Today started pretty much like any other saturday. Go to school, pick up Tamarra. We were gonna get lunch, but both ended up feeling not up to it. So we went straight to the zoo. Yup, another zoo today.
Actually went to a different zoo today. Only have been to Tama before, but today we went to Ueno. This one is an older, much smaller zoo. The main attraction here is the PANDAS. Finally found some. Well, one anyway. The zoo has two, but only had one out in the pen today. He seemed pretty content. I even managed to snap a few pics. Will upload eventually. Maybe.
The other big thing for today was going to the Obon festival with Tamarra and her host family. I chickened out this morning and didn't bring my Yukata to dance in. But Tama-chan brought her's. I was helping her put it on in the womens' changing area and realized I'd made it uneven at the bottom. We kinda just stood and stared at it for a moment when an old woman stepped up and asked if we wanted help. I gave a weak nod and the woman pretty much just stripped everything away and started from the beginning. Whoops. She was really nice, but spent way too much time making Tama-chan's yukata just right. It was a little embarrassing. But we thanked her profusely. Anyway, she seemed only toooo happy to help the clueless foreigners. Little old ladies here are just adorable, kind, brilliant forces of nature.
Learned a bunch of dances today. Each region has their own special, and we danced a lot of those. Tama already knew a lot from watching a video, but this was my first time. I got a little overwhelmed, and it was extremely hot pretty much the entire time. I did dance at least two full ones though, and some of the way though quite a few others. Didn't see a lot of foreigners there, but didn't really expect to. It's a very Japanese thing and can be intimidating if you don't know what you're doing.
After dance was dinner. Her family took us and a pair of their friends to this really nice italian place. As in more than $15 for appetizers kind of place. It was lovely. We all shared foods, got three different types of pasta and a pizza. Very tasty. Tama's host dad had gotten pretty drunk at the festival though, and had more to drink at dinner. Got to teach him new words. Taught him "smashed" and "buzzed", as english equivalents to よぱっりand ちょっとよっぱり. He and his friend got a kick out of it.
Tama-chan and I decided to head out and just kinda chill a little, find somewhere good for dessert, on our own. Wanted Sweets Paradise, but it was closed when we got there. So went to TGI Fridays instead. Finally had the brownie sundae I've been mooning over for the past forever. Was good, but not what I expected. But good.
Heading home was kind of an irritation. Pretty much caught the last trains. Going Ike to Shinjuku wasn't too bad, the Saikyo isn't usually busy. But from Shinjuku home was a nightmare. Managed to get a spot standing near the end, near a door to the next car, which thankfully not too crowded. I may have found a new good place to stand when the car's gonna be packed. But getting out… Ugh. So many people crammed around the exit, and no one wants to move from their "place" for some foreigner. Thankfully, my Japanese accent is good enough they just kind of automatically move before they realize I'm foreign. Horay.
Anyway, wore the wrong shoes and shorts today, so my legs hurt all over. My headache has finally gone away from this morning. Hopefully I'll sleep enough and rest enough to be restored for tomorrow. Our Grutt pass runs out this week and we wanna get as much of it done as possible. Of course, we're busy all the rest of this week, so that means we have to do all of it tomorrow. Ugh. Gonna be so busy.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Day 96 - Awkward
I honestly wish today had been more interesting, then I'd actually have something to write about, rather than this drivel. Blah blah boring school, blah classes, blah home and lazy, blah. Something small but stupidly silly happened today. I got home around I dunno, 7, 7:30. Tired, but just lay in bed, reading in the dark on my ipod. mama coming home, and Yuri coming home, bringing her friend. Woke up around 10 and felt really awkward coming down, all rumpled, sleepy-eyed, to have to meet new people. It's dumb. But that's it. She left and I quickly dodged upstairs to get some sleep. Sorry for another short post. I'll try to write tomorrow more interesting.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Day 95 - Working for the Weekend
Managed to wake up in time for school today. And by "on time", I mean 5am. WTH. Japan's fucking with my sleep schedule. It's too bright in the mornings here.
Today… it was too hot, despite being cooler than last week. It was "mushiatsui" (humid-hot) all day and really just sucked the life out of me. That could have been lack of sleep too though, I suspect. Good thing I only had the two classes. Tomorrow's another day though, and I have four classes to worry about. Haven't really bothered to look at homework, but I think I'll be fine. Despite being my most class-heavy day, friday tends to be pretty lax. I think the teachers get tired of the school week, too.
I got home around 4:30, 5ish today and lazed around. Did a bunch of laundry really quick, just to get it out of the way. It was so hot today that after that I just just laid down on the floor and watched One Piece from an awkward head position. Then fell asleep after about an hour or so. Woke up after my host family came up. It's weird waking up, then going down to eat dinner, then coming back up here to sleep again…
Also, some potentially fun news. Hopefully, if plans go correctly, I'll be going to another festival on Saturday. Don't wanna post any spoilers though, incase things fall though. But I'm pretty excited. Also, it looks like I get to take a special trip with Mama to go see the Tokyo Tower on monday! Horay! Also, apparently she has tickets to the aquarium there, too? This weekend should be fun.
Today… it was too hot, despite being cooler than last week. It was "mushiatsui" (humid-hot) all day and really just sucked the life out of me. That could have been lack of sleep too though, I suspect. Good thing I only had the two classes. Tomorrow's another day though, and I have four classes to worry about. Haven't really bothered to look at homework, but I think I'll be fine. Despite being my most class-heavy day, friday tends to be pretty lax. I think the teachers get tired of the school week, too.
I got home around 4:30, 5ish today and lazed around. Did a bunch of laundry really quick, just to get it out of the way. It was so hot today that after that I just just laid down on the floor and watched One Piece from an awkward head position. Then fell asleep after about an hour or so. Woke up after my host family came up. It's weird waking up, then going down to eat dinner, then coming back up here to sleep again…
Also, some potentially fun news. Hopefully, if plans go correctly, I'll be going to another festival on Saturday. Don't wanna post any spoilers though, incase things fall though. But I'm pretty excited. Also, it looks like I get to take a special trip with Mama to go see the Tokyo Tower on monday! Horay! Also, apparently she has tickets to the aquarium there, too? This weekend should be fun.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Day 94 - Short
I always feel a little lame when I write about days when I didn't really do anything. Today is one of those days. Went to school, did classes, came home, internet, food, etc. Went to the supermarket with Mama. That woman. She bought so many snacks. I seriously think she's trying to bribe me with food. We bought a half dozen loquats, which were delicious, and two watermelon, only ate most of one of them, and sundry sweets, cookies, and icecreams. It's a little absurd.
On the way home, I realized that I didn't have anything to read on the flight back and started making plans in my head. It's hard, knowing I'm coming back in almost a month. 35 days. And I have no idea how I'm gonna get all this back! (>w<)
On the way home, I realized that I didn't have anything to read on the flight back and started making plans in my head. It's hard, knowing I'm coming back in almost a month. 35 days. And I have no idea how I'm gonna get all this back! (>w<)
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Day 93 - What?
Just realized I hadn't made an entry yesterday. Not that it was particularly interesting. Classes and whatnot. We did have our final orientation, and I've discovered leaving Japan may be more difficult than it was getting here. There's a lot I have to do besides school work in order to get out of this country. It includes finding time to stop by offices and cancel things and it seems like too much. Ugh. That's pretty much all my day was yesterday. My last class of the day was cancelled, so I got to get home early and work on homework. Hoooray. And read a little. Had a boring dinner, then went to my room soon after to work on more homework. It's kinda been piling up recently. I think the professors are realizing there's only a few weeks left now and are throwing it into high gear.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Day 92 - They can't sing, they can't dance, after all miss, this ain't France
Today was lovely. I slept in super late, didn't get up until after 11. It was wonderful. It's also been cool all day, so I got to enjoy some nicer weather, inside for once. Just spent a lazy day reading and watching One Piece. Sadly, it's probably been one of my favorite days so far. Well, until tonight.
I'd agreed last week to go see Yuri perform tonight. Yuri is the other girl who's living in this house. I'm still not sure if she's related to the people here, like a cousin, or if she's just a guest like me. Whatever. But I do know she's wonderful at piano, and thought it would be us going to go see her play somewhere. I was incorrect.
I met up with Mama in Shinjuku and we ended up going to Kabukicho. It's not the most friendly area in Tokyo. Kinda creepy all over. All sorts of girls in maid outfits and host-looking dudes loitering about, looking to lure you into their club or cafe where they'll milk you for all the money they can. The sad thing? A lot of the hosts just looked creepy, sad, and old. Their hair was puffed into these stupid looking doos, but was also thinning, and it was just sad. :/
Anyway, we finally got to where Yuri was performing, this seedy looking little club in the basement of a building. The doors were absurdly heavy, and we had to pay a ¥2000 cover price to get in (about $22). We were early, so we had to sit around for almost an hour, because they didn't allow reentry. At least got a free drink with the ticket. Needed more than one though. Turns out the place was a kind of like, practice bar for girls who wanted to try at singing. Honestly, a lot of them should stick to very drunken karaoke. Or get some voice lessons instead of skipping straight to performing. Because oooooh man, that was painful.
Yuri herself wasn't too bad, and there were one or two others that I sat through without wanting to stab myself in the ears. But it was bad. Some of the girls simply forgot lyrics to the two or three songs they sang, or stumbled and mumbled through them. One of them tripped and almost fell while she was jumping around trying to get energy out of the less than energetic crowd. To be fair, there were two creepy old guys that were a little too energetic. Creepy. All that, combined with a very small space, uncomfortable chairs, too loud speakers, and rapidly flashing lights added up to an uncomfortable evening. We were eager to leave as soon as Yuri finished, despite there being more girls to sing.
