Scary

Over the last couple of weeks, my horoscope has been scarily accurate.

I only ever read it at the end of the day - I'm not like an avid believer or anything but I just like to see how things pan out. 

So what has been the topic over the last couple of weeks?

My happiness.

Since I've been in Tokyo, I've had 8 - soon to be 9 - female friends leave. That's actually a lot in just 2 years!! It's been making me think a lot that I need to make some kind of concrete plan about what I'm planning to do here.

And then I realised that making any kind of concrete plan until I've achieved my goal is just not gonna work because it all boils down to that.

So what do I need to do?

Cut back and focus on that goal.

And that's exactly what I'm doing.

xoxo

Oooohhhh New Interface!!

Ooohhh I am absolutely loving the new interface on blogspot.com.

Still trying to work my way around it, but it's looking good.

You know what - I started today with true, genuine intentions of going to the gym. I SWEAR. I didn't meet my girl for okonomiyaki because I wanted to come home, get changed and then head straight out.

LOL!

I got home earlier than I anticipated and thought that I'd just lie down for 10 mins. Man, my bed felt so good and I've had a long, horrid week - the minute I put my head down, I knew I wasn't going anywhere! LMAO!

It feels nice to be just kicking back and doing nothing. But I'm not gonna lie - the guilt I'm feeling about not going is makign me feel really awful! Not just because I'm getting bigger by the day, but because that place ain't cheap!! With my record this month standing at only twice, it works out that I'm paying like a whopping 6,000yen a time!


But I swear down, that is gonna change next week. I'm just glad that this week is over. Not sure why, but it's been really tough for me and I've been finding it hard to get my genki on.

No joke - I am DYING for a holiday. I know I only went away in July but that feels like a lifetime ago!! I just so badly wanna kick back and have time for me - something which I should get more of next month with my reduced schedule.


I can't wait!!


xoxo

Sumo!!!!

When I was heading home from my Japanese class, I was waiting to board the train next to a couple of sumo wrestlers.

Seeing sumo wrestlers out and about in Tokyo NEVER fails to make me smile. NEVER. I remember when I was in Kyushu last year for a wedding - I was about to board a plane at Fukuoka airport and a whole load of sumo wrestlers were getting off. They look absolutely fantastic (when they're dressed!!) and I just think they look adorable!! Especially in Tokyo where the view is nearly always suits and miserable faces. Their presence just feels positive to me and I just love watching them. (^_^)

Funny how every time I see them, they're always eating! HAHA!

Totally made my day, they did! (*^_^*) One day I'll be brave enough to ask for a picture!

Today has been all about studying. I hit the gym this morning - the pool felt fantastic in this boiling weather and it was fun doing aqua to some soul tunes. After some food shopping, I studied at home and then went to Meguro for my Japanese class. Tough going but I got through it! I wanted to study in Starbucks but it was only after I ordered my Chai Tea Latte that I realised I had forgotten my wallet! DOH! And then when I went to head back home, I realised that I didn't have enough money on my Pasmo, so I had to take a long way home that was covered by my commuter's pass. LONG!!

Back home I got straight back into the studying and now my head is nihongoed out. Really chuffed with my progress today though - just trying to review what I missed when I went home and didn't study or review for like 6 weeks. I totally feel like I'm back up to speed and ready to tackle the N2 grammar. It's not actually that hard...well, the input part isn't anyway! I had a go at a couple of reading exercises and did them with no problems. If I can get this grammar down then I actually think I have a good chance of getting a decent score. Problem is, I don't think I have enough time to learn all the new grammar and review all the N3 stuff too so I won't get my hopes up too high!

Now it's time to kick back and relax!

xoxo

Gorgeous

Tokyo is absolutely stunning today.

It would have been the perfect day to lounge in the park or hit the beach...

....but of course I was stuck inside working.

I am really looking forward to next month where I've completely cut back on my hours - not only so I can study more, but so I can relax and spend more time with my friends. It's gonna feel so good and I just can't wait!!

xoxo

Tchau Tchau Picnic!

This weekend hasn't even finished but I'm already so excited for next weekend!

I'll be reunited with my ladies for the final time in Japan for a picnic to see them off to pastures new! One is heading back to South Africa and the other is moving to Brazil. =( I'm sad but I can still look at the bright side and know that I will see them again. You know my heart is in Brazil and even though I've never been to SA, I knwo about 6 people there so that's killing....6 birds with one stone! HAHA!

It's been over a year since we've all been together in the same place at the same time so I'm super pumped. I'm just hoping that this weather doesn't go all crazy again and we'll have to come up with a plan B!

Can't wait to see you ladies!!

Beijos.

xoxo

(T T)

People always wonder why the majority of my friends are male.

