Monday, December 31, 2007

Papa

Papa invited us for lunch at a nice nearby restaurant. Thank you, Papa. Lunch was delicious.

He is such a sweet person as DG is, wearing a smile always. And I like that Papa and DG keep a good relationship. I hope Papa stay healthy and happy.

It was sad to leave, but I couldn't change the tickets because they were cheap and therefore unrefundable and unchangable :( But it was really cute that E (DG's 2-year-old nephew) tried to say, "Duck, stay here." Oh man, I'd love to. E, don't make me cry.

I'm grateful from my heart to DG and his family and friends for their hospitality. Visiting and seeing them is the wonderful year-end event in my life.

New Year's Eve Party

DF kindly came to pick me up at the airport, and she took me directly to their family friends' New Year's Eve party.

There were four couples (including DF and MF), their kids and tons of food at the house. American home parties are always plenty of food. They eat and chat ... a lot, and I had a good time to get involved :)

We celebrated a new year with champagne at midnight, and saw fireworks from the windows of the sun room. A happy New Year!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Local Community


DG and his friends who share similar taste of music played music at a local bar. After long drive (for me) coming back from Toronto, setting up instruments, drinking tons of beer and playing music would make me exhausted, but DG was tough. Well, he's young anyway.

Their music, well, was new to me so that I can't say either I like it or I don't like it. But compared with other musicians, I thought they did better job. You may say favoritism :)

More than music, I appreciated the atmosphere of the bar where local people who know each other are hanging, sharing similar values.

While we were hanging at the bar, it started snowing. It was so beautiful and romantic. In general, I prefer warm weather, but snow is a different story. Well, I admit that I'm a wayward person :(

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Awesome!


Oh man, Niagara Falls are amazing. It was freezing cold, but it was worth going closer to feel mist from the falls. It's really soothing. I love the falls!

... But, DG and his friends were not as excited as I was. No wonder, because they are all from Buffalo and have seen the falls several times in their lives. Instead of the falls, they got excited to go to Lego Brick City in the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Kiddos.

After Niagara Falls, we moved to Toronto. The center area of Toronto reminded me of the Shibuya crossing, with neon billboards on the walls of skyscrapers (well, buildings are much lower than those in Shibuya, though). I just peeped Toronto, but it seems to be a neat little city with diversity.

I appreciate very much that DG remembers I love the falls. Thank DG for taking me there, driving all the way and treating me good :)

Friday, December 28, 2007

Lovely Cards and More ...


DG kindly came to the airport to get me. I was relieved to see him relaxed. Phew, it made my day.

He took me to a nice, little restaurant on the way home, and gave me more Christmas presents: a card, photo frame with Oregon photos, CD and gift card ... I was embarrassed because I didn't bring any presents for him :( His card was so sweet. Geez, he was so good to me that I almost cried.

His sister (J) is also nice to give me a lovely card and cute teddy bear. More than that, she supports my relationship with DG. It would be not enough to give her a thousand hugs to express my gratefulness.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

My Barista


I have a barista here who brews coffee every morning only for me. Her name is Barista HF!

She's so cute. One night, she asked me, "Duck, what time will you get up tomorrow?" "Well, around 9:30?" Next morning, when I came into the kitchen, coffee had been ready. DF told me that she never taught her how to use the espresso machine. Wow, HF may have learned how to do by watching her mother, then.

Barista HF never fails to ask about the taste of coffee, like, "How was your coffee?" MF teased me that I'm so brave because HF's coffee might be too strong or too weak. But non non, her coffee is perfect. I like it. Thanks, Barista HF.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

2.8 liters

Before ...

and after.

This is a 2.8-liter bowl which DF's mom (C) gave me as a Christmas present (Thanks, C!). It's foldable (Cool!). And DF teased me, saying that it's like breast implant. Before, it's flat, and a second later, it's inflated (Huge!). That's hilarious.

Oh well, I can't carry 2.8 liters in each breast (5.6 liters in total) because I'm so used to my small breasts. I'm enjoying my prestigious (?) membership of the small breasts club :)

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Haircut


Yay, after four months, finally, I had my hair cut! DF's niece gave me a haircut (as usual, in fact, every time I visit DF, I ask her to give me a haircut). My hair is light now. Thanks, D!

