I'm still alive...probably

I am a failure.

I can excuse myself for not updating constantly with video blogs, but this written blog should really have not given me this much trouble. Earlier I was busy being excited that I am turning 21 in 2 days and depressed that I am going to die one day, but I was interrupted in the middle of that reflection by an angry, scathing voice in my head saying

"IT IS THE 19TH OF JANUARY ALREADY AND YOU HAVE BEEN DOING NOTHING FOR THE PAST 3 WEEKS BUT SITTING AROUND IN YOUR UNDERWEAR! FURTHERMORE, YOU HAVE STILL NOT UPDATED YOUR BLOG! FAILURE FAILURE FAILURE!"

The voice wasn't really yelling but I put it in caps to emphasize the self-loathing and shame I felt at that moment. To make things more interesting, I illustrated my exact thought process in a very specific, scientific manner:

So, I left for Istanbul, Turkey on December 17th and returned on the 30th, and though I feel too much happened and this blog is mostly about Japan so I won't talk about it in excruciating detail, I could have at least tried to summarize it. So I will: Turkey was freaking awesome. Our whole itinerary was planned out by the Gulen movement/Niagara foundation based in Chicago, so I basically got to see some of the best sights in Turkey there is to see. In ten days we traveled around Istanbul, Bursa, Denizli, Izmir, Kayseri, and Kusadasi. I still haven't even finished uploading all my pics onto facebook, because I have been that incapable of getting anything done beyond the basics of dressing myself and eating and showering. And even those I sometimes fail at.

Unfortunately, on the second-to-last day, we got on an airplane to head back to Istanbul for our last day. During that 35 minute ride, I saw some awesome mountains and began to take pictures of them. I will regret that fateful decision for the rest of my life. After we got off the plane and went for lunch, I realized my camera was gone. I had left it on the plane.

My lovely Turkish friend fought her way valiantly through all the holds and disconnections as she spoke to the airline employees, only to be told that the attendants cleaned the airplane and did not find the camera, therefore the camera was gone. For life. When she asked if they could check again, they replied they could not, because the plane had left already and they didn't know where it went.

That's right, apparently those plane numbers are for nothing, because the airlines don't even keep track of where they go. And this was a DOMESTIC flight, its options of where it could have went within the country of Turkey seem pretty limited to me. But what does it matter, in the end I am sure some flight attendant is enjoying my camera immensely right now. They are so lucky that not only did I forget my camera, but it had a $50 memory card in it as well as the case and usb cable to connect it to the computer. A late Christmas present for whichever asshole found it and didn't turn it in! It wouldn't be half as unbelievable if a few days previously, one of the boys on our trip somehow left $200 behind on the seat of a shady nightbus we took, and someone found it and returned it to him a couple days later! Who returns cash, really now, who?! Oh well, I suppose he must have just had better karma than me.

So to tally it up, that's a lost wallet in Japan and lost expensive-most-favoritest-camera-ever in Turkey. I just can't wait to see what's gonna  happen when I go to S. Korea! Maybe a lost passport to spice up the entertainment?

Anyway, I was trying to make a point.  After Turkey, I have been in Japan and completely free for some 3 weeks now. You must be wondering about the adventures and shenanigans I have gotten into. 3 free weeks with Japan at my fingertips, I could go anywhere and do anything I want! Well let me tell you of the amazing places I have been!

Let's start here:
--Family Mart, the conbini (convenience store) on the corner where I often frequent for a quick bento fix, snickers and chips, and my delicious milk tea.

--Kuzuha Mall: A mall about 3 stops away from where I'm at now. I bought a new coat there and did some purikura. In that area is also a cat cafe I finally visited after 2 weeks of attempts to get up and go, which I shall go into further detail some other time (hopefully...)

--Nara: Toudaiji temple. This was actually something meaningful and interesting, good for me! On New Year's Ever me and the boyfriend went to Nara and waited in line in the freezing cold for over an hour. What did we wait for, you wonder? To ring a big, 800-year old bell. It only gets struck once a year, and that's on the New Year. 8 people can do it at a time so though there were already hundreds waiting before us, we got through the line pretty quickly once the New Year actually came. I was a shivering, freezing mess by that time, though it was pretty fun to ring the giant bell. I think if you ring it you clear yourself of bad spirits so you welcome the new year with a fresh, perky body. We also got to see a giant statue of Buddha, the daibutsu. I of course didn't have my camera so no pictures unfortunately.

--Fresco, Life, and some other grocery store I can't remember the name of right now. These are recent trips, as in the past week. Me and my temporary roommate decided we were getting tired of eating cheap gyudon (meat on rice) and crappy conbini bentos so we actually bought groceries! I have now been living on cereal, eggs, mikan (oranges), and until we ran out, okonomiyaki.


I actually do enjoy cooking, it's just my settings don't really allow for it. I am temporarily staying in my japanese boyfriend's tiny one-room apartment until I move into the dorms. The kitchen has a stove with one tiny burner, and his cooking utensils consisted of one small skillet, small pan, and one fork and one spoon. Also obligatory chopsticks.

It's been hard living like a caveman, so I have since been to the hyaku-en store and bought a spatula, spoon, extra plate, a butter knife, a strainer, and a measuring cup. I have big plans. I want to cook a nice dinner (preparing it in the living room of course since there is only half a foot of counter space in the kitchen) so I spent a lot of time dragging him through store aisles trying to find the equivalent to corn syrup and figuring out which bottle of vinegar I should buy out of the 82347 options they had. And then I spent a few minutes embarrassing him by smelling each of the packages of what I suspected was the Japanese equivalent of brown sugar. The things I do for brown sugar.

I have to say, shopping for food with this language barrier has to be one of the most difficult and frustrating things I've experienced yet. There's nothing like looking around in the meat section and trying to figure out which package of cut, stripped pork is bacon. And the only thing labeled "ベーコン" is actually a large chunk of meat. It also made me aware of my ignorance when it comes to types of meat. What part of the pig does bacon even come from?

Anyway, that's been about it for my adventures. I blame the lost camera. For a while there my life seemed listless and pointless. Why go on if I can't even document it in pictures? Why go to anywhere significant if I can't show myself doing the peace-sign in front of it? Sarcasm aside, I honestly couldn't make any videos because I had no camera. Well, I finally bought a new one, and received it today, so the world is saved.

Well, it will be once I figure out how this thing works.

I WILL update this tomorrow about my comparisons between Turkey and Japan, and how it has affected how I view Japan. Also with the details of the cat cafe, since I know a few people who would enjoy it just as much as I. I just think this blog is a running too long, which happens after months of no updates and lots to say. My tendency to ramble does not help, of course.

Okay, done! whoosh!