ZInger

Its a procrastination testing day.

There's no deadline, only the pressure I put on myself. But also there is a deadline because I need to register to take an exam which can only be sat twice a year.

Sorry blog.... I need to focus on revision for a while. This is only fun when I feel like it and at the moment I getting sick of screens being too much a part of my daily life enough as it is.

I've finally dyed my hair back to normal brown colour. I also chopped it all off too because it was all dead and destroyed.

I had to explain to my moo that I'm going to have to just be ugly for a while. This means no boys, no fun and no distractions. Sorry, the wait for grandchildren is going to be a bit longer than anticipated.

Just studying, working and breathing. No fun stories no insane episodes. CONFORM DAMN IT.

I've  actually started doing language exchange meet-ups.. they are painful. Why is it so hard to create real situations to speak Japanese when living and working here? The people I meet with to do language exchange are.... people I wouldn't want to speak to in English, so Japanese is just an extra layer of no thanks.

You had a whole Saturday. STUDY go... go yes.

Ok, no thank you. Well, at least by not leaving your room all day you spent no money.

I'm lying, I'm about to go for a run if I can bring myself to bother.

Hmm... already 16.00

What, oh these pictures?  From last weekend. I went out to celebrate my hair change. But also felt weird about it so covered my head with a band. If it looks like I went out alone, that's because for the most part, I did.

oooooh new Avalanches. Here's a bit of colour for the weekend:

The sights and the sounds

Press play as IMLAY sets the tone for the last day of Obon. Yes I'm certainly getting my Korea on:



A very small matsuri in Ochanomizu during Obon:

Akihabara's best secret spot:

On a residential street in Jiyugaoka: 

Shadows in the sand at Oarai beach:

Sea glass

Do you remember decorating your window sill with sea glass?

The sea glass. Oh yes, the beautiful sea glass.

I collected it this morning on the beach in Tatayama, the southern part of Chiba. After pointing out how dangerous all the broken glass on the beach was to my friend Allie, who I was there with on a short camping trip, she explained that this was no ordinary glass. This was sea glass baby, and this shit is gonna rock your world.

Well, actually she gave me a cute story about how her and her brothers used to collect it on family trips growing up. Sea glass are bits of broken glass that after time have been smoothed over and broken down by the sea. Each piece is unique, a mixture between something made by man and then finished by mans best friend: nature.

There was something quite magical about our trip. 

Minutes before leaving yesterday morning we were still sending each other google map pins  destination suggestions. All we knew was, we wanted to go camping, go to the beach and try some hitchhiking.

We managed to tick all the boxes. Every box ticked. Done with a smile and a big red marker. Done. Happened.  

Goals = achieved. Life = beautiful. 

We were shown so much kindness this weekend by the people of Chiba, that I feel so lucky to be here.

Highlights (in no particular order): 

1)The guys camping next to us with whom we shared a beer and a laugh. 

2)The old couple running a soba shop, the only restaurant that was open in the small town of Tomiura. 

3)The family next to us who shared fresh watermelon. 

4)The sea glass, you little wonder, little wonder you. (Yes it deserves another mention).

5) The family that picked up two gaijin hitchhikers and drove us for 2 hours expecting nothing in return. 

6) We both got to practice Japanese throughout and saw a whole bunch of fish, bugs and other creepy crawlies to let us know we were in the inaka.

7) I learnt that you can skim sea shells like stones and it's much easier.

Ice lolly

Most delicious and most expensive ice lolly.

Rose hip flavoured ice lolly from Roppongi's finest Paletas in the Midtown mall.

Look at that jolly sun burnt face:

Here's something Korean for you to soak in the sun to:

GRRRRRRRRRR

When I spend an hour on the train writing a blog post and it doesn't save properly... so all gets lost forever.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

As if this blog didn't take up an unnecessarily long amount of time as it is. MAKES ME WANNA SHOUT LIKE THIS GUY:

The hug

New anecdote to the Japan life files.

Unfortunately this story is only good when told in person [実は too lazy to type]. Me putting this here was more of a test to see who actually reads this (entry #256 and still keeping it fressssssssssh).

Think of it as a "hey, I just remembered you mentioned a story about a landlady and hug on Zarbaraki, please do tell"-type-situation for when we are next acquainted. I also accept phone calls and Skype requests.

Instead I will leave you with a very unsatisfying nutshell version of the story if a prompt is ever due:

I hugged my landlady because she was telling me off for legitimate irresponsible behaviour and it 100% changed everyone's life. I'm now the favourite tenant with all privileges. The strict level playing field rules of the house no longer apply to me because I used hugging, the most innocent, simply form of a human interaction to my advantage. BOOM.

Now imagine that emoji that is winking with its eye whilst simultaneously sticking out its tongue, but not a small version the size of this text before you, more like a massive version too big to fit on the screen. That's how I see this situation in my minds eye.

No obviously not. The truth is that I'm now full of weird anxieties and a sense of claustrophobia due to an unexpected and rather unusual social obligation I have gotten myself into and might not be able to work my way out of.

Lesson learnt = hugs don't only get you out of trouble by alleviating a situation, but for Japanese people, for whom hugging is not a regular thing, a hug can make a huge difference. Although be aware of the possible side effects that comes with them. You have been warned people. Hug responsibly.

I am now very envious of my friend Tiffani who has a tattoo on her arm that reads huglife  (written in such a way that a quick glance might trick you into thinking it says thuglife).

Damn that's awesome.

And now to round it all up, the award for best secret act to open Fuji Rock Festival in 2016 goes to..........

CON BRIO