The First Few Days of the New Year!

So on the morning of the 1st, I went to do hatsumode (first shrine visit of the year) with my host family. We went to a smaller neighborhood shrine not too far from our apartment. There were more people there than usual; everyone going for hatsumode. In the entrance path to the shrine there was a circular thing made out of rope standing in the middle of the path. By this circular thing was instructions for how to enter. I don't remember exactly how it went, but first we bowed, entered and walked around the thing from the left side to the front again, then you bow again and go from the right, and then there were some other steps but I don't quite remember them. At one point though, we were able to walk through it and enter the shrine. The other day when we were at Toshogu, my host mom had explain that when you enter a doorway or any other entrance to a shrine, you are technically supposed to walk in on one of the sides with the front of your body facing the middle (since the god is supposedly in the middle of the entrance and you don't want to show your back to the god since it would be rude). Anyway, after we walked in we went to cleanse our hands (I don't remember the order either but I think it's left hand, right hand, put water in left and put it to your mouth, then left hand again). After that we walked up to the shrine to make an offering/wish for the new year. First you throw your money in the offering box, ring the bell, bow twice, clap twice, make your wish/pray, then bow once again. I also got an omikuji (fortune) at the shrine as well, the first one I bought in Japan. I got small fortune (sho-kichi), but I think it was a pretty good fortune overall.

Next we headed to my host dad/s dad's house for a family gathering on that side. When we got to the apartment my host mom decided to go buy my host brother a toy so I went with them (there was a furby there for like 7,000 yen which is over $70...) and we got ramen afterwards. Then we finally went to the apartment for the gathering. It was mainly my host dad's dad's siblings (so a lot of old drunk people haha) but they were interesting and nice. My host dad later told me he thinks they are all weird haha. But my host mom, brother, and I didn't stay all that long. It didn't seem like my host mom really talked to anyone there, which made me wonder if they don't get along very well with her or if there is some weirdness towards her since she is the 2nd (younger) wife. But I could just be reading too much into it.

Anyway when we got home we watched a movie while eating this delicious new year's bento. Apparently some of the foods have certain meanings. The only one I remember is there is shrimp because shrimp look like old men I guess (since their backs are hunched over like old men's and they have long whiskers like old men have long beards?). I didn't get to try all of the foods there, but what I did try was delicious.




On the 2nd we woke up early to go do ohakamae, or go before the grave/grave visiting (for my host dad's mom). We rode the train to the city she was buried in where we also met my host dad's sons. I had met the older one before (22) but I had never got a chance to met the 18 year old since he has been busy studying for college exams (college exams are super intense here), so I was pretty excited to meet him. After we said hi (it was really quick, I thought there were be more to it), we all went out to eat. It was a lot of fun getting to talk to the brothers (mainly talked with the younger one, we got along pretty well I think which of course sparked my host dad into half-joikng about us dating in the future lololol).

After lunch my host family and I did some shopping (actually it was just them shopping and me waiting around) I was pretty tired/tired of my host brother crying for no reason constantly (he's a bit spoiled sometimes). Also my host family wants to buy me a designer bag for a Christmas/New Year's gift. We looked around at some, but didn't really find any that caught our attention too much (actually there was one I really liked but it was a bit small...) Also I feel bad about them buying me an expensive bag, and I told them they didn't have to buy me anything, but they want to at some point.

On the 3rd I woke up early to go help out with the mochitsuki event Niji was putting on. It was such a fun event and great day. Although I was outside from 10am till 4:30pm helping with the event, I'm really glad I was able to help out with one of the Niji events (I've been wanting to for a while). So yeah, we got together at 10 and then went to this shed behind a shrine to get the materials (this wooden bowl/stand thing with too hammer like things-real descriptive I know) and pushed them to a nearby park where we were holding the event. After that we set up and waited for people to show up (over 3o did!). To make mochi you pound freshly made rice until it gets real sticky and mucky, then you put flour on that and knead it until it is less sticky and then add flavoring. At first I helped put flavoring on (something sweet called kinako) and handed them out to people. There was also the savory soy sauce and seaweed option(which was delicious) and then another dish made from anko (sweet red bean paste, hot water, and mochi). Everything was so good and I ate so much. It was also really good to see a lot of my Japanese friends I hadn't seen in a while, and I made some new Japanese friends as well! Later on I got to help pound the rice too (I used the heavier hammer LIKE A BOSS, but actually I should have used the lighter one since I probably looked silly, oh well haha).









After we had finished cleaning, and putting the materials away, a couple of us went to a nearby family restaurant to eat a bit. I had plans to eat real dinner at 7 with friends from my program, so I didn't eat too much. After that a couple of us went to the shrine were we borrowed the materials from and did another "hatsumode" there. After that I still had some time to kill so I went shopping (and spent money on things I didn't really need to buy...) and then met up with my friends (Dre and Jhanus) to eat at Denny's in Ikebukuro. Protip: Denny's in Japan does not have real pancakes. There were dessert pancakes, but they didn't really have any breakfast food (except like french toast which was good), but I got the hamburger set (which is like a hamburger without a bun and the one I had had an egg on it-SO GOOD). Next we went to a nearby game center where we played taiko drums and mario kart (so much fun). Then I helped them do some shopping at a 24 hour clothes shop, where even more inside jokes were made (our group has too many). Overall it was a really great day!



Yesterday I met Becky to do some homework/mainly talk at a cafe in Harajuku. Before that though, I made an awesome train track route with my host brother and host grandmother. We really got into it haha. Anyway, most of the cafes I wanted to go to were either closed for new years or crowded, but we were able to find some nice ones to hang out it (though we didn't get much work done. So much work to do this month....). For dinner I met my host family at this delicious shop in Yoyogi. We sat in the upper part of the restaurant (which was a bit small-we sat cross legged) and there was a great atmosphere there. Today I plan on hopefully buying a polaroid camera I've been wanting forever (I also want a Nikon D5100 DSLR if anyone wants to help chip in for that!) and then I have a niji nomikai to go to! Tomorrow my friend Hanley from Earlham will be in Tokyo, so I'm going to hang out with him! And then Monday I have school again :( Oh well, going to enjoy these last two days of break to the fullest!