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Slice of Life
Jun. 16th, 2008 11:55 pmSo, I spent what felt like a lot of money very quickly today, but... well, it's already almost the end of the month, and I haven't spent much at all, so I figured I was all right.
First stop was a shoe store. I really needed to get some proper sneakers for dance practice. It was all right when we were just doing a practice or two a week, but with the more intense Sunday practices (and yesterday's kickball session) it became apparent that I really should buy proper footwear. I was trying to put it off, because I didn't want to spend the money for shoes if I was going to use them just for the next two months... and then I tried to remember just when the last time bought new sneakers was, and realized that... er, well, I don't actually remember when it was, but I'm pretty sure it was sometime in high school. So in light of that... perhaps a new pair is not entirely unwarranted.
Of course, I had to find a shoe store first. Most of the stores at the station are full of very "hip" clothes, which means you get sandals with four inch heels in every flavor of bling possible, but few shoes that anybody can really wear. There was one store on the 2nd floor of Roble, but the cheapest shoes there were "on sale" for $39. Ack. And I'd been hoping to spend only $20 or $30. (Mind you, it was cheap in light of the rest of their stock-- most of the better shoes were selling for upwards of $70.) So I kept on wandering up each floor, looking for someplace else.
I did finally find what I was looking for on the 4th floor, which is sort of general, casual clothes, kind of like a JC Penny or something. They also have kitchen ware and general home supplies. The cheapest shoes were still $40, but I found a pair I liked and just swallowed the price. It didn't look like I was going to find anything cheaper, and since the next time I buy shoes will probably be in another four or five years, I figured it wasn't a total loss.
I stopped by another section of the store after that, and picked up extra stock of a few of their pens... I found some fine-tipped markers there which are very good for writing and even occasionally inking, and they're only 50 yen each. Afterwards I headed up to the sixth floor and browsed the bookstore... I picked up the first volume of Chi's Sweet Home, which is an adorable, very simple little comic about a kitten, and the first volume of Atashin'chi, since I remember enjoying the anime a lot last time I was here.
Finally I went to the hyaku-en store in the basement and picked up some basics that I was running low on. I got some takoyaki from Gindako for lunch, and headed back to Hakouh. I stayed in the language lounge long enough to eat my takoyaki, read the newspaper from a few days ago (Miller hasn't brought in the latest papers yet, so we're stuck with last week's news), and browsed the extremely eclectic collection of videos and books in the lounge. We have a couple of Garfield books, Indiana, Indiana, the second volume of Yu-Gi-Oh, translated, H is for Hoosier, and a couple of books on Japan, including the 'Japan Survival Guide,' which as published in 1986 or so. (Somehow I doubt it is very useful anymore.) In videos, we have a copy of Erin Brockovich, which I really should watch sometime, a whole series of half a dozen or so tapes on the Civil War, and a few others which weren't immediately obvious.
To whoever comes to Hakuoh next? Seriously, bring some better material. We are seriously lacking in representative info on Indiana or the US as a whole-- the one map of the US that they had tacked up on the wall didn't have New York, Chicago, or even Washington, D.C. listed on the map. I had to write them in. Although, I did see a photo-printing service or two at the station, so I may try to put together some pictures and poster-board to hang up in the lounge.
Anyway, once I was done with my takoyaki I headed home and spent much of the evening quietly-- I read Chi's Sweet Home, and eventually ended up watching a show on TV that presented several stories from a sort of "exploratory journalism," or something. The first was about tracking down a gorilla that had a missing hand-- I didn't pay much attention to that. But then they ran a story about why Americans are so fat, which was entertaining. I felt kinda bad for the reporter; they took her down to some little town in Mississippi, and had her shadow a family for a day or two. This poor tiny Japanese woman got stuck being stuffed full of cheese & grits, biscuits, waffles & syrup, sweet tea, and chocolate milk... and that was just breakfast. Later on she had to eat a pound hamburger, and then a barbecue with steaks and french fries and all the rest... I wanted to tell them that, you know, not all Americans are like that, but of course that's the kind of exaggerated example you're going to get, if you take your investigation down to the deep South...
The final story was much sadder, as they went to Cambodia and talked to this girl, who was fourteen, and spent all her days working at a garbage dump, collecting bits of plastic so she could get something like 160 yen per day as pay. At one point they asked the girl what she wanted to do when she grew up, and the girl said she didn't have any dreams, but she wanted her dad to get better. The reporter just about cried. It really was depressing, to watch these people stuck in this terrible situation.
