Early Mornings on Vacation Days

I thought I was going to be able to sleep in these last five days. Then, I looked at my calender. Why in the world did I think it was a good idea to volunteer and eat breakfast early two days in the row? On Thursday, I agreed to work at the school festival for my club. At 8:30 in the morning. But, I figured it was only an hour and a half long shift.

Here's something you need to know about Japan. If you volunteer for a shift, plan to stay for longer than you said you would. Because, the moment my shift was supposed to end they gave me another job. So, I ended up staying for an hour longer than I had intended.

The next day, I had agreed to meet up with a girl from the club for breakfast. At nine o'clock in the morning. And, since the place we were meeting was forty minutes away from the dorm, I ended up starting my day before 8 o'clock in the morning for a second day in a row. Not that I'm not used to getting up early. I did it almost everyday this summer. I'm blaming my mother's genes for kicking in and making me a morning person.

 However, it would have been nice to be able to sort of have lazy mornings over break. Where the only thing I needed to do was pour myself a coffee. Though, the coffee at the restaurant sure made up for having to get there so early!

 

The designs on the top of the coffee made me very happy. 

This place was bound to be good from the moment we got there. We were told that the wait time was 30 minutes. The restaurant had only opened about 15 minutes previously. So, we decided to wait. Acutally, I'm pretty convinced that Japan over-estimates wait times. Because, very quickly we were at the front of the line. The servers asked us if we wouldn't mind the balcony. We said we wouldn't.

I'm so glad that's where we sat. At first, I was worried that it would be cold outside. It was the first truly "crisp" autumn day we'd had in Japan, and I was worried I would be chilly. I should have known the restaurant would have thought of that. They provided us with lap blankets to enjoy the outside weather in. Plus, I'm almost positive that the balcony itself was heated. 

The view that our seats provided us with was spectacular!

 

Fall is my favorite season. So, I was disappointed when I arrived in Japan in September to temperatures in the eighties. I was assured by many friends that Tokyo usually isn't this warm in the Fall. I don't think I really believed them. But, since entering November, I have started to see trees turn colors and the weather cool down significantly. Finally! I get to have a Fall; better late than never! 

Places are already starting to decorate for Christmas around here (as you can see from the Mickey Mouse wreath above- I can't seem to escape Disney!). It's getting me excited for the holidays! Though, it's also making me a bit nostalgic for the States. A bunch of us foreigners at the dorm are discussing ways to combat homesickness during the holidays. So far, we've tossed around the idea of a friends Thanksgiving and a white elephant exchange for Christmas. I'll let you know if any of these ideas manifest!

Any thoughts about how to combat homesickness during the holidays while overseas?