My first try at cooking something real

This morning before going to school, I took a short walk around the neighborhood, and I took a few pictures.


Here I'm standing on the sidewalk bridge, looking back over the area where my apartment is...sort of. The house with the red roof is the Green House, where five TUJ students live. TUJ House is "directly behind" Green house...but with a road between, haha. So if you could fly, then we would be straight behind them.

This is looking more over the area where the apartment is. The land right here has a garden on it, where the person sells vegetables on a small farmstand by the side of the road. There's a box where you can put your money in, and the prices are above the vegetables. No one steals them here.

This is Meguro-dori, the road I take to school. All I have to do is stay on Meguro-dori until I get past the Miyako Hotel, and then I turn left (staying on the same sidewalk), and then eventually I reach the school.

This is the front of TUJ House.

My apartment is the second door from the left.

And then, when I got home this afternoon, I went to the store and then bought some ingredients for stir-fry. I couldn't find an onion, though. I thought that was weird. Maybe I just didn't look hard enough. I'll keep my eyes out next time I'm at the Peacock. Here's a picture of my stir-fry....it tasted okay, but can you believe...we don't have soy sauce! I forgot to get it at the store, haha. I cooked it in Emily's seasame oil, so that gave it a little flavor. I got full really quickly, so I couldn't eat it all, unfortunately. I stuck it in the fridge for tomorrow.
Oh, and I tried Pocari Sweat today...it was GOOD! It's almost like Gatorade, but not quite. It's description is a little weird. It says: "Pocari Sweat is a healthy beverage that smoothly supplies the lost water and electrolytes during perspiration. With the appropriate density and electrolytes, close to that of human body fluid, it can be easily absorbed into the body." I don't know...the "human body fluid" part is kind of sketchy. Anyway, each time I go to the grocery store, I'm going to buy a new drink to try.

I feel like there was a lot more for me to say, but I can't think of anything right now. I think it's because I'm tired from riding my bike; this evening I keep thinking I'm about to say something, and then I don't remember what it was going to be about.

The Good, the Not So Good and the Ehh...

Today I spent eight and a half hours in Azabu today, except for the two times I left the building to get food. -_-'

The reason I went early is because the first meeting for the Culture Exchange program was today, and we were supposed to get together with our partners (or groups, in some cases). Luckily I was only paired with one person, named Yumika. She's pretty shy, and only 18 (I think it's her first year at TUJ?), and her English isn't very good. But she's really nice, and I told her I was trying very hard to learn Japanese, and I found it very easy to speak with her in Japanese. We understood each other better that way, lol. Ohh, and the best part? She likes L'Arc-en-Ciel, too! *dances around* She got so excited when I told her my favorite band was "Laruku," haha. Unfortunately she won't be someone I can go to the concert with, since she said that although she went to one of their concerts when she was in high school, they are just way too expensive. Oh, well. I think I'll just find another band to go with some people to see...a band that isn't so expensive. At first I was really disappointed, but I think I don't mind as much now. I've had so many close calls to being able to see them, but it never works out, so I might as well expect as much now.

Anyway, back to the culture exchange. I think it's going to work out all right, as long as I keep making sure that I don't seem too overbearing; I don't consider myself to be overbearing by American standards, but I have a tendency to fill in awkward silences with talking, which will make it seem like I'm taking over the conversation. But honestly, I think it'll be fine once we're more comfortable around each other. For now, we set up so that we meet on Tuesday at 5pm once she gets out of her classes for the day. I get out at 3:30, but I don't mind waiting an hour and a half, since that's my short day.

Oh, I rode my bike to school again today, and it took only forty minutes, instead of an hour like Monday. I think my endurance is already getting better, and I'm starting to get better at navigating between the people. The bell is practically useless, though, because when you ring it, the people just keep walking as they were before. I think the only difference is that they walk in a straight line versus the wavering back and forth I usually see. But it's still frustrating. The ride home still took an hour, since I was really tired already...and I started off by knocking my bike over and tripping over it. I felt like an idiot, but I don't think anyone saw. It was dark, and no one was around. I'm really, really tired now, though.

I seem to be jumping around a lot, but bear with me. I mentioned yesterday that I had a quiz in Japanese today...and it was ridiculously easy. I'm not just bragging, either. I felt insulted taking the quiz. I almost wanted to say, "Are we middle school students or something?" All we had to do was listen to Koyama-sensei say the times of several countries around the world and write it down in English...then she read three people's phone numbers that we had to write in Arabic numerals, and then the last part of listening comprehension was her saying the age, year, college and major of four different people...which we wrote down in English. And finally, on the back of the paper, we had to translate four expressions into English. That was it. I studied so hard for the quiz, and that's all we were given? It's not like I'm in the wrong level class, either, since I've already learned several very useful things that I never learned in my immersion course.

I have a new favorite ice cream flavor, by the way. Matcha ice cream!!!! It's soo, soo good! I bought a package for a pretty good price, and they're in little individual packages inside thin waffer cubes. They're not really sweet, but they're also not too bitter, either.

I'm starting to get unimaginative with these subjects

This is the person who tells us our weather, hahahaa. I'm pretty sure it's a guy, but there's several male-ish "women" who are on TV a lot, so I really don't know...but I refer to the person as a "he." This guy's hair is dyed--that's not a wig. He always stands on the sidewalk to give the weather, and frequently there's some teenagers in the background just standing and staring at him.

I didn't ride my bike to school today since it was supposed to rain, and I was really cold just taking the trash out (yes, I've lost my Marlboro toughness, you don't have to tell me). I felt really bad about it the whole ride to school, but when I got out of school, I was glad I hadn't taken my bike, because it was raining. Of course I forgot my umbrella, though. All of the Japanese people were carrying their umbrellas to work in the morning even though it wasn't raining. From now on I'll do the same. I'm always keeping my eyes open and watching them to see what they do, and then I copy what they do to the best of my ability...it usually makes life easier. On the bus, there was a foreign woman with her three young boys (I think two were twins), and at first I thought they were American, but then the boys started jabbering on in German...or some language that sounds like it? I really can't tell European languages apart. It was strange hearing an unfamiliar language other than Japanese.

