Sorry about the lengthy wait. The internet was fixed as of Thursday night, but by the time it was fixed, I had gotten busy.
So, by the time I had the time to sit down and write, it was Monday.
Well, I decided, may as well wait until Wednesday to upload.
However, not too much has been going on, so nothing has really been missed.
Happy belated Thanksgiving to all of my American readers, however! I could not celebrate on that Thursday, but spent the night with a friend of mine and her roommate, American friends of mine from my university, on Sunday night, and together we had dinner and watched a movie together. Japan has a lack of turkey, so instead we had a baked pumpkin dish, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, devilled eggs, and turnip greens. We ate late, however, and by the time the movie that we watched after dinner had ended, I could have caught a train back to Machida, but from there, I would have missed my last train back to the dormitory. So, I stayed overnight instead, and left that morning. I wasn't too worried about it, since I don't have classes on Mondays.
I had work on Saturday, and I will go to work again on Tuesday, and I have been keeping busy with class quite well. I did Japanese calligraphy today in my kanji class. I did the same in the same class the semester previous, but this time around, I felt as though I had improved since the last time. Perhaps my hands are just more used to how Japanese writing feels. Still not great, but hey. I didn't get ink all over my hands again this time.
No real plans for this weekend as of yet, we'll see what happens. I may go to my friend's house again on Sunday, but whether or not that will happen I'm not quite sure yet.
Food-wise, I've been trying to watch what I eat, and I've been continuing to watch what has been considered "in season" in grocery stores. It was yams a few weeks ago, and now it's things like potatoes and some of the other Japanese traditional fruits. Good ways to save money is to pay attention to slight tampering discounts, items in season, and general sales. I haven't tried anything new out lately, but I did go to the Thai restaurant that my friend works at with another friend of mine today. I felt like Thai food, but didn't want to ask her to make it for me, so I just decided to surprise her at work today. I've also been working on my improvisation skills in regard to cooking, and I noticed that I had the makings for spaghetti. I thought I was hungry last night, so I made up some sauce with the intent of eating it, but then I found that I was just thirsty, so I've still got the sauce sitting in my refrigerator waiting the day that I need something quick to eat. I like pasta. Eat and drink domestically, if you can. Imported things are expensive, so when you can, just buy it locally, or at least nationally.
Group cooking also helps, remember. I'm having takoyaki with some friends tomorrow night, for example.
My Thai friend often cooks for me, and in return, I will occasionally cook for her.
Learning how to cook, if you don't know how, or learning to make foods that you enjoy eating during your stay, will save you a lot of money as well. I've started, just recently, making my own sushi:
One of the most beautiful pieces of sushi that I've ever seen.
I didn't make it, but it was inspiration.
A dish of food that my Thai friend made for me.
It was also delicious.
My sushi. Not nearly as pretty as it could have been, but it tasted right, at least, and that's all I wanted.
Money-saving wise, if you're interesting in doing shopping and the like, sales of summer and fall clothes were on sale just recently. Japan's clothes may be expensive, but with proper timing, you can find clothes at decent prices. Of course, there's also the recycle/thrift shops to look into, as well. Today, I went shopping at one of these stores to see about accommodating a new fashion interest of mine [not that I really keep up with fashion, but certain trends and things do occasionally catch my interest], and found myself a neat button-up shirt for about 700 yen, or about 7.50$~8.00$ in US currency. Granted, you can find brand-new shirts at that price in the US, but in Japan, that's... Pretty good, all things considered. For whatever reason, clothes are painfully expensive unless you know when and where to look. Even in the thrift stores, they have the clothes divided by brand-name and non-brand, and the brand names, though remarkably cheaper than their usual prices, are often within the 2,500~7,000 yen range, depending on what it is and it's condition. In contrast, those without brand can be anywhere from 200~1,500 yen, more or less.
If you can get there by foot, walk. Mass transit is moderate, but if you can walk it, do so. Especially if it's a nice day. Might save you a few dollars or so, and those dollars can add up. Taxis are impossible, from what I've gathered, with something of a five-minute drive costing upwards of roughly $20 dollars, if I'm not mistaken.
I've also noticed that besides just sales, a lot of products in Japan are very seasonal. Vending machines, once it is cold, has a section of drinks that are heated, but once it is warm, they are all served cold. There are flavours of liquor, flavours of regular drinks, foods, sweets, and even chip/crisp flavours.
Christmas stuff started appearing right after Halloween. I waited until Thanksgiving, though, but I went on to the 100 yen store and bought myself a Christmas tree, and decorations. Decorate it right, and it doesn't look quite as cheap as the items generally do.
Still looks pretty cheap, but hey. I'm a college student with no money.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.
Winter is hard on me, though, so I've gotten a bit of a case of the winter blues [and my skin feels dry and disgusting], so I've been a person of few words as of late. I'm fine, though. Nothing I'm not used to.
Just thought I should give an explanation to the shortness of my post. I'll try to make it longer next time, okay?
Sorry about that.
But, we'll see how things go.
Talk to you all next week~
-RD
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