１２月！！早いね！

WOW!! Super sorry for not posting in the LONGEST time! November seriously came and went and (tah dah!) December! This month has been crazy. Last month of the year and things. My schedule has consisted of class, some dance, バイト and trying to hang with friends and eat dinners with the family.

In my spare time I have been planning for 冬休み, winter break. Last week I had some midterms that I had to do. This week was the last day of classes. I seriously had only 1 class later in the day (since it is Wednesday) and I went... dedicated to school, I know ha. Tomorrow is the official start of winter break and my mom is coming to visit! exciting!

in 2 days it is Christmas! Christmas in Japan is interesting. It is DEFINITELY commercialized here and everyone goes and buys presents of course. My host family has a fake Christmas tree set up on the tatami floor room with some ornaments...super nice just like I have at my house ha :P Some of my American friends have told me that their host families do not have anything Christmas in their house so I guess it depends.
My host kids also know who Santaさん is and ask questions about him. My family will have a Christmas party get together which should be nice.

I am excited for break, to see my mom and meet up with some old time friends!

Over winter break I will be going on a skiing trip and traveling around Japan a bit. I will give more details when I return!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!! :) メリクリスマス、よいお年よ！

The new year in Japan should be cool to see so I will talk about that later! :D

A Cultural Weekend

This weekend I had some awesome Japanese cultural experiences, found in both the modern and traditional forms.
On Saturday my host mom and her parents invited me to go to a classical music concert. It was really fun! It was located in a small theater setting and it was very casual. The performance featured a famous Japanese contrabass player and a pianist. The host was a well known Japanese news journalist. The program consisted of music and casual talk. The musicians talked about their life in the music world and how they got to where they are now. It was funny and very entertaining! The music was absolutely wonderful! I love the sound of string instruments :) It made me want to pick up a violin or cello and start practicing again ha.

On Sunday, it was 七五三 so my host family celebrated for their two children (my host brother and sister). Shichi-Go-San, translated as 7-5-3, is a traditional rite of passage festival day that is annually held on November 15th or the nearest weekend day since this day is not considered a holiday (day off). This festival day is for 3 and 7 year-old girls and 3 and 5 year-old boys. It is said (on the internet ha) that this tradition started in the Heian Period, which is a LONG time ago. This long running Japanese tradition has turned into the modern ritual of dressing up in traditional wear and visiting a shrine to ward the evil spirits and bestow blessings on the child in the years to come. おめでとう！

So on Sunday my host mom, brother and sister dressed up. It was a eventful day! Both host mom and dad's parents were there to participate in the celebration. It was so cool to get an inside look on a traditional practice. (If it wasn't for the kids and the home stay I would not have had a chance to see it. ) I went to the 神社 and experienced the day. By then it was 11ish and I was starving! (no breakfast). We came home all together and had a wonderful traditional bento lunch. It was a lot of food but delicious! (photo coming soon.) Then there was tea, soup, coffee and some sweets like green tea ice cream and manju my FAV!! Today I tried some new たべもの that is for sure. Then for dinner we went to kaiten sushi since the kids love that. The grandparents wanted to take us out. Really I could have done without dinner. The typical Japanese thing to do is to insist that one eats. (Now I can understand why my grandma does that ha). So of course I ended up eating some foods.

To conclude, an awesome cultured weekend, which involved a lot of food! :) Thank you host family, what an awesome weekend.

文化の日 and Wasedasai...oh get plenty 休み

In these past 2 weeks I have had many days off from school! Japan actually has many holidays that workers and students have off. At least more than the US or my home college. This Wednesday was Bunka no hi (文化の日). The purpose of the day I believe is to promote Japanese culture, the arts and academic endeavors. For me it really is a day to explore Japan. My family invited me to go to a course field athletic park at Shimizu Kooen. It was AWESOME! There are many wood and rope structured courses for kids to climb and hang. The place seems like a military training center or some kind of Japanese game show haha :P The goal is to successfully complete all the courses. You write down points at each course. It seems sort of dangerous for young children but the structures are made for them. I would agree that some seemed a little scary, especially if I was a smaller person swinging from high ropes.( I think this would not settle right with American parents. I feel like they would be afraid for their child's safety . I had a tendency to feel concerned at times.) The Japanese mother and father on the other hand, were encouraging their kids to go and do it, sending them off saying: ganbatte! and if they couldn't do it and the kid started to cry, they told their child: don't be ridiculous you can do it! It was interesting observing Japanese family dynamics and getting a glimpse of daily life.

All in all it was pretty amazing. My host kids did a good job. I would definitely say my hands were sore after that :(
hmm There must be something cool like this in the US.

After a hard days work of climbing wood structures and holding onto ropes we went for a late lunch at a kaiten sushi. I love going to those when I am super hungry :P After the meal we drove back home. On the way I got to witness a beautiful sunset, which honestly I don't ever see in the city. Then I of course passed out with the kids.

Thursday I had one class in the morning and then I was done. I decided to chill and go home for the day.
Friday was again another holiday, but in this instance it was ONLY a holiday for Waseda. The Wasedasai Festival was happening Saturday and Sunday, so Friday was a day for setting up. This school festival is a HUGE deal for Waseda. I would say it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, event on campus. Every club is working really hard for that weekend. Every club either has a booth they are manning or a performance they are practicing for.
Yesterday there were cameras posted everywhere for television...yep I told you it was big. and there are huge groups of people walking around. It was quite an amazing experience. This was the essence of school spirit that definitely was missing at my other schools in the US. I went and watched all the dance performances to check out the student clubs. I was in a way club shopping. It was fun watching them. Some were well put together and others were just amusing. I would definitely say that the all male cheerleading team made my day for sure. They are legit and serious about what they do. Therefore they kick butt! The guy flyers were high and their flips were insane. It was more powerful than a girl cheerleader performance for sure. They were full of spirit and energy ha. Good times.

