'Cause Tomorrow's Just Another Day, and I Don't Believe in Time.

I was going to make this a fun-filled week, since it was my last one at the dormitories with all of my standard friends.
But at the farewell party last Friday, of course someone had a cold strong enough to knock me off my feet for three days. I was finally able to get up and walk around for the first time today since early Saturday. Much better now, but still feeling a little weak.  You'll have to ignore any grammar problems worse than usual or if I start rambling--It might stem from the exhaustion after being so sick for so long (by my standards). 

Last Thursday was fantastic, though. I went to Yokohama with my friends--the girl from Thailand, another guy from Hawaii, and two of the Thai girl's Japanese friends. I have to keep it short and brief [I have a monster list of things to do since I've been sick and unable to move], but I'll show you some pictures. 

Yokohama Station has a lot of interesting maps and things comparing it from about a hundred years ago to now.

This was one of the things.

I like old maps, so enjoy the photo.

The station.

Looks like a roller-coaster!

But no, turns out that we were just close to the art museum. 

Found it! I knew it was somewhere, but I wasn't sure where. 

Didn't go because that's really expensive, but you know what I mean.

Apparently, a long time ago, they used to make boats in this little spot.

I thought that was neat.

... You want to eat me? Oh no...

I know it's not 'pain,' but it looks like 'pain.' 

Wanted to, but I haven't gone ice-skating in too long. Wussed out.

Only my favourite current Japanese idol.

He played "Kenshin" in that movie that I loved so much.

Yep.

It looked like it was made out of Jenga blocks!
A map of Sakuragi-Cho.

Miniature boat.

Samurai armour shop.

You can see in the photo after next what I meant to take next but I was slow.

I wanted it.

But it was about $100.

There we go.

From Yamashita Park.

They let us get so close to them. It was precious.

I GOT TO GO ON A BOAT.

I love boats.

We stopped by the PokeMon Centre one last time before we went on the boat ride.

I'm not supposed to take pictures inside, but whoops.

I'll show you anyway.

And a view from the port.

Friday was lazy--I went to go pick up my deposit refund from the dormitory, and I hung out lazily with my friend from Thailand. Afterwards, she and I went to get yakiniku to celebrate. It's expensive, so I've only gotten to eat it once before because it is so expensive, and so that was exciting. 

Afterwards was the farewell party, where I got dragged around everywhere by my Vietnamese friend. It was fun enough. I was going to go out with other people afterwards, but they went out drinking at an expensive place, so I opted to pass and instead picked through my Hawaiian friend's massive music collection. Three days' worth of new music, it's really very exciting.

By Saturday, started feeling a little under the weather, so I kept the day kind of low-key, going out to lunch and running a few small errands with a friend of mine. I came home and fell asleep pretty much as soon as possible, and by Sunday I felt horrible. I still felt pretty awful, as a matter of fact it was at its worst on Monday morning, though it eased up as the day went on. I had to cancel on helping my friend out with his packing, though, because I did well to move out of my bed to go get something to drink. 

Yesterday I packed up the majority of my stuff, but I was still room-bound, as stairs and walking long distances would have probably been the death of me.

It wasn't until today that I could finally move, although I had to take it slow. I had to go and cancel my health insurance, finish taking out all my unneeded items and garbage out of my room, and what have you.

I was supposed to go get shabu-shabu with some friends of mine, but I never got told the time, and by the time they did tell me, I had just eaten. My appetite is still small from having been sick, and so there was no point in me paying twenty dollars for food that I would barely manage to touch, because you cannot bring doggy-bags. 

So I stayed behind and got some more cleaning done, and eventually another friend of mine contacted me and asked if I wanted him to cook for me. 

It was time for me to eat by the time that he asked, so I agreed, and he floored me. Together, we made parmesean alfredo with porkchops and toasted garlic cheese-bread. It was delicious. 

Gotta cut it short, though--tomorrow's busy and I've still got a monstrous amount of stuff to do tonight.

I'll be leaving tomorrow night for Kansai.

Lots of pictures will be taken! 

Much love,

-RD

I Make It Look Easy 'Cause It Is To Me.

I could have come up with a song involving Corona since I'm enjoying one at the moment, but you know. 
There are songs involving that brand in particular if I remember right. Aren't there?
Oh well.

I had one heck of a day today, guys. I was trying to mail off four boxes for home, full of trinkets and things for other people and books and so forth. My friend said that it would be possible to take the boxes to the US military base, so off we went to a military base at about 9:30 in the morning (never mind that I didn't sleep very well last night). We expected to have no problems whatsoever and manage to be back in the local area by noon or so, and we were going to go get feedback on our exams and whatnot. 

