Oh Tokyo.....
Love vs. Hate 6 mos in Tokyo

So it's been almost 6 months since I have arrived here in Tokyo... and what a ride it has been thus far. I feel so lucky that I have had the opportunity to not only come here and live, but the people I have met, the job that I work at, and the food is incredible, and just day to day life is outstanding.

Selling everything I owned and moving here was literally the most liberating experience of my life. Getting rid of my old lifestyle of living behind a computer has been cut in half. I haven't designed much these days, just been focusing on my very rewarding job of teaching. It is wonderful. I didn't even realize how much I need a social job with NO SALES and NO MICROMANAGING to realize how lucky and happy it really makes me to not have to deal with those two aspects of work (that I have been dealing with for the last five years)

Now as pounds and inches melt away from my fat little body, I feel I am emerging as a happier, healthier, and more wonderful version of my previous self. My days literally consist of 3 hours of working at the school, per day, working out with yoga and aerobics 1.5 hours a day 5 days a week. Reading about 1,000 pages every week of various types of literature. Walking miles with my ipod on and on my weekends dancing until 6am. Falling asleep at bars and having no one care. Having peoplle stare at me like I am a super star just because I am foreigner. Especially when I order everything at my favorite sushi place in Japanese, the japanese people are so used to foreigners not being able to speak Japanese that they kind of look at me like I am a cute little talking puppy...somewhere between finding my Japanese "kawaiiiiii" = cute and a little baby trying to say something.

Eating lots of seaweed, tofu, sushi, and organic food. I see weird and interesting things every day. Oh and did I mention there is a type of alcohol here called Shochu? Well it's low in calories, has amazing health benefits, and doesn't give you a hang over. Talk about amazing stuff! The technology here is mindboggling.... The banking system is complete bullshit. Japanese people are some of the most polite and insincere people I have ever met. 99% Japanese men are strange. Japanese women are adorable and fucking annoying at moments...obviously depending on the girl.

I thought I would share with you some of the things I Love and Hate about my life in Tokyo

Strange Things I have seen:
Grandmas with purple and green hair
People getting so drunk in public that they would just start falling over and puking everywhere even in restaurants

Trains being delayed every day due to people jumping in front of trains committing suicide
There are over 30,000 people who committ suicide here a year. it's a huge epidemic and I see train delays every day due to some new idiot who decided to "commit suicide honorably"

Stabbings are the newest sensation here...some idiot went to Akihabra Tokyos' electronic district and stabbed to death 18 people in 20 minutes. There was a grandma at a station five minutes from my house who started stabbing women in the legs cause she just wanted to go to jail cause she couldn't afford to buy food.
Stabbing is the new black.
Terrible orange hair color is the new blonde
Swastikas on shirts because Japanese people know nothing about current events or history
No garbage on the ground and no garbage cans... Everyone carries around their trash with them.
The streets are so clean you could eat off of them.
No napkins you have to bring your own.
The biggest rain drops you have ever seen. It's called Guerilla rain and if you are caught without an umbrella it's like taking a shower with your clothes on.
Oh and earthquakes, they come often. I have felt about 10 so far. They scare the shit out of me...shakes the whole house, very uncomfortable because I sleep on the floor.... and they make my lil heart jump out of my chest.
Very delicious sushi, but no rolls or spicy tuna or anything like american sushi, and every placce here almost is a "train place" so lots of nigiri. But it's all amazingly delicious and cheap.
Public drinking is not illegal here, so you can drink everywhere! Awesome.
Japanese holidays are rad, lots of dressing up and festivals.
Relationships are strange, if you hump someone Japanese men think you are instantly in a relationship.

No one wears bicycle helmets EVER
Women wearing high heels while riding their bikes
People holding an umbrella while they ride their bike.
People having dogs hanging out of their baskets while they ride their bike.
Motorcycles/Scooters, bikes on sidewalks almost hitting people every 5 seconds...so annoying!
People pretending not knowing how to speak english yet they have had 12 years of it in school...some are really that bad but some just are full of shit.
The cutest most well groomed dogs and children you have ever seen.
The craziest most ridiculous fashion you have ever seen.
THE worst grammatical errors in history on thousands of t-shirts, menus, and signs all over the city.
Example "Butter Crams" = Butter Clams
Fried Lice = Fried Rice
Weird slogans like " For a relaxing time and a sunshine rays, crepes are the way to do it"
"A good breakfast becomes a viking." WTF?????? It's endlessly entertaining and something you see every day in every type of establishment. If someone wants to come and proof read the businesses in Japan it would be such a good money maker.
The strangest hybrid of American culture and Japanese culture. For example imagine half of the establishments you walk into are playing American music, for example a wonderful Italian place that is so charming and delicious yet is playing slow jams by Mariah Carey. Puke!
Here is something that I can't get over!

