Joy in the Small Things

I haven't done much this month. Whether it's friends cancelling plans, unexpected illness, or some other stupid reason, I just haven't gotten out much. Which is stupid, considering I'm in Japan, and there's no shortage of things to do. Although I don't mind going places by myself--in fact, I quite like it--sometimes you just have to do things with friends. However, as I mentioned before, life's been inconvenient, to say the least. I had plans to go to Nara with a friend, but he got food poisoning. I wanted to go to a cat cafe, but everyone was busy. And last weekend, there was a school trip I was really excited for, but I got sick and binge watched Rick and Morty instead, which I guess was fun, but definitely not as fun as actually going somewhere and doing stuff.

Osaka train station last night.

But this week was different.

True, I didn't really go anywhere exciting.

But I spent a lot of time with friends, and it made me realize that it's not necessarily where you go, it's who you go with. By the end of April, I think I started to take my friends for granted. I assumed that I would always have someone to hang out with every weekend, because I'd had a ton of fun up to that point. Unfortunately (or fortunately, it depends on how you look at it) not every week can be like that. I'll spare you the details, but I went through a lot of crap this month. And in retrospect, there were just as many good things as there were bad. I met so many new people, and strengthened my friendships with others. I began my job at the English Cafe. I ate some really delicious candy. And that crap that I went through made me a better, wiser person.

By the end of this week, things started to look up. On Thursday night, I went to dinner with some friends-- the "megane" squad. It was a lot of fun--we just relaxed, and talked about silly, trivial things, and it was honestly exactly what I needed.

One of our "purikura" photos-  kind of like a photobooth, but you can decorate the pictures. It also makes your eyes huge. 

The next night, I went to a pizza restaurant with another friend. A few days before, I mentioned how much I was craving pizza, and he was like, "Are you busy on Friday? Let's go get pizza!"
Naturally, since pizza was involved, I had a great time.

This pizza was more Italian-style than American style. Different from what I was expecting, but still soooo good.

On Saturday, the same friend I went to pizza with invited me to his flash mob group's dance practice. Initially, I was a little worried about it, because I'm the least coordinated person I know. I said yes anyways, though, and you know what? I had a great time! True, I'm terrible at dancing, and true, I probably made a fool out of myself, but I don't care. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to go again next week.

My new flash mob friends <3

All in all, things are looking up. Although it's cliche, you really can't have the good without the bad. This month has taught me a lot. Granted, I felt like I was being punched in the gut repeatedly most of the time. But now I have abs of steel, and I've learned to be happy in whatever crazy situation life throws me in.

Also hopefully next time I'll have something more interesting to share with you guys.