Got home about nine-ish. Ate a quiet dinner with Mama and the television. Ate a bunch of sweets. Tried this shrimp-cracker. Never Again. GUUUH. Also tried this "cheese"-flavored cracker snack thing called "Happy Town". That one was surprisingly good, once you got past the initial taste. I'm still not sure what it actually tastes like, but not like any other cheese snack I've had. Best thing was the chocolate chip cookies. I'm gonna see what brand it was and probably buy more just for myself…
I'd agreed last week to go see Yuri perform tonight. Yuri is the other girl who's living in this house. I'm still not sure if she's related to the people here, like a cousin, or if she's just a guest like me. Whatever. But I do know she's wonderful at piano, and thought it would be us going to go see her play somewhere. I was incorrect.
I met up with Mama in Shinjuku and we ended up going to Kabukicho. It's not the most friendly area in Tokyo. Kinda creepy all over. All sorts of girls in maid outfits and host-looking dudes loitering about, looking to lure you into their club or cafe where they'll milk you for all the money they can. The sad thing? A lot of the hosts just looked creepy, sad, and old. Their hair was puffed into these stupid looking doos, but was also thinning, and it was just sad. :/
Anyway, we finally got to where Yuri was performing, this seedy looking little club in the basement of a building. The doors were absurdly heavy, and we had to pay a ¥2000 cover price to get in (about $22). We were early, so we had to sit around for almost an hour, because they didn't allow reentry. At least got a free drink with the ticket. Needed more than one though. Turns out the place was a kind of like, practice bar for girls who wanted to try at singing. Honestly, a lot of them should stick to very drunken karaoke. Or get some voice lessons instead of skipping straight to performing. Because oooooh man, that was painful.
Yuri herself wasn't too bad, and there were one or two others that I sat through without wanting to stab myself in the ears. But it was bad. Some of the girls simply forgot lyrics to the two or three songs they sang, or stumbled and mumbled through them. One of them tripped and almost fell while she was jumping around trying to get energy out of the less than energetic crowd. To be fair, there were two creepy old guys that were a little too energetic. Creepy. All that, combined with a very small space, uncomfortable chairs, too loud speakers, and rapidly flashing lights added up to an uncomfortable evening. We were eager to leave as soon as Yuri finished, despite there being more girls to sing.
Got home about nine-ish. Ate a quiet dinner with Mama and the television. Ate a bunch of sweets. Tried this shrimp-cracker. Never Again. GUUUH. Also tried this "cheese"-flavored cracker snack thing called "Happy Town". That one was surprisingly good, once you got past the initial taste. I'm still not sure what it actually tastes like, but not like any other cheese snack I've had. Best thing was the chocolate chip cookies. I'm gonna see what brand it was and probably buy more just for myself…
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Day 91 - Busy Weekend
So, staying up to 3 last night and drinking ended up being a bad decision. Also, I didn't manage to finish sewing my flag, despite renewed efforts. This added up to me disappointing Colleen. She held a workshop today at the park, just hanging out with people and showing them new things to do with their hoops. I had really wanted to come and play with my flag. But slept in until past noon, and had to get breakfast and get clothes, and didn't have time to finish my flag, and go come back home to pick up my flagpole and then get back to Yoyogi before it was finished. So yeah, a lot of little things that ended up kinda fucking that up.
We set out late today, again, mostly because of getting up late, and MLP. Guh. Oh well. Got to Ikebukuro and Sunshine City late. So we ended up meeting Kenna's friends late. Oh, the reason we went to Sunshine City again? To go to Namja Town. Kenna's been so eager to get me to go there with her and we finally went today. I kinda wish it'd been another day because after the zoo yesterday, I'm totally exhausted now, but it was fun and pretty cute. I'd totally recommend it to anyone coming to Tokyo, as long as they're really good at Japanese. I definitely struggled in places, and it's a little theme park geared toward children. Still, hella fun.
There were three or four different floors, and some themed zones. A creepy haunted house area, an old restaurant area geared around gyoza, an "adventure" theme and "fantasy" theme zone, an ice cream area, and a scifi ghost fighting area. Super fun games and stuff all around. The ice cream place was cool because they had a bunch of crazy flavors. Like squid ink, fried chicken, or garlic. As well as normal flavors. Weird thing about ice cream in Japan, rather than vanilla flavor, people tend to really like just "milk" flavored ice cream, which just tastes like creamy ice. Not my favorite, but crazy popular here.
Favorite thing I did had to be the alien/ghost fighting game. You got these headphones, and a "power pack" and had to wander the top floor of Namja town, through small town-like streets, and push buttons to plant bombs that would kill the pod things on the houses that the ghosts came from. If you managed to destroy enough of them with the bombs, you got a small prize at the end. I managed to get 29 of them, but you needed 38 to get the prize. Oh well. Still, super fun.
By the end of the night tonight though, I was totally ready to just sit down anywhere and sleep. We stopped by for some ice cream on the way back to the station and enjoyed the cool contact juggler street performer in Ike. Got back to the lockers at the station to get our stuff out, and there was a guy just passed out and sleeping in front of them. He was okay, but just sleeping there. Tokyo's weird sometimes. Super tired, got home, took and shower and here I am. I'm super glad I don't have class tomorrow. Gonna take the day to chill, do some laundry, and actually finish my flag.
We set out late today, again, mostly because of getting up late, and MLP. Guh. Oh well. Got to Ikebukuro and Sunshine City late. So we ended up meeting Kenna's friends late. Oh, the reason we went to Sunshine City again? To go to Namja Town. Kenna's been so eager to get me to go there with her and we finally went today. I kinda wish it'd been another day because after the zoo yesterday, I'm totally exhausted now, but it was fun and pretty cute. I'd totally recommend it to anyone coming to Tokyo, as long as they're really good at Japanese. I definitely struggled in places, and it's a little theme park geared toward children. Still, hella fun.
There were three or four different floors, and some themed zones. A creepy haunted house area, an old restaurant area geared around gyoza, an "adventure" theme and "fantasy" theme zone, an ice cream area, and a scifi ghost fighting area. Super fun games and stuff all around. The ice cream place was cool because they had a bunch of crazy flavors. Like squid ink, fried chicken, or garlic. As well as normal flavors. Weird thing about ice cream in Japan, rather than vanilla flavor, people tend to really like just "milk" flavored ice cream, which just tastes like creamy ice. Not my favorite, but crazy popular here.
Favorite thing I did had to be the alien/ghost fighting game. You got these headphones, and a "power pack" and had to wander the top floor of Namja town, through small town-like streets, and push buttons to plant bombs that would kill the pod things on the houses that the ghosts came from. If you managed to destroy enough of them with the bombs, you got a small prize at the end. I managed to get 29 of them, but you needed 38 to get the prize. Oh well. Still, super fun.
By the end of the night tonight though, I was totally ready to just sit down anywhere and sleep. We stopped by for some ice cream on the way back to the station and enjoyed the cool contact juggler street performer in Ike. Got back to the lockers at the station to get our stuff out, and there was a guy just passed out and sleeping in front of them. He was okay, but just sleeping there. Tokyo's weird sometimes. Super tired, got home, took and shower and here I am. I'm super glad I don't have class tomorrow. Gonna take the day to chill, do some laundry, and actually finish my flag.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Day 90 - A Day Late
Sorry about my tardiness. This weekend has been a ton of fun, but also ridiculously exhausting. I'm gonna write this like I did it today, but I'm actually writing this Sunday night about Saturday because I'm weird like that.
So, today I got to sleep in a little bit, finally. Then got up to meet up with Tamarra (Tama-chan), Kenna, Colleen, and others for lunch at the curry place. It's pretty much my favorite food here. Tama-chan's class gets out earlier than the others so we ended up sitting and talking and playing video games. It was kinda nice. Kinda wish I'd watched more One Piece though. Oh well. Met people and had lunch. Unfortunately, lunch ran absurdly late. Like, and hour more than anyone expected.
The trip for today was Tama Zoo. I've written about it before, went with Kenna and Tamarra, but Colleen's never been and we didn't get to see the Lions last time because it was raining. Unfortunately, since we ran so late with lunch, we got to the zoo around 3. It closed at 5. So it was extremely tight. Still, I got some lovely pictures of Lions from the little safari lion bus, and we managed to make it all the way to the other side of the park to see the red pandas, which was what Colleen wanted to see. Saw a lot of others along the way. It was an action packed two hours.
The reason I didn't actually finish this post until tonight (sunday) is because Tamarra and I stayed the night at Kenna's homestay and didn't have access to internets. It was lovely though. They have two cats. Only really got to see Kuu-chan, but that was certainly enough for Tama-chan. Got to sit and chat with Kenna's family and be insanely jealous of their chemistry. There's no way I'll get that level of camaraderie with mine before I have to leave. Oh well, she's also had another extra half a year more than me.
We also sat down and subjected Tama-chan to some My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. We've been joking and making references to it for the past month or so, and she's never seen any of it, despite knowing almost more about it than I do. We've been comparing her to Twilight Sparkle, because I know I can trust her to be organized and have a plan for pretty much anything. Watched that and I sewed my flag until about 3 in the morning. Which admittedly was another poor choice.
Went to bed nice and tired, full of Kenna's host mom's delicious Okonomiyaki, and booze, and brain full of ponies.
So, today I got to sleep in a little bit, finally. Then got up to meet up with Tamarra (Tama-chan), Kenna, Colleen, and others for lunch at the curry place. It's pretty much my favorite food here. Tama-chan's class gets out earlier than the others so we ended up sitting and talking and playing video games. It was kinda nice. Kinda wish I'd watched more One Piece though. Oh well. Met people and had lunch. Unfortunately, lunch ran absurdly late. Like, and hour more than anyone expected.
The trip for today was Tama Zoo. I've written about it before, went with Kenna and Tamarra, but Colleen's never been and we didn't get to see the Lions last time because it was raining. Unfortunately, since we ran so late with lunch, we got to the zoo around 3. It closed at 5. So it was extremely tight. Still, I got some lovely pictures of Lions from the little safari lion bus, and we managed to make it all the way to the other side of the park to see the red pandas, which was what Colleen wanted to see. Saw a lot of others along the way. It was an action packed two hours.
