A Call from Home

My plan worked out almost flawlessly. I went back to bed yesterday after only having been awake for something like three and a half hours, intent on sleeping through the night and waking up with the rooster this morning. Had there been any roosters around, that is. Not many farms in central Tokyo, as I am sure you can imagine.

As it turned out, I woke up again as early as half past two in the night. I went up and talked with my roommates for ten minutes or something, ate some gingerbread, then went back to trying to sleep for another three hours or so. Not sure how well I succeeded. I have no memory of actually sleeping, but I did feel even more rested when I finally gave up trying around 05:20, and went out into the main room again. Linus was still sitting there playing Final Fantasy X. It seems I am the only one in the apartment even trying to stick to regular hours during these holidays.

The fun thing was that about fifteen minutes after I had gotten up, a bunch of friends called me from Sweden! They were drinking punsch, and wanted me to join them. So that I did! Good thing I still had about a quarter bottle standing in my bar. Now I am just about running out of it though, so the next time anyone decides to come over to Japan, I would much appreciate if they could bring with them a bottle or two.

Speaking of alcohol, could anyone explain to me the reason why glogg is so hard to come by during all parts of the year except Christmas? I actually find it more to my liking than most other kinds of drinks, so not having it around is turning into something of an inconvenience now that I had the opportunity to taste it once again at my party last week. As stocking up for the whole year is hardly a realistic option, I suppose I will just have to make do with the cold varieties of red wine, and with champagne, cream liqueurs and mixed drinks, until the next Christmas comes around.

The Winds of Diplomacy

For a long time now I have been against pretty much everything that has come out of the Bush administration, so imagine my surprise when I read this article just now. A number of states has apparently condemed Israel for once again sending air raids into Palestine as a response to renewed rocket attacks by Hamas. Only the US seems to be putting the blame where it rightfully belongs.

In my opinion Israel should just launch a full scale invasion of the Gaza Strip and be done with it. Reinstate Israeli rule in the area, get rid of those terrorists now in control there, and start rebuilding the place once and for all. If Tel Aviv could then actually start to intergate Gaza with the rest of Israel, instead of shying away from everything arabic as has been done so far, that could show the way for the Palistinian Authority in the West Bank, and be the first step towards a unified Israel, which I believe is the only way to solve the mess in the long run.

But though Israeli air strikes against Hamas is sure to continue, I doubt we will see an actual invation anytime soon. The international winds of diplomacy are just too against it at the moment. Not that Israel couldn't get away with quite alot - I just don't think that this is the time when true initiative and action will be seen.

The Embrace of Your Dreams

It's now six twenty in the evening, and it wasn't long ago I crawled out off bed. I was doing quite well resetting my day rythm after the Christmas Party four days ago - I was almost there, just another hour or two and I'd be set. But then ... something happened last night. I don't know why, but I just couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried. And try I did. And I tried, and I tried. I did fall asleep eventually, of course, but not until light had already started spilling into my room from the outside long before.

What I could try to do is to simply sacrifice this day. Just get something to eat (the last of the ham sounds nice, on crisp bread and with mustard, and then some gingerbread cookies and a glass of milk on the side), check my mail, and then go back to sleep and attempt to stay there for another nine hours at least. If successful. that would allow me to rise with the sun tomorrow morning. That sounds attractive enough, so yeah, I think I'll give it a shot. I'll let you know how it turned out.

The Dance of the Requiem

Legato and I went within Sakura House to pay our rent today, when on our way to Shibuya. There we were meeting up with Skip, Louise, Staffan, Nobu and four other friends of Skip, to go to some turkish themed restaurant and watch belly dancing. Unfortunately the restaurant had cancelled the entertainment, so we decided to go to some other place instead.

That other place was a german styled restaurant bar in Yoyogi, with alot of german beer and a supposedly german menu. I have gotten it confirmed from a quite reliable source, however, that they don't usually tend to eat alot of deep fried oysters and sea bass sashimi in Germany. It was good though, as were the considerably more german sausages that showed up towards the end. I can't vouch for the beer, but my Moscow Mule was surprisingly good given that they only had two cocktail drinks on the menu.

The dinner at the german place was followed by a short run at an izakaya near Yoyogi station, where I had a very good Mixed Berry Sour, as it was so eloquently called. Then we all returned north in time for those returning to Matsudo not having to worry about catching their last train. While walking home from Ikebukuro, Legato and I had quite an interesting conversation about vampires, blood drinking, and what kinds of blood would be the most exquisite.

The Chill of Shinjuku

It's getting ever colder. Today must have been the coldest temperature I have yet experienced in Japan. Four degrees, my iGoogle tells me, as it has been the last few days. But I don't believe it. It wasn't this cold yesterday, nor the day before. Something has changed. Maybe the wind is stronger, maybe there's more moisture in the air.

I went to Shinjuku to meet up with Claudia today. She had forgotten some stuff at the party she wanted back - her pants, for example. The square just north of Shinjuku station was overrun by christians holding signs proclaiming the soon return of Jesus Christ, that God's Kingdom was close, and that we'd all better accept the Lord into our hearts or face eternal... well, you get the drift. There were speakers too, with a voice proclaming what I think was the same message. Quite an interesting sight in a country with only 1% christians.

After meeting up at Studio ALTA, one of the more obvious meeting places in Shinjuku, we worked our way towards a record store whose name I can never seem to remember. Claudia wanted to get her hands on some new Miyavi remix album. On our way back, we were jumped by the Dutch Assassin Halil and his Band of Two. Scared the shit out of both of us, he did. Once we had gotten our adrenaline levels down again, he told us they were going to play some Mario Kart. We parted ways, with me and Claudia heading for the Starbucks in the Lumine Est department store.

After some conversation over a Macha Frappuccino and a Cinnamon Roll (for my part), I decided against my original plan of going to the Sakura House office to pay my rent. It was way too cold for me to want to linger any longer than I needed to in Shinjuku. So instead we made our way to the train station - which is just below that department store - parted ways, and went home.

Now I think I am going to watch Pitch Black or some other movie, while eating some sweets that were left over from the party. Mata ne.

Birthday and Christmas Party

The 23rd of December. A date which shall forever be marked in the annals of history as the birthdate of L. Robin Nilsson, the greatest man to walk this earth since Julius Caesar. For now, though, the date is, especially in Japan, mostly recognized as the birthday of His Imperial Highness Emperor Akihito. And on every birthday of his (as well as on New Years Day), the common people are let inside the grounds of the Imperial Palace, to hear the Emperor hold a speech.

So of course I was there, with a few of my friends, to see the Emperor in his own person. As he stood there behind the bulletproof glass on the balcony above the courtyard, surrounded by other members of his family, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to meet him alone, away from the cheering and flag-wielding masses. I think Armand said it best when he uttered afterwards, "That was the best five minutes of my life."

Pictures from our visit to the palace can be seen here.

Once we were done at the palace, I returned home to get something to eat. Realizing I didn't actually have the time to cook, I went to Yoshinoya for some gyudon instead, only going within my apartment to pick up a couple things. I then went back to Ikebukuro station to meet up with Armel, who had kindly offered to go with me to IKEA for some serious party shopping.

IKEA is truly the wonder of the world when it comes to finding Swedish food abroad, especially the food you need for a traditional Swedish Christmas party. Buying a couple of christmas hams, some salmon, pickled herring, meatballs and more, not to forget several bottles of glogg and four boxes of gingerbread cookies, I had the foundation I needed for a great party.

Running around western Tokyo by myself that evening, I managed to find some more of the stuff I needed. I also met with my contact to pick up a package containing the grand treasure - three boxes of imported Aladdin chocholate. When I finally got home that evening, my birthday was almost over. Throwing myself down before a movie, I ended it with a glass of very tasty strawberry flavored champagne.

