I said I wouldn’t decorate my apartment this year, because I wasn’t planning on a Christmas party. But I guess with my early start on Christmas music this year, I got inspired. I just can’t help it! Oh, all the years I would curse at my mother for starting the preparations at the beginning of November – “It’s too early!” I would cry. “It can’t be Christmas yet!”
“Oh, but it is~” and then she would make me hold some trinket or doodad she was about to set around the house.
Now, every year, I find myself more and more looking forward to Christmas. And well, I have to enjoy it while I can.
The good thing is that Morioka puts up more and more decorations every year. In a little while it’s not going to be distinguishable from a real, commercial AMERICAN Christmas!!
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My twenty-fifth was spent in Tokyo, where I had the wonderful opportunity to present at the CIR conference. I also had the wonderful misfortune of catching a cold at the worst possible moment, so I was dying in bed of a fever on my actual birthday. Well, maybe I’ll write all about that someday, about my weekend in Tokyo; the lights, the shopping and Passion Pit playing in the background, dancing to a DJ who sure liked Mario Bros, battling tonsillitis while trying to be professional, getting on the wrong train and going back to Tokyo, making my way to Disney Land and meeting a kind-eyed stranger for dinner…
But right now, I’ve just gotten back from my first run in more than a week, and I need some sleep.
If that’s your front door, then it’s a much nicer front door than mine! But, well, I think an ugly (albeit sturdy) door is a given when it comes to cheap but old teacher housing.
And I’m sorry you were sick on your birthday! Hopefully you were able to celebrate your birthday in style later, though!
Hehe! The only reason it’s nice is that my building was refurbished a couple years ago – some of the other buildings in the same complex probably have that same ugly door you’re talking about!
Well, whatcha gonna do. I was sick on my bday but I rarely get sick, so this should do me for at least a year!! :D
Ah, I see. My “complex” is basically three buildings of three apartments each, largely unoccupied and likely never refurbished. Though, the gym teacher and the kyoto-sensei have nice, new rust-free areas to hang their clothes on, unlike me. I wouldn’t care if my dryer weren’t acting funny recently. Not that it was ever the best dryer, but hanging clothes isn’t optimal since outside is rusty and inside is Stanky Clothes prone.
It’s good that you’ll probably go through the rest of Freese Your Lady-Balls Off season without getting sick again, though. No stuffed nose interfering with the taste of Christmas dinner and what-not.
Just out of curiosity, how’s the insulation up in Iwate? I’ve heard Hokkaido actually kind of uses it, but my little island wouldn’t know what insulation was if you hit the construction workers upside the head with it. Though apparently double-glazed windows are spreading in modern Japanese construction, which is good to know.
Ugh, I spelled ‘freeze’ incorrectly. Bad, ALT, BAD!
You have a dryer!!! Even if it’s not working correctly, that’s pretty lux <3
What I’ve heard is that yeah, Hokkaido is colder climate-wise, but their buildings are better insulated and have more heating options, while Tohoku is not quite as cold but has bad insulation and aircon heaters are rare.
I mean, it gets pretty cold in my apartment!! But it never goes under freezing. However, I know people with houses where their toothpaste freezes so they stick it in the refrigerator (which is warmer than their actual house).
How’s the weather where you are? I heard that the west of Japan got its first snows today.
Haha, believe me, I appreciate the relative luxury of having a so-so dryer. When it was, ahem, “working”, it took several rounds to dry a load. I’ve debated once or twice how much of an advantage it actually gives me. Now that it’s not working, I can fully appreciate how little rust-fee laundry space I have. T_T
It never goes under freezing at your place? How low does it go? It’s finally starting to get chilly by our standards now, but no snow. Apparently it was 5 C today, but October and November were much warmer than last year. Either way, from November on, my apartment is the same temp as outside (excluding windchill). My fridge has been warmer than my apartment a few times, too.