Saturday I had my interview about what sort of host family. I won't know who/where I'll officially be staying for a couple more days. I'm just hoping I get a family I can really connect with. That day we were split into groups, and after everyone in my group finished their interviews we went to get some food then find places on campus we were supposed to take pictures of. Other people who weren't officially in our group came with us too. We were supposed to have a Waseda student help guide us around campus, but for some reason we didn't have one. So we went on our own. And this is when we formed "Team." While every other group had someone to guide them, we managed to find everything by ourselves by working together. Although this took longer, we all agreed that we probably got more out of it than the other groups. We really bonded and had a lot of fun. Sometimes we got lost/confused, did way too much walking, and eventually the Team dwindled down to just four of us. Here's a picture of a small shrine/park area near campus that we went to!:
For dinner that night the whole group went out to eat okonomiyaki (which has been described as like a Japanese pancake though it's not sweet). I was really excited to eat okonomiyaki, but things got a bit crazy at the restaurant we went to. First off, the tables were pretty small. There were four to a table but one of the Waseda students sat with us as well so we had five. Everyone had two drinks and a plate, and there is a grill in the middle of the table to cook it, so it was crowded. Also, I've noticed that it's somewhat rare to have a napkin at restaurants, which is weird to me since I'm used to always having one when I eat. Anyway, the table I was at (which was made up of Team members) had some trouble ordering. We eventually got our food, and were shown how to make it by the Waseda student who sat with us.
At this point things started to get crazy. We kept making jokes at my table, and were talking about our Team, so we were all laughing a lot. And since there wasn't much room, I kept knocking my chopsticks on the floor. I seriously had 3 or 4 different pairs of chopsticks that night. Once the cooking started the whole restaurant got incredibly smokey, which made our eyes sting. It was also really hot and we were all tired. So I'm laughing, crying from the smoke, trying to fan myself, and trying to eat all at the same time while having no energy. It was quite entertaining. I also went to my first bar that night, but since I was spaced out tired I didn't drink or converse much.
And today we went mountain climbing. I was really excited to go, but since I got up at 6 I was also really tired. It took a little more than an hour to get to Mount Takao which is 1,965ft tall. Today the Team continued with being a Team to climb the mountain. When we got there it was raining, but that didn't stop us from climbing, although it meant we wouldn't be able to see Mount Fuji. We decided to take a route that went along a river (which was actually more like a creek). Never having climbed a mountain before, I wasn't sure quite what to expect. Naturally most of the trail was uphill. But since it was raining the trail was slippery. It was hard to appreciate the beautiful nature that surrounded me since I was so focused on not slipping on the wet, jagged rocks and falling off the edge. There were a couple of other Japanese people going up or down the trail, and a good amount of them would say こんにちは (hello) to us which was really nice since that does not happen in the downtown Tokyo area.
Anyway, I don't remember how long the hike was, but it was definitely over an hour to get to the top. We climbed the trail at a pretty decent pace until we hit the horrible stairs. Seriously it was horrible. These stairs were steep and there were so many of them. It was torture. I've already begun to block those stairs from my memory. Once we got to the top we had soba for lunch and green tea ice-cream for dessert. I definitely love the food here. Although the hike was incredibly exhausting, I'm glad I did it.
Also! So I forgot about this earlier, but at one point at the top of this mountain we were waiting for everyone to arrive to take a group picture. While we were waiting I taught the people I was with how to play this game (where you try to guess how many thumbs everyone is going to put up, basically you say "yubi suma(?) then a number) that the Earlham TSA students taught me. And while we were playing this little Japanese boy joined us, but when it was his turn we had no idea what he said (I don't think it was a number) and it was just really funny and cute. I'm so excited to get a host family with kids (I'm pretty sure I am!)
Woohoo mountain climbing and almost slipping off mountains!
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