Limited edition Passion fruit Kit-Kat for my school snack break today. I bought a few in Osaka to send home to my sisters…….but I have eaten them all. Oops.

Graded until about 10:30 p.m. tonight. I bribed Cullan with a jog around Kojo Park and a free dinner – complete with sparkling lime water in wine glasses topped with fresh cherries – to help me double check the essay portion of the 280 midterm exams. They are almost done. YES.

I am on cold medicine while simultaneously trying to grade the non-essay portion of my midterm exams and watch Homeland. It’s not working, so I am taking a blog break before I just GRADE.

In addition to AMELIA (!), I had a busy and fun weekend but I was feeling under the weather and didn’t take many pictures except for a few phone snapshots.

FRIDAY///

After my midterm exam at school, I biked to the train station and caught the train to Osaka. I left my lunch at school, and only had some almonds to munch on during the three-hour journey.

BUT I had my trashy novel to keep me company.

Some other friends had left earlier in the day. I met them in Osaka, immediately ate a Krispy Kreme doughnut at the station, then we went to Kobe for the Sigur Rós concert.

I was still starving and Rachel wanted to try out this Muji Cafe. FAIL. EPIC FAIL. Worst meal that I have ever eaten in Japan, possibly my entire life. That is ground fish lasagna with mushy noodles and dry sauce and no cheese, served with oily bean salads and corn soup.

It was made bearable only because we were off to see Sigur Rós in the next hour.

The concert was some of the best sound that I have ever heard at a live show. However, the crowd was really really really low energy. I am not sure if it was just the kind of concert (because Icelandic/ambient/post-rock music isn’t exactly Lady Gaga) or if this is how concerts are in Japan?

SATURDAY///

Rachel redeemed herself and took me to a cafe with fluffy almond pancakes. It also was served alongside an avocado/shrimp/tomato/mysterious sauce salad. Sometimes the combinations in Japan still puzzle me.

Then we hit up an arcade and did a little shopping before heading back to Takaoka. My cold really kicked in on Saturday. I was kind of a slug in Osaka.

SUNDAY///

I hosted a brunch at my place in the morning. I made two of Alice Medrich’s Absolutely Perfect Almond Cakes in my rice cooker (except omitted the crunchy almond crust and slathered them with strawberry cream cheese frosting),  To Die For Blueberry Muffins, and homemade lemonade with frozen berries as ice cubes. We had a ton of food and it was kind of disorganized chaos – one of those meals where everyone is eating in different stages in different rooms – but fun.

Clarissa took some awesome pictures and wrote a  blog post on it!

Then I had to go into school to collect the rest of my exams and grade. Not fun.

Ending with きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ – PONPONPON , Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – PONPONPON. Rachel and I enjoyed playing this song the best on SEGA maimai at the arcade in Osaka.

7 lbs, 13 oz of gorgeousness. Amelia “Mia” No-Middle-Name-As-Of-Yet (we are an indecisive family) Lain was born on May 18th, just a few days after her due date. Since Kim and her husband Matt are both natural blondes, I am going to guess she has a 99.9 percent chance of being a blondie for life. Lucky gal.

Kim is an elementary school teacher and had been on maternity leave starting this week. She went into labor early Saturday night and had Amelia a few HARD hours later.

But what a beauty.

I wish I could have been there in person, but my mom was messaging me the entire time while I was on the train leaving Osaka, and I was able to Skype with them ten minutes after she was born.

Amelia, Aunt Sarah cannot wait to meet you this August! You are going to get some major baby swag from Japan.

I particularly like that Aunt Allison and Amelia both have long diva nails.

Kim, knowing that I miss American hamburgers and enjoy random pictures of meals, sent me a picture of her dinner at the hospital. Is it sad that I was jealous? Guys, I had the worst meal of my entire life this weekend. Fish lasagna. Shudder. It was made bearable only because I was seeing Sigur Rós a few hours later.

Today at 11:41 a.m.

Message from another teacher in my prefecture.

Hey Sarah. I’m passing by your school. Wanna sneak out and get lunch.

Um, yes.

Especially since the entire teacher’s room has the plague. Everyone is sick.

Especially since this is only the third time I have been out to lunch on a school day.

