Hey You Guys, I'm Still Here!

I haven't updated in awhile and J from Japan keeps bugging me to get back at it:) Most notably, I have been acting 13 again! I don't know, are you still playful at 13? That's a weird age to pick. OK, 10 again! We have had 4 + feet of snow pile up and I have been enjoying every second of it, as you can see from the photo.

What else is new? I am shopping for health insurance since I ended my previous job. It is frustrating to see Obama's public option run into so many barricades. It's hard for reform to happen in this country, like it's the end of the world to have a public option. Guess how much Gino and I were paying to be insured? $643 a month or $7,716 a year to go to the doctors twice. I think that's what everyone should be outraged about. Do people just not realize how much they are paying b/c it comes right out of their paycheck? But I'm just a zealous liberal who wants to live on a tropical island, so of course this would be my opinion.

Here is a photo of g and I in West Virgina, click on it to make it bigger, it's a good pic:

My software job is going well. It's a world of database lingo and is completely new to me. I like getting involved in new ventures and adventures. I work from home. This sounds very appealing, I know. But most people probably couldn't handle what I do. Meaning, you really have to love your home and love being at home. I'm a homebody, it fits me perfectly. I feel like I go into town only a handful of times a year. I just don't need to be on the go all the time.

Being Silly on Skis:

Well, not on the go locally. I am getting the travel itch again and I am about ready to scratch it. Next month Gino and I are going to Pana Ma! I am excited to rough it, find exquisite unexpected places and create adventures. Although I won't be going anywhere if I don't get a new passport. My passport is a "Marconi" not an "Amasia," and Gino bought tickets for "Amasia." My passport is the last Marconi thing I have and I wanted to cherish it forever while perpertually buying plane tickets for Marconi. There is something great about the handful of friends that still call me "Marconi." (Don't get any ideas, I don't love it enough for you to change what you call me, so if you don't call me Marconi don't start:) I will lose the prestige of flashing all of the countries stamps too. Mine will be empty. I don't mind this.

That's all for now, I'll leave you with this dollop of fun:

Save Fallston's Library follow-up

I wrote my local representative and the library representatives listed on this link:

After Thursday's meeting, I got this impression from the library trustee board sitting at the front: It seems like the board supporters were putting blame on the community for not speaking up sooner, at the time when the county council decided to cut the budget. True, in a perfect world every member of Harford County would be up-to-date and involved in their county's politics. But we're not... and now I think it is completely unfair that the library trustee board places the hardship of a county-wide budget cut solely on one part of a community -- Fallston. It is socially irresponsible. It's reality, budgets get cut. But spread the damage out -- impose cutbacks or a plan to increase revenue county-wide -- so that it minimally affects all.
It was such an awesome turnout, but I heard no county council members were there.

I think all local representatives need to make sure they attend the public hearing at Fallston High 6 p.m. next Thursday.

Ms. Caplan and Capt. Jim, Thank you for your reply!

Ms. Amasia,
I don't believe that was the message Mr. Nicodemus meant to
convey. I think he was trying to tell the community that we will need your help
next year. I can assure you that the Board and staff heard the community out
pour to save the branch and listened carefully to the suggestions given. There
will be another hearing next Thursday at 6PM at Fallston High so those who
couldn't get in the room may have an opportunity to speak. Thank you for your
advocacy for the Fallston Branch.
Audra Caplan

Mr Shrodes serves as the council liaison to the board of
trustees and Mr Woods represents Fallston. I was told they both were going
to be there but I will ask to make sure. They probably did not
speak.. Captain Jim Dist C

Closing Fallston's Library

In a span of only one week, Fallston's community discovered that politicians are trying to shut down our local library. All week I have been trying to raise awareness, going to local businesses and posting signs. Tonight I attended a public hearing and was very pleased how Fallston represented itself. The hearing was packed, with an overflow that wasn't allowed in, but as large in number as the representation at the hearing. So many strong arguments were made from my fellow community members. Here's why the library trustees are saying "their hands are tied" and they must close Fallston's branch:

