August 16, 2006

  • Happy Birthday Matthew!!!

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    Yes! Though today is now tomorrow in Japan, so Matt's 22nd Birthday is now over for him, this post is dedicated to Mr. Matthew Lott! Matt is quite probably the finest human being I've ever met and I'm honoured and blessed to say he is one of my best and closest friends! Tanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimashita Matto! Though he has no internet access at the moment, go say Happy Birthday on his Xanga, ne! Thought I would celebrate this event by putting up some of my favourite pics of us! Though I ripped most of 'em from Matt in the first place, I hope he'll enjoy seeing them again! We all love you, big time my friend!   And since this post is dedicated to Matt (and since I've done nothing lately but some very dull temp work!) I shall proceed with a Matt and Dani update!


    Lately Rotto Sensei has been pretty busy by the sounds of things! Gosh-darn-super busy, as he might dorkishly put it! This week and next are filled with orientations and seminars with the 4 schools he'll be teaching at and during brief moments of rest, he and Dani have been feeding their faces with pastries and playing video games! (Chrono Trigger and Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night respectively! I have such fond memories of both games..!!!) They also swung by I House!!! Natsukashii n da naaa! Apparently the place is dead! As expected the experience was pretty weird. Such a familiar place, somewhere that was our home, now devoid of the things that made it what it was, bar the presence of Ashley, Heidi and Mikey! It was empty, in more than the literal sense of the word! Some good news, though! Really good news! Matt's got his first paycheck so hopefully they will have their internet up and running in the very not-too-distant future!!! We are loved and missed, as always!


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    I know many of us are still seriously missing I House and NUFS! It really is impossible to describe just how incredible and life-changing an experience it was! It seems that time is making us miss it more, not less! I love and miss you guys, my family, so much!                                            


    "We'll be Miles Apart! I'll keep you deep inside, you're always in my heart!"


     

August 10, 2006

  • I Never Told You What I Do For A Living!

    To be honest, I don't exactly know what I'll be doing for a living yet either, but I have indeed found gainful employment for the summer! Its all warehouse work through an agency and as of 9:30 tonight I'll be doing the late shift at UPS! Fun? Not really! But it pays, and thats what I need! Hopefully I'll be moved on to a better paid, daytime shift elsewhere pretty soon but this should provide me with some much needed cash to see me through the summer, ease me back into University life and fund my, hopefully not too far off, travel plans! Not to mention a down-payment on my nearly finalised accomodation for September! I am also up and driving again, which makes life way easier but more expensive, considering fuel prices here have reached nearly a pound per litre in my absence!!! 


    Time for my Matt and Dani update! This is gonna be a pretty regular feature until the afore mentioned Mr. and Mrs. Lott get their internet sorted out, just to let everyone know what they're up to. It also allows me to bask in their reflected glory and leech off their popularity!!! So here goes..


     Continuing the work theme, Matt started work the other day! Well, kinda...! He had to introduce himself, first to all the staff and then to the entire student body! He didn't say whether in Japanese or English, but that kinda stuff is always super-fun in any language, huh? It all went OK by the sounds of it. They are getting settled into their new place, despite the current lack of hot water for the shower!!!   Dani's JET placement allocated her a bigger, swankier apartment which they are considering moving into, but the plan for the present seems to be to maybe stay where they are for the first year, then move into Dani's place later! They've been getting to know the area, taking in a local Chinese place (it was good!), locating a much needed hyaku-en (100 yen) store and a mall complete with restaurants, various stores, a library and a gym! And lots of people with dogs! Unfortunately the expense of setting up the internet at their place could mean that they have to wait for the first paychecks to come rolling in, meaning worst case scenario: no internet until the September 14th!!!   They can access the net via computers at the local library, but get only an hour per go and can't log into their Xangas or comment or any of that stuff! Which blows! Occasionally they've got a very weak and sporadic wireless connection in the apartment block but it never lasts long enough to allow them to do any of the things they'd like to! All in all, everything is super-nice and super-neat! (He really did use "super" as a prefix a hell of a lot! Which is good, really.) They want us to know we are all loved and missed too! Awwwww!!! We all miss and love you too. Like kerazy!!! I'll keep these updates coming, but we want you guys back doin' them yourselves ASAP! Yo!?


