Memoirs of a ダンサー: Apologies!

I've been completely MIA for almost 2 months! My sincerest apologies to those that follow and enjoy reading about life in Japan.

Hmm...well a lot has happened...

My heart has been filled with intense feelings of joy, sorrow, anxiety, anger, grief, adrenaline, and homesickness.
So I guess I'll just go in order of what happened...

My poor younger brother tore his ACL and had to go through
4 hours of surgery to have his knee reconstructed!

Poor guy relocated from his bedroom to the living room
and literally has to learn to walk again!

Don't worry too much though, because Molly is taking good care of him!

Mama Keiko hosted a few Young American performers and one of them
happened to be my friend Shannon who I went to high school with! Small World!
It was fun making some new friends and hearing about her life and what she's
been up to since the last time I saw her...4+ years ago!

I went to Joypolis in Odaiba with some friends. It's like this indoor theme
park arcade place with lots of games, simulators, and other experiences.
We had such a great time and played some sort of personality test game
that was all in Japanese and we didn't understand it at all and we got
these glamour shots at the end of it!

Two of my best friends from home got married!

My friend Amy sent me a video clip of them
saying hello during the reception and it
made my eyes fill with tears and my heart
ache because I couldn't be there to witness
their special day!

I was Kylie's virtual bridesmaid! I FaceTimed the wedding party around 4am
my time to say hello as they started to get ready for the wedding, took a 4 hour
nap and then got up to do my hair and make up and put on my dress in hopes
of being able to Skype them all and see the beautiful couple!

Could they be more perfect?

The very same day as Kylie and Derek's wedding, Sally and
I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Disney Sea as it would be
her last chance to go to the park. I'm not going to go into detail,
but something very tragic happened in Sally's life just a few
days prior and she had to leave Japan and go home to her
family.

Sally became my roommate for the week and I did everything
I'm my power as a friend and sister to comfort her and be
there for her. I learned so much about myself and God's purpose
in sending me on this contract in only 5 days and my eyes
have been so opened to what it means to be a true friend that
loves unconditionally and selflessly.

We shed a lot of tears. We may have gained a few pounds...
(see picture above) But most importantly, we grew into
the deep friendship that God planned for us. My heart has
broken more deeply for her than it ever has for myself
and I'm so honored to have had the opportunity to serve
her as a sister. It was so hard to say goodbye to her and
realize that she will not be here for the remaining 8 months
of my contract, but we both know that our friendship will
last an eternity and we will be seeing each other again
in the future! We also still text each other every day
and that really helps :)

I really can't explain all of the emotions I experienced in those 4 weeks. I forgot to mention that when my brother got injured and went into surgery, I was doing everything in my power to try to fly home to visit my family and be with my brother and also be able to attend the wedding. I was so disappointed and honestly very very angry when things didn't work out, but I trusted that God had a bigger plan for me...and he did! Two girls in my cast got injured just a week later and our work schedule started to get really crazy. I needed to be there and do my job and that was confirmation from God that I wasn't meant to go home because my stage needed me. Then when Sally's life changed drastically in a matter of hours, I knew 125% that my main purpose for not going home was to be there for Sally and grow in my faith through the process. It's so bittersweet to simultaneously watch one friends life begin while another's falls apart before your eyes. My heart broke in two directions, but God was there to glue it together so He could use me to comfort his sweet daughter. And for that, I am endlessly thankful.

After Sally left, God placed some exciting things in the following week to revive me from my emotional exhaustion and get my mind off of everything that had been going on!

I enjoyed a night at Mama Keiko's and tried Sukiyaki
for the first time! I couldn't tell you exactly what it was,
but it was some kind of meat with lots of veggies all boiled
in the pot in the middle of the table and you eat it with raw egg!
So Japanese and SO delicious!

It was also the night of Tanabata which is the story of two stars that can only
meet once a year. If it rains, they can't meet and the Tanabata wishes you make
and write on a paper tied to a branch won't come true! Sorry guys, I wrote in boring
old english, not Kanji like the paper in the photo!

I always have a great time at Mama's! The middle picture was taken while
I was showing them all a video of Wendy tripping and face-planting up some
stairs during One Man's Dream II! It's pretty darn hilarious and she recovers
perfectly if I do say so myself ;)

These boys are singers from two other shows at Tokyo Disney! The three
of us took a trip to Fuji Q Highlands, a theme park near the base of Mt. Fuji!

We took an hour long bus ride and it was gorgeous
looking out the window and seeing the countryside of
Tokyo and all of the green rice fields!

There she is!

I was SO excited to ride some coasters!

This was before our first coaster, Fujiyama! Little did we
know it was going to be the CRAZIEST coaster I've ever ridden
in my whole life!!!

This is the Haunted Hospital that I refused to go in. It's a haunted maze that
can take up to an hour to get through. The boys did it and it took them about
20 minutes! No thanks!!!

This is half a panoramic view of Fuji Q!

I really loved this park!

Unfortunately, it wasn't a very clear day so this was all we
saw of Mt. Fuji! Actually, the first time we noticed the
clouds had cleared enough to see the mountain, was while we were
going over that crazy inverted drop you see in the photo! Pretty cool!

That's right. We rode World Record breaking coasters!!!!!!! CRAZY!

It was a really fun day.

I got a package from mom and dad with some things
I needed plus a few fun surprises! Aka: snacks! Super excited
to have my hiking boots here now so I can start exploring
mountains, hiking trails, waterfalls, etc. around Tokyo!

I finally got to swim for the first time since January!!!!!!!!! I LOVE swimming
and summer is my favorite time of the year because I spend it at the pool or
the beach! So this is the Higashino Pool, or as we call it, the lazy river! It's about
a 15-20min bike from my apartment and although I got a little lost on the way
there, I found it and I enjoyed the sun and the water and my inter tube for a
few hours before meeting Mama and some friends at the sea wall for a little BBQing!

This is an awful representation of our BBQ
but apparently its the only picture I took!
The burgers were delicious!

MY FAVORITE NEWS!!! Nick FINALLY
gets here September 13th!!! Obviously this
photo is a couple days old, but I thought
his countdown was too sweet not to post!
Man, I just CANNOT wait to see him!
It's been 6 months!!!!!!!! Only a month and
a half left and he'll be here for a good 3 1/2
weeks!!!!!! <3333

So those are all of the events and big things that have been going on. I've officially been in Japan for 6 months now and it really feels like home...well, most of the time. There are still a lot of cultural differences I'm learning to be patient and understanding with... Japan is so completely different from America. But deep down, I am still very in love with this country and it's people!

The weather has been increasing sticky and miserably hot. I bike to the train station to get to work and by the time I make it to my dressing room about 40 minutes later, I'm drenched in sweat just from walking in the sun. the humidity is crazy and it's only getting hotter at this point. The average temperature we've been performing in the past week has been 90 degrees with 78% humidity. That's average. We've also done 93 degrees with 85% humidity. Like I said, it's only going to get hotter...