Gigantic Catch-up Picture Post, Part 1

I know I never update and I am super lame, but that is just a fact of life.

Nakasu and all the yatai, with Canal City in the background.
Canal City
Kushida Shrine's light-up


Illuminated cut-out of the Gion Yamakasa
Shotenji's rock garden illuminated ooooooers
I am a photographic genius
Ehime Prefecture mikans!!!!!!!!!
My Halloween makeup
Kinako-flavored Kit-Kats... REALLY GOOD.
We had our international-student recreation day at the ruins of the 9th century seat of government in Dazaifu
My adorable co-workers!!
Me and a few of my adorable co-workers. I felt very proud to don my Hakata Dontaku happi
Typical suburban-rural-ish homes with their gardens
PERSIMMONS
Late-blooming cosmos
The Kyushu National Museum. I am a sucker for mirrored buildings
Inside the museum, a huge decorative float based on those used in the Yamakasa
The crazy tall escalator
Went to yakiniku afterwards with my coworkers- here we are roasting scallops nommmm

New Glasses

I could have gotten glasses for half the price, but $100 for frames, lenses, and an eye exam is still nothing to sneeze at. I lurrrrrv my Muji glasses!
They are a clear honey-brown that suits my hair and eyes really well. I wanted to get the clear frames since they are kind of unusual and cool, but they just didn't look as good as these did. The guy who helped me made sure these fit my head perfectly, so I don't get a headache when I wear them and they don't slide around on my nose. Just one more reason to worship Muji!

Behold! A post!

I am feeling pretty good right now even though I am awfully exhausted. I finished a hat for my Hawaiian friend, and I went to the gym got a good workout in even though I was cranky and tired. I have been trying to eat more traditional-style Japanese foods, fish and pickles in particular, since they are so healthy and low in calories. The other night I made a pretty excellent Japanese meal!

I read that kimchi is among the world's top five healthiest foods (along with Greek-style yogurt, lentils, soy, and olive oil), and since I enjoy kimchi for the most part (so long as it's not ridiculously spicy), I am trying to eat more of it too. I will have to ask the Korean CIR if Japanese kimchi (hardly spicy, since Japanese people cannot tolerate spicy foods) is as healthy as Korean kimchi. I bet she will say it's not, haha. Cooking my own fish is a pain in the butt, though, and makes my house smell, so I will probably just buy roasted fish from any supermarket in the area on the day I plan on eating it.

On to the hat! It's a pattern by my favorite Scottish designer and it took me just two days to finish. I am probably going to make one for myself!
Yes, that is a huge pile of clean underwear in the background.

Finally, some pictures (aka the picture post of most epic proportions)

Click each picture for the (much) bigger version!!

Yahoo! Dome. Pretty self-explanatory.

Boys and girls running around with kegs strapped to their backs serving beer and chuhai!
This sticker is actually referring to the Climax Series, which is kind of like the Japanese equivalent of the World Series. However, I don't think the Japanese realize how funny this sticker is.
Japanese baseball! A weird feeling being indoors.
SMAP tells you to buy a Softbank phone. You must obey.
No, not gigantic yellow sperm. Screaming jet balloons!
My jet balloon <3
Hawks victory!!
I love Fukuoka.
Study abroad pal performing at Sunset Live!
Big Brass Band- nuts!
Big Brass Band's lovely dancers.
Lovely hot day at the beach!
Got a bit cloudy, but still wonderful fun!
People went nuts for the last performance! I thought they were totally weird- a mixture of ska/jazz/rock...
Hojoya at Hakozaki Shrine. One whole kilometer of food/game stalls!
Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki! Delicious, but I have to admit I prefer Osaka-style...
A kebab, by which I was somewhat underwhelmed since Japanese people had made it.
GORGEOUS candied grapes. A LOT harder to eat than you would think. I don't think my teeth have ever stuck together so badly.
Iced cucumbers being gently bathed in seaweed brine.
Vegetable juice-flavored kit-kat. DO NOT recommend.
6 a.m. in Shinsaibashi, Osaka after a long night of dancing!
The oh-so-familiar slope up to HOME SWEET HOME
With Tanaka-san at Nanzenji (I look disgusting because it was still summer in Kyoto and I was sweating like a horse)
"God passing over Kyoto." Taken from the Tahoto of Eikando along the Philosophers' Path.
I had a wonderful trip, but it was great to come home! How can I not love Fukuoka- BEST AIRPORT CODE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. END OF STORY.