    Thats all that I got for today! Nothing major planned for the weekend, just the usual gym and hangin' out! Depending on my work situation I'll be grabbing some Pizza Hut pizza tomorrow with my bro. Last time I had Pizza Hut was early April! Matt and I couldn't even get through a shared large pizza! The results of our strict dieting! Wonder if my appetite has increased since then...?


    Oh yeah, one last thing before I quit... Nathan, Dave and I took in Warrior King at the cinema the other night! Its not the sequel to Ong Bak, which many people have been thinking, but is made by the same people and features a lot of the same cast! The fight scenes are sweet! Tony Jaa is freakin' hardcore, dude! Highlights include him taking on a bunch of guys on inline skates and BMXs, kick-assing his way through a restaurant, fighting a Capoeira fighter in a burning, flooded out Buddhist temple and takin down like, 30 guys with a range of limb-snapping manuevers! (Every last sound effect was bones snapping, I swear!) Whatsmore, this film will really make you feel for Elephants!!!


    Love and Peace! From me and the Lotts! Lots and lots! (Uhhhh.. I bet that never gets old! )       

August 7, 2006

  • Super-Massive Birthday-Barbecue!

    Another week in sunny England! I'm not being sarcastic either, it really is bright and warm and cheery! Not that its having much effect on me, except that I have to squint when I'm outside! Well, another week, another update! The past week has seen me get a little further through my to-do list for this summer, my Dad, Juanita and Richard jetting off to their newly built house in Spain for the whole of August, my brother Chris and his friends, Chris and Chris (I kid you not!) attempting to find and agree on a house to buy and heading over to Kettering for a family barbecue with various members of my maternal family in my Uncle and Aunt's back garden! The event was my Uncle's 30 (somethingth) birthday and my recently married cousin Rachel's 28th! So Happy Birthday to Dave (Yep! Another one) and Rachel!!! (EDIT: Thanks to Cousin Rach for the photos!)


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    (Why do I always pull the same stupid face in pictures? BTW my brother is NOT much taller than me! He just has better posture is all...!)


    So good (and plentiful) food, a hoard of small children (we've levelled up a generation!) and noone asked me to speak Japanese! Which is good! The week ahead has me ploughing further through my to-do list, such as taxing my car, finalising my accomodation for the beginning of term at the end of September and trying to keep up the good habits established in Japan (regular gym, eating healthily, being happy and positive, etc.) Problem is I'm feeling pretty demotivated right now (in all those areas!) and will most likely spend my time listening to music and reaquainting myself with my PS2 and Soulcalibur 3! "Hello darkness, my old friend...!"


    I'm also gonna add a little section on Matt's behalf! For everyone who doesn't know already he and Dani are in Seto and have their choice between Matt's apartment and the apartment Dani has been assigned (which sounds pretty sweet) since she too was upgraded to JET! The problem right now is they have no internet and are anticipating it not being set up until next month! Which is bad! In the meantime, they've been checking and sending e-mails via a local library and they send love and peace to all of us! Providing they don't mind, I'll continue updating with news of their progress in their absense! I would also like to suggest we send mass psychic waves in the direction of Japan that somehow allow them to get connected and soon!!! Cos I know we all miss them like crazy and won't be happy til they're on the other end of a chatroom or skype or soemthing!


    And before I go, I must introduce some new Xangans to the world of.. err..well, Xanga! From the ever expanding NUFS Kids Empire we have Mario, aka Seraphim, aka Great Panda Lord! He's random, wears loud shirts and has a joint obscesion with Gundam and Pandas! From Belgium we have Deirdre, she's savage, ruthless and a card-carrying psychopath! Just kidding!!!  She's the nagging elder sister of the NUFS peeps! And from right here in.. erm.. Nuneaton (Woohoo! Feel the enthusiasm!) we have a firm friend of mine since high-school, Mr. Dave Hall, aka Ho~ru, aka Hallrus (I made that one up!) Imagine the metal-head offspring of Bill Bailey and Ian Hislop (won't mean much if you're not British, or at least watch British TV) and thats Dave! Finally there is Mizue! We dated for a while whilst she was in England about 8 or 9 years ago and have stayed in touch! She's engaged to a US Navy Officer called Mike and they have a 2 year old son called Robert! Go say hi! Dooo iiiiit!!!  


