Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Okay, now this is starting to get annoying.
Something's wrong with my computer, and it's only getting worse. First, it started randomly crashing every couple of days. Then, my address book stopped working. Fortunately, my address book information is still intact--I can still access it in Mail or iChat--but the address book program itself won't open. My Mail program stopped working yesterday, too, but deleting the preference file fixed it. Now the crashes are getting worse and worse. Every couple of hours the screen goes grey and a message pops up saying "You need to restart your computer now." The strange thing is, I'm not DOING anything. Half the time I just have music playing while I'm doing chores or reading. There's no one within 10 feet of the computer, so I don't know why it suddenly freaks out.
I wonder if my computer's just not happy with the power supply here. It's built for 120 V and it's only getting 110 V. Or maybe it was somehow damaged in the trip across the Pacific Ocean. Whatever it is, I don't have the money for a new computer, but I don't know that I want to keep using this old one and risk ruining all my data. I can't even reinstall the OS, because I let Brett have the newest version of OS X and all I brought with me is the original OS 10.1 disks that came with the computer four years ago. So I guess until I figure out what's going on, or find a cheap used Mac, weekly backups will be a fact of life.
Sorry it's been a while since I updated. Life's been pretty busy. First, I learned a valuable lesson: if you only get paid on the 15th of every month, you have to budget for the things you want to buy one month (like, say, Christmas presents) the month BEFORE. ::gulp:: So I sincerely apologize to those of you whose Christmas presents will be 2-3 weeks late. I'm sorry! I've learned my lesson! I won't do it again!
Last Friday Miyoko invited a bunch of neighbors over to show them what a traditional American Christmas is like. She cooked everything anyone could possibly want for Christmas dinner: turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, etc. A lot of the Japanese had never eaten turkey before, as it's not a very common meat in Japan. Then one of the Southern Baptist journeywomen gave a presentation of the Christmas story, and I taught them some Christmas carols: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," "Oh Holy Night," and so on. We had a white elephant gift exchange after that. I was very proud of myself, because I could understand 90% of what people were saying, even though I couldn't speak enough Japanese to contribute much to the conversation myself.
After that I rushed back to Mukougaokayuen for my Japanese class's bounenkai, or year-forgetting party. We had a big potluck dinner (not that I could eat much after Miyoko's Christmas feast) and sang Japanese New Year's songs, and played the Japanese version of Simon Says. This one Japanese guy asked for my phone number, and I kinda panicked. You know, we spend a lot of time in Japanese class talking about grammar and vocabulary, but no one's ever taught me how to politely turn a guy down in Japanese. So I just pretended I didn't understand what he was saying. Which was a little rude, I guess, but I didn't really know what else to do.
I had to work over Christmas, but it really wasn't that bad. I mean, I probably didn't need to be sitting at home in the apartment doing nothing, because that would have just made me feel bored and homesick. And all of the students really got into the holiday spirit, helping us put up Christmas decorations and asking us to teach them Christmas songs. Then Christmas night Katherine (the girl upstairs who's giving me her private students) threw a big party for all the Nova teachers in Ikuta. She spent the entire day cooking, so we ate baked chicken and fried chicken and bacon-wrapped lamp and stuffing and gravy and mashed potatoes and three kinds of salad and garlic bread with cheese and shrimp cooked into it and pizza and homemade cheesecake and chocolate mousse and Australian Christmas pudding (which is kind of like fruitcake, except it actually tastes good, especially when drizzled with rum butter). I really like all my neighbors, and we had a wonderful time.
Unfortunately, Katherine left the next day to move back to Australia. I'll really miss her. She was kind of the heart of the Ikuta Nova community: she was always inviting us over for breakfast or helping the newcomers get settled in. It definitely won't be the same around here with out her (or her food!).
So, just in case you were worried, I haven't missed out on Christmas. It's not the same as being at home with my family, of course, but I am having a lot of fun. I haven't even really had time to feel lonely or homesick.
I'm pretty tired right now, because of course the roommies decided to use the holidays as an excuse to have wild parties until early in the morning three days in a row. But they left for Hokkaido last night, so I have the apartment to myself for four whole days. Words cannot express how exciting this is to me. :P The first thing I had to do, of course, was clean up all their junk: I picked the magazines and hangers and old candy wrappers off the floor, wrapped up their food and put it in the fridge and pantry, swept, vaccuumed, and wiped down the tables and floors. Next up: the kitchen, which is a disaster of staggering proportions.
After I finish scrubbing the place down, I may take pictures and post them up here so you can see what the apartment looks like. People have been asking for them, but until now this place has always been too embarrassing to show to anyone. Maybe without the roommies around to clutter it up I can make it presentable enough to show to the general public.
Today is turning out to be a wonderful day. Firstly, because it's amazing how well you can sleep when drunk people aren't staggering into the bathroom across the hall every 20 minutes. Secondly, because I can listen to my music whenever I want, or read a book in perfect peace and quiet, or sing and dance around with the vaccuum cleaner like an idiot. :P I really love living alone.
