So, I thought I'd also do this pandemic anniversary survey that's going around right now.
It will be interesting to look back at it in a few years - for better or worse.

One Year Of Pandemic

1. Did you catch COVID-19? If yes, when, and was it bad?

Nope, I'm pretty sure I didn't. Since the outbreak and even a little before that I haven't really been that sick with anything similar. *shrugs*


( Read more... )


5. Has your mental health suffered due to and during the pandemic?

Yes, absolutely. I've had a severe nervous breakdown back in January because things just kept piling up at work, in my private life .... all of that had nothing to do with the pandemic, but then I also had to move - which I didn't want to. And that within a very strict lockdown, rules changing by the hour. It was driving me insane. That basically gave me the last push into the nervous breakdown. :(
I see so many people who usually are mentally strong crashing down now due to the pandemic. I think just like for me it's not the pandemic itself, but things are piling up and on top of that all the crap around the pandemic is also going on, pushing a lot of people over the edge.
Maybe usually you could just go over to friends, talk it over with them, hug them etc. .... and this is missing right now....


6. How do you judge the performance of your local and national government during the past year?

Germany started out quite well last year and was even complimented by other nations.
However, that changed once the second wave hit as they were too slow to close things down in autumn of last year.
And ever since then things have gone down the drain ....... it's a shit show.
Rules are literally changing by the hour. I know of no other country with such weird and detailed and complicated rules ..... we're currently at a level where really NOBODY knows what's actually valid and once you figure it out, they change the rules again. It's so frustrating .... not to mention that none of this has helped at all with getting the numbers down ...


7. What is the worst memory you will conserve from the past year? What made you angry?

Definitely my nervous breakdown and the fact that the government sets up rules that ruin our lives and rules that make absolutely no sense on top of that .....




8. And, if there is one, the best memory? What made you happy?

I guess the fact that I was able to spend a lot of time hiking in my home region and that I was able to travel to France and Italy despite all the restrictions last year ....
I think the pandemic pushed me more to actually travel and explore as I didn't do anything in 2019 and I regretted that a LOT afterwards, of course ...


( Read more... )


15. What will be the first thing you will do when it is possible again?

Fly to Japan, of course!  ......

Hi.

Sorry, I just have to rant about it as it's so stupid you wouldn't even believe it.
For the latest development today, even I thought it was truly a joke when a co-worker told me, but apparently it's reality .....

Anger and frustration is growing bigger and bigger here in Germany with how the government is handling the corona situation .....
It's a shit show beyond your imagination and nobody would have ever thought that the usually well organized Germany could be just a comedy club, but it is - only that it's not funny and ruining millions of people's lives .....

I think the situation was handled well last year during the first wave, but ever since that it's been a really bad down spiral ....

In mid-December we went into a soft lockdown. I can't even remember the details anymore and I really don't care.
All shops closed, maybe schools, too, I don't remember and contacts were limited, curfew and all.

I remember being all alone on my 40th birthday and on New Year's Eve as those were the restrictions and because everybody had to be home by 9 p.m. nothing was going on anywhere ....

All of this was for nothing, a much stricter lockdown was implemented in early January - shortly before I had my nervous breakdown as they were continuously changing the rules and I had to move apartments in this very uncertain situation.....



The lockdown was extended again and again. Finally when the numbers were extremely low (compared to some other countries that had opened up with much higher numbers) Germany came up with rules that were extremely hard to understand and also required EVERYONE including shops etc. to check numbers daily.
Depending on the numbers in a city or town shops etc. were allowed to open completely to everyone, or with higher numbers only via click & meet (you need an appointment before you can visit the store) - or with even higher numbers everything is closed.
Same goes for schools and pretty much everything.
Obviously numbers had to be checked daily, to see if everything has to be changed.
This was exhausting as hell, but it didn't last long. I think only about a week?

Then they decided to go back into a hard lockdown, so we never really opened up ....
Not only that but they also decided that during Easter Holidays very strict rules should abide and that 2 additional days shall be national holidays this time, so that EVERYTHING has to close.

You know what that meant?
I give you just a quick personal example. My hairdresser called me up yesterday. I haven't been to a hairdresser in almost a year now and thought it's finally time to try and go as they've finally opened up.
But now they called me and said they had to cancel my appointment because that very day was suddenly declared a national holiday by the government the previous day .......