After spending all day there, I went to eat at a Thai restaurant nearby with friends. We just came across it and decided to eat there. It ended up being super delicious, a lot of food and cheap. You know me and spicy Thai curry...I'm coming back! :D
Next I trailed my friend to her English session she had and afterwards we headed to Asakusa where she lived. I specifically went for the Asakusa Tori no Ichi festival. It is considered to be the first important event of bringing good blessings for the new year. You would go to the Asakusa temple to pray for good health, fortune and business. The symbol of a rake is significant for this festival: as one that brings you more money in the new year. You are "raking in the money". In this fair market atmosphere there are TONS of venders selling these bamboo rakes, highly decorated. Each vendor has a certain style but for the most part all the rakes have the same symbols on them. It is said that every year a person needs to change to a bigger rake..or at least buy a new rake.
Yesterday evening there were TONS of people at the start of the festival (12am). They were all joyous and in celebrating spirit! It was fun to see a cultural event like this.

Well an end to a long wonderful weekend. School is now back in session!

The Layering of Clothes Begins...

Another week has passed and it is now NOVEMBER!! WOW. The weather was definitely showing signs of fall. SO COLD. Honestly I was not prepared for that. Thank goodness for UNIQLO! Everyone in Japan knows UNIQLO. It is known for its fairly cheap prices on great layers and basics that have Japan heat technology for the cold winter season. I got some wonderful basics there that will keep me alive ha. Love that store :) Talking about the weather, Saturday we had a typhoon warning. It did rain a lot and the winds were picking up...ahh scary.

Regardless, it was a fairly decent week. The grey weather made it hard to get up for class, plus I was quite tired :( A rough week for concentrating on studies, but I pulled through. As Friday came around, all us students were excited for the weekend...Halloween!! One of the international student circles had a party in Shinjuku Saturday night. I then went to a friends birthday and went to a club in Shinkiba. Amazing! I had a fun WONDERFUL Halloween!!! :D たのしかったね！The next day (actual Halloween) my host family had a small party at the house. The kids dressed up in the most adorable costumes and walked the town street for some goodies. We returned back to the house and started our Halloween meal. My host mom made some wonderful かぼちゃ,pumpkin, dishes and a variety of other Japanese dishes. So good! It was a nice time :) I was super tired though. Thank goodness I had a Monday やすみ!

Talking about today: It was one of those great days. I was super げんき and ready to go. I made it early to class, I learned a lot of Japanese today, I was focused in my classes and I was able to have clear thoughts and easy conversation. SWEET I love these days:D Today I left right after class around the early afternoon. This time of the day is awesome because there is not a lot of people but there are a lot of kids around, trying to get home after school. Kids are awesome for language interaction because some of them are not scared of the "ohh big がいじん” ha. I had an awesome short chat with an eight-year-old boy sitting next to me on the train home. He was soo awesome!

note: **When going abroad I would suggest 1) doing a home stay if you want to practice your language EVERY day. 2) make sure to have small kids because they break the initial social/cultural awkwardness and once they get to know you they will be awesome teachers. Funny thing I have actually learned more vocabulary, cultural interaction and social accepted practices from them than from Japanese class or teachers. They ask the embarrassing or silly questions, they make the mistakes and they like reenacting real life scenarios during play time. ( I literally learned what a point-card is from an お店 play time with the kids haha). Also their books are super great for learning what things are called and also for improving your reading skills. I think I definitely got schooled on some of the kanji I found in their books ha. Keep this in mind.

Until next time...when I have time to write....

Weekend out of the City: Retreat

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently...

School life is pretty good. Getting into the swing of things. This week I have been checking out student circles and figuring out which ones I like. We had a school holiday on Thursday (I believe it was the founding day of Waseda Univ.)! I got sick this past week so I rested a lot. I got better just in time for our group retreat to Karuizawa!

We had a bus take our group to Karuizawa, which is located in Nagano prefecture. It was SOOO nice to get out of the city for a bit and reconnect with nature and the outdoors :) The leaves were starting to change color! The air was very cold, crisp and clean. For many of my friends, this reminded them of home weather back in the states. It was COLD! I obviously should have brought more layers but I ended up being completely fine thanks to the room heaters and hot shower and It was my first experience on this particular Japan trip. I forgot how wonderfully warm they can be. :)

Anyway I had a good time with good friends. Now it is back to the grind in the city.

A Month Has Passed...

Today officially marks exactly a month since I left Hawaii for Japan. On one hand it seems like I have been in Japan for a long time, since I have already seen and done so much! On the other hand, a month just passed by?!! Are you kidding me? Time flies. Well this week went by WAY faster than last week. All my classes are set and I seem to be happy with the choices I made. This week I am still working on finding clubs to join. I am now realizing that joining clubs mid year as a exchange student (and not having great Japanese skills) makes it slightly more challenging. Once I get connected with one I have found, I find out that some of them are on a different Waseda campus that is quite a ways from my home campus...oh my, the big city/big school definitely has its challenges.

On the bright side...

This week I had a chance to dance! My friend took me to a studio that she goes to (which is mainly hip hop things) and it was awesome! It was so nice taking a class again. Taking a dance class taught in a different language is living proof that dance is a universal language. One that goes beyond the barrier of language. Thank you dance for saving me!! I mean I basically depend on gestures to convey certain ideas on a daily basis :). Well it was great to be in a space and environment that I am semi comfortable with. I had a great time and will hopefully go back!

For Friday and the weekend I did not go out. I had plans but thanks to the impressive rainy weather I was in no way motivated to travel to where I initially wanted to go. I did get to go shopping on Saturday after class, yay! :P I got to walk around the Sunshine City area in Ikebukuro. It really isn't a city but just a few streets so I found that funny but regardless it was still amusing. I went into a few shops, one of them being the Sanrio Hello Kitty store. May I add that 1) I guess I didn't expect Hello Kitty to be still super popular in Japan (she has been around for a LONG time). 2) The merchandise in there was way more expensive then I was expecting from a Japan located Sanrio store. 3) Um there were a ton of older men checking out the hello kitty things! And they definitely were not ashamed. w o w that was pure awesomeness!