    So, til next time! Peace and Love! (Get internet connection, get internet connection, get internet conection, get internet connection, get internet connection, get internet connection, get internet connection, get internet connection, get internet connection, get intenet connection, get...) 


     

August 1, 2006

  • Welcome To My Life!

    "..noone ever lied straight to your face, noone ever stabbed you in the back! You might think I'm happy but..."


    Err anyway! I'm finally making my "back home" update. Its been a week now since I returned from the States and 2 and a half weeks since I got back from Japan and everything is pretty normal and familiar. The recent heatwave is giving way to more traditional British summer conditions (ie. rain). I've hung out with friends and spent time with the immediate family. I am also now swamped with a tonne of boring but necessary crap, not exactly fun stuff but it will at least keep me busy, which is probably a good thing right now!!! My car needs insuring and taxing, I have to sort my student loan and arrange some accomodation for September and I really need a job of some sort for the summer. I've also gotta start getting into a regular gym routine, now that I don't have Matt to organise me, and fit regular study spots in everyday, lest I wish to be flayed alive by Takako when I return to UCLan and find my Japanese unlearned!


     house.jpg  So, this is my house! Or to be more accurate, my Mum's house which I live in whilst not at University! My room sits above the garage and if you look closely you can see the 3rd place Judo trophy I won when I was 8 glistening in the window. We've lived here since I was 15, which is the longest I've lived at any 1 house! Fascinating, I'm sure!  


    And here are our cars! My brother's shining, shimmering, brand new Ford Focus and my 14 year old, battle damaged Vauxhall Astra! Guess who the successful one is...!!! He also airbrushed the licence plates out of paranoia. Cautious one, is Christopher Moss...!


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    So thats where I live! Nuneaton is... ermm.... not the most thrilling of places, lets say, but I may add pics to future updates just for the novelty! Its as familiar and comfortable as it ever was, being back home, but in a way, its not really home anymore. More like a place I have a history, but not really a future, with! I feel now that I won't truly feel at home again until I've got my own place. "Somewhere I Belong", eh Sarv?


    Well one more pic! This is my Dad's house, in one of my favourite spots in the country, South Warwickshire! Its close to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace, so it gets a lot of tourists! A lot of Japanese tourists no less...! For the geeks out there (CAlex!) South Warwickshire was also where J. R. R. Tolkien grew up! As a result he based The Shire largely on this area. I think his home village is not far from where my Dad lives... The nearby city of Birmingham is said to have inspired Isengard, because in Tolkien's time its rapid industrialisation was threatening the local countryside! And the inhabitants are Orcs!!! Kidding! Kidding!!!   


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    And on a teacher's salary!!! Anyway, my Dad and his partner Juanita's place, that we visited this past weekend! Here I am with my Dad and little half-brother, Richard!


    So, still got a lot to do! My insurance is taken care of and my accomodation worries are being dealt with but I still need a job. I'm really looking forward to getting back into fencing again too. I find a good round of combat sport is often the best cure for my angst! Expect a lot of poser-y fencing stuff to appear on my Xanga in the future! Oh and note my sweet new banner! Matt designed and put it up for me, amidst all his heading to Japan as a JET stuff! Legend! Special thanks too to his sister, Beka, who helped me overcome my photo-posting woes by suggesting I paste them from photobucket! We beat the system! Hahaaaaa!


    I love you, my friends, wherever you may be!


    Peace Out! "..you don't know what its like, what its like!!...  "

July 25, 2006

  • Whole Lott-a Love!

    OK... so this is the 3rd time I've attempted this update! Now I'm back in England with a (usually) reliable internet connection I can finally get it posted! Also, as I lack any photos myself I've ripped a couple from Rebekah's latest post! Thanks (and sorry!)