Now, obviously not only hairdressers in all of Germany had to call their customers to cancel appointments for those 2 days that now were suddenly national holidays.
Nope, clinics, car repair shops etc. ......
That must have been frustrating for them and a lot of work.

And not only that ... a lot of people, including me had to get rid of their remaining 2020 vacation days until the end of March. We were allowed to take days off at the beginning of April as well.
Now, suddenly those days didn't count as taken vacation days anymore so we all had to discuss with our bosses yesterday and shift things around.

And now guess what happened today?

( Read more... )


I just hope something good happens soon.


Bye~chuu

Hi

We had a long weekend here in Germany as Thursday (10/3) was a national holiday and I took Friday off.
Apart from switching my car to winter tires and getting a haircut, eating out with friends all I did was trying to figure out where to travel in November.

( Read more... )

I feel like I’ve travelled around the world this weekend. I’ve researched so much which was quite tiresome.

I had a really nice offer for New Zealand. 3 weeks with a bus with a group of people aged 18-39 (thus cheaper than a normal pre-planned bus roundtrip) in hostels etc. but single rooms are possible, but a lot more expensive.
Nevertheless that would cost over 5000 €(!) and a lot of activities are not included yet and need to be paid on the go.
Considering the fact that NZ wasn’t on my top list and that we’d leave next month, I think it would be too crazy to take this opportunity.
I know that NZ is expensive no matter what you do, but it’s over 5000€, guys!



New Zealand

Alternatively I was interested in Chile + Argentina (which is also quite expensive as pre-planned guided trip) or Peru.
But I think I’ll end up going to Southeast Asia after all (Vietnam + Cambodia). This also has never been on my bucket list, but then again … why not? It’s cheaper than the other destinations and also great to visit in November as the dry season has started.
To be honest thus far I never considered visiting Southeast Asia, but now I got kind of curious.
I researched so much during the weekend that I probably could plan my own trip by now which would be a lot cheaper, but then again it’s probably not a good idea to travel there alone as a solo female traveler plus I simply don’t have the time to plan out the trip as I’d be leaving in less than 4 weeks.



Halong Bay, Vietnam

( Read more... )


If you have any last-minute tips / recs let me know.
As of now I haven’t booked but will within this week.


I hope you had a nice weekend!

Bye~chuu!~

Hey there!~

As promised here are finally a few photos of my tiny apartment.
I moved there in August. It's only 1 room, a total space of 35qm for 620 € per month (utilities included). Yeah, that's insane..
It's in the basement, so there's not much light.
So, I'm sorry if the photos are kind of crappy.


( Welcome to my tiny apartment and cat paradise ...  )



On the left you can see my cup collection (at least a part of it, e.g. my beloved sakura Starbucks cup is still back home ...).
Some of them are still from my time in Japan. ^_^

On the right you can see my printer (although it's the kitchen area).
Below the printer are some doujinshi I finished reading that I still need to scan / take photos of. ^^;

And as I still love Jamie's (hinoai) drawing so much, I put it up again.
As well as this cute cat scroll I once purchased in Kyoto.
I had both of them up in my Japanese apartment as well.

( There's still more! )



On the left photo you can see a cat wallscroll that I also used to have up in my previous Japanese apartment.
Unfortunately the ugly orange curtains (that already were in the apartment) don't match with my personal style and color theme, but ... that's alright. ;)

On the right photo you can see my "cat family" that I brought back from Japan this and also last year.
And it seems to be constantly growing! ^^;;;

( Ok, last round! ^^ )



And that's it.
I hope you enjoyed the tour through my tiny apartment.

Bye~chuu

Hey! ^__^

I'm back from Japan.
Not sure if you even knew I'm going, but just like last year I had a business trip to Japan and just stayed a bit longer to have my vacation there afterwards.
This time I stayed there for 24 days, so about 3,5 weeks!

( Read more... )



I also got lucky again to see Mt. Fuji while taking the Shinkansen.
As you know, I rarely get lucky with Mt. Fuji. Whenever I travel near Mt. Fuji or to places where you're supposed to see it, I rarely do. I think my success rate with Mt. Fuji is like 5% or so. T_T ...
But for some strange reason I almost ALWAYS get to see it from within the Shinkansen at least. XD ....