I forgot to mention yesterday that the 7 Eleven nextdoor to school suddenly decided to renovate, and the inside of the store was already COMPLETELY torn apart. Wow, they do things fast here! *laughs* Anyway, that means that all of the TUJ students have to go somewhere else for lunch (until February 4th, when it reopens), and so I went to the Lawson on the other side of the school, and it was packed. I literally had to get in line just to get to the food on my way to pay. When I got to school, I found some of my friends in the cafeteria, and found out that apparently I'm going to karaoke on Friday night. Fine with me. ^_^ Maybe this time we'll figure out how to work the controls quicker. (That sentence doesn't sound like proper English to me, but I can't figure out where I went wrong.)

I had a yummy curry soup for dinner...though I hate the smell of curry, it usually tastes good. When I was preparing my soup (instant, by the way), I was seriously regretting buying it, but then I tried it, and it tasted really good.

I have a quiz in Japanese tomorrow, and I just finished studying for it. Although I know nearly all of the words/expressions already, I made sure I wrote out everything we learned and tested myself, because I don't want to slack off and fall behind. Right now learning Japanese is the most important thing to me, above everything else. I wish I had Japanese class five days a week instead of only three, because I hate the gaps between classes when I'm not learning anything. I think I'm going to listen to my Pimsleur cds again (I imported them into my iTunes before leaving the States).

Tomorrow I meet my Japanese Culture Exchange partner. I'm both really excited and nervous to see who it is. I don't even know if it will be a girl or boy, since I put down "no preference" on my application form. It'd be funny if it was someone I've met already. Oh--speaking of which, I forgot to say that yesterday in my Practical Asian Soc. class, we got together with our team members and exchanged email addresses. I already knew who the American guy was in my group, but I made sure that I clarified between the two Japanese guys which was which so that I wouldn't mix their names up. (I hate doing that.) They don't look anything alike, though, so that shouldn't be too hard for me to do. Shinya is one of those baggy-clothes-with-a-hat-wearers, and Yasuhiro is one of the skinny styled guys. I probably wouldn't be able to pick them out in a crowd, though. I pride myself on being able to tell Asian people apart when most can't, but sometimes it's just really difficult when you have only seen the person once. Plus, having been introduced to probably at least 40 people in the past two or so weeks is overwhelming!

Right now I'm listening to a super-peppy Japanese song called "Tokimeki DooBeeDoo" by WaT...and it's way too catchy! Normally I wouldn't like this song, but it's really cute, and I can't help bob my head to the music. It's a really cheesy sounding song, too, which makes it worse.

So, so tired

I rode my bike to school for the first time today, and it wasn't too bad. It took about an hour, but it didn't feel like a long time to me. The hardest part was navigating between people...because for some reason they just DON'T get out of the way. It's like they want me to crash into them. And they take up so much space on the sidewalk, too. It's really aggravating, to be honest. The other hard part was the one hill right before Meguro-eki (Meguro Station).

Of course, because of all that work out, I was starving for lunch, and ate the entire tray of food I bought (two smallish rice balls in some kind of sweet shell, and three California roll-like sushi). Usually I can eat half of it before I get full.

I think the most frustrating thing about my day was the fact that I was supposed to be interviewing three native Japanese speakers (name, age, year and major) for Wednesday, but I went the whole day without getting a single person. I'm not trying to be stupid about it, but you have no idea how intimidating it is when the group of people you're considering asking is sitting in a huge group, talking loudly in Japanese while they are all dressed to the nines and are laughing hysterically at something someone said. I'm sorry, but I feel less intimidated by the guys here. And another thing that's frustrating is there's two people in my art class that speak perfect Japanese (better than their English), but they're both Korean, so even though I'm more comfortable with them, I can't interview them. It's not even the fact that I would have to do this in Japanese. Even in high school, I always hated it when teachers assigned us surveys to take on random people.

Oh, and in art class, apparently I have to buy ANOTHER sketchbook. I'm getting sick of getting sketchbooks. I have about a million incomplete ones already, Akimoto sensei is really picky about the size we have to have. (We have to bring it around with us everywhere, but it has to be big enough to have a good drawing.) I got in a minor argument with her because I told her I wouldn't bring such a bulky sketchbook around with me, and it's already a pain bringing my shoulder bag everywhere...the size of sketchbook she wants us to have is too big to put in my bag. I'm going for the smallest she'll allow, which is roughly 8x11, and I can get a cheap one at Seiyu. *sighs* This is why I'm glad I'm not an art major.

The ride home was...exhausting, haha. Again, it took an hour, which is a good thing, because I felt like it was taking a lot longer. Halfway home, it started sprinkling, and it really hurt my face and eyes whenever it got in them...and then I noticed that there was white stuff on my bag (which was in the basket)...it was sleeting! -_-' Luckily I had on my hat, scarf, gloves, and leather coat, so other than my face, I wasn't really cold. But I was really tired by the time I got home, and then I was starving, so I had some instant soup. I wanted to take a hot bath, but it's too late, so I'll probably just go to bed early.

Uneventful day

Today will be a super-short post, since it was a stay-in day. (And I woke up around 1pm, hahaha.)

I rode my bike to the convenience store today, and it was really nice being able to get there so quickly. I panic a little every time a car comes toward me, though. Tomorrow will be my first time going to school on my bike...so I will leave extra-early and see how long it takes. I hope it goes well.

Why does all of the milk I drink here make me feel sick? It's really disappointing, because I'm used to drinking plain milk, but I can't stand the milk here. I've tried about three different kinds now, including the kind I was recommended by an older TUJ student, but they are all really gross.

I am one happy camper ^_^

Today started off so-so...since I overslept for an hour, but I made it to Seiyu, and bought a bike for 9,969 yen. It was one of the most stressful purchases of my life, though, since about seventy-five percent of the time I had no clue what the woman was saying to me. When I finally got the bike registered and paid for, she gestured to me that I could go, and so I rolled the bike out of the store. However, I couldn't remember her putting the registration sticker onto the bike, and I couldn't find it in the bag...and I didn't want to ride off without it, since with my luck I'd be stopped by a cop and arrested. XD So I just stood there, searching through the bag and booklet, in case it had somehow gotten stuck between the pages when she put everything into the bag...and then suddenly she ran out of the store, exclaiming, "Gomennasai!" and she put it on my bike. Since I felt really bad about being such a difficult customer (it took forever for me to understand several of the things I needed to know, and I still don't completely understood what happened), so I gave her the super-long thank you: "Doumo arigatou gozaimashita!" and bowed several times. Then, once she was gone, I had a ton of trouble figuring out how to get the kickstand to go up (it locks), and then finally I got it.

