Missing Autumn

It's getting cooler now, but the weather in Kyoto is such that it is nice and crisp in the mornings and the evenings, but boiling during the day. According to my sister, Leah, it's the same in Rome.

I have to admit, I miss autumn in New York. Call me cliche, but there is nothing more satisfying then getting out of the 17th street exit at Union Square on the N/R/W/L line and ascending right into the Farmer's Market, for one thing. For another, just walking down the avenues with a hot drink in hand or just hanging out, enjoying the weather.

The air is crisp - which means the regular icky city smells (which I barely comprehend because I am either used to it, or my nose is dead) are gone and it's just replaced with a fresh nip - along with the smells of Starbucks Apple Cider or Pumpkin Latte from the Starbucks on the corner of 17th and B'way (it was featured in an episode of SATC, when Carrie has a sorta fight with Aidan and leaves the apartment). Everyone still runs about, but there is a bit of a slowdown, especially on a bright and crisp day. So sunny in fact, that you still need sunglasses along with your scarf.

Sure, the leaves are not that great. They barely get any color and by the time they do, they fall. But I don't mind.

I have never seen a New England autumn, only in photos. I have never gone apple picking, or pumpkin picking for that matter. Call me cliche city girl, but unfortunately none of the family cars would not make it out upstate or to LI because they were quite old (but now that has changed! Parents got a new car - me yia tous*). However, if we went late enough in September to our annual Woodbury Commons pilgrimage for back-to-school shopping, then the Catskills would be aglow.

Last year, I experienced autumn in Kyoto - but in reality it was a blink-and-miss. The weather is so odd here; I was still just wearing a tshirt with a cardigan come the end of November with just a light jacket for the evenings. There was one weekend when all the leaves were out in their flaming glory and poof! They fell. I just kept on asking, "Where did autumn go?" This year, I am going to try to pay a little more attention to the weather and make my second Kyoto autumn more fulfilling.

Now that I am applying to grad school, in a way I sort of dread it for a silly but somewhat significant (to me at least) reason: if I do not get into School A (which is in NYC and my first choice) then I won't experience a fulfilling New York Autumn for a very long time.

*Me yia tous/Me yia sas - something you say in Greek when you get something new or succeeded at something, sorta like "Congrats". The former is plural and when you talk about someone, and the latter is singular and directed to the person - so if I was blogging to my parents directly instead to the world at large, I would say that instead of the former.

We Now Returned to Your Regularly Scheduled Blogging

There was a really stupid reason for why I have been on hiatus for more than a week:

I couldn't blog from my laptop. Ringo was resting for a week.

Never mind that my sister has her own laptop - it's password locked and she won't let me use it (it's a 12" PowerBook and her baby). Never mind that we have wireless in the house: I couldn't get my laptop onto it for some damn reason, and now my sister tried the EXACT same thing that I kept on doing it for a week and she got it. Pfft.

Never mind that my mom has her PC always on the net - I HATE using regular computers. Never mind that I can also use Mel's laptop, however from the hours of 9-12 (around that time) the internet is off limits, so he can trade from home.

I just simply want to use MY laptop. I am used to it. Other laptop users could probably relate.

So, roundup of what I have been doing:

1) Flight: TWENTY-FOUR HOURS of travel, literally from door to door. There was a delay in Detroit because of some strange weather system, otherwise, it would have just been 21 hours. I ended up spending $50 on books from the Borders in the NWA terminal, and picked up a fancy Lancome travel compact with eyeshadow, lipstick and blush and a two pack of Clinique Happy (parfum) from the duty free. Because I wasn't going international, I had to pay the taxes (since I couldn't get this stuff at Kansai due to the stupid rules on cosmetics) but the taxes were cheaper than NYC. Going to get another Lancome compact when I go back to Japan, the colors suit me really nicely, and I get a nice rosy glow with the blush, very fresh.

I JUST made it under the weight limit, but I still had to leave those 10 books behind. Meh. However, I can say that I am pretty seasoned traveler, to go 24 hours and not look completely horrible and gross. And, I beat the jet-lag demons: I stayed up the entire night before my flight, drinking coffee, chatting with Elisa and watching Grey's Anatomy, so I was right proper tired when I got on the plane, and promptly clonked out. I am able to sleep on planes. So no jet-lag whatsoever when I leanded in NYC which was great!