• Age of Building
• Branch is not easily accessible on foot
  
• Low walk-in traffic
  
• Cost savings
  
• Poor location and dangerous vehicle access in and out of the property
  
• Close proximity to newest branches, Bel Air (7 miles), Jarrettsville (8 miles) and Abingdon
  
• Low percentage of computer usage compared to other branch locations

Here's some obvious refutes:

• The building is not ancient, but leaving an abondoned building would still be expensive to taxpayers: heating so the pipes are not frozen in the winter, patroling the area.
• Our tax money does not give us water, trash pickup, but the one thing it does give is our small library. Most people everywhere drive to the library.
• Poor location? It is centrally located to be the midpoint of three schools, it is on a easily accessible road and I haven't heard of any major accidents because of vehicle access.
• You shouldn't close down a library over computer usage. Fallston in fact has the fourth highest library usage out of the 11 branches in Harford County.

Well, throughout the public hearing it became quite evident that these weren't the real reasons why our library is closing. The board of trustees for the library, who made the decision to close, seemed to easily grasp (in my mind at least) that even if the above reasons are true it is still not any circumstance to close a community's library.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid our community acted too late. The county council of Harford county imposed this budget cut and now the library board thinks this is their only option. I think it's pretty crumby that this cut was ever imposed, but I, along with 99 percent of the other people at the hearing, did nothing about it. So now we decide to wake up and make one last valiant effort to save our books.

But what I do think is this: The board of trustees is in a tight position to think they have to close the library, but COME ON! But come on BOARD - this is your chance - work for your community and come up with a different solution. It seems like a no-brainer... you need 400,000$ a year? Well, come up w/ a plan, don't just say we are closing a library because it is difficult to drive in and out of; because not enough people sit on the computers and stare at the screen; because the building is more than 20 years old (eek! older than 20, can you imagine?)

I think it's laziness, and I am outraged that closing anything ever became an option. What needs to be considered seriously are ways to meet the budget cut by increasing revenue. I will pay .25 to check out a DVD; I will pay $5 a year to renew my card; I will make my dad who is a senior citzen to pay late fees. Implementing simple ideas like this -- plus many more spoken at the meeting tonight -- and enforcing them county-wide would create $400,000 sooner than you can get through the Twilight series...(well, I don't about that.)

SaveFallstonsLibrary.com for updates and actions you can take. This coming week will be important to reach out to our politicians!

Boo-hoo Ah-Choo Pity Party for Me: Allergies

I am allergic to autumn. Eye irritation, runny nose, stuffy nose, puffy eyes and sneezing have me looking in the mirror exclaiming that I've seen better days. When will it end? Last night freshly bathed, windows closed, and seemingly pollen-free, I awoke from a deep slumber and sneezed 32 times until my burning eyes could locate the benadryl.

Evil pollen, how do you know where to find me?

I will take a poison ivy summer over a ragweed fall any day. I caught poison ivy three times this summer, I've sneezed about 200. What happened to the genetic blessing of perfect teeth, allergy-free, never sick poster child I once was?

If you are a poison ivy sufferer/googler you know it's not supposed to spread by itching or contact with other parts of the body or someone else. So why is it that Gino gets a dab of ivy last week and I now have it all down my leg? Oh sensitive body of mine, fight for your right to be allergy-free!

My wedding is coming up and I feel itchy, puffy, runny, wrinkly from the puffiness, lackluster, burning, clogged and red...and no, you get no pictures with this post.

Cover Up to Cool Down: Wearing Long Sleeves in the Summer

The new business is hot and heavy. The weekend was spent in the 90 degree heat carrying weighty camera equipment. After my South East Asia trip this spring, I have been suriving the summer heat with one of my many far-out experiments: To train my body to cool down by wearing long sleeves and long pants during the hot months.

Spending time in hot countries, I have noticed that the people residing in these places tend to cover themselves. Rarely are shorts seen. Plus, the residents seem a lot more comfortable than I am in the same heat.

This is a strange thing for me to rant and rave about, I know. But during this weekend's hot and heavy work I met a woman doing the same thing. She was in velour pants (yes, velour...maybe she can be my mentor because I'm not THAT conditioned to the heat yet.) I told her of my long pants long sleeved summer experiment and she said that she was doing the same thing. Isn't that crazy?

