February 28

Today has been a great day for food so far. I woke up around ten (after letting my alarm ring a few times) and went down for breakfast. In addition to a hard-boiled egg, apple, and pan, okaasan gave me a piece of bacon bread, caulliflower, and sausage. The sausage was really weird because it looks like a hotdog but it tastes more like breakfast sausage. Maybe it’s just the US that puts no meat in sausage.

Anyway, after eating breakfast, doing laundry, and a bit of homework, I left for the Kokusai center. I gave myself an hour and fifteen minutes, but it turned out to be just enough time. At the nisshin eki, I asked for an ichi nichi pass (since I would be riding past the realm of my commuter pass more than once) and I got a long (not understood) explanation of what I believe now to be the station master telling me that Nisshin doesn’t distribute Meitetsu ichi nichi passes (since Nisshin is one stop outside the company’s stops). So, I used my commuter pass to get to the kokusai center and bought an ichi nichi pass there. On the way though, I gave up my seat for an obaasan who reluctantly took it. When she was about to get off, she tapped me to give me her seat, but the other person on the bench moved to that spot and someone else took it. It was really nice though of her (I thanked her too), and we seemed to communicate well (though I don’t think she knew I could speak Japanese, because she didn’t say anything above a whisper). Along the way, I was worried because I seemed really shourt on time. When I did get to the kokusai center, I had about three minutes to get to class. I was remembering how far okaasan and I walked the last time to get to the center, so I was very worried, but as it turns out, the kokusai center eki of the sakuradouri line opens into the center, so I was saved! However, I did almost get on an elevator in the building that seemed to go to every floor except three (that was mine).

When I did get to the floor (and room) there was a bit of a line, so I didn’t worry about being late. I was a little confused at the sign-in desk, and I found out that it was because the cooking class was for students at the kokusai center (and I’m not a student there).

For the class, we were encouraged to wear aprons, so I, of course, was given the white, frilly one. We made chirashizushi and had suimono (clear soup with flower-shaped fish cakes) because March third is hina matsuri and that’s the traditional dish for girls on that day. Okaasan and a lot of other Japanese ladies taught the class. Okaasan was the main presentor. First, she demonstrated how to make the food, naming every ingredient, and then, we were dismissed to do it all ourselves. I was a bit disappointed that all we did was mix the ingredients (to make the sushi) but it was still fun. Okaasan came around with a microphone while we made the food and when we were eating it after to ask about it. All I could say was “oishii.” Everything was really pretty (there are a lot of colors in chirashizushi) and delicious. There was even roll-sushi (I can’t remember the name to save my life) that looked like a cow face, or dolls, or petals of sakura. For dessert we had kazari-maki, sakura-mochi, and hina-arare. I actually liked the macha mochi with an inside, but my favorite was the okashi that I had had once before when okaasan gave it to me. This time, that okashi was a ball of pink rice (not made into mochi) with an inside and a flavored leaf on the outside.

I got to talk to a few people from different countries (one from France that thought I looked French). The instructors were happy to talk a bit with me when they realized I was Okutsu san’s host daughter. There was an evaluation that we had to fill out at the end about the class; how was it? will you make this at home? what else do you want to make in these classes? what else do you want to say? When I gave mine to the instructor, she gave me compliments on my (messy) kanji and my request of tako yaki and okonomiyaki as dishes to make in the future. It was nice conversation.

Before I left, I asked okaasan for a picture, and it turned into a group picture with all of the instructors. Okaasan initially called over one instructor for the picture, and said I was her host daughter and eventually all of the other instructors joined in (totoro apron and all). It was a lot of fun. Okaasan was really happy and she sent me home (she had a meeting afterward), encouraging me to talk to my parents at ryoushin’s house before I left again for my friend’s host family’s sushiya. Unfortunately, that would mean I would be talking to my parents at 2:00 in the morning, but the offer was really nice.

