OMG iTunes! FAIL!!!

Did you know that they don't permit iTunes sales outside of the US?! AGH! And I wanted the Music & Lyrics soundtrack so I could have Pop! Goes My Heart! GRRRR!

Video Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WUUgaW6krQ

Here's a video of my apartment. I made this video after I bought my futon and sheets today, so what you don't see is that I've replaced the plastic baggies with two trashcans (bought at Homepic) for combustible and non-combustible materials. I wasn't sure if I needed two or three, so to be on the safe side I bought two. Turns out I should get one for recyclables, but I might just do a plain old bag for that, still not sure.
I also got cookware! :3

I found out about Homepic at the Shisheido Chain store, which apparently isn't only for makeup. It was like walking into longs. They actually had Downy there, which I found really interesting. Well, I got all the soapy stuff I'll need, including those really awesome dish sponges mom uses. :D Apparently in Japan, you refill your bottles. With this knowledge in mind, I chose the cheaper ones that had refills available. I ended up with pomegranate scented (I could choose from a selection of smells, but I've come to realize that pomegranate smells gorgeous) body wash and rose scented shampoo and conditioner. I also got the largest and cheapest detergent I could find. XD It seems large enough to last me a year, but you never know. We'll see how long it lasts.

For getting so much done today I treated myself out to ramen at a nearby ramen place. I'll upload it to my flickr, so you'll shots of the delicious miso ramen I had on my slideshow. :3

Oh, and apparently 100 yen tip is super generous. O_o

Internets GET!

Listening to the Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver OST (Original Soundtrack)

Hokay, now for good news. Apparently heat runs on electricity here instead of gas like in America, so when I was shivering the other night I really could've turned on the heater to warm myself. The gas guy came the next morning. I asked him about the air conditioner and he taught me how to use it. Thank the forces that be!

After my gas was installed, and I had hot water (finally!), I washed my face and went off to the post office, which is also a bank. I must say that I love Japanese service because there was always someone out by the form filling area to help you, which was great since I'm such a newb to the area. Anywho, the woman was really kind and helped me with the form I needed to get my account started as well as to get a Visa. However, when I got to the consultation corner about my account, I found out that Mr. Koshiro and I had forgotten to get a 300 yen certificate at the ward office. I needed that in order to get my account. So, after having Mr. Ueno and Ms. Abe, who also works at HQ, talk to the woman, I hurried on back to the ward office, which is a lot closer than I remember, and got the certificate.

Lemme tell you something. The woman who helped me was totally different from the woman yesterday, so I had absolutely no problem! She wasn't suspicious of me at all. Huzzah! I had to buy a 300 yen stamp from a vending machine, and of course I don't know what to do, so I'm standing at the vending machine staring at the two buttons with kanji written all over it pondering about which one to press when the mother beside me presses the one I need for me. OMG. I thanked her profusely.

Certificate in hand (they gave me a small bag/envelope thing to put it in too!), I hurried on back to the post office/bank. It took a couple of hours, but I have I finally have an account. Whew.

I decided to walk home so that I wouldn't have a portfolio of important documents that could possibly be blown away. On the way I stopped off at the deli near my house. I asked the woman behind the counter if any of them spoke English. She didn't and neither did the man cutting stuff in the back, who looked to be her husband. While I was browsing the various meats at their disposal, one of them must've called a younger employee, possibly their daughter, out to the front. I explained in Japanese that I recently moved in and that I was from America. She essentially said that she didn't think I needed to talk to someone who spoke English because my Japanese was just fine. She also said that I don't speak with an American accent, which makes me puff out my chest even now. When I told her that I thought I wasn't good at Japanese, she looked at me like I was crazy for thinking so. XD I bought five pieces of kara-age, a type of fried chicken. I'm definitely going back to that shop. :3

But now I need a futon. Towels were, of course, more important. I wasn't going to go another night without showering. So, I walked on over to the market by my house and on the way I, what do you know, found a really cute shop called "At First" that had, OMG, towels for sale! They were super cute, super soft, and I managed to get a bath towel, dish towel, and hand towel all with sakura on it. LOL. I checked with the market, which is called Maruetsu, first to see if they had towels for cheaper, but they didn't. So my sakura towels weren't cheap, but they're super cute and felt good enough to last me a year with no problems. Please note that Japanese bath towels are much smaller than American bath towels. XD

Now, about this market. Mr. Ueno said that this is supposed to be a smaller market. He did not tell me that Maruetsu is the Japanese version of a Ralphs/Albertsons/Kroger. Sadly, like these American stores, Maruetsu does not carry towels. At least I found At First. haha.

