Being 'fat' in Japan

I wasn't always chubby. I put on a bit of weight during my second year of University, and although I wouldn't have described myself as fat, I was aware I'd rounded out a little. I felt a little chubby in France, when my employers where speculating over whether I had lost weight since I got there.
But Japan is a whole different kettle of fish.

In Japan, most people are thin. They're tiny, in fact. That's not to say I don't see chubby or overweight people, but there are a lot less over here. When I went back to England for just under a week, I literally thought to myself "wow. Look at all the fat people". I think England might have a little problem. Back to the matter in hand though.

I am a little chubby, maybe I am even fat, though I didnt think so before. But here, it isnt a secret. It's not a thing your friends don't mention. They love to comment on your weight. Luckily, everyone has been saying I've gotten thinner. Good, I'm on a diet for the first time in my life, but it doesn't seem to be that effective.

My weight is almost like a novelty here. People arent afraid to jiggle my arms. Or my face. Or my stomach. (That last one is pretty much reserved for my boyfriend though). And of course, they are all friends of mine, though sometimes friends I have known for less than a day. They think its kind of fun, how I wobble. I don't. I think it's kind of embarrassing.

I asked my boyfriend one day if he thinks I'm fat. He didn't say anything. That hurts.
Don't get me wrong, my boyfriend is wonderful and he always ensures I know that he likes me the way I am, and I know for a fact he enjoys the fact that he can grab a little bit of my stomach. But he thinks I'm fat, and I think he's the first of my boyfriends to think so (probably because I only just got fat) so it's really easy to get down about it. But that's not the only reason I want to diet. I want to fit into cute Japanese clothes, and I want to feel sexy again.

So now I'm on a diet, and its sad because I'm not enjoying all the foods I should be before I leave for home in two and a bit months. I've been told maybe I should wait until I'm home to diet and just enjoy the food while I'm here, but once I get home I know I'll want to enjoy the food I've missed for the last forever. If I don't start now, when do I start?

Anyway this was all a bit of a pointless ramble, but if you're in Japan and you're feeling a bit podgy, don't worry. You're not alone. As long as you're comfortable with yourself, that's okay. It just gets a little more difficult to do in this country, sometimes ^^;

My Flight Home is Booked

So I can't quite believe it, but it's gotten to the time of year where everyone is booking their flights home, and making their plans for the next semester. Me included.

This flight cost more than my flight here with Emirates, and is actually with Air China. Why would you pay more for an airline that has a worse reputation, you may ask? Because they will give me more luggage allowance, and right now that is exactly what I need.

With Emirates you get 30kg luggage free, in as many bags as it takes.
With Air China you get two pieces of luggage, at 23kg each. That gives me a grand total of 16kg more to play with, which is exactly what I like to hear.

I've bought a lot of things in Japan. As much as I would have loved to fly back with Emirates, I'd rather be able to take back as many of my belongings without posting them as possible as well.

On the downside, my flight is at 9am, which is not fun beans at all. I've booked the cheapest 'hotel' I've ever seen for my boyfriend and I the night before I leave in Osaka. It cost 2,400yen. For two people. That's crazy. I hope I don't die.

I only have just under 3 months left here. Time has gone so quickly, but I've also gotten used to it around here. It's like I've been here forever and I've not been here very long all at once.

These next three months are going to be full of adventures and memory making ^.^

Until next time ^^

Durarara!! Streeeeet!! Exhibition Osaka

So this month there is a six day Durarara exhibition in Osaka's Cosmosquare called "Durarara!! Streeeeet", and of course my friend Abi and I just had to go and check it out. I thought I'd write a little bit for those of you that couldn't make it!

When we arrived at the venue, we took a little while to find the exhibition because it was a huge building and we got a bit lost. Once we found it we queued to go in and were given an option for an Audio Tour (Japanese only) done by the voice actors of Shinra, Shizuo and Izaya, for 700yen, which we both took. The Audio tracks were amusing, but short, and it was quite expensive for what you actually got. I'm pretty glad we took them, because I love Shinra and he voiced nearly all of it. Abi, a huge Izaya fan, was a little disappointed. But I'm sure all the exclusive merch she bought made up for that! More on that later.

