Yesterday I went to the Shimabshi/Ginza area for my Exploring Tokyo class. It was probably the least exciting field trip we've done, but I guess I'd take a field trip over sitting in class any day.
Today I ended up going to a David Lynch art exhibition in the Omotesando/Harajuku area with a friend from my exploring Tokyo class. The exhibit was really interesting...haha. I liked his photographs and some of his paintings too, but a lot of it was pretty out there. Oh David Lynch. Some pictures soon! (even though we weren't supposed to take pictures haha...)
After the exhibit we ended up looking through the department store the museum was in. I bought a cute but overpriced hair tie. I wanted to buy clothes, but they were pretty expensive there. Which is why I'm still shopping at like Forever 21. I want to not shop there since I can shop there in America, but I guess it's just nice since the clothes are cheaper and they have fitting rooms haha. I always feel guilty about using the fitting rooms in department stores and not buying what I tried on since most people don't use them here...
I wanted to go to a Beatles themed bar tonight, but my friends all went home or decided to do homework (on a Friday night....lame...lol)
Tomorrow should be the 7-5-3 ceremony so I'll try and take lots of pictures! And then Sunday I'm going to go play volleyball with the girl who I met in Lawsons awhile ago. So we will see how that goes!

Gate One

I'm going to write about my jazz experience last night. I'm pretty tired now, so bear with my awkward English.

Yesterday I went to a jazz bar (called Gate One) with some of my friends from the program. We came to hear the woman we are going to teach English to sing. She and her husband own the bar and perform together a few times a month (her husband plays guitar). There was also a bass player, a drummer, and a pianist. I was pretty excited to see live jazz again (the last time had been a few months earlier). The place was pretty small, but a good amount of people squeezed in, though some had to sit on the stairs. The shelves behind the bar were filled with bottles and jazz records, and the place was dimly lit. I really liked the atmosphere there. Since we were somewhat special guests, we were able to drink all we want (2 beers, 3 gin and tonics for me) which was really nice since I don't think the bar usually has nomihodais. There were also free snacks!

We sat pretty close to where the band played, so we had a good view. The music started at around 8:40. I can't even describe how amazing it was. The musicians were all a bit older, so they were really good. And the woman's singing was amazing. Her English pronunciation was great, and her singing style was so strong and she had a wide range of emotions while singing. There were also two other singers that each sang once who were both equally amazing. The band took a break at about 10, so we were able to talk to the singer a bit and one of the directors for our program (who is friends with the singer and who was also a bit drunk). We ended up leaving at around 11:45 after they stopped playing. I'm so glad I was finally able to see a live jazz concert in Japan!

Today was really cold so I'm really tired now...but I think tomorrow will be a good day! :)

BBQ in Atsugi and Other Things

So Thursday the 22nd, I left my Exploring Tokyo class halfway to meet my host family at Shinjuku station. Somehow I managed to fit 3 nights and 4 days amounts of clothes into my backpack and purse (barely..), so thankfully I didn't have to carry around much luggage. After meeting my host parents we boarded a Romance car on the Odakyu Line (it's called a romance car since the seats are in twos...lol). This was my second time riding a romance car (the first time was when we went to Hakone), but this time we had private seats. I was feeling a bit down/tired/exhausted on Thursday, which my host parents took notice of. So when we arrived at Atsugi, they bought me a vitamin/energy drink as well as little heating pads for me feet and stomach. My host family takes such good care of me! I tried to pay, but of course they wouldn't let me.

My host mom's dad picked us up in his car to take us to his house, the house my host mom grew up in. It was dark, so I didn't get to see much of the area. The house was really nice though. Maybe not as spacious as an American house, but there were plenty of rooms and an outside area (where my host mom's dad had put up tarps for the bbq since it was going to rain the next day). Upon arriving we were promptly feed oden and sashimi by my host mom's mom. Afterwards we went upstairs to my host dad's "hobby" (?) room. He likes collecting American things from like the 60's and 70's, as well as lamps, so the room was pretty cool and had a great atmosphere! He also had a record player, so we listened to some old Japanese records as we drank. We also got to hear him play some guitar and sing. And then I was made to sing Yesterday by the Beatles with him. Well I guess not made to, since I didn't oppose, but I really sound weird on a mic/when I'm performing in front of people >_< like I can actually be a decent singer if I'm singing along with the actual song haha...oh well.

After waking up the next day (I was the last to wake up haha) I helped prepare for bbq. I got to make yakisoba with my host dad on the grill (my first time making yakisoba!). Then a couple of my host mom's friends and their husbands (first time meeting the husbands, I've meet all the wives before) and their kids came over to eat. One of the husbands is the president of the Japanese Hulu (which is pretty husband). My host mom's calligraphy teacher and her 13 year old daughter came as well. I really enjoy talking to the calligraphy teacher. She's been doing calligraphy for over 40 years! She's so knowledgeable  It's amazing. I wish I had something like that I've been doing for an extended period of time...I should have kept up with one of the various lessons I took when I was younger! Anyway, she's really nice too and said that we should all go to Kyoto together so she can explain the history about the area and calligraphy! I also got to meet my host mom's little sister's husband as well. Apparently he is a musician (who has been playing the bass for like 20 years) and has done music for a lot of anime, tv shows, and movies! I met some pretty amazing people this weekend...oh, and my host mom's dad has been doing calligraphy for forever as well. Crazy.

