Here we have a blurry photograph of a copy of the nengajou we sent out this year. I know it’s extreeemely dorky, you don’t have to say anything. I’m not exactly sure if it’s above or below the kind of portrait where the couple wears turtlenecks against a backdrop of New England on the official Dorque Scale… I’m hoping it’s above, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I accept us for the kind of people we are, lol.

So anyway, did everyone have a fun holiday? I’ve been keeping up with some friends through facebook and other social networks, but not everyone, of course! Tell me what you did this season!

Tatsuya and I have just returned to Chiba today after spending the last week in Fukui. It was a lot of fun, and my in-laws always spoil us “kids” rotten as always, LOL. Of course that includes what will probably be our last ever toshidama’s… I think Tatsuya alone scored nearly 120,000 yen this year, most of it being “congrats on getting a job!” money from his uncles. I made off with only 30,000 yen but hey, that’s still making out like a bandit in my book, and now I’ll definitely survive until next paycheck (including perhaps a few treats, of course!) I also got my hair cut into a super duper short boy/pixie cut while we were there. It’s cute I suppose but I’m still not really sure if it’s “me” or not… though I suppose for now it IS me, whether I think so or not! :P It’s potentially the beginning of an interesting experiment, perhaps though. If I let my hair grow out all year, I can see exactly how much it grows until 2012, amirite!

As for the holidays, New Years’ Eve we ate homemade mochi for breakfast and in the evening we watched Kohaku, then went to the shrines around the neighborhood at midnight. New Years Day felt unnaturally long, but that was because we woke up around 7:30 and in T’s and my case, we didn’t go to sleep until around 2am. I don’t know how we made it, haha. It was a fun day though: among other things, we braved a rain/snow torrent in the morning for the annual pilgrimage to Naritasan temple for prayers/hot snacks, and after that we went shopping with Tatsuya’s Mom, played a Bingo game at the local shopping center near home, and it was there that T thought it would be fun to tell me in exquisite detail about a picture he saw on 2ch of a person who apparently pooped their pants while standing in line for Comiket. I then learned that Tatsuya would totally be willing to crap his pants in public if it meant getting season tickets to ManU games, I’m still not sure exactly how I feel about that XD Naturally, though, that segued into an enlightening/disturbing discussion about humiliating acts we’d be willing to do/not do for a variety of rewards. I pretty much almost fainted, I was laughing so hard. LOL, I know this is one of those “you had to be there” stories, but oh my husband ♥ Seriously, we always have the best conversations.

Anyway, overall it was a lot of family visiting, watching tv, and eating food… just as I had hoped ♥ It was just as cold and snowy in Fukui as it was there last year… nothing I’m not used to from growing up in Spokane, but I’m beginning to enjoy coming back to the fair and mild winter weather that Tokyo offers :3

++

I didn’t make any blog/journal entries around this time last year, so I can’t go back and check to see if I had fulfilled any resolutions I may have made. But I figure either way, I accomplished a lot in 2010. That includes, in chronological order:

+ visiting my family in America/saying goodbye to my father before he passed away
+ getting married
+ graduating from college
+ getting a job
+ going to Disneyland… twice!

Haha, I can’t believe that all happened in one year, to be honest. If only I had gotten pregnant, I could’ve knocked out a good portion of my adult milestones all in one go! Oh well, gotta space it out a little bit, right?

I don’t know if I have any specifically resolutions in mind for 2011, though. Still, I’m already on my way to achieve some goals for this year:

+ go to Disney Sea (still gotta buy tickets, but we’re planning to go on the 12th, which is our 4 year coupleversary!)
+ save money (starting next week I’ll be starting my new work schedule with increased hours… combined with whatever Tatsuya makes over the next few months, saving is totally possible!)
+ move to Kanagawa (also officially marked! T’s parents will be coming over during Golden Week to help us. That’s also the week of my birthday so I think an epic housewarming/birthday party is in order, roflmao.)

Also on the to-do list:

+ get a puppy (THIS YEAR FOR SURE OMG!)
+ work on my housekeeping skills
+ start my new sewing hobby in earnest (after the machine we just ordered TODAY arrives! My goal is to complete most of the patterns in my sewing instruction book, and make and wear an outfit I’ve designed by myself, even if it’s simple, by the end of the year)
+ I’ve actually had some small itches to draw again lately! Even if I can get myself to complete just one or two colored drawings this year, that would be great XD;
+ start studying for JLPT 1 (passing it, or even taking the test at all might be a resolution for another year though, HAHA)
+ also on the Japanese front, work on improving my speaking/conversation skills (cuz I’m still too much of a cat-got-your-tongue most of the time, which probably makes me come off like a dummy :/) If nothing else, that means doing some shadowing at least once a week :x
+ plan our wedding, and hopefully a honeymoon trip as well
+ get my mom to come visit!
+ ????
+ PROFIT!

