Supercalifragilisticexpiallafun.

So my birthday festivities were fun. On Saturday night Laurie, Ian, Moody and IanP came over with the prezzies (mmm...prezzies) and we went to the little bar downstairs (finally) where they had an all you can drink special (2 hours for 2,000 yen which is about $20) and there was a cute little chocolate cake with 30 candles on it. It was a fire hazard. There were also some tequila shots which was very upsetting. I traded a drawing for a little virgin mary statue that they had in the bathroom (they had 4 and that's just greedy) and the owner of the bar kept giving me additional free drinks and a bottle of sparkling wine as a present. It was really nice. Shae couldn't make it which was sad but we decided maybe a good thing because if she had been there I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have made it to bed anytime before 4am and the next day would've been a nightmare. That Shae is a bad influence. :-)

The next day we took a bus (1 hour 40 min) to Fujikyu Highland Park. It rained torrentially for most of the day so we had to stick to the indoor rides for the most part. We went on some lame indoor roller coaster-ish ride with laser guns and robots to shoot (sounds cooler than it actually was), a horror sound show called the Execution where we had to sit inside a cell in a chair shaped vaguely like an electric chair with head phones on and then there were weird sounds like heavy breathing in your ear and strangling sounds and at one point a chain saw. It was a little freaky but I think it would've been better if it had been pitch black inside because then the expectation of someone sneaking up behind you would be really awful. But there was dim lighting and you could clearly see that there was no one there. We also went on one of those water log ride type things which was fantastic. I went twice! It was so huge and there was so much water!!! Loved it. We also went to the haunted hospital but they have this movie they show you before they send you into the hospital and about half way through it I realised that there was no way I could do it. As did Laurie. So we both freaked out and ran out like the yellow bellied sissies that we are. And I will NEVER go back there. Shae, Ian and Laurie continued on for about 20 minutes before Shae left and then Ian and Kohsuke finished. Apparently Shae was only about 5 or 10 minutes away from the end when she stopped but she thought she was only halfway through (it usually takes about 45 minutes to get through so I guess they did a good job) the maze and couldn't face the thought of another 20. She said it was the most horrible, terrifying thing she's ever seen. Ian was shaking like a leaf when he came out and Kohsuke was grinning like a crazy person. Let me just interject that it actually smelled like a real hospital. The clincher for me not going on was the numerous signs in the movie room warning us not to stand at any time during the movie and the large holes in the ceiling above us. Wrapped up bodies dropped down from the holes when the movie ended. I have this information second hand because I was already safely in the gift shop by then. Seriously...the movie had the horrible twitchy zombie looking people and people in body bags sitting up and all sorts of gross Ring like stuff. I just couldn't take it. It's strange because even now I think to myself that I'd really like to go back and try again but I know that I'd never be able to get through it. It's a maze and people actually chase you. Ack!

Then at about 6:30ish the rain stopped and most of the rides opened up. One of the coasters stayed closed because it was too dangerous with the wet but most things opened. I went on a crazy ride that flips you around upside down and backwards and forwards and so on and it was frickin' great. I'm so going back on that again. And there were the tea cups like at Disney, bumper cars, a crazy swing thingy like at the PNE in Vancouver, And some other small rides. I chickened out once again when it came time to ride the other big roller coaster. It only opened long enough for about 4 or 5 rides to go through and I just couldn't do it. I need time for these things. I was freaked out on the way up and my chickening out was finalised when I saw people getting off the coaster in tears. Big guys shaking like little kids. Shae came off looking quite wobbly and Kohsuke was grinning as usual. Next time I'm going to try to work my way up to the coaster. Maybe I'll go on the crazy spinny thing a couple of times to get worked up and then get on the coaster. When you're afraid of heights these things take a lot of planning and effort. And I'm REALLY afraid of heights.

Then yesterday on my actual birthday I did nothing. We both had to work so the day was just a normal day and then I got word that I'd been turned down for full time AGAIN despite the fact that I only applied for it this time because the head teacher at my school, the area manager and the japanese manager asked me to because some of our teachers are leaving and they wanted me to go full time because they know me and I'm a good teacher which is better than just risking it with a new person. Funny. When I renewed my contract they told me to wait 6 months and then apply for full time when my attendance record had improved which would be about December but then they asked me to apply early because of the reason I mentioned and also because around December there is always a huge influx of teachers due to Nova's recruitment schedule so it would be difficult to give me a full time position. But no. So I'm taking it as a sign. And a bit of an insult. I wish people would stop setting me up for this crap. Last time I was assured that my attendance issues in the first half of my first contract were not bad enough to warrant denying me full time and then I was denied. And now this. SO I think I'm done. I'm going to a meeting today for a big freelance web design contract which is good so if I get it I think I'll refrain from throwing myself against the brick wall that is Nova head office again. Part time is good enough if I can keep the freelance work coming. Needless to say I felt so crappy by the time I was finished my shift I just went home and had a bath instead of going out for yakiniku as we'd planned. Not such a good day really. But the weekend was fun.

Okay, lunchtime now!