2) Last Week: Started making the rounds to see people. Had dinner with Fordham girls, and the rest of us are planning to go to the Beer Garden over here in Astoria, the last one in NYC. So the rest of the Fordham people will come there, since everyone hasn't been to the Beer Garden yet and want to go. Saw my mom's godson and his family, and have started to drink the frappes like no tomorrow. I promised Alisa I would bring back a shaker and the Nescafe for frappe in Japan.

3)Personal: Eyebrows threaded, hair cut, nails manicured and pedicured (Essie's Capri). My mom was at the salon when my sister and I got our cuts, and she likes me with the golden highlights, and I am going back to get a half head of highlights. With the postponement of the wedding, I chopped my hair, got bangs and asked my stylist to use a razor to cut my hair to give it more oomph. Got my Neutrogena face stuff and it all FEELS good. Had steak too!

4) Mel and Maria: I got a Trek bike! I think its a 2007 or 2006 Trek Hybrid 7200. Mel and I split the cost and it was my anniversary gift. It was our 7 and a half year anniversary this past Sunday, and we spent it riding our bikes to Astoria Park and had lunch. And enjoying the East River view. It looks sorta like this:

However, the black is in blue. At first, I really didn't like it, but then I listened to the bike guys there and they know what they are talking about - I am too big for a women's bike since I am 5'9". It's either a men's bike, or a 20" step-through for me. However, I really couldn't get my leg over the men's bikes and I couldn't afford the nice women's road bikes that come in more sizes (like the one Mel has) so I stuck with the 20" and I am glad I got it.

It's got seat and front-wheel suspension, BIG comfy seat, and flat-proof tires. I'm going to add a rack to it in the back with maybe a side or top-pack so I can put my bag in, a light for night; say if I end up in Cambridge or Princeton, I can zip around like I do in Kyoto (I already zip around in Astoria, but I still need to get a lock, but Astoria and NYC has alot of bike paths, and Central Park is closed to vehicles on the weekends. I am going to try to increase my endurance to get over the Queensboro Bridge to get to Central Park and not rely on the subway). Kinda hard to get on and off, because now it the proper way to do it - I need a lot of space to extend my legs, so I need a big bike. The guys at the shop were aghast at my height. Not really sure if I am into the real hard-core cycling yet - however I got into cycling because that's all I do to get around in Kyoto - but it's a pretty good start, since I am on a hybrid bike.

4) Misc: I learned how to knit! Well all I know now is how to do a long-tail cast on and the knit stitch; this week, I am going to learn garter and purl from the girls in the local knitting group here. I have started a scarf for my mother on size 13 needles with a dark lemony-yellow yarn that my mom chose for her scarf. However, I got a little to cast-on happy when I finally figured it out, so my mom's scarf is going to be like a mini baby blanket, but she doesn't mind. However, I might run out of yarn, unless they restock at the crafts store here. Now that I got the hang of it, I am going to get a nicer/thinner yarn than I have now, on maybe size 9 needles.

Have I started studying yet? NOOOOO. (^_~). And now?

My Aunt Stella and Uncle George (the ones who actually ended up visiting me back in October) are here right now; I am blogging from the back porch of my house. How nice! So they, with my mother and sister they are looking at Google Earth and her dorm in Rome. Tomorrow, I go to Woodbury Common Outlets - woot!

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!

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.

From the Big Apple to the Big Mikan

In the final scene of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," Toula's dad makes a speech:

"You know, 'Portakalos' - my family name - means "orange" and 'Miller' [Ian's last name] comes from the Greek word for 'milo' which is 'apple.' So, we are apples and oranges, but at the end, we are all fruit."

Same thing goes for Tokyo and NYC. NYC is the Big Apple. Tokyo is the Big Mikan (a Japanese orange). Different countries, but BIG cities. To be quite honest, when people ask me about my opinion on Tokyo, I say the same thing, "I guess it's sorta like NYC - but it's NYC on LSD." My opinion drawn from the endless photos of neon-lit streets and seeing "Lost in Translation." I do very well with crowds and hustle and bustle (heck, I have been on crowded subways since before I could even pronounce my first gurgle practically) but man, I think Tokyo just takes it to another level.

Or maybe not. I have been here for about 7 hours, and it is not that bad. I was a bit apprehensive at first, to be quite honest, but Tokyo is not that bad. On the other hand, I can only imagine what it would be like for someone who can`t speak the language - I at least have that advantage.

