Saturday, October 27, 2012

INTERESTING JAPAN CULTURAL THINGY #1: Bicycles

Welcome to a special edition of Chris's Gaijin at Gakuin blog post, designed to highlight particular unique aspects of Japanese culture.

For this introductory lesson, I submit Case A: Bicycle trends, rules, and norms.
So, first off, people ride bicycles here. A lot. They ride bikes such that there are parking lots made just to house bicycles. You can find people of all kinds riding bikes, from high school students to salarymen to housewives with their children in tow.

Which leads me into my specific observation regarding Japanese bicycle culture: there is apparently very little care for safety when it comes to riding bicycles. At least in America, it seems that there is a huge focus on safety, what with bicycle lanes, helmet laws, and whatnot. Here, it is commonplace to see a housewife transporting her children in a child seat strapped onto the back wheel of a bike, weaving in and out of both foot traffic on the sidewalk and car traffic on the road. I feel like, in America, this would be highly frowned upon for being so dangerous, even with bicycle lanes being available. Just glancing at the amount of congestion on the streets and sidewalks, it seems like a death sentence to ride a bicycle. You're just bound to crash into someone/something, but it's only a matter of time until you do so. No helmets, rarely reflectors, and sometimes you'll encounter people using some kind of lighting system for night riding, but only because it's probably required by law. It's definitely unlawful to ride on the sidewalks, but interestingly, there are crosswalks designed with a bicycle lane, which assumes that bicyclists are breaking the law and riding on the sidewalk in the first place.

Bicyclists here use their bells constantly to warn people on the sidewalk in front of them to step aside, which is also prohibited by Japanese law. But again, it isn't enforced, so there's nothing done about this. I know I myself have nearly been run over a handful of times by aggressive bicyclists getting around, from salarymen heading to work to women dropping their kids off at daycare. Bicycling may be a quick way to go from A to B, but at what risk? I think it sends a message about Japanese culture; about how people are so encased in being punctual with everything they do that they can risk even their own well-being to make it somewhere on time.

So next time you find yourself on a Japanese street, might I suggest not having both earbuds in, because you really need to keep an ear out for the ever-popular BRRING BRRING of the Japanese bicycle.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Day 47+48: Japanese Dads, Donuts, and Dishes

Thursday was quite the lovely day, I daresay! Usually I am reluctant to go to class this day simply because of how long of a day it is (second period through fourth, so about 9AM until 5:45PM including travel time). But today's guest speaker in Prof. Roberts' class made the day start off just right. A professor from UC Riverside, currently teaching at a Japanese university, came to talk to us about her research in the area of Japanese fathers in the child-rearing process. As a social psychologist, her way  of thinking and research collection struck a chord with me from the get-go. We had a fantastic lecture on how Japanese fathers used to never participate in the child-rearing process (especially during weekdays), rarely if ever do household chores, and basically work like machines through what would normally be family/maternity leave. We talked about how policies and organizations have worked to give Japanese dad's the incentives for taking time off of work and helping them understand the importance of the father figure in the child's life. And with research data to back up these claims, I felt a bit more reassured that this wasn't just merely conjecture. I definitely missed having my psychology fix for so long, so I was glad to get a little "hit" while abroad here. Also, I mentioned to her about my research lab's studies (which she was quite interested in) and we swapped contact info, so hurray for networking =]

Professor Gill's class was a discussion this time on financial distribution between classes in various countries of the world. He wanted a UC student for every 2-4 Meigaku students, so I got to spend the entire class time working around a language barrier with a gaggle of Meigaku girls. I think they understood more than they spoke, but I'm sure that the class is really difficult to grasp when Prof. Gill's english is just so fast. Poor things. So we struggled a bit through that, but it was fine. Just a different way of going about class this time around.

Genji class was especially interesting because we had discussion on an difficult-to-discuss chapter regarding Genji's possible rape of a woman (for the first time thus far). In case you don't know, Genji has sex with women in every chapter of this book (keep in mind, it was written by a woman, too), but this chapter, he forces himself on a girl who initially rebuffs his attacks, but eventually accepts who he is and what happens between them. Coincidentally, this person turns out to also be the woman betrothed to the future Emperor. Uh-oh, Spaghetti-O's. So that was an interesting talk for Genji class, needless to say.

Later on, I joined Niki and Kim for Mister Donut (how could I possibly turn down Donut-san?!) and finally got a point card. So now for every donut I buy, I get points that I can redeem for stuff. Muahaha! The main purpose for leaving, though, was so Kim could pay for her flight to Okinawa after the semester ends. Interestingly, one pays for a variety of bills and purchases through touchscreen kiosks available at convenience stores (konbini). So Lawson's Station, an alternative to 7-11, was our konbini of choice for the evening. Finally, we decided to stop by Taito Station for a little quality time with the video games and to see what new products were available through UFO catchers. All in all, a full day.

