If there is a heaven, I'm almost positive it's made of cherry blossoms

When I first came to Japan in August I was greeted by the muggy, bug infested, sweat inducing, hair frizzy-fying season that is known as Summer in Japan. 

I didn't think it could get any hotter. I went to an African Safari and it made me wish I had a real elephant.

If I had a real elephant, I would name him Louis. In truth, I named this fellow Louis. Now, Geppetto was able to wish Pinocchio into a real boy... so why can't I wish Louis into a real elephant? Disney gave me false hopes about reality....

 

Gradually the days started to cool down, the leaves started to change, I began to really make some friends, and life in Japan started to seem pretty cool. I even discovered a rip in the space time continuum which has resulted in a part of Japan that is perpetually trapped in 1955. This is also known as "Hit Parade."

I half expected the Doc to fly in on his Delorean with Marty. Back to the Future IV? I think so.

And then it happened: WINTER. I could see my own breathe when I brushed my teeth, I stopped needing to refrigerate my vegetables, and sitting on my toilet seat reminded me of what it would feel like to sit on a bobsled in Russia in the dead of December, naked. 

I didn't think it could get any colder. Thus, I spent 3 months hibernating under my Kotatsu

I've watched all 9 seasons of the X-Files while basking in the warmth of this awkward contraption... and taught myself to knit. All and all that's not a bad way to spend 3 months....

But now it's happened: Spring. Yesterday I snuck out of work for several reasons: boredom, I had errands to run, it's Spring Break and I haven't taught in two weeks, and everyone was switching desks so I knew they'd be too busy to notice how long I was gone. 

Somewhere in between mailing some letters and paying my rent, I noticed that the Sakura trees are fully in bloom now. I stopped my car, parked, and spent 20 minutes taking pictures. 

I don't think anything could ever be more beautiful. 

I'm not a religious person, I'm more of an Agnostic than anything. But I was completely in awe of the beauty of these little flowers. If there's a heaven I'm almost positive it's made of cherry blossoms. People walking on cherry blossom streets, wearing cherry blossom togas, walking into buildings with cherry blossom pillars while eating cherry blossom ice cream. I'm not even joking.... this is how I envision a possible afterlife.

Spring also means a new school year. In Japan the school year ends in March and begins anew in April. This meant saying "see you next year" to a few of my favorite classes.

Meet the students of 2-3. They are split into 2 separate classes because there's so many of them. I love them because they're funny, they're not afraid to ask questions, and they do all of the crazy assignments I give them, and even though they are difficult-the kids all smile and enjoy themselves. For Halloween they watched the "Sleepy Hollow" cartoon that Disney did- Bing Crosby narrated, and for the election the watched part of Obama's acceptance speech. I LOVE them.....

As a goodbye present the learned all the words to "Let it be" by the Beatles and sang it for me. It was so sweet I cried. 

A few of my other classes made me cards, to thank me for teaching this year. Here are a few of my favorites:

THANK YOU 

Your SMILE is very CUTE!!

I like your smile and you

ERIN SENSEI

Thank you for teaching me English!

Erin Sensei

I had a happy time! 

Thank you very much 

Dear Erin Senei

I love you...

Please teach us English next year!!

Now, this one is by far my favorite....... I know you can't read it, so allow me to translate:

Dear Erin, 

Hello, Erin. 

How are you?

I'm tired and I feel very sleepy.

I'm sleepy everytime. 

This is my nature. 

I don't know your nature. 

It is too bad.

I wan to know your nature in next year. 

D. Nada

What's not to love? 

So now that it's officially April I have less than for months before I embark for Tokyo. On Saint Patrick's day Winston and I got the apartment we wanted. It is the biggest we could get for under $1.000 a month. It's small, but I like to think of it as cozy. In the words of Winston's step-dad,"I hope you two like each other, because you're going to be living on top of one another!" Here's the floor plan:

http://www.oakridge-housing.com/Hatanodai/Hatanodai301.html

Winston came for a visit last weekend, and we went on a date to celebrate getting the apartment. 

That's all for now! Happy Spring!

Tokyo....

So let's face up to reality, I have spent my winter months curled up in my house like a hermit wearing at least 4 layers of clothing, while watching old X-Files episodes, and teaching myself how to knit. I'm proud to say I can now add "knitting" to the list of commonalities I share with members of AARP, along with:

- Crocheting 

-Complaining about knee pain

- Talking about characters on TV shows I watch as if they are close personal acquaintances 

- My inability to function past 11pm 

- The fact that I still write letters... 