Right now I am at the Apple Store in Ginza (think 5th Avenue) and get THIS:

Apple Ginza is FOUR floors. It`s even cooler than BOTH the ones in Manhattan - SoHo is quite small and 5th Avenue is overrated and a bloody tourist attraction. I would take a picture right now with my cell phone, email it to myself and upload it to Blogger because I can do that but there is a security guard, so I kinda feel a bit wierd taking pictures with my cell phone. So, just as I leave, I will play silly little tourist and take photos of the cool elevators. I love this store. They have an INTERNET bar - two whole rows of Macs with FREE INTERNET. FREE INTERNET!!! Nuff said. I am here right now, waiting for my mom to come on AIM so that we can chat a bit. This saves me a trip to Shibuya, and about 2000yen in internet fees/food at that internet cafe that I was going to go to. Plus I am totally justified in chilling here - its not crowded, there is no line here and is IS a designated internet cafe. Apple rocks. I love Apple. Besides, I need to get my VGA Adapter for the Macbook so I can do powerpoint presentations. That`s why I was here originally.

But back to Tokyo. I really do not think it is that crazy as everyone purports it to be. Then again, maybe it`s because I am in Ginza where it`s just rich people - but I was in Harajuku earlier, and come on, it`s not that crazy in terms of the fashion. Maybe my senses are a bit dulled because I have seen some wierd stuff in Kyoto already, so it`s not like `OMG, I cannot beleive she is wearing that!` It`s more like, `Hmm...interesting...`

Then again, I haven`t been in Shibuya or Shinjuku yet. And because I came so late into Tokyo, I didn`t get the chance to ride the `Women Only` cars and thank god, no one has tried to grab my bum yet. Yet.

But I need to backtrack a bit. My trip was HELL of a mild sort. Mild because I had no problem sleeping - I brought my blindfold and my Miffy inflatable neck pillow, the sort that is sold at airports - so I wasn`t that uncomfortable. What happened was early in the morning ,we had stopped. I thought it was another rest stop - turned out to be a 4 hour rest stop. There was a traffic accident on the highway to Tokyo and traffic literally stopped to a halt. Like NYC-gridlock-worthy `shut-Midtown-down-because-the-president-is here` traffic. But much, much worse. There wasn`t even any creeping along. I started to midly panic - I had an appointment to get my eyebrows done at 11:30am and was worried that I wasn`t going to make it; I was also about check in at my (budget) hotel so I made some phone calls, sent some emails via my cell and voila, got the appointment postponed till 4pm, and the hotel knew that I was going to be late. Huff, puff, lug suitcase up and down stairs, get some blissfully welcome Starbucks coffee (tall regular in a Venti cup, Starbucks on the cheap!), try to figure out the Tokyo Subway system on the cheap, and finally get to Hotel New Koyo over in Ueno.

Budget hotel for sure. It`s spartan, but not like it really matters - I am just going to use that place to sleep and shower since there is no breakfast there. I`ll just get breakfast from combini. I even had a mega budget lunch - I needed something filling and fast before my appointment for the yebrows in Harajuku so I went into McDonald`s. Now those meal sets are an arm and a leg, and I really don`t like fries; so what I did was I ordered two small cheeseburgers and a small soda off the dollar menu. Total? 300yen.

In short, I really feel like I am back home. This city is highly navigable - I only needed to pull out my fat Lonely Planet Japan guidebook to just confirm my direction so that I really didn`t get lost and I didn`t lose my way getting to the salon - which was actually a bit complicated to get too. My eyebrowist was actually a Greek Australian so she was fun to talk to. If I come back to Tokyo and in need of a waxing, I will go back.

I know that if I lived here for the duration of my scholarship, I would be flatbroke - the cost of living IS expensive here, and I don`t think I would be able to save enough money. For one thing, I would definitely have to commute and the trains here are expensive - I am getting by with the one day 1000yen pass and avoinding the JR Yamanote Loop line as much as possible - or if I have to use it (like I did today to get to Harajuku) I just take the Metro subway to the station closten, so that whay I don`t have to pay so much for the JR Line, just the minimum 130yen.

However, it is a good place to visit. Highly recommend. Would LOVE to stay at the Park Hyatt like Charlotte in `Lost in Translation` but that sucker is $300 a night. Maybe one day. It`s raining here like in the movie, but I haven`t had a `Lost in Translation` moment yet. I think my perspective is different than from that of the average tourist - I don`t live in Tokyo, but I live in Japan. So it`s sorta wierd, and I feel sorta wierd, plopping my camera and taking photos, even though I am a tourist here. The sentiments are mixed, but being here did show me one thing - I miss the buzz of a big city. I miss that `go-go-go` sorta feeling, which can be exhausting but let me tell you, having that feeling again, pounding the city pavement, riding the subways, it felt exhilirating.

