and by that i mean real winter, the kind with snow and ice and horribly cold mornings. it's a real struggle to crawl out of my nice warm blankets in the morning, i have to admit. it's a good thing i like my job or i'd be very tempted to go riiiiiight back to sleep.
sorry it's been so long since i wrote anything- i'm really not particularly good at remembering about this blog. or any blog-like thing, for that matter. on the few occasions that someone bought me a diary to write in, i'd usually fill out a max of two pages before losing all interest.
the winter term has started- it's a short one. only two and a half months before spring vacation. it's currently snowing big flakes outside and i'm crossing my fingers and hoping for a snow day. liking my job is all well and good, but given the opportunity to sit in a nice warm office and drink tea and draw monsters all day, i will GLADLY take it. no question.
christmas was strange- it's a party holiday in japan. people go on dates and sit around and eat cake and get a little crazy with their friends. looking at the pictures of my family sitting around at home, with the decorations and the tree and everything, was the closest to homesick i've been since i moved here. luckily i've got some awesome friends to spend time with instead. without them, living here would be much more difficult. i really think i got lucky with this job- nice town, relatively friendly people, and cool co-workers. it's a shame a bunch of people are leaving next year, but i'm happy with the thought of staying here. it's a good place to be.
i spent new years' in osaka. THAT was really cool. we went to a countdown party at a rock/metal/punk bar and enjoyed the hell out of ourselves. lots of dancing, giggling (at the absurd song choices) and singing along at the top of our lungs along with the rest of the bar. they played "the final countdown" as it was hitting midnight. best decision ever. it was crazy amounts of fun. two days later, i got sick sick sick and that sucked. it was totally my own fault though- i didn't bring a coat with me to osaka and the hostel i stayed at had no heating, which meant i was insanely cold all week. didn't really help preserve my health, deshou?
let's see... oh yeah! i also went to tokyo and met a cool new friend, went to a dinosaur museum and had the best time ever, and saw my students at a matsuri in town jumping fences in order to cause some sort of trouble somewhere.
i adore my students.
anyway, i hope all 5 of you who read this are having an awesome winter too- and i'll talk to you soon. promise.
probably.
-andrea
