Lo Hecho Está Hecho

Ha, Shakira song title. 
Been doing a lot of dancing lately, so that's probably why.

Hey guys! 
How's it going? 

Because there's no school, I haven't much of a sense of a time, as of late.

I know that I haven't been doing too much lately, though, still, due to financial constraints. My trip to the aquarium last week was cancelled last-minute because the friend got called in for work.
Should have actual events to tell you about next week, though--I think I'm hanging out with someone tomorrow just because I haven't seen him in a while, and then on Sunday for my birthday. 

I did, however, wind up watching all of the Hollow Crown over the past week. Five days straight of fabulous renditions of Shakespeare [if it's your thing, watch it! Patrick Stewart is in Richard II, and oh my gosh the verse in that one was delivered beautifully, even without Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston], I was at a loss for what to do afterwards.
So, I've been binging on films featuring Mr Hiddleston since. And a spot of Monty Python's Flying Circus, as well. It's been pretty fabulous.
I also binged seven hours of drawing one of his photos.
I've gone and developed a bit of a crush on the man, I'm afraid. It's been good, though--he's a fabulous actor, and I've really enjoyed the films that I've seen thus far. Plus, the drawing wound up much better than I expected it to turn out, and for that, just.
Yes.
Thank you, sir, for being wonderful. 

What else...
Well, I went to work today! Things seem to be going really well, and since my student is so advanced in English, I've decided to be a little strict when I check over our conversations, which he seems to really appreciate. A happy thing, indeed. We seem to get along really well, so hopefully lessons will keep going well and I can continue teaching him efficiently and effectively. My next class is on Tuesday, so that'll be good.
The extra money in my pocket is really nice, too. Having a source of income along with the ever-present source of outcome is very reassuring to me. After Sunday, I'll see about picking up a few more students. If I can make it to where I earn around 10k yen a week, I'll be fine for the rest of the semester.
So, I've noticed, and it seems to be especially/primarily true in Asian countries, if you're a native English speaker, or at least fluent, you have a strong chance of being able to find some form of employment. Nepotism helps, too, of course, but people here love learning English, under the assumption that they'll be able to talk to anyone if they know English. I don't know how true that thought is, but if it makes them motivated to learn, more power to them. 
Just something to think about if you're working on a budget while studying abroad, at least in Asia. A way to bring in a little money, too, even if it may not be enough to survive on, just something extra to help get you by.

Told you I'd update you on my exercise regimen, too, didn't I? It's been going very well; I've actually been able to stick to it and follow through, now that I've decided that I'd like to become a solid slab of lean muscle. Haha.
I think I've lost a little bit of tummy and leg--I can now put my hands in my pockets in one of my tightest pairs of jeans. Tomorrow marks the second week of this, so hopefully I'm not just imagining things. I've put on a little water weight in the past couple of days, though, so now I can't really tell, but I think it's going all right. If I tighten up my stomach just a little bit when I'm walking around, it doesn't look bad at all, so that's reassuring. Maybe soon I won't need to hold my stomach in at all. My clavicles are becoming rather pronounced, even when I don't move my shoulders, so that is a step in the right direction, as well.
I've been doing a mixture of belly dance and yoga, which have always been two of the things that I've been more fond of, and the exercise has been doing my mood pretty well. 
I won't say I'm particularly any more confident or anything than I was before, but my attitude towards things is improving [and I wasn't a pessimist to begin with], and the general endorphine release from everything has been leaving me feeling pretty good.
Going to try to keep this up for at least two months [by then it will be habit and run me crazy if I don't do it, so if I can keep it up for that long, I've pretty much made a long-term change], and then I've decided that if I can do that, and I've lost a noticeable amount of weight, I'll go to Harajuku and spoil myself with a new pair of pants and a jacket.
Or something like that. I'll figure it out later.

I've also learned enough dance steps that I'm beginning to come up with tiny choreographies to certain parts of songs.
I'll keep working on it, and keep you all posted, of course.

Once school starts again, I'm pretty sure things will pick back up and I'll have more things to tell you all about. 
I hope so, at least.
The new study abroad students will be here next week. I don't want to befriend too many, because I really am aspiring to improve my Japanese as much as possible in the upcoming weeks, but maybe I can make a couple of friends and work on introducing them to the area or something.
Just to give myself something to do.
Placement tests are also coming up, next Thursday and Friday.
Oh dear.

That's really all I have for the moment, though. I really have not been doing too much. 
Sorry about that, guys. There will be stuff to tell you about next week, I'm relatively certain.
So look forward to that, yes?
Sorry again.
Take care, pets. And thank you all for reading, it means a lot to me. I promise I'll figure out some way to be more entertaining next week. 
Much love to you all,

-RD

Let's Pretend We Don't Exist. Let's Pretend We're in Antarctica.