Well, God took those plans for today and laughed. My friend had been told beforehand that she would be able to mail things off from the base at the American rates as long as she had her dependency card, which was really awesome and we were planning to take advantage of that. Didn't work out that pretty, though. After lugging around my 28 pound (12.6kg for you lot on Metric) box full of summer clothes and presents and mementos, on top of the other three boxes of mine in the large suitcase we brought, and after filling out all of the customs' forms and what have you, we come to find out that it won't work. She had to have a P.O. Box inside of the base in order to be able to mail things.
It opened at 11:30, and it was 11:20, so we decided to work on things for a few more things, getting everything ready, and she left to go see about getting a P.O. Box. 
Can't have a box unless you're serving on the base. 
Can't mail without a box, then not being able to get a box, naturally means that we couldn't use the post office. We wished the person giving her the instructions before had been a little more clear on the matter, but it was not so. Trying to figure out what to do from there, I remembered that a friend of mine's dad has a FedEx account and works for them, so he gets a discount. I called my friend and asked if we could borrow the account, of course paying him back, and he agreed. We grabbed lunch at the base, and finished up our business there.

We were off for the nearest FedEx, in Hon-Atsugi [Where I went accidentally when I was trying to get home from Aikawa once, remember?]. After getting confused by which bus was which, we got on the bus and got off at the next stop, asking for directions for the FedEx, which proved to be just down the road. That went off without a hitch, after asking for directions and asking people with handy-dandy smartphones. We got to the building, and after muddling our way through explaining what we wanted to send and how we wanted to do it, we found that we had to write impeccably detailed customs declarations. I generally keep my declarations vague for the sake of ease, and they usually get off without a hitch. However, when looking over my generalised inventory, the lady behind the counter suggest I be a little more detailed, since American customs are so strict.
I was tired and frustrated by this point, so I decided I would stick it to the man when I filled out these inventories.
...
By doing exactly what they want me to. 
I had four pages of inventory by the time it was done, what with accounting for all the little knick-knacks and whatnots, opening all the boxes again and counting how many I had of what [36 manga, 3 reference dictionaries, 6 novels, 6 notebooks, 8 pairs of socks, 4 dolls, 2 colouring books, etc...], and guesstimating on how much I had spent on all of it.
Take that, man. It's all a conspiracy. I hope you get bored reading that long-as-heck inventory.
...
Yeah... Anyway!

After that nightmare, though, it was already 4PM, and we still had to go to the Navy base to see about doing some grocery shopping. Fortunately, it wasn't that far away. We caught the bus back to the station for a starting point, and then went about to the base, which was a 20~25 minute walk, relieved to not have to bear the weight of those boxes and awful things. We went to the grocery store, I picked up a handful of things to gently ease myself back into the swing of Americana, dismayed at the fact that I cannot buy octopus or my sweet potato flavoured rice crisps. 

But crispy bacon!

[Bacon in Japan isn't cured, so it doesn't get crunchy and crispy like US bacon. It just gets... Burned, for lack of a better word.]

It's the right taste, and it's fine for a substitute.

But substitutes are never as good as the real thing.

It was really nostalgic, though, although I don't know that I'm particularly fond of bases. It's as though you're in Japan, where the mountains are gorgeous and everything is unknown, and suddenly you're in this po-dunk area out in... I don't know, Ohio or somewhere, where everyone suddenly speaks English to some degree.  First time I had seen American money in nearly 10 months, too, and it has not gotten any prettier. Japanese money has spoiled me--it's so pretty. America, step up to the plate--we need pretty money, too. And coins that actually count for something. 
We got dinner afterwards, again at the base. It was America day, I guess.
American portions are enormous, I have learned. I got a medium drink and my mind was boggled at the size of it, since it is a Japanese large. I cannot eat half the amount that I used to, as well, I have learned. Or, I can eat it, but it is a nauseating task. For lunch, I grabbed two pieces of pizza, thinking they would be only slightly larger than Japanese pieces. It was the equivalent of about four, I think, and I could only barely manage to eat it all, feeling almost ill afterwards. We walked it off, though, and then by the time we got to the other base and everything taken care of, it was about 6:30, and we went ahead and got dinner. I was more cautious this time, going to Subway and getting a 6 inch sandwich, which was more than enough.  I didn't fill my "medium" drink up all the way that time, either, instead opting to fill it only about halfway. I just can't do it any more, and that feels pretty good.

I realised that Japanese portions were much smaller and I had acclimated to eating smaller amounts, but until I could directly eat US-styled food, I was unable to gauge exactly how much my eating habits had changed. 
I know now, though, and it's pretty incredible. Quality over quantity, I suppose. 