After much talking, eating, drinking, and more eating (grilled tuna steak, grilled fish, freshly cut sashimi, yakisoba, crab, soup, and more) we went up to my host mom's dad's room where he played his guitar and I ended up accompanying him for Yesterday...so embarrassing haha. After my host mom's friends left, the family talked long into the night. The would occasionally ask if I was tired or wanted to go to bed, since I was mainly listening since I couldn't really contribute to their conversations, but I enjoyed just listening so I was fine. When I woke up on Saturday, I played with my host mom's niece named Yume (dream in English), who is literally the cutest thing ever. She's not yet two, so she was pretty quiet, but she seemed really smart for her age since she was able to convey what she wanted pretty well! We played with blocks, trains, and other things. At one point she was pretending to mix food in a little mixing bowl, so I pretended to eat it. And at another time she took my hand and we went around in circles in the house for no reason. It's so cute how she could do the same thing over and over and not get bored.

Later in the afternoon my host mom's older brother came (who was the subject of much conversation the night before). We ate more food (so much food) and drank some more as well. There was a bit of family drama concerning my host sister's older brother (since he went driving while drunk and wouldn't answer his cell phone among other things). My host mom's brother-in-law was telling me that this family was a bit unusual for Japan since they were so open. Maybe that's true, but I really like my host family and their families. Oh, and I experienced my first real earthquake that night! It wasn't too big in Atsugi, but it was still the biggest one I've felt (there have been others but I've never noticed them).

On Sunday we went to a nearby park to look at the leaves, and then said our goodbyes since that day was the Thanksgiving Lunch for my study abroad program. I was pretty spaced out during the lunch, but it was fun to see everyone and their host families. The food was pretty okay too! And I got to introduce my friends to my host family which was a lot of fun. My friends all think my host family is a lot of fun, and my host family thinks I have good friends. My host dad told me to invite some of my friends over sometime, which I am pretty excited about! I don't know if I'll actually do it since I don't want to be a bother, but my host family isn't the type to say things like that out of courtesy. Overall, after the lunch I felt a lot closer to my host family. I'm glad my host family is younger, and I'm glad I have been getting along with them well. I definitely feel more comfortable with them than I did a month ago. I'm excited to see where our relationship will go from here!

Today was cold and I had my Japanese midterm...but tomorrow I'm going to a jazz club with one of my program directors and a few friends, so I'm really looking forward to it!

So overall this weekend was a lot of fun. I would much rather write a blog post about it now (or go enjoy the sunny weather), but I really need to start studying for my Japanese midterm soon! >_<
So real post tomorrow hopefully!~

It's only seven o'clock here and I could fall asleep...Anyway it's been cold here. But I mentioned before to my host mom that I have poor circulation, and today after dinner she brought out this little styrofoam box and filled it with hot water and had me put my feet in it. So relaxing!

Anyway not much happened today. I haven't been doing homework lately, just reading stuff mainly, but I know that's going to bite me in the ass so I need to start actually doing all of these assignments...the way classes are taught here are just...different. No motivation at all! But I'm not stressing out about it since classes aren't that important to me here...maybe my priorities are wrong, but I'd much rather do things with my host family or friends here before work.

But anyway, something mildly funny happened today so I thought I'd post it. One of my favorite places to go for lunch, snacks, etc., is the 100 yen Lawsons (100 Lawsons as I call it) close to Waseda (it's a convenience store by the way). I go almost every other day, so I see a lot of the same workers on a regular basis. I'm pretty much a regular there. So today I went there before class to buy some mikans (tangerines). When I got in line there was someone at the register finishing up, and a man behind that person. As the man went up to pay, the worker (one I see on a regular basis) told him to please wait since I was there before him. But like, I wasn't there before him at all, so the man got a bit miffed and was like uh she wasn't there before me but whatever. So I ended up paying before him. I'm sure the worker actually thought I was there first, but I thought it was still pretty funny that he said something. Regular customer loyalty yeah!

Anyway, like I said yesterday I'm going to a bbq until Sunday, so I won't post again until after a while! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!~

Today I had my first midterm. I think it went alright. I wish I had more motivation to study, but I think I'm burnt out. I put a lot of effort into class freshman and sophomore year. I just want to relax and learn at my own pace here. So far, that pace has been very slow (haha). But eventually I'll start to become more studious maybe...Overall today was long and cold. I wish they used heaters more often here in Japan; my classrooms were so cold! I just wanted to go to sleep the whole day. Mondays really are the worst >.<

So I think I'm going to help teach English starting this week. One of my program directors (she's Japanese) takes jazz voice lessons every month or so. Before I told her I was interesting in going to some jazz cafes or clubs (I still haven't gone yet sadly...), and the other day she mentioned that her jazz teacher was interested in having English lessons. So I guess another person on the program (one of my friends!) and I are going to help teach her alternating every other week. I've never taught English before, so I'm not really sure what to do, but I hope it goes well! I might even try to get jazz singing lessons if I can...lol

This Friday and Saturday I'm going to my host mom's hometown for a BBQ at her parents house there. I'm pretty excited! It sounds like the food will be good and that there will be a lot of people. I'm so glad I'm getting to experience so many things with my host family!~

I'll write about Hakone some time soon too! It was a lot of fun!

Out All Night

  So as my previous post mentioned, Friday was pretty crazy. I woke up around 8:30 to get ready for calligraphy lessons (shodo) with my host mom and brother. The lesson lasted about 2 hours. I kinda suck at shodo since my natural handwriting is pretty shitty, but it's kinda relaxing just to sit there and try to focus on just what you're writing. And the lesson was held in this fancy building in Ginza, and all of her students were women ranging in age. After shodo I went with my host mom and brother to eat Taiwanese food in a nearby restaurant (it was really good). Since the weather was nice that day we debated about going on a day trip somewhere. My host mom wanted to go to Hakone, but it takes about and hour and a half to get there, and since I had to be back by six for my club's nomikai, we didn't have the time. So instead we parted ways and I went to the Shinjuku Gyoen.

