ex libris.

ex libris.

Brenna.

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Dear Diary,

[May. 1st, 2009|06:30 pm]

[

where in the world is...

tokyo, japan.

]

I`m in Tokyo now, for a wee holiday. We arrived amongst the bright lights on Tuesday; already we`ve spent a day exploring Shinjuku and its beautiful garden, shopped in Shibuya and Harajuku, sipped cocktails on the 52nd floor overlooking Roppongi, taken a boat ride down the river from Asakusa, gone antiquing in Ginza, and spent a very early morning at the magnificent Tsukiji fish market. We`ve eaten Spanish food, Thai food, Chinese food, French food, and of course, Japanese food- I finally ate at a sushi restaurant although I`ve lived in Japan for nine months now (I normally buy all of my sushi from the grocery store!).

Tokyo is what I imagined it to be: sleek, shiny, bright, busy. I`m really enjoying it, although it`s almost too much to take in on one trip. We still have more to do before returning home, to Osaka, passing Mt. Fuji as we go. And on Tuesday, it`s off to Koyasan...

link

Dear Diary,

[Apr. 8th, 2009|10:43 pm]

[

where in the world is...

osaka, japan.

]

OK, so, um, before I came to Japan, I thought these things were kind of lame. "What is the fun in this?", I thought.

And then I tried it.

And I realized how wrong I had been.

How very, very wrong.

( PURIKURA!!!!!!!!!! )

link

21 comments.|comment?

Dear Diary,

[Mar. 3rd, 2009|01:53 am]

[	where in the world is...	\|	osaka, japan.	]
[	music:	\|	wanda jackson.	]

Life has been so busy lately that I've barely had time to go on the internet at all, let alone do any major updates! The days have consisted of six days a week of teaching, chocolate fondue, nabe parties, tickets for sumo and Duffy, ridiculously good books (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, please read it), insane amounts of purikura, cherry blossoms, and 30 Rock marathons. I might even join a band! I know I've said this a million times before, but life is really, really good. Life is really, really good IN JAPAN. I love it here.

Recently, going through some of the 20,000 photos I've taken in the past three years (I've printed exactly thirteen of them, not good), I noticed a lot of trends. For example, I take a lot of photos of food. I also take a lot of photos of my feet. I really wish that I had consciously realized this trend years ago, so that I could have taken photos of my feet in all the different places I've been. I'm sure I'll make a point of it from now on, of course, but for now, here's what I've got.

( For I've walked a thousand miles in these shoes... )

link

25 comments.|comment?

Dear Diary,

[Jan. 18th, 2009|11:08 pm]

[	where in the world is...	\|	osaka, japan.	]
[	music:	\|	frida hyvonen.	]

And now it's the new year. My only new year's resolution? Don't make mountains out of molehills. I've already failed. Twice.

2008 started in Edinburgh with a bang (literally, I was there for Hogmanay), where I would spend the next six or seven months, traipsing about from café to coffeeshop, reading this and that, consuming far too much fish and chips, gooseberry fool, and even a deep-fried Mars bar. There was some travelling, too, of course; travels close to home, to Glasgow, Inverness, Stirling, the Isle of Skye. Travels that took me far away, as well: to Northern Ireland, Wales, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Malta, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Canada, America, Japan, and New Zealand. I made many new friends, read a lot of good books, found a job that I absolutely love, took approximately 7000 photographs, watched as many movies as I could, started to learn a new language, fell even more in love, experienced two earthquakes and one giant hailstorm. I rode 42 airplanes (my global footprint is one of a giant). I had three different telephone numbers (country codes 1, 44, 81). All in all, it was a great year.

That being said, I'm grossly behind in my photo updates. Perhaps I should make a new resolution...

( Lagos, Portugal )

link

16 comments.|comment?

Dear Diary,

[Dec. 31st, 2008|06:05 pm]

[

where in the world is...

queenstown, new zealand.

]

I'm here in Queenstown, New Zealand, after an amazing Christmas week in Christchurch and another four days of driving around the south island. It's been so wonderful to finally meet David's family and friends and to finally see where he grew up! It's also so beautiful here: fields of sheep and huge snowy mountains and crashing waves on rocky beaches. I've had much too much ginger beer and red wine and even got a bit of a tan. Today we went jetboating on the Shotover River and I screamed and screamed and got soaking wet. It's been a lovely holiday so far...

Back to Christchurch tomorrow, and then a week of skydiving and whale watching and lots and lots of lounging around...

link

Dear Diary,

[Dec. 20th, 2008|12:13 am]

[	where in the world is...	\|	osaka, japan.	]
[	music:	\|	nothing; David is reading beside me.	]

I haven't even written anything in December yet? Where have the days gone? Life has been a whirlwind of Christmas shopping, bike riding, English teaching, persimmon eating, Murakami reading, vacation planning, happy-go-lucky, smiles ear-to-ear, all kinds of fun. I leave for New Zealand in less than 48 hours; I'll try and do a photo post from there once I'm settled in. We're there for almost three weeks, after all!

But Japan, Japan, you'll definitely have me back. How strange it is, this year, for Christmas: I'm in New Zealand, my father and brother are in Canada, my mother is in Bolivia, my sister's in Israel. We're one crazy family, I think.

