A Cacaphony of Cicadas

So, due to the fact that it IS summer vacation and I do need a break after the craziness of the semester and trying to not have jetlag when I get home, I have been sleeping in till about 12pm. The latest was 2pm. Trust me, I am not normally like this; I think today is the last day that I sleep in late since tomorrow I am going for cake with Emi, Wednesday I need to go to Rits to sign for my scholarship and I plan to play tourist for a day on the 1-day bus pass and Thursday I need to pack and clean. However, that doesn't mean I am going to wake up at the crack of dawn.

Not unless the cicadas have anything to say about it.

Rainy season ended last week and I have been enjoying the sunshine either at the Kamo River or out on my teeny tiny balcony. However, the fact that it is now summer for real also brings along the cicadas. And their singing. I have heard about the cicadas; even thought I heard them at the start of rainy season as I rode my bike along the Kamo, but let me tell you, cicadas are bloody noisy. I was lolling away this afternoon trying to read Harry Potter in Japanese with the door to my balcony open; it wasn't stifling, but still hot and I didn't want to use my A/C (which because I am on the top floor of my building and heat rises and I do not get much of a breeze I have been using almost all the time). Every morning, I wake before my alarm say around 6am (I set my alarm for 9:30, not like that was happening these days) due to those damn cicadas. My ears actually ring when they stop making those sounds because it is all of a sudden so quiet.

However, there are a bunch of trees right behind my building and my balcony opens to those trees - the sound of the cicadas got so loud I was getting a headache. So I closed my balcony door; as I did a cicada flew away from the doorjamb and I jumped - those things are big!

Now, I have my Grey's Anatomy playlist blasting out of my iTunes so as to drown out the noise, which isn't working, really. Speaking of which, I should finish downloading the songs off Season 2, since I am done with Season 3. And make some more playlists, provided that my crappy 15gb iPod will survive the flight (highly doubt it, unless its plugged into my laptop).

T-Minus 4 Days

Four more days till I hop on that plane on the artificial island known as Kansai Airport and return to Nueva Yorka!!! Bah, can't it come any faster?

I leave this Friday, but I say 4 days because my flight is at 1pm, and with getting to the airport (2 hours) and needing to give extra time for traffic and check-in, I need to leave my apartment by 8:30am so that I do not panic while on the shuttle bus. Going to cost me 4000yen to get to the airport, but the MK Sky Gate Shuttle is worth every penny, and every lack of hassle that I don't have.

Get to see my girlfriends next week for Happy Hour and there are soo many things to do:

1) Get a tan
2) Go to Greenport
3) Attend Astoria Crafty Knitty at FreezePeach for (FREE!) knitting lessons
4) Eat GREEK FOOD
5) Go to the cafes, Bohemian Hall Beer Garden, Water Taxi Beach
6) SoHo! Time Warner Center! Whole Foods! J.Crew! 'Nuff said!
7) Cycle with Mel
8) Go to Fordham and start prepping for grad school apps
9) See friends
10) Oh yeah, study too.

A month is not enough!

The City of a Thousand Shrines

Kyoto is known as "the city of a thousand shrines" because well literally, there are most likely more than one thousand shrines. You have the circus that is known as Heian Jingu (seriously, don't get me started on that one, especially after this semester) then the really famous ones like Fushimi Inari, then the local ones like the one near me Yoshida Jinja that is actually famous for Setsubun. THEN you have the little itty bitty ones that dot the streets, and the ones that are still around the shopping areas - though I have seen more temples around Shijo than shrines, because the shopping arcade Teramachi literally means "temple town" - back in the day, that road (which is now a shopping arcade) was populated with temples.

I forgot to say that on the day I was accosted by two men, I went to Shimogamo Jinja afterwards. Every time I ride the 102 tourist express bus across the Imadegawa bridge, I always hear about this shrine. Turns out, it's famous for its association with the Aoi Matsuri - another parade, but this is from way back in the day. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see it, but it's sorta like Jidai Matsuri, so I know I am not missing out. Try the Heian Period, which was in the 10th-11th centuries. (Hmm speaking of Heian Period...I really need to finish The Tale of Genji, it's quite pathetic when you have three versions of it, and you haven't finished the whole thing. Don't even ask me if I am going to try that sucker in Japanese, that is going to be after I read all the other stuff - mega hard.)

I liked Shimogamo Jinja alot. I have to admit, I think I am a bit shrined and templed out; they are all starting to look the same. However, the atmosphere surrounding Shimagamo was different. It is a World Heritage Site so that would mean a helluva lot of tourists, but it's sorta in the middle of the forest that is in the Kamo River Delta, so a bit off the beaten path, if you will. Still, it was easy to get to; I had brought my guidebook with me just in case, but turns out I didn't need it. Unlike the circus say at Kinkakuji, or even Heian Jingu, Shimogamo was quiet. The forest around it is also like a little park, so you saw people walking dogs. After the Shiba (I want that dog!), Corgi's are really popular.

I noticed that they were prepping for maybe a festival; I wasn't sure, so I asked one of the shrine maidens manning the little shops - there is going to be a matsuri from July 27-30. It starts today, but maybe I will check it out tomorrow. Going to karaoke tonight.

PS. Unfortunately, Ingram and I didn't end up eating okonomiyaki because the place is closed on Tuesdays. Had pretty good Italian food instead at a restaurant in OPA on Shijo.

The Art of Being Slovenly

In my opinion, everyone has their own way of being slovenly. I once wrote last summer that when there is no school, my desk just turns into an utter disaster. Now then, my definition of disaster appears to be quite relative; in London, and here, whoever walks into my room/apartment and sees it is astonished at the neatness. But for me, that is not neat. In the summer, I usually have things just stacked on one another - I may be organized, but my one flaw is that I tend to either stuff or stack, leading to a big mess in my opinion.

So, the same thing has happened again. It's a vicious cycle. My bookcase (if you can call the cabinet above my bed that has my books) is actually in pretty good condition as is the clothes cabinet - just things are a bit out of place. It gets to a point where it just irks me. So because I was really bored, I started to pack. A week ahead.

This flight around, I am bringing an extra suitcase of just well, crap. I have mentioned this before, but when you see all the crap that I have just made a list of actually right in front of you, it's alot. Yikes! Extra Japanese textbooks (I have ten, including JLPT but those stay with me), the ReEA Conference proceedings, bento boxes, my yukata, clothes I don't need, all the pottery and Starbucks mugs, my old paper dictionary, my paper kanji dictionary, kanji flashcards and just well alot of paper and books. And some clothes I don't need anymore and my peacoat - I have my Northface, two coats is excessive and I will have my sister's cute J.Crew jacket for days when I feel girly. Speaking of which, I am also brining back two of my three light jackets, and my sisters A&F bomber. I really need to just get rid of a lot of stuff, especially stuff that is a bit extraneous (like skirts and dresses, I really don't wear my spring dresses in the winter, and as a student I really doubt I will dress up alot).

