Andy V (the fifth) profile picture

Andy V (the fifth)

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, FLOOR!

About Me

Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA
Currently living in Tokyo, Japan
Have also lived in Paris, France
Professional Language Teacher, Amateur Salsa Dancer
Striving to find balance between Work, Play, and Home life
Here's photo from a performance in July 2006 with my Cuban partner.
Love SUMMER. Love the BEACH. Love DANCING: Dabbled in ballet, ballroom and swing dancin'. But what I am really hooked on is SALSA DANCING.
Started in 2002 (here in Tokyo!!) with ON-1 LA style (go figure, I'm from LA!) which is still the most comfortable style for me.
Valiantly attempted ON-2 NY Style, still a work in progress, but taking a break from it. I was having a good time with Cuban Salsa, especially RUEDA, but then my teacher got too busy with his "day job" and now I'm on my own again.
What else? Well Merengue, of course, and Bachata. As for CHA CHA, my brain understands how do it, but somehow my body just CANNOT find the right timing. So, I'm doing the moves...but off by 1 or 2 beats...
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My Interests

Photography

Salsa Dance

Shorinji Kempo

Learning languages

Travel

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!
The World's Shortest Personality Test

You Are Rowlf the Dog
Mellow and serious, you enjoy time alone cultivating your talents. You're a cool dog, and you always present a relaxed vibe. A talented pianist, you can play almost anything - especially songs by Beethoven.

"My bark is worse than my bite, and my piano playing beats 'em both."
The Muppet Personality Test

I'd like to meet:

Let me see...
Kristin Kreuk , the actress from "Smallville"
and also Jessica Alba , the "Dark Angel" actress.

Music:

Buena Vista Social Club (excellent Cuban sounds!!)

Movies:

img src="http://www.strangecosmos.com/images/content/113305.jpg"

Television:

A few years ago, I appeared on Japanese TV as an extra.
My on screen time was about 4 seconds.
Here it is!

The show was called "Good Luck" with a stars such as Takuya Kimura, Kou Shibasaki, and Hitomi Kuroki. This was episode 7, partially set in Thailand. The reason I was asked to be an extra was that they needed people who could speak Thai, English and Japanese.

Books:

I've been mixing my genres.
For example, there's Kurosagi, a Japanese manga that I'm into. (Actually reading it in Japanese, too!)

When I go to bookstores, I've been noticing a recent trend of mine: I have been buying non-fiction books. There's just so much about this real world to discover!

Recnt purchases:
DNA: The Secret of Life by James Watson

Paris: Biography of a City by Colin Jones

1914-1918: The History of the First World War by David Stevenson

Underworld by Graham Hancock

My Blog

Home-made Lentil Soup

I made my first home-made lentil soup yesterday.Piece of advice. If you're REALLY hungry and you want to eat NOW....don't make lentil soup.Fortunately, I knew this and made lasagna for actually eatin...
Posted by Andy V (the fifth) on Sat, 31 Mar 2007 11:44:00 PST

Argentinian Tango

Hello Gang,Many of you know that I am into to salsa dancing.There is a couple that I know of who run a dance studio; they themselves are salsa dancers, but at their studio they have instructors for yo...
Posted by Andy V (the fifth) on Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:09:00 PST

With Job Hunt Done, Andy Gets Sudden Urge To GO SHOPPING!

JOB HUNTI am currently in the pre-back-to-school period. FYI the (university) school year in Japan runs from April to March, with summer break in August/mid-September, and winter break in February and...
Posted by Andy V (the fifth) on Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:43:00 PST

Getting used to the USA, again

Now that I have a few moments of conciousness, between the jetlag and New Year's partying, (which ain't such a bad mix, actually!) I can write down a few of my thoughts...When I changed money at the a...
Posted by Andy V (the fifth) on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:51:00 PST

Heading Home

Heading Home!!!!Category: BloggingHi Everyone,I am typing this at a computer in the waiting area of Narita airport! It's 100 yen per 10 minutes, so I'd better type fast. It's a good thing I took typ...
Posted by Andy V (the fifth) on Mon, 01 Jan 2007 06:40:00 PST

One more day to go! Bhå`

Tomorrow is the last day of school for 2006!Just one more day to go. Yay!This has been THE busiest semester of my teaching life ever for the following reasons.There was a sick teacher who couldn't c...
Posted by Andy V (the fifth) on Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:03:00 PST

Welcome new friends

After about a month myspacin', I finally got me some friends in addition to TOM and MY BROTHER. Comes to a grand total of FOUR! WOO-HOO!! How's THAT for increased productivity....
Posted by Andy V (the fifth) on Mon, 23 Oct 2006 08:02:00 PST

Just starting MYSPACE-ing!

Hi Everybody,Just started myspace. New to the scene, and still learning about all the features.
Posted by Andy V (the fifth) on Sun, 01 Oct 2006 06:34:00 PST