Oh my goodness, I can't believe that July is already over! Time could seriously not be going by any faster! Last week I handed in my official letter of resignation and I know that the next 4 months are going to whiz right by so I'm already starting to anticipate "the end" of this adventure. Speaking of which, my co-worker just finished his last day with our school yesterday! He's going back to university in England and we're getting another British guy to replace him this Saturday. I'm going to miss my old co-worker, as he's very cool and he helped me a lot over the last eight months. Last night after work he took me to this awesome Okinawan restaurant about a five minute bike ride from our school. We ate SOOO much food and we each had multiple drinks, but because the owner knows him she only charged us each 1500 yen (about $15)!!! It was great and I tried a few new foods. The first food was this really unpleasant and bitter vegetable called Goya mixed with eggs, tofu, and spam (the latter were nice, just not the Goya). The other new food was an awesome looking fruit called Dragon Fruit, the skin of "the dragon" is bright pink and scaley... the name is fitting, right? The inner flesh is what you eat, it's white with loads of little black seeds and it comes right off the peel. The dragon fruit was good, it had a rather subtle taste, but I was mainly just excited to be eating something that was A) Very exotic and B) Named after a mythical creature! I was particularly happy because my co-worker told me the owner said I was welcome to come back, she said this to him in Japanese, but she gave both of us gifts of some canned beverage as we were leaving and walked us out. I do plan to return, though I'm a little nervous since, unlike my co-worker, I can't speak Japanese, but now I have even more of a reason to practice and someone nearby to practice with at least a little bit.
My awesome dragon fruit!
On Monday I went to yet another fun and interesting place with Jenn, Tokyo Dome City! This is a large complex with a big dome where baseball games are played, restaurants, shopping, a spa, and an amusement park! Of course, Jenn and I came for the amusement park. We expected that we would have a good time, but the park totally exceeded our expectations. It had an absolutely amazing roller coaster. This coaster had huge drops, freakishly scary turns, and towered high above the buildings of Tokyo. What was the coaster named? The THUNDER DOLPHIN... because god knows nothing is scarier than a noisy porpoise. We rode the Dolphin three times and also went on a number of other rides multiple times because there were virtually no lines. The price was really good and the park is only 25 minutes from where I live so we are definitely going to return to TDC. I also would like to see a baseball game there, because while I'm not really a fan of baseball normally, I've heard that baseball games in Japan are really spectacular mainly due to the ecstatic fans.
Posing with some cartoons
Help?
The THUNDER DOLPHIN!!!
This Saturday there is going to be a really big fireworks display on the river near my school. Since I teach until 8 and the fireworks (hanabi - flower fire) start at 7, my students and I are going to go watch them from the roof of my school and then I'm going to walk over to the river once my students leave. I've invited Jenn to come watch them too since on Saturdays she teaches in Ikebukuro, which is not too far away from Takashimadaira. On Sunday we're having our farewell / welcome party for my old and new co-workers so it should be a somewhat busy and eventful weekend... just 2 days to go!
On Monday I went to yet another fun and interesting place with Jenn, Tokyo Dome City! This is a large complex with a big dome where baseball games are played, restaurants, shopping, a spa, and an amusement park! Of course, Jenn and I came for the amusement park. We expected that we would have a good time, but the park totally exceeded our expectations. It had an absolutely amazing roller coaster. This coaster had huge drops, freakishly scary turns, and towered high above the buildings of Tokyo. What was the coaster named? The THUNDER DOLPHIN... because god knows nothing is scarier than a noisy porpoise. We rode the Dolphin three times and also went on a number of other rides multiple times because there were virtually no lines. The price was really good and the park is only 25 minutes from where I live so we are definitely going to return to TDC. I also would like to see a baseball game there, because while I'm not really a fan of baseball normally, I've heard that baseball games in Japan are really spectacular mainly due to the ecstatic fans.
This Saturday there is going to be a really big fireworks display on the river near my school. Since I teach until 8 and the fireworks (hanabi - flower fire) start at 7, my students and I are going to go watch them from the roof of my school and then I'm going to walk over to the river once my students leave. I've invited Jenn to come watch them too since on Saturdays she teaches in Ikebukuro, which is not too far away from Takashimadaira. On Sunday we're having our farewell / welcome party for my old and new co-workers so it should be a somewhat busy and eventful weekend... just 2 days to go!
2 comments:
Hi Leila Gita, This is the first time that I read your blog at Auntie Ellen's and I can see that you are living a very exciting life. We went to Grandma Judy's this Saturday and we certainly missed seeing you there but I'm sure you'll be back soon and we can get together again. Love Grandma Jeanette and Irving Finsmith.
What in heaven's name IS that buglike thing with the pincers?????? A kiddie ride? Oy! Wish we'd known about the "thunder dolphin" when we were there. It looks TOTALLY FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!
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