So I filled up the little suitcase, which is an extra and I have to bring back regardless. I figured I might as well take full advantage of the 35 kilo per suitcase (o DRAT, I just checked Northwest Airlines, I'm only allowed 50lbs per suitcase!) weight limit. However, I filled up that suitcase with books :::cringe::: I MIGHT have to just re-pack so I can distribute the weight of the books. That little suitcase is DAMN heavy. But it's good to see all that extra crap away, so that my apartment doesn't feel so cluttered.

I pretty much got into packing mode not because stuff is all over the place in my apartment, but also I went shopping today. Again, I really didn't intend on it, but I did. But I am justified! When you find things that fit in JAPAN and ON SALE you do not pass it up! I got 6 shirts for 6000yen at this shop called Lowry's Farm and they are all cool. Four of them are the same style but in different colors - and one is bright fire engine red so I think that's awesome. I also got Mel's little sister a birthday gift - an umbrella that is sky blue with brown swiss dots and the curved handle. I would take a picture of it, but it's wrapped. People may think that umbrellas are an odd gift, but that is not the case with Japanese umbrellas. They are damn cool. And another Liberty handkerchief/head scarf from Takashimaya for 315yen. The sales are still going on.

Before I went shopping, I went to Rue-Ergo for lunch/brunch (I woke up at 12pm today). Unfortunately, on my way there, I was accosted once again. And this time, it was at a stoplight; I was on the bike, with sunglasses and iPod on. I had my head scarf on so my hair was back; you could obviously see that I was listening to my iPod - I really blast the music so that I don't have to hear those damn election trucks (they are BAAACK! Elections are this Sunday). So this guy comes up to me and starts talking; I totally ignore him, and he just keeps on trying to get my attention. Asshole. When the light turned green, I pretended that I had a message on my cell phone so that he would speed off first; NO WAY in hell was I going to let him see where I was going. Seriously, I am not amused. But I just brushed it off; and kept an eye on the guy riding ahead of me, should he stop again.

He looked sleazy, just coming up to me on his bike and talking to me WHEN I HAVE MY IPOD ON! GET A CLUE! Seriously! This is more in exasperation as opposed to anger; really these guys are so clueless - back in NYC, having your iPod/any sort of headphones in your ears is a clear sign to not go up to the person. Jeez!

In other news, I do have some happy news - I am going to get free knitting lessons! I found this forum for Astoria, the town in NYC that I live in and just asked about knitting. Turns out there is a cafe right on Ditmars (I would have to take the bus since I am further up, but since it's summer, I am going to go by bike, I still have my old one circa junior high school and Mel is promising me that he is going to fix it) that hosts a knitting/craft circle. Knitting! For free! In Astoria!

I think I am going to bring a box of nama-yatsuhashi (the sweet special to Kyoto) as a little thank-you maybe, since the leesons are free and share them with the group. Any thoughts on that? It's nothing really big; a decent sized box goes for about 800yen and make good souveneirs, I can pick them up at the airport too. They come in all awesome flavors; since it's summer, I am going to get all the citrusy ones, like peach, mango, strawberry (and get some for myself!)

NOT *&%$^! FAIR

(Warning: Regular scheduled blogging has been interrupted. The sarcastic levels are at full blast and the caustic levels are sky high. I am pissed.)

Today I went to the Kamo River to enjoy the sun and read my book. I brought two books with me - the Japanese Outlander and Under the Tuscan Sun. Only when I arrived at the river did I realize I forgot the Japanese dictionary for my DS; as close to the river as I am, I wasn't up for going back just to get the cartrige. So I read as much as I could, and switched over to the English book.

I have become a bit wary of reading books in English in public, unless I am at a cafe other than Starbucks. At Starbucks you can easily move about, so to speak, whereas at a cafe you sit in the place that the waitress tells you to and that's it. I make this distinction because it was at Starbucks where a strange man just sat down right next to me and started to speak to me. Then the next day, when I was at the Kamo River, a younger guy walking a dog came up to me and tried to talk to me. They see the English and see that I am an English speaker.

Twice, I was able to prevent anything going further because I pretended that I didn't speak English: back in December and last week. The guy last week even asked me if I was an English teacher. I just walked off. I couldn't even find a nice quiet place to sit in the area where that guy was just because he was there and I didn't want him to pester me. It is REALLY annoying, and has become to the point where I feel I cannot go to a park or the river anymore.

Ah yes, it's another story of where middle-aged men come up to Maria - "Look, foreigner with light skin and light hair!" Really, THANK GOD it was a sunny day today so that I wore my sunglasses; just IMAGINE if they saw the color of my eyes! Then FOR SURE, they would really go gaga. I am SICK of it.

I read English books and they come up to me for English practice. I read Japanese books and they are SO AMAZED that they come up to me to speak to me in Japanese. Of course, I look TOTALLY harmless - young, Caucasian female all alone and just reading a book.

I have mentioned more than once that across the Kamo River, there are these stepping stones. Well, the day as hot and the tide was low and everyone else was doing it, so I went to the stones, plopped myself down and stuck my feet in the river and continued to read Under the Tuscan Sun. The water was cool and I was enjoying the day. People were crossing behind me to get to the other stones but that was alright.

I felt someone pass by me; out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white polo and navy blue trousers. At the stone right next to me, the man stopped, turneed around and knelt RIGHT NEXT to me and started to talk to me - he asked if I spoke Japanese. I knew I was caught between a rock and a hard place right there - I couldn't say that I didn't speak Japanese because then I would bet you my scholarship the guy would start speaking to me in English. I THEN can't say that I am not an English speaker, because I have an English book in my hands - the other two times, I was just walking and obviously, no one walks while reading.

So, I just muttered "yes" and turned back to my book. I was ready to pick up and go, but that would show that I was uncomfortable. Frankly, I do not care if I am downright rude to these men; I will just blatantly ignore them if it gets it through their thick skulls that I am not to be spoken to, and just "FARK THE BLOODY HELL OFF". Even when I have my iPod on they still come up to me. So I turned back to my book without saying anything other than a very almost inaudible "Yes." The man walked off. He was too smiley when he saw me, it creeped me out.

Later, another man crosses the stones - he takes a look at me, starts muttering stuff at me and when I don't reciprocate, he jut walks past me, starts muttering even louder as he turned around and directed the muttering at me. I had enough. After he left, I dried my feet off and left. They totally ruined my day and I was now again wary of other people coming up to me - two already! And in the space of 10 minutes.

My point is that middle-aged men are coming up to me in Starbucks, at the Kamo River and I get no peace whatsoever; I am all too aware that I stick out from here to kingdom come and I don't need to feel like I am being watched or am a target. IT'S NOT FAIR - people would say that this is one of the things about Japan but when it makes you nervous then it's not fun. It's not fun how I cannot enjoy the Kamo River like everyone else because of the way I look and what I read, unless I am with one other person.