She said she is from Colombia and that most people keep themselves clothed in the summer to protect from the sun and to cool their body temp. It's nice to see that my antics have some justification.

By the way, while writing this blog I am wearing a blue hoodie and blue jeans.

Search is Out for a Neighborhood Buddy

I was telling my Dream Team yesterday that I was on the search for a neighborhood friend. Francesca replied, "What am I, chopped liver?" Well one, you live 2.4 miles away and I practically die trudging up the hills to your house on my crap bicycle; and two, it took me two phone calls and a mocking tone by you to get your over here tonight. She said that I wanted a neighborhood friend so I could have someone at my beck and call. :::sigh::: Who me?? I need to be entertained? No way!

OK, she's right. I want to play, ride my crap bike down the street to pick up my non-busy imaginary friend and then frolic around the neighborhood catching tadpoles in the stream--well, I guess they'd be frogs at this point -- and eat ice cream on my seven hammocks in my yard on a hot summer's day after searching around the woods for good fort spots. Ahh, I'm envious of the 12-year olds in my neighborhood. Maybe I can just get in tight with them.

Did you know the cliche "What am I, chopped liver?" is a Jewish-English expression. Chopped liver was traditionally served as a side dish rather than a main course. The phrase, therefore may have originally meant to express a feeling of being overlooked, as a "side dish."


In "Beck and Call," "Call" is used here with its usual meaning. "Beck" is a shortened form of "beckon", which we do still know well and understand to mean 'to signal silently, by a nod or motion of the hand or finger, indicating a request or command'.

Outer Banks and my Dream Team

I just returned from a girls weekend at the Outer Banks. Head straight down south past Virginia Beach and settle into the OB. If you can endure the six to seven hour drive you will be thankful. You will praise the uncrowded beaches, the absence of high-rise hotels and the limited commercialism.

I loved having no other entertainment besides my girlfriends at my fingertips. I met Francesca in the third grade, Kateri around the same time and Paula a few years later. Lauren entered in high school. Francesca is funny, conservative, sensitive and grounded. Kateri loves hard-core adventure, is athletic, loves to travel (to cold places)and is selfless. Paula is open-minded, silly as a butterfly, hardworking, smiley and energetic. Lauren lives life for her adorable family, is a great hot young mama, likes to stay local and values security. And well, you all know me.

We all used to be the same: athletic, goofy, cute, intelligent and fun-loving. Through the years we have branched off to acquire different motivations in life. At times when (almost) the entire group can get together are the moments that these changes can be noticed. For example, my friends are more sensitive than I remember (or the correct tag would be I'm more abrasive.) If I rag on myself I find that they tell me that the opposite is true. Yo mates - I have the right to make fun of my gut if I so please. I also quickly realized that I had to tone down my comments about others that were only funny to me. It made me realize how often thekidg and I can tell each other things half-jokingly without sensitivity on the receiving side. Kate gets stir-crazy if the activities aren't adventurous. If Paula has something worrisome on her mind, it can not be joked about. These are all things I noticed on the trip.

Given these differences, we never got frustrated with each other. Childhood friends are loyal to each other, playful, and always satisfying to be around. Even through all our changes, my Dream Team is just as much as a delight as they were when we all were adventurous little brats. Last weekend we "boogied" (meaning utilizing the boogie board) until we were about to drop, we screamed at the mega waves, we exaggerated on our beat-downs by the water, we played football like no other girls you've ever seen, we frisbeed weaving and cavorting on the sand, and we laughed until our bellies hurt. No matter how different we've become, we still do know how to have a genuine good time together.

No More Crack: Japan Cures My Back Pain!

I'm stingy, love bargain shopping and brag when I find a deal. But you probably already know that about me. What you might not know, however, is that everyday I stretch my neck, hear it crack twice and feel my shoulders pull. My yoga teacher used to tell me that I carry my life's stress in my upper back, and don't exhale it out.