I really should've taken a picture, but since I need to buy food again today anyway, I'll probably take a picture today. They have a make-your-own-bento section. I kid you not. They had pre-made tempura! I had to resist the urge to wade through the masses to get some for myself. I didn't know when it was going to get dark, or when At First was going to close, so I chose not to get anything that wasn't already packaged. Damn. I'm going to have fun raiding that section.

So, with a 2L bottle of cold tea, a bento, sandwich, onigiri, and a small plate of sushi in hand, along with some cherry flavored Hi-Chew I found by the check out counter, I snagged my towels, a cute coin purse with an owl on it, and an umbrella with pink hearts on it at At First. Then I went home and unpacked. Food went in the fridge, and since I'd neglected to buy a cup while I was at the market, I poured some of the tea in an empty bottle of Aquarius, a type of sports drink, I'd gotten earlier while I was walking between the ward office and the post office.

My closet is quite a good size, though I noticed that Japanese hangers must be narrower than American ones because my hangers touch the back of the closet. I hung all the important clothes on hangers and put the rest on top of the shelf or put them in my carry on, which is now doubling as my dresser. haha. I haven't decided if I want to buy a bookshelf or just leave my other stuff strewn about the floor, but pretty much everything is either in my closet or on the floor. My luggage went up on the loft and I've still got a bunch of space. I don't know what to do with it just yet. I hope to decorate. :3

I definitely want to get this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/cbe7/
It's a plant that only needs sunlight. When it gets enough sunlight, the leaves wiggle. I wouldn't have to take care of it and I'd have a plant. That's a recipe for win if there ever was.

Well, since I woke up at 6:30 to install my internet and it's now 10, I should probably get ready. All the shops should be open by now, so I'm off to the futon place I found on the web at the suggestion of my beloved Terrpi (it's actually really close to the train station, so I scope that out at the same time and figure out the best route to take to get there, and then the big mall, e-Mall, which is on the way to the ward office. With any luck, I'll have a futon be the end of the day as well as dishes, cookware, trash bins, trash bags, more toilet paper, detergent, and a stocked fridge. Wish me luck, guys!

Bed? What Bed?

3-25-2010 (Evening)

So everything was fine when I got picked up by Mr. Koshiro. He had a car, which made transporting my humongous luggage much easier and put a lot less weight on my conscience. Then, we checked in with the office and then off to Leo Palace 21 to get my key. After I got my key, we went to sign up for Alien Registration Card, because, well, I’m an alien.

Here’s where it all starts going downhill. Apparently this process is only supposed to take about twenty minutes, but mine took at least forty. This does not include the amount of time it took Mr. Koshiro to convince the woman behind the desk that if she just called the company, they could tell her that I was employed with them. She was acting awfully suspicious, which made me wonder if it was because of the way I looked.

After I got my certificate that they had accepted my application for my omg-I’m-a-foreigner card, we hurried on to the post office so that I could set up my account for not only mail, but apparently also for my monies. This didn’t happen because we’d spent far too long twiddling our thumbs while waiting for the damn woman to type faster, because apparently “she was still typing” when we checked back upon noticing the time that had passed. So since the post office was now closed, we decided to find my apartment so we could let the gas guy in to set up my gas.

This also did not happen. We called to have him come back later, because he was originally supposed to come between two and four and instead we didn’t get out of the post office until 4:15. He said he would come back at five, and when we finally found my apartment because the GPS wouldn’t show that we needed to go down the little streets, we found out that the gas guy couldn’t come today and that I would therefore go home to a cold house as well as not be able to take a hot shower. Yay.

So with that not done, we went to AU to get my cell phone. This, luckily, was accomplished… after spending three hours waiting. Apparently, you have to present your Alien Registration Card in order to get a cell phone. This is ridiculous, as it take three weeks for the damn card to be completely processed and created for you to pick up. So, Mr. Koshiro yelled and screamed at the poor men behind the counter, and then proceeded to yell at the president of the company because one of his employees at that branch had told Mr. Koshiro the day before that having my certification of acceptance of my application would suffice. After that, we were told to wait ten minutes for the big boss to figure out if he should allow me to have a cell phone prior to receiving my card. He didn’t call back in ten minutes.

Finally, after calling him back, he agreed to two terms. First, I need to go the first day my card is available, pick it up, and let the cell phone company make a copy of it for their records. Second, Mr. Koshiro had to guarantee that I was going to do it. Then we had to wait for twenty minutes while the guy set up the phone. We went to eat. It was Mr. Koshiro’s treat, and having not eaten since nine that morning, and it was twenty minutes to eight, I was ravenous. The food tasted great.