Granted most of the time it is probably harmless, but better to be safe than sorry. People could think that I am overreacting - "Maria! You grew up in NYC!" - but I am by myself here; as a male friend pointed out when I told him this: "Yeah I do meet a lot of people that way [just running into people] but its different for a girl." At least I am keeping all the alarm bells in my head but still I am quite sick of it, and very glad I am going home next week. I really do need a break more than ever.

People can say that I can cover my book - I even have a Japanese book cover for my Japanese novels, but I think that no matter what precautions I take, it still won't happen. Tomorrow, I am going to go to Bon-Bon, have an iced coffee for 300yen and hopefully enjoy the sight of the Kamo River from there.

Anata mo Atashi mo POCKY!

That is the slogan for the Pocky commercials in Japan. You could say that it literally means, "You and me - POCKY!" or rather, "You and I [want] POCKY!" Something like that. Pocky are these little sticks covered with flavors; some are even specific to the season and the region - for example, Kyoto has some special matcha flavors. I like the Tahitian Vanilla and Cocounut as of late. You can get them in Asian food stores back in the States; I'm lucky in that Hong Kong Supermarket has one whole section filled with the million flavors of Pocky.

This particular commercial below strikes my fancy: the little kid is adorable, and its cool how it's a total traditional setting, pounding out the black sesame (Kurogoma - that's the flavor Pocky they are advertising in this commercial, I've had the ice cream in Kii-katsura).



Below, we have high school commercials - this one is for the "giri-choco" that girls give to guys they like on Valentine's Day. If you pay close attention to the music, it's the same tune as in the previous commercial. It kicks ass. Poor girl; she likes the guy so much her giri-choco practically knocks him over! :::sigh::: high school :::sigh:::



This last one is the most recent set of commercials, featuring Morning Musume, a famous J-pop group. The name literally means "Morning Daughter(s)" (there is no distinction of singular and plural most of the time in Japanese).



(PS. This is what you do when you can't sleep - you watch Japanese commercials on YouTube).

Putt, Putt

So on my first day of summer vacation I did the following:

1) Woke up at 11am.
2) Spoke with mom, then Leah on Skype, took shower and dissected Harry Potter with Leah; spoke about Venice Carnivale and possible trip to Antiparos in Greece for her fall break (LUCKY!).
3) Realized at 12:30 that I had not eaten anything yet and had no milk or sugar for my coffee so I went to QQ Shop for a quick grocery trip.
4) Made salad for lunch; finished downloading all the songs from Grey's Anatomy Season 3.
5) Began to hack at excess photos on my hard drive; re-organized and fixed iPhoto so that I do not hate it so much (I still find it sorta confusing, but now I think I have it figured out, so that I just don't have a whole lotta photos and lack of organization).
6) Between the hours of 5:42 and 6:55, try to read Outlander in Japanese, and do a whole lotta nothing.
7) Dinner with Ingram for okonomiyaki at 7:00pm.

Alot of puttering about, especially on my computer. I had been meaning to fix my iPhoto and get rid of alot of photos that are just excessive (say three photos of the same thing) or out of focus. Out of about 2000 photos, I ended up deleting/hacking at 200.

In other news, for the past two days it's been sunny and HOT. According to the weather authorites, rainy season is over. And just in time too - I can have a week and a half to go out and enjoy the sun. It's 5:30pm and because the sky is so clear I don't have to turn on the light in my apartment.

In rainy season, I had to around this time because my windows face east so I would begin to lose what little light there was at around 4-ish. Downside is, I get the sun BLARING into my apartment like I said before at 7am, so it takes a bit more effort to sleep in. But I might not do that tomorrow, I want to check out Shimogamo Jinja which is near me and a World Heritage site. I've some sightseeing to catch up on, and I want to do some of it this week because next week, I'm going to give myself a head start of JLPT studying.

Putt, putt.

As George Michael Said, "FREEDOM!"

DONE! FREE! OWATTA!

SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!

And to top it all off, it was a PERFECT day. Well the day is still going - its only 3:51pm here as I type this, but the last test is DONE! The sky is clear, blue with puffy white clouds, the Kamo River isn't overflowing, so people are in the river, it's not humid...but it is hot.

That's why I am back inside my shady apartment - the windows to the balcony face East, so from about 7am to 5pm, I have the sun blaring inside my apartment, which makes it hot. Today, I kept all my curtains closed, so as a result, it wasn't bloody stuffy in here.

After my test, I went down to Book-Off, the used bookstore (where the books are restored to newness) to see if they had Harry Potter. Unfortunately, the didn't have it in th 105yen section; they did have 1-4 in hardcover, but those were 1000yen, andI didn't want hardcover, I wanted paperback. At the 100yen shops, they have these nifty little box-bag things that you are supposed to put your manga series in, but I will get that before I go home to neatly transport all my Japanese novels. When I go back home, however, I will check out the Book-Off by the NYPL on 41st and Madison (yep they do have a branch in NYC! I got my first three Sailor Moon manga there, speaking of which, I need to complete my set) and see if they have the rest of the Harry Potters. The paperback price was originally 950yen, but I got it for 550. And it was the first one too so a nice way to start.

I was browsing again through the 105yen section when something caught my eye: Diana Gabadrudon. Huh? I pull it out - in the foreign section I pull or quickly look at the cover of the books as opposed to looking at the bindings since the titles and the authors are in katakana and just getting the cover is faster for me to understand the book - and on the cover underneath the Japanese title, it says: "Outlander by Diana Gabaldon."

OH MY GOD! THEY HAVE THE "OUTLANDER" SERIES IN JAPANESE!!! YOKATTA!!!

In case anyone doesn't know, the Outlander series is sorta in the romance genre, but not exactly the bodice-ripping sort of romance novel. I read one of those after I read Outlander back in 2002 when I was in Greece (my mom's cousin had the first three book) and I put it down in disugst; Outlander is much better. It's got your stereotypical Scottish hot guy in a kilt but the series is much smarter in the sense that it's not all about bodice ripping. That, and it gets better a it goes along; personally, I would choose Roger, Brianna's husband (olive skin, black hair, green eyes and 6'3") over Jamie (the red-head Scot who is Claire's husband and Brianna's dad) any day.

Seriously, if you do not have enough to read this summer, pick up the series. It gets better: each book is at least over 700 pages so for me as a fast and avid reader, that makes me happy. Thing is in Japan, longer books are cut up into smaller pieces; my copy of Memoirs of a Geisha is in two parts, and as Harry Potter goes along in the series, the book is cut up as well. Don't ask me why, but it's more for compactness (and maybe to make more money). I was able to find all parts of Outlander, but alas, not all were 105yen. The other two were 400yen each, so the whole thing was 950yen. In reality, it would have been 2,220 yen even in paperback. Yikes. No wonder places like Book-Off are so popular. However, they didn't have the other books - yet another reason to go to Book-Off in Manhattan. I took a look at the publication date: Outlander in Japanese came out in 2003 so maybe they don't even have all the books translated yet. Yikes.

