Golden Week

Today I’ve been to heaven! It’s true, Izumi took me there. Heaven is actually located at the Hilton Hotel in Shinjuku where they have a “all you can eat in cakes for only 3000 yen”. As I said we went there today and I went crazy. It was so good. If you know me well you know I’m a sucker for sweets and I’ve never had so much cake at once before. Today was a great day with even greater weather.
This week is the so called “Golden week” in Japan. I don’t know why it’s called that but maybe it’s because there are so few long holidays in Japan. This week Monday, Thursday and Friday are holidays and that means that I only have school one day this week! It’s great because I need to catch up with Japanese class and I’ll try to do some serious shopping too. I need new jeans because the ones I have are to big for me now. This weekend I’ve done some shopping, I’ve bought a dress, a pair of shoes and some makeup. Last week I was sick for a few days, I think I caught a cold, so I couldn’t go to the gym but now I’m feeling better so maybe I’ll go tomorrow.
This weekend I went out with Pia and some other friends. We went to a new club in Roppongi called “Flower”. It was fun. As soon as we entered the club a man came up to Pia and gave her his business card. He said he had a house in Omotesando (!!!) and that he wanted her to contact him so that they could talk more. Pia was very polite but I doubt that se will call him. Well, I also got an admirer and he was actually the person in charge of the club. He introduced me and Pia to a lot of people and gave us a VIP table where we could sit and drink with our friends for free. He was really nice and we had a lot of fun that night. Of course he wanted my number and to dance with me etc. I did dance with him but I told him I had a boyfriend (Which I don’t!) and he said he was satisfied with a smile. Cheesy but nice. Still, I’m glad that I have a brain so that I don’t have to depend on some man with a house in Omotesando or a club in Roppongi. But sometimes it’s nice being spoiled and treated as a princess. I haven’t felt appreciated (by a man) nor like a princess in quite a long time but this Friday I did!
Saturday I spent at Mika’s friends house close to Shibuya. Sometimes I forget that Waseda is one of Japan’s top universities and that the Waseda students come from rich families. But I was reminded when I saw Mika’s friend house. It was gigantic with a pool and pool tables etc. I was too tired though because of the clubbing the night before so I didn’t stay for very long. It was fun though and I learned that there are not only 14 square meters apartments in Tokyo but also houses!

Nightmares on 2-8-35:street

Since I came back from Sweden I have had trouble sleeping. I hardly ever remember my dreams and ever more seldom I have nightmares but lately I have been having nightmares almost every night. I don’t always remember the content but I sleep very badly. Tonight was the worst night ever because when I woke up I realized that I had buried my nails deep into my own hands and left blue marks. It really hurt but its quite cool that I could do that to myself without waking up! I have to start relaxing because the lack of sleep is leaving me very tired.
Yesterday I went to have dinner with Ayumi and her friends. We ate at an Italian restaurant and it was really good food. Tonight I was supposed to meet Pia and some friends but Pia is feeling sick so we cancelled. I was also feeling sick the other day, maybe it’s a one day flue.
It’s very warm in Tokyo at the moment. Today it must have been around 20 degrees Celsius. There’s been a storm lying over big parts of Asia but Tokyo hasn’t been effected that much. The weather is great.
I’ve been upgraded one level in Japanese class. So now I have new teachers and new classmates. I’ve only attended the new class once so I don’t know what I think about it but I’m sure that it will be alright. They’re a few chapters ahead of me so I have to study grammar and Kanji. I hope I will learn just as much this semester as I did during the last.
I’ve realized that there’s not very much time left in Tokyo and I have still many things to accomplish. I will travel when my friend Hanna comes to visit me so I‘m not worrying about that. I talked to one of my friends in Sweden who was in Japan last year and he told me that I had to start shopping. I haven’t shopped that much yet and he told me that I should start now because I won’t have enough time later. I just don’t know what I want…

Blood is sure thick

Today is one of those great days when everything just seems to go right. I don’t know where to start but a while ago I found out that my grandfather has cancer. But today I talked to my aunt and she told me that the cancer was treatable and so did my mother. I also talked to my grandfather and he denies that he has cancer, he says that it’s a lie that his big mouthed son, Jorge Jr, has made up. Haha, he’s so funny even when he has cancer! But he’s going to be alright if we believe the doctors.
My aunt also told me that my cousin, Juan-Carlos, is moving to Spain in September. He’s going to be so close! Usually he lives in Mexico or Chicago but now he’s going to be living in Barcelona! And guess who’s going to visit him?
I also received pictures from my new born nieces Archana (Pikku’s daughter) and Leela (Sushma‘s daughter). I will soon post the pics in my photo album. It seems as Sushma had a 36 hour labor…not looking forward to that!
Moreover, it seems as I’ll work at Octapharma again this summer and I’m so happy about that!
I have a lot of things planned for this weekend, both work and fun, and I also have to study. One of my students wants to take me out for dinner but it will have to wait until next week, too busy right now.
Well, it’s really late right now and I have to go to bed because tomorrow I’m going to a pharmacy seminar in Odaiba with Andreas. Looking forward to that too!

