish.
So, here is where we get the stupid prize. We head down to this small, rural area of Japan alone. We have very crappy directions that require us to be able to see landmarks. We have only the phone number of our friend in Tokyo. When we asked to get the number of the place we were going, he just assures us that if we get lost, we can call him and he will steer us in the right direction. Also, the pinacle of stupid, we only have the first name of the man who is hosting the party. *sigh* So of course, when we get there (and we get off the train onto a scary little platform in the middle of nowhere..one platform, no trainstation) it's pitch black. We instantly know we aren't going to be able to find the place without help. So we call our friend. He doesn't answer. WE call about 12 more times and we still can't get through. Apparently, he was feeling bad, so he took some medicine that knocked him out so he never heard the phone. That sucked. So we were lost in a tiny town, around 8:00 pm with no way of finding where we were going. It really really sucked. We wandered around for about an hour and a half before we stopped in a convinience store. There, God bless him, a clerk helped us find where we were going. He even drew us a pretty detailed map. So we finally got where we needed to be. Thankfully!
After that, the next few days were really fun. Thursday I did manage to get knocked out with a powerful migraine for a few hours, but beyond that, it was really fun. We got to meet a lot of interesting and new people. We also played a LOT of boardgames, which was really fun. We even bought 3 new games and all three are really fun. Kevin, the host, had a small board game store that he let us browse through. Unfortunately, our friend never showed up. In fact, we never even heard from him again. He just didn't show. So we couldn't make it back to Tokyo. And thats why I didn't get anymore pictures. Its very sad. So please don't be upset. Enjoy the one picture I had!
It was a really nice trip. completely worth it. It was a nice break from rural rural Japan that we are used to. We got back on Saturday and on Sunday, I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom. Then we invited several of our friends over for tacos (we found a mix while we were in Odawara)!! That was a lot of fun. Jason, Ang, and irish Mark came over. It was really my first big dinner for everyone. They all complimented our clean apartment. :) Which was nice.
So that was vacation. This week has proceeded like normal. Jon and Abby get here tomorrow at 10:00AM though. So Im recleanign and making sure EVERYTHING is in order for their arrival. Im excited and I know Chris is really excited that they are coming in. It should be a lot of fun.
And now, for a very important announcement. From July 21st to August 7th, Chris and I will be flying back to America for a few days. We bought the tickets today so its a definite thing. We will start deciding where we are going to be and when. I am excited to see everyone again. I miss everyone very much. Keep in mind, that we want to spend a LOT of time eating. We really really miss food. In fact, we have been talking about where we want to go when we come back to America since December. Heh. But yeah, we are coming home then. I really want to see as many people as possible. We will probably spend about 2 or 3 days in Hiawassee and most of the rest of the time in Athens. Yay for coming home! We are a little homesick.
I love and miss you all!
posted by Susan Rogers at 12:46 PM
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