Hiromi’s Blog

I usually have Monday and Tuesday off, so today is sort of my Sunday. I hang out with Becca. It has been a while since I saw her, so her belly was bigger than the last time. She is having a boy in Octorber. Too bad, that I cannot see her baby. While we hang out in Lincoln sqr after hema’s kitchen, we saw many many pregnant women. It was kind of weird…

I’ve got a new wallet which is one of my little excitement today. It was a shopping day for me today. I tried to buy a new Dansko pair for Summer, but they didn’t have my size. I know my feet are small (5 1/2). I ordered it though. I went to Aveda and got some travel size facial stuff and a hair conditioner and a body/ hair oil. I am pretty excited about these products. I get excited about these little things…oh well.

I went to a Chinese restaurant, Friendship with Harper and we had cold sesame noodle with cucumber, vege egg rolls, and Tea Smoked Salmon. The salmon was delicious, and Harper said that baby bokshoy is overrated. funny… I don’t think so. I love baby bokchoy. Anyhow, the restaurant is very unique, as far as the interior and waitress go.

My friend, Kaori emailed me today saying that her friend/ my friend who owns a cute cafe won the first prize of sommelier/ wine tasting expert competition. She was on the newspaper and everyone was crazy excited about her. She is going to England to study English. That was a very exciting news! She is a very cool person who has a nice heart. I am very very happy for her.

We set up an air conditioner today in our living room. It is so nice, and I felt that we should have done this earlier.

My Sunday is almost over…sad…well it’s not that bad….

Sweet dreams for all

OMG I am melting down…..my computer is getting hot too. I work a lot, but I can be under AC at work, so it is not so bad…

So I did the museum tour for a Japanese tour group on Thu. It was fun! Many older people who adored me and enjoyed artworks. I met up with them at the Columbus drive entrance and showed them some American arts like Hopper’s Nighthawks, Wood’s American Gothic, Cassat’s the Bath. Then I went to European art sections starting at El Greco’s The Assumption of Virgin, Rembrandt’s the Old man with a gold chain, and I skipped couple hundreds years—to Willian Turner’s Fish boat. These are the things I think they should see it besides Impressionist works.

Manet, Monet, Renoir, Caillebotte, Van Gogh, Degas, Seurat, Cezanne, and Gauguin, and Picasso. They loved this section, and some of them are very enthusiastic enough to go to France to see Monet’s garden.

I saw Monet’s water lily at Orangerie in Paris and very enjoyed it! It was more than 10 years ago. I think that I sometimes forget how great the Art Institute is. It is an amazing museum with a lot of great art works. When I worked at the Prints and Drawing department, I handled very famous artists works, like Rembrandt, Picasso, Warhol, Munch and more and more, all the time. All of the curators were so nice and very intelligent. I want to be like them…

I didn’t finish my blog yesterday, because the internet was acting weird and couldn’t post it. Here I am again. It’s Saturday and I just had a brunch with Marcia. I am still exhausted from a long day work yesterday. Yes, restaurant job is tiring, but since I am excited about food in general, it is fun to be around foods and chefs. Last night I had marinated salmon sushi and bonito, which is a tuna family fish and leaner and darker than tuna. They were yummy…

I rented some video tapes (not DVD!) of Japanese TV shows a couple weeks ago from the place called Tokyo video, and a guy named Toshi drove a van full of video tapes throughout Japanese restaurants in Chicago. He stopped by Wabi for Valentina and me. I rented some documentary news show and some game show/ living in another country learning some traditional acrobatic performances (I can’t explain well, huh…it is a great show though) tapes. I liked them all.

The one called ‘TV tackle’ was especially good. The host is Takeshi Kitano who is mostly known as a movie director/ actor (Zatoh Ichi–blind sword man, Battle Royal, Fire Works, and so on) outside of Japan, but he started off with a huge success as a comedian.