So I go on this date with a Japanese guy, and he tells me that his favorite movie is Back Draft. And I am like "are you kidding me? That movie is so old I don't even remember when it came out..." and he proceeded to argue with me. Movies liike Armageddeon, ET, Beverly Hills Cop, and bands like Nirvana, Aerosmith, The Backstreet Boys, and every type of 90's techno/electro/house is huge here. The fashion in one aspect is unfuckingbelievable... the other aspect is downright from the Days of Clueless in what 1995? T-shirts with spaghetti straped dresses over them, flannels, SCRUNCHIES.... SERIOUSLY THEY FUCKING SELL SCRUNCHIES HERE>.... WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baseball is huge. I went to a baseball game here it was actually really fun. They had a marching band leading cheers kind of like a high school football game.

Karaoke is the best here. It is NOTHING like American Karaoke. You get your own private room with karaoke set up. You pay anywhere from $6-10 per hour per person for all you can drink. YOu and your friends can sing for hours. It is amazing, and you can ordere a million types of food to your room. This means more singing and getting drunk and you don't have to wait long to sing.

Izakyas=Japanese pubs are AMAZING!! Straw floors, take off your shoes, sit on the ground eat food with dishes priced about $3.50 a plate, and beers about $3.50 and you share everything. DOn't worry if you can't read Japanese, 90% of them have pictures of everything you want to order right on the menu. It's kind of like denny's but with way more delicious healthy food.

Dating has been good and bad. I went like 4 months without sex and got so horny I did something I thought I would NEVER do. I joined Adult friend finder. Oh my god it was the greatest idea ever. All the guys here are educated (since you have to have a Bachelor's degree to live here) And since no SANE girl would ever join that god forsaken site,I stuck out... I got over 1,000 messages in one month and had my pick of whomever I wanted to go out with. I went on looooots of dates. Had sex with an Aussie and an Italian. It was fun. I adored the Italian, he took me out for a $300 dinner our first date, brought me shit loads of Miu Miu glasses and Raybans cause he designs for them, and courted me for a bit, but then he went to Italy for a month, and I finally found out he has a Japanese girlfriend. Things fizzled, I was bummed. I did get some amazing dinners and some fantastically passionate sex out of him. It was delightful.

Ah well AFF would breed that type. I was super bummed but then, I realized, AFF was good for finding sex, but if I wasn't wanting that anymore it might be a good time to quit. Just before I quit, guess who found me? MY BOSSSS!!!!! I get this message that says

Dear Violet,
Hope you are well. Just some feedback, LilMissHarajuku might be a bit too obvious. Please be more careful. Thank you in advance. Love yourBoss

AHHHHHHHH....
So I write back:

Boss... no problem, I took the pics down. By the way how did you find me?

Violet,
Don't worry I found you on my own.

OHhhh MY GOD!!!!! He has a membership to that site, and he's married with babies.

This was my second indication that AFF was probably nothing but married and taken men looking for sex.

Keep in mind I would NEEEVEER Join AFF in America... it would be full of sick white trash perverts, but here, it's so hard to meet people because Japanese people are shy. No one ever comes up and talks to you, you don't meet people in public, and a great majority of the men on that site are amazingly attractive.

So then a couple days after this happens, my friend Ali and I were going to dinner with some of my coworkers, and there is yet another cute guy who is flirting with both her and I. She looks at me all terrified.... "That guy totally wrote me on AFF she says! Like five times... also MARRIED!" FACKKKKKK is everyone here married or taken? THe majority are. And AFF is obviously way too small if my boss and coworkers have become intertwined on it in the 2 months I was on there.

So anyway I have stopped dating everyone. I have decided that I had enough sex to last me for a while and now it's all about Yoga, sushi, reading, and participating in all sorts of fun activities. I am going to climb Mt. Fuji next month. I have been going to rad theme parks, such as Disney Sea which is one of the most amazing theme parks I have ever been to. I have been hosting parties and gatherings at my house. I have been spending a lot of time alone. My job is soooooo wonderful and I feel like I get to enjoy so many different types of people. Find out about Japanese culture in a way I never thought I would. I am thinking I want to be a college professor as my new career dream and freelance artist and writer in the off time. I just love the hours, the face to face interaction and how if I got a really good position at a University I would have paid summers off which would allow me to pursue my other love traveling.

