Today isn't really going to be a well-formatted blog. I mainly have a list of random things I've noticed about Japan/my area/life in general that I want to share with my people. Some of it's dumb, yes (but who doesn't expect that from me anyway). Here goes:
- The crows here have no fear or anything and if I die here then it will probably be because of death-by-bird-attack. These things are huge! They are scary and mean and there is no doubt in my mind that massive amounts of small pets (ie. children) have been carried off by these creatures of doom.
- I have been obsessed with the drinks here. The milk tea is one of my favorites (basically tea with milk and sugar already added to it so all I do is pour and warm it and enjoy). Powdered green tea is huge here too. I found a green tea soy latte this morning at the 7&Holdings (7-11) and it is delish. I've found two new favorite alcoholic beverages one being tequila and tonic with lime. As my mom pointed out, I'm basically "drinking my way through Japan." Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me.
- The other day I met the Japanese Snooki. (For all of yous guys who don't know about the train-wreck that is Snooki from Jersey Shore... you're better off.) But yes, there's a girl who works at the on-base quicki-mart who looks just like her. I swear I will somehow get a picture of her as per your Facebook requests for me to do so, but I haven't seen her at work since that day last week. (However, if she really is like Snooki, then she probably got fired.)
- I still hate snow. It snowed again yesterday. One minute it is pouring down rain and the next minute the rain was big white fluffy flakes of sadness. I would have preferred a flood.
- Driving in Japan rocks! It's been a lot easier than I expected. People are pretty nice and let you out into traffic and they always give a courtesy honk or wave if you help them out in traffic. :) Got my license Friday. Saturday i took a test drive into work to see if I could navigate with my Droid GPS. I couldn't. Droid is out to get me. I ended up in the middle of some rice field (no joke) and Droid said that I had reached my destination. So I tried putting in the location of the nearest train station and that got me to the general area and I could find my way from there to work. I also got lost on the way home and had to employ the same method of finding the nearest train station on my navi system and finding my way home from there (at least there's some greatness from me knowing the train systems here by heart now)! On Monday I did it again. Stupid me thought that putting in work address would get me there but I was wrong, so I did the train station thing to get to work and from work on Monday. This morning I tried something new (and scary as hell). I threw my phone in my purse and tried to get there on my own... and I DID IT! I didn't backtrack or make a wrong turn or anything. Just paying attention to the signs and landmarks got me to work. Needless to say, I feel like a freaking genius right now. :)
- Saturday night i went to Hachioji, which takes about an hour to get there by train from my house. Since it takes so long and because I wanted to stay out late with some new friends, I looked online and found a cheap yet nice hotel to stay at. The main trainlines close down at midnight, but my local one closes down at 11pm. So I would have had to leave Hachioji by 10pm, which was just unacceptable for me. :) I stayed at Hachioji Plaza Hotel. So nice.
- Hotels here are a bit different than the US. The rooms are smaller, the bathrooms are smaller (think cruise ship size) but the amenities are fabulous. They make it so all you have to bring when you travel is day clothes and makeup. They had a bathrobe, pjs, slippers, toothbrush and paste, hairbrush, snacks, green teas, coffee, mints, mouthwash, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, free breakfast buffet, razors... they had it all in my room. It was fabulous. That plus check in at 3pm and check out at 11am all cost 5500yen ($65). Such a good deal. Plus it allowed me to sleep in a bit and explore the town on Sunday.
- I am no karaoke novice. I've been known to bust a few ear drums in my day. But Saturday night was ridiculous. 3000 yen for all you can eat AND drink AND sing for 3 hours with 10 other people. I had such a good time. We pretty much sang the entire soundtrack to Top Gun (my NAF guys can thank me later) and we rocked the heck out of that place.
- Sunday when I was exploring Hachioji, I finally found two of the things I'd been looking for in Japan since I got here to make my boyfriend's Valentine's Day present. (Don't judge me on it being March and just now getting his Vday gift... I just got my first paycheck and got a bank account out here so I could withdraw yen... because most places don't take credit cards here. AND I couldn't make it when he was around.) So I finally got the items I needed to make his gift. Went home. Made it. AND IT LOOKS AWESOME! I'd show pics but I want to surprise the heck out of him when he gets back. Seriously, I rock as a girlfriend. You guys are going to be impressed.
- Something that is on my list of things to do is to get packages sent to people back home. HOWEVER, I have no clue where my address book is, and I live by my address book. I think it's in one of the boxes that I haven't had shipped yet (Ajax gets pissy when more than one of my huge packing boxes is delivered to his work APO address at one time). So I am trying to redo my address book. Please email me your address, at some point or another I will be sending all of my friends and family something from over here. So if you know me, send me your address. :) Please and thanks.
That's about it for me today. Still loving life over here! I hope you all are doing well!
Meg
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