Current mood:	hot
Current music:	Arcana - The Opening of the Wound

Goodbye social life...
I have LimeWire :) :) :) Thanks eledhwenlin for the recommendation, it's awesome! Wow...all that music at my fingertips...I'm never going to get any work done now.

FINALLY got paid today too!! Money went straight on the rent, but it was still nice to get it. And yes, I've decided to stick with the job. Money is a necessary thing to fund my outrageous spending on drink and clothes.

It's absolutely boiling right now. I crave iced cocoa all day, and my skin has gone so freckly I look like a spotted dolphin. Except I'm not a dolphin, sadly.

Ah yes. I've seen several "You know you've been in Japan to long when...." lists before, but I thought I'd make my own based on our own experiences:

YOU KNOW YOU'VE LIVED IN JAPAN WHEN...

- The thought of eating rice/ramen/miso soup with a fork/spoon is really weird.
- You have a craving for onigiri/sushi for lunch.
- A meal without rice somehow feels incomplete.
- Going to a public bath is one of the most relaxing things you can think of.
- Going to bed at 4 in the morning is pretty normal.
- You feel vaguely disappointed if the shop keeper doesn't say "Irrasshaimase!" when you come in the shop.
- You give a slight bow to your gaijin friends when saying goodbye, sorry etc.
- You own at least three things with random Engrish on them.
- You own at least twelve things with a cute cartoon character on them.
- You find it difficult to talk about Japanese money in your native language.
- You apologise when someone gives you a present/passes you the soy sauce.
- You can sing at least one Japanese song in karaoke.
- Engrish almost starts making sense.
- You say "eeh...to.." when thinking, and start a sentence with "ano...."
- You talk about the weather all the time (mind you, this could also mean you've lived in England).
- You have mastered the art of saying "No no, my Japanese is still poor" every time you get a compliment on your Japanese.
- You start staring at gaijin on the street.
- When passing a gaijin who you don't know on the street, you'll both make eye contact, smile and nod your head (not applicable to Tokyo, where all the gaijin try as hard as possible to ignore each other).
- You take it for granted that you can buy anything you want easily from a 7-11 on the way back from the pub at 4 in the morning.
- You wouldn't dream of mixing unburnable/recycable rubbish with your burnable rubbish.
- You own a clear plastic umbrella.
- You'll use an umbrella if you feel even the slightest drop of rain.
- In a conversation in your native language, you refer to such things as baito, nomihoudai, keitai, kombini and baachan.
- You settle disputes/make decisions using "jan-ken-po."
- A night out means going to a bar, an izakaya or karaoke.
- You don't even notice people wearing Michael Jackson-style cold masks/Engrish Tshirts/kimono.
- You have a spare packet of tissues in your pocket/handbag
- You don't jaywalk.
- You hardly ever use the bell on your bike.
- You find it really awkward to refuse anything.

Anyone else think of any?

Japanese of the Day: 大麻 - taima - Cannabis