秋の色々なこと
It's autumn, you guys!
I've been surprisingly busy! But that's what I like about life in Japan, there's always something going on. Things to do, places to be, people to meet. It's never a dull moment, and before you know it - it's the middle of November!
I was honestly worried I'd slip into proper depression for a while. The first week or so after Christian went back home to Norway, I was feeling pretty down. I am so thankful for everyone I've befriended during the year! Both in person and on twitter or elsewhere, they've kept my spirits up and made sure I didn't slip down the slippery slope of autumn depression.
My day went from self loathing to inspirational academic talk, amazing pizza and company! Ah, life. Thanks for dragging me out, @tiger ;_; pic.twitter.com/fpuntTQOHN
- Tove ・ とうふ (@twiss) November 11, 2016
My renewed puff of energy might also have something to do with my future looking a bit brighter. I've been talking to an immigration lawyer about my prospects of getting a working visa once my working holiday visa is up, in the end it'll be up to the Immigration Bureau of Japan, but my lawyer says things are looking good. I have officially stopped my frantic job searching. I'm still worried my efforts won't be enough, it's the kind of worry that blindsides me at 3am and makes it impossible to sleep some days, but it's getting better. I'm doing my best to let myself calm down and enjoy my time as much as possible.
I met up with a twitter friend a few weeks back. She works in literary translation here in Japan (translating manga, children's books, and light novels from Japanese to English), and I'm utterly in awe of what she's doing and what she's accomplished. She asked me if I wanted to hang out and work with her. It felt a little daunting, I've been following her on twitter literally thinking "WHAT EVEN IS YOUR LIFE, HOW DID YOU ACCOMPLISH THIS, TEACH ME, LIFE GOALS, etc..." ... and then suddenly I get to actually hang out with her and talk to her about her work. It was amazing! She also took me to see Jay Rubin (if you've read Murakami novels in English, chances are you've read Rubin's work) talk at Sophia University. This was such an eye opening experience, I'm not even sure what happened, but something just clicked in my brain during this talk and filled me with motivation to work harder on my freelance business to be able to move on from strictly technical translation work to more creative projects. We'll see what happens.
I'm getting used to living by myself. I've started actually cooking at home a little, the house really feels like home now. I can't remember the last time I had this feeling.
Of course I already posted about the Disney meetup, I'm doing pretty well with keeping in touch with all of them! Though my lack of experience in having Japanese friends feels awkward. I never quite know what to say or if my replies are appropriate. I do my best anyway.
I've also met up with illusoire, we did karaoke! I'm never brave enough to go do karaoke on my own, so I love having karaoke buddies :D
My studying for the JLPT is going okay, I'm about halfway through the textbook. Some things I already knew, a lot of stuff is new, some things I've somehow managed to figure out through context while playing games or reading manga, it's good to finally learn proper usage. I have no idea if any of the new stuff I'm studying will stick in my brain for the test. I've also been focusing solely on grammar, I am very worried that the test will be filled with kanji/vocab I just don't know (which will make it impossible to properly understand and answer the questions). The exam is December 4th! There's still time to study... but also so much stuff going on!
I met up with some friends from Norway today whom I haven't seen in ages! We went to Odaiba and Shiodome to look at Christmas illuminations (which is a huge thing here). We had so much fun just hanging out, taking pictures, being silly :D I'm going to Disneyland with them next week!
This might just be my new favorite picture of me. Hahahaha pic.twitter.com/Bge6MLJtaB
- Tove ・ とうふ (@twiss) November 21, 2016
I also have a trip to Takao planned for this week, another trip to Disney to check out the new area that's just opened up, and this weekend there's a two day music festival with a whole bunch of cool acts. Entrance is free for foreigners, so..... I feel like I can't skip this one. When else will I be able to see Capsule, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Dempagumi Inc., Niji no conquistador, Musubizumu, and BAND-MAID .... for free???? I can always take the JLPT some other time if I fail it <,<;;;
Between work, studying, and hanging out, I've also had time to collect another stamp for my autumn colours stamp rally!
