Thursday, April 30, 2009

Things I Love

1. Food, drinks, snacks, chocolate, milk tea, and soft-serve ice cream! The food here is absolutely unbelievable! I have loved everything I have eaten...or rather everything but natto, lol! I have been eating an onigiri each day for breakfast. Lunch at the cafeteria is soo good! And very reasonable. Since fruit is pretty expensive here, I haven't been eating as much as I usually do. In order to control my junk food consumption, I only let myself eat snacks on the weekend. Delicious! Sembe, anpan, bread in general, snacky chips, and sweets. Omg. Love the chocolate here too! There is one kind that has an espresso/coffee flavor. Really yummy. Usually I am not into snacks and sweets, but it is a totally different story in Japan! Ice cream too! I have been calling it frozen yogurt because I always think ice cream is limited to the stuff that you scoop into balls. Apparently not. Lol, it made me feel more healthy tho..

2. SHOPPING! I love shopping here. Shibuya 109 (the all girls stuff mall) has to be my favorite. The stuff they sell here is so much more girly that you could ever find in the US. Really cute. There are just a ton ton of girls stores. You can pretty much buy whatever you want in any price range too. Harajuku is reasonable. Shibuya nicer, but more expensive. I still want to buy more dresses, jackets, and heels. It seems like I can justify any purchase here. I mean when would be my next chance to buy all these Japanese articles of clothing?! Lol, not a good mentality.

3. Tokyo weight-loss plan. I've heard a ton of stories of people who have lost weight and pant sizes while they were in Japan. I hoped it was true. I wish we had a scale in the dorm, but I am sure I have. My jeans are loose. Its perfect, no diet, no exercise, and you still get results. Pretty much the same line that every weight-loss infomercial uses! HAHA. Portion sizes are significantly smaller here. I know I probably eat half of what I would in the states. It doesn't even matter that I have karaage chicken sandwiches and all that ice cream! The walking probably also helps. I make myself take the stairs at school. I have class on the 6th floor in the morning and 5th after lunch. So I walk up at least 11 flights everyday.

4. No worries. Whenever I travel I am pretty much oblivious to everything in the news. It is bad in many respects, but at the same time it helps me enjoy what I am doing at that particular moment in time, in my life. While I have been here, I haven't worried about my future, what I'm going to do post graduation. I am not working. This is pretty much what vacations are like. I am relaxed, happy, and ready for what is coming next.

5. Nightlife. It is arguable that there are few other places in the world that are as happening as Tokyo. There are an infinate number of clubs, bars, izakayas, karaoke joints here. There are so many different places to go. Really. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ebisu, Roppongi, on and on. All are easily accessible via train and each is has a different character. Nomihoudai is by far the best Japanese invention ever. There is nothing more to say!

6. Cleanliness. I love how clean the streets and every public areas are. There is not graffiti on the trains, nor is there leftover garbage. People make an effort to be garbage courteous and it shows. There really is not trash blowing around or on the sidewalks. Really nice.

7. Service. I suppose this is part of the reason I like shopping too. Everyone working at the stores makes an extra effort to cater to the customers. Girls have held my stuff while I tried on jackets! I love how they wrap up everything that you buy, especially if it is a present. No gift wrapping necessary when you hand off the omiyage. So convenient and cute.

8. So much to do! I haven't had a lot of time to "play tourist" yet, so there is a lot I am looking forward to. Tokyo is so huge! Really just a huge variety of cultural, entertainment, and various things happening here. My friends and I have starting making a list of everything that is a must-do before we leave. We especially want to go to a sumo match, kabuki performance, etc. Haha I really want to try to take a cooking class or ikebana lessons too!

9. Japanese people. Everyone I have met here is so open and kind. I have heard some of the exchange students complain about how they were treated poorly by people in clubs or when they were shopping, but I really have not experienced that much yet. I have pretty much completely positive interactions with the people here. I have been every pleased. I do feel bad for people having to listen to my poor Japanese. I am an embarrassment to the motherland. Lol.

That's probably my top list for now. I will probably add on more later.

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