Working Lunch

Had a working Lunch with S, the nice french guy who is a coworker. We ended up talking about Tiffcom and I found out he used to work at the Eiffel Tower about 12 years ago. I have to remember to treat him next time since I lost the toss on this one.

SO, finally got my photos on my computer. This would be the cutest thing I've seen since getting here. The kittenpile next to the Softbank mascot dog.

The close up.

So that I know I'm not just talking to the space in my head (since I've lost my mind) anyone reading, please feel free to drop questions or comments sometime. I've changed the settings so you should be able now.

Sleep Deprivation feels like being drunk

Seriously. Inbetween sleeping at 5, my roommate leaving in the morning for work, and a call from my mom at 9:30 (not a bad thing in any light) I got about 4.5 hours of sleep. And try though I might, I couldn't get back to REM land. That first star to the right and straight on til morning thing only works...well... when it isn't late morning. Chatted with my mom, my friend's mom out in Cali, and my friend in HB for what added up to about 2 hours. Played a little WOW because I'm a complete nerd and then showered and headed out to meet Nabe at the station at 2:30 feeling like I was moving through cement. He apparently didn't fare much better than me in the sleep department, and by the time we both made it to the station, we wouldn't have made it to Tokyo Game Show in time to get in before they close the doors. So we did Plan B and went to go play in Akihabara instead. (Akihabara is the electronics district). Ended up exploring some of the back roads (no panty machine, alas. I swear I have seen one before out there), the main strip that most people don't stray from, and generally hung out for a few hours. We did visit the extremely scary looking Mandarake *hobby shop* which is an 8 story building completely covered in black netting. Also hit up two game centers where I got reacquainted with DDR and Nabe got to show off his UFO Catcher (ie. crane game) skills. Also found a place that sells English games (<3) so I suspect I'll be visiting there later.

Headed back to Asagaya, got Takoyaki for dinner, and then hit up Bookoff for manga and games. And now, I will go pass out and hopefully wake up in time for work tomorrow. Didn't get my 5K run in this weekend for training, so I will have to do that sometime in the next few days X_x.
Still, all in all a nice weekend. I can feel that tonight is cooler than the last few have been. Really need to get a move on and get fall/winter clothing ASAP.

Night Life

Stuck near the house for the bulk of today. They finally enabled our phone line for internet, but neglected to bring the modem this morning, and I spent the morning waiting for my roomies package that never came, and the guy who switched our old key style lock for one with electronic key cards. Very snazzy though apparently needs to be kept away from cell phones. Will post a picture once I get one. Also found out that my camera is not compatible with my Mac, so I'll have to go out later today (Sunday) to get an SD-USB reader. Hit the local grocery store for food for a few days and then went home to watch Azumanga Daioh for a while since the lack of internet shot my plans to Skype people.

Met up with Nabe and his crew of co-workers from Mad House (aptly named) and we went over to Fushimi to the second best Yakiniku place in Japan. It was me, another woman, and like 5 guys crowded around this tiny little table. The meat was excellent, though I wouldn't advise asking what the "hormone" meats or "throw away" meats we ate during the meal consisted of. I will say that it was better than the eel innards I ate in March when I was here... not saying much, but the meat for the most part was heaven. As was the grilled veggies.

This lasted until about... oh, 12:30 or so. We piled back into the car and headed to ogikubo with two guys tailing us on bicycles. One managed to spectacularly crash into a pole enroute (the wonders hard liquor does to bicyclists) but he seemed to be ok. We saw him next with bandages but he seemed to be fine. So... Karaoke by the station until about 4am. It was a lot of fun, but I started fading around 3... still a record for me. Apparently this is normal night life in this country. My friend offered to walk me home, but one of his co-workers, Guru-neesan lives just down the street, so we walked back together. A nice night, though I'll probably pay for it later when Nabe and I head to Tokyo Game show.

The waiting factor

I hate waiting, and apparently I have to wait until October 13 to find out whether or not I get to go to Santa Monica or not. Part of me really, really wants to go. Part of me doesn’t. Homesickness is a weird beast.

So by some minor miracle Fred is still alive. For some reason, I’ve started talking to him and having conversations. He hasn’t started talking back yet... not like my car... but I’ll give him time to develop a personality. Right now it’s somewhat dry and prickly. But hey, he’s a cactus. Got to cut the guy some slack.

