Genbei Zao-machi

... serious business greeting of the superintendent, the recieving of our proof-of-employment by the Tome BOE, and then a sit down coffee "chat" at his meeting table.

I'll be honest, I was scarred shitless. Perhaps knowing Japanese just made things worse, because then I was expected to at least say a few things, but as nervous as I was, I was pretty shakey. I mean, this is the big-boss-man, and the official formality of it all (in the traditional Japanese ...

... 8220;Hana”.

I didn’t cry as much as I thought I would during “Waterfall”, the last song. However, I had this strange feeling in my chest. It was like my heart was going to burst out but not because it was pounding hard. I still don’t quite get it, but I think it was a good feeling. That song definitely moves me whenever I hear it.

Right after the concert, Monica had to rush to catch her train. I lost ...

... One was a frog charm—frog being "kaeru" in Japanese, which also means “to leave”. The other was a pair of chopsticks, or hashi. She told me to use it in Southlake to build a bridge, also called “hashi”, between my two homes.

Super Hotel Sendai City has changed a few things, and I’m not quite sure I like it. I don’t get free goodies for being female ...

... characters. She wasn’t as friendly though. Mika ran into a couple of her students, which freaked her out. Her cosplay secret is out of the bag now. =^.^=

I missed the bus back to Toyoma so I decided to go straight to Sanuma instead. That meant no wearing a yukata at the Natsu Matsuri for me. :( I was going to meet Kavita and Rachelle at Kavita’s apartment, but I ran out of steam walking to her place ...

... the bishounen characters. There were quite a few groups: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Vocaloid, Code Geass, and even Gundam Wing. I definitely fangirled over the Gundam Wing group because it consisted of all five G-boys.

We called it quits fairly early because everybody was getting dehydrated and we wanted to be the crowds. Forus was having a huge sale throughout the entire department store so we headed over there. Amy and Mika tried to get ...

Note 1: My location should be Shichigama. Hanabuchihama is one of the beaches in the village.

Note 2: If you want too see the pictures of other cosplayers, tell me, and I'll link you to the place where I have them.

Kavita wound up being the only person who could go with me to the Layer's Eden cosplay event. She drove so that we wouldn’t have to deal with taking a ...

... lots of international people there.

The first day we dropped our stuff off at our hotel and headed to a shopping arcade we saw while still on the bus. Sendai is sometimes called "little Tokyo" because the shopping is equivalent but less annoying. My friends really enjoyed the get away and it reminded them of being home in the big city again.

The specialty of Sendai is the Gu Tan (spelling?) which is cooked cows tongue. We didn't get to try it though ...

... from Canada. We ended up finding an apartment the same day as we arrived- Totally lucked out! but we couldn't move in till Monday so we spent 2 nights a Bansuitei Ikoi-so Ryokan which was really nice probally one of the best places ive ever stayed in
(see pictures)

... playing a beauitful keyboard solo. Ju-ken joined him on bass, and that led to “Sweet Dreams,” one of my favorites of the night. This song was the kind that would cause people to whip out their lighters/penlights/cell phones in America. (You get that, guys? Sell some penlights at your next concert.) The “windows” of the VAMPS castle showed a starry sky and a crescent moon, which added to the otherworldly feel of the song. The guys ...

... to find that all the English they learned in elementary appeared to have to been replaced with one or two textbook phrases they have memorized. A couple of students started asking me about anime, video games, and cosplay. One boy asked if I played Biohazard, a.k.a. Resident Evil. I said I didn't, but I saw the movies and knew the characters. The class was shocked to learn that I knew Fresh ...