sept 21: happy one month toyooka

30 things that have happened since i moved here

1. i’ve learned how to bike in a skirt [google it]
2. survived several rainstorms, falling off bike in the rain, dropping groceries all over the road, AND ALSO bike tire going flat before said storm.
3. i now know where the bicycle repair oji-chan lives and occasionally get to wave to him and his wife while biking around this tiny ass town
4. the cafeteria lady told me to call her granny ❤ and she knows I like chikin karaage in my ramen instead of pork
5. ive also met cafeteria granny’s hubby when he stopped me while i was biking to din n asked if i remembered him.. just points at himself n says CAFETERIA lol. then oba-chan runs out of the house n waves. so now i know which house to show up to in case of food emergencies hehe
6. ive figured out how to get sugar in my coffee from the vending machine (bruh the first time i couldnt even get coffee in my coffee)
7. my bank account hit 6 figures on my furst payday :DDD (i promised myself that i could only get new ink once i made 6figs 😉 ….. but jks im upping it to 7figs before i continue decorating the temple #sorrymom)
8. every wk I hit up the conbini store for one free hour of wifi and willy nilly download new music n whatever tv shows I can procure.. managed to find a google drive download link for the furst ep of peaky blinders season 5!! (bless my bff for finding the remainder of the season for me)
9. the conbini staff lets me sit in the seating area to use wifi after 10pm even tho it’s fenced off w a sign that says closed at 10pm 😀
10. there is a beautiful Thailand lookin ass beach 30mins away from home
11. a famus onsen town also 20mins away where u can onsen hop ALL DAY for ¥1200 and all of them allow tattoos :0
12. i hev frens with cars!! and also frens w bikes
13. we’ve formed a toxic childhood/broken family support group #ganggang
14. ive memorized approx. 80 out of 600 students’ names at work (150 is the goal)
    • the kids r legit upset/moody if I don’t know their names.. out of 9 kids with almost the same names, I forgot 1 kid (SHOMA I M SORRY) n he retaliated by sleeping thru the ENTIRE class. so now I stay up past midnight to memorize these homies n the excitement in class the next day when im handing out their name tags is so worth it
15. it only costs ¥420 to mail smol cute package back home to my frens
16. ive managed 4 dinners and a takoyaki night with my Japanese-only coworkers, learned lots of new lingo bad Japanese words, and accidentally showed them Sativa by Jhene Aiko on YouTube which autotranslated into “DRUGS” on the big screen D’:
17. ive been invited to 2 hikes and a cottage trip w coworkers HURRAY for NEW FRENS who can teach me the language organically
18. successfully wore a full tracksuit to work today (my hell Friday uniform since I have 5 classes back to back, literally only 30mins for lunch) TGIF in japanese is HANA KIN (happy friday)
19. finally figured out the garbage system and bought special bags so the garbage man can take my trash away
    • theres an intense ass system of separating burnables, aluminums, bottles, plastics, papers n more…
    • no one told me for a solid few wks so I was just dumping my garbage in the garbage cage n wondering why itd still be there but ALAS I have acquired proper garbage sorting knowledge
20. acquired my own library card w my broken Japanese, not that there are any English books here but libraries make mi happy and as a bonus this one is also a historical landmark ^__^
21. found a music shop where the owner lets me come play piano any time
    • edit: JOKES apparently she meant i can come rent a rent anytime to practice.. theres a baby grand for ￥20000/hour so maybeeee or maybe ill just cop myself a piano from the consignment store
22. located a small hill for hiking n viewpoint
23. the grocery store parking lot rooftop by my school has 360 views of the city, hence my favourite viewpoint so far n also sick place to eat lunch in peace
24. located an art shop w the most amazeballs brush markers
25. my rent is ¥9300/month (about $100CAD FREAL. i couldnt believe it either) yea it was also an absolute spider shithole but bet ur ass i m gon make this ancient tatami hut as home-y as possible!!
26. no public tearz have been shed!! most days, i’m too tired to cri anyways. but for anyone who knows the stories of me criing on buses/school campus bcuz im jus a soft potato, id like yall to know that- i make it home furst EVERYTIME now. pls be proud ❤
27. the cashier at the grocery store now says “mata ato de” (see u later) instead of “sayonara” (bye)… they know I always come back for ice cream or snacks lol
28. everyday the students yell “hello anntanya-sensei” frum down the hallway, across building windows, and even parking lots theyve spotted me at. i will likely not get a phD in this life time but i least i can say i’ve been a sensei before. ya it means doctor muthafuckas.
29. most things in this country are just AMAZING. i love the food, its always cheap as fuck and tasty as hell. milk tea.. and hot coffee fridges r a thing here (well whatever u call a hot fridge idek.) MELON SODA is sum good shit. they got apple flavoured coca cola. this place is just an absolute amusement park and i m in love.
30. every morning, i headbow n say “ohayō gozaimasu” as i bike past the oji-chan who stops traffic in his neon jacket n pants to help elementary kids (wearing the cutest yellow dunce caps) cross the road. today he yelled “hello” across the street instead.

[BONUS 31. on my way home frum editing this post, i dropped my phone and completely shattered the screen]

so yea that’s how everything’s goin,
c u next time folks (if i surviv month 2),

A