never a dull moment :)

last week was only a four day school week, which was verrry nice :) nothing too crazy happened.. one funny story though! the designated area for my apartment complex's garbage is across the parking lot. tuesday morning before heading off to work, i was walking to put my trash in the spot when i noticed out of the corner of my eye a truck driving really slow keeping pace with me. i think a) it could be the garbage man following me so he can pick up the trash after i put it down, or b) it is someone i know and they are being funny by going slow until i recognize them (which really would only happen in the states haha.. i don't know that many people here for this option to seriously happen). so i finally look and it's this old asian man staring at me haha.. i say hi, he smiles this big goofy grin, and then drives off to go about his day. probably the strangest "stare story" i've encountered so far :)

an exciting thing that happened during the week was that i got my hair permanately straightened!! i've been wanting to do this FOREVER, but it's so expensive in the states! luckily, it is affordable here, and i found the cutest salon to go to. they were all super nice and were troopers.. it took four hours!!! my poor hair stylist had to take a break half way through, so a cute girl came over and gave me a head/neck massage while i waited. and i found out she was twenty-two also.. she got so excited haha... too cute. so now i don't have an ounce of curl on my head.. it's unbelievable!! i'm still amazed getting out of the shower with my hair straight and i can actually let it air dry or blow-dry it without any hassle. and it will last six to nine months!! i'm in heaven. :)

on friday, monica stayed the night with me. after skyping with philip and melissa (monica enjoyed that!), we went to jusco to eat mcdonalds and play at the arcade. it was my first time actually playing at the arcade and boy is it addicting!!! you play with tokens and the games are either slot machine style or those games where you try to get the pile of coins knocked over the edge. but in the states you never actually get the coins.. it's a rip-off. NOT HERE! there are little mini games in addition to knocking the coins off the edge. one coin game was a dinosaur theme. we got the coins in a bonus slot, and the t-rex came over to our window and roared at us while thirty coins came out of his mouth.. we got a lot of tokens with this game! then we went to a mario one that had a huge castle with all the mario characters in it. during the game, there is a screen with mario hitting different squares.. if you get three in a row of the same object, you play a mini-game to get more coins. we were sooo close to hitting the jackpot, but then we ran out of money haha. oh well. next time! :) after jusco, we went home and watched alvin and the chipmunks until she fell asleep. we woke up early on saturday (it's like bella spending the night haha) and i made pancakes for breakfast while we watched japanese cartoons.. very interesting!! one was about a dog who found a cow freezing in the snow, so he saved her and they became best friends. then the cow had to go back home and got on a plane. the dog pretended he wasn't going to miss her, but then when the plane started taking off, he started crying and yelling her name. the cow was crying in the plane and they looked at each other and waved before the plane left the runway. at the end, the dog got a picture in the mail of the cow and dog making a snowman haha.. very cute, but VERY random!! then there was a cartoon about a baseball team haha.. they really love their baseball here! after breakfast and showers, we went to the hundred-yen store, and i found some cute pink lights to put in my apartment. adds a little light in the evening when i don't want it too bright in here. on the way home, monica was saying how sad she was we didn't take pictures at jusco the night before, so i stopped at the lookout park and we took some pictures.i love their dog pooping pictures!! :) click on the picture to enlarge so you can get a better look!peace and love! :)after painting nails, more skyping, lunch, and watching some old school alvin and the chipmunks cartoons, i took her home. had a nice visit with her mom... she is such a fun lady :) i'm glad i've gotten the chance to get to know her! and i ended the night watching LOST!!! it's going to be such an amazing season.. and of course mind blowing! it's weird not having lost parties.. i miss my losties!! :)

sunday was skyping, grocery shopping, and then church. lina wanted me to try her church, and i'm glad i did. it's more like a bible study.. three families joined us (each with ADORABLE toddlers), so it's not very big. both secretaries from new life go to this church also, but they weren't there last night. it's a very laid-back atmosphere... after singing, we ask the pastor any questions we have about the bible, and then the pastor goes off that for what the lesson will be about that day. then we have prayer requests and eat snacks and visit for the remainder of the evening. one of the pastor's kids is such cutie.. and the biggest flirt! :) he is about three or four and he would not stop laughing.. cutest laugh i've ever heard! sometimes he got really excited and would speak in japanese to me.. no idea what he was saying haha! i just smiled at him and then he would laugh and laugh.

this weekend will be a busy one. on friday is night cafe (kind of like a talent show that the school puts on), and i'm helping with that.. should be fun! then on saturday is the cherry blossom festival.. VERY excited for that!! so there will definitely be LOTS of pictures coming soon!! :)