New Hair Cut: Please Don't Look At Me Like That

This week I finally got my straight perm (2nd since I've been here) and my haircut. Before I show you my hair cut, I wanted to tell you my inspiration for it. I was walking around Tsutaya book store and I wandered over the magazine section. I looked to my right and BOOM the hair that I've been wanting to pull off suddenly appeared in the form of a magazine cover. Let me give you some background information before I continue on with my hair cut journey so that you can better understand my instant hesitation after picking up the magazine. I'm terrified of bangs. Ok, maybe terrified is too strong a word. Actually, I just haven't had bangs since I was like 9 years old. My mom and I never really liked how bangs looked on me, so I grew them out and never looked back. Truthfully, I never even thought of looking back until I saw the haircut.

Anyway, Utada was on the cover of the magazine and I really liked the haircut on her. I showed the magazine to Monica and I stood there waiting for her to turn the idea down. Yes, I fully intended to put that magazine right back down. Monica however said that I should take a picture of it and take it to the beauty salon with me. I thought "Oh crap, that's not the reaction I was waiting for". I thought about it and thought about it. I took a picture and thought about it some more. I kept trying to imagine what I would look like with bangs, but the image would just not come to me. Finally, I just bought the magazine and decided to go for it.

Ok, so maybe I didn't actually decide to go for it right away. I sent the picture to Matt, Kim, and Asha to see what their reactions would be. Kim was a complete "YES". Asha was a "Uhhh...I don't know". Matt didn't even reply back because he didn't want to tell me that he thought it might be a bad idea.

Then, I asked my parents. First I asked my dad. Instead of commenting on the hair, he commented on the pretty girl (Utada) on the cover. Once I got him to focus again, he said that I should do it. My mother however, was as scared of the bangs as I was.

Monday rolled around and I decided to finally go to the beauty salon. This is where I tell you the differences between my beauty salon here in Miyazaki to my beauty salon back home. In the salon here, not only do they have magazines to pass the time, but they also have mangas that we can read while waiting or getting our hair cut. Maybe that's why I see so many college kids with crazy anime/manga hair. Those host boys have to be influenced by something for their crazy hair. Maybe it's the manga they read at the beauty salon.

The next difference is that my beauty salon here has a variety of drinks that I can ask for free of charge while they are working on my hair. In my 3 1/2 hour process of straight perming and cutting my hair, I drank a cup of iced oolong tea and a cup of iced coffee.

Another thing that I like is that they put a blanket on your lap when they wash your hair. At least that's what they do in my super cool hair salon.

What's the best difference between my hair salon here compared to the one back home. I'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but I think that the boys that work in my hair salon here are much cooler. They tend to have cool hairstyles, cool hair and just an all around cool aura. Yes, I wrote cool 3 times in one sentence. That just shows their coolness factor that I'm hit with every time I walk into a salon here. Please don't curse me out. I'm just comparing my hair salons. I'm sorry if you are a super cool hair stylist boy in America. I don't mean to offend you. Maybe I should go to your hair salon when I return back home.

Moving on...here is my new hair cut.



As for my inspiration, you can find it at Utada Hikaru's website.

I have to admit that I was so scared when the hair stylist gave me bangs. When she took her scissors out, I told her how scared I was. My Japanese is horrible, but I think that at least I was able to relay that to her through my weird giggling and sudden movements every time I saw the scissors going to that area. All in all, I think it came out OK. It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would be, but it also doesn't look as good as it does on Utada. I think that once I grow out my bangs I will like it more or maybe I just have to get used to them.

Since I got it, I've had mixed reviews. Some people like it, including Matt who was the one who at first hesitated when I showed him the picture I took from the magazine. Other people don't like it so much, so they worked extra hard to think of a compliment. lol.
I'm ok with it, which is what matters. :)




Music currently Listening to: Utada "This One (Crying Life a Child)

Mei-chan no Shitsuji (Mei-chan's Butler) Season 1 Review

Last night I watched the last episode of Mei-chan no Shitsuji
( メイちゃんの執事). The English translation is Mei's Butler or Mei-chan's Butler.
For more info and links to the episodes, you can go to MySoju

SPOILERS AHEAD

Mei-chan no Shitsuji is about a poor girl, Mei, whose parents die and she finds out that she is the heiress to a fortune. She then goes to a school for rich girls and every girl has their own butler, including her. Mei's butler is called Rihito and he is played by Mizushima Hiro, who was also in Hana Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) and Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend). Rihito's younger brother Kento is actually Mei's childhood friend. He ends up going to the school to become a butler in training in order to stay close to her.





