Oh, The Hassles of Living Alone

Warning: this is a rant post

I honestly did not expect that living alone would be this overwhelming. Whew! It's like every day I need to worry about what every other mother in this planet is worrying about, minus the kids. I never thought it would be this difficult to maintain a home, let alone one half of a dormitory room. Maybe I'm just a control freak or just too concerned in being organized, but surely a life like this ain't easy to handle.

Don't get me wrong-- I love Japan. I love how when I go out it's all breezy, cool and sunshine-y at the same time. I love how the people wait for the pedestrian stop light to turn green before they cross the street even if there are no cars. I love how bikers are reckless in the side walks. I love it when I speak English to the Japanese they still answer in Japanese. I love how they have extra nice toilets in school.

Probably this tired feeling from doing all the house chores like doing the laundry, washing the dishes, doing the vacuuming can occur to anyone anywhere living alone for the first time. And yes, I'm one of those lucky ones!

Part of that of course is the hassles of cooking. Cooking is not for me. It's etched in the palm of my hand. During nights when I feel like treating myself, I go for a take-out and man I say to myself, "food really should be delicious". And oh last weekend I've tried ironing. I did not burn any of my clothes, bow.

Most importantly, no one wakes me up in the morning. I'm so annoyed at my alarm clock I would love to throw it on the wall, but then I realized I shouldn't do that because my body clock is pretty messed up. In Manila, the only alarm clock that works for me is a human being nagging me to get up.

I will enjoy this. I should!

Log #1829

I now understand what people mean by "it's so cold outside we better stay in". It's really darn cold, a 3-layer top was not enough. The moment I stepped out of the dorm I told myself that it was a mistake to not bring that other jacket. Last week it was hotter here that in is in Manila, and the weather suddenly took a hundred and eighty degree turn. I don't usually write about the weather until it bothers me. Autumn is on!

And because it's cold and fuzzy, I've been taking more naps these days. It's all good. The room is cold even without air conditioning and it makes for a nice environment for out-of-this-world dreams. I've been having hilarious dreams lately I can't even recall what they are. I just remember they're really funny that I want to live in them.

In other news, I have four periods of classes tomorrow and my first class begins at first period which means I have to be up by 7 (to take a bath, cook breakfast, get my school wear ironed and so on) so it's time for another sweet slumber. Good night and have fun dreaming!

One Rainy Day in Harajuku

Handsome

What makes him handsome is not the way he looks but the way he thinks.

To Wait

Last night at around four in the morning, I checked out Adam Young's blog page and saw a new entry. I decided to sleep away and save the reading for tomorrow (which was today) because even if I haven't read the post yet, I knew it was something worth it to wake up to. There's no other stranger in this planet that inspires me like Adam Young does, and I can say that over and over again. I hope he would never grow tired of writing.

On his recent post about airports, delayed flights and hotel rooms, he writes about the beauty of the here and now. Again, he hits the point spot on. It's never easy to wait, but waiting is one of the most beautiful things in the world. We wait in queue for our turn to the dentist, wives of US Army men wait for their husbands to come home, children wait for Christmas. In waiting, we slow things down. In waiting, we enjoy both what we do and don't have.

Similarly, in the SILS Opening Ceremony yesterday, Dean (Professor) Morita in his opening speech said that the world can be measured using distance or time. The distance between here to there never changes, but the time it takes for us to reach point A to point B shortens as technology advances. Ergo, the world is not shrinking in geography, but it is getting smaller with respect to the time dimension.

Both inspiring encounters make for the conclusion that: it's beautiful to wait, but man, in his impatience, has made it possible to wait for a shorter time. I guess that is a reasonable compromise. We have availed ourselves of the chance to feed our impatience but at the same time not skip the opportunity to wait.

I sort of believe that everything in life is polar. There are always two extremes: rewind and fast forward, introvert and extrovert, liberal and conservative, love and hate, fast and slow. Nothing though, would be as great as some good old compromise. It isn't exactly mediocrity. I'd hate to quote Hannah Montana but it's like the best of both worlds.

To The Sky

My dose of inspiration for tonight. :)

School and Everywhere Else

I wake up every morning to people with eyeliners! Every girl in Tokyo wears eyeliners and mascara like crazy.

Our school has its custom made lamposts around campus!

Here's where I walk to school. It makes me think I might just meet Edward Cullen.

That's the building for my program-- School of International Liberal Studies or SILS.

Yesterday we rode a train from the busiest train station in the world, the Shinjuku Station.

And of course, I had to try the Jap version of my most favorite meal in the world!

Nihon Des!

Yesterday while boarding the Narita Express from Narita to Tokyo, I found it ridiculous that I didn't know how to use the locker system for luggage in the train. I had to ask some locals for the proper way to use it. The Japanese are indeed advanced in technology, and a girl from the third world barely knew how to keep up! I also got lost when I arrived in the Shinjuku platform. There were so many exits!

From the more rural part of Japan I traveled alone to the city, with Life in Technicolor and 42 playing on the background. It felt like I was inside a music video, and I tried to take it all in. What's a girl got to do? A week ago (and for almost 3 years in college) there was nothing to think about but deadlines and exams, and all so suddenly they are gone like balloons in the sky. The scene was all so surreal and mind-blowing altogether, it was just like yesteryear that I imagined it to happen.

Today, all the many international students met up for an orientation. They gave away packets full of how to's, rule books, things we needed to do just before classes start next next week.

And then we went out for a campus tour here at Waseda. The school is very pretty. There were pine trees and conifers around!

The architecture looks more European than Japanese to me. I just can't quite figure out how it is possible that almost all trees here are trimmed very well.

I am also beginning to converse in Nihongo. Compared to the other international students, my Japanese could be considered very very basic. But it's such a fulfillment when people sort of understand what I'm trying to say.

What is "to miss"?

The past week has just been so overwhelming. There were so many emotions to deal with, I barely know how I was able to keep up. There was school, and then there was life.

Thanks to all my friends who threw "surprise" (and not surprise) despididas for me! You were so good at them, I never saw them coming. Haha! (Sorry Edboard, wala pala tayong picture huhuhu!)

I never received so much letters in my life. And I really love letters! So thank you. And thank you again.

I've made several promises to several people and they all sum up to: magpapakabait ako. Don't worry, I will be a good girl.

How lucky am I to find people who are hard to say goodbye to? Let's not miss each other! That's because we will all still keep in touch.

Lots of hugs,

Danne

This Post Is Not Value-adding

I've always been fascinated to meet people who have the same music taste as mine, probably because sometimes I find my choice of sound really irrational. I don't even know why I like what I like, it just feels good deep inside. Most of the lyrics don't even make sense. And probably it would take me to meet 700,000 people before I find that one person whom I could musically relate to.

And it's the same with probably many areas in life.

1. I've noticed that it takes me so much time to build friendships with people.

2. It's rare that I find someone whom I can talk to for hours.

Very random things I think of when I'm supposed to be studying.

Music Makes The People

For the past 5 minutes I've been refreshing the torrent download page for Coldplay's discography. As soon as I knew that I would not be allowed to download music for the next 4 seasons, I started scribbling names of bands, albums and artists in my journal, with the list heading "SONGS I NEED TO DOWNLOAD BEFORE I LEAVE". I just can't imagine life without downloads. Huhuhu. I'm attempting to stack up for my music reservoir just like mothers panic buy on tornado days. No torrents mean no movie downloads, no Glee, no Lie to Me, no impulse watching 50's movies (and Gondry's). Makes me really sad. Hello, YouTube.

On a happier note, I found out that my Adam Young (possesive?) is performing in Shibuya on 11/6! I might just be lucky. Let's wish that Shibuya is only a few train stops from my place and that I get an arubaito very soon. Anything about Adam I always say "I'm very thrilled", but this time it's an understatement! If I didn't get to meet him the first time I saw him perform, I will make sure that I meet him now. Ha!

"Life is pursuit of love in all forms."

Preparation

Here I am having a silly feeling reading about Tokyo in Wikipedia. The ring in the sound of the word 'September' kind of prompted me to begin looking for trivia and whatever travel advice I could get, just because I don't want to appear like a lost clueless tourist when I get there. If all goes well in two weeks or so I will be in some foreign land with people I don't know, sleeping in a room that I've seen for the first time in my life, eating food I may have had the courage to cook, making friends with people very different from me, and pretending to know how to grocery shop even if I have barely any idea how. Necessity will teach me a whole lot. I hope my animal instinct is strong so that I could be a walking, breathing work of 'survival of the fittest'.

Nine months ago when I applied for this scholarship, I had no idea what was going on inside my head. All young people feel they are restless. Maybe I was young. I don't know. I just thought I needed another challenge in my life. HAHA I didn't think the next one I'd be up for would involve moving out of our home for a while.

So the other day I tried to pack my things and yes, one suitcase isn't enough for this whole trip! Sadly I have to squish all my stuff in the luggage. We all know that the Japanese are kind but I doubt that anyone would be altruistic enough to carry my luggage for me. 21 years worth of things cannot fit into one suitcase. But I'll carry whatever will fit!

My mom was kind enough to buy me goodbye presents which included a new mouse, a trench coat, one year supply of my favorite shampoo, a webcam, a headset, and many more. Aww, I can tell that she would really miss me.

Some friends already wrote me their letters. I will keep those in my letterbox forever! I'm deeply touched.

So I'm feeling the good-bye fever.

Putting my life on hold to see whatever there is to see is probably the best option for now. Some things can wait. :) Or they don't really have to wait if they are written to happen. Haha whatever. You get what I mean.