So training is officially complete!!! Yay! Passed my test so I guess I can stay :) We wrote the test on Saturday and everyone did well so we went out to celebrate at the conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Talk about cool. You sit at the bar and sushi just rolls by you on different coloured plates... the colours represent different price points. You also have a little tap in front of you that dispenses hot water for green tea. Delicious!! I got a tad adventurous and tried natto (the fermented bean stuff that’s supposed to taste like garbage... it only kinda did) and eel (kinda fishy but OK) :S I also grabbed some green poop looking thing which turned out to be the best dessert ever, ok well next to melon pan. It was green tea something on what tasted like a cookie and it was great! As you ate, you stacked your plates and when you were done, a waitress would come by with a scanner to scan your plates and then give you a card to take to the cash with how much you owed. Really neat actually. 

After dinner we all pit stopped at the 100 yen Lawson store and stocked up on booze... mmmmmm, plum wine!!! It was a celebration afterall. We then came back and watched ‘Invictus’. Thank God for Omar’s donation of English movies to Joe’s computer!

The next morning we all got up fairly early to head to Oktoberfest at a park about half an hour away by train. Park space seems pretty rare in Nagoya so it was pretty exciting! Anyhow, we got there and the park was huge! And really nice! There was what appeared to be a gold fish judging contest going on and various photo shoots throughout. Not to mention a field where kids were playing lacrosse and soccer. We walked around as we waited for Oktoberfest to begin and got to see turtles and huge fish in the ponds throughout the park. 

About 2 hours after the festival was supposed to begin, it actually did and they opened with possibly the most random song you could hear in Japan.... Soulja Boy - Kiss me through the phone!!!! You can only imagine how pleased I was.. lol. The DJ was sick and played everything I liked. I also found out he writes his own magazine and this was super exciting as its probably the only English reading material I’ll come by for the next year :S There were a few good performances and we all ate a cabbage and meat dish that quickly ran out. Thankfully the all you can drink beer didn’t! We got to meet a bunch of other English speaking people, some of which taught for PKC, others that didn’t. I even met a girl named Sarah who just opened her own Yoga Studio close to downtown Nagoya and offered yoga classes in English!!! How exciting! Eventually the beer and food and sitting around got to me and I somehow passed out while sitting in the grass only to be awakened to my name being called out because I won a raffle prize :) It was a Heineken t-shirt!!! OH YA!!

Now what to do for my next 3 days off :S ?!?!?!

I also forgot to mention that I taught my last class with my PS (aka my boss) and the kids were honestly the smartest angels I could have ever asked for. They honestly had halos around their heads and understood everything I asked them to do. I also found out I’d be teaching for Wish Academy (high school students!!!). He was happy with my lesson and turns out he’s super cool too. He’s taking me to my area to orient me on Thursday :) I get paid to walk around with my PS and check out where the grocery store and such is :) :) :) Good stuff!!

I also now have someone moving into my apartment on the first for more than I was even asking for per month!!! Thank you my gorgeous Jeralee. I owe you HUGE!!!!

Everything is looking up :) This week is gonna be great. I even found a river on my last run :) Oh the little things that make me so happy these days!!

Myself and Laura headed to Nagoya castle yesterday as well that that was pretty great. We even got a free English speaking tour guide because of some special event or something. The castle was pretty fantastic and we had great timing... we basically shut the place down :) We then proceeded to walk around to find a Tokyo Hands store (they sell EVERYTHING... almost). We each had to get an inkan (little personalized stamp the you use to sign with).... apparently people don't just do that with a pen here and I don't blame them... it'd take me forever to draw my little symbols :S My inkan says Jo Lo but also somehow means 'success road'. Weirdest experience having someone try to explain this to us. Laura is 'misty god' or something similar. Hahahahahaha. My inkan is pinkish purple and ohhhh so pretty! Walking around near Sakae Stn was also a crazy experience. It's where the nightlife clearly happens. Good times. Another day off today but I think I'll be a bit lazy. I'm going to my city tomorrow to check it out :D :D :D