Your killing time report

[parasitegirl]

City Hall and the Milkman's Sister.

The Milkman's Sister has been gone for 3 weeks and isn't expected back for yet another week. I thought she was supposed to be only 2 weeks in the hospital...but it's a month. I think she got an ovarian cyst removed...but with the language barrier and the fact that my other co-workers are men..I really have no clue.

 

I am back to being mostly productive. I write a lesson plan a day (well, an E/J version and a J version) and at this rate I will finish the 5th grade lessons in a week or so...I am mildly burned out.

 

Teaching in real classrooms isn't going to happen until I am back from Seattle...in the last weekend of September schools will all be finished with sports days.

 

Food, money, body:

I've been budgeting my cash so that I can relax about it in Seattle and Portland...eat out and such. I will NOT be going to Fluevogs or clothing shopping anywhere but thrift stores on my trip....but on the 21st I might be visiting the closet of Alimah. I know that closet is full of Bellas in my size range (but a little taller).

 

I now carry a second "food money" wallet with my weekly food budget in it. It has "princess" stitched on it...thank you Daiso/100yen store.

 

Yesterday, I walked to the NGO and bought fresh eggs and grapes. The developmentally disabled workers enjoyed the hell out of one of their assistants practicing her English with me.

 

Today, I walked to the other tiny store with the table of locally grown items. I picked up gnarly red and orange peppers, red onions, onions, and tomatoes. I'll have to pick up some other items at my nearby grocery store (I get what I can as locally as I can...but sometimes I want to use recipes without altering them for Japan life or supply issues...and no one locally is making yogurt for me)...I'll also see if the Shin-Matsudo stand is still selling huge chunks of watermelon...a spicy watermelon cold soup might go well with my lunches.

 

Having three stands for local produce is keeping me happy

 

Tonight, I will be making a nice dhal for dinner to enjoy with rice and a raita of whatever I've got that wants to be in raita. Then fix up a black bean, red & orange pepper,corn, quinoa and more salad for the next few days of lunches.

 

I should look into dating a bit more again, because it would be nice to have someone to occasionally cook for...my friends all live too far away. I should see if Mika wants to plan another day vacation to Casa De La Ozma.

 

Actually, tonight I'll probably make the salad, snack a little, prep anything I need to prep for the dhal, and go to the sports club to try out a step aerobics class...and then come home, shower, and dhal it up! I want to get more out of my sports club membership, so it's time to try out a few other classes so that I can vary my workout schedule.

 

I can't tell if my burn out, mental and physical, is connected to the soon to change seasons. I figure upping my excersize now should help take the edge off, regardless. It would be nice if it helped me sleep better. My sleeping schedule isn't as good as it was with regular Hot Yoga, but my ankle is worlds better. It has tender moments, but the chronic pain is gone.

 

Restaurants:

I want to work on some new music for the restaurant, but I am waiting for the bulk of my Tulumba order of music.

 

Through Zumba classmates I've learned that an Egyptian restaurant opened up in what counts as my backyard. Ramses is located in Matsudo (about a 9 minute train ride from my station!) and features bellydancers on Fridays and Saturdays. I'd rather hoped, when I checked the schedule, that they would have a Wednesday slot. As most of you know, my primary style is not Egyptian Oriental...But because I am a foreign dancer in Japan, a lot of restaurants would be happy to have me even if I could barely dance.

 

The Zumba-mate mentioned Nicole as the dancer he knew there and if it is the Japanese Nicole I think it is...the hell if I'm gonna try to poach a gig out from under her! I didn't even think to ask if Nicole was Japanese or not. If it's some belly baby named Nicole...and they have a nice set up...well....I'll give them my card! I don't plan on leaving Anatolia for anything but a nicer Turkish restaurant, and I'm not looking right now for that special larger restaurant. If the Egyptian place rotates dancers...it might be worth looking at a Saturday spot, or telling them I am available for sub work, and talking to Mishaal about how to change my lesson schedule to allow more flexibility for Saturday night gigs.

 

If they have the good Nicole, they probably pay well and want Egyptian and know bad from good...but she's not showing up on any of the pictures I've found from the restaurant. A few Japanese girls in galabeya (sp) and hip-scarves are all I find. If I were a restaurant and I had Nicole I'd have her on my pages.

 

I think it is 100% unfair that the first non-indian "ethnic" restaurant to pop up in my area is Egyptian. Turkish and Lebanese joints totally out-number Egyptian restaurants here. Why can't a Turkish place bloom in Kashiwa or Matsudo? I'd rock it! It would kick ass to have a gig that didn't involve an hour on a train!

 

I'm supposed to hang out with my buddy Kazu this Saturday. Mishaal's studio is closed for the month, so my Saturdays are free...and he's in town for family stuff. I've sent him an email asking if he'd like to check out Ramses with me that night! Shisha! Dancers! I'll pack my cards, just in case.

 
edited:
It is the Nicole I thought it was, but it looks like she may only dance there once or twice a month.
http://photo.ameba.jp/user/nicole-bellydance/