ゴカイが多い

As a result of countless, numerous misunderstandings and misrepresentations, I have finally come to the conclusion that life isn't as horrid as it was once before. I have decided to strike out a new path of just not giving a damn whenever I must bow my head or apologize for something that I have no clue whatsoever about.

*shrug*

Life with the Matsumoto's isn't mind numbingly terrible but it was a far cry from both of our expectations. The problem that we faced was that we both came to the negotiation table with our hands empty but our minds filled with preconceived notions of what the other would do. As for me, I had expected at the very least internet and the freedom to do laundry as I pleased, however I pleased. Well, boo hoo for me, I'll cope. Okaa-san shares the same love of doing laundry with me and as far as trying to evoke her time, I won't. She really needs the break that doing it gives her and I think as much as she hates the title of "shufu" and the negative connotations it brings up, she's proud of her work and would like to do it as she pleases. Internet is and will likely forever be an issue as they hadn't encountered one who is as addicted to the "now" as me before. To them, the Internet is a luxury that they don't quite partake of because they don't really have a true use for it.

It turns out that every time I trying to be polite, I ended up rude. For every snide comment I did make, I hit my target. But, if you're going to call me names, just expect the same treatment in return. I am human, and although laden with faults, I feel that one of my strong points is that if you step on me long enough, I will bite back. I'm like a puppy. Kick me too long and I'll snap yapping and yipping like crazy.

For every suggestion to a problem that I thought we had, Okaa-san shot down, so the ball's in her court. She wants me to look forward to coming home everyday, which will either develop or not, and I want to be free in my own space. There will likely be more problems developing forthwith, but with my new laissez-faire attitude, I should coast on by without too many bumps.

I need to run to class now.

*trippity hoppity drops*

- T

P.S. I made it into G-Splash! Although I have no idea what that actually means...

無視されている：＾＾”

Howdy doo folks,

Today is the beginning of the finely exhausting journey of balancing time between classes, family, and clubs. Today is also the day that I’m being ignored by my host mom and sister, and that I will explain later on in this post. So, let us backtrack to where I last abandoned all of you dedicated readers, of which there are only a mere handful.

Well, after G-Splash practice on Friday, I was right exhausted and willing to pass out on my feet. I got home, ate dinner, took a shower, did my after-shower routine, and then brought my compie downstairs to reach the wireless signal there. As tired as I was, I stayed up way later than usual to just enjoy the fact that I had full access to the world again. I told Okaa-san that I would out tomorrow from 2.30-5.00 for Arukoukai. She nodded.

The following morning, following a deliciously simple breakfast that I cannot recall, I hopped on into my room and cleaned for like 1.5 hours. I vacuumed, organized my trash, tidied my closet, and changed my sheets. I also dropped a load of colors into the laundry the very second that I could. Afterwards, I head back downstairs with my compie in tow and played around with the network until noon. My Okaa-san just kind of looked at me as 11.30am rolled around and was like, “Why aren’t you gone yet? Won’t you be late?” I told her it’s from 2.30 to 5.00, so she just nodded again.

I got this text from Jeannette about last night. We were to meet up with Mami, from G-Splash who does House, and her friend, Nanae in Shinjuku at 7/7.30. I figured that if my Arukoukai thing ended at 5.30 and it takes about 1 hour each way to get home and back, I may as well stay on campus with them and kill some time until we met up at an izakaya. I got dressed, as best as I could knowing that I was dressing at like 1.30 and would have to look good from 2.30 until whatever time I got home. I told Okaa-san I was staying out late tonight with friends. She asked about dinner, and I responded that I would probably not need it. She nodded.

Arukoukai was fun. It was lots of games and just overall chilling. They, too, had another nomikai, but in favor of my friends, I politely declined. After Arukoukai, I went out in search of Jeannette and Hunter who were both supposed to be at Sophia for Shyuurenji Kenpo. I could find neither, so I decided to take a walk to Shinjuku to waste some time before the evening began. I ended meeting up with Jeannette later and we ate some yakitori that REALLY WASN’T YAKITORI but more like YAKI-liver,intestine,something(?). We eventually met up with Mami and Nanae and Hunter after a long delay.

Right when we met up, I got a message from Okaa-san, and have translated below:

Subj: About Dinner
I have prepared Teresa’s dinner. I’m sorry, but please eat dinner around 9.00pm. Because I have tried my very best to make this meal, as time passes, the flavor and texture of the meal will decline. Please come home early/soon.

In Japanese:

夕食について
テレサの夕食を用意してあります。すみませんが夕食は９時頃迄に食べてください。一生懸命に、お料理していますので時間が経つと味も食感も落ちます。早く帰ってくださいね。

My response:

I’m sorry, but I just met up with my friends. Because I thought I said to you that I would be out late tonight, I told you that I would not need dinner. I’m sorry about tonight’s dinner, but I will be unable to eat it. I’m sorry for being a bother.

In Japanese:

すみませんが友達に会ったばかりです。お母さんに今晩遅く帰ると言ったと思いますので夕食はいらないと言ったんです。今晩の夕食はごめんなさいが食べられません。ご迷惑かけてごめんなさい。

Following that lovely little exchange, we headed to a new izakaya with our new friends and as the night progressed, I checked with them to see whether I was just crazy or my Okaa-san really is that much of a loon. Turns out, she is. They were both quite shocked at what I was telling them and then asked me, “What’s wrong with her?” In order to avoid any conflict following my arrival home, I was determined to get as teetotaled as possible. I failed, miserably, but still had a happy glow about my face that would protect me from most questions/accusations.

I spent most of the night laughing and chilling with our new friends and it was great that they were so nice and just laid back. There was no false fronts and backwards smiles. Very very refreshing. I heard Hunter do his tranny voice, which is as ridiculous as it sounds and caused Nanae to flip out with laughter for more than a minute. The most funny thing I could recall was how as we, the DK 2 and I, were separating, Jeannette’s Japanese had gone just a bit south as a result of our excursion and as she said じゃね！[see ya later!] it sounded like “JOHNNY!” I laughed, reminded of my own little brother, and we parted by throwing some “Johnny’s” at each other.

Well, I got home. The entire house was dark. It was like 12.05ish. Otou-san opened the door for me. Okaa-san was nowhere to be seen. I did my night routine of shower, teeth, and hair, and passed out, kind of. I think the Tylenol Jeannette gave me may have had some caffeine in it, so I couldn’t sleep at all until I took a magical pill bearing the white letters of Unisom. I was also as sick as a dog last night. My throat burned. My nose was so stuffed I couldn’t breathe. It was, to sum it up, a wretched night.

I woke up this morning feeling fan-freakin’-tastic compared to what I went through last night. When I just went down to eat breakfast, I said good morning to all family members and Otou-san was the only one that acknowledged my existence. Even when I said Itadakimasu, with Okaa-san in the room, I was ignored. Heck, by the time I began tucking into my meal, all females had bolted from the same room as me and I finished my breakfast in peace. *shrugs*
I’m definitely not about to broach that topic. I think I’ve learned my lesson now. I’ll just give everything to her in writing from now on so that there’s no way for her to misunderstand me. She was the one who brought up the fact that she should return $70 to me for the meals I will miss for the next week. She hasn’t mentioned it since and actually shows no intention of giving anything back to me. I had told her I didn’t really care about whether or not she paid me back as I hadn’t entered this homestay with the intent of reclaiming the meals I paid for. However, if she was the one who found fault with both my actions and reasoning, would it not make sense for her to pay me back as quick as possible to salve her own desire to be morally right?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH~ well…

*grins*

I have like 1.5 hours to do a week’s worth of hw. WISH ME LUCK!!

*breaks out her red hot and SPICILY new denshi JISHO*

- T

こうざゲット

*pops and locks her way onto center stage*

Hello ladies and gentles,

Today, I GOT A BANK ACCOUNT WITH MIZUHO!!! YESSS~

The first time I went, I was missing a hanko, the second time, I was missing my Gaijin Card, and now that I had both and half of a day free, I decided to hike it through the nasty, windy, misty rain to see how I would fare. I also needed to exchange some moola to enjoy myself with as my cousins and I bizounce around Tokyo for a week between classes, tests, readings, homework, and dance practice. *huffs*

Uhm, yeah, the exchange rate? Saddening. Definitely. 99.59/dollar. gross, no? *shiver mee'z timbers*

I was feeling quite perky after succeeding at my little venture and blew 1050yen on 3 very cute towels for my personal use at home. I figure the more towels I have, the less I will have to reuse the ones I have, leaving them to develop less of a pungent odor by the time the weekend rolls on by.

Oh, let's continue with the Matsumoto drama, now shall we?