Just did a check on Amazon Japan and they have up to Drums of Autumn...not bad. And they have a lot used, so I think I will get them from Amazon when I get back, just to have them and read at leisure. I did say I was going to get rid of all my English language books (o DRAT, I need to check if Book-Off had Pride & Prejudice!) and read Japanese novels for reading practice...

...Speaking of reading practice, after my test, my teacher (who was my old "homeroom teacher" back when I was in mandatory Japanese) said if I was going to come back next semester. I told her I didn't know if I was able to, but she said I was always welcome to take classes. WOO-HOO!!! I got her email address so that I can contact her at the beginning of the semester; if I can take Japanese at Kyodai for sure then I'm definitely going to do that as opposed to Rits, because the Kyodai classes are better.

So, after my heart attack and paying for the books, I went to the Kamo River in a bit of a dilemma: which to read first, Harry Potter or Outlander? I was in quite a pickle. In honor of Potter-palooza back home, I started with Harry Potter, and got maybe through one page. Now I am going to try out Outlander, but both will come home with me along with Girls Guide - now I am in the middle of god knows how many books! And in Japanese to boot. I should just start getting them from Amazon; especially Harry Potter because I want to keep all the covers in the series the same.

Now, I need to complete the Harry Potter and Outlander series and get Pride & Prejudice, and get more pretty book covers from the temple fair to cover and protect my books. I already have a cute one that I originally got for Memoirs of a Geisha, but now that I have more Japanese books, I am justified in getting pretty book covers.

Harii Pottaa, Sayuri and Densha Otoko

Tomorrow after my test, I am going to go to Book-Off at Sanjo and see if they have the Harry Potter Series in the 100yen book section. Yep that's right, I can get books for 100yen. I got "The Joy Luck Club" - or was it "Memoirs of a Geisha"? - for just 100yen, which is less than a dollar. I love Book-Off; if only I can actually get through the novels. Memoirs of a Geisha is pretty tricky, especially since it uses geisha speak - hence, Harry Potter is more or less a children's book (my guess is by the time I get to 7 my Japanese will be pretty decent) so I hope the Japanese will be a bit better. My plan is to bring back home all of my English novels/fun reading books (not much, there are only three that I brought with me) and just read novels in Japanese. This is what I've got so far:

Breakfast at Tiffany's
The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing
The Joy Luck Club
Memoirs of a Geisha (in 2 parts, actually called "Sayuri" in Japan)

They ARE translated novels, simply because I don't know who are good writers in Japanese, save Soseki and Murakami. And, if I get stuck, I have read most of these books (save Breakfast at Tiffany's) in English so I can remember the part in English then puzzle out the meaning in Japanese. I really need to get my reading and listening up and get more out of the academic Japanese thing, so I am watching Japanese movies (some with, some without subtitles) and reading Japanese novels. Oh wait I DO have some actual Japanese novels back home that Maki gave me before she left for Chicago...now I have to add "Densha Otoko" to the list! Lotsa reading and studying for me this summer.

Maybe I'll surf around Amazon.jp and get some bestsellers if they have them at Book-Off before I leave Japan for good (there is a 100yen book section, and other books are like 700yen, they are used but practically brand new). Besides, it's really reading practice regardless. And I will have like 14+ Harry Potter books - they break longer books down into pieces because they like their books to be small and portable. I plan to read either Girls Guide or Joy Luck Club on the plane; Girls Guide is bigger in size so I might do that, easier to write in the readings of the kanji. I think I am going to start reading Girls Guide in earnest after my test, with Harii Pottaa if I can get it cheaply. If Book-Off has most of them in the 100yen section I am going to get as many as I can.

And in case you're wondering, "Harii Pottaa" is the romanized version of ハリーポッター
which is "Harry Potter" in Japanese. Oh man, all the spells and the names in Katakana are gonna KILL me.

My Attempts at Spellcasting are Misfiring

So I got the infamous PDF file lurking on the net and read through the whole thing. But I think its bogus - its the whole book apparently in 398 pages, but in reality the book is 750+. Fishy. So I lose on that account...either the book was an early draft, or seriously abridged...or maybe the text for the abridged audiobook.

Which leads me to a uber Homer Simpson "DOH!" remark.

I could have just ordered and downloaded the book as an audiobook from iTunes. Or get it off Limewire, I'll bet its on there now. But I won't. Geez...I just checked iTunes now and it's not even available there.

Two more weeks, till I get my hands on the Potter. But I already know who dies for the most part.

I REALLY wish I had a wand now - I would totally Accio Mel's copy, but that hasn't even arrived by UPS yet at this time! He has his hands now on one of Leah's copies.

Potter-Palooza!!! Where's My Wand At?

BAH!!!!

Seriously!

AAAHHH....

Libby got most of the deal down over at her blog, but seriously, the Potter is that important, I need to give my own 20yen (=2 cents) on the issue, 6000 miles away - or rather, at least 3000 miles from the closest bookstore in the United States.

I am buying into Potter-mania. Not only does my sister, Leah have her hands on the bittorrent file that is circulating throughout the web...

I COULD HAVE ORDERED THE AMERICAN VERSION FROM AMAZON JAPAN AND HAVE IT BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE!!!

I tried to not give into the Potter. But I cannot help it. Why, oh WHY did I not think of going to Amazon Japan? Boo. Fark, bloody, fark. Pfft.

Of course, I am not going to do it now, since between Mel and Leah there will be three copies - Leah gets two because she has two sets: first edition set and reading set. Good thing too - her number 4 is literally in more than 20 pieces because she read it so much...

...AAAHHH, I am going to KILL Elisa, she just told me RIGHT NOW that one of my favorite bands Lifehouse is going to be at the Borders in Time Warner Center for their Potter-palooza.

Seethe...seethe...

Must.Calm.Down.

It's just a damn book after all. But the whole Potter-palooza is so much fun! And I am missing out on it. How can I miss out on this when it's the final book?!?!?

Stupid tests. I can't even place an order on Amazon Japan right now because I have a test on Monday. And after that it's just pointless - I can wait.

But I'll bet that by the time I get home, I would have the book practically read to me - but then after my test, I can read the first 498 pages guilt-free via that torrent file. I KNOW that is really bad of me, but I am in dire straights here! If I am going to have the end ruined for me within the next 72 hours, I might as well read the first 2/3 of it, even through illegal channels. What people will do for the Potter.