ENG/JAP Lit

Regular work day. Lots of translations, though found out another coworker speaks pretty good English and is an English Lit. major from Sophia University. I can’t figure what would be worse... the Japanese Lit. or the English Lit. major. Oh wait... would English Lit include Dostoyavski’s Crime and Punishment? If so, I greatly pity the man. Luckily I believe that counts as Russian so the poor man may have dodged the bullet. Then again... I got Naomi senior year of college...in two languages... ick. If you haven’t read Naomi, do yourself a favor... DON’T.

So Tokyo has this interesting quirk in comparison to Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe). People tend to ignore people who don’t have direct relation to them business or otherwise. Unlike Kansai, I don’t get random conversations on the train or when I’m walking on the street. On the flip side, I have found that asking to pet peoples dogs is a really good way to get around it, and get fur therapy to boot. Pity I can’t find a friendly neighborhood cat. The one by my work hasn’t been around the last week, preferring to sun in the garden behind the shop it lives at, or so I’m told.

It’s odd. I got a reminder about 9/11 today, and even 8 years later, thinking about it feels like a punch in the gut. I keep wondering if something will happen while I’m out of the country, or how badly I would have been clawing up walls if something like that happened while I was out here. We have a phone chain in place along the family, but still. Ironically, since Tokyo is supposed to have a major catastrophic earthquake sometime in the next 30 years perhaps I’m the one more likely to have an adventure. Not to mention the missile North Korea tried to fire over Japan in March... which just happened to have a flight path over not one but two major nuclear power plants in Northern Japan... Once again, on the plus side, it is great incentive to get a disaster kit together. Think I’ll get right on that Saturday since work is making up in hours for the 5 day weekend of silver week.

Fred the Cactus

Final day of Silver week 5 day weekend. Part of me felt I should go in to work, but I defeated the little workaholic that lives on my shoulder and opted to go check out the Uniqlo above the station. Got some corduroy pants in prep for the Fall cold snap (its been 60 here all month and really damn eerie, since I remember starting to freeze in Kyoto around this time), a few long sleeve shirts, and this snazzy undershirt that is supposed to act as a temperature regulator, warming when you are cold.
I have managed to keep the cactus alive for a day so far and named “Fred” for his funky hairdo and personality. He keeps me company in lieu of Francois (my car)... who by all reports is now being sold. Regardless, I haven’t managed to kill the little bugger yet, but we will see.
Rest of the day isn’t much to talk about though. Finally getting paid Friday so I can start figuring out what my monthly budget is actually going to be. Time to break out the spreadsheet Mike helped me make.

Local Exploration

Explored the Seiyu department store above the station and got things for the house as well as taco makings. Had Kuri, her man, and her roomie over for a taco/quesadilla feast. Her roommate brought me samuel adams and sake not realizing that I don’t drink... and a cute little cactus. Not sure what I’m going to do with the Boozahol though. If my roommate doesn’t want it, I’ll probably save it for someone who does. Anyone?

Minor inconveniences

Went in to work for an hour getting lost on the trains along the way and then hung out in Ikebukuro for a bit to go pick up the really good cheese I like. Came back and went to Kichijoji to pick up my Hanko. Now I just need to find some place to pick up ink and a case I suppose. Met up with Yoshi for dinner and we went to a steak place by Ogikubo station. SOOOOO good. I really want to go back there again sometime soon. Also discovered that I’m too good at that Taiko game, so now it is on the list of things to get after such inconveniences as food, furniture, winter clothing, and a TV.

Taco Night

Made Tacos for lunch with Di after hitting the local market for meat and veggies and exploring the beauty of her neighborhood. A definite shift from downtown Tokyo, though not all together different from the area I currently live in. Headed to this great Karaoke place after that. Went to Shin-Kobe to pick up souvenirs for friends and coworkers (Its a japanese thing) and change my ticket to an earlier time so I wouldn’t miss the last train heading out to Ogikubo. Walked around Kitano for a bit and ended up at this incredible Starbucks that is apparently in some old mansion. Wooden staircase and everything. Also found a nice Katsu place above the station and Di got to add more foods to her project. They had the sauce in a teakettle even. Got back to Tokyo late, but had a nice conversation on the bullet train enroute with a woman whose son was sleeping across three of the train seats.

