Moving forward

January isn't yet over, but already so much change has occurred to significantly shape 2017. 

Matt and I have decided to take a step forward into the terrifying world of adulthood. From April, when the contract for my Shimokitazawa share house room expires, I will move into Matt's beautiful wooden house in Ikebukuro. My commute to work will be halved, saving me an extra hour every day, my rent will be cheaper, my food will be more delicious (as I will be living with a talented chef) and, most importantly, I will be living with one of the most inspiring and wonderful people I have ever met. 

When we got to know each other last summer, we discussed his dream of working in science communication, and the importance of this field. In November, he started the application process to work as a science communicator at Miraikan, or 未来館, the National museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Odaiba, Tokyo. Now, I am so happy to say that he will be able to realise this dream, as he found out on Friday that he got the job! YAY! 

To celebrate, we stayed up Friday night to cook a massive lemon drizzle cake (OMG YUM, we used yuzu instead of lemon) and we also went to the museum the following day:

We took a tour around the museum riding on Honda's UNI-CUBs:

We checked out some optical illusions

I finally know what the back of my head looks like:

Headache creation artwork:

The most interesting thing about this optical illusion, was trying to understand how it was an optical illusion:

What is it like in the International Space Station? The museum has a replica Space Habitation Module to find out:

Conclusion: I do not want to be an astronaut. The toilet alone is enough to put you off.

That massive globe:

Matt outside the museum of his future employment:

And some sneaky okonomiyaki. Yes, I asked for mine without meat because I'm still doing this vegetarian thing for January. It's getting annoying:

Afterwards we went to see Anchorsong play at the Batica in Ebisu. What a talented creature:

I'm excited about this year. Now that I've got all my silly life-dramas in order and have established a stable situation with a wonderful support network (well, Matt and I have decided to look after each-other), I can finally put effort into working hard. I want to focus on my job, and finally, without any interruptions, start taking Japanese learning seriously. I need to tackle it.