Anyway, the show talked about North Korean Nuclear weapon suspect, NEET (not employed, educated, or trained? young people who are considered eating up other people’s social security money), and privatizing Postal service bureau, which was apparently a big big deal, and a new law about prohibiting porn ads on street in Tokyo….It was discussion sessions/ debates among politicians, writers, professors, and comedians (why? I don’t know). The debate was heated and they yelled at each other. Takeshi was like “nobody says ‘I agree with you or that’s a good idea’ at all” It was kind of funny how those ‘adults’ went crazy-emotional and became ridiculously upset, and that was ‘funny’. They had a good discussion though.

Anyhow, I should rent more TV Tackle and hopefully they have Riding Together, which my friends (it’s you! my friends) love….a pink van and travel and boys and girls!

My work schedule is not crazy this week, so I will work on my thesis and Chiho Aoshima paper for sure. yell at me (nicely..haha) if I am being lazy….

Oh well, I had a lot to say again. Thank you for reading such a long blog.

I started managing Wed lunch at wabi. It was my first day of being a manager. It is only Wed lunch, so I am not worried about this too much. I just told the work that I am leaving. I will work until the end of July. Lunch managing went well, and I got some help too, so I felt secured.

After this managing fiesco, I went to the Art Institute of Chicago museum to prepare for the tour on Thu. I’ve got the essential guide of the Art Institute and checked Japanese guide books, so I have a pretty good idea. It should be fun!

I was going to finish the second draft of my paper, but couldn’t finish it. I want to finish it soon though. I guess I could do it on this weekend.

Oh, I went to yoga today. good job (to myself)…. It was packed! It’s a summer time for sure. I felt very good and productive.

I love iced barely tea so much. I grew up drinking this every Summer, but my friends also love it–Marcia, Harper, Becca, and more who didn’t grow up in Japan. I think it tastes slightly sweet and a little bit chocolaty or rosty or whatever. yummy…..

I want hair cut so bad. My hair grows crazily. I need it thined out. Glenn would help me…I haven’t seen him for a while….. I want to see him with his motorcycle..

Now, Harper is in NYC, and I am going to NYC soon! July 2nd to 5th. I should call my friends in NYC. I won’t be able to see them for a while since I am going back to Japan soon. sad…. very sad….but not the end of the world, I know…

I want to go to many galleries and museums and vegeratrian restaurants, but it is the 4th of July weekend. It is going to be crazy there.

Tomorrow will be a long day indeed….
Sweet dreams to everybody

The last week was insane… I took another job besides Wabi, so I had no day off and worked double shift. I shouldn’t have done it…. I worked at a Japanese travel agency temporarily, because they were desparate for help. But, it was not only crazy busy, the boss was not nice to anyone. I mean, he yelled at everyone no matter what we did. I said, “Is there anything that I can do?” He said like, “just listen to us, and stop asking ‘is there anything that I can do” He was not in a good mood, but no excuse. I don’t even know this guy, and he treated me like this. I was going to ask my Japanese friends in Chicago to help this office sometimes, but never mind. I cannot send my friends such a place. He was unpleasant, and I hate being yelled. I did a lot for him though. I made a deal with a boat tour company which gave me a huge discount and a favor for us, and more and more, but he never said thank you to me at all.

Othere people were super nice to me and we exchanged contact information. One lady who is from NYC and runs her own business was nice and fun! I think I am going to give her a call when I am in NYC in July. Everyone said to me like, “he is very nice guy and he has a bad mouth, but a good heart inside.” I almost said, “then, show it to me!” Oh well, it is over, so I don’t let this bother me any more. I have one more thing for his company though. It is a museum tour for a Japanese group on Thu. He won’t be there, so it should be fun.

I saw Vince Vaughn at Wabi when I was hosting on Sat. He was super nice and friendly. He ate sushi there! There was a Randolph street fair on the weekend, so we were busy. I was exhausted!

