Gaijin Girl

well, it’s back to non-military time and living in the past! we arrived in seattle yesterday. although it feels like much longer ago. i slept for 20 hours last night, though off and on. i kept waking up and watching movies until i fell back asleep because i knew if i got up then (in the middle of the night), my schedule would be off. well, i kept doing that off and on for 26 hours!! i watched 2 movies and read a magazine on my breaks from sleeping. josh didn’t even wake up during my breaks….he slept for 24 hours straight!! besides sleeping i have done a lot of eating and sifting through piles of clothes, not really accomplishing much.

tomorrow the agenda consists of calling the Arizona MVD, cleaning the mold out of my car floor mats, washing my car and putting air in the tires, exchanging my yen for dollars, and getting a cell phone. tomorrow night we are going to a TRACE BUNDY show! he is a really super awesome musician whom we met in japan. his wife lived in seattle for a while, and we are going to see them with josh’s family and our friend katie, whom we met in alaska. on tuesday i have to pack and get some work done on my car because wednesday-friday we are heading on a mini vacation to birch bay and bellingham!! then saturday i begin the long drive down to the old pueblo. can you believe i already miss japan?? it’s true! i did nothing but miss this place while i was over there; now i would give anything to meet a super-helpful japanese person working at a bank or a store. i had forgotten how rude service workers are here! bleh.

so let me reminisce a little. over the summer i met this really cool funny guy at a vegan dinner. he ended up being my first jewish kosher friend. i learned so many things when groccery shopping with him. one day i went to harajuku with him, blanche, charie, and kjell. we had brunch at fujimama’s and then did tons of shopping, where i got my dear kappibarachan.

after the shopping spree, we headed to meiji shrine, and then we ended the night with a soak in an amazing onsen that included restaurants, stores, and a relax room. it was a wonderful day in tokyo!  other wonderful days spent with yotam included seeing the turner prize exhibit at the mori art museum and eating tapas and finding the cutest kitten ever in yoyogi park.  he went back to new york about a month after i met him.  such is the life of an expat….which i totally miss already!

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