CAN IT BE DONE?? Let’s find out!

今年もよろしくお願いします, y’all :P

PS, sorry for dropping the ball on the 30 day meme, haha I suck. Although it this point it would be more of a “30 questions answered at my leisure” meme, I still want to do it at least! Next entry for sure, I’ll answer a few, mmkay?

Day 06 – Food that you swore you would never eat but now love (or tolerate).

To be honest, I’m a pretty adventurous eater… there’s hardly anything I’m not willing to put in my face at least once, and Japanese food is no exception. Octopus sashimi, basashi (raw horse sashimi), even stinky snotty natto is no match for my stomach. But with the exception of maybe natto, none of them are really anything I would want to eat everyday for the rest of my life. Even still, I remember a couple years back when I was in Japan for the summer program at Mukogawa Women’s University, my host family fed me hijiki (a kind of seaweed) and at the time I remember it smelled awful and felt so slimy and gross in my mouth that I swore I would never eat it again. However, literally just a couple of days ago, I brought a bento to work which included a hijiki/veggie mix okazu and it actually tasted pretty good! Not stinky or slimy at all! I guess it was worth giving a second chance…. I remain undefeated by any food challenge! Ha ha ha!!

Day 07 – Which Japanese words do you use in English? (hanami, shinkansen, etc.)

I’m assuming this question wants us to talk about Japanese words that aren’t already considered to be loanwords in English vernacular… everyone uses words like “tsunami” and “sushi”, derp! :P

Anyway, I think because I speak English with my husband in our home and (learning to) speak Japanese when I’m out and about, I’ve kind of gotten into the habit of mixing my languages a lot. This means I speak English with a bunch of random Japanese mixed in. Just like a J-pop song but in reverse, haha! Stuff like, “I’m samui!” (I’m cold!) or “I’m going to go benkyou nihongo now” (I’m going to go study Japanese now). I even started the “Hanashimasuing Japanese with an English sentence structure” fan page on facebook (totally nerdy, I know.) It’s completely ridiculous, but I’m sure it must be a common side effect when attempting to become bilingual because all my friends do it too, lol!

There’s also times when I want to express myself and only a word in Japanese will do. My favorite? “Mendokusaiiiii!” (it means “bothersome”, but when used as an interjection the connotation is basically equivalent to “I don’t wannaaaaa!!”) I think Tatsuya can confirm that I have used this word at least 50 times daily for the last two years, usually directed at school, going to work, or some 20-page essay I had to do for homework. It probably drives him nuts, lmao. I rarely mean it, but it’s so fun and satisfying to say, it helps me chill out a bit.

++

Now for a change of subject…

It’s funny how even though I’ve just landed my first job in Japan and I’m enjoying it immensely, I already seem to be considering and calculating my next move. You might be able to tell just from reading this blog, but anyone who knows me well surely knows that if there’s something I really want to do (such as go to a certain college, learn to speak the language of and live in a foreign country) I like to come up with a game plan: figure out how to make it happen, and then pretty much work toward it until the goal is achieved. I like planning ahead.

Anyway, what I’m thinking is I want to go back to school someday soon to study law. This is something I’ve been sitting on for a while because I keep going back and forth about it, but I’m wondering if the fact that I can’t shake it off after years and years might be a sign that it’s destiny and I’ll regret it if I don’t do it. Or who knows, maybe my Dad’s spirit is sending my subliminal messages, LOL! He was a lawyer too and for as long as I can remember, he would always tell me that he thought it was something that I would like and be good at. I was always like, “WTF NOOOO!!” I think in my mind I always pictured the sleazebag lawyer stereotype, with more money than good conscience. I don’t know why, that’s not the kind of lawyer my Dad was. He was a deputy prosector at the county level; a public servant who advocated for victims and contributed to the system of guaranteeing a fair trial for all. Of course, my own father knew me too well, and I think especially since he became sick and passed away that I realize how much alike we really are.

Anyway, I’m not sure if I want to be exactly a lawyer per se… but I do want to study something like International or Comparative US and Japanese Law and… I don’t know, work for some organization or company that needs experts on that kind of law. Jobs like that exist, right? LOL, obviously I haven’t worked out too many of the details. But I think either way, it will take me a few months to research and explore my options, save money, etc. All that I know for sure so far is I want to stay in Japan for school. This means getting my Japanese up to a level where I can pass the EJU and not to mention passing University entrance exams and surviving the classes! For a millisecond I considered going back to America for a few years to study, but if I did that there’s no way Tatsuya would be able to come with me because of his job, and being apart from my husband for 3 years when it’s really quite unnecessary would suuuuuck. I’d be coming back to Japan anyway, and there are certainly good schools here as well.