( Yamanashi, Gunma and Nagano Prefectures this time! ^^ )



( I simply love Shima Onsen! )

My time was filled with fun stuff because almost EVERYTHING you can do in Japan is enjoyable for me.
I've mentioned it several times, but here in Germany it's just not the same. It's hard to find things that are fun .... and then those are far away or difficult to obtain etc.
Returning from Japan made me think what the heck I'm still doing here in Germany.

Give me some time to get over my jet lag and think about things, ok?
But some of my friends in Japan already are convinced that I'm coming back soon. XD ....
We'll see.


Bye~chuu!

Hey!~

The ChooChoo Jetjoy weekly calendar has another sentence on it this time that fits perfectly to my current situation. (This is getting scary!)



Copyright: Choo Choo Jetjoy

"しあわせは、しあわせそうな人のところにやってくる。"

"Happiness comes to people who seem to be happy."


In one of my previous entries I wrote about me being a pessimist (or realist how I like to call it) and also explained WHY I have that attitude although I don't want to be that way.
As we all know, it's very hard to change.
nez was the one who mentioned "The Secret". I've heard of the title before, but had no idea about the content, so I researched it:



While I don't believe many things that are being said in the video (or in the book), I do believe that it's a lot healthier to have a positive attitude and try to stay positive with good, positive feelings most of the time in your life.
And I also DO believe that sometimes having a positive attitude can beckon lucky / happy situations.

I do NOT believe that it works in all situations and no matter what.
( Read more... )

I'll keep practicing hard. No idea if I can ever change, but I surely hope so.
How about you?

Hey~

I already mentioned in one of my previous entries that I'm into "Choo Choo Jetjoy", so I also bought a weekly calendar.
The calendar comes with uber-cute prints for each week and a quote or some nice sentences in Japanese.

This week's quote is SO true for my current situation, so I want to share it with you:



Copyright: Choo Choo Jetjoy


めのまえの景色が動かないなら、じぶんが動けばいいんですよ。

If the "landscape" right in front of your eyes doesn't "move", then YOU got to move.

I interpret this as: "If nothing is changing around you, YOU got to change!" = I need to get out of my comfort zone!

Hi!

I can't believe it's already October! Well, at least in Japan it is. Time's flying so fast.
In 3 months I'll be back in Germany for winter vacation.
And no, there's no update concerning my future or any life-changing decisions that I should have made.

However, I'm trying hard to change a few things step by step and just hope that by that something will come up.
At least I'm feeling better recently. I'm far less stressed since I've given up on my blog (as in I don't take it as seriously anymore).
With the new free time I've gained I try to change things in my life and I hope everything is going into a good new direction (slowly, but steadily).


Steps to a healthier lifestyle:

I'm very slim, at first sight I might look sporty and I'm also not really sick, but my body clearly tells me recently that I NEED to do something.
Furthermore, I'm not getting younger and I need to keep my body fit and tight somehow.

A few things that I want to try are:

Drink at least 2L of water every day:

I already started doing that about 2 years ago and I mainly drink water anyways, but I don't control how much I drink recently.
I want to go back and make sure that I really drink at least 2L a day - which might be a bit tricky now that winter's coming.

( Read more... )

Walk 10.000 steps every day:

I'm sure most of you have heard about it and if you've been following my LJ for a few years, you know that I bought a pedometer years ago.
When I'm traveling I get well over 10.000 steps, but when I'm working it's much less (I suppose around 4000 or even less) and on a weekend I stay at home it's just a few hundred steps. NOT HEALTHY AT ALL!!
I'm not sure how I can get up to the 10.000 steps on a daily basis, still trying to work this out (also see the next point).


Thinking of buying a new pedometer (see photo above).

Exercise regularly:

You know that I did well working out regularly before I had this sudden crazy blog idea in early 2011.
( Read more... )



Off Topic: Rabbit Island and Kobe:

Last weekend I went to Okunoshima in Hiroshima Prefecture which is also known as "Rabbit Island". A detailed blog post will follow in a few days on my blog, so make sure to check it out! ^__^



There was also an autumn festival in Kobe's China Town, so I went there as well:





Ok, that's all.
Hope you're all doing well and thanks for reading.

