Chaos

Boxes, boxes EVERYWHERE!!!! HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!


Weirdly enough, this is me making progress!! Everything is packed and I'm leaving stuff behind... but I had to stack things hapharzardly, so's I could CLEAN while I was packing!! This business of being the last ALT in a flat and having to empty the place out not only SUCKS, it's totally unfair!!! That's like 10 years' worth of ALT crap right there!!

Sighhhhhhhhh... wonder if I'll be done by tomorrow!! Well then, let me press on (wo)manfully!

PS. Sorry for the bad pics, these were taken on my phone's camera!! My OWN camera is with the lovely Rosalind, who's keeping it safe for me after I forgot it at Nuria's place on Monday! Doh!

Bye bye Niitsu

There are many things I'm going to miss about Niitsu! These are the Top 5 things. Sadness.

5. Curry at Nile with an assortment of friends
(Especially Wednesday night curry with the Niitsu crowd)


4. It's actually quite pretty in Niitsu.
With a surprising amount of cherry blossoms in Spring



3. The View from my English Room


2. Home. I love my flat - gonna miss it
1. Niitsu High and the most AMAZING students in the whole, wide world!!

:(

I don't know what to say or how to say it... sighhhhhhh.

I've been here for exactly two years and two days and during that time I've made some really fabulous friends. We laughed, cried, despaired, marvelled, travelled and grew together. So how do you even begin to say goodbye to people who have shared the most amazing, unique experience of your life with you?! Some of whom were there even before your physical journey began?

Well, it's difficult, it's painful and it's inevitable. Nuria left Japan today, she's winging her way home even as I type this. Soon it will be Mary and Joyce too. I honestly can't imagine Japan without them. I've been so wrapped up in getting packed for my move, having to say goodbye to my wonderful students at Niitsu High and having to start all over again, that Nuria's departure just sort of snuck up on me and the realisation hit me like a sledgehammer on Monday when she, Mary and I were having dinner in TsubameSanjo... my friend was actually leaving, how the hell did that happen?! I feel like I've been in denial and so the reality of her leaving is absolutely devastating. I dread Mary's departure as well, this past year, she and I have grown closer and have been fabulous travel companions (and quite often we'd simply lounge about her or my flat, perving over Jack Bauer on our 24 weekends - nerdy but true), she's been like a sister to me, someone I could confide all my secrets to, so I guess I'm bracing myself for the next inevitable blow. The one good thing in all of this is that we're from the same country, so odds are we'll see one another again but it won't be quite the same, will it? It never is...

Nuria my liefie, ek sal jou mis! Bly sterk en wees versigtig in daardie pragtige land van ons! Have a couple of drinks at Unplugged for me and hit the Melville nightlife with a vengeance!

Soentjies, drukkies and baie baie liefde!!!

Happy Birthday Madiba

To the Father of our Nation on his 88th birthday!! We love you Madiba...

(Seriously, Nelson Mandela's birthday should be a public holiday! All those in favour say "AYE")

Jacob Zuma strikes again!

So now that he got away with his "she asked for it" defense (that's our justice system down the tubes! I guess that'll teach women to report rape, ne? Go to the cops?! Puleeze... all they're gonna do is say: "you were wearing a short skirt, so you KNOW you wanted it! And, GASP, what's this?! You have a sexual history?! Oh my God, you must be easy!!" Makes me sick to my STOMACH!!), Jacob Zuma has decided to sue just about every newspaper, cartoonist and bored housewife who had nothing better to gossip about, for defamation of character! I suppose I'd better watch what I say on this public blog, he may decide to come after ME next! Apparently, he believes, it was all a smear campaign orchestrated by the media and his enemies to ruin his reputation!

Cartoonist Zapiro said it best in one of his brilliant cartoons in The Star on Thursday: "Would that be your reputation as a disgraced chauvinistic demagogue who can't control his sexual urges and who thinks a shower prevents Aids?" Faaabulous dahling!

Guess he'll be going for Madam and Eve next, they got some pretty good mileage out of that whole "I knew she was HIV + but I took a shower afterwards" debacle!! And this fool was supposed to be our next president?! GAG! He doesn't seem to realise that this travesty of a lawsuit is making him look like an even bigger moron (I didn't think it was possible! But there you go...)!