However, it will be pretty cool when a few years down the road I can start knitting my very own festive holiday sweaters, adorned with snowmen and reindeer.  Of course, everyone has to start somewhere. So "thumbs up" to me for learning the "knit" stitch... 

I decided to break up this rather anti-social routine of mine and head up to Tokyo for Valentine's Day. So on a sunny Tuesday afternoon I hopped a plane and after 90 minutes I found myself at the Tokyo Haneda Airport, where a rather handsome young man (also known as Winston) ran across a crowded plaza and kissed me in front of an entire tour group. 

Winston and I on the train headed out of Haneda Airport

Winston still had class that day so we headed to Azabu-juban (where Winston's school is). Now, across the street from Temple University-Tokyo, there is an adorable hole in the wall Falafel place run by the sweetest little guy from Israel. After 6 long months without Hummus, this bento lunch was a sight for sore eyes....or in this case a lonely hummus deprived stomach. 

Hummus!

After Winston finished class we decided to head to Shibuya. Shibuya is sort of the Time Square of Tokyo, and single-handedly the most crowded place I've ever been in my entire life. When people cross the street they don't really use the cross walks, they just sort of swarm across the road, like bees. It's a bit intimidating. 

While strolling through the crowded streets of Shibuya, Winston and I happened upon this store. I think the name speaks for itself.

Needless to say a few of these condom varieties were outright scary. Creative, but scary.

 

Winston and I spent the rest of the day walking around various areas of Tokyo and eventually ended up in Shinjuku. 

We found our way to the roof of a really tall building. The view would have been a lot prettier without the bars. 

After walking around for the better part of a day we were both pretty tired, so we stopped in at an over-priced Irish bar for a pint. 

That night Winston and I headed to Hiro to meet up with my dear friend Nicole and her fiance Greg. 

Greg and Nicole were nice enough to take us to this AMAZING American Japanese fusion restaurant. For those of you who've seen "Kill Bill: Volume 1," this is the restaurant that inspired the set from the end,  where Beatrix Kiddo slaughters "The Crazy 88" while dressed like Bruce Lee from "Game of Death." Any restaurant that has the SLIGHTEST bit to do with Kung-fu is cool in my book. 

Words can't describe how wonderful it was to see Nicole. We met in college and studied abroad together in Vienna. As luck would have it, we're both living in Japan. After dinner Winston headed back to his host family's house to do some homework, Greg headed back to their apartment to relax, and Nicole and I walked through Roppongi arm in arm.  

The beautiful Nicole and I, with Tokyo Tower in the background

The next night Nicole, Greg, and I had dinner. The thing I love about Greg and Nicole is that they are just a low-key as I am. So after dinner we simply headed back to their apartment and watched "30 days of Night." 

Greg and Nicole =0) 

I've lost count of how many countries we've shared beers together in...

Before I knew it Friday had rolled around and it was time to meet up with Winston once again. Nicole and I opted to get in the last of our "girl time," and found an adorable little French themed pastry shop. That's the great thing about Tokyo, you can find anything. 

Two espressos and a delicious cream filled chocolate ball of goodness. 

That night Greg, Nicole, Winston and I met Winston's friend Taka back in Shibuya. Taka is a design student, and used Winston as his model for his graduation fashion show. 

Taka, Winston, Me, and Greg

haha, I believe Nicole's exact words were, "why you no love me?!"

Winston and Taka!

oh how I adore this girl.

We had absolutely PERFECT weather on Valentine's Day. It was so warm we spent the day in our t-shirts. Our first stop was a temple in Ueno with a huge flea market. We stopped a few times for street vendor food, of course...

Winston's big Valentine's Day surprise was a picnic at the Imperial Palace, which was adorable. We stopped and picked up some sandwiches and fruit, and sat barefoot in the grass for a few hours. We also took lots of one-armed couple pictures. 

Now until Winston came along I wasn't really one for romantic-ish stuff. In fact last year (upon my request) we ate cheap sushi and saw the new "Rambo" movie on the big screen. So instead of spending a lot of money we'd rather save for the apartment (Winston is moving in April, and I'm moving in with him in July!) we opted to eat cheap. 

By sheer luck we found this little restaurant by our hotel. It was a lot like Denny's, but with Italian food. We split a 2 salads, pasta, and a pizza for less that $20. We were quite proud. 

For dessert we just stopped at a little coffee shop and split some cheesecake and chocolate cake. 

