Beer and kanji

Note to self - do not try and read kanji whilst tipsy. It wont work. It took me a good ten minutes to retrieve my shoes from the right locker. Yes, its because Im a gaijin.

Busy busy

Getting ready for my family to stay and going places with my friends.
Went to the big buddha of Kamakura with Sally, it was impressive. Pretty fun to be able to climb inside it!
At the Hase Kannon temple there was a little pond full of tadpoles! So cute. There was also a funky cave with lots of tiny buddhas.
Misa and I hit Sensoji - chocolate covered bananas on a stick are genius! A lady asked if her kids could have their photo taken with me - really strange, she must`ve been from the countryside as Tokyoites see foreigners everyday. Theres a great noodle shop near starbucks that doesnt charge more for larger portions. And the large portions are Huuuuge! Nice to not get ripped off.
Ginza was amazing, so many beautiful things.

Price comparison

Japan, Create super drug store:

1.5L Bottle of Coke
x2 Instant Noodle bowls
Snickers bar
Earl Grey teabags
Can of Chu hi

= 1000 yen or 4.84 pounds

England
1.49p
0.75p x2
0.34p
1.24
1.65p

= 4.98 pounds

Pretty close!

Golden Week

Yay, first day of my holiday. Today is a national holiday, half Ebina post office was closed apart from a tiny window where I sent my postcards. I need to send a slighly belated birthday present but I`m wondering if it`s actually worth it - I was good friends with this person but I havent heard from them once since I`ve been in Japan.

Living abroad makes you realise who your true friends actually are.

Anyway, enough introspection. There`s a BBQ tomorrow, the Kamakura buddha the day after that and Studio Ghibli museum whenever I can get hold of a gold-dust like ticket : )

Saturday off

Today I`ve got the day off, as I worked on Monday instead. Went to Japanese class in machida with Abbie and Lucy, it was lots of fun. I was taught by a sweet old man, he showed me flashcards of peach, bee, winter etc in hiragana. He had a chuckle as they are for Japanese infants.
Kicking myself for learning hiragana before katakana though, did some book work and I couldn't read half the sentences : ( Need to study like a mofo.

We went for lunch at tfi Fridays after, had the nicest hamburger! Saw lots of fugi in a tank outside a restaurant but they looked ill and unhappy.

Theres a tiny pet shop where the kittens and puppies are in glass cages - they look adorable but are obviously too young to be taken away from their mothers. Its the kawaii obsession.

Nearly a month

I`ve been here nearly a month now. Time does fly. I`m going to try for two japanese lessons every week, as I don`t want to be in the situation I was last week, sitting at the doctors not being able to read most of the words or understanding the diagnosis.

I got laryngitis and inflamed vocal cords. Woke up thursday not being able to speak at all.
The lovely atsugi doctor sent me to a specialist in ebina, who put a camera up my nose and down my throat without warning!

My boss very kindly covered my friday lessons, I think he`s the best boss I`ve had to far in my working life of 4 years.

Finally got my alien card and open a post office account, hurrah : )
Nearly golden week, not going anywhere glamorous but Sally is back from thailand so we`ll do some exploring.

Hello Mr.Garcia

*waves across the ocean*
This is it so far, just back from the supermarket and they sell final fantasy potion in a can. Should I buy it? It may give me superpowers....

Let's try again

I'm back to give Japan another shot. The company sounds good, and I'm so pleased to get an apartment to myself. Things are really hectic at the moment, my certificate hasn't been delivered when it was supposed to be, so it's knocking back everything.

Home wise, I've really drifted apart from a lot of friends, most of who are busy doing the long term relationship, living together, mortgage and wedding planning thing. I'm 21, and really don't feel ready for all that. Taking off for a year seems much more appealing.

Some friends are a bit hacked off I won't be able to visit them before I go, the thing is the cost and time of travelling to them from Ulverston, and the distinct lack of any offers to sleep on their sofa. Five hours on a train and a hotel in the city don't come cheap. Some friends pay half my fair and lend me a bed, so it's swings and roundabouts.