I said before that I kept going back and forth… most recently the reason is because I’m trying to figure out what the best plan would be for me, Tatsuya, and our future family. I definitely want kids before I reach my 30s, and I always envisioned being a stay-at-home, or at least part-time working Mom for the first few years of our child(ren)’s lives. My Dad went to law school after I was born, but in my case, as a female with a full-time working husband, it probably won’t be an option for me. I know I’m certainly not the only one, but sometimes I feel so conflicted. Part of me wants the post-graduate education and the interesting career, while the other part wants to dedicate all my time and effort into family. I’m still young of course, but what I might like to do is stay at my current job for the next couple of years and/or do some internships for my resume, then spend the next 3ish years getting my JD. After that, I would take the next few years off to have kids, and by the time they are old enough for hoikuen/youchien, THEN I start looking for a job. Is that completely stupid and crazy? Do people even do that? Would I be screwing myself by taking myself out of the game before I even have a chance to use my degree?

I wish I could get some advice. What do you think, friends? Anyone have any insight for me? :)

On Monday I met with my friend Molly and went to go see a movie called Ooku (大奥). I never read the original manga (I think I want to now), but we wanted to see it because the premise sounded interesting: it takes place in an alternate universe of Edo Japan where much of the male population are wiped out by disease, making the female to male ratio 4:1. Because men are so rare and “fragile” in society, women take over the roles of labor and leadership, including the Shogun, who is a woman. The story in the movie is about one particular boy (played by Arashi’s Ninomiya Kazunari… people like my Mom might remember him as the young soldier from Letters From Iwo Jima) who goes to live as a “concubine” in the Ooku, or Inner Chamber of the female Shogun’s castle. Anyway, the movie was all right, but by the end I was thinking I would miss the men too much if such a thing ever happened in real life, LOL!! :P Before the movie, we also discovered Halloween flavors being offered at Baskin Robbins, and they were ridiculously delicious. I got the Magical Mint Night (the blue and brown one) and it tasted exactly like a chocolate mint cookie. YUM.

Yesterday I spent much of the afternoon playing bug exterminator, since we were having a bit of a dani (mite) problem in our tatami room, which is our bedroom. YUCK-O! But I injected a buttload of dani poison into the tatami and for good measure sprayed on top as well, so now they are all dead… hopefully forever, muwahahaha. While I was in the middle of that, I got a message from my good friend John from Sophia U, who asked if I wanted to come out for drinks. At first I was all, “oh I don’t know… I’m sick, I’m cleaning, I have work in the morning, I’m this, I’m that.” But then I thought, “Oh, why the heck not?” So I went out and I was so glad I did, I met my friends I hadn’t seen since the last semester ended, as well as some new exchange students. I think before I was the kind of person who could come up with any excuse NOT to do something… “I just want to stay home with Tatsuya” or “I have to stay home and study.” I think I have to remind myself that it’s still ok for me to relax and have a little fun with my friends sometimes… even if I am married, don’t you think? hehe :)

But anyway, as much as I’ve rambled on, that’s not what this post is about! Back to the meme, I’ve got some catching up to do!

See all 30 meme questions here!

Day 03 – Most interesting person you met.

Oh man, this one is hard! I think going to Sophia University for a year, I met a ton of interesting people from very diverse backgrounds, both students and teachers. A lot of my professors had these amazing lives that I can only imagine. My Buddhist theology studies professor was a Jesuit sent to Japan by the Pope, and spent several years learning about Buddhism by living in monasteries with Buddhist monks. My Asian politics/security studies professor was a Cambodian who lived through the Khmer Rouge, fled to Canada, ended up as a college professor in Japan, and recently began a search for his long-lost father. Amazing! I could meet students from all over the world, including from within Japan, who blew me away with all their passions and aspirations. Sometimes I can’t believe I was lucky enough to be counted among them, converging at a point when our lives had brought us here. It’s very inspiring to me. I wonder where we will be years from now…

Day 04 – What’s your favorite place that’s not in any of the guidebooks/lists of places to visit?

This is another tough one for me because I don’t really move off the beaten path so often. I rarely wander around and explore, and sometimes I only think of stuff to do when I look up famous places, haha. I like going shopping or window shopping, usually for clothes, so I’m often walking around the Lalaport mall, Lumine in Shinjuku, or various shops in Shibuya and Harajuku. I’ll go to non-famous places too, though, like shopping centers around my house, and occasionally hole-in-the-wall second-hand or vintage boutiques. I bought a cute lacy white dress in Koenji recently, for example.

