8 o'clock news. At 9.

And now for the latest news.

There has been no exciting things happening whatsoever during the week.

If I wrote that, well, then that'd be a lie. I'm trying to confuse you on purpose.

Gabriella and I have found a very local and very nice bar, which is located about a 10 second walk from out homes, and we have been there a few times this week, where we met some interesting local people, who have now become our friends.
There's Yoshi, who is the head of a Japanese Motorcycle gang, and who is a really funny guy.
There Akira the Bartender, who's all smiles. He keeps teaching us Japanese games, which are totally stuff he just makes up, but its hilarious.
There Poul (very japanese name), who may be a bit insane, but in a nice and hilarious way. Also, he speaks English, so he can translate for us, since most of the people there speaks little to none English.
And a bunch of other people, whose names I can't remember.

I haven't taken any pictures of the place or the people yet, as I haven't had my cam there. But I'll do it next time.


This thursday I went with Gabs, my new friend Alex from Canada, and my only Japanese friend (so far) Yuko to a bar, which had a special 1 day only 100YEN BEER deal. Which is stupidly cheap, as a ber on average is 400 yen. We got drunk and had a great time, and well... nothing interesting happened really, we jsut got drunk and had fun.


But ENOUGH of the drinking. This monday I am going to a job interview !!!!!! HUZZAH! It's about teaching English, so I guess thats good. And it's not too far away. I think. These trains keep surprising me.

The other day I got on a train which would supposedly take me where I wanted. It didn't. I was confused and infuriated, but eventlually found the correct train.


EVERYONE in Japan has at least 1 Umbrealla. its crazy. I don't think that any Japanese people have ever felt the rain on their face.They sell them everywhere as well. These are not allowed for children under 20 though, as they contain heavy amounts of sex and cocaine.


I got a rather weird surprise the other day. I was thirsty and went to a vending machine. Saw a bottle of cold lemon juice, ripe with delicious vitamin C. The following is my train of thought:

"Nice, cold lemon juice, ripe with delicious vitamin C. JUST what I, Jonas Münchow, could use at this very moment. Let's see, in goes the money, aaaand press the button.... and woosh, theres the bottle now! Great time to grab it, and open it, and pour the delicious contents into my mouth, so that I can quench this insatisfiable thirst for lemon and vitamin C that I have...... FUCK, SHIT, ARGH, what the HELL MAN? I burned my fingers! The bottle is scorching HOT! DAMN YOU JAPANESE VENDING MACHINES. DAMN YOU ALL TO HEEEEEELL!"

Note to self. Press the blue buttons on vending machines if you want cold drinks. It tasted great though, but it wasnt COLD, so it didn't help at all. My throat was still looking for something cold and refreshing to drink. Japan is weird and full of surprises.

Thats it for now. Wish me luck on monday!

drop a comment. :D

SO

The past few days have been good. As I still don't have a job (aargh), I am still taking it fairly easy. I have been hanging out with a couple of my new friends, and just going sightseeing and windowshopping. Oh and eating! So nothing that have really rocked my socks off.

Well, at least not until yesterday. Sakura House (the company trough which I have rented a room), invited us (the people who, trough Sakura House, have rented rooms) to attend an Expo, which is held yearly. It is an Expo where big Japanese Companies show off their latest Arcade technology, which is a VERY big deal in Japan. For those of you who are confused as to what an arcade is, it's like a pinball machine, or a streetfighter machine, where you put in some money, and then you can fight, or shoot or race for x minutes or until you run out of health. Great fun, but not very popluar outside of Japan. Except for on ferries. Ferries love arcades.


But yeah, we went there, and it was crazy! Thousands of people and SO MUCH NOISE. And yeah, we got to try some new games and look at, well, some really confusing machinary. The Japanese loved it, while us mortal Gaijins could just stand and watch and wonder what the hell was going on. But it was great fun!

Innovative technology: Konami has made an online arcade game, which is played with 3D GLASSES! We gave it a try, and it's fucking awesome. All I want for christmas is 3d computergames!

BOOTHBABES

The place was packed with various mascots for companys, so we regularly saw bears and dogs running around. Apart from promoting arcade games and machines, this expo was also used to promote companies like Hello Kitty and like 10 others, who mostly just deals in cuddlywuddly things and bunnyrabbits. Sadly, it's not only for children. We saw more teenagers (and a scary amount of them were guys) with their bags filled with KAWAII things, like cats and pink bears...

