some time ago, gina tagged me with the eight things meme. i have been putting it off for several reasons. first, i've been too tired to write. second, i seriously don't think i can come up with eight things or habits about myself. not anything interesting anyway. and third, i don't know eight people to tag. that one's ok, though, because i'm just going to wimp out and not tag anyone. so, here goes:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.


1. i was born in cuba. i don't remember it, since we left when i was still an infant, but there you go.

2. i love the nutcracker. recently i have bought a CD and have been making myself homesick over it. crazy. that all started over me buying fantasia for 500 yen (the copyright must have expired) and hearing the suite over and over in the car. to be honest, i love tchaikovsky. when i was young i wanted to develop an appreciation for classical music so i got something i liked and listened to it as i fell asleep (just ask my poor sister). more often than not, it was the nutcracker.

3. i took ballet and tap lessons when i was very young. i wish i could have continued it, as well as take gymnastics. oh well, life never turns out the way you expected it to.

4. in general, i hate japanese food (that's kind of funny, because just last night i told jan that i don't!) before i came here, i didn't know how many different foods i disliked. i mean, i knew there were foods i didn't like and usually didn't eat (namely, fish) but after i arrived here it was a huge problem. and compounding that is the japanese way of using food to connect to others. very hard for me. i have learned to like some things (like tofu) but other still make me gag (like sushi. TOTALLY hate sushi, basically the national dish of japan. and you may be surprised to learn that i don't hate sushi because of fish. it's because of vinegar. gross gross vinegared rice. ew.)

5. halfway done. i don't remember learning to swim. so, i've been able to swim my whole life. i love the water, and that even spills over to housework: the chores i like involve water (dishes, bathroom and yes, even the toilet) and those i hate don't (dusting, vacuuming, etc.) swimming is the best exercise for me when i'm trying to lose weight.

6. although i was born in cuba, and i now live in japan, i am not really well traveled (outside of the united states). the only other countries i've been to is canada and korea. and that's only because i used those countries as stop-overs between the us and japan. that's kind of sad.

7. ok, two more. this is hard. how about a habit: i love to chew ice. i think that's because, for whatever reason, a couple of my baby molars fell out really early. chewing on ice helped relieve some pain i had in my empty sockets, and then later when my adult teeth finally came in. nowadays that's a bad habit and probably not good for my teeth, but i do it anyway. kind of a soothing action for me. and a waste of ice in the summer!

8. i love to read. i will read almost anything (and now that i'm in japan and basically illiterate, i do read almost everything i can get my hands on in english. even cereal boxes and the like. in my life i have only once not finished a book. it was that bad. books rarely make me cry (though movies usually turn me into a faucet) so the ones that have have a special place in my heart. and i do read books again, usually a few years later, which my husband feels strongly about, since he doesn't like all the 'messy' books around the house! ha! he has more books than i do!!

phew, i didn't think i could do it. if you don't have a blog or haven't been tagged, feel free to leave something in the comments.