Friday, friday, gettin' down on Friday~~

Actually, I did indeed get down on Friday, specifically at AKIBA! Yes, I was convinced by the Devil (Cheryl) to go with her to Akiba so she could find a rice cooker and check out the Gundam models. As it turns out, she's the biggest Gundam model nerd I've ever met, and it's AMAZING. I'm so jealous and in awe of her knowledge/skills.

So we go to Akiba after Japanese class and hit up stores I'd never touched before, as well as arcades galore. I dumped more money than I'm willing to say trying to win a particular figure of one of my favorite characters from my favorite anime, but later learned that there's a store next to the arcade that sells UFO catcher prizes for cheap. So for people who can't win them, you've got a way to go home with an awesome prize! I didn't buy it while there, but I'll be checking it out sooooon enough. We had Matsuya for lunch, which is like Yoshinoya but... worse. Actually, it's the only Japanese food I've had here that I haven't absolutely loved. It probably was obvious since a total of two workers were serving and cooking for approximately 20 people at any given time, but it just wasn't up to par with what I've had in Japan thus far. We went into a massive, 6+ floor anime goods store called Animate, and I died wanting all of the things. And I died because they sold so many light novels, or short story novels, that I wish I could read Japanese well enough to decipher. Sigh. But it was a glorious building and I found a nice plastic folder to use donning characters from Sword Art Online, a currently ongoing anime series I like.

Arcadessss... We went into this shady door between a crepes store and an anime knick knack shop and took an escalator up to find some of the craziest things ever. Floors 2-4 were random home good products. Like a mixture of wal-mart, target, and the decoration/darkness of Spencer's Gifts, these floors were really surprising. You could find makeup, appliances, halloween goods, and so so much more. But just one floor higher and you'd be at a halloween costume floor. Everything was there. Wigs, outfits, shoes, the works. If I was doing anything for halloween, I know where I'd go to get stuff for it. But what was really unique was floor 6. Here we found an arcade. A random arcade in a shopping mall-like building. But this arcade was glorious beyond measure. Because all it had... were music games. Upon entering, three Project Diva terminals. Nothing strange about that. Beside that, three Taiko Drum Master machines. Also kinda standard. But then... four Dance Dance Revolution machines, back to back with each other, and another one in the corner of the room. Every one of them was being used. And on one, there was a line of 9 people sitting down on the ground behind the player using the machine, waiting their turn. There was a crowd around them, and a professional quality video camera being used to document every song played. I had no idea what was going on, but it was awesome. Against the wall was about 6 or 7 Jubeat machines (*twitch*), FOUR Beatmania IIDX Tricoro machines (*TWITCH*), two Pop'N Music machines (with one being a brand new, HD screen-enhanced version *T-T-TWITCH*), two ReflecBeat's, DrumMania/Guitar Freaks XG3, three Sound Voltex booths, and the peace de resistance, the first DJ Max Technika 3 machine I've ever seen since coming to Japan. I couldn't even comprehend this Paradise. Oh, and they had the easiest UFO catchers to win pretty much ever. I won a figure for about $3, two tries. Either my skills are superb or these machines were just dirt-simple. I wanted to live here forever and ever, until the end of time.

Alas, we had to move on eventually. The top floor, strangely, was an AKB48 cafe. In addition to the main theater where the group plays by the Akiba station exit, next to the Gundam cafe, they have another theater on the top of this random building. And this was just... whoa. The walls and floors were all wooden, there were pictures of all the members, framed portrait-style, on the walls, and two cases on another wall depicting "Members Who Have Attended This Theater More Than 100 Times". Security guard-ish people errwhere too. It was nuts. Just nuts.

Eventually we left and found what is known as Yodabashi. It's probably the single biggest electronics store in all of Japan, but at least the largest in Akiba for sure. It had 8 stories of electronics, a 9th floor of restaurants, and basement floors as low as B5. And these floors were not tiny, either. It would take a good 8-10 minutes to walk around the perimeter of any one floor. This place was just massive. And on that 8th floor, we encountered the Gundam shop. Think about Anime Expo's Gundam model booths, but multiply it by 5, and add in model trains, figures, and painting/cutting/crafting materials everywhere. The selection of Gundams available was unrivaled, and I myself had to hold myself back multiple times from Nerdgasming everywhere over these gorgeous things. Cheryl did well in teaching me about the different models, the way of Gunpla, or  Gundam Play (the act of assembling, painting, and customizing models), and showing off what all she has back at home in Singapore. If my mind hadn't been broken by the day thus far, it certainly crumbled and crashed to the ground in a heap of brain matter at this point. How I walked out of that Gundam place without purchasing anything was beyond me. I think I was just too overwhelmed to pick up any one box and decide on it. Every series of Gundam was represented there, with many of the favorites being available in both High Grade (smaller, beginner level) and Master Grade (medium-sized, much cooler). When Cheryl said that one day, when she moves out of her family's house, she'll probably need a room just for her Gundams and other assorted items, I knew I'd found a great friend.

