95 degrees in California...

It was soooooo hot today... it was nearly 95 degrees... (probably around 32-36 Celcius degrees)

So, Mike and I jumped in the pool in the apartment after washing our cars in the heat. Even though it was 90 dgs, the water was still quite cold... but we jumped in the water together counting 3.. and it felt pretty good! I swam only about 10 minutes because I had to go to work soon, but it was very refreshing! When I was swimming, I found some bugs stuck in the water. Mike helped a bee get out of the water. I helped a ladybug (Tento-mushi) on the little leaf floating the surface of the water.

I feel like summer is coming soon... but, the weather forecast says it is going to be around 65 degrees this weekend... well since high temparature makes it hard to sleep at night, I prefer lower temparature... but it's nice to swim in the pool in the heat and under the strong sunshine!

The Sound of the Winds

This is how windy it was on the path to the lighthouse in Point Rayes...

Warning!: It is pretty loud so please turn down the volume on the video or your computer.

Camping!

Mike and I went camping in Point Rayes (North of San Francisco) last weekend.

Next day we drove from the campsite to the coast and hiked to the lighthouse and Chimny Rock. It was soooooooo windy there... I felt so stupid taking off the hood of my jacket before leaving home.. but luckily, in the middle of hiking up to the lighthouse, I realized Mike had another knit cap in his pocket and I borrowed and used it to cover my frozen ears. (well, I kida look dumb with this hat in the picture... but it helped A LOT..!)















By the way, we always eat hot dog, plus chili and mash potato or potato salad, when we camp. you know.. these foods are pretty FAT. so I always realize that I've gained some weight and FAT on my belly after getting home... which kinda sucks because we move around more than usual and always go hiking on the trails around the campsite. but I guess I consume more energy from camp foods than I burn from those exercises during the camping..

anyways, the most important thing is to just have fun and enjoy eating and drinking in the nature! (after all my favorite activity is to eat..haha -_-;)

what I want to do...pt.2

I was looking at the old blogs, and reading "what I want to do..", I realized I have done a few things in the list so I want to update and add a few more things to the list.


1. have a very short hair (soon) DONE!
2. get a teaching certificate for a high school English teacher (高校教員免許) and work in a high school in Japan as an English teacher
--> Got accepted to college so getting close to achieving this!
3. get lots of experience of teaching English (and Japanese) --
> Half done cuz I'm teaching Japanese now!
4. go to a grad school someday to study 'teaching Japanese/English as a second language' or education or linguistics (unlikely)
5. have a life without a car in Japan and travel by train
6. OHANAMI(お 花見; it's a Japanese traditional outside-party to enjoy seeing cherryblossoms while eating and drinking)!! belive or not, i have never done ohanami even though i was born and grew up in Japan for about 20 yrs..... DONE! (in US)
7. go to see my best friend in Poland
--> Soon? this summer!?
8. read all of Haruki Murakami's books
--> I've probably read most of them!
9. take Eiken 1kyu (the highest level of the official English proficiency test, which is the most common English test in Japan)
--> I'm (kinda..) studying for it...
10. read lots of books about Japanese education (esp. problems regarding Japanese education. e.g., bullying-いじめ, Compulsory Education-義務教育, entrance examination-受験, etc..)
--> I don't have a good access to those kinds of books... I will try to read them when I get back to Japan..
11. learn another language (Italian?, Polish?, I don't know yet...)
12. go to Okinawa-沖縄 and maybe live there for a few years if I like it there
--> maybe not.. but still want to travel there when I go back to Japan.
13. travel to Indo-Chinese Peninsula (Vietnam, Thailand, Syngapore...)
14. be a cyborg like the main character (素子) in Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) and jump from roof to roof, have a nice voluptuous body, and never get old
--> probably will never be able to achieve this in my lifetime... sad...(-_-;)

new things I want to do..:
15. go to many places by cycling in Japan (and hopefully lose some weight and get in a good shape..)
16. brush up my English (especially increase the vocabulary)
17. travel all over Japan (especially the country side)
18. go SUPER green; always keep "3R" in mind, "Reduce", "Reuse", and "Recycle"

Sakura

♪ sakura~ sakura ~ koyoimo ~... (I forgot...)

The picture shows the Sakura in the Japanese garden in San Jose.

It was not a full bloom yet... but Mike and I went on ohanami (sakura viewing) picnic three weeks ago, bringing onigiri (rice balls) and SAKE! (it's illegal in US -of course not in Japan- to drink outside, so we were careful when drinking sake. But no one in this park, where many Mexican people hang out, seemed to care..)

Drinking with good food in the nature is one of the best things to do in your life! if you've never done it, try it BEFORE YOU DIE! it will definitely taste different (better) than when you just drink in the izakaya (or bar)!

well, I will have a one-week spring break from one of my workplaces, so we will probably go camping and drink beer & wine at the bonfire! can't wait~~

long time no blog...

I have never been good at blogging...
Maybe I need constant discoveries in everyday life.
or maybe I should have more keen eyes to find those discoveries..

anyways, recently I'm just working, reading books, (re)studying English, and watching lots of DVDs everyday... on weekends, my boyfriend, Mike, and I go out, doing something like going on picnic, going to the zoo, going to watch a baseball game, and so on..

well, I haven't written in this blog for a long long time,
but I will TRY to keep updating as best as I can...

by the way, it's April, which is my favorite month!

Why? because the wheather is the nicest in the year!

and also....... THAT day is coming up...


well, I'm getting hungry so I will eat lunch.

see you soon (maybe)!