The reason I didn't actually finish this post until tonight (sunday) is because Tamarra and I stayed the night at Kenna's homestay and didn't have access to internets. It was lovely though. They have two cats. Only really got to see Kuu-chan, but that was certainly enough for Tama-chan. Got to sit and chat with Kenna's family and be insanely jealous of their chemistry. There's no way I'll get that level of camaraderie with mine before I have to leave. Oh well, she's also had another extra half a year more than me.
We also sat down and subjected Tama-chan to some My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. We've been joking and making references to it for the past month or so, and she's never seen any of it, despite knowing almost more about it than I do. We've been comparing her to Twilight Sparkle, because I know I can trust her to be organized and have a plan for pretty much anything. Watched that and I sewed my flag until about 3 in the morning. Which admittedly was another poor choice.
Went to bed nice and tired, full of Kenna's host mom's delicious Okonomiyaki, and booze, and brain full of ponies.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Day 89 - Late
Sorry for the late post. I stayed up watching One Piece and sewing my flag (finally), so I quickly lost track of time.
I woke up later today because of the rain. Kinda glad the econ prof is still in Kenya, this way I was able to wait til second period to get to school, and by then it'd mostly stopped raining. School was its usual boring fare. Only thing really remotely interesting was this guy Izzy, in my last class, kept using this word "mama-san", which seems pretty tame, until you know that's what they call women who run brothels or bars in Ginza. Yeah… It was fun pointing that out to him.
After school there was this meet-and-greet session with the students from Waseda who are going to Oregon schools. There were quite a few who are going to my school next year. Too bad I won't be there to greet them, lol. Still, it was kinda fun.
Got home today, and Mama greeted me with a manju. Pretty much mochi with bean paste inside. Yuck. Well, it wasn't too bad, but not something I'll want again soon. Finished watching some strange movie with them about a girl that gets kidnapped, and her kidnapper is a better mom than she'd have had anyway. Kinda depressing. Found out that my host sister has done some voice acting? Wanted to watch some, but it's all on VHS and she couldn't figure out how to get the VCR working. Maybe some other time.
And then I stayed up too late. I figured, I'mma be in the park on sunday anyway, may as well finish my flag and take it with, yeah? I'm about a third of the way there now. I wonder if I'll finish in time…
I woke up later today because of the rain. Kinda glad the econ prof is still in Kenya, this way I was able to wait til second period to get to school, and by then it'd mostly stopped raining. School was its usual boring fare. Only thing really remotely interesting was this guy Izzy, in my last class, kept using this word "mama-san", which seems pretty tame, until you know that's what they call women who run brothels or bars in Ginza. Yeah… It was fun pointing that out to him.
After school there was this meet-and-greet session with the students from Waseda who are going to Oregon schools. There were quite a few who are going to my school next year. Too bad I won't be there to greet them, lol. Still, it was kinda fun.
Got home today, and Mama greeted me with a manju. Pretty much mochi with bean paste inside. Yuck. Well, it wasn't too bad, but not something I'll want again soon. Finished watching some strange movie with them about a girl that gets kidnapped, and her kidnapper is a better mom than she'd have had anyway. Kinda depressing. Found out that my host sister has done some voice acting? Wanted to watch some, but it's all on VHS and she couldn't figure out how to get the VCR working. Maybe some other time.
And then I stayed up too late. I figured, I'mma be in the park on sunday anyway, may as well finish my flag and take it with, yeah? I'm about a third of the way there now. I wonder if I'll finish in time…
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Day 88 - Meh
So, today was pretty boring, too. I thought I had class this morning at 9, and so I went. Turns out my econ prof is in Kenya? I thought he'd just have a sub. No one showed up. I guess we're gonna have make-up classes, but I don't know when. If it's after the 1st, I'm kinda SOL. Hmm…
So, I only ended up having one class today. Spent the rest of my time reading mostly. After school, went with Jenny to a little place near campus, right next to the indian curry place. I go past there every now and then, wondering if it's good. It is. They have this delicious chocolate moose and raspberry dish. Sooooo good.
Came back home pretty quickly, and watched a bunch of One Piece. That's pretty much my world right now, school and one piece, with some touristing around inbetween. It's been in the news that there might be a typhoon tomorrow. Too bad I have to be at school early. Hopefully I'll get an email soon saying it's going to be cancelled…
So, I only ended up having one class today. Spent the rest of my time reading mostly. After school, went with Jenny to a little place near campus, right next to the indian curry place. I go past there every now and then, wondering if it's good. It is. They have this delicious chocolate moose and raspberry dish. Sooooo good.
Came back home pretty quickly, and watched a bunch of One Piece. That's pretty much my world right now, school and one piece, with some touristing around inbetween. It's been in the news that there might be a typhoon tomorrow. Too bad I have to be at school early. Hopefully I'll get an email soon saying it's going to be cancelled…
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Day 87 - Past 2/3
I feel like, now that I'm finally getting into the swing of things, getting used to dealing with the weird quirks of Japanese culture, things are moving too fast. I'm on day 87. That means I only have what, a little over 40 days left? I'm past the 2/3 point.
I was hoping last night that the typhoon would continue on through today. No such luck. Unfortunately, because of all the havoc from last night, it was difficult getting to class on time, all the trains were either delayed or cancelled or other bull. I managed to get there just in time, but there were students who got there very late, and some didn't come at all.
Classes themselves were the usual boring fare. Without dance to keep me there until 6, it was difficult to force myself to stay there the whole day. I don't know what it is about Japan, but I've suddenly become a terrible student. Before, the idea of skipping classes horrifies me. Now I'm tempted to skip as many as I can without failing…
While there wasn't a full on typhoon anymore today, it was extremely windy. I decided to wear a skirt, which seems like a bad decision, but it was close enough cut that it didn't cause too much trouble, and I was nice and cool in the breeze.
Came back here and watched a bunch of One Piece. I've started to skip between story lines. I started watching again with Thriller Bark, but couldn't quite remember how/when Robin and Franky joined, so I jumped all the way back to the Alabasta arc to watch some of that. It's a wonderful way to pass the time, while still thinking in Japanese, so when my host family gets home, I'm usually enough in the mindset still to be able to converse passably.
I got to meet a new person. I think her name was Ana? Japanese. I had this whole confusing text conversation with Mama and ended up meeting them late. It felt awful. Oh well. Got to go out to dinner and eat some normal-ish italian food. Hooray. Conversation was stilted and awkward between me and Ana(?) but Mama's always eager to fill any empty spaces. She's also pretty pushy. The restaurant is really popular with the local college crowd because it's close and it's pretty cheap, and naturally it got a little loud. Mama insisted on telling a server to ask them all to keep it down. I felt embarrassed for him. There was no way he'd be able to control the noise level. Well, I guess it was mostly she just wanted her opinion heard. But she's kinda harsh sometimes.
Got home, took a quick shower, and here I am. My econ teacher for my first class tomorrow is still in Kenya (?) I guess? So I'm not sure if I should go to class. I can't be "absent" to any more, really, but there's not going to be someone there to take attendance. I kinda just wanna get out of the house early, watch his pre-taped video, and dick around campus for my one other class. I'll decide in the morning.
I was hoping last night that the typhoon would continue on through today. No such luck. Unfortunately, because of all the havoc from last night, it was difficult getting to class on time, all the trains were either delayed or cancelled or other bull. I managed to get there just in time, but there were students who got there very late, and some didn't come at all.
Classes themselves were the usual boring fare. Without dance to keep me there until 6, it was difficult to force myself to stay there the whole day. I don't know what it is about Japan, but I've suddenly become a terrible student. Before, the idea of skipping classes horrifies me. Now I'm tempted to skip as many as I can without failing…
While there wasn't a full on typhoon anymore today, it was extremely windy. I decided to wear a skirt, which seems like a bad decision, but it was close enough cut that it didn't cause too much trouble, and I was nice and cool in the breeze.
Came back here and watched a bunch of One Piece. I've started to skip between story lines. I started watching again with Thriller Bark, but couldn't quite remember how/when Robin and Franky joined, so I jumped all the way back to the Alabasta arc to watch some of that. It's a wonderful way to pass the time, while still thinking in Japanese, so when my host family gets home, I'm usually enough in the mindset still to be able to converse passably.
I got to meet a new person. I think her name was Ana? Japanese. I had this whole confusing text conversation with Mama and ended up meeting them late. It felt awful. Oh well. Got to go out to dinner and eat some normal-ish italian food. Hooray. Conversation was stilted and awkward between me and Ana(?) but Mama's always eager to fill any empty spaces. She's also pretty pushy. The restaurant is really popular with the local college crowd because it's close and it's pretty cheap, and naturally it got a little loud. Mama insisted on telling a server to ask them all to keep it down. I felt embarrassed for him. There was no way he'd be able to control the noise level. Well, I guess it was mostly she just wanted her opinion heard. But she's kinda harsh sometimes.
Got home, took a quick shower, and here I am. My econ teacher for my first class tomorrow is still in Kenya (?) I guess? So I'm not sure if I should go to class. I can't be "absent" to any more, really, but there's not going to be someone there to take attendance. I kinda just wanna get out of the house early, watch his pre-taped video, and dick around campus for my one other class. I'll decide in the morning.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Day 86 - Typhooooooon
So, today was pretty tame. Got up nice and late, dicked around on the internet until it was time for school. Met up with Kenny to give him homework he missed out on. It was a little overcast and sprinkley all day. Went to classes. Found out I did about as good as I thought on my Business Honorifics midterm. Oh well. Lit was boring, but I managed to stay awake somehow. Headed right home after classes and got here about 6.
The typhoon hit in full force about 7:30.
Mama had already made it home, thankfully, and we had a simple dinner. All the while, wind was pounding the windows and rain torrenting down. I was more than a little afraid for Yuri and Rio. Yuri got here first, about 9, and Rio about an hour after. Rio was soaking wet. Not much an umbrella can do if the rain is falling sideways. I checked the Waseda website and the latest classes today were cancelled. I'm wondering/hoping that all classes tomorrow will be cancelled if this keeps up. Mama said they usually get cancelled in cases of typhoons…
The typhoon hit in full force about 7:30.
