Right Now

I have six weeks left in Japan. Five in my apartment. Four at school.

Whoa.

In an effort to capture the moment, like I did back here,
I'm listing a few fun facts about my day to day life...

-Summers in Japan suck.

-The Co-op has the best flowers.

-The Tobu store now sells tortillas!

-I absolutely adore Miyu in class 1-3.

-My friend at Starbucks' name is Yuki.

-Love the light that pours into my room in the morning. 

-I've weened myself off Facebook and on to The Guardian.

-I love that the teachers I'm close with call me Keito-chan.

-Since my arrival, I'm proud to say, I have never worn a scrunchy. 

-I have worn my grey wind breaker every day since I purchased it.

-Pasta with veggies has been my go to meal for the past few weeks.

-The crossing guard I chat with every morning is going to Turkey next week.

-Jessica comes to visit this weekend and I'm over the moon excited for her arrival!

-My favorite word in the Japanese language is sasuga.

-My least favorite word is Irasshaimase. More the way it's screeched as a welcome to every establishment than the word itself. 

-My purse can rest on the back of my chair in a restaurant without any concern it will get stolen.

-8 tracks in constantly playing in my apartment and I have compiled an excellent list of tunes for my summer playlist.

-Without thinking, I will join the crosswalks as they make their 'pew pew' noise signally to visually impaired people that it is time to cross. 
-I quite enjoy flipping my name plate to white to show my attendance when I walk into school. I enjoy it even more when I flip it to red to show that I'm leaving. :)

-I love running around our shaded little lake, pausing to look at the turtles and getting a nod of approval from another runner in the park.

-I love it even more when I go running on Saturday mornings and the group of eight, 70 year old men sipping their canned coffee and chatting, cheer me on as I circle the lake and run the stairs. They may be my biggest fans. 

-Takahashi in class 1-6 learned the word 'poo' and while the child is terrible at English, he can form perfect, complete, sentences with the word 'poo'. I will poo. This morning I went poo. Do you poo? Yesterday, he shared with me that 'pee' and 'homeless' have been added to his growing list of 'vocabulary words not taught in textbook.'

Here and Now, 

Kate

Post Office Pals

My neighbor Kim and I took a little trip to the post office last week so I could mail home a package of winter clothes. I wanted to make sure it went by sea in an effort to save myself a few bucks/yens, so Kim and her flawless Japanese came with. She also served as moral support as we somehow managed to shove the 20 pound box in my rear bike basket, and I successfully (albeit unsteadily) biked the 7 minutes to the post office.

The post office is probably my least favorite place in town. 

It seems every time I go there is some sort of problem. I can see it on the employee's faces when I walk in, "Oh, there is that white girl again and her weird packages." To their credit, they have a point. For some reason I am always mailing unique stuff. An oddly shaped post card, a package that is too heavy, a letter to a US military base with an elusive address and no clear country (that was a fun day), something that once had batteries in it which caused a whole issue and resulted in a highlighted map of a post office in another town 20 minutes away by train, a magical place where apparently packages with batteries could be mailed from.  

I hate the post office.

Apparently the feeling is mutual.

Kim and I filled out the appropriate form and got in line. When our turn came, the lady working tried to be as smooth as possible as she put up her, NEXT WINDOW sign. We waited for the man next to her to finish with his customer. As soon as he started to help us, her sign came down. Ouch. 

Kim turned to me as we left, "Well, that wasn't even subtle." 

Not so much. 

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, 

Kate

Simple Pleasures

Last weekend was the first time this year that included happy hour drinks outside, followed by a long leisurely dinner with Sayaka and a shared bottle of wine. Over dinner, I looked at all our food and drink and my good company, and I smiled. 

"This is one of my most favorite things in life," I said. 

"Drinking?!"

"Nooo. Well...yes, but no. Long dinners with good food and a bottle of wine. Love."

Which led to a fun discussion of a few of our most fave things in life. 