This dull ache that is created in that region never goes away, so much so that I hardly notice it anymore. In a way, it has become a part of me. I encounter many people with similar scenarios. The pain isn't strong enough to take action, so they are content with shoving it to the back of their minds, living with it, and then all together forgetting about it...Until the daily crack leaves a lingering soreness.

Today my morning crack made me ask myself a question: How long has this been going on? My joints have never been nimble but surely I didn't experience these pangs my entire young adulthood.

I think mine started when I came to Japan, at the age of 22. That's when I can recall consistently thinking that I had a stiff neck.

I think Japan has phenomenonal health care for minor sicknesses, aches and pains. So today I decided to take action and go to a back clinic. For the cost of 13 USD with insurance I enjoyed 30 minutes of treatment.

Picture this: A bell sounds and three patients lie face down and electric pulses resound through their back for 10 minutes. what a cool feeling.

Then the bell sounds again, three new patients take your place, and you are taken to your pressure point massage, done by a back specialist.

20 minutes later I finished on a bed that rolled underneath my body. I decided for 8 bucks to add acupuncture treatment at the end.

I walked out of there dazed, woozily happy from the rush of endorphins that were released from my body during the treatment and vowed to come back the next week. Amen... hallelujah... I rejoice in my head...not the hint of tightness, pain or stress. My neck won't even crack. I feel light, free and easy.

So it actually can be corrected. When it comes to myself, I don't always have to be stingy. It's Ok to splurge on my health. Though, I will take a minute to brag about what a deal it was finding this shop. Efficient, brilliant and cheap! Perfect for the bargain shopper / back pain suffer that I am. If only I could pack this up and take it home to America with me. But, oh, alas, seven weeks in south east asia with $4 Thai massages will surely suffice.

A Reflection: Saying Goodbye After 5 Years in Japan

Today I finished my finals and said goodbye to my career as a University professor. (No, really guys, that's what my visa says...) Probably the first and last time I will be one. I had a quaint sayonara lunch with my coworkers. So far so good: Exiting smoothly with little attention being brought to the fact that I'm am leaving. The school year ended Monday and I actually think I got away with not telling the students.

Can't explain it. Just trying to avoid the emotion drama of leaving. On the drive home I was thinking about previous strike through word (which by the way I am NOT experiencing any of...)

Since I became of age to enter the work force I have never lived in The States. It's not that I am anti-living there, rather, today (in the car) I realized that I am nervous to do something ordinary.

When I come home in May I will enter my uncle's nonprofit company. This is the first time, since becoming of working age, that I will do something that isn't completely off-the-wall.

In uni I googled a tropical island job, then got one and moved across the world to Guam. I actually accepted the job, then ran downstairs on my world map to check where it was located. There I became a windsurfing instructor and life guard (at the time, all I knew was the doggie paddle).

Besides that and Japan (which has become, with no intentions, a sort of career) the only other job I have held has been a taxi driver (I'll save that entry for a slow day.)

So yes, truth be told, I am scared. I am scared that I won't be satisfied with the ordinary.

Allergies in December? Those Buggers!

Forgive me for the following unseasonable posting. I've never needed braces, have eyes like a hawk and can't sympathize with yearly sneezers. I am a genetic blessing.

Until now. This past spring I would wake up, sneeze ten times, and need to excessively water my eyes with eye drops. Medicine? nah.. don't need it. Do you have allergies?? Who me?? No, I don't get allergies.

About a month ago I would wake up in the middle of the night, dying of thirst, with a scratchy throat. My eyes would itch. That same week my student described his allergic symptoms to be: thirst, itchy eyes, dry thoat. Some sort of pollen allergy.

Doh! After a year and a half of denying it, I threw in the towel.

Me too! I proclaimed. I have allergies!! It's miserable.

Apparently, my Japanese acquaintances told me that each body has its own limit for allergies. And once that limit is reached, your body starts exhibiting symptoms. At the age of 25 I started showing mine.

This fact seems common knowledge in Japan, but it was my first time to discover it. I will have to google further into this. Did anyone else know this?

