Musing on Various Topics
Sep. 8th, 2007 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unforthJust some stuff that's been in my head the last few days.
There are many foods, I'm noticing, I hardly notice the lack of. For example, I'm functioning fine with out my usually constant supply of potatoes, having handily switched to rice and noodles - now I crave rice instead. This has been helpful. Sweets, too, have proved to be much easier to come by than I had ever thought, and I'm rapidly growing addicted to the delicious crepes that are sold here. And apple jam on my fresh baked bread from the panya. OMG soooo tasty. However, there are two things which I have been looking for in every single fricken grocery I've gone in to. These are, obviously:
1. Sliced turkey. You want ham? I can give you ham. Six kinds. And salami. And bacon. You want chicken breasts and such to cook? Even a turkey leg? Also no problem. But I'll be damned if I can find sliced smoked turkey breast any where. This is making me singularly crazy. It's not even like I particularly miss the sandwiches I always used to eat. It just seems some how immensely weird not to be eating them.
2. Cream of tartar. I've found every other ingredient that I need to make scones, and a department store near me carries convection ovens for less than $200, but I won't buy one if I can't make scones.
So today, I managed to track down some cream of tartar. I WANT TO KNOW IN WHAT KIND OF PLACE IT'S EASIER TO FIND CREAM OF FUCKING TARTAR THAN IT IS TO FIND SLICED FUCKING TURKEY. I mean, I'm really happy, and I spent some of my last cash to buy the cream of tartar, and a box of Celestial Seasonings tea, but even so! Ah well. Next week (probably) I'll buy myself a convection oven, and that will be that. It's within my weekly budget - that's how I had "last cash" - Japan is a cash economy, so to regulate my spending I take out 50,000 yen a week and will not spend more. It's been working well, though it means that right now I have about 500 yen to my name - the change over is on Sunday. ;)
Today was, in some ways, a rough day. Oh, it was perfectly nice - I went to a big temple, took the elevator up to Tokyo Tower (I've really wanted to do this, but the weather has been too cloudy and I wasn't going to waste my time going if I wasn't going to be able to see anything), walked over to Roppongi and wandered around, and generally managed to enjoy myself. However, Roppongi really got me thinking. See, it's FULL of tourists. There are white men with their cute Japanese girl friends. There are incredibly thin, pretty white girls with their cute Japanese boy friends. There are foreigners in the company of other foreigners. The only caucasian who I noticed alone was...a very overweight girl. Who was talking on the phone. All in all, I felt rather remarkably isolated, watching all of them. I'd whine more, but it doesn't seem necessary - I'm not depressed, just a little starved for human contact. ;) Anyway, what it means is clear: I have to do something to meet people.
I've spent a lot of time over the last few weeks trying to figure out how to meet people. As I see it, there are a few ways.
1. Classes - if I go to a class of some sort, I'll meet the people in the class. This is how I made friends with the ladies in my Irish Step Class, for example. It wouldn't necessarily have to be a language class, either, there are lots of other types of classes - dance, karate, hobby classes, etc.
2. A job - you meet the people you work with. You spend time with them out of necessity. It's a good place to meet people and even if you don't end up liking them, you will - with some work - have the opportunity to meet their friends as well.
3. Pester my neighbors - I should at least introduce myself!
4. Go out to parties, etc. - If I started going to clubs, I'd meet people. Then again, I don't think they'd be the kinds of people I want to meet. But that's just a stereotype.
5. Public Habits - by this I mean establishing routines that others have access to, for example "every day at 4 I go and sit on the same bench in the park." I actually have one of these - every two or three days between 10 and 11 I go to the bakery, buy another loaf of bread, and eat breakfast. But I think this is a little too subtle.
6. I've thought of at least one or two others, though I'm blanking right now.
7. Today, in Roppongi, I picked up an all-English free magazine which had some listings for local English-language clubs and "YJM (young Japanese man) seeks lady..." kind of things. I can't decide if I think listings like that are a little creepy. I can't decide if I think I'd like to put one in, maybe I'd meet some people. Course, I don't have a telephone number at the moment...I need to fix that. Maybe a second skype number, at least for now.
(Edit: So I'm very leery of the personal ads thing, but I find this one exceptionally tempting:
"Muggle born British male looking for fellow Brit, American, Kiwi, and Aussie muggles who know the Havio Funio spell and want to practise it zealously in central Tokyo."