Moving on to this weekend, I didn't go anywhere. It feels like I haven't been to Waseda for a week. I spent this weekend catching up on sleep, since I was feeling border-line sick. I also had wonderful outings with my host family. We went to the mall, played in the park and eat at a a keitan sushi place that was so good. I like totally over-ate. Dang you keitan sushi!! :)

Today was a free day. The second Monday of October in Japan is a holiday: I believe it was Health and Sports Day so people get work off. I believe school still continued but luckily for me I didn't have classes today. What a warm and gorgeous day for the outdoors!
My family had a BBQ with some friends and it was great! We skipped breakfast this morning (expecting a huge day feast in the afternoon.) My family packed food and necessities and we headed out on our bikes! Yes BIKES!--all the food and stove supplies were hauled into the baskets and child seats on the bike. Btw I will mention that the Japanese are superb bike drivers/multitaskers. CRAZY! This was my first experience riding a bike in Japan. Its fun yet scary at the same time since there are cars you have to be cautious of when riding on the road and then there are a lot of people and bikes on the side walk that you have to dodge. I actually almost crashed with this other man on a bike. His fault!

We had the BBQ at a beautiful big park, or . There were TONS of people enjoying the nice day outside at the park. Today it reached like 87, a drastic change from the cold rainy days this weekend! The sun made the day amazingly hot! there was not a lot of cloud cover. I actually got some sun today! I got some tan marks as proof :O. I ate a lot of delicious food and played with the kids and attempted to talk and answer the questions thrown at me. Oh gosh :P

It was all good. Great week....boo class tomorrow and more rain :(

Week in the Fast Lane

This week I have not had the chance to write anything down. Classes started on Monday, but since I don’t have classes on Monday I decided to check out my home stay area and most importantly look for an ATM! It was cold and rainy today, not the best day for strolling around town, but I did. It was nice to wander and look at the small local owned shops and find some good food finds. In one of the specialty stores I bought those fish-shaped クリームパン that the lady just made. So good and nice and warm! I got a cream filled one and one with azuki bean. It was nice to also be successful with getting money from the nearby bank and ATM and get a chance to eat something yummy. YAy!

When I got home I researched classes and made sure I knew my building and room assignments. I also checked out other classes for plan B and C, since this week was class orientations to try them out.

Lots of things to figure out this week! Classes for the most part are good. I am learning a lot of new things so that is always a good thing. I think I will be sticking with my SILS intermediate courses I signed up for and I am currently trying out language elective classes. I will make an effort to continue to update you on my status!

Sunday: Adventure into a place I have only heard of:Harajuku

Today was an quite a full day. A group of us went to Harajuku to check out the scene...and for me to check out the fashions and clothes! ha. I LOVE IT HERE! They have a street called Takeshita-dori which has all the hip young fashions for girls and guys and they are not that pricy. Going on the main strip and some of the back roads by Harajuku Street there are higher end designer brand stores. I honestly could have been there a lot longer checking out the shops. I had fun though, but I would next time definitely go there with just some girls because I felt bad for making the guys wait around :) I did end up buying some things that I always wanted to buy, so I was happy I scored them at a nice thrift shop.

For lunch the decision was tempura at this awesome small restaurant. We had to wait for a bit to get a seat but it was worth it. YUM!!
We walked around and checked out stores for a bit longer and then came upon an interesting artists’ house on one of the back streets. The building is REALLY hard to miss. It has crazy cool art and design pieces on the outside. Inside there are many small rooms, used for individual artist display rooms. The artist has their art hanging and anyone from outside can walk in and check out their stuff. If you like their work enough you can purchase it. It is like a fun funky art gallery! I honestly loved the concept.

After that discovery we headed towards the train station to make it to Ikebukuro in the late afternoon.

When we got to Ikebukuro we had one mission and one mission only--denshizishyo!! We went back to Big Camera to the place we went the week before to ask about the device. My friend and I played with the model denshizishyo and I figured out how to do the most useful option on the device: kangi writing and word jumping to search for kanji translation into English. SCORE! I decided on this middle priced one because it did everything I wanted it to do and I didn’t need the fancy options that the high priced ones had. Yeah it was a pretty big decision/investment in my Japanese education ha. Looking back on it now it was sooo worth it because I basically use this thing EVERYDAY!

After that purchase, we were on a search for a place to sit down and chill. My friends found this manga cafe. So they seriously went to go check it out. I on the other hand had to go to yosakoi dance practice. My first trial day! I said bye and went on my own to the train station. I get a Subway sandwich for dinner on the way. I was surprised that the US sandwich chain Subway was in Japan. I didn’t think it was that popular enough to be in a Japan train station but I guess I was wrong. It was delicious of course. I then met up with an American who is a part of the yosakoi group and has been living here for seven years and has been with the izani yosakoi group for a while. It was great to have her help translate some important matters. I would also say that taking a dance class in Japanese was honestly not that hard. If you think about it, it is all gestures and showing how the movement is suppose to look like so it is easy to follow. Plus luckily I remember the names for body parts and dance terminology from ballet etc. It was SOOO much fun and it was great to be able to finally dance! I haven’t moved since I got here. The teacher was amazing and our class got a really good stretch warm up and a work out. The members in my class are a really nice group. I had a chance to talk with some of them on the train back home.
I plan on joining the group for the time that I am here.

Anyway, quite a day full of shopping, walking and dancing. I feel great and am so happy with today!...Though I might add that I am a little sore and will definitely be sore tomorrow :)

Saturday: Whew!!

Saturday: Whew!
The week has finally come to an end. What a long and exciting one! Today I was finally able to rest! I woke up early for breakfast and then set up things in my room. I did some work in preparation for this upcoming week. In the late afternoon I went to a local cafe restaurant with my host family. It was nice and they actually had great pasta. I ate it all. (by the way as a side note for eating out: take out is not usual and sometimes cannot be done. expect to eat at the restaurant, unless you purchase a bento at a convini or go to specific restaurant made for taking out. The portions are not usually huge like in America so you will be fine)
We returned home, chilling in house today since one of the kids was sick. Right when I got back I did some work then top a nap....a long 3 hour nap geesh! I guess I was tired. I woke up in time for dinner though.
It was a nice relaxing day.