Anyway, after we ate and I swiped a free newspaper for someone, we decided to head back, feeling pretty great.

And then the rubber on one of the suitcase wheels split, rendering the wheels on it pretty much useless. 
We had to carry that thing, full of groceries and whatnot and heavy as heck, for a couple of blocks before reaching the station.
Finally, though, worn out as we were, we decided to move the rubber out of the way and let the hard plastic wheel underneath just roll. 
It was about 9PM before we finally got back home. You know, only seven hours later than we had initially planned. In that span of time, it turned out that I had missed an acquaintance of mine swinging by my room to try to drop off a small gift for me before I left. I felt so guilty--he's a really sweet fellow. But, he gave the gift to my NZ friend to give to me, and I just... Wow. It was a little package of incense, which was really sweet. Smells really good, too. Looking forward to trying it when I get home. I'll also see about finding him something from the States and sending it to my NZ friend to get it to him. 

I am thoroughly exhausted, and going to Yokohama tomorrow. 

Yesterday, I passed my job off to the next study abroad student. By the time he would be next available for a lesson, I will be away. I took her up to the office and they got to know each other and it was really good. I think she'll do well. After that, she and I went around so that I could do some last-minute souvenir shopping for people. The night before, I stayed awake until 3AM to watch as much of the presidential inauguration as I possibly could.

Last weekend I didn't do much--I mainly stayed in my room and savoured the fact that I had finished my classes and exams. A lot of sleeping and reading was involved. I also made myself a homemade pot of shabu-shabu, two days in a row, for much cheaper than going to a restaurant. 

Ignore the empty peanut butter jar.

I finished my exams last week, savouring that fact before jumping into my online classes. I also started getting the first pangs of the bittersweet of leaving everyone that I've met here behind. It's different when other people are leaving, but when it's you? There's something different. Last semester, when other people were leaving, of course it hurt, but there were other familiar faces to help get a person through it.
This time, though, leaving? Everybody will be left, and the area you left behind when you first came? Things have changed there. Friends have gotten married, some had kids, new jobs, graduated from college, found girlfriends or boyfriends, you name it. Life doesn't stop just because you're gone. And who knows what will happen between the time I leave Japan and the time I'm able to come back.
To be honest, I'm a little scared. 
It'll be okay, though, I hope.

Anyway.

So, want to know what I'm planning to do with all the money I've saved since I've been in Japan and being so careful on my spending, perhaps? I'm heading back to the States in exactly a fortnight. 
I'm actually letting myself travel right before that. I feel as though I've earned it, so I'm going to go to Kansai and see Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto before I leave. I'll leave for that way on the night of the 31st, on an overnight bus [over half the price off of a Shinkansen ticket. I'd like to ride it, but I cannot afford it.]. In Osaka, I'll have a room to myself for two nights, right in the middle of the city. The day I arrive, I'm planning on going to see the Kaiyukan, Osaka's aquarium. I really enjoy aquariums, so I figured it would be an easy thing for me to enjoy when I get there after being tired on a bus all day long. On the second day, I'll go to Nara and see the temple that have the deer that bow to you for food. On the third, fourth, and morning of the fifth day, my best friend and I, the friend who I was supposed to meet on Christmas, will go explore various parts of Osaka and Kyoto. I want to see both castles.
I like castles and aquariums. And foreign places--there is a Korea Town in Osaka that I would like to see if I have the time, too. My bus will leave in the late morning from Osaka to bring me back to Yokohama, where I will catch a train back up to Tokyo since it will be faster than a bus. I am impatient. 
I will try to sleep that night so that I might be able to survive my plane right the next day. I will leave at 6:30 PM on that Wednesday and arrive in Chicago at 8:00 PM that same Wednesday. A flight that is only an hour and a half, oh my. 
I'll try to ignore the fact that it actually 15~16 hours. 

That's all for this week, though, folks.
I'll let you know how things are going before I leave next week, and I will probably be able to briefly update in the airport before I leave. We'll see. 
If nothing else, you might get that blog post on Thursday. Nothing you're not all used to by now, I'm sure.

See you later, darlings!

-RD

I Got You Under My Skin

Okay, I'm here today.
Sorry about the wait! With finals and all, it's been kind of hectic and I keep forgetting what it is that I'm supposed to be doing. I had some free time yesterday for the first time, and got completely wrapped up in doing something until Mama reminded me about the blog. Whoops. By that time, with the time-zone difference, it was roughly midnight and I was getting ready for bed since I have early classes most days of the week. 