I'll tell you why...

....because all my female friends leave!!!!

My foreign female friends go back to their own countries or my Japanese female friends either marry a gaijin and leave Japan or they're married already and aren't the partying type.

That's right - I found out today that another one of my baby girls is leaving. She's not in town at the moment but she's gonna be coming back for just 2 weeks before heading out.

I'm gutted! Everyone just seems to disappear one by one.

But I don't blame her for one second. She's had a rotten year here and has found happiness which has decided to pursue. And good for her - it's so nice to hear her so happy I can almost see the smile on her face as she's chatting to me.

A lot of people have been telling me recently that I'm better off leaving Japan if I have any hope of finding a guy that will match the standards that I have. And they're not crazy standards before you start thinking that!!! LOL!!!

I have been thinking more and more about the next couple of years and possibly heading out....I'm not sure but first things first, I'm gonna master the shit outta this language and then decide what to do with it!! LOL!! I just don't know what's gonna happen....

It makes it so much easier to leave when so many good friends around you start disappearing. The year I left Kyushu saw a whole bunch of people who had been my best friends go with me and since moving to Tokyo I just haven't found the same kind of great personalities. I miss them a lot.

You go girl!! GOOD LUCK!!!

xoxo

Same Old Dilemma

I have had so many people tell me that I should go "officially" full time at my company.

The pros:

- I'd actually be able to use my brain!!!

- I'd have more management responsibility

- I actually WANT to do that job

- It'll look good on my CV

- 2 days off a week

The cons:

- MAMMOTH pay cut

- Crap working hours (1pm-10pm meaning that you actually would have no free time in the morning to do anything without getting up early...and then having a really long day)

- Related to the above but it would hardcore limit (and cut) the time I would have to study Japanese

In a way I think taking the position would make my life more hectic than it is already. And I'm trying to do the opposite.

What do you think? I'm DYING for a change but at the same time I've managed to get to a point where I'm ready to cut back on my hours to make more time to study. I was at my Japanese lesson this morning and was really chuffed to find out that my level is much higher than I realised. I did last year's N2 test just to see how much work I needed to go and I ended up missing the pass mark by only 2%!!

The onther reason that makes me proud is because I've NEVER studied for that level. I'm still frantically trying to catch up on all the grammar basics that I've never studied so for me to get an overall percentage anywhere near that high is amazing.

So because of that, I'm gonna go for it and try for N2 this winter. The problem is if you fail any one section then you fail the whole test - regardless of how high the overall percentage is. When I did this mock, I got 100% in the listening and over 90% in the reading and barely scraped passes in the Kanji and Grammar sections. Seeing how close I managed to get without even having studied for it makes me motivated to speed up my progress and get onto that N2 grammar ASAP - well, after I've managed to grasp the basics. Even if I pass N2 this year, I'm still gonna take it again next summer - just so I can get a decent score. 50% is seriously low and if I was to join a company with such a low pass mark, then I still would struggle with the business Japanese.

So yah, I wanna cut back on hours so that I can make time for this. Plus I'm at a point where I need to take a break from my clients....especially in the afternoons! LOL!

xoxo

Getting Old

I've woken up with a stinking hangover.

As I've gotten older, they've gotten worse and it takes me pretty much the whole day to get over a night of drinking. Which is probably why I don't drink as much anymore!

Because now I have to head out to my Japanese class and as much as I wanna cancel, they don't come cheap and I don't wanna lose the money!

I had my old flatmate come over last night. He's heading out to New Zealand on Thursday after a whopping 15 years in Japan. How crazy is that? I'm well chuffed though because I'm hitting up New Zealand for Xmas and New Year so I'm hoping I can grab a few place to stay! HAHA!

xoxo

Gomen!!

OMG I haven't written anything for weeks. Too much stuff and too much drama has been going on.

Firstly - how the hell is it September already?! Before you know it we're gonna be hitting 2012. What a year it's been and the craziness just seems to keep on coming and following me around.

I don't even know where to start - I don't even think I want to go into everything to be honest. A select few people know that I've had a very difficult week - what I thought was a simple situation got over-analyzed by friends which then led to the police being involved which then turned into me being freaked out by everyone's reaction....and then really getting worried by unsensitive and alarming police advice.

For the first half of the week I had to get my male friends over to stay with me. Then I snapped back to reality, thought the whole thing was ridiculous....although I didn't wanna totally disregard the police's advice, I sent my friends home and was just extra cautious.

For the time being, I've decided that it was a situation escalated out of control, made worse by police presence in my house. It seems to be over but I'm still gonna be keeping my ears and eyes peeled for the next week anyway just to make sure.

Thanks for those who supported me this week - it all seems silly now but you know - better safe than sorry, right?

xoxo