It's been several years since I've really riden a bike, so I wavered around a few times...plus I'm really short, so even though the seat is as low as it could possibly be, I'm pretty sure it's still too high. The bike only has one speed, but it has brakes on both wheels, so I quickly figured out how to use it. It also came with a basket, a lock, a light, and a bell. ^__^ I'm already really attached to it, hahaha. Maybe I will see how much it would cost to ship it to the US when I'm done here. I could always send it slow-boat and have it arrive a month after I get home, haha.

Here's some pictures!

A close up on the lock on the back wheel.

And the bell! Rin, rin! It really sounds like that, too.

So that is my wonderful, wonderful, adorable bike. I got back, and Emily was awake, so I literally squealed, "I have a BIKE!!!!!!" and jumped around for a bit before going out to take pictures.

But that's not all. Nope, not even close. After talking to Mom on Skype, Brittany and I went to Shibuya to meet up with some people from Ontakesan...but there were more than the two people we were expecting, which neither of us were too happy about. It's NOT fun walking around in a huge group of gaijin--sorry, gaikokujin. I shouldn't use the slang word for it. But we all know that's what the people think when they see us in a huge group. -_-'

First we went to a SoftBank store, and I'm sooo happy that we did, because there was an English-speaking employee there, and she told us that although they are out of pre-paid phones right now, they will be getting new models on February 4th, though she said she expected us to want the phones faster than that. I told her I was more than willing to wait and come back. It's only 9 days to wait, and I've dealt with not having a phone for two weeks so far. I'll still have the phone for three months, and then I get to bring it home as a souvenir, lol. I love SoftBank phones, and the fact that it's a new model coming out sounds promising. Besides, there are English manuals for the phones online, unlike with the AU pre-paid phones...which are really clunky, and if I am going to pay $50+ for a phone, I want to like it. (I'm used to my cheap $14.99 Tracfone, haha.)

We all went into Tokyu Hands to get my art supplies, and I bought charcoal, a smudge stick, and a tiny spray can of fixatif. Afterward, I was starving, and no one could decide on where to eat, and they got distracted by an arcade...so once we left, Brittany and I ditched them and found the best restaurant ever. (Cheap, fast, delicious food.) I don't remember the name of the place, though, haha. Then we went into HMV and I bought the new ToHoShinKI album, "T." Yaaaay. I'm listening to it right now. It was definitely worth it, since there's 16 songs on it, versus the 10 or 12 songs that artists usually put on their super-expensive cds.

Oh, and we had a funny foreigner moment on our way back to the station. We were walking along the sidewalk, and there was this group of fake ghetto guys (I'm laughing just thinking of this), wearing the shiny sweatshirts, bling, baggy pants, and hats on backward...and as Brittany and I passed them, they started singing, "so beautiful girls, so beautiful girls," to that Sean Kingston song "Beautiful Girls" in funny Engrish. Brittany and I ignored them, but cracked up once we were out of earshot. It's weird getting picked out just because you're a foreigner.

Anyway...I'm super happy right now, if you couldn't tell. ^_^

My Professors

I have to say, as much as I feel like the school work here is too easy, I really like my professors. Every day I go to my Practical Asian Society and Culture class, I find myself respecting Professor Sumi more and more. He really knows what he's talking about, and I like the way he teaches (I'm not talking about the lectures). Today in class, one student asked him if he thought that the subject we were talking about (it's too complicated to explain here, but it had to do with equality and the convergence debate) was good or bad, and he replied that he didn't think those were the right words to use, but that he personally "liked" equality, though everyone has different value perceptions, and he is able to understand where people are coming from. For an example, he told us how his parents are very traditional in their opinions, and his mother believes women should stay at home; he explained that this is a very pre-war view on life.

I don't think I'm explaining very well, or doing him justice, but I really respect him. He also takes into account that the small amount of us Americans in the class don't know all about the history/economy of Japan, so he occasionally gives short explanations even before I get confused. He does the same for the Japanese students when he talks about the USA, and he frequently invites people to let him know if they disagree with him. Oh, and one fun fact: He looks a lot like Uncle Edgar. It really threw me off the first time I saw him, because he didn't look anything like the picture online, so I wasn't expecting him to look like Uncle Edgar.

Koyama-sensei, my Japanese professor,is awesome. I don't know how she does it, but she gets us learning really quickly, and she gets all of the material in to each class. She makes class fun, and yet she is really strict, so there's no fooling around.

Professor Morland...is okay. She knows her material, but class is pretty boring, and she says "um" too much.

Wow. I forgot the name of my art teacher. *looks it up* Shinobu Akimoto. I think I mentioned it before, but she's a real, full-time artist...until now, of course, since she's teaching us. I Googled her and she was the first link on the page, haha. http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~shinoart/index.html Everything is in English, though it's a little difficult to navigate the site. The stuff I found on it seems pretty interesting, though, so it's worth checking out. I really want to see her gallery at the Canadian Embassy, but I don't know where it is. (I have the address, but I really don't understand Tokyo addresses yet.) Anyway, she said her medium is "installation"...and I don't understand what that means.

Tomorrow I'm going to Shibuya with Brittany and a bunch of other people from the Ontakesan dorm...since we need to get art supplies. I couldn't find charcoal before, and I forgot to get fixatif. Oh, and I'm going to try to get up early in the morning and see if I can get a bike from Seiyu. Brittany got a bike today for around 10,000 yen, and registering it only cost 500 yen. Her bike also came with a basket, a light, and a lock, so that's pretty awesome. I didn't really want to pay that much, but usually you can sell the bike to some other store when you are done with it (the Office of International Students (OIS) claims that they can help us with that), so hopefully I can cut the cost down that way. Plus, getting a bus pass for three months cost around $200, and I would rather have a bike for getting around here. I wouldn't use it on rainy days, or when I go somewhere with multiple people, but I think I would be able to make it worth the money. I'd feel a lot freer with a bike. I can't even begin to describe how much I miss my car right now. (Btw...Dad, did you ever figure out why it refused to start the day before I left?)

Speaking of cars...I keep seeing Smart Cars all over the place, and I REALLY want to drive one! They're so cute! Just like toys! The little old Mini Coopers are cute, too, and are so much smaller than Mom's car, haha.

Oh, oh, I almost forgot. I had this REALLY good meal from 7 Eleven this evening. It had one shrimp, one hard-boiled quail egg, a bunch of unidentifiable vegetables, sauce, and then noodles. It looks really gross when it's in the store, but then they heat it up at the store, you mix the noodles with the other stuff, and it was sooo good. They gave me a spoon to eat it with, but that was nearly impossible, so I brought out some chopsticks, and that made life a whole lot easier. Haha, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Tokyo Tower

I'm underneath Tokyo Tower!