Also this might sound sappy, but a place I like to go that’s definitely not in any of the guidebooks is Tatsuya’s house and neighborhood in Fukui. There’s nothing like riding our bikes through endless rice fields over to Ami (a small shopping center near his house) or to the grocery store, or to Tsutaya for some movies. It’s really like my second home! I wish it was closer to Tokyo and we could visit more often :(

Day 05 – Which, if any, Japanese mannerisms or expressions have you adopted?

Oh my gosh, hahaha. it’s amazing how much little stuff like this takes over your life, especially when you have a Japanese husband and couples in general have a tendency to pick up on each other’s mannerisms. The biggest one is probably getting in the habit of using aizuchi (with optional duck lips, lmao.) I think this quickly becomes second nature for anyone studying Japanese or living in Japan, haha. Also, Tatsuya makes this very specific ふゅうううん〜 noise for when he’s tired… there’s a certain melody to it, it’s like his a bird, lol! I do it too, now. The funny thing is, that one is something he picked up from his Dad… hahaha! It’s the family I’m-tired-bird-call!

Also, I fancy myself an old Japanese lady in-training. I’m going to be an EXPERT in the next 20 years, let me tell you. I cannot go anywhere without my towels, umbrellas, bottle of tea/water, etc. when appropriate. But I still have adopted my share of young person mannerisms as well. Nose buried in my cell phone at all times. Putting on makeup on the train. Ha.

Day 02 – Describe your neighborhood in Japan.

I live in Funabashi, Chiba, which is pretty much a suburb in the Greater Tokyo Area… it’s only a few kilometers outside Tokyo Metropolis, and it takes me less than an hour by train to reach all the hub-bub within the central wards. Around my own apartment however, it’s comparatively much more quiet and detached, which was the idea when we moved in. I don’t do much exploring in my own neighborhood (not when big shiny Tokyo is so close by!) but there’s still some interesting stuff within walking distance.

First off, directly in front of my apartment is a plot of land in which rice is raised every year. I have no clue who owns the field or why it’s there of all places, but I like it because in spring in summer, we’re treated to the sounds of crickets and frogs living there, as well as the sweet smell of maturing rice plants. It’s like having the best of both city and country! Also right next to my apartment, there’s a small American style cafe, which often hosts karaoke nights or live bands. I’m not sure if the owners are related to our apartment building or not, but they will often say hello when I walk past. Some other notable “neighbors” of ours are a pachinko parlor, a keio gas company building, a volvo car dealership-turned softbank mobile store-turned used car dealership, a small hospital, and even a police station!

We live on a busy street, right on the edge of car dealership land. Lots of cars are always passing through, but luckily we can’t really hear them much from inside our apartment. Ambulances dispatched from the nearby hospital are annoying though, especially when it’s in the middle of the night >_o On the other hand, the train station is only a short 8-minute walk away! And if we follow the yellow brick road busy street toward the central part of Funabashi, we pass by some good stuff: a drug store, a convenience store (in addition to at least 3 others nearby), a Book Off (a used book/dvd/video game store), Yoshinoya restaurant, and even a park (where the GREAT SAKURA STORM OF 2010 happened… NEVAR FORGET.) There’s also a post office, a bakery, 9074309724065734 dry cleaning shops, not to mention lots of houses and other apartment complexes nearby. The only thing we don’t have within ten steps of our home is a supermarket, in which we have to go through to the other side of the train tracks to access. Not SO bad really, but even still, in terms of convenience it’s quicker to make a last-minute evening run for a Lexus hybrid than for a carton milk or eggs. lulz! All in all though, a pretty okay place to live.

Here are the questions I’ll be answering over the next month:

Day 01 – A picture of you “in Japan”. (doing or wearing something “Japanese”)
Day 02 – Describe your neighborhood in Japan.
Day 03 – Most interesting person you met.
Day 04 – What’s your favorite place that’s not in any of the guidebooks/lists of places to visit?
Day 05 – Which, if any, Japanese mannerisms or expressions have you adopted?
Day 06 – Food that you swore you would never eat but now love (or tolerate).
Day 07 – Which Japanese words do you use in English? (hanami, shinkansen, etc.)
Day 08 – Are you a Herbivore or Carnivore? S or M?
Day 09 – Favorite stores/shopping centers.
Day 10 – Something about Japan that sets it apart from anywhere else.
Day 11 – What did you find most overrated and underrated about Japan?
Day 12 – Describe a fail!gaijin moment. (Where you did something wrong or completely misunderstood because you couldn’t ~read the air~ or just plain had no idea what you were supposed to do because you weren’t born and raised here) Describe a gaijin!smash moment .(Where your foreignness was to your benefit)
Day 13 – Something about Japan that reminds you of home? [I made up this question actually... it was originally a repeat of number 10 so I came up with a new one to answer instead!]
Day 14 – What is the hardest thing about living in Japan versus your home country?
Day 15 – Weirdest food item you’ve seen, and weirdest food item you’ve actually eaten.
Day 16 – How you realised you’d acclimated to Japan. (if you have)
Day 17 – Your karaoke top 5, your sushi top 5, your conbini top 5.
Day 18 – Post some amusing/cute/faily purikura.
Day 19 – Your favorite Japanese character(s) and Gachapon/UFO Catcher toys
Day 20 – Favorite Japanese festival or folklore.
Day 21 – Favorite and least favorite Japanese fashion trends.
Day 22 – Your favorite Japanese saying or kotowaza (proverb).
Day 23 – What is something you have/do in Japan that you wish you had/could do in your home country?
Day 24 – Your favorite Japanese slang or borrow-word (外来語), e.g. セフレ “sex friend”
Day 25 – Most interesting vending machine find.
Day 26 – What’s your favorite/least favorite train line.
Day 27 – Place you avoid going to if at all possible.
Day 28 – A picture of you looking like a weaboo/A picture of you trying to blend in and failing.
Day 29 – What’s the thing you [will] miss most about Japan when you leave (either on vacation, or move away)?
Day 30 – Did Japan meet your expectations, both good and bad? What has been the most surprising thing about Japan for you, or the thing you least expected?

And here is my response for today!

Day 01 – A picture of you “in Japan”. (doing or wearing something “Japanese”)

I have plenty of these, too many to choose. So even though it’s kinda lame compared to some other stuff I’ve shared in the past, I’ll just pick the most recent photo of me saved on our camera:

Here is me at our neighborhood Autumn Matsuri in Fukui, on the first day of Autumn of course! It was raining like cats and dogs that night, but it didn’t stop all the Japanese baby boomers from dressing in their finest wafuku to cover their favorite enka classics on-stage for all to enjoy! (To quote Tatsuya: “This is SOOOO inaka (country) matsuri!”) Also, you can see Otousan in the background talking to a neighbor friend. Good times.

I still want to do regular life updates in addition to these, but at least now I definitely have something to talk about every day for a while! Thanks for reading, see you again tomorrow! ;D

Anyway, things have been pretty eventful lately. You know that Skype job interview I mentioned two sentences ago? Well, I got the job! So now I’m a native English teacher at a language school for preschoolers/kindergarteners! I’m pretty excited, and so far I’ve been having a great time. The job is so fun, the kids are cute, and the pay is pretty good… much better than it was even when I worked full-time at Banana Republic. Not to mention any kind of money is OH SO WELCOME in this household, where financial dependence on school aid and help from family members has been the norm for ages! I’m only part time for now; I’ve just about finished training to be the Monday pre-school and Friday afternoon kinderschool teacher, but I’ve also been given a bunch of substitute hours, so I’ll be having work around 3-4 days per week for the rest of October. Not bad for my first post-College gig, especially once I get some more regular hours. Woo hoo!

Tatsuya is still looking for part-time work for himself. He applied at a nearby movie theatre last week, but received a rejection letter in the mail yesterday. He would’ve turned down a job offer anyway, though. The pay would not have been good (only 900yen/hour), and the manager confessed that right now is the slow season, so it wouldn’t be an ideal gig for someone like him trying to make some extra cash before the work season starts next April. On top of that, he was told he wouldn’t be “allowed” to take up a second job either… so yeah, screw that. He’s looking into some karaoke staff jobs now (since that’s what he did during college.)

Anyway, because he’s still looking for work and I won’t get my first paycheck until mid-November, we’re wondering if maybe the Europe trip might be off the table for a while. If we were to take the trip in January or February, we’d probably have to buy the ticket+hotel package in December (T read somewhere that they’re cheapest at that point) and it’s pretty unlikely that we’d have enough money saved up by then. On the other hand, we’re kind of cool with it anyway, since we’re looking forward more to finally having the money to buy some things we’ve been wanting for a LONG time (new TV, a sewing machine, a puppy dog). We’re also getting more excited about moving in June, and we figure the more time we have to save up the small FORTUNE we need to cover deposits for a Japanese apartment, the better. I suppose it still wouldn’t be too hard to plan a trip within Asia if we really wanted a few days out of dodge, but eh. I guess we’ll see.

