9/29

So, this weekend I went to Tokyo.

週末は東京に行ってきました。

This is kinda late, but most of my photos are on other people's cameras, so I didn't know if I should bother.

知らせがちょっと遅れたのですけど、写真はほとんど友達のカメラにあるし、アップする意味があるかどうか、迷っていました。

I stayed there for about 5 days, and used up a LOT of money.

５日くらい過ごして、本当にたくさんのお金を使ってしまいました。

But I got to visit some famous spots, and shop (coats for winter), and visit Tokyo Disney Sea. (Which, by the way, is bigger, cleaner, and more fun than Disney in Orlando.)

でもいろんな有名な場所を観光したり、買い物もしたり、東京ディズニーシーに行ったりすることができて、後悔はしませんよ。（ところで、東京ディズニーシーといえば、オーランドにあるディズニーワールドよりずっと大きくて楽しくてきれいですよ。）

Tokyo's one of the most famous cities in the world, and I can see why. It's really huge. You can eat, buy, and see just about anything you want, there. Like, on our way to a mall we just happened to pass by a huge Mexican festival where they were selling tacos and tequila and stuff.

もう分かっていると思いますが、東京は真に大きいんですよ。何でも食べれるし、何でも買えるし、何でも見ることができるし。モールに行く途中でメキシコのフェスティバルまで見かけました。テキーラやタコを売られていたらしいです。

But it's so crowded, I could seriously never live there. As convenient as their subway/train system is, being packed in so tightly is just....ugh.

でも込みすぎて住みたいところだなんて言えません。東京メトロや電車がいくら便利でも、小さな電車の中に詰まるのがいやです。

Anyways, here are some of the few pictures I actually have on my own camera!

とりあえず自分のカメラで取れた写真をアップしますよ！どうぞ見てくださいね。

Sensouji (浅草寺)

Some touristy shopping street (観光客の買い物楽園)

Some fancy cake I bought at "Daimaru". (大丸で買ったケーキ)

9/19

The two things I've been doing a lot of, lately, are:
最近専念している二つの活動は、

1) Studying,
勉強することと、

2) Spending money.
お金を使うことです。

The first one is a good thing,
一つ目はいいことですけど、

and the second....well....I guess it's necessary.
二つ目は・・・まあ、仕方がないかな。

I didn't bring many clothes with me, and it's getting chilly, so I've been buying a lot of long-sleeved items.
そんなにたくさんの洋服を持ってこなかったし、だんだん寒くなってきているし、長袖のものをいっぱい買っています。

As far as studying goes, I realized that only my oral skills were improving, even though I'm finally in Japan.
勉強は、聞き取りやしゃべり方が少しよくなったといっても、せっかく日本に来たのに、それまでだということに気がつきました。

I hate those people who lived in a country for so many years, but somehow aren't too great at the language.
ある国に何年も住んでいたのにその国の言語が下手な人が嫌なんです。

So anyways, I bought some study materials for the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
とにかく、日本語能力試験一級のための教材を買いました。

They're a lot nicer than what you'd get in America. The vocab. book even has a red film that you can place over words in order to make them invisible -- good for drilling yourself, and all that.
アメリカで手に入れるのよりずっといいと思いますよ。ある本には、単語を隠す用の赤いフィルムもあって、ドリルにぴったりです。



Visible.......

BAM!
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9/17

Today, I went to Sendai.
こんあいだ仙台市に行ってきました。

It wasn't too special. Better shopping than what I'm used to.
特にすばらしいところでもなかったかな。買い物だけがよかったかもしれません。

Though I think it would've been more fun alone.
次は一人で行けばもっと楽しいと思いますけど。　


Oh, but recently I saw a movie called "重力ピエロ" (Juuryoku Pierrot/Gravity's Clowns??), which I really liked. I guess it was shot in Sendai, so it was pretty cool to see it for real. I highly recommend that movie btw, I haven't liked a movie so much in a long time.
あっ、でも最近「重力ピエロ」という映画を観て、とても好きでした。ロケ地が仙台市らしいんですよ。ですから本物を見るのが面白かったです。

9/13

Here's the story of how laundry detergent made me really happy:

So when I first moved here one of the first places they took us to was this ghetto Walmart sort of place that sold cheap soap and stuff.

I hadn't brought much money with me, so I bought the cheapest laundry detergent -- it had cute packaging, and it said it was unscented, which appealed to me, because I'm not a huge fan of leaving a trail of detergent smell behind me wherever I go.

Anyways, the soap sucked, and it didn't do any cleaning at all. You'd put a slightly dirty shirt in, and it'd come out looking slightly dirtier than before, and smelling the exact same. But the bottle lasted me a good month, even with me pouring way more than the recommended amount, in order to use it up more quickly.

Finally, last night, I ran out.

It was a beautiful night. The moon was full. My, it was beautiful.

Today, I bought a new box of detergent. Extra strength.

And I haven't stopped doing loads of laundry since. Clean, fresh, laundry.

9/9

Is it just me??

Or, does moving to a new country really quickly make you realize the things you're really inept at??

The things you've been inept at all along, but never really noticed, or needed to notice, or cared to notice?

Hahah. Oh well.