   I've been wanting to go to that park for some time now. I was supposed to go with a small group there during orientation, but the park was closed the day we went. But I'm glad I went during the fall. It was so beautiful! I went by myself just to get some alone time, and it was so peaceful there. It wasn't too crowded, and some paths were completely empty, so I had a really nice time there. And it was huge! I spent about two hours there just walking around and taking pictures.

  At around 4 I headed to Waseda to hang out with people before the nomikai. I had just planned on sitting in the niji lounge to talk with people, but one of my friends from my program asked if I wanted to go with him to his house so he could get some stuff and change. Since I've been interested in seeing the neighborhoods other people from my program live in I said yes. The neighborhood (I forgot the name) that he lives in is really cute! It's a bit more in the suburbs of Tokyo, but there were still a lot of fun looking shops on a cute little shopping street. And there was a park in front of his host family's house! And there were cats there! Once meowed at me haha. After he was ready we headed back to Waseda and went to the general niji meeting that was held before the nomikai. And then the night really began.

  A whole bunch of us fit into a small space for the nomikai. We were all sitting on the floor (with mats), so at least there weren't chairs to take up room. But it was really crowded. The room was completely full, but more people kept coming in. I have no idea how many people were there that night. But it was a lot of fun. There was some food (pizza, salad, etc.) and endless drinks (let's not talk about how much I had to drink. My tolerance has gotten so high since coming here). Some people got super drunk and some weren't drinking at all. I got to meet new people and hung out with good friends too. And like every five minutes there would be a kampai (cheers). I think the most entertaining part of the night was the drinking calls for the 3rd years. Once you become a 4th year you "graduate" from the club since seniors spend a lot of their time searching for a job. So to recognize who was graduating, the 3rd years would have to stand up and make a little speech. But during their speech other members would call out things (such as shut up, we don't care, or the start to a drinking song (all in Japanese)) and then the person making the speech would have to drink. It was hilarious.  

  At about 11 everyone headed outside to hand out at the rotary in front of Takadanobaba station. We were there for like an hour or so just hanging out (my memory is most fuzzy here). I started to talk to a guy from niji who I've meet a few times before, but had a longer conversation with the day before. A couple of people were going to a second bar, and since I didn't want to go home yet, I went with them. And the guy I was talking to looked up the time of my last train (which was at about 12:50), so I still had time to hang out. The second bar that we went to was pretty crowded, so about seven of us stayed at the upper level where there was a darts game which we started to play. I felt kinda bad though, because I ended up knocking over two drinks while we were there. But the space was really small, and my coat kept bumping into them! But definitely a fail on my part. 

  Since I wanted to continue to hang out with people, I ended up missing my last train home (as did everyone else who was there. I was the only foreign exchange student which was pretty funny, the rest went home).  It was about 1:30 when we left the second bar. At this point I had a couple of options. If I really wanted to, I could have taken a taxi home. But taxis are expensive and I wanted to spend time with people. We ended up walking to a 3rd bar, but about six of us wanted to do something else. When I talked to the guy the other day, I mentioned how I wanted to check out a club in Japan. So the six of us ended up going to a club (three Japanese, two Korean girls, and me). The club was in Shinjuku, which was about a half hour away, so we all walked there. The whole way there I talked with the guy I mentioned earlier (who is really attractive by the way), so it was nice to get to know him better. I was pretty tired though, so I don't think the conversation was that riveting, but it was still fun! 

  The club was definitely in a more seedy area of Shinjuku (host clubs all around), but the club itself wasn't really that bad. Girls got in free and got a free drink which was pretty awesome. Not too many people were at the club, so it was kinda awkward. But the six of us had fun just dancing together (Japanese dancing is a lot different from American dancing by the way). We were all pretty tired, but we ended up staying at the club from 3-5am (since the first trains start at 5). From there we walked to the station and parted ways home. It's hilarious by the way how many people miss the last train and have to take the first train home. The station was SO crowded. Like really. I should have taken a picture, but my camera was dead (and phone cameras make noise and I didn't want to seem creepy...lol). As I walked home the sky started to become lighter, and after I took a shower, I saw a nice pink sunrise from my balcony.
  I ended up sleeping two hours and then got up to go to Saturday class. Normally I would have skipped, but there was a group skit that I needed to do, and I'm going to miss the next two Saturdays for host family stuff, so I thought it would be best to go. Surprising I wasn't dead. I made it through class and lunch with my friends. When I got home though I slept for like four hours. My host family wasn't home when I got up, but at around 7:30pm they came back with dinner. I should probably mention how awesome my host family is. I texted my host mom when I knew I was going to miss my last train to let her know I would be home super late. And my host parents were completely fine with it. I told them about my night and they thought it sounded pretty fun. They were like please, have fun while you are here. I'm glad they where so cool about me being out all night!
  Today the weather is nice, so I think we are going to Hakone? So I'm excited! And I need to work on homework, but that can come later ;)

The sky was actually pink in real life...

I just had the craziest day/night/morning ever. Within 24 hours I went to calligraphy, Shinjuku gyoen, explored my friend's neighborhood, went to a nomikai, went to a bar after that, went to a club after that, and took the 5:30am train home...and I'm going to class now...more later! haha

Roppongi Area!

