Pretty People Everywhere, Sunlamp Tans and Flaxen Hair

Just tell the American not to stare~


Hullo all, and happy Independence Day, America! 
Leave it to me to be listening to a song about Oslo on repeat. 
I did, however, have quite the celebration, and my stomach hates me all the more for it at the moment. I ate far too much. 


And, I have pictures this week! Huzzah! Actual, Japan-related photos. Oh goodness. 


Due to financial restraint, though, about the only fun I've been able to have has been school or staying-in-the-dorm related. Because of a health insurance bill for the year, I had to spend 17,000 yen, which really isn't too bad--did I tell you guys about this already? Sorry. Anyway, because last month I spent too much accidentally, this month I'm going to try to be a little extra frugal so I have some money to spend during our summer break in August. However, if I'm going to the Studio Ghibli museum this month, I don't know how well that will work, but I'll definitely be doing my best! I've got tips. 


Let's start with the re-cap, then. 
Thursday, I made dinner for friends of mine who had fed me steak earlier in the week. My mother had sent me some taco seasoning in a package previously, so I had been saving it for a special occasion. After finally finding sour cream [although almost using plain yogurt as a substitute--which would have worked just as well, likely], and after been giving a freaking steak dinner for free, I figured sharing my glorious taco seasoning was the least I could do. 
So we ate together and sat around and watched British comedy for a while. It was a good evening. 


Friday, I took a field trip with my class to an Edo-period house in Tama-Centre, and had an absolute blast. The place was so beautiful! I couldn't take pictures inside, but I definitely got some pictures from the outside. Although I was as tall as the doorframes [170 cms, thereabouts, or 5'7 for those of you who don't use metric [like meeeee].], I would still be super happy to live in a places as gorgeous as it was there. My goodness. 


Here are some photos: 

Walking up to the house on a small path.

LOOK AT THAT FAT DUCK.

They had a pond in the front yard.

Er. Yard. I can't really say there was a specific front or back yard.

Here's part of the house.

The exit on the other side of the yard. 

The name plaque.

More of the house--look at that architecture. My goodness.

I couldn't get a picture of my favourite window, but you can still kind of see inside from this one.

Just outside of the exit area on the other way--the bird songs from this point were beautiful. I stood there and just listened to them for a while.

It was a beautiful place, really. There was a huge park nearby, just an enormous open field that was fabulous. After we walked and looked around, the teacher let us go, and my friends and I headed over to the local arcade. I couldn't really do anything due to a lack of cash, but I did take some photos along the way. 

This was actually on the way to the old house, but it's still a lovely view. A couple of my friends had a race along the stairs--it was quite amusing.

Guess what Tama-Centre has, Hello Kitty fans!
Tama-Centre is the location of Sanrioland, which is pretty much the Hello Kitty version of Disney World.

An interesting statue along the way.

I still have no idea what it is, but it's quite intriguing for me.

A multicoloured hydra, perhaps?

Here's how close to Sanrio I was able to get.

Enjoy it, Mom. 

I'm afraid I can't go in. 

Besides the fact it's expensive, I just genuinely do not want to.

But you all can be happy to know that I live thirty minutes away from Sanrioland. Haha. 


In my effort to save money, I did nothing this weekend but stay in my room, get some overdue homework and research out of the way, and practice my yoga.


Monday, I had another spontaneous cooking party with some of my oldest and newest friends since Japan together. It was pretty fun, and I was up far too late. We had pasta and hung out until quite late. 
Yesterday I was painfully tired, so I stayed at home, ate as little as possible just to keep from being hungry in the middle of the night [I didn't want to eat], and went to sleep as early as possible.


Today, the fourth, I went to class.
Afterwards, I went out to a second-hand store with some friends of mine who had told me about a place that had second-hand yukatas [summer, cotton kimonos] for around 1,ooo yen. So I went with them and some others and wound up finding myself one for 8oo, with a 5oo yen obi. Keep in mind, yukatas usually cost around 1o,ooo at least, so if you can find them this cheaply, way to go. Even rental yukatas were more expensive. 


I got one, primarily because it had butterflies on it and I like butterflies perhaps a little too much for my own good, but there was another that, in retrospect, would have probably been better, as it matched my hair and wasn't so overwhelmingly girly. Ah, well. They were so cheap, though, that I may just go back and get it, too, and use this one as a gift for back home. We'll see.

I'm not usually very feminine, but I must say.

I get absolutely stupid for butterflies.

It's really pretty, though, and the obi [sash] matches my sheets, haha.

Maybe I'll just check another second-hand store for a different obi, since they're cheaper.

After my purchase, I went to the grocery store to buy french-fries for the 4th of July party we were going to have in the dormitory. did a small amount of grocery shopping [I won't starve now, although I wasn't going to starve before], and headed back to the dorms, where I had a package of clothes waiting on me from back home. Thanks, guys. Now that it's warmer, I intend to be wearing many more tank-tops, and the jumper-skirt my grandmother sent me is lovely for prancing around in my room and being comfortable now that it's gotten warmer and more humid. 


I went in to the third-floor lounge and began preparing my french-fries, after which I took to the fourth-floor lounge after they were finished, which was where everyone was gathered.
We hung out, I ate way too much, and afterwards we hung out some more and played Mario Kart. 
Took some pictures of the food, so take a look. Very American of us, with hamburgers, hot dogs, and french-fries, and then we broke away from that with some schnitzel from a friend of mine from Holland, 
Here's some photos of the food, though, if you're interested: 

Au gratin and pasta salad, along with oranges.

Cheeseburger patties, schnitzel, and lettuce.
Not featured: hot dogs.

Everything all laid out and ready to go.

My plate after I ate my hot dog, and before I ate my schnitzel. 

I ate way too much today. 

And that was pretty much it. This weekend, I plan on going to a Tanabata festival, and I also plan on meeting up with one of my teachers from back in the states. I'm really excited.


So, money saving tips.
-Find things to do at home and make sure you don't overeat. It helps not only weight management, but also budget management. 
-Find the local recycle centres/thrift stores! You can find super cheap clothes, still-good clothes, like my yukata. It saves a lot. 
-If you can grow plants, grow vegetables that you like that can be grown in a pot. I've gotten one pepper off of my pepper plant, and I've got three more coming. 


That's really it for this week, really.
I hope you guys have a fabulous one. Sorry to cut it so short; I'm on Skype with a friend.


See you around guys! 

-RD