Sunday, March 30, 2003
Fashion, Glamour, and All That Jazz...
So, last night (Saturday), I spent the day at the San Fransisco Gift Center modeling clothes in a fashion show for my sister. I wore a fairly plain outfit. It was a short green-brown canvas dress with sleeves that looked like a witch, they were strips of fabric which hung down in various lengths. The back was open a little bit with three straps with buckles. She said it was supposed to resemble a straight jacket that someone broke out of. It was fairly plain, but I liked it 'cuz it was pretty comfortable. Leslie, one of her other models, had a really pretty gray silky skirt with a bustle on the back and a black backless top. It was really classy and everyone said it was their favorite outfit of the show. Anyway, so we went into make-up and hair and I came out with what everyone said was the best make-up. They said I looked straight out of vogue or something.. Anyway. Then we walked down the runway in front of 4 floors of people - 2,500 people!!! Crazyness! I wouldn't have been nervous if it weren't for the really hot model guy behind me! Eek! In conclusion, the whole experience made me feel really short and ugly. I mean the other models were like 6 feet tall and really gorgeous! =( Oh well. Fun stuff
Tokyo Train Tales
Trains are the way of travel in Japan. My family and I used them countless times during our week-long trip over Spring Break. We bought a JR Pass (Japan Railway), that allowed us unlimited first class travel on the trains. We rode the Subway, the Japan Railway, and the Bullet Train, which goes 350 mph, the fastest mode of land transportation. Throughout these numerous trips to and from Tokyo, I gathered some interesting stories. They are collected here in 4 parts.
Part 1
Tokyo to Ueno Park Subway Separation
The subways in Tokyo are simple and easy to use, even for English-speakers. After using it a few times, my family and I felt fairly confident about it, so we headed downstairs to the platform. My mom seemed suddenly confused after reading the map. A train came and we were still unsure whether it was the right train for our destination. Afraid that it was the right one and would leave us, my mom hopped on just as the doors closed behind her, leaving my dad and I staring at her through the glass panels. For a minute, they just stared at each other. I asked, “Well, where are we going to meet?” They didn’t hear me. I repeated myself, but again no one heard. The train started to pull away and suddenly, my dad shouted after the disappearing train, “Meet at the next stop!!!” His voice echoed in the tunnel. The next train came a minute later and as we pulled into the next station, we could see my mom running frantically after our car as it passed by her. I couldn’t help but laugh at her. She rushed through the doors and got the biggest hug from my dad as he said, “It’s so good to see you!” as if he hadn’t seen her in 10 years (only two minutes, at most, passed). Everyone on the train had witnessed the whole charade. How embarrassing. They must have thought: “Stupid Tourists!”
Part 2
Tokyo to Kamakura The Sleep Train
Trains often lull people to sleep with their slow, rhythmic, rocking motion, so it is common to see commuters falling asleep on their way home from work. Many just bow their head and quietly close their eyes, but this one woman started to do head-jerks, you know, the kind where you start to fall, then catch yourself and suddenly pop back into correct posture. This women would do as many as 20 per minute, only sometimes catching herself before she hit my mother’s shoulder. Trains passed and seemed to push her back into position, but slowly, she’d lean closer and closer until her head was about to rest on my mom, then she’d violently jerk back. She never leaned toward the man on the other side, just toward my mom. Once, she adjusted her purse, moved her feet and changed hand positions. She even cracked her neck. She didn’t open her eyes, but I thought she’s finally woken up! 30 seconds later, I looked up to see her nodding off again. She was really knocked out, unwakeable! I started to wonder when she’d wake up and how long she’d been there, asleep. I wondered how many other strangers she had slept on. What if she missed her stop and at the end of the line, the conductor would come out and wake her up and she’d be embarrassed to realize she should have gotten off hours ago. I wondered if her husband (she wore a ring) would worry when she didn’t come home in time. I wondered if he would call her cell phone and why he hadn’t already. Then, I started to get annoyed and rather angry at her! How dare she lean on my mother – the woman that was supposed to be my own personal pillow! Why couldn’t she just lean back on the window or fall on the other man? But then suddenly, she woke up… And she had the most beautiful eyes.