The weather is simply sublime today, too. As I'm typing this, I'm sitting next to an open window, basking in the sunlight, listening to birds chirping in counterpoint to my classical music. The sun is shining brightly, there isn't a cloud in the glorious blue sky, and there's a gentle breeze blowing through the apartment. It has to be in the 60s here, if not the low 70s. The perfect day for cleaning out the house, running errands, and curling up with a book.
I'm really starting to like the weather here in Tokyo. It's actually very similar to Dallas, especially in its variability. You know, one day everyone's wearing scarves and earmuffs and shivering in the cutting wind, and the next we're in T-shirts. It does rain a lot more here at home, but Japanese rain is infinitely better than English rain. The clouds come, rain falls in torrents, the rain stops, the clouds go away, and you're in for 2-3 days of perfectly sunny, warm, beautiful weather. I don't even mind having to wade up the small river running down the hill, because I know to look forward to basking in sunlight the next day.
Of course, it gets so wet on those rainy days that water starts puddling up on the windowsills, so every week or so I have to scrub black mold off the windows with a toothbrush. And I hear it's murderously humid in the summer. But so far Tokyo weather and I are getting along just fine.
I may run upstairs and ask Katherine's roommates, Bonnie and Cheryl, if they want to walk to the park with me. It's so clear now that I bet we could see Mt. Fuji from the observation tower. I need to talk with them anyway. Last time we were chatting, I made a joke about moving into Katherine's old room, and they took me seriously and said, "Sure, if you want to." They're really nice and clean and quiet and don't have wild parties at the house, so I may ask if they were seriously offering to let me move in. It wouldn't take much effort at all to move one floor up, and then I could actually get some sleep, and I'd have Internet access in my room. It seems like an ideal solution.
I could also look into getting my own private apartment, I guess. Nova charges insane amounts of money for their apartments, and I hear from other teachers in private accomodation that I could get a one-room apartment for about what I'm paying for sharing this three-room apartment right now. The problem with moving in Japan is that you have to pay 2-3 months' worth of rent to move in, plus the landlord will expect several hundred dollars' worth of 'key money' as a gift. Then you have to buy small presents for all your neighbors. Not to mention, when Japanese people say an apartment is 'unfurnished,' they mean UNFURNISHED--there isn't even a fridge or light fixtures or washing machine or anything. So it would take at least $3000 to move out of Nova--that's why Nova gets away with charging their teachers such exhorbitant fees. If I decide to stay in Japan for more than a year, it's really worth it to spend the $3000, because I'll save so much more in rent in the long run. But until I know that I'm going to be here for a while, it's really more cost-effective to just stay in Nova housing.
Anyhoo, that's my life at the moment. I'm leaving on the 30th to meet my friend Kei in Osaka for four days, which I'm really looking forward to. Merry Christmas, everyone, and a happy new year! Love you all!
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I wonder if my computer's just not happy with the power supply here. It's built for 120 V and it's only getting 110 V. Or maybe it was somehow damaged in the trip across the Pacific Ocean. Whatever it is, I don't have the money for a new computer, but I don't know that I want to keep using this old one and risk ruining all my data. I can't even reinstall the OS, because I let Brett have the newest version of OS X and all I brought with me is the original OS 10.1 disks that came with the computer four years ago. So I guess until I figure out what's going on, or find a cheap used Mac, weekly backups will be a fact of life.
Sorry it's been a while since I updated. Life's been pretty busy. First, I learned a valuable lesson: if you only get paid on the 15th of every month, you have to budget for the things you want to buy one month (like, say, Christmas presents) the month BEFORE. ::gulp:: So I sincerely apologize to those of you whose Christmas presents will be 2-3 weeks late. I'm sorry! I've learned my lesson! I won't do it again!
Last Friday Miyoko invited a bunch of neighbors over to show them what a traditional American Christmas is like. She cooked everything anyone could possibly want for Christmas dinner: turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, etc. A lot of the Japanese had never eaten turkey before, as it's not a very common meat in Japan. Then one of the Southern Baptist journeywomen gave a presentation of the Christmas story, and I taught them some Christmas carols: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," "Oh Holy Night," and so on. We had a white elephant gift exchange after that. I was very proud of myself, because I could understand 90% of what people were saying, even though I couldn't speak enough Japanese to contribute much to the conversation myself.
After that I rushed back to Mukougaokayuen for my Japanese class's bounenkai, or year-forgetting party. We had a big potluck dinner (not that I could eat much after Miyoko's Christmas feast) and sang Japanese New Year's songs, and played the Japanese version of Simon Says. This one Japanese guy asked for my phone number, and I kinda panicked. You know, we spend a lot of time in Japanese class talking about grammar and vocabulary, but no one's ever taught me how to politely turn a guy down in Japanese. So I just pretended I didn't understand what he was saying. Which was a little rude, I guess, but I didn't really know what else to do.