The show was cute, although sometimes it had its corny moments. I think it's worth checking out if you are into Japanese tv series. It's much more directed to a younger, teenage audience though, so be warned if you don't like that type of thing. If you want something more mature, check out the series Love Shuffle. All of my students know Mei-chan no Shitsuji and think that it's funny that I watch it too. lol. Story of my life. Anyway, the end of the series was cute and creepy at the same time. In the last minutes of the final episode Rihito kisses Mei and then says "This is our little secret". He says that because it's forbidden for a butler and student to have a relationship at the school. However, since he plays a man much older than her, ( I mean he is a butler of a teenage girl) its also kind of creepy. If Mizushima looked older and not as cool, it would have looked uber duper weird. However, since everyone thinks he's cool here, the ending was perfect for a lot of viewers and it opened up the doors for the next season, especially since Kento went to study abroad in England to be a high class butler, like his older brother, in order to steal the girl, Mei, away for himself. Ok, so although I'm not sure how I feel about the end of season 1, I still want to see how it continues on to season 2.

Music Listening to At the Moment: the Veronicas- "All I Have"

Boys Before Flowers, of course. Is that even a question?

“I’m so busy that I don’t even remember that you didn’t call me for 3 days and 13 hours!” -Goo Jun Pyo

I am a bit addicted to Asian dramas. I feel as if this past year my anime addiction has turned into a tv drama addiction. lol. There always has to be something, right?

Anyway here are two Asian Dramas that I really like.


Hana Yori Dango 花より男子　(Japanese) & Boys Before Flowers 꽃보다 남자 (Korean)
They are 2 versions of the same story. lol.

-Some spoilers


A few months ago my obsession was Hana Yori Dango (Japanese Drama). It's based on the manga series. It's basically about a rich boy (Domyoji) with a power trip who falls for the one girl (Makino) who doesn't let him get his way. The drama series was great and of course how can you not love Oguri Shun, the actor who plays Hanazawa Rui, the love rival and best friend to Domyoji. Oh boy, I wanted him to end up with the girl at the end because he is soooo much cooler. lol. Anyway, I digress.
If you want to check out more information on Hana Yori Dango read on:
Hana Yori Dango has 2 seasons and a movie. The first season has 9 episodes and the second season has 11 episodes. The movie takes places after the 2nd season. For more information on Hana Yori Dango and all of its episodes, you can go to MySoju . You can also watch the first part of the first episode down here, so check it out:










Anyway, my new obsession is Boys before Flowers, which is the Korean version of the same drama. Yup, it's basically the same story, except it's in Korean with Korean actors (obviously) and a bit of changes here and there to the story line. I have to admit though that I was way more into the Japanese version than the Korean version. Maybe it's because I saw that one first.

In the Korean version, the rich boy is called Goo Jun Pyo. The poor girl he becomes interested in is Geum Jan Di and the love rival/ best friend if Yoon Ji Hoo
There is one more episode left and I can't wait to see what happens next. While the "oh-so-beautiful-boy" in the Japanese version was Oguri Shun, in the Korean version it's Lee Min-ho (Goo Jun Pyo).

The Korean version has one season so far with 24 episodes. I'm waiting for the 24th (last) episode right now. For more info and all of the episodes click on MySoju
To check out the first part of the first episode, look below

BoysBeforeFlowers01.1
by jangchris0101

If you guys haven't watched any of these, you should definitely go watch them. I recommend watching the Japanese version first.

Baby, Come Back To Me

Hey Everyone,

American i-tunes has Utada's new music video "Come Back to Me" for free this week. I thought that was pretty cool.

I bought Utada's new album yesterday from American i-tunes.
The album was like 3,000 Yen (about $30) in the music/book store Tsutaya. In Japan i-tunes it was 2,000 Yen (about $20). However, in American i-tunes it was $7.99.
lol of course I would get it from the US i-tunes.

I've heard it through and it's pretty good. I really like the song "Apple and Cinnamon".

Yesterday I also found a song that I had been looking for. During the cultural festival (around September) one of the students sang a really pretty song. I even recorded a little bit of it on my camera because the student sang it so well. Anyway, ever since then, I've been wondering what song it was. Yesterday, I finally realized it was an old Utada Hikaru song called "First Love". Mystery solved. lol.

I'm basically alone in the teacher's office again. There is only like 2 other people. I wonder what's going on. I never know. lol.

Japanese Commercials, Gotta Love Them :)

I have a funny commercial with Matsuda Shota (松田翔太 ) . He is in Hana Yori Dango and Love Shuffle. He is adorable even in something like this. lol.

This is like the skinny guys vs. the bigger, muscly guys (something like that).

Eric really liked it and showed it to me and I thought it was cute too.