   On November 15th at around 2:45, my group and I headed to Roppongi area. First we checked out the Nogi Shrine, which was right by the subway exit. The first thing I noticed was the white torii shrine gates. Usually torii are a red/orangish color, and I don't think I have ever seen a white torii before, so I was a bit surprised. Although I tried to research if a white torii has any specific meaning, I couldn't find any answers. I never knew there was a shrine for General Nogi until I took this class. I learned about Nogi in a class I took at Earlham (he was a/n in/famous general during the Meiji period who was prominent during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 where, although many soldiers lives were lost including his own son's I believe, he captured Port Arthur. He also commited ritual suicide on the funeral day of Emperor Meiji.) Since I've learned about Nogi before, it was really interesting to see this shrine! There were a lot of people there (mainly from our class), but the atmosphere was calming. The shrine was giving out free barely tea (which I've never seen done before), but it ran out by the time I tried to get some. Some of the leaves where changing color, so it was a really beautiful area. Supposedly there is a 300 year old ginkgo (?) tree there, but I'm not sure if I saw it/where it was.

   Next we moved on to the garden area towards Nogi's house. It would have been really interesting to see inside the house, but unfortunately no one can go in anymore. After than we walked down Gaien Higashi Dori to Tokyo Midtown. I noticed on the way there was a mix of newer and older buildings. When we left Nogi's house, there was a old brick building on the left (brick seems pretty rare here). And one building had a nice, expensive looking store on the street level, but the rest/top of the building was pretty shabby and old looking. Around the Midtown and later Roppongi area we went to, I noticed that there were various types of stores and restaurants. I saw a couple of fancy car showrooms, Japanese-esque style restaurants, tons of bars and clubs, and even a Wendy's and a Friday's restaurant (my first time seeing either in Japan)! In the Roppongi Crossing area (which I will talk about more later), I noticed that there were more "young" people looking shops. I thought it seemed like a fun and interesting area, and I hope to go back there again.

   Anyway, at Midtown we checked out the Fuji Film Square which had some camera and photo galleries. I saw a lot of cool old cameras as well as new cameras such as the instax mini 8 which I want! After walking through Fuji Film, we passed by a fountain/sculpture area where there were snowmen statues! It seems like the Midtown area puts up various Christmas decorations. After walking through a expensive looking department store/mall area, we headed towards the garden grounds. There was a huge area with lights (for Christmas?), but since it was still light outside, they weren't on. I really want to go back at night sometime though! It looked pretty intense even without the lights on. To the right of that, there was a park area that we passed through. Most of is was pretty grassy, but there were a couple of sculptures/play areas which I thought was interesting. Some kids were playing around there, but overall there were not many people. We also checked out the Hinokicho Koen, which was a small Japanese garden that dates back to the Edo period. I can't even imagine what it looked like back then. I've gotten used to seeing skyscrapers in the background while at gardens, but it must have been incredibly beautiful back then. A lot of the leaves were changing at the park, which struck me as beautiful. Not many people (other than students from our class) were at this park either, but my group did notice a cute high school couple holding hands and napping on a bench. You don't see much public affection here in Tokyo; holding hands is about as much as I've seen.

   After leaving the garden/park area, we headed to Roppongi Crossing. I've already mentioned some of the shops I saw in this area. Another thing that I noticed was that by the cross walk, there was a sculpture/flower pot area with various flowers. Sometimes you see plants on side streets here, but I'm not sure if I ever noticed potted plants on main streets too much. I'm sure they exist, but this was the first time I actually took notice to it. Anyway, I learned from the reading that Roppongi used to be a significant military center. This area has certainly changed over time, from being a place were multiple daimyo lived during the Edo period, a military area, and to the entertainment and pleasure center it is now. Although a lot of the area has been rebuilt because of bombings, I guess that since it was a popular place for bars during its military years, that role has somewhat continued over time. But while I was there, I would have never guessed the area used to be the center of military activity.

   Next my group headed towards the Tokyo Tower area. Since we walked slow, it took us a while to get to the place we were aiming for, the Ichijo temple. By the time we got there it was closed, but it was interested to note that temples and shrines like Ichijo, which are surrounded by buildings on almost all sides, exist in little pockets throughout Tokyo. We also didn't get to experience the Reiyukai Shakaden, a building for one of the newer religions in Japan, but we saw it from the street and the architecture seemed pretty amazing. We also noticed the St. Alban's Church and the Masonic building across from it. I though it was interesting that so many different types of religious buildings are in one area. I wonder if that has any effect on the area/neighborhood such as who lives in the area, etc.

   We also stopped by Tokyo Tower for a bit! It was mt first time being that close to it. Someday I want to go to top! But today we just stayed at the bottom and looked at all of the Christmas lights/decorations that were set up. They were so cute but a bit random. I wasn't really sure why they were there. Since there aren't as many Christmas decorations here as there are in America, I haven't really noticed that it is getting closer to Christmas...After Tokyo Tower we also stopped by the Zojoji Temple, but since it was dark (and closed) we didn't actually get to see much. I did notice the rows of jizo (statues devoted to stillborn/miscarried and aborted children), but I would like to go during the day to see more of the temple and to figure out where the graves of former shogun are! After the temple a few of us ate ramen and took the crowded train home from Hamamatsucho station.

   After going to various parts of Tokyo, I fell like each neighborhood has it's own distinct atmosphere. That's part of why I love Tokyo. The Roppongi area was a mix of quieter areas, such as by the Nogi Shrine or park areas, high end areas, such as the Midtown buildings, and areas which featured more "seedy" places such as bars and clubs. I noticed that on the back of some street signs there would be graffiti or stickers, which I have noticed in Harajuku (which isn't too far from Roppongi), but don't really see in areas such as Marunouchi for example. While walking by Tokyo Tower I noticed one "green" building which had plants growing up and down the building's walls, which I haven't seen in Tokyo before. Roppongi was an interesting and intriguing area for me, and I hope I get the chance to explore the area again!