- I told my Okaa-san last night that I would be eating out with my family that's visiting from America from Sunday until the following Saturday. They're here for a week and while I may not be able to break fast with them in the morning, I sure can in the evenings at my own leisure. Well, her response to me was at first and very entranced/confused blank look. And then she asked me if I had read through the Homestay/Study Abroad Student Rule Packet thoroughly. I said, sure, just tell the family 3 days in advance or so right, to which she responded that I should give my packet a closer gander before approaching her again. Well, then she broke right into the problem she had with me eating out for a week, which was the money she would have to return to me as I would not be eating with the family for more than 3 consecutive days (or meals, I forget) and informed her beforehand of the fact. I've already skipped 2 meals previously, choosing instead to grab my own grub (McDonald's and the take out from Wakana) and she had nothing to say then. Technically, she would have to refund me 7,000 yen, 1,000yen/dinner.
She looked very put out by that fact. But, when I told her that I didn't really give a care (別にかまわないよ）, she just looked at me again, froze as if confused, and then announced, "Oh! It must be because you're rich." She then proceeded to throw in some spicy supports like, "But, Teresa, it isn't your money, so you shouldn't be so free with it!" I told her that my parents had paid that money in order for me to experience life abroad with a family completely unlike my own. She was like, "But, it's such a waste of your parents' money!" I was like, "Uh, I'm not rich. My parents both work really hard, and they have done so their entire lives in order for me to be happy and grow into a decent person (which I have)."
Okaa-san just wouldn't let go of the opinion that I must be very wasteful with my parents' money because I didn't care if she didn't give it back to me. I even added that because I use the hair dryer every night and do a bunch of other things, that it all adds up in the end. She just gave my a brows down look of deep disappointment and was like, "But, your parents already paid for that. It's a part of the fee they paid." Yeah, I know! The meals are also a part of the fee they paid, but if I'm not eating and am instead in want of doing 2 loads of laundry a week, wouldn't it make more sense to just keep the money and then let me do my laundry in exchange?
Well, after that, the conversation dissolved into a segue that had absolutely nothing to do with me not eating dinner at home for a week and her having to (being expected to by those at the Study Abroad Office here at Sophia) return the money to me for not eating. She started saying how bright I was and how much she was studying/learning from just living me me, essentially using me to see how life on the flipside might be. Like, when she warm water washed instead of cold water and was so shocked by how much more clean her clothes turned out. She just kept complimenting me over and over again. It was, by the end of 15 minutes of conversation, a waste of time.
I brought the topic up again this morning, after having re-read the packet thoroughly the night before and told her that "I would not be needing dinner from THIS SUNDAY to NEXT SATURDAY." She just looked at me and said, " I wish you would say it more clearly." *sighs* *laughs* I don't get it, either she really doesn't understand what I'm saying half the time, or she's just pretending not to in order to get me to back off.
I've realized that every time I broach a topic that makes her the least bit uncomfortable, she jumps into a monologue about how busy she is everyday, how hard she has it with Meimi who won't do everything she says, and how I'm such a "bright" (明るい) person. My mother has worked 13 hour/days for most of her life. She struggled in a country where she knew nothing of the language, the culture, or the rules of the world she moved into. Whenever I look at how hard my mother had it and compare it to what Okaa-san does everyday, there is no comparison. I honestly don't see how her life could be so hard. Yes, housework takes up a lot of time, and a housewife in Japan is expected to buy groceries everyday. But, if my mom could do it with 3 kids at home, most of whom that went through "rebellious" periods so extreme that even Meimi could never fathom it, what the hell does she do all day? Her busiest hours are in the morning and evening. She has all afternoon and then some to catch up on sleep if necessary and do housework, most of which is automated in terms of the dishwasher and laundry machine. The bath, I think, takes up the most time to clean. Other than that, I know that she doesn't clean house everyday, so seriously woman, where does your time go?

- Okaa-san does laundry EVERY SINGLE DAY. There is no way on Earth that her daily loads are bigger than my weekly ones, and yet she wants me to save up my dirty, smelly, sweat-soaked clothes for days at a time until the load is satisfactorily large. Honey, you have a 3-person family who all wear single layers, as in one shirt, one pants, one pair of socks, etc. I do LAYERS, so each outfit I wear and sweat in is actual MULTIPLES of what your family wears. Kettle? Meet the POT.

That's it with my incredibly amusing/frustrating account of life with the Matsumoto's. I've been ranting and raving to anybody who would listen to me this past week, SORRY DK AND MIA!!! But, the good thing is that I'm not alone in my crazy opinion. This family does have some issues and who knows... maybe I'll become so numb to it that I won't let it bother me anymore. If not, apparently DK is always open.

I don't know why, but it's a trait of the Japanese that they never tell you anything directly. This leads to major problems with people who are like me, those who are accustomed to being direct and forthright with what they want, what they will do, and what they really think. Whenever the slightest blip of discomfort arises, a random digression is inserted in the conversation to divert the speaker from their original intent and try to cause a long case of LET'S FORGET IT, SHALL WE?

Bah! Maybe it's an American thing, I don't know.

This weekend was looking to be majorly packed with fun and distraction, but due to Jeanette's failing well-being and my extreme case of exhaustion, I am skipping Amity's Nomikai tonight in order to make all of G-Splash dance practice. Tomorrow is Arukoukai's Welcome Party from 2.30-5.30. Sunday is Danny and Rosanna time! But, most of my morning is free, allowing me to do most of my homework in advance and get my laundry all washed up for the following week.

OOOOOOOKAY~ I'll leave it here.

*floppity flops*

- T

雨が嫌い

HELLLLLLO~

I hate rain. It's true. It's also quite unfortunate that we'll be having a full month of the stuff, by which time I will have to had acquired a relatively amazing set of rain boots to survive the horror that is TSUYU - rain season .

Today was pretty decent. Lots of running around for classes, trying to grab a meal before class starts while jostling with loads of other college students striving for the same thing.

I went to try to get some money exchanged today after my 3.00 class and unfortunately realized rather belatedly that all banks in Japan close by 3pm. They also open at 9am, which makes the 1 hour I have between classes to be the only time I can ever go to get shiz done.

Cousins are coming Sunday. This weekend was supposed to be chock full of fun, but it is gradually clearing up as Jeannette has fallen ill and my club activities are coming into their full power.

I need to jump on over to G-Splash soon.

Oh yeah, new page in the saga of my life with the Matsumoto's:

- I can only do laundry once a week. This may seem realistic to many of you, but if you remember how bad I freaked about my laundry from previous posts, it's now my goal to be safe rather than sorry. I am essentially busy up the wazoo for the next week and a half, so I asked my Okaa-san to do me the favor of washing my laundry for me, to which she promptly refused. "Be more of an adult." and "I'm too busy." were her replies. She's a shufu who stays home all day and the most time consuming thing she did yesterday was getting her hair cut. Seriously. *shrug* If worse comes to worse, I'll just find a coin laundry nearby and get my clothes washed there.

- Otou-san put a chain around the cabinet in the main living room. This chain was not there when I first moved in. When I finally noticed this chain and asked Okaa-san about it, she looked away. I followed with, "Oh! Is it for when robbers come in?" to which she replied with a silence weighed with very sound implications.

That's it. It's 5 now. Need to bizounce.

*hip hops her way on oooooout*

- T

あの．．．怒ってる？

4.13.08

今日はヒマ

Hmm… so I am at the end of my day and the beginning of a new page in this lovely offline blog of mine. I tried to hop on the computer at the Matsumoto’s today and was unfortunately shot down. Oh well, that’s what computers at Sophia are meant for I suppose, although it will very well be the day after next before I am finally able to post any of this onto the net. Fortune just does not seem to favor me, not at all.

Tomorrow will be classes all day long, well until late 4ish. After is G-Splash dance practice with the DK crew. Oh yeah! I totally forgot to mention this earlier, but remember how I was earlier amazed at running into Dan and Jen in the middle of nowhere, out of Harajuku and towards Shinjuku? I was trying to catch the Saikyo line to Ikebukuro yesterday night, and guess who calls out to me from the middle of a train!? JEANNETTE AND HUNTER!!! Yeah, weird… the city is either shrinking or we/I have ridiculously good luck with kismet and all that.

But, back to G-Splash, the awesomest of awesome hip hop dance troupes at Sophia. They have practice from 5-7pm, and it might be every day for the entire semester. If not, then it is for these first 2 weeks. Jeannette and Hunter urged me to try it, so I say c’est la vie, why not? It’s not as if I’m in a terrible rush to get home.

Today, I finished all my laundry and then some. For some reason or another, maybe because of the massive load of laundry I jammed into it, the washing/drying machine can’t do both of it functions when it has too much in it, surprise x2. I did all my Japanese homework though and prepped for tomorrow. I even ran it by Meimi to make sure that there were no ridiculously bad mistakes present.