Today after I finished with class, I didn't want to go straight home, so I walked over to see Tokyo Tower by myself. It took about twenty minutes from Azabu Hall (school). I didn't have a map, but I just paid attention to buildings I passed, and Tokyo Tower was pretty easy to find, haha. It was cool to see. I didn't go up into it, because I figure that's something to save for when I have a friend with me.



Oh, and this is the river that goes by the school. I walk over it every single day...only from a different location. I took this as I was walking toward Tokyo Tower.


I really want to eat my pineapple...but I don't know how to tell if it's ripe, and I'm worried that if I cut it before it's ripe, it'll just get gross, instead of ripen. Edit: I just cut it, and it is SO good! I left it mostly whole and wrapped it in plastic wrap to keep in the fridge, so now I can have some whenever I want! ^__^

Oh, and I bought a bottle of Woolite today at Kinokunia, because I didn't want to deal with bubblegum-smelling clothes. I figure I'll be doing enough laundry to use it all up, and I can actually handwash stuff in the sink in the laundry room.

Another edit, since no one's read this yet, anyway.
AAAAH. I just found out that at three fifty something this afternoon, Junsu (from ToHoShinKi, for those of you who have no clue) was in Tokyo Tower! I can't believe I was SO close. It makes me mad that I didn't go up to the observatory deck or anything. That's just ridiculous. Right now I can't stop thinking about how ironic that is. *sigh* Man....I probably would have died or something. OR not even recognized him. Though he would have had a camera tailing him. That is a pretty good clue. Still...*bops head*

PS. I think i'm getting sick. I keep coughing, and I've got phlegminess. I'd better get myself one of those masks soon.... Time for aconite!!!

It's Snowing, it's Snowing

Today, soon after waking up, Emily and I turned the tv on, and the news was showing snow falling in some city. We thought, "Oh, it must be New York City." But then we both realized at the same time that it said "Tokyo LIVE" on the top, and after a second of going, "WHAT?" we opened the curtains. It was snowing!! Hahaha, and I'd been wishing it would snow just the other day. The news was making a huge deal about the snow, and I was wondering why, until later during my Practical Asian Society and Culture class, when I was talking to some guy named Katsuya, and when I asked him if it was the first snow of the season, he said, "Yeah, in three years." O.O Three years? Maybe he meant it's been three years since the snow has stuck to the ground? I feel like three years is too long for there to have been no snow at all. (Mi-chan, is that true??)

Anyway, my happiness about the snow kind of died when I turned my computer on and found out that Heath Ledger died. I just...I'm having a hard time believing it. I really liked him, since he picked such good movies to be in, instead of selling out like most actors. Frequently when actors have early deaths, I'm not surprised, but with Heath Ledger, I was shocked. When I got to school, some people were talking about him in the cafeteria, and then at least five people (all Americans) had no idea who Heath Ledger was. I thought he was more popular than that, but maybe not. It's going to be really, really weird watching him in Dark Knight when the movie comes out.

It snowed most of the day, and then by the evening it turned into rain sprinkles. Not very exciting. I spent the entire day indoors, and there's not much to tell other than that. I really need to buy rainboots. And get tissues. I was hoping that I could just survive off of the free tissues people give out when advertizing for stores, but apparently the people handing them out are slightly biased, because they don't like giving them to foreigners. (Emily still gets them if she's not swarmed by us, since they don't realize she's a foreigner.) But I've actually had one of them holding it out right in front of me, and as I reached for it, they took it away and handed it to someone else. Oh well. Guess I just have to pay for tissues, now. The only problem is that

the grocery store ONLY sells food, so I have to rely on Seiyu to buy other things...and they close before I get home on days that I have drawing...and the other days I'm usually too busy to go out shopping.

Just another day

My first real drawing class was yesterday, and it was so, so much fun. We got to talk all during class when we were drawing, and everyone's really friendly. The professor is really cool, too, since she has a sense of humor, as well. We did value studies to get used to our media, and then we did contour drawings--both looking and blind contour--of several objects on the table. When I got out of that class, I had to run for the bus (across the street, down the block, across another street, down the sidewalk again), and since it was cold, my chest didn't like that too much, so the entire ride home I kept needing to cough...but since I don't like coughing around people here, I was trying to keep it quiet, and that was probably making it worse. When I finally got off of the bus, I let myself cough a lot, and then I was able to breathe properly again. ^_^ It's a really pain being a conspicuous foreigner. I can feel people watching me, and sometimes even catch them at it before they look away.

Today when I was eating lunch, a camera man with a CNN logo on the camera and a woman with a microphone came into the cafeteria and were talking to some of the students. I'm not exactly sure what they were talking about, but I think it had something to do with the school as an international school. They were speaking in English, so I could hear parts of what they were saying. They gradually got closer and closer to where I was sitting with some people, and we kept an eye on the camera since we didn't want it to come to us. Right when the camera was on the people next to us, I got up and left, because I really did not want a camera in my face. I went up to the library and read some of a huge "December 2007 Japan Times" book. There was an interesting article about how men can avoid "dangerous women" in their work place so they don't get accused of sexual assault. Some of the things were like, "If you come to work at the same time on the same train, make sure you go into different cars. Don't go anywhere alone with her on business trips. Never call her by her first name or nickname. Don't go to bars or restaurants to discuss business." Things like that.

I just finished reading my homework for Practical Asian Society and Culture, and it was really interesting. Made me want to never work in the Japanese work force, even though I want to live here, haha. (That's where being a novelist would work....)

I'm still trying to figure out how to get a cell phone. Sometime when I can, I'm going to try the SoftBank store down by Jiyugaoka station, and see if I can get a prepaid phone there...but I have no idea if that will work. It's getting really frustrating, because it's so easy to get a phone in the States, but here, unless you are willing to pay $300+, you're going to have a lot of trouble getting a phone. I feel like TUJ should have helped us with this, because obviously there's something wrong with this situation.

My Clothing Shop Heaven

Wow, I just finished my homework for the weekend...and it was REALLY easy. And then I looked at my week homework schedule, and it looks like the way they do things here is assign one thing for the whole week...which means that I basically finished the week's homework. Of course, I couldn't do my Japanese Art reading because the book is in the library, and the library is closed on Sundays, but that's not due until Tuesday.

