five months and counting

i can't believe it's already march. happy super duper belated new years to anyone who still actually tries to read this blog. my time here in japan has just been flying faster than i could believe. my one semester of graduate study at sophia university is officially over, and i really do feel like i was able to learn so much just from my experience, as well as from the actual course material. so thank goodness that wasn't just a ridiculously expensive way to pass my time.

i'm actually enjoying my job as an english teacher at the toranomon branch for nova. most of my students are very high level, and also very fun people to talk to. plus i'm fortunate to have met some real cool teachers from all over the world, as well as having a great group of japanese staff members that keep our office running. some nova workers have had really bad experiences, so i guess i'm lucky (knock on wood...). i think a lot of it really depends on how much you accept living in a foreign country. fortunately, japan isn't as foreign to me as it is for so many of these other folks.

just to review some of what i've managed to do so far:

1. spend lots of time with my family. sometimes i even thought it was too much, and was seriously considering moving out into my own place. but no, the pros of being around blood definitely outweigh the cons. and asakusa is amazing.
2. enjoy japanese food. in fact, probably a little too much. i'm absolutely positive i won't be able to eat any japanese food they serve in the states anymore.
3. celebrate new years, japanese style. i don't think i've ever eaten/drank so much consistently for seven straight days.
4. find a job that pays well enough to live and have fun off of.
5. meet plenty of japanese-japanese people (as opposed to all those JAs).
6. survive dinners, drinking sessions, karaoke, etc., without using one word of english (other than all those terms japan appropriated).
7. get used to wearing suits and ties five days a week.
8. show around all of my awesome friends who have visited so far.
9. get tired of showing around all these damn people who keep showing up (j/k...sorta).
   
10. watch my favorite guilty pleasures on tv.
11. finally attend the tokyo auto salon. it's everything you can imagine, and then some.

i'm not really sure my japanese is improving, but others have said it is, so that's good news too. my writing is still comparable to my cousin's 20 month old baby, but my kanji recognition has definitely gotten better. so to make public my plans for the next few months:

1. practice kanji daily. i am determined to pass JLPT level 1 next december.
2. begin studying for the GRE. hopefully take it by august.
3. seriously pursue some kind of creative hobby. at the moment, i'm leaning towards making music over photography (too expensive) or trying to learn the guitar (pretty sure it will never happen).
4. get out of tokyo at least once a month.
5. try to save money. try.
6. plan my summer trip home!

yes, that's right. i have decided to go home for at least a couple weeks around the beginning of july. some things i'm determined to do (gosh, this post seems to be nothing but lists):

1. have a bbq in my backyard with some of that california sun.
2. drive on the right side of the road.
3. cheap chinese food in sf chinatown (hopefully in some heavy fog).
4. LA/vegas trip.
5. giants game.
6. sleep in a real bed.
7. eat tacos.
8. eat burritos.
9. eat more tacos.

there. you're all warned. hope to see you then!