22.10.2012 - 2 months in japan.

 Hello all!

let's start off today with one, single, gratuitous self portrait since I felt pretty today.

And now, for something completely different...

the larch.

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I've lived in Japan for 2 months! What!

Madness, honestly, it's mental. I can't even believe it somehow.
Things I've learned
- my family is the best family
- japanese is the hardest language
- I need to own more things with cats on them
- japanese food is amazing
- living on your own is hard as shit
- it's also scary as shit
- I will never live in a house without an oven again as long as I live


yeah, there's more I'm sure but that's what sprung to mind!


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Woke up to go to my Japanese lesson, but when I got there no one was there.
Spoke briefly to a man who spoke no English and although he was clear on the fact that there were no lessons, I have no idea why. It's not a national holiday, no one mentioned anything last week… bit odd.
Also I'm not sure how to go about telling them I can't come on Friday because I won't be here (more on that in a paragraph or so!) which is a shame since I'm meant to inform them. Huh.

I skyped with Magnus for a while, he's the coolest.
Jesus I love my family.

Did some laundry like the grown up I apparently am.

Went to Hiro Station to make sure I could get there, it's where I'm meeting my boss on Wednesday for the demonstration the company's doing.

From there I went to Minato to go to Nissin for some stuff. Successful trip, got everything I needed and even stuck to my list!
I feel so mature when I made a grocery list and then actually pay attention to it.
ha.

I took my camera with me on the aforementioned trip, didn't take anything special until I was literally a block from my house, but here are some photos of some things and... stuff.

shinjuku station

roppongi station

roppongi station

yotsuya station

yotsuya station

anyway, I came back right as the sun was setting over my alley and took a few photos I really like.
I love golden hour/sunset, though I doubt there are many photographers who don't!

Sadly I can't go to the dojo tonight because I washed all my gis this morning because it was sunny and beautiful but apparently while I was out it poured here, briefly, but briefly was enough to soak them through again and they won't be dry until tomorrow midmorning I don't think.
They' certainly won't be dry by 6.20 this evening, which is when I have to leave my house to make the latest class.
Boo.

I'm planning on going to the afternoon class tomorrow, which I haven't been to at all since I got here. I've heard it's often the smallest classes as well, so that'll be nice, if it's true!

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Made vegan cookies using only flour, sugar, applesauce, vegan chocolate chips, an avocado, and a toaster oven. Boom.

Also boiled up a bunch of pumpkin some of which I ate for dinner and some of which I plan on making Black Bean & Pumpkin burgers out of for dinner tomorrow night.





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Now, about not being here.
On Thursday morning I'm going to be taking the train to Nikko, where I will spend the night and then be coming home on Friday evening.
My sort of plan is to spend Thursday in Nikko exploring and looking at the shrines and then on Friday going to the Lake Chūzenji area to hike and see the changing leaves.
People come from all over Japan to see the fall colours there, it's terribly famous.
One of the things I have a really hard time with living in Tokyo is the lack of nature in general. Yes, the parks are lovely here and there are a few where you can really just feel calm but I lived on a farm/in the woods in NS!
I never though I'd think this, let alone write it for all to see, but I miss hiking and being in the forest.
So I'm really really really excited for that!
I'll be taking my camera (of course!) so I will come back with heaps of lovely photos for you.

I hope you all have a good day and a pleasant tomorrow.

12.09.2012 - photobooth is fun, no matter what.

Went to the beginners class this morning, with the intention of staying for Masuda Senei's class.
But I'm pretty sure I did the most glamourous (read: worst) thing and pulled a groin muscle.

Welcome to my ever classy, ever graceful, life.

Anyway, any ukemi (that's what the falling in aikido is called) is wildly painful at this point, so I called it quits and came home and took an advil instead.

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Skyped with my family, they're still better than sliced bread. I think it's actually 3 months today until I get to see them… Maybe less than that?
Whatevs, they're coming for christmas and I couldn't be happier.

Went to submit my Language Class Application at a different building. My map blew.
I finally got there, and guess what? It's closed today. No explanation, nothing on the website, no sign other than the 'closed' one.
Bastards.

Came home and took a nap because I am an old woman.
Went to work.

Ok class, I wasn't in my most patient mood which it hard to work and be excited through. But I mean, I think the kids still enjoyed it.

