ななころびやおき。

So yesterday I spent my first day as a bumblebee. This will continue on Monday and throughout the week for our Halloween parties...actually, it was pretty fun. I have this one reallllllly bad class of four boys who act up any chance they get, but with no actual lessons yesterday, we just played games and shot paper airplanes at each other. They definitely won that game. Unless of course you consider winning equivalent to cowering behind the table and attempting to defend myself in vain...in which case, I kicked their asses. It was fun actually...next week I can go back to really disliking that class.

My Japanese is improving, and I can actually read now! wow! I'm no longer totally illiterate! I'm still desperately trying to work on a few other things, such as shedding some pounds (which is happening but it's happening slowly)...and also trying to hone my photography skills. I think about buying manual film cameras a lot...and a DSLR. But enough about that.

My life has been so busy and amazing. Every spare moment off I grab by the horns and do things, with the exception of right now in which I'm enjoying a rare Saturday holiday off from work. When I start to talk about my life I sometimes draw a blank...why is that? Shit is happening all the time, everyday. Life is extraordinary and interesting right now, and I think that sometimes it's hard to put that into the right words. In short, I am becoming more and more myself everyday.

Lots of events coming up in the following week: possibly Kamakura tomorrow, as well as Kyoto on Thursday/Friday I think. And Melody comes to Japan in only 2 short months! I'm thinking I'll take her to Hakone to see Mt. Fuji at some point, and of course my favorite neighborhoods in Tokyo, which I should mention....Shimokitazawa, Koenji, and Kichijoji. These areas are not the big and brightly lit areas of Tokyo such as Shinjuku and Shibuya...they have these little vintage shops and pedestrian only streets that really remind you of where you are and how people live. Also, because all these areas are fairly young and trendy, they make for some excellent people watching...even if you're not into fashion, it's hard not to notice how well-dressed people are here.
Kichijoji contains a park which I love dearly, and every time I think of it I want to hop on a train and go there immediately. In fact, maybe I'll do so. Shimokitazawa is the coolest place in Tokyo, I think, and absolutely packed with things to do along narrow and traditional little roads. All of this is so difficult to explain, really. You just need to be here.

I have been thinking about the outdoors a lot and really want to go camping here. On my days off, I mostly just want to walk around a park or be near nature...which is actually quite easy to do, even in Tokyo. I think that is what makes Tokyo such an amazing city: the duality of new and traditional, of industrial and organic. It's all here and in perfect balance.

There are so many places to go and see for me still, and Nathalie got me thinking a bit more of this Trans-Siberian/Mongolian railway adventure that's been in the back of my head for awhile. I mean, when else am I going to do all of this exploring? Carpe diem, I say. A lot to think about there.

It's getting better all the time.