25. Exploring the world: Korea and Kansai

note: i wrote this on the 4th May, and am back to japan right now, staying at my friend Jenni's in oosaka. im not having my laptop connected to the internet so im using her friend Ansku's one, and am therefore not able to add any more pics D;; but now that im back to japan i promise more posts soon!! and more specific posts of the things i've been doing lately


May 4th, Blu Guest House, Hongdae, Seoul
Absolutely too long time after the last post passed, but i've really been very busy. My little sister came for a week's visit, and 4 days after she'd left two of my friends came to tokyo too, and during the whole time i've also been seeing my japanese friends and planning next year and huhh it's just been busy times. After the two of them went back to Finland, i only had couple of days left before this trip and every day was full-booked. So yeah, sorry. Since i've been doing that much it's hard to decide what to write too.. and to be honest, lately i've just not been in the mood of writing, or at least in the blog-writing mood. I think the blog should be a thing you cant wait for getting to write, and normally i feel like that but now i just had to force myself to do this >,<"

Yah. So i've been running around the city, trying to show all the greatest thing of my dear tokyo to the visitors. so much has happened it kinda feels i could tell nothing without leaving something 'important' out... or actually, it's mostly been drinking three times a week during the whole month, so nothing too interesting i think XD rndm pics here

another kapibara i happened to won when i bought some food in konbini ;w;<3 welcome to the family!!1

in a ghost bar in kichijoji

in our schools new university building ft mami

hachiko and cherry blossoms!!

in odaiba ft irisssss

statue of liberty

more sakura

umm... just some jpnese men in harajuku.. in school uniforms.. with stocking in their heads...

tidiiiiiii found this on my jpn phone when i looked the pics through

purikura ft salla and emmi

we went to the fujikyuu high land near mt. fuji! it has many world record roller coasters and was a looooot of fun!! tho it was clody so we couldnt see the fuji D:

haunted hospital that left me some serious traumas D::

Eeerm so I already tried writing this post once, the day before I left my apartment and came here via night bus and Osaka, so I just post the thing i wrote back then and continue after that!! yoroshiku.

April 28th
Actually i'm leaving tomorrow night (the night bus to osaka), so today i have to pack all the stuff and clean the room etcetc choose what to take with me for the trip since i'll be away for over 11 days (i dont have that much stuff anymore since my sister was kind and took 12kg with her back to finland XD) and more importantly, to get a new insurance for my luggage since the one i had when i came here has expired. And i still havent looked for any places to stay in kansai, nor figured out which days ill be in which city, nor which cities ill visit nor the bus ill come back with :____D leave alone the korea part, i havent even checked how to get to the hostel from the airport XD so its kinda a big mess, and today will be busy! but i like it that way, im seriously thinking of not booking any hostels before hand at all, and trying to just go with the flow.... to stay where i feel like! but well, always better late than never we say in  finland, that could be my life motto...


There's something i have done for preparation, tho XD yesterday i downloaded a hangul application into my iphone and learned the korean alphabet, so now i'll know i can read the names of places and not get lost at least :_D i've always thought korean is a fucking hot language and sounds intriguing, so maybe it would be nice to learn it some day!! i heard that it is very similar to japanese too, so i think it wouldnt be too hard ;3 no kanjis at least!!

back to May 4th:
Well, I ended up packing in the next morning before the Nekotalo-scary-woman came to check my room out, the last ten minutes before her coming were stressful, i had to vacuum and do the dishes and pack some small stuff and clean the toilet but i made it haha! And my friend Jenni promised i can sleep at her place in Osaka, ill be staying the whole time there and do day tours to kyoto and nara etc~ thank you thank you thank you (o^,^o) have already bought some candy for u yey. problems tend to solve themselves so i always think like that and stop stressing too much :D

Also, i booked the bus ticket just before leaving the house (i went back to my host family's and left my stuff there before the trip, i'll also stay there for the last few days of my stay in tokyo ;_; so soooooooon..!!). Have to admit i was kinda terrified of taking the bus, since in the same morning there had been two accidents caused by sleeping bus drivers, many ppl were dead and so on, so i couldnt sleep well during the ride lol. well, here i am, alive. at least before the next ride >,<"

So about Korea, then?