We ended the night with a trip to food once more. This time, we went to the top floor of Yodabashi and decided on an indian restaurant. I know I mentioned this before in the Yokohama International Fair post, but I. LOVE. Indian food! The size of the naan that we got was nothing less than absurd. I got chicken curry to go along with it, and a small salad was tacked on as well. But what I didn't know until later on in the meal was that the naan was free-flowing. UNLIMITED NAAN. AHHHH. But the size of these monsters was such that I could only stomach two full pieces before being about to the point of explosion. The water I drank probably helped this lots, but my tummy was so happy after that meal. Mmm...

And so ended the third excursion to Akiba. Sunday will be my first concert I've attended since Thrice's farewell shows earlier on this summer, and from Wednesday night onwards, I'll be traveling to Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka for four days! Plenty of exciting events yet to come. Stay tuned!

Also, I'll be posting a bi-weekly Interesting Japan Cultural Thingy later on today, so keep an eye out! Thanks for reading~

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Day 34-46: Home Stay, Hundred Demons, and Hermit Life


Long time no talk! It's been quite a while since I last blogged, so expect this one to be a whopper. I'm finding it more and more difficult to sit down and type out daily occurrences, and not every day is a fantastical adventure, so this leads me to be posting less often. I hope this hasn't scared away too many readers! Nevertheless, read on and I hope you enjoy this monster of a post.

Last Friday was the beginning of the one and only home stay everyone in the program was to be a part of. For all but 4 of the students, the home stay lasted only the weekend, allowing us to glimpse what life is like for a traditional Japanese family, while also feeling like we were more than just observers of people. I gather that many, not just myself, felt like a real part of the family we were chosen by. I met with Nakayama Yoko and her two year-old daughter Tomomi at our school and we drove home with Yoko-san's sister Nagi-san, who happens to work at the school. Convenient, ne? After picking up Nagi-san's daughter, Minami (3 years old), we headed to the Nakayama residence to meet Keiji-san and have a group cooking experience making dinner (sukiyaki). All of the family was so nice and kind and considerate, I felt really at home from the moment I started my home stay. I was lucky enough to have been selected by a family who had both parents capable of speaking fluent English, so I didn't feel alienated by a language barrier at all. I found myself able to talk to both parents quite smoothly about any topic, be it electronics or politics or just opinions of Japan in general. Tomomi-chan was iffy towards me at first, as all children tend to be, but eventually warmed up to me and became the best host-sister I could have asked for. Nagi-san was very kind as well, of course, and I wish her the best with her second baby on the way here! Endou-san was so nice and welcoming too, and I could hardly believe that he gave me some of his calendars that he makes for a living. One was a calendar of a popular Japanese idol and the other is of *gasp* Hatsune Miku! I was so grateful for such a warm reception.

Saturday was filled with events ranging from giant buddhas to tea, the ocean, and Costco. Awww yeah. We woke up early and drove to Kamakura, which was in of itself a beautiful drive through a combination of greenery and concrete. Our first stop was the Daibutsu, the infamous Giant Buddha of Kamakura. The temple was really nice, though we didn't get to walk around much further past the Daibutsu itself. Time was a commodity, as we had much to cover in the coming hours. Many pictures were taken and should be uploaded by the time this post is there. Also, surprisingly, this Daibutsu was actually HOLLOW! There's no way we couldn't take advantage of that opportunity, so we went inside and braved the giant crowd of people within. Apparently, there used to be a huge building built around the Daibutsu, but due to a massive typhoon, the building was torn away. The Daibutsu, however, didn't budge a bit and still sits where it always has to this day.

After our temple visit, I was lucky enough to join the Nakayama's on their weekly tea ceremony lesson. It was held at a house nearby in Kamakura, and taught by a very nice older woman who had learned the way of the tea ceremony (Chado) from one of the most well-known schools in Japan. This particular teacher was a big fan of sweets, so every time we had another person take their turn preparing and serving the tea (thick and thin both), we got to enjoy another delicious treat beforehand. The other students at the Chado lesson were just as nice as the Nakayama's and treated me so well. Sitting on your knees in the traditional Japanese way is hurting less and less every time! Maybe one day it'll be comfortable (lol doubt it).

After we concluded the fascinating lesson, we walked for about 15 minutes and hit the beach! It was super pleasant and the water was just cold enough to make it feel fantastic as a contrast to the sun's warmth. Having been without my biological family for over a month, it felt just right to be with my host family enjoying the beauty and comfort of the beach. We took a ride afterwards to Costco for dinner and in order to prepare for the party we planned to have on Sunday. What a strange, surreal event it was to walk around Costco and see traditional, American-style food mingling with bulk quantities of Japanese-style ingredients as well. I could hardly believe the mass amount of food we bought for the party on Sunday! Such a wide variety of food was made available, it deserves it's own paragraph (coming up soon). For dinner? What else: Costco pizza, churros, and sweet nectar of the gods (Coke). It reminded me of many good memories; home away from home. Upon arriving home, I got to finally relax after a long day out and curl up on the couch with Tomomi-chan and read her some books. Being an only child, it was such a wonderfully different experience to get to spend time with my little sister.