Keitai Denwa

Keitai Denwa Day:
Today was the last day of Japan Study Japanese culture sessions. For a class activity we had to eat out at a restaurant for lunch. Somewhere where we can converse with the owners. We chose a delicious and cheap ラメンや (ramenya) place right in the area by Waseda. It was good. I really liked the broth. We conversed with the shop owner which was cool.

The big excitement of the day was that we were getting our keitai denwa today!!!! It’s like the official token into the Japanese culture. It felt like getting a diploma on graduation day ha. They are SO necessary! The one I chose was a green Sony Ericson. すばらし！It is simply amazing!! <3 it ha.
That evening some of us went to eat at this joint called Fresh Burger. They serve fresh burgers and potato wedge fries! It was good and I guess “fresh”. This is a good place for someone who doesn’t eat meat since they have mushroom patties and things. Later on we went to a cafe to chill and have drinks. Good day :)

Day 12: Another Day Trip-- Kamakura:

Day 12: Another Day Trip-- Kamakura:

For the Kamakura trip today I had to get up early to meet the group at 8:30am in front of Big Box at Takadanobaba Station. Yeah I ended up being a little late, but there were many in my group who were too ha. We all gathered around 9am and got on the train to make our way to Kamakura. As a repeat of Yesterday, it was a long train ride. Today I actually fell asleep on the train and my friends had to get me up haha.

I honestly loved Kamakura. We first went to the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū Shinto ginja,(shrine) which was a wonderful experience. Entering the shrine, we cleansed our hands in the purifying fountain and then made our way to the top of the shrine. I said a prayer and checked out the area grounds. At the shrine they have omiyage you can buy as well as a fortune booth. (Fortune tellers are HUGE here in Japan, as well as astrological readings. Anything to do with determining a person’s luck or what their future holds. When I watch the morning news, they mention todays astrology “forecast”...so cool.) Many people in our group paid to get their fortune. If it is a good fortune then you keep it and if it is not that good, you tie the paper to this hanging wall as a sign of “leaving the misfortune behind” as you leave the shrine. It is quite an interesting concept. The visual of the tied papers is really cool to see.

Once we were finished at the shrine, we had free time to eat lunch and check out the shops. For lunch we went to a cheap delicious udon shop. For lunch my teshyoku was a small bowl of udon, a little tempura, tsukemono and a bowl of rice with very small white fishes on top ( a specialty of the area I think). It was quite an interesting taste but it was good! After that we walked the streets looking at various cute shops. I grabbed a warm manju and others got some murasaki imo (purple sweet potato)/machya ice cream!.

While walking back to the main road we were lucky enough to see a bride and groom decked out in traditional wear and riding on a rickshaw, a man pulled cart. The family dressed in modern style dresses and suits followed them to the shrine. It was a wonderful site to see! We were lucky.

We made our way back to the station to catch a small trolly up to the famous Daibutsu. During that time the rain came in really hard and the wind picked up. Of course out of all the days, today I decided to not bring a jacket! So I was real cold! (In the past 2 days the weather has changed dramatically. I think today marks the actual turning of the season to autumn (Sept. 23rd.)

From the station we walked up to the Daibutsu with our umbrellas as shields. We took pictures with the Daibutsu and checked out the surrounding area. I went inside of the Daibutsu with many other people, squeezing through the small door and steep steps. Visitors are allowed to see what the structure inside looks like and how the Daibutsu was made. It was so cool to experience that! On the walk back the rain stopped a bit. Passing a food cart, I decided to get a stick of warm mitarashi-dango, yummy warm grilled mochi balls with sweet soy sauce. SO GOOD!

I continued to walk the path back to the station to catch up with some group members. We then headed to the ocean to check the beach out. WAY different scene than Hawaii of course--Dark sand and frigid water. Some crazy guys were out in the cold water with full body suits, trying to catch some waves--though there weren’t any that day. This place seems to be a surfing town area or a popular beach scene when the days are nice. There are many beach wear and lifestyle shops and of course Hawai’i themed shops filled with products such as Quicksilver, Hinano, Local Motion, etc. Felt a little like home ha.

After our beach adventure we returned to the station to head back to Takadanobaba station. Another long ride and we were back. I was exhausted honestly. I resorted to getting a cup of coffee with some friends. Then I made my way back home for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was shabushabu and yes that is like one of my favorites so it was super good! Thanks host mom :)

Overall I loved the trip today. I really like the older feel that Kamakura has. It is really beautiful in the way that it captures aspects of older Japan. I also like the spiritual connection and feel that it has there. I also find the atmosphere very chill being next to the ocean...It kind of feels like California or maybe Hawaii. :) --kind of sort of like a Paia in a way. Sweetness!

Day 11: Reunited with the Japan Study Group:

Day 11: Reunited with the Japan Study Group:

Today our Japan Study group would be reunited once again. We were going on an adventure to Yokohama! After eating delicious asagohan I said bye and walked to the station. (If you can't tell my favorite meal is breakfast!) :)

Everything went perfectly as far as transportation goes. I made it to Waseda on time for a group meeting with our program leader. We got a Japan history lesson in 2 hours from our program director. That takes skill ha. Now I understand a lot more about Japan which is exactly what I wanted!!

After the lesson we gathered our belongings and headed for the subway. We had a LONG day of transportation. Riding in any moving vehicle seems to wipe me out! We walked through Yokohama a bit, which seemed unbelievably familiar, like I was in some European or American shopping area. To give a little background explaining my comment, Yokohama was the base area for foreign trade in Japan. It was also where many foreigners lived, such as American military personnel during the Korean War. Anyway this explains this “Western feel”. We walked through the streets to get to our destination: China Town. Seriously I think almost every country has a China town :) We walked around the streets looking at the shops and most importantly finding somewhere to eat lunch! We ended up going to a restaurant that was pretty cheap and basically we got what we paid for. The quality wasn’t good sadly. I would say this is my most disappointing meal but it is inevitable to have one of those especially after some really good meals I have had! After that I was on the search for some dessert but decided not to get any there.