I remember when I used to try and mix Japanese up to say new things with new forms. I am now finally consenting to the fact that there’s a reason why there are example sentences of every grammar structure. My ability to make stuff up is severely limited by what actual Japanese people would say. Japanese just gets harder and harder as the nuances of language come greater into play.

Tonight’s dinner was curry and this afternoon’s lunch was a piece of mochi cake x2 dipped in soy sauce and wrapped in seaweed. Both were surprisingly simple and yummy. I think Okaa-san has been stretching herself for me for a while now and I’m quite happy to see her step back and do something easier. She still jumps on me sometimes, but I’d take criticism over silence any day.

There’s this fat burning machine aka body rumbler aka the shakey shakey SHAKE machine, where one stands and apparently has the fat jostled out of him/her, in the house and I’m a bit in want of trying it some more. The first time I used it, I was really surprised. I’ll probably ask to use it from now on. It’s only 6.45pm but I am right exhausted. Laundry will take another 35 minutes to dry I’m afraid.

Even though I have like hundreds and hundreds of books in this computer, I find myself in want of more. All I read is Kresley Cole, and as amazing as she is, I need other works for sustenance.
Today was a day of small victories. I got my calendar hung, I did my homework, I sorted all the e-mails/texts I received on my cell phone into easy categories, and I actually got my laundry done. I’m starting to lean towards making Sunday and Wednesday laundry days just so it doesn’t pile up as much as it had up until today. It’s been nearly 2 weeks and that’s been nearly 2 weeks without internet and an ever growing pile of dirty laundry, that’s now quite deflated.

Well, that’s that. Tomorrow is a new day and my mellowness continues. Living abroad really isn’t as stressful as I thought it’d be. I’m actually kind of disappointed in how simple the transition has been. Kind of.

*tumbles out*

- T

4.14.08

もう少しだけでももうがまん出来ないよ

Hmmm... On top of a shitastically busy day, I just took the worst shower of my life, was made a fool of twice in the span of minutes, am long overdue for my beddy bye time, and am exhausted beyond belief. I’m so tired of this BS that I’ll just put it out there. I have Finger Eleven as my pacifier right now, so they’re helping me burn through the worst of my wariness/weariness.
The Matsumoto’s are an interesting bunch. The Dad ignores my very existence and doesn’t try to do anything to make me feel any more comfortable in their home. The Mom does everything she can to keep me out as much as humanly possible. Meimi is the only chill one and that’s because she gets even more hassled than I do. I do everything that I can to make my presence here as little of a bother as humanly possible, and instead of being treated with the decency that any other person deserves, I get treated worst than their damn dog. At least Alice always gets her clothes cleaned on time, sits around all day just chillaxing, and eats with the family and all/can eat without getting made fun of. The wireless internet finally came into play today, but it’s dropping out every other second so it’s practically useless. I’m about to become a fixture at their damn dining room table until the internet works itself out.

But, let’s begin this rant with exactly why living with the Matsumoto’s has been a special kind of hell for me lately:

1) The internet, they promised me it the first night I got here, and it took them until now to get it down and it doesn’t even work all that well. I’m about to connect the damn LAN wire I bought at Sophia to see if I do any better.

2) Last night, Meimi had her piano recital, so her and Okaa-san went out for it. That morning she had told me that I’d be home alone, and I wanted that because I love being here without one of them constantly present, essentially keeping me a prisoner in my own room unless I want to be harassed with a bombardment of Japanese and made to feel a fool by their constant use of electronic dictionaries. Well, right before they left, they just announced to be that Otou-san would be home the same time I was. So, I never got to be home alone. I never do. I wouldn’t steal anything even if I had that urge. Okaa-san makes it ridiculously painfully obvious that she wants me out of the house as much as possible, and when I am out late, I get punished with her wary vigil. She’s like a hawk.

3) Back to last night, Otou-san finally gets home. Apparently, he was waiting for my pants to dry before using the bath, so I took them out at like 7.30ish. I wanted to use the shower early because I sleep at 9.30pm every night. There’s no TV, no internet, no distractions to keep me up late. Hah… and people wonder why I love going out to drink with friends, now there’s a fun distraction. Well, he hops in at like 8ish and I’m waiting and waiting and waiting for him to finish. I couldn’t really hear what he was doing downstairs, so I just figured he really likes to take long baths like Meimi. Uh no. I went down at like 9.17pm, which is so close to my beddy bye time that I was about to pass out, and he was just lying down on the couch chilling. I ask him if it’s okay to shower now, and he just looks at me and goes, “Oh, you didn’t go in yet?” Uhmmm… no, I didn’t, that’s why I’m asking if it’s okay now. Honestly, would it have killed the man to just give me a little shout and be like, “Shower’s free!” I had asked him earlier if I could shower and he told me to wait while he bathed and I did. I waited so late that I was right exhausted. WTF…

4) Well, I got home at like late 9ish tonight and Okaa-san greeted me/let me into the house because giving me a set to come and go as I please is beyond their comprehension. Mia has a set and I doubt she realizes how much I have come to envy her freedom. Okay, well I proceeded to heat the food in the microwave and instead of telling me how to microwave it properly, she just sits there as I do as she has told me. When it doesn’t finish in time, she runs over, gives me a condescending frown, and tells me “yame nasai” which is the equivalent of saying “stop that!” to a child or pet. Apparently, I’m only supposed to microwave one item at once. She never told me. How was I supposed to know? She’s done this a couple times. Correcting me only after I do something wrong, not even trying to teach me beforehand. I feel like I’m playing a really complicated game with only a half deck of cards. I have no way of knowing whether I’m doing anything right or wrong, no way at all, and they won’t tell me until I offend them. It’s either offend away or ask before doing ANYTHING. Use the restroom. Take a shower. Pour a glass of water. Watch television. Use the laundry machine. Be home.

5) I’m still on the blarghness that was tonight. She called me fat. To my face. Told me to lose weight too. I’d been wondering why on earth she was so dead set on mentioning to me every time I did some form of exercise how I must be getting skinnier and all that. She was like, “I was surprised at how different you look from your picture! You got fat!” Uhmmm… thanks? That picture was a damn head shot, you’ve never seen a full body shot of me before. How on earth would you know? Better yet, why the freak do you care?

6) Uhm, remember how I said that they all wait until I do something wrong before telling me how to do it right? I took the first cold shower of my life because not one of them could be bothered to tell me how to turn on the hot water. That, and the hot water takes 40minutes to prep, so somewhere between me eating dinner and getting into the damn house, Okaa-san should’ve realized that I might not take a normal shower as the rest of the family had bathed and thus turned off the hot water already. She even rushed me off to shower. Really? Did it not occur to you even once that I might want hot water and you have NEVER TAUGHT ME HOW?

7) She blames me for her cold. I say the fact is that almost every Japanese train you’ll ever ride is covered in germs and that has no bearing on me. I catch a cold in the morning because my room is damn cold and there’s nothing that can be done about it, or so I believe, again, they haven’t TAUGHT ME ANYTHING. I get better by the afternoon, after I’ve left the house. She’s the housewife, why doesn’t she figure out why she got sick in her own home? Lord knows I do, every single morning I’ve been here. She kicks me out the house as early as she can and then does I don’t know what for the rest of the day. I understand that being a housewife can be difficult, but to my knowledge, she does NOTHING else but stay at home and shop for the home. She has Alice, the dog, to take care of during the day and that’s it. She gets exhausted from running out for groceries. Seriously? What is that? No, really.

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH~

Today I had classes all day, meaning from 9.15 in the morning until 4.45 this afternoon with a 1 hour break for lunch and 15min between periods, of which I had 4. From 5-8 I had G-Splash dance practice which was amazing, but utterly exhausting. By the time I’d gotten home, I was so fatigued and tired of not having internet that I couldn’t take it anymore and was nearly in tears.
I’ll just leave it here for now. I still have to do my Japanese homework, which I didn’t know I had to print out until Jen kindly reminded me.

*angry… grrr… barrrk…*

- T

THE LONG AWAITED MASSIVE POST

Okay, this one doesn't have any pictures because I am in a bit of a rush, G-Splash practice and all. I will post below all that I have written since moving into my homestay and suffering for ages upon ages without internet. TAKE IT~

-----
4.1.08

I’m here! AND, I’m in one piece!!! YES!!! Let’s see, today began with me waking up in a groggy mess thanks to two lovely blue pills bearing the name of UNISOM. Yes. Oh well, it was thanks to those two lovely pills that I had my first dream since coming to Japan. It was this crazy, anime-like adventure that ended with the death/semi-birth of an entity born of evil but not destined to it. All his siblings were killed in vivo, and he alone survived. It was weird, I know.

