December 2nd 

Let's walk crazy Long distances!

That day, Taka and I met up in Nakayama to study together. Well, he studied, I played on his phone. We were in a coffee shop for hours and as we finally decided to go we had actually spent 5 hours there! It was 3pm by that time and because we skipped lunch, we decided to go somewhere else to find something to eat. In Nakayama isn't that much so why not go to Kamoi? It's just one station by train and since the weather wasn't that bad we decided to walk the distance. It took us about 30 minutes until we got to the Lalaport Shopping mall. After strolling around for a bit we couldn't find anything that appealed to us. So what would every logical Person do? Exactly. WALK all the way until Shin Yokohama. We had a lot of fun during our journey and I'd really like to walk a long distance again. As we finally got to Shin Yokohama and decided on a coffee shop to go to, I had a video call with my family in Germany. Taka was really nervous to 'meet' them? Even though it was Nothing special? Anyways we had a great day together and hopefully we will do that again sometime soon!

 

December 5th

That day, Taka and I met up at the Shin-Yokohama station to take the train that would bring us to Shibuya together. From Shibuya we walked to Harajuku. Since it was early in the morning though, not many shops were opened so there was nothing interesting to see. So on to our next destination! Shinjuku! But before that, a stop at your local Starbucks to get some hot Macha Latte tea and lying sandwiches! Lying sandwiches because one looked exactly as if it contained great Cheddar cheese. Turns out the cheese was actually egg and not even the tastiest one!  After our little brunch we continued our journey until we reached the Shinjuku Gyo-en park. The park is beautiful, especially when the leaves are all red and yellow and green and brown! Taka and I actually spent hours there, just wandering around, going into a Green house, watching ugly Koi fish. In the afternoon we strolled a bit through Shinjuku and went into an animate store. I regret not taking pictures with cardboard cutouts of the MCs of my latest favorite anime, Dakaretai Otoko. After that, Taka and I walked back to Harajuku, Takeshita street, where finally things had begun to liven up a bit. I bought some cute, cheap (97 Yen!) earrings and a Christmas present for my Dad. We also wanted to visit the Meiji Shrine but they were just closing the gates when we got there? It was only 4 o'clock and Google said it would close at 6? Confusion. From Harajuku we entered the Yoyogi Park and walked around there. A lot of people with their dogs were out. Since it was already dark you could only see the dogs' lit collars and it looked really funny. Like little UFOs jumping around. Oh and I also saw a White shepherd, the same breed like my dog and I was really excited because 1. Many Japanese prefer small to medium sized dogs and 2. Seeing a White shepherd is definitely rare, especially in Japan. As we exited the Yoyogi Park we got to the special Shibuya illumination that was installed along the avenue leading up to the park. I have to be honest, the only special thing about it was that I didn't go colourblind afterwards. It was just. SO. BLUE. It hurt my eyes! 

We got hungry but since it was already late, we decided to go back before eating something. Why not go to Kikuna? We'll definitely find something in Kikuna, right? 

Wrong. There was NOTHING some broke students go to and eat. In the end we were strolling so much that we accidentally ended up in Shin Yokohama. Oops? There we found a Korean restaurant and IT WAS GREAT! The food was good and THERE WERE KPOP POSTERS EVERYWHERE AND THEY PLAYED KPOP MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND AND KPOP!

Pictures in the gallery! 

 

December 25th

Merry Christmas everyone!

In this post I want to tell you how I celebrated my favorite time of the year here in Japan. To be honest, it was pretty hard for me. Being far, far away from my family and not celebrating it the way I am used to was pretty difficult. I missed my home country more than ever. The food, Christmas Markets, tradition, etc.. There are lots of things that you just can't find in Japan.  Moreover I had the worst kind of luck a couple days before.

My current hostfamily is not Christian (only about 1 % are Christian in Japan) hence Christmas was celebrated in the Japanese way.  Here, this holiday is more of a holiday for couples. They go out, admire all the beautiful illuminations and eat out in a restaurant.

Today I went with my hostmom and hostsisters to a mall and we wandered a bit around and after that bought food for this evening. I wanted to make some Christmas cookies and another German dish but it was reaaally difficult to find the right ingredients so in the end I just made cookies and surprisingly they turned out really well! We also ate chicken, sandwiches, salad and of course Christmas cake. The cakes were bought today in the mall. I have to say, some cakes are ridiculously overpriced. Over 5000 Yen for a small cake?! Crazy. 

Yesterday I had a looong video call with my family in Germany and it actually helped me, instead of making my homesickness worse. They told me the newest gossip going on back home and I updated them on my life here in Japan. Later they sent me pictures of the Christmas tree, and my sister put cute Snapchat filters over our pets' pictures. 

Saturday was the last day of school before winter break. My own personal Christmas tradition is wearing Christmas lights in my hair and I actually was able to buy some here in Japan! So for the 3rd year in a row, I went to school with LED lights in my hair. The shape of the lights are little bells, so when my classmates and friends said, it looks cute, I turned on the lights and they were so surprised! It was really funny. After school I went with Taka to Yokohama. We ate at a Chinese restaurant and it was really delicious but the portions were a bit big and my Mabudofu was way too spicy. We finished our lunch and went to a coffee shop where Taka could study. Throughout the afternoon, I noticed that the slight itch in my throat turned to pain and my head and cheeks were Burning up. Everything hurt and I felt so weak. Taka was constantly worried about me and at around 5.30pm we went back to the station to go home. On the way we passed beautiful illuminations and I am really sad that I couldn't enjoy them properly, with my own lights in my hair. When I finally got back all my limbs were in pain and I almost collapsed into my futon. I turned on the heater, wore about three layers of clothing and two blankets on top of it and I was still cold. Damn fever. That night and the next day were horrible. Luckily my host mom made sure I got enough rest and she gave me food that was easy for my stomach. So yeah, this was the other thing that didn't make my Christmas totally enjoyable. I feel better now but now a nasty cough has settled in and my throat still feels itchy. I hope it'll be gone until New Year's. 

Sooo this was my Christmas, I hope you could celebrate it happily with your loved ones! Some pictures will be in the gallery!