At home, I did Japanese homework until about six, when I found Mike’s phone number and left for tabehoudai sushi. I met Keily at the Nisshin eki, and we rode together to Rokubanshou, where we would meet Mike, Mike, Anna, and Anna (no joking). When we got to the sushiya, we could hear the karaoke from outside. We were, of course, a bit late, because Keily and I had gotten to the subway late. When we went inside, we were warmly welcomed and presented with bento. Inside, there were all kinds of sashimi, sushi, tenpura, and fish. Of course, there was also the specialty of bacon-like pork, fruits, and Japanese crackers too. We had a lot of fun (and most people had a lot to drink). Some people tried the home-made hichu (Japanese beer) with an ume in it. Mostly though, the students and old guests got drunk and very friendly. The sushiya owner (Mike’s host father) doesn’t drink at all, so we were able to laugh at the drunk people quite a bit. It was nice to be able to talk to a Japanese person without having to consider their tipsiness. No one seemed to believe that I didn’t drink though.

Unfortunately, when we (Keily, Anna and I) left around 11:00, it was too late (five minutes to be exact) to meet the last Toyotashi train (though there were at least three Akaike and one Yagoto after). As a result, I had to call otousan to pick me up from Akaike. I felt very bad, but he did not seem upset and neither did okaasan when I got home. I was very embarrassed and worried nonetheless, so I apologized many times. It is very hard to guage when the last train is though because the arrival time for each eki is listed on the wall and the time between stations is not. Since we took a different route to the sushiya than the route from it, it was nearly impossible to tell when the Toyotashi train would get to us. Nonetheless, I won’t let it happen again, because now I know.

February 27

I’ve got to say, it was a pretty awesome day today (outside of class). I figured I’d catch the later train today, so I didn’t rush this morning, but as it turned out, I did catch the train. Okaasan made scrambled (not yaki) tamago for me. Yay!!! She also bought grapefruit juice since I had all but run out of mikan (yay again!).

At school, I realized that I had class after the kikitorishiken, and that not bringing my materials for class was a mistake. Regardless, I took my shiken (which wasn’t horrible, but I think I made a few mistakes) and went to class. I felt naked for the three hours of lecture without my kyokasho. It was alright though, because I had at least some dispensable paper to write my notes on.

After class, I was planning on a Valor’s run, but I ran into Yasha on my way, so I went with him to the computer room to finish my geisha presentation (I hadn’t inserted images the night before) and print my report. I’m glad I did then, because I don’t think I would have had the motivation after lunch. We went to Valor’s (faster than Yasha wanted to walk) and came back with cheap, delicious food. In the locker room, we discussed (something I never do because it usually ends in frustration/debate) science versus liberal arts. When Matt and James came in, the guys started throwing bottles at each other (what?!) and I eventually left when David came in to make a Lawson’s run just before our long Art and Culture class. The run was unsuccessful though and I returned with nothing.

In Art and Culture, I was the third (last) to present. My presentation was unexpectedly inadequate in my eyes, but at least we had gotten through a half hour of the class before the actual lecture began. The lecture itself was expectedly long and boring. It seems, everyone in class has resorted to drawing during the lecture rather than sleeping. I can’t believe how well most of my classmates draw!

After class, I had a bit of time to spare before I had planned to meet Alvin to go to his friend’s ryou, so I went to the computer room again. I sat next to a few American friends and used the internet for a while before I realized Daisuke was sitting across the asile from me. I hontouni bikurishita. I think he said he knew I was there when I walked in though, so I felt a bit silly.

When it became 6:00, I went to the main gate of Nanzan to meet Alvin. We started talking while we waited for Eric. In that time, Alvin asked me if I had any Japanese friends, and I mentioned Daisuke. In a coincidence of coincidences, he came walking by then and heard his name. We talked again for a bit until he had to go, and soon after, Eric came, so we left for the ryou. There, I met about six of Alvin’s Japanese friends. I, of course, forgot most of their names.