Today consisted of me checking out of the fabulous Ace Inn Shinjuku and walking over to Yotsuya with my damn heavy toiletries bag (bad idea, really). My arms practically fell off because I was lugging about 20lbs per arm and hiking 0.5 mile with it. Sick. Oh well, I made it into Sophia University all right, but I came to early so I was sent off again to kill 4 hours on my own. It wasn’t so bad. Lots of walking. Everywhere I went I saw first years entering college, from Sophia to Waseda. I walked up and down Kagurazaka-dori and got stuck in a dead end near Ushigome eki.

When I headed back to Sophia at 3pm, I met up with my student advisor/1st Japanese friend, Katou Tomoe. She’s really nice and lived in New Jersey back in her early teens. Her major is Portugese and we share tons of the same interests. *high five*

My host family’s house is amazing. Like, no, seriously, amazing. I think because I stayed with the Nishikawa’s back in 2005 or so, I thought all Japanese homes would be the same, but BOY, I was soooo mistaken. My family, Ma, Pop, and Sister are all super nice and really easygoing. Meimi is in high school now so I will probably see her little to NONE. I think my Ma is a homestay shufu. She doesn’t appear to work. I know for sure the Pop works. Let’s see… I have my own humungo room to myself and I have free run of the house, well, except for the parents’ room and Meimi’s.

The only problem I have now is internet. See, all this has been typed up on Word beforehand and then copy+pasted back into the lovely blogness that is “lui luau.” Also, I have this like 1in long .5in wide blister on the back right hand side of my right foot and it just flippin’ hurts.
Tomorrow is orientation at Sophia University and I am positively ecstatic to see Mia Mia and Netto-chan once more. I can’t wait to see who else will be at Sophia this semester. It really is a super short period of time to be here and study, 4 months. Now that I’ve finally moved all my junk in and am getting a good peek at what life in Tokyo is like, I gotta say, I like it. There’s always somewhere to stroll, somewhere to get wonderfully lost in. I doubt that this city will every lose that charm it has for me. Even if it empties my pockets of all monies, I will still love its winding roads and hilly paths.

I’ll stop here for now. *bounce*

Okay, now, I’m back. Literally, not even 10 minutes later, I have returned to the glorious warmth of my lovely notebook computer. My room is damn freakin’ cold and the only thing that holds my interest is the electronic blanket that gently lies over my bed. I am eternally grateful to my Ma for showing me how to work it.

Apparently, she’s going to check out Biccamera for me and try to set up a wireless internet network at home. This way, I can use my own computer and avoid the family computer. That, and Pop kind of doesn’t want me using theirs because “he has stuff that ‘s puraibetto (private) on it.” *shrugs* I love my rockin’ Karuna over theirs anyways.

Kk, off to sit atop my bed and charge up my batteries, both lappie tops and mine.

4.2.08

It is uhm, hella cold. Yes. Really. That, and my allergies are finally acting up. Ugh. 8am right now, but the entire family wakes up around 4am or so, which is ridiculous but true.

4.3.08

Ahh, one whole entire day later and what has changed? EVERYTHING! Orientation was yesterday and it was incredibly boring but very much insightful. I met Atsuyo, my student advisor, and ran into Tomoe but didn’t have the chance to chat, until today that is.

Yesterday was boooring, lots of walking and getting lost around Nerima, wandering into Nakano, and getting lost and lost again. I walked around a bit for like a hour and a half because my mom seemed to want me out of the house, and then I hopped on a train and rode on into Tokyo. I had tanuki soba with Sehyun, as he is my partner in crime in terms of shared advisor, and the meal really didn’t sit well in my tummy. I ended up going home and passing on dinner because of it, even though dinner was this amazingly delicious looking cabbage roll.

I’ve pretty much become accustomed to life in the Matsumoto household. Everybody really does just do their own thing and leave me to do my own. For my birthday, we are going out for sushi on Sunday although I turn 21 in 3 hours aka FRIDAY. Meimi has juku Saturday and Otou-san works late on Fridays, so Sunday is when the entire family gets together to eat one meal together. Okaa-san has already bought me my own hand towel for the dinner table and a bath rug to use when I go in and out of the shower. She’s super nice and called me part of the family. ^_^ I ess L-U-C-K-Y. When I told her about my plans to go out with friends tomorrow night and stay out the whole night and then go to Tsukiji in the morning, she just smiled at me and encouraged me to enjoy myself. She also told me that I was an adult and free to do as I wished as long as it wasn’t anything too dangerous/sketchy.

I can’t wait for tomorrow! We’re meeting up at Shinjuku Station’s New Southeast exit at 5pm and grabbing some dinner, some crepes, and then partying it up at Izakaya in Kabuki-cho. Because we do seriously plan to stay out past when the last trains run, we’re going to either live it up at Denny’s, McDonald’s, or a manga café with internet. And then, once morning hits and the trains begin to run, off to Tsukiji we go! Whee~

But, that’s for tomorrow, now, for today. Today was the placement test at Sophia University for Japanese language. The first part was ridiculously easy, THANKS SENSEI-TACHI @ UVA, but then the rest of it was a bit ridiculous. Then again, thanks to Kawai-sensei, I at least knew enough to piece together enough Japanese language to make some sense of it all. After the test, we grabbed food in Building No. 2’s 5th floor cafeteria so that we could eat on the outdoor terrace. It was majorly gorgeous outside today and I really loved it. Today was Kitsune Udon, a bit of fried tofu floating on a bed of udon noodles in what was essentially instant soup base. Yummers. After lunch, our group split in half and then half again as Mia and Sehyun went off campus for food and Miranda and Julie went off campus to sightsee on their own. BUT! Today we got our Suica passes!!! YAY!!! It’s not cheaper at all, but it is majorly convenient to have. Now, we don’t have to get kippu (tickets) everytime we want to ride a train. We just slide our Suica and zoom off! Like, whoooosh~ All of our passes, all 6 or 7 of them were done by the same Station Attendant person and he was totally awesome about it. It set me back $180 but I need it so I can’t complain too bad.

After the Suica pass, Jen left our group to chill on campus and we took a turn around the city by hitting up one of the parks I’ve been to on my lovely way to Ginza. By the time it 4:30pm, we were all back on campus and headed to the party. We got majorly lost x2 along the way and eventually made it down there where I met a bunch more nice Japanese girls. There are seriously no Japanese guys in sight and that makes me a bit non-glad, but hey, the world is big ole place, I’m sure I’ll make at least 1 or 2 Japanese guy friends. Today was Akiko, Kaori, Ai, and Atsuka. I ran into Tomoe again today too! Oh, and my cellphone kept buzzing non-stop as people got their cellphones or just texted me/called me to get in touch. It felt majorly cool to be so connected to the world and be buzzing off every other minute or so.

I got home late today and had expected to eat out with friends, but that kind of fell through so I grabbed Mickey D’s on the way back (580 yen… that’s like $6). When I got home, Okaa-san had beef stew made and could’ve fed me as well, but I had gotten my Mickey’s so I grubbed on that instead. Stew will be for lunch tomorrow, before I vamoose off to a night of spectacular fun.
I have nothing much to do tomorrow except look around my station and see what’s available/fun to do. I sort of saw this manga café type place, but yeah, I don’t know if I’ll go to it or not. There is a 100yen store around me, but it doesn’t have anything I really want. I’ll take a closer look tomorrow though and decide then. I do want a couple dehumidifiers to remove this wet feeling from my room. I have towels hanging up and all and they’re not drying right.
Oh yeah, allergies are a right bitch in Japan. Everybody runs around in masks to avoid the superfluous amount of pollen present in the air. Everybody in my family has allergies, so they all run in and out of the house in face masks. Even I got one today, and it was super Japanese of me to rock it. Okay, I’ll end it here for now as I really don’t have anything else much to divulge.

Peace until I can finally post this.

4.4.08

Happy Birthday to all the 21-yo’s out there! I am joining your ranks and stepping into the mantle of total LEGAL-NESS. Before I came here, I was a bit remiss about crossing my 21 in a foreign country, but now? Hey! It’s Japan! Whaaaaaevvvvvvvver~ *winks*

I don’t really have much planned for today. All I know is that I still can’t figure out what I’m allergic to, but I’m seriously beginning to think it’s people. *solemnly nods* Breakfast was the standard salad, bread, ½ apple, homemade apple juice, tea (now a standard as of yesterday), and whatever cooked yumminess Okaa-san makes. I feel like I’m eating better in than in America and I sure as heck work out a lot more from the sheer fact that I have to walk everywhere and I don’t drive, I mosey. Oh yeah, I feel like Hunter and Greg are trying to bring “mosey” back, so I’ll be rockin’ it as much as possible. ^^

My room sort of looks like a tornado hit it, so I better do a little clean up.

*dances and wiggles off*

4.5.08

Uhm yeah, yesterday was insane in terms of the amount of money we accidentally blew (technically not me since I got birthday girl privilege of not having to pay for most of the night), the amount of walking around/getting lost that we did, the random number of sketchy guys we met (labeled 1-4 I believe), the chaos caused by the innumerable number of fellas coming up to me to offer “good deals,” and the extended period of non-sleep we all endured to make it to Tsukiji this morning and look at crazy big tuna.

