Feels Like Summer!~

Weeks are literally flying by now. At least I'm feeling better now. My cold is still lingering on a bit though >_<....

Anyway Thursday after work I  went to some cafes with my friend Monique in the area that I live in. It was such a beautiful day! I also got to meet Becky's mom and her little sister for a bit which was nice. After that I took a walk through Yoyogi park which is seriously my favorite park ever. Was there three times in the past four days haha. The roses there are beautiful! Also took a 30 minute walk home. Yay for exercise! So hard to find time to exercise here. Although I do walk a lot (and my shoes have taken a beating...literally bought new shoes like a little over a week ago and they are already falling apart...)









Friday went to a cafe with my friend Shiori and did some planning for the sports festival event we are having. Also did purikura and Mario Kart with her and another friend named Zui! Friday night there was also a nomikai for Niji no Kai. So much fun! One of our friends is literally the lightest light weight I have ever seen. It was so funny. Like, I can't even properly describe how funny he is when he is drunk. He just sits silently and stares at nothing for like three minutes and then would just look at someone at start smiling and laughing. Okay, so it sounds a little creepy when I write it down, but it was hilarious. After drinking I went to play darts with some friends and became friends with this awesome guy who had been studying abroad in California for a year! It kinda sucks since I keep meeting new people that I really want to be friends with, but there isn't much time left before I go back home...






Saturday I went to an Okinawa Festival in Yoyogi park with Shiori! Good food, music, and interesting vendors. After that we met our friend Miki and Tokyo Sky Tree. We didn't go to the top, since it's pretty expensive, but we shopped around there. The area is pretty huge actually. We went there since we had planned on going to this firefly festival at the river by Sky Tree (apparently lcd lights are put into the river to make it look like there are fireflies there?...) but the tickets were sold out sadly...After that though we rented some horror movies and had a movie night at Miki's house! So much fun but I was pretty tired.

Today I had practice for my mime class skit with my group members. We present tomorrow! I hope it goes well...I don't really like speaking or performing in front of others though but oh wellll.
Also went to a picnic with some friends in Yoyogi park today! The weather was so nice! Ate, drank, and just was lazy for most of the afternoon. A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I had never actually been out and around in the Harajuku Yoyogi park area on a Sunday before though. Suuuper crowded. I finally got to see the rockabilly group that goes to Yoyogi park every Sunday to dance though! So interesting haha.

Had dinner with my host family, and then went to a neighborhood park with my host mom and brother. It was actually a lot of fun. Just played around on the jungle gym and swings for a while. And then after that since the weather was nice I went jogging for the first time in forever! Jogged both the longest and farthest I have ever jogged before! 2.3miles in 20 minutes! Haha slow, but still I'm satisfied.

Well super tired and don't want to do this mime thing tomorrow, but I'm going to do my best!

Mime, Minakami, and Being Sick

So once again I am sick. Seriously why body why. Maybe it's just been a combination of hanging out too much/having a weak body/who knows what. Nothing too bad, but have a cough and sorta lost my voice.

Annyyywayyy. Friday I had practice for the performance I have to do for my mime class (out in the park at night which is probably why I'm sick actually). To be honest I was dreading this performance, but the practice was actually a lot of fun, so I'm kinda looking forward to it now!

Saturday and Sunday I was in Minakami in Gunma Prefecture for the spring retreat of Japan Study. It was way more fun than I thought it would be (and way more fun than the fall retreat in Karuizawa!). The ryokan was super nice, and our room was beautiful. Also got to take a walk around the area. So beautiful and the air was so fresh. And the food. Oh god the food. Probably one of the best meals of my life. So gooodddd. And so much food. The weight I lost from the Yamanote hike was all gained back. Oh well. Totally worth it. Also did karaoke for two hours with some friends which was super fun too. Then went to the foot spa/bath area which was outside (and also super nice. Yay for detailed descriptions! haha). After that I went into the onsen with Shiori and some other girls from our program. The onsen were so nice! The inside one was pretty big (which meant Shiori and I swam around in it) and the outside one was so relaxing! After that tried out the massage chairs in the relaxation room and then went to bed (but didn't get much sleep due to the fact it was super hot in our room/snoring roommates. which is another reason why I am sick).