WARNING: This post may contain spoilers for those of you who are not up to date with the Durarara anime. I suggest you get up to date with it. It is an amazing anime!

Walking into the exhibition, there were character profiles posted on the walls of all of the Durarara and Durararax2 characters, and this fabulous picture.

After that, we saw a map of Ikebukuro, with locations from the anime pinpointed on it, and a summary of what happened in the first season.

Next up was a schoolroom setting, with windows behind curtains that you could open up and look through, and a set of shoe lockers for each of the characters.

From then we went on a little tour of Ikebukuro! Past Russia Sushi, invading several people's houses such as Izaya, Shizuo, Masaomi and Shinra and Celty, as well as seeing some other familiar faces along the way.

And then, at last, we got to buy some tasty exclusive merch, and spend far too much money! Nearly everything that I bought here was an exhibition exclusive. I regret nothing. (Especially since I managed to get a mini drama CD from the ichibankuji[a bit like a raffle]). There was a lot of Izaya merchandise, because it was his birthday recently. You might be able to guess, but my favourite characters are Shinra and Celty <3

And that's all from me on the Durarara!! Streeeeet!! Exhibition. I've uploaded all of the photos I took to this album.

I can't speak French anymore O.o

So this is rather frightening.

As you may or may not know, I'm studying double honours French and Japanese at UEA, but am currently on my year abroad in Kyoto, Japan. Before that, I was working in the South of France, trying to improve my French. But that kind of seems like a wasted effort now.

Last weekend, I went camping with OEC, a group of people at the University who arrange activities where Japanese students and exchange students can meet and interact. One of my friends who always attends these events is a lovely Japanese girl called Eri, who is currently studying French. She has only been learning for one year, but is already better than nearly everyone I know after they had studied five years of French. Whilst trying to have a little conversation with her, I found myself tripping over my French, trying to put Japanese words into my sentences, and generally failing at communication as a whole.

I know my brain gets confused when three languages are floating around in it and I try to use them all at once, but it really was a struggle trying to get even simple French out.

Now I know that I'm probably over-reacting. My French is a little rusty, and I probably just need to read a few books or articles, watch a couple of videos and have a chat with someone in French for it to "all come flowing back" or something like that.

But the thing is, I don't want to. At least not at the moment. I'm at the point with my Japanese now where all my Japanese friends are marveling at how 'good' I have gotten at Japanese. I feel like I really need to push further before going home, and I'm hoping I can hit a jump and increase my level before I return to the land of Yorkshire Puddings and poor language skills. I don't want to slow down my Japanese by trying to improve or even just refreshing my French. But at the same time, I have to go back to University in England in just over four months, and I'm going to be sitting in classes with people who have just spent a year in France boosting their language to what might be a close-to-fluent standard.

I guess I will just have to push forward with my Japanese, and do an intensive refreshing session when I land in England a month before the new term starts.

Adventures in Tokyo: Tsukiji fish market. Tsukishima and the Owl Café フクロウのみせ

Video! I made a video for you. It's kind of long, and nerdy, and includes just hanging out with my friends, but there you go. More information on the things I did below ^.^

Sorry for the quietness of my blog again. I'm a horrible person.

I'm on a little holiday to Tokyo to see my best friend, Larni. I also met up with my friend Viv, and my friends who've flown over from Canada and England, Erika and Lauren. Our Cosplay group is back together and causing not very much trouble because we aren't those kinda people.

Today we went to Tsukiji Fish Market, around Tsukishima a little, and to an Owl Café. I'll talk a little about each of them (in case you want to visit. Or you want to know. I dunno).

