Japan: The land of stray cats. And gold phones?

 

 

I realize that my last blog entry was in no way sufficient, it wasn’t even a good excuse for a blog.  But time has been short, events have been many and all the while I’m trying to be the best host daughter (?) I can be.  Which I hope explains why the last entry was so short and hardly explained anything at all.  I suppose I was hoping the pictures I put up on facebook would be sufficient but it doesn’t really work that way.  So in the spirit of Japan I humbly apologize.  申し訳ありません．

Now it’s time to make up for all that, although I’m not exactly sure what I’ve already talked about and what I haven’t mentioned.  To sum things up since I last attempted a post I’ve moved into my host family’s house and they’ve treated me wonderfully thus far.  I was able to spend about a weekend with them without much interference from orientation, but this past week I’ve seen less of them which I’m sure is a good sign. 

As some of you may know I’ve been pining over the beach all summer.  Most likely I’ve annoyed all of you with my incessant chatter.  I finally made it there!  Our orientation took us on a day trip to Kamakura which is probably about 2 hours away from Tokyo.  While there we were able to see an amazingly beautiful temple, as well as Zaibatsu, a huge statue of Buddha.  Those were some sights to see, even if they seemed a bit touristy.  If you check out the facebook pics you’ll notice I went a bit slap happy with the scenic photos.  I also had the pleasure of having sweet potato ice cream for the first time in my life and I have to say it was delicious.  It was purple which isn’t what I would expect and also didn’t taste too much like sweet potato. 

And then…..then there was the beach.  Ah the lovely beach.  I had no idea there was one nearby nor that we could go to it.  If I had know that best believe I would have brought my swimsuit with me.  Even so dipping my feet in the water proved to be enough to hold me over for now.  After that we headed back to good ol’ Tokyo where I discovered the problem with being legally allowed to drink that no one ever mentioned to me.  You spend a lot of money.  Now I don’t mean to scare my parents (don’t worry I’m not blowing all of my money on booze) but I figure I’m not going to have these moments again so I might as well join in all of the fun I can.  The fun just happened to be at the Hub (affectionately known as Habbu) during happy hour.  I was a little nervous the whole time though because that was the first time I called home saying I wouldn’t make it for dinner and I wasn’t sure how late I should stay out.  I ended up coming back home in the middle of an elaborate dinner of roll your own sushi with the two daughters and their respective boyfriend/husband.  I kind of felt like an ass, but things were fine.   

The next day we spent doing some exercises for orientation, which all in all wasn’t that bad.  Later on that day we again went back to the Hub (claro que si) and once more enjoyed happy hour.  Although this time I wasn’t worried about coming home early, in fact that morning my host mother told me that since it’s friday I should go out tonight and have fun with my friends.  So that’s exactly what I did.  After a few drinks we went to do karaoke for an hour which was so much more fun than I thought it would be.  I actually sang a song by myself!  I feel very accomplished now.  Then (due to my pushing) we took purikura, an addictive magical box which is bursting with so much cuteness it couldn’t work anywhere else but Japan. 

Saturday turned out to be just as eventful.  Ah Saturday, a day that will go down in infamy.  That was the day I was lucky enough to receive my very own Japanese keitai (cell phone)!  Before we go any further I have one very quick complaint.  Why the **** can’t we have kick ass phones like this in America?  I am the proud owner of a totally over the top gold phone.  Gold!  When they showed us which phones we could choose from I knew it had to be the gold one.  Sure I’ll have another red phone, a black one, a blue one, but gold??  When will I ever have a gold phone again?  Not only that but this phone cost nothing at all and it’s a million times better then any phone I’ve ever had.  The screen can flip around and fold back down so you can take pictures and watch T.V.  The camera on the phone is amazing, honestly I’ve never been so excited to own a cell phone.  Now I’m just in search of some cell phone straps that are worthy of such an ostentatious phone.

The day just got better from there.  Well kind of.  I think I managed to scratch my eye perhaps 2 days ago and Saturday it was getting kind of aggravated.  Now things are looking better though and if by tomorrow it’s still bothering me I’ll probably ask my host mom to take me to the doctor.  But I didn’t let that keep me down.  After the cell phone meeting we had a small orientation created by niji no kai club members concerning Waseda which was followed by another nomikai.  I don’t know how to translate nomikai other than to say it’s basically something where you pay a door fee (20 bucks in this case) and drink as much as you like.  They set this one up in the cafeteria with a bunch of other study abroad students and niji no kai members.  They also had us play bingo which was fun but I’m curious as to who thought it was a good idea to play an aggravating game like bingo while drinking.  You’re only happy if you win and if you’re card sucks……well enough blood gets shed when the players are sober let alone when drinks are involved.  Still fun though.

After all of us lost (except for Robert who got an alarm clock) we crammed as many free cans of fruity alcohol and asahi beer into our pockets and left for the park.  That was basically where nearly all the people in the cafeteria later converged and eventually I lost the people I originally came with.  Which was absolutely fine, I ran into a bunch of random Japanese students and due to the lovely inhibition-free state I was in I was able to speak without all those nasty nerves getting in the way.  And do to the wonderful invention of cargo pants with bottomless pockets there was no need to restock drinks at the convenience store. 

