Stream of Consciousness

It's almost 6:00 p.m. on Monday night. I go to my Japanese class in an hour. I wonder what it will be like and if any tears will be shed or not. I also got my CLAIR Japanese language study books in the mail today (the JET Japanese course) and discovered that I know more than half of what's in it! That's exciting! But it still means I have to do the tests and turn them in on December 15 (?) because there is no way to accelerate the process.

It's turning into autumn here in Japan and it is so amazingly beautiful! The mornings and evenings are starting to feel crisp, and the leaves have a tinge of color around the edges. Last Saturday I went to Nagano with my host mom (we still hang out a lot) to go outlet shopping (yes, even in Japan). Up in the mountains, the air was fresh, people were wearing sweaters and scarves, and some of the maples lining the road were already brilliantly red and orange and yellow. But colder weather means less sun: I went to the park after school today and stayed until 5:15, but it was almost completely black by the time I pulled my bike into the driveway at 5:30.

Yesterday my friend Angela and I toured around Takasaki, looking around drug stores (I bought 7000 yen worth of stuff, but I was just so happy they had almost everything I wanted, including Cheetos!!!), clothing stores, and used book stores. There's even a sorta-kinda Japanese Best Buy called WONDER GOO (not sure who invented that name) that sells DVDs, CDs, books, magazines, shelves of manga, and, juxtaposed-ly, make-up. They also rent. However, their prices are bordering on ridiculous: although they have some "3 for 3000 yen" DVDs (about $10-12/DVD), most of what they sell is about 3800 yen each, and that, my friends, is exorbitant.

I know I've said it before, but Takasaki is a lot like Greensboro. It's slightly bigger, but not by much, and you do the same things here that you would there. That means find your favorite restaurants/bars, parks, and stores, without worrying about huge attractions that are in bigger cities. I'm happy here. Japan is really (strangely) starting to feel like home to me. Like it just feels normal. Even today when the staff meeting started, it seemed normal that I didn't understand any of it except ".....arimasuka?" and ".....irashyimasuka?" I guess I go through waves of normality and fear, and am on the "everything's cool" wave now. I do still think it's weird that ketchup and mayonnaise are sold with their plastic bottles wrapped in plastic bags, that fresh fruit costs more than my rent, and that children like to snack on dried fish that still have their eyes in, but hey, Japan will continue to do its thing whether I like it or not, so I might as well go with it.

Plans are falling into place about visiting more cities and places as autumn progresses. I'm going hiking in the mountains this weekend, going to a Halloween party next weekend, and from them on traveling around. Oh world, I cannot hold thee close enough!