Once our group met up again, we headed for the Yokohama look out area. I honestly was hoping it was going to be an amazing view after that HUGE hill we climbed! It ended up being pretty nice. After taking pictures and enjoying the view, we headed down to the station. I wasn't looking forward to the hour ride back ha...actually it went by pretty fast so I shouldn’t complain. Some of my friends and I went to eat dinner in the Takadanobaba station area and walked around Big Box, this shopping/sports center. For dinner we had some yummy gyoza and for dessert we went to the bakery upstairs. I got a yummy soft donut with adzuki beans in the middle. Ono! :) by that time I was tired and ready to head back home.

(Picture is from China town)

Day 10: Adjusting to a Different way of Life:

Day 10: Adjusting to a Different way of Life:

Today I woke up at 8am so that I would not delay my host mom’s breakfast schedule. She told me to sleep in and come up when I wake up, but I don’t want to be a burden. Had a wonderful yet simple breakfast of tamago, salad and gohan. On the schedule for the morning was to go to the ward office to get my alien registration card and health insurance. I got that done, which was awesome! It was kind of difficult so I was glad my host mom could help me.

For lunch I went to a convini and went exploring around a bit. I quickly ate lunch and did some important class scheduling before having to head out to Waseda.

I cut it a little close by leaving right at 2:10. I should have given myself more time since this was my first subway attempt from my home stay to the school. Of course today I did everything wrong and what my host father said not to do haha. I got on the express which didn’t stop at the stop I wanted so I had to get off at another and figure it out from there. Long story short after much running up stairs and changing trains I made it to the ceremony just in time, dripping in sweat from the unbearable humid weather. On a positive note I didn’t fully panic which was good and I also fully explored the subway railways. I am a lot more knowledgeable on how everything works now. I am comfortable with it now since that happened.

Reaching the auditorium at 3pm, the open ceremony for SILS started! It was great getting to see all of our SILS professors and see our group leader speak. After that, my friend and I made an attempt to go to Ikebukuro, determined to buy a denshizishyo, an amazing device. After a long conversation with the Japanese floor helpers trying to explain the function of the device in Japanese to us American students was quite interesting. Thank goodness we could understand most bits and pieces. Of course there was a little confusion but it was a great conversation and practice in the real world out of class. Again we didn’t end up buying them today. We both learned a lot about the device though! A plus for that dang train ride. After that I rushed back on the denshya to make it in time for dinner. I made it back a little after 7pm, which was the dinner eating time. Dinner tonight was hamburger with salad and rice. SO GOOD! Took a must-needed shower and stayed up late doing some work before bed. Rough day but good learning experience! :)

Day 9: Meeting Host Family:

Day 9: Meeting Host Family:

Woke up super hungry...obviously! Got some convini asagohan. The azuki bean ahnman is my fav! (a hot bun that we call manapua back home). Can I just state that the food quality in Japan in general is good! Even at the family mart’s and 7/11 convinis. Yum yum. Today was hotel check out day. Bye bye Sakura Hotel and Ikebukuro.

I chilled in the lobby of the hotel for a bit talking with people as various groups made their way to the station. I eventually followed. We reached Waseda and made our way up to our assigned classroom. Our group sesh meeting was an orientation on home stay and a lunch talk with Japan Study alumni. For lunch we had various salads from the convini and pizza! The pizza we got was quite expensive but it was really delicious! It was fun!

At 4pm the host families were suppose to arrive. Honestly ALL of us were somewhat nervous. The expectations and pre-conceived ideas of our family started to work and play in our brains. I know I was nervous speaking to them in Japanese and facing the fact that I wouldn’t understand some of the things they would say. It felt like it would be intimidating! You could feel the unsettled and uncomfortable atmosphere of that room. Finally families came and names were called. As we started to pair off and talk with our families it became exciting and more at ease. All of the host families seem really cool and nice. Knowing that they wanted the experience of cultural differences, international exposure and they were interest in us was comforting. Meeting the family (a very important aspect to our Japan trip) was a great experience. My family was late so that added more anxiety for me. Towards the end of the meeting they showed up. All of them came: the father, mother, and younger daughter and son. As they helped me with my things and we made our way to the station, they started asking me questions and conversing. Though I felt embarrassed about my lack of vocabulary or fluidity, they helped ease me and tried to help me. It was great!! On that ride home I got the walk through of what my daily commute will be like. It would be a 40 minute commute from home to school. Though living far away from school seems inconvenient for us college Americans, this is normal everyday life for Japanese students from like the age of 4. I see young kids making their way through the stations to get home. Public transportation in Japan is awesome! It seems to work out great.

Believe me 40 minutes is nothing! Some of my friends have to commute 1 hour and a half! You may think commuting might be really expensive but it is not really with a PASMO or SUICA card, which is a set payment for unlimited rides for the month. I love my PASMO! I absolutely love the area where my home is. It is a great mix of old and new. It is definitely urban enough but it has a home-like feel because of all the close quarter residences and the green plants and flowers everywhere. From my observation most of the people who live here are elder people or couples with families. It is great! Nearby there is a very accessible mix of mom and pop food shops, and convini’s. The market street is filled with small venders selling fruit, vegetables, bentos and seafood on the street. I would like to explore the area more when I have the chance! :) As we walked home I observed all of my surroundings to make sure I knew the way back to the station for tomorrow’s solo venture back to school.

For dinner we had sushi, mochiko chicken, and some pickled sides. It was sooo good! The food here has been amazing! After dinner I gave my host family my omiyage gifts which they opened up right away. It has been a long day and I am looking forward to a shower and bet. I will unpack and settle into my wonderful new living arrangement!

Goodnight.

Tsukiji and sightseeing

Orientation Day 8:

After bringing my bags downstairs I went back up to the room to sleep until 11:30. We were leaving the hotel at 12. We met to go to Tsukiji for lunch today! Good ole Tsukiji! For those of you in my cultural anthro class this summer, we

had to read an entire book on Tsukiji! I didn’t get to go in the morning to see the buying scene, but we went there for some ono grindz!