This morning, Brittany (I finally found out how to spell her name!), Steve, Peter and I went to Harajuku, and it was so, so much more fun than yesterday.

We wandered through the lane/alley (?) and then went for an early lunch...which meant that the horde of Japanese people hadn't all gone to lunch yet. (When it's lunchtime, everyone eats.) We went to a fabulous ramen place, and I got something that I can't remember the name of, but it was so good. It had the noodles, a slice of pork (I think), three halves of hard-boiled eggs, sliced mushrooms, miso, chives/onions (I'm not sure)...and I think that's it. It was really, really good. Even the water was good, because I think that they put some lemon juice in to make it not taste bad.

After lunch, we went back through the lane and went across to the Meiji Shrine, passing through some cosplayers. The shrine was pretty cool, and not too crowded, since there aren't any holidays close by (New Year is over, and Coming of Age day was last week). On our way back, we came across a few "free hugs" people, and I hugged some guy dressed all jrockish. I have a picture, but I look like a complete sketchball (I didn't realize the picture hadn't been taken yet, so I started to pull away, and I was laughing and looking away from the camera), so I'm not posting it here. I'd like to keep what dignity I have, thanks.

We went back through several more Harajuku shops, and Brittany bought a shoulder bag and hair extentions before we went to buy crepes (I got a strawberry chocolate cheesecake crepe! Yummmmy). Then we went to karaoke for an hour, and it was kind of bad at first because none of us knew how to work the controller, and we wasted some time with that. But then we figured it out, and we tried singing some songs. Only Brittany and Steve could do the Japanese songs, but Peter and I resorted to English songs. We stumbled across the Tarzan song ("You'll Be In My Heart"), and so we ended the hour with Peter and I doing a ridiculous duet.

Afterward we agreed that we needed to get back home to do homework, and we split up at the Shibuya transfer so Brittany and I could buy art supplies at Tokyu Hands. I was so happy when I saw the ginormous ToHoShinKi posted hanging from one of the buildings in Shibuya, that I had to take a picture. I also had seen one of those advertizing trucks for their album when we were in Harajuku. (There are trucks that have huge posters of the group with the album name on it, and it plays their music really loudly as it passes.) When we were in Tokyu Hands, I was very lucky to find a store worker that spoke English. He helped me find some of the things on my list...though I'm not sure he knew what news print was, and I'm not sure what I bought is news print, since it's yellowish...but it was cheap, so it is just as good as gray news print I might get in the States.

I had a most exciting dinner of Cesear salad for dinner. Actually, I'm not lying. I was surprised at how good it tasted. It's been a while since I've eaten salad, so it must have just been my body secretly craving salad. I'll have to go buy more from Peacock when I get a chance. I also had an English muffin, and it was wonderful. <.<

Anyway, I absolutely love Harajuku. My favorite places so far are Shibuya and Harajuku, and sometime I'll have to go back to Harajuku and get some clothes. Brittany, Tamaria and I will have to make a day of it sometime, since we all have the same interest in getting clothes like that.

Peter in the middle of some cosplayers.
One of the huge torii at Meiji shrine.
Inside Meiji shrine.
The tiny picture doesn't really show it, but the crows flying overhead looked really cool...kind of like from a movie.
Harajuku lane! (I forget if that's what it's called, whoops.) Lookie all those people! We went into that crowd, haha. I'm getting really used to navigating crowds like this.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the sign. ^_~ The clothes inside were pretty awesome.
The hallway where our karaoke room was. All of those doors are karaoke rooms.
Yaaay, ToHoShinKi poster!

On that intelligent note, I'll leave you for the day.

Still no cell phone

Today nearly all of TUJ House and the Green House went to Akihabara together in an attempt to buy cell phones. Were ANY of us successful? No. AU had pre-paid phones, unlike Soft Bank, but we couldn't figure out how they actually worked, and they only came in Japanese. (Whereas the contract ones had English.) The contract phones cost about $300...just for the phone, and then there was a monthly fee, and another fee to cancel the contract early. As much as I want a phone, I'm not an idiot, and not about to pay that much for a phone. So I have no idea when I'll be getting a phone. Other than that, the day was pretty boring, in my opinion. Everyone has a different idea of fun than I do, and so at the end of the day, everyone wanted to go to a bar, but I just wanted to go home because I was tired. I felt really awkward and antisocial about it, though, so I waited until we were all wondering what to do (since the bar they wanted to go to was more expensive than they thought), and I said I was going to go grocery shopping and then go home. I wish I didn't get so uncomfortable about things like that, because I feel like I won't meet many people if I don't go out. It's just like the whole thing with smoking that one guy was talking about today; when he tries to talk to Japanese people at school, they don't say much, but then he goes out smoking, and instantly they all open up. Of course, nothing in the world could make me start smoking, so that's not a path I'm going to take, lol.

The garden outside the Green House.
Our group of people. The girl in the front is my roommate, Emily.
The neighbor's dog, Brad Pitt. (Or rather, Braddo Pitto.)
I was trying to take a nice picture, and Evan walked into the frame, haha.
Our landlord's house.
A DoCoMo ad with Satoshi Tsumabuki. (He's in the far top right.) ^_^
In the gigantic store we went into, there was a cd section, and this little poster. Of course I took a picture.
My dinner. I ate about a fourth of it, and then stuck the rest in the fridge. It was really good, though the shrimp were kind of bland. The fish eggs added an interesting taste to it, haha. They were pretty good.

I used my CitiBank card for the first time today at the grocery store, and it worked! I was so happy, since I was worried it wouldn't work. The weird thing is that I didn't have to sign anything. Anyway, right after I went to the mini branch of CitiBank and took out 30,000 yen from my account so that I don't have to worry about money for a while. I'm thinking of getting a Pasmo (kind of like a metro card) for the train, since I won't have to worry about dealing with the ticket machines. I just have to swipe the card and then go through.

Tomorrow Britney (I really don't know if that's the way she spells it -_-') and Peter and I are going to Harajuku, and hopefully I'll be able to find an art supply store. If not, then I'll just go to Shibuya on the way home or something.

Packed in like a...train full of Nihonjin! Aaaah!

