6 months

As of last week, I have been in Japan for 6 months now. I'm halfway through my adventure. It's pretty hard to believe! I feel torn. As though, I just arrived but have also been here for eternity. Life here remains to be a constant roller coaster. Some days, I just don't want to leave Japan and some days I can barely leave my apartment because I feel so homesick. I have to admit though: I am in a much better place emotionally than I thought I would be at 6 months. I figured by the 6 month mark I would be over this whole experience. I would be homesick and stressed. I thought this would be my low point. While I do totally feel those things sometimes, I still have those wonderful moments when I have to pause, soak it all in, and just stand in disbelief thinking: THIS is my life. How amazing is it that I can just hang out in Tokyo when I feel like it. Call friends to go have a beer or go to karaoke. I may not have a million friends here, but I have learned to just travel by myself and be okay with it. I didn't expect that from myself. In America, I was a social butterfly. I always had friends to call or plans with my boyfriend. I never took myself out anywhere. After all, I thought, who goes to dinner and a movie by themselves? Maybe I've just grown to be more of a loner here. Maybe I just justify myself by thinking that I don't have many friends so what else am I supposed to do? Maybe I'm just more confident in myself. I was never the type of person to feel sorry for myself so I certainly wasn't going to let myself stay in all weekend and mope. I don't know if it just hasn't come yet, but I still don't feel like I've hit "the low point" with this job. I haven't just sat around all weekend sobbing from loneliness or just thrown my hands up at work and wanted to give up and go home. Is it sad that I would even expect that from myself? Or that I would expect every job that I have to make me feel that miserable? I'm kind of cautiously hopeful that I will never reach this point while I'm living here. It kind of makes me want to stay her for another year knowing how comfortable I am at the job. I genuinely enjoy it! But then, I remember all of the friends and family, people that I love, that I have for me back in Chicago and my heart aches. I miss everyone so much. I couldn't bear to be away for another year.

Let's do a quick rundown on some aspects of my time here.
1.) The job: I've really loved this job. I know a lot of my friends complain about it but I still think it is great. I get to work with a new group of kids everyday. About 75% of them even want to be there and want to learn. I've gotten used to the companies way of teaching things and can easily come up with lesson plans and props. I love it. I think it is a much better fit for me than my job in the States was. I also especially like not ever having to deal with parents lol
2.) Friends: While it has been MUCH more difficult than I thought it would be to make friends here, I do have a couple of good and wonderful people that I have befriended here. They are kind, adventurous, and open. We all are having common experiences with being foreigners in a strange land and that allows us to really bond I feel. I must admit though that this experience has really shown me how shy I can be. After college, you really don't have to try too hard to make new friends and I felt like I was rusty at it. I was shying away from people a reluctant to approach other foreigners who were just hanging out at the same bar as I was. I'm trying so hard to get out of my shell a bit more like I was in college and I've made a couple of new friends recently who have helped me feel more like I am accomplishing this goal. A part of this though is also that I have a boyfriend and many of the other foreign guys I meet are not looking for a friend. That shuts me off to meeting more new people right away. Let's just say this is still a work in progress.
3.) Travel: I've seen a lot of places and a lot of things. I'm pretty satisfied with where I have gone so far although I'm starting a list now of all the places I have yet to go and see. I hope this will motivate me to do more on the weekends.
4.) Language: This is one area that I am pretty disappointed in. I'm normally really good with languages. I can pick them up and understand then quickly. Hasn't been the case here. I just feel like I haven't learned much Japanese. I'm definitely happy that I can now understand at least all of the things that they ask you about at the convenience store but I most definitely cannot hold any semblance of a conversation in Japanese. I'm sure part of it is that I really am not exposed to too much Japanese. At work, everyone speaks English and I speak English all day. Surprisingly, I have learned to read a lot though! I think this is due to the trains. They have everything in English but sometimes I get bored and just start reading the signs in Japanese. I know somewhere between 150-200 kanji which is pretty impressive. A part of it is also my fault because I have not been actively studying...oh well...
5.) Food: What can I say about food? It's still awesome. I adore the food here. Japanese food rocks! I've tried so many new things and loved most of them. I'm pretty sure natto was the only unpleasant food experience I've had.

