A new house and much more!

Hooray!

I've found a new place to live!

and I saw Patrick Watson!

and I got a new snowboard!

The area I'm in now is pretty crappy. Uguisudani (my station and area) is known for it's love hotels. So if I want to leave my house I have to take the train to somewhere that DOESN'T have Korean prostitutes and drunk businessmen. charming. Plus, the place I'm staying has a common room that feels like the stairwell of an old cement building - cold and awful. This was good for a while (it's really close to work and at the same time, still on the main train line to get around the city) but I'm totally going crazy here. So I found a place super close to Harajuku and yoyogi-park (see previous posts for the good vibe-ness of said places)! It's a bit priceyer (if that's a word), but I'm willing to pay a bit more for some sanity.

Secondly, I saw Patrick Watson in Harajuku this past week! SO GOOD! it was so charming and intimate, especially because there were very few of us whiteys that could understand his stage banter. For the encore the band came down into the crowd and I was literally standing right next to them (OMG that percussionist is amazing!) and it felt like a campfire sing-along. BEAUTIFUL.

Lastly, My favourite student GAVE me her snowboard, bindings, boots, snow pants, and a snowboard bag to carry it all in!!! Like most Japanese, the second something is out of style (her gear was 8 years old) they just chuck it and buy new stuff. She just bought brand new everything so she just gave me all her stuff! I'm planning on heading out to the area near Nagano for a daytrip in February and possibly to Hokkaido (the northern island) for a few days in March!!

Basically, life is good :)