BUNNY!


These guys are scary...

Oh, and Sonic the Hedgehog! (and a mexican...)

To end this post, here is something that is consideres CUTE OVERLOAD (or, as everyone else in this country says - "aaaaaaaa kawaiiiiiiiiiii")

This cat-pillow is the only thing I have ever wanted to buy.

So yeah, that was a fun day! I am currently uploading videos to my youtube account, so you should be able to get an idea of the sensory-overload I suffered trough :P
http://www.youtube.com/user/Durontia

Oh, and I met a cool canadian guy that day. We are probably gonna hang out, but I think he may have given me a wrong email adress, as I havent heard from him. Oh well.

leave a comment :)
cheers

new update!

tomorrow.

edit: long day, too tired. It's gonna be a sunday-update instead. But BOY do I have something to tell!!


It's a rethorical question, to which my own answer would be, yeah. I DO have something to tell.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of a fat horse.

yay

today im going out to to meet a new friend for lunch and a cuppa coffee. I'm crossing my fingers and hope that he is not one of those Gay people I keep hearing about. Odds are he is, given that he replied to an online add I wrote, about me being lonely and looking for company in Japan. Maybe I should rephrase that? Hmmm.... guess I'll find out today.

Couldnt sleep last night, had something stuck in my eye, a hair or a grain of dust or a friggin thumbtack for all I care. 'Twas horrible, and I am bazonkered today. BUTT, I'll manage. Coffee is my friend, not my enemy. Besides, Banao is always there in the morning to cheer me on (maybe I am going crazy after all? I should talk to Zebes about this.)

Will let you know later how things turn out. I must leave, now, and NEVER come BACK!
Or, I probably will come back. Just have a stupid song stuck in my head. 15 bonuspoints to whoever figures out which one.


Feel free to leave a comment!

cheers

taking it easy

So, while I am still waiting for a proper job,I am just taking it easy. I began a workout programme called 100 Pushups, which, if I follow it to the end, will turn me into a superbeing that can do 100 pushups in a row. I figured, you know, I might as well, as I dont have many other activities to attend to for the time being.

The othder day I was supposed to go to a concert with Gabriella (hermione), but we got lost, and ended up going to a real Japanese restaurant. As none of could actually undertand the menu cards, we just pointed at random things and looked very serious, in order to fool the waiters into thinking that we actually understood what was going on.

We ended up with a lot of veeeeery nice food! The favourite was the Deepfried Battered Shrimp/Octopus balls, with shredded fish or krill on top. Very strange, but very VERY good. There were some salad and some shishkebobs and some meat as well, so it was all good. I didnt take any pictures though, as the thought didnt cross my mind.

Yesterday and today I've just been cleaning and washing and reading and watching movies and not really been doing anything. It's been nice and relaxing! Which, as most of you know, are 2 of my favourite things in the world.

Tomorrow is my first day on the job, as a private english teacher. I will teach the kid the difference between to Like something and to Not like something, as well as want/do not want. I'll be using colours and fruits. I'm gonna give a nursery rhyme a shot as well.
As I've never worked with kids before, this is gonna be interesting.

My only problem is that I will be travelling a train for 2½-3 hours back and forth, for a measly 1500yen (about 90kr). It is really rally not worth it, but I'll do it tomorrow, and then we'll see.

I have NO idea what this kid is trying to make me buy. What I DO know though, is that I have had nightmares ever since I first saw this billboard.

Cocoamilk with strawberry. Can not be recommended.

this guy

just got a job. It's a tiny job, but a job nonetheless.
Every Sunday I have to teach english to a 4year old kid, trough games and song. It doesn't pay a lot, like 1500yen + my transportation fees. But it's a beginning!!

If anyone (Queag) knows any good childrens games involving simple words, let me know. That'll be, anyone who ahs small sisters, or their own kids, or who has worked with kids. I need some ideas!!

Picture is related, it is me doing a happy dance. Wearing my "business" outfit. Can't find a jacket my size, so nice pants, nice shoes and a nice shirt with a nice tie must suffice. And if it aint good enough WELL THEN F YOU AND FIRE ME! Thats what I told the kid at least.

finally

FINALLY a new update. I haven't had my camera for the past 5 days, but now it's back!