I love this fucking place!! Seoul is nothing i had thought it would be, it's a lot more western than tokyo o.o" not many high buildings or big crowds and the city is full of green, it could be an european city..!! inside the city there's a very beutiful river that you can walk along, many parks and FREE SEOUL WI-FI in many areas and streets. Then the prices....!!!! 15 minutes taxi ride costs about 3 euros. 3 euros!! one morning i bought a bottle of water, an onigiri and a cinnamon roll and it was about 1,2 euros lol. Some of the shops are open till 5 am, so you can do shopping very late at markets, but even the shops that close earlier are open like til 10pm. So ppl live at nights too!! goes for me :DD

What else...?
Oh, the ppl. imo koreans are much more stylish than japanese. So it's horrible to walk around, cuz every second person on the street draws your attention with their good looks :_D They're also taller and have bigger shoulders etc, look more 'western' by bodies. Also the atmosphere is more lively, ppl show their feelings more open (many couples for example, and these guys do more small talk). So actually there are many unexpected differences between Japan and Korea, as far as i've noticed during these couple of days.

For the negative side i have to say it smells like kimchi in here. The smell comes to you and stays in your clothes for the whole day, I didnt like myeongdong, the youth shopping paradise, at all cuz the stink was unbearable there >,<"

That's the only negative thing coming to my mind! but basically, seoul's stolen my heart. i would come and live here any time. seriously. the city isnt big, but it's so amazingly energetic, beautiful and classy at the same time, that i just cant not-like it in here! if it was a person i'd be in love by now.

Now that i've got this hard first-post-after-a-longer-while done (and ppl this was written on 4th, i just couldnt get myself to press the post button...), i can probably post again soon and tell all the things i've been doing here~ i can say the weather has been amazing (slightly too warm with humid 30 degrees on some of the days) and continues sunny until monday when i'll head back to japan :D i just have to wonder why i did took my mittens with me.....

Anyway, this night ill go out and grab a drink somewhere, just came back for a couple of hours since the morning was early and i havent slept too much. So that's about it, i'll give you the detailed report when i'll be back in japan after few days! aaaaa i just love my life right in this moment, i really have been happy during the recent weeks and enjoying every second. Life should be like this, you should take your stuff and head off much more often to some city where you know nobody knows your name and just walk the streets and eat. ah.

note: a little bit jumpy, ecxuse me. hope you got even some joy of it lolol 

23. 11 facts challenge

Good morning, good day, or whatever every one of you are having right now!! here i am again, as promised with this blog challenge i was tagged in by cannibalcoast as i think i already mentioned yesterday. Actually i haven't been sleeping after that last post as the night just.. vanished somewhere, and i ended up spending it all in MSN hehehe. But now im starting to feel a bit tired so i think i'll take naps after having posted this one~


However, i noticed im too lazy to do this properly so i'll mark the parts i actually will do with the usual blue XD sorry for that Orz if someone feels burning passion for doing this i still can set those 11 questions tho, take my word for that. So here are the


Rules:
1. Each person must post eleven things about themselves on their blog.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you plus create eleven questions for the people you tag to answer.
3. Choose eleven people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs.
6. You legitimately have to tag.


Let's get the party started~

My 11 facts 

(wrote this ready yesterday noon, but dont think many of the facts have radically changed in the last 24 hours so.. XD)

1. i often hear i seem like the only child, scary isnt it... i have this horrible image of only childs >,<"

2. i hate my laughter

3. i actually have strong opinions and a lot of them, the perfect plans of how everything should be, but im always paranoid of what ppl think about me so i keep on pushing them down and sometimes i even find myself trying to please others. like not really please but for example leave my own thoughts unsaid and accompany to what the other ppl say. that's the feature i really do loathe in myself. but when it comes to speaking about feelings i have no problems.

4. i love driving and that's one of the things i miss the most from finland. next summer i'd love to make a night drive, just take off to somewhere and keep on going, listen to the music, maybe talk deep things if i had someone with me and watch the sun set and rise. would be nice.

5. i have eyeglasses i nearly ever use. i even use contact lenses only on the days i really do want to see well lol. im gonna buy new glasses so it would be pleasant to use them (those kind of with bold black/grey/brown spectacles), now i only have those old craps that make me look like a secretary....

6. food and eating are my passions. like really. really. really. i really enjoy different flavours and taste conbinations and eat all the time and yeah... gladly im not one of the ppl who fatten easily, id be doomed :__D maybe i should start doing some sports tho.... cant be healthy not to move at all.... but then again im too lazy for that..

7. ppl with a passion for something are the most attractive ones. passion for life, passion for a certain hobby, passion to be successful, passion for music, passion for themselves. i adore ppl with dreams that they really want to acchieve.