After dinner, we went down to the cell phone place. It wasn’t ready yet, so we sat down. I read children’s books in Japanese with a little help from Mr. Koshiro because I didn’t know some of the vocabulary. Finally, nine o’clock rolled by and the man fiddling around with my phone finished. It’s pink, takes great pictures, and is bilingual. I’m in love with it, but I haven’t bothered to read the manual. I’m too tired.

So Mr. Koshiro drives me back to my apartment and he leaves. When I walked in, I realized just how cold the apartment was. Then, I realized that the futon, which is supposed to come with the apartment, actually isn’t even in the apartment. The frame for it is, but there’s no actual mattress. I’m sleeping on the floor tonight with the two blankets I had the foresight to pack along with, thank the gods, my electric blanket, which is currently keeping my legs warm while I type this. Luckily, the floor of the main room is carpeted, so at least I have some cushion.

Oh, and since there’s no hot water, there’s no hot shower to help warm me up before bed. So I washed my face with super cold water, dried my face with the face towel I also happened to have the foresight to bring, and then slipped into my pajamas and huddled under one blanket and my electric blanket while sleeping on my big yellow blankie from my childhood.

To reward myself for not deciding to go back to America now, I’m going to watch an episode of MacGyver before going to sleep.

As for tomorrow, I have to hele on over to the post office right after the damn gas man arrives so that I can finally have a nice hot shower. Then I need to see about whether or not Leo Palace screwed up and I’m supposed to have a futon, or if I have to go buy one. Along with sheets for it. Oh, and then I have to set up my internet. And buy some towels. And some dishes and cookware. And an umbrella, since it’s probably going to be raining tomorrow too. I’ll post this after I’ve set up my internet.

The Conbini Is My Friend

Safe and sound in Yokohama! The JR train was fun to ride, though the last hour was spent fighting off the urge to sleep. It takes about 2 hours to go from Narita Airport to the Yokohama station, where I was lucky enough to ask a woman how to get to my transfer. She ended up asking the middle schooler beside her, probably her own daughter. I can't be sure. You know these asians, they all look alike. lol.

Anywho, got off at the correct stop, but I went through the North Exit instead of the South Exit. That's ok though, because I had enough change (I exchanged a 20 so I could get smaller bills and found out that 1000 yen is the smallest bill they have. It's all coins from there. lol. I need a coin purse.). I made a phone call and Mr. Ueno, who helped me find my apartment, picked me up and walked with me to HQ.

I really regret not bringing my bright pink umbrella, as it was raining, but I get really warm whenever I get anxious, so I wasn't cold at all. I met two teachers, like me, at the office. Both had been teaching for two years, a boy and a girl. The girl had these really cute pins on her sweater that was by this Japanese artist she liked. I walked over to comment on how cute her pins were and we started talking. She's teaching middle school. I really should've asked for her name.

After signing my contract and handing in some paperwork I walked over to the hotel with Mr. Ueno. It's just a scant two blocks away from the office building, so I didn't care that I was only partially covered by Mr. Ueno's umbrella. Besides, I like the rain. And when you're as nervous/anxious/excited as I was, you couldn't give a damn about a little bit of water getting on your clothes.

After getting checked in, I went up to my room and dropped off my bags. Then, it was off to the Conbini (Convenience Store) conveniently located on the first floor. It is my friend. For dinner I got bottled cold green tea fried udon, which the lady behind the counter warmed up for me, and for breakfast I got soba, which I knew could be eaten cold, and orange juice. Might I say that after spending three hours with a rumbling tumbly, I had quite forgotten my hunger until I smelled my fried udon. Goodness, I couldn't get up to my room fast enough. XD I inhaled it while watching a Doctor Who episode.

After using one of those spiffy spray-your-bum-when-finished toilets (It's so weird, but actually feels kinda' nice), I took a wonderful shower and learned very quickly that hot water in Japan, at least in this hotel, comes out hot very quickly. There's a little sign that says Caution: Hot Water. They sincerely mean HOT water. It was damn near scalding. It's amazing! I wonder if my apartment will be like that. Probably not, but who knows?

The room also has a mini fridge, which you're free to use and I used freely, as well as a bag of green tea and a bag of houji-chan (roasted tea) along with a little tea cup. Not to mention a water heater, which you can fill with water from the sink in the bathroom because, omg there's a little sign too, the water from the sink is good enough to drink.

Oh, and who needs written instructions when every instruction has pictures? They seriously make everything idiot proof enough so that people who don't speak the language, or don't speak enough, really don't have much of a problem. Did I mention that the trains have English? At least in Tokyo and Yokohama. Seriously idiot proof. I love it.

