Sunday was a Work Day...& it went a little something like this!

Yesterday I taught my third class which was groovy. My students so far are Shigeru, Hideyoshi, Yayoi, Tomoyuki, Yoshi, Rie, Rishi, Kento, Takashi, Naoto, and Mae. When it's time for class, Wakako and I head down to the third floor, Wakako bringing the video camera and tripod (Every class is taped!). We move the desks that are on wheels out of the way and clear the space in time for the class to arrive. Koichi, who is also an actor and works at the school, came to yesterday's lesson and also took a lot of video with his handheld. He was basically getting b-roll for my 'acting coach' video, which we shot after class.

We all had lunch and then they showed me the storyboards...very simple set up with me at my desk, then a walk and talk, then going into a room, entering a room, and finally a shot on the roof as the sun was going down. It was cold and Wakako ran to get me a blanket. We did one take and that was that, taking a group picture on the auto setting before going back inside. I sat at my desk and sent some emails, also filling out my alien registration form and testing out my marble stamp that was made for me when I was an exchange student. You press the stamp into an inkpad and my name "Regina" is in Katakana with a created Kanji next to it. Every Japanese person has their own stamp -- it's what you do here vs. signing your name on a official document. You use your stamp. Kawabata san (my boss) gave me his meishi (business card) and I stamped one of my own, giving it to him. Everyone was impressed that I had a stamp. I said I was happy I could finally use it -- after all these years!

Wakako gathered my bio, my headshot and resume -- as well as all my acting clips. From what I understand, this is for the Japanese TV show. In my video for the school as well as in the bio my "Best Actress" award for Kitty is top billing. Kitty Landers Lives!

While I was at the desk, Koichi was editing everything we shot -- and then asked me to dub my last bit on the roof. At first I was worried -- I liked the performance and was afraid it would sound unnatural. But he had the software similar to looping -- with the three beeps at the head. And when I saw it played back I was surprised to see that it really did make a difference, not having the ambient sound. I was amazed at how fast he put everything together on I-movie. The whole thing was CUT when I was ready to leave at 7pm.

I went to the grocery store (not even a half a block from work), and bought a bunch of groceries, some of which might really test my ability to read the directions (cook time, amount of water, etc). It could be a whole new cooking show where I use my dictionary and my instincts. My cooking instincts. Hmmmm. I sense a new blog post regarding this very experiment. Maybe I could put my video camera on a tripod and let it roll as I experiment in my fancy Tokyo kitchen.

Everything in the Japanese grocery store is individualized, presented, wrapped and contained. Hard to explain but you feel very conscious of what you are buying. I wished Saemi (who plays "Fumiko" in Kitty Landers) had been with me as I went grocery shopping with her in Korea Town after Anna Christopher's holiday party...and she was such a pro. Able to discern what meat looked good, what fruit was worthy, etc. I'm sure I'll get better but as it was, I was straining to read the Katakana in the dairy section and am pretty sure I bought milk instead of cream. Less curdled cottage cheese for my thighs.

I have been up since 5:30 this morning...had a small dinner and 1.5 beers while watching Japanese TV last night and was in a drooly slump by 10PM. Today and tomorrow are days off. Skyped with Chris and Mom and Dad (although Mom and Dad's skype was off...it was just the picture, no sound. We did a bunch of charades and I did most of the talking). But we connected, which felt AWESOME! I forgot to tell them that Yumi Suzuki asked after them when we spoke. They loved the story that we have already reconnected. Going to do an exercise video and make my way out to a museum!!! Bringing my new Nikon and am excited to be the lone artist, capturing what catches my fancy.

Will hopefully post some pics from work and from the shoot in this post. Featured are my co-workers, Wakako, Koichi, Koda-San, Nao and Kawabata San. That's the whole kit and kaboodle at The River Hollywood Training School -- plus Regina Taufen -- acting coach in Residence!