Though that was probably the hardest working birthday I have ever experienced, it would all prove to be worth it when Christmas Eve came knocking on the door. I had been intent on making my Christmas party the best damn Christmas party this side of the Pacific, and that I can with confidence say that I succeeded in that.

The guests started arriving arround 16.00, but most didn't show up until an hour or two after that. At its peak, there were almost 30 people in my apartment, every single one of them having a great time indeed. There were people from Sweden, Japan, Korea, France, Germany, Brazil, the United States, the Netherlands, and more. To most of them, the traditional Swedish hot spiced wine known as glogg was a huge hit - all nine bottles had been emptied by the time the party reached its end.

The Swedish theme was overwhelming at times. Of course we watched Donald Duck and everything - an old recording with Arne Weisse we downloaded from the Internet. That was a tradition we had a pretty hard time explaining to the non-swedish majority among us, to be sure. They were a bit more understanding when we put on Tim Burton's masterpiece A Nightmare Before Christmas later on. When Asa arrived with her friends from Sweden, they brought with them a bunch of Swedish christmas decorations, which was really the only thing the party had been missing. They also brought Swedish christmas bread - which of course went very well with the ham and some mustard.

Several times during the evening I was told what a great host I was. I can only conclude that I am indeed very good at hosting parties, so perhaps "party manager" would be another job title to look into while waiting for my real career to kick start?

As it had been my birthday the day before, three of the attending guests were kind enough to bring me presents! Sarah brought me candy; from Skip I got an officially licenced NYPD shot glass; and Yamanaka-sensei gave me a bottle of three years matured umeshu distilled by her mother.  I can't wait to have a taste of that.

I also happened to kiss two people during the course of the evening. The first one was actually by mistake, and quite unfortunate. I had assumed she would draw herself away when I approached, so when she didn't do so, we both found ourself in what was a highly unexpected and not very good kiss at all. And I got slapped in the face as a result. Twice. The other kiss was during the probably shortest game of spinn the bottle I have ever played, when I got to kiss none other than the great Skip himself! Beat that, all of you Skip-fans out there.

Anyway, let me return to the outcome of the party. Once most of the guests had left the apartment, many of them sad to leave yet hurrying away at the very last minute to catch the last train home, the few of us who remained decided it was time to take the party elsewhere. So we walked to Ikebukuro central, found ourself a Hub (that's the name of a chain of British-like pubs here in Tokyo), and took up trying a variety of drinks while getting into some quite interesting conversation. We also met another Swede there, and a couple Japanese girls who seemed quite interested in the Swedish language. And all the while we were followed by a mysterious tomteluva that someone had left behind at the party.

I can without doubt say that the party held on Christmas Eve was the best one I have had the pleasure to experience in a very long time. Many said the same thing at the party, others have contacted me on Facebook afterwards to express similar views. All I can say is, the fact that the party was hosted by yours truly sure didn't make it any less good. ;)

Misson Haircut: Complete

So I went and got myself that long overdue haircut. The place was a local though fashonable hair studio near Itabashi station - right across the street from one of those 1000 yen places that I wouldn't trust my hair with for my life. For the 4200 yen I paid, I got the best service I have ever had at a hair salon in my life. A shorter massage was included, and I even got to choose the fragrance of the shampoo they used to wash my hair. I chose Cassis Orange, which had a truly divine smell. And the cut was great too.

Now I see the time has passed into what's technically my birthday - at least in this part of the world. So with a melodic "happy birthday!" to myself, I now sign off and go to bed.

Let there be snow!

The weather continues to show its weird tendencies. Twelve hours after the temperature peaked at 19 degrees at 4 am this morning, it's once again down at the 11 degrees that seems about average this season. And here I was hoping the warmth would last for a few more days. But I suppose it wouldn't be a real Christmas if it did. Now wouldn't it be interesting if the temperature continued to drop and we actually got some snow before the 24th? That would make a real Christmas if anything.

Good News and Bad News

I have good news and bad news. Let's start with the bad ones: I feel like crap today. Haven't been this 病気 since I came to Japan actually. (It's good that I use words that only some will understand, I know.) It had already started yesterday, but then I thought it was just a negative effect of the partying the day before. Seems I was wrong. Seems there was something more sinister lying behind it from the beginning after all.

What this means is, no exams for me today. I will just have to try to be happy with my original result, and make sure I get my 95% or above on every single test I'll have from now on to make up for it. That shouldn't be too hard.

I am quite confident in my ability to succeed when I want to. Next semester will be the one where I prove to everyone that I, and no one else, have the right to call themselves master. Johan - my new rival through agreement in school, career and love - let us rise above the masses, and take this battle to a whole new level!

Though what I just wrote for sure had a very positive spirit hanging over it, there are even better news just waiting to be revealed through this mail. I have money again!! Let me just say that again, just to make sure no one misses it: I HAVE MONEY!!! :D

Finally I can start doing things again, meeting people, having fun. Getting back out there, learning japanese by actually talking. I can also get myself a haircut, which is long overdue to be sure. Time to start making a budget for the comming three months. As soon as I've had some breakfast and memorized another chapter's worth of vocabulary, I'll get right on it.

I have a strong feeling that the next few months will be very good to me indeed.

Global Warning?

I have no idea what't going on with the weather right now. After having gone to bed early, I woke up around midnight because I hadn't eaten anything of real subtstance since saturday. After an hour or so of random conversation with my roommates, and a failed attempt at stilling my hunger with cookies, I ventured out to the Seven Eleven around the corner. And it was warmer outside than it had been in a long long time - eighteen degrees according to my iGoogle gadget, and I have no problem believing it. It is windy like hell, too.

Legato mentioned global warming when I asked him what the fuck was going on out there. Whether or not that is indeed what's behind this drastic increase in temperature, I can't say I don't welcome it. It's been way too cold around these parts lately. Yet I can't help but wonder - what if this is merely the first sign of weather patterns getting fucked up all over the world in the weeks and months to come?

Another Sayonara Party

Alberto's second and last Sayonara party took place yesterday, starting at an izakaya in the heart of Shinjuku with no less than 23 people attending. We got to sit at what seemed like a table normally reserved for company parties and the like - a huge square thing surrounding some large flower arrangement in the middle. The food was very good too, although there could have been more of it for the price we paid. As usually, nomihoudai (drink all you want) was in effect, so it was a good way to start the evening.

For a few of us, however, that wasn't the start of the evening at all. Several hours before, Skip, Nobu, Staffan and Alberto himself, had come to my apartment for an afternoon of moviewatching and pancakes. As is always the case, everyone found my pancakes very delicious. The snacks my friends brought with them were equally so, especially the limited edition holiday Skipcorn. Legato's bottle of Scorpion Vodka was emptied towards the end of the afternoon, allowing him to eat the scorpion inside, something he has truly been looking forward. As for the movie - Tropic Thunder - it was the best thing Ben Stiller has done in... well, ever. For a comedy, I very much recommend it.

Moving back to the evening event, once our time at the izakaya was drawing to and end, Shinya showed up with a bunch of other people. Together we ended up returning to Matsudo - I hadn't been back there since I moved almost two months ago now - where a night of karaoke awaited us. A nice surprise was that Hana-chan showed up as well. It was too long since I saw her last, but now it seems we are going clubbing in Shibuya on my birthday, so that's all good and well.

Though I really had fun last night, my voice truly ended up destroyed by the end of it, likely due to a combination of spending too much time in the room occupied by the smokers among us (never a good thing while straining your voice like you do when singing), and singing in a way which isn't quite good for my voice in the first place. I wouldn't mind taking some singing lessons sooner or later to deal with that problem (and to improve my singing in general - not that I am bad or anything), but that will just have to wait until after I have learned to play the piano well, begun practicing martial arts again and gotten back into scuba diving. Or gotten my hands on enough money to do it all at the same time.

Now I need to start going through the vocabulary and kanji I should know before the exams I have tomorrow. As the last tests went as bad as they did - because I felt very ungenki when writing them - my teachers offered to allow me to retake them tomorrow together with those who were away from school when the real tests were. So that I will do. Now wish me luck!

A Day of Parties

The Christmas party at school was better than I could ever have imagined. It was, without doubt, the best Christmas party any of my schools have ever hosted. The food served was kind of like a julbord consisting of a variety of fruit, sushi, and pizza. Especially the fruit and the pizza were quite a surprising sight, as both are things that tend to be really expensive here in Japan (with the exception of bananas and pineapple, for some reason). They even has strawberries! Believe me when I say that strawberries are worth their wight in gold here, despite their great popularity.

Once I'd eaten myself full on a variety of very tasty food, I found my way to a room where I could try my hand at the fine art of calligraphy. Sad to say I was not very good, which would prove to have consequenses later on, when I to my surprise was called to stage along with the other calligraphists, and had my work voted down by the ruthless crowd before us. Then came the fun part, getting up on that table with a microphone when accepting my consolation prize (which was ramen! ;D). Though my japanese skills still have a tendency to fly into hiding whenever I really need them, thus preventing me from expressing most of the things that popped into my head at the time, I had a great time anyway - I very much love speaking in front of a crowd.

One of the more interesting acts of entertainment during the party was a drag queen competition, which I am sad to say I took no part in. But I wasn't about to jump into something like that with my head first. If I were going to dress up as a girl, whether for a competition or just for fun, it would be done properly, requiring the right top, the right skirt, the right boots and accessories, hairstyle and makeup. Overall, I'd probably wear quite alot of fur. The boots would likely be lined with it, for one thing. In other words, I would have to do some serious shopping, which would all be fine (who doesn't love shopping, after all?), except I wouldn't currently have the money for it all. Who knows... when I do, maybe you will get to see me dressed up like that.

Once the party at school was over, I went home to wait in Alberto's party in the evening. Meeting up at 8 'o clock outside the koban by the east exit of Shinjuku station, we took the subway to Roppongi, where we went to the greatest drinking place ever! Designed like a block in some ancient Japanese town, or maybe it was as a larger inn from the same era, it really had atmosphere. It was quite expensive too, but Miyasaki-sensei was really generous and paid for all the food, so most of us only had to pay for whatever drinks we ordered. Anyway, the place is truly worth a visit, so I'll make sure to bring all of my friends there as soon as I have the opportunity. 

The people who were there today - apart from Alberto, Miyasaki-sensei and myself - were Sarah, Jennifer, Kitti, Legato, Victor, Kim, Poha, Runo, Yamanaka-sensei, and a friend of Miyasaki-sensei who looked very much like some actor or something whose face I can't quite place. (There was another classmate as well, who's name will be edited in as soon as I am awake enough to remember it.) Once we were full of food and drink - the best food and drink I've had in months - most of us went to see the Christmas lights around Roppongi Hills. They very very nice, especially with the beautifully lit up Tokyo Tower clearly being seen in the background.

Once it was time to return home, the group split in two once inside the subway station. Along with my half, I returned to Shinjuku to take the Yamanote line back to Ikebukuro.  But when we got to Shinjuku, it seemed that the trains going north had already stopped running. As Miyasaki's friend were also heading for Ikebukuro, he suggested to me and Legato that the three of us take the Chuo line eastwards to Akihabara, to hopefully be able to catch the Yamanote line from there before it would be too late.

But alas, somewhere along that trip he started to realize that there was no way we would make it (he was constantly browsing the internet on his phone, keeping track of all the trains and stuff). So when we got to Suidobashi, he urged us off the train, brought us out to the Taxi stand outside the station, and in a very nice gesture paid a taxi for the three of us back to Ikebukuro! I can't express how greatful I am to him at this moment. Without him, both Legato and I would be stuck somewhere in Tokyo right now, with no real possibility of getting home before the morning trains start running. Instead I now have my nice and cozy bed right here before me, and into that bed I will now fall down, let sleep overtake me, and get a really nice rest before tomorrow. Because then awaits a movie afternoon with pancakes and friends, followed by yet another sayonara party of Alberto's.

Pictures and Preparations

Today Legato and I went to take a bunch of pictures at a modeling agency. In my case, they were without doubt the best pictures taken by any of the agencies I have registered with so far, so if this doesn't lead to a bunch of new, exciting modeling jobs, I don't know what will.  In all honesty, though, I think I need a haircut. At the moment my hair looks much too uncared for, which is likely why the well-paid jobs haven't stared rolling in yet. So I have decided to get a haircut the moment I get some new money. On the 22nd, that is.

The Christmas party I am hosting on the 24th is staring to come along nicely. Food will now be bought in advance and served at the party, it has been decided, as should be the case at a real Christmas party. And I've managed to get my hands on a couple boxes of Aladdin chocholate, which is indeed a very vital thing to have at Christmas. Now I just need to go buy the actuall food as well. That, and some more glogg. IKEA should be the perfect place. Yes, a visit there is definitelty warranted before Christmas Eve comes before us. Maybe I'll go on the 22nd, maybe after the visit to the Imperial Palace on the 23rd.

And speaking of Christmas parties, tomorrow there is actually one hosted by my school. No classes this last day, in other words. Just socializing, having fun. Afterwards Alberto will have a sayonara party with the class at some Izakaya. That will be quite fun, I am sure. I'll let you know all about it when I get back tomorrow evening.

Exams!

We had a second day of exams in school yesterday. While the test of the day before had been focused merely on speaking skills, the ones we had yesterday were the vocabulary, grammar, and listening comprehension tests. As I was feeling kind of ill, I screwed up the first one completely by not having gotten through more then half of it when the time ran out, and on the other two I may have made too many careless mistakes for my own liking. All in all, I'll be lucky if I get over 80% on this series of exams. But believe me, I'll get even with my own score soon enough.

I am planning to ask my school tomorrow if I can write the placement test they give to newly arrived students just before school starts in January. That will allow me to prove to myself, and others, where my real level is. And it gives me a goal too, a reason to study like hell during the upcoming holidays.

Now I am going to eat some breakfast, then get ready for the day to come! See you all later.

An earthquake far far away...

So I hear that southern Sweden had an earthquake this morning - 4.7 on the richter scale. If that isn't proof enough that the gods are angry at the damn socialist tendencies of that country, I don't know what is. More will follow, trust me on that! Soon they will be begging on their knees for forgiveness.

Of course I am kidding. But they did have an earthquake. Which means that since I came to Japan, the most seismologically active country in the world, my family in Sweden have have experienced as many eartquakes as I have. And their's was stronger. How is that for a twist of fate?

I finally got my package today!! Many thanks to my parents for sending it! I am now sitting here eating the most Swedish candy I have tasted in months, and I love it! Some things Swedish I will never be able to get over, it seems. The candy is one of them. Kebab pizza is another. And gingerbread cookies, undoubtedly, is the third.

Pictures of the Apartment

I took some pictures of my apartment a few days ago, to let the world know what I live like. Most readers of this blog have probably already seen them, but I may as well give you a link, just in case. This is where my pictures may be found. Enjoy.