Tomorrow is a different story however.  Tomorrow is my first day of classes and while I’m not really that nervous yet we’ll if that changes once I get out of class tomorrow.  To prepare I bought a notebook today and with my new handy dandy cell phone I believe I’m set.  For now that is.  The only thing I am worried about is how many books I’ll need.  Fingers crossed they won’t cost that much.

Wow this turned out to be longer than I meant it to be.  That’s pretty much it for now I suppose.  Until next time~ 

The Host Family Stories

 

 

I just moved into my host family’s house a few days ago (Sunday to be exact) and I’m starting to get used to the way things work here.  The family consists of the parents, a 25 year old daughter who still lives with them and their 85 year old grandmother.  They also have two other kids, one older daughter who just got married and a 30 year old son who isn’t married yet.  So far I really like them, I haven’t met the older daughter or son but everyone is really nice.  Oh yeah they also have a dog and a cat, both of which are adorable although unfortunately the dog stays in a room the whole day because they don’t get along. 

I know this year will be great, especially being able to live with them.  Why do I know this?  Well on the second day of living with them they fulfilled one of my long time desires.  To eat okonomiyake :)  Ever since I first saw it I’ve been craving it and last night I got my wish.  It was so good and they kept putting more and more on my plate.  I swear if they keep feeding me this much I’m going to come back with a food baby.  The only bad thing is that I’ve discovered I have a low tolerance for mochi, but I made the mistake of not being clearer that I didn’t want that much and I’ve had it every day so far. 

Today was a free day for everyone, sort of a time to get to know our host family.  My host mom took me to part of Tokyo that was very close to our house, Kichijouji, she explained it as being like Shibuya but less crowded.  It was less crowded then Shibuya but that’s not to say there weren’t tons of people everywhere.  I really enjoyed it though, she took me first to an electronic store where she was looking for a vacuum cleaner and then we split up.  She went to a shoe store and I went to a cd store, Tower Records.  I’ve been meaning to buy some Japanese music and on a whim I chose a sort of hip-hop cd.  It’s really good, although I had a hard time because there were about 3 or 4 other cd’s I wanted to buy.

We then got ice cream which was soooooo good.  My host mother likes a lot of sweet things (well sweet for Japanese people) and she told me every time she goes out to places like Kichijouji she gets ice cream.  I have to say, Japanese ice cream is so much better than American ice cream.  As I’ve discovered myself sometimes the ice cream is just way too sweet, it’s hard to eat after a certain amount of time and all that sugar makes me feel like I’m on the borderline of being diabetic.  But here it’s way creamier, there isn’t as much sugar but that just means you enjoy it more.  It’s way more refreshing and you don’t feel like you’ve eaten that much.  I’m definitely going to miss that.

There was also this awesome park in the middle of the city (that happens a lot here) and there were about 5 different performances going on at the same time.  Not to mention you could grab a paddle boat and go around the small river they had.  There was this great old guy who was playing the blues with a guitar and harmonica.  a group of kids had crowded around him and one adorable little boy was mimicking him and using his fan to play some air guitar.  It was the cutest thing ever. 

Let’s see, not much else really.  I did get slightly lost last night on my way back from the station to the house.  I went down the wrong road and it was pretty dark but thankfully I realized my mistake not too far down.  Other then that pretty uneventful.  Tomorrow is an early day, got to meet in front of Big Box in Takadanobaba at 8:30 in the morning for a day trip to Kamakura.  I’m sure there will be more pictures :) 

Tokyo Thus Far

 

I’d like to think that it didn’t take me very long to write an entry since being here.  It’s only been 3 days, and they’ve been very busy days.  So far we are living in a hostel until we discover who are host families are, which we will find out on Friday.  But there are some people who will have to stay even longer in the hostel as most families are on vacation as Silver Week is coming up which is basically a string of holiday’s right after the other in Japan. 

Right now we are being shown around Tokyo by Waseda students who are a part of an international student club called the Rainbow Club which they keep reminding us is not a “gay club”.  I just find it hilarious that because of Rainbow being in the title they assume we will automatically jump to it being an LGBTQ club.  Which isn’t a stretch really.  So far I’ve been to Shibuya, Harajuku, Asakusa (which is where the hostel is) and Waseda. 

Shibuya is nuts, there’s so many people and they’re all moving so quickly.  The buildings all have either huge advertisements on them or there are large t.v. screens constantly screening more ads.  I really enjoyed it though, most people I talked to before I left kept warning me about the crowds.  As if I didn’t already know.  But honestly it’s not that bad, it’s different that’s for sure but oddly enjoyable.  There’s something to be said for going with the flow of a city and constantly having something new to look at.  I’ve finally taken pictures as well, at first I felt kind of bad about taking pictures not to mention it felt kind of silly to take pictures of something I’d be seeing for a year. 

