54 posts tagged “money”

Well, nearly... I still have exams but classes are finished. My International Studies course ended with my professor giving his final lecture, briefly reviewing the 600+ years of history we covered in class. His class is considered one of the most difficult in the department, and every IS major has to take it, so it was sort of heavenly to feel it come to a close. In the end, he urged us to ask more questions than we answer and he turned a little red and sniffled a bit while the entire lecture hall stared at him... it's the first time I've seen a professor cry in front of his students. There were no tears but I could tell he was a little emotional. Prof is probably the best lecturer I've had and I wish I could be like him someday.

Tonight I am going to Shabbat dinner with Haroon and a Jewish girl from my class. Hanukkah begins tomorrow so it's going to be a big party, I'm looking forward to it. Haroon wants me to help him study before the Arabic final tomorrow morning, I'm glad to do so (I should study too!). He has a learning disability but he is pretty determined to learn Arabic and has a really good accent.

Ryu is taking the Toeic exam tomorrow downtown and I will join him after my Arabic test. He leaves in exactly a week. We spent yesterday together and he says he wants to cook something for me.

I watched Hiroshima Mon Amour this afternoon, it was alright. I am going to try to make some connections between the film and the graphic novel Yukiko's Spinach for my Complit term paper.

Arihito emailed me last night. I was thinking about responding to his last email during my nightly shower but received a new message from him when I returned to my room. After further correspondence, he offered to donate money for me to fly west (to come to Japan). Interesting.

So it's the first of December. Bad news first, I had to pay my rent today. damn. I hope I can manage to save a little bit of money this quarter for this coming summer and my crazy plans (yes, so crazy, I haven't even decided on them yet). More bad news, I am having a really hard time getting affordable health insurance. I just applied for medicaid.

Other news... not really good news. I turned in my final research paper. I did it in a rush like I always do, I hope I did okay. I went to the grocery store finally and bought good food filled with iron! I made this tomato and spinach stew that my mom used to make for us when we were kids, and it turned out sooo delicious (I still have leftovers for tomorrow!). I dunno how else to cook spinach, anyway.

I was asked to come for an interview at a new ramen shop that's opening up around here. Heather just got hired there and I think it would be cool to work with her. Hopefully I will get the job otherwise I will go crazy this winter break all alone and end up killing myself or something. I need the money too.

Ryu leaves in 17 days. boohoo. All good things come to an end. I am trying to ignore it. But I think about him constantly, before I go to sleep, when I wake up, all the time. He makes me feel so warm when I am with him, literally. It's so weird. I have never felt my body temperature rise, I've never felt so warm with any other guy. I am always cold, my hands, my legs, but not with him. It's so strange, my blood moves so much more with him, it's an amazing feeling, I can physically feel it flowing through my veins. It flows like a fire has been lit inside of my heart, pumping heat to my face, my fingertips and toes. So different than I am used to. Is this what being alive feels like??

Edit: I can't stop listening to this stupid Nancy Ajram song... someone shoot me.

The Nobodies

The days are very short now, and darkness falls quickly on this cloudy city. Wish I could quit school and do my own thing. It's alright though. Today I was sort of inspired by the author of one of my textbooks coming and speaking to our class, she is a professor here. If she could get through all those years of school at Duke and Yale, I can finish my degrees too. It rained so much today. I got home from piano practice hours ago and I still feel wet.

I have a long to-do list. I need to sort out my credit transfer from Waseda. I need to apply to the summer program at Damascus University. I need to talk to the honors advisers and the rich lady about getting the extra scholarship money they promised me to study abroad (I paid for France out of my own pocket, but this year I won't have all that extra income). Lastly, I have about a million pages to read and papers to write in the next 4 weeks. 

Instead of doing these important things, I just play piano like a child and write useless poetry and listen to stupid music and hang out with dumb Ryu. I guess I could start with doing my homework.

The Chairman's Waltz

I did not want to get out of bed today. Who can blame me, look how scary it is outside!

oct 20

 ปล่อยฉัน

So I went to the Shinagawa immigration bureau bright and early this morning to ask for a visa extension. The lady who spoke to me was a bitch and said they could only give me a 15-day extension. My flight back to Seattle is September 29, 17 days after my tourist visa expiration date. She handed me a list of airlines' phone numbers and told me to leave Japan as soon as possible.

I was upset, but could tell they were not going to budge. I was already breaking the rules. I came back here to WH's house and started looking for flights. I could not believe I was actually going to have to spend more money. After hours of browsing several different travel agencies, I bought some tickets. I considered Singapore, Viet Nam, Thailand, Bali, and other places. I just really wanted to go to the beach this year...

I found a weird ticket to Bangkok with day-long layovers in Viet Nam. Not very expensive... I bought it on credit. So, I have one day in Saigon, seven in Thailand, and a day in Hanoi. Departing on the 17th!

I promise I won't miss this one...

It is kinda chilly outside and I just started my period (boo). My arms are sore, and WH is at work now... I am just gonna stay here and read up about Thailand.

I got a bunch of new stuff!

Last night I gave into the UFO catchers again and won three Mario Kart plushies. A red mushroom, green koopa shell, and a sparkly super star. Sooo cute!

Today I spent a zillion yen on the Vivienne Westwood bag. I love it so much... I am just going to use it for a couple days then put it away while I am traveling through Viet Nam. It is so cool, love it!

