So, today was pretty boring. I spent much of it indoors. This cold is really taking it out of me. Despite my boring day, I feel like if I don't write every day, it'll break the chain and I'll end up not writing a lot. So… yeah. Today was pretty much yesterday, but I went for a walk, too.
I think I'm starting to feel culture fatigue, as well as real fatigue. I'm tired because the cold is keeping me awake, but also, I couldn't find anything comforting in this house. Breakfast was okay, but Mama and the family left to go see Papa for dinner, and left me here with a lunchbox. Which normally would have been fine, but today, I opened it up and just felt nauseous. But I have no idea where anything is in the kitchen, so I left to get food from a convenience store. Yep.
There's nothing normal in Japanese convenience stores. It's all fish and curry and cakes that are actually full of bean paste. I just wanted cheese and crackers. But Japanese cheese is weird, and they only have lame, very mild, white cheese. I couldn't find crackers at all, and went to three different places. It was just an all around disappointment. The only good thing I discovered, is pretty much no matter where I go, I can get fresh fruit and juice. Apple juice in Japan tastes good at least.
And that's it. That was my day. Getting sick on Golden Week is dumb. Getting sick in another country, with no comfort foods is dumb. Having your head, throat, and stomach hurt all day is dumb. Today was dumb. Good night.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Day 35 - Boring, with a side of a cold
Soooo, maybe I won't do much during Golden Week after all. I spent all of today indoors, nursing what is turning out to be a really annoying cold. Woke up this morning and my throat felt awful. I've spent some time reading, both the english books I bought here, and some Harry Potter. I was determined to go out to the park today after lunch, but ended up with a terrible headache, so I took some medicine and spent the rest of the time in my room.
Came time for dinner, which looked lovely. Mama thought it was important to tell me it's not healthy to stay inside on a nice day like today, and that I should have gone for a walk or something. Whatever. I'm sick. I'mma stay inside if I feel like it. I also found out that there's a certain kind of naive racism in mama. She is genuinely interested in other cultures, but very shallowly absorbs and retells almost anything she hears. Some of it is kinda of cute, in the "aw, you don't really know any better, do you?", patronizing kind of way, but today it was a little much. We got onto the topic of marriage in Nepal with Kabita, and somehow ended up talking about how indian girls are always forced terrible marriages, try to run to the police for help, and the police rape them. I don't even know. I wouldn't say it doesn't happen, but she was talking like it happens every week.
I'm suffering from my cold, and culture shock today, and am having a hard time living here. It's a feeling that's been creeping up on me as I've been here. I'm trying to ignore it, and make the best of it, but I feel a lot of judgement coming from Mama that I don't want or need right now. I'm probably just tired. Tomorrow will be better.
Came time for dinner, which looked lovely. Mama thought it was important to tell me it's not healthy to stay inside on a nice day like today, and that I should have gone for a walk or something. Whatever. I'm sick. I'mma stay inside if I feel like it. I also found out that there's a certain kind of naive racism in mama. She is genuinely interested in other cultures, but very shallowly absorbs and retells almost anything she hears. Some of it is kinda of cute, in the "aw, you don't really know any better, do you?", patronizing kind of way, but today it was a little much. We got onto the topic of marriage in Nepal with Kabita, and somehow ended up talking about how indian girls are always forced terrible marriages, try to run to the police for help, and the police rape them. I don't even know. I wouldn't say it doesn't happen, but she was talking like it happens every week.
I'm suffering from my cold, and culture shock today, and am having a hard time living here. It's a feeling that's been creeping up on me as I've been here. I'm trying to ignore it, and make the best of it, but I feel a lot of judgement coming from Mama that I don't want or need right now. I'm probably just tired. Tomorrow will be better.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Day 34 - Golden Week - Start!
This was not a good start to Golden Week. Woke up much later than I'd intended. My alarm didn't go off. So I didn't get to have delicious half-off curry with Tamarra. I did end up meeting with Tamarra, and fortunately Colleen, to go to my first practice with the Waseda International Festival dance group! Today was Nihon-Buyo, a traditional style of Japanese dance. It is really interesting, but a little stressful, because it's very controlled.
Hung out with Tamarra afterward. Not much to today really. We went to another book off! store near waseda and she found a game she liked. Also found where I can buy Melon soda in a store! I haven't found it until now! I think it's better from restaurants though… I had a headache creeping up on me all day, and my throat has been bothering me, too. Hopefully it's nothing, but it feels like a dumb cold.
Got back rather early and managed to do two loads of laundry. Unfortunately, by the time I'd finished hanging them, it was cold outside anyway. They'll dry tomorrow, I suppose.
On the way home, one of men on the train was wearing some very strange shoes. There's just this weird kind of fashion zone here. It's like, almost everyone is very nicely dressed and puts a lot of effort into their appearance, but sometimes just make strange decisions. The guy's shoes looked very nice, except for the fact that the toe was about three inches longer than it needed to be, and pointy. There's a lot of guys with pointy shoes here. It's just strange. I don't get it.
Tomorrow is looking to be a fun day, as long as this cold doesn't get any worse. It better not. Having a cold on Golden Week, when I could actually be out having fun kinda sucks.
Hung out with Tamarra afterward. Not much to today really. We went to another book off! store near waseda and she found a game she liked. Also found where I can buy Melon soda in a store! I haven't found it until now! I think it's better from restaurants though… I had a headache creeping up on me all day, and my throat has been bothering me, too. Hopefully it's nothing, but it feels like a dumb cold.
Got back rather early and managed to do two loads of laundry. Unfortunately, by the time I'd finished hanging them, it was cold outside anyway. They'll dry tomorrow, I suppose.
On the way home, one of men on the train was wearing some very strange shoes. There's just this weird kind of fashion zone here. It's like, almost everyone is very nicely dressed and puts a lot of effort into their appearance, but sometimes just make strange decisions. The guy's shoes looked very nice, except for the fact that the toe was about three inches longer than it needed to be, and pointy. There's a lot of guys with pointy shoes here. It's just strange. I don't get it.
Tomorrow is looking to be a fun day, as long as this cold doesn't get any worse. It better not. Having a cold on Golden Week, when I could actually be out having fun kinda sucks.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Day 33 - Soooo Ready for Golden Week
Hey, so it's the beginning of month 2 in Japan. I wish every month started with a week off from school. Well, today was my last day for the next like, 10 days. I don't have school again until the 8th. Yeah, could get used to this.
Today was rainy again. Unfortunately, they had the heat on this morning in the train. I don't know why. But it was busy, and hot, and crowded. Not fun. Went through the normal stuff in school today. A lot of profs are nice enough to not even assign hw for the week. I only have some in like, 4 of my 9 classes. So that's pretty nice at least.
So, I mentioned before that I bought an umbrella. It's really cute, and see-through, with orange polka dots… I broke it today. One of the spokes has been bending a lot lately anyway, and today it just finally snapped. So one of the sides of my umbrella is now limp. It is sad. I don't wanna buy another one, but I don't wanna be walking around with a limp one either. Oh well. I'll figure it out next time it rains.
Got a chance to talk with Marie this afternoon. Apparently, she hasn't actually worked with my particular homestay before. Yep, out of everyone in the group, I get the untried one. Mama's had homestays before, but I guess through different organizations. Well… Yeah. We will work through any issues as they come up. On a bright note, I signed up to see a Sumo match, and am taking so Taiko lessons soon. The plans for a longer trip are in the making, and things are looking positive, travel and activity -wise at least.
Speaking of travel, Mama really wants to be a guide for me and my friends around Tokyo for at least a day. As much as I like the idea, I'm not sure it's gonna work out so much because I only really understand like, 40% of what she says, and I know Tamarra will struggle if I am. I'm gonna talk with people, who knows, we may end up on a day with Mama.
So… this isn't really related to anything in particular, but it's been hot in Japan lately, especially in the trains. There are also posters in the trains for Baskin Robbins (which just goes by "31" here). Yeah. I went there today with Tamarra. And ate. Too much. There's this easter flavor (I said easter was big in Japan, right?), that's called "easter egg hunt", and is melon-flavored ice cream so it's green, and it has tiny brightly colored egg-shaped candies in it. It was light and pleasant, and would have made a delicious float in melon-flavored soda. They have a melon-flavored ice cream on its own, but I figured it would be different with the "eggs". There are also such interesting flavors as sweet-bean, "popping shower" (with pop-rocks in!), and green tea. I may have to go back soon.
That's pretty much it for today. Oh, on a side note, Mama got a tv for my room. Don't know why she did that, it kinda takes away any incentive I have to go downstairs, other than for food. Well, and I feel like I need to spend time with the family. But that just means the tv's gonna go unused. So yeah… it's a adorable though. Pink and flatscreen. There's even an HDMI in, so if I wanna get a cable and play with my computer with another, slightly larger screen, that's a possibility as well. Hooray!
Today was rainy again. Unfortunately, they had the heat on this morning in the train. I don't know why. But it was busy, and hot, and crowded. Not fun. Went through the normal stuff in school today. A lot of profs are nice enough to not even assign hw for the week. I only have some in like, 4 of my 9 classes. So that's pretty nice at least.
So, I mentioned before that I bought an umbrella. It's really cute, and see-through, with orange polka dots… I broke it today. One of the spokes has been bending a lot lately anyway, and today it just finally snapped. So one of the sides of my umbrella is now limp. It is sad. I don't wanna buy another one, but I don't wanna be walking around with a limp one either. Oh well. I'll figure it out next time it rains.
Got a chance to talk with Marie this afternoon. Apparently, she hasn't actually worked with my particular homestay before. Yep, out of everyone in the group, I get the untried one. Mama's had homestays before, but I guess through different organizations. Well… Yeah. We will work through any issues as they come up. On a bright note, I signed up to see a Sumo match, and am taking so Taiko lessons soon. The plans for a longer trip are in the making, and things are looking positive, travel and activity -wise at least.
Speaking of travel, Mama really wants to be a guide for me and my friends around Tokyo for at least a day. As much as I like the idea, I'm not sure it's gonna work out so much because I only really understand like, 40% of what she says, and I know Tamarra will struggle if I am. I'm gonna talk with people, who knows, we may end up on a day with Mama.
So… this isn't really related to anything in particular, but it's been hot in Japan lately, especially in the trains. There are also posters in the trains for Baskin Robbins (which just goes by "31" here). Yeah. I went there today with Tamarra. And ate. Too much. There's this easter flavor (I said easter was big in Japan, right?), that's called "easter egg hunt", and is melon-flavored ice cream so it's green, and it has tiny brightly colored egg-shaped candies in it. It was light and pleasant, and would have made a delicious float in melon-flavored soda. They have a melon-flavored ice cream on its own, but I figured it would be different with the "eggs". There are also such interesting flavors as sweet-bean, "popping shower" (with pop-rocks in!), and green tea. I may have to go back soon.
That's pretty much it for today. Oh, on a side note, Mama got a tv for my room. Don't know why she did that, it kinda takes away any incentive I have to go downstairs, other than for food. Well, and I feel like I need to spend time with the family. But that just means the tv's gonna go unused. So yeah… it's a adorable though. Pink and flatscreen. There's even an HDMI in, so if I wanna get a cable and play with my computer with another, slightly larger screen, that's a possibility as well. Hooray!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Day 32 - One Month! … Or I'm dumb…
So, I've been in Japan for an entire month now! It's weird thinking it's been that long, it doesn't feel like it's been that long. I kinda feel like I'm still jetlagged… Today, unfortunately, was not a momentous day. EDIT: Turns out I can't count, and a month was actually yesterday. I guess a big earthquake counts as momentous, right?
Started off with a pretty bad fail. Econ prof said last week that he wanted us to be early today and I totally forgot. Not only that, but when I got to the station at my normal time, there was a huge crowd. The trains hadn't been running right, and my train was a whopping 30 minutes late. So yeah… I was a little late for Econ today. The trains being late happens often enough that the stations are prepared and actually have these little slips that have the date, and how late the trains were running, so you have a legitimate, official late slip to give to professors or work if you're late because of the trains. Pretty cool. My prof marked me present anyway, so I got to keep the slip. Don't know what I'mma do with it, but it's kinda neat.
Classes today were also kinda dull. I had planned on taking a bunch of pictures of campus today, since I haven't done so yet. Unfortunately, it was raining and gross all day, so any picture I tried to take ended up pretty dull. So, maybe after Golden week.
Speaking of Golden week, I suppose I'll write a little bit about that. Golden week is the longest official, national holiday in Japan. It includes such important days as Showa day (to celebrate the birthday of the Showa Emperor), Constitution Day (commemorating the new post war constitution), and Children's Day (well, boy's day at least. Girls day is actually in early march). Because these days take up most of a week anyway, most companies and schools will create arbitrary other holidays to end up giving the entire week off. That means that I have no school next week at all.
I don't really have plans for Golden week. Travel is usually especially expensive at that time, so going anywhere and staying anywhere is more expensive. I'm hopefully going to be able to go to a few museums, aquariums, and various temples and shrines in the Tokyo area. That's the plan at least. Since this is peoples' travel/adventure time, I figured most people won't be visiting the more "boring" places like those. I guess I'll find out.
I also plan on reading a lot of Harry Potter. I actually cracked it open in my spare time today. I had about three hours between classes, and hanging out with people, so I managed to get through an entire 4 pages! Yeah, I think this may be a little more difficult than I'd imagined. Well, if I read 4 or more pages every day for the rest of the trip, I should be able to finish it before I get back. Maybe. It's a great chance to expand my vocabulary! I actually learned two new things today: First, ずんぐりむっくり, which means very short and stout, like a certain Vernon Dursley. I also learned the kanji and word for "to fly" 飛ばす (tobasu), which, coincidentally, is also used in the word for airplane. The word for airplane, then, is composed by fly-go-machine. Yep. I love Japanese sometimes.