It includes an e-mail address. What do you think, should I take a chance? :)
Or how about this one:
"Young, married American couple looking for English-speaking pen & paper gamers in the Yokohama area to game with. We have D&D and 2nd Ed Exalted books, but are open to anything. We'll host and provide beer and character sheets--just bring your dice and a good attitude."
I have dice with me...seriously...
Edit 2: You know what? I'm gonna e-mail those gamers!! What's the worst thing that happens? It might be fun!
There. It's sent. Now I guess I see what, if anything, happens.)
Obviously, you can see I've given this a lot of thought. The problem is, all I've done is think. I haven't actually ACTED. And so today, I decided it was time to get off my ass and do something.
After a lot of procrastination, therefore, I've resumed by investigation into getting a visa. In so doing, I've found this article, which is by far the most useful bit of writing on this topic I've read. See, I started looking at ads, and a lot of them require that you already have a visa. But they want some one who lives in Japan. And it's impossible to get a visa while inside Japan, period. It's quite a conundrum! But now I think I see the resolution. So I'm gonna get my resume together, and go ahead and apply - cause it turns out the process takes multiple weeks, and only AFTER those weeks can you pick up the visa. Which means I need to get on it, since I'm leaving the country for two weeks in October, and that would be an ideal time to pick up my visa. So tonight, tonight I send out stuff! :)
Language, of course, is still a problem. Earlier today, when I first got home, I flipped on the TV and put on some anime. Amusingly, by mutual consent apparently, no two channels air anime at the same time, which is convenient. Anyway, I find a show called "Lovely Complex," clearly shojo, and started to watch, and realize that I cannot understand a word these people are saying. I get annoyed instantaneously. Okay, sure, it takes me two hours to read two pages of Harry Potter, but usually if I watch and concentrate I can understand enough of what I see (the show on right now said something about "a man in a black kimono, that time" - so it's at least possible for me to follow stuff. I was thoroughly annoyed, but decided maybe a background on the show would help, so I look it up in Wiki....well, it turns out that the damn thing is in Kansai-ben, which has different pronunciation and other differences from normal Japanese. No wonder I couldn't understand it! Still, it's got me thinking about the language again. After my attempt at Potter, too, I've been slowly realizing something I haven't really wanted to acknowledge: just reading isn't going to do it. Oh, it helps in a hurry - in those two pages I learned (as in I actually remember) multiple new words and at least two new kanji) - but even so. I think I need to really start studying again. It's just hard to make myself do so.
It's been interesting, over all, learning how and when I'm able to do the various tasks I wish to do. There are three things I'm working on that require my time:
1.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
novel_in_90: My novel broke 70,000 words a few days ago; I killed on of the main characters; and I'm less than 10k from entering the final third of the the story, basically. I estimate that I have about 45k left to write - making it significantly longer than my initial estimates. And I still have NO clue whatsoever what the outcome is going to be, though I'm starting to flirt with some ideas. In general, writing my 750 takes me 20 to 30 minutes a day.
2. Work for mom: I want to be working for her - either on a specific assignment or on a more general task - for at least 2 hours a day; preferably it'd be more like 4 hours a day, 7 days a week. So far, I've been managing the former easily but not the later, mostly because I spend a lot of my time in the evening reading.
3. Book binding: I want to be working on this an average of 2 hours a day, more if possible.
When I noticed that I easily fell in to the "a little a day" habit with writing, I assumed this would be the case in a more general sense. As it turns out, though, it's not at all. If I try to do a little bit of binding a day, I fail utterly. It takes too long to do it in the morning, and when I get home in the evening I don't feel like it. As a result, yesterday was the first day I successfully did any binding. Instead of trying to stick it in in the evening, I stayed home (the weather was utter shit until mid afternoon anyway) and spent the afternoon working mostly on binding. The result? I have a new sewn text block, another text block ready to be bound into a cover, and a completed small project: a case and the sewing for a tiny pamphlet.
Mom, meanwhile, I can easily work for in the evenings.
