Well, my original lunch was the dhal I had left over, but I was half asleep and left that IN the fridge at home.

Luckily there's a grocery store right down the street so I got a pre made chef salad w/ turkey. Italian dressing.

How nice of the lady to bring you lunch, sounds delicious too! For me, lunch today was a big bowl of spinach with a little tomato and cucumber with some apple cider vinegar.

Tomorrow for lunch I am making the bf and I a sort of baked "spaghetti" dish made w/ spaghetti squash, sauce (tomato,onion,garlic), and ground lean hamburger (we're going to use turkey but either is good), topped w/ lf cheese and baked in the oven. It's delish and very low calorie for a huge portion (thanks mandalinn!)

You will make a fortune here... I have friends that teach like 2 classes a week and make nearly as much as their husbands in the Navy . Maybe once DD is older I'll get into it. It's a win win... they get to learn English and American culture and you get to learn a little Japanese and culture!

Anyway... I LOVE it here. The people are amazing. It's the safest place I've ever lived. I can send my son out to play and not worry for a second that anything will happen to him. I once had a man run off the train (missing his train) to return my daughter's cup that she'd left on the seat! I have had nothing but amazing experience with the kindness of people.

The culture is awesome... I love the beauty of it all. The shrines and temples and tea ceremonies and traditional stuff. It's beautiful. And I can't complain about living this close to Tokyo... it's a happening place! We're headed to the city on Thursday for a modeling shoot for my DD and my friend and I are gonna do some shopping in Shibuya. So excited!

The only thing I don't like is the weather. We got here in December and it's been pretty cold and rainy. I'm a Hawaii girl so this is a no-go for me! I should move to Okinawa! I like it to stay above 65 and sunny.

The only people I ever hear complain about living here are the ones who stay in their apartments and would probably hate it anywhere. It's a wonderful experience and I'm glad I've gotten this opportunity. I hope my children remember it!

You should come here .

tomorrow i'm having half a can of tuna, green bell pepper, and baby spinach together as a salad. super easy... which is good because i'm lazy :-)

Thank you so much for that reply! I have heard so many positive things about living and teaching in Japan. I think it might be a really amazing experience. My one question is: do westerners get stared at? In the middle east i am stared at so hard by men and women that they literally run into things and people because they are so busy looking at me. I really don't even look that much different...just have lighter hair and skin. It really bugs me and makes me want to move somewhere where i look like everyone else.

I worried about that too! Honestly, my son and I don't even get a 2nd look on the street. My father was 1/4 Japanese so we have almond eyes and dark features but we don't look Japanese. I've never had anyone stare at me... I was scared because I'm a lot bigger than most Japanese people. They are VERY conscious of being rude so I don't think it's something they'd do even if I had 5 heads .

My daughter is blonde and she gets a bit of attention. We call it the Japanarazzi ... it's all positive, though. People like to take her photograph. I don't mind it... she's 2 and it's cute, kwim?

I wouldn't worry .

Good to know! Thanks for the info, i will start looking a lot more seriously for jobs there!!!