Part 3
Kamakura to Tokyo Outlaws on the Orient Express
We climbed aboard the Green Car (usually reserved for ticketed passengers). We didn’t have tickets, just a rail pass. Our minutes were numbered. What would we do if the people who the seats belonged to got on the train? With an hour to go, we didn’t want to have to worry about moving at every stop! Then I saw it, the uniform jacket with gold strips. The ticket collector was in the next car! With saucer-sized eyes, I told my parents the jig was up. I kept watching the uniformed man. I waited for him to turn around at any moment and open the door to our compartment. It was exciting; we were fugitives, hiding from the ticket master, ready to run if he spotted us. I heard the door behind me open. I waited for him to question my parents first, but he approached me instead! I was speechless. “I…uhh…” I sputtered. My mother distracted him and flashed her Rail pass. “Tokyo?” He said. She nodded. He looked back at me, but this time I knew what to say. So, I repeated the magic word. “Tokyo,” I told him. With that, he clicked his heels and disappeared down the moving hallway. I breathed a sigh of relief. We were safe, for now…
Part 4
Kyoto to Tokyo Misplaced Mayhem
My mom is the most disorganized person I know. Her purse is in constant disarray. A chaotic jumble of things she continuously stuffs into her purse, making it overflowing with junk. I often try to test her, by plucking a wad of $20’s that stick out of her purse and then handing it to her. I think this will teach her how easy it is to get pick pocketed, but she just shoves the money deeper into the bag of crap. Anyway, so during the entire trip, my mom has been making sure that my dad and I have our passports and rail passes on us at all times. She asked us 3 times today, it got quite annoying. Anyway, so while waiting at the train station, in a sudden panic, my mom decided that she had lost her digital camera. She became angry and blamed us. After more madness then some searching, we found it in a bag. Relief filled the air and we sat in silence for the next 10 min as my mom walked all over the station, window-shopping, or something. A minute before the train arrives, my mom asks herself aloud, “Where’s my rail pass?” We don’t know! She thinks she must have stuffed it into one of her pockets or purse, but she checks and it’s not there. The train pulls into the station. She tells us to search the bag we found the camera in, while she looks around the station for it. I check for my rail pass and it is right where I always keep it. The buzzer for last call sounds. My dad looks at his rail pass and discovers another one behind his! He stares at both of them, puzzled, like “Now why on earth do I have two?” I’m too to explain to him. I yell down the track after my mom. She finally hears me and then starts walking back! The train’s buzzer is still ringing next to us. I yell at her to hurry up. She still moves slow, and now she’s jabbering with my father about the wonderment of how he got the pass. I hop on the train and hustle them aboard just as it starts to move. Japanese trains are always precisely on time, no matter whether your pass is lost or found!
Part 1
Tokyo to Ueno Park Subway Separation
The subways in Tokyo are simple and easy to use, even for English-speakers. After using it a few times, my family and I felt fairly confident about it, so we headed downstairs to the platform. My mom seemed suddenly confused after reading the map. A train came and we were still unsure whether it was the right train for our destination. Afraid that it was the right one and would leave us, my mom hopped on just as the doors closed behind her, leaving my dad and I staring at her through the glass panels. For a minute, they just stared at each other. I asked, “Well, where are we going to meet?” They didn’t hear me. I repeated myself, but again no one heard. The train started to pull away and suddenly, my dad shouted after the disappearing train, “Meet at the next stop!!!” His voice echoed in the tunnel. The next train came a minute later and as we pulled into the next station, we could see my mom running frantically after our car as it passed by her. I couldn’t help but laugh at her. She rushed through the doors and got the biggest hug from my dad as he said, “It’s so good to see you!” as if he hadn’t seen her in 10 years (only two minutes, at most, passed). Everyone on the train had witnessed the whole charade. How embarrassing. They must have thought: “Stupid Tourists!”
Part 2
Tokyo to Kamakura The Sleep Train
Trains often lull people to sleep with their slow, rhythmic, rocking motion, so it is common to see commuters falling asleep on their way home from work. Many just bow their head and quietly close their eyes, but this one woman started to do head-jerks, you know, the kind where you start to fall, then catch yourself and suddenly pop back into correct posture. This women would do as many as 20 per minute, only sometimes catching herself before she hit my mother’s shoulder. Trains passed and seemed to push her back into position, but slowly, she’d lean closer and closer until her head was about to rest on my mom, then she’d violently jerk back. She never leaned toward the man on the other side, just toward my mom. Once, she adjusted her purse, moved her feet and changed hand positions. She even cracked her neck. She didn’t open her eyes, but I thought she’s finally woken up! 30 seconds later, I looked up to see her nodding off again. She was really knocked out, unwakeable! I started to wonder when she’d wake up and how long she’d been there, asleep. I wondered how many other strangers she had slept on. What if she missed her stop and at the end of the line, the conductor would come out and wake her up and she’d be embarrassed to realize she should have gotten off hours ago. I wondered if her husband (she wore a ring) would worry when she didn’t come home in time. I wondered if he would call her cell phone and why he hadn’t already. Then, I started to get annoyed and rather angry at her! How dare she lean on my mother – the woman that was supposed to be my own personal pillow! Why couldn’t she just lean back on the window or fall on the other man? But then suddenly, she woke up… And she had the most beautiful eyes.