It's been funny getting the hang of what I can do when and how - so I work on my writing first thing in the morning like always, do some work in the morning too, then head out (or not) and do more work for mom when I get home. And I'm just going to have to take a day or two a week and work on the binding during the day. :)
Anyway, I'm just procrastinating working on my resume, so I'm gonna stop. ;)
There are many foods, I'm noticing, I hardly notice the lack of. For example, I'm functioning fine with out my usually constant supply of potatoes, having handily switched to rice and noodles - now I crave rice instead. This has been helpful. Sweets, too, have proved to be much easier to come by than I had ever thought, and I'm rapidly growing addicted to the delicious crepes that are sold here. And apple jam on my fresh baked bread from the panya. OMG soooo tasty. However, there are two things which I have been looking for in every single fricken grocery I've gone in to. These are, obviously:
1. Sliced turkey. You want ham? I can give you ham. Six kinds. And salami. And bacon. You want chicken breasts and such to cook? Even a turkey leg? Also no problem. But I'll be damned if I can find sliced smoked turkey breast any where. This is making me singularly crazy. It's not even like I particularly miss the sandwiches I always used to eat. It just seems some how immensely weird not to be eating them.
2. Cream of tartar. I've found every other ingredient that I need to make scones, and a department store near me carries convection ovens for less than $200, but I won't buy one if I can't make scones.
So today, I managed to track down some cream of tartar. I WANT TO KNOW IN WHAT KIND OF PLACE IT'S EASIER TO FIND CREAM OF FUCKING TARTAR THAN IT IS TO FIND SLICED FUCKING TURKEY. I mean, I'm really happy, and I spent some of my last cash to buy the cream of tartar, and a box of Celestial Seasonings tea, but even so! Ah well. Next week (probably) I'll buy myself a convection oven, and that will be that. It's within my weekly budget - that's how I had "last cash" - Japan is a cash economy, so to regulate my spending I take out 50,000 yen a week and will not spend more. It's been working well, though it means that right now I have about 500 yen to my name - the change over is on Sunday. ;)
Today was, in some ways, a rough day. Oh, it was perfectly nice - I went to a big temple, took the elevator up to Tokyo Tower (I've really wanted to do this, but the weather has been too cloudy and I wasn't going to waste my time going if I wasn't going to be able to see anything), walked over to Roppongi and wandered around, and generally managed to enjoy myself. However, Roppongi really got me thinking. See, it's FULL of tourists. There are white men with their cute Japanese girl friends. There are incredibly thin, pretty white girls with their cute Japanese boy friends. There are foreigners in the company of other foreigners. The only caucasian who I noticed alone was...a very overweight girl. Who was talking on the phone. All in all, I felt rather remarkably isolated, watching all of them. I'd whine more, but it doesn't seem necessary - I'm not depressed, just a little starved for human contact. ;) Anyway, what it means is clear: I have to do something to meet people.
I've spent a lot of time over the last few weeks trying to figure out how to meet people. As I see it, there are a few ways.
1. Classes - if I go to a class of some sort, I'll meet the people in the class. This is how I made friends with the ladies in my Irish Step Class, for example. It wouldn't necessarily have to be a language class, either, there are lots of other types of classes - dance, karate, hobby classes, etc.
2. A job - you meet the people you work with. You spend time with them out of necessity. It's a good place to meet people and even if you don't end up liking them, you will - with some work - have the opportunity to meet their friends as well.
3. Pester my neighbors - I should at least introduce myself!
4. Go out to parties, etc. - If I started going to clubs, I'd meet people. Then again, I don't think they'd be the kinds of people I want to meet. But that's just a stereotype.
5. Public Habits - by this I mean establishing routines that others have access to, for example "every day at 4 I go and sit on the same bench in the park." I actually have one of these - every two or three days between 10 and 11 I go to the bakery, buy another loaf of bread, and eat breakfast. But I think this is a little too subtle.
6. I've thought of at least one or two others, though I'm blanking right now.
7. Today, in Roppongi, I picked up an all-English free magazine which had some listings for local English-language clubs and "YJM (young Japanese man) seeks lady..." kind of things. I can't decide if I think listings like that are a little creepy. I can't decide if I think I'd like to put one in, maybe I'd meet some people. Course, I don't have a telephone number at the moment...I need to fix that. Maybe a second skype number, at least for now.
(Edit: So I'm very leery of the personal ads thing, but I find this one exceptionally tempting:
"Muggle born British male looking for fellow Brit, American, Kiwi, and Aussie muggles who know the Havio Funio spell and want to practise it zealously in central Tokyo."