A great day indeed

The last few days have been marked by studies. There is a week of tests ahead of me, and I do not feel ready for it. The grammar is not problem - that's the easy part - nor is the kanji that hard to remember. But for some reason I find it nearly impossible to memorize all the hundreds upon hundreds of words compiled in my vocabulary list. That  is where the hard part lies. But I will do my best, and I most definitely will continue to study harder than ever during these upcoming weeks of the winter holidays, to reach my goal of knowing every piece of vocabulary, every kanji, and every piece of grammar used in our course books, before the beginning of the spring term.

Only time will tell if I actually succeed, but do know that I am adamant in my attempts to do so.

Speaking of the holiday season, I finally posted that Facebook event I have been meaning to make about the upcoming Christmas party which I hope will forever mark this Christmas in our memories as a truly great one. Though it technically would be far from only my responsibility, I do feel that if I don't start steering things up soon, they will just end up falling through. So I took the initiative, and now things are starting to look much brighter again. I have already managed to bring a splinter group or two in under my all-encompassing Christmas umbrella, and more are sure to follow.

I got a birthday card from my grandmother yesterday. I was quite surprised when I found it in the mailbox, as I had no idea she knew my address in Japan. But of I should have known she did. After all, my grandmother would let nothing stand in her way of proper birthday gratulations.

Another piece of mail which I am currently waiting for, is a package from my parents. Technically sent from Helsingborg, by my father. But as it all started with me whining to my mother on the phone about how much I missed proper Swedish candy, and as most of the content of the package will actually be made up of said candy and cookies bought on my mother's direction, I definitely see it as being from both of them.

The problem is that it still haven't arrived, a whole week after it was sent. I was kind of expecting it either yesterday or today. And yes, they do deliver mail on the weekends in Japan. It's the height of servicemindedness, if you ask me, and very convenient at that. Anyway, the package will most likely be delivered tomorrow.

In the meantime I suppose I will just have to make do with the two large boxes of ginger bread that Linus bought with him on my behalf when he went to IKEA earlier today. He also got me a bottle of Glogg, the traditional Swedish spiced wine much associated with Christmas. I am very much looking forward to opening that one. Perhaps I will save it till the Christmas party, perhaps I will open it on my birthday. Either way, it will be a great day indeed.

A Summary of Past Events

Okay, so it's been a while since my last update. Quite a while. Not a single post in all of November or this half of December. That's very bad of me, I know. From now on, I promise to try to be more diligent.

Since my last post... too many things have happened for me to actually be able to write about them all. So please allow this post to mostly be an attempt at summarizing what have happened since my last post. And so, in the manner of "first things first", let's begin with the grand event of the month! Last month, I mean. I moved to Ikebukuro-honcho!!

The new apartment is great. A few of you have seen it already, at the moving in party. The rest of you should really come to see it soon, because it's really nice. A bit too cold now in winter, perhaps, and the power overloads much too easily, but other than that it is very nice indeed. It is the largest apartment I have ever had, even if you divide the total area by three to take into account the fact that I am sharing it with my two friends Legato and Linus.

I love the location this close to central Tokyo.  The gas stove is also very much to my liking (as are most of the other furniture and appliances that came with the place), but I do miss  a proper oven where I could bake cakes and cookies and gingerbread and ... and so on. The bedroom tatami floors are also great, if perhaps a bit cold this time of year, and our collection of plants have now grown to a total of five - including a palmtree. Should soon be time for number six. Our walls are now, to Linus' great regret, adorned by posters advertising various musicals such as Wicked and The Phantom of the Opera. But what did he expect when moving in with two musical loving people?

Alexandra had her leaving party sometime early November. It was a very small and cozy event taking place in Matsudo guesthouse, with only her closest of friends attending. Though normally guests are not allowed to stay after six, I had managed to get special permission to do, allowing me to be there and say my proper goodbyes before she left us all for the cold reaches of Sweden. Before she left she was really looking forward to coming home, but once she got there it didn't take many days before she really wanted to go back, so fortunately I expect to see her back in these parts of the world before long.

The next person to leave was Malin, around the end of that same month. Her goodbye party was considerably more extravagant, with a whole bunch of people, including two of our teachers, going to eat and drink in Shinjuku Kabukichou. That was followed by a night of karaoke - which of course is the thing to do in Japan. When you're not shopping, out clubbing, or otherwise spending your money on any of the varieties of kickass entertainment available here - the best to be found anywhere in the world.

In November was also Claudias birthday party, as well as the moving in party I briefly mentioned before. Other than these two events though, not much at all has happened in the way of partying or going out meeting new people lately.  The falling Swedish krona has made sure of that. Seriously, whenever has there been a more worthless currency? Sure, the Euro has fallen against the yen as well, as have the Korean won and most other currencies in the world, but none of them has fallen anywhere as much as the Swedish krona, I believe.

There is something rotten lurking just beneath the surface of the Swedish economy, I tell you. It has been lurking there for decades, making sure the country never rise to greatness. And now, in the midst of this global economical crisis, that rotten thing is quickly strangling the Swedish economy, dragging it down like a giant rock tied to a sinking ship. What this rotten thing is called is socialism, and if the Swedish people ever want to be a nation with anything but the most rudimentary kind of status in the world, they'd better heed my word and get rid of it as soon as they can.

In truth, I do not care about what they do. I am done with Sweden, never intending to go back as long as I have any kind of choice in the matter. Asia is my home, now and forever. I may spend a few years in New York or London or wherever my heart will take me for a while, but I doubt that I will ever leave the Asian continent permanently.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Where was I? Oh, yes, parties. And clubbing, going shopping with friends, hanging out in coffee shops, or just generally hanging out downtown. As all of that tend to cost more money than I currently have at my disposal, I haven't really had the opportunity to do very much of it this last month or two, unfortunately enough.

What I have done, on the other hand, is registering with a few more modelling agencies. I think I am registered with seven of them now. Nothing has come from it so far - but I have an audition for a TV commercial coming up this Saturday, followed by a small job as an extra in a Japanese TV drama on Sunday. Hopefully things will start rolling on from there. I do know I could really use the money.

I got notice from CSN a week or so ago, that apparently I will only be able to borrow about half of the money needed for tuition fees to the University of Hong Kong. Which means eather my modelling career really takes of from here on, allowing me to earn the money needed that way, or I stay in Japan for couple more years, working my way to sufficient amounts of cash the old fashioned way. Needless to say I would prefer the former, even though the idea of staying in Tokyo for a while does have its own kind of charm.

A week or two ago my computer suddenly decided to break down. Got it back today, to my great relief. And to the great relief of Legato as well, whose computer I have been occupying more than he would have preferred. What really makes me happy is the fact that all my pictures and the rest of the stuff on my hard drive was still there! I hadn't expected that, as they told me they might have had to restore the whole thing to scratch. But apparently that wasn't necessary. :D

I wrote the JLPT last weekend, by the way. The Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Level 3, to be precise. Sarah and I have a bet worth a thousand yen in effect about who gets the better result on that test. And to Sarah's great misfurtune, though of course she wont admit it until we get the actual results, those thousand yen will be mine. She knows more kanji than me, admittedly, and has a larger vocablulary as well. But I have my strong points in the grammar, and I did score really well on the other parts as well - I am sure of that. The next great challange is the level 2 test next year. It's supposedly considerably harder - but I am intent on passing it the first chance I get.

Now I can't actually come up with anything more to write about... except that I will soon need to open that Japanese bank account I have been planning to open for some time now. So with that said, I suppose I will now take my leave, get some dinner, and start studying. Cause I still haven't done that today. Should I remember anything else of interest that happened last month, I will let you know. And I do promise to be more active from now on in letting you know of my future advetures in this beautiful city. I wish you all a continued good day.

