IT SNOWED LAST NIGHT!

No way do i practice or use japanese enough to make a real improvement in a fast amount of time. I wish i wasn't so scared and shy to use it  because i know i could be a lot better than i am now if i actually engaged with the language more personally 

I really liked how the family mart looked amongst the snow. The snow makes it look as if this family mart was somewhere in the country side. Really far away from everything when it actual fact, this is just an ordinary, suburban Family mart branch. 

I woke up this morning to check my feed on Facebook and saw that several of my friends had posted photos of the snow. Surely it wasn't Tokyo? Well, turned out it was. So many people i've spoken to casted their doubts over the chances of snow this season but they were wrong in the end. What was a pleasant surprise to me was how bearable the weather is, despite the fact that it had snowed. I could still wear jeans over some tights and just one scarf and felt fine. I had an image in my head that i would need to wear a ridiculous amount of clothes like two thermals, two jumpers etc. I'm not someone that likes rugging up. I'm totally looking forward to this coming spring wear i can throw on a dress and some flats and not bother with an annoying jacket. I like light clothes. 

Besides the snow today, i had a pretty average day off from work. I had a Japanese lesson which i prepared for for about three hours. I find that beginning your studying session is always the most difficult thing. If you're anything like me, you procrastinate and get overwhelmed at the bevy of choices before you. Should i do this first or this? You ruminate upon that fact for so long that you end up getting nothing done. Once i got stuck into it, i felt really good and i actually learnt heaps. It was a bit disappointing when i got to my lesson and i just found myself freezing up or not knowing some words. There's still so much to be done. I'm trying quite hard to budget and live cheaply as i have to save as much money as i can for the down payment of this apartment that i am eyeing. My inspection date is next Monday, i'm so excited. I have a really good feeling about it. I'm really glad i haven't had any shopping urges lately. Sometimes i'd just be doing something totally banal where i'd be struck with a " I need a new _______ " feeling and before you know it, i'm totally out the door and at the department stores foraging through everything there like a mad woman. 

I want to be able to live with what i already have ( Which i must say, is more than i'll ever need ) and spend more on things like good food and homewares ( for when i get this apartment, look who's so confident haha! ) I have two days straight of training for work tomorrow and the day after which i'm not looking forward to. I never actually learn anything from those days anyway. I just go to them because I have to. If you are in Japan, please stay warm! 

PS. My latest essay is up here please take a look. 

This nature area reminds me of the Nature area's that are in China. Actually this entire scene reminds me of how China looks during winter as well. The snow was really, really white in this area. Almost shockingly so. Compared to the dirt trodden snow on the side walks, the snow here was completely untouched

Killing time in my neighbouring Jiyugaoka. This is a junk store that's set in this building that's like a promenade of cheap shops. I really like this shop actually but i don't think i'd actually buy anything there because i feel like most of this stuff is sort of " junk ". Maybe one item or two is fine, but anything more than that and it would just have a cramped in feeling. 

I really, really wanted to ask the lady who owned this shop whether all these hair clips were a collection  of hers that she started in the seventies ( obvy ) There were some really, really cool ones here but i had to hold myself back from buying because hair clips are one of those things that I love to buy but I just never ever wear.