bettyx

a wood pounder? oops. but doesn't a wood pounder sounds like something you use to pound wood? i know in cooking we use a mallet for pounding meat, but the mochitsuki one is mega so i don't know.. sorry! ps. if you do decide to make mochi this year, can i come? (if only for humour value)

i'm a master (or so it says on my graduation diploma) but haven't done anything to do with my studies since i finished. & it truly saddens me to this day that i wound up as a AET. oh well, off to gaijinpot..

aah this thread is funny. LOUD, the club down at happo, was pretty big on weekends, i heard, but i never actually went down there. it seemed to get going late (after midnight). my friends were working up in the private room, they put on a heap of makeup & sat around with the special guests, just chatting & doing whatever non-sexual hostesses do. (what the hell do they do anyway?) ps. if yr making jerseys, i want a #3 on mine.

i'm not sure what to do about my pass. i think my buddies will be skiing happo so yeah, i'm thinking i'll need to drop 7man & get me one too. not sure if i should buy it soon or wait for the mt6 pass results? visa issues.. hmm.. no hope there, just got all my visa stuff sorted out. am seriously trying to think of something else i can do to earn some money. i loved working the winter season but the money was so poor... guess i've gotta get my priorities straight, right? anyone know how to make enough money to live & still enjoy life in rural japan? am planning on

haha, thanks misorano. that sounds good in theory BUT i work at a different school every single day of the month. like a perpetual substitute teacher, i have no relationship with any students/teachers. i'm interested in music/movies/art etc. unfortunately, most japanese elementary school kids aren't.

yes, that was the 'think snow' or something JR ad, wasn't it? wonder where it was made?

i uh.. i passed out paper plates & chopsticks. i had a hit with the big hammer but am quite a weakling, it was purely for 'let's all laugh at the cute gaijin with a big hammer' amusement. i think i may have tossed some water on the rice as well. in english we call mochi-kome 'glutinous rice', right? the hotel interior was fully heated so the rice didn't crack, unfortunately there were a heap of leftovers as most of the guests had already hit the powder when the mochi-making began. plus, the stupid hotel only announced it in japanese, so none of the foreign guests show

r45- maybe someone can back me up on this one. i was told old horses (particularly racehorses) were made into glue. no idea where this comes from. maybe it's an aussie thing?

a teecha. yes, i guess you could call it that. i have no holidays left due to bronchitis attacking my lungs & leaving me sick for a week. i did however, arrive at school today only to be sent home before 9am. i must have looked like hell, & so they decided it would be best if i just went home to sleep. very nice... HOWEVER it just made me realize how much i'd like to stay in bed every day,& not deal with school anymore. anybody need any winter staff? i'm happy to move on after i get my xmas bonus!

slow: don't banana repulic use sweatshops too? i had genmai at 2 places in hakuba, one was i think pumpkin, the organic cafe, & the other was... i can't recall. but they were both great. really fluffy, not like the dry brown rice i remember from my childhood. paid 400yen for a bowl of brown rice at a macrobiotic place in tokyo once, my boyfriend was devastated as he said he could buy a half-decent bowl of ramen for that price.

ok so i love cold weather, can't wait til winter & am forever gushing over the newly snow-capped northern alps. BUT something about the current season is making me feel really crappy, possibly because it's not winter yet & i still have a month of work, maybe because i'm sick of my current job or maybe because it's almost been a year since i arrived. does anyone else ever feel this way? i totally need some change.

you meat-eaters are so messed up. i'm forever confused about how normal folks eat cows/pigs/chickens etc but freak out about dog/cat/horse. i mean i get it, but i don't like it when meat eaters get all high&mighty about other cultures & their choice of meat. i dislike the thought of eating horse because i was brought up to believe all the old horses were sent to the glue factory, or made into pet food.

yes. unless you work in a japanese hotel & have to work for christmas & new years & every day in between. i'm looking forward to enjoying some festivities this year. any suggestions?

hey gamera, last year at my hotel in hakuba we pounded some mochi, it was soo good. except: it was done inside in the foyer, on a huge sheet to pick up all the flying bits. of course, the sheet wasn't big enough & i had to try to get all the mochi out of the carpet afterwards (not fun but somewhat worth it as the fresh mochi was amazing). i've done it outside in kansai a few times, lots of fun but the indoor version was still nice & tasted the same. (except it wasn't followed by a yakiniku bbq!)

uniqlo may use sweatshops but they also use amazing designers from all over the world for collaborations etc. they are forever updating their tshirt/hoodie range & it's fantastic. i've bought heaps of stuff to send home to friends whom are into interesting street brands/artists. but for myself, can't go past the kids tshirts. usually about 500yen a pop & they come in a million fantastic designs. question: why is brown rice more expensive than white? it actually takes more time/effort to hull the rice, right?

matsuchan- where you at?

i just got told i'm getting a 6man christmas bonus. whaddaya reckon if i splash out on a happo pass?

got my 'zannen' postcard today. *sigh*

finishing work today (after a wonderful relaxing day yesterday) & suddenly realized - oh my god it's friday & i don't have to go to work until monday! midweek holidays are surprisingly good. much better than i thought. however, agreed, if you want to go away somewhere, the thursday holiday is kinda a pain.

do we pay for postage? are they going to be available in any shops/places? this is kinda silly but they will be waterproof, right? some guy assured me a sticker was waterproof but it bubbled & peeled off my car's rear window in about a week. & what if we just want one?

saw karuizawa prince hotel is open for gelende weddings already. is that real snow they're using? & is it as busy there as the other places you mentioned?

who is that geos boy? he's kinda cute..looks a little orlando bloom-like?

i have zero hope of winning. have a slight tiny ray of hope in that i also applied through my boyf's address in tokyo. (does anyone know the japanese for fingers crossed? or 'touch wood'? i have to explain this quite often but noone seems to have a japanese equivalent)

gamera - token has a more cynical edge. eg. most american tv shows about say, a group of kids in high school, would have a token black/asian kid, just to mix it up a bit. but the fact that they are there just because they are asian/black role is so obvious, that it's kinda silly. like, they have no role except to be the token black/asian kid. it might not even be a black/asian kid. there's usually a token fat kid in most ensemble comedies, or a token gay guy, pretty much any minority. i have absolutely no examples to back this up at the moment but that is because it is late &a

bought a milk coffee from the 711 this morning. reached for a straw, dropped it in the plastic bag with my supplies & the clerk freaked out, soo apologetic for not giving me a straw - she actually bowed at me. crazy.