You just have to know when to laugh at yourself. And it’s ok cause I did this in Japan.
Monday
Laundry….What can I saw that will express my new found loathing for this chore. Back in Georgia I still lived with my mother, so I only had to do laundry every once in a while. Here, in Japan I have laundry to do EVERY WEEK!! Thank you mother for your years of slave labor to the metallic clothes cleaner. I’m sorry for all the years I would wear something for five minutes and then throw it in the hamper or when I would wear four shirts in the middle of summer! I didn’t realize that house work would take more adjusting than a language barrier. If I eat luch, dishes, if I go out, laundry. It never ends but the OCD cleaner embedded in me from childhood refuses to let it just multiple. So its back to the grindstone for me. I think that making time for the new added pressure of house work has been one of the most stressful parts. Due to the somewhat fluid nature of my schedule of the last few weeks it has been driving me crazy trying to designate days to clean house. But with classes, clubs, church and volunteering all becoming settled it is becoming easier.
Tuesday
Sometimes I feel like I’ve adjusted to well, to quickly to life here. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop or worse for me to wake up a this all be a dream. But then it hits me that I’m really in Japan and that I am suppose to adjust to life here, and then everything is fine until I second guess it again. Well off to school. Japanese is a very complicated language by my sensei are all well-trained and help make it easier. I had curry donkantsu which is curry and rice over fired and sliced pork. My day, no my life, was made complete when I ate that dish. I have been eating so much good food here, I will have to watch out or I’ll come back to the states a few pounds heavier. But I’m also doing more walking than I have in my entire life and aikido twice a week so maybe it will work out.
Wednesday
It was a wet and dreary looking morning, but I was sure that it would clear up, and I was in a hurry so I didn’t bring my umbrella. Big mistake, half way through the class it starts pouring. So we decide to go to the library and try and wait it out. Out of curiosity we went up to the fifth floor and found the small museum housed up there. I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing and doing studio art work until then. I’ve decided to do my own independent paintings or sketches of Japan while I’m here to mark my trip. It was surprising how such a little thing could confirm all of my future academic plans.
Friday
A friend of mine invited me to a small bible study at a fellow church members home in Motoyama. So we set out at 6 and got there just after 7. There was only eight of us but it was nice to have a gathering of such here in Japan. I was a bit worried about finding a Christian community here in Japan.
Saturday
My inner obese unhealthy child came out and I almost died on the way to the store. I never realized how sedentary my life was back in America. Although here in Japan I have come to HATE stairs. I didn’t like them before coming here not only because they make my knees feel old, and my lungs like black tar cases, but because I was always falling on them. Now I’m in Japan and they are everywhere. Just take me now I’m not sure how I can make it.
Oh, back to my story, anyway I was on the way to Apita with Kim, (we were looking for a softball glove for her) after morning aikido, Apita is a major department store with four levels for parking and three levels for shopping. Kim had a vague idea of where it was so we set out on our bikes. I’m so proud that I can actually ride decently now after only four weeks or so practice. We finally got there and walked around for a while before we discovered this beautiful cake shoppe (really more of a counter). All of the pretty cakes were glittering at us behind the glass so we splurged and got one each. I chose a cheesecake and found a heaven beyond curry rice donkatsu! I almost wept….So after finishing out cakes as delicately as possible with not forks we headed back. We had already found her a glove and a ball.
So we start biking but we get to this huge hill and we decide to just make a right and go around it. After ten or fifteen minutes of biking we ended up on the same road as the Apita just further down. So we turned around and started biking again. About half way there, my body started to give out and remind me that I’m an American. Cheeseburgers, fries and fired chicken danced through my head taunting me. Japan definitely makes me want to be healthier. We did eventually make it back to the right road and biked back to Proxy.
Sunday
Nana and I set off for church at 8 am. It was my first time but because it was the second week of the month we had to get there early and help to prepare lunch with the other youth of the church. It was an interesting event, nothing like a traditional church service in America. There was no pastor to speak. Instead more in line with the Japanese culture everyone would be given a passage or hymn and we all read and sing them then we have the option of sharing our stories or opinions about it. There is a fair mix of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and English speakers with translators for everyone who needed them. I really enjoyed it and look forward to going back next week.