Yesterday began with a series of delays caused by cell phone getting of the entire DK House crew, except for Hunter ‘cuz the boy is rockin’ like that. *sideways glance* haha. We all did eventually meet up and find our way into a restaurant that was willing to seat 11 people, even though our group was split. Greg had the unfortunate discovery of finding his “wife,” Natalie, settling in with his “rival,” Hunter. Oh, it was during this time or actually a little bit before it when one of the vast numbers of paid men/advertisers targeted and singled me out to chat me up for 30 minutes about a “good deal” he had for our group. He was seriously working on me for 30 minutes, non-stop, with Tomoe as my only source of distraction as I tried as best as I can to not understand anything he was saying. The one thing I learned from all the fun of this night is the word for unlimited drinks, nomihoudai. Yeah, and I refined my skills in haggling and bargain searching in Japanese.

After a dinner of yummy yummy hamburger, we all set out to find a bar/club for me to have my first drink as a 21-year old LEGAL IN THE U.S. drinker. That was a bit windy wordy, but *shrugs* whatever. It took us a long while and we kept walking up and down the streets lined with host and hostess clubs, whereby it became nearly impossible for us to NOT look like we were looking for some sketchy fun. We finally ended up at Kachikachimu, care of Dan through Jen’s voice. I’ll sum it up here because others will obviously voice louder objections than me over this (I only lost 5 yen). To say that they ripped us off would be a understatement. The service was crap. The drinks were watered down. They kept playing weird 80’s music videos and refusing to change the music. The music was right crappy. They charged us for limes when we took tequila shots. Seriously. Well, 12,924 yen later, we all know better to go into that stinkhole.

Afterwards, we wandered out of that place to look for another location in which we could continue our drinking spree (well, mine, Hunter, and Sehyun’s) and do some rockin’ karaoke now that I was sufficiently tipsy enough to consider singing in public. I got approached again and the Japanese within in me just FLOWED like WHOA. We wandered around again for a bit. I bought Greg his owed McDonald’s Happy Meal because he didn’t break his seal before Hunter. We ran into sketchy guy number 4.

After deciding that we didn’t want to do karaoke because the majority of us no longer wanted to drink, we went in McDonald’s at first as a place of respite. Until they kicked us out at 3am for “cleaning” at a 24hr Mickey D’s, we were quite pleased with the place. We moseyed on over to a second café, one from the same chain of cafes we ran into earlier to use the restroom before bailing. Most of the group passed out during that long, interminable wait for Tsukiji and the first trains to run. Luckily for me, I was one of them. (Lucky until I got home this morning and was ready to pass out from exhaustion.) We played never have I ever and learned random useless facts about eachother like, how I’ve used a pad at least once in my life and don’t have a penis in my pants. *shrug* We were degraded into low blows as time progressed.

The penalty went from introducing yourself to a random Japanese person, which I did, to buying something/anything from the café we where chilling at. I guess now is as good as time as any to describe sketchy guys 1-4. Number 1 made a freakin’ beeline to Hunter and started chatting him up. He was this gangster-like 60 year old grandpa figure with blonde hair done into a mullet and a number of missing teeth. He was also rockin’ out this shady looking white suit and a pair of sunglasses even though it was well into the night by the time we met him. Apparently, Hunter didn’t understand a single word of what he was saying, so yeah, that was sketchy guy number 1. Number 2 was met when we stopped at another random, dark corner in our quest for a decent bar. When we noticed how this sign saying “Sakura Information” looked like a perfect rip off of the Starbucks logo, this guy just randomly came up to and started spewing off English, like “Copyright! Copyright!” and other phrases that I no longer remember. Number 3 came up to both Alex and Hunter and tried to offer them drugs as we were still journeying towards our goal of a drink. Unfortunately for me, number 3 seemed to have develop a notice for me because everytime I ignored him, he remembered me. I ran into him again at the station and ignored him right off. He called me out for it and was like, “No, I remember that girl! She speaks English!” Well, uh, no dur, of course I do, American? Me? Yes. Number 4 made his appearance after our 2nd stop into a karaoke place looking for a good deal before abandoning that venture. We were talking about heading to Denny’s and he just came up to us and went, “Hey, I want some fucking Denny’s!” He spoke very gangster-like which was very strange because he appeared to be very Korean American. Well, that is how sketchy guys 1-4 were made known to us.

At Tsukiji, which was insane just because of the sheer number of foreign tourists present, we took lots of pictures of ridiculously fresh seafood and walked and walked and walked. I spent the entire night in 3.5” strappy platforms. I did Tsukiji in a white sweatshirt and a dress with platforms. *raises chin* Yeah, I know, amazing, don’t envy me. *smirks* Haha. We didn’t buy anything nor eat anything because by that time we were all pretty wiped. So, we headed home on the Hibiya line where we said good bye to Mia, Se-Hyun, and Alex. The DK House crew and I were accidentally treated with the experience of waiting for a train that would never %$$@$#$@$%^%@ing come. We were in the cold for over 30 minutes, waiting for a train that would never arrive because none of us could understand the Japanese being blurted out over the intercoms in Yotsuya Station. There was some sort of problem that led to the train going to that station to have its service terminated for some reason or another that even I know not of.

I split with DK House at Shinjuku and headed home alone afterwards. I was so numb and looking like such a hot mess that most people I walked past looked at me and gave me this, “Damn, that girl had a loooooong night” kind of expression. Well, I got home, waited to take a shower, learned some Japanese from Meimi, took my shower, brushed my teeth, popped my liners back in, did my face routine, and then passed out until 1.30. Now, it’s 3pm and I’ve spent the last half hour typing this up. Oh! Okaa-san made Yakisoba and I had that for lunch. I went down for food right after I woke up at 1.30pm, but Okaa-san and Otou-san were both passed out. So, me being the kind, considerate child that I am, scampered on back upstairs and waited until I heard noise from the both of them before I headed on back down.

Now, I’m watching Pride and Prejudice, reading an E-book, and typing this. I need to check with Okaa-san when she gets back about when I can expect the wireless internet because not having it is become right ridiculous. Everything I do requires the internet and without, I am 100% scrooged. That, and if you say you are going to do something, you better damn well do it is all I’m saying. I’m still tired, hungry, and irritated.

Oh yes, I have to give my thanks to Greg for the wonderful pleasure of being allowed to sport the “fresh thinking” button even though I was fresh out of fresh thoughts all night. Also, I have to thank everybody who came out and made my 21st birthday in Japan a memorable one in terms of the mishaps and misadventures we encountered. Thank you.

Before I forget, we also did purikura. Before the bar and after dinner, we had a competition and my group obviously won with our superior posing. I want to go back there soon and take some more. I also want to go all out for it and dress up to the nines before taking them, like every other Japanese girl there.

Kk, now, I am OUT!

4.7.08

Nearly a week’s worth of blog material later, I am still out of INTERNET. Well, I’ve already ranted and raved plenty much about the current predicament I am in, so I’ll continue here with where I left off of last from this blog.

Sunday was supposed to be just a day of internet shopping and joy for me at Biccamera in Ikebukuro. But, due to reasons already given, those plans totally and completely and utterly fell through. So, instead, my Okaa-san and I randomly decided to go to Kawagoe, which is like 1.5 hours away from Ikebukuro. Kawagoe is this part of Tokyo (is it actually a part of Tokyo? I don’t know for sure.) that still has many of its building from the Edo era/early Meiji period. As a result, it’s nickname/alia is Sho/Ko-Edo which means “little Edo.” It’s most touristy shops are old school candy shops and its most famous symbol is this bell that Okaa-san kept pointing out to me. Needless to say, I have already forgotten its name. However, I will forever remember the feelings of ‘wow, nifty…’ that it inspired within me.

We spent most of Sunday wandering around Kawagoe and being touristy like every other Japanese person there. I bought this really cute cat coin purse and a cat bean bag and a rabbit cellphone strap that I just couldn’t resist. Lunch was a huge affair and I almost thought I ran into Gackt and his bestfriend You because this guy sitting at a table one down from me had glasses on and looked Gackt-ish from a peripheral side view kind of way. Well, it wasn’t him. Dur. The udon was super delicious tho and Okaa-san pawned some of her dessert on me.
We mainly just walked around and looked into random shops after that. She had lots of fun tasting candy from all the candy stores, but I could do very little with my Invisalign. I did have dango though, but they weren’t so delicious as they were cooled and thus not yummy. I ate them with my Invisalign in which will make every dentist I know cringe as that’s a huge no no.