Mama had already made it home, thankfully, and we had a simple dinner. All the while, wind was pounding the windows and rain torrenting down. I was more than a little afraid for Yuri and Rio. Yuri got here first, about 9, and Rio about an hour after. Rio was soaking wet. Not much an umbrella can do if the rain is falling sideways. I checked the Waseda website and the latest classes today were cancelled. I'm wondering/hoping that all classes tomorrow will be cancelled if this keeps up. Mama said they usually get cancelled in cases of typhoons…
Monday, June 18, 2012
Day 85 - Under the Sea
I tried so hard today, really. I went and plugged in my camera battery last night, had my camera on my bed with my phone and ipod, so I would put everything in purse this morning before leaving. Unfortunately, I forgot to put the battery back into the camera. Ugh. I'm hopeless.
The plan today was to go to Ueno Zoo, but unfortunately we forgot that it's actually closed on Mondays. Whoooops. So instead we went to another aquarium called the Tokyo Sea Life Park. Good thing, too, it was ridiculously hot today. I really need more shorts. I was sweating so hard, even inside with the airconditioning. I was not made for Japanese summer muggy heat.
They had this amazing, huge tank where tuna swam around, it was lovely. I managed to snap a few photos with my ipod, but they're pretty crap quality compared to what I'd get if I'd had my camera. Next time, I swear. The fish there seemed almost as interested in us as we were in them. Very active. Here's a few of the pics I took:
The plan today was to go to Ueno Zoo, but unfortunately we forgot that it's actually closed on Mondays. Whoooops. So instead we went to another aquarium called the Tokyo Sea Life Park. Good thing, too, it was ridiculously hot today. I really need more shorts. I was sweating so hard, even inside with the airconditioning. I was not made for Japanese summer muggy heat.
They had this amazing, huge tank where tuna swam around, it was lovely. I managed to snap a few photos with my ipod, but they're pretty crap quality compared to what I'd get if I'd had my camera. Next time, I swear. The fish there seemed almost as interested in us as we were in them. Very active. Here's a few of the pics I took:
All in all, it was a lovely day. This place was really close to disneyland, and we could see it peaking out over the trees, taunting us all day. There was a nice ferris wheel there, too, and huge. It was like, more than 500 feet tall, I think is what they said? Well, after some calculations. 170 meters, is what they actually said. But I managed to get Tamarra to go on it, despite her fear of heights. We got a lovely view of Tokyo. Could see the Sky Tree, as well as a lovely view of Disney. I was so tempted to just go anyway. But didn't. We probably will go again at some point soon though. Anyway, that's about it for today. Gonna sleep early today so I can enjoy a cool morning before it heats up here again.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Day 84 - Nya Nya Nyan
My host mom's a sneaky lady. She snuck natto into my spaghetti bread this morning. It's interesting enough being spaghetti bread, but the natto added a strange flavor to it. I wasn't sure until she told me, after I'd finished eating it. Sneaky sneaky. It was okay though, and now I can say I've eaten natto.
Soooooo guess where I went today?
Soooooo guess where I went today?
Cat cafe!!! I've been wanting to go to one of these since I came to Japan, and today I finally went! Hooooooraaaay! They were so cute. I gotta thank Kenna again for taking me there. Unfortunately, it seemed like they were all drugged up. Super lazy, and not in the mood to real even acknowledge me. I did my best to annoy them and mess with them to get reactions. The one above was pretty much freaking adorable. I think the youngest, or at least the smallest, he was curled up in the highest spot he could get to, but that didn't save him from me. I poked and prodded him until he payed attention to me.
There were so many cats there, and it was really just nice to be around animals again. There was also a surprisingly large number of guys there. They just hung out, read books, read manga, and pet cats. It was a nice, chill atmosphere. And the cats were really laid back. I even got one to lick me. I got one to snap at me, too, but that's because I'm irritating to cats. On purpose.
I also just spent a lot of time hanging out with Kenna today, talking, wandering, eating tasty foods. Came home and had dinner with the host family, spend some time watching tv and talking with my host sister and mother. Rio is really helpful for understanding Japanese tv, and Mama always has something interesting to say regarding this or that celebrity. It was just a nice day.
Except for the weather. God. Soooooo muggy and hot today. Forcasts said to expect a thunderstorm, which didn't come, and it was just awful all day. This whole week is supposed to be like this. I don't know how I'll survive.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Day 83 - Fun but Busy Day
So, today was fun. Got up a little earlier than I wanted after last night and actually had a pretty bad hangover. Something about Japanese alcohol makes it so I don't get drunk, but terribly hung over. Had a terrible headache. But went to meet up with Tamarra for curry. It was delicious. And I was full. So we waited for Kenna to get out of class. I wanted to do lunch with her, too, but the curry's half off til 11, and her class gets out at noon, so it's no good. I'll do it next weekend maybe.
First place we headed to was Shinagawa to go back to visit the Aquarium we missed the time we went to see Dark Shadow. They're both in the same building. We also rode this weird little indoor coaster based off an old anime called Galaxy Express 999. Kenna's a super nerd for it. The whole intro was very neat, and the coast itself was cool in that it actually went upside down. Had not expected that. Also went on this little virtual ride that ended up being a movie about a fight between a giant squid and a sperm whale. Pretty cool.
The aquarium itself was lovely but tiny. I feel like the animals really didn't have enough space. But there was this gorgeous tunnel to walk through, full of all sorts of fish, sharks, and rays. There was a magnificent manta ray, and assorted other smaller rays. And nurse sharks. And lots of stuff. The penguin exhibit strongly reminded me of the one in Happy Feet. It was pretty small, and the penguins seemed a little lethargic. Got to see a few dolphins, too. It surprised me to be able to see dolphins in the middle of Tokyo, it what seemed to be a small aquarium on the second floor. Very strange.
Next was off to a very special place for tea time. An Alice in Wonderland themed cafe in Ginza. It was tiny and adorable. Themed cafes in Japan tend to run pretty expensive and this one was no exclusion. For the three of us, it ended up being a little over 8000 yen. Which is a lot for three drinks, a few appetizers, and two desserts. The drinks were beautiful but tasted pretty damn awful. The food however, was amazing. Probably some of the best I've had in Japan so far. I had this delicious "Mexican" salad, which had a lovely spicy dressing, and cubed avocado. Very tasty. Ordered the roll cakes and got three tiny cakes dressed to look like the caterpillar, cheshire, and the mad hatter, flavored green tea, strawberry, and banana respectively. Tamarra pointed out that the banana mad hatter was rather fitting, and I agree.
Next was a little grocery shopping in Shibuya, so Tamarra can make dinner for her host dad tomorrow (father's day). We then set off for dinner with a friend of Kenna's, Mara, and her friends. They're all actually teachers here in Japan, and have been here for a little over a year. We went to this tiny secluded place in Meguro, I don't even know the name, it wasn't above the door or anything, but it had Gumbo. Like, real, traditional, New Orleans gumbo. Sooooooo good. I've been craving creole food the entire time I've been here. And now I am full of tasty food. I am happy.
I'm still really tired, and tomorrow may prove to be an interesting day. The idea is to go to this mysterious place called Namja town, but plans have a habit of falling through whenever you include more than four people, and it's on a sunday here. Hopefully I'll be able to do something fun at least.
First place we headed to was Shinagawa to go back to visit the Aquarium we missed the time we went to see Dark Shadow. They're both in the same building. We also rode this weird little indoor coaster based off an old anime called Galaxy Express 999. Kenna's a super nerd for it. The whole intro was very neat, and the coast itself was cool in that it actually went upside down. Had not expected that. Also went on this little virtual ride that ended up being a movie about a fight between a giant squid and a sperm whale. Pretty cool.
The aquarium itself was lovely but tiny. I feel like the animals really didn't have enough space. But there was this gorgeous tunnel to walk through, full of all sorts of fish, sharks, and rays. There was a magnificent manta ray, and assorted other smaller rays. And nurse sharks. And lots of stuff. The penguin exhibit strongly reminded me of the one in Happy Feet. It was pretty small, and the penguins seemed a little lethargic. Got to see a few dolphins, too. It surprised me to be able to see dolphins in the middle of Tokyo, it what seemed to be a small aquarium on the second floor. Very strange.
Next was off to a very special place for tea time. An Alice in Wonderland themed cafe in Ginza. It was tiny and adorable. Themed cafes in Japan tend to run pretty expensive and this one was no exclusion. For the three of us, it ended up being a little over 8000 yen. Which is a lot for three drinks, a few appetizers, and two desserts. The drinks were beautiful but tasted pretty damn awful. The food however, was amazing. Probably some of the best I've had in Japan so far. I had this delicious "Mexican" salad, which had a lovely spicy dressing, and cubed avocado. Very tasty. Ordered the roll cakes and got three tiny cakes dressed to look like the caterpillar, cheshire, and the mad hatter, flavored green tea, strawberry, and banana respectively. Tamarra pointed out that the banana mad hatter was rather fitting, and I agree.
Next was a little grocery shopping in Shibuya, so Tamarra can make dinner for her host dad tomorrow (father's day). We then set off for dinner with a friend of Kenna's, Mara, and her friends. They're all actually teachers here in Japan, and have been here for a little over a year. We went to this tiny secluded place in Meguro, I don't even know the name, it wasn't above the door or anything, but it had Gumbo. Like, real, traditional, New Orleans gumbo. Sooooooo good. I've been craving creole food the entire time I've been here. And now I am full of tasty food. I am happy.
I'm still really tired, and tomorrow may prove to be an interesting day. The idea is to go to this mysterious place called Namja town, but plans have a habit of falling through whenever you include more than four people, and it's on a sunday here. Hopefully I'll be able to do something fun at least.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Day 82 - Perform. Drink. Repeat.