Rain over Tenjin. Damn, I love Fukuoka.
A pretty day in Saga!!

Ok I am now caught up in terms of photos! Text updates to come... at some point...

Oops I lied, but...

I realize I did not upload a single picture this past weekend, and here it's already Thursday!! I probably won't have time to upload much this weekend, as I am going to visit KT in Saga on Saturday and then have to represent the western hemisphere at a temple-shrine tour for international students on Sunday. However, my coworker just took some pictures of our workplace to show her mum and sent me the pic she took of me. So here I am sitting at my desk, amidst the clutter that is the preparations for the 地球市民どんたく ("Global Citizen Dontaku," a weekend of NGO workshops, booths, performances) next week.

From what I have gathered from the telly, most Japanese offices resemble this in some way. Desk island, rows of beige/gray filing cabinets, binders and crap littered everywhere. I guess it's good I don't have a cubicle, though. Not only would I get nothing done, but I would be lonely and never speak Japanese.

Some thoughts

I plan on making several updates full of pictures this weekend.

I feel like I don't have the right understanding of what I want this blog to be.

Because I am in a constant state of not-quite-understanding-everything on a daily basis, I am starting to feel cerebrally-challenged. Like my brain just won't do everything I need/want it to. Perhaps this is why I am taking just pleasure in the simple joy of the Sookie Stackhouse books. When I should be reading non-fiction and doing creative writing.

However, in a similar vein, my brain does certain things I wish it wouldn't do.
a) I am INCAPABLE of being spontaneous. And so I feel bad because my adviser invited me out with his friends earlier today, but I had my proficiency test class, and felt tired after it, and decided that I would go home because my adviser and his friends probably were somewhere not in Tenjin and that would mean I would have to figure out how to get there, and that just sounded exhausting, plus there is also still a slight chance that I am getting sick (but hopefully not with swine flu), and so I emailed him saying I wouldn't be coming tonight but another time, and I didn't hear back from him, and then I called to apologize, and he said it's ok, but I still felt bad. How lame am I? Why can't I just DO things without planning them? Why am I so boring?
b) I am often told I am very "Japanese," which is a compliment to a certain extent, but for one thing I simply do not wish to be Japanese, plus acting "Japanese" means that I am constantly worrying about how something I say or do will affect others, which really makes me feel nervous and guilty and paranoid and all kinds of unpleasant things, on quite a regular basis. I wish I could just turn my stupid conscience off and do, as they say, a GAIJIN SMASH. Ugh, turn off turn off!

It's Friday night and I live in a wonderfully big, exciting city. Why the hell am I at my computer and getting ready for bed?

Recent eats

Black sesame tan tan noodle soup. It's spicy and healthy and delicious.

It came with collagen. You toss it in and it melts, and apparently it is soooo good for your skin. Whatever. Japanese people are OBSESSED with collagen. It's in everything these days, from instant soups to energy drinks to makeup remover towelettes. I think it is a steaming pile of BS, but when something catches on in Japan, there are yenners to be made, and so it continues.

A cheese cookie from Huis ten Bosch. No, not the palace in the Netherlands. The Dutch-themed amusement park in Nagasaki prefecture! The Dutch settled in Nagasaki way back when, and they still have a strong relationship.

Gigantic pot of veggie-licious curry. I prefer my curry without meat. Has onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, green bell pepper, and eggplant in it. I have to admit, I might just be the Curry Mistress. It was soooooooo good. And I will be eating it all weekend.

It looks weirdly dark in this picture, but is much closer to the color in the first picture. Still delicious. Itadakimaaaaasu!