Conbini Lifestyle

So I started this post last night and then I got lazy, mostly because I had put up a bunch of pictures on Facebook and I ran out of posting steam. Now I'm sitting around in my apartment waiting for the post office to redeliver my boxes of winter clothes, though it seems impossible to me that I will ever need a sweater or overcoat again considering the heat and humidity in Japan. I guess now is as good a time as any.

Not much else doing for this weekend before school starts, and truth be told, even though I was out of town through Thursday afternoon, I didn't do much else than lay in front of a fan watching TV in Nagoya (I left last Sunday and came back Thursday afternoon). Considering all the drama in the Minshuto (current ruling party of Japan) between Ozawa and Kan, it's made for good viewing and also a chance to build up my political vocabulary in the process. At the same time, it's meant that I've had to look at Ozawa's ugly mug for extended periods, and I've only become more convinced he's some kind of demon bullfrog. Or perhaps, this. I'm pretty sure this is how Ozawa will ultimately become the PM. Anyway, it's difficult to do anything in this heat, and since I didn't have to do anything, I took the lazy route and did a lot of this while I was staying with my host parents, only, you know, much less attractively.

And when I wasn't lounging around all day in boxers (unfortunately, it was not my house so the no pants rule does not apply), I was eating. A lot. My host parents laughed at me every time I took pictures of my food (what? Japanese people do it all the time); I don't think they realize just how thankful I am to be eating like this again:

Suuuuuushi... I ate every last piece and then helped my Okasan with her leftovers.

My favoritest thing in the world: unagi. My host parents know how much I love it and therefore took me back to the same restaurant we went to when I first arrived at their home 5 years ago. I then polished this whole thing off, drank my beer, and then finished my Okasan's plate as well. 完食＋１

For Tuesday night, Okasan made what I thought was going to be my last dinner in Nagoya, which was karaage (fried chicken), veggies and also a soup she had made with bok choy, kimchi and Japanese rice noodles. The soup was delicious, and she had made it knowing I have studied Korean. It'll be perfect for cold days in the winter.

I met their new host student on Wednesday (and I think that was part of the reason they wanted me to stay: to help her get better acclimated), and we went out for Italian dinner that night. They made our alfredo pasta in what looked like a giant block of parmesan cheese. I think it was just a bowl, but it would be awesome if it actually was a huge thing of cheese. Otousan ordered a bottle of red (which they served in a champagne bucket on ice with chilled glasses... weird), and proceeded to keep filling my glass, remarking that my tolerance has gotten stronger. That's grad school for you. Of course, I may have tippled one too many because I ended up forgetting my camera, which meant I stayed even longer on Thursday than I had intended because the restaurant didn't open until later in the morning. ::sigh::

We did head out a couple of times, including a trip to an old airport redesigned to be a mall. The mall itself was a little more interesting than the movie, Studio Ghibli's (the people who produced Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro and the like) most recent 借りぐらしのアリエッティ, which is based on the Mary Norton's novels The Borrowers. I kind of remember reading the stories as a kid, but not very well. It was a cute movie, but perhaps for me a little too cute, and a bit trite. I found myself kind of bored in some parts, but at least the Japanese was easy enough to understand. Okasan told me later that at the turning point of the movie when (SPOILER ALERT) Arrietty asks for help from a human boy, she could hear my Otousan sniffling a little bit next to her. Heh.

There was also a trip up into the mountains of Gifu-prefecture (Nagoya is in the prefecture Aichi, and Gifu is right next to it to the west) to an area they had taken me to the first time I stayed with them 5 years ago. Going up so high helped to cut some of the heat, and we went back of this really beautiful waterfall (also now have the word down for that, 滝 taki). The water itself appears a very clear blue/green, and though you can't get very close to the waterfall itself, a great mist comes off it that helps to cool the surrounding air.

Ahhhhh, I just want to drink that water.

