Life and death, Skinny Love, Life and Death.

It's sunny days here in Tokyo now. Typhoon 9 came and went. It was nice having some rain in the summer, and boy did it rain! It was muggy the whole time, though, so the overall experience was not that pleasant.  Still, unseasonable weather amuses me.  

I went to Tokyo tower yesterday.  Apparently its a full 10 meters taller than the Eiffel tower.  I didn't know that.  They have this creepy mascot... it's a conehead. No joke.  I wish it had been clearer, but it's alright.  I'll be heading back there again with Jennifer most likely at night.  That'll be awesome.  On the way back from Hamamatsucho there was a delay on the Yamanote-sen.  Chihiro said that based on the announcement being made, it was likely a suicide jump onto the train tracks.  Morbid.

School gets out an hour early today to go to the Natural Disaster Building.  Rumor is that there's an earthquake simulator there.  I'll let you know when I get back if I have the skills to not die in a major earthquake here.

Speaking of earthquakes, we've had quite a few lately starting Sunday with a 7.1.   Monday an 8.something hit around 5am and Thursday some kind of tiny aftershock came.  I barely felt anything on any of these instances.  Buildings in Japan are built on sliding foundations, so buildings shift with the ground.  The higher floors just kind of shuffle around, but it maintains balance.  It was interesting being inside the building while that happens. 

I found out that Taiko Center of Kyoto's main branch is located about 2 minutes from where I'll be living! I may have to pay for lessons, but that's something I'll have to decide after making a decent budget.  If I can't find anywhere else to play for free, then I may just do it.  Maybe I'll take some lessons even if I can find another place to play...

Anyway, I love and miss everyone so much! I'm hanging out with Jannice and Hiro tonight for Jannice's birthday.  We're going to hang in Shinjuku.  Should be fun.  I can't wait.

Shoot me an email if you have time! I'd love to hear about life back home, no matter how mundane. A year is an awful long time to be left out of the loop. 

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

like a drug

I hung out with Jannice today!! It was tons of fun.  We went to Harajuku and did some shopping then made our way over to Ikebukuro for some dessert.  

Harajuku was a bit disappointing.  I'd heard that Sunday was the day to go to see all the cosplaying weirdos, but all we got were some greasers.  Don't get me wrong, they were entertaining as hell, but I really wanted to see a dude in a maid costume or something.  

Ikebukuro was awesome. They have some great cheap stores. I got some awesome glasses and an aluminum water bottle for ¥600! The dessert bar we went to was called Milky Way. I had an amazing chocolate ice cream-banana-whip cream-pastry puff cookie-date nut-split-thing. It was good.  Too good.  

I'm gonna get fat here for sure.

I got my cell phone (ケータイ) on Friday! It's sooooo cooooool! It's got touch screen capabilities, live TV, email, internet, texting, infrared info transfer, and a 5 megapixel camera! Annnnd, I can unlock it and use it in the US on a US plan... at least that's what I've been led to believe. 

Now that I have a ケータイI can go places and it doesn't matter if I get lost! I can just CALL my friend and get directions.  It was a good thing I had it today or I would never have found Jannice.

I told her hanging out with old friends is like taking a drug.  It's awesome while you're with them, riding the high, but the come down sucks. Now I'm a bit homesick and feeling a bit lonely.  

So I'm posting and organizing and cleaning to keep myself busy till the withdrawals are gone.... and then I'll see them on Friday.  I'm addicted to my friends.  It's a problem.

I've been making some new friends too.  Jennifer and Kevin along with Jeremy.  They're all going to Doshisha.  Jennifer and Jeremy are in the same housing as me and Kevin is... not.  But they're lots of fun and I'm excited to have such awesome people for this year. 

That's all I got for now. Love until later.

bu bu bu bu... er!

So Japan is pretty cool. The first few days were rough. I was missing people a whole lot, but just recently I started to settle in. I was able to listen to As Tall As Lions and not cry. There are still times that it's hard-- nighttime tends to be the hardest, but then again it always has been.

I wandered around Akihabra the other day. The good deals are off the main drag. I randomly went directions down back-alley vendors till I found some good shops. I found a computer fan for 780 yen while most of the ones in the department store are 8000 yen+.

Today we went as a group to Harajuku. Japanese fashion is interesting. They love ruffles and billowy things and nothing really matches. I found a couple of shirts for a REALLY good price. But to be honest I bought them because I had to break a large bill for an ice cream crepe.

Classes are going well. I got placed in a rather low course, but I'm alright with it. These placements don't carry over to Doshisha and my basics could use some refreshing. I have three different teachers and all of them are pretty funny.

I'm starting to think I'm going to get fat here in Japan. The food is so good... I can't help but eat a bunch. I think what will keep me skinny is my skinny wallet.

Speaking of wallets, money is kind of annoying here. They have large denomination coins. I'm so used to coins being fractions of dollars that it's hard to connect in my mind how much I'm actually spending when I use those coins.

I met up with Hiro. That was super fun even though we didn't do too much. Getting a cell phone is going to be the death of me. We walked around shinjuku station for a bit while Hiro recited "pussy pussy pussy pussy..." It was quite amusing, but I don't care as much as he did when we were spouting "Tekkoki." I told him he was uptight. He half-heartedly agreed.

I haven't gotten to meet up with Jannice yet which is sad. I'm hoping Sunday maybe, but we'll see if she's feeling up to it. Saturday I go climbing at Takanaosan. It'll be a good workout. Maybe I'll work off some of this delicious food.

I'll write again Friday maybe, but probably Sunday in all actuality.

I love and miss you all! More pictures when I get my computer back!

the good and the bad: Stage 3

So I've arrived in Japan!!

It's got it's awesome points and it's sucky points. I'm having loads of fun, made some new friends. I miss home and family and FRIENDS, but I'm doing alright. My room is small, but comfy. It's good to have my own place to retreat to.

Class seems a bit simple, but I could probably use the review. My teacher the last day was cool, but I think we'll be switching around.

So far I've been to Shibuya, Akihabara, Shinjuku (kinda) Musashi-Sakai, and Kameido. I haven't really been too many places, but I've only been here for a few days.

My jet lag is pretty much over with, which is good. For the first couple of days I was awake at 5am and sleepy by 10pm.

I went to Shibuya today, but not under the circumstances I would have liked. I went to go get my computer taken care of. I tried to turn it on last night and it went to the screen of death for macs. I restarted it 15 different ways and it was all the same. So we went in today to get it looked at and they told me it was either the motherboard or the hard disk, neither of which is good. I can't imagine what happened. But it's getting fixed for free and I should be up and running again in about 5 days. Right now I'm on my friend's computer, so i think I'll call it quits for tonight.

Love you all and I'll post again when I can!

The Day of Reckoning

I've said almost all of my goodbyes. Taiko is over for now, the room is clean, the bags are packed, and the partying has been had. Tomorrow is my last day in the states for the next year. I'm not too sure how to feel about that...

I'll miss my family and friends for sure, but I think I'll do alright over there. As long as I have Mr. Rabbit, I'll be okay.

This last year has been full of laughter, tears, stress and hard work all leading up to this point. The next time I post on here, I'll be in Japan.

Thanks everyone and I love you all!

See you on the flip-side.