Started off with a pretty bad fail. Econ prof said last week that he wanted us to be early today and I totally forgot. Not only that, but when I got to the station at my normal time, there was a huge crowd. The trains hadn't been running right, and my train was a whopping 30 minutes late. So yeah… I was a little late for Econ today. The trains being late happens often enough that the stations are prepared and actually have these little slips that have the date, and how late the trains were running, so you have a legitimate, official late slip to give to professors or work if you're late because of the trains. Pretty cool. My prof marked me present anyway, so I got to keep the slip. Don't know what I'mma do with it, but it's kinda neat.
Classes today were also kinda dull. I had planned on taking a bunch of pictures of campus today, since I haven't done so yet. Unfortunately, it was raining and gross all day, so any picture I tried to take ended up pretty dull. So, maybe after Golden week.
Speaking of Golden week, I suppose I'll write a little bit about that. Golden week is the longest official, national holiday in Japan. It includes such important days as Showa day (to celebrate the birthday of the Showa Emperor), Constitution Day (commemorating the new post war constitution), and Children's Day (well, boy's day at least. Girls day is actually in early march). Because these days take up most of a week anyway, most companies and schools will create arbitrary other holidays to end up giving the entire week off. That means that I have no school next week at all.
I don't really have plans for Golden week. Travel is usually especially expensive at that time, so going anywhere and staying anywhere is more expensive. I'm hopefully going to be able to go to a few museums, aquariums, and various temples and shrines in the Tokyo area. That's the plan at least. Since this is peoples' travel/adventure time, I figured most people won't be visiting the more "boring" places like those. I guess I'll find out.
I also plan on reading a lot of Harry Potter. I actually cracked it open in my spare time today. I had about three hours between classes, and hanging out with people, so I managed to get through an entire 4 pages! Yeah, I think this may be a little more difficult than I'd imagined. Well, if I read 4 or more pages every day for the rest of the trip, I should be able to finish it before I get back. Maybe. It's a great chance to expand my vocabulary! I actually learned two new things today: First, ずんぐりむっくり, which means very short and stout, like a certain Vernon Dursley. I also learned the kanji and word for "to fly" 飛ばす (tobasu), which, coincidentally, is also used in the word for airplane. The word for airplane, then, is composed by fly-go-machine. Yep. I love Japanese sometimes.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Day 31 - Rock'em Robots
So, today was interesting. Last night, there was a thunderstorm. I didn't mention it because it didn't seem like much. It was pretty big, and quite loud, but didn't effect me much. It was a precursor, however, to the earthquake this morning.
I woke up at 5:20 this morning, I remember, because I was confused about feeling so awake, and there was so much light coming in through the curtains, I was afraid I'd woken up late for school, so I looked at my clock. I lie there, wondering about what could have woken me up so early, when it hit. This one was a 5.4, and seemed to last longer than the others. After it finally stopped, it was like… "Okay, now what do I do? It's still early… I should sleep," but I had a difficult time getting my heart to stop racing.
One thing I've got to say, is the Japanese really have their bathrooms set up right. I LOVE taking showers here. It's one of the few spaces in the home where I actually have room to move, and don't have to worry about knocking over half a dozen things. It's actually bigger than the shower/bath back home. I'll have to take a picture in the morning tomorrow. It's quite lovely, and if and when I ever get my own home, that's the kind of bath going in, no doubt about it.
The rest of the day was dreadfully dull, compared to this morning. I missed breakfast because I took a long shower (whoops). First class I had to do a discussion from a script. My partner volunteered us first, without even giving me a moment to refuse. I grant the class a little leniency, it's a 1-2 level class, but seriously, I have never heard more robotic conversations in my life, and K-9, the Daleks, and Cybermen are some of my favorite parts of Doctor Who. こ。ん。に。ち。は。・・・は。じ。め。ま。し。て。It was appalling.
Next was lunch with Colleen. We had bento from the place across from building 22. It was okay, but I don't think I'll go back. I hear from Kenny that Colleen goes there all the time… I think I'm already tired of it. I also had class with Colleen today. This is easily becoming my favorite class. The prof really has a knack for humor and getting the class to respond.
Last class of the day was with Kenny, the other honorifics class. It's tooooo haaaarrrd. Well, not as hard as my monday class, but I'm glad I don't really have to pass it to graduate. Went out with Kenny afterwards in search of a real burger. All the ones I've come across have either been lonely on a plate, slathered in sauce, or tiny. We tried "Freshness Burger" today. It was overpriced, but indeed very fresh tasting. Not what I was hoping for. I don't think I'm gonna be able to buy the burger I want. Which means I get to make it. (≥ o ≤)
The woman who's been helping Mama with housework, Sabi-san, is returning to her home country of Nepal. She was homesick, and missing her child. I totally get it. But that means Mama hired another woman today, Kabita-san. Her name isn't particularly difficult to remember, but that doesn't mean I didn't forget it 5 times in as many minutes. Dinner was kind of awkward. Oh well.
I've been able to get an episode or two of Community in the past few days. I'm not really homesick, I don't think, but I'm desperately craving American food (MEXICAN FOOD) and television. Also, interesting Japanese word of the day: Ranbo. It means lawless or rude. I thought it was appropriate because it sounded a lot like Rambo. That is all.
I woke up at 5:20 this morning, I remember, because I was confused about feeling so awake, and there was so much light coming in through the curtains, I was afraid I'd woken up late for school, so I looked at my clock. I lie there, wondering about what could have woken me up so early, when it hit. This one was a 5.4, and seemed to last longer than the others. After it finally stopped, it was like… "Okay, now what do I do? It's still early… I should sleep," but I had a difficult time getting my heart to stop racing.
One thing I've got to say, is the Japanese really have their bathrooms set up right. I LOVE taking showers here. It's one of the few spaces in the home where I actually have room to move, and don't have to worry about knocking over half a dozen things. It's actually bigger than the shower/bath back home. I'll have to take a picture in the morning tomorrow. It's quite lovely, and if and when I ever get my own home, that's the kind of bath going in, no doubt about it.
The rest of the day was dreadfully dull, compared to this morning. I missed breakfast because I took a long shower (whoops). First class I had to do a discussion from a script. My partner volunteered us first, without even giving me a moment to refuse. I grant the class a little leniency, it's a 1-2 level class, but seriously, I have never heard more robotic conversations in my life, and K-9, the Daleks, and Cybermen are some of my favorite parts of Doctor Who. こ。ん。に。ち。は。・・・は。じ。め。ま。し。て。It was appalling.
Next was lunch with Colleen. We had bento from the place across from building 22. It was okay, but I don't think I'll go back. I hear from Kenny that Colleen goes there all the time… I think I'm already tired of it. I also had class with Colleen today. This is easily becoming my favorite class. The prof really has a knack for humor and getting the class to respond.
Last class of the day was with Kenny, the other honorifics class. It's tooooo haaaarrrd. Well, not as hard as my monday class, but I'm glad I don't really have to pass it to graduate. Went out with Kenny afterwards in search of a real burger. All the ones I've come across have either been lonely on a plate, slathered in sauce, or tiny. We tried "Freshness Burger" today. It was overpriced, but indeed very fresh tasting. Not what I was hoping for. I don't think I'm gonna be able to buy the burger I want. Which means I get to make it. (≥ o ≤)
The woman who's been helping Mama with housework, Sabi-san, is returning to her home country of Nepal. She was homesick, and missing her child. I totally get it. But that means Mama hired another woman today, Kabita-san. Her name isn't particularly difficult to remember, but that doesn't mean I didn't forget it 5 times in as many minutes. Dinner was kind of awkward. Oh well.
I've been able to get an episode or two of Community in the past few days. I'm not really homesick, I don't think, but I'm desperately craving American food (MEXICAN FOOD) and television. Also, interesting Japanese word of the day: Ranbo. It means lawless or rude. I thought it was appropriate because it sounded a lot like Rambo. That is all.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Day 30 - Trial
Today was a trial, certainly. The bruise on my butt is about as big as 20oz coke, purpling beautifully, and every time I take a step, it hurts. Every time I sit down, it hurts. I had class today. I never focused so much on just walking before.
The first part of my day was nice, I woke up early and had time to do some homework and catch up with some manga I haven't read in a long time. Then there was class… Ugh. Tuesdays suck in general, but more today. First was business honorifics class, which is difficult. Don't wanna go… And the other was lit and art. I fell asleep in it again today.
Came back right after classes because no one's on campus after 4th on tuesdays. Stopped by the Lawsons by my house. They have these chickennugget things that are spicy. Sooooo gooood. The highlight of my day. That's kinda sad, actually. Welp, after that I spend more time on homework, talked with Tamarra about our upcoming trip, and had dinner. Udon soup made from leftover curry from yesterday. Was passable. And that's it. I kinda wish there were more, but I'm glad I didn't have to spend as much time on my feet today, either.
The first part of my day was nice, I woke up early and had time to do some homework and catch up with some manga I haven't read in a long time. Then there was class… Ugh. Tuesdays suck in general, but more today. First was business honorifics class, which is difficult. Don't wanna go… And the other was lit and art. I fell asleep in it again today.
Came back right after classes because no one's on campus after 4th on tuesdays. Stopped by the Lawsons by my house. They have these chickennugget things that are spicy. Sooooo gooood. The highlight of my day. That's kinda sad, actually. Welp, after that I spend more time on homework, talked with Tamarra about our upcoming trip, and had dinner. Udon soup made from leftover curry from yesterday. Was passable. And that's it. I kinda wish there were more, but I'm glad I didn't have to spend as much time on my feet today, either.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Day 29 - Quiet today
It seems so far that classes are more "show us what you know" rather than teaching us anything. I haven't received a single handout from my business honorifics class, other than the syllabus, but the first assignment is to write out an introduction using proper humble speech. We didn't really cover it at all in 400 level at UofO, so I have to go off of what I remember, and what wikipedia can tell me. I'm struggling.
Today was a very lazy day, and for good reason. I'm still sore from falling down stairs yesterday, and it's also been raining all day. I did take a small walk in the rain, because it seems I get a little restless now, sitting around all day. Found a fancy little bakery/cakeshop near the station, a short walk from the house. Bought a few little cakes, and brought them back to share. They were delicious. Had my first Japanese curry, in Japan, for dinner tonight. Up until this point it's all been Indian curry. 。(´⌒｀｡ )
Today was a very lazy day, and for good reason. I'm still sore from falling down stairs yesterday, and it's also been raining all day. I did take a small walk in the rain, because it seems I get a little restless now, sitting around all day. Found a fancy little bakery/cakeshop near the station, a short walk from the house. Bought a few little cakes, and brought them back to share. They were delicious. Had my first Japanese curry, in Japan, for dinner tonight. Up until this point it's all been Indian curry. 。(´⌒｀｡ )
The curry was way better than it looks. And a little sweet. I'm glad I get to have home cooked meals. If I were living in a dorm, it'd be ramen every night…
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Day 28 - Episode VI: Return of the Stairs
So, it seems I can't make it two weeks without falling on the goddamn stairs. Well, I actually double checked that, and it's been two weeks, and a day, since I fell last, so jolly for me. Still sucks. (T^T)
Today was a good day, as long as I ignore the stairs part of it. Got up a little later, messed around with colorguard stuff. Both Tamarra and I were late meeting up, so I'm just gonna take that as we were both on time. Had some pastries from a little bakery in Baba station. FINALLY GOOD CHOCOLATE CAKE.
Headed off to… Gotanda, to find an english book store Tamarra looked up. It was actually kinda nice, being surrounded by books I knew I could read. Bought a few. I'm going to read them, then leave them with Tamarra's host dad, since he likes reading english books. Spent less than 2000yen, so it's not too bad.
Next was Shibuya, to find a record/book store. That was the third of fourth in Japan so far without being able to find the first Harry Potter book in Japanese. Still no luck. BUT, we also went to the Disney store nearby. I promise I'll put up pictures tomorrow. I just can't tonight. But it was amazing. Anyone who's been to disneyland knows the effort they put into creating a magical space. This was just the same. I'm not talking american disney stores, where you walk in in the middle of the mall, and it's wide, and loud, and looks like the merchandising department spit up everywhere. It was three floors, with beautiful details.
I got a few little things, but the big thing was… DISNEY TICKETS! Finally bought them. They were cheaper than I budgeted, so even better. YES. SO EXCITED. I even feel a little better now, thinking about the tickets I just bought, despite the continuing throbbing pain in my elbow and butt.
We decided stopped by yet another bookstore, no luck, and headed out to find lunch. I suggested going back to Ikebukuro, where there's a book store, and the Japanese version of Dennys. I don't typically like Denny's food back in the states, but everything in Japan has been pretty different so far, and Dennys was no exception. The food was a little spendier, but the service was better, and the staff wore adorable outfits. Menu items didn't include much breakfast fare, but some really fancy looking soups, pastas, "burgers", and steaks. I say "burgers", because in restaurants in Japan, hamburger means almost a steak, drizzled in some sort of sauce, sans any sort of buns. I had one in a curry sauce over rice, and it was very tasty. The best part was the dessert, a chocolate sunday… I've eaten too many sweets today, I think.
