Hello everyone!

How are you all doing? I hope you're all fine!!
Thank you so much for all your nice comments and tweets.

Unfortunately I'm still without internet, almost 1 month after moving!! I never expected it to take THAT long, but it's reality.
To be honest I don't miss the internet so much, but in less than a week I'm going on a short 5-days spring vacation trip and without internet it was almost impossible to plan it out or book hotels!
It won't be a great vacation, but I try to make the best out of it.
Oh, and I'm expecting to get internet in the 2nd week of April - at least I hope so!!

I thought it was time to write an update in case people were worried about me.

Luckily things didn't get any worse since my last entry.
After 2 weeks of cleaning day and night I managed to get the apartment somewhat clean. Of course there are spots that are so dirty that it's not possible to clean them completely, but at least it's quite an acceptable apartment now.
I also bought a few cute items at the 100 yen store to make myself feel more comfortable in here.
Photos will follow once I have proper internet.

I read in many comments that I shouldn't have given that guy any money.
Well, that's what I thought, too, and under normal circumstances I would have fought back more, but with everything else going on it was just "easier" (= less stressful) to just give in this one time. At least one issue less to worry about.
I was at least able to get the price down a bit in the end!

As for your great tips on what to do about my "internetless" situation, I checked all of them out, asked around, but nothing works here in this deep inaka place, so I just will have to wait patiently until my internet is set up.

As for the "car" allergy I mentioned in my previous entry, it wasn't the car! After some time I started sneezing and having teary eyes no matter where I was, so I went to the hospital to get a check-up and it turned out that I suddenly got allergic to Japanese cedar trees!! (*maybe I got a cedar overdose on Yakushima? XD ...)
One of my Japanese friends said that it's especially strong this year and a lot of people suddenly get hay fever although they never had it before.
I also got some meds. On strong days it's really quite horrible and I just want to scratch my eyes and nose out, but that's also because I never had an allergy before and am not used to the symptoms yet, I guess.
The check-up and meds were very expensive, though ....

Work is slowly getting a little better, too.
It's really difficult with only a few minutes to eat or use the toilet, but it's not impossible.
I still hope it's getting easier once I've truly settled down.
Once a week I also have to work in the morning (usually I work until 10pm!) and go to a local kindergarten for 60min.
This is the part of my new job that I like the least. The kids are cute and all and I've been teaching kids that age and even younger before, but it's just different, because I'm used to class sizes of 5-8 students and now I have 30+ all screaming at the same time (my poor ears ;__; ....).
The kindergarten stuff treats the kids really roughly when they don't follow suit. I was shocked!
And teaching them nonstop for 60min. is just ...... very, very exhausting! I try to do lots of calm activities - I'm just too old for that kind of stuff!
Actually I'm not the only one! One of my YOUNGER and topfit (very sporty!) coworkers said the same! So if he feels he doesn't have enough energy to do it, what should I say then, huh??!!

I'm slowly getting used to driving, too!
It's so convenient to have a car, but I also got super lazy!
In the past 4 years I had to use my bicycle every single day, but now I barely touch it (used it ONCE so far!!!!! although I payed 14.000yen for it!!) ..... not good!
Cycling to work is not impossible, but it would be a 30-40min. ride, so it's not gonna happen anytime soon.
I wouldn't mind going there, but leaving at 10pm when it's dark and cold? .... No, thank you!

I try to focus on the good things. With the new job I have more holidays!
Just a while ago I had a 3 days "weekend" and took the chance to go to Kobe!!
Kobe is so close now! I literally can leave my apartment and exactly one hour later am already at Sannomiya Station! (^_____^)v

I stayed in a hotel for 2 nights there (although it wasn't necessary as Kobe is really super close). The reason I stayed there was for the internet. I stayed up at night to at least partly plan my spring vacation.
As I've been to Kobe and surroundings many times before already, there wasn't that much for me to do other than shopping. Sightseeingwise I've seen and done almost everything already.

Here are some photos nevertheless:



Kobe, near Sannomiya Sta. on a sunny day!~





A great view from the 24th floor of the City Hall (left) and more outside of the center in Nagata City on my way to Nagata Shrine (right).



Snapshot at Nagata Shrine. Aren't they cute? I asked but they do not sell those cuties this year anymore, too bad! :(



Very close to Shin-Nagata Station: This sculpture is HUGE!!! Definitely worth getting off there just to take a photo of it!



At Kobe Harbor with the Kobe Tower in the background. I just love it there, it's really beautiful in its own way. I've been there a couple of times now, but mostly at nighttime so far.



Definitely beautiful enough to marry there and take nice wedding photos! ^-^;



I like that shot. The white building in the background is a hotel.