Sunday brought with it one long, tiring day of socialness constantly. I went out in the morning with Nagi-san to pick up Max, since he was without a home stay family and Nagi-san decided to take him in for a home visit. He was to join us at the party we were planning, so he was a welcome addition to the group later on. We took a lunch break (brunch?) at the Endou's residence, so I got to meet Mrs. Endou-san and enjoy tea, snacks, and good company. It was sweet that Mr. Endou-san gave a calendar to Max as well; a rather neat one on aquatic animals from a nearby expansive aquarium. From there, we got to see Nagi-san's house, meet her husband very briefly, and then head back to the Nakayama's for the party. SO MUCH FOOD! We engorged ourselves on such a spread, it was like Thanksgiving. Tortilla chips, salsa, sashimi (raw fish), rice with veggies, beer, sliced apples, raspberries, roasted chicken, barbecue ribs, and pumpkin pie, amongst other things. I was just floored with the amount of deliciousness. And the Nakayama's said I didn't eat enough! Mind = blown. I was fortunate enough to bring home tons of leftovers  for the next few meals of my week.

Also very great were the people present at the party. Both Keiji-san and Yoko-san invited old school friends of theirs from back in the states, as well as Poom, one of Keiji-san's closest friends and coworker. While all of them were really great people, most interesting were Charles, who did the JET (Japan English Teaching?) program when he was out of college and never left, and Tetsu-san, the official translator for many popular manga in English (half of Death Note, Bakuman, and Case Closed/Detective Conan, for starters). He even gave me a copy of Bakuman #1 in English! It was so awesome talking to the both of them, as well as everyone else, over such a delicious meal. This concluded my time with the Nakayama's, but I cannot imagine not getting to see them again sometime before I leave for the States once more. They even offered me their home if I ever find myself in need (and especially if I think about getting a job in Japan and need somewhere while finding an apartment). So tempting… I can't thank them enough for their hospitality and kindness!

Monday began another week of school, but thankfully it was made interesting by a class field trip to Roppongi's Suntory Museum of Art instead of Genji discussion. Interesting points of note: 1. This museum is owned by Suntory, the same company famous for their whiskey and other liquor-related beverages. 2. This museum was located on the fourth floor of a mall, alongside many clothing shops. 3. Held within this museum were dozens and dozens of original Japanese scrolls depicting 400 different stories told between the 14th and 16th centuries B.C. What an awesome experience it was, though I just wish I could understand enough Japanese so that I didn't have to rely on our professor with us to explain the scrolls' stories. Most awesome were the scrolls on the Night Parade of A Hundred Demons story very well known throughout Japanese literature. I'll link to a couple images so you have an idea what the story is like (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Hyakki_Yako.jpg)

After roaming around the museum for a bit, we were left to our own devices, so we ran away to find a very well-known traditional Okinawan restaurant nearby in Roppongi. We were actually the first costumers of the day because they happened to open at about 6PM, and were just setting up for some live music when we arrived. While the food was fantastic and the drinks were quite good too, the time it took to get the meal was killer (especially since we were all starving). Check out pictures to see how awesome the restaurant itself looked and what delicacies we feasted on once they arrived.

When in Roppongi, why not do all there is to enjoy? So we took a short trip to Tokyo Tower, the Eiffel Tower replica built slightly taller than the original tower itself! Since it was later on at night, the view from the tower was amazing and all of the lights of the buildings, cars, bridges, and stars melded into one unforgettable scene. While there, we also ate very special sweets in the form of a waffle/pancake meal adorned with fruits, male syrup, whipped cream, macadamia nuts, and more, depending on the type ordered. Also of note, we got to enjoy all this with a new friend! We were joined for the post-museum festivities by Cheryl, an international student of Meigaku like us, but from Singapore. We immediately hit it off at the Okinawan restaurant and talked good music, video games, and most importantly, Bemani music-rhythm games. :DD She plays Jubeat rather well, so I knew we'd get along juuuuust fine.

