テゴマスの青春～My Biggest Dream Come True!~

Debut (top) to now (bottom) as I've seen them

Welp.
My dream came true today. I finally got to see Tegomassu in person, while being on first row in front of stage. My favorite singer EVER knows my existence and waved AT ME twice and I'm pretty sure he read my sign and gave me a thumbs up during the first song when he looked my way. I was so close it was unreal. I legit cried when I first saw them and heard their voices when the side curtains dropped and only the few of us on the side could see them. I cried throughout the whole first song. Leading up to the concert in the day I became tired and very very hungry and couldn't get excited and for pretty much all of the concert I had a massive headache, but that didn't matter when I saw them, it finally hit me and I became excited all at once I got overwhelmed became nauseous and started crying.

Seriously never thought I would have the opportunity to go to their concert. I had dreamed about it for 8+ years saying "If I ever do make it to Japan, I have to find myself at a Johnny's concert and hopefully NewS" Well, look at me now. I went and saw my favorite duo in the world and from the front row at that! I still can't believe this. I kept telling my friend that in Japanese as soon as the lights went out and the reality set in. As mentioned in the first paragraph, we had been waiting in line for about 3 hours for goods (which I couldn't buy anyway because I'm poor) and even though I had eaten lunch, I slowly got hungrier and hungrier, but because I'm extremely broke I couldn't buy food. When we first got in line, the sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in sight, so it was really bright and hot. Then once we made it to a different side of the building the sun was out of view and the wind got stronger and it became really cold. By the time we made it inside the lobby of the arena, I was so tired and was developing a massive headache. Its a good thing my friend bought me an onigiri, because I probably could have passed out for the first time in my life. I didn't even have water to take headache medicine with. Also, the mass of people was overwhelming as well. So leading up to the concert, I couldn't get hyped up, it also hadn't really set in yet.

This concert was way more important to me than seeing any Kpop band ever. Here's a little backstory for you. In like the 7th grade my best friend and I became really big fans of Jpop, especially Johnny's Entertainment artists. I can't remember details, of course, about how we found them or why we chose NEWS as our favorite band, but these things just happen. As soon as I had learned their names and personalities, my focus was immediately on Masuda Takahisa (Massu). I think it was around the time that we became fans of NEWS that Tegomassu (the subgroup consisting of members Tegoshi Yuya and Masuda Takahisa) debuted. I fell in love with them ever so much more. Their voices match perfectly and they have one of the best harmonies I've ever heard. Massu's voice is so unique, there's really nothing like it, and what really gets me is his smile and eye-smile. Tegoshi's voice is amazing as well, also his vocal range is high.

Even as we went to our seats and stood there in shock about the position of where we were and how close we were didn't get me super excited. It wasn't until the lights went out and the side curtain dropped and I saw them in the dim lights before the main screen in front of them fell singing the into to the first song that it hit me. This duo that I've loved so much and had only seen on a computer screen (not so often because Johnny's strict copyrights and being almost completely shut off from the rest of the world) from the other side of the world are now in front of me in the same room. I didn't just tear-up, I went into full blown tears rolling down the cheeks can't see crying. I had cried a bit when I saw TVXQ in Las Vegas two years ago, but not like this. I wasn't this close to TVXQ as I was to Tegomassu.

Side stage they where Massu waved
and made direct eye-contact. (Angle from sitting) 

