Spanning New Year's Day

12/29 Monday
As I wrote in my diary on the 28th, there is the issue of being able to hear my neighbor's talking and daily living noises quite clearly. I've realized that my own living noises must be audible to them as well. I don't know what I'm like when I'm asleep because I'm unconscious, but I have woken myself up with my own talking in my sleep. It's not a loud voice, but in terms of speech, I'm sure it can be heard in a muffled state. I'm also quite clumsy, so I need to be careful. On the first night I moved in, although it wasn't intentional, I kicked a trash can and sent it sliding all the way to the entrance. At that moment, on that day, I felt the neighbors in the apartment get tense (that's a lie).
For now, there's no point in worrying too much about it (it's the end of the year, after all), so I'll just focus on doing what I need to do. Today, as usual, I bathed around 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM, and then used the hair dryer... The hair dryer is actually about as loud as a vacuum cleaner. It only takes about 10 minutes, so I hope they can forgive me. I'll try to finish any activities that make such loud noises by around 9:00 PM, which I consider a reasonable time for general social standards. After that, I basically become a piece of furniture, so it's fine! Oh, speaking of noises, there's the floor creaking when I suddenly stand up, the sound of the toilet flushing, the sound of opening and closing every door, the clacking of my PC keyboard... no, there's no end to it. Let me calm down a bit (lol).

12/30 Tuesday
A morning where I felt a bit depressed after being woken up by my neighbor's voice. However, since one of them (the noisy active one) seemed to have gone out, I made my bed and had breakfast. Then I vacuumed. I wondered what to do about the year-end cleaning, but since I just moved in, it wasn't that dirty, so I didn't put too much effort into it. First of all, I hope I can welcome the New Year in a relaxed way. And I want to go to a shrine at the beginning of the year.
For that reason, today I searched for things like floor mats that might provide soundproofing. There are quite a lot of people doing DIY online, so I'm using them as a reference. I won't ask for luxury. It's just a wish that I could have even a little bit of soundproofing, sound insulation, or sound absorption (all of it, really). I'm also concerned about the refrigerator, washing machine, and desk being placed directly on the floor. Actually, after signing a lease, couldn't they give me the key a little earlier? The real estate agent I signed with said it had to be on the day of, so I didn't even think about laying down floor mats. I wonder if that's just how it is.

For now, I'll just tell myself that there are many things I wouldn't have known if I hadn't started living alone in a rental, and it's a learning experience. For a while, I'll try to live like a ninja and incorporate any ideas that come to mind.

12/31 Wednesday
It has finally become the last reflection diary of 2025.
This year was a year in which I made a big decision in my life. I left the house I had lived in for about 30 years, started living alone, and on January 1st, New Year's Day, it will be two months. Oh, what is this... it's auspicious. It feels somewhat lucky. For that reason, at noon on New Year's Eve, I ate toshikoshi soba. The cup noodle kind. It didn't have shrimp tempura on top, but I put as much green onion as I wanted on it. It's duck broth soba that I only eat once a year, so I was looking forward to it this year too. People say that meals are delicious because the whole family gathers to eat them, but delicious things are delicious even when you eat them alone.
When I think about it, since I entered my 20s, I often ate staff meals alone at work. When my shift was during the day, the kitchen staff during the day would make it for me, and if it was at night, the kitchen staff at night would, which was mostly the case. At the time, I lived in a four-story housing complex, but my older sister got married, my mother got a boyfriend and stopped coming home, and I was left alone in the large apartment, so I got used to that life. Being young and without life experience, I was often confused about how to live and my feelings fluctuated a lot, but now I've moved past that.
Whether alone or with many people, I chew and savor the deliciousness of the food, put down my chopsticks, put my hands together and say thank you for the meal. I feel satisfied. I have always done that, whether alone or with many people. I want to live my life properly on my own, holding onto my gratitude for my only sister, my friends, and the people who have taken care of me. So, next year! Please give me writing work! (True feelings gushing out)

Since it's the 31st, I looked back a little on the second half of this year, and since I had pictures of the meals I made at the temporary housing where I lived for half a month between leaving my parents' house and coming to my current room, I uploaded them to my YouTube channel. Please watch it if you'd like. (The thumbnail is sloppy)

🎍 2026/1/1 Thursday 🎍
Happy New Year.
I look forward to your continued support this year.