I snapped a picture of the end of our post-meal chai tea. I didn’t get a picture of my meal, a delicious vegetable curry, at Kashmir. It was essentially a cabin-like shack on the side of the road but better than any other Indian food I’ve had here. And I’ve had a lot.

The other day I ended up walking to school (instead of biking) and listening to music on my iPod.

Usually, I turn it off as I cross the street to school, but I thought of my friend Cullan who has a school “threshold song ritual,” whereby he plays his favorite song as he enters the building. Giggle. Only Cullan.

But I thought, “Keep on the tunes” even though this is probably totally frowned upon if any teacher saw me, since morning greetings are BIG over here in Japan.

I walked in, then quickly stuffed my iPod in my pocket. Rebel!

My school threshold song: Out of My League by Fitz & The Tantrums

Cullan’s latest school threshold song: I Won’t Kneel by Groove Armada.

VERDICT: It’s so much more fun walking into places this way. Try it going into work or class or anywhere!

Saturday night.

“Ok hikers. Those open to doing a hike this Sunday? I know Diem, Chelsea, and Alex are out.

I’ll take a look at the mountains when I get home. But I think we’ll keep it under 1,000m. I’ll look for something 3-6 hours.”

I get this message from my friend Keith on my phone around 8 p.m., right when I am doing my little workout video, alone, on a Saturday night. I immediately send a quick reply.

“I’m free!” (TRANSLATION: I HAVE ZERO WEEKEND PLANS. I spent the day Skyping with friends from home and stayed in my pajamas until 4 p.m. And I was essentially a hermit all week, wiped out from the overnight buses last weekend. I wonder, have I talked to anyone all week in the prefecture? Like, had a real in-person conversation? I didn’t think so.)

It ends up just being me and Keith who can go.

He promptly follows up with a text, sending me hiking details, meeting point, and lunch plans. I especially appreciate that he included lunch plans because I turn into a grizzly bear if I am hiking and hungry.

The next morning, after my 30-minute YouTube yoga class (trying to make yoga a daily habit, which according to the Internet takes 30 days), I leave the house at 10 a.m. to meet Keith for our Sunday hike. I take the train 50 minutes to a tiny town called Kamiichi.

The weather could not be more amazing. After rain all day on Saturday, it is sunny and cloud-free and perfect. The train passes through rice frield after rice field, which I realize have the most beautiful reflective surfaces. It’s pretty stunning.

Keith lives about an hour away in a different town along the coast, but Kamiichi is our meeting point. He has a CAR, and is actually parked and waiting for me. I love his promptness. I have only been to Kamiichi once, back in August for a teacher training, but I forget most of that month. It’s an adorable little mountain town.

We drive around and get totally lost due to my incredibly poor – nonexistent? – navigation skills on mountain roads. I have hiking books that I borrowed from another teacher in the prefecture. I know our hike is #36 in the book, but that’s about all I could figure out. The roads were tiny, so Keith couldn’t look at the book and drive. Anyway. We drive around for, like, hours. But he doesn’t get annoyed, and I don’t get (that) frustrated. We are on an adventure.

We stop at waterfalls. We see walls made out of verdant green ferns. We see rock slides. We do U-turns on small scary roads without guardrails. At one point, a large log gets stuck under the car. Keith needs to stop in the middle of the road and pull it out from under the car. And finally, two hours later, we arrive at our trailhead. I completely miss it, but Keith spots it.

By this time we – or maybe just me since I wanted to eat lunch back at the waterfall? – are starving. So before hiking we make lunch on the side of the road. Keith loves to bake bread, and he brings a fresh loaf for lunch. Right? It is also whole-wheat. Please, I am impressed, and now I think that all men should learn to bake homemade bread and be able to cut clean slices on the hood of their cars with badass Japanese knives.

I brought two fried eggs topped with Colby Jack cheese, carrot sticks, green beans, and grapefruit. I had also brought chocolate cookies, but I ate them all during the long  journey to find the trailhead. Keith doesn’t like chocolate.

We make egg sandwiches and sit on the road and enjoy our pre-hiking picnic. It’s 2 p.m.

