Dec 31, 2012

2012 in Review

Here it is, the last day of 2012!  I've been spending it back home in the States which has been nice, and will have an update about all the going-ons later.  Right now I'm going to take a look back at what all has happened this past crazy year.  In all honesty it was kind of a crappy year, but I can't complain too much- I have my health and a job and money to buy food and clothes and do things I like.  And the world did not end which means there is a chance to have a better year this time around.

*Rang in the New Year with the besties, S and J, at Meiji Shrine!
*Went snowboarding for the first time and loved it!  
*Lost my Grandma O, my baby girl Arctic, and my sister's kitty Diesel; and found out my aunt has cancer and had to have her leg amputated.
*Took a couple trips to Kansai with my friends.
*Acquired my Roomie!
*Celebrated my and Roomie's birthday at Tokyo Disneyland.  :D
*Watched the solar eclipse.
*Started a shitty second job (aka Other Job).
*Had to say goodbye to my first "baby", R-kun.
*Got to spend some time with my aunt, my cousin and his family at the base in Kanagawa.
*Climbed Mt. Takao, and got to go to a K-pop concert and meet the band!
*Celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving with some good friends.  :)
*Got to come back to the US to spend Christmas and New Years with my friends and family, and got to see my older sister and my nephew for the first time in almost 2 years!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year, and many good times in 2013!

Dec 8, 2012

November

Well, a month has passed in the blink of an eye and I haven't written anything about it!  Let's see what I can remember..

-November 4th:  Roomie and I took an excursion to 菓子屋横丁 (Kashiya Yokocho- Candy Alley) after watching a special about it on TV.  Took a bit of an unintentional detour on the way there and ended up walking a ways through some really peaceful countryside.





-November 11th:  Roomie and I met up with S and our other uni friend Ku in Tokyo for some amazingly delicious Chicago style pizza at a place called DevilCraft in Kanda.  It was drizzly that day and the shoes I wore had a hole in the sole of one of them so my foot got completely soaked, but I'd like to say that the pizza and good company made up for it.

-November 13th:  Had a date of sorts in Yokohama.  Had some breakfast (omelets and pancakes) for dinner, checked out the Chinatown and did some palm reading (of which I just observed), and took a ride on the Cosmo Clock 21.  Fun times!




-November 23rd-25th:  Three-day weekend!  The 23rd was a holiday- 勤労感謝の日 (Kinrou Kansha no Hi; aka Japanese Labor Day)- which just so happens to fall right after Thanksgiving in America, so Roomie and I decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner at our place.  We invited S, J, C-chan, and Sushi-kins.  Sadly J could not make it, though he did join us for a bit through Skype, and S brought her boy along.  Food and wine and shenanigans were had.
 


  
 

-December 1st:  I accompanied a coworker from my Other Job to watch the filming of an NHK program called Cool Japan, at Kanagawa University.  It was interesting, though quite a long time to be sitting in a hot auditorium with lights blaring in your eyes.  We ended up on the same train as a group of the people that appeared on the show and had a nice chat with them, during which I was asked again (3rd time in my life) if I'm British because of my "accent".  Irish, more specifically.  Which I am but I'm born and raised American and have sadly never even been to Ireland.  Someday, though.

-December 2nd:  The JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test), Level 2!  I feel very confident about the listening part- it was deceivingly easy.  The kanji/vocab/grammar/reading comprehension part though.. I'm pretty apprehensive about.  Have to wait for nearly 3 months to find out the results.  Thanks guys, for making the wait excruciatingly long!

Now, less than 2 weeks until I'm on a plane back to the States for my winter vacation.  It's crazy to think about, I've been gone for so long!  Granted I did go back for a few days in February, but that was a rather miserable time and it all happened so quickly it felt like I wasn't even there.  I'll get to see my older sister and nephew for the first time in almost 2 years as well, very excited about that!  It's nice to think about going back to enjoy some time with my family and friends this time.  And of course all the food I've been missing too.

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