And now, Mel really sucks. He is finishing work for the day at 11am, and going downtown to check on the "festivities" for Potter. Apparently, there is a triple-decker purple Knight Bus at the Scholastic store in SoHo. He isn't going to midnight Potter-palooza but getting it from Amazon. Leah is getting one copy from B&N, and her "first edition" copy from Books of Wonder, an independent children's bookstore, where she will get her number 7 and number 3 signed by Mary GrandPre, the book cover illustrator. Back in 2005, she was in Florida at #6 Potter-palooza, but Mel and I got #4,5 & 6 signed for her since she was absentee.

See what a good elder sister and future brother-in-law we are? And what do I get now? Mel at least gets his hands on the book by 10am (or its free according to Amazon), I get spoilers, illegal torrents, no party and in the words of my Auntie Sophie, "Bupkis!"

And then Mel will be laughing at me over Skype, teasing me about what will happen; and then when I find out what does happen, Leah and I will go into "deep discussion" over the subject matter, and then I have to ask her even MORE questions on WTF happened because obviously I haven't read it yet. Case in point: I found her on Skype at 3am NYC time Friday morning and she told me about the torrent file. She was actually reading it - bad girl but I guess I could tell that she was really excited about it. We then got into conversation about R.A.B. and other interesting tidbit which I hadn't realized.

Pfft...I KNOW I could get it to read on the plane, but then my jet-lag would be horrible. I am just going to make Mel bring it to the airport so I can read it the minute I arrive. I can just imagine the scene:

Me: I missed you! :::hug::: Please tell me you brought the book, I need to finish it!

At least I will have the first 498 pages done. And I am a fast reader (I devour books practically); if there is traffic from Newark coming home, I can bet you I will have the next 100-200 pages done by the time I get home. To which I will say hello to my parents, Leah, hug the cats, and lock myself in my room and leave my luggage in the middle of the living room floor, jet lag or no jet lag.

Can't I just cast "Accio Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows"?

Because Procastination is Preferable to Studying

Meme!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, my paternal grandmother. There are three "Maria's" in the family.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Maybe when I was homesick last.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? For a lefty, I am pretty proud of it. If I take my time, I write pretty nicely in Japanese.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Prosciutto!

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? I want three.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? I'm from NYC. Sarcasm is part of the local culture. (^_~).

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I'm not too keen on having my vertebrae stretch then bounce back into place.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Olympic Cheerios (the triple flavor one that comes out during the Olympics), Corn Pops, Muesli, Raisin Bran, Honey Bunches of Oats, Rice Krispies, Plain Special K with fresh strawberries...I really miss American cereal.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? If they are sneakers, yes. Other than that, I don't wear shoes with ties.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically? Hell no. Mentally? I try to think that I am.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? My dad's Mister Softee in vanilla, with cookie crunch. Mint Chocolate Chip. Gelato: Pistachio and Coffee

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? In Japan? If they have orange hair or not.

15. RED OR PINK? Either, but I would love to get a classic red polo from Ralph Lauren.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? At this point? My eyebrows. No threading in Japan.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Family and Mel.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? n/a

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Dark Uniqlo jeans, bare feet - don't have slippers and its hell to pay if there are shoes worn in a Japanese house.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Itaria-Don!

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My mom puttering at the comp over Skype.

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Kelly Green

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS? Salvatore Feraggamo "Incanto Dream", gardenias, that Axe stuff that Mel uses.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Talking to mom over Skype now.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Saw it at Tulip Mom's blog.


26. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Baseball (boo to Yankees this season, however), rugby, soccer

27. HAIR COLOUR? Dark dirty blonde...wow, I just realized that all my blonde highlights are GONE.

28. EYE COLOUR? Blue-green

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope, but I did wear glasses at a time for therapy because I was a bit cross-eyed.

30. FAVOURITE FOOD? BIG, juicy steak...or rather that's the food I crave right now.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Um...in the theatre? Don't remember (it's been that long). At home? Pride and Prejudice on DVD with Kiera Knightely.

33. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Olive green.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? FALL.

35. HUGS OR KISSES? both

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? n/a

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? n/a

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I'm trying to finish "Memory and the Mediterranean" by Braudel

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don't have a mouse.


41.WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? No tv.

42. FAVOURITE SOUND? falling rain

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? the Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Japan

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I play the koto, and can roll my eyes into the back of my head.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Queens, NYC.

47. WHAT SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU LIKE? Hmm...don't think I would want one because they all bite you in the bum and backfire in the end.

Ladies & Gentelmen, I Give You...Itaria-Don

It's fusion, I tell you, fusion! East-West fusion food is not just limited to fancy chefs on the Food Network and over-hip, hispter restaurants!

When one only has ONE stove-top burner, NO oven, a small grill and a rice cooker you either tend to get boring or creative.

Well, today marks the start of my creative streak. Behold!

The Cooking Technique: Asian Stir-Fry

The Cuisine Inspiration: Italian

The Presentation Inspiration: Japanese "Donburi" (something over rice)

The Main Ingredients: rice, chicken, olive oil, tomato, dried oregano, red wine vinegar and a bit of salt. (Don't ask me about amounts, but I did use 1 tomato and enough chicken for one person, so basic rule of thumb is 1 person gets one tomato and the rest is up to you.)

The Fusion Process:

1) Put rice in rice cooker - or cook rice however you cook it. I'm in Japan and Mel is Filipino, so rule of thumb in either Kyoto or NYC is rice cooker. Turn on.

2) Put olive oil into saucepan, and when hot, put chicken in. Put a lot of oregano (so that you can actually smell it, I like oregano, however to each their own, you can put whatever spice but I have oregano and basil on a regular basis). Start stir-frying on medium-low heat level. If you have too much olive oil drain a bit, but keep enough to prevent chicken from burning and to help make the sauce.

3) That's where the tomatoes come in. Dice them beforehand, and when the chicken is 99% done cooking, drop them in. Add more oregano, a bit of salt and red wine vinegar to your liking - its like stir-frying a chicken salad! (I came up with the red wine vinegar at the last minute, I like a little zing).

4) At this point, the juices in the tomato will make the stir-fry more like a boil/sautee - that's what happened to me, since I have a really small pan. Don't worry about it - FUSION! Keep boiling/sauteeing/stir-frying the whole lot (make sure there is liquid enough for some sauce, you don't want a dry pan) till the rice is done - purpose is to keep it all piping hot and to finish cooking hte chicken. But you don't want your tomatoes boiled into a pulp. Taste sauce, add more oregano, red wine vinegar, etc. to your liking.

5) Put rice in bowl, add stir-fry + sauce ON TOP of rice. This is important - putting it on top puts the "don" in "donburi." Mix as you like, to get the taste spread throughout the rice.

Presto! Some sort of twist on Italian food with a further Japanese twist! I call it "Itaria-don." In Japanese, "Italy" is "Itaria" so I just add "don" to indicate that this is a "donburi" or "something over rice." Yum, yum!