The hike is short but steep. We plow up it quickly. (Well, Keith does. I sort of follow a pace or two behind, panting from the steepest incline I’ve seen since Mt. Fuji last August.)

There are some cool plants that I have never seen, but unfortunately neither Keith nor I know their names. We point and guess.

“Morning glory?” he says, shrugging.
“Isn’t that a vine? Could it be….” I trail off.
“Looks cool whatever it is,” he finishes for me.

On we go.

We make it to the summit by 3 p.m. We lounge at the summit for a longer time than we actually hiked, chatting and just enjoying the sunshine and the view. I kiss the summit marker. WE MADE IT! I had doubts earlier in the day.

We go down quickly because this is steep stuff and there are no switchbacks. We find a MUCH SHORTER WAY back to the station. Keith is nice and stops at a wisteria tree because I cannot stop ooohing and ahhhing from the passenger seat. I pick a few branches to take back home. They smell like fruit and honey. WHO KNEW?

Keith also gives me the rest of the bread. My bag breaks at the train station, so I am carrying wisteria branches, bread, and hiking gear. I get a few strange looks, but I don’t care. Because I just had a really cool, spontaneous adventure on a sunny day in Japan. HELLS YEAH, or as they say in Japanese すごい!

P.S. Happy Mother’s Day Mom! And Happy soon-to-be Mother’s Day Kim!

I enjoy cooking, but I find meal planning  for the week to be a burden. (This might stem in part from my illiteracy at the grocery store?) I’ve realized that making a few simple dishes and prepping snacks/veggies on Sunday night makes a huge difference in my work week. My mornings run smoother. I actually look forward to an edible lunch. I come home – hungry – and have a plan of what to eat or make.

I like planning a separate lunch and separate dinner, so I don’t eat the same thing too often during the week. This week!

SCHOOL LUNCHES: 99 percent of the time I pack my lunch. I often have a short lunch, so it is just easier to bring my own food. I do love the curry at school though.

The weather was unbelievably wonderful today. I’d call it hot and perfect hiking weather, which is just what I got to do this afternoon. It reminded me of summer and I actually felt like making salads for lunches this week. In Japan, they often add daikon radish to their salads, so I added that to the lettuce mix. I need some protein in all of my meals, so I baked some chicken and salmon to add to my lunches. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I  bring fruit and a treat, usually chocolate.

DINNERS: I made some black bean soup. It makes a TON. I like to freeze half of it since I get sick of eating it all week. Then on Wednesday, I’ll make something else for dinner.

SNACKS: I bring almonds and yogurt. I cannot find Greek yogurt over here, and I really miss it. (PINEAPPLE CHOBANI!) Of course, during the week doughnuts and cookies find their way into my life. The sweet tooth lives on. I love making cookies over here in Japan even if they never quite turn out like they do at home. If they come out especially disappointing, I just warm them up in the microwave a little bit to make them chewy, which leads me to the question: Is there such thing as a bad warm cookie?

I usually take more pictures of my food on Instagram. Here’s some of my pics from the past few months.

My friend Jen had enough of my dried-out, frizzy locks in Japan. (For the record, there has been a lack of frizz-fighting products and hair dryers with diffusers over here. That, and I’ve been lazy about my hair care. Although I recently got into this super awesome, super easy work-week braid routine that I will share soon!)

This week she sent me a package of products and a very detailed e-mail of instructions like only someone getting their Ph.D. in clinical psychology can deliver. (Can you imagine her client notes?) Even though she has a head of silky blonde hair, nothing like my crazy copper strands, I trust this shampoo/conditioner routine will work wonders on my hair too. And it’s so awesome that I must share with the Internetverse. Good hair karma, right?

JEN’S LUSCIOUS LOCKS.

For the lovely ladies in my life.

Personal anecdote:
Before I knew what I was doing, my hair was flat, scraggly, fragile, a little frizzy and definitely dry. I probably wouldn’t have been the worst ‘before’ pic, true – but, it wasn’t as baby soft, silky, shiny and healthy as it is now

Respectable celebrity anecdotes:
Jennie Garth and Connie Britton (who i LOVE in Nashville) supposedly both use Wen, too
Connie Britton was just named ‘best hair’ in People Magazine, and actually included a very funny excerpt written from the perspective of her Hair as a person, and obviously did not let the title go to her head, literally or figuratively.