    So... the big day! Matt and Dani's wedding! I hadn't been back from Japan a week when I found myself jetting off to Northern Kentucky, however a last minute revelation drew attention to the fact that my passport had only 2 months remaining! In order to get visa-free entry into the US, a passport is supposed to have at least 3 months left on it...!  The more I waded through the red-tape, technical-jargon crap the more stressed I got until I decided to just rush in eyes closed and head for the airport and hope for the best. Luckily I got into the States without incident! I had been anticipating worse case scenarios of being denied the ability to attend one of my best friends weddings and the resulting emotional explosion seeing me arrested or something! Ah well! No harm, no foul! Having said that, the adventures weren't quite over! I arrived in Newark to find the airport in mild chaos... flights being diverted and cancelled all over and sure enough, my flight to Cincinnati was one of the cancellations! In another stroke of fortune, I had been re-booked on a later flight and eventually arrived in Cincinnati at 8:40pm, tired but relieved! It had been one stressful day of travel but considering the trials faced, the constant stream of prayers I offered for things to work out and the fact everything did work out, divine assistance is strongly suspected! I was met at the airport by Matt, Dani, Matt's sister Rebekah and her respective other, Jacob. One emotional display of male affection later and we were on our way for a much needed chillin' at the Lott household where I met Matt's parents and dished out my hoard of Digestive biscuits, now affectionately referred to as "poop-cookies"! I'll never be able to look at them the same again! Nooooooooo!!!


    The following day was dominated by the wedding rehersal and preparations. More of Danielle and Matt's respective families arrived and I got to meet Matt's bro Bryant and elder-older sister Anna! Bryant and I would be ushering for the wedding and so were briefly instructed in our duties. 


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    The Usher-nators! Bryant and I in our coincidentally colour-coordinated red and black suits!


    One post-rehearsal pizza buffet later and all that was left was to await the big day! And so it came! Wedding Day! Go go Wedding Rangers!! Wedding Away!!! Now I'm not much of an expert on weddings but it seems that it was just about perfect! In addition to my usher-type duties I received Matt's digital camera and played unofficial photographer throughout the day. Having seen pictures and heard all about Matt and Dani's friends, I got to talk to a few said friends, specifically Richard, Dustin and Davis, though I did freak out Dustin by knowing his name ahead of introduction!  Matt and Dani performed a duet (hearing Matt sing bass was pretty surprising! Not quite the voice that has accompanied me so many times singing Muse, Yellowcard, My Chemical Romance, Red Hot Chili Peppers etc at karaoke) had the obligatory first dance and cut their cake, then headed for the car and their honeymoon to a fanfare of kazoos playing the Final Fantasy battle victory music! During the clean-up, I was just confessing to Davis my admittedly selfish wish to have been able take Matt aside to say goodbye properly when Mrs. Lott returned to pick me up at Matt's request to do just that! Talk about heart-wrenching moments!


    So back at the Lott's place we took a moment or 5 and enjoyed some happy trampoline time, took some photos and said our second goodbyes in the space of one week! Its strange that the first farewell caused me so much grief when I only had to wait a week to see Matt again, yet this time, when it'll be a year minimum before we see each other again, I felt strangely optimistic! I guess being surrounded by Matt's family and having had the honour of playing a role in this huge event in his life made me feel that our bond had been strengthened that much further! Its still difficult, in the aftermath of Japan, realising you won't be able to see so many of your close friends as often as you'd like but on this occasion Matt and I at least got to part in high spirits! Then again he had just got married, whats my excuse? 


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    I gotta admit I was hoping Matt, Dani and I could have had more time to just chill and talk! (WEDDING!!! Duuh!) I was hoping to get to know Dani better, but on the plus side I did get to hang with and get to know Matt's family! Following Matt and Dani's departure Bryant, Anna, Rebekah and Jacob took me out for a night of Mongolian barbecues, ice-cream, chillin' in bars and pool-hustling! And apparently in addition to claims I look like Orlando Bloom, I've now been told I look like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails! (Huh, Cass!?) A good night was had!  


    IM000506The next day before my flight I was invited round for lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Lott and Anna. Comfortably full on barbecued burgers and steak we then settled down to a movie ("The Jacket") and some relaxing in the garden before Anna and Mrs. Lott drove me to the airport and waited with me until boarding time. Unfortunately my flight back to England required a days lay-over in Newark so I had booked myself a hotel for the night and set out for home this morning, no.. yesterday morning...uhhh?? I hate time zones!!! Anyway I'm back now and my emotions are once again bleakening! I'm truly thankful for the chance to see Matt again but now I'm back in the same boat as the others. We all have our families and friends at home, but we're still faced with the fact that there are now people we care deeply for on various parts of the planet and we don't know for sure when we'll all be able to see each other again! I suddenly feel very, very sad.... 