Old Friends, New Friends

Found Mister Donuts <3 finally and ran around Sannomiya to pick up taco makings for sunday while trying to arrange meeting up with Miwako in Kyoto. Somehow managed it and we made it to Kyoto station right on time.
Met up with Miwako and her sister Hideko after some minor being turned around and then went to Porta to some random Italian place. It felt really strange and nostalgic to be back. We also hit up the Karaoke studio on 8jo that I used to go to as a student. It was really surreal. Di and I made it back to her station before the last train, but well after the last bus, so we got a chuckle at the Taxi driver who drove us back to her place. The guy had told us he wouldn’t have known what to do if we hadn’t been able to speak Japanese.
Rant: Dear Japanese people. If I am wearing Japanese style clothing, carrying a more recent cell phone, and am generally navigating like I know what I’m doing... AT LEAST give me the courtesy of figuring that I know at least basic Japanese greetings like “sumimasen” and “arigatou”. The amount of times I have to just laugh when shopkeeps say “thank you” or random people on the street say “sorry” or “excuse me” even when I’m speaking in Japanese gets really somewhat frustrating.

The Smoking Gun

Managed to get a bullet train ticket down to Kobe from Shinagawa for more than I generally like to pay for transportation. Ended up chatting with an army officer based in the Hiroshima countryside and her Brazilian mother, which meant I didn’t notice when we got on the only “smoking” car of the three jiyuuseki or free seat cars...which means we got to stand for a couple hours from Shinagawa to Nagoya with people chain smoking on all sides. And the train was packed so we couldn’t move up a car to get away. So despite getting a seat from Nagoya to Shin-Osaka, I finally gave up when the third guy in the row across the aisle from me started to light up. Unlike the other two foreigners who had stood the entire trip from Shinagawa to Nagoya complaining about things loudly in English (I think I can see where the stereotype comes from), I gave him a disgusted look and pushed my way through people embarking on the train to the area inbetween cars... also packed with people. This is what I get for traveling on a 5 day weekend. So I look back and some IDIOT is standing in the doorway of the smoking car, ensuring the door won’t close. The haze in the smoking car is disgustingly visible making me get a case of black lung just looking at it (the years in LA have served me in good stead... but not that good). So I spent the final 20 minutes glaring at the doorway guy with him squirming and trying to ignore me. Hey in a country where most people have dark eyes, green eyes can be rather disturbing...or so I’m told. Made it to Kobe to visit Di smelling like someones ashtray, though the 20 something types of Kitkats we tried late that night more than made up for it. For those of you in Japan, NEVER eat Ume (pickled plum) soda, sports drink, or azuki. Save yourself the trouble and cut off your tongue now.

Plans

Found out that my company is not, in fact, going to send me out to AFM in Santa Monica in November. It’s a bummer in a way, but probably for the best. Need to get a ticket to and from Kobe for the five day weekend next week, but it’s an absolute bitch to get out of the office for long enough at lunch to get one... and I get out too late for the JR window to be open. Needless to say, I need to get my butt to one of them or the tickets will be sold out.

Laundry

Finally got to do laundry, and for a race that is supposedly short, this is a really fucking high laundry bar. On the plus side, I won’t have to go to work nude on Thursday. Japanese hang their laundry out on the balcony instead of using driers. So doing laundry in the dead of winter in the snow is going to be an adventure in itself. They do have coin op driers in some areas, I just haven’t found it yet.
And dammit, not 30 minutes after I hang my laundry out to dry it starts raining... which is even more ironic when you consider I didn’t do laundry last night to avoid the typhoon rolling in. Damn you Murphy. Damn you.
Managed to survive a Skype session with the London lady and found out that the woman who does the contracts is out ill... and then will be on medical leave for months. Keep in mind, I haven’t been trained. So now I get to go head first into the river known as contracts with no formal training. Anyone got any floaties??