P.S.: I finally watched "Nou Otoko" (Brain Man) with Ikuta Toma yesterday. What a dark, but exciting and interesting movie! And Toma has proven once again that he's a great actor! ^__^

Hey!~

So, it's set. I've booked a flight to Germany for this winter vacation. I'll stay there for 2 weeks.
I haven't been home for Christmas for about 7 years or so now. Will be weird, I guess.
But it's a necessary step in order to find out what I really want.


The thing is that it's not as simple as: Stay in Japan or not?!
The real problem is that I have no idea what I want on almost each and every level in my life.

• I don't know where I want to live in the future.


• I don't know what kind of job I want to do.


• I don't know if I want to have children or not.

I just have no idea what I want for my future - other than being happy and healthy.

I think it's an identity crisis or whatever you want to call it. I don't think it's a midlife crisis, because I don't think it has to do with my age - other than the "baby question" where my biological clock is ticking louder and louder.

I still have no idea how to get out of this crisis.


( What I studied in university and why that won't help me now. )

I know that nobody here can help me, but I fear I can't help myself either.
It's just a very frustrating situation. Not a new situation at all, but it's getting worse and worse the longer it takes for me to figure things out.


I'm all for living in the moment and not thinking too much about the future. After all we never know if that future is coming or not.
But I also think it's wrong to keep living the exact same way that I've been the past few years - without thinking about the future at all ...

Thanks for all your great comments, advice and reactions to my last entry!
I was really surprised to see how many people still read my journal and seem to care! ^______^
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Even before I left for my summer vacation in Okinawa I started to change a few things in my life. Step by step.
Ever since I came back there is no day when I'm not thinking about my future (really hard), researching and whatnot.
It's very frustrating, but at least I'm finally doing something.

It seems that no matter where I'll go, I won't have the quality of lifestyle I have in Japan right now.
First of all, no matter which country I choose I won't earn as much (after taxes).
I asked around in a German expat forum to hear the experiences and advice from German people who are now living in foreign countries and they just confirmed this.

( Read more... )

I hope you kind of get what I mean.
It's not like I'm afraid of going back to Germany. It's more like I really can't imagine living there anymore and as long as I don't know what alternatives I have ... and on top of that have no job lined up (in whatever country), it sounds fu**ing stupid to leave Japan.

I mean, usually you have a new goal, a job offer, you marry, you bought a house .... SOMETHING LIKE THAT .... and then you move on to the next step in your life.
For me it's just that I've been in Japan for 6 years now (that's 5 years longer than planned) and that I don't want to be here forever. At the moment I can't imagine living (and even working) in Germany. And that's all I know.
With that much of a "goal" (namely none), it sounds CRAZY to make the next step.
Or am I wrong?

P.S.: I'm neglecting my blog like WOAH! But I kind of feel burnt out, so I'll only be updating when I feel like it.
I try to use the time right now to relax and to think about my future etc.

Recently I'm completely neglecting my blog and everything connected to it.
First of all, I just don't feel like working on it and then there are also more important things I need to do!

I spent the whole day today researching.

I had a closer look at the countries I might consider as a new home in the near future.
I learned a lot today.

I was reassured that I'm not the only one who thinks that living in Germany sucks. Here's an American girl who will tell you why it sucks to live in Germany!

What I researched were the following factors: life satisfaction, quality of life, salary, taxes, crime rate, social welfare, climate, immigration / visa process

After obtaining more and more information, these are the countries that are still left:

In Europe:
Austria
Switzerland
Norway
Holland
(Italy)

Worldwide:
Australia
New Zealand
Canada


( Read more... )


Apart from all that, I think the most important thing is that you feel happy and comfortable with where you live.
And I need to find out where this can happen!

HOWEVER as long as I haven't figured out what I really want, I think I can't move forward.
Do I want to live in many different countries and start from zero every few years, exploring new things every day?
Or do I want to settle down and start a family?
As I'm almost 33 I have to make a decision soon, especially if I want children!
And that decision is deeply connected with where I could or want to live in the future, of course.

I just fear that I'll never figure anything out. *sigh*

At least I'm trying to work on things and move forward step by step - although it might be the completely wrong direction.

Hi!