TUJ had a J-culture event at the "Super Deluxe" club in Roppongi, and though I wanted to go to the whole thing, I missed the first four performances/events because I came back to the apartment to drop my backpack off, and then Marina took forever to decide to go. (She wanted to wait for the guys to get ready, but they were too busy getting drunk, and it was ages before they were ready to go. By the time we got to the club (this is after getting lost twice and then separating from the guys because they wanted to go a bar since they missed the Sake-tasting event at the culture thingy), the fashion show was almost over, but we still got to see all of the models because they did one last walk-around all together. We got to see a girl who is half Ainu perform some traditional Ainu songs and dances, and a dance group, hip-hop group, jpop group, three guys cosplaying and dancing (two of which were school girls...it was hilarious), three guys drumming, a poet/beatboxer, and...I think that's it. I messed up the order of everything, since I can't remember their orders.

Ty, a guy in our dorm, started feeling really sick from the sake, so he went home around 11:00, since he didn't want to ruin our fun by getting sick or passing out. He had five small cups of sake (each with hardly anything in them), but he said he felt feverish. Even though I was cleared at the door to get sake, I didn't feel like dealing with getting a stomachache like I always do, when I have sips of alcohol, so I passed up on trying it. I got a whiff of Marina's sake, and it smelled just as gross as any other alcohol. XD

We had to leave at 11:30 to make the last train (they stop running at midnight)...and we got onto the express. Now, the express train near midnight in Tokyo...is PACKED! Marina, Steve and I started packing along with everyone else, and I honestly didn't think we'd fit inside the train, but we did! In fact, we were three people's-width away from the doors. I don't think I've been so close to anyone, not to mention strangers, as I was then. It was so funny that the three of us couldn't stop laughing at first, but then I adjusted to the weirdness, and it was all right. I just had nothing to hold onto, so I swayed back and forth with the rest of the crowd, haha. It was...quite an experience.

Anyway, it's past two in the morning now, so I'm probably going to bed soon. I'm tired, and trying to ignore the smell of cigarettes on me. I soaped up my hands and arms a good amount, and changed clothing, but I'm too lazy to shower before tomorrow morning, haha.

Here's some pictures from tonight!
Blurry Tokyo Tower in the back there...eventually I'll go see it up close. It's not too far from my campus.
Reflections of the tree lights on the glass wall of the Asahi TV building.
Real Tokyo Tower...and a fake one inside the Asahi building!
The moon above the huge Roppongi Hills tower.
Here's Ty and Peter...and then I realized just now that "TokyoJosh," the guy who posted the videos on YouTube abou TUJ House and the area I'm living in, is in the background (to the left of the picture)! He's really tall, haha.
The hip-hop group...and Joshua isn't in this picture, unfortunately. He was our tourguide at one point last weekend. The drummers. The guy in the middle was intense, whereas the guy in the white-ish shirt kept acting silly.
The funny cosplaying guys.

No idea who these two were...the guy could sing well, but he didn't sing any of his own songs, so I wasn't too impressed.
Nidai, a jpop band (TUJ students). They were okay, but the sound system kind of ruined them (the music was too loud, and we could barely hear the girl singing).

Three more weeks until I'm an official Alien

This...is "meron pan" or, in English, "melon bread." It is the most delicious thing ever. (Not really, but pretty close!) I got it yesterday from 7 Eleven.

This morning I went on an adventure to apply for Alien Registration and get Japanese Health Insurance. I don't exactly know how to use the train ticket machines yet, and I was all by myself. I even resorted to hitting the English screen, but that was nearly as helpful as the Japanese screen. I'm pretty sure I paid an extra thirty yen going from Jiyuugaoka-eki to Nakameguro-eki in order to get to the Ward Office. Then, once I got out of the station, I got lost. Figuring that I could trust the people in the firestation to tell me the right way, I went inside, showed the guy my map, and pointing to the Meguro City Ward Office, said, "Koko desu ka?" Even though I knew I wasn't there. He was super, super nice and brought me out to the street, pointed way down the sidewalk, told me to go straight, and then told me, "that big building!" He pointed to a tall building. I thanked him profusely and went on my way. (I'd walked right by that building TWICE before, lol.)

Applying for the alien registration wasn't too bad, though it was difficult dealing with the fact that the woman didn't speak any English. It's going to take three weeks for me to get my resgistration. Geez. By the time I got to the health insurance place, they found me an interpreter. She was really nice, and whenever I had to sit down to wait for them to do things, she sat with me and talked to me. She was surprised that I was only staying three and a half months. I asked her about how I was supposed to get a cell phone (she didn't know the term "cell phone" so I said "keitai" and she said, "ohh, a mobile!") without my alien registration, and so when we finished with the health insurance, she brought me back to the alien registration counter and asked for me. I had to pay 300 yen to get a document for it...and it doesn't even guarantee that I'll get the phone, but I really need a phone, so I thought it was worth the money.

Let's see, what else.... I didn't have breakfast this morning because I didn't have time (and there was nothing in the fridge except orange juice), and then I got to school around noon, so I bought a chicken-filled onigiri, and that filled me up. (Aaah, and when I was in the conbini, they played ToHoShinKi's "Purple Line" on the radio! It aired only yesterday, haha. I was so happy to hear it, and it cheered me up quite a bit, since I wasn't very happy right at that moment.) When I got to school, I managed to sign up for the Yokohama trip that Emily signed up for, so that's a relief. I didn't have time yesterday since I had classes all day. Speaking of which, I have to somehow get a ton of art supplies for class. I would drop the class just because of that reason, but I know as soon as I have everything I won't have to worry about it anymore.

My Japanese Art class was really boring (she lectured...and basically repeated everything I read last night)...I don't know how I'll stand the whole semester. Then after spending way too much time in the library for my likes (I didn't come to Japan to sit in a library!), Tamaria and I took the bus home and stopped at The Garden, a more expensive grocery store that's right near the dorm, and we each got some food for dinner. We also got these giant gyoza samples from a guy who was cooking them...they were so good!

Then I came home, ate, watched some weird variety show...found out I DID win the Freeman-Asia award!!!...and then I'm about to do my fantastically boring homework. No offense to certain teachers who might be reading this, but schoolwork definitely kills the fun in study abroad. (And yes, I know...it's study abroad. But I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from.)

First Day of Class

There was a really terrifying guy on tv just now. He was a guest with Tackey (from Tackey and Tsubasa), on some variety show, and he had bleached blond hair, pale make-up, dark eyeshadow like a vampire, and blue contacts with white stars in the middle that made it EXTREMELY difficult to look at him without being uncomfortable. It looked like he was possessed.