Was about a block between the club and the station and I realised I was all dizzy and off balance.
It's ok though, I was just having a serious low blood sugar moment. Stopped by Nissin and did something I've never had to do, and have always laughed at my father for doing, which is buy a candy bar and eat it before I could actually do my regular shopping.

Came home and made myself more gyoza (the good kind! not the weird artichoke ones.) and broccoli.
Actually the perfect meal.
It's not too much, but not too light so as to not even feel like a meal.
Because I steam them together the broccoli has the most wonderful ginger-y flavour.

And since I didn't have a single moment for photos, enjoy these Photo Booth photos I took today, post nap & pre work.
There's something so madly vain about Photo Booth and having a million 'pretty' photos of oneself, taken in ones bedroom. I don't know, maybe it's the horrid quality that just makes me love them more?
Anyway, these won't be as funny to anyone else as they are to me. C'est la vie, non?

it's conceptual

foxlet

final photo inspired by that video of Kirsten Dunst singing along to 'Turning Japanese'

which has been removed from youtube, so you can't experience the glory.

tomorrow night after work I'm going to a meetup thing at the restaurant that does a monthly vegan buffet. So I'm super excited! I get to meet people and eat vegan food. Which are two of my favourite passtimes.


have a pleasant day, all!

05.09.2012 - past two days. + I went up another tall building just for the view.

Tuesday

What a day.
Woke at at 4.30 this morning so I had time to mess about on the internet, drink water, braid my hair (it takes like 10 minutes to french braid all of it, therefor it much be factored in), and get out the door by 6 so I could be changed and ready for 7. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to this specific school if I don't walk especially fast to the train.

Worked for an hour, and was home at around 9.

Hung out, ate some food, skyped with Magnus (and mum, briefly), then started getting ready for the rest of my day.

At 12 I left to go meet Keiko for our English hour. Now we don't meet until 1 but I wasn't really at all sure I knew how to get from the station to the cafe, so I gave myself heaps and heaps of time.
Of course, once I got there I knew exactly where to go so I killed about 30 minutes walking up and down the street it's on, spent some time in a stationary store but it wasn't very nice.

Talked with her from 1-2, she's just a sweet lady. She said she wants to have me over for dinner in a few weeks, when her husband's back from his business trip, and that she's very excited to get to meet my family at Christmas 'because she can tell how much I love them'. Aw.

Then I had to go right from there to Tamachi Station to meet Paul for my second school of the day.
Had two classes, and then I came home and made myself dinner!
Tonight's dinner comes in two parts. The starter: a lovely blend of french bread that is right on the cusp of being stale and apples. And the main course: half a can of black beans and a tortilla!
Woo cooking.

someone hire me as a head chef, quick.

It seems like heaps of food, but because of the schedule/the fact that I can't eat less than 2 hours before class means I live on two meals a day. So I feel better about just tucking into massive dinners, haha.

While I was a work a package came for me from Melanie (of Dots & Loops fame)! She sent me a necklace that I've been lusting over for about a year and some handmade cat pins.
Fun fact, I love pins.
She's a peach.

I think I have Thursday off, and if I do I will definitely be getting all my packages full of delightful things for delightful people in the post, so they may enjoy all the delights soon!

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Wednesday

Woke up and went to Hombu. I even rode my bike! It was a bit nerve wracking, but since it cuts 20+ minutes from my commute it's worth it.
Class was taught by Miyamoto Sensei (7th dan, shihan) and I really liked him.
It was my best/most enjoyable class I've taken thus far.

Came home and skyped with Sarah briefly, but the connection wasn't very good.

Decided to go out in search of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building which has another place to look out at the city from the tall building! And it's free!
Eventually found it, I pretty much took the most complication route possible to get there. But it turns out it's just a 40 minute walk from my house with, like, 1 turn. Oops? I took a train and everything.
The train did cut off about 20 minutes of that walk, but yes.

this is the building!

It was gorgeous though, was better than the other place I went.
Largely because it's almost a 360 view. There's a cafe in one corner, which I would definitely go to for lunch if I was there with anyone else.

oh, Tokyo fading off into the smog. So lovely.

I even got some lady to take my photo, she made it look so difficult.
I mean, really, what's so hard? I set everything up. All she had to do was press the button half down, let it focus, then press it the rest of the way. Sweet jesus.
Anyway, this isn't nearly as good as it could have been, but it's the best I got.

aaaaaand I've made a few of my photos into fake tilt shifts. I was a tilt shift camera so badly, but they're ridiculously expensive for something I would use almost never, c'est la vie.