The next day I flew back home to the boonies and un-packed. Now,  Winston and I have been talking about my move to Tokyo for awhile now. But it wasn't until this visit to Tokyo that it really hit me that I'm actually going. It actually seems close enough to be excited about. 

I can't wait to trade living alone in a paper house with a car for living with a cute boy in a shoebox sized apartment with a bike. 

I think the bat that lives in my rafters wants to thieve my peanut butter...

The mysterious Japanese thermometer ventures towards its native habitat....the armpit.

My life here in Japan is proving to be less than glamorous as the weather gets colder and colder, transforming my humble paper house into a paper ice-cube.

Monday I had the pleasure of visiting a Japanese doctor. Now for the record, I hate going to the doctor. Why do you ask? Well,  the doctor's office is full of sick people. You go in sick loaded with your own germs, and come out covered in new ones. Going to the doctor is like going to Target to return something. You might go in to exchange a toaster, but you'll come out with a NEW toaster, a bag of Sun Chips, a copy of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," and new pajamas. Bottom line, you go in with one thing and come out with a bunch of other stuff you don't need. 

So, on Monday morning this lone American found herself at work as usual, only there was nothing usual about it. I am normally FREEZING  at work. I wear 2-3 sweaters, a wool coat, long johns, and leg-warmers. Needless to say I knew I was running a little warm when I got to work and peeled off nearly all my layers and still found myself burning up. I headed to my Supervisor and said, "I think I need to go to the doctor." Off we went. 

The doctor's office in Japan is just like the doctor's office in America. There were a lot of sick people, magazines, and a TV. BUT since everything was in Japanese I felt quite out of place. The woman at the reception desk handed my Supervisor some paperwork, and handed me a rather dirty looking thermometer. This caught me off guard for several reasons. For starters, back home in the land of McDonald's we take our temperature orally, only there is always a little plastic shield between the patient and the fever-gaging device. Secondly, this thing just looked dirty and I wasn't exactly excited at the thought of putting it in my mouth. So, I cleared my throat, looked confused, pointed to the thermometer and said, "Doko desu ka?" Now as far as I know "Doko" means "where" and anything that ends in "ka" is a question. She seemed to gather that I was trying to figure out where to put the thermometer, and she pointed to my armpit. It all of a sudden clicked in my head why that thermometer looked so....weathered may be the kindest word. It was brought to my attention later that day that having your temperature taken out of your armpit is far more appealing than having your temperature taken rectally. That's when it occurred to me that there really isn't a desirable part of the body to take your temperature out of. 

After we discovered I was running a fever I was shown to the doctor's office. The tiny gray haired doctor was sitting alone in a big room with lots of beds and curtains at a desk that looked too big for him. He asked what was wrong, so I told him, "Well, I have a headache, a sore throat, a cough, and a stuffy nose." He took a few notes, tipped down his glasses and asked, "do you have loss of appetite?" I just said "yes," which I realize isn't very interesting. With that he asked where I was from, and when I told him "Seattle" he said what every Japanese person says: "SUZUKI-SAN!" With that, he sent me home with a lot of medicine to be taken after every meal. 

This is a powder stuff I have to dump down my throat and wash down with water. It tastes like the type of kitchen chemical that sits under the sink with a neon "yuck!" sticker on it. 

These are my throat lozenges. They look like TUMS and taste like Pepto-Bismol. 

These little red ones are rather small and inoffensive. 

These two are also rather small and inoffensive. 

The good news is that thanks to a lot of medication I am slowly inching my exceedingly pale-self closer and closer to health. The bad news is Japanese cold medicine lacks the energizing element contained in most American cold medicine. So despite the fact that I sleep 10 hours a night, I am groggy and exhausted all day. I miss Day Quil (which is illegal in Japan because it contains slight amounts of amphetamines). 

Now while my cold medicine doesn't have any daytime stimulants, it is chalk full of night time side effects. The past few nights I have had the most vivid dreams. For example, there is a bat in my rafters. I don't really mind because I figure he'll eat all the giant bugs that come around. Plus, I have really good insurance right now so if I'm going to get rabies this is the time. I first heard him flapping around in November after watching the X-Files by myself in the dark for a week straight. When I first heard his high-pitched squeaking I was convinced it was an alien. I've since stopped watching the X-Files because even at 22 I don't have the maturity to separate reality from 90s sci-fi television. So, last night I had a dream that the bat was in my kitchen dive-bombing me because he wanted my peanut butter. I woke up screaming "Get your own!" Being sick when you live alone is rough.

Stay healthy!