On the subject of celebrities...I realized at lunch today in the cafeteria that Eiji Wentz's face is on our Chicken, French fries and hot dog vending machine (it's frozen food that you microwave). I thought it was his face when I was sitting there, but I wasn't about to get up just to check, lol. Then this evening, I remembered and told Emily, and she confirmed it for me, since she'd seen it, too. I think that's fantastic and both amusing.

Just having one class today (but spending a good part of the day in Azabu Hall), I noticed a lot of things. First of all, nearly all of the Japanese girls wore ridiculously high heels. It was kind of scary. The few I actually talked to during my Japanese Art class seemed pretty nice, though very quiet. The guys, too, dressed like Asian celebrities. (I only say "Asian" here because there's a definite difference between the way male Western celebrities dress and male Asian celebrities dress.) So many of them had styled hair, fur collars on their coats, earrings, pointy-toed shoes to make their feet look longer (I don't understand the attraction of that, honestly), and super-super trendy clothing. Britney and I got stuck walking behind two guys on our way to campus this morning, and one was really dressed up in the above-mentioned fashion, whereas the other had styled hair and more casual clothes. Britney was enjoying herself quite a bit, but I can't stand walking behind such slow people, so when the sidewalk finally widened, I walked past them so I could walk at a normal pace.

Anyway, today was just a mess, other than when I was sitting in class. All of the technology problems that could screw up screwed up, so I didn't get my TUJ ID until this afternoon when Maki secretly pulled Emily and Tamaria and I aside and said she could do our IDs since the system finally started working again...and we were the only ones still hanging around. I also had to change my Japanese Art class (listed under "Art History") so it was listed under "Asian Studies" since I didn't realize that the label mattered...since there's only one choice at Marlboro per class. I probably won't be able to even apply for my Alien registration until Thursday, because it takes forever to get to the Ward office and then get all the forms filled out, and there aren't exactly English-speaking people helping you, ironic as that may seem. I can't risk going between classes tomorrow, and I don't get out of class until 8:30pm.

My Japanese Art class shouldn't be too bad. The reading is completely ridiculous. 20-50 page per week, a 2-3 page paper due Feb. 5, two tests, an 8-10 page research paper due April 3, and then a take-home final exam that is 6-7 pages and due the day of the exam. There are two weekend-day field trips, one to a museum in Roppongi, and one in Ueno, neither which conflict with things I want to do, luckily! (Like the Laruku live I want to go to if I can ever acquire a ticket.) The weird thing about the professor is that her name is Carol...and she reminds me of Carol Hendrickson at Marlboro, in the way she talks and sounds, her mannerisms, and even the way she looks except her hair and face. It was kind of disorienting.

One thing I noticed during class was that the director guy (I don't remember his name or what his title is, but he talked to us during orientation) was absolutely right about the Japanese students holding back from raising their hands and talking in class. When I first got to class, I sat down next to one Japanese girl, and introduce myself. We talked a little before class started, and then another Japanese girl sat down on my other side (her friend had been saving her a seat). During class, whenever people raised their hands to answer questions, it was always an American student, except for once when this very forward Japanese guy answered a question. Then toward the end of class we separated into groups of four to answer the question, "Why do we decorate things?" and after a long, awkward silence I started talking, since I hate it when no one talks in the group I'm in. (This always happens at Marlboro, too, and I just don't understand why.) I managed to get them to talk a little bit after forcing another awkward silence after asking them a question. *dies* Also, one thing that surprised me is that the "participation" grade for the class doesn't have anything to do with whether you talk or not, but whether you are active in the class and you particpate when split into groups. I'm pretty sure the professor was directing that at the Japanese students.

Here's to hoping I can get my stupid alien registration card and Japanese health insurance before the 14-day deadline. I need a cell phone badly, not to mention a bike would be so, so useful. Tomorrow I can register for the trips, though. (I think.)

How's everyone doing? I have to admit that I don't really miss home yet. <.< Am I supposed to? Because I really don't. Not even the limited amount of food I've been able to get have made me want home-cooked Mommy meals yet. *laughs* I love it here, and I noticed that I already refer to the apartment as home when I'm in Minato-ku and saying, "When we get home..."

OH! We were visited by a Jehovah's Witness this evening! It was so awkward and scary! How in the world are you supposed to be polite to the Japanese woman and still be like, "Sorry, not interested!" If I was home, I just would turn around and shut the door in their face. Gaaah. Let's just hope she doesn't come again, and if she does, I'm going to tell Masa and see if he knows what to do about it.

(PS - Sorry, I've noticed I have a tendency to write a lot. I can't help it.)

The Longest Orientation Ever

Last night I fell asleep around 10:30...with the TV still on, which must mean I was exhausted...and then I woke up at 10am on the dot because my internal clock is awesome like that even when I didn't bother setting my alarm. (We had to be out waiting for our escort at 11:30am.)

We had another information session, this time about the culture and living in Japan. They talked a lot about how Japan has a high-context culture, and how we should be prepared to deal with the way Japanese people don't voice a lot of things because they assume you already know what they're thinking. The Japanese woman telling us all of this stuff was like, "You need to stop being agressive, and become passive agressive!" Which almost made me laugh, because I thought of all the problems we had last year in school because there was so much passive agression on both sides of the...well, if you were involved in it, you know what I'm talking about, but let's not talk about that here, okay? Anyway, there was a bunch of really interesting stuff we were told, but I'm too lazy to write about it, since it'll take too long.

One thing that'll be really cool, though, is that there's a Culture Exchange Program that I can sign up for, and they put us with Japanese students to get to know them and their culture, etc. It's also an opportunity for them to learn about American culture, since apparently the staff at TUJ always has students coming up to them and saying, "I really want to make Japanese/American friends, but they don't seem interested!" when the case is just that both sides are missing the connection point (since Americans are so direct, and the Japanese are very ambiguous and take a while to form close friendships). Since I'm pretty shy and have a hard time starting up an introduction with someone unless the situation calls for it, I think this is a very good idea. The application I have to fill out is pretty weird, though. It asks questions like "what qualities would you like your Exchange Partner to possess?" and "describe your usual week night/weekend activities." Emily and I sort of looked at each other when we read that and then she said, "I feel so depressed when I think about that!" My answers would probably be: homework...procrastinating on my homework, hanging with friends (while not actually doing anything at all), and watching shows that are either too scary or really vain.