In case I don't update before then, have a very Merry Christmas. These days leading up to the 25th have felt bizarre, what with no tree and no tobogganing and no snow, no snow! It felt even more bizarre to pack sundresses and a bathing suit; I've never had a summer Christmas before...

link

Dear Diary,

[Nov. 26th, 2008|09:50 pm]

[	where in the world is...	\|	osaka, japan.	]
[	music:	\|	johnny cash.	]

It's hard to imagine that I'll be in New Zealand in just over three weeks. I feel like I have barely batted an eye and three months in Japan has flown past! I never could have imagined that I would like it this much; rather, I never could have imagined that I would like teaching this much. It's such a strange and exhilarating feeling to love doing something and to be paid for it. I've never felt that way before, with the exception of occasional shifts at the confectionery when Natalie and I would dance around to pop music and eat too much Turkish Delight.

I digress.

I've been doing a lot of Christmas shopping, trying to find odd bits and bobs to send to my family and to give to David: a radio in the shape of a monkey, a talking watch, delicious teas, calligraphy pens, Japanese rockabilly records, personalized hanko stamps, even dried squid tentacles (they're a popular "junk food" snack here). I still need to buy presents for David's family, as we'll be with them on Christmas day! It will be my first "summer" Christmas, with sand and sun instead of snow.

Again, I digress.

( And there was Sintra... )

And now a question: what kind of camera should I get? I am debating whether or not to buy an SLR before going to New Zealand. I couldn't get anything too pricey, but I think that I can take better photos. I've had my little 6.0 megapixel Canon for about three years, and I'm itching for a change. What do you recommend and why?

link

13 comments.|comment?

Dear Diary,

[Nov. 20th, 2008|03:09 pm]

[	where in the world is...	\|	osaka, japan.	]
[	music:	\|	bo diddley.	]

Bratislava, Slovakia 2006

Sometimes it amazes me that I am paid to do the things that I do: run around with adorable kids, chat about bean-throwing ceremonies with teenagers, discuss corporal punishment with a group of adults, go to a cocktail party and mingle with Japanese teachers. I've been working for almost ten years and this is the best job I've ever had.

This weekend I'm going to Kyoto to see the changing leaves and to sip hot green tea. I'm also having my first meeting with the writing club I created; we're meeting at my favourite café to discuss Marquez and Queneau. As the nights are getting colder and colder, I spend most evenings cooking, reading, hiding under the duvet, and re-watching The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus again and again. Life is quiet and calm right now, but the most fulfilling it has been in years.

link

Dear Diary,

[Nov. 5th, 2008|10:28 pm]

[	where in the world is...	\|	osaka, japan.	]
[	music:	\|	amalia rodrigues.	]

Life in Osaka is relaxing and luxurious: too much Qoo and green apple soda, Françoise Hardy and Tom Waits, hand-feeding deer, new onsen powder that makes my bathwater orange, wonderful energetic eager motivated intelligent students, scenic train rides out to Kobe, studying Japanese, the changing leaves in Nara, watching old men practice calligraphy, becoming regulars at our favourite noodle house and favourite 280 Yen restaurant, receiving letters from Korea, America, England and Canada, phone calls from Israel, long bike rides, researching my future Masters degree in New Zealand, reading all the Japanese fiction I can find.

Though I'm always planning my next trip, always dreaming of some crazy adventure, it's nice to feel settled in Japan and enthusiastic about my job as a teacher. It's nice to feel that I don't have to travel to far-off lands to feel rejuvenated and happy; the wanderlust is still there, definitely, but it's not tugging at me so aggressively, the way it used to do in Canada and even in Scotland. For once in my life, the thought of stagnancy is reassuring and exciting.

All of that being said, I can't help but look at these photos of Lisbon and ache to see it again, ache to walk the cobblestoned streets of Baixa, to sip strong espresso in Bairro Alto, to smell the sea, to purchase kumquats and salted fish in the market, to stand in some tiny crowded bar listening to Fado singers, people and port wine alike sloshing out into the streets.

( Lisboa, Portugal )

link

22 comments.|comment?

Dear Diary,

[Oct. 20th, 2008|10:34 pm]

[	where in the world is...	\|	osaka, japan.	]
[	music:	\|	tom waits.	]

I bought a bicycle and named her Peggy Sue; David and I go for long bike rides around Osaka, stopping to gaze in pachinko parlour windows and to wander the aisles in foreign food stores. I have finally found cheap croissants and cheese and peanut butter, though we still eat almost everything with chopsticks. Tonight I was riding around on my bike listening to old Halifax rock and roll, it was so surreal; I ran into my friends Dan and Geoff and Alice and it hit me that this is my home, that this is now the sort of place I run into people while out and then drink a 280 Yen beer with. I still get lost and I still have only five sentences of Japanese to rely on and I still make cultural mistakes all the time (I made a big one today that I can't get out of my head) but every day is different and exciting, every day I meet new people, every day I do something I have never done before. I spent the weekend drinking cheap sake from vending machines, shopping for antique earrings and wool scarves in Ame-Mura, reading That Summer in Paris, taking photos with Goth Lolitas in Shinsaibashi, riding on my bike for hours and hours. Next weekend we are going to Nara to visit a temple and feed deer in the park; tomorrow I am off to Kobe to teach, though I am hoping to get some time to wander around for a while, too.

Japan, Japan, you're really, truly feeling like home. It's been two months and I'm officially in love.

( Seven More Photos. )

link

40 comments.|comment?

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