Hey guys!

In an effort to save money, I've actually been keeping cramped up in my room for most of this week, so I'm pretty sure that this entry will be relatively small. Sorry about that.

I have done a few things, though, so I'll tell you about them. Not many photos this week, but I'll see what I can think of to make up for it towards the end of the post.

My last attempt at exercising was a flop--a couple of months ago, when I decided to practice my yoga every weekend? Finals came up shortly thereafter, and I had decided to take so many classes that I just didn't have time to do anything besides school work. So I've tried again. One day, I got tired of being bored and decided that I would pick up both my yoga and my belly dance again, and set my goal to be to keep going at least until my birthday [but hopefully I'll work more towards setting it as a habit rather than make it to my birthday and just quit]. I've been at it for six days now, so I'll keep going on.
Along with my determination to exercise, I've also began to watch what I eat much closer than previously. I didn't eat badly, per se, but I definitely ate a bit more than my body seems to genuinely need. It's a real pain, however, because I do really enjoy eating.
Really.
Hopefully, though, I'll be feeling somewhat charming-looking by the time my birthday rolls around here in a week and a half, even if it is only endorphine-induced. My body is currently hurting to sit still for a few days now, but I know that if I can push through this, things should be okay.Will persevere, however, and keep you all posted, if only to keep my motivation up. Sorry this blog has become so multi-purpose.

I've also started avidly watching anime and working on my vocabulary, as well as reading a grammar dictionary to see about learning as much as possible before the placement tests next month. I'll see about making this trend last, too. Once I got home from work today [will add more about that later], I studied for about four and a half to five hours with a friend of mine in the dormitory study room. It was a good time, I got a lot of new vocabulary that I'd like to study. I wanted to write it out in sentences to see about making it last, but that's just a little tedious for me, when I don't have any creativity with my Japanese just yet. So I'm working on memorising the new vocabulary by rote. We'll see how long it sticks. I'm hoping it'll do all right as long as I stick with it.

So, for the past week, I've mostly been doing what I can to meet with my goals of becoming good at dancing, getting fit, and learning as much Japanese as humanly possible over the next month or so before school starts back, so that I can progress even further rather than starting over on a few things.

A couple things have happened over the past week, though, so I'll go ahead and tell you about that, yeah?
I've been painfully bored, if you haven't noticed--bored to the point that I've started asking people if they've wanted to do anything. Normally, I'm so introverted that it never seems right to try that, but desperate times have been calling for desperate measures. Many of my friends have become busy with something or other, so a lot of them aren't available until next month, but I have planned a couple of things with a few of my friends. Friday, I'll be heading to the Sunshine Aquarium in Ikebukuro, and then I believe we're going to try to go down to a beach shortly thereafter.
So I've planned that.
I've been hanging out with various friends with a little bit of free time off and on--but they all have part time jobs or are travelling or something, so for the next week or so, things might be a little bit quiet for me again. We'll see. Hopefully they won't be, but one can never tell.

Monday, I went to see the Avengers with two people, which was fun. It's finally out in Japan, and came out in both dubbed [voice-overs] and subbed [subtitles] versions. Initially, my friends and I had intended to see the subbed version, of course, but my Japanese friend mixed up the tickets and we wound up watching the dubbed version.
Oops.
It showed me just how little Japanese I know yet. Looked cool, but I had nary a clue as to what was going on most of the time. My friend apologised [I didn't mind, so of course it was okay], and we kept watching. It seemed good--it will be nice to be able to watch it in English, however, when it comes out on video. It looks like it will be thoroughly enjoyed once Samuel L Jackson and Robert Downey Jr sound like themselves again instead of bizarre Japanese men. Haha.
I have subsequently developed a rather large crush on Tom Hiddleston [Loki] since watching the film. I had found out previously that he did Shakespearean acting, as well, which made Loki my favourite character in the Thor and Avengers movies, of course, but I didn't realise until just the other day upon investigating Wikipedia that he did a BBC version of Henry IV parts I and II, as well as Henry V, with Jeremy Irons. Jeremy Irons is my absolute favourite actor, hands down.
Tom Hiddleston is Prince Hal, and Jeremy Irons is Henry IV. Shakespearean literature can be written up there in my list of passions; I'd like to act, but alas. I have no skill in such art. However, it's needless to say, my intrigue was piqued, and my fangirl-ism for the both of them tripled.
Their rendition of the plays cannot get any better for me. I've found it online to watch, though, from what I've watched thus far, I will be intending to purchase it as soon as BBC releases it on DVD. Apparently PBS is supposed to be airing it some time in the future, so for my American readers, see about tuning in when it comes out if you enjoy Shakespeare! Thus far, I highly recommend it. Will let you know next week after I've finished the entirety how it is.