Part 3
Kamakura to Tokyo Outlaws on the Orient Express
We climbed aboard the Green Car (usually reserved for ticketed passengers). We didn’t have tickets, just a rail pass. Our minutes were numbered. What would we do if the people who the seats belonged to got on the train? With an hour to go, we didn’t want to have to worry about moving at every stop! Then I saw it, the uniform jacket with gold strips. The ticket collector was in the next car! With saucer-sized eyes, I told my parents the jig was up. I kept watching the uniformed man. I waited for him to turn around at any moment and open the door to our compartment. It was exciting; we were fugitives, hiding from the ticket master, ready to run if he spotted us. I heard the door behind me open. I waited for him to question my parents first, but he approached me instead! I was speechless. “I…uhh…” I sputtered. My mother distracted him and flashed her Rail pass. “Tokyo?” He said. She nodded. He looked back at me, but this time I knew what to say. So, I repeated the magic word. “Tokyo,” I told him. With that, he clicked his heels and disappeared down the moving hallway. I breathed a sigh of relief. We were safe, for now…
Part 4
Kyoto to Tokyo Misplaced Mayhem
My mom is the most disorganized person I know. Her purse is in constant disarray. A chaotic jumble of things she continuously stuffs into her purse, making it overflowing with junk. I often try to test her, by plucking a wad of $20’s that stick out of her purse and then handing it to her. I think this will teach her how easy it is to get pick pocketed, but she just shoves the money deeper into the bag of crap. Anyway, so during the entire trip, my mom has been making sure that my dad and I have our passports and rail passes on us at all times. She asked us 3 times today, it got quite annoying. Anyway, so while waiting at the train station, in a sudden panic, my mom decided that she had lost her digital camera. She became angry and blamed us. After more madness then some searching, we found it in a bag. Relief filled the air and we sat in silence for the next 10 min as my mom walked all over the station, window-shopping, or something. A minute before the train arrives, my mom asks herself aloud, “Where’s my rail pass?” We don’t know! She thinks she must have stuffed it into one of her pockets or purse, but she checks and it’s not there. The train pulls into the station. She tells us to search the bag we found the camera in, while she looks around the station for it. I check for my rail pass and it is right where I always keep it. The buzzer for last call sounds. My dad looks at his rail pass and discovers another one behind his! He stares at both of them, puzzled, like “Now why on earth do I have two?” I’m too to explain to him. I yell down the track after my mom. She finally hears me and then starts walking back! The train’s buzzer is still ringing next to us. I yell at her to hurry up. She still moves slow, and now she’s jabbering with my father about the wonderment of how he got the pass. I hop on the train and hustle them aboard just as it starts to move. Japanese trains are always precisely on time, no matter whether your pass is lost or found!
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Early Morning Ramblings
I found these random thoughts jotted down in my notebook today. Who knew I could actually write somewhat coherently so early in the morning!
1/22/03 8:14 am
"Amazing how people can look alike. No two people are the same, but they can remind you of one another. His bright blue eyes, her wavy jet black hair, how he dresses, the way she tilts her head back when she laughs... We are always looking for similarities in society, desperately struggling to make a connection."
2/4/03 7:45 am
"Our lives are filled with constant busy-ness. Any gap in the workload and we are suddenly bored, not knowing what to do with ourselves. We struggle and struggle, for what? For the ultimate satisfaction of relaxing and doing nothing in retirenment. But, only then we are too old to enjoy it..."
2/13/03 7:50 am
"It's never too early to recieve a compliment, nor too late. Dole them out generously and even when people don't necessarily deserve them. One day, on a particularily bad day, you too will recieve a compliment and finally understand how much the smallest compliment is worth."