Did so much walking today; more than 11,000 steps (I finally used the pedometer on my ipod nano today)! I'll write a post about Roppongi later, so look forward to it!~

All I Want To Do Lately Is Sleep!

I wanted to skip my Japanese class today (since I was feeling pretty tired when I woke up and since I'm still a bit sick), but I がまんしたed and went. I feel like even when I eat healthy, get lots of sleep, and somewhat exercise, my body stays weak...I envy those who never get sick! I would much rather spend my free time exploring Tokyo than being lazy...oh well. Tomorrow I get to check out the Roppongi area with my group for class! I'm going to do my best to finish some of the reading before then, but I'm just so unmotivated to do homework here. In the long run it might be detrimental, but for now oh well. I have a feeling senior year is going to be so rough after this though haha.

Nothing too exciting happened today, but there were a lot of little things that made me smile. Such as getting to see my friends for a bit after class and walking to the train station with them, helping my host mom with dinner preparations, and my host brother (who is now healthy) showing me some of his toys. Friday I think I'm doing calligraphy with my host mom, and that night there is a drinking party for the club I'm in, so it might be a while until my next post!

Yokohama and Dinner

Okay so Yokohama:
-took the the train there, bonded with friends
-ate lunch in Chinatown. Didn't explore it too much since there were other things we wanted to see. Was really tired, but happy to be exploring with friends!
-bought an omiyage (souvenir) for my host family and browsed a couple of shops!
-Walked to Yamashita Park. On the way we saw this girl trying on an orange dress in a wedding dress shop. We all creepily took pictures of her.
-At the park there was a small rose garden! We also saw a cool boat on the ocean! From there we walked along the bay and took lots of pictures. I also petted a dog!
-It took us a while, but we arrived at Cosmo World, a theme park with a huge ferris wheel! There were like mainly couples there, which made us all want boyfriends, but the ferris wheel was a lot of fun!
-After the ferris wheel we did purikura!
-Then we ate over priced at this department store!
-On the way home we say a street performer! We stopped to watch him for a while, and I'm really glad we did. He was pretty intense.
-To get home we walked through this huge mall! We all want to go back to Yokohama just to shop at Minatomirai.

I would write a real post about Yokohama, but I want to go to bed soon >.<

Today is my two month anniversary of being here in Japan! We had all planned to go to Ikebukuro for lunch, since that's where we first stayed, but plans fell through so we just ate at the conbini. Today I also went to my friend's friend's house for dinner. I was a bit unsure at first, but I'm glad I went. I was neither killed or converted (although I did notice a creepy picture of Jesus in the living room). The girl who invited me is really nice and pretty easy to talk to (she's the one I keep running into at Waseda). Her friends were all really nice too. We all made green curry together. And there was a Chinese girl there too, so I wasn't the only awkward foreigner They all play soccer together, and they invited me to play with them! So I might do that this Sunday. And now instead of doing homework, I'm going to do some yoga/light stretches and go to bed!

Mondays are the Worssstttttt.

Even though I got a lot of sleep yesterday, I've been super tired all day. And my nose has been stuffed up again. Maybe my allergies (to dust) are worse over here? Sigh. I guess I could always go to the doctor here since I have insurance. But I feel like my cold isn't bad enough to go to the doctor...I guess well see. For now I'll keep trying to will myself to get better. And I'll try to get more sleep. I still want to write about Yokohama, but I'm not feeling up to that yet haha.

So yeah, Mondays are my longest day. So today wasn't that fun. But some good (?) things happened.
-I just finished cutting my bangs by myself! I think it looks okay, but they are a bit uneven...lol
-My host mom changed the curtains in my room and I really like them!
-My host mom also bought everyone really cute chopsticks. When I went to Disney, I got my host parents and I matching mugs with different colors. My host mom's is blue, host dad's is green, and mine is red. And today my host mom bought these brown chopsticks with colored glass ends (the end where you hold them). And the colors on the chopsticks match the colors of our mugs! So cute!
-One of the girls I meet in a conbini and had lunch with a while back invited me to eat with her at her friend's house tomorrow! It's been weird because I've been running into her a lot around the Waseda area, which is actually pretty rare since Tokyo is so huge. You don't really run into the same people that often even if you are in the same area. When my friend Becky lost her wallet, we saw her on the street and she told us where the lost and found was. And on the way to Yokohama the other day we saw her in the train! I'm glad she invited me to dinner, but I hope she doesn't turn out to be like a member of a cult trying to recruit me...haha...but seriously. Although I don't get that feeling from her at all, but you never know...well I'll just stay positive for now! Yeah!

-OH and also I forgot to mention that (as of now) I'm going to Okinawa in December with my host family, and Okayama/Hiroshima in January before my brother comes!~

Lazy Sunday

I went to Yokohama Saturday, which was a lot of fun, but I'm too tired to write a real post about it now (maybe tomorrow?). Today was supposed to be my host brothers shichi-go-san (which is why we've been trying on kimonos), but since he woke up with a fever and a bad tooth ache, the pictures/ceremony will be held in early December. My host mom kept going back and forth between doing it today or not (we were even out the door heading to the kimono place at one point), but I think it's best we didn't do it today. We did go out to lunch though with my host mom's parents and my host dad's dad. My host mom's dad is pretty hilarious. He wears a really dark toupee, and is really nice. He works at a supermarket preparing fish (I believe) and he told me that next time he'll show me how to properly cut and clean a fish...haha.