Sayonara Party, with Izakaya and Karaoke

This friday I had my goodbye party with my great friends from Matsudo. I won't actually be leaving in another week, of course, but I decided Halloween was not the right day to have this kind of party on, so the day before yesterday was chosen in its stead. Not everyone could attend, unfortunately, with some cancelling much later than would have been preferrable, so we ended up being only 12 people at the izakaya instead of the expected number of around (or over) 20.

Four of the missing people did show up later though, one just before we left the izakaya, and three once we had reached the karaoke place at which we would spend the rest of the night. We had a great time through the evening, of that I am sure we can all agree. The only darkness looming around the event was the state of the economy back home, with the Swedish krona losing more of its value for every passing day, and the effect that had on the cost of the event - as well as everything else of value in Japan.

Either way, I ended up singing three Rihanna songs that night. Starting with Unfaithful, I then got a request from Shinya to do Umbrella as well, after which I thought I might as well end the night with Take a Bow. Other high points with my involvement were a number of duets - such as The Phantom of the Opera, performed with Christian, and A Whole New World with Hana-san.  There were also a number of songs by Nobuo Uematsu, the mastermind behind the greater parts of the soundtracks from the Final Fantasy series, all of which were like extacy to me, Louise and Christian. We will definitely have to do more of those next time around!

To end this post, I have a question for everyone reading this blog. Do you by any chance know anything about Freud, or dream psychology in general? Because two nights in a row now I have been having dreams, where I have gotten romantically involved with two of my friends - none of which I have any such interest in, in real life - and I would really like to know what that means. So if you have any idea, let me know!

A Look at the Apartment

Once again I find myself too slow to update the blog. Things happen, and a week later I still haven't written even the slightest thing about them. Like the time last week when I called my soon to be landlord company asking for a viewing of the apartment that I and my two friends had already payed the deposition for more than two weeks earlier. Because people were still living in the apartment halfway through October, there had been no posibility to actually see it before signing up for it. So it had been a bit of a gamble. The apartment seemed nice in theory, but who knew what it would actually turn out to be like?

I wanted to know. When I called the company though, I was told that they usually couldn't offer a viewing to people who had already paid the deposition.  That to me seems a bit backwards. Either way, using my intense charm, I managed to convince them to show me the apartment later that day. So I went there, bringing one of my soon to be cotenants with me.

As it turned out, the apartment was better than we could ever have wished for.  Fully furnished, with all the furniture feeling very fresh, it really put all of our potential fears at rest - not that we really had that many. There was even a TV at around 24" standing in the central dining room, as well as a wireless router, something we had definitely expected to having to buy ourselves. The only thing I felt was missing was a real oven. So I wont be able to start baking after all. (Sorry guys, but it seems there'll be no home baked ginger bread for Christmas.) On the other hand, the kitchen did have a gas stove - but most apartments here seem to have that, so that was pretty much expected. I wish the same would have been the case back home. Gas stoves are extremely rare in Sweden outside of restaurants, which is a shame given how much better they are than their electricity-using cousins.

All three bedrooms had real tatami floors - even though it for some reason was covered up by large, ugly mats in two of the rooms.  Apparently it was because they had been marketing those two rooms as somewhat more western or something like that, which I really can't understand the point of doing. Especially as the underlying tatami mats were considerably more attractive to look at, something which the guys showing us the apartment definitely agreed with. They then gave us full permisson to remove the "western" cover mats, as long as we returned them before moving out. So it was all good there as well.

Only one of the rooms actually have a bed. Neither me or Mikael - who was the one that was with me - picked that room. The problem with a bed is that it takes up way too much of a room's total area. Sleeping on a Japanese style futon that you can fold away during the day frees up a whole lot of space. It may be harder than sleeping in a bed - the beds at my current guesthouse being the large exception, as they are hard as stone, even with the double set of futons I am using - so I acually expect it will prove to be more comfortable sleeping on tatami floors.

Another problem with the room with the bed was the western style desk taking up even more of the precious area. The other two rooms had desks of the more traditional Japanese style, low things by which you have to sit on a cushion on the floor. And they looked much more exclusive than the western desk as well. To further help along my decision for the room I chose, I just got a very good feeling in that room. Maybe the feng shui of the room just felt good, maybe it was something else. Either way, I knew that I would have to be the one living in that room.

Linus, who still haven't seen the actual apartment, had originally set his mind on the same room after looking at the floor plan. But he didn't prove to hard to convince. When I mentioned that the bed was still not taken, the remaining resistance flew away pretty quickly.

At Tokyo Game Show and IKEA

Yesterday was a great day. I went to Tokyo Game Show with several of my friends, and spent the day having lots and lots of fun. We began by waking up very early (for a sunday), gathering in the lobby of the guest house. There were Alberto, Alexandra, Christian, Linus, Louise, Staffan and I. At Matsudo Station we met up with two other guys, Markus and Jonas - the brothers who don't look at all like brothers.

I paid no attention to how long the trip took, or what stations we passed, I know we went further into Chiba, passing Disneyland and IKEA along the way. Once we arrived, a brisk walk awaited through an area which reminded me very much of how I sometimes like to imagine the future. With beautiful white buildings, raised walkways, palmtrees, and a warm but not pressing temperature, it felt somewhat like a paradise.

The cenvention halls themselves were huge. Like six huge airplane hangars stuck together. By the time we had gotten through the doors our large group had long since been divided, my small splinter group warking our way quickly towards what we considered the main event of the show: the playable demo of Resident Evil 5.

There we would come to stand in line for almost three hours. After two of those hours, we had started to wonder why the line to our right (there were five of them altogether) went much faster than ours.  Speculation began that perhaps it was some kind of VIP line, especially after we had noticed that the people in that line were wearing some kind of tags around their necks. When we got a good look at one of those tags, another question arose. Why did it have the words "single player game" on it?

Someone made a joke that maybe we were standing in the co-op line. Then I noticed that the people in our line were wearing tags as well, only not as many at a time, and that's why we hadn't recieved any yet. Trying to catch a glimpse at a tag worn by one of the people in front of us, I noticed the words that confirmed what had started as a joke. We were standing in the co-op line. I don't think I've ever seen Linus look as shocked as he did at that moment.

Soon thereafter, we started thinking at the whole thing from a different perspective. How many people would actually get a chance to try out the co-op mode of Resident Evil 5 this long before its release? We should consider ourselves lucky to get that opportunity. Good thing there just happened to be four of us. We quickly teamed up based on previous experience with Resident Evil games. Before long we recieved our own set of tags, and fifteen minutes after that we finally got to enter the prechamber. 

An exclusive new trailer of the game awaited on a large screen, followed by an actor dressed up as one of the main characters showing up to welcome us and tell us to pay careful attention to the instruction video that would follow. Once that was done, we finally got to enter the actual playing room, which was filled with TV screens and Xbox 360s.

Taking up our places, each at their own screen, donning headphones and reaching for the controllers, anticipation was flying through the roof. The game started, and wow!! It was unbelievable! The graphics were stunning, the controller felt perfect (and I am usually not a big fan of the 360 controller), and the whole game experience just felt so fresh. I am really glad I ended up trying the co-op mode, by the way, because it was without doubt the best frecking co-op mode I have ever tried. Never before have you needed your partner this much, never before have your fates been tied together as much as they were in this game. And never before has there been this much you can do only because there are two of you.

Upon exiting the room, we were given a bandana featuring the logo of the new in-game faction. It's nothing anyone back home would recognize, of course, but still kinda cool. The whole thing was a great experience, its only downside being that the long waiting made us unable to try out everything we had wanted to in the rest of the show. Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Sonic World Adventure were among the titles I really would have wanted to try. I would also have liked to take a closer look at Ryu ga Gotoku 3 and 428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de, the latter of which seems to have gotten absolutely no english language media attention at all.