Plum blossoms are already out. Let's see how late the cherry blossoms will be this year!
I hope I won't miss them again! (x__X'') ... ^-^;



The coolest Starbucks building in whole Japan if you ask me is in Kobe's Kitano area!
I've been there before (just hit the "Kobe tag" to see more), but never actually went inside!
This time I did! Inside it looks a bit old-fashioned but still like a pretty normal Starbucks.



Yummy afternoon snack. I tried Lavender Tea Latte for the first time and am a HUGE fan of it now!!!!!



Of course, I went more than just once to Starbucks while being in Kobe. Just can't resist (^-^'') .....



Strolling around in the empty Kitano area where all the foreign houses are. I like the German one (left) the best.
I've been there before (again hit the Kobe tag if you wanna see more about it).
"No cake, no life" - YES SIR!! XD *LOOOL*



While walking through the shopping arcade of Motomachi there was this "exhibition" of "Future City Kobe"-ish with a lot of selfmade house models and stuff.
Some were really interesting and so detailed. Must have been a lot of work to make them!!



Yummy and cute food in Motomachi's China Town!~



I'm sure that ALL of you have seen them before. I just noticed that I probably never had taken a photo of 'em yet, so here we go XD
Maybe it's about time that I buy a pair, huh? XD


I also went to a Takarazuka show!
I'm not sure if you're familiar with it at all. I was aware of it but never really looked into it at all.
The reasons why I watched it was:
a) one of the people I know in Kobe is a huge fan and could easily get me a ticket for the day
b) It was on my way back from a sightseeing spot anyways
c) It's part of Japanese culture and I wanted to at least check it out once!!

I have to admit that it's not really MY world, but the costumes, songs and dances were awesome!!
Living so close to Takarazuka City and knowing somebody who's totally into it might actually get me to go again, though! :)



The Grand Theater's entrance.



One of the many fan shops.



It was very beautiful inside the theater.



That's where my seat was. Close enough and I also rented binoculars.



And that's what I got to see that day: Schiller's Don Carlos



Very close to the Takarazuka Theater (about a 5 min. walk!) is the "Osamu Tezuka Museum".
A must visit for ANYBODY who was EVER interested in manga because he started it all!



I was a huge fan of Kimba when I was little! ^-^;



Hitler?!!! .... and I forgot her name, but I liked that one a lot, too!!! (sucks that I can't use internet to look it up now, huh?)
Tezuka actually grew up in Takarazuka and also with the theater close by. I can't remember but I think his mother was a Takarazuka artist, too?
This influence is clearly displayed in his work (on the left side) the princess that also has the heart of a man.
See? That's how horrible I sound when I can only rely on my brain and not the internet! XD



And Astroboy, of course. For some reason I never knew much about Astroboy. Even nowadays!
I've seen one of the movies and I think back home I might have the first volume of the manga, but that's about it.
Definitely worth a visit if you're in Takarazuka anyways and a nice trip from Kobe or Osaka if you're looking for things to do! :)



Yesterday I went to a huge shopping center in the next city (no problem by car) which has one little "paradise corner" for me as it has Starbucks, Mr. Donuts and a food import shop right next to each other.
The import shop has German bread(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), muesli and other awesome stuff! (*___*)b



German muesli, grain bread, Leibniz cookies, pretzel snack and more!! :3



Lots of delicious German tea!



It's the FIRST time I've seen Twix in Japan! And Milky Way!
I've seen Snickers often, but I missed Twix sooooooooo much. I was happy to see it and couldn't resist, of course!



I also bought both "Bokura ga ita" books yesterday! Haven't watched the movie yet. Too many other things going on, right?



I love this season! No matter where you go, there are sakura products!!!! Even a sakura flavored Danone yogurt!!! Haven't tried it yet.



That one tasted ok. Can easily be found in convenient stores!



The sakura hand and nail cream is limited to this season only, so I couldn't resist and bought it at "The Body Shop"!
It's great!!! I really like the smell and it keeps my hands smooth and nice for hours! I'm thinking about getting a second one as long as they're still available :)


Although I live in a super small city (even smaller than before) I'm so close to bigger cities, it's really NICE!!!

I need to figure out VERY SOON where to go for Golden Week (it will be the first time in FIVE YEARS that I'll have those days off actually).
I'm thinking of going to Tohoku (Fukushima, Aomori etc.).
In summer I have 2 weeks, so I'm thinking of doing 1 week of Okinawa and 1 of Hokkaido.
If I really manage to do that, then by that time I will have been to almost everywhere in Japan!! O_O
That's one of my ultimate goals anyways! :D
Of course there are still smaller towns and stuff left, but I will have done all the areas, almost all prefectures and all major tourist spots!!

For Kansai area I can just do day trips on weekends (not so many things left here anyways, seen almost everything already XD).


Ok, that was a rather long entry, but I think you can clearly see that I'm (almost) back to my normal self now that things are slowly improving!
Expect more once I have a proper internet connection!

Hope to read you again soon! :3333
Thanks for staying tuned! :)