The next day we went to the Dole farm area (where we couldn't pick any fruit though since nothing was in season) where we had a BBQ and I ate blueberry and sakura flavored ice-cream (SO GOOD). After that we went to an area called Takumi no Sato which is like this craft village area where we had some free time. Mainly hung out with Shiori and Jhanus and just walked around. Also decorated this frame thing with dried flowers. Pretty cool!







We got back to Takadanobaba around 6:30pm, and at this point I probably should have just gone home, but instead I went with Shiori and Jhanus to Waseda to help greet all of the people (from the club I'm in) who walked in the 100km walk event Waseda had that weekend. To be honest I really wanted to walk in the event (even though I would have died) but since the JS trip was the same weekend I couldn't >_<
But picking up everyone was a lot of fun. Everyone walked so much. Crazy. A couple of people were pretty far behind, so I went with some friends to go walk and find them, which was probably a bad idea since it was a bit cold and then it started to rain and I didn't have an umbrella and then at one point two of the guys who were part of the group we went to go pick up and I started running for a bit so yeah. A combination of many things is why I am still sick. But it was a lot of fun! If I am in Tokyo around this time next year I am definitely doing the 100km hike!!! Oh but since we couldn't do the hike Shiori and I are planning to do another night hike in Tokyo, kinda like the Yamanote hike but from Waseda to Tokyo Sky Tree, Sky Tree to Tokyo Tower, and from the tower back to Waseda!~



Now I'm going to finish painting my nails and go to bed!

Oh, but also finally bought my ticket home...going home doesn't even seem real at this point. For a while I was freaking out about it, but I guess I've come to terms with it? I dunno. I'm glad I'm going to be visiting my brother in Yosemite for about a week though. Looking forward to nature and to be able to adjust back to America in a place that won't make me feel pissed off about America....haha?

Watarium and Samgyopsal!

So today was a pretty awesome day for the most part. After class and lunch I went to the Harajuku area with Becky to hang out. It had been a while since I was last there, so I was glad to go back! To be honest I miss living in that area...anyway got a pair of summer shoes and bought too many clothes. OH and also, discovered that there are now Slurpees at the 7-11s in Japan!!! (at least the one in Harajuku!) Like, I can't even describe how surprised I was. When I first got to Japan I was like "There are so many 7-11s but no Slurpees..." which made me really sad. When I talked to my host dad about it before, he said they used to sell Slurpees back in the day but they weren't popular so they stopped selling them. But apparently they are back, and cheap! Okay, so actually they Slurpees here aren't as good as the ones in the States, but still it was pretty good. And perfect for summer.

Beautiful.

After we finished shopping (which took forever since I found a million things I wanted to try on) we went to the Watarium art museum in Jingumae (located on the street I used to live on!) I had been there before for a different exhibit, but there was a new exhibit featuring the work of this artist called JR that I wanted to check out. And I'm so glad we did since we got to participate in the art project! With the museum ticket (which was only about 600yen for us students) we got to take one picture (and have it printed) taken to be a part of the Inside-Out Project!! So cooool!~

Here are some links about it: http://www.insideoutproject.net
http://www.jr-art.net

After that we met one of the new spring study abroad students and one of our Japanese friends to go eat at our favorite samgyopsal restaurant (our fifth time there!!)!! We hadn't been there since before February, so it had really been a long time. But even so, the chef there still remembered us! And as usual, he gave us free food. A delicious fluffy egg thing with vegetables in it. I can't even describe how good it was. We also just chatted with him for like 20 minutes or more after overeating. I really love that place. One of my goals was to become a regular at a restaurant in Tokyo. Even though we aren't technically regulars since we don't go there often enough, the staff treats us like regulars and are super nice. Definitely going there some more before I head home!~

Yamanote Hike!!! 山手線ハイク！

Take a look at this picture. This is a picture of the Yamanote line in Tokyo. It has 29 stations (as shown), but unlike this picture the line does not go in a perfect circle sadly. This is the line that I hiked last night with 14 other friends. Although I kinda lost my voice, now have a runny nose, and my right leg still hurts a bit, it was always one of my goals to try and walk the Yamanote in Tokyo, and I'm glad I was able to do it with some amazing people.

