Daydreams in Purple Ink

Aspiring writer. Future traveler. I’m going to Japan! I leave the USA on March 31, 2013 for Machida, Tokyo and I'll be there until August 8. Stick around to see where I go and the things I see!

[amandaice]

Enoshima, Tokyo, Japan

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Hmm... something about this feels ironic.

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Yokohama ferriswheel

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Harajuku, Japan

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I own a kimono now! :)

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My host family took me to a sushi bar for my 21st birthday! :)

[amandaice]

Food Talk

I wish I could say I liked everything I eat here. But unfortunately, I don't. I like a good majority of what I try here, and believe me, I'm willing to try anything. Most of the time, it's a good surprise. Sometimes, it's not. I realized quickly that I don't like seaweed salad. It's just not for me. 

BUT TODAY. 

I don't even know what it was. I think it had tiny mushrooms and okra in it or something, but the whole side dish had the consistency of snot which, of course, grossed me out immediately. I managed to force myself to eat a little more than half of it, but I found it very difficult to swallow, especially when I get paranoid about choking. And since it's rare that a beverage is served with the meal, I didn't have anything to wash it down with other than my soup. 

Ugh.

In other news, my throat is killing me as of today. Yay...

[amandaice]

Some of favorite mangas in their original printing from Japan. 

Pause for a moment while I lose my shit. 

;a;sldkjf;flkjef;jlkawerk

[amandaice]

Okay, I'm from Kansas. We don't have earthquakes. We have tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. But within the last two weeks of being in Japan, there have been three earthquakes that I've heard of, including the one I just felt lying in bed tonight. My host family didn't even say anything about it. 

-sigh-

I guess I'll be the only one screaming bloody murder during a level 2 quake. 

[amandaice]

Oh my goodness Amanda! More more more! :) I'm so excited to hear about all of your adventures in Japan. Enjoy your time! -- Marsha

Oh Marsha! It's good to hear from you, girl! There will be plenty to come in the future! :D

[amandaice]

A wedding in Japan.

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My friend and I at the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku, Japan

[amandaice]

Kindness comes in all shapes and sizes

And it's greatly appreciated when it does come.

After a night of going out to karaoke with my friends, I took the last bus home to my host family's house only to find out that the bus I was on was the wrong bus entirely. So, I walked up to the front of the bus, (I'm the only one left at this point) and I ask the driver if he's going to go to my stop. Of course, he says no and I give a sigh and dramatic facepalm because DAMN I am stupid. But instead of kicking me off the bus, he asks me to wait a moment and he calls somebody. I'm just standing there like, maybe he'll give me directions on how to walk home when he hangs up the phone and he tells me very quickly in Japanese something I don't understand. I tell him I don't understand and he says it again in a simpler form. 

Basically, he called his supervisor to ask if he could take me home to my stop and he was telling me that he would do it free of charge. 

So this lovely man, after his shift for the day was over, took this stupid foreigner back home out of the kindness of his heart because I read the signs wrong. I couldn't believe the kindness of this man. I thanked him as much as I could as I got off the bus, truly touched by what he did for me. 

I've been nervous being in Japan because I feel like I stick out a WHOLE lot more than I want to (being an introvert and all) and having people watching me and judging me has really been stressing me out lately. I've heard that Japanese people are very kind if you talk to them, and I've learned first hand through my broken understanding of the language that they really are a kind people. 

Thank god for kindness in people's hearts. Believe me, it wasn't unnoticed.

[amandaice]

GUYS. MY HOST FAMILY BOUGHT ME CHOPSTICKS WITH MY NAME ON THEM.

I AM SO HAPPY.

[amandaice]

Omg I'm so embarrassed. I just had to ask my host mom how to turn on the hot water in the shower after putting it off for a couple days and showering in freezing water. D: 

[amandaice]

Artina, the Square Enix cafe, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

So cute I almost couldn't eat it...