Winter Lights

Christmas in Japan isn't like it is at home, it seems as though Christmas is for friends and New Years is for family over here. A bit of a change for me, but one I enjoyed very much. I will write more on that later, but one thing I will say is that Japan is a great place to be if you want to see lights on the trees for an extra month out of the year and want to know what a society looks like when it has become obsessed with a misconstrued conception of western culture. And, to be on the safe side, let me explain the last statement, I don't mean that they are obsessed with everything, just with the idea that ALL Americans eat FRIED CHICKEN on Christmas. Please don't think I am crazy, I'm not making this up, I'm pretty sure I couldn't make this up, and yet here it is. In order to get your KFC dinner on Christmas, you have to actually reserve it a couple weeks in advance. Haha, I love it! In any case, getting back to the lights, Satoshi and I went to a winter lights festival right before Christmas and it was pretty cool, they even had a live band... the lights were better than the band, but at least they tried right?

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Just in case anyone was concerned that Santa didn't come to Tokyo, a little something to put your minds at ease.

The Best Comb Over in Japan

I rarely turn my tv on. Almost every time I do, I am reminded why I don't. With one exception, I know the picture is pretty bad but I took it with my cell phone and it is of the tv. I think this man has the best comb over I have ever seen, I just thought that was something I needed to share...

Appreciating the Little Things

I love Japan, I love feeling independent and as if I can take on the world. What I don't love is letters showing up saying that someone is using a credit card of mine that I myself have never had the pleasure of using, the IRS telling me to redo my taxes and yes, the kicker, a computer that works when it feels like it and then gives me the blue screen of death in the hours I need it the most. At some point soon, I will be able to upload some more pictures and get everything back to normal, for now, I am going to try to get back to writing and hope for the best. Its amazing how much I have taken for granted a local US telephone line, how my life would be a bit let complicated and yet, if it were easy, it wouldn't be part of the learning experience. That being said, tax forms can be sent, credit cards can be cancelled and computers can be restored, but moments of despair linger and I will not let a day go by when I don't think to myself, how lucky I am to be so far away from home and still so close to the ones I love. Perhaps without them my little mis-steps would turn into something not quite manageable from such a distance. As the new year comes and the last year is ceremonially dragged into the past, I remember all of those people who have helped me along the way. May the new year bring you all health and happiness, smiles and laughter in the new year!

Halloween, Not as Cool in Japan

Ok, so here's the thing, you know how when you first move somewhere and everything is new and exciting and you just want to tell everyone about every little thing that happens no matter how insignificant it really is? Well, I started out that way and after awhile everything started to seem normal and it didn't really interest me to write about it. Looking back over the last couple of months I realize that I have been lazy and that in all honesty, I have been doing a lot of things and having some fairly interesting adventures. So.... at the request of my father, I am going to try and start back where I left off. That would leave me at about Halloween. Ah yes, just when you thought you had finally gotten rid of the costumes for another year, one more flash back into what turns out to be a fairly (unfortunately) tame holiday. In a previous post I had talked about one of my favorite, actually, favorite might be too strong of a word, lets go with most entertaining clubs. Holloween, like most days in October was filled with precipitation, if I ever actually believed they could, I would say it was raining cats and dogs. So we all met in Shibuya and took the bus to the club where we waited out in the rain for about 2 hours. I believe that we finally got into the club around 1:30. Needless to say, as most of my friends back home know already, I have a very difficult time staying up late and so after being there for about two hours fell asleep on a chair facing the stage, was periodically checked on, and then called it a night around 6. Holloween was a bit different this year, but I will say... I loved my pink wig!!!