January 2000

Jan 2

 

Had a good enough time at a park today. On the way back though I was very disappointed. We went shopping and they would not buy me anything at all! Mum rejected about 16 items that I asked for! Including a very pretty mirror for a mere 100 yen! She really does not love me. Here is another example. I smacked Pete just a little for something. And she instantly starts yelling at me! Even though he is singing away: "Steve will get Reya a bra for birthday!" Idiot! Parents just laugh at that...

 

Jan 3

 

In the evening, mum suddenly started talking about my grades and how I got 4 for music. Since we could not come up with a good reason for me getting it, mum started calling my teacher names: "She has such a large head! Her brains must be swollen. She must think she is so smart. Pumpkin head!"

 

Jan 5

 

I spent the whole day reading and sewing - I came up with a project to hand sew a wallet from old denim pants (it took 3 days to finish and I used it for the next year or two). Then I went to see Yuki. It is very sad to observe that we seem to be growing apart. We don't have much to do together at all. And we used to be best friends! I didn't think it was possible to lose friends so quickly. She changed a lot. She does things nowadays that we both used to complain about...

 

Jan 7

 

I went to my English class today. We were combined with another group so I was together with Nadia. She wasn't as annoying as usual and she made a fool of herself! She spelled her own name as Naday! And she confused front hair with eyebrows! (These words sound somewhat similar in Japanese. And this girl is not Japanese, although she spoke it well enough.) She said: "My eyebrows got so long I used a clip in it today!" And she would not admit she made a mistake! When we played a game she wanted to be on the team with a boy. What an idiot! But to be honest, today she was prettier that usual. She ended up losing at the game even though she kept talking herself up.

 

Jan 9

 

We baked cookies in the morning. They were nice. The night before mum would not let me sleep till late telling me about her life. Perhaps for the first time I thought that mum has not had it easy!! She had left home at 15 to go to the other side of the country for study and lived in a dorm with 6 other girls who never let her sleep at night. And she had to practice piano for 6 hours a day. And it was -40 degrees outside in winter and it was hard to buy food being a student, because everything was sold in bulk.

 

Mum had a small concert for her piano students. Pete gave Steve a heart shaped cookie and said it was from me. Idiot!

Jan 10

 

After packing and cleaning all day we left for the airport to go to Australia! It was hard to believe it was actually happening! I kept thinking we are just going to turn back. Even as we sit in the airplane! It was very beautiful on the way. Looking at a river, airplanes, illumination lights on the airport grounds... So cool! I am looking forward to watching the sunrise over the ocean. It looks pitch black outside the windows. How do the fish see anything?