Next stop was the book store, where we found a CD for Tamarra (not the exact one she's looking for, but hey…) and FINALLY found the harry potter book for me. First only found it on my own in hard cover. It was only 200yen, so I was willing to do it, but really wanted the paperback version. Found that with the help of some staff. Now I own a slightly used, very purple, Japanese version of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Or, in Japanese, Harii Potta, and the something-sha no Ishi. Welp, time to pull out the kanji dictionary. I've got a lot of work to do…
Got back pretty early, but was exhausted after the combined excursions from yesterday and today. Took what I thought was gonna be a quick nap, but ended up waking up after 8:30, and I guess my host family had knocked three times trying to get me up for dinner. Whoops. We ate rice made with the bamboo shoot I dug up yesterday, and it was very tasty. Also Okonomiyaki again. This version had chucks of pork in it, and was also very tasty. I washed some dishes, went upstairs, then realized I needed to brush my teeth, went to go back downstairs, and fell again on the last few steps. So yeah. Thanks Japan. Constantly having bruises and being in pain is exactly what I need right now.
And that's it. It's always really interesting going anywhere with Tamarra, because I feel we make quite an impression together, me with my red hair, her with her purple. People will actually move out of the way when we walk by, and often stop and stare. On the train today, a couple sat down across from us, and when Tamarra turned her head to talk to me, they noticed her hair. The girl literally gasped, and they sat and whispered to eachother for a little while. I love Japanese reactions. On the other hand, at the bookstore we went to yesterday, there was an older woman, whose hair was died the exact same shade of purple as Tamarra's. I think there's a little bit of a double standard here…
Today was a good day, as long as I ignore the stairs part of it. Got up a little later, messed around with colorguard stuff. Both Tamarra and I were late meeting up, so I'm just gonna take that as we were both on time. Had some pastries from a little bakery in Baba station. FINALLY GOOD CHOCOLATE CAKE.
Headed off to… Gotanda, to find an english book store Tamarra looked up. It was actually kinda nice, being surrounded by books I knew I could read. Bought a few. I'm going to read them, then leave them with Tamarra's host dad, since he likes reading english books. Spent less than 2000yen, so it's not too bad.
Next was Shibuya, to find a record/book store. That was the third of fourth in Japan so far without being able to find the first Harry Potter book in Japanese. Still no luck. BUT, we also went to the Disney store nearby. I promise I'll put up pictures tomorrow. I just can't tonight. But it was amazing. Anyone who's been to disneyland knows the effort they put into creating a magical space. This was just the same. I'm not talking american disney stores, where you walk in in the middle of the mall, and it's wide, and loud, and looks like the merchandising department spit up everywhere. It was three floors, with beautiful details.
I got a few little things, but the big thing was… DISNEY TICKETS! Finally bought them. They were cheaper than I budgeted, so even better. YES. SO EXCITED. I even feel a little better now, thinking about the tickets I just bought, despite the continuing throbbing pain in my elbow and butt.
We decided stopped by yet another bookstore, no luck, and headed out to find lunch. I suggested going back to Ikebukuro, where there's a book store, and the Japanese version of Dennys. I don't typically like Denny's food back in the states, but everything in Japan has been pretty different so far, and Dennys was no exception. The food was a little spendier, but the service was better, and the staff wore adorable outfits. Menu items didn't include much breakfast fare, but some really fancy looking soups, pastas, "burgers", and steaks. I say "burgers", because in restaurants in Japan, hamburger means almost a steak, drizzled in some sort of sauce, sans any sort of buns. I had one in a curry sauce over rice, and it was very tasty. The best part was the dessert, a chocolate sunday… I've eaten too many sweets today, I think.
Next stop was the book store, where we found a CD for Tamarra (not the exact one she's looking for, but hey…) and FINALLY found the harry potter book for me. First only found it on my own in hard cover. It was only 200yen, so I was willing to do it, but really wanted the paperback version. Found that with the help of some staff. Now I own a slightly used, very purple, Japanese version of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Or, in Japanese, Harii Potta, and the something-sha no Ishi. Welp, time to pull out the kanji dictionary. I've got a lot of work to do…
Got back pretty early, but was exhausted after the combined excursions from yesterday and today. Took what I thought was gonna be a quick nap, but ended up waking up after 8:30, and I guess my host family had knocked three times trying to get me up for dinner. Whoops. We ate rice made with the bamboo shoot I dug up yesterday, and it was very tasty. Also Okonomiyaki again. This version had chucks of pork in it, and was also very tasty. I washed some dishes, went upstairs, then realized I needed to brush my teeth, went to go back downstairs, and fell again on the last few steps. So yeah. Thanks Japan. Constantly having bruises and being in pain is exactly what I need right now.
And that's it. It's always really interesting going anywhere with Tamarra, because I feel we make quite an impression together, me with my red hair, her with her purple. People will actually move out of the way when we walk by, and often stop and stare. On the train today, a couple sat down across from us, and when Tamarra turned her head to talk to me, they noticed her hair. The girl literally gasped, and they sat and whispered to eachother for a little while. I love Japanese reactions. On the other hand, at the bookstore we went to yesterday, there was an older woman, whose hair was died the exact same shade of purple as Tamarra's. I think there's a little bit of a double standard here…
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Day 27 - Fun fun fun fun
Hey you! I reached 500 views on my blog! I know I shouldn't really care, but it makes me absurdly happy.
I had an awesome day today. The first I've had in what feels like a really, really long time. Started off with a trip to the Tokorozawa Waseda campus for bamboo root (takenoko! it means baby bamboo!) digging.
I didn't initially know what kind of effort it would be, and assumed a lot of working on hands and knees in the dirt. No. It was much more awesome. We got to use these hoe-spade type things, and dig them up. Soooo muuuuch fuuuun. I managed to only get a pretty small one, fits barely in both of my hands. Tamarra got a pretty big one by comparison, and dug up the roots with it. There was a girl who's root was, I swear, at least as large as a two-or-three-month-old child. Huge. Mama tells me that the smaller ones are better though, big ones end up being to bitter.
We had lunch provided, and it was frankly pretty damn tasty. It included bamboo rice with some sort of turkey or something in it. Delicious, naturally pretty buttery tasting, and sweet. Also, a bamboo soup that wasn't very good, but the bamboo in it was good.
And also some other edibles. I got to try a very strange chicken nugget. I was expecting crispy chicken, but it was a little chewy, and strangely, was dark meat, not light. Still tasty though.
Next was a trip with Tamarra to the Seibu department store. This place is waaaaaay better than the Keio one near me. Sooooo big! It had twelve floors! Almost the entire bottom floor was a variety of sweets stores, bakeries, and food. Soooo much food. And delicious. I finally got to try Japanese short cake. It was one of my personal goals, because I always see it in manga, people eat it on special occasions. Well, the occasion today was eating the cake. So I guess that works out.
I also found what appeared to be a good chocolate store. However. The chocolate that I purchased was disappointing. I am still on the search for good Japanese chocolate. Ugh.
I also bought some fabric today. Bright, glorious purple. Wanna guess why? FLAG. Yep. I finally broke down, went to the Don Quixote in Baba and bought a pole. Now I can sew my flag and play with it a little. Unfortunately, I don't think the pole will fit in my suitcase, and I will have to pay to get it disposed of. But it is still less than buying one online and getting it shipped here. Only 1000 yen + disposal fee!
So yeah, after Seibu, that's where we went, Takadanobaba, Baba for short. We finally got plans and everybody together and did Karaoke! It was my first time ever doing it, and it was so much fun! Wow. I'm still reeling from how awesome it was to get everybody together and sing weird songs and have such a good time. The way it works in Japan, is generally you rent a room, paying a per-person rate per hour. For us, since we were there for a few hours, it ended up being about 2500 yen per person, which I think is actually pretty expensive, but I'm not sure. It was like, 400 yen per 30 minutes, so we were there like, three hours. Wow.
Tokorozawa Manhole Cover
I had an awesome day today. The first I've had in what feels like a really, really long time. Started off with a trip to the Tokorozawa Waseda campus for bamboo root (takenoko! it means baby bamboo!) digging.
I didn't initially know what kind of effort it would be, and assumed a lot of working on hands and knees in the dirt. No. It was much more awesome. We got to use these hoe-spade type things, and dig them up. Soooo muuuuch fuuuun. I managed to only get a pretty small one, fits barely in both of my hands. Tamarra got a pretty big one by comparison, and dug up the roots with it. There was a girl who's root was, I swear, at least as large as a two-or-three-month-old child. Huge. Mama tells me that the smaller ones are better though, big ones end up being to bitter.
We had lunch provided, and it was frankly pretty damn tasty. It included bamboo rice with some sort of turkey or something in it. Delicious, naturally pretty buttery tasting, and sweet. Also, a bamboo soup that wasn't very good, but the bamboo in it was good.
And also some other edibles. I got to try a very strange chicken nugget. I was expecting crispy chicken, but it was a little chewy, and strangely, was dark meat, not light. Still tasty though.
Next was a trip with Tamarra to the Seibu department store. This place is waaaaaay better than the Keio one near me. Sooooo big! It had twelve floors! Almost the entire bottom floor was a variety of sweets stores, bakeries, and food. Soooo much food. And delicious. I finally got to try Japanese short cake. It was one of my personal goals, because I always see it in manga, people eat it on special occasions. Well, the occasion today was eating the cake. So I guess that works out.
I also found what appeared to be a good chocolate store. However. The chocolate that I purchased was disappointing. I am still on the search for good Japanese chocolate. Ugh.
I also bought some fabric today. Bright, glorious purple. Wanna guess why? FLAG. Yep. I finally broke down, went to the Don Quixote in Baba and bought a pole. Now I can sew my flag and play with it a little. Unfortunately, I don't think the pole will fit in my suitcase, and I will have to pay to get it disposed of. But it is still less than buying one online and getting it shipped here. Only 1000 yen + disposal fee!
So yeah, after Seibu, that's where we went, Takadanobaba, Baba for short. We finally got plans and everybody together and did Karaoke! It was my first time ever doing it, and it was so much fun! Wow. I'm still reeling from how awesome it was to get everybody together and sing weird songs and have such a good time. The way it works in Japan, is generally you rent a room, paying a per-person rate per hour. For us, since we were there for a few hours, it ended up being about 2500 yen per person, which I think is actually pretty expensive, but I'm not sure. It was like, 400 yen per 30 minutes, so we were there like, three hours. Wow.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Day 26 - Achievement Unlocked!
Got all my paperwork finished today, brought it in to the office between my first and second periods. I have ten minutes to turn it in, then run to class in another building. Not only did I have too much (had to cut out some of the copy I'd pasted on), but I guess it wasn't okay that I'd filled out their questionnaire in pencil. She made me sit and write it in pen. Thankfully, I finished soon enough to get to class in time. Not that it really mattered, the personal history class I have fridays is a little bit of a joke. Whatever, I enjoy it. I made a new friend, too. We hung out a little at lunch, then I left to get actual food with Tamarra. Not sure if I'm going to lose any weight, despite all this extra walking. There's too many good foods here.
Literature class was still boring. I actually fell asleep in class. I'm gonna blame it on not getting enough sleep, his droning voice, and how comfy and warm I am in Tamarra's sweatshirt. Glad I stole it. Really enjoying the 1-2 level class I'm taking with her, too. It's actually really engaging and funny.
Got home today and watched figure skating with papa while mama made dinner. I wasn't kidding when I said skating was popular here. Mama didn't want any help with cooking, but at least I offered. Dinner was simple, just some yakisoba and tofu. I don't like tofu, but I think I'm beginning to get used to eating it.
Depressing part of the day was the next show, about some singer named Minmi who had this attachment with a childrens school in a town that was wiped out by the tsunami last year. She sang with a bunch of kids, and it was pretty sad. Mama was really affected by it though, uncharacteristically weepy and sad.
The achievement I mentioned in the title is both making it to 25 days in Japan. Yes! And managing to sew buttons onto a pair of my jeans. I've never sewed on a button on my own before, but I really needed these jeans for tomorrow. Three pairs of pants is not enough for so long in Japan. So yeah, now I can wear them, as they have buttons. Hooray!
I gotta get up early tomorrow. Going bamboo root (takenoko) digging tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to take one back and surprise mama with something good to cook. Also, plans for dance and karaoke tomorrow night. I'mma be busy. Good night!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Day 25 - Dinner
I started off the day with Economics. Which was rather boring. I think it always will be, and therefore from now on, goes without saying. Had a really long lunch on my own, which gave me plenty of time to stress about getting more paperwork into the university on time. Hooray. Only had one other class today, the "interactive" japanese class, where we had to pick three words that were import to explaining us, from last week. Barely anyone had actually introduced themselves, so that's what we did today.
Buuut before that, I found out that another OUS member that's been in Japan for a while joined my class. She seemed too energetic at first, and after I got to know here, I found out that yes, she is a little too energetic. But she's also obsessed with BBC's Sherlock and Doctor Who, so it was fun nerding out and chatting while waiting for class to start.
I came home early today, so I could go with mama to pick up my Alien Registration Card. Every time I type or say that phrase, I think of Men in Black, and actual aliens. I'm not an alien, I swear, I'm just alien to Japan. I might as well be from outer-space from the amount people stare at me. I'm not kidding. When I got on the train this morning, there was a woman on the platform opposite me, openly staring at me, as though I were a ghost or had killed someone right in front of her and was licking their blood off my fingers. No joke, she was white as a sheet, and didn't stop staring until my train left. I was a little concerned.