The Crowd

After haircut, a crowd of people came. Yes, seriously it was a crowd people ... and tons of food. The crowd was people who I know (most of them, not all of them though), so it was nice to see them again. Everyone of the crowd seemed to be healthy, and that's really good to know. Oh, well, I feel old because I have become to worry about people's health more than anything.

Anyhow, I think I ate too much. I'd better give my stomach a break tomorrow :(

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Grant's Farm


DF's neighbors took DF, HF, me and other neighbors to Grant's Firm which is owned by the Busch family. Yes, St. Louis is the birthplace of Anheuser-Busch Co., the largest brewery of the world!

Unfortunately, I didn't feel good today because I was catching a cold. But DF knows how to drag me out very well. "Duck, they serve free beer there. You will have two glasses of free beer!" OK, I'm in. What a simple person I am.

During Christmas season, Grant's Farm is decorated with thousands of lights. It was neat (and it was very American Christmas decoration, I thought). A couple of shows were on, and kids were glued to them. While the kids were attracted by the shows, I was glued to free beer :)

Friday, December 21, 2007

With My Own Eyes

Oh, man, I'll never take that surgery. Never!

DF took me to her hospital and let me observe a surgery. Ho-ho, I was excited, but at the same time, kind of scared. You know, there's no operations without blood and needles. I don't like both of them. Yeah, you can call me wimp.

Anyhow, I was given an opportunity to observe a breast implant surgery. The patient is 20-something years old, and she was excited to go through the operation. After all check-ups and paperwork, she was sent to the operation theater and went to sleep under anesthesia.

And ... show time!

The doctor cut open under her breasts, and push her finger under the skin to make room for silicon bags ... that's gross. I felt like seeing a splatter movie or something.

I was standing on the platform set at the patient's feet until then. But I couldn't stand because my stomach became sooooo upset. As a nurse suggested, I gave up standing and had a seat a littler far from the patient. But I kept watching because this was a good experience to see a surgery with my own eyes.

Next, the doctor pushed a vinyl bag into each breast to inflate them to see how the shape would be. After adjusting the size, those vinyl bags were taken out, and silicon things were put in instead. It was weird to see the girls' breasts suddenly becoming big (huge! 400cc each!). It's almost like Hollywood special effects ... gross.

The unbelievable thing (for me, but maybe it's normal for nurses) is nurses were talking about food during the operation, beside the bleeding patient and the doctor pushing her finger in the breasts. Oh, I cannot be a nurse :(

CD & DVD


Oh, man (again). This is lovely! This guy (DG) did an awesome job. Music is beautiful, photos are great, jackets are original, and his haiku ... I'm overwhelmed.

Sharing the DVD that DG sent me here with DF and MF was something too. Now, they know who DG is. I think the impression which DM got from DG and the one which DF got from DG are totally different.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Finally in St. Louis

Saying bye to DM and CM was sad. I wonder when I can be spoiled by them again.

Anyhow, DM dropped me off at the airport (again). And luckily, my flight was confirmed, and I succeeded in catching a plane. Good, very good. But that's the story of the flight to Atlanta.

There was a delay in Atlanta ... damn it. Well, delay is much better than cancellation. And the delay was not so bad, in fact, that was only 30-minute delay. Don't complain. OK, no complain.

DF kindly came to the airport to pick me up, and I'm here in St. Louis. It's nice to see DF and her family. It's been two years since I visited them lat time, but I have a "Hi, neighbors" kind of feeling each time I see them. Yeah, they are very at-homey people to me.

But, man, kids are big now. They were babies when I saw them for the first time. The oldest son (16) is soooo handsome, man. I knew that. The twins and HF are also beautiful (and cute). Oh, I love them.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Again?!

Damn it! My flight was canceled again. Well, it was not cancellation, but the airlines didn't allow me to get on the plane! It's because of cancellation of the flight between Eugene to Las Vegas. When it was canceled, the airlines should have rearranged every flight after that, but they didn't. Come on, airlines, I'm a frequent flier.

At the airport, a guy at the check-in counter tried to fix my problem to put me on the plane. Yeah, he was a good guy. He couldn't do it at the counter, however, he sent me to the gate, saying he would issue a ticket at the gate. So, I joined the long line for security check and reached the gate just 10 minutes before departure. Then I found the guy at the counter wasn't there. Airline people at the gate were suspicious about me, asking why I could come to the gate without a ticket. Well, in fact, the guy at the check-in counter issued an "emergency ticket to get to the gate anyway" ticket which was collected at the security check before I reached the gate.