    Loath as I am to end on this most emo of notes, I must again express my thanks to the whole Lott clan for their amazing hospitality and making me feel so at home in a place I'd only been in for a couple of days! Matt being Matt, I had always imagined his family to be pretty awesome and I was proven very, very right in my imaginings! Places that feel like home now... Warwickshire (UK), Aichi (Japan) and Northern Kentucky (USA)!!! Next time Matt goes home, I wanna know too so I can spend more than 2/3 days with you guys! (EDIT) At BAlex's prompting, I must add Preston (UK) to my home-type places! Errr... yeah!


    I'll add more pictures (wedding ones) when I get hold of them!   DCFC0041[1]


     


           (Me and Anna at the airport)


    Matt and Dani! Congratulations! You truly deserve the happiness I know you bring each other and I hope you know I'm always there for you. God bless you both!


    Love, Peace, "Me face down, down across your floor!"

July 18, 2006

  • Memoirs Of A Gaijin

    True to my word, its time to recount those heartbreaking but action-packed final days at NUFS! As is the case in these scenarios, we didn't get done all of what we had hoped! Partying on the roof was halted by the presence of too many school-type peoples at the performance of Canadian Mel's play "Lost & Found" and Inuyama Castle was halted when we realised it would take 3 hours rather than 1 to get there! (Japanese transport comes through again!) We did get done some pretty sweet stuff, though... Matt, CAlex and I attended the official premier of Star Wars: Episode XVII The Force Up Commercial at the Mac store in Sakae! In other words, all the commercials from the class were shown, ours being the last! We didn't win the coveted prize of an i pod, but seeing our film on a big screen rocked all the same! We took in dinner at Outback Steakhouse for the last time after!


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    We finally lived up to a Lindsey Wilson College tradition Matt and I had discussed numerous times... The Ninja Run! The same transatlantic trio of myself, Matt and CAlex, dressed as ninja (employing the t-shirt cowl) spent a good half hour in a mad dash of running, jumping and rolling across the NUFS and NUAS campus! Reactions ranged from terror, bemusement, confusion, admiration and a little embarrassment from certain friends of ours! (Kellie, Kellie, Kellie!!!) Along the way we shot videos of our run, paused for some photographs with confused (and sometimes terrified) Japanese students and bought snacks Pasco! We emerged sweaty and breathless, but pleased with ourselves!!! 


    Nagoya University Of Foreign Studies! Come for the education! Stay for the ninjas!


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    Our last few trips to the gym that week were pretty emotional! We finally learned the gym caretaker's name (its Takagi, not "Gym Guy" as we've been calling him all this time!) A final set of farewell photographs were taken of us gyming under his supervision for the last time!!! And Yes! Canadian Alex wore a PINK wife-beater! Well, it is Japan!!! Hahahah!


    Our last trip to the gym followed our Graduation Ceremony, a long affair in formal attire on the final day of school. We hit the gym in our suits and maxed out on the weight-bench before an afternoon at the Sumo! Maybe I'd have got more out of it if my emotions hadn't been running so high but I just wasn't in the mood for large, practically naked men slapping each others flab! It had its moments but all in all my mind and feelings were elsewhere, wishing just for more time to chill at I House with my soon-to-be-seperated-from friends! Sumo came to an end and we headed home where I packed as much of my things as my luggage would allow, realising that I had somehow acquired too much to carry home with me! I left my room for the while and awaited our final jaunt to karaoke. Unfortunately, "Denki wo Keshite ne" was the caretaker that evening! This particular caretaker is, to be blunt, a dick! He is a complete tool! He spent the year going round at the 11 pm cerfew informing a household of 20 somethings to turn out the lights (hence we called him "denki wo keshite ne" meaning "turn out the lights!") and even on occasion told us to return to our rooms, like we were 12 year olds! Noone ever took any notice but the fact remains that the guys a tool! Anyway, Matt and I were about to head for karaoke when he starts buggin' us to get our rooms checked. Emotional levels reached critical at this point! Matt asked if it could wait, he said "dame" (no/not allowed) and emotional levels went into orbit! I rounded on him and screamed obscenities (in English), then stormed out! My first breakdown of many over the next 48 hours, as Matt found me in tears of rage and sorrow in the entranceway, before calming me enough to head for karaoke!


