It's probably about time I post something .... :)

(Hiromi.... Our favorite Lakestars fan )

Hello World!!!!.......

I am still alive and living an amazing adventure in Japan. There has been 4 home games, Valentines Day, and many moons since I last made a post. I will start with the two very hard games the boys played against Osaka Evessa.

Osaka is a great team and have a wonderful record in the BJ league to support it. The boys played very hard, but Osaka came out triumphant that weekend. On a positive note my friend Naoko (Lakestars Cheerleading Director) put on an amazing performance with her fellow Lakestar alumni cheerleaders.

I was so proud of her because she really worked it out there. Go Naoko!!

On sunday a local dance troupe from Osaka preformed a amazing hip hop routine. They did a phenomenal job!!! I was so impressed because the girls ages ranged from 6 to 25......

WOW!!! They were amazing :)....

This weekend they passed out team player trading cards in random programs. I was sad because I didn't have Chris's card in my bag, but to my surprise as I was exiting the gym a young fan ran to me and handed me his card. I was so happy :)

Now like Pokemon.... I gotta catch'em all !!!!

The next home game was actually in a gymnasium about 1 1/2 hrs from Otsu in Maibara. The team went up against the Oita HeatDevils. These games were very important due the required top standings for the upcoming playoff season. The boys played an amazing game on saturday that led to a victory. On sunday the HeatDevils came back to defeat the Lakestars in overtime. Needless to say it was an amazing game to watch.

The Sunday game was on a very important day. It was VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!.... Now to most american girls this is a very special day. A day where the boys give gifts to their significant others to display their love and affection. Now things are done a little different in Japan, because here the tradition is girls will cook chocolate for the special boys in their life. Then 30 days pass and then there is another holiday called "White Day". Now get this ladies...This is when the boys decides what girl he will give chocolate back to. UMM.....really!!!!!!!

This was excellent news for my boyfriend Mr. Christopher Schlatter :)... He received many chocolates from the girls fans and to my surprise some men broke the tradition and gifted me candy too :). So we called it even and went to the movies to watch the movie"Valentines Day". To our surprise we were the only ones who thought the movies were a good idea on Valentines Day.

Mark my words he got off easy due to cultural differences.

I have many adventures to come and I promise to try to keep my blog posts more current :)

Cheerleading...It's what I do :)

Last night I attended Shiga Lakestar's cheerleading practice. The cheerleading team is called "The Lakes". They are simply the best cheerleading team in the entire BJ league, and I'm not just saying it because my boyfriend plays for the team. I have attended many away games and seen many other cheerleading teams. They don't compare. Their director is Naoko, and she was a Sacramento Kings dancer for 2 years. She asked me to attend practice and help critique their routines. I also plan on teaching them some new material at future practices. Watching them dance made me miss cheerleading....but I don't miss the weekend long rehearsals...Thank god that's over :). I arrived back at home at about 11:30pm to a concerned Chris. He was so concerned he decided to text me 2 hours after the time I was supposed to be home. He didn't want to miss the James Bond movie he had been watching while I was gone. Gotta love him for that. Teaching a dance team in another country is hard due to the language barrier... But dancing is universal and some times you need to show them how it's done to get the right result... I love being able to help the cheerleading team and also meet some pretty awesome girls. Many of the girls aspire to be professional cheerleaders in America and they always ask me what it takes... I say "Perseverance"... But in simpler terms I just say "Never Give Up" :)!!!! Go Go Lakes!!!!...

Today I learned to make Sushi :)

My english student Michi taught me to make sushi today. One of Chris's teammates wife and I arrived at her Michi's home at 9am this morning to begin the process. The contents of my first rolls were cucumber, egg, mushrooms, and fish paste (don't ask).... It was amazing and I can't wait to come home and make rolls for my family and most importantly ... myself :)

Happy Birthday to my brother Mundo & sister Natalia :)

This week was very special for my family back at home. My brother turned 21 on sunday, and my little sister turns 18 thursday. WOW!!!!....my poor parents :(..... I want to dedicate this blog to them and let them know how much I truly love them and wish I was home to share these important birthdays with them. I posted a link to a video of my dad singing Happy Birthday to my brother...It makes me cry every time I see it:(...

click here for link :

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1128822321205&ref=mf

A day in Kyoto....

Chris had the weekend off, so we decided to venture off to Kyoto. We took the train to the central part of Kyoto and set off to see a few shrines. We saw two shrines and also the city hall. It was nice to spend the day in another town and also see more of Japan. We also found a shrine that actually looked big compared to Chris :)...

It's officially Spring!!!... Then it snowed :(

Spring has come to Japan... but you wouldn't know it by the snow fall we got on Monday. I can't lie it was simply beautiful.

I loved seeing the fresh snow cover our town.

Chris and I walked out to the pier to see the view and left the first footsteps in the fresh snow.

I think we have the same size foot :)....

These are the moments I will always remember... and I get to share it with the person I love :)...