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Study Abroad Adventures: the end of the rollercoaster
I wish I'd made a separate thread for winter break, but oh well 
Anyways, yeah, here's a collection of all the readjusting.
Anyways, yeah, here's a collection of all the readjusting.
Let's start with the fact that the house smells weird. Anytime I go into any room, I smell a new smell. It's not too fun.
Also, it's weird that everything's in English. I knew in the airport that that would be my last chance (for now) to be surrounded by Japanese like I'd wanted. The flight was an okay middle-ground because I put the screen into Japanese mode and all the in-flight info videos had
Japanese subtitles (and the safety video had a separate version with Japanese audio). Now I'm home, and we're back to square one.
I do like being able to message everyone over Line and still be able to talk to my family friend with it - that'll help me ease back into things,
I do like being able to message everyone over Line and still be able to talk to my family friend with it - that'll help me ease back into things,
although I've been slow to reply over the past 24hrs because I have just been mentally exhausted or something (idk).
It was even weird landing and walking through the airport and seeing the ads in English - like it was another "oh yup you're back" thing.
It's weird seeing Chiba-kun's daily "good morning" tweet and other Japanese accounts saying "good morning" when it's 6PM for me.
I keep remembering things I'd wanted to do/places I'd wanted to go... like the Olympic Museum. Then I also look at some of the snacks I bought and realize I can't just like hop on a bus or train to Aeon tomorrow to get them. Same when I think about other things I'd wanted.
These be weird times.
Another rude awakening: getting bombarded with Census ads and realizing that Spotify ads will never be fun again
Context is that Japanese Spotify ads were hilarious and full of puns and I loved every one of them.
Going through my big suitcase and here are some of the things I've uncovered:
Bath salts/fragrance and bento box, both of which were gifts from work (´；ω；｀)
Hachimitsu Yuzu (aka best drink ever after milk tea), wooden spoon from a fair at Kaihinmakuhari Station, yuzu-scented lotion, and "Amy Cup Noodles"
Charms I collected/gifts from friends, and my zunda jam jar from Sendai (someone please send me zunda ASAP)
Oh yeah, there was also a bag of these magazines + 99% of my clearfiles, and it weighed about 14lbs
Me: I wonder if I can get this candy shipped to me
AmazonJP: you can get one case with 18 bags for ¥1800 or 2 cases with 18 bags each for ¥3060
AmazonJP: you can get one case with 18 bags for ¥1800 or 2 cases with 18 bags each for ¥3060
Bread sounds good. I want bread.
I don't think we have any bread that I'd want, though, which is unfortunate (；▽；)
I don't think we have any bread that I'd want, though, which is unfortunate (；▽；)
unmotivated dry oatmeal https://twitter.com/stxngx/status/1242770674239729664
The good news is that I woke up at 8 today (yesterday I ended up waking up at like 10:46, aka TOO LATE). The question is, will I end up taking a nap again?
The answer: my nap count is up to like 5. I'm tired, and I literally don't know what to do with myself (and our WiFi is out). I also had a dream that there was an earthquake while I was in an ice cream shop.
Sat up and now I feel ready to go... and 8:30 AM Japan time.
Another rude awakening I had after getting home Monday (and just had again) is that I can't just walk for a bit and go get a nikuman. I really want one. Are they in Carrollton? I hope there are some in Carrollton. They're gonna be expensive I'm sure, but I just want a nikuman.
Shoutout to Nekomasamune for making a Line stamp to describe my constant state of being: thinking about zunda
Going through old Smithsonian magazines (my grandma just gifted me a subscription a couple years ago) and I always hated how it felt like it was 90% ads.
So, now I'm gonna go through each one and actually count how many ads there are. Why am I doing this at 10:42 PM? Only because
So, now I'm gonna go through each one and actually count how many ads there are. Why am I doing this at 10:42 PM? Only because
NOW I have the energy/motivation/whatever to actually do things.
Interlude: I don't like US Spotify ads, pt 2
Interlude, pt 2: Smithsonian Magazine legitimately printed this
Interlude, pt 3: looking through all these is legitimately tiring... and I've only gotten through 5
Interlude, pt 4: the November 2017 issue LITERALLY talks about pandemics and if one would come in 2018 and now I feel obligated to keep it just because it's here and it's real
Alrighty, here are the results so far
Issue Date: ad pages/total pages
Issue Date: ad pages/total pages
Here are the rest of the results.
So basically anywhere from 1/6 to 1/3 of the magazine was made up of ads...
Another thing that made the ads overwhelming is that in the front section, they come up like every other page. The back section, though, is made entirely of ads.
So basically anywhere from 1/6 to 1/3 of the magazine was made up of ads...
Another thing that made the ads overwhelming is that in the front section, they come up like every other page. The back section, though, is made entirely of ads.
Found the 勝ち飯 booklet that I got at the big Makuhari Aeon and started tearing up when I saw ごぼう as one of the ingredients... yeah we're still going through it
(Context: ごぼう is like burdock or something ((basically something we don't really eat here in the US)) but I had it for the first time (I think) when I went to a Japanese Red Cross event with Akio and we all ate lunch together. It's SO GOOD. It's interesting, but SO GOOD)
Actually being awake and productive all day!!! I'm going through stuff trying to reorganize and make room for all my new stuff, and it's weird because I'm parting with some things I didn't part with before I left. Idk if it's just me still (understandably) being in the "oh I miss
Japan"/"I wish I were still in Japan" phase, or if it's the whole super dramatic "I've lived a whole life away from this and now I'm not the same person" thing... honestly whichever gets me to clean and get rid of stuff.
To be fair, I DID live a whole life away from all of this. That life has felt like it was nothing but a dream these last couple days, which is also weird. Idk - it's all still fresh, so we'll just keep on keepin' on and see how it all ends up at the end of this quarantine.
Update to the Smithsonian thing: I found the Jan-Feb 2017 issue, and it's a 37/140 ratio.
Moved my books to a plastic tub under my bed, so now I just have to move my Fillie stuff and then I'll have room for a Study Abroad shelf ( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧
The beginnings of the study abroad shelf!!!
It felt weird putting my chopsticks in the Cup Noodles... as in I physically felt something. Like I used those fairly often, and now they're up on display for the time being. It felt weird to, I dunno, degrade them like that. It was me fully admitting I'm not going back soon,
like I'm not just gonna turn around in a week and fly back. This is it for now.
