JADVWIGA: May 2009

21 May 2009

SWINE FLU!

facial masks have SOLD OUT!!! in Japan because of SWINE FLU!!!!

most of the students i teach are wearing masks.

So, if i sneeze i follow with "OH MY GOD! i hope i don't have SWINE FLU!" and they kind of freak out. its really funny.

also, the sun is rising between 4am and 5am these mornings.

18 May 2009

average work week.

i just calculated the hours that i worked last week, which i really haven't done before.

i worked 53 hours last week.

ok, maybe my work week is more like 50 hours a week (i worked 12 hours on saturday, special circumstance).

SERIOUSLY! and guess what? it's totally NORMAL AND EXPECTED! horray for crazy japanese work ethics!

On a side note, i tried selling some clothes of mine for the second time since i've been here. i was offered 200 yen (about $2) for a sweater and a shirt. it cost more money for me to get to the store to sell those things! (i'm pretty cranky right now, i just awoke from a nap. sorry.) anyway, its totally crazy for me to understand this about japan: there are NO PLACES to sell your totally normal clothes. used places just buy super high designer labels and pay you nothing for it and totally sell it for really high prices! why?! and then they're all like "thank you SO MUCH" and i'm laughing because it also took 30 MINUTES for them to look through all of my stuff and decide to take TWO THINGS for 200 YEN! CONSUMERISM SUCKS! SO DO OVERLY PRICED USED UGLY DESIGNER CLOTHES IN HARAJUKU!

why can't a Buffalo Exchange be in Tokyo? that company should seriously look into opening a store here...it would honestly make MILLIONS! if i could do business in Japanese, i would totally open a sell/buy used clothing store here. i would call it "AMERICAN SHIT" and billions upon BILLIONS of japanese screaming girls would line up for hours and hours to come buy american shit. P.S. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NEW FOREVER 21 IN HARAJUKU! SERIOUSLY, YOU HAD TO WAIT 2 HOURS TO GET INTO THE STORE! FOREVER 21?!

ok, my bitching is complete.

15 May 2009

twenty five.

officially half way through my twenties.

yes!

i spent my birthday working, receiving very unexpected gifts from very unexpected people, eating THREE CAKES, eating french food with french wine, watching "wayne's world", and feeling very loved by all the people in my life.

who could've asked for more?

thank you! thank you! thank you!

10 May 2009

the ramblings of a WOMAN.

people i've never met before are completely and utterly inspiring me and my life choices.

ok, so here are some things running in my brain:

i am really homesick and really not homesick at the same time, i'm not sure which one it is really. i mean, i almost can't tell even what "home" is anymore. maybe i have different homes. i miss my parents' home, which i also equate with my sisters' presence. i miss my portland home of friends and places there. i feel really separated from that feeling of being at a home. i'm probably just thinking too much, yes that must be it! however, drinking the bag of stumptown jessica brought for me helps. and looking at all the absurd photos of tokyo is also a great remedy (really, this place is incomprehensible to explain through words. this place is a feeling that you have to experience first hand. i can honestly say, it is the complete and utter opposite of anywhere i have lived or been to.) and keeping busy with work helps. i realized that perspective is limited if its self inclined, as well as self limiting. SO, i have been inspired by people i have never met. people who have this energy that is so strong and so brilliant that it just shines through without their physical presence. and i continue, of course, to be inspired by those i know and have growing friendships with. people are so inspiring! LIFE IS INSPIRING.

also, this may sound weird but i think i'm a woman now. it makes me laugh to think about it. but, my voice i think is permanently husky. my face has changed. I NO LONGER WANT ANYTHING HELLO KITTY RELATED IN MY VICINITY (i think there's a small collection of hello kitty kitchen appliances at my parent's house in las vegas if anyone out there is so inclined to pick them up, PLEASE DO SO. I AM MAINLY FOCUSING THIS AT CHANCE JACKSON RIGHT NOW.) and i am not afraid of anything anymore. i will go to South America next winter. i will probably go to India, as well. i want to live in a mountain with a large lake. i want to farm. AND I WILL DO THESE THINGS, ALL OF THEM.

Happy Birthday, to me.