At first, one of the girls was writing her application for a job and we talked about where we were from. One of the people in the ryou was from China. She seemed a bit older, but in the midsts of so many college students, it was hard to tell. There was also a Japanese girl who is more quite than me in a crowd of strangers. Even when she speaks, it is barely above a whisper (such a strange term) and at first, I was wondering if she was deaf. The guy whose ryou we were in spoke both Japanese and Chinese. I liked hearing it when he spoke to the Chinese woman.

We ate some kind of cooking that seems pretty simple. There was gohan (of course) but also a pot of beef, mushrooms, tofu, and cabbage in a broth that was spicy like kimchi. I tried not to get any beef since it was Friday, but I ended up taking some on accident and ate it because I thought it would be rude to let it go to waste.

After dinner, we had Bible study. I thought it was pretty uncomfortable (since I prefer to practice my religion solitarily and not share it), but I tried to chill out and it got better with time. We were dealing with bilingual (Japanese and English) Bibles (as well as the Chinese one) so it was kind of interesting even from a translator’s perspective.

After the Bible study, it got much better again. I was able to practice my Japanese a lot with the Japanese students and we talked about interesting things like scary movies, music, video games, and manga. Gundam did, of course, come into the conversation. My chococat earrings were again a big hit with the Japanese girls, as was my (broken) watch and leather jacket. I’m becoming Japanese! :D (or at least my style is?) One of the Japanese girls wants to find me on facebook, so I hope I can keep up my ties that way.

Brace yourself for awesomeness, because I think I just experienced the most exciting part of my time in Japan yet. Oh, and I think I found my Japanese boyfriend. (You can stop freaking out now, I don’t actually mean it) I got a ride in a Japanese sports car!!!! We may have only gotten to 80km/hr (about 50mph), but KenKen’s definitely after my heart because he’s got chocolate melon pan on the dash too. Did I mention he drives stick? For the details; when it was time to leave Alvin’s friend’s ryou, one of the Japanese girls came back to tell me that KenKen would drive me home to Nisshin (since he had to go to the seminary there). I tried to politely refuse, since I could catch the chikatetsu, but Alvin told me to take the offer, so I did (and I can’t believe I almost turned it down!). I left the ryou with the Japanese girl and we waited for KenKen to come back from Valor’s, where he had parked his car. I got a heads-up from the Japanese girl on which car was his when it came down the street, and I was in disbelief when I saw a pair of pop-ups. I don’t know what it was, since I couldn’t see the emblem in the dark, but I love this car (it will probably turn out to be an old porshce to spite me). It’s got a giant speaker system in the back, more electronics (and a busted out tape deck) in the front, and just enough leg room for a Japanese person (or me). It’s got a back seat (in a sports car, really?), which I was perfectly happy to sit in, but the Japanese girl let me sit in front (though I offered it to her). Once we got moving, I realized how awesome it was to ride on the left of a sports car in Japan (as opposed to the prius, which ryoushin drive jerkily). I must admit though, riding in this car was more bumpy than a miata, but totally worth it. On the ride, I talked a lot with KenKen and the Japanese girl about how I got interested in Japanese, where I’ve been in Japan, and where I’m from. It’s so much easier to talk with them than the instructors or ryoushin. I had to admit to not knowing exactly where I lived by car (it’s hard to figure out where the roads are when you take walking tracks to the chikatetsu every day instead) and we ended up getting a little lost. That was perfectly fine with me because it meant I got to ride in the car a bit longer. Eventually (after passing it and pulling a J-turn in traffic), I was dropped off by the Nisshin eki and said goodbye to my new friends.

I was so excited from the experience that I ran part of the way home and couldn’t stop smiling.

February 26

Today was the speaking part of the midterm. I heard my phone die before I had to wake up, so I stayed in bed, half asleep, waiting for the sound of the stobu to wake me up. I let my schedule slip a little toward the late side because the exam would not start until 10:40, but due to I don’t know what, I was able to catch the first train to class. I spent a lot of the time online (since I had studied so much the night before).