Okay, to be honest last night is a bit of a blur. The whole hike took about 11 hours. The starting point was Takadanobaba, the closet Yamanote station to Waseada. Everyone gathered there at six and was ready to go! My backpack held a change of clothes (which I didn't use), an umbrella (which I did use), money (which I used too much), and my camera. There were about 14 people in all (one person joined half way though so 15 technically). Everyone I knew/was friends with except these two other girls studying abroad at Waseda (who like didn't talk to or try to talk to the whole time lol). Anyway after eating a light snack (technically didn't have dinner that night but snacked a lot along the way), we headed of to our next stop Shin-Okubo. We were there within no time (the two stations are pretty close) and kept going at a pretty decent pace. Next we arrived at the crowded hub of Shinjuku where we got a few stares (it's weird to see a group of people wearing sports clothes walking around the ever fashionable Tokyo haha). We also took a side trip to a Coldstone there since one of our friends was working that night (and it was on the 8th floor which we decided it would be fun to take the stairs. It wasn't fun).

We hit those two stations pretty fast, which lead me to believe the night wouldn't be that bad. But the night was still early. Yoyogi and Harajuku didn't take too long to get to either. But at that point it started to rain a bit, and I was starting to space out a bit since I needed to eat more and since I was pretty tired from the start (haven't been able to sleep very well lately). But we took a break at Harajuku which was nice. The walk to Shibuya and Ebisu wasn't took bad from what I remember either. Legs were starting to get a little uncomfortable by then, but completely bearable. Saw a lot of cool shops and stores on the way too! So many places I want to check out before I leave!!

Meguro, Gotanda, and Osaki, are all kind of a blur haha. Was starting to get more tired and legs were starting to get a bit more sore. At Osaki though one of our friends met up with us and bought us ice cream!! So nice! The walk from Osaki to Shinagawa was at that point the longest walk between stations, but it felt good to actually have had walked that far! Tamachi, Hamamatsucho, Shimbashi, and Yurakucho are also kinda a blur. I mean, I was pretty tired at that point, so I just focused on nothing (maybe?), but I talked to a lot of people along the way which was fun. And I had never really been to those areas before, so it was nice to finally see them! Shimbashi and Yurakucho are famous for being drinking spots for salarymen which is true. So many drunk salarymen (and I would be lying if I said we didn't stumble across some vomit... >_<)

Tokyo was about the halfway point. We finally made it halfway! As it started to get later, less and less people were around (although  Legs were pretty tired at this point (the area behind my right knee was a bit sore and still is lol). It was tough to get up after sitting down to rest, but to head forward was the only way to go! At Kanda we were finally joined by another friend who made it just before the trains stopped running. Kanda, Akihabara, and Okamachi were a bit rough I think, but around Ueno and Uguisudani (which was a really funny area since were we walked was filled with love hotels) I started to gain some more energy! As we started to get to Nippori and Nishi-Nippori, however, the weight of the night was finally setting in. Our goal of reaching Takadanobaba seemed so far away. Unlike the first stations we went to which were pretty close together, the stations on the north side of the line were pretty separated (at least they felt that way). Tabata, Komagome, and Sugamo, are all kinda a blur too. At around 2 I started to look at the time more, and if felt like it took forever for an hour to pass. But as we were starting to get closer to Ikebukuro, the end was finally in sight!

At Otsuka the sun started to rise, and I saw some of the most beautiful skies I have ever seen. It felt great to finally get to Ikebukuro!! Takadanobaba was only two stations away! But the walk from Ikebukuro to Takadanobaba was probably the roughest. At that point I wasn't even sleepy anymore, but my legs were pretty stiff. We took a nice break at Meijiro, before heading back to Takadanobaba, our starting point. When we reached the rotary at Baba I felt pretty accomplished (although my feelings of being tired at that point outweighed any other feelings at that point haha). We had finished around 5:30 in the morning! We had actually walked the whole Yamanote line!!! Most of us went out to eat breakfast together (where most of us were falling alseep on the table), and having to walk after sitting down for a half hour was pretty painful (and stairs oh god stairs). But I made it home in once piece (even though I felt and probably looked pretty gross haha), took a shower and soaked in the bath for a bit, and slept for like 9 hours until 4:30pm. Ate some diner and now I'm resting and will probably go to bed soon since I will be heading to Yokohama tomorrow for more walking....lol.