If there are leftovers, place in tupperware, put in fridge and select your favorite bento box for lunch the next day. Put the rice in the top part (with the tupperware-ish top) and the chicken/tomato stir fry in the bottom. Add some kalamata olives and warm feta cheese and it becomes..."Girisha-don." ("Greece" is "girisha.")

Hmm...need to get more chicken. And have to wait till I get home for the feta cheese.

THIS is Why NYC is (one of) the Best Cities on the Planet

Seriously, this week's Metro Diary takes the cake!

***

Dear Diary:

Scene: Metro-North Railroad, 7:30 a.m. express to Grand Central Terminal.

Cast: Middle-aged man of ample belly.

Wardrobe notes: Wearing Marine Corps baseball cap adorned with additional U.S.M.C. pin and 9/11 World Trade Center pin. Large tattoo on forearm.

Action: Cross-stitching a newborn-baby-size bib with image of Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil catching a baseball.

Domo, Makku Desu!!!

Ok, I can't wait till later and I have alot of time on my hands this morning.

Behold! My latest favorite commericals (I actually like all of them, but I can't obviously put them all up, however, if you guys want I will since I got the ones with subtitles):

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

And I like to think myself as tech savvy!!

Guess I'm not, (^_~).

I think the problem with the video is fixed; I thought I could still link to it and have privacy settings on, but I guess not, so I switched it to Public and logged out of YouTube to check. It plays on my comp and Mel says it works on his, so I think the videos are ok now.

Sorry guys! :::kneels on floor, bows, forehead to floor:::

Severe form of Japanese apology, in case you didn't know - (^_~) - the lower the bow the more the apology. There is a great video on YouTube out there displaying the different forms of Japanese apology, called Dogeza:



This is I think from the same comedy duo that does the Japanese version of the Apple commercials in Japan - and they crack me up more than the American ones because of all the nuances. Next time, I'll get the videos with the subtitles in the bottom, now that I know how to embed video in blog!

As If I Don't Not Have Enough Already

My hair is falling out. Apolecia, I think. I read in "Being a Broad in Japan," that it's common for Western women who come to Japan to have their hair falling out. Maybe it's because I have my hair in a ponytail (heat + no desire to use hairdryer + long hair = ponytail) everyday and thus the regular strands that fall out possibly just come out in one big clump, but I feel my hair is falling out.

Possibly due to several factors:

1) I ran out of my American Garnier Fructis shampoo and while I am using Clairol Herbal Essences, its the Japanese version and Japanese shampoos in general tend to be harsh.
2) Water is also harsh here - Japanese just LOVE their chemicals don't they?
3) Possibly a mineral/vitamin deficiency, particularly iron - I haven't had red meat in like ages, and although while I try to eat my fruits and veggies, they are damn expensive especially the ones that are mega common back home because they weren't a part of the Japanese diet, and won't ever will be = prices through the roof. $2 for an orange?

So, I need to go to the doctor when I get home to see if it's a mineral/vitamin deficiency or some other problem - I do not need to be OD-ing on multivitamins/mineral supplements when my levels are somewhat intact. But I doubt it.

As if I do not not have enough hair on my head already. It's thin like a baby's, and there isn't much of it.

The Day After

I don't WANNA study....blah...

I was fed up with my apartment and the studying that I figured I would go get my flat tire fixed. The day after the typhoon, and while the sky was still a bit cloudy, there was a nice breeze which gusted into my teeny apartment. I sat out on my balcony for a bit, but I thought, "This will NOT do!" (So sue me for the Regency speech, I just saw the trailers for "Becoming Jane" and the "Jane Austen Book Club" yesterday - Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books).

So I went to the bike shop near me, which incidentally, word on the street is that it's the best bike place in Kyoto. Strike another point for my neighborhood! I get there and it was so windy that the only thing I could comprehend from the bike dude was "Is that ok?" I just nodded my head and sat down. I felt like I was in an auto repair shop getting hte oil in my car changed or going for a tune-up, except that this is Kyoto, I still don't have a drivers license (don't plan on getting it this summer) and the ride of choice is my bright yellow bike.

I thought it was going to be like 3000yen, as the posterboard listing the prices and the guy said; but turns out the way he repaired my flat tire was just putting some rubber cement on the hole - it was just a tack, after all. So it only turned out to 840yen. To celebrate, I rode my newly repaired and tire-pumped bike down to Rue Ergo to study a bit, and drink - overpriced, but delicious - coffee.

Because its summer, rainy season AND a typhoon just hit us yesterday, the Kamo River was higher than usual. And the current was much, much faster. Normally, in the Spring, you see people going across the stepping stones (in the shapes of rectangles, or even turtles and boats) to go across the river; I did it myself once, back in October.

When I ride the bus to school, I cross the river; at the delta near Demachiyanagi, I can tell how high the river is by whether or not the water covers the stepping stones. Today, I didn't even need to go up close; as I was riding my bike to and from Rue Ergo I just stopped because the sight was amazing. The water going over the little ledges was so fast and so smooth it just looked like glass. Add to the fact that there were still storm clouds (which is why I left Rue Ergo earlier than anticipated, since I didn't have my umbrella with me, and there was a very light, slight drizzle) it was one of those things that you just needed to stop, and take photos of.

I lamented the fact that I didn't bring my camera but I remembered: "WAIT...I have a camera on my cell phone!" Normally, I really don't take pics with my phone but I figured this was something cool to put up here. Even though the quality isn't great (it IS a cell phone camera after all) I particularly like the contrast in the blue of the sky and the blue-green of the river.

Plink, Plink...In Video?

Hey is this working?

Update: it DOES work! Enjoy the video...now you can all see how big the koto is (in fact its bigger than some of the girls who play it! I am just as tall as the 13-string koto, though I think the 17-string bass koto is a bit bigger than me). The song we are playing is San Dan no Shirabe. The first video is the first three minutes of it with all of us; the second video is the last minute and a half, with a close-up of me.

PLINK! Plink, Plink Plink...PLINK!

Last Tuesday was the Summer Concert with the Classical Japanese music club. Both Colleen and my koto teacher were there to see me; it wasn't the big "enso-kai" that will be in November. I am not even sure if I will be able to perform in that because I am not going to the training camp this August (and you have to go to training camp so that you can get better and learn more), but as I told my koto teacher, I am NOT changing my plane ticket. I can't - me being a TA this fall starts in September because the study abroad program goes on the American calendar, and I got my ticket even before I knew about the training camp.

I want to go home. And I was thinking about stopping the Classical Japanese Music Club - it's fun, but I am going to have other things to do this coming semester: TA, class with my advisor (which I told him that even though it was difficult, it helped me get me going with my research) applying to grad school, etc. Plus, these will be my last few months here (Midge: actually, I go home next March - the trip this summer is just vacation) so I want to enjoy them and make the most out of Kyoto.