Nothing of importance was accomplished yesterday--as a matter of fact, I felt a little ill most of yesterday due to some unknown digestive trouble--it has passed since then, but it was a bit of a burden yesterday, and kept me from getting much besides my laundry accomplished.
So I got little to nothing accomplished, although I did manage to exercise for about a half-hour before I gave up entirely on it due to simply feeling too bad.

Today I went to work for the first time for the real thing! Hurray, nepotism! Well, at least when I know someone.
It was fabulous--everything went really smoothly, save for the fact that for some reason, the conversation recording seems to have been taped in slow motion [using a cassette player, you see], and I can't seem to get it to play fast enough for our voices to not sound funny and hard to understand. I'll keep tinkering with the thing, and hopefully something will come of it, but if not, I'll manage the best I can with what I have. Even found the button that's supposed to play everything fast-paced and it's still slow--any suggestions, guys? The buttons are all in Japanese, and even though I've translated all of them, it's still a little bit intimidating.

After class, though, which ran for an hour, I came back home, and my friend messaged me to ask if I wanted to study with him. So, we studied and talked for a while, as I mentioned before.

But that's really all that's been going out. When I need to go out, I'll usually walk over to the grocery store and pick up a couple of necessary items, just to get some fresh air. Or I'll just go people-watching.
I don't have any plans for tomorrow, but as I said, for Friday, I'm planning on going out to Ikebukuro to go look at the aquarium.
The Rurouni Kenshin movie comes out on Saturday, so I'll try to see that relatively soon, as well.

Will keep you posted.
In the mean time, for your entertainment, let's see what I can scrape up.

Ah. I've got it.
Go learn how to dance, everyone! I'll see you next week!

-RD

Forgive Me, Pretty Baby, but I Always Take the Long Way Home

Took a trip, so the song seemed appropriate.
We sure did take the long way home.

I suppose since that was my Thursday and Friday, I can just tell you all about it first, can't I?

Overall, I did enjoy the trip, but it was a little tedious from time to time, and much more expensive than I expected it to be. We went to a place in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture. It's above Tokyo, up in the mountains.
So, Thursday morning, I was supposed to wait with my friend from back home at 9:30 AM to be picked up by our Japanese friends.
Of course, as is often to be expected from young adults, they were late. They got stuck in traffic, and my friend and I were left waiting until about 10:30 AM, when they finally came to get us.
Afterwards, we pulled up by the train station and waited for another thirty minutes, at least, on another three girls, who were all relatively late. It wasn't until about 11:15, a short while after the girls we were waiting on got there, that we left.

I think it was with the driving that I started noticing something that seemed to be a cultural difference that I had not noticed, and a rather frustrating one, at that. Or, it could just be a thing for young adults in general, and since I'm impatient and like to get things done a lot of the time, I got frustrated.
We stopped at a convenient store for snacks right after we left, which was perfectly all right. I understand the desire for snacks while driving around on the road.

Even saw these guys along the way. How cute.

But, maybe an hour after being on the road, we stopped again to meet the rest of our bunch.
... In a food court.
Because they were somehow hungry. Of course, because I had quickly inhaled something for breakfast that morning, I hadn't bought anything at the convenient store, so I was indeed fairly hungry. I ate some udon noodle soup, and only realised about halfway through that we were supposed to be waiting on the others to arrive before we ate.
It took us another hour to get back on the road.
I think that was what was one of the more frustrating things for me--because my aunt and I take very long trips from time to time, I've learned to want to make rest stops as little as possible to save time. As a result, it seems like I get very irritated when road trips get dragged out pointlessly. After all, we were going camping, and I wanted to get there as fast as possible so that I might actually enjoy camping. It had already gone down from being two nights to just being one, and so I wanted to get what I could out of it.

Finally, though, we got back in the car and started going again.
Along the car trip, I managed to get some photos of mountains--Japanese people find my fixation on mountains hilarious, but I cannot help myself. The Mississippi Delta is flat. Very, very flat.

Both views from the car window, of course.

So the quality may not be the best.

But the point is.

Mountains!

We reached our destination [about an hour and a half away, keep in mind, had we made one trip, maybe one quick pit-stop in a convenience store] at 4 PM after leaving at 11:30 AM.
But the place was absolutely stunning.

These were like the "front yards," with space for pets [and people] to play. 

My friends and I played a lot of things like soccer and with frisbees and such for a while.

One of the views I was able to get.

Went swimming in that. The current was pretty strong, but the water felt wonderful.

Yay. I love rivers~

An example of the cabins. Successfully held 10 people that night.

Just another view.

I took to, having grown up out in the countryside, laying on the grass and watching the clouds, so I watched the sunset while others played and chatted.