Anyway, after getting my alien card, I went with mama to the supermarket, and we bought a bunch of stuff. Wanna guess why? We made Gyoza tonight!!! Wooooooaaaaahhhh. It was so fun! I've never made gyoza before, and I'm usually pretty shit in the kitchen, so this was a new and exciting experience for me. We made the filling with Garlic, Ginger, Shiitake mushrooms, Onion, Pork, and egg. Mama is a master with a knife. I'm glad she didn't want me to try, 'cause we'd have had individual gyoza with enormous chunks of just onion. Guh. I have a little extra time tonight, so I'm actually gonna upload pics! Also, I'm really proud of them.
Buuut before that, I found out that another OUS member that's been in Japan for a while joined my class. She seemed too energetic at first, and after I got to know here, I found out that yes, she is a little too energetic. But she's also obsessed with BBC's Sherlock and Doctor Who, so it was fun nerding out and chatting while waiting for class to start.
I came home early today, so I could go with mama to pick up my Alien Registration Card. Every time I type or say that phrase, I think of Men in Black, and actual aliens. I'm not an alien, I swear, I'm just alien to Japan. I might as well be from outer-space from the amount people stare at me. I'm not kidding. When I got on the train this morning, there was a woman on the platform opposite me, openly staring at me, as though I were a ghost or had killed someone right in front of her and was licking their blood off my fingers. No joke, she was white as a sheet, and didn't stop staring until my train left. I was a little concerned.
Anyway, after getting my alien card, I went with mama to the supermarket, and we bought a bunch of stuff. Wanna guess why? We made Gyoza tonight!!! Wooooooaaaaahhhh. It was so fun! I've never made gyoza before, and I'm usually pretty shit in the kitchen, so this was a new and exciting experience for me. We made the filling with Garlic, Ginger, Shiitake mushrooms, Onion, Pork, and egg. Mama is a master with a knife. I'm glad she didn't want me to try, 'cause we'd have had individual gyoza with enormous chunks of just onion. Guh. I have a little extra time tonight, so I'm actually gonna upload pics! Also, I'm really proud of them.
Be jealous, be very jealous…
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Day 24 - Already screwing up
Today is a day where I talked a lot in Japanese, without really saying anything. First class was a dialogue class, where we practiced self introductions and introducing others. I thought we were over this, I guess I was wrong. I got saddled with a girl that I know is going to screw up, so I gotta not only prepare my portion of the dialogue, but also be ready to improvise when she inevitably messes up.
Right after that was lunch, which was another delicious day at the Curry place near campus. Easily becoming my favorite. But expensive. More than 800yen. But soooo good. I had lunch with Colleen, and we both went to class together as well. Some 2-3 level discussion class as well. The prof has really good energy though, and the other students do, too. It looks like it'll be my favorite this semester. Just from first impression.
Next was my other 3-4 honorifics class. This one was fun. And by fun, I mean me and half the class sat in a classroom waiting 20min before someone came in and told us the room had changed. To a building across campus. The prof was understanding, but still, really irritating, right? I got to listen to a bunch of stuff I didn't understand, then use some really casual Japanese terms. I guess we're practicing the opposite end of the spectrum before we go to more honorific/formal language. Sounds good to me, at least I've done some of this before.
Today I found out that I've forgotten to get my alien registration card, which I guess I need by friday at noon. I have class tomorrow. But I talked with mama and we're going to be able to get it. It was another really frustrating conversation/situation and I'm still having difficulties with Mama and cultural differences and not understanding each other so it's kinda sucked these past few days.
I also found out that my Econ hw is due tomorrow. Which is why this entry is so late, I was finishing up my writeup after dinner. Wasn't really hard, but like most Econ hw, it took a long time. Oh well, it's done now. Tomorrow isn't looking like a lot of fun, I have to come back here right after classes, but I'll try to make the best of it, and make up for it on Friday. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I have been taking some (none today though…) and I'll get them up eventually, I promise.
Right after that was lunch, which was another delicious day at the Curry place near campus. Easily becoming my favorite. But expensive. More than 800yen. But soooo good. I had lunch with Colleen, and we both went to class together as well. Some 2-3 level discussion class as well. The prof has really good energy though, and the other students do, too. It looks like it'll be my favorite this semester. Just from first impression.
Next was my other 3-4 honorifics class. This one was fun. And by fun, I mean me and half the class sat in a classroom waiting 20min before someone came in and told us the room had changed. To a building across campus. The prof was understanding, but still, really irritating, right? I got to listen to a bunch of stuff I didn't understand, then use some really casual Japanese terms. I guess we're practicing the opposite end of the spectrum before we go to more honorific/formal language. Sounds good to me, at least I've done some of this before.
Today I found out that I've forgotten to get my alien registration card, which I guess I need by friday at noon. I have class tomorrow. But I talked with mama and we're going to be able to get it. It was another really frustrating conversation/situation and I'm still having difficulties with Mama and cultural differences and not understanding each other so it's kinda sucked these past few days.
I also found out that my Econ hw is due tomorrow. Which is why this entry is so late, I was finishing up my writeup after dinner. Wasn't really hard, but like most Econ hw, it took a long time. Oh well, it's done now. Tomorrow isn't looking like a lot of fun, I have to come back here right after classes, but I'll try to make the best of it, and make up for it on Friday. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I have been taking some (none today though…) and I'll get them up eventually, I promise.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Day 23 - Hopping on the change train
Managed to mostly sort out money issues today. Sucks when someone you don't know tries to use your money in Pennsylvania without your permission. Then you have to call your card company, with a cellphone that charges 20yen per 30 seconds, and they take forever on hold to get back to you and tell you what you already know. :/ Oh well, it's over now.
Classes seem to actually be getting into what they're supposed to be teaching now. Which means my business communication class suddenly became immensely difficult. I had to write about my strengths and weaknesses as a worker. I don't even know the answer in english. I guess I forgot that I could just b.s. it. Oh well, that's what homework is for. I'm taking so many classes though, I have to be careful what lies I tell to who…
Which will be a problem because I'm woefully disorganized. Not as bad as another guy in the class who was working furiously on a homework sheet. That had nothing to do with the class… But I'm still pretty bad. I need a few more notebooks, probably, and should actually care about where I put my handouts. I'll get it eventually, I guess.
Literature is equally difficult and easy. The Prof goes through things so slowly it's as though time itself has slowed down. However, he also tends to skip randomly to different places in the readings, or to whatever kind of story he wants to tell at the time. It's kind of frustrating. That, and he hasn't gotten over his hayfever yet. I don't know if he actually will, which is kind of distressing. The worst part is that when he gets really excited about something (in a Japanese way), he just gets really quiet and whispers it. I had a hard time telling that's what was happing for the first few classes. I guess the Japanese get excited in different ways. In the US, we get all high-pitched, or start talkingreallyreallyfast. But the professors here in Japan tend to get quiet, and use slightly more emphatic words, but it's still really hard to tell.
No issue getting back today. Though, it started raining about halfway, so I had to buy an umbrella. It's completely unheard of in Japan to walk in the rain without one, and Mama's neighbors would think she's neglecting me if they saw me walking around without one. There's a lot of social pressure here in japan (or so I hear from people who've been here longer), so doing things like going out without a jacket or umbrella when it's cold or raining will make my host family look bad. I also got this candy. It was supposed to be green tea flavored, but it was really mild, and mostly white-chocolate tasting:
Speaking of host family, papa came home today! His voice still sounds terrible, but thankfully it seems he is well enough to come home. It was a little awkward sitting with him in the dining room while mama and Miri fixed dinner, and Sabi was upstairs cleaning. But he was quiet, and we watched weird Japanese television together, occasionally chatting and laughing. I'm trying to be downstairs more, spend more time with the family. It's one of the best ways to get better at Japanese, or so everyone keeps telling me.
Classes seem to actually be getting into what they're supposed to be teaching now. Which means my business communication class suddenly became immensely difficult. I had to write about my strengths and weaknesses as a worker. I don't even know the answer in english. I guess I forgot that I could just b.s. it. Oh well, that's what homework is for. I'm taking so many classes though, I have to be careful what lies I tell to who…
Which will be a problem because I'm woefully disorganized. Not as bad as another guy in the class who was working furiously on a homework sheet. That had nothing to do with the class… But I'm still pretty bad. I need a few more notebooks, probably, and should actually care about where I put my handouts. I'll get it eventually, I guess.
Literature is equally difficult and easy. The Prof goes through things so slowly it's as though time itself has slowed down. However, he also tends to skip randomly to different places in the readings, or to whatever kind of story he wants to tell at the time. It's kind of frustrating. That, and he hasn't gotten over his hayfever yet. I don't know if he actually will, which is kind of distressing. The worst part is that when he gets really excited about something (in a Japanese way), he just gets really quiet and whispers it. I had a hard time telling that's what was happing for the first few classes. I guess the Japanese get excited in different ways. In the US, we get all high-pitched, or start talkingreallyreallyfast. But the professors here in Japan tend to get quiet, and use slightly more emphatic words, but it's still really hard to tell.
No issue getting back today. Though, it started raining about halfway, so I had to buy an umbrella. It's completely unheard of in Japan to walk in the rain without one, and Mama's neighbors would think she's neglecting me if they saw me walking around without one. There's a lot of social pressure here in japan (or so I hear from people who've been here longer), so doing things like going out without a jacket or umbrella when it's cold or raining will make my host family look bad. I also got this candy. It was supposed to be green tea flavored, but it was really mild, and mostly white-chocolate tasting:
Speaking of host family, papa came home today! His voice still sounds terrible, but thankfully it seems he is well enough to come home. It was a little awkward sitting with him in the dining room while mama and Miri fixed dinner, and Sabi was upstairs cleaning. But he was quiet, and we watched weird Japanese television together, occasionally chatting and laughing. I'm trying to be downstairs more, spend more time with the family. It's one of the best ways to get better at Japanese, or so everyone keeps telling me.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Day 22 - Learning
Today was just a learning experience all over. The most distressing thing I learned today is that my card is somehow not working when I want to withdraw cash. It works just fine to view the balance, but when I try to withdraw cash, I get "invalid card". Which is upsetting. Hopefully I will be able to get that fixed soon.
I also learned today how to get back, not using the Yamanoshita line from Takadanobaba. Because it was not running. I found out after the fact that it was because a woman jumped onto the tracks. It was rather apparent from the number of emergency vehicles that something along those lines had happened, but I thought something much bigger had happened. Why else would you need 5 firetrucks, a smattering of ambulances, police cars, and a pair of circling helicopters? And I saw more than one gurney being wheeled out behind tarps. Maybe it was just really messy… Ugh, don't need to continue that thought. Anyway, it meant that I got to get talked through taking the Subway by a very helpful Tamarra by text. I managed to get back after that, despite getting a little turned around when I finally got to Shinjuku station.
Other things I learned, are that the subway is far less crowded than the trains. I even got to sit almost the entire way. It almost made it much more obvious who was staring at me. Maybe I should put more effort into making my hair look nice if people are going to stare all the time anyway. I also learned that if you stare over the shoulder of another person filling out a sudoku, and quietly mouth "3, 3, 3, 3, 三, 三, 三, 三," at them, other people are going to give you funny looks.
I learned that listening to music while walking is very nice, but when you mouth the words along with the song, people tend to stare harder. Maybe I'm just self conscious. I also learned that I can turn the music down just enough to hear subway announcements, as long as I'm not listening to The Decemberists. Their music varies in volume too much to be convenient.
I found out today that I'll probably be able to get everything I need to have flags at a place called Tokyu Hands. It'll still be cheaper than having it shipped, but I have to decide now whether I want to take it back with me, because if I wanna trash it here, there's a special trashing fee for oversize items. I am now also thinking of getting swing flags. I'll start with just a normal one and go from there.
Most of all, I learned that I can pretty much manage by myself in Japan. I need some advice every now and then (thanks Tamarra!) but if I work at it, I can be much more self-sufficient than I thought before I came here.
I also learned today how to get back, not using the Yamanoshita line from Takadanobaba. Because it was not running. I found out after the fact that it was because a woman jumped onto the tracks. It was rather apparent from the number of emergency vehicles that something along those lines had happened, but I thought something much bigger had happened. Why else would you need 5 firetrucks, a smattering of ambulances, police cars, and a pair of circling helicopters? And I saw more than one gurney being wheeled out behind tarps. Maybe it was just really messy… Ugh, don't need to continue that thought. Anyway, it meant that I got to get talked through taking the Subway by a very helpful Tamarra by text. I managed to get back after that, despite getting a little turned around when I finally got to Shinjuku station.
Other things I learned, are that the subway is far less crowded than the trains. I even got to sit almost the entire way. It almost made it much more obvious who was staring at me. Maybe I should put more effort into making my hair look nice if people are going to stare all the time anyway. I also learned that if you stare over the shoulder of another person filling out a sudoku, and quietly mouth "3, 3, 3, 3, 三, 三, 三, 三," at them, other people are going to give you funny looks.
I learned that listening to music while walking is very nice, but when you mouth the words along with the song, people tend to stare harder. Maybe I'm just self conscious. I also learned that I can turn the music down just enough to hear subway announcements, as long as I'm not listening to The Decemberists. Their music varies in volume too much to be convenient.
I found out today that I'll probably be able to get everything I need to have flags at a place called Tokyu Hands. It'll still be cheaper than having it shipped, but I have to decide now whether I want to take it back with me, because if I wanna trash it here, there's a special trashing fee for oversize items. I am now also thinking of getting swing flags. I'll start with just a normal one and go from there.