Oh well~

Afterwards, we went back home to Nerima and went to have sushi at this super popular kaiden sushi store. It was ridiculously yummy but my tummy was unfortunately uber full from the udon earlier that afternoon. One thing I’ve noticed is that although their home is nice and everything is really nice, Okaa-san always calls me rich and says that they’re poor. I don’t get it. I’m really not, like really, seriously, not.

Oh, and another thing I noticed about Japan is the reappearance of the horrific squatting toilets! I thought I’d gotten away from them in China, but no! Once again they burst forth into my life, raising hell like no other! Gah! Run away!

Today, I left the house early after failing to get my laundry done as Okaa-san was still doing laundry. She actually has to clear time for me to wash my laundry as she washes multiple loads during the day and never at night, although that I really don’t understand. Electricity is cheaper at night when less people are using it, no? Oh well… maybe different policies apply in Japan?
Well, as mentioned on the blog earlier, I wore super Japanese-y clothes and got mixed reviews. One girl went “shijirarenai!” (“ I can’t believe it!”) which can either be + or -, and another girl went “gakkoii~” (“That looks sooo cool~”). Eh, whatever, I wore a skirt when it was slightly cold outside and lived. After chilling in the computer room for an hour or so, touring the campus for clubs, returning to the computer lab, I went to pick up my placement test result and ran in Alex. I got in Intensive Japanese Lvl 3, and then Alex and I went to grab lunch in Bld. No. 2’s cafeteria.

We chatted and practiced some Japanese before hitting up the campus store because Alex said he wanted a sweatshirt. Well, surprise surprise, even though we went to the store for him to shop, I ended up being the only one getting clothes. I picked up a pair of guy’s shorts and a t-shirt for me to sleep in for $25. Yes, it kind of stung but at least the prices are better than the ones at UVA’s bookstore. Rather than toss our money away on notebooks bought at the campus store, Alex and I set forth on a search for cheap notebooks for class and we failed. We walked all the way to Shinjuku and failed in our search. You’d think that after the many number of times I’ve wandered around Shinjuku, I’d finally be able to recall where most stuff is, but nope, we failed. Alex says to blame him, so I do… XD

I got him around 5.30ish, missed a text from Okaa-san, and skippy dooed right on over to a dinner of croquettes, miso soup, this congee-like mess that strangely resembled nattou, roasted pumpkin/squash, rice, and a glass of mugi-cha. Hmm… yes, I guess this would be the best place to recall the mother of all embarrassments from yesterday. After I took my shower, I left all my dirty clothes/undergarments downstairs and had to be kindly reminded by Okaa-san to pick them up. Yeah. *blush* There’s a man in the house, so hopefully Otou-san didn’t notice at all. That’s all that I can hope for. But, yeah, I’m kind of over it now. All I am now is thirsty and that’s because no one gives me enough water to drink, ever. I need to head back to that 100yen shop, buy some water and keep the bottles to refill them. It would be dangerous/dirty to do so, but I need some means of slaking my thirst.

I’m sleepy now and it’s only 9.46pm, but here will be where I sign off. Tomorrow shall be a day of fun with Jeannette and Mia! w00t w00t!!! My family’s trying to kick me out of the house early/kick me out (period), so that will be what’s I do.

*passes out*

- T

P.S. Before I forget, today Okaa-san and Meimi argued about her study habits today. I mention this because she thinks that every time I’m on this computer blogging, that I’m studying, which I’m really really not. She wants me to be an example for Meimi, but I feel that because Meimei is still young and has her entire life ahead of her, now is the time to enjoy herself, not later. Why wait until later when life won’t be nearly as enjoyable when you can take advantage of the time you have now?

Yeah, and she also mentioned that I buy a water bottle to keep water for myself up here in my room. This also stops me from interrupting her kitchen time and being a nuisance to everyone else in the family. I’m too Asian to be treated as a guest and too American to be treated as “distant” family. It’s a weird place to be. Oh, and she warned me of 100yen shops because Chinese people tend to poison the goods they sell off to those places. All I want from them is a water bottle and some bookends to hold my crap in one pile and keep them from falling all willy nilly. Not too much poison there I hope. G’Night.

4.8.08

I am peeved. Today was great despite the horrendous rain showers because I spent all day with Mia and Jeannette shopping around Shibuya and just randomly checking out Japanese styles. From all of our efforts, we managed to purchase very very little, Mia = nothing at all. Everything is expensive in Japan, but only in the sense that you may not be looking at the right places. I found the prices reasonable, if not the style.

Well, onto the reason why I am peeved, it is now official, I have been without internet for a week. A WEEK. That’s just not cool. I didn’t endure this when I was in China, I sure as hell don’t need to for when I’m in Japan. I mean, seriously, it’s mighty ridiculous. Goodness gracious, oh yeah, and another spur to my peevishness is that I just got semi-lectured by Okaa-san for doing my laundry and then running out of the house. She also asked that I do all my laundry in one wash, and as big as she says her laundry machine is, it isn’t big enough to wash all my clothes. I tried to shove them in there and she made it sound like I was wasting time and energy by not washing enough when the freakin’ drum was right full. I mean really, my washing machine is bigger than hers and I don’t shove that much clothing into it. Oh, and I also turned my white sweatshirt and sweater pink today by washing it with the wrong undergarments. Yes. That also annoys me. But, it was my own damn fault and I take full charge of it.

Aside from the laundry issue and the business with internet, I am quite content here. But, not being able to phone home cheaply is a right freakin’ pain. Really? How long do they need to consider renting the damn internet? Will they have decided by the time I’ve left? If I sound bitter/angry it’s because it’s raining outside/I don’t love rain when I’m in it. I’ve tried really hard to be a good house guest, but how the hell can they expect me to anticipate their needs? I can’t! I’m a smart, intelligent woman though and if you tell me something ONCE I will understand immediately. Honestly, it’s not much to ask to not be disciplined when you haven’t pointed out the rules in the first place.

Tell me if something bothers you before lecturing me about a rule I had no place in knowing beforehand. If you want to save water/electricity, TELL ME. I will try to be as frugal as I can. I pay them almost as much for housing as tuition which is ridiculous. Living at UVA cost half as much and they have the nerve to get on my case about one laundry accident? *deep breath* Whatever. I’m over it.

Ahhhh, yes, today I scored myself a good deal on a really cute beanie. I love it. Other than that, I picked up a pair of bookends, a water bottle, and something to keep my white clothes white. On that note, I will now wash ALL my white clothes separately, damn the consequences, and keep them white with the lovely solution I bought! YAY! No more pink clothes!

Uhm, okay, just got from Okaa-san when I presented her with my pink clothes and a bottle of the whitening stuff I bought. She just looked at me, told me to ask first before doing anything and informed me of the fact that the house already had some. Yeah. Uhm, yeah. I also gave her the bottle she told me to buy yesterday and after giving it a perfunctory wash, she filled it with water. No wonder there’s poison on these things, nobody really washes them before use. Heard of soap? It helps, really, it does. Gah~

Okay, right back to ranting, this is BULLSHIT. My clothes are STILL dirty. She tells me to stuff the damn tank and my clothes are STILL dirty. WTF!?!?! DON’T FILL THE DRUM IF YOUR CLOTHES HAVE NO DAMN ROOM TO WASH!!! AND!!! COLD WATER WASH PLEASE!!!
I feel like she just wants me to hand my dirty laundry over to her to take care of, but I can’t, really. You’d think that she’d be okay with it by now, but she really really isn’t. At least I have water to take my damn pills with now…

I need to fall out before I say something I may/may not regret later.

- T

4.10.08

Well, the bloom is definitely off the rose and any sort or rose colored glory that enabled me to see the Matsumoto’s with perfect loveliness have now been shadowed by the fact that I am officially one of the pawn pieces/cogs of the family, thus expected to pull my weight around the house and do what I need to do to live easily with them. Yesterday was fun in that it was sunny and I saw a slice of Japanese culture that I’d never see before. But, before I jump ahead of myself, I am here to announce that my internet is still sadly out of order. 9 days after the smiling promise they made me, I am now done. I’ll just do what I need to do to get my internet at a reasonable time, damn the toes I may tread upon.

Yesterday, I happily/unfortunately realized that I may have accidently dried my dirty clothes rather than clean them. So, yeah, my bad. However, I have still yet to drink from my water bottle because let’s face it, I really need it to be scrubbed with soap and water before I take my first gulp. Yesterday was also the first time that I woke up at 6.30am to begin acclimating myself to the joys of getting off my toasty warm arse at such time. I did it without much trouble and suspect that as long as I sleep ridiculously early, I should have no problems at all.

Well, yesterday was supposed to be me lounging at home, being a bum, waiting for Okaa-san to run out before trying to get my laundry in. Instead, because it was Meimi’s New Student Entrance Ceremony, I was invited to go with her and see it all in action. We went to Myogadani, where Mia lives, and while I quietly laughed at Okaa-san, who was quite nearly asleep during the entire 45 min ceremony, I took loads of pictures and uber subtle videos. There was this one lady in front of me who seemed to have a radar for my filming and moved her head every single time I began filming to intrude on my shot. Weirdo.

