aug 1

orientation

it started at 7am so i had to wake up at 530a. i was amazed that i did it. then i got ready and we left at 630 am. we see katherine, meg, and teresa. and then the boys: ahmed, adrian, and matt mcbane. we go get name badges made. then we start going through the rules and the manual.. there is a lot of shit this year. a lot. great!

we got information overload all day. we went to lunch and i got the summer salad and it was delish! then more crap. we didn't finsih til like after 3pm.

we get home and me and merd still need to unpack more. then we learn about drama. melody was pissed that we might have wanted to room in her room. uhhh. there is an extra bed. and then she told rachel that she didn't want anyone in her room. she got here in asheville at 830am on purpose so she could have first pick of the room. she even talked to shante on the phoen and knew that there was only one room with one bed and she had it already. she purposely picked the smallest room and rearranged it to her likeing.

we didnt even want to room with her and she's being pissy. so merd goes to talk with her an dno good. so we keep moving and then we rearrange furnitre and head out for target and dinner. we couldn't believe she was still acting like that. we met ahmed and adrian to go with us to dinner. we told them the drama.

we get home and melody is all smiles and how's it going? we get upstairs and then she comes into the room and starts talkign to us. then she starts singing this weird song. "oh i made this up when i was in 3rd grade." then she sings it again. i walk to rachel and say i think she's crazy. rachel looks at me and is like didn't you know. well i thought so, but now i think even moreso. and so she is. i think bipolar. honest. up and down mood swings. crazy. whatever. i don't have time to deal with that. nor do i want to.

i've been trying to clean up and get oganized. but i went to the bathroom and when i get back the light was out. ummmm. hello. i'm still in here. it's not my fault you want to go to bed so early. it's going to be a long year!

july 30-31

i didn't wake up til after 12p. i finally made myself get out of bed. i needed to ship back my piccell phone and fax some forms to mahec for orientation. i finally made it to barons's and they closed at 430p. that's gay. so i headed to the annex and got both taken care of there.

i came home and mom had ordered pizza. then i think i watched movies the rest of the time. and i loaded the car up.

july 31

i asked mom to wake me up at 6am. she did but for some reason it took me a while to get moving. i ate breakfast. i loaded the rest of my things. and then i wanted to check for directions. i went to starbucks to get coffee and was off. i got gas yesterday. i got to chapel hill after 10am. i went to the storage unit and things had shifted and the door was hard to open. then i couldn't find what i was looking for. then i dropped the padlock and broke off the key. i had to go to the office to get a new one. then i had an appointment and then i met up with clayton. we talked for a long time and then i headed to asheville. i finally made it before 10pm.

there was all this drama with the rooms. when i got there, there is shante in the only single room. and then rebecca on first floor, emily melody and rachel on 2nd floor and all by themselves. so i look in rachels room and see that there are 2 extra beds. she said she is saving one for merd. i ask if i can stay and get hesitation. ok. so i go to melody's room. and ask what about that one. she asks if i looked around at the other and i said no because i know rachel and her best. but i go with rachels room because it's bigger. i asked melody if it was ok to see how it went in the big room and if needed move into hers. she said ok.

july 29

i woke up at 415am and kara got up around 430. we took my things down to the car and then came back up to fetch the girls. they drove me to the station. i was going to catch the 509 to yokohama and then i was to catch the rapid sobu line to the airport. BUT because my bags were so heavy it took more than 5 minutes and i missed the train.

now i was freaking out a little bit because i didn't know any other way to get there. but i looked at my jr maps and if i took the local sobu line i should be able to make it. thank goodness we left so early. i got on the train to chiba. i had to get off and wait for the next train. then it went to narita. i wasn't sure if this was the right stop. i got off then got back on. then the train took me straight to my terminal.

when i got there i loaded my bags on this huge cart that even went up the escalators. i went to the 4th floor for international flights and waited in line to check into the us flights. both of my big bags were only 30kg total. that's better than i thought. so i went to some gift shops to kill some time. then i went thru the departure gate and they had to check my bags. then i waited in the terminal. i saw some monks in golden robes get on. i read my book, and then they fed us. i slept for a few hours and woke up. i watched 3 and a half movies. i saw 21, fool's gold, and vantage point, and half of 10,000. we landed. i took the shuttle to connecting flights. i had to go thru customs and then get my baggage and take it to the next send off point. then i waited.

i called mom and brenda and waited. i got a salad from wendy's and then boarded. i fell asleep but there were these children that would not shut up. we landed and i got my bags and then i saw daddy.

we went to the car and headed home. we talked about where i went and what i ate and everything. daddy said he really liked yakisoba when he was there.

we stopped at bojangles on the way home. we got there and i gave them their gifts. then i stayed up. i don't know why. i don't even remember what i was doing. i went to bed after 12a.

july 28

so this morning i wanted to go to harajuku to shop for some clothes. i ended up getting there after 12p and stopped at the convenie for a rice ball lunch. so i started looking at some shops. i thought things were still expensive. the problem was that you weren't allowed to try shirts on. i understand that we are all sweaty, but i'm sorry i don't like to buy things if i don't know if it will fit. and i don't like wearing big clothes. not for me.

so i wandered around a bit. and then i saw this cute dress. it came in metallic brown and black. i didn't care and tried them on. i am a L. that's ok. i got the brown one. it's dressy. i could wear it to a nice dinner. then i found this fun gray dress. with cut parts and different textured fabrics. i will look cute with leggings underneath. but then i was kinda out of money.

so i went to some other places. i was trying to find monchichi for kara. i've seen him all over the place and when i actually want to buy one, i can't find it. i did find one, but he wasn't in a cute character costume.

then it was time to meet the students at school. i made it to the university after 4pm and then took pictures with some. i got to meet ken, aki, and both kazus. kazu 1 showed me pictures of his trip to nc. they like walmart and pizza. they went to durham bulls games and new york. it looked like they had a fun time. they also met up with alice.

i said goodbye to akiyoshi sensei and matsuyama sensei. then it was dinner time. it was me, yoshi, taka, chinatsu, ken, kana, youko, mari, and naoko. we had monja and okonomiyake. it was tastey. but they didn't always listen when i said it wasn't ready.

then we went back to the university. and i said goodbye to them. it was kinda sad. when i was alone in the elevator i wanted to cry.

i went back to kara's and stayed up too late sorting through things and packing.