An Okay Day

Today was okay. Got somewhat samishii, but that was only when I was finished with the shrine and didn't really have anything to do. Not tomorrow though, I'm going to double up on sights. Because it's really depressing that I keep coming back to the room so early. I think part of the problem is I have no conversational Japanese and to help prevent me from feeling lonely, I need conversational Japanese...I can ask simple questions and make simple replies. Because I get under pressure. I can sit here and talk to myself in Japanese. Simple things, sure, but still. Full sentences, not words...But when under pressure, I can only spout out words.

Any way, Meiji shrine was pretty cool, despite the rain. The rain wasn't that bad, I only had issues taking pictures. But I want to share my experiences through photography, so it still kind of sucked.

While I was out, Norway girl, British Tattoo Girl and Polish girl checked out. Norway girl I knew would be (even though I kind of wanted her contact info), Polish girl was supposed to check out Friday (not Monday, so she was a bit of a shock) and British hardly talked, so I had no clue when she'd be leaving. So now we've got 2 somewhat obnoxious french girls. They talk in French near constantly, then start to whisper if you look at them. They complained about how "dirty" the room is, when it's not the room that's dirty. It was British girl and Chinese girl (mostly). Chinese girl lives here, so I can understand her making something of a mess. I talked to her a bit and she cleaned up her space some, but again, she lives here and the room is tiny...So that should explain enough. But no, they complain that's it's dirty and tiny. I would expect so at 1800 yen a night.

I wish I knew more Japanese. I really do. I almost (ALMOST) wish I had spent this money on a crash course, but not really. Nothing is like the real thing. I recognize a LOT of words and phrases, I just can't remember what they mean. Or there's something in a sentence I don't know. Or I don't know the specific conjugation of the word, but I recognize the root. Japanese has varying degrees of politeness - which essentially is like English contractions. Instead of saying "desu" (the equivalent of to be), a Japanese might say "da" to her friends. You also have different ways of addressing people and yourself. "Watakushi" is the most formal form of "I" and "Ore" (only for males or really, really boyish girls [possibly lesbians]) is the least formal. I guess I'm really enjoying my trip, but just getting my point across isn't all that cool.

I wanna make some friends, but you can't just make friends with people on the street. I'd have to go to a club and hang out with people, but I'm underage. (Drinking age and the age of being an adult is 20 here) I guess, I dunno. It probably could have been beneficial to try and program, but programs are usually upwards of $2000, which sadly, doesn't include food or plane tickets or transportation. But good news. While typing this, I started talking to the Chinese girl. She knows English, and doesn't have too much of an accent, but she knows Japanese much better and I usually have to add the Japanese word for what I'm trying to say. The conversation went like this:
"How long are you living here?"
"Ribbon ear?"
"Eto...sundeimasu?"
"Ah, koko wa? Ichi-nen."
"Ichi-nen? 1 year?"
"Hai, 1 year."
"Ah, cool. What's your name?"
--Blank stare--
"Anata no namae wa?"
"Lin"
"Lin?"
"Yes."
"Amanda"
"Amanda? Nice to meet you."

This makes me a little happy. Japanese isn't our native language, yet we had to use it to understand each other.

Mount Fuji - I might go, but the bus to get there is 2600 yen one way. I think I can try and figure out how to get there by train, but I dunno. I'm thinking just taking the bus is easier because then I don't have to transfer to the mini bus once I arrive at Kawaguchiko Station. Buuuut, with the bus, I have to reserve my seat and I'm pretty sure I need to call for that. Mom - I'll tell you this later as well, but a guided tour of Mt Fuji is around $150. Sorry... X/ If I go, I'll hoof it by myself.

I think I'll go out tonight. I'm not sure where, or with what money, but I want to go out tonight. Somewhere...maybe I'll find a movie to go see. Because sitting inside, on my trip, makes it feel like such a waste, despite the rain. I won't take my camera tonight though, probably. Lugging my bag around gets really tiring. Eh, on second thought, I might. It'll help keep me from spending money.

That's an issue I've been having. In this city, there are two things to do. See stuff and buy stuff. Guess what happens when you see stuff? There are cute little gift shops. I bought about 2400 of stuff today. Finished buying gifts for all the cousins, now I have to work on the adults/families.

That's it for now.