How is everyone doing? I hope you're all happy and well. 
I... Yes. Like I said, it's been pretty hectic, but since I've been pacing myself and trying to manage my time, the procrastination I did over the weekend hasn't hurt me too badly, for which I am extremely grateful. My last two classes on Friday will also have my final tests in them, and I get feedback for one of my tests next Wednesday, but besides that, my classes will be over and I can start doing things again: things to tell you about instead of just ranting about classes and how tedious they get. 

I also wanted to talk a spot about the weather in this post, too. At least the winters. Japan's summers are notoriously hot and humid [though no worse than the US delta's, so I wasn't shocked by that], so we don't need to mention that. The climate, overall, is almost exactly that of the US delta's, at least in Tokyo, I would say. It's just a couple of degrees cooler, and the spring and fall seasons are longer. They also have flowers over here that bloom in fall. It was the craziest thing.
But the reason I wanted to talk about the winter was just as a friendly warning. The winter, when it's not raining and/or snowing [which it did for, apparently besides flurries, the first time in years the other day], has been extremely hard on my skin, drying it out and causing it to flake up a bit. It's nothing I'm not unacquainted with, having lived in Wisconsin for two years and suffering through those winters, but it surprised me to find that kind of dryness in such a typically humid area. For those who have easily dried out skin like mine, or even just normal skin, I would suggest that you prepare yourselves if you're staying over during the winter. Bring your favourite lotion if you have one, or buy one while you're here before it gets too cold--you can buy in bulk pretty cheaply if you go to a drug store, but buying small things of lotion can get kind of expensive, just like in anywhere else. Just a memo for myself and others who may be reading this and about to travel. 

Oh yeah, guys. It snowed the other day. Monday, I think: 

The view between the bars.

The view with the bars keeping me from...

Falling off the balcony? Feels a bit like a prison, but whatever.

We got about 4~5 inches of accumulation, and it snowed all day. 
And don't gripe about not having enough pictures of the snow. I almost didn't take any photos at all, because I have an intense dislike of cold weather and snow. It's lovely while it's falling, but it is Thursday, almost Friday now. It should be gone, but it is still on the ground. 
And snow gets just as dirty in Japan as it does anywhere else. 

We had a three-day weekend in Japan this weekend [though I have a three-day weekend every weekend, so there was nothing different about that for me], so my friend also had the day off, and he also wound up getting told to stay home from work, too.
So he dragged me out into the snow to go get Indian curry, when I was only planning on staying inside all day and being warm. 
But, congratulations to all of those during Coming Age Day! It was technically my Coming of Age Day, too, I think, since I turned 20 late last year. That's the legal age in Japan, you see. I didn't do anything, though, except scowl at the snow, work on my project that was due the next day, and watch a movie with that same friend who took me for food.

I spent my weekend procrastinating, like I said. Saturday or Sunday, when I was planning to start working on a project ahead of time, I got dragged around by various friends around the dormitory and hanging out. It was a lot of fun, but I got nothing productive accomplished.
I suppose it's all right to have unproductive days, though, so I didn't scold myself too hard for it. 

I believe it was Tuesday evening, too, that had the prettiest sunset I've seen in a while: 

I actually stepped out on the porch to look at this one.

And that... Yeah. That was about the colour it really was.

It was pretty astounding.

Cold, but astounding.

Tuesday was spent prepping for things due on Wednesday, and so there's not much to report on that. Yesterday was easier, when I found myself finally able to stop and take a break.
My friend also made me a dip and shared some vegetables with me for it. 
It was astounding. Spicy and delicious and whoa. 

It came from my Thai friend, of course.

I've started eating cabbage raw because of her.

I didn't realise that raw cabbage was sweet.

It's really neat.

And in other food news, I ate my pomegranate. The one I bought in Chinatown? 
Yeah, I ate all of it in one night, I was so excited for pomegranate. 

Once I opened it.

Had to look up a tutorial on it, though, to try to remember how to open it properly. It had been since last year since I ate one last, but once I read how to do it, it all came back too me.
My fingers were stained pink afterwards, but it was well worth it. Shared some with my friend from NZ, who had never eaten a pomegranate before, and she absolutely loved it. 

The days are starting to get longer. That's exciting. 

This weekend, I'm not really sure what I'll be doing, but whatever I do, it will be done in a celebratory fashion. 
Because I will have finished my first semester as a junior, and finished a semester in general, which is always a thing to be celebrated. 

I'm planning on going to the military base with a friend to see about mailing off a few packages of things that need to get to the States before I do. I don't have the room for it in my suitcase, so it's got to get over there via parcel. 

That's really all that I know of right now, though. If I think of anything, or if anything swell happens, I'll let you all know on Wednesday! 
Take care! I'm going to sign off for now and go take a nap, I think.
Ta for now. 

-RD