Recently I've been in a weird half sick state for a while, so I'm glad I got to take it relatively easy today (I took a two hour nap and had the weirdest dreams). Today was also really exciting though, BECAUSE MY BROTHER IS COMING TO VISIT ME IN JANUARY! So excited. My host parents seem pretty excited about it too. At dinner we were talking about places to travel (possible Hakone and a castle near there or maybe even Kyoto/Osaka?). Even though my host family will be busy with work, they still want all of us to go on a trip together. I can't wait to show my brother around Japan (and be his shitty translator!) haha :)

Friday

This morning I was able to skype with my brother. It was so great to talk to him. I haven't been feeling tall that homesick since I've been so absorbed in my daily life here, but I almost started tearing up as we were talking (I don't think he noticed, but since he reads this I guess he'll know now lol). I'm going to do my best to keep up to date with everyone. My brother also pointed out to me how my English is weird sometimes in my posts (which I already knew), but I write these posts at night when I'm tired (and/or sometimes tipsy). Also I never proof-read. But if you are still reading this, thanks for putting up with my awkward English! It's what makes my blog unique.

Anyway, I'm pretty tired now so I'll just give a general overview of today. In the morning I went to a different kimono place (that's still connected to the ones we've been to before) to look at cheaper kimonos. We ended up choosing a really pretty light blue one with plum blossoms on it. Like I said in my last post, I'll keep the previous kimono in my heart. After lunch with friends, I went back to work on my Japanese essay due Monday. Since I'm going to Yokohama tomorrow (hey, I'm going to Yokohama tomorrow!) and the shichi-go-san is on Sunday I wanted to get homework out of the way (although I still have more I should do maybe...). Then I took a taxi (my first time in a taxi by myself, paid for by my host family) to my host brother's kindergarten to meet my host family. Then we went to a tabehodai (all you can eat) yakiniku place (where you cook the meat yourself). So much meat. So delicious. Yes. I also told my host family about how my brother said he wants to visit, and they offered to let him stay with us while he is here. I mean, that's sort of typical when you are living with a host family, but they seemed really sincere/excited about it (by the way Adam, my host mom thinks you are an イケメン-ikemen-handsome/attractive lol). So yeah, I'm trying my best to get you to come here! :)

Well I'm starting to feel sick again since my friends have now gotten sick, so I'm going to go to bed early...

Thursday

Okay so today was pretty great. Delicious Nan and curry for lunch along with great conversation and more inside jokes, painted my, got one presentation done for class, and had dinner/first all you can drink (nomihodai) with a friend! Also, when I got home my mom said we will probably go to yoga tomorrow! I'm super excited. And I don't think I have to worry about the kimono thing anymore. My host mom said she saw a cheaper one today that she liked and so we will probably go with that. As much as I fell in love with the original kimono and obi we picked out, I did feel bad about the price. I guess I could always help pay for it (like I offered to), but they want to get it for me as a gift. I'll keep that kimono in my heart, but I'm sure I'll love the new one as well!

Kimono

Okay. So Tuesday I met with two other team members for lunch. We went to this abura soba place close to campus. Before I came to Japan I had no idea abura soba existed. But it's amazing. Basically abura soba is large soba noodles with different types of oils (abura) and condiments. We got to sit on the tatami mat area to eat our food. Since we got there a bit before the lunch crowd we didn't have to wait thanfully, but a line formed outside soon after we got our food. It was kinda funny because we were literally the only girls there. Maybe girls don't eat abura soba that often? I mean, it was pretty heavy food...and I'm sure there were a lot of calories...I'm doing my best not to gain weight here lol.

After my one and only class for the day, I met my host family in Roppongi. My host brother's shichi-go-san (7-5-3, a celebration for kids who turn either 7,5, or 3 years old) is this upcoming Sunday (if it doesn't rain),  and my host family asked me if I wanted to wear a kimono. Of course I said yes. So they planned to try on kimono's Tuesday. And then they said they would pay for it. What. I was a bit surprised. I asked them if it was okay and they said yes. And at the kimono place I tried to say I could pay for some of it. And later that night I asked my host dad if it was really okay. I mean, I'm incredibly thankful, but stuff like this worries me. I'm worried that they are spending too much money on me. And since I'm worried, I feel like I'm not showing how thankful I am...sigh...

Anyway so when we are at Roppongi we head to this apartment complex a few blocks away. The store was literally in an apartment room. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it was actually pretty cool. Although it was small, tons of kimonos, etc. filled the room. At the first place we went to we got my host brother's hakama. Then we walked a few blocks to another apartment complex to go to another kimono place (which is connected to the one we went to first). And that's where I tried on my first kimono ever. This kimono store was similar to the first, except it was just for women. There were two girls working there (both pretty young looking). The first kimono I tried was pink. It was really pretty, but I kinda felt weird being in a kimono. I dunno, it just all felt surreal...we looked at a couple of them and they were all nice, but I fell in love with a purpleish one with whiteish flowers on it. And the obi is black with a pretty elaborate design on it. It's beautiful. So when they asked me which one I liked best, I said that one. And of course it ended up being in the more expensive group of kimonos we looked at. I wanted to say we should get the cheaper one instead, but I didn't want to seem rude.
And then today we went back there for my host mom to try on these kimonos that belonged to my host dad's mom. On the way over, my host mom told me that is one of these kimonos worked that I should wear it instead of the one they bought the day before. And I totally would have been fine with that. But it turns out most of those kimonos weren't appropriate for a shichi-go-san. Certain colors are only worn on certain events. A part of me is still worried about the price, but I'm not sure what to do if anything exactly. ddfdksfd.