Soooo. Dance today was a raging success. Mean that I made it through without contracting heat stroke, and I didn't mess up terribly either. So yeah, success. I am so freaking glad that's over. It was fun, especially when people were actually serious and gave a shit about how well they performed. I kinda wish I'd done the Scottish dance. Oh well, woulda coulda shoulda. But their group looked like a bunch of fun and was really tight-knit.
A couple of friends came to the show, and managed to snap a few shots. Kenna took this one, and I'm really happy with it:
This way you actually get to see my yukata and obi as well. The little red splotches are goldfish. You can't see it here, but there's tiny white and purple flowers on it as well.
Nomikai afterwards was both fun and appalling. People here drink like crazy, until they're falling over, and in only a few hours, that's pretty impressive. What's less impressive is how strong the alcohol is. I drank over 10 glasses tonight, but they were tiny, and I'm not even really feeling it anymore. Definitely not worth the 2500yen I paid. >:( Oh well, I know better for next time. The other thing is how freaking loud the group was. Yeah, there were about 150 of us, all crammed in a tiny space, but they were so rowdy and outrageous. I don't think I'd do it with a group that size again either. But it was definitely a Japanese experience that one should not miss out on.
That's it for today. I'm pretty much exhausted from almost 6 hours of practice and performance. As well as classes from early this morning. Glad to finally get a break. But tomorrow is gonna be a little busy too, depending on if I manage to drag a couple people to another aquarium.
A couple of friends came to the show, and managed to snap a few shots. Kenna took this one, and I'm really happy with it:
This way you actually get to see my yukata and obi as well. The little red splotches are goldfish. You can't see it here, but there's tiny white and purple flowers on it as well.
Nomikai afterwards was both fun and appalling. People here drink like crazy, until they're falling over, and in only a few hours, that's pretty impressive. What's less impressive is how strong the alcohol is. I drank over 10 glasses tonight, but they were tiny, and I'm not even really feeling it anymore. Definitely not worth the 2500yen I paid. >:( Oh well, I know better for next time. The other thing is how freaking loud the group was. Yeah, there were about 150 of us, all crammed in a tiny space, but they were so rowdy and outrageous. I don't think I'd do it with a group that size again either. But it was definitely a Japanese experience that one should not miss out on.
That's it for today. I'm pretty much exhausted from almost 6 hours of practice and performance. As well as classes from early this morning. Glad to finally get a break. But tomorrow is gonna be a little busy too, depending on if I manage to drag a couple people to another aquarium.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Day 81 - Still Tired
Today will also be short. I went to classes, and had a kind of lonely lunch. It's a little sad when you eat alone… Got to play a bunch of kingdom hearts though. Thought I beat the game, but it was one of those fake-out stages. :P Had "rehearsal" after school today in a nearby park. I guess we couldn't actually practice in the auditorium? It's weird. But it means that I now have a load of new bug bites. Horay. But tomorrow's the last day, and we're gonna go out drinking afterward, which I think will be the best part of all of this. Anyway, that's it. Sorry for the short post. Tomorrow will probably also be short, but saturday may be longer.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Day 80 - Tired. Dance. Words… Nope.
Hooooo today was exhausting. Got to have a bit of a breather from classes by having lunch with Kenna. I think I'm beginning to rely to much on her, I'm not really doing anything by myself anymore. Not that I mind. She's a good safety blanket. She is also smart, and teaches me things. I always get to feel a little dumb around here, which is actually an encouragement to me to learn more.
Mainly the drag today was practice. My last ever practice for Nihon Buyo. Tomorrow we have a rehearsal (which is somehow different?), and then Friday is the performance. As fun as this club has been sometimes, I'm really glad to be finishing with it. It really opens up my free time, and I don't have to feel guilty about making plans for saturdays anymore.
That's about it. I gotta wake up early tomorrow, so this one's gonna be real short. Night.
Mainly the drag today was practice. My last ever practice for Nihon Buyo. Tomorrow we have a rehearsal (which is somehow different?), and then Friday is the performance. As fun as this club has been sometimes, I'm really glad to be finishing with it. It really opens up my free time, and I don't have to feel guilty about making plans for saturdays anymore.
That's about it. I gotta wake up early tomorrow, so this one's gonna be real short. Night.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Day 79 - :P
So, today got to be one of my freak out days. I think I might get them too often here, but today wasn't as bad as some others. I got a letter today telling me that if I don't pay my cellphone bill by the 14th, they're cutting me off. This came as a surprise, because I had gone in to give them my card number so the payments would be automatic and had assumed that things had just worked out. They had not. So I get to go pay a few bills tomorrow. Yay. But that was enough of stress to make me have a pretty shitty day.
School itself was rather boring. I think it might always be. I had a midterm today that I had kinda forgot about. It's okay though, there was only one question that I wasn't sure about. Who says cramming doesn't work? My only other class was lit, in which I ate a lot of chocolate and zoned out until he told us what to do for our final papers. Booooo what a boring class.
Came home and watched One Piece until the family got home. Then watched soccer. I guess it was Japan's first world cup match this year? I can't really tell, and don't really follow soccer. Oh well. It was a tie between Japan and Australia. Sorry if I ruined that for you. Too late for a spoiler alert now though, isn't it?
Kinda just wanna skip school tomorrow. Shouldn't though. But I really don't wanna go. And I don't wanna do dance. I just kinda lost all my will to do anything. I think it's because this time is coinciding with finals being over back at my home university and it's throwing me all out of whack. I can't help but think that if I had stayed back there, I would be graduating on monday, rather than whatever it is I'm going to be doing here in Japan. Calling my dad to wish him happy fathers' day. Whatever. Ugh. (T_T)
School itself was rather boring. I think it might always be. I had a midterm today that I had kinda forgot about. It's okay though, there was only one question that I wasn't sure about. Who says cramming doesn't work? My only other class was lit, in which I ate a lot of chocolate and zoned out until he told us what to do for our final papers. Booooo what a boring class.
Came home and watched One Piece until the family got home. Then watched soccer. I guess it was Japan's first world cup match this year? I can't really tell, and don't really follow soccer. Oh well. It was a tie between Japan and Australia. Sorry if I ruined that for you. Too late for a spoiler alert now though, isn't it?
Kinda just wanna skip school tomorrow. Shouldn't though. But I really don't wanna go. And I don't wanna do dance. I just kinda lost all my will to do anything. I think it's because this time is coinciding with finals being over back at my home university and it's throwing me all out of whack. I can't help but think that if I had stayed back there, I would be graduating on monday, rather than whatever it is I'm going to be doing here in Japan. Calling my dad to wish him happy fathers' day. Whatever. Ugh. (T_T)
Monday, June 11, 2012
Day 78 - Relaxing Day (finally)
Today was lovely. Woke up nice and late, went to campus to have lunch with Kenna, then came back and watched some tv, did some laundry. After yesterday and the past few weeks, a nice calm day has been really relaxing. Unfortunately, it makes the rest of this week all the harder.
My dance performance is this Friday. Which means that, alongside our regularly scheduled Wednesday practice, there's also a rehearsal Thursday night, and the actual performance Friday. So three out of the next four days I'll be going out to eat and miss out on mama's cooking. Boo. Also, that means exhaustion. I get so hot and tired from practices. Thankfully, the next few days look to be pretty cool, rainy. Which is both good and bad. Good because it's colder, bad because I don't wanna deal with rain, too.
I spent a good long time talking with my family on Skype today, too. After more than two months away from home, it's always a relief to hear their voices and see their faces. Made me a little homesick, but also fortified my will to do the best I can to enjoy the rest of this trip.
My dance performance is this Friday. Which means that, alongside our regularly scheduled Wednesday practice, there's also a rehearsal Thursday night, and the actual performance Friday. So three out of the next four days I'll be going out to eat and miss out on mama's cooking. Boo. Also, that means exhaustion. I get so hot and tired from practices. Thankfully, the next few days look to be pretty cool, rainy. Which is both good and bad. Good because it's colder, bad because I don't wanna deal with rain, too.
I spent a good long time talking with my family on Skype today, too. After more than two months away from home, it's always a relief to hear their voices and see their faces. Made me a little homesick, but also fortified my will to do the best I can to enjoy the rest of this trip.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Day 77 - Kanagawa
Today was an adventure to Kanagawa. Unfortunately, it was so hot today I think I boiled my brains, because I don't remember much of the day.
First we stopped in Kita (north) - Kanagawa, and visited this hydrangea temple. Thing. There's this cliff face where they dug out caves and built graves called Yagura. They currently don't really know why the graves were built like this, but hey, history. But since it's in season, the hydrangeas were lovely and in bloom. Which of course, meant that all the Japanese tourists were there as well. It was so busy.
Next stop was the daibutsu in Kanagawa. Daibutsu literally means "big buddha, and that's exactly what it was. A big buddha. Huge, made of metal, and actually hollow. For a fee, you could actually go inside it. It had these huge pair of windows in the back with big metal shutters. I heard some Japanese women exclaim that it looked just like a Gundam. Lol, Japan.
Next was lunch in some sort of busy road. Couldn't find much interesting so Tamarra and I went to a coffee shop. Called Excelsior Cafe, it has pretty much the same outside facade and font as starbucks, so it's a pretty obvious rip off. Good food though. I'm seriously getting addicted to the iced cocoas here. Can't help myself.
Next was Enoshima. The day was winding down, so the walk from the station to the island was very pleasant. Got to see some ocean, breathe in the sea air. It was really nice. Had about an hour to wander so we walked around, saw this group of guys with low-riders. What a strange thing to see in Japan. Wandered up towards the shrine near the top of the island, but were distracted a short way up by some friendly cats. One of them looked like one of mine. I miss my cats.
Then it was time to return. Took a different train back, and ended up in Ikebukuro with Tamarra for dinner. That was quiet and pleasant. But I'm exhausted. We stopped by a little shop in her station that sells owl-shaped taiyaki. I bought ten of them, a bunch of different flavors. Got to eat a custard one and an orange one. They're soooooo good. They rest were given to my host family. I guess Mama's actually gone until sometime tomorrow. She's visiting family in Chiba.