After the ceremony, I wanted to stick around and see Meimi, but Okaa-san shooed me off and so I went to Sophia University, earlier than expected. There I ran into Mia and then Jeannette and Hunter, in order. M and J zooshed off to watch the concerts of the orchestra and some other group whilst Hunter and I perused the school’s clubs and sought the diving club for info, the judo club for its existence, and the ballroom dance club for its presence. I signed up for Amity and Arukoukai. After figuring out all of Hunter’s business and running into the Ninja-3, nearly all separated, we saw the dance groups perform and G-Splash was ridiculously good. I felt like with their group, even if anybody messed up, throwing in some random moves, freestyle, and energy more than made up for it.

Uhm… a bit after keeping Alex waiting for like 30 minutes, we finally met up and he gave me Laddie, Sr.!!! YES~ And then, we all head to Akihabara where all we really did was sightsee, try to shop and fail, and eat some super salty ramen. It was good, but it was salty. I found an electronic dictionary that caught my fancy, but it was 29,800 at the first store we stopped in and I managed to haggle it down to 28,000 in another store. However, it was still much too expensive, so I did not invest in one. My family has been pushing like crazy for me to get one despite the fact that there’s one at home and they’re the only ones that ever use it. I try and struggle through with the Japanese I know, whilst they attempt to explain around the terms they use, give up, and turn towards the nearest dictionary. Oh well. My momma okay’ed me buying one, so *shrug* as long as momma’s okay with it, as am I.

We all went our separate ways and made plans to go to Harajuku today, even though today = rain. We had 3 separate goals in mind, all of us = rain boots, mia = school bag, and me = coat. Unfortunately, I was the only one to succeed in my goal and I’ll eventually post up a picture of the awesome $40 jacket I snagged. We did console ourselves with awesomely yummy crepes though. Yes, it was worth it. Today’s shopping at Harajuku was a bust, but I got a sweet tip for where to find rain boots, ABC Mart!!! That’s where my sister said I’d be able to find them .
This morning though was hell. I left the house at 8.50 to begin my trek to Harajuku, which should have at most taken 40 minutes. Due to accidents, traffic, delay, and a whole host of other problems, it took me until 10.40 to make my way there. If I thought I’d been in a super congested train before, I was mistaken, this morning was SUPER CONGESTED. OMG… My arm got crushed and everything. That, and right after I got to Shinjuku on the Saikyo line and thought I was heading to Shibuya, I ended up getting shafted and taken right back to Ikebukuro from whence I came. The fact that I’ve hopped on the wrong train two nights in a row since the 8th would also add to my ire.

Well, I’m home now, and I managed to get my whites washed right before Okaa-san came home. Luckily, she acquiesced to the fact that I’d already put my clothes in and let me do a load, otherwise, it would be another day with week-old dirty towels for me. Tomorrow, my goal is colors. Classes also start tomorrow and I am so not looking forward to it. I have no idea what I really need for that class though so… yeah… I have nothing at moment, not even the smallest amount of typical college notebook paper. I’ll figure it all out tomorrow. Class can’t take all 3 hours tomorrow, that’d be right ridiculous, that and we really don’t have all that much to learn/discuss tomorrow. Anyhoo, I’ll wake up at 6.30am, eat breakfast, wash my face, change clothes, head to school and see where the day takes me.

I’m super tired now and Okaa-san has told me shite about the internet, so whatever. 20lbs on my back every morning? BRING IT!!! I’m so done.

- T

P.S. I think I’ve finally figured out what keeps making me sick in the morning. I’ve discovered that the house has a bit of a mold problem. All the water that’s out there makes this place a super sweet place for mold to grow and that makes me ill. My room has a thermometer/clock courtesy of me, but all it tells me is that its 17 degrees Celsius, which is like 63F. *shrug* I’m rocking sweats, a zip up hoodie, capris and a long sleeve shirt, all black. I look like a damn ninja right now…

4.13.2008

44228 42444

Hello friends all over the world/family/those abroad in Beijing,
The above line of random numbers was from playing Ding Dong on my cellphone with mPets, through my adopted dog Bella, who’s so independently dumb that she will wait all day for me to feed her or tell her to get in the damn dog house and sleep. So, each morning I’ve awoken to a dog on the brink of starvation/dying of fatigue. What does the game expect me to do? Wake up in the middle of the night to feed my non-existent animal? Weirdness…

The first day of classes was Friday, and it was alright. It’s just going to be like Kawai-sensei’s class only extended to a whole week and doubled. *shrug* I feel like I can take it. That, and I’m in the same class as Natalie, Jen, and Sehyun. Dan and Mia ended up getting put into 280B and the rest of us in 280A. I spent the entire day on campus even though my class let out at 12.30pm and that was my only class for the day. After getting my textbooks with Jen, Natalie, Greg, Dan, Mia, and Sehyun aka the NEARLY the entire crew from UVA, Mia, Sehyun (SEAN~), and I hopped it over to this lovely street of restaurants right near campus for food so that we wouldn’t be crushed by the overwhelming numbers of people jockeying for food at the school cafeteria. We ate Korean food because 1) I had a craving for it and 2) I had two Koreans with me. ^___^
The food was alright. I ordered the Dolsot Bibimbap, which is rice that is mixed with vegetables and red pepper paste in a hot stone pot. It was the hottest Dolsot Bibimbap I’ve ever had, ever. In both senses as I accidentally put in too much kochu jjang and spiced the life out of my mouth. Mia got a Bulgogi Don and Sean/Sehyun got Kimchijjigae, although it tasted more like kochu jjang than kimchi. Apparently, the kimchi wasn’t fermented enough and I couldn’t really tell because I still thought it was delicious. We killed what was left of our little jar of kimchi. Uber yumminess in my tummy.

From the restaurant, we trekked on back to campus and Sehyun met up with a girl named Kathy/Cathy/Cathie that I’ve never met before and thus can’t say much about her. They did however hop on over to a pub by 4ish so yeah… Mia and I went to find a computer room to waste some time before her politics class started and all the computer labs were mighty crowded as people jostled to register for classes and all that. I left a bit early and set out to set up my lappie top for wireless internet use at Sophia and was sadly disappointed twice by how slow my connection/futile it was to connect to websites outside the Sophia circuit. I even shelled out 700 yen for a LAN cable when I have hundreds back home, home as in America, and I still couldn’t connect to uber fast internet which is A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E BS.

*throws off her stress in a super ball of stress fire ball stress* <----- Yes, I know that makes nooo sense. Thank you very much. *bow*

Well, Mia’s class ended, I made a compatriot whose internet connection was also sadly lagging and then we randomly decided to go shopping since neither of us really had to go home. I went with her to her homestay in Myogadani and met her host family/host grandpa and host grandma. After we picked up her money, we hiked on over to Ikebukuro with my backpack full of junk and my hands full of text books. I really got a workout, yes!

Ikebukuro was surprisingly fantastic! I got a denshi jisho (electronic dictionary) for a way better price than at Akihabara and looked into getting wireless internet! Well, the wireless internet was a bust as it would cost me like 200usd or so for 4 months of internet, not including the amount of content I download from the web I think. I get that at home for much much cheaper, so yeah… I’m a bit down about that but not really. We also picked up a case and a plastic film protector+2x extra stylus pens for our rockin’ jisho. Mia got white to match her cellphone both here and at home, and I got red because it matched my cellphone and the black one was just not floating my boat. Too much silver in a black denshi jisho. The model is Casio’s XD-SP66000rd, from their Ex-word line. We were looking into the nearly twice as expensive XD-GP9700, but all it has is a more advanced dictionary for geared towards specialists in business/medicine that added 4x as many words as the content in our current denshi jisho. Mia looked like she really wanted it, but ours can be upgraded with the same dictionary at a later time, when we’ll actually use/need it. Oh, and we also checked out the Canon Wordtank, but as it honestly looks like a low-tech tank and didn’t call to us like our multi-color Casio’s did, we focused on our original goal. With the lovely gakuwari and 500 yen discount for buying a case at the same time and Biccamera bonus points, we scored our dictionaries at a relatively sweet total of 28670yen, including case + plastic film. That’s still 1200yen less than the price we found at Akihabara which is ridiculous. I happy. Yeah!