It includes an e-mail address. What do you think, should I take a chance? :)
Or how about this one:
"Young, married American couple looking for English-speaking pen & paper gamers in the Yokohama area to game with. We have D&D and 2nd Ed Exalted books, but are open to anything. We'll host and provide beer and character sheets--just bring your dice and a good attitude."
I have dice with me...seriously...
Edit 2: You know what? I'm gonna e-mail those gamers!! What's the worst thing that happens? It might be fun!
There. It's sent. Now I guess I see what, if anything, happens.)
Obviously, you can see I've given this a lot of thought. The problem is, all I've done is think. I haven't actually ACTED. And so today, I decided it was time to get off my ass and do something.
After a lot of procrastination, therefore, I've resumed by investigation into getting a visa. In so doing, I've found this article, which is by far the most useful bit of writing on this topic I've read. See, I started looking at ads, and a lot of them require that you already have a visa. But they want some one who lives in Japan. And it's impossible to get a visa while inside Japan, period. It's quite a conundrum! But now I think I see the resolution. So I'm gonna get my resume together, and go ahead and apply - cause it turns out the process takes multiple weeks, and only AFTER those weeks can you pick up the visa. Which means I need to get on it, since I'm leaving the country for two weeks in October, and that would be an ideal time to pick up my visa. So tonight, tonight I send out stuff! :)
Language, of course, is still a problem. Earlier today, when I first got home, I flipped on the TV and put on some anime. Amusingly, by mutual consent apparently, no two channels air anime at the same time, which is convenient. Anyway, I find a show called "Lovely Complex," clearly shojo, and started to watch, and realize that I cannot understand a word these people are saying. I get annoyed instantaneously. Okay, sure, it takes me two hours to read two pages of Harry Potter, but usually if I watch and concentrate I can understand enough of what I see (the show on right now said something about "a man in a black kimono, that time" - so it's at least possible for me to follow stuff. I was thoroughly annoyed, but decided maybe a background on the show would help, so I look it up in Wiki....well, it turns out that the damn thing is in Kansai-ben, which has different pronunciation and other differences from normal Japanese. No wonder I couldn't understand it! Still, it's got me thinking about the language again. After my attempt at Potter, too, I've been slowly realizing something I haven't really wanted to acknowledge: just reading isn't going to do it. Oh, it helps in a hurry - in those two pages I learned (as in I actually remember) multiple new words and at least two new kanji) - but even so. I think I need to really start studying again. It's just hard to make myself do so.
It's been interesting, over all, learning how and when I'm able to do the various tasks I wish to do. There are three things I'm working on that require my time:
1.
novel_in_90: My novel broke 70,000 words a few days ago; I killed on of the main characters; and I'm less than 10k from entering the final third of the the story, basically. I estimate that I have about 45k left to write - making it significantly longer than my initial estimates. And I still have NO clue whatsoever what the outcome is going to be, though I'm starting to flirt with some ideas. In general, writing my 750 takes me 20 to 30 minutes a day.2. Work for mom: I want to be working for her - either on a specific assignment or on a more general task - for at least 2 hours a day; preferably it'd be more like 4 hours a day, 7 days a week. So far, I've been managing the former easily but not the later, mostly because I spend a lot of my time in the evening reading.
3. Book binding: I want to be working on this an average of 2 hours a day, more if possible.
When I noticed that I easily fell in to the "a little a day" habit with writing, I assumed this would be the case in a more general sense. As it turns out, though, it's not at all. If I try to do a little bit of binding a day, I fail utterly. It takes too long to do it in the morning, and when I get home in the evening I don't feel like it. As a result, yesterday was the first day I successfully did any binding. Instead of trying to stick it in in the evening, I stayed home (the weather was utter shit until mid afternoon anyway) and spent the afternoon working mostly on binding. The result? I have a new sewn text block, another text block ready to be bound into a cover, and a completed small project: a case and the sewing for a tiny pamphlet.
Mom, meanwhile, I can easily work for in the evenings.
It's been funny getting the hang of what I can do when and how - so I work on my writing first thing in the morning like always, do some work in the morning too, then head out (or not) and do more work for mom when I get home. And I'm just going to have to take a day or two a week and work on the binding during the day. :)
Anyway, I'm just procrastinating working on my resume, so I'm gonna stop. ;)