Just a quick update today.
First of all I simply want to say I'm really thankful and also surprised how many people still seem to read my LJ.
After all I don't update that often anymore, so I REALLY appreciate that you guys still read it and that you even care and comment!
I can't even express how thankful I am for that! :3

Now some random things:

I just stumbled upon this blog entry a while ago and thought this is exactly about me: Why Fear of Discomfort Might be Ruining Your Life
Of course, it fits for many people, but it fits PERFECTLY for my current situation.
(Not sure if I should call it a "current situation" as it has been going on for a few years now ... *sigh*)
Anyways, it's an interesting read!





A photo of today's thunderstorm.
It's soooo hot this summer! Much hotter than usually. Even hotter than the claimed "hottest summer 2010"! It's crazy! And it's only getting worse from now on!
They already confirmed that it's the hottest summer in a VERY LONG TIME, even hotter than in 2010.

Today's thunderstorm was a few hours long and intense with lots of lightning and frightening loud thunder. It was extreme!
Also, we had a few tornado warnings here in Kansai recently. The last one was yesterday, but as far as I know no tornado came.

Rainy season was pretty short compared to usually.
That might be the reason why the frogs this year aren't so bad. It's absolutely NOTHING compared to last year! And it's not because I got used to the noise!
Others confirmed that it's much more quiet this year (maybe less frogs)!?!


( find out where I'm going for summer vacation )


I'm off to drop into my bed now.
Can't believe that I spent a few days and the whole day today on planning (and I'm still not finished!!).
My eyes hurt!

Hopefully I can relax a little tomorrow and then FINALLY write a post for my blog again. That one is slowly dying without me taking care of it.

Hey there!~

Thanks so much to everybody who replied to my last entry.
I really appreciate your advice!
For now I won't do anything as I'm busy planning my summer vacation which will start in early August (= very soon).

Actually I planned to FINALLY visit the Ogasawara Islands.
They are registered as World Heritage and can only be reached by a 25.5h ferry ride! (T___T) .....
This is ONE reason why I avoided going until now.

I always REALLY wanted to go because the islands are SO BEAUTIFUL and you'll find certain plants and animals you can't find anywhere else.

However, as I have vacation together with all the Japanese it always gets crowded everywhere.
I was shocked to find out that almost no tickets are available for the ferry from Tokyo to the islands anymore.
And when I looked for accommodations I found out that NOTHING is available anymore.

Okinawa in January 2013

I know that it's mostly my own fault for not planning WAY in advance (yet again ...).
This has become quite a bad habit recently.

It's (probably) my last big vacation here in Japan before I leave, so I wanted it to be something special.
I also wanted to visit the islands, because it's so much more difficult to plan such a trip from abroad ... *sigh*


I'm just angry at myself.
I'm always working so hard and I never put things aside to do them tomorrow. I try to finish everything ASAP ... apart from planning my trips.
I'm sure you've noticed that in the recent years.

The past few times I didn't even plan big trips anymore and just did day trips etc. ... basically because I didn't feel like planning and I was too late to set up a "big and awesome journey" anyways.

I don't know how to describe this, but it's something a lot of you have noticed and mentioned in comments already.
I feel like I work soooooooooooooooo hard on things that might not be worth it, but I can't stop!
There are so many other things that would be more important .. like my own life, having a great vacation, exercising or just relaxing.

I'm not sure if it can be compared to being a drug addict, but it surely feels like I'm doing something I shouldn't, but I just can't stop.
The tricky thing is that it's not really something bad what I'm doing. Working on my blog and all these other things are fun and I do them because I want to, but I'm probably exaggerating too much in terms of how much work and effort I put into it / them.

I wonder if that's one reason that I'm feeling the way I do. Not really depressed, but you know what I mean.


I'm just really angry at myself, but I just CAN'T STOP BEING THAT WAY! :( ....


Anyways, concerning the vacation I'm trying to work on a plan B.
I saw that flights and hotels for Okinawa are still available for that time frame, so I plan visiting more islands on Okinawa, e.g. Ishigaki, Iriomote etc. and / or also go to Hokkaido.
Not sure how that'll work out in the end (1 week Hokkaido / 1 week Okinawa or 2 weeks Okinawa or 2 weeks Hokkaido).
I tend to re-visit Okinawa and explore islands I haven't seen.
After all my first experience was quite horrible (with permanent bad weather this winter ...)


That's all.