Although the hike was incredibly exhausting, and my legs are still a bit sore, I'm so glad I actually walked the whole Yamanote line. I got to see a lot of Tokyo and got a lot of exercise. And I was able to do it with some great friends! 10hrs 51mins, 23.78mi (38.21km), 1,516 calories, and 52,059 steps. Yamanote line hike accomplished!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhh. Time has been passing so quickly here. The rest of my golden week was pretty awesome. Travelled 6 hours by bus to this placed called Kiyosato in Yamanashi prefecture. It was probably th best Niji event that I've been to so far. I want to write about it more in depth, but since I am in class right now that will come later.

Anyway just wanted to let everyone know that I'm doing well and alive!

And tonight I'm going to be doing something pretty awesome tonight. I'm going to be walking the Yamanote Line (a major train line here that goes in a circle)! The whole hike will take 12 hours. We are starting at 6pm tonight and end 6am tomorrow! Crazy!

Finally, Internet!!!

Hey all!
So it's been a crazy past couple of days (that's the way things seem to be going lately).
Moved into the new house last Wednesday. Thankfully everything went well! Still haven't gotten much of a chance to explore my new neighborhood (I miss my old neighborhood a bit ;_;), but it seems pretty nice! Where I am living now is literally less than a minute from the train station, but that means that I will actually have to start exercising more now since I won't be walking as much...
The house is overall bigger than the apartment we were previously living in, except for the toilet and the bathing area...

Right now is Golden Week, a week where there are a couple of holidays, which usually isn't actually a week long, but for Waseda students is a week long! I've literally had plans every day though, which has been tiring but a lot of fun! (still have a bit of a cold, but what's new there?)

Friday was a lot of fun. Went to this really nice cafe in Omotesando for brunch with a friend, walked to Shibuya, had some great coffee, and went to a free art exhibit! I also had to update my address on some stuff that day was well (which took forever, still not done). That night I went to this umeshu bar (umeshu, so good) with this guy that I've been hanging out with a bit. I literally went to so many places in Tokyo that day...(Waseda, Harajuku/Omotesando, Shibuya, back to Waseda, Ebisu, Shibuya again, Waseda again, Iidabashi, and then finally home).



Saturday I went to this really cute park/play area for kids with my host family and some of their friends. My host mom's sister was there too, which meant her adorable 2 year old girl was there too! (I got to play with her the most, seriously the cutest little girl on earth). I was pretty exhausted though (peak of my cold) but thankfully didn't have to use too much energy. I haven't gotten to spend too much time with host family lately (busy, different schedules) which they have noticed (and pointed out to me on multiple occasions when they are drunk), so I spent the whole day with them. It's starting to get a bit rough to be around them and their friends when they are all drinking though (which isn't a new thing, but it's become more tiring than before).



On Sunday I went to this tsutsuji (it's a flower) festival at the Nezu Shrine in Nezu. The weather was beautiful and so were the flowers. It was really relaxing and nice! After that I went to this free jazz festival with some of my friends. Great to hear live jazz again! After that one of my friends showed us the share house he is living in since it was close by. Sometimes I think it would be nice to live in a sharehouse or by myself here, but I really do love living with my host family and have been able to experience so many wonderful things living with them.

Monday I went to a BBQ for Niji which was pretty fun! About 300 people came (crazy) and I ended up talking to a lot of freshman again (which is kinda tiring since they all ask me the same questions). Afterwards I spend the night at my friend Shiori's house with some friends which was also a lot of fun (the longer I write the more tired I am becoming hence the great descriptions). Her family was really nice, and the food was really good. The next day we woke up late and were lazy for four hours before we did some shopping.

Wednesday afternoon I went to Yokohama to hang out with a friend for a bit and then went to an Ocktoberfest in Odaiba with her and some other friends. It was cold and rainy and the beer was overpriced, but overall I had a great time. We all shared different types of beer and ate sausage  and there was this Germanish band playing live music and everyone went up to the front and started dancing! So much fun!

Today I did some practicing for the mime class that I'm in and ate dinner with my host family. Tomorrow I leave from a three day trip with the club I'm in. Super excited, but I have to wake up reallt early so I should probably go to bed soon! So tired!