I just talked to Magnus for a bit, now I'm enjoying some Edward Sharpe while going through today's photos.

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Went to work for a few hours.
Stopped by Nissin to get some sorbet because it's still a million degrees and I've been wanting some.
But that's an expensive place to shop so I planned on stopping my the normal store for some vegetables/tomato sauce for tonight's dinner but then was just too tired of people to deal.
I made do with what I had in the house, which was just onions and lettuce. And pasta obviously.

But then I got to eat my sorbet! I got mango, but it's a bit on the sweet side for my tastes.
The same brand had a passionfruit which I think I'd get if I got it again.

I have tomorrow off so my goal is to, first, find a 100 Yen shop for s few things and, second, mail a bunch of presents home!
Then do something else to occupy the rest of my day, we'll see.

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Have a pleasant day, all of you delightful people.

03.09.2012 - this includes some deep thoughts on moving.

Hey guys,

Slept in again. Partially because I felt like it and partially because I need to get money to pay my September fee for the dojo, so.

This morning I went to Nissin Delitcatessen again, which is the first time I've just got on a normal errand here. I had to switch trains and everything!
I felt pretty awesome, plus it means I now have lettuce, tortillas, black beans, dairy-free bread, granola, and sheep milk feta.
You pretty much can't buy those things anywhere else, so I love that place.

I'm just killing a few minutes until I need to start getting ready for work, I'm just going on my own today for the first time. I've been to the school twice now & I have directions so I should be fine, but it's still nerve wracking because I reeeally don't want to fuck up.

I was just sitting here and had the urge to write a few thoughts on home/moving that I've had over the pack few days. And since this is what I do, I'm sharing them with you.

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-I won’t ever pretend I don’t like my parents, or that I’m too cool for them.
They’re two of my best friends and I miss them insanely. Of course they’ll get on my nerves sometimes when I go home, but I will never say I don't them, or they’re trying to ruin my life(how 14 does that sound?), or that they have anything but my best interests at heart.

The same goes for Magnus. Of course he an annoy me or we can fight but he's still the best brother in the world.

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- I also won’t talk shit about Nova Scotia.
Was my whole time there great? no.
Did my early teenage years blow because of bullying and no one talking to me? yes.

But I miss it. I’d created a life for myself without even noticing it because I was too busy saying I hated it. I miss people, I miss the fresh air, I miss being by the ocean, I miss how few people there are.
Not to say I don’t like Tokyo, I do. Truly. But it's not home.
And I didn't even think of Nova Scotia as home until I came here.

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- Nothing is too much or too scary for me to do.
As scary and sometimes not great this last little but has been, I’ve proved to myself (once again) that I can be victorious over anything I want.
It’s hard, I’m not saying it’s not. I don’t speak the language, I don’t know anyone, I’m having to be trained for my job while also preforming it, I don’t know my way around… there are a thousand difficult things.
But I’m ok.
My anxiety is under control (my number 1 fear about moving was that my anxiety/depression would spiral into something worse than it's ever been.), I'm starting to understand the train system, I'm managing to feed myself fine. All really great things.

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that’s it, just a few thoughts.

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Skyped with Shane for a bit, got ready for work, then off I went!

Today was the first day I actually just went by myself, it was a bit scary. I was all 'I know where I'm going blah blah blah nothing can go wrong hahahaha'
First my clock at gotten behind sometimes between this morning and 2. So I was running like 10 minutes late.
Then I got confused outside Shibuya Station which cost me another few minutes.
I did actually get to work on time, but on time for me means I'm 10 minutes late. So stressful.

I have to be back at the same school by 6.45 tomorrow morning, so I better figure it out then.

But work was fine, slowly getting the hang of things.
And on the way back to the station I walked around a few shops, got a few more presents for people I like, managed to leave my photo and suica (train/metro/bus) card in a shop's fitting room, only to have to walk 7 blocks back to get it.
I was not on top of today after I got some from the store this morning.

But I'm home now and I'm going to make myself a proper dinner for the first time in ages.

romaine lettuce, cooked black beans, and what are basically japanese chicken nuggets.
except they're breading in fancy things and taste a bit like soy sauce & ginger, so I deem them real food.

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I most likely won't be updating this for a few days, I'm just going to be working or very busy.
Tomorrow I work 6.45 - 8.30, then do my English hour with Keiko from 1-2, and then work again from 2.45 to 5.30
Not much time for adventures there.

We'll see.