I am ignoring phone calls like it is nobody's business. My brother is back in Tokyo but I don't know if I can see him. My sleep schedule is too inconvenient to meet day time people. Guy from the sex club wants to meet me tonight for a drive... and says he will come to the club Thursday night. Nice!

Better get ready for work. It is almost over!

It is clear to me that I have an addictive personality, there are many things I need to stop doing. But! Like OptaMISStik, I have an embarrassing habit I must write about. I see it every day on the way to work, neon colorful, playing happy electronic tunes, an oasis in the middle of Roppongi bars... the Game Center!

But there is more, dear reader, I have but one vice at the game center: the dreaded UFO Catchers!!! Those evil machines filled with the most desirable of plushies. I see those cute faces, piled upon each other, trapped inside that clear cube, guarded by the mindless UFO grabber. I must save them! At all and any cost!

I open my coin purse and lack the 100 yen coins I need. I toughen up and whip out a 1000 yen note, then make my way to the change machine. Do not fear, dear little plushes, I will return for you!

With ten coins I am able to make my attack. I always fail the first time! The second time, I get serious. But I am only able to move that plush slighty. The third try is a charm. I go in for a deep sweep. YES! Success. Two of my friends fall out from their prison.

While I am sure they are grateful for being free of their captor, they long for their friends, the other members of their family, I need the full set! Like a true comrade, I take the sacrifice and feed the machine more of my coins. There is no turning back now. I save the green guy. Tension builds as I continue to falter, my coin purse beginning to feel so light. But I still need to get the blue one!

At last! My collection is complete! The joy I feel is overwhelming, mission accomplished!

my plushes

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Went to Mask after work and met this one customer I know. He was with a Canadian hostess from Ginza. She was kind of stupid but we drank together. Afterward, the customer suggested we go to a strip club, I said sure! I think it's fun. We went for a couple hours and I enjoyed it but the Canadian girl was freaking out, it was her first time in Roppongi.

I requested a blond Russian girl to sit with us and she was pretty friendly; she kept feeling me up. I didn't mind, the new shirt I wore was silky (it is a pajama shirt) and it felt nice to be petted. By the end of the night, I had gotten a private dance and tipped the stripper the Japanese way (which was me laying back on the stage, my shirt unbuttoned, holding the note in my mouth while the stripper rubbed herself on my chest and face, finally taking the cash with her mouth). It was an interesting experience.

I bought the wallet I mentioned yesterday, I love it! But I am keeping it in the box. It is driving me crazy, I need to buy the purse (I put it on reserve). I have a Vivienne Westwood handkerchief, cigarette pouch, and wallet, but I need to buy that purse! Next week...

I stole some tights from Shibuya yesterday. I am kinda stupid. I dreamt that I got arrested last night. I also dreamt of the UFO catchers and stealing plushies out of the bottom of the machine. Yeah I am crazy. Stealing is another thing I need to quit, I will add it to the long list of my terrible addictions.

I guess they aired my earthquake interview on Fuji TV today because my friend in Kyoto mailed me and said she saw me! Then I got online to check my email, and some friends on mixi also said they saw my comment! Yay! Too bad I missed it.

Planning to go to a Happening Bar on Friday night with Baldy and dragging Workaholic Hostess along. I can't wait! I have been interested in going for a while now, and it is finally becoming a reality.

Work was pretty slow yesterday. I was number 5 last week and number 6 for the month *unenthusiastic woo~* I got sent home early last night, but made a little cash at Mask afterward. The rain has stopped and it's all sunny again. I think I am going take a walk to OIOI in Shibuya and buy the Vivienne Westwood wallet I want.

I stayed in bed for several hours yesterday feeling kinda bad, but got up after dark and went to Roppongi. I had promised the guy at Mask that I would come. He owed me money anyway, only about 5000 yen, but still, that is something! About ten percent of the bag I wanna buy!

After I got bored of the place (no customers), I went to visit a few other bars. Nothing was happening. I was going to go home when I heard a male voice call my name, Anna??

It was his voice that made me recognise him more than his image, but I immediately remembered him and said his name. This weird Japanese guy I had a brief romance with last summer! He got sacked at JPMorgan and works for Mitsubishi UFJ now. He is still too rich for his own good and we went for a few glasses of champagne at Tokyo Midtown orange. He seemed way too happy to see me. We chatted about what has happened since last summer.

He had been drinking with his customer and was on his way home. He insisted I take a taxi to my house, I said sure. He kissed me several times in the taxi, then I left. I know he hardly has any time, so who knows if he will see me again.

Tonight is a fateful night for me! I hope everything works out at work and they let me stay for a couple more weeks.

I joined my older brother on his search for anime figurines yesterday in Akihabara. He was serious. Despite having Akiba memorised, he carried a personally annotated map marking his hot spots. He had a list of figurines he needed to buy in order of priority, and spent about 20,000 yen in the time I spent with him on the plastic characters. He is such an otaku. We had some curry and donuts together before I ditched him around 17:20. He is leaving to Niigata tonight and I probably will not see him again for quite a while.

I went to Tabata and had my tattoo design drawn at about 18:00. I really really love it... I would post the preliminary design, but I am sure the final product will be more beautiful! My tattooing appointment is this Friday. It is gonna take a few hours to complete and cost about the same as my rent this month, but it is worth it to me.

Dunno what to do today, bored again. I will go buy some mango juice.