The concert was like none I'd ever been to before. It was so chill. Fans don't scream, because Tegomassu is a ballad group and they focus on showcasing their voices, therefore fans want to listen well. For the upbeat songs we all stood up of course and waved lights sticks to the beats and jumped up on certain beats when they did and things like that. Or on the songs that they would leave center stage and go to the sides, we would yell at the member who wasn't currently singing so they would look our way. Which for one song Massu had finally come to our side and he wasn't singing for a bit and my friends and I yelled his name and he looked at each of our faces and waved. The part that I did not realize they would do is for 3 songs we all sat with the penlights off and absolutely no talking. The first song they sang while like this was completely without mics and were accompanied only by a non-amplified acoustic guitar and a melodica (keyboard that you blow into thingy). It was so mind blowing how quiet it was and we could hear their natural voices. I wonder if the very back could hear well. Good thing I was in the front because it was absolutely perfect. It was a wonder that I didn't cry during that. I just closed my eyes and felt like it was just me in a room with them singing to me. Magical. The next song they scooted their chairs back a bit and were surrounded by candle
sticks of different heights which were actually all electric. Tegoshi lights a real candle in front of him and Massu before sitting down and the candles all around them flicker on. This ballad they sang with the actual band playing behind them again, but they still sat and sang softly and at the end Massu blows out the
candle and the rest turn off. Another magical song.

Then for two songs and two different times they went backstage and were then wheeled out into the crowds on moving platform things. The first time they were sitting in bowls with huge chopsticks while singing their debut song Miso Soup. The second time they came out sitting in the pocket? of the character that Massu drew to be the mascot for this concert tour which I am thinking is a kangaroo? Lol it is the closest animal I can come up with. Each time they were wheeled to the back of the arena and stood on a stage that came down from the ceiling. Unfortunately, they sang my favorite song (Kiss~Kaerimichi no Love Song) from that stage at the back. During that song though, they stopped singing and made us sing. I'm glad it was that song, because I know it by heart. It is actually one of the first Japanese songs I ever learned all the words to. The second time Massu waved at me directly was when he was coming back from the back of the arena on the character he made. They weren't singing then and were trying to focus on as many fans as they could. Well, with are super awesome luck, I happen to be right next to the path that they enter and exit on. Massu looked straight down at me, smiled his heart-melting smile and waved directly at me. I felt like I could just reach up and high-five him.
Despite having a massive headache throughout the concert and becoming nauseous at times, this is probably one of the best days ever and I'll never forget. I just wish that I could've had money to buy goods for keepsake and food to keep me from becoming insanely hungry.

"Fan from Texas"

Because of my fan-made personalized sign, I got noticed by Massu straight away with a double thumbs up and then cameramen filmed me during the concert at times. Afterward, one came up to me and asked about my sign and then asked me and my friends if he could film us for the DVD. HOLY CRAP! I am possibly going to be on a Tegomassu concert DVD. I really hope I played my gaijin card well and will get put on the DVD! I tried my best to use Japanese with him, but because I suck AND my concentration level was at 5% because of physical condition and concert overwhelmedness, I'm pretty sure my broken Japanese was worse than I thought it was. Oh well.

So after arriving home, I was so overcome with many feels and emotions I was just numb. I quickly drank so water and took a migraine pill to calm down. I could barely speak to people. I was to the point where I was so hungry I was nauseous and so tired. I knew I couldn't just go to bed without eating something. I waited around for a bit and then tried stomaching some leftover rice with nori and okonomiyaki sauce cause that's all I had, but I couldn't really eat. After the pill started kicking in, my friend gave me some fruit and I immediately felt better. Now, I'm at the point where I'm wide awake and wasting sleep time writing this long post. It's a good thing I wrote this now because otherwise I'd procrastinate like always and forget all my feels and have trouble recalling things.

Well...guess that's it for now.

I'll try this thing called sleep.


~Love,

The Happiest Girl In The World Despite Being Poorer Than Dirt

Haru&Haru Review

This small cafe would go unnoticed unless you know about it. It is a french toast cafe run by a cute, fairly young Japanese couple and a few other workers. The location is right next to a railroad crossing and across from a Family Mart near Midorigaoka station in the Meguro ward of Tokyo. My friend from France wanted to try it out since we pass it every day on our walk from the station to our dorm. I had paid not much attention to it previously except for it's interesting exterior decor and the name which reminded me of a Korean boy-band (Big Bang) song.  She also wanted to see how Japanese take on french toast, and being French she says that there are not restaurants for french toast in France because that is something you make at home with your baguettes that have gone stale.
The food there is exceptional, but a bit on the pricey side. They serve gourmet french toast of sorts. Generally, you can order a french toast plate with a variety of toppings ranging from the seasonal fruits to regular menu choices like chocolate and banana or roasted almond for example.

Mango French Toast With Iced Coffee

The french toast plates come with two slices of authentic french baguette and the topping (most have a scoop of vanilla ice cream as well) and along with your meal you can have coffee hot or iced or tea hot or iced. I was not sure what to expect when I went there for the first time, but I was thoroughly impressed by the plate presentation and the overall taste over the food. It definitely had my French friend's approval because we decided to come back many more times.

On our second visit (I think), I brought my friend back on her birthday. I told them that it was her birthday and they wrote her a special message on her plate that she ordered. Also, because my friend doesn't like chocolate they allowed her to change the one she wanted to a caramel topping instead of chocolate. While there for her birthday, the couple's son was brought into the shop and the mom brought him over to talk to us. She tried to get him to tell my friend happy birthday, but since he's a little over a year old he got confused and thought it was his birthday and acted all shy after that.

To say that the service is great and the staff are friendly is an understatement. There have been very few restaurants that take the time to learn and remember people's names and genuinely care about how someone is doing. They know me and a few of my fellow exchange students by name. My favorite thing is when we pass by and they see us, they make an effort to wave at us or even come out of the shop to say "Welcome Home" because they know that we live close to there. I enjoy leaving out for the day in the morning and they tell us "Good Morning" and coming back from a long day to be greeted by them if they are not to busy with customers. One time my friend and I were low on money but we had not been in a while and wanted to go in and see them again, so we just went for coffee. It was near closing time and my friend and I were pretty much the only customers there. We had a nice long talk with the workers and she even showed us a video of her son eating cake for the first time on his dad's birthday. Since we had not ordered any food, they gave us free french toast while we were there talking. That was so unexpected. Since then, there have been other times that my friends and I have been given things for free.

Complimentary French Toast With
Cappuccino 

New Years Greeting Card 

"Sweet Shanghai" Hot Herbal Tea

Recently, I was asked to help make an English menu. Their menus are hand written and are all in Japanese. The owner and one I mostly talk to expressed to me that foreigners come there all the time and ask if they have English menus. My friend and I tried our best to translate things as best we could, but my Japanese skills are not that great. She ended up translating most of it with her phone and asked us if it made sense. As compensation for helping, they let us taste the topping that is currently in season as well as some complimentary herbal tea.

Hamburg Plate (Fried Egg on a
Hamburger Patty)

Strawberry And "Sakura-An"
(cherry-paste)

Haru&Haru Quiche Set

 Every time I go, I order something different and each time I have been completely satisfied with the taste. I am excited to try other items on the menu and decide on a favorite. If you are ever in the area, I do highly recommend my favorite little French themed cafe that makes you feel at home.
http://haruandharu.com/

Perks of Being in a Fanclub (UKISS Experiences)

The ridiculous fees almost out-way the perks, but it is still worth it to me...maybe.

Since I became a Japanese resident, I was able to join Japanese fanclubs. Why you may ask? Because if you want to be able to see your favorite Kpop/Jpop groups while in Japan, you HAVE to be a fanclub member. Very exclusive, I know. It is so much easier in America where all you really have to do is wait until tickets go on sale online and then click buy after you have put in your info. In Japan, you first have to sign your soul away for a year (fill out a bunch of confusing info), pay the equivalent of your first born (jk it's actually about $60 per year) and then wait until tickets go on sale, enter the lottery, wait to see if you won a ticket, go pay for it, get a non-entry ticket from a local convenient store that was vending the tickets which may involve putting in all your info yet again just to print it out and pay at the cash register, wait for the actual tickets to come in the mail, then go to the venue and have to pay $5 more just to get in but it includes a drink. This is what I went through to go to the Ukiss fanmeet on December 13th. 

Venue For UKISS Fan Meet

Waiting In Line For Fan Goods

That is another perk about Japanese fanclubs though, fanmeets. You may not actually be close enough to talk to them or for them to see you, but in some ways it is cooler than a concert. They actually perform songs anyway, so basically its like a fun mini-concert as well. Even though I was standing in the middle of the crowd for both times of the fanmeet and my feet were hurting so bad by the end of the day from waiting in the merch line for hours and then standing for hours for two fanmeets, I had a great experience. Ukiss were hilarious on the stage. I even got AJ's attention for a bit when I yelled "I LOVE YOU AJ" (yes in English). He stumbled on what he was about to say and kinda pointed in my direction. 

Cushion and Blanket (can also be a cape)

Cushion/Blanket in Cute Form (lol)

 This was also another great perk of fan meets. FAN GOODS! Although, they cost quite a pretty penny as well, it is still something you can technically only get at the event. They also sell out of everything pretty quick too.

Free Stuff!!

Not only do you get the chance for cheaper tickets to concerts and events, you also get access to the exclusive fan site. On the fan sites, they announce pretty much everything the band is doing and upcoming events (all in Japan of course) as well as exclusive pictures and videos done by the band just for the fan-club member and not released to the general public. One problem for me is, it is all in Japanese. So much kanji I just don't even try to read it most of the time. Google translate is my best friend. It usually makes sense most of the time when I translate it with Google translate. 

You also get sent Christmas cards apparently. Ukiss's was more elaborate.

Because you have access to the fan site and receive plenty of news emails, you have the chance of going to special live events for free by lottery. I actually applied for a live Ukiss event that was for FujiTV illumination event for Christmas. I ended up winning! All I had to do was print out the email and bring my member card and another form of ID. I finally was able to print the email and then made it to the event. Like for anything I go to, I didn't give myself enough time to find the event site and figure out things I needed to do once I got there. Once I finally found out how to get to the roof top thing, the line for buying the new released CD was super long and I wasn't sure what to do or where to line up for my entry number thing. I decided to just stay in line to buy the CD for a chance to get to high-five Ukiss. By the time I had bought the CD they had been letting people into the area in front of the stage. I then noticed people had entry ticket things and not the email...I then realized I was supposed to go to some area that I never figured out where it was and show my credentials to get the entry ticket. Of course, by the time I noticed that, they were already like 50 numbers after my entry number. As I was mentally beating myself up, I saw the van carrying Ukiss drive up to the stage I went to a hedged area behind the area where fans were entering in front of the stage. I decided to just stand there at the back on top of a parking block that gave me a nice lift over the crowd in front of me. I was glad to be back there actually. I had room to breathe and hold up my fansign without blocking someone's view. I wasn't sure if Ukiss could actually read it from that far away, but I liked to think that they could because I had attached a shoelaces lights around the edge of my sign to make it stand out. I was also glad I had it because when I actually got to high-five all of Ukiss through a very face-paced line for like 3 seconds, Eli read my sign out and laughed. 

My View For Live FujiTV Event
(was better than it seems here)

 


The high touch event went by so fast I can't remember much. I really remember what Eli said, and then Kevin's beautiful flawless complexion and super cute smile and "Oh hi!" when I said "Hi Kevin" in the most American way possible.
Overall, I think my fanclub experiences have been pretty successful and enjoyable.
Since Kpop is becoming more and more popular in the States, I really hope that someone puts something together like fanclubs in the States. Maybe with more benefits than restrictions.
Until next time...
~Laila

IT IS ALREADY DECEMBER?!?!

Time has gone by too quickly since being here.

Yet again, too much time has passed since I last blogged. I should really get better at this since this is kind of what I might go into as a career. PR/Journalism type stuff.
Anyway...there's waaay too much to tell. I don't even know where to begin. The dorm is great. We are really like a big family hanging out, eating lunch at the biggest table at school, even having little disputes here and there. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to spend a year (although only a semester for some ><;) with while here in Japan. The only bad thing though is that we use English way too much. We are all on different levels of Japanese and from all different countries, so speaking English is the biggest thing we have in common besides being "gaijin" (foreigner slang). Even though I feel closer to some more than others, I still try to hang out and go out with everyone.

Since time has gone by without me actually sitting down and writing my experiences, I'm taking the time to make myself start. This will be my starting off post to get me back into the flow of writing again. I'm also doing this now because I'm procrastinating writing a paper or two for my Kabuki class.
Yeah...need to write...writes a blog post instead! SUPER PRODUCTIVE!! щ(ಥДಥщ)


Anyway. I'm running low on money, like dangerously low, like how am I going to get food low, like I can't go there because the train costs too much low, like omg i'm going to be stuck in yokohama and can't get home low...yeah, so I should be able to make more time to sit and write things. I will need to make specific posts about specific events, places, and people. 
Seeing as it is 3am and I haven't gotten anything done on the paper I started, I'm going to bed and will try again tomorrow. Good thing these papers don't have a specific deadline each time (actually no, that's a bad thing because I'm puttin it off way too long. ugh.)

So stay tuned, until i can get my act together. 


_Laila

The First Week of My Dream- The Seinos

  Luckily, I befriended one of the most kindest Japanese girls that came to Texas State.
   Risa had spent Thanksgiving break in Texas with my crazy family, so we became closer after that.    

I was wanting to somehow come to Japan earlier than I had to because I wanted to get used to things. I asked her if it would be ok to stay with her and her family for a little bit. I didn't want to impose, but since she had stayed with my family, I hoped it would be ok.




Well... here I am day 6 in her family's house. The Seinos are a very kind and fun family. I have been staying in Risa's older sister's room. They have helped me to do so many things in my first week of Japanese life. I wasn't expecting any of it. Risa and I went to a really big shrine in Kamakura on my first full day here. It was an experience I had been hoping to try. Granted my shoes gave me a blister on the ball of my foot that is still there, but overall it was a nice experience. I even did an omikuji (oracle thing that you tie on a rope). Later that evening, her Mom and Grandma dressed me in a yukata and we went to take pictures at a tiny shrine by their house. Her mom also put up my hair and put pretty hair decorations in it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

I have eaten almost every Japanese food that I love and wanted the experience of actually eating it in Japan. Risa's mom and Grandma feed me big Japanese breakfasts. So far I've eaten Soba, Ramen, Tonkatsu, Gyoza, Okonomiyaki, Karage, Somen, Sushi, and even Kakigori. I'm so glad that I came early to experience a bit of Japanese family life. It has also helped me become more comfortable with the Japanese transit systems. One of my favorite things is watching Japanese tv. The programs are so interesting and it is helping me with getting used to hearing Japanese. Although, it is a little frustrating because I want to watch the dramas but there is a lot I don't understand because no subtitles. I really like seeing all the singers and actors that I know on commercials and advertisements everywhere. Arashi is for sure everywhere, and even SMAP is still going strong! YAY JOHNNY'S ENTERTAINMENT!

I was able to meet up with former TXST exchange students and a Texas native Texas State Student who is now living and working in Japan. It was really fun to hang out with them again and to experience my first izakaya. An izakaya is a type of Japanese restaurant-bar. The have this certain time where you can order as many drinks as you want for a set price. We also ordered different types of dishes to share. Since I'm not much of a drinker and I just turned 21 this past January, I don't have a taste for alcohol especially beer. I don't really have the want to drink or get drunk, but for social purpose and experience I tried a Japanese beer with them and the Japanese "cheers". I only drink about half of the beer. I did, however have two mixed drinks. A kiwi sour and strawberry sour, they were pretty good. 

 I also don't drink much because of my faith and upbringing. Drinking, especially excessively, is a big no-no in the Baptist faith. Not only that, I just don't care for drinking. I can have fun without being drunk.






