New haircut

Yesterday I went to cut my hair. I went to the hairdresser to whom I usually go and he was surprised to see me again, since he knew that I was about to return to Sweden the last time I was there. As usual, I couldn't decide too much myself what my hair was going to look like, but he had his own ideas and started cutting as I sat down. Since autumn has come he decided to give my hair a little harder look, like a 50's style bob with a little more air. I didn't protest, and in the end I got some sort of Amelie look, with the sharp fringe and all. Or, a helmet. Well, it's easy to shampoo at least.
At Sunday Tomoya and I did some more shopping. We went to Shimokitazawa, a nice shopping area some minutes from Shinjuku. This time I didn't buy anything but Tomoya went crazy again and bought a jacket. We also went to a very weird café, that looked like a combination between a library, a very dirty bar and a rundown warehouse. The tableware consisted of tin cans, cups with commercial printed on them and wooden spoons. The tables were different from each other and me and Tomoya sat on a sofa/bed - looking piece of furniture that also worked as a table. We got a tray so that the cups and plates shouldn't fall over. The food though, was excellent, and I'm definitely going to go there again. At Sunday night we ate Ochazuke. Rice on which you pour green tea and eat with a spoon. It was, sort of nice, but, weird. Yesterday, after cutting my hair I went to Starbucks with Jonathan. Jonathan is a funny guy, and every time we are at Starbucks he starts talking to some cute girl who is studying English, starting the conversation with "Hello, I see that you are studying English, I'm from Australia and maybe I can help you. If you want to, you can come to our table!". It usually ends with some little confused girl coming to our table and I have to act as if I'm as interested in teaching her English as he is. It's confusing but fun. Today I went by myself to study at a café in Shinjuku. It's hard to concentrate because I'm a little nervous about my work in Nagoya that starts tomorrow (oh dear...). This morning some Japanese guy from Sandvik called and gave me some information about the work. My Japanese was all but perfect 1 minute after waking up, and I hope that he didn't get a too bad impression of me. Anyhow, now I have to make pancakes for Tomoya who is coming home any minute now. And also, I have some packing to do for tomorrow.

Back in Japan

Last Wednesday I left Gothenburg and Sweden for Japan. I arrived Thursday morning to Narita airport in Tokyo to be picked up by Mr Taniai (Tomoya's father) who carried my bag all the way to Tomoya's apartment, and treated me a coffee in Shinjuku. The flight was OK. I managed to sleep a little, although the lady next to me smelled of old fish and was bleeding nose blood half of the trip - at least something interesting happened. When I came to Japan, now for the third time in my life, I was less culture-shocked than I was expecting myself to be. The more I looked around me, the more I felt that everything was familiar. The inside of the subway trains looks the same, the houses are as dirty and tiny as before, the people are still as friendly and even the commercial on the TV-screens in the trains are the same as when I left. Nothing has changed, which felt good and reassuring. I noticed some new things about Japan though, that I didn't manage to take in last year when I was busy being homesick and taking care of paper work and other stuff for my coming year of exchange studies. For example, Japan smell of detergent. I'm used to it now, 3 days after arriving, but at Thursday when I arrived I could smell it everywhere. Some things I'm still very used to though. For example Tomoya's apartment, in which I felt like home the minute I entered it again. The tomatoes on the balcony had died, but otherwise everything else was just as when I left it. Thursday night I went to meet up with Jonathan while I waited for Tomoya to get back for work. Fun fact; Tomoya has been number one in his department on the list of people with most overtime hours two months in a row now. Around 300 people work in his department and Tomoya has been working for about 4 months. Good job in choosing boyfriend Sara! Yay! Anyhow. I went to meet my dear friend Jonathan the other day. We went to have some kaiten sushi (sushi that is coming on a conveyer belt and you pick what you want) and after that a coffee at Starbucks. The staff recognized me and I chatted a little with the very friendly girl who's there even when she is not working. On Friday I was supposed to meet up with Haruka, but she had to work until 6.30 in the morning and overslept. I accepted her apology without thinking twice. Instead, I went to buy nice tights in Marui, a shop that I've been missing a lot. The autumn fashion is of course superb over here. And more than in Sweden, it's obvious that purple is the colour this year. I bought two pair of tights with purple pattern and one red pair. On the afternoon I went to see Ashleigh, an English friend of mine who is working here as an aupair. She is returning to England this November and her family wants a new aupair from January. I'm thinking about taking the job. The mother, to whom I talked about it, seemed interested and she wants an answer as soon as possible. In that contract though, a flat is included. And with that flat comes a room mate. A French guy in his twenties. I'm not too thrilled about that and Tomoya seems even more suspicious. And yet, I have to be worried about the internship that starts in Nagoya this Wednesday. Too many decisions to make. Today me and Tomoya went shopping in Shinjuku. Tomoya has gone shopping crazy now when the autumn is here and I've been strolling after him for hours into expensive shops with Japanese funky brands. I bought a hat and he bought nothing. Hm. I also bought a cell phone. A pink/goldish fancy prepaid phone that wasn't too expensive and easy to use. As usual while shopping, we took a couple of breaks for coffee. Fist at Sega Fredo, the best coffee chain in the world, and then at a Japanese café where they roast the beans themselves. The café is situated in Shinjuku and every time I’ve been walking by I’ve smelled the same thing as one can do in our kitchen when my mum is roasting coffee. I’ve never managed to find the café but today we discovered a little stair leading down to it. It was cosy and the walls were covered in coffee cups of different kinds. Every guest got a unique cup. The downside was the price. 1000 yen (55 kr) per cup of regular coffe, not cappuccino or so. But it tasted good and there were many kinds of beans to choose from. Tomorrow we are going to Tomoya's parents house which is going to be nice as well. The thing that surprised me most when I came back here was how many things that I've been missing without noticing it too much. Like Starbucks, breakfast consisting of coffee and rice with egg served on a box as table, my friends here, how cheap the persimmons are, the clothes, the stores that are open 24-7 and so on. I suppose it was easier to come here this time, since I was prepared and had contacts here already. Last year I was lost and didn't know at all what to expect. Maybe that's why I've been more surprised than disappointed. Still, some annoying things are left, like telephone wires everywhere in the air, girls with too big shoes that are almost falling of every step they take etc. etc. Still, I'm not too sad, and I can enjoy a Tokyo and Japan much better this time, since I know what's waiting. And if I would get sick of this town, I'm going to Nagoya for almost a month, so I suppose I'll be busy as never before.

