be continued in peace~
I feel like this past week has been amazing thanks to a) finding a tremendously adorable cafe SO close to campus and b) wearing cute shoes every day. Item b seems so cheesy but honestly, whenever I wear my new boots I feel like I can do whatever I want, ha ha. ちょっと子供っぽいやろう～
With one week left of this semester, I still find myself not wanting to leave this place behind yet. I am incredibly happy that I chose to do a full year here because if I couldn't look forward to another semester, jeez louise.
Last night, I spent the evening with Heeral in Umeda, and we had a good conversation about how we feel about coming back to Japan in the future. She seems to feel that after her year here, she'll only want to come back to Japan for short visits whereas I still feel like I want to come back for at least another year after graduation, somehow. Through this conversation, she reminded me that all these delicious bits I've been enjoying about life aren't only coming from my surroundings, but from me too. All through this semester, I feel like I haven't changed since my plane flight here, but maybe I have. I think I've become a little more adventuresome and willing to make everything busy busy so I can enjoy it like a carnival ride. I know that this winter break in Denver, I want to try and get out of the house everyday, and take goofball photos of everyone and everything so I can keep it forever.
P.S., Umeda is always fun, and I love it. Being surrounded by fashionable people gets my heart so fit to burst! Ha ha, it's perhaps a little awful? Also, Heeral and I found a quirky little shop called Womb tucked in across an alley from the giant Est building, and there was a selection of adorably weird necklaces from which I found some chair and rhinestone-studded graham cracker treasures, and a cashier who reminded me that I might be becoming much more of a people-person. It's still so sparkling to me that I can finally, FINALLY chit-chat in Japanese without feeling like I'm 100% abusing the conversation! Maybe my enthusiasm for going out and talking to new people is like someone finding a fun new toy and trying to see all the new things they can do with it. Ha ha.
This little tucked-away cafe has also made my week. Ha ha, if it weren't closed on Sundays, I would go today to study study study~~ But ah! I have to really resist going every day because I'm afraid of looking crazy!
This little cafe is called Ages, and it's heartbreakingly cozy. The owner is also incredibly nice and warm, and has already let me get away for an 300 yen IOU for french toast, ha ha. I regret only finding it in the last two weeks of the semester, argh! Also, finding a place so close to campus makes me wonder if there are more little treasure-cafes around this city.
I tried searching for a photo of this place online because the interior is wickedly cute, and found that they have a blog! http://seasaw.jp/agescafe/ and its charm has doubled for me, ha ha. Seriously, entries about dinner parties, the lunch menus, music played there!? I'm sold! I want to befriend this whole cafe and drink their hazulnut lattes every day ha ha ha.
Always so so long! I'm sorry for you guys, but not sorry for me because I love being able to have written this much, and still feel like I could write more and more forever. I want to be able to go on and on and on about my renewed little-kid for books lately since I've come to realize that I can actually do it in Japanese, and that this feeling is carrying over to my motivation for French books too, perhaps? Ha ha, I know later this afternoon, I will completely be prowling the book store again.
This week will be nuts, and I'm excited. Final exams, that makeup presentation, Yu is coming home for a visit, good-byes to my foreign students friends who won't come back next February, いっぱいや！
With one week left of this semester, I still find myself not wanting to leave this place behind yet. I am incredibly happy that I chose to do a full year here because if I couldn't look forward to another semester, jeez louise.
Last night, I spent the evening with Heeral in Umeda, and we had a good conversation about how we feel about coming back to Japan in the future. She seems to feel that after her year here, she'll only want to come back to Japan for short visits whereas I still feel like I want to come back for at least another year after graduation, somehow. Through this conversation, she reminded me that all these delicious bits I've been enjoying about life aren't only coming from my surroundings, but from me too. All through this semester, I feel like I haven't changed since my plane flight here, but maybe I have. I think I've become a little more adventuresome and willing to make everything busy busy so I can enjoy it like a carnival ride. I know that this winter break in Denver, I want to try and get out of the house everyday, and take goofball photos of everyone and everything so I can keep it forever.
P.S., Umeda is always fun, and I love it. Being surrounded by fashionable people gets my heart so fit to burst! Ha ha, it's perhaps a little awful? Also, Heeral and I found a quirky little shop called Womb tucked in across an alley from the giant Est building, and there was a selection of adorably weird necklaces from which I found some chair and rhinestone-studded graham cracker treasures, and a cashier who reminded me that I might be becoming much more of a people-person. It's still so sparkling to me that I can finally, FINALLY chit-chat in Japanese without feeling like I'm 100% abusing the conversation! Maybe my enthusiasm for going out and talking to new people is like someone finding a fun new toy and trying to see all the new things they can do with it. Ha ha.
This little tucked-away cafe has also made my week. Ha ha, if it weren't closed on Sundays, I would go today to study study study~~ But ah! I have to really resist going every day because I'm afraid of looking crazy!
This little cafe is called Ages, and it's heartbreakingly cozy. The owner is also incredibly nice and warm, and has already let me get away for an 300 yen IOU for french toast, ha ha. I regret only finding it in the last two weeks of the semester, argh! Also, finding a place so close to campus makes me wonder if there are more little treasure-cafes around this city.
I tried searching for a photo of this place online because the interior is wickedly cute, and found that they have a blog! http://seasaw.jp/agescafe/ and its charm has doubled for me, ha ha. Seriously, entries about dinner parties, the lunch menus, music played there!? I'm sold! I want to befriend this whole cafe and drink their hazulnut lattes every day ha ha ha.
Always so so long! I'm sorry for you guys, but not sorry for me because I love being able to have written this much, and still feel like I could write more and more forever. I want to be able to go on and on and on about my renewed little-kid for books lately since I've come to realize that I can actually do it in Japanese, and that this feeling is carrying over to my motivation for French books too, perhaps? Ha ha, I know later this afternoon, I will completely be prowling the book store again.
This week will be nuts, and I'm excited. Final exams, that makeup presentation, Yu is coming home for a visit, good-byes to my foreign students friends who won't come back next February, いっぱいや！