the system...is down...

hello, precious friends!!

ahhh, so much has happened in the last couple days!!! so much to say...i would have loved to have written a chunk of haps yesterday, and i almost did, but noooooooo. my stupid computer wont start. and it makes me very frustrated. so now, thanks to the wonderful company i work for, i have been given a loaner computer. it is great and i am very, very grateful...however, its old. and it only speaks japanese. plus the punctuation marks arent where i am used to them being. so im sorry, but there will be no apostrophes today. try again tomorrow. but heres a cool aspect of my computer! check it out: にほんごですよ!！　　yes, i can type in japanese. cool.

well, im going to try and write a little bit in the time that i have. you see, it is almost 11pm here and i have to wake up early to commute to the school that im teaching at. it takes about...hmmm...45 minutes? to get to my school. walking, train and bus. woo!! actually, i have to say, i LOVE taking the trains here. i think its awesome. especially since im getting used to it. i had my first experience with a super crowded train today. there were like a million people on the train when it stopped at our station, but of course, a million more people piled on, including me. it was amazing. we were like a bunch of sardines. i was surprised that so many people were able to fit in there. so we were all mushed into this tiny space, and there was absolutely no complaint or protest from any passenger. i was so surprised. it was really quiet, and we all just crowded into together without a word. it was like we were moshing, but we were standing still. and not rocking out. to loud music. ...yeah... im pretty sure i was touching somebody elses butt with my own. that was pretty uncomfortable. but otherwise, it wasnt too bad. the other really scary part was when everyone was starting to get off the train at the next stop. i couldnt get off, because i hadnt reached my stop yet and i didnt feel like getting lost, so i did my best to stay on the train while the sea of people exited. yeah, that plan didnt last long. i picked up my feet to walk away from the door, but when i picked up my feet, i was basically carried by everyone elses weight. i pretty much floated to the door against my will. it was pretty weird. so i just left the train and got on again when everyone else left. why i didnt think of that before is a mystery. the goddess of prudence kind of left me in the lurch. anyways, yes. i like to travel on trains, even if they are crowded. i have to be in hyper-alert mode though. i have heard stories about women getting groped on crowded trains. luckily, it didnt happen to me. phew. im pretty much always in hyper-alert mode when the train starts getting crowded. we are taught that if we start feeling roaming hands, we are to grab the wrist of the perpetrator and yell, "chikan!!! (pervert/molester!!)" so i know what to do if such a thing happens, but i just really dont want to have to go through that. the end.

so anyways, the point is, i dont have time to write much. which is funny, because i took up all the time that i alotted for myself by going off on this train tangent. so, i guess ill end here with the promise that i will write more tomorrow. there may or may not be apostrophes included. i make no guarantees.