The Japanese and Germans who came and left

So, two weeks of hosting Japanese and Germans have passed. It’s been intense, fun and interesting. Tomoya was here the first week. He arrived at Saturday and spent about a week in a rainy and cold Sweden. The weather was awful, but somehow he seemed to like it here. We went to Stockholm, our summer house, Gothenburg and other places. About the same thing I did with the Germans, that is. And Kotomi. It’s been interesting, but tiresome, to show all the visitors the same places all the time. The tiresome part must be quite obvious, I’ve been going to the same places, over and over again, to the same museums and city parts more than twice in less than a couple of weeks. The interesting part has been that I’ve been put in a situation where I had to find good parts about every place we went to; “Here’s the canal, it’s quite nice in the summer” or “The old parts of Mariestad are beautiful, the houses are cute and old” instead of “I hate when I miss the train because of those friggin’ boats” or “There’s nothing but raggare in this doomed, forsaken town in the middle of nowhere”. Somehow I’ve managed to find nice things in a landscape that I didn’t find too interesting before. Anyhow, it’s hard to summarize and show pictures of everything we have been doing these two weeks. Obviousely, it was most exciting when Tomoya came. Japan is so different compared to Sweden, and he pointed, eyes wide open, at the fields with hay balls wrapped in plastic, exclaiming: “What are those marshmallow-looking balls?! “. After getting used to the countryside we took off to Stockholm to walk around the city, do some shopping and meet up with Tomoya’s friend Gianfranco. We also visited Skansen and Vasa and Skansen with its neat houses and funny-looking animals was much better than expected. We stayed at my sisters place until next morning and woke up a little now and then during the night by Sparris messing around in the livingroom. More nice than annoying. When the Germans came we had a big party at Toves place. I introduced all my old friends to my new ones and everybody seemed to enjoy their time. With the Germans I also went hiking in Tividen. The weather was good, luckily, and the Swedish nature impressed on our southern neighbours. The Germans were supposed to go home at Friday, which all of them did, except for Matthias who had accidentally booked his flight to Saturday. He was somewhat disappointed and confused when he realised it Friday afternoon. Well, another day in Sweden wasn’t too bad and he could enjoy some fish cakes at my cousins’ instead. No they are all gone, the visitors. I’m soon going back to being a visitor myself , since I’m returning to Japan at Wednesday. I don’t feel particularly nervous, happy or sad. I’m just happy to see Tomoya. And yes, the main purpose for my trip there again is to be with that Japanese guy, for whom I seem to be willing to travel the world. Well, I must admit that I’m also looking forward to doing this internship. I think though, that my Japanese might be a little too insufficient and that my total inexperience of this type of work will make me seem and feel like a total retard. But then again, they should have thought about that before I got hired. I think it will be OK. And I will always have Sweden to return to, whenever I want. Today Sweden was beautiful. Autumn has come and the trees are golden and reddish. When I was out biking along the canal today the air was crisp and the sky free from clouds. The best time in Sweden is early autumn, at those days when it’s sunny and a little chilly. Today was one of those days, and the late afternoon today was magnificent. I don’t know why, but the Swedish autumn light is special. It might be because of the clear air, or the golden reflecting fields, but today, the little road along the canal was more beautiful than ever and seemed to be cast in gold. The air smelled of apples, horse and smoke. When I came home the garden smelled of roasted coffee beans from the kitchen and the sun was about to set. I will miss Sweden a little, but at least I know that there’s something nice to return to.