Anyway, the rest of Tuesday night was a lot of fun. That day happened to be my host dad's birthday, so we all went out to eat after trying on kimonos. Of course the food was delicious and we had a couple of drinks. Then we went back to the apartment and had more drinks and food. We talked and drank for a couple of hours. It was great! They said a lot of things that made me really happy. And now they've started talking about setting me up with my host dad's middle son (one from his previous marriage, before they tried to set me up with the 21 year old, now it's the 18 year old lol). I think a part of me still has this wall up with my host family. They seem pretty comfortable around me, or at least are trying to seem that way, and they've done so much for me already. I guess I need to not worry about the things I can't control and just go with the flow. It's not that I feel uncomfortable here, but I think I over-think what I should do sometimes. I'm sure I'll become more natural(?) in the future. I'll keep doing my best for now!~

I meant to write this sooner....

 On Thursday October 25th, my group and I explored the Yanaka/Ueno Park area. As we left for the Sendagi station we got separated from one of our group members. Actually, throughout the whole trip our group kept getting separated, or people from other groups ended up in ours. It was kinda funny how many times it happened, and I'm not even exactly sure how it kept happening. Even so, most of us ended up together towards the end.
 When we arrived at the Sendagi station, we got lost on the way to shopping street named Yanaka Ginza. It was nice to wander around the area however. I thought that this area was a lot quieter and way less crowded compared to other parts of Tokyo, especially popular areas such as Shinjuku or Shibuya. There were some bigger stores off in distance, some conbini around, and newer some houses (which seemed to blend in with the area) but mostly older buildings seemed to be around. There were no noisy pachinko slots (that I saw) or huge game centers or high rise apartments, especially in the neighborhood areas.

 While we were walking around somehow an hour passed between leaving Waseda and finally getting to Yanaka Ginza...we weren't very good at time management! Once we finally did arrived at Yanaka Ginza, the atmosphere had changed. Suddenly there were people walking up in down the street, looking at the many various shops and restaurants. I really enjoyed this street. It was clean, nice and yummy smells of cooking food filled the air. I that there were various signs hanging above shops that read "Welcome to Yanaka" with two cats waving their hands to invite customers to walk down the street. Cats weren't only just on the signs, but were hanging out around Yanaka as well! I definitely want to come back to this area and spend more time browsing the shops. Mori Mayumi talks about community like in Yanaka in her article "The Neighborly Neighborhood of Yanaka." Although I was only there for a short time, I did get a "neighborly" sense from the area. While walking down that street I saw a group of little kids dressed up and trick-or--treating at some of the shops. That surprised me a bit, since I wasn't sure if kids actually did that here (also since it wasn't technically Halloween yet). It made me wonder if the area was close with the schools there or something.

 After Yanaka Ginza we briefly checked out two temples and then started to head towards the Yanaka cemetery. At the cemetery my group got separated so for a while it was just me and another one of my group members, a girl named Dali. It was really calm, beautiful, and peaceful there, especially since most of the other groups were either ahead or behind us. The two of us followed the stone path through the cemetery   and took not of the various types of grave markers. I wonder how old the oldest graves there are. There were also huge, amazingly beautiful trees up and down the path Some were old and worn down with weeds growing around, and others were new and shiny with fresh flowers at the base. We both agreed that there was a different feeling in the Yanaka cemetery compared to a cemetery in the United States. I was also amazed at how big the cemetery itself is.

 At the Tennoji temple, where a daibutsu is located, we meet up with some other members of our group, but were quickly separated from them again (probably because we were taking pictures). Dali and I started to walk through the Yanaka cemetery area again, which was pretty deserted expect for some workers blowing leaves around. As we headed towards the Zenshoan Temple the streets began to twist and turn; I felt like I was walking in a maze. But I really like the aspect of Tokyo. When we got to the area with the old historic wall, I noticed again how quiet the area really was. Most of the buildings in this area were houses. Some of them were a bit older looking and some of them seemed newer and had fancy cars parked in the driveways. More people were walking around this area, but it was still pretty empty. We stopped for a bit at the Zenshoan temple to look at the striking gold statue there. I have no idea why that statue is there, or how much of it is made out of gold, but it was beautiful. I haven't seen many gold statues or gold things here, real or fake, so the statue stood out there.

 After getting a bit lost, we ended up at Gokokuin where we meet up with our group again as well as some people from other groups. At Gokokuin there was a pretty cool looking gong. A friend decided he wanted to ring it, so he made an offering and rang the gong. To our disappointment, there wasn't much of a sound. We were expecting this crisp ring, but instead we got a dull thud.  Here's a picture of it:

 Next we headed to Ueno Park. It was pretty dark by the time we got there so literally we weren't able to see much. We walked a lot, trying to find the Toshogu Shrine, which we think we found but we weren't sure.  Ueno Park is pretty huge; we didn't even see half of what was there. My favorite part was probably the walkway where papers with wishes on them were hanging from string. There seemed to be a lot of people there for a Thursday night. I definitely want to go back and experience Ueno during the day time thought, and go to the zoo that is there. We also tried to go to the Kiyomizu Temple, but it was closed when we got there. We were able to find the statue of Saigo Takamori as well, which I was pretty excited about since I learned (and remembered!) a lot about his life during the samurai class I took at Earlham.