I'm hoping that my body reached its limit on Japanese pollen, not American pollen. If it didn't, then maybe I need to tone down the "genetic blessing" rants.

BTW, how's everyone digg'n this template?? Not yet the right one??

The People that Surround Me: Enjoying the Little Things

My time is eventually winding down here, so I am trying to scoop up every morsel of fun that my taste buds can handle. This includes Mt Moi (make the most of it) with my little kids I teach. Had to capture the photo above on camera after our warm-up song.

"Who's this?" D Monster asks. The rats answer, "It's you!"

Is this what they really think of me?? Odd thing is is that it does look like me. My reply, "I'm happy, not angry!" Then I charged them. The culprits - Tomoe and Haruki.




Just as I *finally* {hmph} settled them, Haruki apologized for passing gas. "That's stinky isn't it?" he says. Then he proceeded to tell us that his "chin chin" aka "pee pee" was itchy. geeeez, manners please.

They topped of the hour with a popular TV thing going on here. Click to see the "urusai" (noisy) performance.

73 percent liked curly, so I tried to go back. Oops, turned it purple. I know, I'm a bad liar. Cat's out of the closet - I love to wear wigs! The true 'do is the el natural (plus perm):


But oh how I do love a good wig.

'Do Over

As the leaves are changing colors here, so does my hair. Have you ever met anyone that gets a perm then five days later straight perms it, bobs it, creates bangs and then tops it off with some color?? Crazy, I'll tell you what. Crazy is what I'm going. I like this look though. Which one do you like better?? Take my poll on the right.

'Do you Like it?

My new 'do. Last week I was bored of my hair and the fact that its only style was pulled back, scrunched and hidden. I decided to take action with my first perm. The result: six hours after exiting the hair salon my locks were flat, broken and frayed. Good decision Danielle.

One week later it was time to repair the damage done. The result: If this isn't curly, I don't know what is. It definitely has a "puff factor" to it that is not accurately depicted in the above picture.

This is one of ten pics I attempted with the cell phone camera. Talk about bad lighting. If you ever want to look bad, just whip out your cell phone.

In other news, I am proud to announce I made my first home cooked meal since my man's emigration. The lucky bird - breaded mustard chicken. I couldn't really enjoy the taste because I was stressed during the making.

Speaking of my hot, shirtless man, here is a pic:

If you know me at all...

If you know me at all you know I can't cook, only clean the house upon command, avoid grocery stores at all costs and haven't done my own laundry in a year. I know, I'm not hiding in a closet, I admit it, I'm hopeless. (...and by the sound of it, I'm a catch too.)


Luckily, several attempts of an "eggplant steamboat" and a late work schedule have by default made Gino the domestic caretaker around here. And boy do we enjoy it. No more burnt dinners, stains that actually come out of my clothes and after work at 9 p.m. I come home to a house filled with the sweet smell of home cooking.

But starting from today I am being left hung out to dry, well, at least my laundry is. I am just lonely hearted.

Gino left today for a friend's wedding, then home for thanksgiving, staying for Christmas and coming back possibly January or February. He hasn't even left Asia yet and I am already missing my partner in crime, in addition to noticing every silence in the house.

He must have been worried for my well-being too. When I got home to my empty house I had tonight's dinner in the refrigerator and clean clothes on hangers. I predicted the departure and already made an appointment with two of my students to teach me how to cook next week.

Though the three of us--cats included--are left alone, we hope to get a lot done. I vow to write everyday, even if it's not on this blog; plan two weddings, a ceremony i n Japan too; make an exit strategy for my English school next year; continue painting, and of course feed my new addiction to the West Wing.

As for the cats, they are expecting to prefect their bathing and sleeping skills.

So please check back more often. I'm motivated to write again. Though would love to figure out how to widen the margins on blogger. Any help out there? And am in desperate need for a Blog Face Lift. Be patient... it's coming!

P.S. Pray For Me

Wyatt James Koger is strong, big, adorable and seemingly ready for the fight ahead of him. "A hole in my diaphragm?" the infant murmured to his mother, "Please, I can handle that."

