Advice on the work life trappings

Here

And it wouldn't be Christmas without...

... a ridiculous Christmas jumper, a fluffy cat, and a big ol' Christmas tree. I know it's late but I hope yours was a festive one.

Hello stranger (s)

A cute wee father daughter moment I saw on the street.

Happy 2012! I'm back, after a rather long blogging break. I took off to Europe and saw London, Lisbon, Paris and Amsterdam. It was amazing, I ate my weight in croissants, snapped pictures, petted cats, fell off bicycles repeatedly, shopped at markets and wandered down many a cobblestoned street. I have lots of film to develop! One of the best things was arriving back in Japan. I realised I really missed it, and was so happy to be back. It feels like home. I hope you had an amazing start to the year! I can't wait to share inspiring things with you in 2012, and see all that inspires you. x

Miffy

I bought a bunch of Japanese Miffy books this weekend to try so I can try and get faster at reading kana. The illustrations in them are so cute. Especially the turtle riding!

Simple life

How lovely are these photos? What a fun family, and the dogs are hilarious. You can see more photos here.

One of the most rewarding things that has come from living in Japan has been befriending families and seeing the differences (and similarities) in how we live.  

Also, the exam is done and dusted. Eek, It was hard. I need to get faster at reading kana. Thanks for your well wishes!

Happiness (to me)

I found this list that I wrote way back when. 

My Dad said to me once, out of the blue, "you have to enjoy it, all the time, because it goes so fast and we can take that for granted." It was advice that struck me as both simultaneously inspiring and terrifying but it pushed me to try and cultivate a sense of appreciation.  In dire moments I hang on to Dad's words because when it comes down to it, we are incredibly lucky people.

What are the little things that make you happy?

寒いですね (It's cold!)

It's snowed last week!! I was kind of shocked that it had gotten cold so quickly. The seasons here are like bam! One minute your praying for a faint breeze to ease the heat, the next you're a set of chattering teeth immersed in piles of snow. Although I'm not a fan of winter, such an abundance of snow is rather breath taking. 

It also means the Japanese girls bring out whole new levels of amazingness with their winter wardrobes. Above are two pictures I drew inspired by girls I've seen around. I have my JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) this weekend, eep! Wish me luck. This is my lame excuse for lack of posts for the last two weeks. Sorry.