Tuesday brought with it a fresh day with more adventures. This time, a walk to one of the most famous, and delicious, ramen shops in Japan (conveniently in Totsuka by the train station. How about that!). While expensive, at about $12 for a bowl, it was definitely the best ramen I've yet to eat. The dumplings found in the soup were nothing less than perfect. I can't explain it further than that. Since we were so close anyways, Cheryl, Anastasia, Zoila (exchange student from the Phillipines), Denise, Izumi, and I all hit up Taito Station to see what goodies we could win from the machines. But of course I couldn't go into anywhere without helping people win figures, as well as giving some attention to my lovely Pop'N Music machine. Gotta love it! I was able to finally finish collecting these adorable stacking plushies I've been working at. I've been giving them to my friends too, so each one has a different one. I have the lion, while Kim has the bear, Fione has the black cat, Armand has the elephant, and Nikki has the pink rabbit. I'm glad they all seemed to like their gifts =]

Wednesday was nothing, so onto Thursday we go! Though fairly uneventful overall, I definitely welcomed an arcade adventure with Cheryl and Zoila at Game City post-Genji class, as well as dinner at Yoshinoya. And I'm very happy to report that the Yoshinoya here is not nearly as awful as it is in the states. They actually give you real, cooked food, with delicious soup and rice, rather than just microwaved beef and overcooked onions. Well worth the low, low price for a combo. I see why it's so popular out here!

Friday was a fun day, particularly because most of the UC students and a great amount of Meigaku students/buddies got to do an "International Tea Party". What that means is it was just a mixer event with snacks and drinks in between classes. Pretty good stuff, and I met a couple really nice people there too! Afterwards, I waited around for a few hours until I was to help a Meigaku student named Kagawa Jun with his senior thesis paper. He wanted to interview the UC students and get their opinions on the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, so I happily obliged to help my fellow student out. I felt like I was repeating myself a lot by the end of it, but I think my message was clear and my feelings known. Coincidentally, he himself is from Hiroshima and hopes to one day volunteer at the museum, so I felt like I definitely did a good thing helping this guy's cause.

On the way home, I met a random fellow named Miki who happened to remember seeing me in the gym earlier on in the week. So we chatted for a while about life, America, jobs, school, and all things in between. It's good to share a laugh with a stranger from time to time. Especially when this stranger turns out to be friendly!

Saturday was a good one, starting off with supplemental double-Japanese class, since the UC students leave before the Meigaku semester ends in January. Afterwards, the normal group peoples and I traveled to Yokohama to check out the annual International Street Fair. It took us a good while to finally find the place, but once we got there, we were greeted by much delicious food. Indian, Peruvian, Korean, Tibetan, Mexican, you name it. I myself had Butter Chicken w/Naan bread from the Indian booth (which reminded me of how much I love Indian food), as well as some SHWARMA. Yes, really.

After we finished pigging out, we worked off the calories by walking along the bayside and checking out the mall nearby with the Pokemon Center, Jump Store, and Ghibli Store. The Pokemon Center had released new things since I last went, and it was a weekend, so the place was packed to the brim with people of all ages. Everyone and their mother (quite literally) had their Nintendo DS out and playing. Swapping 'mons, battling, and all such other Poke-related happenings. I finally picked up my souvenirs from the Pokemon Center and hightailed it out of that madhouse.

Later on in the night, we were to go out and meet our friend Cheryl for dinner and drinks. It took an hour more than expected while waiting for her to come to Totsuka, so I sat outside on the swings at the kid's playground near MISH. A couple Japanese girls, college age, came and played on the swings too, so we laughed a bit at each other and spoke in broken Japanese (well, I did at least). Neither were quite my type, but it was pleasant interaction with more people of the country. When we finally got a hold of Cheryl, we went to a Korean restaurant nearby and ate entirely too much food. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the cheap nomikaya (bar) we were told was around our apartment house, so we didn't get to all drink together before Cheryl had to head home. Fortunately, the three of us remaining did get to drink, and spent a fun-filled night at the Little Bike bar chatting away. It felt good to get a little tipsy with some friends and share some inner-workings of my mind. And by inner-workings, I mean sharing very little besides just bare minimum feelings. But we all had a great time, so it all worked out swimmingly.

Sunday was supposed to be the chance to climb a mountain on the way to Fuji, called Mt. Takao (Takao-san). But after the night prior…. nahhhh, not gonna happen. So I took the day off, spent it doing homework by the river, doing a bit of walking around Totsuka, a brief stop by the arcade to win yet another figure, and then hide away like a hermit in preparation for class the next day.

And that brings us to just about where we are now in time, Wednesday of Japanese work. We're finally starting to learn Kanji, which in my opinion is actually really rather quick of a pace. I fear for the others in my class, but I'll do my best to help them along with what little I know regarding Kanji. I've been getting much more sleep lately, staying in my room and hermiting away from people, watching anime, finishing a video game (Advance Wars, a game from my childhood!), and just enjoying alone time.

