Just a quick update as I don't have much time. It seems like winter is over here in Japan! Yesterday as well as today was REALLY nice weather with sunshine and warm temperatures (around 12-16°C!!!!). Spring's around the corner it seems. Even a "couch potato" like me couldn't sit still anymore and I went out for a walk yesterday - as I don't have a dog, I took my camera for a walk! XD (I'm especially enjoying this as I just heard that it snowed again back home and they have still minus degrees! Hihi XD)

I still suck at taking photos. Whenever I see other people's photos, I hate MINE! I think most of those photos are edited, though, and not the way they came out of the cam originally.
I also edited my photos a bit this time. The original is always on the right side.
Yesterday's sky. So beautiful!



HOMG! I didn't even know that Photoshop lets you even try out effects of other lenses!!! Awesome!!!



I know that the colors are too extreme, but I like it (*-*)b



Believe it or not the first cherry blossoms are slowly starting to bloom, though it's plum blossom season at the moment!



Going out for a walk was a good idea. The fresh air was perfect and I should do that more often. It also reminded me a LOT of my home town!!! I live in an area that's even more rural back home, though.
It was nice and relaxing. The temperature in February was strange though and reminded me where I really am and also the staring of all people I passed whereas back home they would happily greet me with a smile. HUGE difference.
Tried not to let it bother me. It hurts even more when you think that I've been living in the same town for 3 years now and as far as people go I still feel like a complete stranger



For some reason I never get some decent sunset shots out of my DSLR (my digital cam is usually doing a much better job here! ...)



And here a picture of my immediate neighborhood! Both photos are edited, I liked both, so I couldn't decide which one to post - in the end I posted both XD


I'm not in a good mood right now. There are many reasons.
Too many things happening - most of them are not THAT big of a deal, but all together is just too much right now.
Too many things that need to be done, need to be considered - it's giving me headaches :/
Trying to sign up for upcoming community center courses, but the only ones I'm interested in AND can go to timewise are all booked out already (although application time started YESTERDAY!), so now I'm on the waiting list.
Just was informed that I'll be all alone back home, because they decided not to be at home when I finally come back to Germany .... although they knew all along WHEN I would come home. My father doesn't care at all. He doesn't know much about my life here anyways. I wonder how you guys out there living in Japan handle that. How often do you actually talk to members of your family or friends back home? Well, I could go more into depth, so that you understand the whole thing better, but I don't wanna do it in a public entry, to be honest.
However, it eats me up quite a bit atm.
Then, I also need to plan spring vacation like RIGHT NOW! Many other things need to be done as well. Need to keep looking for job opportunities, need to restart my Japanese studies, need to improve my photography skills, need to do some kind of sport now that it's finally warm enough, need to turn into superwoman it seems :( :(

And worst of it all: My knees!!!
I think I've never mentioned it here before because thus far I just ignored it, for some time (not sure when it got THAT extreme, though) my knees are creaking (is that even the right word? but I guess you get what I mean ..)
This alone wouldn't be a problem and I remember that they did that sometimes, although not that much and not permanently a few years before I even came to Japan!
However, (and I might have mentioned this?!) during my last winter vacation on one of my last days after walking for half a day one of my knees suddenly started hurting like WOAH!!!! I had to hobble the rest of the way until there was something I could sit on. After 15 minutes of resting and massaging my knee it was much better! All the pain was gone and the rest of the time I didn't have any problems!
I've never had any knee problems thus far, but lately they feel weak and they creak like WOAH, especially when I walk up/down stairs, but not only then! So loud that other people also notice it! They do not really hurt, maybe a little, little bit, at least they feel strange at times.
That's why I asked for a blood check, because I was worried about my calcium (in Japan often a problem), thus far I don't have the results.
I reserached (internet) a bit yesterday and it seems that "creaking" knees are a clear sign for arthrosis!!!!!!!!!
What's more is that almost everybody in my family had knee problems and operations on their knees (though they were all much older then: 50+) - I just turned 30!!! JESUS YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!
Anyways, I gotta find out and so I'll go to the hospital next week. If they suggest an operation I will reject, because I don't want to be operated here in Japan :/ .....
Basically what I want to know is if there's anything I can do to slow down the worsening of my knees' condition somehow and if sports like jogging (which I want to start) are something I should rather not do.
I've never been overweighted, rather the opposite. Since I came to Japan I gained a bit of weight, so from not having enough weight for my size I'm finally kind of normal now, I guess. So it has definitely nothing to do with my weight.
When I was younger I was a really sporty type, stopped almost completely when I turned 20, but still did some things every now and then. Since I came to Japan I haven't done ANYTHING at all! This might be ONE reason why my knees suck now.
Another reason is for sure sitting on the floor too often! People in Japan sit on the floor often, even at work I HAVE to sit on the floor an average of 3h per day! I also used to sit on the floor in my apartment the first year until I bought a good chair and got a desk!! It's definitely not good for your knees :/ ..... (back then I did it because I had problems with my back, though, not with my knees ..)

Anybody experiences with this? *sigh*

So .... for now I'm trying not to freak out with all those things going on.
I guess I should write a(nother) to-do-list ... maybe that helps limiting the chaos .... ARGH!!!! I look exactly like my icon today - with a crying eye, though.

Random: I can't log into my Flickr account anymore. I really tried EVERYTHING ;o; .. not that bad, there are only 4 photos up anyways yet. Then I tried to register again, but some random chick stole my username! This is a first. I usually use "chochajin" everywhere and it's my unique username - there's even a story behind it. I don't think there's another person who just had the same idea as me, I guess she just stole my username :( Bleh. No Flickr for me then. Too annoyed. Tried to log into my old account 100 times. Do not want anymore. [/random]

Alright, that's all for now.
Byebuu~