I think I hit senior slump again, because lately I've been completely unmotivated to do much of anything. I blame this on my lack of classes, which means that I have to motivate myself to get stuff done (and we know how that goes). When I feel like I'm getting things done, I'm far more productive. Otherwise, my laundry sits in the basket/on the floor for a week. Last week, pretty much every afternoon/evening after work was spent watching the Sopranos and reading Sense and Sensibility (which, btw, I finished). Then there was the weekend...
On Saturday night, my friends Emma and Chasna hosted a Bollywood-themed fundraiser at the George for their upcoming trip to India. As usual, it was a lot of fun. I wore a long magenta-ish skirt that seemed kinda Bollywood even though I bought it in Colorado. I am also officially jeans-less (I only brought two pairs with me to Japan, I ripped the zipper off one and tore a hole in the back of the other). I hate buying jeans in Japan, so I suppose it's good that it's almost skirt weather.
On Sunday, we had soccer practice. The sky was threatening to dump rain on us essentially the entire time, but luckily, it didn't rain at all. We followed up practice with Denny's (completely different from American Denny's, although it's the same company), and nomihodai karaoke. Karaoke was great not only because of the nomihodai-ness, but also the choice of songs was perhaps the most eclectic mix ever. We played "the page game," basically you randomly flip open the song book and have to sing something on that page. I sang "Hero" by Mariah Carey. Luckily by that point we had been there for over an hour so it didn't matter what I sounded like.
As expected, I was exhausted on Monday. Also I think soccer practice was the final straw that broke my neck (well, not really broke, just hurt). I woke up on Monday with that wonderful "it hurts to turn my head" feeling, so I decided to venture out to Kawagoe in search of a massage therapist. I've never gotten a massage in Kawagoe before, so I was kinda wary about what would happen. (For reference, my Japanese is good enough that I can understand basic everyday conversations, but my understanding drops dramatically when people use "keigo" aka insanely formal Japanese that most Japanese people my age don't understand). I arrive at the designated "beauty floor" of the department store which comes complete with massage parlor, nail salon, hair dresser, and teeth whitening clinic. I pick up one of the handy massage brochures and choose what I want (basic 30 minute "muscle therapy" which includes neck, back, shoulders, head, and legs), and approach the staff worker.
Me: Sumimasen... (Excuse me...)
Staff worker: [unintelligible Japanese]
Me: annoo... (umm...)
Staff worker: [picks up a brochure and opens it while continuing to speak in Japanese I don't understand]
Me: masuru sherapii sanjyuppun(muscle therapy, 30 minutes [accompanied by pointing motion])
Staff worker: hai, ... (yes, ... [more Japanese I don't understand])
Eventually, I managed to fill out a name card, pay for the massage, and establish that the only clothes I brought were the suit pants and sweater I was wearing. They had loaner shirts and pants, which may be the only Japanese clothes I've ever worn that were too big for me. I lay (laid?) down on the table, fully clothed, then she put a towel over me and proceeded to massage me over my clothes and the towel. Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10.
So that was last week. This weekend I... slept... watched the Sopranos... I did manage to get out for lunch on Saturday. I met up with the office ladies at my school and had spaghetti in a cute little restaurant that looked like (and probably used to be) a house. I learned all the crazy gossip regarding why certain teachers transferred schools and why certain other teachers should transfer. I finished Sense and Sensibility, so I'm now waiting for BookMooch to send me Mansfield Park (I'm in possession of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey). If you have any reading recommendations, let me know!
