a few weeks ago i was running out of shampoo (as one does), so i moseyed up to the drug store and began the challenge of buying new shampoo.

"challenge", you say? yes.

of course i haven't been without shampoo for the past 3 years, but buying shampoo in a foreign country - for me - always has it's problems. this time was no different.

here's my problem with shampoo either here or abroad. i like to try different kinds - just so i don't get stuck using something that will make me bald. that is then compounded with the fact that when i go to the store i can never remember my running list of SHAMPOOS I HATE.

because I can never remember, I decided at some point to always buy a new brand of shampoo so that I don't make the mistake and buy the brand(s) I didn't like.

This time I bought a seemingly harmless white bottled shampoo with some kind of leaf of the front and the words COOL REFRESHING SHAMPOO on the top... ... .... god, i wish i had read more carefully.

when i opened the bottle i was almost knocked over in my tiny bathtub at noxious fumes spewing forth. the leaf wasn't eucalyptus or whatever hippy thing I thought it to be, upon further inspection, it was actually a MINT LEAF.

for the record, i hate just about most everything mint (save peppermints). it's tolerable but not my most favorite taste in the world. now, it's being applied to my head. what makes shampoo minty? MENTHOL. that's my guess. the shampoo smells exactly like someone who smokes menthols and it makes my head tingle for close to half an hour after i've rinsed. this can't be good for me.

i hate this bottle of shampoo. it's by far the worst. but i feel like it's a waste to get rid of it - so i'm going to use it. but because i've written this, i'll know forever that COOL REFRESHING SHAMPOO is not so cool at all.

this doesn't matter to most of the world, but I beat Zelda for the first time in, oh, say... 18 years. i felt so happy. i mastered the master sword and i shot the crap outta Gannon with the silver arrows. PWNED!

i had a lot of trouble finding dungeon six. it took me awhile to realize the dungeons were labeled. d'oh. then, i couldn't find the old man in the graveyard but even when i finally did, he couldn't give me the master sword! wtf!?

then i had trouble with the "Grumble Grumble" guy in Dungeon 7. i had to use the internet to figure out that I feed him food. d'oh.

then i kept getting stomped in Dungeon 8. got totally lost in Dungeon 9. and used the internet again to figure out where to get the Red Ring.

though i feel like a total cheat for using the internet for help, the 7 year old me couldn't have beat the game without a little help from my friend NINTENDO POWER. so, i feel somewhat sinless in my game conquering.

so that's that. i'm really happy i finally beat it so now i can move on to another game... probably another Zelda game. oooh how i love the franchise.

well, the results came back and I PASSED! barely. but i passed. this means.... [cue crickets] ... i dunno. but clearly I have more confidence. and that has manifested in me re-picking up my Japanese literature again - due mostly in part to the fact that i bombed the Reading/Grammar section of the test.

but regardless, I walk away a champion. i accomplished a goal i set out to do and despite my lack of confidence, i barely scraped by. good going me!

so... i speak Japanese, professionaly. i'm a pro at something. of course I can't predict now, but I feel like I defined the next stage of my life a bit by this test. I have some bearing on what I can do. *gulp*

next on my language learning list: Chinese, Urdu, and Swahili. look out globe!

happy valentine's day. today i wish we weren't 7000 miles apart. we could have gotten a heart shaped pizza.

I got into an accident on Friday Night. I was coming back from Bowling for Yennies (a bowling tournament I arranged) and unfortunately the weather had made a turn to more snowy. Driving back through the mountains the guy in front of me stopped. And I braked, accordingly, or so I thought - brakes locked, car slid, and i ran into the back of the guy's car. whoops.

i felt bad but once you're in a slide there's not much more you can do. thankfully no one was hurt and there was only minor damage done to that guys car.

$400 in damage to mine.

all in all it was pretty painless, i dealt with the police and whatnot. UNTIL, as we were leaving the guy I hit says to me, "I'll go up to your work tomorrow and talk to them."
and I'm like "WHA?!"
"I'll go up to your work."
"Umm.... it's Saturday. And plus, my supervisor is actually at the Board of Education..."
"Whatever, that's fine. I'll still go up to your school tomorrow."

Sure enough, I get a call from my Principal (whom i'm not a huge fan of) at 10 in the morning saying the guy I hit is there and "do you have insurance?" thanks be to God that answer was "Yes." (I got it on Thursday).

But I'm just aggravated by that whole situation! why on Earth would my work need to be involved in an accident? I think it has something to deal with being a public employee, and even moreso a gaijin. But it sucks, because now the tea ladies will be giving me driving advice.

Today I went up to my Board of Education to fill out a form for the city, complete with drawing. It had boxes on the top for 9 city officials, including the Mayor. WTF?? Why does the Mayor have to sign off on my accident??

This bit of culture I don't quite understand, nor do I appreciate. Frustrates me, but fortunately enough, I'm pretty passive and patient, so I can deal with it.

this whole adventure falls into the "reasons to move back to texas" list.