    Karaoke was a bittersweet, emotional affair! Shorter than at first anticipated but we performed some of our staples and let out more emotions! Sho, a hard-as-nails shoot fighter, was the first to break and Sarven and I followed not long after! Matt was emotionally stoic as usual, but I'm sure I caught him choked up and red-eyed as he, Sarven and I sang Incubus' "Wish You Were Here"! He probably blames his contact lenses!!! Back at I House we finally finished packing, largely thanks to Clayton's assistance, as he took on board so much of our extra crap and stored stuff for us to be collected by Matt on his return to start JET! We owe you big-time Clay! Thanks! A brief period of reflection and some final farewells followed, which is where my last entry kicks off... I don't plan to dwell on those parts anymore. The realities of I House and the memories of those realities are with us always. That night leaving was just one moment of pain at the end of a year of awesomeness! And it won't end there! Friends, I say I House was just the beginning... what we made there, is forever! (Fade to black! Cue inspirational rock ballad!!)


    m44226157Matt! You are a true friend and I love you! You've helped me grow physically, mentally and spiritually. You've been there for me every step of the way! I'd be much less without you. Thank you!


    Sarven! You are one of the first people I bonded with and we were there til the end! I'm sorry I let the karate slide. The times we shared, the role-playing, the jokes, they were the best! Love you too, man!


    Kellie! We seemed to get each other from our first talk and I always felt I could talk with you! Hanging in your room over break was some of the best times of my life! Love you Kelso!


    CAlex! You and I share many of the same insecurities. We can be pretty silly sometimes huh!? But I guess thats why we bonded like we did! We didn't always share each others viewpoint, but there was always love! Still is!


     


    Special mention must also go to my schoolmates from UCLan, particularly BAlex (Lord Of Airsoft) and Kate, who tried her darndest to keep me awake in class! To Holly, inventor of the penis-shrinking ray and fellow Star Wars geek! To the rest of the gym crew, original (Mike and Mario, Fat Day! Yeah!) and new (Carter and Clif)! To Marcus for just being cool! To Hew for his sheer Aussie-ness! To Deidre for being a nagging big sister and Fred for being beautiful! (White Day!!!) To my M2 class in general! And to those that came before... CassJeremy, Robin and Jen included, who had to do this 6 months ago! Basically to everyone: You guys made this experience! I'm privileged to have got to live with, and get to know, such a great bunch of people! I love you all!


    NUFS Kids 4 LIFE! Word!    

July 16, 2006

  • Back "Home!"

    Well, here I am! I'm home. In a manner of speaking. Its such a weird feeling. This place is so familiar and yet I've just spent the past year feeling like a small suburb of Nagoya is my home and my fellow ryugakusei (exchange students), my family! Slowly I'm readjusting to being back home but I've spent most of the day on the computer, trying to lay the foundations for the 2nd stage of our relationships... the long distance, xanga, e-mail and chat room based stage! Not to mention the reunions and traveling we have planned. Its still hard to swallow, the fact that none of us will ever have the same kind of life together again, though. I House is not our home anymore and we'll never spend another year where we can just knock on each others doors and be together. Its thoughts like that that have been causing me to break down sobbing every 5 minutes! I guess I just have to adjust to this new stage in our friendships, but I've never been in this situation before so I guess its no wonder I'm scared to death!

    I'll be unconventional and save my update of our last few days in Japan til next time! For now I'll just say when I wrote my "Its Love, Make It Hurt" update I had no idea! However much the anticipation hurt, it was NOTHING compared to the actual thing! Matt and I left I House in our taxi, our friends waving us off! At the airport I was bombarded by problems, the first being that my luggage was over the weight limit and the surplus would cost me 50,000 yen!!! (Thats £250 or $500!) Matt came through again and took one of my bags with him, ready for me to pick up when I go to his wedding next week! Then I had to fill out separate forms cos I no longer had my Gaijin Card (I still dunno what happened to it!), which made reaching our plane by the boarding time pretty tense! On our flight to Tokyo, it finally set in and I broke down sobbing and convulsing with Matt's arm round my shoulders, offering me the friendship and support he always has! But I knew that in a few hours, that would be gone and the pain got too much. Then we parted at the gate to my flight to London and I spent an 11 hour flight feeling the worst I've ever felt in my life! If it hadn't been for an exceptionally kind stewardess named Bianca, who found me a more roomy seat, regular drinks and came to talk to me throughout the flight I probably would have broken down completely! 