Another great experience for me was the onsen. Japanese hot spring and public bath. It wasn't as uncomfortable and weird as I thought it would be. People kept telling me: "You know you have to be naked right?" "You can't wear a swimsuit." LOL OF course I know people! I know what goes on at an onsen, I'm prepared. I feel like a lot of Americans wouldn't be able to do it and have bad thoughts about it or even feel it is unsanitary. It wasn't like that at all. Of course it is kind of weird to be naked in front of random women and girls you don't know, especially as a foreigner, but I didn't feel like I was being gawked at or anything. It is a good, free feeling to walk around naked and get in and out of hot waters. There was even a salt sauna thing. You went in a hot room and at the door you grab a handful of salt and bring it with you to a marble seat by a facet. You rub the salt all over your body. There was even a tv inside the salt sauna room to watch while you scrub yourself down. The outside onsens were nice because even though it was middle of summer, there was a nice breeze to cool you off when you got out. Inside, there are different "shower" stations. You sit on a little plastic seat thing in front of a mirror and use a removable shower head or a facet and bucket. The onsen provides general shampoo, conditioner and body soap or you can bring your own or buy some from the lobby. So after all the getting in and out of hot springs and jet baths you can actually clean yourself. You go back to the locker room area where you first came in and got undressed and they provided hair dryers and mirrors to get dressed.

This was a little porch area outside the locker room where you could smoke I guess. We went out here to take a picture so we wouldn't have naked people in the background. Also, I've seen in dramas that after the onsen you drink cold milk. Risa's mom bought me some from a vending machine. I felt so authentic.

Not sure what else I can really put in to words at this point. My time has been pretty authentic Japanese as a foreigner can get I think. I love taking my shoe off in places. I liked seeing a tennis match going on with college students in a semi-rural part of town next to a local famous ice-cream shop. I like people watching on the train and at stations.
Today, is my last day at the Seino's though. I will be heading to my dorm soon to meet up with the other international students. I just hope that I can keep dwelling in authentic Japanese culture and using as much Japanese as I can.
That's all for now...
The journey in the land of the Rising Sun has begun.
-メレーア

The First Week of My Dream- The Arrival

I never thought I would actually be here. I mean, for years I have dreamed of being in this place that I have studied about passionately. One of my life goals was to come here not just to visit, but to spend at least a year.

Well...I'm here. In Japan. For a year.

The plane rides to get here weren't bad actually. I had already been on a plane recently, so I was ok with it. Even though lugging around baggage all by yourself is a bit of a pain. I had like a 3 hour layover in LAX, which was good because I had to get checked-in with Japan Airlines and eat lunch. There were already lots of Japanese people around me. After I ate, I sat in a corner by a window and there was a cute Japanese family with a toddler boy and like a 5 year old boy. They were taking pictures and being so cute. I kept wanting to try and start using Japanese, but I chickened out. Even though it was LAX, in the international flights area and on Japan Airlines I was getting curious looks. It was a little uncomfortable at times, but I was prepared for this.
My long flight on Japan Airlines was actually really neat. I was reminded of a J-drama called "Attention Please". It is about Japanese flight attendants, so I was reminded repeatedly. Each seat had a personal t.v. in the back of the seat in front of it and a remote. I thought I was going to have to entertain myself for the whole flight. I had no idea that there would be an entertainment center in front of me. The tv thing did soo many things. You could watch the flight map and times for destination and stats and stuff like that, Japanese and American tv shows, all kinds of movies from lots of countries, listen to music (all kinds), play games, and shop the airline catalog. I ended up watching two Japanese movies (with subtitles of course) to start practicing a bit, I also listened to Jpop. I actually didn't sleep much at all. I wasn't sleepy. I dozed off for maybe 30 minutes and then they turned the lights on to serve our second meal. The meals weren't too bad either. They had lots of side dishes that there had to be something there that everyone likes. I even used a bit of Japanese to the flight attendant and the business man beside me.

I didn't get emotional until I saw the Japan coastline for the first time. 

