Tea Eggs

Well, here is the result of my adventure today!

With these I added garlic, ginger, leek, onions (that made me CRY while I was cutting them up haha), salt, sugar and pepper (with eggs of course!) and let that cook for three hours. It took a long time but man, they were SO good. Next time I think I will make WAY more eggs though. These are going away sooo fast!


Here they are drained!

And finally, one peeled! Yum :'D

An Adventure in Cooking

Well, today it looks like it's going to rain. Aki (our dorm manager) says that there is a 70 % chance, and it's very windy, mucky out today. Thus, I've decided it seems like a fantastic day to make Tea Eggs. They're a Chinese snack that is offered EVERYWHERE in China for a very cheap price.

These are tea eggs that my Chinese teacher made at SFCC:


They were sooooo~ good. I am hoping that mine will turn out just as good. I tried to get a recipe from her but only got a vague description of ingredients. So I'm just going by whatever (probably fail) instinct I have.

This is what it looked like so far:

There are eggs somewhere under there. Tomorrow they should be all done and hopefully edible ahahahaha~

Stufffff

I don't really know. Today was a good day, though I'd left the dorm expecting to have a mental breakdown or something hahaha.

Did alright ( I think ) on the Japanese chapter test, did alright on the little presentation thing, and my art class was enjoyable as always. Now I'm home, exhausted and still a little hungry despite having just ate.... So maybe I will go ahead and get a snack from downstairs.

My loan came in today too, so now I'm not worried about not having any money. Which is fantastic, because I'd love to make something OTHER than curry! Hahahahahah Sheesh.

Misc hand drawing I did for bonus credit in art:

Biggest Loser

Okay, so you know how in America there is a show called Biggest Loser? Where they take overweight/obese people and compete to see who loses the most each week, etc etc?

Or even those programs you see advertised in magazines, online, on tv with the before and after photos? Well I found one of those in the back of my mangazine. (Yes mangazine--not magazine haha) The only problem is... there program isn't taking an obese or overweight girl (in this case) and helping her get skinny.... It takes an already skinny girl and makes her SKINNIER. I about died laughing. These already slim girls lost roughly 20-35 pounds to become super model, paper thin.

I'm just amused XD So I had to mention something about it.

I should go have a life now hahaha. Cleaned up my room a bit, but I don't know where I'm going to put my poor books yet... XD; Oh well.

Club Camelot

Last night I had what I'm going to consider my first real club experience.

For Eric's birthday, a rather large group of us wet to Shibuya with plans of doing karaoke but found out that the place we had in mind was jam packed and we could only get one room and would have to wait for it. A group of us wanted to go to a club afterward so this wasn't working out so well since we'd had a late start getting out of the dorm due to some stragglers. Instead, we split into two groups, one staying behind at the karaoke place and the other went on an adventure to find Camelot.

Camelot is a multi-floor club in Shibuya and it was pretty freaking awesome. We went early enough for the 'early bird' discount, where women got in free and men got in for 10 dollars + 2 free drinks (thus essentially free). Things were slow at first, but any club is usually relatively slow before 11 pm.

We drank while we waited for things to pick up, and I have to say it didn't take long for me to spend quite a bit of money on drinks alone. Throughout the entire night, I had two rum and cokes, one whiskey and coke, and a few other drinks I don't quite remember anymore haha. I actually didn't get drunk enough to not really remember everything, and all the dancing sobered me up faster than I thought it would but it was still fun.

Also, it's become rather apparent that I can dance, though I've never quite agreed with the idea haha. After a few drinks, I didn't feel so nervous, and quite honestly, being around with friends who just didn't care if you could dance or not helped a lot.

We all missed last train last night and stayed out until six am, going to McDonald's for breakfast from about 3:30-4 am to 5 am, before heading over to the train station to chill and wait for the first train.

All in all the club was a lot of fun. A lot of Japanese people seem to be a little shy about dancing, and they all face the SAME direction in the dance floor--it was kind of awkward until it was really packed and everyone had no choice but to face different ways hahaa. In the beginning there was one Japanese guy who decided to dance with ALL of us, boys and girls haha, he was hilarious.

After that, I danced with Michael for the most part. Though I danced with Eric and Elyce a little, I didn't really go the extra step of actually trying to dance with strangers hahaa, maybe next time. Supposedly, however, there had been someone checkin' me out, and had he not spilled his drink on the way over, he might have actually come and danced with me hahaa. Oh well.

After some minor persuasion, they got me on the ladies only stage with Elyce and other Japanese girls to dance. I'm surprised I wasn't so embarrassed about it, but it was a lot of fun so I guess that might be why.