Sorry this post took so long to get up, but I'll be sure to include weekly interesting Japanese culture posts too, to keep the times between normal posts interesting. Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for more!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Day 27-33: A Quarter of a Quarter

As of today, a full month has passed here in Japan. I can hardly believe it's gone by so quickly. Where has the time gone? Oh yeah, traveling all across the country, starting class, arcades, river walks, buddies, "reviewing" Japanese I never learned, going to black sand beaches, winning souvenirs for everyone, deers, bunnies, tanuki, octopi, squid, ramen, udon, somen, and so, so much more. But rather than taking the time to go over all that any further, I've got some summarizing to do for the past few days! Let's do this~

Really, the most interesting day of late was when we went to Mejiro Garden. It was a mandatory cultural activity, so some of us weren't exactly into it. It's not that we weren't interested in going, but a handful of us are getting tired of being forced into doing events. Regardless, the many activities at Mejiro garden were fantastic and I think the group as a whole had a blast. It started with ikebana, the art of flower arrangement, which I unfortunately missed out on watching. Why is that? Because I was randomly selected to be the male model for the kimono demonstration right afterwards! It took a full 20-25 minutes to get fitted and dressed with the help of two of the women there. I had thin white undergarments to wear first, but then was outfitted with three thick white towels that were strapped to my stomach and around my sides. Then there were layers... and layers... and layers of clothing put over me. Robes and over-robes and a final robe, all tied with various sashes. But MAN did I look like the badass. Photos are uploaded on Flickr, but not nearly enough to do the outfit justice. I definitely felt like the boss of bosses.

Afterwards was lunch with a real, full bento box. It was so interesting, the many things inside of said bento. Cucumber, rice, chicken, and many weird things I have no idea what they were. But eating this while outside in the garden itself was relaxing to the utmost degree. What followed lunch was the dividing of groups and rotating different interactive demonstrations of the arts they follow at Mejiro. First for my group was Chado, or the art of tea ceremony. All the specifics and careful way of going about the process were mesmerizing. Pictures should help a little bit with understanding this. You had to turn your bowl three times to the left and have a designated "front" face the person you are taking the bowl from. The manner in which they grind the tea powder (matcha) itself is special too. And you always make sure to thank your tea master with appropriate floor bowing, given you're always sitting on your knees, traditional Japanese style.

From there, we joined the table for caligraphy, or shado. We had our teacher, Izumi-sensei, write out our favorite kanji to base ours off of, and then attempted to recreate it on our given scraps of practice paper. Eventually, when getting good enough, we were given a board to write out the characters on for a keepsake. This was WAY more difficult than one might think. The brushes, you don't want to be too wet (like painting), but too dry and you screw up the stroke order of the kanji. It's a careful art, just like everything else we learned about that day. Mine looks kind of lame, like an alien sitting on it's knees, but it was fun/challenging.

On to ikebana, flower arranging! This was really tough too. I poked myself multiple times while trying to stick the shaft of a flower onto tiny spikes. And bending the stems just right to make them look nice took some effort too. It didn't turn out well overall, but throughout the teaching lesson, the women were all very supportive and nice. It's so pleasant here, how nice people are, even if they're lying through their teeth.

Finally, we worked on making a jewelry box out of cardboard and gluing paper with pretty designs to the outside. It turned out really nice, to be honest. I really hope it doesn't get harmed on the plane trip back. It'll be a nice gift to someone special, methinks =]

Max and I decided to follow up our Mejiro Garden trip with a little exploring in Ikebukuro, the giant section of Tokyo known for being, I dunno, generally awesome? When we got there, we were greeted with (oh yay) a festival of hundreds and hundreds of people. Street food, dancing, traditional Japanese music, and tons of performers with weird, unique outfits. While there, we hunted for about 45 minutes a specific ramen shop advertised in a brochure we got about Ikebukuro. Eventually we gave up... but on the way to the station, we found it. This place was AMAZING, and decorated like it was the Iron Chef of ramen. We soon learned that it was known for a special characteristic: the ramen they served is MIND-BOGGLINGLY SPICY. I got a 6/10 on the heatness scale on accident and mannn... We knew there was something fishy about the place when each spot to sit at was flanked by tissue boxes. Red faces, burning bellies, and more food than I could stomach, we left Ikebukuro to find an onsen hot springs in Yokohama.

We encountered a dilemma, unfortunately. Despite being a modern hot spring bath, the establishment retained a time-old rule that prohibits people with tattoos from entering. There was no way I would be able to hide my mark on my left shoulder blade, nope nope. So we trekked around Yokohama a bit, checking out Cosmo World, the amusement park-ish thing they have off the coast of the bay. Spent plenty of money trying to win UFO catcher stuff (without luck), so we decided to head back towards home. I opted to go to another area of Yokohama by myself and find other arcades where I'd be able to win stuff while Max headed home. This led to yet another adventure, as I got lost, couldn't find a 7-11 to withdraw money from, got lost again, and it started raining. WHOO.

Eventually I conceded and went back to Totsuka, just before the Taito Station arcade closed, and got to play a couple games. Always fun, and I won a figure to boot. The issue? I had to walk back in rain with drops the size of my skull. No, not literally, but that rain was HARD and had really fat drops. I was drenched to my boxers by the time I reached MISH.

