Adventures in the Looking Glass

Just re-posting the forthcoming list so I don't have to trawl though entries to remind myself what I'm doing.


Day 11 - What did you find most overrated and underrated about Japan?
Day 12 - Describe a fail!gaijin moment. (Where you did something wrong or completely misunderstood because you couldn't ~read the air~ or just plain had no idea what you were supposed to do because you weren't born and raised here) Describe a gaijin!smash moment .(Where your foreignness was to your benefit)
Day 13 - -Something about Japan that sets it apart from anywhere else.
Day 14 - What is the hardest thing about living in Japan versus your home country?
Day 15 - Weirdest food item you've seen, and weirdest food item you've actually eaten.
Day 16 - How you realised you'd acclimated to Japan. (if you have)
Day 17 - Your karaoke top 5, your sushi top 5, your conbini top 5.
Day 18 - Post some amusing/cute/faily purikura.
Day 19 - Your favorite Japanese character(s) and Gachapon/UFO Catcher toys
Day 20 - Favorite Japanese festival or folklore.
Day 21 - Favorite and least favorite Japanese fashion trends.
Day 22 - Your favorite Japanese saying or kotowaza (proverb).
Day 23 - What is something you have/do in Japan that you wish you had/could do in your home country?
Day 24 - Your favorite Japanese slang or borrow-word (外来語), e.g. セフレ "sex friend"
Day 25 - Most interesting vending machine find.
Day 26 - What's your favorite/least favorite train line.
Day 27 - Place you avoid going to if at all possible.
Day 28 - A picture of you looking like a weaboo/A picture of you trying to blend in and failing.
Day 29 - What's the thing you [will] miss most about Japan when you leave (either on vacation, or move away)?
Day 30 - Did Japan meet your expectations, both good and bad? What has been the most surprising thing about Japan for you, or the thing you least expected?

My house in shaking.  Not from an earthquake, but from a building site just down the road.  Most irritating it is at 9am.

Japanese class went well.  Apparently I haven't forgotten that much, as I my teacher very kindly kept telling me how impressed she was.  Still, I had some trouble getting my words out and had to stop and think a few times, but I didn't spot too many grammatical errors - apart from dropping particles (which Japanese people do a lot anyway) I was OK.

I'm gonna cook a spicy tomato and garlic sauce and then I'm heading off to a party.  Hurrah!

I've just managed to make myself miserable by taking another mini-grammar test.  It was the worst one I've done yet.  In fact, one section I scored exactly ZERO on.  I'm beginning to wonder whether I should actually sit the Japanese test in December or not.  It actually seems that the more I study, the worse I do.  I may actually have more luck by randomly selecting answers than thinking about them.

I guess I will end up doing the exam as it cost 6000yen to apply for, and then an extra 10000yen or so in study texts.  And the sheer amount of effort I'm putting into studying will be totally wasted if I don't give it a go.  I just don't want to get the result in the post with a big FAIL written across it.

Hmmm.  What to do???? 

In other news, Friday November 6th was my 3 year anniversary in Japan.  I'm not really sure what this means, but it has coincided with a rather strong bout of itchy feet.  People asked if I did anything to celebrate.  On Friday night I went home and studied, but last night I was invited for a drink with a co-worker and a couple of students who were having a mini-leaving party.  I had a beer and then went home and studied some more.  Perhaps I'm studying too much.  I've already done about 3 hours today and it's only 2pm.  In fact, I do feel a little brain-dead.  Maybe I should go and play on Farmville...

It seems like a good while since I actually made a proper post about anything other than what my favourite colour is, or what kind of mythical creature I may be. I'm not going to promise one now. More a brief summary.

Firstly, I guess some apology for the absence of excitement going on here. I left you hanging with the "getting kicked out of the gym" story, but you're gonna have to wait. One of the reasons I've been quiet for so long is that I have been frantically studying for my Japanese exam for the past couple of months. It took place yesterday, and as I walked out of the university building back to the train station a considerable weight was lifted from my hunched shoulders. I've spent much of the past couple of months trying to get verb and adjective conjugations into my head, along with some kanji, and the pesky katakana which still continues to evade my brain despite looking at the damn stuff for over two years. The past two weeks I banned anything but Japanese books as train reading, and pretty much everything else got thrown to the sidelines as well. So, I am now determined to get back to some kind of normality. If my paycheck had been anything other than blisteringly disappointing this month, I would also be attempting to have some fun. But we can't have everything, can we?

