I’ve been having some really ugly weeks lately, no matter what I put on, no matter how I did my makeup I just felt kind of slobby. Yesterday I went and got a haircut, and it worked wonders. I also got some new clothes, was looking for bottoms only right now. I usually only wear black clothes (no, not goth or metal inspired, I just feel like any other color hasn’t suited me for the past years,) but I actually got some skirts and shorts in different colors this time around.

Apparently you can wear the dotted skirt both ways, but I think I prefer it with the dots facing outwards. The other skirt looks a bit conservative, but since the rest of my clothes are not, I think it will be just perfect. I never used to like dark blue garments before, but it is growing on me.

The material of these shorts are half-shiny, and they had some cute details over the side pockets.

Maybe sailor theme is a bit last year, but I never got into it back then, so when I saw these shorts now I thought they were really cute with the little belt and buttons.

I almost, just almost, want to get a helmet like they have in Brødrene Dal, but luckily I can stop that urge and just go with these shorts instead.

I’ve seen so many beautiful flowers lately. One of these days I will buy some and take them home ♥

⁑ ⁂ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ☀ ☁ ☂ ◉ ♣ ♥ ♦ ♠ ✚ ⁑ ⁂ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ☀ ☁ ☂ ◉ ♣ ♥ ♦ ♠ ✚ ⁑ ⁂ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ☀ ☁ ☂ ◉ ♣ ♥ ♦ ♠ ✚ ⁑ ⁂ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ☀ ☁ ☂ ◉ ♣ ♥ ♦ ♠ ✚ ⁑ ⁂ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ☀ ☁ ☂ ◉

I like to keep the blog postive for the most part, but today I just had to enjoy some cheese and whine for breakfast, so here is a short whine-list:

• Today is already Wednesday, I have no idea what happened to Monday and Tuesday.
• Apparently there is a kanji-contest, but we are competing against everyone else in the entire school, from 初級 to 上級, so I will probably have no chance in hell reaching any kind if top-list.
• And then we have two hours of “free talk”, where we talk to Japanese people. This is all fine and dandy and a great offer, but I feel like I have nothing to say to other people, and forced conversation and chitchat just make me feel awkward.
• I saw that a blogger started offer to make design for other blogs for 100 NOK. And in her comment field, people were complaining about how expensive they thought that was. Seriously? (At the design agency I worked for, the average price of a web page was 10 000 NOK and upwards. Sure, a blog is a smaller thing to make, but still, I wouldn’t make blog-designs for 100 NOK.) I realize these kids (who thinks 100 NOK is expensive for a custom design)  probably are in junior high and only spend their parents money because they have no money on their own, but seriously, I bet they spend more money on McDonald’s pr week than a measly 100 NOK. They walk around in jeans that cost 1300 NOK, but 100 NOK on a custom design is expensive? Give me a break.
• My hair in Japan = akjgfljkrøoijgdns = I must wear a hat = skjfkljfs = it is too warm = bah.

Thank you and good day to you sir!

// Wall paintings in Nakano

There is a lot of beautiful flowers along the street when I am walking home, here is some of them.

& completely unrelated: I changed the font-size. It is smaller, and harder to read, so at first thought it would seem silly to change the font into something smaller and less easy to read… But lately the words have just not come to me, and I have been wondering why, I couldn’t quite figure it out. I have so much I want to write and say, but I haven’t quite dared, or the words just haven’t really come to me. Then I thought – my own handwriting is also very small, and writing things with a too big font-size just made me feel some kind of performance anxiety. Or maybe not performance anxiety, but the font just felt to big and bulky for the words I wanted to write. The type of things I want to write. Silly, but none the less, I need a smaller font-size to feel more at home, so sorry about the inconvenience, hope you understand, I know it is not that hip or kosher to write in a tiny font on the web anymore. Maybe I will change it back when my mood changes, but for now, this font-size seems to fit the words I want to write better.

& completely unrelated 2: Earthquake while I write this. I hope it passes. It is a long and slow one.

1. Å kjenne lukten av sommer-Japan, og nyse konstant i flere uker fordi man er allergisk mot en helt annen type pollen enn i Norge.
2. Å se bestemødre sope foran inngangsdørene sine og langs veien, bare fordi de liker at det ser pent og ryddig ut rundt seg.
3. Å kjenne solen varme ansiktet for første gang på to dager, men at det ikke gjør noe at det regner, fordi man vet at det ikke regner hver dag.
4. Å drikke kaffe og se på trash-TV til frokost. (Ja, jeg ser på Paradise av og til, alle har guilty pleasures.)
5. Å kjenne lukten av hjemmelaget middagsmat fra et hemmelig sted i nærheten selv om klokken bare 9 om morgenen.
6. Å spise seg mett på sushi til rundt 40 norske kroner.
7. At riskokeren min spiller “twinkle twinkle little star” når risen er ferdig.
8. At naboen kommer på døren med en diger honningmelon i gave, bare fordi de hadde en ekstra som de ikke klarer å spise selv.
9. At bestevenninnen min i Sverige alltid er lynkjapp til å svare på meldinger via facebook, og bestevenninnen min i Norge som absolutt ikke er like kjapp logget seg på skype for første gang på et år.
10. Å kjenne at man virkelig trives i sitt eget selskap, helt alene, av og til.

There is this beautiful temple close to my house, I have no idea why I haven’t walked in there before. I finally did last weekend and I snapped some pictures while I was at it.

& totally unrelated; a couple of pictures from resturants in Nakano-Sakaue and Nakano below here:

The anti-climax after finishing a test; everything is eerie and quiet and the words will not come to me. A thousand thoughts in my head, but no means to get them out. I find myself walking alone and contemplating everything I have ever done right or wrong, silently judging and praising and rethinking. I find myself jealous of all the people who … just are … – the masses of people who walk back and forth from work to home to work to friends, not thinking about the posture of their bodies, not thinking about the vast massiveness of things there is yet to learn. The people who do not plan what they will say in their next conversation, the people who get pleasantly surprised from being pleasantly surprised. I feel like my life is a fixer-upper-project, I am like one of  those old apartments that you will spend a lifetime renovating. Once you are done panting one room, a pipe leaks, one you are done fixing the pipe, you changed your mind about the color of the room you just painted. And so it goes, day after day, trying to reinvent oneself to the best of one’s ability.

I’ve been such a bad blogger lately! After the mid-term this week, I have kind of been wandering around in a haze. Eating sushi, editing a little bit of pictures, trying to keep up with the insane amounts of Japanese studying I have done. I wonder if I will ever get to a point where I feel like I am on top of things instead of constantly trying to catch up… For Christmas this year I wish for about 2 extra hours pr 24 hours, thank you very much Santa.

I made this a little while back, and it was surprisingly good, so I thought I would share the super-simple recipe. Basically, you need chicken, honey, mustard, onion, mushrooms and peppers. I have absolutely no talent or interest in cooking food (I have a huge interest in eating it though), so whenever I manage to make something that taste half-decent I feel pretty proud of myself. Here is how you do it: Chop the onion, mushrooms and peppers into cubes and fry it in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put honey and mustard on the chicken, and grill/fry the chicken. Tada. Done. Make some rice if you want more carbs to go with it. It doesn’t get any more simple than this. And it was  surprisingly good.