Formalities out of the way: I'm really really sorry for not posting! I've been particularly picky about my stuff lately and keep tossing it into the "never look at again" folder on my computer. Also I still don't have Photoshop, or my lovely PaintSai, so I feel a little like a painter without any paint. I'm supposed to get them in the mail any day now so I will force myself to sit and POST SOMETHING!!!

Anyway its less than 2 weeks till Christmas. Where on earth did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was getting off the plane into a strange new foreign land.

It still hasn't snowed here but the Christmas spirit is in full swing in my city. I thought they were excited about Halloween but no, these guys LOVE the Christmas decor. Downtown the trees by the department stores are covered in white lights, which makes it absolutely gorgeous at night. Every shop has christmas displays, grocery stores proudly advertise their extensive line of "Christmas cakes" a tradition as ingrained into Japanese Christmas as opening presents are in ours. (Like the French tradition of buche de noel, except times a thousand). One of my most favorite things about the love for Christmas here is that many employees of minimum wage jobs (such as cashiers at grocery stores and conbinis) are all sporting a near-full Santa getup. I'm trying to figure out a way to discretely take a picture of this phenomenon without coming off as a creeper.

Christmas shopping in Japan has also become infinitely more fun that shopping in Canada because EVERYTHING IS NEW! You know for sure that no one in your family will have seen their gifts in stores or bought it for themselves already. Stocking stuffers are a delight in and of themselves because of all the bizarre candies and junk food here. It's a blast.

Anyway hope you all have a happy holiday! Hopefully I'll be able to give you the gift of an upload

Allie

Today it's the 21st of October which means... the 10 day countdown to Halloween can officially begin! As a kid it was my absolute favorite holiday and I'd spend months and months planning my costume. I tended to avoid the cliches of ghosts and vampires and tried to be as creative as possible, going as things like the Mona Lisa and a deep-sea zombie (with little rubber sharks attached to my costume). I still dress up every year.

Halloween in Japan is a funny holiday. Only recently have they picked up on it, and decorations are EVERYWHERE when it comes to commercial places. Used car dealerships have cut out pumpkins, clothing stores have ghoulish display or bring out the orange and black. Patisseries (of which there are MANY) go crazy with Halloween-themed cakes and cookies. Don't even get me started on the eleborate displays of department stores. Even the snack-food companies go a little nuts, releasing limited-time Halloween pocky and Disney stuff.

But after all this visual buildup, when it comes to actual Halloween night... nothing happens. No one has decorations on their house. No one goes door to door for candy. No one carves pumpkins, because the pumpkins here are only cooking pumpkins-- tiny and green. It's so funny, it's like building anticipation only to have it suddenly fizzle out. I think in the coming years it could be a very popular holiday that they actually celebrate properly, but for now they're working out the kinks.

Anyway apart from that life in Japan is still pretty sweet. I'm still updating my blog for anyone who wants the, just ask below. Sorry for the lack of updates. The person before me left me with quite literally zero furniture besides a bed and a nightstand, and so I haven't had a nice desk or surface I can use to sit and draw. Good news is though that that is being delivered very soon so I can finally crack down and get back to the art side of things. And maybe finally put that comic of mine in motion.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Oh Japan, you're so distracting. Apart from a few doodles I haven't done any art in the last two months, I was wondering why part of me was feeling black-holish! I don't even know where to begin. Maybe something entirely new and fresh.

So Japan, yes! This week (Sat-Wed) was "Silver Week", ie, 5 days off in a row. I took the opportunity to leave my west-coast city and head to Tokyo! It was a lot of fun, but exhausting. Tokyo and its surroundings are overwhelmingly huge. I did some of the major parts of Tokyo-- Shinjuku, Ueno, Shibuya, Akihabara, Akasaka, Asakusa, saw SUMO live for the first time ever, played an amazing arcade game that was a gundam pilot simulator, went to Yokohama and did the classic ferris wheel ride, slept in a capsule hotel, toured temples, went to the beach, aaaaand, in a shamelessly nerdy move, went to Kamakura.

Who knows why Kamakura is nerdy?

It's such an obsolete reference that even fans of the show might not know it but I'll give you a hint: at the end of the series a girl stands waiting for a train and looks out onto Kamakura's water for a very special reason...

Anyway yeah the trip was fun. There is also something delightful about riding the POKEMON MONORAIL to get to the airport. And then seeing a POKEMON PLANE land outside the window. Oh Japan. You're hilarious.

Also if anyone has any questions about my travels or my life here, or just random Japan questions, please ask away! I'm sending out my blog link to the people who asked for it (it's finally up but I have to update it) but questions here are totally fine.

Hey y'all otaku

Thought I'd update with some nifty tidbits about Japan... anime and manga! Since being here I really haven't thought about anime/manga at all, I've been too overwhelmed with the country and settling in. However, I do have TV on my cellphone so whenever I get the chance I tune in at 4pm for after-school anime. It's usually magical-girl so it's very simple Japanese which makes it perfect for practising. I always miss the opening credits so I don't know what one of them is called, but it's about a group of girls (and possibly a boy?) with little fairies that go into eggs and then the eggs go into the hearts of these kids who change outfits as a result (???). The other is Kairin Revolution. Have any of you seen it or heard of it? It's not the best thing I've seen but it does the job.

The other thing about Japan is that manga is excessively cheap here. Volumes are about 4$ apiece while those giant big compliations of different chapters are about 3$. Also I definitely just read the latest Ouran chapter (OMG MAJORNESS) and learned that there is a Hana Kimi doujinshi collection. Both are totally helping me improve my Japanese, w00t! ...though so is just living here.

Pics soonish.

Hey guys, I'm still alive but I have no internet. I'll probably (hopefully) have it within the coming weeks! KZ is awesome but bloody humid, it's the kind of weather where Canada would be having heat wave warnings. It's a wicked cool place though, tons of oldschool stuff to see and a cool downtown. And the convenience stores are a lifesaver. My blog is still empty due to lack of internet but I'll update it and DA soon enough. During my lunch breaks at work I tend to find myself glued to Professor Layton for the DS so I really want to do some art for it. Am I the only one who finds Layton dashing?

KOFFANYWAY.

I'm off to beat the heat in new ways and maybe check out the Samurai town along the way. Japan is so, so cool.

P.S. People who asked for my blog address, I'll send it to you next time, I want it to have something up before I give out the link