I had to work over Christmas, but it really wasn't that bad. I mean, I probably didn't need to be sitting at home in the apartment doing nothing, because that would have just made me feel bored and homesick. And all of the students really got into the holiday spirit, helping us put up Christmas decorations and asking us to teach them Christmas songs. Then Christmas night Katherine (the girl upstairs who's giving me her private students) threw a big party for all the Nova teachers in Ikuta. She spent the entire day cooking, so we ate baked chicken and fried chicken and bacon-wrapped lamp and stuffing and gravy and mashed potatoes and three kinds of salad and garlic bread with cheese and shrimp cooked into it and pizza and homemade cheesecake and chocolate mousse and Australian Christmas pudding (which is kind of like fruitcake, except it actually tastes good, especially when drizzled with rum butter). I really like all my neighbors, and we had a wonderful time.
Unfortunately, Katherine left the next day to move back to Australia. I'll really miss her. She was kind of the heart of the Ikuta Nova community: she was always inviting us over for breakfast or helping the newcomers get settled in. It definitely won't be the same around here with out her (or her food!).
So, just in case you were worried, I haven't missed out on Christmas. It's not the same as being at home with my family, of course, but I am having a lot of fun. I haven't even really had time to feel lonely or homesick.
I'm pretty tired right now, because of course the roommies decided to use the holidays as an excuse to have wild parties until early in the morning three days in a row. But they left for Hokkaido last night, so I have the apartment to myself for four whole days. Words cannot express how exciting this is to me. :P The first thing I had to do, of course, was clean up all their junk: I picked the magazines and hangers and old candy wrappers off the floor, wrapped up their food and put it in the fridge and pantry, swept, vaccuumed, and wiped down the tables and floors. Next up: the kitchen, which is a disaster of staggering proportions.
After I finish scrubbing the place down, I may take pictures and post them up here so you can see what the apartment looks like. People have been asking for them, but until now this place has always been too embarrassing to show to anyone. Maybe without the roommies around to clutter it up I can make it presentable enough to show to the general public.
Today is turning out to be a wonderful day. Firstly, because it's amazing how well you can sleep when drunk people aren't staggering into the bathroom across the hall every 20 minutes. Secondly, because I can listen to my music whenever I want, or read a book in perfect peace and quiet, or sing and dance around with the vaccuum cleaner like an idiot. :P I really love living alone.
The weather is simply sublime today, too. As I'm typing this, I'm sitting next to an open window, basking in the sunlight, listening to birds chirping in counterpoint to my classical music. The sun is shining brightly, there isn't a cloud in the glorious blue sky, and there's a gentle breeze blowing through the apartment. It has to be in the 60s here, if not the low 70s. The perfect day for cleaning out the house, running errands, and curling up with a book.
I'm really starting to like the weather here in Tokyo. It's actually very similar to Dallas, especially in its variability. You know, one day everyone's wearing scarves and earmuffs and shivering in the cutting wind, and the next we're in T-shirts. It does rain a lot more here at home, but Japanese rain is infinitely better than English rain. The clouds come, rain falls in torrents, the rain stops, the clouds go away, and you're in for 2-3 days of perfectly sunny, warm, beautiful weather. I don't even mind having to wade up the small river running down the hill, because I know to look forward to basking in sunlight the next day.
Of course, it gets so wet on those rainy days that water starts puddling up on the windowsills, so every week or so I have to scrub black mold off the windows with a toothbrush. And I hear it's murderously humid in the summer. But so far Tokyo weather and I are getting along just fine.
I may run upstairs and ask Katherine's roommates, Bonnie and Cheryl, if they want to walk to the park with me. It's so clear now that I bet we could see Mt. Fuji from the observation tower. I need to talk with them anyway. Last time we were chatting, I made a joke about moving into Katherine's old room, and they took me seriously and said, "Sure, if you want to." They're really nice and clean and quiet and don't have wild parties at the house, so I may ask if they were seriously offering to let me move in. It wouldn't take much effort at all to move one floor up, and then I could actually get some sleep, and I'd have Internet access in my room. It seems like an ideal solution.
I could also look into getting my own private apartment, I guess. Nova charges insane amounts of money for their apartments, and I hear from other teachers in private accomodation that I could get a one-room apartment for about what I'm paying for sharing this three-room apartment right now. The problem with moving in Japan is that you have to pay 2-3 months' worth of rent to move in, plus the landlord will expect several hundred dollars' worth of 'key money' as a gift. Then you have to buy small presents for all your neighbors. Not to mention, when Japanese people say an apartment is 'unfurnished,' they mean UNFURNISHED--there isn't even a fridge or light fixtures or washing machine or anything. So it would take at least $3000 to move out of Nova--that's why Nova gets away with charging their teachers such exhorbitant fees. If I decide to stay in Japan for more than a year, it's really worth it to spend the $3000, because I'll save so much more in rent in the long run. But until I know that I'm going to be here for a while, it's really more cost-effective to just stay in Nova housing.
Anyhoo, that's my life at the moment. I'm leaving on the 30th to meet my friend Kei in Osaka for four days, which I'm really looking forward to. Merry Christmas, everyone, and a happy new year! Love you all!
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