8. i love history and cultures and languages and international stuff and aaah. you got the point. something like that i'd love to do in the future. live abroad every now and then, travell... i dont need a big apartment, i'd rather have a cool car or bike, money for travelling and have adventures etc, live in a big old city... i love big cities. okay more than one fact XDD

9. at the moment im really looking forward to summer. i know it means my time here will be over, and i dont want that, but still... i love finnish summer and im sure this one will be the best one ever. i will make it the best. and if i will go to britain in autumn i want to do every single thing i have to do before leaving!! funny, i actually never used to like summers that much.. my favourite season is autumn tho, even still. then you can use jackets and dress properly, the smell of the leaves, the rains that fall and aaaaa  ;_;<3 darkness that starts to make its way back...

10. i have fucking small hands

11. i write poems and lyrics. lately not that often but i've noticed it always helps to clear my mind when im distressed or feeling strong emotions.

My 11 answers

1. If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

I'd want to meet a guy full of old wisdom, someone who would have been born in the worst conditions ever but then been lucky to rise, make money and been successful in his life, have been to many interesting places and situations and doesnt need anything anymore and feels continent with how his life was. Someone with great ideas and no regrets.

2. If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

Not sure if this means outside like out in the nature or out with friends, but if i really am out out, then im walking my dog, if im out like in Helsinki or so, then properly drinking.. not always in a bar but at a friend's place or picnic etc :D or just hanging around in someone's home, eating, playing...

3. What's your strangest talent?

Hmmmh no idea about my talents!! i dont even know any normal talents i'd have but i go with getting ppl to talk easily and tell about their problems when i want to know what's wrong :-d speaking of strange talents my lil sister, soon 17, can speak nearly any movie she has seen by heart and it really is fucking amazing O.O no idea how she does it!!

4. What was the last lie you told?

It must have been when i said i havent been having a boyfriend for a while. (i have never had one)

5. How do you vent your anger?

With music, going out and breathing some fresh air, with aggressive behaviour and things, writing, or then speaking with a friend. I really suck at venting my anger, when i really am angry there's no chance i could stop myself saying things i mean. but anyway i dont say things i dont mean.

6. What's a sound you hate; sound you love?

I hate the sound of nails scratching carton, the kind of brown thick paper >,< makes me feel sick; love the sound of fingers sliding on the strings of acoustic guitar that you may hear in some songs and the sound of rain and thunder. 

7. Smell the air. What do you smell?

Nothing because of this fucking cold D:: but im eating ice cream~

8. What's the worst injury you've ever had and how did you get it?

I really havent had any injuries as i recall...!! Once a dog bit me to my throat and i needed to take antibiotics. After that i didnt like dogs at all until we got ours XD my family only told me the day before like 'hey we're gonna get this puppy tomorrow', it was awful!!

9. If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?

I'd proparly freeze and couldnt speak at all, im a terrible speaker XD but lets forget about that and play with the idea a bit. i'd surely say the life is too short to be sad and have regrets, and that everyone should try to catch their dreams instead of only putting up with what feels the easiest thing to do. oh, and that money is spent so wrong on this earth and that US isnt the whole world. that humankind should think more about the crap we have caused to this planet and all these basic things i think everyone should say.

10. What do you think is Satan's last name?

This one!! Interestinggg. I think it's the secret of this planet, the very information we need the most but only are too afraid to go and get.

11. What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

Some aforism that would describe my attitude towards the life. Im sure ppl will forget you after some decades anyway so i guess it wouldnt really matter tho.

So here we are, hope it was interesting to read. Aah im feeling so good right now, have such a comfortable position and just the right amount of blankets, stomach full of tasty yakisoba and an ice cream in my hand.. Even the fever seems to be gone. Feeling slightly sleepy and having great background music. Yesterday night i heard jason mraz has more good songs than just the radio hit 'im yours', so i gave it a try and what a great and happy surprise!! I'm totally in love with some of the songs so i'll hit you with one. This one even suits my situation perfectly<3 enjoy the rhythm and the jamming singing♪ im gonna sleep lol

Oh, recalling of while we used to drive and drive

Here and there, going nowhere

...

And it was time for all the wrong and lonely, lonesome reasons

...

But tonight we, sleep all, we sleep all day..

19. About life and caring

Hellou and long time no see, I've actually been busy doing a lot of stuff! And it's still going on, I just decided to take my time and do a quick post now. Aannnd I actually have some stuff to say too so not bad at all!! Pay attention---!!

So Suski and Elina spent 5 days here with me, mostly we just hanged around but I'll write more about it later, add many pics etc~ just the reason of me having been busy

Today has been one of those days I am really happy to be alive, to be me and to have been just where i happened to be. Nothing much actually happened, tho I only slept for less than 5 hours cuz S&E's plane was so early we had to get up at six already: I had made plans to go and eat both lunch and dinner back at home with my host family today, so that's mostly what I did.