Harajuku on the other hand wasn’t as exciting but I think that’s because we went during the early morning.  Nothing was really open and there weren’t too many people dressed up hanging around just commuters.  There was this huge park though in Harajuku that had a shrine in the middle, it was truly beautiful  How they managed to have such nice large trees in the middle of a city is incredible, not to mention how beautiful the shrine was. 

The people I’ve met are all interesting, to my surprise there’s  no real set type of people here.  There’s all sorts of students, from engineers to education majors.  Tomorrow I have my Japanese placement test which no one is looking forward to, but later that day we are also going to go to Karaoke which I am definitely looking forward to.  Oh and by the way, just for all those others waiting to turn 21, I have lucked out in being able to skip my 20th year :)  Beer and the like are pretty cheap here and no one hassles you.  I haven’t been carded once, not to mention our hostel has a vending machine that sells fruity alcohol drinks, beer, and shots.  I had my first Japanese beer last night, Sapporo.  Although I think I chose wrong as almost every Japanese student I asked recommended other brands such as Asahi which I thought was more the equivalent of our Budweiser. 

Anyways I need to at least study a little bit for my test tomorrow/get sleep so hopefully this is good enough for now.  I hope to have pictures up at some point when I have a good enough amount.  I hope everyone else is having an awesome time!  Ganbatte!

And Then There Were 10

 

 

10 days that is.  It’s still hard to believe that in 10 days I’ll be on a plane heading towards Tokyo.  Adam, another Obie who’s studying in Japan this year, has already left and even facebooked me from Kyoto.  That’s probably been the biggest jolt for me since I’ve been at home.  Hearing about his experiences so far (not surprisingly most have dealt with food) made me realize that pretty soon that’s going to be me.  For some reason or other lately I’ve been feeling a little apprehensive about Japan, which really scared me.  It was the first time that I felt I might be making a mistake, but I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I’ve really been missing my friends lately.  Not to mention I really am missing Oberlin and hearing all about everyone’s first days made me wish I was there freaking out about my schedule alongside everyone else. 

Although hearing from Adam filled me with such anticipation and excitement that all the apprehension from before just melted away.  Which I am more than thankful for, I can’t imagine going into this without 100% enthusiasm. 

I have to say though the blessing behind all this anxiety is that it’s made me realize how much I really do love Oberlin.  My 2nd year there really confirmed the fact that I was an Oberlin student and that I belonged on that campus as much as anyone else did.  I knew the ins and outs, those secret shortcuts that made the difference between being late to class or just barely making it.  Not to mention I’d met a professor at Oberlin, the first so far, that I feel has not only made a profound change in my life but also truly helped me to grow as a writer.  Despite all this I was still surprised to find that when I heard my friends talking about their classes I wanted to be right there alongside them.

Do I really miss huffing and puffing up the stairs in King?  Do I really miss the nightly pilgrimages to Mudd?  The sad answer is, I do.  Perhaps this makes me a nerd or maybe I’ve begun to turn into my Tia Maria’s worst nightmare; the Oberlin student who can’t seem to shut up about Oberlin (true story).  Either way this is the first time I’ve been proud of the school I attend and is definitely the first time I’ve ever been excited about going back to school.  I’ve decided to embrace this, even if I’m not returning to the middle of Ohio this year. 

As for Japan I think I’m really ready this time.  In fact I’ve become nearly obsessive in checking my mail waiting for the program director to FINALLY e-mail us about the supposed facebook page he said he would set up.  Not to mention the packing information he promised. 

I’ve even set my computer to notify me of the weather in Tokyo, which is a refreshing 70 degrees and partly cloudy.  In fact I’m so ready now that even though this summer seemed to fly by these last 10 days are going by maddeningly slow.  I guess it’s gotten to the point where it’s so close that I just want it to be here by now. 

Well I suppose that’s all there is to say for now.  The next post will no doubt be coming in straight from Tokyo.  But before I go I want to give a small shoutout to my brand new computer on which I am typing up this new post, Benicio (a.k.a. Beni).  As some of you may already know my old computer Guillermo (a.k.a. Memo) has been acting up lately.  I decided, grudgingly, that Memo wasn’t going to be able to make the long journey to Japan.  Memo has officially retired to stay here in Texas with my mom who will no doubt put him to good use while his brother Benicio will accompany me to Japan.  You may or may not be wondering how I came up with the name but I’m going to tell you anyways. 

After sitting with Beni for a while and taking a good long look at him I realized that this new computer deserved a cool, sleek name to match it’s equally cool, sleek appearance.  Then my mom mentioned Benicio and I realized that name was perfect for two reasons!  One, Benicio sounds like the kind of guy who’s very calm, cool, and collected which this computer definitely is.  And two, Guillermo was partly named after the director Guillermo Del Toro and wouldn’t you know it there’s an actor named Benicio who shares the same last name.  Benicio Del Toro!  How perfect!  Guillermo is be the goofy younger brother who never had his shit together, and Benicio is be the older brother who never loses his cool.  And so my family of Del Toro computers was born.

I hope this post finds everyone in good spirits and to those of you at Oberlin, kick ass this year!