First off some personal notes.
Cami babe I am glad to hear from you again. You are a study monkey right now too so I am thrilled that you take the time to write to me.
Katey, I have always thought that you spelled your name Katie, moshiwakearimasen. However, this raises the question "What else don't I know about Katey?". So answer the two questions about you weighing most heavily on my mind. Are you a closet twilight fan? Are you a republican?
Tara, most of the rest of this post is about the question you asked about my apartment. As for the cookies, every year pre-Christmas, I make peanut butter blossoms and this year I am also making my personal fave oatmeal scotchies. You bring your mom and Shaun out to Centreville while I am home on break and you can have as many as you want. I also make peanut butter balls every year but they are classified as candy. I am thrilled to hear about the new job...kick ass, take names and make bank.
Now onto the question of housing. Real estate in Tokyo is a big deal. Schools do not usually keep much dorm space and dorms are not on campus, they are usually apartment buildings about an hours commute away.
At TUJ you have to spend your first semester living either in the dorm or in home stay but there are not enough spaces for anybody other than first semester students. In your second semester you have to strike out on your own and find a place to live. Luckily, in Japan nobody is into the whole "roommate" thing, so Tokyo is crammed full of studio and one bedroom apartments in all price ranges.
I am so psyched about the idea of having my own place again. When you live with someone else (family excluded)you never actually relax. I desperately want a place where I walk through the door and shut it and I am not answerable to anyone but myself. If I am depressed or homesick, I want to be able to cry (or eat a half gallon of strawberry cheesecake ice cream)without worrying about other people worrying about me. I want to get up and go to the bathroom in the morning without having to put clothes on. When my hillbilly is showing I want to be able to bop around the house to bluegrass without wearing my headphones.
Don't think that it hasn't been great living here with Chiemi San and Sanshiro San. They have been very kind and I would have had a much harder time adjusting without their help, Chiemi San has helped me get my alien registration card and national health card, not to mention teaching me the train system and helping me set up my bank and cellphone accounts, but I am a (those of you who need to know my age already do and those of you who don't can suffer the curiosity) ? year old woman and I need my own space.
I do not have to move out until the beginning of December, but I am going to need time to move the little bit of stuff I have (two backpacks full at a time on the train) and I need time to kit my apartment out with all the luxuries (pots and pans, a futon, a desk, a washing machine...) and I can't leave it for the first week of December because that is finals week. So I am starting my search this weekend and I am planning on starting my rental contract beginning in November. I will make sure to post pictures of the places where I am looking so you guys can give your opinions.
So something very mundane but cool happened with my host family yesterday. I offer to make dinner some of the time, usually they decline ... home stay students still have a bit of a guest feel to them and the host families don't always feel comfortable with you doing things that they feel are their responsibility, but Chiemi San and Sanshiro San have finally started to understand that I like to cook and it doesn't bother me to clean. So yesterday I made dinner. Usually when I cook here I make traditional Japanese food but yesterday I made something I have been craving for two weeks now...soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. To my amazement neither Chiemi San or Sanshiro San had every eaten a grilled cheese sandwich. They loved them! You would have thought I did magic. Sanshiro San has made me promise to teach him how to make them. You cannot imagine how fun it is to introduce somebody to something as simple and perfect as a grilled cheese.
So on that happy note I'll take off for now
Miss you guys
Liz
I love it! Of course they're thrilled about grilled cheese. Think of your first grilled cheese sandwich. You may have been 2 or 3 or maybe as old as 5 when you had your first, but the crispness of the toasted/buttery fried bread surrounding the warm, oozing cheese. And yes, often the simplest of foods is the most wonderful. Glad to hear you have introduced an American favorite to our Japanese hosts.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
T
Haha, why those two questions? And it's so hilarious that you asked about Twilight, because I just watched it last night.
ReplyDeleteYes... I am a closet Twilight Fan. Sort of. I liked the books okay and the movies are entertaining. I rather like the plot more than anything, although if I can get the same plot from something else (which I can) then I prefer whatever else it is. I don't have a Team Edward, Team Jacob complex, I don't have any merchandise and I don't engage in conversations about it. But the fact that I like it and don't normally admit it makes me a closet fan I suppose? Also, I enjoy a good vampire theme (and more and more lately lycans as well). But most portrayals of vampires I dislike, more than I actually like. So I think the way they are in Twilight is enough that it's interesting (although I don't understand the sparkles).
As for politics, I don't have a taste for them. If you asked me what each side stood for on a policy, I couldn't tell you, aside from jokes I've heard from Family Guy and the sort. Everything I learned for history classes is gone. Maybe it's bad that I don't know much, but the way I see it is this: regardless of which side is in the seat, things will change (or not). All I have to do is go and vote for what I think is right. Depending on the issue, I side with both.
I hope my long winded explanations are satisfactory. =3
Oh Liz, I hope finding a new place worked out! And yes I know a horrible friend for not saying anything sooner. Your pictures and your blog are completely awesome!
ReplyDeleteI think I found a piece of heaven when I found out grilled cheese and tomato soup can go together.
I also found something you may like when you have more time. :)