Ok

Jen Hair Care:

General tips:
1) NEVER use regular shampoo on hair below your ears (unless under dire circumstances where you’ve rolled in the mud, been tarred and feathered, or are afraid you may have lice, otherwise – leave it. Nope sweat is ok – rinse it well, and use a hair tie when you run (please, for many reasons). To wash my scalp (sweaty/oily than the rest of my hair), I put my hair in a loose bun before getting in the shower. massage shampoo (Aveeno normal moisturizing, see below) on my scale around the bun. Then lift the bun, tilt your head back and rinse the shampoo away. Once rinsed well, let your hair down and condition from your ears to the ends. Let rest for a few min (shave your legs or buff your feet in the mean time).

2) Wash your hair with warm water, not scalding hot, not even regular hot, and do a final rinse of conditioner with cold water.

3) Sleep with your hair in a loose bun so that you don’t roll around on it and frizz it up at night.

4) Use a wide-toothed comb after the shower, not a brush.

5) Wrap your hair in a towel – do not rub with the towel – squeeze and blot. Twist and put up.

6) If you dry your hair, let it air dry first – until at least 1/2 dry, if possible. As it’s air drying, I’m occasionally fluffing it to increase surface exposure to the roots and expedite drying. For me – this doesn’t take long as I have really fine hair, so do this as you can. Skip drying all together, if you can (mine would be really really flat, so I usually dry it for at least 5 min on warm with my head upside down to aim at volumizing the roots, minimal drying of the ends)

7) Set the blow dryer to Warm, use Hot super sparingly – I’m talking, for quick styling at the end – a little curl, smoothing the ends.

8) Use ceramic hair tools – irons, even brushes if used with the dryer.

OK Products:

I only use 4 everyday, all of them.

1) Aveeno normal moisturizing shampoo. The true Wen hair care method is to only use the cleansing conditioner. But, I find it doesn’t clean well enough. That, and my hair is fine so extra oil on top (of my already oily scalp) makes for flat hair, slightly darker roots, that’s just not good. So I use this Aveeno shampoo – it seems to work efficiently (no need to let it rest for long before rinsing), and leaves my hair silkier than others. But, I don’t know if there’s anything else special about it, other than I like natural products.

2) Wen cleansing conditioner. I use this as a conditioner in the shower and also as a leave-in conditioner after. Apply liberally to hair from ears to ends. Let rest for several minutes. Rinse with cold water. Also, apply a few pumps worth (depending on your hair thickness and dryness) after towel-drying and spritzing with sun spray (below) before combing through.

3) Aveda sun care protective hair veil
- it has UVA/UVB spectrum protection. Use it even on cloudy days. I find that it does help my scalp from becoming sunburnt on sunny days when i’m out and about, but that on a daily basis, it really reduces frizz! It does for Ben, too (don’t tell him that I said he uses it). Spray it on liberally after towel drying then apply leave-in conditioner.

4) Aveda smoothing fluid
This is just a serum to add silky shine. Use a couple (+) pumps, rub hands together, and lightly scrunch your hair to apply evenly after drying or when wet, if not drying. Avoid patting as it can be oily if applied too heavily, also avoid roots.

So quick washing regimen review:
1) place hair in bun
2) shampoo scalp
3) let hair down, apply conditioner
4) wait a few min.
5) rinse with cold water
6) towel wrap
7) spritz with sun spray
8) apply leave-in conditioner
9) air dry/dry on warm/ or skip this step
10) apply smoothing fluid

Done! Luscious Locks

This really works for me so had to share!
If nothing else, the level of detail is something to smile at

xoxoxoxo

My long weekend was full of sunny days, skyscrapers, super furry animals, and sushi. I would do it all over again except take an overnight bus TWICE in four days.

I also realized how my trips to Tokyo have been paralleling with my culture shock in Japan this year.

August 2012: What is going on?
October 2012: Cool views, but not my favorite city.
December 2012: Hmmm, it’s kind of fun here.
February 2013: Wait, this IS fun.
May 2013: Well, I’ll be. I sort of love it.