Here is what I came up with...

pancake breakfasts
live music

eating outside

a great quote

exploring a new city, ipod plugged in

a new coat of nail polish

buying a plane ticket

a new bathing suit

a cool photograph

going back to bed when you realize you're awake before your alarm

the moment you receive your scoop of ice cream from the man behind the counter

coming back from a run

crawling into bed when it's raining

fresh flowers

a nice candle

a new episode of new girl

checking off something on my todo list

early morning latte with any foam design

an act of kindness

snuggling

wet hair

finishing a book

getting anything in the mail

late night frozen yogurt runs

anything beach related

an empty email inbox

tan lines

Would love to hear what little things in life make you smile!

xoxo, 

Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Gary Winogrand's Photos...The Guardian.

Google Search: David Karp.

Tune: Strawberry Swing By Coldplay. 

Accomplishment: A mini workout before school. 
Obsessions: Heads Up! App.

Together

Today is one of those days that I feel like I have it together. Nothing magical or exceptionally different has happened, and yet, for some reason today I feel like I could take on anything. I have come to notice, as my departure date from Japan nears, days like this occur among many other non-together, but rather haphazard, sort of days. The days that I realize how much my life is going to be turned upside down in just a few short months and all I want to do is dig my heals into the ground and throw a tantrum, and not let anyone take me away from the sweet little life I've created. 

And then I remember. 

I remember how absolutely magical this experience of living in Japan has been. 

I remember that just because we are leaving a Japan doesn't mean I will never see my fabulous friends from Japan back in the US or some other part of the world.  

I remember all my friends in the US.

I remember all the weddings I get to be apart of when I arrive home.

I remember how excited my mom and Charlie are for my impending arrival. 

I remember how much I am looking forward to good Mexican food...
and Yogurtland, bagels, JamabaJuice, In-N-Out, and all things from Trader Joe's.

And then then I remember how I'll still be me now matter where I am. 

And just like that, for the time being, I've got it together.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Here and Now, 

Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Body Worlds in NY...NY Times. If you get the chance, go! So amazing!

Google Search: Spicy sitr fry recipe.

Tune: Walk the Moon By Anna Sun. 

Accomplishment: Answering quite a few emails. 
Obsessions: Chocolate covered pomegranate seeds.

The Curse

Photo of Tokyo Sky Tree and Mt. Fuji taken from the roof of our City Hall.

I moved abroad to gain a new perspective, to broaden my horizons, to have an adventure.  I wanted to see what else everyone was talking about. I wanted to be uncomfortable. I wanted to question things. I wanted to learn from strangers. I wanted to "talk" to someone who didn't speak my language. I wanted to learn about my life from living in someone else's environment. 

And I have. 

I have experienced all of that, and then some. 

I have been uncomfortable. I have been confused. I have made cultural faux pas. I have questioned my beliefs. I have been awkward. I have been the entertainment. I have been a nuisance. I have been a saving grace. I have been a teacher. I have been a student. I have been a tourist and I have been a local. 

What I didn't expect, was to still be hungry for more. 

I have found, the more I learn the more I want to learn.  

As soon as I come up with one question, a thousand more follow.

Curiosity is a never ending cycle.  

Through all my questions, and wonderings and wanderings, 

I have found adventure, new people, food and experiences, 

but what I have failed to find is answers. 

And yet, regardless of the frustration at the lack of answers, I find I am excited.

Thrilled, in fact, at coming up with more questions, meeting more people, taking on a new environment and challenging myself even more.

I have discovered the traveler's curse.

It goes like this...
(taken from here)

The more places you see, the more things you see that appeal to you, but no one place has them all. In fact, each place has a smaller and smaller percentage of the things you love, the more things you see. It drives you, even subconsciously, to keep looking, for a place not that's perfect (we all know there's no Shangri-La), but just for a place that's "just right for you." But the curse is that the odds of finding "just right" get smaller, not larger, the more you experience. So you keep looking even more, but it always gets worse the more you see. This is Part A of the Curse.

