ピョン、ピョン、日本の遊び～

Ok... this one's in English again... you'll forgive me right? σ(^_^;)

I just had one of my best friends come stay with me for a few days which was absolutely fabulous. I don't get a lot of girly time in Japan so whenever the opportunity arises, it's a breath of fresh air. To quickly explain, there are about 50 students from my university studying in Japan at the moment - of which 5 including myself were sent to my exchange university here... of which I am the only girl. In my other classes, I'm still the only girl. It's very much a one-gal show here. (_ _。)

So anyways, she came over and we did loads of stuff together!! We went into town together with some of my best Japanese friends, had a karaoke session together , took a lot of purikura and other amazing snapshots!! We enjoyed an entire pyjama morning , boy-hunting in magazines , drama viewing (Tsuki no Koibito is my recommendation to all), a little cruise around our local harbour serenaded by classical music , shopping (as us girls do so well), painting nails... (^O^)/

We had sushi and cake and doughnuts and coffee and strawberries and watermelon and biscuits and okonomiyaki and all-you-can-eat sweets paradise and I think I'll stop the list there 'cause you get the idea.

But here comes my wonderful insight of the week (?)

Girls have a terrible, terrible habit. It's called self-loathing.

It doesn't have to be everything, it may just be one small part, but whatever the case there will be a part of their body a girl will despise. And therefore, no matter how sincere it may be said, a girl will find it extremely difficult to accept and truly believe a compliment such as 'you're so beautiful!!!' I'm no exception, and neither is my gorgeous friend. We all find an that excuse so as to avoid the comment. I do wonder why? (￣□￣；)

In my case, I really can't stand my calves, my tummy and my forehead. Thus when my friends compliment me, I whittle it down to either:

a) they're bias because they're my friends

b) they're saying it because friends exchange compliments as it is

c) they're completely and utterly blind

and it's not me seeking attention, nor being modest. It's an honest 'what-on-earth-are-you-talking-about' way of thinking.

Girls have a second terrible, terrible habit. We compare, we compete, we judge and we will ultimately fail ourselves. I'll look at other girls who have slim calves and think I need to be like that. I'll go on a diet, realise that I'm actually pretty much built this way, give up and continue loathing. Etc, etc. We're so fantastic at picking out the wonderful features of others that we cannot match up against that we forget to point out our own good sides.

Just because we're not all models and plastered on billboards in perfect photoshopped posters doesn't mean we're worthless, right?

I want to get better at looking in the mirror and saying 'this isn't so bad'. So here's what I do actually like about myself!!!! I like my smile, and my eyes. I like my hands. I like my hair. I currently have smiley faces painted on my toes so I don't mind them so much at the moment either.

Come on girls! Let's both love each other and love ourselves at the same time. We don't have to sacrifice one for the other. Let's look in the mirror with a smile on our face and think 'I exist in this form and this shape, and I can be beautiful just the way I am.' A brighter perspective would be good for us all.

初めてのブログ～

Hey there

I could do this in Japanese, and I promise I'll keep swapping between both English and Japanese but right now I'm feeling ever so slightly lazy...

I've spent the past 8 months living in Japan, experiencing culture shock galore and making the most of what has so far been one of the most amazing years of my life. But it would take far too long to describe my entire year until this moment, so I'm just going to start from now~

I was having a conversation with one of my friends yesterday whilst we were enjoying the fabulous swishing beauty of shabu shabu - I imagine most people will know what shabu shabu is, but for those who don't it's basically a dish where you cook thin strips of meat in boiling water. It is VERY tasty But that's besides the point...

I just realised to what extent Japanese people don't like being... direct? I can't really think of any other way to describe it - I'd already discussed the idea that a lot of people in Japan aren't so direct as to say they love their friends or family which, being the far too affectionate girl that I am , I found difficult to understand for quite a long time.

Yesterday, I realised that Japanese people don't reply to 'confessions' of love in any rush either. I had known the fact before, but it was only when I told my friend that generally speaking in the Western World we would reply to a confession pretty much immediately and I saw his face contort to express deep bewilderment that it occurred to me yet again just how weird our way of doing things must appear too.

So in Japan you give your darling a week or so to gather their thoughts and consider your proposal...

Whereas in the West I don't think we're patient or calm enough to wait for an answer that may well turn out to be 'I think not...' anyway A.K.A In the West, we'd much rather someone was direct and shot us down straight away if that's what's going to happen...

Well... I thought it was an interesting cultural difference anyway!!