    I arrived in the UK at 4:35pm and was met by both my brothers, Chris and Rich! I broke down crying again as I hugged them. The first time 9 year old Richard has seen his big brother vulnerable I guess! We drove back to my Dad's house near Stratford-On-Avon in Chris' shiny new car and had dinner where I cried some more and talked about how much this year and the friends I've made means to me and how utterly terrified I am right now! We then returned home. I slept somewhat randomly last night, inspite of my sleep-deprivation! Since we left I House, everytime I close my eyes I see the people there, hear their voices and it kills me to think I'll never be there again! Since Matt and I parted, it got worse. He tells me he keeps it together via a mixture of ignorance and faith! I'm not sure about the ignorance part, but I admire his faith. I wish I could be as strong! I know we'll meet again at the wedding next week, but we'll have to say goodbye again too. I've been spoiled I guess... getting to live with so many awesome people! I wish I could walk to Matt's room and talk with him for hours like we used to! I wish we could start making Star Wars jokes and references with Sarv, that we could go to the gym and workout together, along with CAlex, Mike, Mario, Carter and Clif! I wish we could go hang in Kellie's room like we did over the break! That we could play airsoft, mess around with lightsabers, everything! I guess I better start wishing for new things now! Regular online chats and e-mails, xanga-interaction and the hope of us seeing each other again for trips in Japan, Australia, Canada, the US and here in the UK! This is a new experience for me and I'm scared to death! I guess I just gotta have faith...    

     

July 14, 2006

  • I promised a final update before I left but I can't do it right now! I'll do it, but not now! Matt n I are packing. We're nearly done and I'm feeling as bad as I've ever felt in my life! I feel nauseous and ready to break down at any moment and probably will! So stay tuned for my final Japan-based update. I just can't do it right now! I'm not sure I can do anything right now....

July 10, 2006

  • Operation: Do Stuff! Part 2

    .... And so it continues! I now have less than a week left here in Japan! I'm not gonna dwell on how much that sucks ass and instead will (and have been) immersing myself in more frantic activities as outlined on Matt's "to do" list! The much-beloved, and mysteriously re-opened, local karaoke place was our first stop this week! Whats more, they had updated their song selection to include more Muse, The Used and Yellowcard! I pretty much wrecked my throat for the rest of the evening just to perform The Used's "Take It Away!" But it was worth it!
    Next on the agenda, posing with lightsabers!!! Our beloved sabers will have to be packaged and shipped home pretty soon so on Saturday night we took the oppurtunity to dress up and go at it, Jedi style! Needless to say, geek levels were through the roof! But after much posing (and a bit of editing) we pulled off somethin pretty freakin cool! Geeky, but cool!

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    BAlex and I duel with Sarven, a la Qui Gonn and Obi Wan vs Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace

    (We sooo have to edit more pics like this!)

    Whats more, we took a walk to a local convinience store ("conbini") in full costume carrying our sabers! Most Japanese stare at us like we're freaks, or pretend we don't exist, anyway. Figured we'd give 'em a reason to! Nothin' like watching the look of fear and panic on their faces as we ignited our sabers whenever we passed anyone! Darkside points for that, I'm sure! (Jeez, we're such geeks!) Continuing the Star Wars theme we've FINALLY finished filming Kate and CAlex's commercial! True to our usual habit of turning a commercial project into a short film (see Metal Gear Solid: Operation I House) the film is around 10 minutes! As soon as we get it uploaded to google video, I'll add a link to it! We've been watching the finished product and its pretty special, in every sense of the word!!!
    Geeky pleasures aside, I'm hoping this week doesn't go by too fast! We've still got a lot more we wanna fit in but July 15th just keeps creeping closer. Havin' week of stuff planned makes it easier, then there's Matt and Danielle's wedding on the 22nd! (Mental note to self! Tell parents that you're flying to the other side of the world for a few days, a few days after flying back from the other-other side of the world!) It's pretty mind-blowing! This time last year Matt n I'd never met, now I'm goin' to his wedding, meeting his wife, family, friends, everyone in his life, in the space of 2 days! Its pretty intimidating (I'll probably act like a complete dork!) but pretty awesome! Its the same with everyone. We're like an international family now when last year we'd never met! Even those of us who knew each other before are closer now, thanks to this whole experience! And once again, my post turns into sappy hallmark-esq mush about how much all this means to me! Cry me a freakin' river! Jeez!!!
    I'll try'n post more frequently (but probably no less sappilly!), before I head home! 1 more Japan-based post, minimum!