Eventually I turned it off, and went back to fiddling on the computer. Now it's something like 12:20, and I should go to bed... I have class early tomorrow, but I'm not really tired. Alas. And if the internet will work just a little longer...
First stop was a shoe store. I really needed to get some proper sneakers for dance practice. It was all right when we were just doing a practice or two a week, but with the more intense Sunday practices (and yesterday's kickball session) it became apparent that I really should buy proper footwear. I was trying to put it off, because I didn't want to spend the money for shoes if I was going to use them just for the next two months... and then I tried to remember just when the last time bought new sneakers was, and realized that... er, well, I don't actually remember when it was, but I'm pretty sure it was sometime in high school. So in light of that... perhaps a new pair is not entirely unwarranted.
Of course, I had to find a shoe store first. Most of the stores at the station are full of very "hip" clothes, which means you get sandals with four inch heels in every flavor of bling possible, but few shoes that anybody can really wear. There was one store on the 2nd floor of Roble, but the cheapest shoes there were "on sale" for $39. Ack. And I'd been hoping to spend only $20 or $30. (Mind you, it was cheap in light of the rest of their stock-- most of the better shoes were selling for upwards of $70.) So I kept on wandering up each floor, looking for someplace else.
I did finally find what I was looking for on the 4th floor, which is sort of general, casual clothes, kind of like a JC Penny or something. They also have kitchen ware and general home supplies. The cheapest shoes were still $40, but I found a pair I liked and just swallowed the price. It didn't look like I was going to find anything cheaper, and since the next time I buy shoes will probably be in another four or five years, I figured it wasn't a total loss.
I stopped by another section of the store after that, and picked up extra stock of a few of their pens... I found some fine-tipped markers there which are very good for writing and even occasionally inking, and they're only 50 yen each. Afterwards I headed up to the sixth floor and browsed the bookstore... I picked up the first volume of Chi's Sweet Home, which is an adorable, very simple little comic about a kitten, and the first volume of Atashin'chi, since I remember enjoying the anime a lot last time I was here.
Finally I went to the hyaku-en store in the basement and picked up some basics that I was running low on. I got some takoyaki from Gindako for lunch, and headed back to Hakouh. I stayed in the language lounge long enough to eat my takoyaki, read the newspaper from a few days ago (Miller hasn't brought in the latest papers yet, so we're stuck with last week's news), and browsed the extremely eclectic collection of videos and books in the lounge. We have a couple of Garfield books, Indiana, Indiana, the second volume of Yu-Gi-Oh, translated, H is for Hoosier, and a couple of books on Japan, including the 'Japan Survival Guide,' which as published in 1986 or so. (Somehow I doubt it is very useful anymore.) In videos, we have a copy of Erin Brockovich, which I really should watch sometime, a whole series of half a dozen or so tapes on the Civil War, and a few others which weren't immediately obvious.
To whoever comes to Hakuoh next? Seriously, bring some better material. We are seriously lacking in representative info on Indiana or the US as a whole-- the one map of the US that they had tacked up on the wall didn't have New York, Chicago, or even Washington, D.C. listed on the map. I had to write them in. Although, I did see a photo-printing service or two at the station, so I may try to put together some pictures and poster-board to hang up in the lounge.
Anyway, once I was done with my takoyaki I headed home and spent much of the evening quietly-- I read Chi's Sweet Home, and eventually ended up watching a show on TV that presented several stories from a sort of "exploratory journalism," or something. The first was about tracking down a gorilla that had a missing hand-- I didn't pay much attention to that. But then they ran a story about why Americans are so fat, which was entertaining. I felt kinda bad for the reporter; they took her down to some little town in Mississippi, and had her shadow a family for a day or two. This poor tiny Japanese woman got stuck being stuffed full of cheese & grits, biscuits, waffles & syrup, sweet tea, and chocolate milk... and that was just breakfast. Later on she had to eat a pound hamburger, and then a barbecue with steaks and french fries and all the rest... I wanted to tell them that, you know, not all Americans are like that, but of course that's the kind of exaggerated example you're going to get, if you take your investigation down to the deep South...
The final story was much sadder, as they went to Cambodia and talked to this girl, who was fourteen, and spent all her days working at a garbage dump, collecting bits of plastic so she could get something like 160 yen per day as pay. At one point they asked the girl what she wanted to do when she grew up, and the girl said she didn't have any dreams, but she wanted her dad to get better. The reporter just about cried. It really was depressing, to watch these people stuck in this terrible situation.
Eventually I turned it off, and went back to fiddling on the computer. Now it's something like 12:20, and I should go to bed... I have class early tomorrow, but I'm not really tired. Alas. And if the internet will work just a little longer...
