Pride in the small things
Finally I got a key to work!! Now I can mooch internet from there too. Not during business hours of course.
Things I'm proud of myself for:
I can ride my bike well. I can ride it in the rain and directly into strong wind coming off the mountain. I can talk on the phone, carry 4 bags of groceries, and and other purchases. I can ride with one hand, and it can be either hand - no more falling off when I take my right hand off the handlebars! I can adjust my bag, hat, coat, whatever and not even have to slow down. Bumps are no problem. I can ride all over town and all the way to work uphill and not be out of breath at the end anymore. I think I'm getting in better shape, which is great.
I can also go through narrow spaces without slowing down, and go in-between the small breaks in the curb to get onto the sidewalk.
I'm not as shy as I used to be. When I came to Japan, I promised myself I would be more outgoing and try to make more friends and I think I've made steps towards my goal, and its getting easier.
I have successfully used Japanese to:
1. Get directions from one station to another in Japanese and find out from multiple people in various places which platform was the right one (before I figured it out)
2. Find shoes in my size and ask if such-and-such a style comes in LL for my big ass feet.
3. Buy stamps, finally, which I was afraid to do somehow.
4. Exchange an item at a store for another one and explain to the clerk why I needed the exchange and what I was looking for.