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.