But time was very limited, so alot had to be skipped. Which really made me wish I would have gone to the show on the saturday as well. Alberto was there during all four days of the show, something made possible only because of the press pass he was carrying. What I wouldn't have given for one of those.

What I did get to try my hands on included the expansion for Metal Gear Online, as well as Sonic creator Naka Yuji's highly innovative Wii title Let's Tap. Another highlight of the day was me being interviewed by the Japanese television channel NHK, about the game Monster Hunter 3. In truth I didn't really know anything about the game in question, but I wasn't about to admit that! So I improvised - and I have to say I did so very well. And I must admit the game does look interesting. Had there only been more time, I would definitely have tried it.

About the interview, I have no idea if or when they actually aired it, but I still think the experience was quite noteworthy. Good practice, either way, for the countless of interviews I expect to give in the years to come, during my rise to the position of a truly international business leader.

All too soon we witnessed the end of this year's Tokyo Game Show. Perhaps next year I'll get the chance to return, even though I will hopefully live in Hong Kong by then. On our way back to Matsudo we stopped by at IKEA, where we ate traditional swedish meatballs. We also bought swedish candy and cookies - in my case Ahlgrens bilar, Singoalla and Annas pepparkakor - before finally leaving for home again.

I would have posted a whole bunch of pictures in this post, but my camera died before the event, and I still haven't recieved the pictures from any of my friends, all of whom promised me a share of the loot. Maybe I'll post a few later on, or maybe you'll just have to do without them.

またね。

Unsure of My Place on the Astral Winds

So I am sitting here in the middle of the night, unable to sleep because I slept till four this afternoon, wondering if there is someone out there actually reading my blog. I know I have given the adress to several people, but have anyone actually taken the time to find their way here?

I've also been considering moving my blog to Wordpress. It somehow feels like I would reach more people there. It feels like I would be more visible.

But regardless of how things will eventually end up, the fact is that my blog just looks too boring at the moment. It needs more pictures, more vibrant colors and more... well, more life. As a first step to change that, I added a temporary picture to the top. I will try to find something more attractive, but at least it looks better than nothing.

Didn't get much studying done today, by the way. Instead I met some people downstairs, started talking, and then we went to the arcade. Where I played a few games of Dance Dance revolution, and a rather interesting drumming simulation game. I totally sucked at DDR, being nowhere near my former level.  Which made me really wanna play it alot more to get back in shape. I have a reputation to uphold!

I should probably try and get some sleep now. I am going to the Tokyo Game Show tomorrow with a bunch of friends, so I have to be up in four hours. Hopefully I will be fully rested by then.

Mata ne!

In the Heat of the Night

This evening I made use of the sauna in the guest house for the first time. It felt great, and is something I will have do much more often now in the days leading up to my eventual move to Ikebukuro-honcho. I might even take another visit later tonight, if I get the time between the studying I will spend the following hours on.

I've also started planning for my application to the University of Hong Kong, checking their website for information on the programs I am interested in and the deadline for applications, and sending them a mail with some additional questions. Hopefully I will recieve an answer before too long. I also started looking into funding for the three years I will hopefully spend there, starting with CSN's (the Swedish Central Student Grants Commetee) website.

The next step would be actually finding a job here in Tokyo, allowing me to save some money instead of just spending it.

Earthquake!

I just experienced my first earthquake since comming to Japan. It was a really small one, over in no more than a second or two, and it would hardly even have been worth taking notice of had it not been for the fact that I've never felt one before.

As it is, I am kinda excited! I was sitting in my bed, browsing Facebook, when suddenly I felt the bed shaking slightly. Hearing a breaking noise from somewhere below, I realized it was not just the bed, but the whole building that was shaking. Sometime in the moments following the short quake, I also noticed a telephone cable outside my window wobble as if set in motion by some force.

The Ace of Clubs and a River of Yoghurt

It has been too long since my last post. Too much has come in the way of me updating this blog. I will try to be more dilligent in the future.

Truth be told, I am not really sure of what this post will contain. Several things of interest have happened since the 18th, when my last post was made, but will I remember more than a few of them before I finally give up and click on Publish Post? We'll just have to wait and see.

Almost a week ago now a friend of mine found an apartment near Ikebukuro, one of the larger centers of Tokyo. Merely five stations from school, and much closer to everything else of importance than where both my friend and I currently resides, the location was obviously as good as any we could ever realistically expect to find. And the apartment itself seemed great too. Three rooms, each one six tatami mats large (that's just under 10 sqr meters) with a kitchen and dining area in the middle.

It stood clear to both of us that this apartment would be perfect. However, as expensive as it is to live in Japan, we couldn't afford it on out own. Or at least, we didn't want to afford it on our own. We needed a third person. And so the hunt began. The next morning I immediately called Sakura House (henceforth known as "the company") asking about the apartment. I told them we were very interested, not mentioning the fact that we still hadn't found out third person. 

It wasn't until later, when we were on the train on our way to Shibuya to do some shopping, that I realized I already knew a person looking to share an apartment with someone. A classmate of mine - and yet another swede. (I swear, Tokyo is crawling with them.) Though I would probably have preferred someone not of north european origin, the fact was that the clock was ticking. If we wanted this apartment, we had to act as soon as possible. There was no time to be picky.

So I called my classmate and asked him if he was interested. Getting a positive answer, I called the company back as soon as I could.  A third call would prove necessary for formality later that evening, after I'd gotten home and filled in an online form at their website, but after that second call, the apartment was indeed ours for the taking. And during the third call, I could swear the person I was talking to was flirting with me. All in all, it was a good day. I even did get some shopping done.

The next day we went to Sakura House's main office in Shinjuku to really make it official. The final contract has yet to be signed,  but the deposit has been paid, and the apartment is ours from the last of october. So that's when I'll leave Matsudo City in Chiba Prefecture for the (metaforically speaking) much greener pastures of Tokyo proper.

Speaking of pastures, I discovered something quite unexpected a few days ago. Until that time, I hadn't really been any further away from the center of Matsudo than the location of my guesthouse. I had seen no reason to. The city had enough of that small-town feeling I usually dislike so much as it was, without me having to seek out its even more outlying parts. But then one day when I was up on the roof, getting some clothes I had hung to dry there, I looked out over the parts of Matsudo where I hadn't yet set foot, and I got a real urge to go out and explore them. This might not have been so unexpected - I am nothing if not adventurous.

So out I went, out on my quest to find something new - somewhere along the way buying a Coke in one of the several thousands of vending machines spread throughout Tokyo with surroundings. After something like ten minutes my jaw completely dropped, and I stopped in admiration.  I had found a river, bordered by the most wild-looking greenery I had seen since coming to Tokyo one month before. Walking down toward the river, the place really started to feel like a scene out of some roleplaying game, like the serene little village you always run across at one time or the other throughout the adventure.

In truth I had known that the river would be there. It had been part of what I had set out to find. But seeing as I'm this close to central Tokyo, I had kind of expected it to be bordered by ... well, stone or concrete or ... anything but wilderness, actually. Instead I had found (if only just a little bit of it) true nature.

I stayed there for more than half an hour, letting all of it flow through my senses. The urge to learn how to ride that has surfaced within me this past year really struck me with full force. It was like I could even feel the horse standing before me.

But let's not linger any longer at that subject. I still have much to talk about. Like yoghurt.

When I realized a few days ago that I didn't have any breakfast for the morning after, it was already to late to go to a real department store to do anything about it. So I improvised, thinking surely they must have some kind of yoghurt in one of the convenience stores bordering the way I was walking from the station to my home. And they had. Sure, it was dringking yoghurt, but surely it can't be that liquid, I though. Surely I would be able to eat it with my cereals. I was wrong. Utterly and severely mistaken. This thing was as liquid as milk. And while I do love the taste of milk to my cereals (be it something I haven't had since I came here), there is something quite disturbing about "milk" with a strong taste of yoghurt.