And that's it. My feet ache, and I'm tired. Tomorrow is looking to be a really quiet day. Maybe I'll get some laundry done finally. That's all for now.
First we stopped in Kita (north) - Kanagawa, and visited this hydrangea temple. Thing. There's this cliff face where they dug out caves and built graves called Yagura. They currently don't really know why the graves were built like this, but hey, history. But since it's in season, the hydrangeas were lovely and in bloom. Which of course, meant that all the Japanese tourists were there as well. It was so busy.
Next stop was the daibutsu in Kanagawa. Daibutsu literally means "big buddha, and that's exactly what it was. A big buddha. Huge, made of metal, and actually hollow. For a fee, you could actually go inside it. It had these huge pair of windows in the back with big metal shutters. I heard some Japanese women exclaim that it looked just like a Gundam. Lol, Japan.
Next was lunch in some sort of busy road. Couldn't find much interesting so Tamarra and I went to a coffee shop. Called Excelsior Cafe, it has pretty much the same outside facade and font as starbucks, so it's a pretty obvious rip off. Good food though. I'm seriously getting addicted to the iced cocoas here. Can't help myself.
Next was Enoshima. The day was winding down, so the walk from the station to the island was very pleasant. Got to see some ocean, breathe in the sea air. It was really nice. Had about an hour to wander so we walked around, saw this group of guys with low-riders. What a strange thing to see in Japan. Wandered up towards the shrine near the top of the island, but were distracted a short way up by some friendly cats. One of them looked like one of mine. I miss my cats.
Then it was time to return. Took a different train back, and ended up in Ikebukuro with Tamarra for dinner. That was quiet and pleasant. But I'm exhausted. We stopped by a little shop in her station that sells owl-shaped taiyaki. I bought ten of them, a bunch of different flavors. Got to eat a custard one and an orange one. They're soooooo good. They rest were given to my host family. I guess Mama's actually gone until sometime tomorrow. She's visiting family in Chiba.
And that's it. My feet ache, and I'm tired. Tomorrow is looking to be a really quiet day. Maybe I'll get some laundry done finally. That's all for now.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Day 76 - Sleeeep
Ugh, today was exhausting. Had dance practice again today. They told us to come in costume, so I got there early and changed. First time putting on Yukata all on my own. It was really hard. But when I got there, pretty much no one was in costume. It was so embarrassing. I was really upset for a while. But then some other people showed up, and I felt a little less stupid. Still, it's really upsetting to be the one foreign looking person dressed in yukata in a group of modern-dressed Japanese people. There was a group of highschool students touring campus and they all stared at me. :(
Practice itself wasn't too bad, but it was freaking hot. Today was supposed to be cooler because of the rain, but it wasn't any cooler inside. So I was stuck, in uncomfortable clothes, super hot, and had to dance in front of a bunch of people I felt were laughing at me. Japan is making me super self-conscious. I was bad enough before, but all these staring eyes is even worse.
I got back home today, and almost immediately went to sleep. Sooooo tired. Slept until almost 8, had dinner, and watched volleyball again with the host family. Japan won! I guess that means they're going to the London Olympics? Horay! The first set was really close, but after that Japan pretty much dominated.
Rie, mama's other daughter, who lives elsewhere with her husband, stopped by today. She brought creme puffs! But instead of the like, fluffy bread that it usually comes in, this was almost a cookie. SOooooooo good. I love a lot of Japanese pastry. They take classic things and change them up. I think this is my favorite thing so far. But that's about it. Missing practice tomorrow to go to Kamakura. I guess there's an island we're going to (I thought we were already on an island?), and the sea is just beautiful.
Practice itself wasn't too bad, but it was freaking hot. Today was supposed to be cooler because of the rain, but it wasn't any cooler inside. So I was stuck, in uncomfortable clothes, super hot, and had to dance in front of a bunch of people I felt were laughing at me. Japan is making me super self-conscious. I was bad enough before, but all these staring eyes is even worse.
I got back home today, and almost immediately went to sleep. Sooooo tired. Slept until almost 8, had dinner, and watched volleyball again with the host family. Japan won! I guess that means they're going to the London Olympics? Horay! The first set was really close, but after that Japan pretty much dominated.
Rie, mama's other daughter, who lives elsewhere with her husband, stopped by today. She brought creme puffs! But instead of the like, fluffy bread that it usually comes in, this was almost a cookie. SOooooooo good. I love a lot of Japanese pastry. They take classic things and change them up. I think this is my favorite thing so far. But that's about it. Missing practice tomorrow to go to Kamakura. I guess there's an island we're going to (I thought we were already on an island?), and the sea is just beautiful.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Day 75 - Practice Makes Tired
I am… exhausted. So glad that Nihon Buyo is over the end of next week. It's been fun, sometimes. Mostly it's been tiring. And time-sucking. Today was the longest day I've had since Disneyland. Got up around 6ish so I wouldn't miss class. Went school. Then practice again after school from 6-9. So that was a good long time. Then the hour it takes to get home. So all in all, an almost 14 hour day? Then I showered and stayed up and watched some news with the host family.
As far as accomplishments go today, I was at econ before my professor, so I definitely wasn't absent. Got to play kingdom hearts more. And actually managed to put on my yukata and help tamarra with hers pretty much all on my own. Yay!
Tomorrow is more practice, starting early. Then sunday I guess we're going to Kamakura? Monday looks free, thankfully. I need to do some more laundry, and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. Anyway, tired now. More tomorrow.
As far as accomplishments go today, I was at econ before my professor, so I definitely wasn't absent. Got to play kingdom hearts more. And actually managed to put on my yukata and help tamarra with hers pretty much all on my own. Yay!
Tomorrow is more practice, starting early. Then sunday I guess we're going to Kamakura? Monday looks free, thankfully. I need to do some more laundry, and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. Anyway, tired now. More tomorrow.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Day 74 - Yukata Katta!
I did it! I bought a yukata! I'm so glad I actually found one. Went to that little second hand store I found with Colleen forever ago. The plan had been to go to this place called "Oriental Bazaar", but it's closed Thursdays. But went to this place, called Chicago, in Omotesand in Harajuku and found one! There were a lot of them, and since they're second hand they're pretty cheap. Mine was under 2000 yen. And it fits! Nothing here fits, but I managed to find a kimono, that's pretty, and inexpensive, and fits! So happy.
The rest of my didn't really matter. Was late for Econ again, but thankfully wasn't counted absent. That's important. And got to sit and play kingdom hearts for a long time today, too. And that's pretty much my day. Not looking forward to tomorrow. Have another practice then, and I'm still sore from yesterday. Another Saturday, then Thursday next week, and actually performing on Friday next week. Super excited about that.
p.s. My title today is a little bit of a Japanese rhyme. The verb for "to purchase", in it's past tense is katta, and rhymes with Yukata, which is what I bought. It's funny to me. I really enjoy wordplay in Japanese. Like, my pass for the trains is called a "suica", and my wallet is watermelon shaped, and watermelon is also "suica" in Japanese, so I have a suica in my suica. Having to explain it makes me feel a little lame though…
The rest of my didn't really matter. Was late for Econ again, but thankfully wasn't counted absent. That's important. And got to sit and play kingdom hearts for a long time today, too. And that's pretty much my day. Not looking forward to tomorrow. Have another practice then, and I'm still sore from yesterday. Another Saturday, then Thursday next week, and actually performing on Friday next week. Super excited about that.
p.s. My title today is a little bit of a Japanese rhyme. The verb for "to purchase", in it's past tense is katta, and rhymes with Yukata, which is what I bought. It's funny to me. I really enjoy wordplay in Japanese. Like, my pass for the trains is called a "suica", and my wallet is watermelon shaped, and watermelon is also "suica" in Japanese, so I have a suica in my suica. Having to explain it makes me feel a little lame though…
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Day 73 - In Which I Continue to be Exhausted
I'm so tired. Still. And have even more to do tomorrow. It never ends. Got up early, got to school on time this morning, only to find out my first class had been canceled. Yay. Well, it did mean I got to sit and play Kingdom Hearts on my DS until lunch. The class that I typically enjoy today was just a loud, disrespectful jumble. I get tired, sometimes, of college students. I sincerely hope people grow out of the talking-while-others-are-talking thing, but I doubt it. It's just really frustrating when it's during something I'm trying to enjoy. Oh well.
Nihon Buyo dance practice again today. I'm getting a little fed up with all the changes happening in the dance. Found out today though, that our performance is next friday. I think I probably should have known that sooner. But the group drops the ball all the time. I think after this, I'm gonna drop the group. It's been interesting and sometimes fun, but it's also been a time-consumer and I'm getting tired of the drama and such.
So yeah. I'm tired. Now it's also because of practice. There's gonna be practice friday, saturday, and sunday as well. So I don't really get a break. Hoping to find a yukata tomorrow. I need one by this friday (AUGH) so I don't think ordering one online is gonna work. So I gotta find one tomorrow. I'm borrowing one from sensei right now, but the tiny shit doesn't fit. Damn Japan.
Gotta wake up early tomorrow, Econ. Hopefully I won't sleep through this class again…
Nihon Buyo dance practice again today. I'm getting a little fed up with all the changes happening in the dance. Found out today though, that our performance is next friday. I think I probably should have known that sooner. But the group drops the ball all the time. I think after this, I'm gonna drop the group. It's been interesting and sometimes fun, but it's also been a time-consumer and I'm getting tired of the drama and such.
So yeah. I'm tired. Now it's also because of practice. There's gonna be practice friday, saturday, and sunday as well. So I don't really get a break. Hoping to find a yukata tomorrow. I need one by this friday (AUGH) so I don't think ordering one online is gonna work. So I gotta find one tomorrow. I'm borrowing one from sensei right now, but the tiny shit doesn't fit. Damn Japan.