I miss the Big Apple. But the Big Mikan ain`t that bad, for the time being.

Dorothy, We Are Not in NYC Anymore

Oh, my god.

I had a momentary freak out.

I was thinking about how to say "What time is it?" In Spanish. I took Spanish for 2 years in junior high school and growing up in NYC and with the high school that I went to, you had some basic Spanish in your everyday English. When my friends would speak in Spanish, I couldn't reply but I understood what was going on.

So EVERYTIME I kept thinking "What time is it?" my brain kept saying, "Nan-ji desu ka?" which is the same thing in Japanese. I even got "Ti ora einai?" which is Greek 1 time out of five.

FINALLY I got "Que hora es?" in my mind. Seriously, I thought I had been gone from NYC for so long I forgot that simple phrase. Heck even in my family we say "Que hora es?"

I know, I know it's very trivial but in a way quite revealing in terms of how language in working in my head - even Japanese is trumping my Greek because I have been gone for so long. By the time I come back home in August, I would have not set foot in the United States for 7 months, which is the longest I have been away from home.

New Yorkers: We Are Wierd, But We Are Not Evil

The American Society of Magazine Editors Released the "Top 40 Covers of the last 40 Years." Being a born-and-bred New Yorker, this one especially caught my eye:

According to the caption about the cover, it is supposed to make fun of Manhattanites perception of the United States outside New York.

Well...sometimes most of us think that way, in all five boroughs. But we still do give subway directions when asked (and even without prompting when hearing lost tourists right next to us), and take the photos in front of the Rockefeller Christmas tree.

Oh Man...Pizzaaaaaa....

I really have a craving for pizza right now.

A huge, greasy slice with crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside pizza from a local pizzeria in Astoria. Thin, but not too thin and the cheese and tomato sauce is just right.

Dammit!

I am on my diet too and there is no way in hell I can find a slice like they way they make them in NYC. I have either Pizza Hut, Dominoes or the all you can eat at Shakeys, which I hear is not that tasty (depends on the person, I can eat almost anything).

Maybe when Ingram comes back we can go to Shakey's. And then I will do a kick-ass aerobics workout. So long as I am good for the rest of March with the diet and exercise.

I REALLY REALLY want pizza.

:::hangs head in shame:::

This is NOT Seoul. This is Flushing.

Queens is one of the most diverse counties in the United States. Once, in the NYTimes, there was an article about it, with the dozens of flags representing the myraids of nationalities in the shape of the borough.

Astoria - Greece
Woodside - Ireland
Jackson Heights/East Elmhurst - Colombia, Ecuador, India

etc. etc. You get my point.

Of course, the above said places are obvious in their ethnicities, but no place is Queens is more obvious in its nationality than Flushing. That place is Korean, right down to the local McDonald's that serves rice in addition to French Fries.

This past Thursday, I didn't fly to Seoul. I went back to Flushing, and it only took me two hours.

Of course, I went to Seoul. What I am saying is that Seoul is eerily like Flushing, from the office buildings covered in signs from top to bottom to the trash in the street because there are simply just too many people.

The kimchi is a wee bit too spicy for me - I prefer the Japanese version. I left my apartment at 12:35pm and went to the airport via the MK Sky Gate Shuttle anf didn;t get to Deena's apartment unti about 10:30pm because of traffic. That is a bit pathetic, considerting that the flight was only 1 and a half hours out of that 10 hour haul. This is what you get when you live really far from the airports. The bus was quite comfy though and really cheap - 11,000 won which is about $11.

We met up with her friend Geraldine and then went to get dinner at this Korean place and had chicken ghalbi. So I have eaten actual Korean food by now, but I am totally unfamiliar with it so I am a bit wary. To top it off, Deena actually lives near a restaurant that specializes in DOG meat. Oh, gross and poor dogs.

On my first full day, we went to Insadong, the old neighborhood in Seoul and walked around. Before we went to a palace (I forgot the name but it was really long and ends in "-dong") we had lunch at a McDonald's. In Korea, they actually charge you more if you take the food out, use plastic bags at the supermarket and take out coffee and other drinks at places like Starbucks, because they actually use real cups in the places. At McDonald's we had plastic cups that have their own special garbage can. There are so many Western chains here it's ridiculous; according to Deena, there are probably more Starbucks in Seoul than in NYC. I just checked on the Starbucks site: 200 about give or take in NYC proper and 135 in Seoul. Pretty close if you ask me. There are only about no more than 10 Starbucks in Kyoto. Crazy.

