Thursday, August 4th: Girls Night Out

So today was another day of cleaning.  We finished off the room area by sweeping the stairs and then scrubbed down the kitchen and shower room.  Once you add in a few breaks for ice cream and air conditioning, it adds up to be a pretty good day :)

So this is how we dry our sheets here...
or maybe it's just an excuse to build a fort?

After we finished cleaning, we cleaned ourselves up and went out with some of the teachers.  11 Japanese women + 2 American girls = 1 fun night of bowling and laughter!

Japanese bowling shoes.
Way better than American ones.

Taiko drumming arcade game?

Check out my form! Or maybe
I was trying to convince the
ball to not go in the gutter?

Yay being bad at bowling!
Yay still having fun!



My team!
Sawako Sensei, Iwasaki Sensei, & Emely Sensei
The losing team of the night, but we had fun!



I'm the score on top.  Yup.
45 for the first game.

An ICE CREAM vending machine!
Madelyn's found her new love :)



My scores on top again.
I at least out bowled myself with a 68.
Check out frame 5!



All the teams after our 2 games

Even though few of them spoke much English, it was still a really fun night.  Thank goodness laughter and facial expressions are universal :)  Japanese women, at least the single kindergarten teachers I work with, are SUPER giggly and totally cute!  Like when one of the teachers on my team got a gutter ball, she'd walk back with a discouraged smile and kinda walked in a way that reminded me of a feminine, cute Dopey from Snow White.  Their "Asian cute" is something that puzzles me.  They can get away with acting so immature at times and it's just considered "kawaii" which would totally not work in America.  And their fashion sense is something else.  It's hilarious.  The "fashionable" women in their 20s and 30s either dress in clothes that are 4,500 sizes too big or 4,500 sizes too small.  Again, something that I'd never be able to pull off and still look cute.  It's impressive.

After turning in our shoes,
we got warm cloths to wash
our hands after bowling.

The losing team had to buy
the winning team drinks...
I bought Nakahito Sensei a tea :)

  After bowling, we went to the food court in the mall and got some dinner. 

Shion C Sensei and me :)

Kaname Sensei, me, and Pretty-Hair Sensei

(The Japanese names are really hard to catch unless we hear it lots or see it written down, so Madelyn and I have made up nicknames for a few of them)

Zaru (cold soba noodles)

It ended up being a really fun night!  I was so thankful that it could be just us ladies relaxing and bonding despite the language barrier.  They are all so thoughtful, paying for our bowling, helping us find out our bowling shoe size in cm, helping me order dinner at the food court, giving us goodbye gifts, and driving us to and from the mall.  We thanked them to the best of our ability and said goodbye to most of them since tomorrow is the last day of school for them.  It's crazy to think only 8 more wake-ups in Japan!  I'll be home 1 week and 1 day and a 13 hour airplane ride from today :)