Home and back again…

Hi everyone! It’s been a long time. I hope you all had a Happy Christmas and New Year!

Christmas was a lot bigger in Japan than I thought it would be. Like back home, it’s became a retail opportunity, with the shops full of decorations and gifts. I spent the last ten minutes of every lesson teaching about Christmas, and then for our last week, held parties. It was a tiring time, because I had to think up of a lot of different games and activities for all the different levels (from ages 4 to 14). I was glad when the week was over, and could head back home.

The weekend before I finished up, I went to Tokyo for my friend Mi’s birthday. There was also a lolita meet up. It rained as usual and everyone was running late- it was just one of those days. After some shopping we headed to Christie cafe where I had some lovely cinnamon toast and tea. We did a secret Santa which was really fun- I got a cute pirate arpakasso and cow plush and a pink ring.

I wore my Antique Clock coord, which I’ve been dying to wear for a while. I love the mint and brown colorway!

Afterwards we took pictures and did some more shopping. I bought the AP Cinema Doll ring, which I’d had my eye on for a while! We had to leave soon after because we had to check in to the hotel. Hopefully I’ll get to spend the full day with the girls next time!

We got a great group photo!

We got changed and met Mi’s friend R for dinner- but as it was a Sat night, everywhere was full. We ended up eating in the karaoke and the food was good.

I finally got to visit Roppongi, the well known clubbing area of Tokyo. As I’ve mentioned before, Japanese youngsters aren’t as club crazy as we are back home, so it’s difficult to find a club. Roppongi is luckily club packed, though most of them are small, and all of them play Western music. It was so busy that after an hour in a club we would hop to the next one. Luckily some of the clubs were free entry for girls so it wasn’t as expensive as I’d dreaded! The big difference in Japan is smoking is allowed- it’s not as noticeable as it was back home before the ban, but you tend to leave the club smelling of smoke.

We were drawing a lot of attention, as always being gaijin girls, though it helped we had a Japanese guy with us. At one point, some Japanese guys got chatting to me. It’s hard enough to converse with guys in a club back home over the loud music, never mind in a club in Roppongi where you barely speak the language. Some how I got by and had a good night, despite some eejit trying to set me up with everyone of his pals. (Finally I told him if he wanted them to pull that bad, he should do it himself. To his credit, he did. Though they were right in front of my face, which was a bit freaky!)

We called it a night about 3ish, and headed back to the hotel. There was a handy combini below, so I got some food before crashing into bed.

The next day was my first wandering about Tokyo myself. I did quite well for a few hours, until it came to locating my locker again in Shinjuku station, which is HUGE. I knew exactly where my locker was, I just couldn’t seem to get to it, the way the gates worked out. Finally after a bit of googling, I worked it out and headed home. I finally got a Suica card, which is like a prepaid pass for the train. It’s handy because you can charge it up with money and swipe it through the gates. It saves fiddling for coins and trying to work out your fare every step of the way.

Finally it came time to head home for Christmas! I was super excited, but not so thrilled about the journey awaiting me. I never thought about it, but it was stupid to book a night flight. I tried to have a long lie, but only managed until 10.30am. My boss picked me up at 1pm for my bus, which took about 3 hours to the airport. It was nice to see other parts of Japan, because the first time I took the bus I was out of it!

I arrived at the airport with hours to kill, to got a few last minute Christmas presents, and a cute diary for myself. The queue to check in took ages. By the time I got something to eat, I felt tired, which was not good as I still had such a long journey ahead of me.

I was happy to get a aisle seat for my first flight, the 12 hour trip from Tokyo to Dubai. I passed time watching Disney movies. The guy next to me was an older gent in a full suit reading a newspaper. However, when the drink cart came, it became obvious he was going to milk Emirates for all they were worth. Throughout the long flight, he continued to order red and white wine, punctuating breaks with beer in between. Of course, he had to get up to the toilet every minute, making me move for him without even a thanks. Even the guy opposite me was getting annoyed at his antics. Soon he was sitting, listening to Elvis, dancing in his seat. Just as well I can’t sleep on planes anyway, because I wouldn’t have gotten a wink.

The 2nd flight was better. The plane was full of Scots, and it was nice to hear the accent after so long. Although tired, I still couldn’t sleep, too excited to see my family.

I won’t go into all the details, but I had a great two weeks back home. We had a lovely, family Christmas, and I spent a great New Years Eve with my girls. I got to see many friends and had far too many nights out!

It was harder leaving my family this time, than the first. I think maybe because I was so excited the first time around, to start my adventure. This time, I knew what I was coming back to, and even though I know I’m lucky to have this chance to live in Japan, it was hard leaving my family behind.