1/22/03 8:14 am
"Amazing how people can look alike. No two people are the same, but they can remind you of one another. His bright blue eyes, her wavy jet black hair, how he dresses, the way she tilts her head back when she laughs... We are always looking for similarities in society, desperately struggling to make a connection."
2/4/03 7:45 am
"Our lives are filled with constant busy-ness. Any gap in the workload and we are suddenly bored, not knowing what to do with ourselves. We struggle and struggle, for what? For the ultimate satisfaction of relaxing and doing nothing in retirenment. But, only then we are too old to enjoy it..."
2/13/03 7:50 am
"It's never too early to recieve a compliment, nor too late. Dole them out generously and even when people don't necessarily deserve them. One day, on a particularily bad day, you too will recieve a compliment and finally understand how much the smallest compliment is worth."
Thursday, March 06, 2003
Less than two weeks till Spring Break!
Ask me where I'm going for Spring Break and my answer changes from week to week. 6 weeks ago, I would've told you that I was going on a solo trip to Monument Valley in Arizona. At 5 weeks, my mom and sister were going to show me around Paris, since I've never been. 4 weeks away; I was going to go to Australia with my mom and dad. With 3 weeks left, I was back to the Arizona trip alone. Now, with 2 weeks to plan, my mom is making wild suggestions like Hawaii (they normally hate Hawaii), Montreal, New York, Chicago, Costa Rica, Greece, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Saigon! Tokyo is looking more and more likely, however, it's all subject to change at the last minute. This is just how crazy my family is. When they ask where you want to go on vacation and you say, jokingly "How about an African Safari?", my mom will say, "Ok, I'll look into it." No place is out of the question. And what's more, it's not like we plan trips a year or even 2 weeks in advance. They are always planned at the last minute, even sometimes the day of. For instance, almost a month exactly after Sept. 11, when people were afraid to fly and fares were cheap, I came home from an SAT one morning to a phone message like this: "Hi, Kate. It's mom. It's about 11:30. I was thinking that you should go to Scotland this weekend to visit Ginny (my sister who was living there at the time). The plane would leave today around 3 o'clock and you'd get back on Monday during the day. Call me back right away, so I can confirm reservations. Oh, and start packing if you decide to go." So, I packed in 20 minutes and within a few hours, I was waiting at the airport for my plane to arrive. It's a 13 hour plane ride each way and I spent less than 48 hours in Scotland. When I got to school the next day, and friends asked where I was, I told them, "In Scotland." I love my family and our spontaneity.
Sunday, March 02, 2003
Gettin back to my roots
*Knock, Knock*
"Come in!" I shout, expecting one of the girls from my hall.
Instead, it's Lorne (a guy from my high school who graduated a year before I). Behind him, is John, this really funny guy who I met on Valentine's Day and haven't seen since. I didn't know they knew each other and they didn't know they both knew me until they got to my door! We ended up going downtown for mexican food and a movie. It must have been funny seeing us walk down the street. A really, really tall (almost 7 feet) black guy and a medium sized mixed guy and me, a really short (a little over 5 feet) white girl. We almost got kicked off the bus because we said a swear word, although none of us remember saying it. Fun stuff. I miss Oakland!
"Come in!" I shout, expecting one of the girls from my hall.
Instead, it's Lorne (a guy from my high school who graduated a year before I). Behind him, is John, this really funny guy who I met on Valentine's Day and haven't seen since. I didn't know they knew each other and they didn't know they both knew me until they got to my door! We ended up going downtown for mexican food and a movie. It must have been funny seeing us walk down the street. A really, really tall (almost 7 feet) black guy and a medium sized mixed guy and me, a really short (a little over 5 feet) white girl. We almost got kicked off the bus because we said a swear word, although none of us remember saying it. Fun stuff. I miss Oakland!
Divas in a Darkened Disco
We turned the Women's 3rd Floor into a Wild Dance Party! We all dressed in our cutest club outfits and Christine tried on her new mini skirt with Kelly's boots. She sang and danced to her fav. song "Dirty" and got a lap dance from Kelly!She broke out with some awesome dance moves (better than me!). I made her repeat her sexy dance routine for everyone who came by and she unknowingly showed her white panties to the world!
Me: "Peer pressure is the best thing in the world!! DO IT!"
Me: "Peer pressure is the best thing in the world!! DO IT!"
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