$25 for a week's food and transportation. Asking the 'rents for some extra change is not an option, and even if they had money bursting out their living room windows, I could no longer consider myself living "self-sufficiently" in Japan if I relied on it.
Besides, my theory is that a study abroad experience isn't complete without living on no money, or being rushed to the hospital for kidney stones, or something that makes for an interesting story back in America. It might seem difficult to hear about how my friends and I work two jobs while studying abroad just to pay for tuition, rent, groceries, and the occasional weekend in Susukino, but we aren't alone, and it shows - my professor even offered to copy an entire textbook for the class so we don't have to cough up another $25 each.
However, despite living in the 5th most populated city in Japan (slightly fewer people than Chicago), where walking in Susukino and Oodori means walking past teenage girls carrying designer bags and wearing Tiffany jewelry, you can live cheap. Example? My friends J and M from Australia, who went for five days without buying ANYTHING (food included) after returning from summer break in Tokyo.
The benefits of not spending any money: Um, more money? Plus, M got creative with the last bits of food she could scrounge up, like salad with only lettuce (can it still be called a salad?) and traditional recipes using only two or three of the original ingredients. Top Chef, eat your heart out.
My dinner tonight: Tomato soup I found in the back of my cabinet from a month ago, salad (with dressing), ramen (also from the back of the cabinet - it'll stay fresh long after I'm gone), and plain oatmeal drenched in chocolate syrup for dessert. Who needs purin (pudding) for 105 yen a cup or 85-yen ice cream when you have oats covered in chocolate that you already paid for?
So my only option - live like a "bimbou na hito" (貧乏な人), or poor person. (As in, "living in a box in the middle of a rice field" kind of poor. At least I already paid rent, so I can skip the box part.) It's crises like these when I turn to one of my favorite J-dramas and ask, "What would Yamada Tarou do?"
Yes, what would Tarou-kun do? I already have two part-time jobs teaching English, much more suitable than dressing up as the opposite gender and impersonating a butler as he would've done. Growing food isn't an option; besides, I'd probably kill my tomatoes before their leaves broke through the soil. And an air guitar contest? I wish! (Even though I questioned the authenticity of the contest's "American hamburger" prize.)
Granted, everything would seem more feasible if I had a friend who looked like Sho Sakurai. But I digress.
I did take some notes from the first couple of episodes and hit the Tuesday kurokke sales (57 cents per pumpkin-filled/shrimp-and-cream-filled piece of goodness). At least I never had to race other customers through MaxValu to get them. Yay for high supply (and low demand).
I guess the only other thing I can do right now is to not do anything at all. No bus trips downtown to window shop (because I'd probably only be able to pay one-way), no karaoke nights this weekend, no nomihoudai with the volleyball club after practice tomorrow night.
Basically, I temporarily will become a grad student. Thank goodness it's only temporary.
I'll look like the members of Arashi (minus our beloved MatsuJun) in "Kiiroi Namida" ("Yellow Tears") as they focus on their individual dreams and passions while trying to save money. A manga artist, a painter, a musician, a novelist, and a foreign exchange student. It's perfect.
Six days left.
BLOG SOUNDTRACK: Ninomiya Kazunari - "Himitsu"
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