Now for the part where I can recycle what I was writing two weeks ago! Yay!

As I said in my last entry (which some of you still may not know, depending on your understanding of Japanese or Google-Translateish) I’m planning to take the JLPT for the THIRD time this December, whoo hoo! I know that makes me sound like a dummy, but honestly the other times were usually me vowing to do all kinds of extra studying in order to catch up with level 2, but of course that never works out on top of school work and livin’ life. But this time I should have this one in the bag since by now I’ve studied up to that level IN CLASS and indeed, looking through my study books, I feel like most of it is review. I can tell my weakness right now is vocabulary though (did anyone know how to say “to go fishing” in their foreign language? I didn’t until just now, LOL) so I’m going to try my best in the next two months to live fast and cram hard. At least if I get frustrated, I can go back and re-review kanji to boost my confidence back up \o/

In a lot of ways, I think being in Fukui did a lot to clear my head and get me focused on starting a new life after college. The last year was a little overwhelming, like my life was on cruise-control and no matter what happened, I just had to make it from point A to point B, even if that meant sacrificing hobbies, making friends, or being anything other than in survival mode. But it’s interesting to realize that what I was doing for most of September was the same thing I was that time last year… which was spend time in Fukui. It feels a lot like I came around full-circle. Now that I have a better handle on this whole life in Japan type deal, I can gain back control of my life and start doing what I want, rather than feeling like I’m in survival mode all the time. And I’ve definitely noticed a difference since I came back to Funabashi. It could partly having the job and the promise of a steady salary again. But I’ve been more social lately (I managed to meet up with my friends Molly, Amy, and Juliane recently, plus made plans with Tara-who-lives-in-Korea when she’s in Japan for a visit later this month!) I started to watch what I eat a little more closely and do exercise (after gaining 5kgs last year) and now I’ve already lost 2. I’m actually doing my hair and dressing up again (which is totally a big deal for me, as clothes are one of the few hobbies I still have.) I’m even planning on opening up a fashion blog soon… something I’ve wanted to do for a long time! I doubt it would be interesting for anyone but me but, lol whatever it’ll be fun.

On a closing note, tomorrow (well, technically today) is Tatsuya’s 25th birthday! He’s officially in his mid-twenties… LOL he seems like such an old man now!! (he was barely 21 the day I met him, which 4 days ago was exactly 4 years ago. Oh how the time flies.) I see cake, punch and pie happening after work. Yaaayy~

＊＊

今、日本語でのブログを書けばいい？たぶん外国人の奥さんたち以外、日本語が分からない友達が多いけど…

ごめんね、笑！！XD

昨日、また日本語能力試験(N2)を受けることを決心したので、今日自分の日本語能力についてよく考えた。一年前の日本に着いた時から、すごく上がったことに驚いた。前は、いつも子供みたいに感じていた。今理解できることが信じられない、LOL!　いつも変化に気がつかないことが面白いと思う。ゴールデンウィークはJLPTの勉強本を一番最近見たとき。たぶん自信がないという理由だから、十分知らないと思った。でも、今やまた勉強、まとめを始めたから、今度こそパスできると思う〜♪　だいたい全部が楽に分かった！（さらに、義父から受験料をもらったので、浪費したくないね！笑）頑張ります！！

地獄のような授業だけど、本当に上智大学での日本語コースは私を進歩させた。毎日限界まで押されて、最悪だった。しかし、 いい経験になったと思う（でも今もう生き残ったかどうか分からない。成績を見るためにLOYOLAというデータベースのパースワードを全然覚えてないから！困ってるぅぅぅぅぅッ　XPPP)

とにかく、一年前自分の考えを日本語でこういうふうに詳しく書かなかったと思う。もちろん、弱点まだあるけど。話すことが遅いだけじゃなくて、ここまで書くのに１時間以上かかった（私のメモリーはよくない、hrrrr） 日本語才能のすべてが遅い！XP; でもずっと自分一人でできたことを自慢してる、hehe :P（達也からの手伝うことも必要じゃない、笑 \o/）よかったね〜

来年も日本語でのブログを書くべきだと思う。文法、語彙を使う才能はまだ悪いけど、きっとこのブログと一年後の日本語能力と比べるのが楽しそう。それか、毎月日本語ブログやろう〜！ ;P

間違いが多いけど、誰かここまで読んてくれた場合、ありがとうね ♥

And on that note, lucky me! My postcard from immigration finally came, so the other day I received my new spousal visa, meaning I’m good for another year until I have to renew again. So that’s over with; now comes the part where I have to work on getting all my stuff (passport, gaijin card, and basically everything else) updated and registered in my new married name. Yay!