....I'll try and update more about this tomorrow, I'm falling asleep at my computer!

2010.01.23

I am exhausted, but it was a good night. After classes, Alex and I went to Kamata, stopped at Donki Houte and I got some batteries for my camera + a screen for my phone :'D After that, we went to the used book shop I had found there and I bought a decent load of used manga magazines--mostly with hetero pairings this time, but I did buy ONE yaoi one. I spent about 1500yen on them all together, so that wasn't bad at all! There were only two that went over 250yen.

Afterward, we hit the arcade with a 500 yen limit. Played some games and went home where we decided to make gyouza and shiumai(?) for dinner, with a 500 ml can of Mt Dew for dinner.... I hadn't had Mt Dew in so long, the caffeine has totally destroyed me. I can't sleep!

Thus, he and I watched movies--starting with The Lovely Bones, which he pirated a VERY good quality version leaked when they showed the film for award considerations. It was a great movie; sad and it made me want to cry, but still good. It didn't follow the book as much as I wished it had, and I think I would have enjoyed it more having not known the original story--but it was close and not too crazy out there from the original writing, so I really can't complain too much!

After that we watched Clerks since I hadn't seen it yet. Now I wish I had brought Clerks II with me so I could watch that now too! Hahahaha. Oh well.

Well, it is 4:50 am here and I haven't slept yet.... I think I'm going to lie down and hope I fall asleep! XD

2010.01.22

Yesterday, I went in for my English conference--she didn't pick my paper apart too much, but she did say I was too casual for this type of paper. That's not surprising, oh well. I'll re-write it this weekend.

After that, I waited around at the school and played card games with Lisa until it was time to go down and meet Michael and Elyce to go shopping. Unfortunately most of us have been having financial issues so we vetoed the shopping idea last minute and Lisa showed us a fantastic little curry shop by the station. It was good! But a bit spicy for me. And I've discovered that I really just do NOT like miso soup. Which is a shame D:

All of this was just for 580 yen :'D I think it's a pretty fantastic price, don't you?

After this, we went to the konbini (convenience store) and bought some yummy chocolates! They're calls Dars~

The box this year is a special design... It's so silly XD

It's backwards! Hahah It was cute and amusing, we had to buy it.

We came home and flopped down to play around on the internet an do homework last night. It was a good day in the long run for some of us, and a more stressful for others. The iPhone deal ended up being a load of crap, which is too bad for those who signed up for it, but it seems most of the people have figured out how to fix the problem and gotten new phones through other companies. I'm just glad I got the phone I wanted! It sounds like the iPhone was just not worth it D: I love my Mirumo~

I went out for "tea time" with Schon and Michael last night and had my first Japanese beer... XD I must say I like it no more than I do American beer, but that's okay. I was also a bit ashamed to say that I had gotten a bit drunk off of just the small, unfinished can I DID drink! Such a light weight it seems hahahaa. I didn't even feel it until we'd got back to the dorm and I'd sat down. I'm thinking about tagging along for Eric's b-day bash to go drinking, but I don't think I'll let myself get smashed haha. I do still have to do homework this weekend after all.

When we got home(again), I made some little octopus dogs with Michael. They are SO fun to make and so cute xD I absolutely love them.

Well, now I need to finish homework so I can go pick up my gaijin card and go to classes!

Later!

2010.01.20

The day is almost over, with just five more minutes before the 21st of January arrives. This will probably be posted then, but it's all about earlier today.

Last night, I spaced the fact that due to switching my classes, I now had an ass load of homework to do for Japanese, on top of a 1200 word paper (that ended up being 1800 words instead, but hey, at least it wasn't too short!).

With practically seconds to spare before Japanese class, I managed to finish my home work for the most part, with Michael's help. We also had a vocabulary test/quiz today, that I THOUGHT I had been studying for during my 30 minute commute on the train... Unfortunately, I had been studying the WRONG chapter the entire time, thus, came into the class completely unprepared for any type of a quiz. Cramming during the start of the class, I managed to remember 8/10 words, so I suppose I fared quite well considering haha!

I also managed to write my paper this morning, from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, rushing it and it's probably the worst crap I've spit out in a while. I'm just waiting for my teacher to laugh at me tomorrow and ask where the hell I learned to write hahaha. Conference tomorrow, I don't know if I'm really looking forward to that.

On the plus side, after that I'm going to do homework and chill with people.

There's this part of me that wants to actually go out and drink, though I honestly don't enjoy drinking all that much. I think it's more of the fact that the majority of the people around me have their "tea time". It's kind of like how my curiosity about smoking has peaked a bit--I hate the idea of smoking, it's disgusting, but I swear that EVERYONE in Japan smokes, it's hard to ignore. I suppose it just comes with being in a college and in a dorm.