Catch the Wave

The weird thing about being in Japan is that you either feel nothing, or everything. And it’s a crap shoot which it is going to be at any given time. A deal I was negotiating with help from my co-workers was chosen as the one we are taking. So part of me is doing a major dance of happiness. Especially when I managed to negotiate the deal to double their original offer and a better payment schedule. Unfortunately he was kind of a condescending bastard in the end which ticked me off, but I learned something from the Executive Producer when I told him about it. His pieces of advice consisted of, “they really want our stuff, to the point of wanting to deal with us, though not necessarily as equals. The condescension comes with the territory. The important thing is to remain polite and not get angry. Still, both he, the president, and the producer seemed gratified and a little amused by my reaction. Learned a new term from the president too. 鴨がネギを背負ってくる (lit. A duck that shoulders a leek), which means along comes a sucker who is begging to be parted with his money.
Met up with Kumiko and her friend, and they are going to give me a shot to read in english to little kids once or twice around Tokyo. It’s supposed to happen sometime in October or November, so we’ll see how it goes. Dinner at this crazy restaurant called Tsunami in Ebisu, a crazy little ‘Hawaiian Style’ joint with 1.5 stories in a 1 story room. It’s a really good thing I’m short considering we were on the loft part.

Fur Therapy

Hung out with Nabe today. Met up and went to Kichijoji Aki Matsuri (Autumn Festival) for grilled squid, ramune, and an absolutely incredible baked potato with butter and miso. It was a small festival with omikoshi (both adult and child versions carrying the ... portable shrine for lack of a better word) with my mind melting from the sheer cuteness of the child omikoshi. Grabbed “taco rice” which is essentially meat, shredded lettuce/cabbage, and cheese over rice. It actually tastes better than it sounds. Looked at Seiyu out there to look at bikes and headed back to Ogikubo to look at bikes and get a damn wire shelf rack to put my food on.
Went to Ikebukuro to go to “Nekobukuro” a shop that lets you pet 18 cats and give them a little bit of treat at certain times of the day. Headed to dinner and then saw the movie “Summer Wars” which was really good, and really Japanese. If it makes it out to the States, I highly recommend it.

Some Semblance of Order

Started my training for the Tokyo Marathon and did a 30 minute run around the neighborhood. Felt good except for the fact I’ve been eating crap for a month for lack of a kitchen/fridge. I’ll be very happy when I’m not living off of convenience store fare, bento, and fast food. As they say, what you put into your body is what you get out of it.

Chatted with my mom while unpacking and getting my room into some semblance of order... theoretically anyway.

Headed out and met up with AV to have lunch in Kichijoji and then headed out to Shibuya to pick up the latest copy of “Metropolis”, an English magazine that tells what events are happening in Tokyo, among other things. Headed to Harajuku to show him around and also go to Meiji-jingu. Found some shirts, but I swear the Engrish fad has seriously died out... sad.

Called Kuri and her guy with the possibility of Karaoke and headed out to Wendy’s, of all places, for dinner for lack of a better option. Met up there, headed to Karaoke, sang out heads off (and did Tatakae Otaking for all of those Otaku out there) and then headed to a crazy little mexican place we’d seen earlier so the others could grab food type substance. Admittedly Fried cheese avocados look kind of odd, but just another tasty treat from the crazy Japanese. Wonder if it’ll ever catch on on the border.

The Perversity of Self-Confidence

Self confidence is a weird thing. I had a meeting with an American from an anime company. Apparently he lived in Japan for like 5 years, and so in terms of comprehension, I felt rather blown away. In reality, he was probably on a similar level, though that could just be my ego talking. It likes to do that. On the plus side, we had a good meeting, if relatively uneventful, since they hadn’t brought enough to the table. I did have fun joking with the president and the Exec. Producer afterwards when they were complaining about “foreigners who were bad and trying to take advantage” of them. The stereotypical “bad american from a big company” type of style. It was a nice laugh, though I agree that the anime company wasn’t being straight with us since we are a small company. Well, we’ll see how it goes.

Other than that, pretty boring day, although I found the local cheap market. You have no idea how good apples taste when you haven’t had them for a freaking month (or any other produce for that matter). Plus it was only 100yen! Love!

Message for Mom: Mom. If you want to call me this weekend, can you call me anytime after 3P on your Friday or Saturday? Otherwise have a great weekend

Squish

Unfortunately the completely packed trains continue as I commute. In fact, it actually gets worse if I leave earlier than 7. Likewise in the mornings, if I leave before 8 I end up face to armpit (the Japanese ARE getting taller. I swear it) or worse, arm to groin (same claim) with the poor guy I’m bring crushed against by about 100 other strangers (in a 5 ft square space) looking about as thrilled to have me there as I am to be there. I guess this is just one more aspect of Japanese life to get used to. On the plus side, the 15 minute walk to and from the station is actually pleasant. We’ll see if I feel the same way in the pooring rain or cold. Luckily, the bus stop is right outside my apartment, so that is a nice backup.