Lunch was awesome! Thank goodness I acquired a taste for sashimi before I came to Japan! (Growing up I did not like raw fish)... Today I ate a sashimi donburi, bowl. It was awesome! What was in my rice bowl was slices of sake (salmon), maguro (tuna), hamachi (yellowtail) and tako (octopus), and of course tamago (egg) on a huge portion of rice. With it came soup with crab legs in it!!! The teshyoku was all for the price of about $9-$10!! For fresh fresh seafood?! pure awesomeness.

After a wonderful lunch we took the denshya to Odaiba in Tokyo. What a beautiful location right next to the water! We got to see the famous Rainbow Bridge. Our train ride had a wonderful view of the water below us and the city. It had a more laid back feel with people playing beach volleyball, walking their dogs on the boardwalk area, and people eating ice cream and checking out the shops. We walked around for a bit, passed by stores and watched a monkey side show. Yes a monkey that entertains by doing handstands and the such. The place is such an interesting combination of Japanese cute things, clothing shops, a marine museum and a statue of liberty? --Yeah they got a mini one from France. It is WAY smaller than NYC's one. ha oh and there is a horror place where you can watch scary things or something. Basically be frightened. :O

For a mid day snack I treated myself to a machya (green tea) ice cream wrapped in a crepe. The crepe acts like the usual cone. It was good! :) After checking out the place, we then went on a Tokyo at night boat ride to Asakusa. I like the mix of old and new Japan that Asakusa has. Quite interesting. We had dinner in the area at a small house restaurant serving okonomiyaki. This is a Japanese pankcake that you cook yourself on the hot plate on the table. It is filled with cabbage, meat of choice, onions, a dough mix and an egg. The ingredients are mixed together, cooked and then sprinkled with nori and fish flakes. I wasn’t that hungry after our feasting today, but I tried some anyway and it was delicious!

Edo Museum and Karaoke

Orientation Day 7:

Today is Saturday which marks exactly a week since I left Hawai’i!

Dang it honestly feels like I have been in Japan way longer than I have, which is strange. The week went by slowly thank goodness, but it was full and busy. I think because of our constant meetings, group orientation and sightseeing journeys it has felt like we have done so much in such a short period of time. I can say that I am a little more at ease with my surroundings. I can saw that most of the time I know where I am going. Thank goodness I have a decent sense of direction and good visual memory skills because there are no obvious marked street signs here like we have in Hawai’i or the mainland. At this rate, I hope to be comfortable with more areas of Japan.

Well, what was scheduled for today was a group excursion to the Edo Museum. In the morning our group met to take the denshya. As a very large group of 29 plus, we are quite a site to see. Very intimidating and loud in the subway I’m sure.

For a few hours we toured the museum looking at reconstructed small models of what cities and living areas were like back in those times. kimonos, Kabuki, printmaking and other arts from that time were presented. It was very insightful and quite interesting since I honestly don’t know a lot about Japanese history. (If you look at my facebook profile picture now that was taken at the musuem. The picture is of me trying an interactive model of carrying water back in those days. :P )

I realize I am really interested in rekishigaku, history because it tells me what a culture’s past was like. I found this day very interesting!

After the museum we went back to Waseda University and had to grab a quick lunch at the 7/11 convini nearby since we didn’t have much time before our 1pm nihongo classes. We had yet another 4 hour language intensive session. This time we had an outside activity that we had to complete and report on. We went into the streets to ask questions at the convini and a honya (book store). It was quite an interesting experience. For this activity we came upon an interesting book store on campus. It was like a small book/coffee shop that had a them of ryooko (travel). My group spent some time in there chilling and checking out the books. I ordered a wonderful iced chai and read about Hawaiian history and a book about visiting Hawaii. Yes I could read a book about specific locations of Hawaii in Japan. Pretty sweet!

Anyway, after we had a fun presentation and Q & A period, our session was over.

We went back to Sakura Hotel to rest for a bit and get dinner at 7:30pm. When the time came I wasn’t hungry but I went to walk with them anyway. They went into a Japanese food chain curry place which I was told was delicious. (sidenote: I find it interesting that at restaurants, if you do not order something they think something is wrong or strange. Since I came to “hang” with the group and not eat I had to explain to waiter that I was currently full. As more costumers came in I felt that I was taking up precious space and a seat so as a courtesy I went outside to wait with some friends who had finished eating. I guess hanging with friends in restaurants without ordering food is not a good thing :( I will try not to do that again ha.)

After dinner we got back to the hotel. We were going to go out somewhere, but a few girls and I ended up not going . We ended up spending our evening in the hotel lobby/cafe area talking with some of our other fellow Japan Study group friends. It was midnight by then and a crazy friend of ours suggested that we go do early morning karaoke, 1) because who doesn’t love karaoke? ha 2) because it is cheaper during those times. Yeah so as you could of guessed I went. It ended up that we did karaoke until 4am. Yes 4am. Crazy? Yep. So that day I ended up going to bed at 5am and like a silly person I didn’t pack my suitcase like I was suppose to....SO getting up “late” at 8:20am, I had 10 minutes to pack my suitcase and bring it downstairs...Yay me ha. I got it done of course and all was good.

Checking out Surroundings

Orientation Day 6:

Had the morning off to sleep in a bit. A group of us went to go eat lunch at a cheap ramen shop. It was a chain ramen shop, so it was definitely not the best ramen I had but the portions were big! I think it was one of my hugest and cheapest meals so far. I honestly didn’t expect that much food. I don't think I want to do that again ha. We all definitely overate but it was a good day for that because we had a 4 hour language intensive class starting at 1 and going until 5pm. By the time we got out everyone was super hungry except for us. After the Japanese lessons we had a quick Japan study meeting and FINALLY found out our home family for the year!! It was like getting test results back or anxiously waiting for college acceptance letters! We were all excited and nervous in a good way of course. When I was given my home stay family’s information I was really happy with mine.