Most of all, I learned that I can pretty much manage by myself in Japan. I need some advice every now and then (thanks Tamarra!) but if I work at it, I can be much more self-sufficient than I thought before I came here.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Day 21 - Yoyogi Return
It's sunday, and that means it's time for a trip to Yoyogi park. I went once before with Colleen to find our dance group for a Hanami. I returned today with Colleen, because the place is well known for it's popularity on Sundays, as well as the "Yankee" dancers and cosplayers that hang out nearby.
Started the day with some shopping of course, and found a pretty cute jacket in a mens shopping store. It's a dark blue with white polkadots, and a small heard sewn on the left side. I have no idea why it's in the mens store, but hey, I guess that's Japanese fashion for you. Had the best fast food hamburger at this place called Lotteria. And Mellon soda again. I think I'm addicted.
Colleen and I also explored Omotesando, the other main street in Harajuku (we only really wandered Takeshita Street before), and I found some souveniers for friends back home again. I might not have much left to do in the last weeks before coming home, I'll have all my shopping done already… Also, saw this shirt while we were shopping and had to snap a pic:
But really, the best part of today was the park. We wandered, and saw some interesting Rockabilly/Elvis styled guys and girls, dancing to old american music. It was honestly very exciting and amusing. The park itself was super crowded, with people setting out tarps everywhere, lounging and drinking and generally having a good time. I wasn't expecting it to be so populated, and still kind of wonder if there was some sort of event today, or if it was people just enjoying the sun after all the gloom and rain yesterday.
Got to watch Colleen hoop-dance some more, which was pretty cool. I'm almost definitely going back to Don Quixote tomorrow to get that pole for Colorguard practice. I can't stand going to parks with Colleen and not doing something while she's spinning her hoop. We got to interact with some drunk 20-something Japanese guys and their girlfriends. They were fascinated by Colleen and her hoop, and couldn't help but want to try it. The more daring of the group, Takeyama, actually introduced himself and tried speaking as much english as he could, which was very endearing, but they were surprised when we responded in Japanese. I always love peoples' reactions when I speak to them in Japanese for the first time, because they're always very impressed and not quite sure what to do with themselves. It's like I break this mold or idea that they've made just by seeing me. It feels good, and it usually really funny.
Quiet dinner tonight. Mama went out to eat with friends, which left me, Rio, and Sabi to have some take-out food. It seems that Papa is getting better and will hopefully be returning home soon, too. I've also noticed my pants hanging little looser. It might be because they're not shrinking in the dryer because they're line-dried. I'm hoping it's because I'm losing weight from all this walking, though.
Started the day with some shopping of course, and found a pretty cute jacket in a mens shopping store. It's a dark blue with white polkadots, and a small heard sewn on the left side. I have no idea why it's in the mens store, but hey, I guess that's Japanese fashion for you. Had the best fast food hamburger at this place called Lotteria. And Mellon soda again. I think I'm addicted.
Colleen and I also explored Omotesando, the other main street in Harajuku (we only really wandered Takeshita Street before), and I found some souveniers for friends back home again. I might not have much left to do in the last weeks before coming home, I'll have all my shopping done already… Also, saw this shirt while we were shopping and had to snap a pic:
But really, the best part of today was the park. We wandered, and saw some interesting Rockabilly/Elvis styled guys and girls, dancing to old american music. It was honestly very exciting and amusing. The park itself was super crowded, with people setting out tarps everywhere, lounging and drinking and generally having a good time. I wasn't expecting it to be so populated, and still kind of wonder if there was some sort of event today, or if it was people just enjoying the sun after all the gloom and rain yesterday.
Got to watch Colleen hoop-dance some more, which was pretty cool. I'm almost definitely going back to Don Quixote tomorrow to get that pole for Colorguard practice. I can't stand going to parks with Colleen and not doing something while she's spinning her hoop. We got to interact with some drunk 20-something Japanese guys and their girlfriends. They were fascinated by Colleen and her hoop, and couldn't help but want to try it. The more daring of the group, Takeyama, actually introduced himself and tried speaking as much english as he could, which was very endearing, but they were surprised when we responded in Japanese. I always love peoples' reactions when I speak to them in Japanese for the first time, because they're always very impressed and not quite sure what to do with themselves. It's like I break this mold or idea that they've made just by seeing me. It feels good, and it usually really funny.
Quiet dinner tonight. Mama went out to eat with friends, which left me, Rio, and Sabi to have some take-out food. It seems that Papa is getting better and will hopefully be returning home soon, too. I've also noticed my pants hanging little looser. It might be because they're not shrinking in the dryer because they're line-dried. I'm hoping it's because I'm losing weight from all this walking, though.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Day 20 - Nerd day
So, today was the nerd tour of Tokyo. Set up by some of the other OUS students, we traveled to Ikebukuro, Akihabara, Hamamatsucho, and Shinjuku. This is probably the most sight-seeing I've done in a day here, and I am tired. But I'm writing anyway. For you, and for me.
The first step was actually meeting at Baba (takadanobaba). I was certain I would be late, but ended up being at least 5 min early, and waiting almost half an hour. Funny how things work that way. I got to wonder inside of the very Japanese Don Quixote. I may have found a place to get a flag pole, for under $60. Will return on mon, probably. Anyway, finally met up with the full group, and embarked on the first leg of our journey, Ikebukuro.
The main stop was a store called Animate on Otome road. Eight floors stocked full of whatever Japanese Anime and Manga goods you could think of. Anything from action figures, books, and posters, to strange things like bath salts and character body pillows. I didn't buy anything this time, but I'm sure I'll return at least once before coming home.
Next stop was Akihabara, to check out some more geeky stores, and an awesome used/old game store. I got to see an IRL original Nintendo Family Computer, the gaming system that inspired the generic Japanese word ファミコン(Famikon) for all gaming systems since. Got hit hard with nostalgia as I wandered the isles of the store. Soooo many cool old games. Also, in the area, there were a number of Maid Cafes. We didn't visit any, but they look like that weird kind of fun you have to visit once, just to say you did. May sometime in the near future.
I still hadn't bought anything yet, because of what was coming up in Hamamatsucho. The Pokémon Center!!! OMG. I can't go into that store again or I'm not going to have enough money to get home. I ended up buying some Eevee evolution charms, and a few little souvenirs for friends back home. Sooo cool. Disappointed that they didn't have macaroons like in the most recent movie. Maybe I'll find some at another center…
Second to last stop, the Square Enix store in Shinjuku. This one, I really had to hold back. They had the final mix versions of all the kingdom hearts games. I was sooooo tempted. Finally, here's the coolest thing:
Finally, return to Baba for dinner. We went to Shakeys, apparently an American restaurant, but very Japan-ized. They had things like Caesar salad with a barely-cooked egg on top, and tuna-and-corn pizza. Guh. What pizza we did order was very good, if a little pricey. Ended up being about 1700yen a person. We did get dessert pizza though which was also tasty, and had chocolate and I think apricots on top? Yum.
Much later, we went to the Big Box near the station, up to the arcade floor, and Tamarra got to try the Table Flipping game. Oh, haven't heard of it? Check out a video here on youtube. The version in the video is actually older, but it's the same concept. Tamarra actually got high score for the level she played! 76 points! Then I tried to get a Laboon plush out of a claw machine game and failed miserably, loosing a bunch of money. What a waste. I guess I'll just have to buy one somewhere else. :(
That was pretty much it. Came home. My feet hurt. And since it was raining all day, they're still kinda cold and wet, too. No earthquakes today though. That was kinda nice. Now I'm gonna sleep.
The first step was actually meeting at Baba (takadanobaba). I was certain I would be late, but ended up being at least 5 min early, and waiting almost half an hour. Funny how things work that way. I got to wonder inside of the very Japanese Don Quixote. I may have found a place to get a flag pole, for under $60. Will return on mon, probably. Anyway, finally met up with the full group, and embarked on the first leg of our journey, Ikebukuro.
The main stop was a store called Animate on Otome road. Eight floors stocked full of whatever Japanese Anime and Manga goods you could think of. Anything from action figures, books, and posters, to strange things like bath salts and character body pillows. I didn't buy anything this time, but I'm sure I'll return at least once before coming home.
Next stop was Akihabara, to check out some more geeky stores, and an awesome used/old game store. I got to see an IRL original Nintendo Family Computer, the gaming system that inspired the generic Japanese word ファミコン(Famikon) for all gaming systems since. Got hit hard with nostalgia as I wandered the isles of the store. Soooo many cool old games. Also, in the area, there were a number of Maid Cafes. We didn't visit any, but they look like that weird kind of fun you have to visit once, just to say you did. May sometime in the near future.
I still hadn't bought anything yet, because of what was coming up in Hamamatsucho. The Pokémon Center!!! OMG. I can't go into that store again or I'm not going to have enough money to get home. I ended up buying some Eevee evolution charms, and a few little souvenirs for friends back home. Sooo cool. Disappointed that they didn't have macaroons like in the most recent movie. Maybe I'll find some at another center…
Second to last stop, the Square Enix store in Shinjuku. This one, I really had to hold back. They had the final mix versions of all the kingdom hearts games. I was sooooo tempted. Finally, here's the coolest thing:
Sephiroth
Full-size Sephiroth, built into the floor
Finally, return to Baba for dinner. We went to Shakeys, apparently an American restaurant, but very Japan-ized. They had things like Caesar salad with a barely-cooked egg on top, and tuna-and-corn pizza. Guh. What pizza we did order was very good, if a little pricey. Ended up being about 1700yen a person. We did get dessert pizza though which was also tasty, and had chocolate and I think apricots on top? Yum.
Much later, we went to the Big Box near the station, up to the arcade floor, and Tamarra got to try the Table Flipping game. Oh, haven't heard of it? Check out a video here on youtube. The version in the video is actually older, but it's the same concept. Tamarra actually got high score for the level she played! 76 points! Then I tried to get a Laboon plush out of a claw machine game and failed miserably, loosing a bunch of money. What a waste. I guess I'll just have to buy one somewhere else. :(
That was pretty much it. Came home. My feet hurt. And since it was raining all day, they're still kinda cold and wet, too. No earthquakes today though. That was kinda nice. Now I'm gonna sleep.
Raaaaaaaaiiinn…
Friday, April 13, 2012
Day 19 - Shaking things up
Woke up late this morning. Again. Having to get up by 7 for a 9'o'clock class is dumb. First class, Econ, was as engaging as ever, which is to say, a little dull. Thankfully, the classroom we use is full of computers, so I can distract myself. I'd feel guilty, but all we've done so far is discuss how to read data and set up a model. I learned how to do that 2 years ago. I'm fine, really.
Next class was the personal history class. Where we did… self introductions again. It seems that's all we can do in Japanese classes for the first week or two. I talked a lot, and wrote a lot. I ran out of time, actually at the end, but the prof was nice enough for me to tack on a sloppy end to my written version.
Lush was moss burger again. I think I actually had the exact same meal, without meaning to. It's hard ordering stuff in Japanese, okay? I think I'll just close my eyes and point from now on. Still, it was pretty good, if covered in so many onions. I went to see Marie, the OUS coordinator. She's getting us museum passes, which is super convenient. Most museums charge 1000 or 2000 yen to get in, but with the pass (which is only 2000 yen itself) you can either get in free, or at a great discount. I also asked Marie where I could get a flag pole in Japan. That was fun. It seems 6', hollow, aluminum pole are a little hard to get your hands on here. Go figure.
After lunch was some other class. I'm actually having difficulty remembering right now. Um… OH! Literature and Art. Sorry, it's just the class is so absurdly boring that's it's difficult to remember. Still on the topic of TS Elliot and now some new guy. Starts with and H. You can really tell it's sinking in. Turns out though, that for the final, all I have to do is compare two or more poems that we've covered in class. Easy. I just hope I don't fall asleep in class, I don't think he'd be cool with that. I can't hide behind a computer screen here.
Next was another Japanese class. It's hard to keep track of them, there's so many. It's one of the lower level ones, and I managed to talk Tamarra into joining it with me. It was really exciting today. Jk, more self-introductions. I wasn't lying. Though for this class, each of us stood in the front and had the rest of the class ask questions. I felt like mine went on forever. Maybe I'm interesting? I dunno. The period went by much faster than the Literature one did.
I walked back with Tamarra to Takadanobaba station, where I take my train. It's nice sometimes, just talking with people in english, not having to worry about how it's gonna affect your grade, or if you'll horribly offend them in a way you don't even understand. But man, the walking is really grating on me. Literally. If you decide to do study abroad, make sure to bring comfortable shoes, etc. I'm constantly getting new blisters. Oh, and band-aid brand makes really nice blister band-aids. My hero.
It just started raining as I was walking back from the station. Looks like I managed to avoid it once again. Though, the weather reports seem to say it'll continue on through tomorrow. Might ruin some of the Akihabara fun I have planned. In other news, there was another earthquake today. Always fun. And by fun, I mean paralyzingly scary. This one was much longer than the other two, but by the time I decided I should probably duck and cover, it'd ended. Nothing fell though, and there was no sound. It was just a bunch of shaking. Hopefully I'll either get used to it, or they'll just stop. Well, it's the third in the past 24 hours in my area, and the 4th in the past week, and then there was that one when we first got here, so maybe it won't stop…
Next class was the personal history class. Where we did… self introductions again. It seems that's all we can do in Japanese classes for the first week or two. I talked a lot, and wrote a lot. I ran out of time, actually at the end, but the prof was nice enough for me to tack on a sloppy end to my written version.