The other reason for the silence and the hunched shoulders is the "slump" I've been having for the past month or two. Life alone and abroad has peaks and toughs, but I think this is the longest and deepest trough I've had to brave. I think it all actually began with getting kicked out the gym, and since then I've been feeling rather defensive and grouchy about everything. I don't wish to trivialize it, as it's not really very funny having to get up in the morning and immediately deal with a barrage of abuse from my own brain; nor do I want to be dramatic, as I'm not exactly about to throw myself in front of the next Keikyu Line train either (though I am tempted to get myself a shotgun and take out some old-ladies on bicycles). That's why I made the post a few days ago asking for someone to remind me about some good stuff. I've learned how to get myself out of these things, even if it does take me a while to realise what's going on. Anyway, thanks to the TWO people who could think of something nice. You reminded me of a couple of things I'd forgotten about, so I'll be taking that all on board.

As usual, I don't seem to have any money. Last month I saved 30000yen towards my emergency money fund (just in case I need to get out of Japan). However, last months' highly unusual paycheck, a whopping 40000yen more than this month, gave me a false sense of solvency which has been rudely squashed this month. (My friend in Nagoya, who also seems to never have any money, has it worse than me, though. She told me the other day that her weight goes up and down by half a stone every month depending on whether it's the start or the end, as this dictates how much money she has for food - and she has more money than me!). It sucks that it has to be December, when most people are partying hard and I need new things like socks, and new bed sheets and pillows. Maybe Santa will send me some stripey socks?

Anyway, given that I've been silent for so long I'm going to make you a list of things I need to tell you about:

1) Getting kicked out the gym
2) Going to Osaka and having a fabulous time in a forest
3) Some thoughts on books and films and music
4) Err, other stuff - like crazy people on the train, how much I hate old ladies, and why old men love me.

So I promise to get round to all that, as well as Xmas cards ASAP.

A nice thing to finish. I went to the bakery (which also has a huge coffee bean selection) near my house tonight, and after getting my loaf of bread sliced they gave me coffee for no other reason than that I was there. So I sat at a table surrounded by bread, coffee and Japanese crockery, and drank black bitter coffee out of a dainty little cup. Then they gave me calendar on my way out. I'm going there more often on a Monday night.

That cool picture with the eye of the typhoon over Kyushu has now blown itself to bits. The link looks boring now. This morning it's, so far, cool and windy, but then I am sitting in just my knickers writing this so who knows what it's like with clothes on. You really didn't need to know that.

On Thursday night Andrew, myself, and my new area leader (read 'boss'), Bruce, went out for dinner. At 3am Bruce and I called it a night, leaving Andrew with his 3rd bottle of that dirtiest of drinks - Shochu. I came in to work at 11am on Friday and was met by the lady from the mochi shop who informed me that she had found Andrew passed out in front of the school at 6am. His glasses were strewn across the pavement, along with his iPod and phone. (I found his headphones on the step as I was opening up, but thought he had merely dropped them on his way out.) She went on to tell me that he began to vomit profusely and that she had to wash it off the pavement, hence why there was little evidence of this left to be found.

Word got round to the hotel as Bruce walked in calling Andrew a "monkey" after being informed of the same when he awoke. And this is the thing about living in Ina - EVERYONE knows. Not that I should particularly care as it was not me passed out.

Andrew went to the mochi shop yesterday and the guy in there said: " It's okay, you're young. If you were an old man, that would be dangerous."

More later when I get my photos back - not of Andrew being sick, obviously - birthday photos, ne.

Oh, I'm having a private Japanese lesson on Monday. Quite nervous and excited, but I'm hoping it will unstick my mouth, which continues to have trouble when I'm trying to talk. I have the words, my brain and mouth just can't put them together when it's necessary.

And I have to set my keyboard to Japanese. Or get the Japanese option available...

No, not really.



This is the shortest I've had the front of my hair since I had a fringe when I was 20.

My appointment went very well, and I'm pleased to say I managed part of it in Japanese. Go me.

Next, henna.