Tho I had been trying to find a place that would rent a bike, asked around if anyone knew anywhere and googled it, it seems they woudlnt rent any bikes in Koenji D: So I asked okaasan if they have a rental anywhere near and she even made a call but you should have waited for a month to get a bike so yeah -__-" it seemed i wouldnt get any, and i was starting to get a little worried about coming home late at nights (this station is not too safe at nights, particularly if you walk alone)

But then obaachan told me a friend of hers happens to have two bikes (the one was stolen right after he had bought it so he had to buy another one, but then he spotted the stolen one a couple of months later and got it back XD). She said he had wanted to sell one of them as soon as possible, and it had already been two months since they had spoken about the thing so it wasnt sure he still had both. Anyway, Obaachan said she'd call him and ask about it later when he would be home.

So I stayed in the kitchen chatting with okaasan, but soon obaachan came back speaking in the phone, telling i'd go and pick the bike, and I found myself on the way to get one of them YEY. When I was leaving the house obaachan came downstairs wearing her jacket and because she's 85 already and has problems with her leg i was like no no no i go myself, sure the friend will spot me but she was determined to come with so i was like "oh ok (.__.)"

We met at the other station where this Shimizu-san lives and he said we should go and change the bikes register number so that it will belong to me if there would be any problems, so we started walking there (he taking the bike, obaachan having hard time walking the long distance and me just hanging there awkwardly). Obaachan had told me about the man on our way there, the guy was single and had been travelling a lot in very interesting places, he had even been to uganda without permission to meet a friend so i felt reaaally tiny next to him and his experiences..! I never know what to say in front of ppl i really do respect...

When we got to the register-thingy-place they told it's easy to change and would take 500 yens, so he was like ok i'll pay but obaachan started to take out her money and aaaaaaaaa okay i know 500 yen is not a big amount but still  I had my money in my hand there but Shimizu-san was like PUT IT AWAY so my reaction again: "oh ok (.__.)"

This might not sound like anything big happened, but the whole time i was there like DONT YOU FUCKING START CRYING LIKE A BABY its just... i dunno, im one of those ppl who actually cry really rare, maybe 4-5 times a year, but on these kind of occassions where someone does something for you without getting anything out of it, without any benefits, like giving their bike (a better one ;__;) away in order to help a total stranger you dont even know, i cant help but feel touched.

Before i left and rode the bike to our station i said thank you for a million times but you know the feeling when you cant forward your feeling however hard you try??? You've got no words and just hope you could make them understand how thankful you are for everything and ösaldköalsdköas

Hhhuuh im making such a fuzz about 'nothing', but it really wasnt nothing for me. I hear that im a cold person and seem distant etc a lot, but i really love making ppl smile. Like, i often open doors to random guys and such, but thats something you can do without losing anything of your own stuff. Maybe this sounds selfish and yeah it is selfish, but often when making someone happy demands something from you (money, item, not having something you want to have by yourself), I find myself wondering if its worth it or not. Because it feels like ppl really dont care that much about each other nowadays and all that matters is your own happiness, so even if you made an effort and gave up on something of your own, there's a huge chance they wouldnt appreciate it much, or that after a year they wouldnt even remember the whole thing at all. Sounds so sad.

This thing made me think. A lot. And I decided to change, even a little bit, to try more and help other ppl more. I get frustrated if i dont feel like becoming a 'better person' in a long run and for a while i've changed nothing in my habits, so this shall be this year's challenge. Or this months, at least. So: I try very hard (you should never promise anything XD) to make ppl smile and help them out of the problems if it doesnt kill my own happiness. For example lenting stuff you can live without for a while. Simple little things like that..

It was wonderful to come back home btw, otoosan rode next to me for about 20 minutes because they didnt believe i could find the right way by myself, and after that i kept on and rode for 40 minutes. LUXURY. I love the speed and the feeling of freedom, the wind on your face and AAAA! Different from driving, you feel things around you better~ Just riding through the darkness and silent neighbourhood, having time to think! Okay i admit i got lost and panicked a bit when i found myself in the middle of rice field but hey i found home anyway haha. yes my orienteering is the worst one ever.

Still have to pack my stuff, changing the houses tomorrow!!! and its only 2am yey Looking forward to it *www* And I think that the lesson of the day was that you shouldnt keep on looking for the reasons why you shouldnt have done something, but rather appreciate the things that your decision brought you to instead. I've been kinda frustrated having no responsibilities here, just time time time time time, and even when i managed to find a job i couldnt get no job visa, so i dont have a choice but to just hang around for three months. Today, however, i realized that even one of the days like today, a day you wouldnt want give away for any price, is enough to make the trip worth it. So now i stop complaining about coming here for such a long time and start getting more of those kind of days, i have nothing to lose anyway.