After we got to the cabin, we promptly went to go swimming, though we didn't do so for as long as I would have liked. That's all right, though--it was getting dark, after all.
Our remaining light gave us plenty of time to make dinner, which was, being as cheap as we could be, Japanese-style curry. While dinner was cooking, some of the people decided they wanted to go to the local onsen, hot-spring public bath, that was just a short walk away. Since there's a requirement of being naked [it's divided by gender, so there's really no problem], I wasn't quite willing to go, as I'm painfully modest. Some places allow for towels and such, but sometimes, I've heard they're a little picky about keeping their water clean [with good reason], so I did not want to risk it. I'll try to go once before I leave Japan, but I'm not quite ready yet.

We ate dinner, and then proceeded to eat snacks and have a bit to drink. I'm supposing it's another young-person thing, but Japanese people here sure do seem fond of their alcohol. I didn't drink much--I didn't have to, as the Japanese cannot hold their liquor very well and were all quite tipsy by the time I was feeling a slight buzz, so once I reached that point, I stopped and simply watched them. I don't have a problem with watching people drink, and I don't mind it, myself, but I don't enjoy losing control, and as a result, I've got the self-restraint to not allow myself to get drunk or have too much inclination in general to "party hard." Never been too rebellious as a teenager, really. At least, perhaps not in the stereotypical sense.

There was only one person who really got on everyone's nerves when he was drunk, and it was only because he kept us all awake until about four in the morning. All in all, out of about eight drunk people, I suppose having one bad egg isn't all that bad.
I won't divulge too much, for his sake, but I did lose quite a bit of respect for him after having seen him in such a state. He's a nice fellow, but he's a little pathetic when he's not sober.
We woke up at about seven [I was tired and getting grouchy by this point; I hadn't slept too well the night before], and wandered around and just generally enjoyed our last few hours at the campsite. A new friend of mine and I went down to the river and played in the water just a little bit more, as it was cooler by the river than it was up in the cabin [a trick I remembered from my old Girl Scout days], and we came back up to eat breakfast, leftover curry, with everyone, once it had warmed up and was ready to be eaten. Afterwards, we began tidying up the campsite and getting ready for the return home.

Except, I found out at our next rest stop for lunch [only a little over an hour away; I couldn't see how anyone would be hungry again so quickly after that], they weren't ready to be done.
Well, all right, I admitted to myself. It was a little early to call it a day, and if they wanted to do something, great. I'd be willing to hang out with them a little longer--they're a fun bunch, really.
Deciding that they wanted to go to the Tokyo Sky Tree, we hopped back in the car and were on our way.
Well, sort of.

This is the part where I started to get a little frustrated again, because they decided to go by car. In the countryside, of course having a car is a good idea, but in the middle of the city, particularly Tokyo? Heck, even around Machida, having a car gets to be a bit of a trouble. From where we were, about the halfway point between Chichibu and Fuchinobe, I'm supposing, it should have only taken about another hour or two by vehicle to get back to where we were going.
However, Ueno, which should technically only be about two hours away, took us about four or five to get there.
Because of traffic.
Sure, the trains can be a little expensive sometimes [but overall, they are cheaper when contrasted with Japan's high gas prices], and sometimes a little crowded during rush hours [although it's never as bad as it's hyped up to be], they are better than cars, by far, when travelling within city limits.

I had

A lot of time

To notice

Interesting scenes.

So much time, in fact, that at times, I got sick of looking at said interesting scenes.
Once we hit Tokyo Proper, it seemed to me that it would just be faster to walk.

Finally, though, we got to the Sky Tree, and they all decided that they wanted to eat.
Again.
This time, after not only being tired of spending money [I had spent a lot, but more on that later], but absolutely nauseated by the thought of having to eat again, I skipped out on meal time and simply watched the others eating, eating a piece of a friend's takoyaki after she offered some to me, and what was left over from another friend's crepe only. After we ate, they went out to look at the Sky Tree, take a couple of pictures, and...
Yeah. That was pretty much it. So my American friend and I were a little frustrated--we came all of that way to just look at a flashy radio tower. As lovely as it may be, it took far too long to get there just to look at it for five seconds and go home.

So, to be honest, I didn't enjoy that part of the trip that much.
But I did get some pretty swell photos of it.

Daytime, in the car, looking for a place to park.

Nighttime.

My group of people in the car and I decided to get a better view of it from afar, so we stopped at a place that had a bridge, and looked at it from a distance for a while. It was nice, but by this point, I just wanted to be home.
There are more pictures, but I won't bombard you with them. If you want to see more, with as enamoured as the Japanese are by this building, there are bound to be tons of more professional looking photos on the internet.

As an offhand, happy comment of sorts, though, that shade of blue that it's giving off does happen to be my favourite shade of blue. One of my favourite colours, as a matter of fact.