I slept a lot on New Year's Day. I decided it was a day to do nothing and spent it slowly and quietly. One of my neighbors must have gone back to their parents' house, as there wasn't a single sound. The other one, because they walk on their heels, makes me jump quite often, but it seems they are spending it alone, so it's quieter than usual. As for me, my mood was too calm and my energy was low, and I posted a greeting article on note separately from this reflection diary, but it ended up feeling dark even though it was New Year's Day.
On this day, it was the annual simmered dish, black beans, and rolled omelet. I might make kohaku namasu (red and white radish and carrot salad) next year when things settle down a bit more. As for ozoni (New Year's soup), I don't really like mochi, so I probably won't make it in the future either.

1/2 Friday
Perhaps because I watched a lot of videos about mediums last night, my first dream of the year was emotionally unstable. My mother, my stepfather, and a girl I didn't know appeared, and even in the dream, I wanted to be alone, and my stepfather was annoying even in the dream. The girl I didn't know said, "Please let me help you with your work," but she was about elementary school age.
I woke up just like that, and since I didn't feel like getting up while staring at the ceiling, I realized more than 30 minutes had passed, so I had no choice but to get up. I turned on the heater and had a light breakfast while doing laundry. The coffee soaks in.

1/3 Saturday
Last night, I tried changing the position of my pillow.
For some reason, I had my pillow in the position shown in the image below. The white thing visible in the foreground is a desk, but it's not close enough to lean against. Therefore, it felt very insecure.

And my impressions. It was cold because it was by the window, but it's okay as long as I don't take my hands out to look at my smartphone or anything (I end up looking, though). After all, corners provide a sense of relief. However, because my line of sight changed, the cardboard boxes in the room started to bother me. The contents are books, so I can't open them without a bookshelf. But I don't want them to get dusty, so I've covered them with bubble wrap.
The window originally has blinds, but they are old and have bent parts on the plates (is that what you call them?) in some places, so even though I know no one can see in, I'm concerned about things like changing clothes in a 1R apartment. As I wrote before, I want to be properly alone in my room in the true sense, so I want to execute a plan to hide accurately every month. I was able to attach a curtain to the kitchen window using a 100-yen shop "kamoi hook" and a tension rod, but the window with the blinds I mentioned earlier doesn't have a curtain rail, so I want to do something about that. I found a jack-type tension rod, so I'm considering it, but I have to consult my wallet.

1/4 Sunday
Thinking it was nice weather, I went outside to take a walk in the neighborhood while shopping, but it was cold! Moreover, even though the sun was shining, the road surface was frozen. It was slippery. Without the leeway to look around, I just muttered like a chant, "The things to buy are milk, bread, and shrimp crackers," and proceeded carefully. On the way, I was passed by an old man. And the terrifying static electricity. The dry air spread, and dust kept sticking to my jacket, so when I brushed it off, more static electricity was generated and it got even dustier. My legs were also under unnecessary strain, and as I staggered home exhausted, I heard some kind of sound from next door.
It was a guitar.
I see, is my neighbor a bandman (not necessarily). And I also noticed something recently. I initially thought there were two people living there, but it seems they are alone and just talk to themselves loudly. They just had a visitor occasionally. I talk to myself too, so I think it can't be helped, but... but... I wish they would spare me the shouting voice! (Angry) Regarding living noises, while I think they are loud, they are inorganic, so I think I'll get used to them, but human voices are different; they can have intensity, and being forced to listen to live yawns with voices is tough. However, the lease for this room is for two years. Ugh.
However! Tomorrow, although it's finally past the first three days of the New Year, I'm going to the local shrine, so I'll report to them, express my gratitude, and make a request.

This week spanned New Year's Day, and while it felt special in terms of mood, I'm not good with an extraordinary atmosphere, so I was thinking I wanted things to return to normal quickly (lol). And because of the stress from my neighbor's voice, perhaps because nutrition isn't reaching my brain, my ability to write sentences has dulled a bit.

📝 You can read my reflection essays so far here. I feel like the number of characters is increasing every week.

📝 The top image is my comfort. Plushies of Krypto and Black-san ("Kamen Rider BLACK SUN").