The infant even went as far as to send his mommy home from the hospital on Wedsnesday, just two days after his birth. Not before, however, giving her a bit of a scare.

An ECMO machine is similar to a heart and lung machine in that it provides cardiac and respiratory support. Blood is drained from the infant's body through tubes. The blood is then oxygenated and the carbon dioxide is removed. The blood is warmed and then returned to the body through more tubes. Essentially, the ECMO machine does the work for the heart and lungs, and gives the underdeveloped organs time to heal. This machine is Wyatt's lifeline until surgery.

Wyatt has Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, meaning that his diapragm was formed with a hole in it. His stomach and intestines are is in his chest cavity, not in his abdomen where they belong.

Wyatt was on a breathing ventilator but his heart was not yet up to the challenge. He briefly went into cardiac arrest on Wedsnesday morning. Immediately, his heart was stabilized and he was put on the ECMO machine. The ECMO was operating at 100 percent, meaning Wyatt's organs had the day off and could completely relax. On Thursday, the doctor reduced it to 50 percent, and Friday to 40 percent. Friday, he was slightly sedated, but the doctor pinched him and he opened his eyes. He even held our cousin, Christine's finger. It seems like everyone's thoughts and prayers are being answered.

Gina and company are reading him stories, singing him songs, and giving him his fill of love. In three to ten days, it is hoped that the ECMO machine can be reduced and Wyatt can undergo surgery to put his organs back in place. After that, he is projected to stay in the NICU unit for about a month.

He is blessed to have access to this machine (there are only three in Maryland), he is blessed to be born strong at 8lbs 2 oz, he is blessed to be beating the odds, and he is blessed to have such an optimistic mother that has been preparing him for the fight while he was inside of her.

It's as though sometimes God rewards us by letting us see his work one small, slow-paced step at a time. It'll be a long road ahead, but Wyatt emailed me the other day telling me that he is confident that he will make it through. His P.S. was wondering if I could ask everyone I know to pray for him.


Above was the picture he attached with his email.

A Slew of Thoughts...

Supermarkets paralyze me. This is the second night in a row that I have attempted the grocery shopping after work, and this is the second night in a row that I have spent 25 minutes on a shopping list chock-full of a total of four items. 25 minutes! Yesterday I came home an hour later ranting that I had been screwed by the supermarket. I first went for the raw fish, but there was none because of the rain. Try No. 2 was also a no-go. Consequently, 25 minutes later I walked out with a disgusting combination of artificial crab meat and crunchy noodles.

What was I thinking? Needless to say Gino ate leftovers that night. But tonight I will redeem myself, or so I thought. I was mulling over in my head about how I was going to use hard noodles and fake crab together, or actually, how Gino would use it (I have yet to gain trust in the kitchen.)

Aha! The bells and whistles went off - I'll make Champon! (oops, that sentence should read, "...Gino will make Champon!)" Champon is a famous Nagasaki dish of noodles, seafood and fish-like food that I've never minded to identify. It's good and easy because everything can be bought pre-made.

That is, unless you are a person that stiffens up and gets lost in supermarkets. Yep, I would be referring to my very own self. This is how my story went: Found nothing pre-made and left Gino with an almost equally awkward combination to work with tonight. I'll post a picture of how it turns out!





Issue Number Two: "Crocs" have become the happening thing in Japan these days, almost two years behind North America. Ten months ago GET RICH QUICK scheme no. 1,569 read "Bring Crocs to Japan." Geez, why don't I ever follow through on these things!!

Next time Danielle, next time.

While you've got me fired up, guess what the latest MUST-HAVE-CAN'T-GO-WITHOUT item everywhere in this consumer-driven country is??? "Boot Camp with Billy."

Here is the buzz I've heard: My college girls can't go with out it; a hospital in town puts in the video Friday nights for their staff; my salary men are buying it for their stay-at-home wives.

You remember Billy Blank's 2003 military style Tae-Bo?

Four years later Billy is back and Japanese are snatching him up in droves. The four-set DVDs are rumored to have sold well over 500,000 copies.

The 51-year old "Has Been" is a "Here and Now." That lucky dog!!