In a minute, the guy at the check-in counter called them to explain my situation, but the result was ... the airlines couldn't fix my problem by the time of departure. Instead, they gave me a seat of the same flight tomorrow. Damn.

I was supposed to visit HF's elementary school to talk about Japan tomorrow, but I can't. HF must have been excited to show me off to her friends. Sorry, HF:(

DM kindly came back to the airport to pick me up, and now I'm back at his place to enjoy another beer, yay!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Where's A Border?


DM took me to the other side of the Organ Mountains. We were going to drive up to the peak of the mountains, but the road was closed. Damn. So, we changed our plan and decided to drive farther across the desert. It was so quiet (and empty) there. I understand why some people love the desert, I think. They love this quietness, apart from noisy, troublesome, modern life. I liked that quiet atmosphere, but at the same time, I felt scared because there's nothing, no food, no gas, no civilization in the desert. What if we run out of gas? What if we run out of food? That kind of idea scared me.

On the way to the nearest town across the desert, we got in trouble. We went through a checkpoint controlled by Border Patrol. What's the hell Border Patrol?! We were not crossing borders, neither national or state. We were just driving across the desert in New Mexico.

Anyhow, there was a long line of cars to pass the checkpoint in front of us. Here came our turn. The officer asked DM, "Are you an American citizen?" and DM answered, "Yes, I am." Yes, he is. Next, the officer asked me the same question. I answered, "No," because I'm not an American citizen, and I didn't need to lie, right? He asked me for documents to show that I'm a legal immigrant. Unfortunately, I didn't carry my passport or I-20 document with me because we were not going to cross national borders, you know. Why do I have to carry those? Then, can you imagine what happened? Yes, we were put aside for the secondary interrogation. Geez.

A few minutes later, a different officer approached our vehicle, and asked me other IDs. I gave him my student ID and driver's license. He also asked me some questions like which country I'm from and which state I'm from. Because I told him I'm Japanese, he lowered a barrier (I guess), and went to check my records. Another few minutes later, he came back, and told us that I was easy to find out because my last name is unique. Well, my name is common in Japan though. He warned me to carry my passport and I-20 document all the time even when I move around in the country. (That's ridiculous and humiliating!) But we found that he was a nice guy with normal sense. I'm glad to know that those officers with authority are not always mind-controlled by the ideology of the (hawkish) dominant group.

Well, it was a good experience because at least I wrote it down in my blog.

Organ Mountains


Oh, man, the Organ Mountains reflecting sunlight when the sun set were amazingly beautiful.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Dying River


Global warming is right here. Rio Grande is dying. This river used to have plenty of water, but now it doesn't reach to Gulf of Mexico. I wonder how people who live along the river are surviving.

DM gave me inspiration about how environmental changes threaten democracy. Yeah, right, he is right. In addition to the economy which I thought affects everything, other things including the environment are all related to democracy, the future of democracy. It's scary but at the same time it's a very interesting topic to think about.

I found a cool graffiti beneath the bridge over Rio Grande. And while I was taking this photo, dope dealers were doing business in my sight. Oh, well, I admit I'm in America!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Professional Conference Should Be Fun

DM let me observe a presentation of one of Ph.D. students in his school, not from his department though this afternoon. His topic was something like archaeological remains on the moon or something which I couldn't understand. So, I didn't have any opinions on his context, but I had a say about his presentation style. He just read his paper in his presentation. What surprised me is that one of professors commented that his presentation was almost perfect and all presenters at professional conference read papers. It was a practice for him to go to a real professional conference in the near future. But, what? At professional conferences, every scholar just reads their papers? That's not interesting. Boring, in fact. I want to have eye contacts, a sense of humor, passions from presenters as an audience, you know. I told this to DM after we were dismissed, and he agreed with me. Academic presentations must be fun in a sense to reach out not only academic people but also people from outside the field, that's what I believe.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Sick of It

Oh, man, what a crying day. I cried all day today after I had a hard conversation on the phone last night. CM and DM were patient to listen to me, hug me and kiss me. They are really like parents to me. I really appreciate that I'm here with them. Without them, being alone to go through this hard time, I would go crazy. DM and CM love me, support me and respect me. So, I understand that's why they do not tell me what to do to get over this situation. They just left it to me. I am the person who decides. I know their opinions. They liver much longer than me and have much better perspectives and insights on people.