The next time I have forgotten to buy my regular kind of breakfast (like today...), I will not be quite so adventurous when it comes to finding a replacement. So tomorrow I'll just buy a couple good old onigiri instead.

Food brings me to drinks, which brings me to the next subject at hand. Clubbing. Tokyo is of course the clubbing capital of the east, featuring a great many night clubs of different varieties. With that in mind, it would obviously have been next to impossible for me to have tried out everything on offer so far. But I do feel I am at least on the right way.

This weekend I went to three clubs all in all. All of them in Shibuya. One may not really count though, as I left it after merely 15 minutes. That one was Gas Panic - which is a chain owning several clubs in Tokyo, mostly in Roppongi. I've been to two of them before, and now this third one. The thing is, I hate Gas Panic. Really truly hate it. This Shibuya branch was even worse than the ones I had visited before.

It's hard to put my finger on exactly what it is I so dislike about the place(s), but it probably has something to do with the horrible interior design, the crappy DJs, the chaotic feel of the place, as well as the fact that almost everyone inside are gaijin (and most of them probably tourists). Further, there're usually so much people you can hardly move - let alone dance - and they have a rule saying you have to have a drink in your hand at all times or be kicked out. I suppose the main reason why people go there is because there is no entrance fee. As if that would ever make it worth it.

Considerably better were the two other clubs I paid a visit to this weekend. First of them was Atom. With three dance floors - playing R&B and two kinds of trance respectively - it was definitely a club in which I enjoyed spending my time. While it may not be the club with the most exclusive air - the guards were all big, black guys wearing red t-shirts, jeans and sneakers - but the place definitely had style. The entrance fee was 3000 yen, with one drink included, and the price of most of their standard drinks was 500 yen.

The other club, the one to which I went saturday, was called Womb. Somewhat hard to find, tucked into an extremely soundproof old warehouse or something on a backstreet in the middle of Shibuya, with no sign at all of its existance other than the three guards and the few other people standing outside, it really looked like the kind of place you needed five different invitations to get into. Which was the reason we walked right past it the first time around, not expecting it was really the place we were looking for.

Once we got in - which was not as easy as it would have been had we not had a girl in our company who weren't quite as old as she were supposed to be (clubs in Japan apparently require you to be 20 years of age to enter, unlike the 18 that's standard in Europe) - we were unfortunately told that the main dance floor would not be open until 4 am. I don't know if that's the way they usually do it or if it was just a one-time thing due to some problem. Either way, it did mean the smaller dance floor, the one on the bottom floor, was pretty cramped for most of the night.

The interior design of the place was really interesting. Falling somewhere in between the look of a warehouse and the place of worship for some spiritual cult, it really spoke to me, despite my usual preference for more luxurious surroundings. The music they played was unfortunately limited to techno, a genre for which I hold no particular love (I prefer R&B and house when clubbing), but dispite that I managed to have quite a good time. It was just unfortunate that we lost half of our group to some other club before the night had hardly even started.

Entrance at Womb was 2000 yen, with most drinks landing at between 500 and 800 yen a piece.

What Secrets a Railway Station Holds

New day, new post. Well, actually the day isn't that new anymore. It's almost over. But the post is new, I assure you.

Two rather interesting things have happened in the last couple days. Yesterday I bought the laptop I am currently typing this post on. It's an Acer AspireOne, and it's without doubt the smallest and most portable laptop I have ever owned, or even used. Weighing in on merely 1.1 kilograms, with a screen no more than 9" in size, it nevertheless manages to pack a full gigabyte of RAM, a larger than expected harddrive (at 120GB), a reasonably fast wifi card (802.11g), and a keyboard that's large enough not to be too hard to actually use (unlike that of the main competitor, the Asus EeePC 901). 

It has a nice deep blue color too. All in all, I like it alot. The only thing I don't like is the OS. Having used a Macintosh for the past four years, going back to Windows is not really a pleasant experience. I had initially intended to buy a MacBook of some kind as soon as I got here, but the myriad of unexpected expenses that accompanied this trip soon made that impossible to do. But in the end it did work out pretty good anyway.  Though I am considering taking a serious look at Linux, I have to say.

Today, when on my way to school, I experienced something quite unexpected. The Joban line, which usually takes me halfway to my school in Shinjuku (one of the 23 special wards that make up Tokyo), was at a complete standstill. The station was thus packed with more people than I ever thought could fit in there, everyone waiting for some way to get to work. And all through this chaos were standing JR (Japanese Railways) personnel handing out small notes printed on the paper normally used for tickets, proof for people to give to their companies that they had a legitimite reason being late for work.

It came quite handy for me as well, when I finally arrived at my school a few hours later. By which time I - and the people who were with me - had already had the time to become tired of waiting in that sea of people, left to buy something cold to drink at Starbucks, been standing for a long time waiting outside the station while playing an interesting game of guesswork, given up that too and returned to the guesthouse, studied for a while, and then finally returned to the station to find that the trains had just started running smoothly again. When we reached our destination merely eighty minutes remained of today's classes. But with those prooftickets in hand, it was alright anyway.

Field Trip to NHK

Yesterday my class, along with the rest of the morning classes in my school, went on a field trip to NHK, Japan's public service broadcasting corporation. Trying our hands at such things as reading the news, and experiencing a range of stuff that really made us feel like children again, it's safe to say we hade a great time.

Probably the most interesting thing they had there was something I had never seen before (and that was indeed branded as quite a new technology). It was a new kind of 3D theater - without the need for those clumpsy 3D glasses that's often associated with it. The catch was that you had to keep your head at a slight angle from the screen, but I imagine it's only a question of when technology will remove that requirement as well, giving way to a truly three dimensional way of experiencing future media.

The Story of the Phone

I've been meaning to update the blog for a few days now, but unfortunately my studies have come in the way. Well, that and the fact that I still do not have a computer of my own. I had intended to buy one as soon as I got here, but an ocean of unexpected expenses put a quick end to that wish. And so I find myself limited to internet cafes, my friends' computers, and the few computers available at school.

The main point of interest for this update was supposed to be the heat. It's been hotter in the past three or four days than anything I've experienced since I was in Egypt two years ago. But though the rain is now nowhere to be seen, the moisture content in the air is as high as ever.

That were supposed to have been the main point of interest. But then I went and bought a phone. I have been feeling a great need for one ever since I arrived. Try getting in touch with your friends, in Tokyo, when you haven't seen them for a day or two, and you'll know what I mean. Also, I use my phone as a watch - my wrist watch doing not much more than being a shiny bracelet at the moment - so not having one at hand has proven quite... untimely.

The phone I bought is a red one, at least according to the operator. I would call it some kind of very dark pink. It looks stunning, if I may say so myself. The phone itself cost me 30720 yen (about €200), which I paid up front. I then have a basic subscription fee at ca 3900 yen (€25) the first month, 1200 yen (€14) the second, and from the third month on, an unbelievably low 21 yen (14 cent) a month. I nearly coughed up my coffee when I heard that part.

The subscription fee includes free calls and mails within Softbank between 1 am and 9 pm. There is an addon service (there are optional addon services for everything in Japan) that expands that to the full 24 hours of the day, but I figured it wasn't worth it yet. Should I reevaluate that decition later on, I can always get the service when that time comes.

