hello again!
well its been another month since my last post. i dont understand how time can move soooo quickly! its such a strange concept... time. never stopping... never ending- so far. lol.
ive been in my new apartment for over a month now! to be honest, its great. i really like it here. the staff at the apartment complex are really wonderful. i havent seen any sizable bugs in or near my apartment either- which i am totally fine with. my roommate is also actually really cool. i initially held off making any sort of definitive statement because i am always overly cautious about such things, but have come to the conclusion that i really like her. we get along peacefully and our space is calm. living near nagoya station is really awesome too. having access to a bike- should i ever need one- is great. having a gym in my complex is also pretty awesome.
ive been going to the gym semi regularly. i havent been there this week because, well, i am exhausted! last month was obon season with lots and lots of vacation time... then september started off before i knew it... then my birthday (which hasnt been a reason to celebrate in years), and silver week this week.
september is usually my favorite month... even back home because i love love love fall. all my favorite foods are in season in fall... the weather is nice and the evenings are beautiful. the weather is finally starting to cool down here as well. the super nasty heat that comes with 80% humidity is slowly fading into cooler, less humid days. i can hardly wait to start baking... but that time is coming soon enough i imagine... i am certainly not going to rush winter... >_< i hate winter....
silver week is this week. we have a few holidays... we had one on monday for old people. its called "respect for the aged" day. i love me some old people, so naturally i celebrated it by enjoying my departing youth in tokyo!
well no, first, on monday i got a text from jennifer asking me what time i got home. she took a 5 hour bus ride to come to nagoya station to meet me for dinner! she took me to dinner at a nice little restaurant near the station and we sat and hung out for about 2 hours and then she took the last shinkansen back to kyoto! now tell me, how is she not the most awesome person ever? seriously i dont even know how i am lucky enough to be friends with her. shes one of the kindest people ive ever met. <3 its so amazing having my best friends here near me. i suffered so much without them!
since my birthday falls during silver week, i took a mini-vacation. my birthday was wednesday and i had a birthday party at my favorite bar. i was pretty relieved that i was able to invite many of my ecc friends without them embarrassing me. the thing is, ive heard so many stories from friends about how the americans got loud and drunk and they all got kicked out of this place or that place. one of my friends told me that on his birthday last year he went to his favorite bar and they kicked them all out and asked them never to come back again... sah. this is what happens when people who are not taught to live like responsible individuals come to japan... they embarrass us as a nation! *grumbles* anyway, that was my fear, but thankfully, the 25 or so people who came were calm, respectable humans and we all enjoyed ourselves peacefully. the bar that we went to was great too. the owner is super cool. they dont speak any english but theyre so friendly and chatty. i really had a great time.
also, yes about 25 people showed up! to my party! eeek! talk about social overload. i really had a great time though. i also got some really cool presents! i keep forgetting that this is why i like to have birthday parties... presents! i got some very cool things this year too! notable items were: a very pretty hand towel, bubble baths and bath salts, plants for my garden, a book, and a really cool hand made poster of my favorite korean actor. can you hear all my squeals as i opened that?!!? atsumi is such a doll. its one of the cutest things anyone has ever made for me! i am fairly certain i will keep it always. <3
yohsuke came too! talk about shock! ok, well he was only there for about 5 minutes... he came, went to the bathroom, gave me my present and told me i couldnt open it in front of people, then scampered off again. i waited until the party died down before opening it. it's a book called, "いつも一緒にいたいか
どんな時にも一番そばにいてほしい人。-at any time you are the person i want the closest.
誰よりも一番大切な人。- you are more important that anyone.
一日一日をどれだけ大切にすごしているだろう... 長い人生からみたら。taking (things) day by day importantly... because i see a long life.
not gonna lie, its one of the nicest things i've ever gotten from anyone, ever. my love of books runs so deeply that anyone who would know to get me a book is instantly up a point or two in my book! what does it all mean? i donno. yohsuke and i stopped dating a while back... and aside from giving me the book last week, i haven't actually spoken to him since then. my friends seem its some sort of confession but i really have no idea. lol. we decided to be friends... so perhaps this is confirmation that we are super buddys? maybe i am dense? -.- but it is very sweet nonetheless.
the next day was my birthday and i took the day off work. i spent the day relaxing and running simple errands around town. then i met with mandy for dinner. we had a pretty delicious nabe dinner and then i got on the night bus to tokyo. it was a pretty easy trip. i slept easily on the bus and when i woke up, i was in tokyo! i arrived in shinjuku and made my way over to tokyo station. i walked around for about 2 hours and then cara arrived.
we had a really good time around the city! we did all the touristy things- since it was her first time in tokyo. i didnt really mind doing it all again either... though i couldve done without the shrines - if youve seen one, youve seen them all! also, harajuku was pretty crazy since it was a holiday weekend. >.<;; we rode a rickshaw... i went on a fairly unsuccessful slurpee hunt- turns out i should have been looking in another part of town, and got to meet my friends waka and jorge! i havent seen waka in almost 4 years! it was sooo great to see her! and she looks amazing! we took purikura, which i am sure you will all be able to see soon- as soon as i upload it, had indian dinner one night and korean food another. tokyo really is a grand place. i went to the ginza hello kitty store- which is supppper huge! AND i got some sees chocolates! nom nom nom. all in all, it was an amazing experience. cara and i are very different travelers but we made it work and i think we both had a good time.
i came back on monday night and started my new regular shift for ecc junior on tuesday. i will be working on tuesdays now from 9-12 and 330-930. its a pretty long day but i am making almost $100 for 3 hours of work... which you really cant beat. this will hopefully allow me to pay off my ticket home soon!
speaking of which- i got my ticket home for christmas! weeeeeeee! i am so excited to see everyone!!! ill be home from dec 23rd until jan 4th. i plan of spending most of my time with my family, especially chibi, cin, and beka, but i am sure i can manage to see a few friends in there too! i am getting more excited as the thought settles in... i am sure ill be giddy once it gets closer!
this weekend i am resuming my japanese lessons too! one of my highest level students offered to teach me japanese. she is a high school teacher and she is studying to be the vice principal of her school. she says she wants to teach me for free... which i know i cannot allow, but hopefully it will be something i can afford to do regularly. i really really really need to study more. i study often, but i need more focus! why am i soooo lazy?!! -.-
tomorrow i am meeting my friend ryusuke. hes visiting from tokyo and i am going to show him around osu- my favorite part of nagoya. he doesnt speak english so he is a bit nervous and of course i am a bit nervous about having to use my really bad japanese for the day... but im sure we will make it work. hehehe. should be able to... lol.
ok, its time to rest now. i am going to clean my room in the morning, post pictures to facebook and study some japnaese before i meet my new teacher!
lots of great things to look forward to! i am excited and thankful for my life. ^_^ until next time...!!
