Patricia Danielle

-during one of my dentist visits a few years ago, my dentist asked me how often i flossed. i guess the look i gave was a good enough answer for her, and she encouraged me to start flossing at least once a day. i started that night. and i continued through the week, until late one night, I got floss stuck in between teeth and i could do nothing to get it out. after pulling and tugging, the floss finally spilt in two, but there remained a small piece somewhere between the teeth. no joke, i had to make an emergency run to the dentist the next day to get the floss out because it wasnt coming out on its own accord, and it felt horrible. i honestly had no idea how she was going to find the particle of floss, let alone get it out. that is until she broke out her secret weapon of the world’s toughest floss ever. she told me that it can withhold some odd amount of tons without breaking. TONS. floss! thats amazing.

-along the “floss” line of talk, thank goodness marin sent me some more floss. i finally found some in the store for the bargain price of 815 yen. thats almost 8$ for a roll of floss!

-this morning while i was running, i saw a man walking across the street from the “yakuza” house. yukuza is the “japanese mob” as far as i know. when i first got to moka, on the “get aquainted with moka” bike ride led by douglas, we rode by the house and he pointed out “thats the moka house for the japanese mob.” at first i believed him. then, as time went by, i began to question it. i mean, there were always nicely dressed men coming in and out of the house, they were almost always wearing sunglasses (known to only be done by the yakuza and foreigners), and yeah, they were always driving SUPER nice mercedes, but, whos to say that all of  this automatically classifies them as “yakuza?” that is until i saw the man this morning. i had read about the practice of the yakuza to “cut off the top joint of their little finger when they make a serious mistake, do something that embarrasses the gang, costs the gang money, or causes dissent within the ranks. It is also a way to apologize when they can’t pay a debt, to end a feud, or to settle a dispute. The practice is called yubizume and is actually an old samurai tradition” so when i saw the guy, i made sure to take a look at his pinkies. sure enough…..the one on his left hand was cut off. so….i now 1. belive the house to belong to the yakuza in moka and 2. no longer stare at the house the whole time i am passing it. it freaks me out now. now. you know, some 2 years after living about a block away from it. great. 

-yesterday while i was talking to kyoto sensei, telling him about my weird sleeping pattern lately, and that i really dont know why, he gave me 3 suggestions:

1. “you’re nervous to return home.” nervous, huh? anxious maybe. nervous, no.

2. “you need sports.” in his own little way, he was telling me that i needed to be more active so my body could be tired when it is sleep time, and awake when it is awake time. but here’s the deal. i run 35 minutes in the morning, i walk 35 min at lunch, and i ride my bike to school and home for a total of about 45 min on a bicycle on school days. im thinking that theres enough “sport.”

3. “take a drink.” as in alcohol? i dont drink, so this one’s not going to work for me. his rebuttal to that was “a drink makes good sleep.” im pretty sure i know a 40-something-year-old  man from beligium who would agree.

straight from the good ol’ india pictures!