The next day, I slept until 2PM. Yes, really. I knocked the hell OUT and didn't come back up. I think I might have gone somewhere afterwards... but I might have just done chores. It was my lazy day and I loved every second.

Monday was neat because we watched a 4-hour Japanese film called Love Exposure. I can't even begin to explain how awesome this movie was. It has so much WTF-ery and sillyness, but also proves to be like the Forrest Gump of Japan (in my eyes, at least). Here, go see the trailer and decide for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fxa5NuVrqU

Tuesday = delicious day. We went to a sushi place about 15-20 minutes away that blew every other place out of the water. Not necessarily because of how good it was, but because of the way in which the establishment is operated. See, you sit down at a table like normal. To one side of the table is the conveyor belt that brings around sushi that's already been made and set on plates. You pick off whatever sushi you want and they tally up the plates at the end for you to pay for. This is something found in America and nothing particularly noteworthy. However, this place had a special characteristic that made it unique. Above the table is a touchscreen, and on it is a menu of every item they serve. Nigiri, udon, tiramisu, it's all there for you to order fresh at no extra cost (which, might I add, is about $1.30 for a two-piece plate of sushi). Pretty cool, right? It gets better. Rather than delivering the sushi to you when it's done, there's a second track above the conveyor belt that is completely empty. On this track sits a platform modeled after the Shinkansen bullet train that holds four spots for sushi plates to sit. Thusly, when you order sushi fresh, they make it in the back, set it on the train, and ship it off at super-high speed directly to your table. A quick hit of the button and the train is back to the kitchen, ready for the next order. Needless to say, we were in love.

What wasn't lovely was staying up until 6AM doing Japanese homework. Can you guess what that led to? Yes, it led to me sleeping through my alarm and not waking up in time for class. AGAIN. This has led me to finally decide to drop to the lower level of Japanese. I don't want to spend my time here hating every moment I'm in my room, forced to spend completing worksheets and studying. I want to learn from the people, from the environment, and read a textbook while I'm there. Helping out the other beginners will be good to form my foundations even further, too. I think it's for the best. I just hope they let me switch down.

So what better to do when missing class? Catch up on homework further, do some reading, and go on an adventure. I spent the afternoon with the incomparable Jason fishing for my first time at the river next to the house. What an experience. The carp in this river are GIGANTIC, easily between 10 and 15 pounds, and put up a mean fight. He and I both caught 2 a piece, which we had a lot of fun de-hooking and throwing them back in. Sometimes we'd fight them up to 20 minutes, tuckering them out until they could be reeled in close. Poor guy Jason caught was snagged in the tail! How does that even happen? That bad luck. We used some squid and had a great time. We plan to go to Yokohama one of these days and fish for heavier stuff, the sort we can keep and eat. Wish us luck!

The nighttime was just as good, if not better, in the form of sushi journey #2, now with added Fion, plus Taito Station hijinks later on. This time, we got adventurous with our meals. We shared a plate of what was the Squid Carpaccio. It was a mini squid sitting on a piece of rice. It. Was. WEIRD. The texture was just... shudders everywhere. The other food was fantastic, especially for the price, but that guy was... something special. I hornswaggled her into joining me for Taito afterwards, checking out the UFO catcher machines, but more importantly, playing music games. I got tons of practice in on Pop'N while she tried out Jubeat Saucer. She's ridiculously good for being so new to the game! It's pretty nuts actually. I'm quite jealous.

We returned back to MISH, UFO prizes in tow, and I threw down (and got stomped) at the original Super Smash Bros for the N64. So strange, playing that game again. You don't realize how clunky it is until playing it so many years later.

Thursday, simple class day. Nothing special there. Oh, besides GOING TO AKIHABARA AGAIN. We went at night when everything was lit up and oh-so-cool. The only problem? Shops close at 9-10PM usually. We went around about 6 different arcades, trying out so many UFO catcher machines, and Fion won SO MANY COOL THINGS. On her own too. No self-confidence? Not anymore! I got a couple of little things that I'll be able to souvenir to my peeps back in the states. Armand was there to grab a new MP3 player since his died, so we accomplished that mission, played games till almost midnight, and headed back home with hopes of returning on a future weekend. When it's so busy, they close the streets to cars to let people shop freely. So excited.

And now there's today! I'm off to do my homestay and meet my family for the next few days. The Nakamura's, Yoko and Keichi, with 2 year-old daughter Tomomi. I'm so nervous though! I know at least Yoko-san speaks good English, so I hope we can converse more than a little. I'll be there till Sunday night, after all, so fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, also preparing for Kyoto/Nara/Osaka trip come Halloween night/beginning of November. It's gonna be one crazy trip, not to mention the money dilemma. One can only hope I can afford this without having to sell my body. @_@ Wish me luck on that front too, please.