Lush was moss burger again. I think I actually had the exact same meal, without meaning to. It's hard ordering stuff in Japanese, okay? I think I'll just close my eyes and point from now on. Still, it was pretty good, if covered in so many onions. I went to see Marie, the OUS coordinator. She's getting us museum passes, which is super convenient. Most museums charge 1000 or 2000 yen to get in, but with the pass (which is only 2000 yen itself) you can either get in free, or at a great discount. I also asked Marie where I could get a flag pole in Japan. That was fun. It seems 6', hollow, aluminum pole are a little hard to get your hands on here. Go figure.
After lunch was some other class. I'm actually having difficulty remembering right now. Um… OH! Literature and Art. Sorry, it's just the class is so absurdly boring that's it's difficult to remember. Still on the topic of TS Elliot and now some new guy. Starts with and H. You can really tell it's sinking in. Turns out though, that for the final, all I have to do is compare two or more poems that we've covered in class. Easy. I just hope I don't fall asleep in class, I don't think he'd be cool with that. I can't hide behind a computer screen here.
Next was another Japanese class. It's hard to keep track of them, there's so many. It's one of the lower level ones, and I managed to talk Tamarra into joining it with me. It was really exciting today. Jk, more self-introductions. I wasn't lying. Though for this class, each of us stood in the front and had the rest of the class ask questions. I felt like mine went on forever. Maybe I'm interesting? I dunno. The period went by much faster than the Literature one did.
I walked back with Tamarra to Takadanobaba station, where I take my train. It's nice sometimes, just talking with people in english, not having to worry about how it's gonna affect your grade, or if you'll horribly offend them in a way you don't even understand. But man, the walking is really grating on me. Literally. If you decide to do study abroad, make sure to bring comfortable shoes, etc. I'm constantly getting new blisters. Oh, and band-aid brand makes really nice blister band-aids. My hero.
It just started raining as I was walking back from the station. Looks like I managed to avoid it once again. Though, the weather reports seem to say it'll continue on through tomorrow. Might ruin some of the Akihabara fun I have planned. In other news, there was another earthquake today. Always fun. And by fun, I mean paralyzingly scary. This one was much longer than the other two, but by the time I decided I should probably duck and cover, it'd ended. Nothing fell though, and there was no sound. It was just a bunch of shaking. Hopefully I'll either get used to it, or they'll just stop. Well, it's the third in the past 24 hours in my area, and the 4th in the past week, and then there was that one when we first got here, so maybe it won't stop…
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Day 18 - Getting hard to think of interesting names
I've come to the conclusion that Japanese sinks are just too damn small, and their water pressure is too damn high. I've washed my hands a number of times today, and each time, no matter how careful, I managed to soak my shirt and get water everywhere. It's stupid. The one greatest thing about Japanese bathrooms is the heated toilet seats. I can't say how many times I've appreciated sitting on a heated seat in this freezing house.
Only had two classes today. The first was Economic Development, and second was "Learning Japanese through Activities". I heard back from my advisor, and it seems that this Econ class will count for my Econ requirement that I need for my major. That, along with the word that the Literature and Arts class I'm taking works for the "Arts and Letters" requirement (I'd be disappointed if it didn't), means that as long as I pass those two classes, I'm graduating when I get back home! Horay!
Class itself was pretty dull. The Econ prof. actually bothered to show up this time, but was a little… higgledypiggledy. He couldn't keep on topic, or couldn't really create a flow of topic that was easy to follow. I took a lot of notes. I just hope it'll be enough.
Japanese was equally uneventful. We're doing this kind of weird activity where we do a self introduction, but only use three main words that are important to us. Then have people ask questions. I didn't go today, but I guess we're doing it next week as well? Don't wanna… Mine's gonna be pretty lame.
The interesting part of today was the health check. Waseda requires that its students go through a health check each year in order to use their health center and exercise facilities. They've got procedure down to an art, and I can really appreciate the efficiency of their process. I was able to do the whole process and be out in less than an hour. If I spoke better Japanese, or had done it before, it probably would have been even faster. The tests included a chest x-ray, height and weight measurements, eye exam, and blood pressure test, then a short consultation at the end with information about on campus facilities, and information about your general health. It was relatively painless, and quick enough for the number of people streaming in and out of there.
I'm getting a little tired of all the people staring at me here. It's something I'm going to have to get used to, but for now it just is uncomfortable. It just makes me feel super self-conscious. The walk home today, while nice because of the weather, was slightly dampened by the crowd of Meiji University students I had to wade through, amongst whispers of "gaijin" "gaijin". I hear it enough on campus, too. It's okay usually, but I guess someone came up to an OUS member yesterday while we were at the Hanami yesterday, and told them to "Go home, Gaijin". It just kinda sucks. I wanna ask that guy why he felt it necessary to be so rude. It's just one of those weird dichotomies of Japanese culture. On the otherhand, I live next to a sports-focused highschool, and could hear them practicing to Lady Gaga and Ke$ha…
There was another, much smaller earthquake today at about eight-thirty. It was a little exciting, but makes me wonder what I'd do if there were a more drastic one. I didn't really react here. Would I later on? I hope so. On another subject of natural stuff, there's supposed to be another typhoon tomorrow. Starting in the east, and moving up through honshu as the day progresses. It's not supposed to hit Tokyo 'til later, but I don't wanna get stuck if the trains stop running like they did last time. And it's possible it could run into saturday and ruin some fun plans. Oh well, only time can tell. I keep telling myself to be more patient.
Only had two classes today. The first was Economic Development, and second was "Learning Japanese through Activities". I heard back from my advisor, and it seems that this Econ class will count for my Econ requirement that I need for my major. That, along with the word that the Literature and Arts class I'm taking works for the "Arts and Letters" requirement (I'd be disappointed if it didn't), means that as long as I pass those two classes, I'm graduating when I get back home! Horay!
Class itself was pretty dull. The Econ prof. actually bothered to show up this time, but was a little… higgledypiggledy. He couldn't keep on topic, or couldn't really create a flow of topic that was easy to follow. I took a lot of notes. I just hope it'll be enough.
Japanese was equally uneventful. We're doing this kind of weird activity where we do a self introduction, but only use three main words that are important to us. Then have people ask questions. I didn't go today, but I guess we're doing it next week as well? Don't wanna… Mine's gonna be pretty lame.
The interesting part of today was the health check. Waseda requires that its students go through a health check each year in order to use their health center and exercise facilities. They've got procedure down to an art, and I can really appreciate the efficiency of their process. I was able to do the whole process and be out in less than an hour. If I spoke better Japanese, or had done it before, it probably would have been even faster. The tests included a chest x-ray, height and weight measurements, eye exam, and blood pressure test, then a short consultation at the end with information about on campus facilities, and information about your general health. It was relatively painless, and quick enough for the number of people streaming in and out of there.
I'm getting a little tired of all the people staring at me here. It's something I'm going to have to get used to, but for now it just is uncomfortable. It just makes me feel super self-conscious. The walk home today, while nice because of the weather, was slightly dampened by the crowd of Meiji University students I had to wade through, amongst whispers of "gaijin" "gaijin". I hear it enough on campus, too. It's okay usually, but I guess someone came up to an OUS member yesterday while we were at the Hanami yesterday, and told them to "Go home, Gaijin". It just kinda sucks. I wanna ask that guy why he felt it necessary to be so rude. It's just one of those weird dichotomies of Japanese culture. On the otherhand, I live next to a sports-focused highschool, and could hear them practicing to Lady Gaga and Ke$ha…
There was another, much smaller earthquake today at about eight-thirty. It was a little exciting, but makes me wonder what I'd do if there were a more drastic one. I didn't really react here. Would I later on? I hope so. On another subject of natural stuff, there's supposed to be another typhoon tomorrow. Starting in the east, and moving up through honshu as the day progresses. It's not supposed to hit Tokyo 'til later, but I don't wanna get stuck if the trains stop running like they did last time. And it's possible it could run into saturday and ruin some fun plans. Oh well, only time can tell. I keep telling myself to be more patient.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Day 17 - Maybe tomorrow will be interesting…
I spent the day in classes again today. That's how it's gonna be for the next few months, I guess. Today was Conversational Grammar and Expressions, Practicing Natural Conversation, and Formal and Informal Expressions. All in Japanese, and all seem to be manageable so far. I actually learned some new things today. Like, the word for Whale in Japanese is くじら、pronounced Kujura. A lot of the classes are still in the introduction and guidance stage, where they're trying to give a basic understanding of what to expect for the course, so you can decide whether or not to take it. The best part so far is I'm only going to need one book, and that one's a maybe still.
Had lunch at 7-11. The food there is much better than in the US. Had a couple of nikuman, and they were tasty enough, also pretty cheap. Spending about $2.75 is a pretty good price for lunch. And far under the $10 I've allocated for lunch every day.
That's about it to my day. Checked out the campus book store. Books are way cheaper here, I may end up spending less than $100 even for two or three books. Still looking for a cheap version of Harry Potter in Japanese…
Came home early, and spent my afternoon looking at prices of flag poles and silks. It looks like it'd cost at least $30 to ship anything here. Maybe I'll find a place here that sells them. There are actually marching bands in Japan, just like in the US. Not that I don't get that blank staring look from anyone I mention it to…
I have an early class tomorrow. Hopefully I won't sleep through my alarm again. It's hard getting onto a school schedule. (Z_Z)
Had lunch at 7-11. The food there is much better than in the US. Had a couple of nikuman, and they were tasty enough, also pretty cheap. Spending about $2.75 is a pretty good price for lunch. And far under the $10 I've allocated for lunch every day.
That's about it to my day. Checked out the campus book store. Books are way cheaper here, I may end up spending less than $100 even for two or three books. Still looking for a cheap version of Harry Potter in Japanese…
Came home early, and spent my afternoon looking at prices of flag poles and silks. It looks like it'd cost at least $30 to ship anything here. Maybe I'll find a place here that sells them. There are actually marching bands in Japan, just like in the US. Not that I don't get that blank staring look from anyone I mention it to…
I have an early class tomorrow. Hopefully I won't sleep through my alarm again. It's hard getting onto a school schedule. (Z_Z)
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Day 16 - Flowers and Shibuya
At least my legs will be fit by the time I get back. I walked another 11950 steps today. Kinda makes me wanna walk 50 steps in place to make it an even 12000… nope. Tooo tired.
Today started nice and lazy. I was supposed to get up to do lunch with friends at Waseda around noon, but slept late, and didn't have class until 1 anyway. I'm finally getting used to the trains here, but I'm still scared I'll get on the wrong one sometimes.
The first class of my day today was a Business Honorifics class, 3-4 level. I only tested into 2, so was a little worried, but it seems like review so far. It was a little difficult because the prof only spoke in Japanese, but I expected that. I just need to make that transition back to Japanese faster. I'll come in time, I'm sure.
The other class I had today was my Literature and Art class again. Prof still has hay-fever or something, and has a hard time speaking up. Well, that, and he makes some strange logical leaps. He assigned Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Gerontion by TS Elliot. He somehow was of the opinion that Elliot had read Ulysses, and had based Gerontion off of that. Or at least, it seemed that was his arguement. He was really quiet, and still had to cough every 6th or so word. He gave us some new poetry to read, more by Elliot, and some by another prominent author of the time. I forgot the name, but I'm sure it'll be at least an interesting read. The class itself is woefully yawn-inducing.
I went with Colleen and Tamarra for dinner. We went to the hole-in-the-wall ramen place (which marks off at least one of our achievements), where they excitedly shout their greetings, and we ate some delicious ramen. The broth was so thick and salty and tasty, it was almost like a watered down gravy. Soooooo goood. Tamarra has a freakish aversion to fatty pork, so she gave me hers. Again, sooooooo goood. There was seaweed, and spinach, and the noodles were cooked just a shade softer than al dente. I'll probably revisit this place just as much as the curry place, but order smaller dishes. So much salt. (;´・`)>
Tonight, Marie Sato, the OUS system coordinator set up a night time flower viewing tour for us OUS students. Four of the new Oregon people came, as well as about 10 older students. We had an awesome time wandering by a river where all the flowers were underlit.
Afterwards, Colleen, Jason, and I decided to take a little trip to Shibuya. Jason's been around there a few times, and about 4 years ago, and wanted to show us a great view of the famous Shibuya crossing. Unfortunately, in the 4 years since he's been there, they've closed off the area. Too bad. But we got to cross the crossing about three times, all really interesting.
We wandered the shopping area some, looking at shoes, clothes, pets, whatever the stores had to show off. There's some really cool designs of converse I've never seen before. However, 9 pairs of shoes is probably plenty to have here in Japan, so I refrained from purchasing more. I did get to finally see Hachiko up close! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read about Hachiko here.
About an hour or so ago we split ways, and I headed back on my own to Meidaimae. It's a little different heading back when it's so dark out. There were a lot more men on the trains, and it was strangely packed. But the weather's gotten a lot nicer lately, and despite taking an extra jacket, I never really needed it. Maybe I won't have to buy a warmer jacket afterall?
Today started nice and lazy. I was supposed to get up to do lunch with friends at Waseda around noon, but slept late, and didn't have class until 1 anyway. I'm finally getting used to the trains here, but I'm still scared I'll get on the wrong one sometimes.
The first class of my day today was a Business Honorifics class, 3-4 level. I only tested into 2, so was a little worried, but it seems like review so far. It was a little difficult because the prof only spoke in Japanese, but I expected that. I just need to make that transition back to Japanese faster. I'll come in time, I'm sure.