Gotta wake up early tomorrow, Econ. Hopefully I won't sleep through this class again…
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Day 72 - Back to "normal" life
After disney yesterday, I have spent most of today in a listless stupor. Got up around 8 but dicked around on the internet until I had to leave for class. Don't even really remember what I did. Stumble kinda does that. At school I went to my classes. First one I hadn't done the homework, and didn't really care. The other one was lit, so I fell asleep. Even with the energy drink. Gotta figure out a way to stay awake. Or a way to sleep more comfortably…
Got home, started a load of laundry, and settled down to watch a little american tv. Forgot about the laundry til mama got home, so it just sat in the washer for two hours. Whoops. Still clean though. Unfortunately, I've been wearing through my clothes really fast and need shorts because it's getting to be unbearably hot. Don't know where to buy clothes in my size here though. Damn Japan and the tiny people here. :/ Thankfully I'm not looking for full-length pants or anything, because I'm sure if I found one that fit my waist, it would be too short.
Had an exciting dinner with mama. Watched the Volleyball game between a Japanese team and Korean one. Have no idea what sort of game, if it mattered in the big scheme of things (they do volleyball in the olympics, right?) or not, but Japan won by a very close margin, so it was exciting enough. Mama got really into it. She eats really fast when she's excited, I was a little worried she'd choke. I tend to stop eating altogether, too engrossed in the game to pay attention to food.
It seems that papa isn't doing too well at all. I know I've mentioned him very little, but that's because I know very little of how he's doing. Japanese tend to not talk about it, probably especially not with an outsider like me. But mama opened up today and talked about how he now has a throat tube to breathe, and they're feeding him through a tube in his nose. He has been getting chemo, because I guess he has throat cancer, but it's messed with his vocal cords, so they've put in one of those electric things so he can try and converse. It seems really serious, I have no idea how she can seem so energetic all the time… I hope he gets better soon.
And that's about it. I asked mama and Rio to help me find a yukata. The day for the dance performance is coming up soon and I really need a yukata. Had no luck in Asakusa when we went. It turns out my best luck might be online on a site called Nissen. I'm gonna talk with Marie tomorrow to see if she knows. Surely I'm not the fattest person in the program who's wanted a yukata.
Got home, started a load of laundry, and settled down to watch a little american tv. Forgot about the laundry til mama got home, so it just sat in the washer for two hours. Whoops. Still clean though. Unfortunately, I've been wearing through my clothes really fast and need shorts because it's getting to be unbearably hot. Don't know where to buy clothes in my size here though. Damn Japan and the tiny people here. :/ Thankfully I'm not looking for full-length pants or anything, because I'm sure if I found one that fit my waist, it would be too short.
Had an exciting dinner with mama. Watched the Volleyball game between a Japanese team and Korean one. Have no idea what sort of game, if it mattered in the big scheme of things (they do volleyball in the olympics, right?) or not, but Japan won by a very close margin, so it was exciting enough. Mama got really into it. She eats really fast when she's excited, I was a little worried she'd choke. I tend to stop eating altogether, too engrossed in the game to pay attention to food.
It seems that papa isn't doing too well at all. I know I've mentioned him very little, but that's because I know very little of how he's doing. Japanese tend to not talk about it, probably especially not with an outsider like me. But mama opened up today and talked about how he now has a throat tube to breathe, and they're feeding him through a tube in his nose. He has been getting chemo, because I guess he has throat cancer, but it's messed with his vocal cords, so they've put in one of those electric things so he can try and converse. It seems really serious, I have no idea how she can seem so energetic all the time… I hope he gets better soon.
And that's about it. I asked mama and Rio to help me find a yukata. The day for the dance performance is coming up soon and I really need a yukata. Had no luck in Asakusa when we went. It turns out my best luck might be online on a site called Nissen. I'm gonna talk with Marie tomorrow to see if she knows. Surely I'm not the fattest person in the program who's wanted a yukata.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Day 71 - Tokyo DisneyLand
Hoooo man. I'm gonna try to relate all of today, if only for my memory's sake.
Woke up hella early. Might have mentioned yesterday that I was going to sleep like, 5pm? Welp, woke up around 5am and got ready. Packed a few things, ate a delicious breakfast from my host mom, and headed off to Ikebukuro. Made the great decision of buying and drinking a mountain dew along the way. I think I just may be developing a caffeine addiction. It helps me cope. Whatever. Got to Ike, but Tamarra was running late, so I got to make the exciting and almost new trip to her home station. Trains are confusing. Thanks Japan.
Today was Disney Land day. Previously, I had visited Disney Sea. I talked about wanted to write about it but being exhausted and I'd write later. That was a lie. I'll probably never write about it. Other than to compare now with Disney Land. I do plan on finishing this writing today though. And now I'm getting all meta, writing about writing…
Got to Disney what we thought was late but to our surprise, we were actually almost an hour early. For some reason, Land opens at 9 while Sea opened at 8. Still no clue as to why. But that means we had a chance to get a nice locker and get sunscreened and all that before having to worry about even entering the park.
Disney is crazy big in Japan. You have no idea. People will deck themselves out in everything disney they own, and collect more while they're there, just to wear it. They number of tiny adorable princess girls was more than I could count on my hands and feet. Pretty much every other girl was wearing some sort of disney hat or ears or headband or bow or something. Guys got into it too. Couples wear matching outfits, families all wear matching ensembles, the whole get out. It's insane. Disney makes these collages of characters for shirts and stuff, and it's incredibly busy. I saw a guy wearing that design on his shirt and pants, disney theme shoes, a huge mad-hatter hat that was adorned with numerous disney plushes, and a backpack decked out the same. And it's not just the young people. Tamarra and I saw this old lady with a backpack on that you couldn't even see for all the plushes covering it.
Anyway, first ride of the day was Pirates. I was super excited. The line was an amazing 5 minute wait. It stopped seconds in. At that point with the skull just after the bayou. We were evacuated. They pronounced evacuate wrong. It was something like "evucate", like they forgot a syllable. We got a voucher that worked as a fast pass for any ride though.
Next was to Big Thunder Mountain. The line was enormous. Like, halfway into critter country long. We decided to pass on that at the moment and headed to Splash Mountain. By that point, it had already gotten to be extremely hot. Got fastpasses for Splash and headed around the corner for Haunted Mansion. Said it was a 45 minute wait, so we hopped on that. It was interesting in Japanese to say the least. Most of the dialog was in Japanese, but any songs and some of the more major parts were in english, just like at home. Got to talk along at the end "hurry back, hurry back, don't forget to bring your death certificate…" in english. Tradition in my family.
I found the rides here to be a little shorter, or at least feel shorter. After the Mansion, we wandered through toon town and tomorrow land. Unfortunately, because of things like energy conservation and renovations, both Space Mountain and Star Tours were closed. SOOOOO LAME. But we managed to hit a few of the other attractions. Took our tour of Splash Mountain, went back to Big Thunder and used our vouchers for that. Rode the Monsters Inc. Ride, and Pooh's Hunny Hunt. Lines after that first hour or so got to be ridiculous. Two, three hours, was the norm. That was pretty much it as far as rides went. There were a half dozen or so more that I wanted to try, but we simply ran out of time.
We did get to see the easter parade. Because easter is still going on in DisneyLand. Until the end of June. Yeah, I don't get it either. But it made for a lovely parade. Some of which I recorded, most of which I snapped pictures of. Most interesting of that was the people that had obviously been to Disney so many times they danced along with the entire parade.
Had dinner at the Blue Bayou restaurant. First time ever. Understandably so, as it was very expensive. Spent about $25 for just me. But it was an experience that I needed to have, and I have been craving creole or gumbo pretty much the entire time I've been here. It was delicious. I bought a few more souvenirs and I think I'm pretty much done with that now.
We stuck it out to the end this time, and since Pirates was up finally, we got to ride it at the end. Mainly the same as in California, but I feel they may have cut it a little short. Last ride of the night was Thunder Mountain. It was great at night. Could see the volcano in the Mysterious Island part of Disney Sea erupting from the ride, and the park itself was lit up lovely.
I'm exhausted. Again. But had a great time. Better ending than last time, too. I think I need to work on staying hydrated and well fed while at parks and such. But that's it. Disney. I may or may not upload photos. I took some 200+ of them. Don't expect nearly that many on here though.
Woke up hella early. Might have mentioned yesterday that I was going to sleep like, 5pm? Welp, woke up around 5am and got ready. Packed a few things, ate a delicious breakfast from my host mom, and headed off to Ikebukuro. Made the great decision of buying and drinking a mountain dew along the way. I think I just may be developing a caffeine addiction. It helps me cope. Whatever. Got to Ike, but Tamarra was running late, so I got to make the exciting and almost new trip to her home station. Trains are confusing. Thanks Japan.
Today was Disney Land day. Previously, I had visited Disney Sea. I talked about wanted to write about it but being exhausted and I'd write later. That was a lie. I'll probably never write about it. Other than to compare now with Disney Land. I do plan on finishing this writing today though. And now I'm getting all meta, writing about writing…
Got to Disney what we thought was late but to our surprise, we were actually almost an hour early. For some reason, Land opens at 9 while Sea opened at 8. Still no clue as to why. But that means we had a chance to get a nice locker and get sunscreened and all that before having to worry about even entering the park.
Disney is crazy big in Japan. You have no idea. People will deck themselves out in everything disney they own, and collect more while they're there, just to wear it. They number of tiny adorable princess girls was more than I could count on my hands and feet. Pretty much every other girl was wearing some sort of disney hat or ears or headband or bow or something. Guys got into it too. Couples wear matching outfits, families all wear matching ensembles, the whole get out. It's insane. Disney makes these collages of characters for shirts and stuff, and it's incredibly busy. I saw a guy wearing that design on his shirt and pants, disney theme shoes, a huge mad-hatter hat that was adorned with numerous disney plushes, and a backpack decked out the same. And it's not just the young people. Tamarra and I saw this old lady with a backpack on that you couldn't even see for all the plushes covering it.
Anyway, first ride of the day was Pirates. I was super excited. The line was an amazing 5 minute wait. It stopped seconds in. At that point with the skull just after the bayou. We were evacuated. They pronounced evacuate wrong. It was something like "evucate", like they forgot a syllable. We got a voucher that worked as a fast pass for any ride though.
