Zoo and more...

Today it is somehow difficult to write, even though i have so many things i could write about. And i don't know why it's blocked inside of my head. Maybe because it's the last day before my exam and even though i look pretty calm i'm panicking like shit inside. Even though i had a great day i feel some kinda strange heaviness coming and landing on me and it doesn't feel nice. I cannot get back my smile even with cookies and nice cup of cold milk... Anyway, i guess today's post is more about pictures than my writing after all.

When i was going to the zoo today i overheard a conversation in the tram, coz first of all they did talk loud, second of all, they've been siting right next to me and i forgot my iPod or my book at home, so i didn't have any choice but to listen. It was nice and sunny outside, just how it's supposed to be in summer, but those old grandmas kept on talking about how hot it is and how terrible this heat is and that they cannot sleep nor can they do anything else and so on. Is it everything what people are capable of? Complaining about something that we wanted a week ago? When it's summer, we want it to be cold, when it gets cold, we're cursing at the weather, because it is summer and it should be hot, when it rains, we want sun, when it sunny, we complain that our plants are withering, when we live in the first floor, we complain that we don't have nice view and when we move to the 5th floor we complain that there's too much climbing we have to do, but we shouldn't go for the middle in this case, because if we move to the 3rd floor we still have to do the climbing and still we don't have that nice view we want, when we are on diet we are sad that we cannot eat sweets and when we're eating sweets we're complaining about our weight, i guess i could give many more examples but i'm pretty sure you got my point. Isn't it just tiresome? I mean, it is our own choice how to look to life and if we decide to do it like that, we're not gonna be happy at all, or just very rarely, so what's the use of it? Shouldn't we just try being happy with what we have? I'm not saying i'm perfect and never complain, but i did learn how to be happy about small things and it's really helpful, because complaints will just make you miserable. My next step is to learn how to take life as it comes and stop worrying about things we cannot influence or change, because there will be always things, incidents and situations where we'll be helpless and we won't be able to shape it anyhow no matter how much efforts we'll put in.

Anyway, changing the heavy topic into something lighter i'm moving on to a nicer subject! Today i've been trying not to think about my exam at all and it kinda worked... I went to the zoo with Miyuki, so i did have an opportunity to speak some japanese and practice indirectly and that's something i like - indirect learning or learning by doing something...

And zoo is a good place for learning, because you can speak about relatively simple things (like animals...) but at the same time learn many words, because i didn't have any idea what a shark or aquarium in japanese is. Well, until now! Every day we learn something, right?

Today was an overall great day, not just because of the zoo, but also because i managed to do many other things that had to be taken care of and i'm always proud when i can do many things.

We didn't spend too much time in zoo, but i always enjoy being there... I think Leipzig's zoo is a nice place to visit, it's big, it has a lot of animals and they have really well made habitats, so they can feel more or less at home, of course if they manage to ignore those walls and fences. Anyway, because of the heat lots of animals were hiding somewhere in the shadows, sleeping or just barely moving. Red Pandas were pretty unfriendly: one of them was all the time facing the tree and turned its head just for a second (but i managed to take a picture of it! Woohoo!!) and the other one was all the time sleeping on a branch of the tree, then opened its eyes, started eating leaves and i was expecting it to wake up completely, but after that small snack it went back to sleep. Sucha disappointment. Okapis also weren't there and

giraffes were closed in a special area - no idea why, but we could

just see their heads a little bit, so it wasn't that convenient for me since i was supposed to try out my new camera. Well, i did, but i wanted to take more pictures of some exotic animals. Monkeys were also sleeping, so basically it was just a nice afternoon - we took a nice walk, went to eat afterwards, chatted and just had some nice time. You can see more pictures at the end of this post!

I met Miyuki over another japanese girl, who was looking for a tandem partner, but then on the last moment she cancelled it, but gave my number to Miyuki, who still needed someone to talk to... So i thought it's gonna be official afternoons, just exchanging things and trying to polish our languages, but it's turning out to be a nice friendship. She's a real nice person and i like her... Meeting her doesn't just mean i'm gonna get to speak my beloved to japanese, but that also means i'm gonna have nice time and just relax....

Today is a strange day after all, if i keep on thinking about it. I stumbled on the band called Radiohead today in my iTunes which made me think of a great guy Kevin which i met in Amsterdam and how badly i wanted to keep in touch with him, because i really enjoyed the evening with him (as a friend for those who are grinning already), but it just didn't work out somehow... He's not as big facebook addict, as i am, and i never write him on e-mail, so today i've kinda been busy the whole day with the thought, whether i should write him and ask how he's doing or just let it go. I guess i'm gonna leave this decision for tomorrow, because i don't want to make any additional burden on my mind until exam. I even didn't pay my bills!!!

Today i really spoiled myself, i bought cookies and chocolate for tomorrow's exam, i bought fruits. I even bought two nice books for myself, because even though i can resist sales at clothing shops, book sales is something i cannot just pass by. So i picked just one recipe book"Asian Basics", but as i was walking to the register i saw this cute book i just HAD to take, it's called "Warum Pandas Handstand machen" (why pandas do the handstand - german) and it has sucha cute cover you just cannot ignore it.... So i treated myself with two new books today. Unfortunately i don't have much time now, i'm gonna work until i leave to Japan and in Japan i won't be cooking, nor reading too much, so you can wait for review just in late october or later...

On my way back home i also bought myself a nice ice cream, so today was a really delicious day! My last but not least stop before reaching home was this cozy alternative jewelry shop, where i gave myself yet one more gift. You have to totally agree it is a cute mushroom! So after this week of preparations i might not have achieved amazing levels of my japanese, but i definitely gained maybe 2 kg, because of that nutritious eating (nuts, sweets, lots of fruits, pasta and stuff for fast dose of calories, so my brain could be working constantly), got two new books and a cute "necklace" as a gift for good work and had lots of fun, since i was skipping lectures and concentrating purely on japanese. Today everything i have to do is just repeating things and i'm gonna do that right before going to sleep, so i could fall asleep with all that information in my head.

Probably out of modesty i kept one more thing just for the end... So girls and boys, today i bought my ticket to Japan. Unfortunately, i'm leaving just on 20th of July, but i'm staying until 28th of September, so it's anyway more than 2 months and i'm totally overjoyed! I already have dreamt about it. Well, i miss Japan constantly so i'm dreaming bout it every once in a while, but normally it's past and memories, but this time i dreamt about something in the future. I'm really grateful to my mom who provided me with the money for the ticket, which was actually pretty expensive, since i'm buying it just now and leaving in less than a month. I'm gonna try saving up some money until i leave so i can buy a new lens there and some books for learning. I'm mostly gonna work there, but i'm gonna try doing couch surfing in Kyoto or Nara or anywhere in Kansai, so i can take my time making some pictures. I'm opening my first big exhibition in October, so i have to make some strong shots, because i'm not feeling too confident about those pictures i have so far from the last time. But we'll see how it goes. I wish myself lots of luck!

I guess, it's enough for today... Tomorrow i'm having one of the most important exams, i hope i can calm myself down and not fuck up. If i'm not updating my blog for more than a week, probably i didn't pass and killed myself. Just joking... I wouldn't do anything like that because of a stupid exam, but i guess you can understand how important this is.

There's some more pics of zoo: