Illuminations and the first Holiday

So before I say anything else, I think I am going to stop uploading pictures here. It's a rather enormous hassle and has kept me from posting anything a number of times. Eventually I will make all of my pictures available, but probably that will wait until I'm back in the US. I would prefer this being a picture blog, but it's clear that it is not something I am capable of doing. When I post pictures expect them to be on my facebook, or on my deviant art until I am back in the US, working on a real computer.

That said, I have been up to a lot. A little after my last post I went to see the Illumination in Roppongi with my friend Rike. I sort of invited myself and feel she may have been happier on her own, but it was still rather nice and very pretty. We also stopped and tried some hand-made donuts, which were pretty tasty (but rather pricey! Oh well, it is Roppongi).

I also had a lovely Channukah, and even celebrated twice -- both times at Ben's place. I have been there rather often, it seems. His host mother is an excellent host (as is his host sister), and an even better cook. Though, the second time we celebrated Ben did most of the cooking (I was surprised at how good all of the things he made were), though I brought some latkahs (both sweet potato and normal), which were a success, and his host mother provided us angel-food cake for desert. A very nice holiday indeed!

The very next day I ended up going back for a house party hosted by his host sister. Lots of good food, and lots of Japanese conversation. I managed to look introspective enough that the party-goers assumed I was better at Japanese than Ben and Laur, which was rather hilarious. I guess it is all about confidence and appearance.

My Festivus was pretty good too -- I spoke to the guys and shared my grievances over Skype. I also posted on the blog. It's been a while since I plugged Procrast-Nation, but it is worth checking out. They just hit 500 posts (mine was 501)! Though, if you just wanna check out mine it is titled "The Body, the Spirit, and Perception" and is a preliminary reflection on Lynn Hunt's book while I was still reading it. It is somewhat unrefined, so please be gentle.


Other than that, I have been reading some good books (Lynn Hunt, "Inventing Human Rights: A History," Patti Smith, "The Coral Sea," Suetonius, "The Twelve Caesars"), watching some good/awful tv and movies (Strangers with Candy, Merlin, even Star Trek, A Home at the End of the World, If the World were Mine), and generally having a good time despite the various essays I am working on. I have also gone on plenty of trips around Tokyo - which is making me like the city a good deal more.

Some places I went:
Keio University and surrounding area, very nice, very pretty campus!
Walking tour to Nakano Broadway -- seedy area! But it was nice to revisit, even briefly. I got Seta something as a thanks for the hat she gave me! Also found a good Bubble Tea shop, finally!
Walking tour to Square-Enix store/Yoyogi - lots of fun to revisit, and not that far! The store hasn't changed much, still way too pricey for me, but I am happy I went.
Walking tour to Rainbow Bridge -- oh man this was a full day! I got to see so much, I really loved it! The city is really big, and rather hard to maneuver, but this was definitely worthwhile and I definitely plan to do this again, earlier in the day, so I can get to Odaiba! I was very upset to find the Rainbow Bridge closed for pedestrians when I got there. Oh well...
Shiodome Pokemon Center -- with Laur, pretty cool. A full Pokemon Center is not much more than the one near my hotel 3 years ago...so it was not too exciting, but was fun.

As some are probably wondering...I had my date wrong -- Jordan will actually be here tomorrow. It's given me a chance to do a lot of work, so it's not so bad. I'm just upset that we won't have a week where I don't have class and we will both be in Tokyo, but I do have 3 day weekends all the time...so still not too big a deal.

Also, we have tickets and hotel set for our Hokkaido trip -- I hope to have exciting news about it soon!

P.S. I have received many fine gifts, for the holidays and will therefore only eat out until school starts again. Also I am now positive more than ever having a roommate is not something easily done for me -- I will have to pick mine very carefully when I return to the US, or find somewhere I can live by myself. The reason is sort of personal in regards to someone not myself, so I won't post it publicly.