Lately

First off, please don't be worried about us. We're fine. We didn't even feel the earthquake. It hit (mainly) areas north-west of Tokyo, mainly Niigata (which is kind of far from us). Daiju's parents' place was closer and they felt it. I don't think it caused any damage there, though. We did get a call from his mom right after it happened (she wanted to make sure we were okay). Please do pray for those who have been affected though. I have some friends whose families live in Niigata. I'm sure it's a scary situation.
Secondly, work is going better. I had more kids lessons today, but I think I did alright. My only real problem was I accidentally let out one group (the little ones) too early. I should've keep them busy a little longer, but instead I went ahead and sang the "good-bye" song, so they just up & left! I kept saying "No! Wait!" but as a 4-year old who only hears English once a week, that means nothing. My boss (and probably the parents too, as they spend like $50 on that lesson) wasn't thrilled, but he knew it was my first time with that age and just told me to keep them a little longer next time.
Tomorrow's my birthday. I'll be 22. But, I'll still be seen as really young. My older students sometimes ask me my age (this is normal in Japan). They're usually surprised, but then they calm down after I explain that I have experience and training for the job.
Back to the b-day, Daiju took me out for Mexican food last night (which is hard to come by in Japan). He found a place where we got a scenic view of Yokohama's city lights. It was really pretty. And the food was really close to authentic in taste (though thoroughly Japanese in presentation...very pretty). Daiju really likes Tex-Mex too, so we both ate our fill. It was a great birthday dinner!

I have to work tomorrow afternoon and evening, as does Daiju, so we won't really get to do anything then. But on Sunday Daiju's folks will be in Tokyo for a conference, so we're going to a French restaurant with them and his sister for dinner (also celebrating my birthday). That should be fun!!!
On another note, in Japan, there are several types of tickets you can buy, but two basic methods: one which slides through the machine & gets a hole-punch, and one which you scan on your way through the ticket gate. I've used both, but now they have a scan-type which you can use at any station (including the subway), so I've been scanning a lot. Daiju, after being in the US for 6 years, hadn't ever used the scan-type, so yesterday he kept trading his paper ticket for my card for the sheer joy of it. He recently noticed that he can enable his cell phone to function like the scan-type card. I got a message on my cell phone from him today saying "I don't need to buy tickets any more!" Now he can pay in advance for his tickets & he doesn't have to buy one for each individual trip. He's quite happy. ^_^ <--Japanese smiley
Oh, remember that mission trip I helped with awhile back? Well, Gramma googled me and found a little article one of the group member wrote about it: http://texasbaptists.wordpress.com/
It's in the June 21st article.

Oh, and Gramma, I still have that music box/snow globe you gave me when I turned 10...