I feel happy. I miss Portland. I miss my friends. But I don't miss American media or the godforsaken stress of the election. I don't miss seeing SUV's, fat people, annoying bratty children or driving around in traffic. I have trains to get me from point A to point b and lots of walking that keeps me healthy. I have great friends and I just feel so low stress. I feel pretty! I feel like I am becoming a woman. I feel like I am figuring out exactly what I want in life and how to get it. I am realizing that being an intellectual and an interesting person is much better than being a rampant party girl. I do miss Portland music by far the most though Never in a million years thought I would miss it or my long time friends as much as I do, but at moments I just want to come home. But then I think of everything I'd have to leave here. So Pretty much unless the election goes in the favor of Obama I am going to be here for a while longer. Or at least till the American Economy picks up.

I miss you all... So please come visit. I might be coming home from Christmas! So start planning to come take a trip to Vegas to see me. Otherwise I'll be in PDX for maybe a weekend around that time.

The good news is, in the long term I do see myself residing in Portland. As much as I love it here, I know that Portland is home and I can't wait to apply things I have learned about life here to living back home in oregon.

I'll write more soon.

Why do I go through such phases? Sometimes I am the healthiest person and other times I feel like I can be a bit self destructive. It seems to be a teeter totter of life with me. I have to say drinking is mostly the culprit! Drinking since I have reached the tender age of 28, has no provided me with the most intense and cruel hang overs of my life. This doesn't even have to be from a large amount of alcohol....sometimes I get a huge hang over just from 2 drinks! sometimes from 1 if I drank the day before. UGH! I can't sleep well when I drink and yet, it's very hard for me to go out and just have 1 drink. Sometimes I just drink, and drink, and drink and this lack of self moderation leads to me doing things that are somewhat embarassing......ie. drunk myspacing messages that make no sense.... saying things to people that are a little fiesty.....

Last night I went dancing with friends from 12:30 at night to 4am and didn't drink a thing. It was great. I had amazing sex the night before with one of the sexiest Australians I have ever met, I did hot yoga, I ate a delicious salad and danced with no alcohol. I felt like a million bucks. Why can't I do this every day? Imagine how hot I could become and stay hot like Demi Moore who is 40 years old and looks like she is 28.

I need to wear a string on my finger with a little note that says.... remember how good you feel when you don't drink.

tokyo is crazy.....last saturday night I pulled a 24 hour drink a thon with two gay boys who painted my naked body with liquid eyeliner. It was so much fun! needless to say I am still recovering! Besides that teaching 300 students a week is pretty awesome. Some serious ups and downs happen though. moments I feel very home sick other times I feel like I never want to leave. I have been rubbing elbows with some pretty substantial people though, so that has been really good!

All I can say is Tokyo is amaziiiiiiiiiiing!

The flight was so long. Seriously I feel like I have been traveling for days. I left at 2:30pm monday, and didn't get into Tokyo until 5pm the Tuesday which in Portland time was around midnight because of the time delay and crossing the international dateline.. One of the best things about international flights is you get your own tv, where you can watch any movies on demand for free and you can play video games! Sweeeet!

I sat next to this Phillipino girl from Hong Kong who had the most beautiful british accent. I guess since Hong Kong was ruled by the brits for a long time that they speak with a british/chinese accent, strange, but I loved the accent. She was beautiful, lived in portland for the last 2 years studying her Master's in Psych....she talked my ear off and told me lots of things I had to look forward to being a white person in an asian world. She told me how many opportunities I would have in Japan and in hong kong just because how much chinese and japanese love white people. She was going on and on about how people will want to be my friend just because I have pale skin. This was all very shocking to me as she described how asian women are constantly buying over the counter products to bleach their skin, and feel like white people are superior over them. Isn't that strange? I was perplexed.

Ok so Tokyo is the craziest place I have ever been in my life. I have never encountered such amazing hospitality. I got off a bus in Shinjuku which is a very busy area that is close to the leasing office where I am renting my room .... I get off the bus and my bags are so big and there are so many people on the street, I have problems even walking 2 feet.....I asked these girls if they knew english....They decided to befriend me! This girl not only pulled one of my bags for me but then drew a map for the cab driver to take me to the right hotel, and then gave me her phone number and her email address even though she doesn't speak any english.....cute... I'm making friends without even trying.