New pictures posted, so go take a look on the flickr! Link is on the right-hand corner of the page, as usual. Also, I filled up the first album, so make sure to look through the second one too. Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Day 22-26: The Issue of Time

In case you haven't noticed, the day count on my posts have changed. Apparently I messed up some numbers a while back and needed to get things accurate, so I went and counted out exactly what number day today is. I'm such a pro at blog writing!

So we began with week 2 here at Meigaku. The decision has been made and I'm sticking with the harder level of Japanese. I'd rather dive right in and learn than go back and relearn basics. I can have as solid a foundation as possible, but it means nothing if I can't understand the majority of language spoken, both written and spoken. Thankfully, I have a new buddy, Jason, to join in the class and keep things at a tolerable level. Him and Max have both sworn to aid in my journey to Japanese fluency (for this quarter, at least). Now as awesome as this is, we have a bit of a problem.

I've missed essentially half of the entire class so far. I had skipped last Friday because I wasn't feeling too well and I still had homework yet to complete for the class. That's an understandable reason to skip, I feel, so okay. The problem was earlier today. Last night, I was up until 4AM working on homework and studying for the first of our daily vocabulary quizzes we will be doing in this class. The problem? I slept through my alarm. It was a double-class today, the first two periods, and I just snoozed on through until halfway through the second period. I could have literally run to class and been there only a half an hour. No point in that. Thusly, I utilized my time to do other schoolwork and work out my budget a little more. I know it's a bad thing, and it felt awful, but I'll just have to work harder and make up for it. No other way. Can't change the past, after all.

The weather here is ridiculous. Four days ago, we had our first typhoon of the season. Three days ago, it was chilly. A nice low 70s with breeze, and just enough sun to make sure you aren't cold. Two days ago, it's back to being 80s and sun beating down, plus some humidity, so constant sweat. Yesterday, exactly the same. Today? Rain. No sun except for short snippets in the afternoon. I just don't even know anymore, man.

The house we're living in is kinda starting to be a little... well, lame. The first problems were when our fourth floor (all 8 men live here) shower and washer broke on Sunday or so. I don't know if they are in the process of being fixed, but they're still marked as being broken, so we're to share the showers and washers on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Girls-only bathrooms. This could make for some awkward-ness. Second, the water heaters here are pretty bad. You may have it set to heat, but they run out of hot water like nothing, and take forever to warm back up. Not exactly a palace we're in here. But by far, the most off-putting issue thus far was the incident last night. We were sitting in the common room and were greeted by not one, but TWO gigantic cockroaches. Now the girls all flipped their shiz over these things while us men were relatively calm and cool in trying to capture and throw out said visitors. It took a while, but eventually we were rid of the things and it was done. But hearing those screams and such was quite trying, for certain. I just hope the buggers don't invade our food supplies. That would be a health hazard, methinks.

I went to the arcade again recently to get my practice in on my video game, Pop'N Music, as well as test out the UFO catchers. For one, I am getting much better at my game. On a difficulty scale of 43, I can now beat up to 33, which is pretty friggin tough. And that's a song I've never even heard before. For those who don't know, Pop'N is a music game kind of like DDR (made by the same people), but you play with 9 colored buttons, each the size of your palm. You hit them in time with music, and they're key-sounded so that if you're doing crappy, your song sounds awful too. So it's important to try your best and do well. Secondly, I found out that they change the prizes in the UFO catchers at the beginning of every month. So now there are new prizes in many of the machines. So what else could I do but drop a couple bucks on a machine and win an awesome statuette from Evangelion (Mari), as well as a One Piece (Luffy) coin purse! Whooo got them mad skillz.

In related news, we've discovered that someone from prior study abroad quarters bought and left a Gamecube in the house, so now we have nightly Gamecube bouts on Soul Calibur 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Mario Kart: Double Dash! Always fun, though we need to snag two extra controllers so we can do four-player games. I loves me the party games!

We're going to try and go to Kamakura this weekend and see the giant Amida Buddha statue, as well as enjoy the beautiful temple surrounding it (Hamedara shrine). It's nice getting to hang out with some of the Japanese buddies at MISH and play games, cards, and just talk. Even if I don't speak much, it's great to listen and learn more about them!  Of course hanging out at our official dive bar nearby, The Little Bike, is also amazing. The names and descriptions of these drinks are just... To give you an example, I had two drinks. The first of which was called "That's" and it's made with some kind of alcohol and lemon juice+lemon. The second was called "It's" and it's the exact same thing, but with lime. Yeah. Pretty fancy, I know. The bar itself is totally styled after a Western bar, so it's funny and surreal to step into a tiny little place with all this American-ish decoration going on. Good buddy times!

And I think that just about wraps up this post. More in the near future! I don't know if I have quite enough yet, but I've been thinking about doing a weekly or semi-weekly "Random Interesting Japanese Observation". I've seen some really neat things that just make me immediately think, "Wow, we sure do have different cultures" or "People sure are crazy". Give me your opinions on this and maybe I'll start including that in it's own separate post.

See ya! じゃね!