Fish Market!
Tsukiji Fish Market is the biggest fish market in the world (according to Viv). We walked around and looked at gross squishy seafood, or seafood to be. I guess it's not seafood yet if it's still alive. We got there at about 9am, but all there was to do was look at squishy fish. Viv says if you get there at like 4am then they have an auction. The fish that is at the market is freshly caught that morning, and most of it was gone by the time we got there, so you have to get there early if you want some! Seafood is one of those things that they say tastes better the fresher it is. I'm not sure, because I hate fish, and seafood. Sorry, Japan.

Tsukishima
Whilst my friends ate something expensive and fish related, Larni and I went off to eat McDonalds (because we are poor). If you eat fresh sushi by the market, its the stuff that was caught that morning, but is likely to cost you 3,000yen upwards. If you wander a bit further from the market, it gets a lot cheaper, but I doubt it's the same stuff that was caught that morning, if you want the whole market experience. Mcdonalds cost us about 450yen which is about £2.50 (according to google right now). Poverty lunch for Larni and I. After that we waited at a park for our friends to finish their food. After getting our reservation for the Owl Café (below), we went and sat by the river and did some wig shaping. Yup.

Owl Café
So the owl café in Tsukishima is super popular, and it's recommended that you get there an hour before the café opens because that's when they start to take reservations for that day. (The café will be fully booked before it opens for the day). Today it opened at 2pm, so we got there at 1pm, and managed to reserve a slot for 3pm. It cost us 2000yen to get in, and we got to choose a (very tiny) drink, and pet and hold the cutest owls for an hour. At the end, we also got a little omiyage (souvenir) to take home with us. It was cute. It was a great experience, worth it, and I recommend it. Top tip: If you don't speak any Japanese, you should probably go with someone that does at least speak a little. They do have little pieces of card with English rules/instructions/etc. written on, but it's handy to be able to have a basic grip of the language (but don't worry if you don't). Once you are inside, drinks cost a further 2,000yen per drink (which is why not many people buy a second drink). You can also buy all kinds of owl related souvenirs. The name of the cafe is フクロウのみせ (Fukurou no mise - [lit.]The Owl Shop), and you can view it's blog in Japanese, here.

Japanese Onsen (Hot Springs)

So today I returned from my two day trip with my dormitory. We went to an onsen resort in Komatsu.

England doesn't have onsen, so as somebody who has never been to an onsen before, I was quite worried. Onsen are hot, public, baths heated by natural hot springs. The biggest thing that was worrying me was the obvious 'getting naked in front of your friends thing'. My other worries included cultural blunders and people staring at me because I'm a gaijin.

The first time we entered the onsen, I went with two Japanese girls, and two other girls from abroad - one from Germany and the other from Finland. My Finnish friend is used to saunas and being naked in front of her girly friends, which is wonderful. Kathy and I, on the other hand, were really quite nervous.

As we went into the women's changing rooms, we took off our slippers like you do as you enter a house in Japan, and proceeded into the actual 'changing' part, where a few mostly naked, slightly older Japanese ladies were getting dressed. That set the scene quite a bit. You first choose a basket to put your clothes in, and then you undress. I was really nervous about this. You are given two towels to use - the bigger one stays in your basket, and you take the smaller one in with you. Once I was naked, I did the whole 'covering your front with the smaller towel' thing, which was just fine. (I didn't bother doing it the second time I went into the onsen, because by then I didn't care). You should also tie your hair up if you have long hair and are going into the onsen.

When I went into the onsen room, there were a row of stools and showerheads, along with bodywash, shampoo and conditioner, to clean yourself with before getting into the onsen. First you rinse the stool off with the shower, and then you sit and wash yourself. Once that is done, you get in the onsen. Once you leave the onsen, you can rinse yourself or wash yourself off again. That's about all there is to it.

At first, I was really nervous about being naked around the people I knew, but I knew that my Japanese friends were kind of used to it as it is a part of their culture - even though for Minori it was her first time going into an onsen. The room was so steamy, though, it was almost as if you had left reality for a bit, and since everyone in this strange, wonderful world was naked, it didn't really matter that you were too. The water was so wonderful and warm.