After our classes, mostly of the group went back to Ikebukuro. A few of us walked around and explored a little bit of Ikebukuro. For dinner later that night we decided to walk through the dinning and bar area where there were plenty of waiters with menus inviting people in. My interesting observation of that evening was that the waiters seem to avoid or ignore gaijin, (foreigners ) or they don’t what to be embarrassed because their English is not good. They might be scared too. This seems to go for most Japanese people. A few brave ones will step up and try their English out. Those ones are most likely college students that are pursuing English. This is something all of us foreigners have to deal with, but it is eventually okay once they realize that we can understand them pretty well and that we can speak a little bit. We talked with one of the waiters and checked his menu out. Liking what we saw we followed him up to the 2nd floor, nikai. We all shared various dishes of tonkatsu,sushi and takoyaki. It was good and for a good price. After dinner we decided to part ways and go to bed. It was a long day and we were exhausted!

(picture of sushi platter from dinner) :D

Day 5: Orientation

We had the morning off today so I was able to get up at 8am. I woke up to the sound of water flowing. In my foggy state I thought it might possibly be raining outside, but I disregarded that thought. Thank goodness I dressed accordingly because it was very rainy and wet outside. This cooled off the temperature off a lot. (Since it is known to rain a lot here, I am thinking of purchasing some cute rain boots :) ) At 9am I met some friends for asagohan. We went to a kissaten nearby to get some coffee and food. We then went to Ikebukuro Eki to catch a train to Takadanobaba. It is getting a LOT easier to navigate in the station. At 1st we all didn’t know which way to go, but now that we have had time to observe and see our surroundings it is pretty easy. We reached Waseda a little before 11am. Today we would have our own Japan Study meeting this afternoon and then it would be SILS orientation on course registration. I received some useful information from orientation.

Finally getting out at 4:30pm, a group of us decided to go back to Akihabara to check out Japanese electric dictionaries denshizishyo. We didn’t end up buying anything though. While we were there we checked out our phone models that we we chose today. We are using Au phone company and I chose a slick Sony Ericson brand! I am SOOO stoked on getting a Japanese phone, keitai denwa! Super sweet deal. For dinner the guys decided they wanted to eat at McDonalds ha. That would not be my first choice but it is always interesting eating McDonalds in various places of the world. The food was honestly super good. I got a chicken sandwich that had a garlic sauce on it. I obviously didn’t realize that it had that when I bought it. The sandwich and fries were super fresh. Oishii! After we were done with our meal we went walking around and made some new discoveries. We went to an otaku, which is a place that is dedicated to a particular theme, topic, or hobby. They are frequently found in Akihabara. The otaku we went to was a Akb48 Japanese girl pop group otaku. The higher we went the crazier it became. It was fun and surprising every time we turned the corner. Each floor was mixed with handy utilities to clothes and costumes to cute stuffed animals and other interesting things ( I will let your mind do the imagining). I think it was 7 floors. And surprise of all surprise on the top floor (nanakai) there was a theater where the Akb48 girls performed. Guess who was there audience? All men. Yep it was one of those kind of shows : / from men school boys to older business men. Very interesting! This pop culture has a strong backing! Anyway after that we came upon a building with four floors of @home maid cafes. Yes you guessed it, we decided to check it out! When we entered the door we were greeted by a male host who directed us to one of these girls dressed up in a maid costume. She led us to our table. The girls in the @made cafe have to wear this short maid outfits with styled hair and long eyelashes. I guess this fulfills some kind of fantasy for some guys. You are allowed to play games with them and take pictures with them for a certain amount of money. We almost did it but our table bill was already expensive. All their costumers were men, except for my friend and I, so we actually felt kind of awkward. Supposedly they have a girl @home maid cafe were there are guys who dress as butlers. Well what an interesting part time job! Anyway I have digressed... At the cafe we ordered some drinks and I ordered a dessert that had a cute face on it. We talked with some of the maids and then paid and left. In return we got some souvenirs to show that we went through this experience. Oh what an experience it was! We walked around for a little bit, went to a pachinko game building and caught a train home. Long day but a lot of fun!

Day 3: Orientation Japan Study

Today I woke up with a better choice of clothing than yesterday. I was a lot more cooler today in this humid weather. I woke up earlier than yesterday since our group had to leave by 8am today. We were walking and discovering the longer route to campus today. It was nice outside but getting hot by 9am. It amazes me how Japanese can wear multiple layers of clothing, such as full suits or jeans, leggings, jackets, sweaters and scarfs. It is humid and not really fall yet! Most of these younger girls will chose to wear trendy and fashionable clothing before comfort it seems. I was wearing a dress and a light shawl and I wanted to take the shawl off!

After reaching Takadanobaba station, we walked the rest of the way to campus. It was a nice walk. Today I had my interview for housing. So after over thinking about it I decided that it would be best to do a home stay. Japan Study is good at setting up host families and since it is encouraged in their program it was best that I go with that. Also since practicing Japanese is my number 1 priority I will be able to practice! Overall today was difficult, first not being able to get out of the classroom the ENTIRE day. Finally after many long hours, 6pm came along and it was time for dinner. I was really hungry and luckily we were all going to be treated for dinner tonight. It was traditional Japanese foods and it was sooo good!! The one thing I regret is eating the dessert because that may have caused me to not feel good since I was already full by then. After dinner we ventured on our own to get home. We caught the train by ourself back to the hotel tonight for the first time. I was glad to get back and do computer things. (Did some international calling. For those of you going abroad or may be in college and don’t want to pay for calling, check out the phone chat on gmail. You probably already know about it but I definitely didn’t!! It’s AWESOME!!) Everything has been decided on and I am doing fine for know. Today was a little rough, but hey it happens. I can’t wait to meet my host family and start classes! :)