In one year I took three big steps: I moved, I finished school, and I got married. It might’ve been because I was in the midst of the moving/settling in step, but one year ago I felt so clueless about the future and what it would be like and what I wanted to do, particularly in regards to getting a job. Okay, well, even now I do still feel pretty undecided and aimless about working and what I want to do for a career, but I guess I realize now that I have time to work on that and think about it. But beyond that, I just felt really clueless in general, which was a little bit scary. I mean, I spent almost all of my college years working, studying and preparing for one goal, which was going abroad. After focusing all of my energies on that and succeeding, I didn’t know at all what would be next.

But now, I’m beginning to feel excited again. I like that there are some changes and some new things on the horizon. I feel so free, like I can do anything I want. What will I do with my life in the next couple of years? I don’t know, but it makes me shiver with excitement to wonder and begin to discover the answer.

We will probably be moving again soon, for one thing. In April, when Tatsuya starts his new job, he may have to go stay in a dorm or apartment complex owned by the company so he’ll be closer to headquarters during his training, which is in Kanagawa prefecture. As we were considering this, it got me to thinking about it a little bit further. As some of you may or may not remember, when I went to Japan for the first time in high school, I stayed with host families living in Kanagawa. I managed to stay in contact with them all this time, and I even met up with them a few times since I moved over here. Every time I went over to visit, I thought about how much I LOVE Kanagawa (this is in the Yamato area near Machida and Yokohama, though I’ve also been to Fujisawa and Kamakura, which are also lovely!)

Tatsuya’s company HQ is located in Hadano, and although it’s a little further away, he’ll actually be working in Shibuya-ku for the first several years. Eventually though, as he moves up the ranks, he’ll likely be transfered. But why wait until then before we have to move? It might be 5-10 years before that happens, and we’ll probably have kids and a whole life established by then. Now might be the perfect opportunity to move, before we settle down completely. Don’t get me wrong, I like Funabashi, and it’s definitely cool being a less-than-30-minute train ride away from two major cities, a giant shopping mall, and DISNEYLAND. Not to mention, friend Lulu is just down the street! But our lease on this apartment is up in June, and we’ll either have to commit to two more years or move anyway. Friends are in Kanagawa, work will eventually be in Kanagawa. And for the time being, it would take the same amount of time for Tatsuya to commute to Shibuya (Yoyogi to be exact) from somewhere in Kanagawa as it would from Funabashi. Totally perfect, right? If we move though, it will probably be for the last time. Wherever we go next will have to be a 3LDK or bigger, because this will be the home where we settle down, raise our kids, all that fun stuff. Kind of a big deal, but I’m looking forward to seeing where we end up!

I have to get in the habit again of making entries on a more daily basis. Or at least, write as soon as I have something I want to say, otherwise I end up writing a novel, ahahahaha. dream on, eh?

He ended up getting an offer from the navigation technology company I talked about in my last entry… not the bag people. He’ll be working in their International Sales department. And that is definitely okay with me! He told me all about his interviews, what the company is like, and where he’ll be working. They sound nice, and it sounds like just the sort of job that’s perfect for a young, friendly, internationally-minded guy like him. And I guess the company thought so too. I’m so proud of him, I can’t stand it.

So what’s he going to do next? HE’S GOIN’ TO DISNEYWORLD Actually, he’s going to take a couple weeks off and indulge in World Cup madness for the rest of the month. He got his job just in time to take the time off to enjoy some SOCCER!

In other news, I’m feelin’ the time crunch over some school assignments that are due next week. On the same day, actually. Two papers, and a history presentation. Which is AWESOME… LY HORRIBLE and I’m starting to tear my hair out, especially since a good chunk of my weekend is dedicated to wedding celebrations. I’ve been in the library after school all week reading through endless sources and outlining, but I still feel like it’s gonna be a close one. I thought about emailing my teacher with whom I have two classes/two papers, and ask him if he minds if I turn in one of them late, but I think I might just try to be epically awesome and get it all done in time. With my classmates back in Seattle finishing up finals this week and graduating on Sunday (lucky bastards!) I’m just glad that I still seem care about school at all at this point!

At least on Wednesday, I was able to take a “break” from studying and take a trip down to the US Embassy. The reason for this trip was to notarize my marriage affidavit! Hooray, the wheels are turning! Now all I have to do (besides make sure Tatsuya has his konintodoke and koseki documents in order) is translate my passport and birth certficate info into Japanese, which I’m guessing is going to be a big pain in the butt. We don’t have to hire a professional, apparently, but I’m not exactly sure how to translate fancy government wording, either. I’m trying to see if I can find a guide or template of some sort online though. Hmm… any foreign wives out there who registered your marriages in Japan and know what to do?