 As we were leaving Ueno Park we noticed a few homeless people setting up for the night. I've heard that Ueno had many homeless people. Compared to other large cities such as New York or Chicago, Tokyo doesn't seem to have as many homeless people. Maybe there are more than there appear to be, but it's rare to see a homeless person walking down the street or at a train station (from my experience). I really don't know much about homelessness here in Japan or how it is viewed (though it probably has a negative image). I wonder what sort of support organizations are available. I'm also curious as to why Ueno is a gathering place for homeless people. Is it just because Ueno is a park, or is there some other reason?

 From Ueno we headed to Ameya Yokocho, an area with bright lights and many shops. My one friend said it reminded him of a Chinatown. Ameya Yokocho runs along the tracks at Ueno Station, which I thought was pretty cool. I wonder about the history behind Ameya, and for how long shops have been along the station. At Ameya our hodgepodge group decided to have a snack somewhere. First we stopped into one shop, but decided we didn't want to eat there, so we left. It was a bit awkward, but we all wanted to go to the Mister Donut next door (I'm not really sure why we went into the first store...haha). At Mister Donut the five of us squeezed into two small tables and chatted while we ate our donuts. We had a nice group bonding time, and I learned a lot about two of my original group members. Although the day was long and we walked a lot, I had a lot of fun on at Yanaka and Ueno!

I pretty much have the best host family ever. Seriously. I'll post more tomorrow? Have a great day everyone!~

It was weird being at Waseda today after all the festivities have ended. The campus seemed so much quieter and less crowded (even when it was a bit crowded at lunch time as usual). It felt as if there wasn't a huge festival there the day before; everything returned to normal. I wish that there was an equivalent festival at my home university. There is really no event that goes on at Earlham, or most American colleges, that can compare to the scale of the Waseda Festival. True there are certain dance performances and other events, but they are no where near the scale or intensity as Wasedasai was. From what I saw, it seems that the students here really put a lot of time an effort into making the best festival that they can. Some groups practice for months so they can perform the best they can at the festival. When the waffles sold out at the Niji no Kai booth, one of the organizers started crying because she was so relieved and happy and had put in so much energy and emotion into Wasedasai. The festival really is a time to acknowledge and appreciate all the amazing things people are doing here. Looking back at Wasedasai I really am so happy that I was able to help sell waffles and participate in the parade. Just going to performances and walking around is fun, but it's a completely different experience actually being a part of the festivities. I hope I never forget this experience!

Wasedasai Part 2

So although yesterday was amazing, I ended up feeling a bit down by the time I went home. I guess a part of me had expected to make closer Japanese friends by now, and after seeing all of these clubs and people who seem super close made me a bit lonely. Don't get me wrong, I have AMAZING, like beyond amazing friends here that I've made in my program. My time here wouldn't be the same without them, and I'm so glad to be close with them. And I do have a lot of Japanese friends here, but I don't feel like I'm close enough with most of them to hang out one on one or anything yet. But I'm not feeling down anymore so don't worry!

In some ways today was almost better than yesterday. I didn't get to Waseda until around 12, so I missed a lot of the morning dances. I was pretty exhausted after standing so much Saturday though, so today I was slow moving. And because I was feeling so slow earlier I did something incredibly stupid. While I was in the bathroom, I accidentally pressed the emergency call button since for some reason I thought it was the button to flush the toilet (sometimes there are buttons, but this toilet obviously had a handle). Thankfully no one was really in the bathroom when this happened, so I just casually walked out, but I definitely saw an attendant running down the stairs while I was heading out....whoops! Anyway, I moved past that pretty fast haha.

At around 2 I went to watch some more dances with some of my friends. One of my Japanese friends who studied abroad at Earlham for a year was appearing in a dance, so I was pretty excited. The style of dance she does is called yosakoi, " highly energetic, combining traditional Japanese dance movements with modern music" The dances were seriously amazing. So much energy and excitement; I might ask her about joining (even though they seem way to intense for me). After that I went to the Niji waffle booth to help sell waffles. We held signs advertising the waffles and would scream out at people asking them to buy our waffles. Although people usually ignore you, it was a lot of fun. One of my program friends was so good at being a salesman, it was hilarious. He kept pointing at me and saying "mite, gajin! nihongo hanasemasu yo! sugoi desho! waffle kattekudasai!" which is basically: "look, a foreigner! she can speak Japanese! amazing right! please buy a waffle!" Sometimes we would do certain cheers too to try and get people to buy. We ended up selling out, so I guess some of our advertising worked!

I also ended up participating in the Wasedasai parade with some other Niji no Kai members. At first I was a bit wary when one of the members asked if I wanted to be a part of it, but I'm so glad I said yes. Being in the parade was such a great experience. Our group was behind a car that was playing music and in front of a male cheer leading group called Shockers (who are seriously like celebrities at Waseda). As we walked around Waseda we danced, cheered, and energetically waved our glow sticks around. At the end of the parade we all gathered in the middle of Waseda campus where I ended up meeting my friend who I saw dance earlier. There we did some more cheering and all sang the Waseda school song together (which I don't know yet). It was so energetic and exciting, 盛り上がっていた！Seriously so much fun. I wanted to hang out longer and go to the ending party with everyone, but since I was exhausted and have homework (that I still need to do), I went home. This was my first and last Waseda Festival, which is somewhat sad, but I'm glad I had such a great time and was able to participate in the events as well.
When I got to my home station my host mom was waiting for me there so we got food and talked while we walked home. I really enjoy the little moments of just eating with or talking to my host family. We are planning to go to the Okayama and Hiroshima area in December, so I'm super excited for another trip! Now I have to upload pictures and study for a Japanese test tomorrow!~