We left at eight.
A trip that would usually be about one hour, maybe an hour and a half if you had to wait while switching trains, took us three hours, and we didn't get back to the dormitory until 11PM.
At that point, I was tired of being cooped up in a car and rather livid.
But I put on a happy face, because I really did enjoy the majority of the trip, said my farewells, went home, checked everything, took a shower, and went to bed.

So, overall, I promise I did enjoy myself, but it was something that when I got frustrated, I got so frustrated that it scarred my opinion of the whole thing. In about six months, I'll look back, and think "Oh, that was a great time!" without hesitation, but I can't do that just yet.

Saturday, I spent my day recuperating. Sunday, I went to Machida with a friend of mine, and wound up buying a couple of cheap new manga--I've set myself to read about half of one a day, although, I've realised that my Japanese isn't still quite ready to handle all of that yet, as it took me about an hour to read and understand about 12 pages. I'll work as quickly as I can, though, and it's not impossible for me to read it, just really slow.
Monday was a party for another friend of mine back home, about to leave to return home. She left today, as a matter of fact. That night, I had a couple of friends of mine looking for an apartment stay with me, which was quite a good time, although they went to bed much earlier than I have been recently, and as a result, trying to sleep once they had gone to bed was a little difficult. But that's just trifles--the point was, it was also quite enjoyable.

Yesterday I spent reading my manga and watching Rurouni Kenshin, the anime, in preparation for a live-action version of the film due for release next Saturday. When I was younger, I bought a copy of a different version of the series, which was shorter and much more serious, and as a result, I've got a bit of a soft spot for the series, although I haven't seen the parts that everyone else knows the best. So, I'm working on watching that, and I hope to have the entire series watched in time for the actual movie's release next Saturday. Eight episodes watched, about sixty more to go. Wish me luck! Haha. I'm not very good at marathoning shows and movies, but I'll do my best. It helps that it's really good Japanese practice for me, listening-wise. I've accustomed myself a bit better to older-fashioned speaking styles, thanks to it. It's really interesting.
Anyway, if that's your kind of thing, and you [somehow] haven't seen the series yet, do check it out. It's quite good.
This is the trailer for the live-action version--the main actor, Takeru Satou, is super adorable:



I think they're hoping for a worldwide release of the film at some point. Fingers crossed! I'm definitely expecting it'll be good. Well, at least really hoping so, at any rate.

Today, a friend of mine came over and we hung out for a little while before going out and eating some sushi--I've really taken to eating cold foods during the summer. Not just like salads and sandwiches and the like, like we only have back in the states--but in Japan, they eat a lot of things such as sushi, cold noodles, and other things like that, especially during the summer.
It seems like a pretty good idea, and I've taken a pretty strong liking to it. 

All right! Still with me? That's my week's review--sorry for it being the length of a novel!
Now for money saving tips.
I've only really got one or two tips this week, though.

If you're going to go book shopping in Japan, particularly for manga/comic books, and games as well, be sure to check a chain store called Book-Off first and foremost--they're an, if I'm not mistaken, lightly used store--I've mentioned it before, but usually the brand-new manga are about 500 yen, whereas the most expensive ones I've bought at Book-Off are only 350, with most of them actually being 105 if you look in the right areas. The quality at the stores is still absolutely pristine--I've never noticed anything wrong with any of the books, and I'm relatively sure the games would be just as good.
They also have a lot of older consoles that you can get for really cheap prices. I think the Gameboy Colour they had there, my first console of any kind, for about 2,000 yen. Oh, nostalgia. 

Secondly.
Do not use cars in Japan; at least not in the cities. Gas here, if I did my math correctly, is about $7 to the gallon, which pretty much blew my mind. In the cities, it's much more time and money-efficient to just take a train. Heck, it may be more efficient in the countryside, too. I don't know. 
There are expensive toll booths in Japan, too, and even dividing it all up between ten people, I still shelled out about 2,500 yen for the roadtrip. It would have cost me about the same to just have taken the trains and have gotten there faster without having to worry about parking lots. Don't take road trips if you're looking to save a buck or two--unless you're going with someone willing to pay for everything, just take the train. 

Camping really is a cheap alternative for having a good time, even in Japan. Renting out the cabin was only about 4,500 a person, which, compared to renting out a hotel, is really cheap. The only part that made it really expensive was taking cars and buying so much freaking alcohol. Had things been handled a bit more efficiently, it would have only run me about 7-8,000 yen, but with all of the pit stops and the useless trip to Sky Tree, I wound up spending somewhere around 12,000 to keep from owing anyone for gas or anything.
But if handled better, it could have cost about half of that, yeah? 
So it's a good idea to go camping if you're running on a budget, I think. Besides, it was a good time.
Just--learn from my mistakes on this one. It may be better for you. 