Before the tour of the palace, Deena and I walked about. I borrowed her Converses becasue I wanted to wear sneakers and I didn't bring my Asics because of fear that my suitcase would go over the 20kilo weight limit. I ended up with a huge blister on my right pinky toe and very achy legs and feet becasue the tour of the palace was a 2.5km hike. And it was not flat.

By the end of the day we got so exhausted we decided to head on back to Suji where Deena lives, an hour outside Seoul. Not even halfway through, the bus stopped and the driver ordered us all to get off. Turns out there was some sort of emergency and the driver called another bus on the route to pick us up. The bus was so crowded, we ended up standing for another hour and a half in the traffic. I was so exhausted, I was ready to drop. There is a;ways traffic going into Suji. Luckily, there was a Korean man who spoke English and explained the situation to us since we were totally clueless.

To be honest, I was ready to go into a panic; going to Korea was my first time travelling or living in a country where I knew not one shred of the language, not even how to say hello. I can say hello in Chinese, for crying out loud. Add to the fact that the streets in Seoul are even crazier than Japan's and it makes for one rather nervous traveller. People have come up to me to just say hello - they don't do that in Japan and it sort of caught me off guard. Plus, I think I stick out even more in Seoul than in Kyoto; one can chalk it up to that there are alot of tourists in Kyoto, but there are also ALOT of foriegn students, since Kyoto is like Philly - it has the highest concentration of students per square kilometer. And to top it all off, I was homesick.

For Japan.

That totally took me off guard. I got this nagging feeling during my first day in Seoul, and was totally shocked. Whou would have thought? My previous experience living abroad sort of ended in a bit of a disaster, so I wasn't really expecting much in terms of "missing the place" for Japan. But wow - I am homesick for my teeny little apartment, my bike, riding on Kyoto streets along the river and everything else in Japan. And that is just after living here for five months. I can only imagine what the feeling will be like in 13 months from now.

Oh. Holy. Crap. I ONLY have thirteen months left.

What Country Are You In Now?

So I never did any of my homework over the vacation.

Oh, bloody well. I needed to detox - this vacation was sorely needed to "take the edge off" as Mary says.

Study for million hours? Yeah, I needed that two week break. Plus in the first week, I was stil getting over my cold and had really bad jet lag - on Wednesday last, I slept for 20 hours straight. I really didn't do that much if you think about it, since the first week was rest and detox from my first three months in Japan. When I go back, it's only a month and a half of class left then six weeks vacation. Awesome. I am making a list of places to go and things to do already. I refuse to stay put, except for maybe the last week or two where I will study to prepare for my placement tests in Japanese at Rits (nickname for Ritsumeikan, which is what I will use from now on.)

So how was my vacation? I'll make a list for ya:

1) According to a Fordham insider I am still famous at Fordham. Yikes. I was mentioned in the Fordham Magazine like three times for the same thing. Sort of excessive in my opinion. Oh well, all universities toot their horns any chance they get - and Fordham slipped two spots this year in the US News & World Report rankings.

2) Saw friends. They loved all their little goodies from Japan. And I missed going out in NYC. I love the downtown/Wall Street bar scene, because the pubs date back from the 1800s and pub food is so good.

3) Went to Whole Foods. Twice. Woot!

4) Jaywalked. Four times. Double woot!

5) J.Crew "After Christmas" sale. 'Nuff said.

6) GREEK FOOD. Oh, greek food.

7) STEAK. Mashed potatoes. REAL FOOD.

8) My friend Kathy thought the line, "I was born in Astoria, but I live in Japan now" is really cool. In a way it is. ;-) It's kind of funny, how I have two cell phones, for two totally different countries. In London, I used the same cell as I did in the States since the network is the same, I just had a different SIM card. The bar has been raised in terms of the fact that I am a resident of two countries.

9) Downloaded alot of 80's music. I am on an 80's music kick.

10) I got the Nintendo DS Lite in PINK! Triple woot. Now I will be occupied when I am bored, and will get the dictionary game so I can use it in class.

11) It was SEVENTY DEGREES FAHRENHEIT (about 23 C for the non-US crowd) today in the city. It is JANUARY. I wore a cardigan and no jacket. The world is coming to an end. I never needed my warm weather clothes and again, I overpacked.

12) Saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway with Leah and my parents. It was awesome - the music is amazing, and Leah got us good seats.