At lunch-ish time, they fed us these weird bags of snacks and juice, and then didn't let us go until around 5pm. I was soooo hungry, because all I'd eaten all day was the one cinnamon roll from 7 Eleven and orange juice. After we were finally released, Britney and Emily went up to talk to Koyama-sensei about getting Japanese classes, and I waited for them. When Emily came down, she said I should go up and ask about my level, so I did, and Koyama-sensei said I did the right thing in signing up for the beginners course, since halfway through it would accelerate really fast, and I would still learn a lot. Emily said she has the text book I would be using, so I don't need to buy it (that's $40 saved, YES!) though I still need to get the workbook.

We finally got out and went to Shibuya (third day in a row, but I still love Shibuya) so Britney could buy a watch and then we searched all over for a cheap restuarant as we wasted away. Finally we settled on a restaurant that had you order your food buy pressing buttons on a machine near the door, and then giving the tickets to the chef. The waitress sat us in the back right by the cooking area...whereas almost everyone else was sitting near the front, lol. That kind of treatment doesn't really bother or surprise me, luckily. We're weird gaijin, so of course they're going to take precautions so they can watch us. Now, it may have been because I was starving, but the food was fantastic. I got fried rice and gyoza, and it came with some kind of onion soup that was really good. And for the first time I used my chopsticks the right way. Usually I use them the way I hold a pencil (with my fore and middle finger together on the top), but this time I automatically used them the right way, and I was so proud of myself. ^_^ Now, if only I could always do that....

My first class is tomorrow. Japanese Art. I have to go in earlier than my class, though, so I can get my student ID and find out about all of the other IDs and things I have to take care of. I need to figure out all of the kanji/kana symbols I'll need for withdrawing money from the ATMs, though, because most ATMs don't have English. Luckily I probably have about a week more before I'll really need to take money out, since I've only used about $130 so far. (I don't know if that's good or bad, though.) I'll have to buy books soon, and I need to get tote bag for carrying things around, since my backpack is just not very practical. Hopefully when I finally get a bike (and register it so I don't get arrested), it'll cut a lot of costs.

Another thing is that I need to sign up for the trips I plan on going on this semester. Emily and I want to go to Yokohama at the end of February, and since we can only really afford one of the bigger trips, we both decided to go on that one together. I'm also going to the "Nihon o kanjiru" which is a mini-culture workshop of traditional and modern Japanese art, aesthetics and pop culture, as well as a sake tasting event (not sure how much I'm up to that, with the way just having my pizza cooked with beer affected me). There will be one of the Yoshida Brothers (or involved with them? I can't remember) playing shamisen, which should be awesome. I love shamisen so much.

Anyway, it's getting late, and I need to be rested for class tomorrow, so I'll just finish my milk tea (Kirin's brand of milk tea is the best, it hasn't failed yet) and then go to bed.

Oyasuminasai!

cold, windy day

I still haven't adjusted to the time zone yet. I woke up at 6am this morning and couldn't fall asleep afterward, so after lying there for nearly two hours, I finally gave up and got up to shower. Then, in the middle of the day today, I was suddenly really exhausted and just wanted to fall asleep.

I left two hours early to go meet Max, since I wasn't confident in my ability to get to Roppongi Hills, and it was probably a good thing I did, even though I had about half an hour left before we said we'd meet. First of all, when I got to the bus stop, I couldn't figure out the bus schedule, even though I knew what nearly all of it said. The way it was set up was just confusing. I waited for what felt like a long time, and started getting really cold, and then when one bus came, I got on and asked the driver if he was going to my stop, and he told me the next bus would. Sure enough, the number finally matched up with what I wanted. I of course missed my stop because I forgot that the buttons you press light up after you press, and not when you're allowed to press them. I just got off at the next stop, though, and it was no problem. I found Roppongi Hills just fine as well, but I had half an hour to kill before Max would show up, so I went into the West Walk and got a Strawberry and Banana juice from Starbucks because I was really thirsty...and it was SO windy outside! It was like a wind tunnel, and when I walked out of the building, the wind literally pushed me back. It was also so loud that my ears hurt. I saw three different people lose their hats, haha.

Max brought a Korean friend with him (I honestly can't remember his name, and I feel really bad about that), and he was really nice. I've never met such a polite guy before. He was explaining that in Korea, it is very normal for guys to hold doors open for girls and let girls do things first, and always make sure they're all right...things like that. I'd heard something about that before, when watching a Japanese interview of DongBangShinKi, but I thought they were exaggerating. Anyway, Max's friend was very funny, too. Every time he decided that he was putting too much effort into figuring out how to say something, he would go, "Nevermind!" He said he loved that expression, and Max warned him to not say it too often.

First we went up to the 52nd floor of the building at Roppongi Hills to look at all of Tokyo. We could see all the way out to the harbor, and then all the way to the mountains. The first picture here makes Tokyo Tower look a lot taller than it is, I think. When I'm at campus, which is really close to Tokyo Tower, it's really easy to lose when it disappears behind a building.

The gallery we went to was very cool. Some of the work was average, but most of it was awesome. For instance, one artist used all neon colors to make these really intricate acrylic paintings, and another used stacked slides to make 3-D images of things like leaves, water, people, etc. Another used tons of metal drills and plates and cylinders to make what looked like a futuristic city.

After the gallery, we went to Shibuya, where we had lunch because it was past 2pm and I was starving. We went into this Italian restuarant and had personal pizzas that were apparently baked with beer? I'm really not sure, but I tasted it in the pizza. It didn't taste bad, but my radars went off, lol. I couldn't finish the whole thing, and both Max and his friend were happy to finish it for me. Once we had lunch, we went to Shibuya 109 to get my boots, but there were no black ones left, and even though I tried on the brown ones in their "large" size, they were too narrow. How did I know that was going to happen? Oh well.

We looked around for a bit, but they wanted to go to Harajuku at 4 , and I wanted to get home, so Max helped me get a train ticket back to Jiyugaoka. The train ride was fine, even with the change-over at Futako-tamagawa, but I then I got lost walking back. It was so frustrating, because all the fancy huge houses look the same to me with their stucco walls, flower bushes and gates infront of their expensive cars. I retraced my steps back to the station and then found my way, but I was really cold, tired and not in a good mood by the time I got back to my apartment. Emily's not here right now, so it's kind of lonely, but at least it's warm in here.

This is my apartment, standing in the front door shoe area. To the left is the toilet room, to the right is the shower/bath room, then there's the kitchen (with the trash separated into "combustible" and "non-combustible" by the wall), and then the bedroom, followed by the terrace. It's small, but I like it. I'm also happy about having the bottom bunk since I had the top all last semester at Marlboro.