I asked Okasan if it was possible to go down to the water (because seriously what's the point of seeing such clear water if you can't actually wade in it), so we took a path down to the rocky beach, rolled up our pants and stood around for awhile. My Otousan at first demurred and wouldn't go down the path (戻ることは大変だぞI think is what he said), but when he realized we weren't coming back as quickly as he had hoped, he eventually came down. He refused to take off his shoes though: his loss.

It's been pretty low-key, even more so in Yokohama because I have really mundane tasks to take care of ( I still haven't gotten around to getting fabric softener for my washer, or figuring out the waste/recycle disposal system, so you can imagine what my apartment looks like. It's really complicated in Japan!), and I also just don't know the area well enough or know enough people to start letting loose. There were some effects of jetlag lingering around towards the beginning of the week, which has also made it tough for me to work up some energy for a night out. Hopefully those are coming soon.

As such, my pictures from Yokohama aren't all that exciting, but I've got a couple of my apartment (before my suitcases exploded) and of my school. Some have been posted to Facebook already, and others not, so view at your leisure.

(Horray, my clothes came! Though the poor woman who had to lug those two boxes up the stairs... I just kind of followed her pathetically because I didn't know what else to do. She was breathing pretty heavily by the time she got the second box to my third floor apartment... don't die! Please! However I am relieved that I understood the directions on how to request redelivery... I was afraid that I managed to pick the option for "take my mail and BURN IT." I'd be able to do it. Trust me.)

The genkan (entrance) to my apartment. The "kitchen" is off to the left, and the food prep/storage area is to the right. It's a tight fit and I only have one burner for cooking anything, but considering my cooking skills, I imagine I will survive. However, my apartment did not come with a pair of chopsticks or any knives, chopping, butter or otherwise. It was interesting trying to cook eggplant the other night; I basically just ripped the thing apart with my hands.

See, one burner and a tiny sink. I won't be holding any large parties here any time soon.

Tiny, tiny refrigerator. I can't really keep all that much food, and I keep trying to use the freezer for ice (the tap water never gets cold enough), but by turning up the freezer, the rest of my refrigerator gets cold and I end up with freezer burn on everything. Can't win!

I also can't win with Blogger. It hates my photos, and now it won't let me upload anything else. I had intended to post a pic of my living space (it's just a bed, desk, TV, washing machine, closets and my much-used air conditioner), but I can't get that up, nor of my tiny bathroom. I can try again later or maybe try to edit this post later.

Had a Chu-hi with my homemade dinner the other night (I want my Okasan to cook for me again...), which was cheaper than the tea I had drank earlier in the day. Don't leave me with this choice!!!!

NO ENGLISH!!

Took a trip to my school to make sure I don't get lost on Monday. Unfortunately my placement exam starts with the spoken part, so I guess I will start by setting the IUC sensei's standards pretty low for me. Then Tuesday we have the written portion, which according to our schedule is about 3 hours long. My brain hurts already.

Hard to believe I'm going to school in this building, but the floor my school is on is a bit less impressive than it is on the outside.

View of Yokohama from the waterfront. I think they had some high hopes for recreating the waterfront into a park in this part of Yokohama, but it's starting to look pretty run down and it's sparsely populated: either homeless people sleeping under a tree or an exhausted biker passed out under the shade.

So that's it for now. I think I'll have some more exciting stories once school starts, and I'll have plenty to tell of stupid mistakes I've made with my Japanese once I'm forced to speak for extended periods. Though there was already one of those: when I was watching the live feed of Ozawa and Kan's press conference, there were these kanji in the corner of the screen, 中継 (relaying, or in this case I think it's closer to "broadcast"). I know what it means by recognition, but I attempted to say it aloud as ちゅうぜつ, or 中絶. Okasan laughed at me and said, "check out your denshi." ちゅうぜつ means abortion. I think that pronunciation has been left over in my head from TJP when we did the readings about genetics and in vitro fertilization. I don't think I'm going to forget it's actually read as ちゅうけい from now on.