Wow...

Have I ever mentioned that I am tragically bad at updating blogs?
Like, super unfortunately bad at them?
Ha ha ha... /OTL

oh god where to start...
I'm about halfway through my big, two-month vacation between semester one and semester two, and it's been rather low-key. The roomie's parents were here to visit and we did a lot of touristy things, then there was a little break and now her aunt is here, and we are doing MORE touristy things. Nothing wrong with it--in fact, it's getting us out of the house more often, so this can only be a good thing. Let's go with a few posts regarding the things we've been doing here:

The Odaiba Ferris Wheel.



Odaiba is an artificial island in the Tokyo Bay, just one stop past Yokohama Station, and is sort of of a popular dating spot for all the restaurant, the view of the bay, and a miniature amusement park, with it's crown-jewel being the ferris wheel.

Look familiar? Did you ever watch Inu-Yasha, perhaps? This is the same ferris wheel featured in the "My Will" ending theme song. It's about 20 minutes to go all the way around, is only 7ooyen per person, and the view isn't half bad. It opened in 1999 and was the tallest in the world for almost a year, but in December the London Eye surpassed it. None the less, it's still pretty famous and definitely a couple hot-spot. Whereas Roppongi Hills seems to be the place to go for the expensive date, I think Odaiba in general seems to be the place people go for the classic, romantic date.

Or, you know. Chill with friends.

Getting Over Certain Things

It's astonishing how much there's this inner paranoia I have at times about being THAT AMERICAN.

The otaku. The weaboo. The tourist who's only interested in seeing the things that they heard about and say while they were watching anime in their parent's basement. Probably while wearing cat ears. And aside from that last part, I have to say that I can't entirely say that I am guilt free in that regard. While I think I got most of my nerdy urges out of the way when I was last here (seeing the cosplayers in Harajuku, seeing a Lolita, seeing a geisha, going to Tokyo Tower), I can't escape the fact that I learned about half of the districts and locations in Tokyo through manga and anime.

The sad truth remains that every time people ask me how I got interested in Japan and its culture, if I want to be honest, the answer is"I really liked anime when I was in middle school..."

My interest in Japan has since evolved over the years to a fascination at the differences in our culture--Japan and America may seem very similar because they are both "developed countries" and Japan has been "westernized" but there remain a whole shleu (sp?) of social and cultural issues and anomalies that seem to be unique to this island country. They fascinate me, and I think having a better idea about countries we feel are very similar to ours only highlights the differences between us, and brings us a little closer to who we are. Americans, I think, sometimes find pinning down that identity difficult because we don't really have a set of cultural and traditional norms because we are a baby-country that rapidly evolved, and is too big to contain a singular way of doing things, then and now.

Also, I still like manga. And anime. And I like the videogames this country puts out too. And their fashion is better. And their boys are pretty.

I don't want to be the American girl you could point out and say "They're probably only here because they like anime." I can look at groups of tourists and do that, and I feel a tiny bit embarrassed that I can't entirely dissociate myself from them. Physically, I can avoid them, but spiritually there is always that guilted connection. Maybe I shouldn't feel bad about it, considering that my interests have more to do with a variety of topics now instead of purely their animated media, but you tell anyone that you like anime, or manga, and that you want to go to Japan, they will assume this is the only reason, and suddenly my interest in the country is viewed as less serious or legitimate in any way. Even some of my friends, upon hearing that I was going to study here for a year, asked if it was because I was 'still into that anime thing.' It's frustrating... I can be truthful, and leave an impression of being silly and juvenile, or I can hide some of my interests like their bodies in a closet and try obsessively not to have people know.

How did this little rant come about, you ask?
It was only a matter of time before I bought some...


No matter how much I try to push myself away from old habits, Pocky is still delicious. <3

Carting Around The Gods

So when we were told that there was a matsuri ("festival") on Saturday and that we ought to go, I don't know about everyone else, but I was thinking something along the lines of stall-lined streets, vendors, food on sticks, that kinda deal. Instead, we got this:


That is a mikoshi, a sort of portable shrine to house the local temple's kami and transport it around for a bit. It's hefted up onto the shoulders of the shrine bearers, who yell chants and shake it around while parading about down the streets and alleys.

If anyone was hungry, there was free food for us--which was great, as many of us had sort of been banking on stall-food. There was ongiri, fried chicken, homemade inari-zushi, which is a personal favorite, pickled cucumbers and an assortment of other delicious things. There were a bunch of adorable children from the neighborhood there to help with the float, all wearing the little jackets. It was hilarious, since no one seemed to really be inclined to help with this and simply be part of a procession, but little old ladies are truly miracle workers. No amount of pestering from us could convince those boys to help out with the shrine, save a handful, but when a little old Japanese women tugs on their sleeves and motions for them to go help, with no comprehension of English, there was no way for them to escape~

The rest of us were pulling this sort of float that had drums on it, and we proceeded the shrine as a sort of announcement. It was actually pretty fun, and people would stop on the streets or come out of their homes to watch as we passed by. Granted, it was scorching hot and humid outside, so in a way it was pretty miserable, but every half-hour or so they stopped us somewhere away from traffic and provided water, juice, green tea, barley tea and these tiny little yogurt drinks for everyone, I-House students, kids and adults alike. The best part, hands-down, was when we rounded a corner past this one particular building. I thought I could hear applause and I wasn't sure where it was coming from, but when we walked past the building there were dozens of elderly Japanese people lined up in their wheelchairs outside in front of the building, and clapping as we walked past. I think I can safely say that everyone was a little embarrassed, but it was a happy kind of embarrassment and I think it made us all a little happier to be there, knowing that it meant something to someone.

