It's already been over a month since I arrived, and I can't believe the time has flown by so quickly! Unless I stay for another contract after this first one, my time here is 10% done, and thinking about that is really keeping me motivated to take every opportunity I can to explore new places and enjoy every day I have left here. Having said that, most of my days lately are taken up by work, and in case I haven't made it clear, this is an awesome job. Official public grand opening is in a week, and at that point I'll be able to post photos of myself and my castmates in action.
June and early July is warm, muggy, and frequently rainy here in Osaka. I was prepared for the warm temperatures (though I imagine later this summer will be even hotter), but I really did not anticipate the humidity. The past few days in particular have been especially moist, staying around 80F, raining on and off and then just staying crazy humid whenever the rain lets up.
I'd been intending to get a haircut for a week or two, and yesterday I finally set out to do it. I went to one place near my apartment, but I guess it was closed. I went during its open hours but the doors were locked so I'm guessing they're just closed Mondays? WHATEVER. I then ventured farther away and found a barber shop, walked right in, and nobody was there. It was clearly open but maybe the barber was on break or in the bathroom. I knocked, shouted "Summimasen?" and waited for a minute or so until I finally gave up. I ended up at Mega, where I saw that there was a super cheap haircut place on the 2nd floor. I showed the hair stylist a picture of me with shorter hair, and she went right to it. Never have I been more nervous than trying to get a good haircut without being able to speak the language of the person cutting my hair, but I think it turned out pretty well. I stuck around at Mega to pick up a few things I needed and found some more Engrish phrases on shirts and bags.
Haircut! Not bad for 1000 yen.
At Mega and at the local grocery store, there are counters after the cashier for you to bag your stuff yourself
This is a Pachinko Slot arcade place in between Mega and my apartment called Texas. It was the first time I noticed the acronym on top.
Today I checked out a little marketplace area near my apartment that's all under a roof. It was full of tiny little shops selling all sorts of things: food, clothes, bedding, shoes, there was even a place selling strollers and wheelchairs. I walked around for ten or fifteen minutes before buying some asparagus and heading home.
Boxes everywhere. I appreciated the transparency of these little shops, they often had things that were not on display still visible to customers, boxes or paperwork or their own personal stuff
Apples are huuuuuge here
This place had a bunch of pickled stuff, I think
Literally just buckets and buckets of cabbage or other veggies soaking in vinegar and spices
It seemed like a lot of these places have probably been in operation the same exact way for decades, and I loved that
Alright, I'm running out the door to check out a Tanabata Festival at a temple in Osaka. Later y'all!
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