And did I mention that the food from Conbinis is really good? Because it is.

Pre-flight Anxiety Sucks

3-22-2010

Location: Honolulu Airport - the Starbucks by my gate.
Weather: slightly overcast.
Feeling: like the weather.
Inhaling: a Venti Caramel Frappucino

If there’s one thing about catching a flight, I’m always nervous while I’m waiting. The drive to the airport is always the worst. Sitting here at the Starbucks has really helped calm my nerves, but my fingers are still shaking a little while I type. Honestly? This is scary. I’m going to, OMG, Japan. JAPAN. This has been my dream since high school. And to think, I’m going there to live for an entire year. Who knows? Maybe even longer?

This is intense. I’m totally afraid of soiling my pants in anticipation. This is ridiculous. Oh, and that Venti Caramel Frap I got? I’m down to the whipped cream and whatever is left of the skimpily added caramel sauce. I feel like I could run a mile. I probably should after all that sugar. Not to mention all the food I ate while I was here. I think I put on ten pounds. Daaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmnnnn.

Well, there’s one thing for sure. Watching the people walking by has calmed my nerves a bit. I mean, who can resist awwww-ing the little kids that have toddled by. Not to mention that ever single stewardess that has walked by is ridiculously pretty. The Japanese stewardesses all have these really colorful kerchiefs around their necks.

And I need to stop checking my watch every five minutes. I wonder if anyone sitting beside me or walking past and tell just how much I’m quivering. Maybe it’s the caffeine. PLEASE tell me I’ll be ok on this flight. I’m really regretting not putting those Stargate Atlantis episodes on here. Nothing makes me feel better than watching a Stargate episode. Atlantis helps the most because, well, Jason Momoa has got to be one of the hottest men alive. Not to mention, John Sheppard is really hot too. His eyes are, like, grey. How sexy is that?! Yup, just thinking about them is lifting my spirits. *swoons*

Damn, I just checked my watch again. If I’d thought of it sooner, I would’ve watched a Doctor Who episode instead of rambling on and on about how I felt. Who cares about feelings anyway? Lol.

Ok, let me go over what I need to do when I get to Japan. First, go through customs and all that jazz, and pick up my baggage. Find a courier and tell them I need my huge pieces of luggage sent to the hotel. Find the train I need to catch and buy the tickets. Call the company and tell them which train it is, then get on the train and go. Two whole hours of sitting and reading while anxiously checking my watch and straining to hear the right station I need to get off on. Meet the person who’s going to walk with me to the hotel. Walk to the hotel, check in, and try to relax. I should probably get some yen smaller than a thousand yen. I need some coins. Hopefully I can exchange my ten dollar bill for smaller bills and coins so I can make the phone call.

Hokay. 8:30. Time to use the bathroom one last time, walk the hundred feet to my gate, and hope that my carry on will fit in the overhead bin. If it doesn’t, I’m totally screwed. Not really, but that’s still how I feel. Lol.

Counting Down

Ok, guys. Between packing and pacing anxiously around my room whilst pondering whether or not to bring the yellow shirt of the green shirt, I'm counting down the days until I go. One problem is that I keep staying up late so I keep trying to fix my sleeping schedule. I'm hoping that tonight I go to bed at midnight by the latest. Pch. Like that's really going to happen, right?

One totally awesome thing I found out over the past two days is that Interac goes to my future apartment and gets my keys for me. Then, they're going to kidnap me from the hotel and ditch me at my apartment. XD The guy who helped me find my apartment has a great sense of humor and I hope to meet him when I get to Yokohama because he's so hilarious. And he uses Kaomoji, which is what the Japanese call Emoticons. lol. I always think it's really cute when an adult uses them, but the older I get, the more I become an adult and therefore defeats the purpose of me getting giddy over something as simple as a facial representation in text format.

But I digress.

My parents and I are going out to eat tonight so I'm bringing my camera to take pictures. Ack. I'm starting to get homesick already, and I haven't even left. It was one thing when I was in college, because I was only a train ride away from my parents. Now? Man... I'll be a whole ocean away. And it just had to be the Pacific Ocean. Don't know if you've looked at a globe lately, but it's a BIG ocean.

OH! I just realized I should write this down. Wii Fit Plus has an option to "Weight Your Pet". I'm going to use it to weigh my luggage. It's a lot easier than trying to look down at my feet on a scale. It's also a lot easier to do on my own, because I'm going to have EVERYTHING packed by Friday night. Anything I use after that... well, it'll stay behind. Yikes. That means I have to pack my laptop. TT^TT