I've been surprisingly busy! But that's what I like about life in Japan, there's always something going on. Things to do, places to be, people to meet. It's never a dull moment, and before you know it - it's the middle of November!
I was honestly worried I'd slip into proper depression for a while. The first week or so after Christian went back home to Norway, I was feeling pretty down. I am so thankful for everyone I've befriended during the year! Both in person and on twitter or elsewhere, they've kept my spirits up and made sure I didn't slip down the slippery slope of autumn depression.
My day went from self loathing to inspirational academic talk, amazing pizza and company! Ah, life. Thanks for dragging me out, @tiger ;_; pic.twitter.com/fpuntTQOHN
- Tove ・ とうふ (@twiss) November 11, 2016
My renewed puff of energy might also have something to do with my future looking a bit brighter. I've been talking to an immigration lawyer about my prospects of getting a working visa once my working holiday visa is up, in the end it'll be up to the Immigration Bureau of Japan, but my lawyer says things are looking good. I have officially stopped my frantic job searching. I'm still worried my efforts won't be enough, it's the kind of worry that blindsides me at 3am and makes it impossible to sleep some days, but it's getting better. I'm doing my best to let myself calm down and enjoy my time as much as possible.
I met up with a twitter friend a few weeks back. She works in literary translation here in Japan (translating manga, children's books, and light novels from Japanese to English), and I'm utterly in awe of what she's doing and what she's accomplished. She asked me if I wanted to hang out and work with her. It felt a little daunting, I've been following her on twitter literally thinking "WHAT EVEN IS YOUR LIFE, HOW DID YOU ACCOMPLISH THIS, TEACH ME, LIFE GOALS, etc..." ... and then suddenly I get to actually hang out with her and talk to her about her work. It was amazing! She also took me to see Jay Rubin (if you've read Murakami novels in English, chances are you've read Rubin's work) talk at Sophia University. This was such an eye opening experience, I'm not even sure what happened, but something just clicked in my brain during this talk and filled me with motivation to work harder on my freelance business to be able to move on from strictly technical translation work to more creative projects. We'll see what happens.
I'm getting used to living by myself. I've started actually cooking at home a little, the house really feels like home now. I can't remember the last time I had this feeling.
Of course I already posted about the Disney meetup, I'm doing pretty well with keeping in touch with all of them! Though my lack of experience in having Japanese friends feels awkward. I never quite know what to say or if my replies are appropriate. I do my best anyway.
I've also met up with illusoire, we did karaoke! I'm never brave enough to go do karaoke on my own, so I love having karaoke buddies :D
My studying for the JLPT is going okay, I'm about halfway through the textbook. Some things I already knew, a lot of stuff is new, some things I've somehow managed to figure out through context while playing games or reading manga, it's good to finally learn proper usage. I have no idea if any of the new stuff I'm studying will stick in my brain for the test. I've also been focusing solely on grammar, I am very worried that the test will be filled with kanji/vocab I just don't know (which will make it impossible to properly understand and answer the questions). The exam is December 4th! There's still time to study... but also so much stuff going on!
I met up with some friends from Norway today whom I haven't seen in ages! We went to Odaiba and Shiodome to look at Christmas illuminations (which is a huge thing here). We had so much fun just hanging out, taking pictures, being silly :D I'm going to Disneyland with them next week!
This might just be my new favorite picture of me. Hahahaha pic.twitter.com/Bge6MLJtaB
- Tove ・ とうふ (@twiss) November 21, 2016
I also have a trip to Takao planned for this week, another trip to Disney to check out the new area that's just opened up, and this weekend there's a two day music festival with a whole bunch of cool acts. Entrance is free for foreigners, so..... I feel like I can't skip this one. When else will I be able to see Capsule, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Dempagumi Inc., Niji no conquistador, Musubizumu, and BAND-MAID .... for free???? I can always take the JLPT some other time if I fail it <,<;;;
Between work, studying, and hanging out, I've also had time to collect another stamp for my autumn colours stamp rally!