Part B is relationships. The more you travel, the more numerous and profoundly varied the relationships you will have. But the more people you meet, the more diffused your time is with any of them. Since all these people can't travel with you, it becomes more and more difficult to cultivate long term relationships the more you travel. Yet you keep traveling, and keep meeting amazing people, so it feels fulfilling, but eventually, you miss them all, and many have all but forgotten who you are. And then you make up for it by staying put somewhere long enough to develop roots and cultivate stronger relationships, but these people will never know what you know or see what you've seen, and you will always feel a tinge of loneliness, and you will want to tell your stories just a little bit more than they will want to hear them. The reason this is part of the Curse is that it gets worse the more you travel, yet travel seems to be a cure for a while.

None of this is to suggest that one should ever reduce travel. It's just a warning to young Travelers, to expect, as part of the price, a rich life tinged with a bit of sadness and loneliness, and angst that's like the same nostalgia everyone feels for special parts of their past, except multiplied by a thousand.

   

Cursed, 

uh-oh

Kate

P.S. Read more about what this is in response to, here.

[The Latest]

Must Read: Obesity in Young is Seen as Falling in Several Cities...NY Times. 

Google Search: Nikon P310

Tune: It's Time By Imagine Dragons.

Accomplishment: Consistently studying Japanese in the mornings at work.

Obsessions: Museli.

Right Now

It's November, When did that happen?! and I am trying to plan out my life. No pressure.

I am pretty sure that this is my final year in Japan, and, well, that is about all I know. The idea of not knowing for sure what will come next is both thrilling and terrifying all at once. I am doing my best to get things sorted, but their is just so much I don't know, sometimes I freak out just a little and have to stop what I am doing, and go do some thing that I do know. 

Remembering that while all this is familiar territory now, that wasn't always the case.

Reminding myself to live in the now. In this chapter. In today. 

So, one day, I can say, "Remember when?!"

picture taken by me. edited with instafonts app.

As of now, here is what I do know...

-I can't drink chu-hi.

-Kashiwa has the best burgers.

-Someone will stare at me daily.

-The people at the post office are odd.

-The Shin-Keisei line runs later than the Tobu line.

-The twins across the parking lot will cry at bath time.

-The Starbucks at Shibuya crossing only has tall sizes.

-In a restaurant, my purse will get its own basket or chair.

-The ATM gives me cash in 10,000 yen increments. ($125)

-I know the trains in and around Tokyo like the back of my hand.

-My morning BlendyStick is waiting for me in the tea area at school.

-I will go to Starbucks after school this week. They will recognize me.

-I will have an awkward interaction with someone at some point during the day. 

-The vending machine at the end of the alley has the biggest Cokes for 100 yen.

-The weekly Monday ALT meeting is at 3:45, and I can make it on time leaving at 3:37.

-Someone will be available to skype with after school if it is too cold to do anything else.

-M, W & F are the trash days for burnable items. Thursday is for non-burnable items.

-I will listen to the iHeartRadio app on my bike rides to and from school, singing along in the process.
-McDonald's breakfast ends at 10:30. I can make it from bed to McDonald's in 13 minutes flat.

-Tanigawa in class 3-2 will say, "OHHH Keito! You look grrrreat!"And regardless of my response, he will say, "Pardon?!"

-When asked, "How are you?!"Hikari in class 3-3 will pretend to think about it, giggle, then tell me   that she is, "so-so". And I will act surprised.

-When transferring trains, I listen to E-Pro by Beck, and feel like the queen of Tokyo as I power walk through the station.

-My entire staff room will greet me with a sincere smile and an, OHAYOOO GOZAIMASU, every  morning.

Right here, Right now, 

Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Japan Disaster: 25% of reconstruction fund spent on unrelated projects...The Guardian.

Google Search: 130 lbs to kg

Tune: E-Pro By Beck.

Accomplishment: Completing the grammar part of TEFL.

Obsessions: InstaFonts App.