Although, I will say this to anyone who has to go to the US embassy anytime in the near future… be sure to come plenty early, even if you have an appointment (like I did!) I was 15 minutes early getting there, but I ended up being 10 minutes late for the appointment because it took me that long just to get inside the building. They have a security clearance that takes quite a while to get through. At least I was lucky that I was an American citizen, so I got to go through the “expedited” line! In any case, standing in line waiting to go through a metal detector and getting your purse searched? The embassy really is just like home! God bless America! ;P

I feel like Golden Week and my 22nd birthday aren’t going to get a proper blog entry at this point, so I hope you’ll forgive me and if you haven’t seen these already, please accept my photo dump I posted on Facebook :P As you can see, we went golfing as a family and Tatsuya and I went bike-riding. Then, the day we came back from Fukui, Tatsuya and I went to a PET FAIR where I got to pet lots of doggies!! We found a pom breeder and asked her questions and got her card. The puppy dog plan is moving forward! (Now if only we had any money to take care of one… ) Finally, my birthday involved karaoke and drinks with friends, a GIANT SURPRISE birthday present from Tatsuya, jjigae I made for dinner, and…. ICE CREAM CAAAAAKE.

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So guess who’s getting married soon? If you answered Tatsuya and me, well you’re wrong! Because the correct answer is Tatsuya’s older brother, Takahiro and his girlfriend, Akiyo! Their wedding is next Saturday, June 12th and it’s exciting. Part of the reason for going to Fukui during Golden Week was to work on the wedding. It’s been decided that I will be participating and will be singing a song for them (I’m kinda going through the 5 stages of grief about that situation right now, LOL) but that means as an (almost) family member, I have to suit up again in a kimono. It’s green… and well, you’ll see.

The other day Tatsuya and I went to Ginza to buy a wedding present. Tatsuya’s parents decided that since we’re non-shakaijin who are yet to be employed, we’ll just give a present (rather than the standard 50,000-100,000yen oshuugi-bukuro given by family members!) Still, we figured, as the brother and sister-in-law, we ought to find something nice. Okay, now this is the part where if Akiyo is reading this (since she sometimes does) she should LOOK AWAY AND HIDE HER EYES! まもなくお兄ちゃんと明代ちゃんの結婚プレゼントについて書くから、ここから読まないでください！！！ We went to Wako in Ginza, which is a super duper, fancy shmancy department store. You know, the kind where you feel like a poor slob in wearing casual clothes, they have escorts at the door, and everything is locked in glass cases. I’m not gonna lie, I got a little sweaty, and the whole time I was paralyzed with fear that I would accidently knock over some knick-knack worth millions of yen. Thankfully though, we made it out without incident, with a lovely Seiko clock I think they will love, and will make them feel super rich and cool.

By the way, things finally seem to be looking up for Tatsuya on the job front. He received his first job offer about a week ago. He’s planning to decline the offer (he doesn’t really feel like it’s the right company for him, plus the commute would be waaay too long) but it’s proven to be a good morale booster, and now he’s made it to the final interviews of his top two choices. Ugh, I want this for him soooo bad! Yesterday he told me about the companies in detail and a couple interview stories, and I almost cried! Either one would be so great for him. One sells maritime equipment (like control centers for ships and stuff) and it even has a headquarters in Sacramento (wink wink Mom and the family!) The other is (don’t laugh, okay?) a bag company. As in the non-rigid container used to pack, store, and ship goods; in this case, rice. In my heart of hearts though, I hope that he gets a job with the bag people. Aside from the potential hilariousness of seeing people’s faces when I tell them my husband works for a bag company, I know that Tatsuya is still a country boy at heart, and he came home after the company seminar completely raving how friendly and laid-back everyone is there. (someone had a band-aid on his nose and when Tatsuya asked why, he said he hurt himself when they all left work early to play baseball! LOL!) His actual interviews felt more like fun conversations between inaka-jin. Plus, they are the top company in the bag business (naming no names in case they try to google-stalk T, ohohoho) so surely they have a fairly good salary and generous employee benefits. Anyway, I don’t know if I should be getting into this much detail and getting our hearts set on one particular place, since anything could still happen at this point. But really, I feel like we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is Tatsuya’s shuushoku-katsudo.

That time can’t come soon enough, either! Once he lands a job, Tatsuya can take up a part-time job. As for me, though? When I apply for my change in visa status in July, I found out that I won’t be able to legally get a job or work while that is pending. Does anyone know how long that process takes?? Not too long I hope, ’cause I’ll have approximately ZERO money by August! On the other hand, isn’t that what being a new college graduate is all about? :)