Today I explored the area around Chi's house some more. I also went with Chi to a city called Narimasu. There, while Chi was tutoring, I explored Narimasu and read some books at a library.

Chi has a job tutoring a girl named Ami. She goes there twice a week.

Today Chi went to meet up with Natsumi and Natsumi's friend to talk about working at Natsumi's friend's workplace, a chocolate company. I went to see my friend Toshi near Roppongi.

Toshi let me ride his bike for awhile around Tokyo Tower. It's an electric bike. I didn't even know they existed. You peddle a little and the bike takes off like a motorcycle, except with no noise. I had fun. The view of Tokyo Tower tonight was also quite nice. The sky was cloudy, so the bright tower lit up a large amount of the sky.

After Toshi went home I went to Ikebukuro to explore and walk around while waiting for Chi. While I was walking down one particular sidewalk a rather cute girl approached me. I didn't think much of it at first because stores here often have people stand out in front of their stores to advertise and hand out flyers. But this particular girl didn't have any flyers in her hands. She approached me and then asked: "seksu?" (sex?). I was surprised! I've never been asked like that by a stranger before.

I met Chi at Ikebukuro station soon after so we could go back home together. She got some chocolates from Natsumi's friend. They were yummy :)

Today Chi's mom and I drove Chi to the train station so she could go to her tutoring job. After that we went to a clothing store and chi's mom bought me a new coat. It's cold here and my coat isn't warm enough. It was hard to find a coat that fit me. All of them were too small. In the states most clothes are too big for me. Here, most clothes are too small for me. We found a nice-looking black one. It costed about $70.

After we got home Chi's mom taught me how to make onigiri. I've tried making them before, but they never turn out quite right. She steamed the rice for it in the microwave. The microwave here has a water pan embedded in it that you can use to steam food. The microwave here is awesome. I wish I could take it home with me. You can set the wattage you want, how long you want it to cook, how you want it to cook, and what temperature you want the food to be when it's done.

Today I finally mustered up the courage to use the toilet's bidet. The toilet washed my butt for me with a jet of water. It was an interesting experience. I'm still a little nervous about pushing the other buttons, namely because I'm not sure what they do. I don't want an obituary read like this: "stupid foreigner eaten alive by out of control toilet"

Yesterday Chi and I went to the local library. When Chi was a child she went to that library with her mom often and has read most of the children's books there. She recommended a few to me. While I'm here I want to read lots and lots of books in order to become fluent in Japanese.

At 7:00pm Chi's stepdad came over to pick us up and take us to a yakiniku restaurant. There we cooked various meats and vegetables over a grill embedded into the table. It was delicious. Chi's stepdad payed for everything again. This time it was about $385. Japan is so expensive!

After that we went to a small local karaoke bar. It was quite noisy there and most of the people were drunk, but it was fun. Everyone there was friendly and could sing well. When Chi finally sang a song, everyone in the bar started cheering, clapping, and singing along. Chi is a stunning singer. I was amazed. I wish I had taken a video of it.

Today we woke up early to take Chi to a kanji test. Kanji are the picture characters that Japanese use to write. Chi needs to pass this test in order to be able to find a decent job. She was not worried about it though because she knows her kanji very well due to reading lots of books. She studied for it anyways.

After that we went to the library again so I could borrow a few more books.

Tonight me, Chi, and Chi's mom went to a ramen shop for dinner. It was delicious. My 3rd favorite kind. First is the ramen I ate in Osaka last year with Jason. Second is the ramen that I ate at Sapporo station.

Yesterday Chi went to her 説明会 and I went to see a 節分 festival in Shinjuku. Some famous 芸能人 (geinoujin; performers) there were handing out bags of candy. I haven't tried any of it yet.

After that we met up with Natsumi and went to a 食べ放題 (tabehoudai; buffet) shabushabu restaurant. While we were eating a loud fire alarm went off exclaiming that there was a fire on the first floor and that we should evacuate immediately. But the staff of the restaurant checked and told us not to worry, that it was a false alarm. We ate lots and lots. It was delicious. Natsumi and Chi taught me many girly and cutesy ways of saying common phrases. We laughed until our stomachs nearly burst.

After that we took some purikura pictures. Chi uploaded three of them to her Facebook.

Today Chi and I went to the hospital to see Chi's grandpa. He had a stroke about a month ago and can no longer speak. He can nod his head yes and no though. I'm glad I was able to meet him.

After that we picked up Chi's mom from work and went to eat ramen. 美味しかった (oishikatta; it was delicious).

Now Chi and I are watching a drama called Glee together. We're going to sleep soon. おやすみ　(oyasumi; good night)

Today Chi went to a 説明会　(setsumeikai) and then went to her tutoring job. I spent the day at home with shokora (Chi's dog) and then Chi's mom. Chi's mom made me some おにぎり　(onigiri). They were delicious. I ate four of them. Other than that, nothing too interesting to report today. Tomorrow Chi is going to another 説明会. I'm planning on going somewhere to celebrate 節分　(setsubun; a Japanese bean-throwing holiday).

In Japan Again

I'm back in Japan again. This time I'm staying at my girlfriend Chi's house.

I arrived in Japan about five days ago. Again, over the north pole. At my stop in Canada I discovered an express walkway to help move people down a long hallway. It starts at a normal speed and then the plates that you stand on soon separate and extend. I was moving so fast on that thing that, despite being indoors, I could feel the wind in my hair. I found a video of it on YouTube. Apparently it's the first one ever made. Maybe the only one?



The other day Chi went to take a TOEIC test and I spent the day hanging out with her friend Sawa and Sawa's boyfriend U- (pronounced eww). They took me to a street full of candy stores. I saw and tasted lots and lots of new treats. Unfortunately I can't remember the names of any of them right now. U- is a funny guy. We had a great time

After that we picked up Chi and went to Sawa's house. There we walked Sawa's dogs and ordered pizza. The pizza here is quite different from the states. There is no pepperoni pizza. No mushrooms either. There is sausage, but they put the whole sausage on there, not ground sausage. There is salami, but I'm not sure if it tastes the same as pepperoni. There are many other ingredients you can add to the pizzas, many of which I don't know the names of. The pizzas are smaller and more expensive than the ones in the states. They taste different, but are still good.

It seems my Japanese has improved since last year. I can understand maybe 60% of conversations now. Yay :). Things like the TV and books are still way too difficult though.

I'm having a great time here. And everyone has been treating me to everything, so I haven't spent hardly any money. I tried to pay back Chi's mom by sneakily putting some money on her bed, but she said that if she happens to find any money that is not hers, she'll throw it away. :(

The three pizzas that we ate the other day costed ~$80.
We went out to dinner at a nice traditional japanese restaurant the other day and chi's stepdad payed for everything. It was ~$200.
I was treated to many other things, but I think those were the most expensive.

I'll try to get into a habit of updating this blog every night. また明日 ( mata ashita; see you tomorrow)