challenges
I’ve been trying to establish a new hyper-productive lifestyle since moving: packing my schedule end-to-end and trying to make the most out of my time here. It’s been mostly successful, but I think I’ve finally hit a wall. I have a decent amount of blog content queued up that I don’t think I’ll be able to get to for a while, there are so many fun things to do but it’s hard to do them all while adhering to the very strict school attendance requirements. I still have a part-time job that I need to do work for. I’ve been getting by with like my 200 words of Japanese that I currently know, but it’s still such a struggle to do basic things. We are starting to feel the pains of Japanese bureaucracy: there was an issue with getting health insurance, the apartment hunt is going very slowly, and it does feel a little bit like we are hostage to the language schools (which is very likely because of the Japanese government’s visa policies). Miles and I were discussing going to his best friend’s wedding back in the US, and while I would love to go, it feels impossible with virtually no permitted time off. Friends are planning visits to the country and it would be so great to travel with them, but we just can’t. Travel logistics are so much better than anywhere else I’ve lived in, but it is still long and expensive to go outside of Tokyo, and we’re still at the whims of public transit schedules.
I’m still so grateful that I’m here, but I think one of the benefits of posting every day is to capture how I’m feeling in the moment, including all the ups and downs. Getting a student visa via language school seemed like such an easy way to immigrate here with so much free time, but in some ways, it feels less free and flexible than having a job (er, specifically for a US company). I’ve been learning a bit more about Japanese work culture and it’s been getting me thinking about the current state of the economy and what it actually means to work and live here as an average Japanese person, versus life back in the US. I’m really excited to learn more about the average lives of Japanese people and if they are satisfied with their quality of life, or if they want change. It’s possible that if you’ve never gotten a taste of vacation flexibility and everyone around you is beholden to the same work expectations, that wouldn’t be something you would consider wanting to change about your life, and thus your satisfaction could still be high.
At least for the situation I’m in, it’s hard to not feel FOMO and envy for my peers who have both the income and schedule flexibility to do lots of things, and feeling bad that since I’m not working full-time, I should in theory have more time to do things, but it’s actually more restrictive. So basically, my life is really awesome and great, but I feel bad because I’m comparing my lifestyle to my peers’, and I’m stressed about disappointing people (such as school and work). I started to get a bit into Buddhism before moving here, and in a very rough paraphrase, one of the buddhist teachings is that comparison is the enemy of happiness/fulfillment. In any case, not trying to be too philosophical about this right now, but just wanted to jot down thoughts that have been swirling in my mind.
On a happier note, my former roommate (for 5 years!! up until I moved to Japan) Erica came to visit me and Angela (more on Angela later) for a hot minute in Tokyo before heading to Niseko to ski. I showed Erica the path I try to run every morning near my house, then the 3 of us met up for breakfast.
i had no idea erica was taking pics of me 🙈
Angela took us to a really cute breakfast spot called camelback! Had really good tamago sandwiches - the sandwich bread was baked to perfection with a great crust and was a good contrast to asian pastries which are almost entirely soft white bread. Just a heads-up, they put wasabi on the sandwiches, so you might be able to ask for no wasabi if you aren’t a fan (I liked it, but might not be for our more spice-adverse friends ;) not calling out anyone in particular…). Sandwiches are pretty small, but would definitely come back here! 8.5/10
friend reunion!! miss you already erica 😢
After school, I went and got sushi at Tsukiji Gin-ikkan back in ol’ Musashi-Koyama mall. It’s a revolving sushi place, but I think since covid, they don’t actually put sushi on the belt anymore :( it’s just a sad empty conveyor belt with pictures of sushi. I had a rough moment where they didn’t give me one of the dishes I ordered, but I didn’t know the name of the dish because I ordered based off a picture, and I didn’t know how to say, “I didn’t get this dish” in Japanese. Was all good in the end, never underestimate the power of pointing and hand gestures. Was solid, definitely satisfied the sushi craving but nothing insanely good. I got a special cucumber roll that had a wasabi sauce on top, it was so spicy I almost sobbed at the restaurant and my head felt like it was going to explode. The uni was only $4 so can’t complain too much, but it was very meh - I’d try it again without wasabi next time though. 7/10
spicy cucumber roll beware
…i ate a lot
After dinner, I went to Daiso, basically Japanese dollar store but 1 million times better. I think I could pretty exclusively buy all my household goods from Daiso and be really happy about the quality and aesthetics, and most things are ¥100, which is under 1 USD (63 cents).
panda socks for your chair legs!!! 🥺
Also, I hit my github LFS storage limit, oops. I need a new place for videos.