That's all for this week! 
Sorry about the novel, hope you didn't mind reading all of it. Haha.
Take care, guys.
Talk to you next week!
I'm going to see the Avengers on Monday, so I'll probably have something to say about that, even though all of you have already seen it. That's beside the point.

TTFN, ta-ta for now~

-RD

Even the Distance Feels So Near

Hey guys! 
This week has been pretty much full of farewell parties and seeing people off from the bus that takes them to the airport, so there hasn't been too much room for photos of scenery and the like.
Sorry about that.
BUT.
I'm going camping tomorrow morning, so I should have plenty of pictures from then .

But I have some money ideas, so look forward to that.

Thursday was not much besides a farewell party, in which we all got together one last time before people started leaving on Friday and over the weekend. It was potluck-style, and I made some bacon and spinach pasta with an alfredo sauce to go with it. I made a lot, so I was glad when I realised there was next to none of it left by the time all was said and done. 
Oh, and Thursday before the party, a friend took me to a person who he has been teaching English to over the past semester, and since he's left, he passed the job over to me. It pays really well, and it's only once a week--I'll be able to buy groceries and do general living, besides things like travel off of it. In a few weeks, before school starts but after the initial onset of summer has passed, I'll see about finding a couple more pupils to teach. I'll need to, if I want to be able to do much this summer. At the moment, the exchange rate between the dollar and yen is pretty close to awful, so I need all the help I can get.
Money coming straight from Japanese people is the best idea I have, and if I can tutor just a couple more people, I won't need to resort to my bank account so often.

Well that was depressing for me to think about.

Let's look at a lovely moon to lighten up our spirits a bit, shall we?

Friday was devoted to visiting with all of my closest exchange student friends before one of my best friends from the group left on Saturday afternoon. We went to the arcades, ate together, and just generally hung out. I also met a few new Japanese people, and that was really nice. Met a new friend who is a fellow artist, so we have enjoyed looking at each others' artwork and conversation. It's been nice. 
Saturday was hanging out last minute with one of my best exchange friends before he left for Narita that afternoon. My other best friend here and I helped him get his things weighed and checked over, and we visited with him until his bus came to carry him off. He's back home safely now, but I must say, I'm a little lonely.

What's that you say?

"Stop being sad and show us another sunset"? 

Well, here you go.

Sunday was helping a friend pack and watching part of the Avengers online together before he had to leave on Monday. 
I also got a lot of free stuff from him and some of the other people. Two small bookshelves, new pots, pans, foods, spices, sauces. That part has been really nice, but saying good-bye, even though it may be temporary and we still have the internet to keep in touch, has been quite painful. Since everyone's left on Monday, except for a few exchange friends and my native friends [although they're all off on vacations or whatever at the moment], I've a little bit lonely, to be honest. 

SUNSET. LOOK AT IT.

I'll be okay, though, I'm sure of that much. It's just going to be a bit difficult until I can hang around my native Japanese friends a bit more and talk to the friends who have gone back home. Funny to think, though, that if I were only staying for the semester, still, I'd be leaving in just two days. I'm happy that I'm not, but I wonder how difficult that will make things when the 6th of February comes along.

Okay. Sorry. That's the last time I'm upsetting myself, I promise.

So this week, I haven't been doing too much--filling out some forms that needed to be taken care of, watching movies on the computer, and finally tidying up my room. I start my once-a-week job on August 22nd, and I'm looking really forward to it. Moreover, one of my closest friends back home is moving to Japan on the 23rd, so he and I are going to cut up like crazy until February. I know we'll keep in touch, though, so I'm not too sad about having to go home in this case. Well, yet. 

AAHHH.

Sorry, guys. Last time, I promise.

In other news, there have been lots of fantastic sunsets lately, don't you think?

I've got to pack up my clothes tonight for tomorrow night's camping trip. I'm really excited! We're leaving in the morning, to somewhere that I forgot, and just. Two straight days of primarily speaking in Japanese and just having a good time in general. It's going to be great. I'll have to make sure I water my plants really well before I leave, though, and I'm also plant-sitting for a friend of mine, so I'll have to make sure his plants are taken care of, too. He's going to be gone for three weeks, so since he remembered that I also had plants of my own, he asked if I would be willing to watch his, too. Of course I was. I love plants. 
I'll take plenty of pictures while camping tomorrow, promise. 

All right, on to my few money-saving tips that I've thought of.
Make local friends--Not only for their general help and things, but they also show you how to eat locally, which also generally implies eating cheaply. 
Eat locally! 
Last Wednesday, I had a party with a few friends.
We ate this:

Filling and roast beef side. 

Riceballs!

I'm not a very picky eater, so of course, I thought it was all delicious. You want to know what I'm eating tonight? 