My flights back to Japan were thankfully shorter due to a tail wind. I got talking to a guy on the first flight so that helped pass time. My boss was pleased to see me and I was happy to crawl into bed. Not too happy that I had work the next day, but I knew that had to be done in order for me to have Christmas with my family.

Unfortunately the lack of rest meant my jet lag was horrific. I’ve never had it that bad before- my appetite disappeared, my sleeping pattern was whacked and I felt like bursting into tears every few minutes.

The weekend couldn’t come fast enough, and although I planned to rest up, it didn’t quite work out that way. My friend Steve’s birthday was on the Friday night, so after work I got a lift with Chris and we met them all at the karaoke. I’m glad I went- even though I didn’t drink, I had a good time with a good bunch of people. It helped take my mind off home.

Group photo at karaoke!

I was working the next day to make up for the classes I had missed due to my holiday, but it went better than I expected. I rewarded myself by heading to the cinema to check out the new Hunter x Hunter film, an anime I’ve been following for a while. The manga-ka who created it is one of my favourites, so it was a big deal for me to get to see the film the first day it was out. I got a free copy of Kurapika’s one shot with my ticket, which was a nice surprise! The film was great, and I’ve posted a review on tumblr- will try and make a you tube one tomorrow.

It’s surprisingly been a lot colder here than it was in Glasgow. I had quite a few bags, and after getting the bus then train was pretty tired as I walked home. I must have zoned out because suddenly there was a car crawling along side me, the window down and the guy talking to me. I took out my ipod and asked him to repeat, thinking he was maybe asking for directions (which happens to me, even though I’m a gaijin!).

I couldn’t recognise what he was saying, so I just shook my head and apologised. To my shock, he gestured for me to get in the car. I shook my head again and walked off, but he followed me, driving slowly beside me, still talking to me. Spooked, I quickly crossed the road and cut down an alley he couldn’t follow, which takes me to my apartment. Looking back, I’m not sure if he meant harm or not, but it was a freaky experience!

The next day I met Mi in Takasaki for a lolita and shopping day. The weather was lovely, so mild and the sky a clear blue, it almost felt like May! We were both wearing strawberry prints too, which made it more summery!

Mi had my Cinema Doll coord that’d she had helped me order on mbok, so I was a very happy bunny. We went to Vivre, the big shopping centre. It certainly seems that all the cute boys in Gunma live in Takasaki! >.<;

After some food, we went to Tower records, where I got the special edition of the Rurouni Kenshin DVD (first film I saw in Japan) and SNSD’s Seohyun ver of their new album I got a boy. Both were good prices, so I was really pleased! We headed back to Vivre, and went into Liz Lisa, a really popular brand here. It’s very Japanese, almost casual Lolita, with cute styles and colours. I ended up buying a Lucky Pack for 5,000 Yen (£45) which had over 20,000 Yen worth of stuff! Including a cream handbag, brown tartan playsuit, cream cardigan and sweater.

Just as we were heading home, we passed the Takasaki illuminations. It was the last day and we were lucky to see them! There were lots of Christmas trees, snowflakes and for some reason, dolphins! Lots of people wanted pictures of us because we were in Lolita, which was cute!

We changed out of our Lolita into normal clothes and got the train to Kiryu, where M lives and where the foreigners bar, Global Lounge is, that I’ve been to before. M went to dump her stuff, and I was first to arrive. It was bitter cold out, and the staff were nice enough to offer me a blanket.

The others arrived, and the bar suddenly went from empty from full! There was a large group of us, maybe ten or so. It was a good laugh, and I talked to lots of interesting people!

The next day it snowed, which I hadn’t believed would happen, despite everyone saying so. It came down quite fast, but it was much thicker in parts of Japan like Tokyo.

Thursday night was Trent’s birthday, so after work we went for some sushi. Despite looking for a cheaper 100 Yen place, we ended up in a more authentic restaurant, due to the lack of choice in our little town. But it was a happy accident, because the owner and his wife were lovely. I’m still not a massive fish fan, but I enjoyed it, and they even gave us it for so cheap because we were gaijin. We ended up staying for over three hours, because the owner was so sweet and so knowledgeable. He showed us the proper way to eat sushi (dip only the fish part in soy sauce, eat it in one without chopsticks, making the fish part touch your tongue first). It was a great experience of real Japan than not many gaijin get to see.

This weekend I’m taking it easy, because I’m super tired. I think it’s been over a month now since I’ve had a lazy weekend, so I plan to make the most of it!

Tags: Tokyo Christmas New Year Japan shopping Lolita Takasaki