After Biccamera, we hopped on over to find an ABC mart to look for the ever elusive rainboots and found a Sanrio store!!! There was only Hello Kitty junk there, but both Mia and I landed some pretty sweet+cheap folders for all our schoolwork, so I’m pleased. There was this uber cute kitty cat handtowel that was calling my name, but as it was only the size of hand and cost 400yen, I resisted it’s siren’s call. We saw this couple there though that was TOTALLY enjyokousai, which is older men paying younger women to go out with them and do the nasty nasty or just date. This girl was totally leading this older dude around the store, gushing over items and getting him to buy them for her. It was sooo gross to see. *shudders*
ABC mart was a bust for rain boots but we saw the cutest shoes ever there and it was all for a wicked good price. We were both like, OMG, Jeannette should totally be here!!! It was the store after that in which we finally found success! SCORE! RAINBOOTS! CUTE RAINBOOTS! I feel like I can score a cuter pair for cheaper though, so I resisted. But, if I see them again, I may just snatch them up. Scratch that, I will snatch them up!

Hmmm… I think that I’m missing an event here and I am! It was after Biccamera and before ABC Mart that we ate at this totally packed/ridiculously good restaurant. I ordered this massive udon and tonkatsu set for like 630yen and Mia got this really yummy shrimp and vegetable thing. We saw so much delicious food, that I just can’t describe it here. It was all too perfect, too yummy. We’re dragging Jeannette back here for her to try, so yeah, maybe I’ll do better then.
But, back to where I left off from the escaping the beautiful rain boots, Mia and I wanted dessert despite our uber full bellies and we wanded into this café-like place called the Milky Way where they had desserts based on your zodiac sign! OMG~ The pictures will do the describing for me, but this is the place to sate your sweet tooth. It’s right by the Sanrio store too and even if it was a bit steep, 800yen for a dessert, it was so worth it that I walked out filling absolutely pleased with my choice.

We wandered into a really nice clothes shop after that, where nearly everything was on sale, and Mia finally found her school bag! YAY! After that, it was wandering around a bit more looking for a bookshop that was open, but it was pretty late by then so they were all closed. We parted and then I waddled on home with my purchases, exhausted as I’d never imagined well… until the next day when I had ARUKOUKAI!!!

Arukoukai yesterday was a might ridiculous in that we walked super uber duper slow. We covered 13km/8miles, but it took all day. If it were me, I would’ve killed it in like 4 hours, easy, without all the random breaks and long lunch hour. But yeah, I met lots of Japanese people and they seem like they’ll become good friends, some of them at least. There’s a few I’m majorly hesitant about because they are very exclusive and I don’t like that in a potential friend. People who become my friends tend to be nicer than average or have a certain trait/personality that draws me to them. Then again, I have friends who have been to jail, done hard drugs, gotten pregnant at 12, so I can’t really say that I’m an amazing judge of people. The nomikai (drinking party) afterwards was majorly fun, but after the beer, sake, and cassius orange (I have no idea what this is except that it was yummy and tasted like orange, might have been a blood orange cocktail) my Japanese was slurring and yet I was still sober. The drinks took a long time to order and arrive so none of us really had all that much. BUT! EVERYBODY WAS RED-FACED! Especially me! My Asian Glow came out full force and it was sooo embarrassing until everybody I met told me that they couldn’t really see it and that it was cute that I looked so bright (akaraui). Sure… *laughs*

We split up by 8pm and it was weird to be toasty that early in the evening. Then again, everybody in Japan seems to time their lives/party schedule to the Shyuuden (last train), so whatever. I went home with my new friend Hiromi and we ran into Shimizu-kun, who was in my super slow walking group, on the train. I actually got home before Meimi so it was super weird. My eyes were all red from allergies kicking up and the warm sake working it’s way through my system. I have one discovery to announce though, I am actually a pretty decent drinker apparently. I could hold my own against everybody else there and it was quite nice to discover that.

I went home, picked up a obentou box from Wakana, a little cafeteria/box lunch selling place down the street from me, and ates it in my room so I wouldn’t disturb my Pa’s studying. I finally drank the water in the bottle that wasn’t properly washed and can now announce that I am NOT DEAD! w00t! It was also some mighty tasty water.

Today is laundry day, well it will be as soon as Okaa-san stops jockeying with me for use of the machine. She should keep to her own schedule if she wants me to acquiesce more and more to her preferences. Oh, I finally managed to hang up my Hello Kitty calendar. I was also right that she didn’t want me pinning anything on her walls. So, I made my own mechanism with a rubber band and thread to hang it up.

Oh, my laundry day number just came up and Okaa-san was right, I take back every word I said in anger. I just shoved in 1.2kg of laundry and that thing ate it up! It was over a week’s worth of laundry and it just gobbled everything on down. Sweet. 3 hours or so later and I’ll be able to do my whites, which are much much less than my overwhelming amount of colors. Oh well, when they leave the house, I’m going to do a video of the place and copy down the characters on the sentaku (washing machine) so that I can start better selecting my options like tumble dry low and whatnot.

Homework time starts soon. I have a quiz tomorrow on vocabulary and it would be best if I knew what I was doing before then. That, and I need to play around with my jisho to get used to its features and make it become the necessity that it has come to be for all others.

PC PC PC PC PC

- T
-----

KK NEED TO RUN NOW!!! ENJOY STALKING!!!

BYEEEEEEE~

*kiss kiss kiss kiss*

- T

インタネットがほしいよ

Uhm, yeah, I am damn well addicted to my internet as it is one of the few links I have to the freakin' world and I REALLY REALLY x 2346841324549 need it. Unfortunately, it seems like it will still be some long long while until I come across it again, full time. Right now, I am typing this up from Sophia University's computer lab numero D, although that doesn't really make sense. *shrugs* I'm like a millimeter away from not giving even a shred of care for anything that happens hence. Like that? "hence" *laughs*

I have this uber long blog post on my lappie top computer and left it at home today because lugging around 20lbs of junk for my computer when there's one present right here is right ridiculous, no?

Well, I believe I must first begin on the re-telling of the story of how I lost my internet. While at Ace Inn Shinjuku, I had unlimited access to the relatively shitey connection they had there, but still WiFi is WiFi is WiFi. At least I had some means to contact my family and blog and keep track of the world revolving beyond Japan. It was helpful that I had my cellphone with me at all times, but there's only so much that I can do on a cellphone, even if it does have e-mail.

After my family promised me upon my arrival that they would hook up the house for wireless, so that I wasn't freakin' stranded without it, they waited nearly a week, until I brought the issue up again, to remember it. Heck, they were the ones who didn't want me using their personal family computer in the first place. Yesterday, I finally went out with Okaa-san to Biccamera to check out the WiFi situation. She's quite concerned about the cost of WiFi and wanted to measure the costs/benefits of buying a WiFi Router now or investing in some rental for me as I would be the only person really using it at this time. Meimi won't get her notebook computer for another 3 years, when she graduates from high school and needs a computer for college schoolwork. I've been using a computer on my own since forever and all my essays and homework and etc. have been done on it. I don't know why they think she won't need it now, when she's entering high school and is actually studying hardcore, and will need it later, for college which is pretty darn lax and all that. *slow shake of the head* I don't want to tell them, but hey, if I see Meimi aching for one then I might play devil's advocate and push her cause.

OKAY~ Back to the adventure, yesterday, we finally made our way to Biccamera, only to be SHUT DOWN. Or in my case, SHOT DOWN. The guy at the store said that my "American-made personal computer" could possibly NOT link up and that there really is no way for them to know for sure and no support for it. Because of his words, me no get's internet. Heck, I even saw PLC while I was there and decided that I could settle for that as well, anything as long as I could connect. But no, he shot down that option as well with a spiel about cookies, drivers, operating systems, and other junk. I know, understand, and sympathize with the possibility that my computer might not link up, but hey, if my computer can link up everywhere else in freakin' Japan, why on Earth would it not in the Matsumoto household? I'm becoming seriously confused. It might just be my brain making not-so-correct algorithms and all that, but I sincerely believe that my computer can freakin' connect. Everybody else around me has internet and I love my family, but they seriously need to invest in some wireless for me before I massacre their personal compie with my obsession of all things techy.

*tears* It really isn't all that hard, and the way I figure it, if I can connect at Sophia, at a Manga cafe down the street, at Ace Inn, then heck, why wouldn't my computer connect at home? Seriously? Are you tryin' to mess with me? Gah~

On to happier things, today I picked up my Gaijin card! It was done early, so I bought the temp one for Sophia's overseas office and picked my actual one up! YES! ゲット！With this, I can finally apply to Mizuho for a bank account and get some actual funds to support my life in Japan. But, I've been here for nearly 3 weeks now and spend a lot less here than I do in America, which might be a sad signifier of how quickly I burn through my parents' pockets. They love me though, so... yeah... *giggles* I say that as if it actually justifies my spending, it doesn't. Not really.

Okay, I'll end here for now. The results of the placement test come out today and I'll be there to pick it up. Oh yeah! I tried to dress Japanese-y today and am getting definite mixed results.

Green sweatshirt, yellow t-shirt, white tanktop, black skirt, black knee highs, and Timbs. What do you think?

*flies on by*

- T