There is something that has been driving me up the wall for like a week now, and a friend of mine helped solve it. The crabby London lady in one of her random bouts of sanity told me one of my coworkers used to be an idol (in Japan this can be a model, a singer, or some combination of the two). Of course, I don’t think to look this up WHILE I have internet, though I actually knew she’d worked in that business a few weeks ago (albeit not as an actual idol). My friend found her today and helped solve the mystery. I may look it up for myself when I get net access, but there is nothing worse than gnawing curiosity that you can’t salve because you lack the internets. In between my boss’s wife, this lady, and one of the guys who apparently used to work on CSI:NY, I keep wondering what my coworkers will turn up next.

One of the guys from the anime division proceeded to drop some surprise info on me yesterday. The first is that they are apparently planning on having me voice act in English for a short little flash animation they are doing (my reaction: Wait... what?). The second is that, on top of working at a convention in Santa Monica for a week, apparently they are planning on sending me to Singapore for three weeks for training at some point, and to London for a training period too (this for a week or more). So I’m scrambling to get my multi-re-entry permit now before they decide to spring anything else on me (most Japanese don’t know that foreigners require re-entry permits to go in and out of the country once the visa has been used once...).

Apparently “9” came out today, and I’m going out of my mind because I was waiting for months to see it. There is no announcement for when it will be available in Japan. And part of me is convinced that it WILL come out here (albeit 6 months later... we are getting UP in December) since the Japanese cinema seems to thrive on end of the world stories (and the music sounds just like Casshern!). I’m almost desperate enough to go look for it online, but I will be good and wait until it comes out in theaters. DAMN YOU LANGUAGE DIFFERENCE! DAMN YOU!!!!

Stardate 3498-2-3...

So the lack of internet and TV is slowly driving me mad. On the plus side, it’s a handy way to cure an addiction. Unfortunately, now I’m getting addicted to Mentos, one of the few things that haven’t managed to change their flavor over here (at least not the plain ones. I mean, coke flavored mentos? Seriously?). I am finding it seriously ironic that I was okay until this morning when a coworker asked me if I was homesick, and it didn’t hit me until then that I was. It’s not so much the country I miss as my friends and family. You guys! What else is there to be homesick about? Other than food that is...though not necessarily for my cooking. ;P

Got some stuff done at work today, but in general had trouble getting back on track after being used for translations for so long. My boss noticed and gave me a look meaning he’s going to work me to the bone tomorrow.

So the best remedy for homesickness is a festival with friends, and luckily Ogikubo happened to have one going on near the station. My friend Nabe called me around 9 and I threw my clothes back on and went. Chatted with some of the vendors, one really nice almost toothless man selling Karaage(fried chicken) and another set selling chocolate dipped bananas. We got there near the end so I ended up getting two for the price of one (score!). Met up with his coworker there and walked around while booths were closing up and blowing away in the wind (literally, one minute they are there, the next they aren’t). Passed up the cocktails being served in babybottles in favor of Ramune (bliss), Squid on a stick (no seriously), and grilled mushroom yakitori. Went to the local game center after and spent 5 bucks trying to get a stuffed penpen (Evangelion has been getting popular again around here. Sorry Gideon, I got close but couldn’t get it as the OSF mascot for you. Got pictures though). Split up so that they could head back to work and I had a nice jog home. I don’t care what pumas claim, their converse type shoes are NOT for jogging in.

Loooong commute

Living in Gotanda spoiled me. I’m used to the 15 minute jaunt it took to get home from work on a not entirely packed train. So while the 45 minute commute to work isn’t bad, the 45-1hr commute back in packed trains AND dealing with Shinjuku Station... makes me realize why they had me sign 2 Year contract. The scariest part is that it was at 7 and not even at the peak of rush hour. Albeit I managed to catch the uberfast “Commuter Rapid” from Shinjuku to Ogikubo, but still!