And my final random thought:

On the whole, killing spiders is just not an option in this country. In the summer, however, there is an abundance of these creepy crawlers sneaking into houses. Two nights ago I had one in my classroom. Now I am one tough cookie, but these palm-sized gigantors take my breath away.

Enter my fearless 57-year old mountain-climbing tough-as-nails female student Mikiko. She charges out of her chair, palms the sucker, and throws it out the door, all in one fluid motion.

The insanity!!

Rice planting

I have been slow to write these past two weeks. When rainy season is over, I will blog. It has rained everyday for the past six weeks. I'm sorry all you people out there basking in the sun these summer months, I am wishing July away this year.

I welcome Japan's August sun. I want to leave this rain behind. One good thing that has come about from all the rain is that the rice is really growing. A few weeks ago Gino and I planted rice in our town. Here are pictures.

A line was strung out, then everyone would take their place along the line. Then you would tear a chunk of green and jam it in the shin-deep mud. It was a "muddy" good time!

The last picture is our finished product. Just joking, this is the work clearly of a machine.

A little of this and a little of that...

Your moment of zen is in:


This little rat curled herself up atop a flower pot. She's going through her terrible teens.

One minute it's "I want out," the next it's "I want in." One minute I'm her best friend, the next she's cavorting among the night life for 12 hours.

"Little miss" I say, "do you think it's acceptable to stay out half the night and not check in?"

To which I get an I-could-care-less drawn out "meeoooooow" proceeded by the walk-away as a reply.

The nerve.

Unruly kids, what are you going to do with them?

I have a kid at college that shows up, pretends he's not there, fiddles with his cell and, with the biggest smile on his face, promises me that he'll have his work in by next week.

And he is the talk of the school meetings. It is so unusual for that to happen in a Japanese classroom that it's like this kid is the oil in a classroom full of water.

Sometimes I have to giggle and tell myself: Relax, he's not that bad, he's just different.

At the same time, half way around the world in North American cultures kids misbehaviors run the gamut in school settings.

Last Fall, I sat in a lower level English class at my public high school. I was taken aback by the disrespect and unruliness of a select few. When the teacher, my close friend, disciplined them, I could tell she was used to doing what she was doing. She reprimanded them with an almost lack of conviction.

When I discipline in class, I react as if hell has frozen over.

"Whose cell phone was that?" I say like a deer in the headlights, trying to identify where the musical tune is coming from. 'Wait, this has never happened before,' I think to myself, 'what do I do?'

Ha ha, of course I don't do that. Don't be gullible, even Japanese kids aren't that well-behaved.

And to ever-so clichely - not a word though anything goes on your own blog - "end on a positive note" let's remember that "the good," most often then not, "outweighs the bad."

Cheeziness aside, no matter what classroom you are sitting at in the world, there are always heaps of pleasant students and very few misbehavior-is-my-middle-name students.

What do you think?

The unruly child taking a break for coziness.

I Got New Wheels!!

Bling Bling says the pimp'n bell on my new pimp'n bike.

If you know me well, you will know this about me: biking is not my forte. Nearly swerving into a car in elementary school, this daredevil independent traveler has since vehemently "steered clear" of the hobby.

I did, however, revisit it a few times in college to discover not once, not twice, but three times that slowly tipping over on a barely moving bicycle really isn't that bad.

And we can't forget the time two years ago in Kyoto, where I stared my fear straight in the eye, hoping to enjoy the hill-less city at leisure pace, only to have ended up with the kaboom of all my previous booms. Attempting to relocate from the street to the sidewalk is not what my bicycle intended. Instead, the wheel made contact with the curb and there I went--half flying over the handlebars-- landing curbside instead of street side.

That's my true run-in -- fortunately not run over -- with bicycling.

But I'm back, in black this time. Looking right first for close traffic, left for far, and even down to make sure the sidewalks have no curb, I am enjoying my new mode of getting from A to B.


If I haven't sold you on it yet, here's the kicker: this fun can be folded up and taken wherever you go. All for the low cost of finally, at the age of 26, befriending an old enemy.