So again, I am packed and I go home with more stuff, like some of my Spring clothes (which isn't much, because I don't like warm weather clothes that much). My next return to the States will be July, but in March I go to Korea and in May I go to the Philippines (90% possible).

Lots of countries. Not enough passport pages.

A Whack in the Face

I know I am home.

First off, on the way back home from the airport, Mel and I were yelling (a bit) at the other stupid drivers with out of town license plates (yes we are evil when it comes to the highway) because they drove too slow and don't know how to handle NYC traffic.

Secondly, I went into the city and preceeded to be swarmed by tourists and people who actually STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK to take photos of the "really tall buildings." MOVE IT, people!

Thirdly, I totally lost my uptown-downtown/East Side-West Side orientation. Shame on me.

Fourthly, in my futile search to find a pink Nintendo DS Lite (obviously sold out because every kid wanted one for Christmas) I got whacked in the face by a father at the Toys R Us in Times Square (stupid, stupid move Maria, you do NOT go to Times Square!) wielding those plastic security cases with a video game inside. There is a scratch along my right eye, and the father proceeded to say "Sorry!" so fast and so loud as if I was going to pounce on him because he wacked me in the face.

I was exclaiming rather loudly, but no I wasn't going to kill him.

I am a NICE New Yorker.

But sometimes, I do give out the wrong directions on the subway. That's an accident.

Guess Who's Back, Back Again...

Here is my version of the Mastercard commerical:

1) Plane ticket from Osaka to NYC: 1400 USD
2) Shuttle bus from apartment to Kansai International Airport: 3000 JPY
3) The looks on my parent's faces: priceless.

The flight was really long. There was a guy in the next section over playing Final Fantasy 3 (in Japanese) on his Nintendo DS Lite. At that very moment, I resolved that I had to get myself a Nintendo DS. I was somewhat concerned about the lack of a pink DS in the States because DS's are rather expensive in Japan as compared to the States. However, when I finally went on the internet and to the Toys 'R' Us site - pink! I am going to get it today. On a side note, the DS will prove usefull - there is a game that serves as a denshi jisho. Until I scrape the money to get the real thing, it will do for now.

Regardless, I couldn't sleep. Too excited and was still suffering from my cold. Detroit was well, Detroit. Gray and industrial. Our flight was delayed because of baggage issues from connecting flights and I landed at LGA at 4pm, a good 20 hours after I left Osaka. Flying to Japan is one thing. Flying to New York is quite another; with the jet lag, I think it's harder to come stateside than it is to go to Japan. It is now 5am here in NYC and I am still jet-lagged.

I met up with Mel at the airport - so happy! We drove back to my house - I live 10 minutes away from LGA - and Mel didn't park the car in the driveway. My mom tends to look out the front window when she hears a car pull in and we didn't want her to see any vestiges of me. So I sort of had to duck as I went to the basement door (the entry to the garage and the basement outside slopes downward. Mel and I entered quietly and then we began to make our way upstairs.

Mel: (coming through the basement door) Can I give you my present now?
Mom: Sure! (Goes out of kitchen into dining room to get Mel's gift, returns to kitchen) Oh my GOD!
Me: Hello! I come from Japan, bearing gifts and a cold.

My parents were totally shocked. They had NO CLUE. As in, my dad was in disbelief for a few good hours and still laughing about it and my mom nearly had a heart attack and said it was a good thing she wasn't holding anything.

Pretty much, anyone in my circle under the age of 30 (with the exception of Mel's parents, as we asked his mom for help in finding a plane ticket) knew. My mom called her friend Katherine who is Ellie's mom:

Mom: Katherine. Ask Ellie if she knows anything about my Christmas present.
Katherine (calls over to Ellie): What's this about Helen's Christmas present?
Ellie: I dunno.
Katherine (turns to mom): What are you talking about?
Mom: Ask Ellie if she knows about Maria.
Katherine (turns to Ellie): What's this about Maria? isn't she in Korea?
Ellie: Um, no. She is in Astoria.

I even called my relatives in Florida and they were shocked too. My mom is going to have the best story to tell at work; like I mentioned, she told all her coworkers (as they like to keep updated on my status) that I was going to Korea.

Got them!

How You Like Your Coffee???

This week's Metropolitan Diary was particularly hilarious.

Dear Diary:

After the New York City Ballet’s opening-night performance, the promenade lobby at the New York State Theater was beautifully set with decorated tables for the gala dinner. Exquisitely dressed patrons and socialites were making their entrances, and lovely music set the scene. The tables were adorned with sprays of delicate flowers, and waiters stood at attention to serve the guests.

