Mr. Potato Head: the Lost files

So in my two-month hiatus, I did actually take other pics with Mr. PH, so now I shall post them with a little bit of commentary, mostly because I am too lazy to go back and write like, six extra blogs. Enjoy!

Halloween!

So Halloween is a slowly-getting-bigger holiday in Japan. However, there is NO such thing as Trick-or-Treating in Japan, at least in Tokyo. The weekend before Halloween, my program went on a retreat out to the country in Nagano Prefecture. I wore my cow 着ぐるみ (Kigurumi, which is like a whole suit of a cow, kind of like footsie PJs). We had a big party, and then all laid outside underneath the stars and star-gazed. We also got lots of candy! The middle picture is with my good friend Katie, when we did purikura together on Halloween day.

 

Sunshine City Aquarium

Little known fact: Until 11th grade, I wanted to be either a marine biologist or an ichthyologist. However, I then took (and almost failed) chemistry, so I gave up on that dream and switched to Japanese. However, I have still always LOVED aquariums and anything related to the oceans, especially since my favorite animals are sharks. A group of friends and I went to an aquarium in Ikebukuro, in a giant building called 'Sunshine City'. It was all the way on the ninth and tenth floors, at the top of the building. 

Compared to most zoos, it was actually kind of depressing. The animals were REALLY cramped, and some were in the most random places (why a ring-tailed lemur was in a tiny plot of land with ducks is a mystery to me). However, the best place was the giant tank, which had all kinds of rays and fish:

It was so pretty. I could have sat into front of the tank for hours and just watch all the animals swim. I really feel happiest near the water.

My 21st Birthday

So in Japan, the big-important birthday is 20. That's about it. Being an American, one's 21st birthday is a HUGE deal, in my opinion. You can pretty much do anything at that point (except rent a car, but I don't like driving much anyway). I was sad I wasn't able to have a real 21st birthday party, but I managed to put together a dinner party at a Mexican restaurant called Zest Cantina in Shibuya, mostly because Mexican food is the fountain of youth in Japan aka IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND. Sadly, the service / price was pretty shoddy, but I was so happy to have a lot of people around, and get a margarita for the first time. I even had buffalo wings!

Today, Mr. Potato Head celebrated Christmas!

This is my first Christmas away from home, and my first Christmas without any family. That is probably one of the hardest things about being abroad: no holidays with the family. Even though I have lived away from home almost five years now (Since junior year of HS), I have never been far away enough that I couldn't go home. This is a big change for me. However, my family was kind enough to send me gifts  and even a Christmas tree for my room! I was very happy.

 

My friend Shaun and her sister kindly invited me to spend Christmas with them. First, we did karaoke.

 

They even had Christmas songs! They didn't have my favorite song ('Christmas Wrapping' by The Waitresses), but they did have the song about Christmas in Africa by Band-Aid. Next, we went to an お好み焼き食べ放題 (All-You-Can-Eat Okonomiyaki).

 

It was actually a pretty sweet deal. We got a drink, six sides to share, and got to make about six okonomiyaki all together! Okonomiyaki is probably my favorite food in Japan.  It's base is usually cabbage, egg, and some kind of dough. From there, you can add just about anything! My favorite is pork and mochi together. However, sometimes it has squid =/

 

Next, we went to do プリクラ (Purikura), which is pretty much like photobooths in America, except more expensive and much more fun. They make you look MUCH prettier, and you can do all kinds of Photoshop-like things to them. They usually got about 400 yen (So about 5$), and you can get all sizes and styles of photos. This photo was taken outside of one of the arcades where you can do Purikura. The giant figure is Rilakuma, which means 'Lazy Bear'. He is a character like Hello Kitty or Doraemon.

One: White Russian

Two: Black Russian

Three: Banana Chocoffee

After saying goodnight, I decided to head home. However, by the station is a bar which is owned by the person who runs the apartment building I am staying in. It is mostly for international guests, so I decided to stop by, mostly because I had a free drink ticket. It was actually a very nice atmosphere. It was almost deserted since it was Christmas, but the bartender and everyone was pretty welcoming. Two of the people (including the bartender) was French, and another guest was a Japanese man from Osaka. All of them spoke French, so I wasn't too involved in the conversation. The drinks were yummy, and it was a pretty good end to the day.

So, even though it is a little late, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays! <3

Update!

Hello all!

So I haven't posted in awhile. In one post, I will try to explain everything going on since now.

So, things with my host people didn't work out so much. They weren't talking, I wasn't talking, and honestly, I finally talked to someone to start moving out. I got recommended a certain host family which I think would fit my needs more (a single parent), but the problem was whether the woman would accept or not (there is some back story, but that's not mine to tell, sorry).

Waiting for about two weeks, there finally came a time I was just DONE with the current host people. First of all, they wouldn't give me a key. Their own daughter didn't have a key, why I have no idea. So, I pretty much had to base my schedule on whether someone would be home or not. Also, they restricted my laundry/shower times, which made me even more aggrevated. The final straw came when I went out for a walk, saying I'd be back in like, 2 hours of so because I had to run errands. I went to send my Christmas letters and get some lunch (Chaashuu ramen is like my crack now, but that's another story). Anywho, I came back a little earlier, and in that time, the mom already left to do grocery shopping. (Also, these people ate at like, 5 pm. SUPER FREAKIN' EARLY IMO). So I just sat there, outside the gate, and realized I was done. I sent an email inquiring about the single parent host family and said if there was anyway for me to move out now for cheap, I'd take it.

It turns out the single parent accepted, but they would not be available until March. After going through my many options (the people in charge of my program are saints, I am so thankful for them), I decided to move into an apartment until March, and then move in with the new host parent. The next hardest part: moving out.

So in about less than 24 hours, I packed up all of my stuff, cleaned the ENTIRE ROOM from floor to ceiling, moving furniture to find lost items and clean up tons of dust (honestly, I cleaned the room every week, and you'd think from the look of it, I never did.. SO MUCH DUST). My Host-Family director called the host mom and told her I was moving out the afternoon of the next day. From that morning to the moment I left, the mother spoke to me maybe a total of three times, most through text message. Her tone was a lot shorter, and when I left, she didn't say a word and just walked away, so I didn't even get to thank her.

So we took a taxi to my new apartment/guest house place, where I have a tiny room, but honestly: I couldn't be happier. I get to cook my own food, take showers and do laundry pretty much whenever I want, and stay out as early/late as I want. I suppose the bed is a little uncomfy, but honestly: small price to pay to get OUT of that place.

Anywho, now that

• My internet is much better / reliable
• It's Winter Break
• I'm in a better mood

I will be updating more often!!!! I'm going to TRY (keyword: TRY) to update everyday, but honestly, I hope you all won't hold it against me.

Thanks,

Mr. Potato Head's Photographer