However, this concert was fun, if not that many people came. We all wore yukata, or the cotton summer kimono. I got my yukata in yellow, with a blue and green obi; everyone liked it, and I was able to put the whole thing on by myself with a little help on the obi to make it nice and snug. Because the performance started right after my undergrad class (the one where I don't have to take the final) I actually went to class in my yukata; I think I got a lot of stares from the Japanese students, and some outside the set-up room for the performance where our koto were stored were actually surprised at the sight of me.

I ran around Kyoto the night before trying to find geta (wooden sandals) that fit my feet and turns out when my group performed we were barefoot, so I was a bit mad at that - 1700yen down the drain! But I figured I can use them for garden shoes or something back home, since it's a summer shoe and that means it goes home with me this August (I am making a list of things I plan to bring back). I messed up a bit in my performance - mainly losing my place - but I think I did pretty well. Colleen took video of me, but I do not know how to embed video from YouTube into my posts. When someone tells me to do that, I will upload it here. In the meantime, some photos of the Hogakubu (I still have to get the shots of me from Colleen, she took video with my camera, and photos with hers):



And of the shin-nyusei, or the new students. As you can see, I really stick out. I have a feeling that the popular yukata/obi color combos are blue yukata or pink obi or just alot of pink. I was the only one in yellow.

Attack of the Incredible Paper Monster!

Being a wanna-be Japanese historian and a student, I tend to accumulate a lot of paper. The paper in general falls into two categories:

1) Japanese grammar notes/worksheets
2) Research

With the big paper that I wrote this past semester, and the trip to the National Diet Library in Tokyo, the paper for the latter category just got out of control. That, and the fact that I haven't had the chance to properly put away the paper for the former category, when I took it all out of my bookcase (really a cabinet above my bed, it's all one big unit, there is another cabinet where I keep my clothes) I ended up with this:


Forgive the messy bed underneath the paper. Because I was practically living in school this past week, I had hardly any time to make my bed. But now, everything is tidied up, punched with holes, stapled and placed into cheap little folders with the holes to keep the paper in place:

Mind you, those four binders don't encompass all of the paper, I still have one A4 size binder and a bunch of folders. But I'd say those 4 folders have about 90% of it all. When I go back home, I'm bringing back most of it to scan into PDF (most of the stuff I got at the Diet library were guidebooks from the Meiji period so they are small), and I am bringing back most of the Japanese textbooks that I won't use anymore.

The Paper Monster has been vanquished!

For now, at least.

Wind. Big Wind.

Kyoto has a lot of bugs. To the point that I wasn't able to go to El Coyote because I found that one of my bananas went bad, and there were fruit flies flocking to it. Gross. I needed to get rid of all of them and I did. It doesn't help much either that this is the end of rainy season. It has been raining for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT (not that I mind, my bike has a flat tire and I don't ride my bike in rain like this regardless) and today is the real kicker; there is a typhoon going on right now outside. My mother, the well-meaning person that all mothers tend to be, tells me that there is a typhoon coming this past Monday; I, the student living under a rock and has no tv, brushes this off as "Oh, ma its just rain, it IS rainy season you know." Only when my teacher confirmed it that it was a typhoon then I realized, "OoOoO...typhoon!" As Cat told me, "typhoon" sounds cooler than "hurricane."

The funny thing is that "typhoon" is "tai-fuu" in Japanese, so the pronunciation is really similar. The characters for it are 台風. The last character, "fuu" means wind, so this is just one nasty wind. As usual, everyone back home is flipping out and this morning - or rather afternoon, I slept until 12:30, I figured I deserved the sleep-in - I rather grumbled grouchily, "PEOPLE! GET A MAP!" Then again, it didn't help that I turn my cell phone off at night to save the battery so I don't charge it so much (and hence, save on the electric bill) so I'm guessing the NYC familia were flipping out with good cause.

I will say it again: I am in a LANDLOCKED area. There are mountains on three sides if Kyoto which means that the hot air doesn't move so the tai-fuu is quite welcome in my book; I am not even using my AC today, just have my window open. And to top it off, the Kansai region does not get as many earthquakes as Kanto - it took four little earthquakes to tell my mother that everything is fine. Seriously, its just rain and wind now - a lot of rain but the wind isn't strong. If I lived in Okinawa, then people can worry. Thing is, people don't know that I am pretty far from Okinawa. Baaaahh....seriously!

Four earthquakes, one typhoon. Gotta love Mother Nature. Maybe I should get my mom a map of Japan for her birthday, which is in two weeks.

Ceeeeeee-labration Time, Come ON!

In which an elated Maria lists not Random Bullets of Crap, but Random Bullets of Happiness (maybe that should be another blogger thing, perhaps - RBOH?):

1) 2.5 weeks till I fly home. Woot!

2) I DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT have to take the final for that undergraduate course with the regular Japanese kids. I am not even registered for the class.

3) My presentation for my grad seminar is OVER - I wrote a TWENTY page paper plus pics and tables for that. My advisor said that I really didn't make any mistakes, jsut need to be a bit more original. Very constructive, I didn't get skewered, I presented in English AND class didn't run over. WOOOOT! The thing from hell (not so much is OVAH...at least for now, I plan to work on it over summer vacation because (Warning - geek alert) I plan to use it for my writing sample for grad school apps since this is the first paper I wrote using sources in Japanese AND from the Meiji period.

So now, I can chill this evening as much as I want...la la la...FREE!!!

Well almost. I have four Japanese language tests, 2 (maybe three) will be done by next Friday.

Tomorrow is my last koto lesson for the summer and I go salsa dancing at El Coyote. Let's hope I don't fall on my bum this time.

Just Gotta Wait One More Year

Wedding is postponed till September 2009.

Update: I didn't get to finish this post actually. The wedding is not postponed because the sh*t has hit the fan in my relationship or any other bad reason. However, I do appreciate everyone's concern, and I apologize for making everyone worry.

The simple reason?

Time. Jikan ja nai (There is no time).

I am in Japan and trying to find a reception place that is nice and affordable within the NYC area (INCLUDING Westchester and Long Island, now anyone from NYC proper will understand why there is a wee bit of hesitation, ha-ha but we are looking at places and let me tell you NYC/LI/Westchester AIN'T cheap) is tearing the hair out of all parties involved. Even trying to make appointments to see places just on the weekends when both sets of parental units, plus Mel and I can see it is crazy. My dad is only free in the mornings during the summer because of the ice cream truck and Mel's parents are free only on the weekends because they have Mon-Fri jobs, which is the same for Mel. The only two people that can go at any time of day, and day of the week is my mother and I - me because I am a student and my mom because she is a teacher so we get summer vacation. Now, that just marks of old-school wedding planning, just the bride and her mother; I am trying to be diplomatic here.

