Wednesday, December 26, 2007

メリークリスマス! or Christmas in Japan!

Anyone who has ever spent a Christmas away from home in a foreign country has discovered that Christmas is different in every country around the world. :-) Well, in Japan Christmas is something of a cross between Christmas and Valentine's Day... as in the couples fill the streets and it becomes a huge date day. I wish I were joking... despite this weird contortion, this year was a pretty good year for pre-Christmas activities. The weekend before Christmas my friends and I went to have a look at some of the Christmas lights displays around Tokyo.

The first pic makes it look like there's snow in Tokyo... the second is an OCEAN of Christmas lights.
   

Then there is Christmas day... my friend Will and I got our "cook" on and made a pretty decent Christmas dinner.



The finished product...


  


The food was great... and the day was a pretty good one even though it was exactly like it would have been at home. It was close... and it's being with the people you love that really counts - friends or family.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Fall is in the air...

and winter's right around the corner! If only that meant that there would be some snow this year. Unfortunately there are no guarantees. :-(
I wanted to share some amazing pictures that I clicked on my phone the other day... this only happens on the weekends where there aren't people around automatically scooping away the leaves.
Isn't that just like the yellow-brick road or something?



Next, our kendo captain... being a goof!

Sunday, December 02, 2007

3 and 2 makes 5

Recently I've had some good things happen in my life... but there are some nagging things as well... and the total number of aforementioned things is 5.

Good things... in no particular order:
1. Tuition deduction - about $1500 will be returned to me
2. Scholarship from the university - $3600 will be given to me
3. I passed kendo 1-kyu - I'm now a certified stud! ;-)

Things that make me worry... also in no particular order:
4. I work/study too much and have no extra time to relax (this may sound like I'm whining, but I literally don't have time to take a 5 minute breather sometimes)
5. I don't have enough money to go home for Christmas and will spend it in Japan

The last two items really do have me worried... especially the NO free time EVER thing. I'm getting to be a stress head and last week a friend at school asked me how I was because I looked extremely tired (fair enough I was, but still... it was BAD!). I don't see any end in sight for the madness that happens to be my life right now! Any stress reducing/relaxation inducing practices that can be done in less than 10 minutes?? I'm totally up for any advice!