So it was a short and sweet stay, but I am graduating from Share house. (hopefully, I hope.. if all goes well)

I had a lot of fun in the share house! First of all, the people were all really nice! When I first moved in to the share house, I was a bit nervous! Coming to a foreign country, and living with random people from other countries!! but it turned out that they were all really friendly! and it was so nice to meet and get to know people from other places. I’ve met some Japanese people from many different parts of Japan, Europeans, Asians from different parts of Asia, people from Australia and even people from Canada =). It was really nice to come home to a group of friendly people and chat a bit before I went to bed! Second, where I lived (Nakamurabashi) was sooo convenient! I might have written this before, but the apartment is literally 2 minutes away from the station, and the station is surrounded by cheap super markets, drug stores, bars (izakaya), restaurants, 100 yen shops… everything that I need was always so accessible! I think I’m really going to miss this place ='(

I had a really really good time here, thank you!

Ok, so… coming from Canada, Halloween was a big event every year. So needless to say, I was shocked to hear that Japanese people pretty much do not celebrate Halloween at all!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve dressed up for Halloween. It was always the best time of the year! I loved to go trick or treating… I mean… the amount of candies you can get out of just walking few miles… hahaha Eventually I grew out of trick or treating, but I remember I never grew out of dressing up! It was always so fun! Especially when I entered university, it was a really really big event. All the girls would dress up as french maids, angels, police woman, fire fighter, playboy bunny… you know… the usual and go to clubs… I really miss it =(

So.. this year I’m a little disappointed to find out that Halloween is not big event here at all. Apparently only in Roppongi.  Maybe I will have to check out Roppongi on the 31st?? But.. good news! GABA will have Halloween party on the 24th at it’s learning studio. It’s really hard to imagine the learning studio, where students come to study English seriously every day gets turned in to a drinking hall… and I’m a little nervous about getting drunk in front of my students (I have no control…) but it should be good times!! =) It’s this Saturday, I’m really looking forward to it!! I’ll put up another blog on it… given that I remember what happenes that night.

I’ve been reading a lot of Japanese novels recently. I first started as a way to study Kanji, but recently, I’ve really gotten in to it! So for this blog, I thought I’d recommend some books that I think is really worth while reading:

1. Mueito – This is a book by Watanabe Junichi. Some of you may now him by his famous novels such as “shitsurakuen”.. I won’t go in to detail about this one. Mueito is Japanese means “lighting without shadow”… you know, one of those lighting that’s used in the operation room. This book sure enough is about doctors and how they deal with life and death. It was really difficult to read, but definitely very interesting. If you have time, I recommend you to pick a copy up!

2. Kuchu buranko – This is the 1st book in a 3 book series… it’s basically about a doctor (maybe psychiatrist?) That deals with patients with different types of problems. It sounds dark and heavy, but it’s actually really really funny and interesting! I couldn’t stop reading it and I was finished in a day! The main character is absolutely hilarious. He makes you look at life from a completely different angle.

3. Fumouchitai – This novel recently became a TV drama! The drama is of course very good (it stars my favorite actors and actresses!) but the book itself it really good as well. If you’re unfamiliar with the title, the book basically follows an ex soldier who returned to Japan after being captured and held in Siberia for over 10 years, and it’s about his life (as a merchant) there after. If you’re interested in Japanese history, or if you like historical books in general, this is a really good book for you!

4. Deguchino nai umi – The title translates to “ocean without an escape”.. or something like that. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with Kamikaze (the Japanese airline pilots), but many people are not familiar with the submarine version of that. This novel narrates their story from a Japanese perspective of the pearl harbor. This book will really open up your eyes, and the ending is brilliant.

5. Himitsu – this book is by Higashino Keigo. He is very good at writing mystery novels and I have to say this might be one of his best novels. It’s really really really unbelievably sad… but a really good story at the same time! The story begins with a terrible accident that takes away the life of a mother in a family of 3 people… or does it….? very very interesting! =)

cheers!

2 days ago, I went to Ameyoko in Ueno for the first time.

If you’ve never been there, I really really recommend it!! Many of my students at GABA suggested it to me so I decided to give it a try… and it was really really fun! It’s basically a huge market on a really long road. The street sells many things from bags, shoes, clothes, fresh fish to fruits and vegetables! And, everything is on discount!! If you search hard enough, I’m sure you’ll be able to find lots of treasures there!

I went pretty late at night, so many shops had really good bargain sales. (Like selling 7000yen tuna for 1000yen @___@) There were some really cute bags and shoes there too.. and they were all really cheap!! But.. my impression was that it had a lot more stuff for man than for woman… for some reason.

So, as you know I like to talk about food and drinks. This day, of course, my main purpose was to go drinking (I spend way to much money on alcohol every month!) anyways, my friend and I found a sketchy little Yatai (Izakaya out in the open) under the railway in a small alley. and wow… when I talk about dirt cheap, I mean this place! My friend and I ordered so much food.. and alcohol, but the bill only came to 3000yen. This is a miracle in Tokyo. But… there was a catch. The next day I had such a bad stomachache I couldn’t move.

So… do I recommend it? …. yes!