Next was to Big Thunder Mountain. The line was enormous. Like, halfway into critter country long. We decided to pass on that at the moment and headed to Splash Mountain. By that point, it had already gotten to be extremely hot. Got fastpasses for Splash and headed around the corner for Haunted Mansion. Said it was a 45 minute wait, so we hopped on that. It was interesting in Japanese to say the least. Most of the dialog was in Japanese, but any songs and some of the more major parts were in english, just like at home. Got to talk along at the end "hurry back, hurry back, don't forget to bring your death certificate…" in english. Tradition in my family.
I found the rides here to be a little shorter, or at least feel shorter. After the Mansion, we wandered through toon town and tomorrow land. Unfortunately, because of things like energy conservation and renovations, both Space Mountain and Star Tours were closed. SOOOOO LAME. But we managed to hit a few of the other attractions. Took our tour of Splash Mountain, went back to Big Thunder and used our vouchers for that. Rode the Monsters Inc. Ride, and Pooh's Hunny Hunt. Lines after that first hour or so got to be ridiculous. Two, three hours, was the norm. That was pretty much it as far as rides went. There were a half dozen or so more that I wanted to try, but we simply ran out of time.
We did get to see the easter parade. Because easter is still going on in DisneyLand. Until the end of June. Yeah, I don't get it either. But it made for a lovely parade. Some of which I recorded, most of which I snapped pictures of. Most interesting of that was the people that had obviously been to Disney so many times they danced along with the entire parade.
Had dinner at the Blue Bayou restaurant. First time ever. Understandably so, as it was very expensive. Spent about $25 for just me. But it was an experience that I needed to have, and I have been craving creole or gumbo pretty much the entire time I've been here. It was delicious. I bought a few more souvenirs and I think I'm pretty much done with that now.
We stuck it out to the end this time, and since Pirates was up finally, we got to ride it at the end. Mainly the same as in California, but I feel they may have cut it a little short. Last ride of the night was Thunder Mountain. It was great at night. Could see the volcano in the Mysterious Island part of Disney Sea erupting from the ride, and the park itself was lit up lovely.
I'm exhausted. Again. But had a great time. Better ending than last time, too. I think I need to work on staying hydrated and well fed while at parks and such. But that's it. Disney. I may or may not upload photos. I took some 200+ of them. Don't expect nearly that many on here though.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Day 70 - Food and Fans
Ugh, breakfast. I'm still eating it. That sounds weird. So, I didn't finish breakfast this morning, because I ran out of time. Instead, I left a note for my host mother, asking her if I could eat it for lunch, since I hadn't finished it. Welp, I got home late from my excursions today, about four, and I had eaten lunch already. Well, I'm also going to disney again tomorrow, and want to go to sleep early, so I ate breakfast as dinner tonight. That's my day.
JK. Excursions today consisted of going to Asakusa (again!) and trying to find Yukata and Fans for the dance we've been practicing and will preform in a few weeks. It's getting really close. I managed to find a lovely fan that I plan on keeping just as a souvenir, and will use a different one for the performance. My fan is teal, and has gold wisteria on it, which just happen to be my favorite flower. Found out that wisteria in Japanese is "Fuji", which is awesome, shares the name with that famous mountain. Had no luck finding yukata though. Tamarra found a beautiful one with pink morning glories and purple goldfish. So jealous. I tried on one, but it seems yukata in Japan that are pretty, just don't come in my size. That kinda ruined my day. I'm gonna try again. I've heard that they sell them in Yuniclo, a big clothes department store thing. But not today. Going to sleep early today.
I'm really honestly excited for Disney tomorrow, but also have just been having a streak of bad days. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better. I think the homesickness is really kicking in now...
JK. Excursions today consisted of going to Asakusa (again!) and trying to find Yukata and Fans for the dance we've been practicing and will preform in a few weeks. It's getting really close. I managed to find a lovely fan that I plan on keeping just as a souvenir, and will use a different one for the performance. My fan is teal, and has gold wisteria on it, which just happen to be my favorite flower. Found out that wisteria in Japanese is "Fuji", which is awesome, shares the name with that famous mountain. Had no luck finding yukata though. Tamarra found a beautiful one with pink morning glories and purple goldfish. So jealous. I tried on one, but it seems yukata in Japan that are pretty, just don't come in my size. That kinda ruined my day. I'm gonna try again. I've heard that they sell them in Yuniclo, a big clothes department store thing. But not today. Going to sleep early today.
I'm really honestly excited for Disney tomorrow, but also have just been having a streak of bad days. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better. I think the homesickness is really kicking in now...
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Day 69 - Play
So, today was Saturday, and thus one of the busiest days of the week. Lovely day today, though a little too hot. I'mma need shorts and skirts again really soon. Kind of a surprise since when I first got here, I couldn't sleep without a heater on, but now I have the windows all the way open and am still sometimes too hot. It was supposed to rain today, but thankfully didn't.
Most important thing about today is the fact that we went to go see Kabuki, as a group with the OUS people. Super fun. Well. A good amount of fun. We saw a play called Heikei Nyogo no Shima, which is a story written by this really famous japanese playwright, Chikamatsu Monzaemon and meant to be set in the 12th century. It's about a monk who conspires to hold a coup against the ruling emperor, and is exiled with his two conspirators. They're sent to an island, where the youngest falls in love with a local pearl diver woman. They get married, but when the emperor pardons them, she's not allowed to come with them. The monk fights for her right to go with, and has her take his place on the boat. It's all very dramatic and emotional, but very difficult to understand in the Japanese. Thankfully, there were english translations available. I liked it enough, but actually fell asleep partway through. It was warm and I'd had a big lunch… There's actually a summary by the company that is producing it here, and they do a much better job than I did.
I think I'd like to go see Kabuki again, but a more exciting one? When I think of Kabuki, I think of this:
Not really of old men fighting and falling down every other hit. I wanna see some dramatic fighting and yelling. Maybe. The ticket for this one wasn't hugely expensive, but I don't know how much another one would be. One thing I really loved, that they didn't really make amazing use of, was the stage. We got to see a little bit of how it worked before the show, as a learning kind of thing. The whole freaking stage moves. Rotates. And lifts. There's three huge platforms built into the stage that lift a good 20 feet in the air. It was amazing. And they only thing they did in this play was rotate it a bit. I wanna see more!
Most important thing about today is the fact that we went to go see Kabuki, as a group with the OUS people. Super fun. Well. A good amount of fun. We saw a play called Heikei Nyogo no Shima, which is a story written by this really famous japanese playwright, Chikamatsu Monzaemon and meant to be set in the 12th century. It's about a monk who conspires to hold a coup against the ruling emperor, and is exiled with his two conspirators. They're sent to an island, where the youngest falls in love with a local pearl diver woman. They get married, but when the emperor pardons them, she's not allowed to come with them. The monk fights for her right to go with, and has her take his place on the boat. It's all very dramatic and emotional, but very difficult to understand in the Japanese. Thankfully, there were english translations available. I liked it enough, but actually fell asleep partway through. It was warm and I'd had a big lunch… There's actually a summary by the company that is producing it here, and they do a much better job than I did.
I think I'd like to go see Kabuki again, but a more exciting one? When I think of Kabuki, I think of this:
Friday, June 1, 2012
Day 68 - Movie Day
Welp, today's weather was interesting at least. Morning was lovely and cool. By the time my first class let out, it was so hot I felt I was melting. Guh. End of lunch it was raining. Then nice. Then raining then nice. I almost thought it was Eugene. But then the thunder started. But was nice for my next class. I stayed at school a little later, and while I was sitting, playing my gameboy (dont you judge me) there was an earthquake. Yay. I'm beginning to think this is typical for Japan. Horay Japan.
Oh, today was my first actual test at Waseda. It was a speaking test for my "Think and Speak in Japanese" class (level 1-2). Really easy. But my partner struggled a little. I think he's having difficulty getting past his southern accent.
Today was another adventure in Japanese cinema. Got together a group of students, some ous, others from other classes, and we all went to Ikebukuro to watch Men In Black 3. Since it was the first of the month, the tickets were a little less pricey. Gotta say, this MIB was way better than I expected. I mean, I had friends tell me it was good, but it actually pulled on some heartstrings there for a little while. Wayyyyyyyy better than the second movie.
A few little differences in Japanese cinema from american theaters. First of all, they all call it cinema here. Some english thing. Queen's english. Whatever. Another thing is when you purchase your ticket, you pick a seat. No first-come first serve here, you pick when you buy. So I guess it still is first come first serve, but because we were late it sucked. Ended up in the front row, far left. Boo. Another difference is they keep the house lights off all the way through the credits, so you have to stay and watch them. Maybe Japanese end credits are more interesting than American ones, but it was kind of a drag. That's pretty much all the differences. Yay.
Oh, today was my first actual test at Waseda. It was a speaking test for my "Think and Speak in Japanese" class (level 1-2). Really easy. But my partner struggled a little. I think he's having difficulty getting past his southern accent.
Today was another adventure in Japanese cinema. Got together a group of students, some ous, others from other classes, and we all went to Ikebukuro to watch Men In Black 3. Since it was the first of the month, the tickets were a little less pricey. Gotta say, this MIB was way better than I expected. I mean, I had friends tell me it was good, but it actually pulled on some heartstrings there for a little while. Wayyyyyyyy better than the second movie.
A few little differences in Japanese cinema from american theaters. First of all, they all call it cinema here. Some english thing. Queen's english. Whatever. Another thing is when you purchase your ticket, you pick a seat. No first-come first serve here, you pick when you buy. So I guess it still is first come first serve, but because we were late it sucked. Ended up in the front row, far left. Boo. Another difference is they keep the house lights off all the way through the credits, so you have to stay and watch them. Maybe Japanese end credits are more interesting than American ones, but it was kind of a drag. That's pretty much all the differences. Yay.
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