I know the feeling...

Click to enlarge

First one to go :(

A fond and sad farewell to Simone, the first one to be leaving Japan. The lady's decided to desert us all two to three weeks earlier than the rest of the crowd and will be flying home tomorrow!

Asleep on my kitchen floor (AGAIN)

Some of the Niitsu people!

Some drinking at my place (okay she's holding the shot glass for show)

It's been a great year, chickie and I'm glad to have met you! Take care of yourself and keep in touch, ne!

Ganbatte kudasai!

Hugs and kisses

'Twas a long night, man!

The pics say it all... Well done Italy!

To those kindred spirits who got little to NO sleep last night, good luck getting through the day! Happy Monday!!

Pic of the weekend

My pic of the weekend. Taken in Kashiwazaki, just before sunset. My model was the soul of courteous co-operation!! Dankie poppie!!

To those who can relate...

I know there are some of you out there who are heartily sick of all this World Cup talk... so this is for you!PS. FORZA ITALIA!!!!!

Pic of the day

Pic of the day! I didn't quite get the pic I wanted. It was raining, I had an umbrella in one hand and was trying to get my camera out before the dude on the bike disappeared. So it's a bit blurry. But I like it cos it's SO rural Niigata

Chevon and the World Cup...

Like, don't we all wish we had a job that allowed us to cosy up to the WC trophy?!! I mean just cos she's knee high to a grasshopper doesn't mean they should trust her with something so precious! Don't they ever learn, wasn't the damned thing stolen before?! Nooooooooo, she's pint-sized, so she couldn't possibly be a klepto! HAH!! I'm telling you I shared a flat with this chick, if I wasn't like TEN times bigger than her, she SO would have borrowed my clothes, never to return them again! Anyway, this was taken at FIFA two years ago (while she was in Zurich SUPPOSEDLY on SABC business! Since when do economics journos get to hug the WC trophy to their meagre chests, ne?!)... I'm telling you now, if the trophy turns out to be a dud on Sunday, you'll know who has the real thing! Anyway, she says it's going to Italy this weekend!! Here's hoping she's right, else I'll have to deal with early morning drunken, sobbing phonecalls from her - followed by a frantic phonecall home to talk my deeply depressed brother down from the ledge of a tall building.

My fave pic of the day 

I love this pic. It's so humble 

For Nathan and Chevon

Goooooooo Italy!!! This for the most passionate (non-Italian) Italian supporters I know!! No crying and/or drowning your sorrows this year, no premature heartbreak and sobs of "Never again, Natasha!! I'm never fucking supporting Italy ever again!" After 16 years of listening to such instances of bitching and moaning from first Nathan and then Chevon, I sincerely hope that this time will be different! That's why, this year, I've cast my lot in with them and you guys. Hope they win man! It's certainly what I've been telling my students for the last month or so!

Uh and THANKS for waking me up this morning Chevs!! Still trying to figure out how drunk you were "I don't care if you were sleeping, you're the ONLY other person who would understand how I'm feeling right now! Italy won! They WON!" Hahahahahaha... gonna remember that one for a long time (even though you KNOW you could've called Nathan too! He was grateful for your sms though!). Meantime, Nathan is giddily bouncing off the walls back home and my mother is silently seething because she's a Germany supporter!! She got all huffy and cold when I called Nathan, "Oh he's ecstatic," she said sarcastically. "As you can imagine..."

They left it to the last agonising minute (dramatic Italians), but hey you take what you can get, ne?! Don't wanna miss this final for all the world!

Hugs, love and kisses

Potluck!!!

Well on Friday, I hosted another potluck party for some of my JTEs... lots of good food and wine! As I am not in the mood to write (I've been a lazy biatch lately), I'll simply put up some pics (less effort required!).

The Tosakas and me

Shanna gets to play Earth Mother to Yuuki

The Ladies

Lekker Kos

Fussing over Yuuki-chan

Mary and Tosaka-sensei

At home in my bedroom

The Tosakas again

Feeding Yuuki