I learned an important lesson about checking which exit you go out of in Ogikubo. I think I ended up somewhere on the North end in an area I’m not familiar with (probably the ONE exit Nabe and I didn’t manage to go through yesterday. Of all the luck) and ended up taking an hour to make my way back to familiar territory. I did get to check out the Seiyu grocery store. For the life of me, I combed the entire place and the only produce like product I could find (read veges and fruit) was a bunch of bananas in a bin. I know people where carrying broccoli, lettuce, etc, but I can’t for the life of me figure out where the hell they found them. Also, if anyone wants to trade Japanese snacks for sending me a bag of honest-to-god cool ranch doritos, I’d be more than down. Just let me know what you want.

OH! Finally broke down and tried Ramune Kit-Kats. Ramune, for the uninitiated, is a vaguely bubblegum flavored soda over here. It has a marble for a stopper, and so opening it and having it blow up is actually more fun than drinking the actual soda (FOOM! No Mentos Needed)...right. So they are essentially like EATING ramune, complete with sickly sweet flavor. All in all, I think I’ll stick to chocolate.
Other random KitKat flavors I’ve encountered but not had the guts to try: Orange (Kanda Daily yamazaki), Apple Vinegar (According to Diana), Ramune (Tried. Found in AM/PM), Sports Drink (Have this in my room... not sure if I want to try it), Fruits and Veggies (Seiyu Market... for those kids who hate their veges), Mango Flan (Do Not Eat. Ever), Melon (found in Mitsuwa Torrance), Green Tea (found in Mitsuwa Torrance).... The Japanese have weird taste.

So I have been reading “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein and I highly recommend it to those who haven’t read it yet. Occassionally dry, occassionally sad, and at times with a wit that rivals that of Douglas Adams. An excerpt:
“I’ll give you a theory: Man’s closest relative is not the chimpanzee, as the TV people believe, but is, in fact, the dog.
Witness my logic:
...Case-in-point #2: The Werewolf
The full moon rises.The fog clings to the lowest branches of the spruce trees. The man steps out of the darkest corners of the forest and finds himself transformed into...
A monkey?
I think not.”

Final Moving Day

First night in my new place, and admittedly today has been more hectic than I thought possible. Managed to chat with both my Dad and a friend in Cali while packing frantically as my friend Nabe went to pick up his company’s car. Thank God he did. I don’t want to imagine trying to lug the 70 lb. +/- suitcase plus boxes and bags I’d commandeered for the purpose of carrying my stuff in (it breeds in this country you know.

So, after running a little late, he got me at noon and we headed to Ogikubo. It only takes about 20-30 minutes to drive it apparently, and he was nice enough to help lug the bulk of my stuff up the stairs to the apartment. I didn’t bother to unpack as we jumped back into the car and headed to his workplace by the station to drop it off, and then off to Seiyu Dept. in Ogikubo Station. Stopped by Saizeriya and had the Doria from heaven, and then hit the 100yen shop and Seiyu for things like curtains, bath mats, trash can, and splurging on a bookcase style shelf (I had to have one! My family can tell you). This actually took two trips up and down the floors to do it. Trekked back to my apartment to build the damn thing and then back out to Kichijoji to check out lighting at Loft and Yodobashi Camera, since my room had none. We ended up walking all over Kichijoji, and I really wish I hadn’t chosen to break in my new sneakers this way. My old marathon ones were retired this morning with an honorable burial and thrown out with the burnable trash as I’ve walked through the rubber and almost through the inner soul... made it interesting in Oxford as I think that is when the rubber was almost gone.

Lighting at both Yodobashi and Loft was way too expensive, but we did hit the Namco arcade on the basement floor of Loft and I got to play the Taiko game (think beat mania or ddr with Japanese taiko drums. LOVE!) while Nabe blew his cash on UFO catcher crane games. There is something very gratifying to playing “Tank” (the theme song to Cowboy Bebop) in Taiko.

Headed back to Seiyu once again for my second set of curtains and my light (light was so cheap! 3,500yen! The curtains were more expensive than that) and then threw it all in a coin locker to head to Asagaya to find the Ward Office I have to go to tomorrow to get my address changed on my Alien Card. Need to figure out where the heck to get a multi-entry permit for Japan too, since my business is talking about sending me out to a convention in California in November (yes!). Traveled around Asagaya and ended up at this little italian place where I got the parmiagianno. Between Doria at lunch and parmiagianno at dinner, I think I’ve had it with cheese with rice for a while.

