This Past Week!

I forgot to mention that last Sunday night I had a music sharing session with my host parents. I played them some of the artists that I like (such as Andrew Bird), and they played some of the artists they like (such as a well known but older band called Southern All Stars). It was a nice bonding experience!

Anyway last Monday (the 15th) was a pretty normal day. I had a test in Japanese that I did pretty well on. I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that I probably won't learn anything from my Japanese class this semester. My teachers are nice, and the material isn't too difficult (yet), but since it's an intensive class we go over a lot really fast. I miss Earlham Japanese classes where my teachers there actually made sure you understood the material. It's nice not having any real homework (I really only have to study for tests), but I wish there was a normal Japanese class option...next semester I think I might try the themed classes instead of the intensive ones...

Oh, and other interesting (?) thing that happened on Monday was that I saw the cutest couple on train on way home. They have been the most affectionate couple I've seen so far here in Tokyo. They were holding hands and then the guy put his arms around her when the train was crowded! Physical displays of affection aren't really a big thing here, so it was somewhat surprising to see. It also made me want a boyfriend...haha.

Also, that night after dinner my host family showed me some of their old photos. I got to see what my host dad looked like as a kid through college age. There were also some from their wedding! I'm really glad they showed them to me!

Tuesday I went to the Rikugien Garden. I'll write more in depth about it later (since I have to write a post for my Exploring Tokyo class-which is turning out to have way more work than I thought it would...). For now I'll say it was beautiful! lol.

After class Tuesday I went to Asakusa to meet my host family and some of their friends for dinner. While I was on my way to the Kaminarimon (a famous gate, picture below!), I got scouted by a television producer (?) who asked (in Japanese) if I had time to do an interview for a Japanese television program. I told him I had plans and didn't have the time, but now I wish I would have done it since it would have been an interesting experience (also since my host family was late). After my host family and their friends got to Asakusa, we went to an okonomiyake/monjayaki restaurant. The last time I ate okonomiyake I ended up crying from all the smoke, so I was a bit worried. But thankfully this time I was tear free. The food was good and it was fun talking to my host family's friends (the two women and their children who were at shodo when I went).
Once our stomachs were full of food and alcohol, we headed back to the Kaminarimon area to check out the famous Senso-ji temple. On the way we walked through the popular shopping stall area (called Nakamise-dori). When I was there earlier that day it was super crowded. But since most of the shops were closed, few people were there. I want to go back sometime to do some shopping, but I'm glad I got to see the area at night, especially since I was able to see the painted shop shutters. Various scenes were painted on these shutters (such as a matsuri, cherry blossom trees, etc.), and I would have never known about them if I hadn't had been there when the shops were closed.
After heading down Nakamise-dori, we arrived at the Senso-ji temple. I was a bit surprised when we got to there since the temple is so huge! It was really breathtaking. And since it was night time, all the lamps and lights around the temple were lit up. With the lights, the cool fall air, and the lack of a crowd, the atmosphere that night was great. Truly beautiful. It was my first time going to a temple at night, and I'm not sure if that is allowed with most temples or shrines (since it was technically closed), but I'm glad I was able to have such an experience.

Since I'm tired my writing is pretty horrible right now, but I'll do my best to continue on! Wednesday was another normal day. It was rainy and cold. I went out to eat katsu curry with friends for dinner. That's about it.

Thursday through Saturday I was at Akita. I've been slowly working on that post, but it probably won't be finished until later this week! :\

But I'll go on to talk about today. I was able to get about 9-10 hours of sleep but of course that didn't kept me from being tired. It was great to sleep that much though! I probably should have spent the day doing homework/studying, but I think it will all be okay (also I just don't care too much about my grades here at Waseda...lol). Instead of spending the day cooped up in my room, I went with my host family to their friend's apartment (one of the mom's I meet at shodo and who has at Asakusa with us). First let me say the apartment building she lives in is amazing. It's pretty fancy on the outside and in the lobby area. It somewhat resembled a nice hotel. I was expecting the actual apartment to be pretty fancy and big, but it wasn't as fancy as I thought it would be. The apartment I live in now is actually bigger. But the view the apartment has was beyond amazing. She lives on the 45th floor, so you get a great view of the city. I would love to see such a view every day!

This woman was once an airline attendant, so her English is pretty good. I don't think she gets to use it that often (she's a stay at home mom and seriously has the cutest daughter ever), so I think she had fun practicing talking in English to me. It was interesting to compare her relationship with her husband (who was away on a business trip) to my host family's relationship. My host dad goes to a lot (practically all) of the family outings we have. But when there are other families with us, the dads are usually not there. My host parents seem to have a pretty equal relationship, but their friend was talking about how her husband pretty much makes all the rules, and from the way she was talking they don't sound all that close. She was also talking about how she felt free since her husband was away. Maybe I shouldn't be writing about such things here, but it made me remember that some families in Japan are still more traditional in the sense that the father is the complete head of the household. I'm curious about how she came to be married to her husband and why they've stayed married for so long (I'm also curious about how my host parents became married as well), but of course I didn't/couldn't ask such a thing.

We were there for about six hours eating, drinking (so much alcohol!) and I still have some homework to do, so I'll stop for now!~