Patience

Today was pretty good. Packing (hopefully for the last time for a long time) to get to the new apartment next week, shopping, and getting Starbucks new drink Sakura Blossom Frapuccino:

It was pretty good.

I went and sat at the Shinjuku New South exit and chilled. Buddha gave me the opportunity to practice patience as what it feels like a billion small children running in-between people sitting, cutting it close, up and down the steps screaming.  All I could think of was….oh man, if Jana were here….

お知らせ。。。又はお尻せ

Here is your knowledge for the day.

How I chose my blow dryer

I just needed something simple to blow dry the tiny amount of hair I have. Bic Camera had SO MANY to choose from. I didn’t care which….until I saw the magic deciding factor:

Getting my Fridge and Washer

I went to Shinjuku Bic Camera to pick out a fridge and washing machine. The Tokyo Marathon was that morning, so there were not that many people in just yet.

I picked out a fridge and waited for someone to nervously look over at the foreigner wanting to purchase something…..

EYE CONTACT!

This guy was nice (tried to sell me everything on the planet including internet providers). So, we signed for the fridge and went to the washers. I picked one out and as he was getting the info, I saw a better one. He checked on availability and found out, I would not be able to get it before March 24th. I opened up the calendar on my phone and simply said in Japanese, “Yeah….I don’t have enough underwear to cover until then….” The reaction in quick sketch form:

*whispers* yyyyyeeeeeessssss…….

We continued with the previous washer….paid for everything and set up delivery….then I went to shop for a blow dryer…..

Dogs and a Cafe

There is a pet store about 2 buildings away from where I live right now. It is not like the ones I used to see in Japan. This one is super clean and they love having people come in and play with the cats and dogs. They are in cute little play pens instead of cages. One guy will bring out a dog to meet people. This one I kept seeing was just like the picture they have outside. A little tiny chocolate poodle.

LOOK HOW FUCKING CUTE!  I know someone is gonna come on here all about how we shouldn’t buy pet store…blah, blah, blah….I get it. BUT YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THIS PUP IS A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E. I am not much of a dog person, but godddddammit!

Anyway, the cafe I would normally go to had a very intimidating sign on its door with a  lot of red ink….so I decided to go to a bakery instead.  So many yums at this place. For reals.

I ended up with a donut and a sweet potato bread. Got a blueberry bagel to take with me in case I got hangry.

It was pretty good.

I realised the coffee had done some immediate magic (I had to poop), so I went back home….and passed the puppy again. Oh man the feels…

The feels were everywhere. Literally.

Oh hai ladies!

Alright. I went to a cafe in the morning before my first full day of work on Tuesday. Cute little place right over by the temporary housing in Azabujuban.

There were people sitting sporadically.

So I sat next to the two ladies, who put two tables together and had more room between them and I.

They stopped dead-cold mid conversation and stared at me as I quietly sat down. Everyone else was on their phones except myself and these two lovely ladies. I looked over and they looked me up and down. Super angry looking.

Well kids, I have learned back in 田舎館村 that as obvious as it is for you to see they are staring, they may actually not fully realise they are staring. So, instead of saying “WHAT?!”, a simple “おはようございます” will generally do the trick.  It does two things for you:

1. Let’s them know that you know some Japanese so they are less likely to talk about you in front of you. But let’s be real…..they WILL talk about you at some point. Just be you and pay no mind to it.
2. It let’s them know gently that you see them and you see them watching you. It is friendlier, and makes you look less like an asshole.

I enjoyed my breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, and tea. This is what my food looked like when I was done:

So goddamn delicious, yo.