The other class I had today was my Literature and Art class again. Prof still has hay-fever or something, and has a hard time speaking up. Well, that, and he makes some strange logical leaps. He assigned Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Gerontion by TS Elliot. He somehow was of the opinion that Elliot had read Ulysses, and had based Gerontion off of that. Or at least, it seemed that was his arguement. He was really quiet, and still had to cough every 6th or so word. He gave us some new poetry to read, more by Elliot, and some by another prominent author of the time. I forgot the name, but I'm sure it'll be at least an interesting read. The class itself is woefully yawn-inducing.
I went with Colleen and Tamarra for dinner. We went to the hole-in-the-wall ramen place (which marks off at least one of our achievements), where they excitedly shout their greetings, and we ate some delicious ramen. The broth was so thick and salty and tasty, it was almost like a watered down gravy. Soooooo goood. Tamarra has a freakish aversion to fatty pork, so she gave me hers. Again, sooooooo goood. There was seaweed, and spinach, and the noodles were cooked just a shade softer than al dente. I'll probably revisit this place just as much as the curry place, but order smaller dishes. So much salt. (;´・`)>
Tonight, Marie Sato, the OUS system coordinator set up a night time flower viewing tour for us OUS students. Four of the new Oregon people came, as well as about 10 older students. We had an awesome time wandering by a river where all the flowers were underlit.
Afterwards, Colleen, Jason, and I decided to take a little trip to Shibuya. Jason's been around there a few times, and about 4 years ago, and wanted to show us a great view of the famous Shibuya crossing. Unfortunately, in the 4 years since he's been there, they've closed off the area. Too bad. But we got to cross the crossing about three times, all really interesting.
We wandered the shopping area some, looking at shoes, clothes, pets, whatever the stores had to show off. There's some really cool designs of converse I've never seen before. However, 9 pairs of shoes is probably plenty to have here in Japan, so I refrained from purchasing more. I did get to finally see Hachiko up close! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read about Hachiko here.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Day 15 - Dinner with demons
I didn't have school or plans today, so I'm not really interesting. I also didn't get around to uploading pics, so there's that, too…
I woke up around 10 today, and spent the time immersing myself in America, watching tv, dicking about on the net. I went down for breakfast around noon, and found out that I'd double booked myself tonight. I was supposed to go to this concert thing with Miri, which was all Hello-kitty themed, and there was going to be a pop-star called ベキー (becky?) there, but tonight was also the welcome dinner for the international students at waseda. I ended up giving Miri my ticket, and letting her take a friend instead. Sucks, but I guess it's okay. She was way more excited about it than I was anyway.
The dinner was beautiful, if rather boring. I got to see a bunch of international (read: not japanese) students acting like assholes. People talked during the speeches, especially near the end, and drank during the toast, not waiting for him to finish. The worst, of course, was that the dinner was buffet-style, and there was almost no semblance of order. People rushed the tables even before the last speaker finished, and just dove over one another to get to the food. It was awful. Not only that, but there were no chairs, so I had to stand for over an hour, either waiting in line, eating, or both.
On the plus side, I did get to see WIF preform again. I'm almost sure now that I'll join them. Just gotta work out a schedule. And that was it. Nothing else interesting today. I felt pretty bad all day, after those 14000 steps yesterday, and was exhausted again by the time I got home.
I woke up around 10 today, and spent the time immersing myself in America, watching tv, dicking about on the net. I went down for breakfast around noon, and found out that I'd double booked myself tonight. I was supposed to go to this concert thing with Miri, which was all Hello-kitty themed, and there was going to be a pop-star called ベキー (becky?) there, but tonight was also the welcome dinner for the international students at waseda. I ended up giving Miri my ticket, and letting her take a friend instead. Sucks, but I guess it's okay. She was way more excited about it than I was anyway.
The dinner was beautiful, if rather boring. I got to see a bunch of international (read: not japanese) students acting like assholes. People talked during the speeches, especially near the end, and drank during the toast, not waiting for him to finish. The worst, of course, was that the dinner was buffet-style, and there was almost no semblance of order. People rushed the tables even before the last speaker finished, and just dove over one another to get to the food. It was awful. Not only that, but there were no chairs, so I had to stand for over an hour, either waiting in line, eating, or both.
On the plus side, I did get to see WIF preform again. I'm almost sure now that I'll join them. Just gotta work out a schedule. And that was it. Nothing else interesting today. I felt pretty bad all day, after those 14000 steps yesterday, and was exhausted again by the time I got home.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Day 14 - 14371
It's been a good day. The school/circle had set up a tour of Yokohama today, and Tamarra, Colleen and I went on it. Yokohama is about an hour and a half south of Tokyo, and is known for being the second largest city in Japan, after Tokyo, and also a bustling port town. It certainly reminded me of Portland in some instances.
First off was Yokohama's Chinatown, known as Chukagai. Extremely packed. Though I was assured it's because it's the weekend. We got a good tour of it, had a single nikuman (gyoza bun) from "The worlds best" nikuman shop. It was passable, but I think the one I got at 7-11 was better. Then lunch at Ma-san's shop (馬さんの店), whose website is absurd, see here. Where I had simple shrimp and rice.
By the way, did I mention it was freezing today? It was. I only brought a cardigan, and had to wear a skirt because I washed all my pants with my laundry last night. Poor choice on my part.
Next was to the park near the ocean, which actually reminded me of Portland's waterfront park along Naito pkwy, bustling with people and water fountains. We had a group picture, which I will post once I find it. There were so many of us, it was absurd. At the waterfront, we actually were able to board a ship whose name I've forgotten already, but it's in some of my pictures.
It often made the trip from Yokohama to Seattle as both a cargo and luxury vessel. Definitely made in a different time. It's been repainted so many times, that there's at least a 1/4 inch layer on almost all surfaces.
We made new friends with others in the group by exclaiming over how comfy a couch was, and spent a goood long time there.
Next was to the akarenge, lit. Red Warehouse, a set of two warehouses that have been converted into a shopping mall. Nice. But cold. I looked for a jacket, but didn't see anything less than $60, and didn't have that much on me in the first place.
That was the end of the Yokohama tour, and we returned to Takadanobaba for dinner at Momo Paradise, a Shabu-shabu restaurant. For shabu-shabu, there's a near-boiling pot of water, and you add vegetables and very thin slices of meat to cook. We also got two different bowls of sauce to dip in. One was almost a pad-thai, peanuty sauce, and the other a more vinegary, spicy sauce. I loved the later, but Colleen liked the first more. Best part? It was a tabehodai. Remember that word? It means all-you-can-eat. Oooooh man. So much food was eaten.
Colleen and I had another two plates of meat and a plate of veggies on our own, after our japanese hotpot-sharers gave up. It was almost two hours ago now, but I'm still really full.
Oh, the 14371? That's how many steps I've taken today. Tamarra found out there's a pedometer in our phones, so I decided to set that up and see what kind of crazy numbers I can reach. I have a feeling it'll be highest at Disneyland…
Also? I'm on a boat.
First off was Yokohama's Chinatown, known as Chukagai. Extremely packed. Though I was assured it's because it's the weekend. We got a good tour of it, had a single nikuman (gyoza bun) from "The worlds best" nikuman shop. It was passable, but I think the one I got at 7-11 was better. Then lunch at Ma-san's shop (馬さんの店), whose website is absurd, see here. Where I had simple shrimp and rice.
Shine in Chinatown
By the way, did I mention it was freezing today? It was. I only brought a cardigan, and had to wear a skirt because I washed all my pants with my laundry last night. Poor choice on my part.
Next was to the park near the ocean, which actually reminded me of Portland's waterfront park along Naito pkwy, bustling with people and water fountains. We had a group picture, which I will post once I find it. There were so many of us, it was absurd. At the waterfront, we actually were able to board a ship whose name I've forgotten already, but it's in some of my pictures.
It often made the trip from Yokohama to Seattle as both a cargo and luxury vessel. Definitely made in a different time. It's been repainted so many times, that there's at least a 1/4 inch layer on almost all surfaces.
We made new friends with others in the group by exclaiming over how comfy a couch was, and spent a goood long time there.
Next was to the akarenge, lit. Red Warehouse, a set of two warehouses that have been converted into a shopping mall. Nice. But cold. I looked for a jacket, but didn't see anything less than $60, and didn't have that much on me in the first place.
That was the end of the Yokohama tour, and we returned to Takadanobaba for dinner at Momo Paradise, a Shabu-shabu restaurant. For shabu-shabu, there's a near-boiling pot of water, and you add vegetables and very thin slices of meat to cook. We also got two different bowls of sauce to dip in. One was almost a pad-thai, peanuty sauce, and the other a more vinegary, spicy sauce. I loved the later, but Colleen liked the first more. Best part? It was a tabehodai. Remember that word? It means all-you-can-eat. Oooooh man. So much food was eaten.
Colleen and I had another two plates of meat and a plate of veggies on our own, after our japanese hotpot-sharers gave up. It was almost two hours ago now, but I'm still really full.
Oh, the 14371? That's how many steps I've taken today. Tamarra found out there's a pedometer in our phones, so I decided to set that up and see what kind of crazy numbers I can reach. I have a feeling it'll be highest at Disneyland…
Also? I'm on a boat.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Day 13 - Unlucky
Despite it being saturday, not friday, today has been a very unlucky 13th for me. The day started with me waking up later than I should have. This happens enough that it wasn't really a worry. However, I missed Tamarra's texts, which was the problem. I went down to breakfast, came up to check my phone, and realized I'd missed quite a few. Also, when I tried to respond to them, my phone up and died. I'm going to charge it every night from now on.
Tamarra's texts were important because we were going to fix an issue with our cellphones today, mainly that they had us paying in cash by mail, but I'd much rather it done automatically by card. But we needed someone to help us to communicate that to the people at the phone company, so needed my host sister, and she was only free 'til lunch. Finally, about 10:45 rolls around, Tamarra gets here with a little difficulty, and we head to the phone shop.
We get there and guess what? I forgot my card. So I leave Tamarra there with Rio, go back home, get my card, and because it's so hot, trade my coat for a thinner cardigan. And promptly leave my phone at home. That much was okay at least, I didn't need it to change to a card, but wanted to use it today, so we had to come back one more time.
That finally done, Tamarra and I split with Rio so she could go see papa, while Tamarra and I went to Harajuku. It's my third time now! On the way, we saw one of my neighbors has this weird collection of statues in front of their house:
We got there, and went to this place called Sweets Paradise. It's a Tabehodai, an all-you-can-eat sweets place. I'll upload pics eventually, I don't feel up to it today.
After, we went to the Daiso, a 100yen store, and I picked up some school supplies. We decided to go home directly after though. Get back, do some reading for classes. Shortly, an old homestay student of Mama's shows up, with mama and yuri, and we all have tea together. That slowly morphs into dinner. Mama brought out the huge, beautiful boiling pot of Udon, so I ran upstairs to get my camera to take a pic.
I wish I'd stayed and taken it with my ipod, because on the way back down, I slipped on the stairs and slid down. Fucking hurts. Then got to cry in front of this person I just met, and my back, knee, and ankle hurt now. I'm going to Yokohama tomorrow for a tour, but this shit sucks.
After that, tonight has been mostly uneventful. I learned how to use a Japanese washing machine. They should be done soon, but most Japanese don't have a dryer, so I get to dry my clothes outside. Yay? I don't like seeing my own clothes, much less having the neighbors gawk at them. Oh well. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it, or find a coin laundromat and shell out more money… Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Tamarra's texts were important because we were going to fix an issue with our cellphones today, mainly that they had us paying in cash by mail, but I'd much rather it done automatically by card. But we needed someone to help us to communicate that to the people at the phone company, so needed my host sister, and she was only free 'til lunch. Finally, about 10:45 rolls around, Tamarra gets here with a little difficulty, and we head to the phone shop.
We get there and guess what? I forgot my card. So I leave Tamarra there with Rio, go back home, get my card, and because it's so hot, trade my coat for a thinner cardigan. And promptly leave my phone at home. That much was okay at least, I didn't need it to change to a card, but wanted to use it today, so we had to come back one more time.
That finally done, Tamarra and I split with Rio so she could go see papa, while Tamarra and I went to Harajuku. It's my third time now! On the way, we saw one of my neighbors has this weird collection of statues in front of their house:
We got there, and went to this place called Sweets Paradise. It's a Tabehodai, an all-you-can-eat sweets place. I'll upload pics eventually, I don't feel up to it today.
After, we went to the Daiso, a 100yen store, and I picked up some school supplies. We decided to go home directly after though. Get back, do some reading for classes. Shortly, an old homestay student of Mama's shows up, with mama and yuri, and we all have tea together. That slowly morphs into dinner. Mama brought out the huge, beautiful boiling pot of Udon, so I ran upstairs to get my camera to take a pic.
I wish I'd stayed and taken it with my ipod, because on the way back down, I slipped on the stairs and slid down. Fucking hurts. Then got to cry in front of this person I just met, and my back, knee, and ankle hurt now. I'm going to Yokohama tomorrow for a tour, but this shit sucks.
After that, tonight has been mostly uneventful. I learned how to use a Japanese washing machine. They should be done soon, but most Japanese don't have a dryer, so I get to dry my clothes outside. Yay? I don't like seeing my own clothes, much less having the neighbors gawk at them. Oh well. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it, or find a coin laundromat and shell out more money… Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Day 12 - Classes start
I had a difficult night last night, since I got dropped from four of my 8 total classes. Today was my chance to rebuild. I managed to add in a bunch of different classes. Unfortunately, I won't know if I'll get bumped from them, too, until the 13th. Uuuugh. I also found out that the contemporary japanese lit class I wanted to take is now only being offered in Japanese. And all the books are in Japanese, have to read 13 full books by the end of the class, as well as make presentations in Japanese. Yeah, that's not happening. I signed up for a Literature and Art class today as well, that should be in english, and that sounds much more promising.