I somehow made it through this crazy week and passed out Sunday night and Mon. I went to acupuncuture on Mon, and went to Marcia’s and slept while she was gone, because her place gets nice breeze. I didn’t know she came home and showered and left again. I slept and slet for over 6 hours. After that, I went home and slept as if nothing happened.

Today, I got up with a bad bad headache, probably because my body needed caffeine. I had a cup of coffee and it went away…oh coffee…I am addicted to you.

Today (Tue) was fun. I went to Art Institute to plan my tour on Thursday and, after that, I hang out with Marcia. We went to Hot Dough and I had a vege dog…yummy… We shared soy ice cream called Dolche no leche (spell?). It was yummy… We just ate ate ate all day long. It was a nice day. Oh, we went to see the movie called Mad Hot Ballroom. It was a very nice documentary movie and made me want to dance!

I am home alone tonight. Harper is in New York, and Matiss is probably at Erica’s. so quiet…. I can’t belive that I am leaving soon. I can’t even take one night being alone here.

I had a good day, so no more complaint….
good night.

I wrote my blog in Japanese the other day, and I thought, “yes, this is my secret language for my American friends,” but it is not really secret, because you can use a translation tool like Sherlock, which Marcia told me so and she actually did it! I didn’t say anything bad about those who don’t read Japanese…but some nice cheesy stuff….how much I love you guys…I am serious! Believe me! love you all. You know what? Non-Japanese name won’t be translated unless it is super common!

Today, I googled ‘Chiho Aoshima + Chinese Noodle Girl’, because I am looking for the dimension of the art work titled Chinese Noodle Girl, and guess what showed up. My blog……OMG People I don’t know can read my blog. I mean I knew it in my head, but when I saw the result, I was shocked!

I started working for a Japanese travel agency for only this week. They are super busy! I don’t know how well my work is actually helping, but I am trying hard. They are super nice people, but because of crazy busy schedule and deadllines they have to deal with, the atmosphere is very intense. The office is too small for 5 people (usually only 3), so it is very claustrophobic. Yesterday, my boss took all of employees to China Grill to get to know each other. Everyone knows each other, but me, so they were super curious about me, especially about my degree. The boss came to NYC without knowing how to speak English at all. He has lived here in the U.S. for over 20 years, mostly NYC and Chicago. He seems very interesting, but a character though—since he yells us and talks to himself very loud. He is sometimes saying or doing funny things too. The other people are sooooo sweet and polite–caring and considering all the time. They are all very hardworking too. I come to the office the latest and leave the office the earliest–hahaha—– I don’t get paid much for this, so I think it’s okay. I am keeping my wabi hours too, so I have to make sure that I am not too exhausted to work properly.

So I finished my paper on Chiho Aoshima. I really liked this project that my professor gave me. It is a short essay and is going to be a part of the book that my professor and her friends are writing. It is not definate yet, but the chance of being published is high, I think. I am super excited! I should keep writing a lot.

I cooked dinner today! I stirfried tofu, broccoli and Brussels sprouts with soy maple sauce. It was easy and yummy. I should cook more often.

All day in the office tomorrow too. I can do it..

OMG. I thought I was going to melt down yesterday. I went to work and came home, and I was on internet for a little while and passed out for a few hours. Becca called and I barely woke upt and we went to yoga together. I am so glad that I went to yoga. I feel so good today. I love good health….

It was Matt’s last day. He is moving to NYC. I will miss him, but it will be good for him. I really wish his good luck. He was moving his stuff, and Garth (spell?) was helping. Garth’s ban is so cute! It’s orange and has brown stripes on it.

After yoga, I was starving and no grocery at my place, so I decided to order Thai food. Hot day + Thai food don’t go wrong. We ordered from Spice. Mark was staying too, so I took everybody’s order=still working?. We went down to the backyard and ate food. I love my backyard. Our landlord is always doing a great job to keep the building nice. I will miss this place. I will miss a lot of things. I shouldn’t think about it too much. It makes me sad.

I did my hair two pig tails and looked kind of ridiculous, but so nice to have my hair out of my neck. I did it again at work. One of sushi chefs called me a high school girl. I am too old for that… My hair is getting too long, but I kind of like it. I haven’t had a long hair so long, so I feel very different.

I was supposed to finish my 2nd draft of Chiho Aoshima essay which I am writing for my professor’s book. This is a very exciting project and I wanted to do it, but hanging out with my friends is fun, so I couldn’t finish it. Oh..bad bad Hiromi….. I am going to do it now! Now!

Harper got a luxuary disease called gout. He was in so much pain, so I will introduce him some homeopathic, although he hates medication, especially natural/ hippy stuff. I got some grilled asparagus, Salmon sashimi and tofu salad the day before yesterday. I tried to give him healthy and yummy foods, but we found out these are not good for a gouted foot. It’s hard. I didn’t mean to do this though. Cherry is good for gout… Cherry is considered warm food in Chinese dietary, and I was told to eat more warm food (not tempature, but the nature of food). I learned a lot about gout and other stuff.

I think that being healthy in Chicago costs a lot, like eating healthy foods. My parents took over my grand parents’ farms and make organic vegetables, fruits and vegetable in a country side. Their vegetables were amazing the last time when I was there. They cooked/ heated everything. I made white raddish salad, and they loved it. It is more nutrious and very very tasty.

Everyone, eat more vegetables! more organic stuff! It’s worth it!

Okay, I should stop meandering my thoughts.

Becca called me tonight saying that Jimmy and Gretchen were in town today, so I went to see them at Handle Bar. I haven’t seen them for one year at least. They live in NYC, and I missed them so much. sooooo much. I saw Anny who is going to India for 4 months and Cole who just had a baby. It was nice to see them before I go back to Japan, and I had a good time with them. Anny is moving to Logan sqr, so we can hang out! maybe in my back yard or something. I like her a lot. I met her right after I moved to Chicago, so we’ve known each other for a long time. I am going to NYC in July, so I can see Jimmy and Gretchen again. I remember that I had a deep personal conversation with both of them individually. I love them. We used to talk about a lot of things…a lot…. They are very sweet and cool. I will miss them a lot, but we should visit each other between NYC and Tokyo.

I had a good day today. I slept a lot (again!) I think that I was getting sick, but I felt fine after a long sleep. I went to school library to do some research and went to yoga. That was soooo goood. At the very end, the instructor gave everyone a little massage with lavender oil. I can still smell it. I went to Red Hen bakery and got a loaf of Ami de Fromage (friend of Cheese?). There is no cheese but a lot of walnuts and dried cherries. It is so delicious and I can’t stop eating it. I love this bread. I don’t need any spread. It is just so good by itself. I watched the movie, Gataka with all of my roommates before handle bar.

I carried my red thermos, which Marcia gave me, everywhere today, thinking of Nakata-san in the novel, Kafka on the Shore. He always put some Hoji cha (roasted green tea) in his thermos and drinks it everywhere he goes. I did the same sort of. I put some barely tea instead. My red thermos got so much attention, but it is so pretty. Thank you, Marcia.

Too much bread is so not Atkins’ diet, but who cares? If you like walnuts and dried cherry, you should try “Ami de fromage.” On this weekend, Harper’s parents are coming to Chicago. I am excited. They are like my family now. I will miss them a lot. I am glad that I can see them before I go.

Mark is staying with us, and Harper and Mark are dorking out/ doing computer or yoyo stuff, which I am not familar with. Once they got so into it, they won’t talk to me….I complained about this a lot today, haha….

Whenever I am in yoga class, people call me. I feel like people call me whenever I am not available, like when I am working or being in a train or in the library. Oh well, I heard from several people whom I don’t get to talk often, so that was good.

Work Work Work! I will work all day tomorrow.