More riceballs. They're quick, convenient, and easy.  Over the next couple of days? I'm going to be eating tofu dishes, no matter how little I like tofu [I can eat it, but I've never bought it of my own accord before. I don't care for it too much, but it's really cheap and I don't hate it. Besides, it's really healthy, right?]. 

The point of this is learn to eat locally--watch how and what they eat, and what comes into season when. It's cheaper that way, and even if you are a picky eater, be willing to try new things--you'll be sure to find something you like if you keep trying, and it's much cheaper than sticking with the foods that you know from your home country. 

Also, if there's a certain vegetable you like that comes in seasons, buy as many of them as you can while they're in season, cut them up, and freeze them for when they're not so cheap and available. I've been stocking up on bell peppers--I put them in everything, and at the moment, they're only 89 yen for a pack of five small ones, which is really good for vegetables in Japan.

I hadn't realised this before spinach got expensive. Oh well. Anyway, I'm stockpiling on my bell peppers--they're fabulous in soup. 

Japanese traditional sweets, like the ones I've been showing you, are often an acquired taste--sweet bean paste, for example, is often something that many Americans don't like. At first, I can't say I felt one way or the other about it, but now I love it. And things with sweet bean paste in them are often cheaper than things like western style pastries, for example. 

So there you have it. Sorry this entry is a bit short compared to my usual ones--I've still got a couple of things that I need to see about doing before tomorrow [like packing, haaaa. Whoops.], so I'll let you guys go.

Have a fabulous week, and I'll be back with more stuff next Wednesday!

Take care,

-RD

Techno!

I would post lyrics for the title, as per my usual, but as I'm currently listening to songs without lyrics--well, techno, as my title suggests, really--I can't think of much else.
Sorry, all. Haha.


What's going on, though? I hope everyone's doing well!
Happy summer break! I finally was released from last semester on Friday, and have been trying to enjoy myself as much as possible ever since. There have been birthday parties, farewell parties, let's hang out parties, and just... Ugh. I'm kind of tired, but as long as I don't really have homework, all is well with the world. 
I haven't had too much time to myself, either, yet, but that will surely come in time. 


Let's see what I remember from last week--
Well, Wednesday, I went on a field trip in my class--I think I told you all about that, though. Thursday I studied for a test and went out to eat with some friends of mine. Friday I had my last test in Japanese, which I was rather ill-prepared for, and a party in my literature class, as we had finished all of our reading and were simply there to turn in papers and hang out.
Friday night I went out with some friends to get cake supplies for a birthday/farewell party the next day. After that, I came home and slept. I missed sleep so much.


Saturday I went to the 100 yen store and bought more supplies for baking cake, and set to work relatively early. It took about seven hours for the party to get up and ready, and I was one of the main organizers, but it was a lot of fun and I had a good time, both preparing and enjoying the party. A good time was had by all, and, if I do say so myself, I can make a very tasty cake. Hee. 


Sunday was yet another party, but this time it was a smaller get-together, with everyone being from my original group of friends here. It was a good time-we grilled food outside and ate nagashi soumen, which was positively delicious. I could eat that all day. Afterwards, we played with sparklers, and just hung out for a while, until right before the last bus. Then we went on home and I wound up hanging out with a couple of people until about midnight.


Monday was where things will get interesting and heavily photographed. I went to a place named Goutokuji, which may not sound that spectacular, but it is the home of the shrine that began the Lucky Cat tradition. Look for the Temple Cat section, and you'll see the part that I learned about on Monday. The shrine that it originated from was once small, but the place now is huge. 
Here are some photos. It was a really nice place--the town was really quaint and had lots of mom and pop shops, as well, which was a nice break from the super-industrialised Tokyo. If you can't tell by now, I really do prefer my quieter areas. I don't mind the city sometimes, but overall, I do prefer being in a quieter area, perhaps near a city, close enough for convenience, but far away enough that I don't feel crowded. 

One of the lightposts in the city. Isn't it charming?

The plaque at the entrance here says if you're drunk, you cannot enter the shrine. Good rule, I thought.

The entryway.

The walkway once past the entryway.

A place to burn incense, to show respect for the temple and whatnot, if I'm not mistaken.

One of the places where lucky cats and a Buddha statue is--they open it up to the public three times a year.

A bell rung several times a day to let locals know what time it is--they're becoming rather antiquated, but this one is still used, I believe. In Fuchinobe, they have a recording of a grandfather clock that rings every day, letting you know when noon and 5PM are.

One of the buildings in the shrine.

The bell from a different angle.

This building was actually a shrine--inside, there were Buddhas for past, present, and future. Beautiful figures, they were.

The sign to the building with the Buddha icons in them.

Getting closer to the lucky cat shrine! 

This was one of the places for wishes to be written and hung up.

The entryway to the shrine for the cat.

The actual shrine--inside were a lot of cat figures, of course.

The original shrine for the cat, years ago.

Cute. But wait. 

