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
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