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    So, onto Inuyama tomorrow. Sumo and a final karaoke on Friday. Video-ing I House and campus, ninja run and anything else on the list TBA...! And I guess I'd better start packing and tidying up eventually! Urrrrrrrgghh....!!! We hates it!

    EDIT! Kate n CAlex's finished film! Enjoy it! (I said ENJOY IT!!!)
    FORCE UP!

    Til next I post....

    Peace Out! Or something!
    (Couldn't resist another pic!)

July 3, 2006

  • Operation: Do Stuff! Part 1

    OK, its been over a week since my last post and people have been bugging me to update. I was pretty much waiting for this past weekend as the drudgery of class gave way to an action-packed weekend of karaoke and camping, 2 of our "to do list" requirements! (See Matt's blog) The weekend kicked off with the a long overdue karaoke trip soon after classes were out on Friday. As the local place we were so fond of has finally done what its been threatening to do since March and closed for good, myself, Matt, CAlex, BAlex, Holly and Carter (later joined by Sarven and Fred) headed into Sakae to U-Style, aka. "The Ice-cream Karaoke Place" on account of the free ice-cream bar you get when you go there! Oh yeeeah! We lunched at Denny's then hit the karaoke and spent the next 5 hours indulging in the usual throat-shredding antics we've all come to know and love.

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    U-Style Karaoke. Ready for action. Those little white cups have ice-cream! Free ice-cream!!!

    On Saturday, Mike and Matt headed out for our long planned camping excursion in Gifu. Sarven and I followed later, after Sarv was done with karate (he recently upgraded to 3rd kyu/brown belt! Congratulations should, nay must, be sent, via his blog) around 7:00pm. We arrived in Tajimi (in Gifu prefecture) around 8:45 and proceeded to explore the surrounding area for camping grounds. After a brief snack in a McDonalds (where Sarv changed out of his combats and wife-beater into his gi with shiny new brown belt, much to the confusion of the staff!) we headed into the hills where we navigated our way through creepy, spider-infested woods until finally settling down on the grounds of a shrine atop the hill. The mechanics of 4 guys sleeping in 1 small tent proved ....err... "challenging" but we managed...! Kinda...! After our night of (platonic) man-love, we headed out for some trekking round the Tajimi area before heading home around midday, tired and sweaty, but our quest for Gifu-based hiking adventures fulfilled.

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    Tajimi, 7:00am! Just before we removed our shirts and strutted about like we owned the place! Damn Gaijin!

    And then there were 2! Weeks left! I mean "Holy crap!" Its July already!!! At risk of gettin' all whiny again, I'm gonna concentrate on the things we have planned between now and our departure. More karaoke, lightsaber fights, ninja runs, more karaoke... Gotta make it count!
    Anyways, couple more developments! I added a new pointless quiz to my earlier Pointless Quiz Post! I think the results will shock and surprise! I bet noone saw this coming!!! (Sarcasm face!) On a more epic scale, it looks like I'm gonna be flying out to Kentucky just 5 days after I return to the UK! Matt and Danielle invited a couple of peeps here to their wedding on July 22nd, sadly only I can make it, but happily, I can make it!!! Mwahahaa! I bought the tickets this past week. Unfortunately, without Sarven, any hope of singing "Addicted" at the wedding has died so we'll just have to sing it to Matt at least 8, 9, maybe 10 more times at karaoke! On a slightly less epic scale, I've finally set up (and updated) my photoblog! As I've got so much to recap from this past year, I'm gonna do it in themed installments! (Wooah.. Themed installments!!) Up right now are "lightsabers", "early days" and "halloween"! Next theme....? Karaoke, probably...
    Catcha on tha flip-siiiiide! (Err.. yeah!)