Tonight I made Curry for dinner. With chicken and shrimp and carrots in it. It was REALLY good, but maybe that was just because I was super hungry. I don't know, I didn't make enough to feed Alex tonight so I didn't have any second opinions hahah. Granted, he does seem to think anything I make tastes good--perhaps it really does?



I also bought some taiyaki today (pictured at the top of this post) <3 They are SO cute and yummy. 16 little fishy shaped bread sweets for 525yen. Fantastic <3 They will last me a day or two I hope!

Anyway, it's 12:05 am here, so I think it's time for bed. I am exhausted after my three hours of sleep or something.

Good Night!
おやすみなさい～

Keitai

Keitai is the word for cell phone here in Japan. And a keitai is what I have now!

I've spent the past week debating over whether or not to get the white iPhone or get the Mirumo phone from Softbank.... and Mirumo won.

Sure, the iPhone was a fantastic deal, seeing as those are expensive to both buy and use, but the mirumo is just amazing. Adorable. So far I'm not regretting my decision at all, though it's only been a few hours hahaha.

This is the mirumo phone: http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/product/3G/934sh/ and I got the white one.

I'm just giddy with the idea of being able to text again. Especially since we're always trying to figure out when/where/how we're all going to meet up and do things. And yeah.

Unfortunately this does not have GPS, something I really wanted and needed, but I could not pass it up. I will just have to stop being so directionally challenged!

Yatta~!

I am now in Intermediate Japanese, where I should be. I failed the entrance exam, but after she explained anything I had forgotten, she let me into her class. Now I am actually being challenged, so I am quite pleased. Plenty of make-up homework to do tomorrow however hahaha!

Just got home from classes. On the plus side, I don't have to leave for class until 12:30 pm or so. Woohoo! I have all lazy mornings, or should I procrastinate on anything... I have a few good long hours to finish hhahaha!

This also means I have more opportunities to talk to friends and family online before classes as well.

Dinner time!

Tuna mayo onigiri and a pizza hot dog tortilla thingy. Yes. Sounds good to me XD I don't want to cook tonight.

Yet again...

I'm hoping to change my schedule.

Today I have elements two Japanese, but it is SO boring. I was talking to one of my friends last night, and he insisted I move up to the next level, and the afternoon class fits RIGHT in my schedule perfectly. I have only not learned ONE sentence structure from this class, so I am mildly frustrated hahaha. If I stay in this class, I have a feeling I would get too bored and stop doing my work. It could be an easy A, but at the same time it'd be a waste of money!

So today I will talk to my teacher, tell her this course is too easy and that I would like to move up to the next level.

Hopefully all goes well. I'm so frustrated hahaha. I've also been told I should be in the oral class, but I'm a little nervous about that. I think I will start that when I get back so that I am more comfortable here. Not that I'm uncomfortable here, but from what I've heard they have to do for their class, I'm not sure I could do it! Hahaha.

Anyway, time for breakfast. Leaving for class in 8 minutes. Got all of my homework done, this should be an interesting day xD

I'll update again later~

じゃまた～！
See you!

100 Yen Shop

Okay, the Japanese equivalent of the US dollar stores are SO much cooler. I've been shopping for most of my school supplies there--they have cute, colourful things to use for school, they have simple dishes and bento boxes, some snack foods, kitchen and bathroom wear, slippers, cheap electronics and batteries, I mean... SERIOUSLY, why spend 400 yen on something elsewhere?

So far I've bought quite a few things there....


1. A pink stapler
2. two pen holders
3. five colourful erasers in a pack
Also four colourful staple packs in a pack. There are green, pink, blue and yellow staples~
4. Tape
5. Book ends! So useful.
6. A large espresso mug--I love it~
7. A two pack of clips for my art class.
8. A folder to organize my essays in English
9. A large ruler <3
10. Baby Pooh plate for when i don't want to venture downstairs.
11. Happy Usako Sisters hand towel <3 SO cute.

I've also bought an umbrella from there, as well as a bento box. Awesome place to go~

2010.01.16

Well, the kitchen sinks were broken for a while, but now they're fixed, so I decided I would actually cook tonight!

I spent two hours at the store with a few other girls walking around in search of anything and everything I wanted and could afford to buy at the moment. Wound up buying a carrot (they're HUGE here, I love it), potato, green onions, bacon, chicken, and some more soda.

So tonight I made some shrimp curry, and next time I think I will make chicken. Tuesday morning I'm going to make myself some eggs and bacon with strawberry-jam covered toast :'D Looking forward to that!

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of my (not so) lovely cooking, but maybe next time.