Everyone is so tiny here that my suitcases barely fit in the cab. The cab driver spoke absolutely no english. He told me the fare in Japanese I had to look at the reciept to pay it. At this point I am really kicking myself for not learning basic Japanese before coming! Oh well I have a year! But still, talk about making it hard on myself. At the same time, I get a big kick out of looking around and not recognizing any words and having to communicate through charades. It makes me feel like I'm in my own little bubble... I love it!

Then when I got to the Star hotel they didn't have any vacancies. I had missed my opportunity to go move into my house tonight cause the bus got in too late and the leasing office was closed. So here I was in one of the busiest parts of Tokyo with 2 huge bags, and no one really speaks english, I don't have a hotel room, and I am starting to wonder if I am going to have to sleep on the street......everyone is staring at me like I am either the most beautiful or horrific thing they have ever seen.... I can't really tell. I just can't get over how amazingly stylish and sweet and beautiful everyone is. And I feel like a sweaty, traveling train wreck, and yet everyone wants to help me, and that is when I realized I LOVE THIS CITY!

If you ask someone if they speak english they are delighted to practice it on you. At this first hotel with no vacancies, I had 2 new people carry my bags up the escelator cause they were too huge .... When the hotel declined me cause they were full I almost lost it. I guess my plan to reserve a hotel room prior to me leaving got shoved to the wayside to do other things like work, being hung over, and hanging out instead of planning this better....

Anyway, after the first hotel denied me this group of freshly graduated college students who were dressed amazing actually not only called and booked a room for me, but pulled my bags down the street . The room is a mere $220 for the night! HAHA! I knew that it was going to be about that expensive, but I am just doing it one night, and I am choosing to be near the leasing office opposed to staying at a cheap hostel and having to cab it too far. Honestly I would have paid $500 to take a shower after an 11 hour flight and a 3 hour bus ride from the airport to tokyo. I am so happy to be looking at some crazy neon lights out my window as it is only 9:49pm here, and it's 5:49am back home.

I must sleep!

Oh one more thing...my phone doesn't work! GOD DAMMIT! THe tmobile people said it should work on the wifi but I haven't got it to work yet. Maybe this will change but in the meantime if you need to get ahold of me either email, myspace, I think I am going to get skype or some other VOIP system.

xoxox

Gosh. I'm having a burning desire to make my own portfolio site for my business and I'm just feeling so overwhelmed by it all. I am my own worst client. Indecisive... Exhausted... Difficult to please...And my own worst critic!

Is anyone in vegas and wants to come model for my website? This is for boys and girls I am needing models to pose with my cool t-shirts on! And they aren't to purchase just to show how well designed they are...I did the sub contracting on the printing but the designs and concepts are all mine!

I'm so tired! God Dammit someone please wake me up!

So I went to a Vice Magazine party last night, it was ok. I did have all you can eat sushi before hand though it was AMAZING!!!!!! Vegas is so notorious for crazy creative rolls and sushi delicacies and all you can eat. It's so strange this doesn't happen other places. I also went to ghost bar and moon bar, both of full of people who are not really my style. However I did meet one nice young gentlemen by the name of Paul. He was nice. I didn't really drink much cause I had to drive, and I have finally and happily quit smoking! Yay! My face and skin feel so much better. I was always just a casual smoker, but still it's gross, and my lungs and teeth thank me. Now I'm off to Magic, Project, and Pool and if you know what those three things are you will think that is cool!

Why is it that I love being alone so much? I just love being left alone to dork out and only be social occasionally. It seems as if I am an oxy moron in so many ways.... an organized person in a disorganized persons body... a social loner...a fiesty sweetheart. An optimistic grump. All I can say is, wherever I lay my head can be home as long as I have a comfortable private bedroom with a good bed, good bedding, and no loud noises of children and people walking around me as I sleep. I think hanging out with children is the best birth control ever. When they are babies they are SO cute and enjoyable for the most part, unless of course they are colicky or something. Then it seems like the pre pubscent or when they start to talk, scream, run, and get into everything it kind of reminds me of having untrained dogs jumping on everything. I love children don't get me wrong, but I am definitely not having any until I'm 35....hopefully I wwon't be barren. hahahaha.

Moving to Tokyo March 24th... it's getting closer and closer and I am so excited I can hardly wait!!!!!!!! I am about ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime! If you are in Japan, let me know cause I would like to meet up for a drink or sushi. If you are not in Japan but coming to visit Tokyo soon, let me know and maybe we can also meet up for a drink or sushi, or even better Karaoke!!!!!