First class of the morning started at 9, and I got there just fine. It was weird though. It's development economics, which is fine, but the prof decided to not even bother coming in today. He had recorded his entire lecture, reading from a script, and reading from the slides connected to the lecture. It was the most boring 45min of Japan so far. However, I feel it will be an interesting class, and I don't really have any alternatives.
Next was a newly added Japanese class about communicating personal history, and it's mostly a writing class. It's a little below my level, but it also looks like a lot of fun. Tamarra and I went to Japanese KFC for lunch. My host sister told me it was very different from her Australian KFC, but I didn't really notice the difference. The portion sizes were smaller, but that's to be expected. There was also a lot of mayo on the sandwich, and it was kind of … zesty? It was okay. The weird thing was that there was a smoking section inside that we had to sit in since there was no room elsewhere. Oh well.
After that was the dreaded Contemporary Lit class. I decided to at least check it out for today. It was worse than I thought. I also stuck around too long. The prof started assigning dates for peoples' projects, and I wanted none of that, and had to explain in Japanese that there's no way I'd be able to do the class. Seriously. That's like, level 6-8 stuff, and I tested into 2. And it's supposed to be in english anyway. I don't know why he thought he could do that. Anyway, water under the bridge, I'm dropping that asap.
After that embarrassing horror of a class, was the other lit class. The prof. had hay fever, which made the class both boring and difficult to understand. It seems like it will be mainly on poetry, and looks like it will be pretty interesting as well. Last class of the day was Thinking and Speaking in Japanese. It's only a 1-2 level class, and really showed. We spent the class doing self-introductions. Basic, this is my name, I come from here, I like this, I don't like that, my major is… etc. I hope it picks up a little bit so I'm not terribly bored.
Coming back to the homestay today was easily the most interesting part of my day. Mama was going wild in the kitchen, frying up a storm. She make almost $100 worth of Tempura, various vegetables, fish, and shrimp. And also grilled some beef. And made udon and soba noodles. It was a sight to see. I wish I had taken a picture of it all arranged together. The occasion for such a meal, was Miri-chan's parents were coming from Korea to visit! Her father was very excited to use his english. He's been studying for a long time, and honestly was very good, if you could get around the accent. Miri's mom was also very nice, but only spoke Korean and a little Japanese. I think they both were overwhelmed by Mama's vigor, which is easy. There were seven of us at Mama's little table, and still we weren't able to eat all that Mama cooked. So that means leftover soba and tempura tomorrow! We bid them good night, and after helping with the enormous cleaning task, I also came to bed. I did a little budgeting, and discovered that if I'm very careful, I'll actually be able to do everything I plan to do. The day ended on a high note finally. But I'm sooooo tired now…
First class of the morning started at 9, and I got there just fine. It was weird though. It's development economics, which is fine, but the prof decided to not even bother coming in today. He had recorded his entire lecture, reading from a script, and reading from the slides connected to the lecture. It was the most boring 45min of Japan so far. However, I feel it will be an interesting class, and I don't really have any alternatives.
Next was a newly added Japanese class about communicating personal history, and it's mostly a writing class. It's a little below my level, but it also looks like a lot of fun. Tamarra and I went to Japanese KFC for lunch. My host sister told me it was very different from her Australian KFC, but I didn't really notice the difference. The portion sizes were smaller, but that's to be expected. There was also a lot of mayo on the sandwich, and it was kind of … zesty? It was okay. The weird thing was that there was a smoking section inside that we had to sit in since there was no room elsewhere. Oh well.
After that was the dreaded Contemporary Lit class. I decided to at least check it out for today. It was worse than I thought. I also stuck around too long. The prof started assigning dates for peoples' projects, and I wanted none of that, and had to explain in Japanese that there's no way I'd be able to do the class. Seriously. That's like, level 6-8 stuff, and I tested into 2. And it's supposed to be in english anyway. I don't know why he thought he could do that. Anyway, water under the bridge, I'm dropping that asap.
After that embarrassing horror of a class, was the other lit class. The prof. had hay fever, which made the class both boring and difficult to understand. It seems like it will be mainly on poetry, and looks like it will be pretty interesting as well. Last class of the day was Thinking and Speaking in Japanese. It's only a 1-2 level class, and really showed. We spent the class doing self-introductions. Basic, this is my name, I come from here, I like this, I don't like that, my major is… etc. I hope it picks up a little bit so I'm not terribly bored.
Coming back to the homestay today was easily the most interesting part of my day. Mama was going wild in the kitchen, frying up a storm. She make almost $100 worth of Tempura, various vegetables, fish, and shrimp. And also grilled some beef. And made udon and soba noodles. It was a sight to see. I wish I had taken a picture of it all arranged together. The occasion for such a meal, was Miri-chan's parents were coming from Korea to visit! Her father was very excited to use his english. He's been studying for a long time, and honestly was very good, if you could get around the accent. Miri's mom was also very nice, but only spoke Korean and a little Japanese. I think they both were overwhelmed by Mama's vigor, which is easy. There were seven of us at Mama's little table, and still we weren't able to eat all that Mama cooked. So that means leftover soba and tempura tomorrow! We bid them good night, and after helping with the enormous cleaning task, I also came to bed. I did a little budgeting, and discovered that if I'm very careful, I'll actually be able to do everything I plan to do. The day ended on a high note finally. But I'm sooooo tired now…
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Day 11 - Judgement
Today started of rather nice. I had a good breakfast, a nice calm morning, and set off to school for the SILS picnic. The day was lovely and warm. Met a bunch of new people, and got to speak a little japanese. I went off with Tamarra to see where classes would be, but ended up not finding it. Got the unfortunate discovery that the literature class I wanted to take is mostly in Japanese. An entire book, every week, in Japanese. It's hard enough in english! I dunno what I'm gonna do…
We wandered around the waseda campus, looking maybe for a tea shop. Found a cream puff shop with an adorable panda cream puff. It was delicious.
Got home about 5, and read the rest of mockingjay. Now I definitely don't have anything english to read on the way back from Japan… :/
Busy night here at the house. Miri-chan came over, and we had a big dinner, and talked for a long time, with Miri, Yuri, Rio, and Mama. Until like, midnight. I went upstairs to check on my classes. Looks like I got bumped from 4 of the 1 credit classes. I have to take 14 classes here, or else. But I don't know how I'm going to do that now. I'm also considering switching out that lit class now, that it's seems so difficult. I'm going to econ early tomorroe, and have to get up at about 7, which is why this post is so short. I'll keep people updated on how classes are gonna go.
We wandered around the waseda campus, looking maybe for a tea shop. Found a cream puff shop with an adorable panda cream puff. It was delicious.
Got home about 5, and read the rest of mockingjay. Now I definitely don't have anything english to read on the way back from Japan… :/
Busy night here at the house. Miri-chan came over, and we had a big dinner, and talked for a long time, with Miri, Yuri, Rio, and Mama. Until like, midnight. I went upstairs to check on my classes. Looks like I got bumped from 4 of the 1 credit classes. I have to take 14 classes here, or else. But I don't know how I'm going to do that now. I'm also considering switching out that lit class now, that it's seems so difficult. I'm going to econ early tomorroe, and have to get up at about 7, which is why this post is so short. I'll keep people updated on how classes are gonna go.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Day 10 - Ohanami
Today started off like normal. I woke up earlier than I meant to, so by the time I got downstairs, by breakfast was cold. It was also honestly kinda gross. Rice, corn, cold tuna, and cabbage. I couldn't really like it at all. There was also soup, which was pretty good, and yogurt, which I normally loathe, but simply put up with here. I feel a little bad writing like this, but I'm in a bad mood right now.
The rest of the day was actually pleasant. After the typhoon yesterday, it was very nice outside, warm and sunny, no sight of rain. I went to go sightseeing/hanami with Colleen in Harajuku. I misjudged how much time it would take me to get there and ended up almost 40 minutes early. (#／。＼#) But we wandered quite a bit, enjoying exploring Takeshita street. I bought more than I probably should have, but hey, it's Japan.
We then set off to Yoyogi park, in search of the WIF group, and international dancing group, who were holding Hanami today. We made a wrong turn, and ended up in the Meiji shrine, instead of Yoyogi park. It was beautiful, almost serene if you could ignore the drone of tourists and the sounds of the city that the trees can't quite keep out. Home to the largest torii gate in Japan, it was a lovely detour.
We eventually found our way to the real Yoyogi park, but because we didn't meet the WIF group when we should have, we couldn't find them. It was also lovely, walking through the busy park, listening in to the groups of Japanese students and families who were enjoying both the flowers, and getting wildly drunk. It's one of the few times I think I'll see Japanese quite so outlandish.
Colleen and I enjoyed a quiet lunch, observing the flowers and the drunken Japanese. She had brought along her hoop today, to get a practice in while at the park. She does hoop dancing, which is almost like a much improved, mesmerizing, complicated hula hoop dance. That sounds dumb. Suffice to say, it was pretty damn cool. Made me really want to do color guard again. I think I might end up ordering a collapsable flag pole, and having it sent here with a flag. That way I can spend more time having some fun with what I know, and Colleen can have some company on her excursions to the park.
Anyway, while she was practicing, there was a large group of people nearby playing the Japanese versions of tag and red-light green-light, etc. Turns out it was actually the WIF group! We met up with them with about an hour or so left of their get-together. It was nice talking to some new people, and seeing a little bit of what the group can do. If all goes well, I'll probably join for the Indian and Japanese Buyo dances.
Travel home was relatively uneventful, if extremely crowded. We left right in the middle of Japanese rush hour, which meant I got to be squished in the huddled, hurried masses of the Japanese rail lines. I've never ridden when it was so busy before.
Dinner tonight with Mama and Yuri. I had Chisari-zushi for the first time. It's sushi, in it's unrolled form. Meaning, it's just rice and a bunch of seafood, egg, and vegetables on top. Surprisingly sweet. I didn't really take to the idea of sushi without nori, so I got to have some strips that I wrapped my own sushi in. It was very filling. There was also salad, but mama put cream cheese on it, something I don't think I'll ever get, as well as okra. I'm steadily growing dislike for okra. I don't know why, but I just have all these negative emotions attached to the times when I eat it.
I've been upset easily these last two or three days. I could be just tired, or still jet-lagged, but I think it's also homesickness. I'm not really missing home, or hating Japan, but sometimes I just don't want to deal with what's going on here at all.
The rest of the day was actually pleasant. After the typhoon yesterday, it was very nice outside, warm and sunny, no sight of rain. I went to go sightseeing/hanami with Colleen in Harajuku. I misjudged how much time it would take me to get there and ended up almost 40 minutes early. (#／。＼#) But we wandered quite a bit, enjoying exploring Takeshita street. I bought more than I probably should have, but hey, it's Japan.
We then set off to Yoyogi park, in search of the WIF group, and international dancing group, who were holding Hanami today. We made a wrong turn, and ended up in the Meiji shrine, instead of Yoyogi park. It was beautiful, almost serene if you could ignore the drone of tourists and the sounds of the city that the trees can't quite keep out. Home to the largest torii gate in Japan, it was a lovely detour.
We eventually found our way to the real Yoyogi park, but because we didn't meet the WIF group when we should have, we couldn't find them. It was also lovely, walking through the busy park, listening in to the groups of Japanese students and families who were enjoying both the flowers, and getting wildly drunk. It's one of the few times I think I'll see Japanese quite so outlandish.
Colleen and I enjoyed a quiet lunch, observing the flowers and the drunken Japanese. She had brought along her hoop today, to get a practice in while at the park. She does hoop dancing, which is almost like a much improved, mesmerizing, complicated hula hoop dance. That sounds dumb. Suffice to say, it was pretty damn cool. Made me really want to do color guard again. I think I might end up ordering a collapsable flag pole, and having it sent here with a flag. That way I can spend more time having some fun with what I know, and Colleen can have some company on her excursions to the park.
Anyway, while she was practicing, there was a large group of people nearby playing the Japanese versions of tag and red-light green-light, etc. Turns out it was actually the WIF group! We met up with them with about an hour or so left of their get-together. It was nice talking to some new people, and seeing a little bit of what the group can do. If all goes well, I'll probably join for the Indian and Japanese Buyo dances.
Travel home was relatively uneventful, if extremely crowded. We left right in the middle of Japanese rush hour, which meant I got to be squished in the huddled, hurried masses of the Japanese rail lines. I've never ridden when it was so busy before.
Dinner tonight with Mama and Yuri. I had Chisari-zushi for the first time. It's sushi, in it's unrolled form. Meaning, it's just rice and a bunch of seafood, egg, and vegetables on top. Surprisingly sweet. I didn't really take to the idea of sushi without nori, so I got to have some strips that I wrapped my own sushi in. It was very filling. There was also salad, but mama put cream cheese on it, something I don't think I'll ever get, as well as okra. I'm steadily growing dislike for okra. I don't know why, but I just have all these negative emotions attached to the times when I eat it.
I've been upset easily these last two or three days. I could be just tired, or still jet-lagged, but I think it's also homesickness. I'm not really missing home, or hating Japan, but sometimes I just don't want to deal with what's going on here at all.
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