I think tomorrow I will make some tuna mayo onigiri however. That sounds fantastic :'D Yum.

2010.01.15

Hmmm today was another day at school. It was decent, but seeing as I didn't go to bed until 1:30 am, I've been very tired all day ahahahaha!

But yatta, it's the weekend! Such a wonderful thing~

I was worried about my Japanese entrance exam, but I did alright on it! I got 19/30, so that's pretty fantastic. I wish I'd done much better so I could have gone onto the next class, because I can already tell I'm going to be bored out of my mind in this class for a while. Today we learned "Okaasan" "omouto" "otousan" "aneesan" etc. I mean, really. Family members? Te form? It makes me want to smash my head against the desk. But I also have a feeling that if I went into the next level, I would be lost because of how strange the learning system is for these classes. Genki makes no sense to me at all! It's illogical in my mind how they teach you through the book--the order makes no sense to me.

Frustrating.

However, my English class is mildly interesting. I think it won't be so bad. Let's hope!

My art class was boring and interesting today at the same time. We had to draw... a cup. I wish I had taken figure drawing back at SFCC so I could go to the intermediate class with no problems, but I agree with them that it would slow me down having no experience.


Craptastic cup sketch. I dunno, I didn't really spend that much time on it. I was tired and frustrated with the idea of doing this again hahahaha. Luckily, I talked with my teacher and he said that anything I think is too easy, I can let him know and he will find a way to challenge me.

We learned how to sharpen our pencils with a knife today--I'm horrible at it hahhaa. No cuts so far, but it's still difficult to make them sharp and long enough.

After classes, Alex and I hit the arcade in Kamata (well, one of the many there) and I finally got a game card so I can play on my own information. Jubeat is still hard, but fun. I managed to pass a few of the songs on basic level, so maybe someday I'll be able to move onto advanced.




Alex playing Jubeat. Totally fun game, and he's pretty good at it :'D Much better than me hahah!

Shinjuku + Sekaido Art

Today was a lazy day at first. I sat around and sorted out financial aid matters with my mother until Skype failed on us and she decided it was time to go to bed. After that I ate some lunch and ventured downstairs to finally print my homework out, picking through it bit by bit. Not my favourite thing, to say the least! I would have had it done a lot sooner if I didn't go out today, but all is good.

Tonight, Alex and I ventured to Shinjuku in search of an art store called "Sekaido". That was an interesting experience, though very fun! It was just a good thing he happened to have access to GPS, or we might have wandered around aimlessly longer than we needed to.

Sekaido was amazing. I loved every moment of it, seeing as it was just an IMPRESSIVE art supply store. There was pretty much everything you could think of--even large plaster statues for projects. Sekaido is a multi-level art supply store and they did happen to have a map in Japanese AND English for those shopping there. I had to purchase things on each floor, and because of their policy, I had to pay before venturing onto the next floor haha.

All in all I think i spent about 6000yen on that (approximately 60-70 USD at the moment) and got PRETTY much everything I needed. I still need a sharpener and some other sheets of paper for next week, but I will get those this weekend.

Tomorrow after classes Alex and I are skipping out on the student government party in Roppongi and hitting up the arcades for a few hours. Next week a group of us are going to go to Karaoke in Kamata--thinking about an all-night session too. I think that would be pretty fantastic!

After we were done with Shinjuku, we went back to the station and took the train to Gotanda for a karaoke session--I didn't realize how few songs I knew, it was pretty pathetic and funny! Really, it was mostly Alex singing and me wondering what songs I knew well enough to actually do! Hopefully next time will be better.

I was amused however, that the only song I REALLY knew was the last one we did--Backstreet Boys--Larger Than Life! I had long forgotten Shape of My Heart however. Oh well. I was mildly disappointed that they didn't have Panic!at the Disco or Owl City however hahahhaha. Maybe I should have looked up MCR? Oh well. I just need to listen to more music, I'm still stuck in the 90's! XD

It was hilarious though. We came out laughing, and that's all that really matters.

Anyway, it's 12:30 am now and I have classes tomorrow until 7:20 PM PLUS we're going to the Arcade to play Jubeat and the taiko game, plus whatever else we feel like playing--or rather what Alex feels like playing since I usually stand back and watch on some of them. I want to be better at Jubeat though! I failed last time. Tomorrow I'm going to get my own card so that I don't mess up Alex's scores hahahhaha, though he doesn't seem to mind.

Here are some misc pictures and video from Shinjuku:

First day of classes

For REAL now.

