Thanks for all of the comments and support, everyone! I read them all, but haven't had time to respond. This won't be much of a journal update either, but next time I'll be sure to get to each reply since the last time I posted. In a nutshell:

Work--Presentation went well, my student did a good job at the speech contest in Tokyo, but didn't get into the finals. That's okay, though. She did her best and her teacher and I couldn't be more proud of her.

At the contest, saw a member of royalty in person for the first time in my life and even stood behind her for a huge group picture. The person was Her Imperial Highness Takamado, but apparently she's not *that* famous because that was the first time K sensei ever saw her. I didn't care, it was still cool.

This coming weekend is the teachers' trip. We're going some place in Miyagi prefecture.

Secret Santa--Wondering what to get my person, but getting good ideas.

BPAL--October lunacy order and one decant circle came in. Yays!

Other--Turned 26 last Tuesday. Yay, but ack. Went out to have a birthday dinner with three of the JHS teachers. It was a lot of fun.

Finally bought the walking skirt and corset (my first one) that I've had my eye on for a few months. woo

Happy Birthday Juri!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone!!! Sorry it took me several months to get back to them.

Yep, so like some sort of migratory bird, I'm back again for the time being. I hope I can eventually break out of this "come back, leave, come back, leave" cycle I'm in.   I have to get ready for bed soon, so here's a quick up date. Tuesday's a holiday (woo!) so I'll have more time for a longer entry then. In a nutshell, though:

Hair--I've gone from classic to vertical-smile length. I started to cut it shorter in December because it was getting a little too time consuming to care for plus I was getting tired of the unsolicited comments from adults about how long it was. I have a whole rant about it, but it'll have to wait.

Positives
-Went home for three weeks during the winter break. It was really nice to be back home with my mom and dog. Oh, and not having to worry about freezing pipes or black ice was great.
-Went to Kamakura for the first time last month. It's a cool place and I didn't have enough time to see everything I wanted to. I'll have to go back again one day.
-Managed not to gain much winter weight. Yay! Last year I gained about 15 pounds! Ugh. I lost most of it during the summer and fall. The lowest I got down to was about 110lbs. However, within the past few weeks the scale went up two pounds. I've switched to heavier weights when I exercise, so I'm telling myself I've gained a kilo of muscle. Ha!

Okay, it's past 10pm here and I need to brush my teeth. I'll be back either tomorrow or the day after. Have a good day, everyone!
   

Thanks a lot, La Diosa, Angel Spun, and BB!! I tried writing the hair rant for 15 minutes, but kept deleting it because I couldn't put what I wanted to say into coherent sentences. I think I have to try again later. Sorry.

But there is something I can write about: I can't believe how pervy some of the students' dads are. When I was at a party last month, the former school nurse was there and one dad kept trying to take a picture of her boobs. She's rather busty compared to most Japanese women and so there was maybe a half inch of cleavage showing (not much compared to what I've seen back home). Anyway, while she (I'll call her Nurse A) was talking to another teacher, we noticed that the guy was standing right beside her and had his camera focused on her cleavage. I was grossed out, but she and the teacher laughed and the dad went away.

A few minutes later, I glanced across the room and saw the guy standing with his camera trained on Nurse A's breasts again. While I can't be 100% positive he was trying to get a picture, it sure looked like it. He even tried for a THIRD time to get a picture of her cleavage. This time he stood right next to her. I yelled her name and she managed to cover herself before he managed to get a shot.

Well, I was completely disgusted by the guy and when we were lined up to say goodbye to the guests of honor, I had the misfortune of being stuck near him. We were standing next to the dessert table and while we were waiting, I heard him call my name. I turned around and he had a mini dessert tart in his fingers and was sticking it right in front of my face, maybe an inch from my mouth. By that time I was ready to punch him, but unfortunately I couldn't. I thought, "What the f***!!!! You must be high if you think I'm gonna eat from your damn fingers!" I was bending backwards away from him, but he just kept moving the tart closer and closer. Thank goodness for all the ab exercises I've been doing for over a year or else I would have fallen over since he could not read body language at all.

Since he was dense enough not to get the message that I wasn't going to eat from his fingers, I had to slap it out of his hand. I wish. It would not have been undeserved if I had done that. Anyway, I ended up grabbing the tart and held it for a while before I shoved it in my mouth. Lame ending, I know. But if I had been in the same situation when I was younger, I would have been really meek and let him feed me, so at least I ate the stupid thing on my own terms, not his. My mom had a good laugh when I told her what happened and she was glad I didn't let him do what he wanted.

I'm still a little "WTF?" about the whole thing. While I know perverts are everywhere, I sure wasn't expecting a student's dad, who's a member of the PTA, to try MULTIPLE times to take a picture of the school nurse's cleavage and to try and feed me something with his bare fingers. The students here have "moral education" lessons, but I think the parents need to take them as well. Good grief.

I, unfortunately, have another story similar to this that will have to be saved for another day. Ah, Japan, the land of borderline sexual harassment. [/sarcasm]