There were two large baths, a cooler one, and a warmer one. The cooler one was still very warm. There was also a very small bath full of very cold water, in case you needed to cool down, and a Sauna.

The onsen was an amazing experience, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. It felt amazing to bond with my female friends and have a girly chat, whilst relaxing - the water felt amazing. It also made me feel a lot happier about myself, and kind of made me appreciate all of the different kinds of bodies of my lady friends. I think that if every culture had onsen, there would probably be a lot less people with body issues.

節分- Setsubun - The end of Winter and the beginning of Spring!

I have a new video for you! Its about Setsubun- which is the changing of the seasons. This time it's from Winter into Spring. Hooray.

Because I am not all that very knowledgeable, you can find a wonderful link to Setsubun's Wikipedia page here.

Thanks for watching. ^.^

Japanese Christmas!

I wrote this blog a little while ago, and I only 'finished' it now. Really, I just had a couple of lines to write, and a few pictures to add, but somewhere along the way I got lost in the swamp of deadlines and exams and a whole month has passed since Christmas/New Years. Sorry!

As a British girl who has spent every Christmas of her life surrounded by her family, opening presents from under the tree, and eating a roast dinner, I don't think I'm over emphasising when I say that Christmas is the biggest event of the year, and the year seems to rotate around whether it is Christmastime or not. I would put Christmas above my birthday, above New Year's Day, Valentines Day, Guy Fawkes, Halloween and any other yearly holiday celebration that passes. For somebody who is used to having Christmas mean so much, it was quite a shock to see the differences between Japanese Christmas and English Christmas.

The Meaning of Christmas.
So I'm going to start off with the big one here. Obviously, England is a Christian country, and Japan is not, and this is probably the biggest reason for such a difference in Christmas tradition. I'm personally not a Christian, though, and for me, Christmas is about being with your family, about giving your friends and family gifts to show them your love and appreciation. It is also about amazing food. Because you can't beat a Christmas roast dinner! Japanese Christmas is a little different. A lot different. I've been telling people that Christmas here is a lot like Valentine's Day at home. Whilst, as a child in Japan, you would still receive a present from Santa, and all that Jazz, as a teenager or adult in Japan, the experience is completely different. First of all, Christmas in Japan is a time for couples, rather than families. Lovers exchange gifts, and it seems that you don't often buy presents for your friends and families. A lot of people go out on dates on Christmas Day with their boyfriend, girlfriend, or somebody who has worked up the courage to ask you on a date. Personally I think giving your Christmas Day up to be with someone means a lot, so if you're going on a date with someone on Christmas, then they probably mean a lot to you, but I don't know the Japanese frame of mind on this. I have at least 3 friends that went out on dates Christmas Day, one between two Japanese people, and two between Japanese guys and western girls. I already planned to spend my Christmas with my 'Kokusai House Family', and have a family meal with the people I lived with. Going on a date would not have seemed like Christmas at all to me, so I'm not sure if I would have accepted if I were asked. Good thing I wasn't. My boyfriend did come over and spend Christmas with my kokusai house family though, because I didn't want to stick him on his own because I wanted to spend time with a family that weren't even related to me!

Christmas Decorations
Whilst there are christmas decorations on sale, and up in the shops, it seems like the only people that made an effort to decorate were Tarnie, Saara and I. Tarnie and I are from England, of course, and Saara is Finnish. Tarnie and decorated the entire third floor kitchen a few weeks back. We also decorated the lift and our own bedroom. Tinsel and baubles were everywhere. There was a distinct lack of Christmas Tree, but it seemed like we were the only ones that really cared about that. We would have bought one, but Christmas Trees are actually really expensive in Japan, and we are all really poor students (especially since it's been such a long time since our last Student Finance chunk came through!). It was my first Christmas without a Christmas Tree, but since there would have only been our presents to go under it, it may have been a bit odd anyway. Tomoike house had tiny Christmas Trees up when we went to their party a few weeks before, though.