So, what has happened since then. Well, for starters, I have finally made some friends.
I met a very nice Chinese woman calle Ling, who lives here in Tokyo with her New Zealandic boyfriend. She LOVES food, so we went to a lot of food markets around tokyo, and went eating at a nice cafe/restaurant



We had a very nice day, and I am going to go visit hwe one of these days, to cook and talk and have a nice time :)

Furthermore, I have made contact with a guy from Oregon, who lives close to me. I have not met him yet, but I am going to go watch him and his band play a concert this thursday.

Lastly, I have made friends with a Japanese girl called Satomi, with whom I went to town the other night. Karaoke and beer and Japanese people. Very good times :) She was the one who ended up with my camera, and I didnt meet her again until today, which is why this update is so late.


I have aquired myself a phone, finally!

As for the jobhunting, I am still searching furiously. Well, not furiously, but I'm searching. I'm am gonna give it until the end of next week before I start panicking.

Apart from these things, life is good. Japan is treating me nicely, and Spring is already showing its refreshing and heartwarming face. today we had 15 degres, and lots'o sun, so I went for a long walk trough Tokyo, and tried something DELICIOUS! I don't know how I have ever been able to eat anything else.
Crepes with cheesecake, white chocolate, whipped cream and strawberries.
SO, FRIGGIN, GOOOOOOOD. I am going back for more tomorrow. And they have like 50 different flavors to go with the cheesecake-crepe. Only in Japan.

I went and visited a 6-story KiddyLand (japanese toy's'r'u's), just to see what kind of madness I would find in a japanese toy-store. And madness I found. So much noise and so many bright flashy colours, I swear, if I was epileptic I wouldn't have survuved more than 5 minutes.
Funny thing is, there were more adults and teenagers (young teenagers, but teenagers nonetheless), than actual kids. Says something about the country, amirite?
I stumbled upon a pculiar fella, who goes by the name BANAO.
Of course I had to buy him and bring him home. What else than a banana with a face (actually 2. He "peels" using zippers, to show another smug face.) can be used to sum up Japan? Maybe pikachu, but he's soooooooo 1995-2009andmaybeeven2010. BANAO. Because Bananas have personalities too. In Japan.

I have been studying the kanji as well, and I know know around 35ish. It's hard, but practise makes perfect. As for my spoken Japanese, well, I don't get to train it a lot, but I keep picking up words and sentences, and I try and use them when I get the chance, and feel confident that I am gonna get it right. Which isn't as often as one could hope.


Tha's it for now. I'm off to search the internets for more jobs.

new videos on my 'yube. check it!
http://www.youtube.com/user/Durontia

soon

new updates will come soon. I forgot my camera at a new friends place, but ill get it tonight. So, upodate tomorrow.

akihabara

went to Akihabara again today, to just hang out and look around, maybe buy something sweet. Didnt find anything I wanted to buy though, but had a good day :) check my Youtube for some videos of one of the BEST stores I ever visited. Non-nerds may not get why it's so amazing, but nerds definately will :D

Nice weather today :)

February

I have a bunch of applications out now, and every 2nd-3rd day I'm sending out new ones. I'll find something to work with, within a few weeks. I'm not gonna say "hopefully", as I'm a positivitist (whats the real word....). I'm just gonna assume something shows up :)


Yesterday I went to Shibuya, which is a big shoppiong district in Tokyo. I bought some "Leaning Japanese" books, so I can study this far out language. One of them is a Kanji book, which, when I finish t eventually, will teach me the first 500 Kanji characters.
Shibuya is fairly famous, as far as I know, because of its "main square", which I will upload pictures and videos of.

It rained. This is the square as seen from Starbucks. Everyone crosses in all directions, and it looks cool, coz there are SO many people...

For those of you who has no dea what I'm talking about, the Japanese language has three "alphabets". Hiragana, which is used for japanese words and names, Katakana, which is used for foreign words ie. loanwords from English, as well as foreign names, and lastly theres the Kanji, which is borrowed from Chinese. They are used for nouns, where each characters is a word. There are more than 50.000 (!!!) Kanji. When you know the first 2100, you are able to read a Japanese newspaper. Yikes.

I bought a manga as well, which is about Buddha and Jesus living together :P It's pretty funny, even when I don't understand 93% of it :P



Nothing exciting planned for the next few days. I have finally aquired all the things I needed to aquire, apart forma mobilephone, so now I can finally go easy on the money, and not worry about having to go out and buy shit. So, Iam just gonna study, hang out with Emma Watson, maybe go to town and look around. Just taking it easy :)



oh yeah, and we had snow yesterday evening. Luckily its allready gone.