Plus, if we wait one more year there is the possibility to be able to get a really good place. So, if we don't find anything that we (all parties involved) really like we can go to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden (which everyone minus my dad because he didn't get the chance to go saw) and won't go crazy. It is a nice place, just some caveats about the packages make it very tight for 2008. However, when I do get back this summer we can look at some places, like we did shortly before I left, and just build up a lot of dossiers. We saw three places, including the BBG (Tip for any future brides in the NYC: Do NOT go to Bronx Botanical Garden, its $250 a pop plus then some! Yikes. And the carpet was old.).

I have to admit I sort of feel guilty because it is the simple reason that I am in Japan that lead to the eventual postponement. One cannot do this sort of stuff in a month - when I get back this summer. I mean it is possible, but not without alot of uneccesary stress. Remember a few posts ago when I was tearing my hair out over wedding dresses simple because they are too expensive and the cheap ones are tacky, and trying to find and alternative on the net? For all the wonders of the internet, it does not show me how I look in a wedding dress and what the prices are.

Planning a wedding is supposed to be fun. It is not supposed to make me blog "I hate weddings." Nonetheless, I still stay clear and far away from wedding magazines; I get the feeling that they are trying to market a particular "idea" of what a wedding should be: its extremely consumer driven, and that is something that is very cookie-cutter-ish in my mind. I really despise what the wedding industry has come to - seriously, Bridal Expos? However, they are good for ideas, but getting a subscription to Brides magazine is not my thing. I prefer Martha Stewart - that magazine for all its Martha Stewart-ness doesn't looks as splashy or pushy. (hey, I am a prep ya know!). Hmm...maybe I'll pick up the latest one now, and maybe the fall one will come out when I am home, and then get a subscription because unlike other bridal magazines which come out every damn month; MSW is seasonal so it's just 4 times a year. Good for my psyche.

Hmm...then I will be around in NYC for Vera Wang's Annual Sale (and other trunk shows, I get the emails and I kick myself when I see them) which is in June/July. I can bring a posse with me. Up to 75% off wedding dresses...grab my friends, and get any dress in my size (10/12 even 14 just to get the right fit, its call alterations).And even bridesmaids dresses.

When I get back in March 2008 for good, there will be 18 months till September 2009.

There is one great upshot: our anniversary falls on the 12th of the month (the yearly one is in February) and September 12, 2009 is a Saturday.

Foriegn Languages are So Funny

This is bloody hilarious.

I listen to a Greek radio station online which is actually based in my dad's hometown of Florina. They play the Greek pop songs and I learn which ones are the newest singles.

Does anyone remember that song "When I'm Gone" by Three Doors Down?

The song that is playing right now is "When I'm Gone" - in Greek. The music is EXACTLY the same, but all the lyrics are in Greek.

That is hilarious.

Zaa-Zaa...Or, Another Dose of Japanese Onomatopoeia

I went to the gym today after a stint in the library. Because I live so close to the gym, I take a shower when I get home because I don't want to have to lug extra shower stuff all day - it's a 5 minute bike ride, and I usually go at the end of the day.

Today, rainy season, or tsuyuu, has unleashed her fury! Rain ALL DAY LONG and at points so heavy and fast it qualified as "zaa-zaa" - really heavy rain that just pounds and makes that "zaa-zaa" sound. Ah, Japanese and onomatopoeia. I took advantage of a lull in the rain to get from the library at Kyodai to the gym (which is less than a two minute bike ride if I get all the streetlights on time), but as was changing in the locker room (which is on the upper level and right under the roof)...

ZAA-ZAA!!! ZAA-ZAA!!!

OoOoO...its really bloody raining. Right proper pissdown!

Mega, mega hard. To the point that even the people at the gym's reception told me that it's ok if I wait a bit so that the rain can lighten up. I wait, get some green tea from the vending machine and sit. In a lull, I rush downstairs to my bike, which is parked underneath the stairs so that it won't get drenched. My brakes are squealing (like all the other bikes, it's a very characteristic sound of Kyoto, the brakes squealing) and because I use my right brake more than my left, it doesn't have much "brake" quality anymore. So in the rain, I have to be extra careful - when I ride my bike in the rain, I hold my umbrella with my left hand and steer with my right. Weird since I am left-handed, but my bicycle bell is on the right side so it's just easier that way. Thus, I ride my bike slower in the rain since I do it one-handed.

It's still raining now and its 8:22pm. Stupid me, I did NOT wear my rainboots because in the morning it was just a slight drizzle and I thought that "Pfft...I wear my boots and the sun will come out." However, I did NOT wear my Birks either because I didn't want them ruined; I wore my navy blue ballet flats, but because they are suede my feet turned a lovely shade of blue as a result of the dye bleeding onto my skin.

JUST as I head out from under my protective stairwell...

ZAA-ZAA!!!

DAMMIT. DAMMIT. ZANNEN. ZANNEN.

I have to ride my bike in a torrential downpour. When there is light rain, the umbrella+bike combo is fine (like it was that morning as I rode my bike to the Kyodai campus to get the bus) but with zaa-zaa rain, I might as well not use my umbrella. I was practically drenched, to the point that if I was lazy I didn't need to take a shower when I got home. It lightened up just a teeny bit on my way home; just as I parked my bike in front of my building (underneath that awning) tsuyuu unleashed her fury again. My shoes were actually filled with water; I decided going into my building barefoot is less dangerous than slipping about in squishy, soaked shoes (the hallways actually have its own cleaning lady), so I took off my shoes while outside my building, and scampered inside.

Cafe Lovin'

Everyone has their local hangout. Back home, Kathy found Waltz-Astoria which is a great cafe and hangout place; they have wine parties, comedy, etc. etc. If you register, internet is $1 an hour (used to be free but because prices went up they had to charge). it's small, intimate and a great palce to while aawy the hours. More importantly, its not Starbucks and its not crowded. There are people, but its not like crazy crowded Starbucks.

I am writing this blog RIGHT NOW from Rue Ergo, the cafe that I have mentioned many, many times before. I have internet access!!! All the more reason to study here. I can just imagine in the future if I have to come back to Japan for research and writing my dissertation, if I have to write it in Japan, I want to write it here. They are even playing Jack Johnson in the background.

So in Astoria, I have Waltz. In Kyoto, I have Rue Ergo. I definitely do not have to go to every-single-cafe in Kyoto to find out which one is "mine" - I already have.

Ch- Ch- Ch- Check it Out!

One of my bestest friends from college, Kerri, just started her own blog and just NOW she told me about it. It's still pretty new, but interesting things always happen with her and I used to listen to it all; now that I am in Japan it's been a bit difficult, but yeah! Now I can get in on the DL again. And you can too.

PS. She is also one of the bridesmaids!