There's more.

So many more.

Smaller.

Smallest.

Another photo of them all together.

This little guy was outside of the shrine shop. What a cutie.

I bought myself a good-luck charm cat in a tiny case--He's really adorable. I also drew a fortune, which told me that things were about to get better for me if they were going bad, and since I've been having a little difficulties here and there, I'm [foolishly] hoping that it will happen. Haha. It was much better than my my fortune in Asakusa, which I did not keep, in hopes that it won't come true. It's all really quite fun. 


After the Lucky Cat shrine, we went to another shrine, known for it's yearly sumo matches at harvest time. 
I got lots of pictures there, too, since it was also a relatively big shrine, though not as big as the one before.

Leaving the Lucky Cat shrine.

This was a sign for a park that was along the way of where we were going--I've got pictures coming up in the next in this list.

Apparently it used to be a castle! What an awesome thought. 

One of the staircases that led up to the path of the previous castle area.

Another. I really like stairs in photos. Sorry, guys.

Here was the site. You can definitely tell that something was there a long time ago, although it's not really discernible as to what it was.

Emperor flower, or something. I forgot. But it's pretty.

And poisonous, apparently.

Another plaque.

And another. There were lots of them, really.

The Torii from entering the next shrine we were going to.

And another.

This was just off to the right of where I was. Isn't it pretty?

More.

Awwhhh, turtle. 

I love turtles.

The actual shrine.

Where you went to purify yourself before you went to pray.

Sumo court!

Pre-weights weights. 

Showing off strength for the gods [or girls] or whatnot, right?

Lovely!

After we explored the shrines, we went off and decided to eat. 
I bought myself a new coin purse, as I finally found what it was that I wanted. It's dark blue and has lucky cats on it, of course, as this was the area I was in.
For lunch, we ate cold noodles, and it was really good. I took a photo of that, too. I took lots of pictures this time--hope it can make my previous lack of photos up to you. Hah. 

This was lunch. There was meat, fish, and vegetables mixed in. It was a little sweeter than I had initially expected, but it was good.

It was in a tiny restaurant without air conditioning run by an older couple. The place was really charming, and I was happy to have gotten to go. After we ate dinner, we wandered around and went to a bread store and a traditional Japanese sweet shop before deciding to have dessert. 

The sweet shop.

Desserts---My friend had strawberry flavoured shaved ice.

I had a much more traditional sweet--Underneath is something called "anmitsu," which is a jelly-like sweet. It's a bit of an acquired taste, I think, but I found it enjoyable enough when mixed with the fruits and ice cream like it was. I'll work on acquiring the taste--it wasn't bad, just a little unusual.

My sweets from the sweet shop. They were quite good.

The sweet that was inside of the paper bag. Awh, kitty.

So, Monday was a lot of fun. I wound up getting really sunburnt, but overall, I had a good time. 


Yesterday I kept mostly to myself in my room--the only time to myself that I've had so far this summer. I tidied up my room a bit--I found my desk so I could work on my summer project of drawing a comic like I've been planning to [I've got a page laid out so far--I'm really excited]. I've got to wash my laundry some time soon and clean up my bathroom ,and my room will be nice and liveable again. But even now, it's all right, and I'm really pleased with how much tidier it is. I'm going to get a shelf from a friend of mine soon--that should help me with books and things.


Today was really good. I went and got my hair cut again this morning--it grows really fast, and I wanted bangs again. I was a little tired of looking at my forehead. I went to the cheap place again, of course, and the woman did a fabulous job of it again. I'm really pleased.
Afterwards, I went and hung out with some of my guy friends, watching British comedies and YouTube videos. This evening, I had a party with a couple of my Japanese friends, where we ate riceballs [I tried umeboshi, pickled plums, for the first time, and they were delicious], snack foods, and talked about any and everything. It was really fun. 


That's been this week. I'm not sure about money-saving tips right now, though. Perhaps invest in point-cards in various locations--if you become a regular customer, particularly in convenient stores and things, it seems like it can pay off. I don't have one, so I can't attest to it, but the brochure I looked at earlier seemed really promising. Coupons and bargains and the like. 


Planning group meals is also more frugal, and broadens out the kinds of foods you get to eat, so that is good. I know that on Friday we're having one last get together with a large portion of my friends before they go back to their home countries, and I'll be making pasta, while everyone else will also be bringing something, potluck style. Really excited for that.


Also, perhaps get to know friends who have part-time jobs in tutoring or something that you might be good at, if your acquisition of foreign language is strong enough. I'm going to begin tutoring a friend of mine's pupil, as he's going back to the states soon. I'll be meeting the fellow on Friday--really excited. A source of income, instead of being strictly outcome, is exciting. 


That's really all for now, though. Hope you enjoyed this week!
Talk to you soon.

-RD