I had that photography class, but I did drop it. Now I'm taking an online history class that will be... interesting to say the least because of the time difference. I'll figure out the schedule some how. There's a big group of us in this dorm taking the same class so we'll work it out together somehow. It will be nice not being all alone in it. Hopefully this doesn't screw me over hahha!

I'm having issues with Blackboard though. I've used it before, but for some reason none of my classes are showing up on it yet. Which is problematic seeing as my English teacher assigned us readings already that we can supposedly find ON blackboard... if only we were able to access it! It says I'm not enrolled in any classes--so frustrating.

I'll probably email her in a bit and ask her about that.

It seems like it's happening to a lot of people too. I've heard others in the dorm talking about the same issue.

I had my first day of art class yesterday as well. It was interesting--I was informed that I could take the intermediate class if I wanted, but because of my lack of 'life drawing' (figurative drawing), I decided I would take the fundamentals and intro to figure drawing (it's the same class) before I move on. I don't want to risk stressing myself too much hahah. And this class seems fun.

Later today I plan on venturing off to see about buying some of my art supplies. I brought most of them, but things like drawing pads I do happen to need. Luckily I won't be spending quite as much as other people will be, but there are SOME things I will have to spend quite a bit on. How frustrating hahaha.

My English professor did a good job in terrifying most of the class by telling us that this will probably be the hardest class we will take at the school. There's a lot of writing to do, but I've arrange my schedule so that it really shouldn't be a problem for me. But now I'm pretty sure I'll have two writing intensive classes--I guess we'll find out. At least it will give me something to do without spending all my money!

I'll be happier when I have my financial aid finally so that I can actually have a little more fun. It's unfortunately quite expensive to do much of anything in Japan--even if the place you are going to hang out or party is free, you still have to pay for your train passes haha! It builds up after a while.

Tomorrow I find out the results of my Japanese entrance exam... I'm sure I did relatively horrible on one part, because after I was finished, I realized I'd forgotten a sound in one of the forms! That was also a frustrating situation hahaa. I don't think they will suggest to place me any lower--I refuse! XD With just the little review I've done already I remember so much I'd forgotten over the past five months or so. And unfortunately, because I took Chinese before I came here, I'm all messed up on what is what! I know how to say them in Chinese, I know the meaning, but sometimes I just don't know the Japanese spelling/sounds anymore. Silly silly me.

Give me a week or two and I'll be all straightened out again hahahaa.

Yesterday between Japanese and English, I walked to the bank and opened an account. Yay! Now I can get a cell phone, though I believe I'm going to get an iPhone.... Because that sounds fun and it seems like it's going to be about 60ish USD a month (50000yen max) for unlimited stuff. It's a VERY good deal that TUJ students are getting, so I think I would be a bit of a fool to pass it up. Though I did want an awesome Japanese phone... So I've been so very torn over this decision! hahah

The exchange rate in Japan sucks right now. I think that it was 88.24 yen for every 1USD? Not very good! My 113USD only made 9,971JPY yesterday *SOBSOB* but a least I got something.

Last night, after classes, I went with Alex to an arcade in Kamata--it's nice to go to because it's on the way home, so I don't get charged so much. Once I have a commuter pass it will be free for me to go hahaha! (Well.. "Free" seeing as the commuter pass is a bit over 16,000yen for three months I believe? It's very expensive. It's cheaper if I take Gotanda, but I have never taken that route, so I don't understand it at all. And I like that we can ride to Akihabara too)

It was a lot of fun at the arcade though! I didn't spend any money--he bought turns on the games and would let me try hahah. I'm pretty much fail on them all, but that's okay. It's fun anyway! When I have money I'll probably practice more on my days off or something.

We played this taiko drumming game--it's a LOT of fun, but so hard. He's already on the "muzukashii" level (for those of you that don't know Japanese, Muzukashii is the word for "difficult"), so that's the level I STARTED playing on. I just kind of got thrown into it hahaa. I'll figure it out someday.

Another game I loved was called Jubeat! It's SO fun, though I totally failed when he let me play. It's an interesting game, but I think it will take time for me to get any good at it at all. Maybe a lower level will be in need! I tried level four because it looked easy enough, and got an F! hahahaha Oh well.

People here play something called Beatmania, I believe. It's like the DJ Hero back in the states. They take it SO seriously over here though! People at the arcade playing all of these games are just AMAZING. I can't even imagine being that good at any of them ahah!

Ironically I have yet to run across too many DDR machines here in Japan. I've seen one so far in one of the arcades we stopped in, but no others!

Last night, however, I DID find a condom vending machine hahahaha.

500yen a pack. This is on the walk back to the dorm ahhahahaa.