... and at night, I had another arguing conversation on the phone. I'm now tired of this.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Billy the Kid


We went to "Billy the Kid" town, well, the real name is Mesilla, which is one of the oldest towns in the States. The town looks like Mexico, to be exact, my image of Mexico, with brown brick houses and shops. It's a nice little town to walk around and feel a small community atmosphere even though it is a very much tourist town.

I found a little Mexican looking post office there and thought it would be a good idea to send a postcard from there. And I bought it at a souvenir shop, wrote a message, and went to the post office to get some stamps ... and I realized it's Sunday. Yes, it was closed. Geez, I've already lost sense of day.

Anyhow, it was sunny, peaceful, slow day. Organ Mountains in the distance were so beautiful reflecting sunshine. I had a negative image of desert, but desert is not that bad, I think.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Before I Leave

I wanted to see DG once again before I leave here to New Mexico to see DM and CM tonight. I had an appointment to see SR to see if she's OK after chemotherapy in the morning. I told that to DG. And he also had a school thing which he had to handle in the afternoon. So, I thought he would call me when he finished it. I waited he call, waited, waited ... I felt almost like a teenage girl. Just at the moment I reached my limit to wait, he finally called and told me that he was also waiting for my call. Oh, lost in translation.

Anyhow, he kindly came over. What makes him special and adorable is ... his thoughtfulness. Even though he knows himself he doesn't like DM at all because DM insulted him (But it was not DM's fault. It was my fault. DM just tried to protect me), he wrote a Christmas card to DM and CM. Ah, I'm really in love with this guy.

I will miss him so much.

The Funny Thing is ...

My flight was canceled, because of sick fight crew. That&s ridiculous, you might think. But it is a small airport, and therefore, airlines do not keep standby crew as they do at big airports. Well, that's the way of small towns.

Anyhow, they rescheduled my flights, and I'm going to take a morning flight tomorrow. At the airlines counter, the clerk asked me if I had someone to pick me up, and I said no. Then he put me in a hotel. OK, well, staying at a hotel is much better than going home because my flight tomorrow is really early, at 5:40. It means that I have to check in as early as 4:40. I have more time to sleep if I stay somewhere closer to the airport. That was what I thought. But I was wrong. I popped in on a hotel shuttle bus and realized, when the bus stopped in front of the hotel, that I actually came back to town. I should have recognized the hotel is in town when I heard the name of the hotel, Valley River Inn. There is a shopping mall called Valley River Center, and I know that, don't I? Yes, I do. The hotel is located just in front of the shopping mall. I couldn't stop laughing.

And guess what I did. I called DG to come to see me, and we spent some good time over a couple of beer at the hotel bar. That was a nice surprise :)

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Hell

I can't forgive myself over what I did to DG last night. I hurt him bad. And now I'm so scared of losing him. He would never come back to me.He's far from me. I was stupid. I was careless. I was rude. I'm losing my important person, and that feeling makes me miserable. I'm so sorry for him. I can't blame myself enough ...

Don't Apologize to Me


DG took me to Florence to see the ocean. On the way, in the car, he apologized to me. It's not his fault at all, but it is MY fault. I'm the person who deserves to be blamed of. I appreciate his efforts to fix the relationship and try to be calm. I understand his feeling and situation. He could kill me. I deserve to death. He is my important person. I know that, and I should have showed my respect for him. I'm so sorry, and I'm really grateful to him. I will never hurt him again.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Celebration of the End of the Term

I feel I have been waiting so long for this day when DG is finally free from school stress.

We went to a Thai restaurant to celebrate liberation from school work. We had a bottle of Chardonnay, a couple of main dishes, which turned out to be tasty. But I'm glad to see DG's relaxed face, more than anything. Congratulations, DG. And thank you for treating me good.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Very Last Paper

Yay, I'm done with everything in this term! I've just handed in the very last paper. I'm through. I'm overjoyed at that I've survived!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Donald


Don't tell me. I know I have work to be done by Monday. But every time I have something to do, I want to do something else. As usual, I did something else. I borrowed a book from the library.

Here's my excuse. I wanted to read this book, "How to Read Donald Duck," from the beginning of the fall term, but I couldn't read it during the term because I had tons of reading as coursework. Now, the term is over, and I'm free and I have time to read something other than mandatory reading materials.

Well, I will have my paper done later tonight or tomorrow :( Am I pushing myself to the edge?