"there were vikings and boats and some plans for a furniture store"

To make a long and complicated story short, I adore IKEA. It is simply one of the greatest things that has ever existed.

So, I'm not much of a shopper. Unless it's a book store, I'm usually in-and-out when it comes to shopping. I don't linger. Spending two hours in a furniture store is not something I imagine myself doing, and yet, it happened today. I spent two hours in IKEA, and during most of that time, I was barely controlling rapture.

Yesterday, from the train, I noticed that there was an IKEA within easy walking distance of the Shim-Misato station, and I thought, 'I should totally go there sometime.' And then I thought, 'Hey, I need some stuff for my classroom - omg, I'm totally going there tomorrow.' And I did. And I bought some things for my room, but it was mostly stuff I needed: a clock, containers for my props, organizational stuff. I also bought a soft, soft pillow because I hate the two pillows I do have, and I'm hoping this one works better for me.

This does not fully describe how wonderful IKEA is. The showroom is amazing - I've been to furniture showrooms before, but there's something different about IKEA. It's more comfortable. You don't feel so bad throwing yourself into one of the chairs and wiggling around in it to get the feel of it. It's not invasive to go through drawers and cupboards and inspect everything. I've always felt that showrooms are too pristine to touch, to perfect to disturb. It's hard to imagine living in them. IKEA showrooms already feel lived in; it's easy to drift into the idea that this could be home.

It makes me wish my apartment was worth furnishing (it's not, by no means is it worth the time and effort, much less the money), because I would think nothing of going completely IKEA. I don't need anything else, but I'll probably go back every so often just to look around. And I so want to get one of those weird heart pillows with arms. It's so insane that it's awesome.

And thus I have had another super Japanese day. In a Swedish store. Go figure.