We ordinary audience members from the upper rings passed by this lush setting, and a mother with two 8- or 9-year-old girls was overheard to say, emphatically, “There are a lot of speeches, very little eating, mediocre food, and WE'RE NOT INVITED."

Dear Diary:

Leaving a delightful concert at Carnegie Hall recently, I walked to the 57th Street station to catch the F train back to Queens. In the station, I first heard and then saw a man playing Vivaldi on his violin. A group of young people were gathered around the older man, quietly listening to the lilting sounds.

When the piece was finished, one young man admiringly said, “Yo, you play that violin like Tupac raps!”

Dear Diary:

The other morning there is the usual purposeful chaos at the corner store’s deli counter on 14th Street.

The counterman shouts, “What you want?” and people shout back, “Black with a buttered roll,” “Two, light and sweet,” and so forth.

A young guy in construction-worker clothes steps up to the counter. The counterman shouts, “What you want?”

Young guy answers in a thick Eastern European accent, “I - want - coffee.”

Counterman shouts, “How you like your coffee?” The young guy looks puzzled.

Counterman shouts louder, “HOW YOU LIKE YOUR COFFEE?” The young guy doesn’t understand, so the counterman really shouts, “HOW - YOU - LIKE - YOUR - COFFEE?”

The young guy now understands and is pleased to answer with complete confidence:

“I like my coffee ... very much!”

Only In New York Kids, Only in New York

I like to read the Metropolitan Diary in the New York Times. It's one of my favorite sections, next to David Pogue's tech reviews and blog and the fashion and style section. I like how it chronicles the everyday happenings of NEw York, and some of the great quips that you hear on the bustling streets. There is nothing like catching fragments of a conversation while waiting for a stoplight especially when your iPod is dead. It can be quite entertaining. And it shows that New Yorkers aren't the Devil's Spawn and ready to eat people alive, as popular belief would have it.

I do read the whole paper (albiet online) though - it has some really good articles. I always find myself referring to it in converstation: "Oh yeah, the Times mentioned something like that.." etc. etc.

If there is something really good in the Metropolitan Diary, I post it under the "Quotes" section of my Facebook profile. So today, I remembered to check it, and here was my favorite one:

Dear Diary:

On a Sunday afternoon recently, I was walking down Fifth Avenue right next to a man and his daughter, who was about 6. As we passed Cartier, the girl asked, “What is Cartier?”

He said. “It’s the American Girl Place for big girls,” and I burst out laughing.

So he laughed and said, “Isn’t it?” and I said, “Oh, you are teaching her early.”

He smiled and I said, “Why not!”

***
As a gossip columnist in the Post says, "Only in New York kids, only in New York."

We're Having a Heat Wave...

So the heat wave is over.

And I did not lose power.

Woot!

However, my fridge is still an empty hole - we are still somewhat wary of Con Ed and their plottings, so my family just buys the stuff we need as the day requires it with the exception of non-perishable stuff like Costo-size Special K cereal.

There are still generators all over Astoria; according to the papers there were about 87 of them. They are rather large - there are CAT (Caterpillar) generators the size of small SUVs scattered even in my neck of the woods. However, my mother and I were not able to go to the public hearing.

Nonetheless, Mother Nature's latest leash of fury upon the United States was not very enjoyable. I have a slight propensity to pass out when the mercury tops 95, especially when there is a heat index of 100+, so I have been chugging down the water. However, waiting in the subway stations - the underground ones, not the el - is like sitting in one of Dante's circles of hell. Take your pick. 34th Street - on any platform - should be renamed "Ninth Circle" because it is...hmm, can't even use the word "stifling" because it is much worse than that. If the word "stifling" had a superlative of the nth degree, that would describe 34th street. And that is even on a regular summer day, so imagine when it is 115 with the heat index. Add to the fact that you are underground and I can imagine the little blobs at the end of those old-school thermometers bursting into smithereens Looney-Tunes style.


I'd say there is about a month and a half left of summer (HOLY CRAP). Let's see if the following two things will occur:

1) Con Ed gets rid of all 87 generators that have now populated Astoria like hawks on a carcass and fixes the LIC power grid (Fat chance!)
2) I predict at least 1 more heat wave. For three days. Leading to a brownout in Astoria - where else? Pah, 65% of the city's power plants are in the LIC electrical grid and we are the ones that get the blackout from hell.

Yeah, I still hate Con Ed (what New Yorker doesn't?) and am still mad over the blackout.

Doggie Days

Every year, people usually make a list of things to do during the dog days of summer.

For example: go to the beach and get a tan. Go on vacation. Read alot of books. Take the kids to the park. Keep the kids occupied so you don't go crazy. If all else fails, some parents send their kids to summer camp - sleepaway are day is dependent on parental preferences and location. In New York, parents CAN keep their kids occupied without sending them to sleepaway camp.

I for one have never been to summer camp. My summers were filled with chilling with my childhood group of friends and our mothers while the dads were at work (most of our moms by the time we were in the tweenie years worked for the public schools, so when we were off, they were off) - mostly running amok in my old neighborhood every day during the summer from about 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Our mom's would collectively gather in front of my apartment building and the one next door (because 3 families were concentrated between those two buildings so it became a focal point). One mom would make frappe - Greek iced coffee - the others would sit and chill and make sure that none of us got hurt. When you put together the kids that lived on my block plus the "fringes" (lived in the neighborhood, not on the block but came most of the time) there were about 20 of us, ranging from 18 to the age of 3 by the mid-1990s. And we made ALOT of noise. Today, my old block is quiet. Everyone got older, my family and two other families moved away from the block, and there isn't a new generation of kids to take our places. It's a bit sad in a way because my old block had such a reputation for being kid-central in the summer. We got creative; we would play manhunt or hide-and-seek. One time, one of hte older kids hid my little sister in a trash can. We would ride our bikes around the block till we were red in the face.

Sometimes, however, our summers were spent in Greece as opposed to the front stoop. In Astoria, Greek parents ship their kids off to Greece to stay with grandparents or other relatives. For the entire summer. Some of my family friends have gone to Greece the day after th public schools finished (around June 25) and don't come back till Labor Day weekend or the day before school starts (first Thursday after Labor Day weekend). If you have a sharp memory, recall that my parents did that to me in 1995 as a "graduation gift" from elementary school. For the entire summer. Yep, I did the "whole summer in Greece" thing.

I have done it twice actually; first in 1995 and the second time in 2002. Both times I stayed with family and had to deal with relatives that I have never met before (like a third cousin from my dad's uncle's side[?]). However, in 2002 it was a bit more fun; although I lived in the village outside of Sparta with dear ol'grannie, my mom and my sister for about 5/6 of the summer, mom sister and I did go into Athens and Thessaloniki and visited the other grannie in Florina (way up north, about 18km from the Greek-Yugoslavia border. We actually went to the border; it was a bit of a highlight). but when we were back in Sparta, my yiayia would take us around the other villages in the mountains and other little towns - one was a beach town called Yitheio, another time, we took the ferry with my mom's cousin to a small island for the day called Elafoniso. Whenever the old biddies from the village would come to call, my mom sister and I would make fun of them afterwards or in hushed voices - but in English of course.

And now, the dog days of summer are here upon us again and the summers of 2-month+ vacations away from home are long gone. For now at least. In the future, I plan to go a month here, a month there and I know I can drag Mel along at least because if we do something like that in Europe there is internet connection. Plus the time difference is such that if I fulfill my dream of renting a house in Tuscany for a month, Mel works during the mesimeri/siesta/naptime.

My other future summer goal is to go to Greece, pretend I don't speak Greek and island-hop like a tourist for a month or two. I told that to my dad - he took one look at me and started laughing. He said I still had to visit yiayia ALL THE WAY UP in Florina. It's an eight-hour bus ride between Florina and Athens.

But this summer, I have academic pursuits to accomplish. All of which revolve around Japanese:
1) Get up to 1000 Kanji
2) Get through "Le Petite Prince" (in Japanese)
3) Get through my "Breaking into Japanese Literature" reader
4) Review all my grammar
5) Record vocabulary and put onto iPod

and other little things. In June I did nothing at all - I needed a little bit of a break from school, especially after this past semester. I was exhausted. I also have other little miscellaneous things that I want to complete:
1) London scrapbook
2) Small vacation with Mel
3) And yes...get a tan. I am a pasty freak. Not to the point of leather but a nice little glow.
4) Get DVD's for Japan (when I was in London I only had like 5 movies which bored me to tears after watching them twice when I had the flu. This time I am going to be prepared, although there is a DVD rental store in Kyoto that is bilingual.)

and other things I forgot at the moment.

Location, Location: Of an Easterly Sort

My current location: East of the East River, NYC, United States of America.
Location from October 2006-March 2008: East of the Kamo-gawa, Kyoto, Japan.
Details later.