Living and Reading in Japan (6)

This weekly meme has been inspired by Michelle at The True Book Addict and Lisa at Lit and Life--Life: It Goes On...but I wanted to tweak it a bit for myself since I am living in Japan for the next year (2014-2015).

January was full of the influenza :( With an outbreak at Gabe's school, too. We both came down with it and then I developed bronchitis on top of that. His school closed down for 3 days to get the outbreak under control. It was a rough couple of weeks! Feeling better now. Woot!

Reading:

• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• The Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan
• The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Finished:

• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
• Georgiana Darcy's Diary by Anna Elliott

Looking Forward To:

Spring Break starts the week after next! DH will take some time off and who knows where we'll go but GO we will. I have a few fun St. Paddy's Day activities planned and some other art stuff. Hit McDonald's and Starbucks, you know, classy stuff to do while in Japan....

Making:

We made tacos the other night. Gabe wasn't a big fan of those back in the States but he agreed to try them again and loved them! Yay. He's getting all growed up and liking new things!

I made honey butter! So yummy. I also plan on making a pumpkin chicken chili next week.

Listening To:

I started Invisibilia, a new podcast from NPR. The pilot episode was a tear-jerker. I'm loving it.

Watching:

I am almost done with Gilmore Girls! I've been catching up on my comedies like The Mindy Project, New Girl, and Modern Family. I've added Agent Carter to my list and Empire. I took a chance on Death Comes to Permberley on Netflix the other week. 

source

I also watched Virunga. Heart-breaking. Watch and then be inspired to do something.

Grateful For:

Vending machines with hot coffee in them here in Japan. Seriously. They have been a life-saver this week.

Things I Did This Week:

We went to the zoo last weekend. It was an adventure on the train and bus and a little bit of walking. I do not like zoos. I think they had their purpose. And I do think there are many humane zoos as well but overall I think they do not care for the animals, especially the large animals, very well.

The tiger and the black bears looked like they were going insane with pacing and anxious habits. They all had the tiniest of spaces. It was heart-breaking. I voiced my concerns with my son and told him about some of the pros and cons of zoos from my point of view.

They did have some native Japanese animals that I had never seen before like the red panda or the raccoon dog. And Gabe got to hold a guinea pig and pet some really soft rabbits.

And the zoo in Hiroshima is old and small and pretty rundown. I hope they can get some funding and get the place updated with bigger habitats for these beautiful and elegant and scary yet awesome animals. They need this. They broke my heart.

BUT, the week before that we went to Tokyo for some awesome fun of Disneyland, Legoland, and Studio Ghibili for Gabe's 6th birthday! I cannot believe how old he is getting. We had so much fun.

Disneyland!

Studio Ghibili Museum

A really cool bridge we walked on

Some classic depictions of 1940s Japan in a local mall

Fun English translation signage!

On a good note, I went out to sushi with some friends. And I've been getting out and walking everyday hoping that will help me from getting sick so much and getting depressed. So yay to coffee and friends and sushi!