Stopped at bookoff enroute for manga and then headed to my place where Nabe was nice enough to install the ceiling lamp (considering I’m not tall enough.

So there it is, I’m all moved in. Need to get a laundry basket, cabinet, tv, and desk, but this will work I think.

Moving Round 1!

I was up until 2 last night, because something was bugging me, and I finally figured out what it was. The woman from my office (thankfully not the Tokyo branch) was insinuating that I couldn't hack it. All those bullshit comments like "please don't quit" and "I don't know..." and "you keep letting me down" even when I've not been given enough information... it's like she's trying to manipulate me. So I emailed her privately asking her to stop. I've dealt with politics and power games, and this feels much the same as what I went through at my previous job. Only, this time, I've been covering my ass for weeks and I'm not going to TAKE it. I learned from last time, and I am not going to ignore it, hoping the bully of the playground is going to just get tired and go away. On the plus side, many of the higher ups KNOW that she was pulling shit with me, and warned me in their own myriad ways. I'm sure the email, sent mostly in polite english, will come back to bite me, but damn if it doesn't feel good to stand up for myself. If nothing else, I don't feel enraged and ill any more. And that feels very, very good.


Yoshie and I finally moved (me partially at least) into the new place out in Ogikubo. The room isn't the one I thought it was, but isn't bad overall. A bit small, but if I can get a cabinet and TV and some kind of desk with chair I should be fine.

Getting there was an adventure in itself. I took a good 15 or 20 lbs of stuff (of so it felt like) in my backpack in prep for lugging the suitcase tomorrow. Unfortunately, I hadn't reckoned on not being able to find a taxi near the station, and had to hike 15 minutes (closer to 20 thanks to the way I took), check with a few people for directions on the way. There are two problems with this. Japanese buildings have addresses in the order they are built, and aren't necessarily in numerical order. HENCE my opinion that this country has created yet another system with which to say "screw you" to foreigners. Admittedly it was really fun, but the lack of address arrangement can get old when you are carrying a shit-ton of weight on your back.

I did make it to the apartment, and Yoshie had basically moved all of her stuff up from Osaka, so she's basically set. My bed was delivered today and I spent something like 3 hours putting it together, making the little Lego-fanatic in me go out of her mind with happiness. I'm sure some of that was attributed to the fact that this is the first, honest-to-god, self-purchased (as opposed to mooched, purchased for me, or handed down) bed I've had in over a decade. I spent a little time thinking about the reality of being in Japan for two years, or maybe longer. Admittedly it's a terrifying thought. So I'm going to take it one day at a time, emotionally and otherwise. Because, damn it, for the first time in a very long time, I'm actually happy and content with my lot. I don't know how long THAT will last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it does. Or as the Japanese say it, "Ashita ga aru sa (There is always tomorrow)".

I'm determined to get a bike tomorrow, as 15 minutes, while being a nice hike, would leave me drenched in sweat before even getting to the station. Plus the market is a bit too far to go on foot, carrying groceries. On the plus side, we have electricity. My roommate was telling me that things like the fridge and electrical appliances aren't being delivered until next weekend, but electricity we have, thank god. The quirks of multilingual communication. A friend of mine may bring his company car to help me with the suitcase, which is a major relief since the damn thing weighs like 50 lbs and would be a pain on not one, but two trains...though I suppose I could try and disguise it as a baby carriage since people bring those on the train all the time... no, the stuffed cat I have is probaby too hairy to pull it off, c'est la vie.
Lamps, curtains, and other minor things are also on the list of things to get tomorrow. Also, my damn bank cash card finally came, so I can pay for things! Yay!

Packing

Theoretically my bed is going to be delivered to the apartment tomorrow. I just wish they would tell me what time so that I know when to be there. Part of me is praying that they will call the correct number when they try to deliver it. Ah well. So I did some thinking and I am only going to bring half my stuff down tomorrow. The rest I'll bring on Sunday, when a friend of mine can give me a hand.

So, as I mentioned before, apparently we aren't going to have power for a week and internet for a month, so updates will be... sporatic. On the plus side, Japan has a ton of net-cafes, so I'll probably hit those up.