Actually getting to the part where I had the phone in my hand included a couple runs to Matsudo City Hall (first to register for the mandatory Alien Registration Card, then to get a very official teal piece of paper saying what will eventually be printed on the card, as the temporary paper I recieved when I first registered apparently wasn't enough. The japanese are very fond of bureaucracy. Now that I have a phone, I next need a bank account. I'll let you know how that persuit turns out.

I have been meaning to mention a few facts about the school and the guesthouse where I live all week, but time has always gotten in the way. This time it's my stomach getting in the way, as I haven't had my breakfast yet - at 16:50. So I'll make it short. The school I attend is called ISI Language School. It's located right in the middle of Shin-Oukubo, Tokyo's own "Korea Town", only a minute's walk from the train station. I like the area, though I have to admit it surprised me alot to see so many signs in korean everywhere the first time I came there.

Where I live, on the other hand, is technically not in Tokyo at all, but in the next-door province of Chiba, in a bedroom community town known as Matsudo. Connections to Tokyo proper are very good though, with trains at times running as often as every two minutes, and it takes me only about 50 minutes to get to school in the morning.

The First Post

I can only begin by saying "ahhh". I am finally starting to settle in here in Tokyo. It has unfortunately taken a few days to take care of everything that needed taking care of once I had arrived, before I could take some time to update this blog again. But now I am finally here, with my first ever post from the Land of the Rising Sun.

The trip went well enough, disregarding the fact that I had managed to pack as much as 32 kgs into the bags I had indended to check in. 32 out of the allowed 20, with a fee of 250 euro for every single extra kilogram. Needless to say, I wasn't about to pay that. So I repacked my bags.

After that the trip went much smoother. On the plane from Paris to Tokyo, there were pretty much no people at all, so I managed to get a full row of four seats all for myself. As for the entertainment, I watched Ironman and Kung Fu Panda. I also joined a frequent flyer program - something I've always wanted to do. It seems so... professional.

Upon arriving Tokyo I realized that this is one hot city. While I have no problem standing the heat - I've crossed the Sahara desert in summer - the moisture is killing me for sure. But from what I have seen of the city so far, I love it none the less.

School is starting today. I've already taken a test that will place me in one of the many classes available, depending on my current skills. One year of japanese studies now awaits. I'll tell you more about it next time. For now, I have to run. A meeting here at the school awaits.

The Last Post

This will be my last post before departure, and it will be a short one. Exactly twelve hours now remain until take-off. Wish me luck.

Tickets Arrived

I finally recieved my tickets today, as was expected. 35 hours from now, my plane will just have taken off from Gothenburg, having set course for Paris and Charles de Gaulle International Airport. I haven't been in Paris in ages, and though I won't actually get to see the city this time either, it still feels like a breath of fresh air not going through Vienna, as I've done the last four times I've gone anywhere moderately far away.

From Paris the trip then continues to Tokyo, a flight taking just over twelve hours, meaning I will land on Tokyo Narita as early as 06.30 local time.

As you may have noticed I changed the background of the blog. I am aware that it is not very well cut, and that it doesn't actually look very good - but it was the best I could do on this computer, lacking everything in the way of advanced photo editing softwhere as it does. Frankly, I had to do it in Paint. And it does beat the standard background that came with the template, so until I can make something better, it stays.

Finally, a small update on yesterday's post. The movie I saw (Arn – The Kingdom at Road's End; sequel to this) was very good. I can very much recommend it.

P.S. I've been experimenting a bit with various fonts here on the blog. If you have a preference, let me know.

Final Preparations

Less than three days remain now, before I leave for Tokyo. Everything is comming together at last. I've tried packing all the stuff I intend to bring with me, landing well within the 32 kg limit imposed by the airline. The rest of the things from my apartment, about half of which is books, will be safely locked away in my father's basement. The paperwork too seems to be in perfect order - except for the small fact that I still don't have the ticket in my hand.

Something like that always happens, whenever I go abroad. There's always one vital thing remaining two days before I leave. Some call it bad planning. I call it a fact of life. Either way, I am used to it. So as long as everything else is ready, I see no reason to panic.

And everything else do indeed seem to be ready. I've even said my final goodbyes to most of my friends. Most of them. A few remain, so I still have a couple of lunches to look forward to before departure.

I've spent the day taking care of some financial preparations. I cancelled one of my credit cards, as I won't be needing it during the upcomming year. It would just be lying there, making unnecessary charges to my account. I also bought myself a fresh pile of new shiny yen. I am not much into cash, really... seriously, I hate the stuff, always using a debit card for purchases, but with Japan being as ridiculously obsessed with printed money as it is, I didn't really see I had a choice in the matter.

Now I am leaving for the theater, to watch the second Arn movie. I'll let you know what I think of it.

The Story So Far

So why am I doing this? Why would I leave all my family and friends, some of whom I will no doubt miss almost unbearably much, to go to a place on the other side of the planet, and more or less start life all over? Why seek myself to a culture so westernized, and yet so foreign? Why leave my little corner of Europe at all, when so many others seem so content living here?

First things first. I have never really felt very at home in Sweden. Sure, I love my friends, I love my family. And I have to say I've found the city of Gothenburg to be somewhat picturesque during the year I've now been living here, and more pleasant than I'd ever expected a Swedish town to be. And the people I've met here have turned out to be some of the best friends I've ever had. Which of course counts for alot. But does it count for enough? That's the question I'll need to find the answer to.

So the people I know beside, there's really nothing holding me in this country. The cities, to begin with, are much too small and rural. As some people need little red cabins or vast oceans to survive, I need skyskrapers and beautiful architecture. Preferably intertwined with lush parks and palmtrees - it isn't the lack of nature that is important, but the presence of millions of people, the pulse that makes a world metropolis truly come alive, and the architectural feats of wonderment that often comes with it.

The scandinavian weather is another great thorne in my side. Always too cold, and often too wet. Even at summer the temperature much too rarely reaches anywhere near pleasurable levels, and at winter it's often just plain ridiculous how cold it is. And by the gods, if it has to rain all the time anyway, can't there at least be a cozy thunderstorm or two instead of ... well, this?

But let us move on to other things. I've lingered enough on what makes Sweden a place worth leaving, and though I assure you I could keep on for quite a few more paragraphs, there really would be no point. This is not a blog about Sweden, after all, but a blog about my dreams and aspirations, about Japan, and why I chose to go there.

And the answer to that question is easy enough. I have always found Asia to be an alluring place. I've always been mysteriously drawn to the continent, and especially to its more eastern parts. Imperial China and Samurai Japan are doubtlessly two of the most interesting cultures to have ever existed, and while I don't have much over for the communist regimes that has dominated the area for the the past half century, the region's recent adoption of capitalism has, in my opinion, once again made it a place well worth my attention.

And probably more so than any other place in Asia, Japan has held my interest firmly for the last several years. Never having had to deal with them "evil commies", the country has had the chance to develop into something entirely unique. More western than any other Asian state, while at the same time more eastern than most, a society sprinkled with the beauty of capitalist ideals, intriguing foreign customs, and the very edge of new technology, Japan was the obvious place where I had to go.

And at its center, the shining city of Tokyo.

Foreword

With this first post ever, I would like to welcome any and all of you who may eventually come to read this blog. Of course you won't be here already - and there's a good chance you never will be - but being the nice and social person that I am, I obviously couldn't let a small detail like that stand in the way of a proper welcome.

Half a month remain before I leave for Japan, and while most things are already planned and ready, I still have a few vital decisions to make before I leave. One of which regards this blog. It is the question of language. I still haven't decided, you see, whether I should blog in my native Swedish, or in the considerably more international English. Undoubtedly, they would both have their benefits. So what do you think, Oh Potential Reader, what language would you prefer? I promise I will listen in on the silence of the comment area, taking notice of all the advice you will not have given.