I am not trying this while I am here!

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OMG! They're here!

I just found out Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are here in Japan. They are in Tokyo, I am so close to Tokyo! Maybe I should go try and find them? I can run them down or something. Maybe if I brought a baby for them, they would actually talk to me. Who knows? If you want to watch a video of them coming, click here

Spoiled Chloe

So, I went home from school early today and I was delighted to see the elementary students walking home from school. Their school is right down the block from me. I was even more delighted to see Chloe running to me when I parked. I thought, wouldn't it be fun if I walked to the street with Chloe and talked to the students with her? I mean, no I don't speak Japanese and they don't speak English, but Chloe would be a good buffer for that. Some of these young students have never seen a foreigner before, so I wanted to try.

Big mistake! Chloe was not down for it at all. She wouldn't come close to the street. I heard students talking about her, but that is it. I guess I don't blame her, she knows the road is dangerous and I am happy she stays away from it. But I was with her, so she would have been ok. Luckily, one of the students cut through my parking lot. I picked up Chloe and the student pet her. It was nice. Right when I put her down, she ran up to my house because all she wanted to do was eat! Spoiled Chloe! She must have forgotten the days she was a dumpster kitty.

Recent Pictures

Hello. These are just some pictures from recently. One is Tracey's birthday. The other was a party I went to to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Happy Times Are Here Again!

Last week I was driving to one of my schools when the news came on the radio. I listen to Inter FM, which is out of Tokyo. They broadcast both in English and Japanese. This new happened to be in English, so I listened to it. They always do world news first, then domestic. So, Siyoko Kame did her news like she always does. I was driving along when it hit me. She said President Obama! Not, Democratic Candidate Obama, or Democratic Nominee Obama or President Elect Obama. It was President Obama! This was the first time I heard him called that (this was only a day after the inaguration). It made me so happy to hear that.

So far, I have been very happy with Obama. I like how is he reaching out to the Muslim world, all while keeping our relationship with Israel good. I hope he protects Israel. Anyway, happy times are here again!

Read this!

This is a funny article, read it here

Fun photos

I forgot what these are called, but they are all over Japan. You can go and take the photo's, then decorate them. Sometimes you can even have them put onto your cell phone to save in there. Emily loves doing them, so we racking up quite the collection. I usually hang them on my wall. Can you guess which one I decorated?

Read this!

It is actually true, they do it on my schools. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090120/od_nm/us_usa_obama_textbook;_ylt=AlGDmdnfos05nPRdAUBP3bms0NUE

I am so excited!

I am so excited about Obama swearing in as PRESIDENT tomorrow! I think he is going to be a great leader not only for the U.S., but the whole world.

Look at him. He VOLUNTEERED all day. The man who is going to be president tomorrow volunteered the day before. What an inspiration! I know he is definitely someone I look up to. He is my role model. I haven't had a role model for a long time...

Hard Rock Cafe

We went to Hard Rock Cafe in Yokohama. It was nice to have some American food, but the portions were way too big for us! You think the change of diet would show, but for me it really hasn't. Emily has lost about ten pounds though.

Landmark Tower, again!

Ok, I went to Landmark Tower again. But this time I went with a different friend. Also, we rode the big ferris wheel, Cosmo Clock 21 or something. It was cold outside, but fun!

Scary!

This is a particular worry for Tokyo, which Bill McGuire, a hazards specialist at University College in London, describes as `the city waiting to die` (not a motto you will find on many tourism leaflets). Tokyo stands on the meeting point of three tectonic plates in a country already well known for its seismic instability. In 1995, as you will remember, the city of Kobe, nearly 500 kilometres to the west, was struck by a magnitude 7.2 quake, which killed 6,394 people. The damage was estimated at $99 billion. But that was as nothing-well, as comparatively, little-compared with what may await Tokyo.

Tokyo has already suffered one of the most devastating earthquakes in modern times. On 1 September 1923, just before midday, the city was hit by what is known as the Great Kanto quake-an event over ten times as powerful as Kobe`s earthquake. Two hundrend thousand people were killed. Since that time, Tokyo has been eerily quiet, so the strain beneath the surface has been building for eighty years. Eventually it is bound to snap. In 1923, Tokyo had a population of about three million. Today it is approaching thirty million. Nobody cares to guess how many people might die, but the potential economic cost has been put as high as $7 trillion.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

page 265

Bill Bryson

Ouch!

So, I got a phone call from the Apple store today. It looks like there is water damage on my keyboard from when I tried to clean up after the mess Chloe made. That means I have to pay for my keyboard to get fixed :( It is super expensive. Next time, no more Chloe on my lap when I am on the computer, at all. And no more liquids close to my computer.

The price oƒ having a pet

Chloe was sitting on my lap the other night when she knocked over my nail polish with her tail. It was an accident. I didn't yell at her, but she hid in the closet aƒterward.....poor baby! She knew she had done something, she just didn't realize it wasn't her ƒault. So, this led to a series oƒ events that caused my keyboard to be messed up. Hence, that is why my ƒ key is not working. I have to go to Tokyo to get it looked at today. So, I might not be able to post ƒor a while :(

Later that evening..

So, I couldn't get good pictures oƒ Mount ƒugi that day, but later we saw the sun setting behind it! This was taking on the rooƒ oƒ a new shopping center! I saw the same thing yesterday evening as well, ƒrom a diƒƒerent part oƒ the preƒecture.

Mount Tsukuba Day Trip Again

My ƒriend Tracey and I attempted to climb Mount Tsukuba again on January 2nd. I say attempted because we didn't make it. My problem was, lack oƒ exercise, not eating properly over break and just not taking care oƒ myselƒ in general. She was just tired. So we made it about halƒ way and and then went down and took the cable car to the top. It was AMAZING! We could see the skyline oƒ Tokyo and right next to it, Mount ƒugi! The skyline in Tokyo dwarƒed in comparison so the mountain. It was crazy to be looking at one oƒ the biggest cities in the world and then one oƒ the most ƒamous mountains in the world in the same view. I am sorry I couldn't get a really good picture oƒ that view, due to my little camera and the position oƒ the sun at that time. I hope you enjoy my pictures I took on the mountain. The last picture is the toad mouth. You are supposed to throw a stone into it!

Happy New Year from Anna and Chloe!

These past few weeks have been crazy for both me and Chloe. To be honest, the past year hasn't been the greatest for me. Of course, I did get to come to Japan, but it was a long journey along the way. The great thing about the new year is you can start over. Some things happened this past week that made me realize it is time for a change. I need to start over. Luckily, I am in a great place to do it. I am far away from my comfort zone, so anything is possible. So, here's hoping 2009 is a good year! Chloe and I are in this together, so I hope she has a good year too!

New Year's Eve!

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good New Year's. Mine was pretty low key (out of choice). I went to a pub with a friend. Here are some pictures from our night.