Shopaholic

The latest few day’s I’ve been feeling so full of energy! I went to my first Japanese class of this year and it was very motivating. I feel as if I can still learn a lot of things before I go back home. On the side of Japanese I’m taking three other courses: Molecular Biology, Evolutionary Biology and Classical Physics. The Evolutionary Biology class is the same teacher (Akiko Uchida) that I had and loved last year. I also have school only three days a week!
During the eastern holiday (that’s not celebrated in Japan) my friend Eva was here for four days. It was great, I have already uploaded some of the pics! On her first day I took her shopping in Shinjuku and she went crazy. She bought so many things and she loved Japanese fashion. I knew exactly hat kind of clothing she likes so I took her to all the shops I knew had products of her taste. In the beginning I was a little afraid of her coming here because I didn’t know if she could adjust to Tokyo that is so completely different compared to Sweden. But amazingly she did, I say amazingly because she hasn’t traveled a lot at all and Tokyo must have been a shock for her. In the evening we meet some of my friends and Eva got along with all of them. We had dinner at ‘Asian Kitchen’ and the food was delicious (if you go to Tokyo you should visit that restaurant). Usually we are very few Swedes but this time there where many of us: Eva, Pia, Bjorn (Pia’s boyfriend), Andreas and me.
On Saturday we went to Shibuya and there we spent almost all day in 109! Eva spent more money there at clothing than I have spent during my whole stay in Japan. She loved 109 and specially the shoes because there are so many of them. In the evening we went to have dinner at Gonpachi in Roppongi. It’s almost impossible to get a table there but Pia and I had laid an eye on that restaurant a very long time ago and decided that we would take our boyfriends there when they came to visit us. Since Björn came Pia managed to get a table for six at 10 p.m. We stayed there and had dinner until quite late and afterwards we went to a club called Yellow. In Tokyo it’s very important to know where things are because if not it’s almost impossible to find them. This club didn’t even have a sign, it was like entering an old garage. But when we went down the stairs we saw that it was everything but an old garage! It was really big with several dance floors. We went to the bar and left quite fast again because there where to many men trying to buy us drinks and it always makes me feel a little awkward. There was a really big room that was totally dark and you couldn’t see anything. Björn is a part-time DJ so he wanted to stay and listen to the music in the dark room. Us girls, we didn’t want to stay there so we went towards the light. Suddenly there is a guy that practically drags me into one of the VIP-rooms and wants to talk to me. I told him that I couldn’t leave my friends so he told me to bring them too. He seemed quite nice so I told the girls to come with me. When we arrived to the room it was full of champagne bottles and shots. I thought to myself “Such a shame that I don’t drink” (Haha!). But my friends drank some and we talked to the guy and his friends for a while. After a while Eva tells me that she’s feeling bad because she had tequila and she can’t drink tequila. So we took a cab back with Ayumi to the hotel. Ayumi spent the night with us because we had a double bed and one single bed. That night when Eva was feeling really bad (I’ll skip the details) I thought to myself “I’m so happy that I don’t drink”.
On Sunday Ayumi left in the day and I went to run some errands while Eva slept all day. But on Monday the shopping started again but this time in Harajuku. Eva came with a empty bag and left with a quite full one! She loved Tokyo but who doesn’t?
In one month my friend Hanna is coming and I’m really looking forward to that. It’s weird how I didn’t get any visits when I was living in France but now when I’m living one the other side of the earth I’ve had so many people coming! That’s great, I love being the guide an impressing people with my (bad) Japanese! I’ve had many loves in my life but I’m never going to get over Tokyo but hopefully I don‘t have to…

Not alone

I’m uploading the rest of the videos and photos right now. I became melancholic when I was looking at the pics of Sasse and Aron. Even though I was very stressed the whole time they where here it was so much fun! They’re both so great, too bad Nim didn’t come. I think he would have had fun too.
I’ve been very inactive for some days now but tomorrow my real life begins again. I’m meeting Akria and he’s going to introduce me to a man named Gustav Strandell (yes, he’s Swedish) who worked for the Swedish embassy and right now he’s managing the Swedish Care Institute. He’s very young, around 30, but he’s achieved so much already! I’m so impressed by people like them (Akira and Gustav) because their careers are so impressive.
The 1st of April is a very special day in Japan, it’s when they celebrate the Sakura blooming. I wasn’t feeling very well that day and that’s too bad because I was invited to several ‘Hanami’ (pick nicks) and I think it would have been fun. It reminds me of Valborg in Uppsala. But I didn’t go...
Yesterday I met Pia and her boyfriend, Björn. It was really strange because I have seen photos of him but I would never had recognized him. He looked really different live! Pia is half Japanese half Swedish and Björn is Swedish and their personalities are quite different but still they reminded me of each other. They make a great couple. Brian went with me to see them and we had dinner at an Izakaya (Japanese restaurant) in Shinjuku and he also loved Björn. He seems like a really nice guy, funny and he’s good looking too. And Pia is the greatest girl so they really deserve each other. I didn’t tell Pia but she read my blog so she’ll soon know that both Brian and me loved Björn.
My friend, Eva, is coming to visit me on Friday and we’ll probably have dinner together with Pia, Björn and some friends. I’m quite nervous about Eva coming here because it’s the first time she’s ever traveled so far away. I really want her to like Tokyo, but I think she will. Who wouldn’t?