Family Vists Days 1 and 2

Sorry that I have been absent for the past couple of days BUT my family came to Japan to visit me over my winter break! YAY! We had an exciting 10 to 11 days which I WILL write all about :D
So, let's begin with days one and two!
I had to go pick up my family from the airport first which was an adventure all on its own. See, Narita airport is about 2 and a half hours and a special express train away from me. I was meeting them at 5 but I left Honatsugi by 2. I took my normal express to Shinjuku and then hopped aboard the Narita Express, a special limited express train run by the JR. It cost me some good money but it was worth the time saved. Plus, I got to sit in a reserved seat which I have never bought for myself before.

Why hello fancy train

I waited for about 30 mins before we finally spotted each other. There was much hugging and talking. We had to wait a good hour for the next train bound for Shinjuku so we just sat and chatted. They were exhausted by the time we got on the train. Everyone plopped their luggage down and wanted something to eat. We ran over to one of the only places that is open at 10:30 PM and gives you food fast: McDonalds. At least they got to have some uniquely Japanese flavors. Me and my sister got a shrimp burger and my mom and brothers grabbed a teriyaki burger.

We all settled into my apartment, which was a bit cramped but we managed to find everyone a spot.

Jenny and Chris claimed to corner

Tommy slept in my kitchen

The next day, I started them off with an afternoon in Atsugi. We went to my one hundred yen store (dollar store basically) and the grocery store where we bought food for lunches and breakfast. I also introduced them to bento boxes and we grabbed a couple for their first lunch in Japan.

Yummy!!

After that, we went to Harajuku which is the fashion district of Tokyo. First thing we did was visit Meiji-jingu shrine which has one of the largest tori gates in Japan.

Then, we headed off to the main street, Takeshi-dori. Jenny and I popped into a couple of shops and marveled at the fashion. I bought myself an awesome pair of imitation Converse heels.

So fun!!

It was a nice slow and relaxed day to ease them into Japan.
Next time, we visit the only place I asked to go: Tokyo Disney Sea!

Making friends: The first 3 months

One of my main concerns coming here was social. I was instructed by my company to not learn the language and all I could think is: how in the world am I supposed to make friends?! I'm a very social and outgoing person so it seemed like a terrible fate to be living somewhere for a year with no friends except those that I met at work. Don't get me wrong here. I love my coworkers and I met some great people at training but most of my training friends are far away or busy as are my coworkers. Also, there are not many foreigners in my city let alone ones who are similar in age to me that I can relate to.
At first, I attempted to boldly face this problem head on going to international friendly places like Roppongi in Tokyo and even went by the navy base a couple of times. Every time I would without a doubt meet people. The issue was that I was not meeting the kind of people who could be my friends. A lot of them were Japanese guys trying to pick up an American or another foreigner looking to "get friendly" with someone if you know what I mean. I would strike up conversations with them and then would casually mention my boyfriend. POOF! They would vanish.
I got pretty good at occupying myself by traveling or shopping or gaming but I started to get restless and just wanted some more companionship. Luckily, my Aunt has an acquaintance over here who I met with. She was awesome to chat with and showed me around Tokyo. The best thing she did for me though was introduce me to this adventure club of foreigners. It's basically a group that allows foreigners to meet others in a fun non-threatening environment. I have gone to a couple of their events and met a lot of people some of whom I have started to really chat with. I hope that this will help me really make some connections.
I'm going on a trip with them this weekend on a hike and hot spring trip. I'll keep you updated on my friend success rate.

Atsugi Summer Festival

This weekend I had a chance to go down to the Atsugi Summer Festival! It was a lot of fun! I got to see many new things and try a lot of good food. I think one of my favorite things was watching the people and seeing everyone dressed up in their summer kimonos! Here are some highlights:

There was a procession of family shrines down the streets. They were beautiful! It was awesome to see the families in traditional Japanese clothes.

Food Stands! Yum, yum!

My first festival food: Shaved ice! It tastes better here! Not quite as syrupy as the ones in the States.

I love this shot.

My second favorite shot from people watching.

A group of junior high students watching a J-pop group.

A Kabuki Magic show I stumbled upon.

Takoyaki! My new favorite festival food!

I uploaded some videos to youtube as well if you have time to check them out! They are about one minute each.
The shrine procession: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxGXMAD-eSs&feature=channel_video_title
The J-pop group performing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3sdt_foFls&feature=channel_video_title
The Kabuki Magic Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsxTJd5H0q4&feature=channel_video_title