Recent stuff

I haven't written in a really long while. Since February in fact, and it's already April.

I have been to Latvia and back. Spent only about a week there, running around the place. I think that week we got all the yen out of Rietumu Banka.

Currently awaiting my papers to go through to change my status to 'Student'. Yes, I am going to study at a university here. For now it's been a bit of a disaster really :) I feel very out of place on a campus that is predominantly made up of asian kids. Been getting too emotional as a result - no idea where I'm going, how to ask where to go, and what to do.

I also miss my parents a lot. Knowing that I won't see them for at least a year and a half makes me very sad. At the same time though, I'm pretty happy here. So maybe it balances out in the end.

I got my hair cut. It cost quite a bit for what you get. Next time I'll try explaining more what it is that I want. Maybe even in pictures. I doubt that my hairstyle is so unusual in Japan that the hairstylist couldn't understand the idea. So now I have a fringe... :D It's not too bad, but very hard to style and looks hilarious in the morning.

For now the days are peaceful. The weather is great - it's already 20C. Dreading Summer. Mostly I just lazy around and occasionally do useful stuff, like cooking, washing and cleaning. Very housewifey :)

I found this great site with easy and quick recipes - http://www.japanfoodaddict.com/

I've been trying them out a bit. Even with my culinary skills they are achievable. And with practically all ingredients I used to use at home unavailable in Japan, these recipes help out enormously. A sort of a guide for beginners into Japanese cooking.

That's about it. I suppose starting next week I'll have a more busy university life. がんばります。

Valentine's Day

Woke up - raining - very gloomy.

Chatted with my cousin for an hour or so. She lives in America, so there's a massive time difference. While I was busy doing that, Shiv got up and left for work.

Ate breakfast. Tried out the new cheeses we bought. Pretty tasty.

Practiced some kanji.

Tidied up. Vacuumed.

Washed the dishes.

Practiced some more kanji.

Got a message from Shiv. Went to the university. We ate at the canteen - nothing fancy.

Came back home. Drinking tea now.


I know, very romantic. :D

Recently I have quite a bit of free time, alas I am not being productive. Must be the winter blues. It's really cold in the flats at this time of year as well - no central heating.

I'm hoping that after the Valentine's day I can buy lots of cheap chocolate.

It's getting warmer again, unlike in Latvia where it's anywhere from -10C to -20C...

Snow bombs?

It's been a while again - a whole month.

Winter here is more like autumn. Not much snow (I think I've only seen it twice here), but it does rain from time to time.

Valentine's day is marketed much more than in Latvia. One of the department stores even has a 'Valentine's square'. At least half the floor is dedicated to chocolate. Kind of awesome, though extremely expensive. On  the other hand, there are virtually no flower shops. Perhaps girls are more wares driven. I would love to get some flowers. Unfortunately, like everything else, flowers are expensive. Maybe because of the rarity or because of the occasions on which they are given - mainly big events.

Today I found out I did get into Kumamoto University. Yay for me. Excited and terrified. My Japanese is horrible.

No way is anyone going out today. It's been snowing forever. Doesn't seem to let up at all. The snow is around 50cm, I am told. But obviously in places it's much more than that. It's the return of real winters here.

All the cars here are frozen most of the time. My brother played Superman and hit the ice with his fist to make it look like he crushed the car. Sometimes it's impossible to open doors, so people have lots of stuff with them like scrapers, shovels and brooms.

Back home

So I'm home again for the holidays. Nothing much exciting yet, as we don't particularly celebrate Christmas.

This time round I spent about 30 hours in travel. I keep waking up at 5:30 and going to bed at 9... Obviously no one's up at that time. The internet's great though :D

 At the Kansai airport there were cool wind sculptures on the ceiling.

This was the first time I was flying over a winter landscape. The previous two winters Shiv came over.

Waaa, cute shadow! That's us!