DAY 2: Orientation

Today was quite interesting for me. My luggage situation is a mess with things in random places and no order to the madness inhibited in my suitcase. I finally got ready and went to find some breakfast. I didn’t venture too far today, only going to the family mart across the street because of its convenience, hence the name for such a place is called a convini . I needed to get something quick before we all had to meet downstairs. My selection for asagohan was a cheese bread, and triangle sushis: 1 tuna and the other wakame. It was the most delicious thing ever! The rice is sooo good and fresh... its like perfection in a package! Today we went over the handbook and some rules, then what we will be doing for orientation. We got an information bag and then had a hirogohan (lunch) break. My fellow friends and I decided to try a soba restaurant. It was oishii! The owners were so nice and helped us decide on the menu, since the kanji was a little difficult to read. The grandma who served us was so nice and glad to see us. I noticed that the shops and restaurants in Japan are so customer friendly. They cater to their customers and are always nice and inviting. It is obvious that in a consumer country that has sooo many shops and restaurants, owners want people in their shop so they are sure to show appreciation to those walking the street and to ones that are interested in their product. That small soba shop made me feel as if I was casually in someone’s home with grandma in the kitchen. I loved it. After lunch, I had the rest of the day off since my housing interview isn’t until tomorrow. The rest of us that had free time got to go on an excursion to Akihabara with some Waseda students. We went to the train station and took a train to Akihabara. My experience in the station today was quite amazing. There are SO many people in this underground space, it’s like it’s own city! Everyone is quickly crossing paths going on to their destination. Walking through it was chaotic but in a way I seemed to go with the flow. Though the stations was a chaotic space, the people crossing almost looked choreographed or something, like in a dance. It seemed to time well or have a steady rhythm. This matched the uniformity of the space--the path ways are linear and the turning corners are exact. The yellow blind man braille lines also follow this uniform style. After doing some train hopping, we arrived at our excursion destination: Akibahara, known for its electronics and for being the game and animate hub of Japan. The tall colorful building full of advertisements can overwhelm the senses. I experienced this myself when walking the streets since there are SOOO many advertisements, game and anime shops!!! Its sensory overload to the new visitor, but it is quite a site to see. Most of the stores there are duty free, which I found quite interesting and supposedly it is great for travelers who have their passport because you get more "discounts". (don't know if this is true). There are WAY to many “things” to buy there. I honestly didn’t need to bring anything to Japan and could have shopped for everything I needed in one building! There are also so many frivolous thing in the stores that I wouldn’t even think would exist or fathom that I needed it. The floor with costumes and intimates was quite hilarious and interesting. It made my day for sure. At the game building I got to experience what I call “the photo booth sesh”. Picture photo booths are a HUGE deal in Japan. We were on a floor dedicated to only photobooths. There were even costumes available to dress up in! Everyone does it. We took a photo session . Can I say that I was not ready for that elaborate process--taking 10 pictures in different backgrounds, decorating pictures with icons and names. It was crazy cool. I mean for goodness sake the photo camera applies longer eyelashes to your eyes in the picture to make you more “beautiful”.

Going to Akihabara in person was great because I got to see that this place is really what I imagined it to be, just the way I have seen it on TV. After being there for a few hours I was ready to leave. It was kind of overwhelming and hot. Before our departure to the station, I stopped by and conversed with a sales man on the electronic Japanese translator, which I am thinking of getting while here in Japan. It was nice that I was able to understand him. Talking about the language and conversing, today was very difficult and frustrating for me. I felt hopeless not remembering words and things. But such is the experience of studying abroad.

Anyway, by the time we got back to Sakura Hotel I was ready to head up to the room. I wanted a shower and to rest my feet. Plenty of walking today!! It was nice to move and get out after all of that sitting in the plane and airport yesterday.

...Well I am so tired, probably from jet lag, being in a new environment and my brain having to work so hard today. I plan on reading up on classes and getting oriented with my info packets then calling it a day. Great 1st day, I am so grateful.

FINALLY IN JAPAN!!! :D

Since I have landed in Japan I have been too busy or tired to write on here but here is an overview of my days here so far: (inserts from journal)

Day 1: Arrival

Arrived at Narita airport completely fine but a little nervous because my Japanese didn’t seem up to par--part of it was maybe due to lack of sleep. The flight went smoothly but seemed forever, even though I slept and watched some shows and movies on my personal tv screen. It was probably only an 8 hour flight but for some reason the hours seemed to last forever. Maybe it was my anticipation and excitement of getting to Tokyo. The ANA airlines flight attendants tried to speak to me in Japanese until they realized that I didn’t really understand what they were saying, more like I couldn’t hear them with the engines running and earphones in my ear ha. The food on the flight was ono! I didn’t really expect to have food on the flight (thanks to the US airlines who don’t give you anything unless you purchase it!) Thank goodness there were two meals on the flight because I was definitely was hungry! When I got to Narita airport I was relieved to see that the signs had English on them so I could figure out how to get around a little more easily. I went through immigration, baggage and customs fine. All my baggage was there, which was nice. Exiting the customs area I found the Japan study group (actually they found me). I was joined with the other members that were already there. Later in the evening we got to the hotel, the Sakura hotel in Ikebukuro, all I wanted to do was shower and get rid of my baggage that I had been carrying all day. The room is great and the futon and comforter is simply amazing and comfortable. Love it.

It is hot. No it is freakin hot here! Not the kind of sun burning, but humid. Worse than Hawaii. I literally want to take 3 showers a day. Ha well its that time of year for Japan. The hot sticky months of August are still lingering and autumn won't come for a while. Oh well.

Reflection: Though I currently feel unsettled and unsure of Japan, I for some reason feel like I am at home. Like I belong here or that I can be myself here. Something matches up. Maybe it is the under layer of similar culture, or beliefs or vibe but through the chaotic streets I some how find an inner stillness or connection with the millions of bodies going different directions. I am glad I am here!!

Here is a picture of what our room initially looked like until the luggage came up ha. Sakura Hotel, Ikebukuro. Very nice rooms!

5 days and counting!!!!! WOW so soon :D

Well this is the start of my blog. Im new to this so bear with me. I am currently in the process of preparing for Japan amongst other things. I can't believe that in a month I will be in Japan! Summer could not have gone by faster geesh :\

Just got my visa approved today so I can officially go to Japan ha :P

Now packing for the trip should be interesting :| ha Well I am SOOOO excited for this experience and opportunity! Studying abroad is always a learning experience and I'm prepared to learn a lot!

that's it for now...wait for my next post!

-Jaz :)