I had to stop myself from actually crying because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the Japanese business men beside me. Good thing I had a window seat. I stared down at Japan getting closer and closer until we landed. I was smiling so big at everything I could see, from the cars going on opposite side from America to the farming lands. After landing, everything went by in a blur. I was surprised I made it through everything so quickly. I went through immigration and then I wasn't sure what to do next, so I went to the bathroom because I hadn't gone the whole duration of the flight. After that I was going towards customs but I realized I had to have the rest of my luggage first. I saw that there were carts to use by the baggage claim. I put that to good use because lugging around 3 suitcases and a backpack and turtle and blanket all by yourself in a big airport is a little difficult. The cart was my friend. lol I had it while I exchanged money and I even got to take it down an escalator to buy my Suica card (used to charge money on to use for train and bus fares, also some stores accept it) and N'ex ticket (Narita Express train) and had to leave it at a spot right before I got on the platform to wait for the Narita Express which came a few minutes after I got there. It was a good thing that there was hardly anyone on the train, because I really had to wrestle with my bags. They have spots when you board to leave your luggage, but all the bottom and middle ones were taken and I couldn't lift my big suitcase high enough for the others and the train was pulling out. I ended up just going to my seat(it is assigned when you buy it for N'EX) and since no one was beside me I put the bags there and in-front of me. I couldn't really enjoy my first train ride ever because ever since Narita airport I realized I couldn't contact Risa to make sure she was there to meet me. I was freaking out and trying so hard to figure out how to connect to Wi-Fi...but it wasn't free. I finally gave up and just rode the rest of the way to Yokohama trying to calm down and enjoy my first Japanese purchase...a coke from the train snack cart.

I got off the Narita Express and just kinda stood around the platform and looked around. I wasn't sure where to go or what to do. I went downstairs from the platform and just stood by a random pole about to breakdown. I looked up as I heard my name called out. Risa was coming towards me in front of me. I couldn't believe she found me so quickly. God definitely had a hand in that. I hugged her and almost started crying, I was so happy and relieved. I had to take a few deep breaths before we continued on and ate at Yokohama station. Everything else started to fall into place after that. I'm easily catching on to things and I haven't had trouble with much of anything yet.  

Next I'll talk about the rest of my first week.
Until then...
Byebye!    ~Laila~

First Surgery

August 15th at 10:30 am...
I had my first surgery.

It was only oral surgery, but still, I was sedated using an IV and had all 4 wisdom teeth extracted. 
That was the scariest part about it though...the being put to sleep part.
It kept freaking me out wondering what was going to happen and what it would be like. Would I just fall asleep all of a sudden and start dreaming? Would it be just darkness and I could still hear what was going on and just not feel anything or move? 
They were right when they say you don't remember anything. 

The last thing I remember was the Surgeon trying to put the IV in my arm and I told him that they usually take blood samples from my hand cause I have better veins there. He moved it to my hand and he said "You'll feel a little pinch again." I closed my eyes and winced this time as he put it in and he then said "Ah. There it is." With my eyes still closed the nurse told me to open my mouth and she put in a rubber thing to keep my mouth open. I remember my throat feeling very dry and I wanted to swallow saliva but I couldn't because she put that thing in my mouth.  I was worried I would start to gag or choke as I suddenly felt my body tingling. 
The next thing I know, I'm in a sitting position and the nurse is helping me out of the chair while I'm sobbing with cotton in my mouth. I had no idea why I was crying. As they helped me to a recovery bed I heard another nurse call out that my mom was on the way to the back. I saw her when I laid down and sat beside me as a nurse was telling her that crying was a side effect of the sedation. Was my body crying because it knew that I had just went through a lot of pain? Weirdest feeling ever. I was like: "Is it really already over?" "An hour has passed? Where did the time go? I just closed my eyes. Why am I crying?"

It has been 3 days since the surgery and my jaw and cheeks are still a bit sore and tight.
The doctor had said that it was harder than he expected because my mouth is so small and my jaw is so tight. Did he have to break my jaw or something?!? I wonder if I was moaning and crying during the surgery. People are telling me they didn't have it this bad when they had their wisdom teeth removed. 

At least now I shouldn't be waking up with headaches and ear/jaw aches anymore because my wisdom teeth are gone and no longer causing infection. 
But now...I just want to eat normally again. ><;

-Laila