In other news.... The day before yesterday it was raining! I went out and didn't have an umbrella... got drenched! I have to say that I now own an umbrella hahahha

Here are some pictures from the rainy-day commute to the train station:













I love our neighborhood. It's quiet for the most part (in fact, the dorm is usually the one getting the police called on--not this year so far, but in past semesters--for being too noisy!) but during the day, when you walk down the little shopping/food district on the way to the train, traditional Japanese music is playing over the intercom softly.

It's pretty cozy here, I really like it. My room is decent, though still a bit bland... I need to either do some art to put on my walls, buy posters ore get my friends to start mailing me art and photos! You lazy bums, come one! Hehe!

I know that one friend is sending me a package soon--after the 'test' letter arrives to be sure that it makes it to the dorm first hehe! So that's exciting.

Anyway, I'm not sure what more to talk about right now. I have some things I need to do today, so I suppose I should get out of bed (now that it's 11 am haha) and actually be productive.

See ya!
じゃまた！

A Change in Plans

Today was the first day of classes. Well... class, really. I only had one class today: Photography.

All was going well until she handed out the syllabus and mentioned that everyone would need their OWN camera. There was a time where this wouldn't have been a problem, but due to past events, I no longer own a manual camera of my own. The teacher explained that a compact digital camera would do alright, but unfortunately we would need a manual setting for some of the projects--meaning someone would have to trust me with their camera, even if they were there watching. These things aren't cheap, many have spent 600+ USD in order to obtain their babies, and letting some stranger handle them isn't something anyone REALLY wants to do.

So I'm dropping this class and taking up an online class instead. African American History or something like that--sounds interesting, so I'm hoping it'll be relatively entertaining. There are a handful of students also taking this class, which is how I learned about it, so hopefully we can work together on anything any of us don't understand.

On the plus side, this means that I have Tuesdays and Thursdays free for chatting online
, doing homework, and hanging out with friends. Exciting!

I cooked for the first time on my own while I've been in Japan tonight. I made some simple rice and shrimp curry. It was good, but as usual, I made WAY too much. So the left over rice will go into my bento for tomorrow's lunch. Along with some gyoza and onigiri I bought at the market tonight.

I'll have more updates tomorrow. Today was slow and not too entertaining to say the least.

However, I DID buy an umbrella... seeing as when I left today it was raining, and it still is. Such a pain! I also bought book ends, another pen holder for my markers, and some other miscellaneous things from the 100 yen store (about the equivalent of the dollar stores back in the US).

And I finally spent some real time in the market: bought rice, shrimp, gyoza, curry, nori (seaweed), soda, onigiri, and eggs. Looking forward to having some nicer, yummy dinners from now on! And I only spent 2100yen (about 20 USD).

I also managed to get all of my books (the bookstore WAS open, thankfully) and it was JUST under 10000yen (approx. 100 USD). I'm hoping I won't have to spend more money for my history class, but if I do, I do. It's only one more class. It will have to wait until my financial aid however.

Anyway, I'm going to study for my test tomorrow (in Japanese) while I wait for kitchen duty at 10:30 tonight. I'm so tired... Oh well. Class doesn't start until 10 am tomorrow, so I'll leave at 8:30 and I get up around 7:00-7:30 am. Plenty of time!

Good Night.
おやすみなさい！

Well...

Today ended much better than it started. I'm in a far better mood after sitting down and chatting and eating with a bunch of the girls (and guys) here in the dorm.

Everyone cooks such wonderful things, and one friend I've made (Lisa) even let me eat the rest of her dinner! She was going to throw it away so I told her I'd finish it off. It was SO good. Much better than the Pizza toast, pork buns, and toast with jam I've been eating lately.

Tonight I was on kitchen patrol, which I am for the rest of the week. It was a wreck when I first went in there to look at the damage, but by the time everyone had cleaned up their messes and were done cooking for the night, it looked much better. All we had to do was wipe the counters down and put away the drying dishes. It was wonderful. Hopefully the rest of the week is this nice.

I personally find dealing with the kitchen to be mildly frustrating seeing as I don't cook, but I won't complain about it. It's really not that big of a deal.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. I only have one class, so beforehand I plan on going out to open a bank account so I can get a phone set up. I'm quite excited, really. I'm tired of getting lost and having no way to get ahold of anyone or using any kind of GPS.

I also have to cram for yet another placement test for Japanese. So many tests, it's quite frustrating. I hope I don't get lowered, though I should be fine. I'm just so nervous!

Anyway, it's 10:30 pm here so I think it's time for bed. I may not really have an early morning tomorrow, but I'm so exhausted, I just want to pass out.

Started getting back into the art groove. Hopefully I will be able to get decent pictures to share with people, or access to a scanner. We'll see!

Good Night!
おやすみなさい～

...

