Richard Gere, My Professor

There's a professor here who looks like a younger Richard Gere. No one else sees it, but they have the same hair color, face shape, and body stature. I've decided to call him ギア先生 (Gere-sensei).

I Love Nagoya Port

I had a really nice, relaxing Saturday. I woke up around 9 or 10 to an invitation via text message to have an apartment-cooked meal with my friends. My boyfriend and I had planned to spend the day together, so when he came over, we both went to the lunch. It was really nice to spend time with both my friends and my boyfriend. And the food was nice.

After lunch, my boyfriend and I went to Nagoya Port just to hang out. When we got there, it was too close to closing time to go to the aquarium, so we just walked around outside, looked at the sea, and saw the different statues and things scattered around the area. We also went to the souvenir shop, where I spent quite a bit of time looking at all the adorable stuffed animals. XP I got a small, round, adorable penguin and an equally adorable penguin cell phone charm for a friend that still didn't have any cell phone charms. There is an adorable beluga whale stuffed animal for ￥1,000 that I'll go back and get some day soon. (Did I say "adorable" enough? Adorable.)

I love Nagoya Port. It was overcast yesterday, so there weren't a lot of people, and it was so relaxing. I want to go back soon. I hope the next time can be as relaxing.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time. I was craving a bacon cheeseburger, so we went to a restaurant one station over from my apartment, and I ate the most amazing burger. The menu was basically all American dishes like tacos and chili fries, so I can imagine I'll be going there often to get a bit of comfort food. I'm so glad I was able to have a bacon cheeseburger. I also had a bottle of Coke. I felt revived. I've been starting to exit the "honeymoon phase" of living in Japan and going into the "I'm not happy here" phase, but being able to retreat into my comfort zone a bit has refreshed my spirit. I'm ready to do my best.

Tomorrow's Monday, which means my Japanese classes finally start. I'm so psyched. Bring it on!

Nice Life, Bad Day

Since the last time I wrote, I have done three of the four things I said I hadn't done in the last post: gotten trash cans, gotten a rice cooker, and gone to karaoke!

The trash cans and rice cooker are godsent -- I never thought about how nice it is to have trash cans for my trash bags, and having a rice cooker means I can make complete meals on my own instead of spending a lot on restaurant meals or pre-cooked rice at the grocery store.

Karaoke was a lot of fun. I went with five other international students that live in the apartment building. We all had average singing voices, lucky for me, except for one Korean guy who blew the rest of us away. But even with my average singing, I still impressed a few people by singing "Linda Linda" by the Blue Hearts for the first song. ;)

I've had a bad day today. I want to talk about it, but it's mostly too personal. Let's just say a bunch of normal problems all happened within one day. I'm having some emotional issues with my boyfriend, a couple of my friends, and some other smaller things that, on any other day, wouldn't be as big of a deal. Let me also say that "Adam's Song" by Blink-182 is not a good song to listen to when you're having a bad day. Having it on repeat is also a bad idea.

Japanese classes finally start on Monday. Bring them on! My Japanese has actually gotten worse since I've been in Japan. I think the only new Japanese I've gained since I've been here is 「着て見てもいいですか？」 I've designated that the most useful Japanese phrase I've learned so far. I have a second and third most useful phrase, but, of course, I can't remember them now I want to write them down.

The typhoon wasn't really a big deal, by the way. It was really windy starting at two or three in the morning. When I woke up at 10am, it was a beautiful day. It was probably the most beautiful day I've ever experienced in Japan so far.

My friends and I thought the typhoon was going to be really bad, so we stayed up together until maybe 4am, watching Disney's Mulan and the first few episodes of Scrubs. I stayed up later than 4am, though, which was unfortunate because the wind got the worst at 5am, and I get really scared and shaky with strong wind. I talked with my boyfriend and friends via text message for a while and eventually fell asleep around 6am.

The best thing that came from the night of the typhoon is that one of my friends, a guy from Germany, is now hooked on Scrubs, and so a few of us sometimes stay up late to watch a few episodes. x)

In other news, I can't figure out how to record videos on my laptop that DON'T have unsynchronized video and sound. UGH.

The First Weeks

I've been in Japan now for nearly three weeks now, and I haven't written a blog. Well, I wrote a blog a couple of weeks ago, but I decided I wouldn't bore you guys with the small details of my first week here. Really, they would bore you.

So, instead of making a long blog catching you up with my life so far, I'd thought I'd utilize one of my favorite scheduling/organizing methods and make a list of things I have and haven't done.

What I have done:

• bought a bike
• bought an electronic dictionary
• registered as an alien resident
• organized my trash to comply with Nagoya's high standards
• visited the local super at least twice a day since I've moved in
• sipped mango juice out of a juice box while soaking my feet in 45 degree C water
• caught a cockroach in a cockroach trap made to look like a house
• become awesome at at using chopsticks
• become awesome at navigating the train and subway systems
• eaten four types of fish all in one meal (even though I hate fish)
• taught a German international student how to do the moonwalk in the middle of an electronics store
• regularly rode my bike to and from campus, a 15 to 20 ride and includes one hill
• seen a parade celebrating the four founders of Japan
  
• been asked twice to exchange information with English-speaking Japanese people who want to make foreigner friends...

Things I haven't done:

• gotten trash cans
• gotten internet in my apartment
• gotten a rice cooker
• gone to karaoke
  

I can't think of other things right now, but there is more, of course.

Classes haven't officially started yet. I mean, they've started, but we haven't registered.... Classes are in a shopping period until Wednesday, and Japanese language classes don't start until the week after next. I'm tired of being in this limbo where I either have too much to do or nothing to do. Today I have no classes, nothing to do all day. I've already done the homework for the classes I've already attended. Imagine that.

Here's something: a typhoon should be here this weekend. Awesome. My boyfriend's coming over to my apartment tonight to make sure the sliding glass doors will hold up if the storm comes here, and we're also going to buy food and water and flash lights.

I don't mean to sound apathetic or upset. It's just that the weather's been cloudy and crappy lately. I love being here. Even with the culture shock starting to develop, I'm glad I'm here.

Douche-Bag Blog

This is why I didn't really want to keep a blog while I was here in Japan. One of the fellow international students here from the US is a complete DOUCHE BAG, and he keeps a blog. I FEAR for the kind of arrogant and judgmental shit he writes on it. Jesus Christ.