Christmas Presents
As I've already mentioned, Japanese Christmas is mainly between couples. Although Bunzo told me that when he was little, he used to receive a present from Santa, it seems that as you get older, gifts are reserved for lovers. Of course, we broke all manner of Japanese tradition, as usual, and went shopping for all of our friends. I was already very short on money, so I bought gifts for my nearest and dearest friends, and made friendship bracelets for the other people that I wanted to give something to on Christmas. I bought gifts for my gaijin friends - Saara, Kathy, Santana, Silvia and Abi, but also my closest Japanese friends Bunzo and Taihei. We really weren't expecting to receive gifts from them back, but being the adorable human beings they were, they gave us gifts too. I also received a really cute necklace from my friend Hanui, which made me really happy. When we woke up in the morning, Abi, Santana, Saara and I decided that whoever woke up first and wanted to open their presents would go and find the others (just like our families do at home), so we could open all of our gifts together. Santana and I also did stockings for each other, which we had decided to do about a month ago. I woke up at half eight, and so we were all downstairs before 9am, opening our presents from each other. It was great, just like a real Christmas!

Christmas Food
The Japanese idea of Christmas food is a little strange. Traditional Japanese Christmas meal is fried chicken, in fact, it is normal to reserve a place at KFC to eat at Christmas. Strange, When Yuko asked me what I was doing this Christmas, I told her Santana and I would be eating English Christmas food. She said "fried chicken?". No, Yuko, not fried chicken at all! Secondly, the Japanese eat cake on Christmas. That's kind of normal. We have cake. We have Christmas pudding, Tunis cake, Cheesecake and an array of all kinds of desserts. Japanese Christmas cake looks suspiciously like a Birthday cake though, so I've taken to calling it Jesus Birthday Cake. Because it looks like something you would give somebody for their birthday, not something that you would share for Christmas, after your roast dinner fried chicken. However, just like every other Japanese Christmas Tradition, we decided that we weren't going to do that at all. Santana and I made an amazing English roast dinner, with roast potato, mashed potato, carrots, broccoli, green beans, sweetcorn, roast chicken, Pigs in blankets, cauliflower cheese, yorkshire puddings, and gravy. Now, whilst this may seem like no giant feat to those living in England, it definitely wasn't the easiest thing to produce in Japan. First of all, our ovens are crazy dual microwave/ovens, so it was a bit weird preparing our roast in them. Secondly, there is no such thing as gravy in Japan. Shock, horror, yes I know. In fact, there is no such thing as a roast dinner, we just created one the best we could. Luckily, though I was prepared to try and make gravy from scratch, Mum sent us gravy granules in the post, so we could make gravy for our Christmas dinner.

My Christmas Care Package from Mum, card from dad, and gift from Hannah.

I didn't buy a whole chicken (I couldn't even seem to find Turkey meat), so we bought two large breasts to feed three people. Yorkshire Puddings were also difficult. We tried making them from scratch, but they didn't look, or taste very much like Yorkshire puddings at all. We think it's because the flour here is different, and weird. I was a little worried about the pigs in blankets too, because I used crazy Japanese 'wieners', rather than actual chipolata sausages, but that turned out fine. I was really proud of my Cauliflower Cheese, because I've never made it before, and I bought these cute little dishes to bake them in from Daiso and they turned out SO CUTE and WONDERFUL! When we sat down to eat, we drank Coke and Grape Fanta, and we also had Christmas crackers that my Mum sent us. After pulling crackers and putting paper hats on our head, it felt so much like real Christmas that I finally got really excited. It was the first Christmas meal I'd ever made, and Santana and I aced it. I'm so proud of us!

On a final note, all of the shops are open on Christmas Day. It's business as usual, and it's rather strange. For New Years, on the other hand, the Japanese like to pretend it's Christmas, and they shut all their shops for a good few days, hang out with their family, eat noodles, and don't party.

P.S. It snowed on New Years Day (above). Awesome :3