Got a notice from the post office that I got a delivery today, and I'm praying this one will be my bank card... the last one was a damn, how to access your online account, card.

Another Long Day

So I think I know why the Japanese woman from London doesn't move back to Tokyo. I have never met a Japanese person that is so fucking tactile. I mean, the woman keeps patting me on the back or touching mu shoulder, and admittedly it makes me kind of nervous. Being immersed in a culture that isn't tactile for a month now, it feels odd to me. Especially, when she makes me feel I can't do anything right... and then says things like, "please don't quit" or "don't feel bad".... right. Not the thing to tell a perfectionist when you've spent two days knocking her down...bitch. Thankfully she's only here for a week. Unfortunately, I have to have lunch with her tomorrow. After working from 9-8:30 today, I'm really looking forward to this weekend, where I will theoretically have time to relax... after moving. I think I know why the Japanese have so many damn national vacations now. Because the overtime would work them to death otherwise. (Makes a mental note to buy a "Death by overworking" shirt if she can find one).

On the fun side, Japanese work really hard, but take breaks during the day and have a little fun. Today was insane and I haven't quite perfected the art of 15 minute cool offs, but my coworkers took some coke, club soda, and the Japanese equivalent of what looked like smarties or mentos, and made a couple major soda fountains with them (see mentos and diet soda on youtube if you are having trouble picturing).

So apparently we won't have electricity for the first week at all. I have no idea how the hell that will work out, but I'm kind of annoyed about it as that means the first week we get nothing but cold showers. And we won't have internet until the 26th, so if I can't update at work, I'll save it at work and mass update when I can. This is assuming people actually are crazy enough to read this daily or otherwise.

Human Hurricane

The manager from the London office is here this week, and she's, in so many words, a human hurricane. The woman is juggling so many things, she reminds me of how I was at Pioneer, trying to do 18 things simultaneously. Which admittedly drove me and many of my coworkers nuts this morning. Luckily, I didn't get blamed when I got caught in the cross-hairs. Despite a pretty nasty start to the day, things looked up when I was asked to communicate with one of the higher ups of a really well known anime company to buy one of our products. It felt really, really good to be able to communicate natively in a businesslike manner, and not have to apologize every other word...though admittedly I had to catch myself to keep from bowing into the phone. Actually, I had to keep myself from cracking up when the Producer who sits next to me suddenly stands up and starts bowing as he talked into the phone the other day. ...Yeah. I love Japan.

Had a nice chat with a random stranger while stopping to pet the local cat on my way to the bento place. It felt good to just connect with random people.

Apparently I need to get lights for my room in Ogikubo since the bedroom comes with squat. Anyone recommend any sites or places to get lamps and such? I've used nissen.co.jp to get a bed or some semblance thereof, but their lighting selection is crappy and rather... unenlightening *Steph, Tesa, I see you facepalming!*

The Swineflu or Shingata Influenza as the Japanese call it is causing some major fears here... or so says the 41 page guidebook document I got in my email at work from the, for lack of better description, HR guy. A couple of people have caught colds, and I have kind of a weaksauce, I could become a cold but feel too lazy to make the effort so I'm just going to make you cough once an hour type thing. (Thanks her lucky stars for multivitamins).

A Revolution?... not really

....They have Full House on TV Tokyo... Dubbed in Japanese... And it's better than the original. I'm seriously weirded out and morbidly intrigued all at the same time.

The Japanese Democratic Party (民主党) beat out the Japanese LDP 自民党) in what is being referred to as a historical and revolutionary victory. And yet, as in all things, life goes on. I am not sure what their policies on foreign residents are, but seeing as I haven't been lynched in the street yet, I'm sure the worst we'll suffer from this is higher taxes. Could be really good for Japan considering the JDP has been in office for something ridiculous like 50 years. Overall, there is no immediate change that I can see.

So apparently I fled California just in time. You seem to be having Fire Season and again I ask, when is California NOT on fire. By the way, Japan seems to have your water in the form of Typhoons, and while my money for umbrellas has shot up, my water bill has gone down exponentially. This would be one of the few countries where you could potentially shower and blowdry at the same time... or just blow, as your hair would continually get soaked. Yeah... it's been a long day.

SO HAPPY that I have a five day weekend coming up in late September. GOD I love Japanese holidays.