Now, I've read about this kind of thing before, and I know these little kids aren't just dumb and generous--they're getting bribed. At the end of this, while we were all sweating and panting and battling for bits of shade, the little kids were getting bags of assorted sweets, chips and candies. Most of us felt like a dirty shirt, a feeling of accomplishment and the experience was good enough, but hey, they felt like giving us treats too!

I was pretty happy with my share of the swag.

I'm Alive. Also: Creepers and Typhoons

Let me just say, for the record, that this thing is now my hated enemy:
Sorry, Alex. You've been replaced with a Japanese washing machine. But more on that later. So this blog is a little late, as I've been here for little more than two days, but better late than never, right? This is the place where I'll be voicing my blather about Japan, its people, its culture and its life lessons that I learn about while I'm here for 11 months. I can only hope some of this will be interesting for other to read, other parts I know are going to be strictly for my own enjoyment/cathartic pleasure, but you can't keep everyone happy.

So. The Trip Over.

Getting to the airport was relatively painless, minus having to take a few things out of my overweight suitcase and bidding farewell to my mom and dad. The first flight went by in the blink of an eye, and the second flight was as good as any 14 hour flight can be, including the food. Also, upon boarding the flight we attempted to make conversation with the guy a few seats down from us in our row, who said he was going to Bangkok "for pleeeeasure," and yes, the word was elongated like that and said in a fairly creepy tone. Needless to say, there was not much attempt at conversation after that. The trip was far from restful, and by the time we landed in Japan, got through customs and gathered up our luggage, we were already dying a little bit on the inside.

We managed to stumble, point and nod our way through getting the luggage sent to the -House via the Kuroneko Carrier Company, and from there it was other series of squinting, pointing and eventually getting train tickets from Narita Airport to Tokyo Nippori train station. We opted for the cheaper train, which meant a little more standing and a lot longer till we got to our destination, while I was occasionally hearing "typhoon" from the train announcements. This, combined with the pouring rain and suspiciously colored sky was enough to make me wonder if we were going to hit some really bad weather/train delays, but we made it to Tokyo just fine. After getting lost in Nippori Station we made two short train rides to Sendagi, where Kimi was able to lead us right to the I-House. The manager ("Manager-san") and his wife ( "Machiko-san") checked us in, explained the rooms and mailboxes and left us to ourselves for the night. More on details of the I-House later~

After trying to find a free, unsecure wireless connection and getting some onigiri at the nearest 7-11 so as to not pass out, we finally discovered the cords for the 'net in our desks, popped off emails to our parents to let them know we were alive, and promptly fell into bed.

Woke up around 3. Paced around for a bit, drank some juice, checked my email and went back to bed. Woke up at 5. Around 5:45 I basically said "screw it" and just took a shower. Kimi was up shortly after, so after that we went outside and took an early morning walk to look at some of the local shops and get breakfast at bakery when it opened. When we got back to the I-House we ran into a bunch of other students, some of whom I'd known from online, and got a bit better acquainted and made plans to hang out later.

From there Kimi and I proceeded to explore some more and eventually had one of the "manliest" lunches I've ever eaten in my life. Seriously, not only were were the only foreigners in that place, but we were the only girls too. It was a donburi place, where you put your money into a machine that displays all the meals and their prices--from this you get a ticket, which you give to the adorable lady behind the counter who gives you your meal after the other person in the kitchen has dished it up. Donburi, at least the kind we had, is a MANLY food mostly for the fact that it's a bowl of rice and cooked meat, and you crack an egg (raw) over it, and mix--the heat from the rice sort of cooks the egg, but not really thoroughly, and what you end up with is a huge bowl of steaming, glistening protein. MANLY.

Yesterday I can't say that much of note happened, aside from our friends bringing us to this little back-alley where there were a ton of shops that sold cheap meat (40 yen yakitori), classic Japanese sweets (omg these are made if red bean past and are DELICIOUS) and other assorted bits of awesome. Fell into bed around 9, woke up at 3 again this morning. Rolled around and tried to ignore the sunlight until about 5, and then I just gave up again and got up. I don't really mind if getting up at 5 becomes a trend, but I'd rather not wake up at 3...

So far today I've mostly worked on making flashcards--I will have a set for verbs, a set for adjectives and a set for kanji when I am done. There's a matsuri (festival) this afternoon, so looking forward to that~! More tonight, later, after we get back~!