I don't really have a lot to say right now.

These past two days I've just been at the dorm and in the neighborhood, lounging around lazily before school starts in an attempt to save energy and money. I can't help but be mildly amused by many of the girls I share this building with: They all complain about everything.

Not to say anything bad about them, they're all really quite nice, but I scoff slightly to myself when someone complains about the rooms not being big enough, about having to share the bathrooms and showers with other people, about coin-operated laundry and the fact that our dorm isn't the newest building in the world.

I've heard a majority of them plan to move out before the semester is even over--I personally don't see the problem with our dorm and shared facilities, though I have to admit I find the showers to be awkward--they're partitioned, but I'm not used to being practically naked around other people. Luckily we can take showers at any time of day--so I can find the best time when everyone is out or still sleeping and shower then without feeling so vulnerable I suppose.

I'm also mildly frustrated today. It's Seijin no Hi here in Japan (The Coming of Age Day for everyone turning 20 this year) and I would have loved to go out and see all the people in their formal kimonos, but I don't really know where to go at the moment, nor could I really afford it. There's always next year to take pictures.

Hopefully my financial aid will be at the school tomorrow or sometime this week. I'm tired of wondering if I'll actually have enough money to really stay here. I'm stressed enough as it is! Ugh.

Maybe the feelings they were talking about most people going through when they arrive in a new country are finally hitting? Honestly, I don't hate Japan, I don't really want to be back home, but I just want things to feel like they're going to go alright. This entire trip has been stressful--trying to get here, trying to get funds, everything. Why can't at least one thing go smoothly? Ugh Right now I just want to curl up and disappear for a while. Hopefully things will get better soon.

Adventuring to Shinjuku and back

Today a friend and I decided we wanted to wander around probably one last time before classes start, so we hopped on the train and took the long way to Shibuya.

In Shibuya we ate at a place called First Kitchen.

I had an egg, cheese, bacon burger with ketchup and some other strange yet yummy thing on it XD

After we were done eating there, we wandered a while longer before deciding it was time to move on.

We wandered around aimlessly for a while, or perhaps only because neither of us wanted to admit we were lost on the way back to the station yet. Once we found it, we spent a good deal of time staring at the JR lines map, attempting to figure out just HOW we would get to Shinjuku from there. Luckily for us, an English speaking Japanese man happened to notice our plight and asked us where we were going. After realizing it was too difficult and far for him to just point, he lead us to the subway and got us on the right rail line before turning around and going all the way back up to his next train. It was very nice of him, though we both admitted to each other that there was the brief worry he wasn't as nice as he seemed haha.

We spent quite a while in Shinjuku, and one of the first places I discovered was Innocent World~ Unfortunately I couldn't take any photos, as photography was prohibited, but I enjoyed being able to look at all the lolita dresses and accessories first hand for once. They were SO NICE. Someday I'll fit into "burando", well... and be able to afford it, hahah!

Afterward, we stumbled upon a cafe called Calico. Here you get to drink your choice of beverage and play with and pet all sorts of cats. You just lounge around with them and you can feed them. It's 600yen every 30 minutes, or you can do timed deals where you get 30 minutes free. When you leave, you always get a free drink card.

When our time was up, we quietly left and ventured on to the rather busy streets of Shinjuku.

It wasn't long before we discovered a gaming arcade that had Purikura booths and quickly jumped in for a few pictures. They were so much fun! I want to do them again, but at 400yen a pop, they're not exactly an everyday thing. We split the cost to make it 200yen each but still hahah that's the same cost of my laundry! Sorry I don't have anything better photo wise of this, it was the best I could really manage hahaha. They're so small XD

Once we figured out how to return to our dorm, we took the trains back to Ontakesan station where we're here to collapse for the night. Exhausted and hungry, I think it's time for dinner.

Good night!
おやすみなさい～

Lame Mirror

Today I went to Kamata and registered myself as an alien, plus signed up for discounted NHI (health insurance). I need to attempt to get a cell phone soon, but I'm going to wait until I have a better idea of what my financial situation is going to be this next four months. I may either get a Pre-Paid, or just do the awesome deal on the iPhone the school is getting from softbank. (On the bright side... I've always wanted an iPhone. So now's my chance!

After getting those official matters over with, we went ahead and wandered Kamata again. Not too much, but enough to relax and shop for some essentials.

Wandering through stores, I picked up things like my laundry basket, clippers, floss, and a mirror.

The mirror has to be my favourite thing so far:


We also have determined that Japan does indeed have EVERTHING. I can't imagine missing much food-wise back in the US. There are Denny's, DQs, Burger Kings, Mcdonald's, Subway... I mean, the list goes on. KFC delivers too.