Urgh this ended up being so corny and stupid but yeah, i have nothing more to say now. Next post will be pictures~ be happy and do some stuff you really enjoy doing this week!! cya

12. The smell of the past

If i'd have a hundred different feelings during a normal day, today I've had one thousand and hundred.

And the strangest thing is not how many different feelings i have, but how fucking deep they are. Every single one. Deeper than anything i had felt for months. It feels like i had forgotten how to really feel.

I didnt even do anything special today, like anything. Just normal things, breath in breath out -kind of shit!! Well well. I slept for 14 hours. Woke up. Took a short shower. Ate. Ate again after an hour cuz i woke up so late. Sat around and talked with okaasan. Went out to buy the ticket from the nearest konbini. Walked around a bit. Came back, had a dinner. Talked talked talked. Watched the kouhaku (a music program they do on tv every new years eve that lasts for 5-6 hours). Came in my room and started writing this.

Hahaha writing that all down makes me feel as a sim XD

But everything i did had a spirit in it. I dunno, every little thing really felt something. I bought a nikuman in konbini and cant even explain the wonderfulness of its taste ;_; or how it fit in my hand perfectly..! Or how about the nostalgic feeling of walking into a used-record shop by our station! How you first have to tap the door before it slides open...!! Or how about the feeling you get to your legs when you walk on the yellow lines made for blind people! huhh.

I feel everything (...havent done drugs believe me).

How the people care for each other, how everyone is patient and tries to do their best for everybody, how the water taps in our house have to be pushed down, not pulled up, how it's cold all the time inside and how the weather is such a big deal in here.

How it smells in the air everywhere.

The smell brings the most memories of any senses, i've heard, and yes i do agree. The smell of the house brings me back to the time i sat upstairs in the third floor and did my kumons YFU expected us to do. Yesterday I smelled in the train air so many memories, today as i walked to the station I smelled the music i used to listen to back then, three years ago. I smelled the lyrics and aaaaa my brain just doesnt get all this i feel i feel -fuzz.

Even if i didnt actually do much, and even if the smallest things were the ones i felt the strongest, today happened many big things too.

Well, some of them were big and some enormous, some just small, but here we go:
1) I bought the ticket for the GazettE's 10.3. Makuharimesse live without any problems~

2) For the first time it really hit me how hard it even now is for japan to deal with the problems the tsunami caused. How much the people do suffer of it, psychically. The most of the Kouhaku was about it too, many artists gave their support to everybody... The pictures, the music was about it. They tried to give some hope for future and ppl are trying so hard here.

3) Okaasan suggested me to borrow otoosan's guitar for the three months i'll stay ;___;<3 i get to play during my lonely nights and have some own fun, and the gesture was so warm wwwww

4) I got a decision from one of the universities i applied in britain!!!!!!! dösjfdidofhdofhdcxm CANT BELIEVE I GOT ACCEPTED! To study drama and international relations in LONDON!! I wasnt excepting  this o____o they require an interview andandand aa wuttttt!? Cant be an accident, right?? XD i had received two different mails about it! Now i just have to wait until i'll get the rest 4 decisions and then accept one of the offers...!! So the monologues i'll have to do from now on dont have to be perfect, i already got the place i desired the most ;__; guess i'll just do and send them in anyway, but no pressure about getting in anymore~! How crazy is that....!!!

Huuuuhhh. My day in a nutshell. In a big nutshell XD

Tomorrow we'll go to koenji with otoosan (dont remember translating this before, host dad), together by bike to see the shootengai there (i dont know the word in english but it's a kind of a long alley near the station with a lot of little shops there, we live in one too, but in koenji it's said to be really big) and the nekotalo i'll live from March on :333

I'm just sorry for the fact my iPhone doesnt work >____________________< thought i could be in touch with all through whatsapp and send free messages etc, use twitter.... D::: apparently there are no free Wi-Fi's nearby, and even while walking around some of the free ones asked for a code or sth, so sorry for those i promised to text as soon as i'd get here :/// and twitter WHY Y U NO WORK?!?


Here still a couple of pics for ur entertainment~ it was cold outside (the wind is freezing!) so i wasnt out for too long.

so nostalgic XD no wonder i gained weight during my exchange year lolz

especially this one!!!!!!

Our street~

Oh i guess i'll have to change the timezone so that the posts will be in right time with me. have to do it someday, right now im just too lazy...

seeya again everyone  (   * ,,・  」・,,)~~ hope you'll have a good day all!