There will probably be another update later tonight. The day is only half over!

The Dorm, Akihabara and Shibuya

Today I finally took some video and pictures. Nothing spectacular, I still haven't quite gotten into the groove of taking photos and vids of everything I can.

Registered for classes today, didn't get anything too special really. I'm in Japanese, English 101 (essentially), Intro to Drawing (again, but after showing them my 'portfolio' from my last classes, the art head explained that he was worried I would fall behind in Intermediate Drawing due to my lack of background in figure drawing. I knew I should have taken that class hahahah, oh well), and Photography. I'm looking forward to some of this, especially since i haven't done photography since I was a Freshy in high school or something like that.

I got my TUJID today, so that was uh.. fun. I look thrilled, as always, in my photo, but my messy hair isn't helping either. I didn't know we were getting pictures taken for it or I would have styled it that day instead of just sticking a hat on hahaha!

After I was finally done with Registration, Alex met up with me and we journeyed to Akihabara and Shibuya. It was pretty cool, though we both realized that a lot of this stuff just wasn't as exciting as it might have been when we were still 13 year old otakus. (Ironically, the ward we live in is "Ota-ku")

In Akihabara we bought the adapter for my computer so I can finally charge it again, wandered from game arcade to game arcade while he searched rather desperately for one game in particular--unfortunately for him, most of the games are fighting games hahaha. During the search however, we discovered Guitar Freak V6 (not quite as awesome as Guitar Hero though), one of the Taiko drummer type games--he about killed me on this, I had never played and he put it on "muzukashii" mode, the toughest difficutly on the menu. We also found a Gundam simulator to play, and both ran around like idiots because we hadn't really bothered to look at the operation manual beforehand. Kinda got the hang of it, but it was pretty hilarious.

Evangelion is popular in Japan right now--it's everywhere. I was surprised because of the fact I hadn't heard much about it for a long time in the US, but there are huggeee billboards and such all over Tokyo promoting the newest installment I suppose. I haven't stopped long enough to really look, and usually I'm on the train when I spot it.

However, we did find some awesome 'cosplay' headphones for it. And some actual cosplay hairclips as well. I've been surprisingly good with my money, however. I'm even trying to be even more careful about what food I buy and where I go because I'm always so afraid I'll run out. Once I have my aid it will be much more relaxing.

In my fridge at the moment, i have Apple Tea, Apple Juice, Bananas, and some pork buns. I really need to go get a few more things (maybe some cheap onigiri? I just know that I'd like a LITTLE more selection in my room than just those), maybe I'll look tomorrow after I go to the ward office to get my health insurance and alien registration card.

Hmm... I'm tired so I think I'll cut this short and post some pictures and video and call it good.

Here's my room! Not much and I'm not really all that unpacked yet. Behind me there is a tall closet and above it is a large storage shelf where you would put your suitcases to keep them out of the way--I only brought one (I'm so strange it seems, everyone else brought more--some even brought 5! So much @_@; ) so I'm just storing it behind my door, it even still has my clothes in it.

I've become rather fond of the 500ml Colas here, though I'm trying very hard to break that habit. I'd rather drink healthier, but it's nice having something from home.

Here's where I'll probably spend a LOT of time at doing art and homework. My keys are there, tape, cola, computer, mouse, doll, cup with bathroom stuff, etc. <3>

This is the train we take every morning. I'm sorry I don't have a video of us inside it--I feel kind of awkward and rude recording in there!

It doesn't get too packed, but for those of you who are from Spokane with me and have taken the 25 or the 90 bus--having to stand flush with people isn't anything too new at all.

This was the first building we really saw as soon as we left the station and entered Akihabara (this is Tokyo's Electronics Town for those who didn't know)


This is Shibuya. There are a LOT of people here almost all the time. It was mildly intimidating and we were worried we'd get separated and lost hahaha.

Biggest Starbucks I think I've ever seen. Two levels that I could tell.

This store... We HAD to go in it. It was VERY tiny but amusing nonetheless.

Close-up of the sign.

I think this is a decent little chaotic video of a walk across that main crossing in Shibuya. Sorry if it makes any of you sick hahaha :'D

Alice in Wonderland... 4.17.2010 here in Japan. Totally going to have to go and see it!


Some Gyaru Girls in Shibuya. They were pretty funny--they rattled off some Japanese at me, looked at my bag (I have domo-kun with me) and finally chuckled and said "Kawaii" before giving my bag one last poke.

That's all I really have for right now. Maybe tomorrow I will take pictures in the area around where I'm living. I don't feel like going too far away, I'm so tired and I have laundry to do! Hahah.