A bit before my time slot, I went downstairs (from the computer room to the testing room) and began to get nervous. The instructors were behind schedule, so I had to wait quite a bit. However, when I did go to take the test, I was still nervous. Even entering the classroom was part of the test, so I knocked three times, opened the door, said shitsureshimasu, and commented on the weather before sitting down. Tsuda sensei asked me about three questions about where I grew up, where I was born, and something else I don’t remember. Next was the role-play. I had to ask my host mother (Tsuda sensei) to bring my (vegetarian) friend to dinner and if we could go to Kyoto on the weekend, not to return until after dinner. I screwed up a bit, but I can’t do anything about it now. At the end, I had to ask a question of Tsuda sensei, so I asked what to do to get acclimated to nattou. On the way out of the test, I remembered to excuse myself.

After that, I waited on my friend to finish and talked with Alvin for a bit. He showed me his Japanese keitai, which can play live television. It was pretty cool, but it’s pink! He invited me to come with him and his Japanese friends to make food and speak (Japanese) on Friday after classes. It sounds fun (and like a good chance to meet Japanese people) so I think I will go.

After being abandoned by the friend I was waiting on, I went to the computer lab again to pass another hour waiting on Mike to get out of class. Once he got out, I went with him, two Annas, and Keily to Valor’s for lunch. It was Mike’s first time going to the supaa (and panya) so it was pretty exciting. I ate too much (but I did find the maple melon pan that tastes like hottoke-ki with syrup!) and it was delicious.

Afterward, I returned to the computer room to do the research for my Geisha presentation. It didn’t go well, but I suppose there wasn’t much else to do today.

At home, I listened to the kikitori renshuu for tomorrow’s test. I got so bored that I listened to the kaiwa from daigoka before going downstairs to finish my geisha research.

Before the research though, I had dinner with okaasan and otousan. We had salmon, gohan (never gets old), asparagus, and miso. Okaasan has been teaching me to eat like a Japanese person. I’ve been eating my miso by pulling out the vegetables, etc. with my chopsticks, then drinking the broth. Apparently, Japanese people don’t do that because it takes too long. Instead, they push the vegetables into their mouths while they drink the broth. I’ve tried this perhaps once, and the chances of making a mess of myself are just too high, so I’ve resorted to eating the vegetables while okaasan isn’t looking and drinking the broth when she is.

At dinner, okaasan and otousan explained that they would have to be away during some of March. They asked if I ate junk food, and I admitted that I did, but when they asked if I ate at McDonald’s and KFC, I told them the truth; no. Although, otousan referred to it as fried chicken, then KFC, so I told him that if my mother made it, I ate fried chicken. I think he was planning for the days when okaasan would be out, because this question came up when okaasan was talking about otousan cooking (she laughed a bit at the thought) while she was away. So far, we will have curry one night, sushi (I told them I liked maguro upon prompting, but I wish I said ebi too) another, and I don’t know further.

For dessert, okaasan appologized for not having okashi, but I wish she wouldn’t. She spoils me as it is. Instead, I had some of otousan’s Valentine’s Day chocolate (as did he and okaasan). I was just going to have a (Godiva) lemon rind, but ryoushin told me to try the “marou.” Oh my gosh, thank you so much ryoushin! They were worried that there was sake cooked into them, so otousan tried it first, and said it was okay, so I ate mine. As it turned out, the marou was a truffle, perhaps my favorite candy, if it can even be put in that category. Woooo~!

After shokuji, I finished my research for the geisha presentation and went to my room to assemble the information I had collected (in the form of web archives). I was worried because I felt my research was inadequate (it really is hard to research geisha without all the side crap in the timeframe of one day). I ended up going to sleep somewhere around 12:30, so I decided to sleep in a bit the next day.

February 25

Today was a bit interesting. Okaasan began to make scrambled (yaki) eggs for me, but when it came to putting them in the pan, she asked me to take over. She had set the oven too high though, so I made kogetamago, as far as I can tell. I tried to finish breakfast in time to catch my train, but I ended up having a hard time finding my kasa and had to change shoes, so I became a bit late for it. I was worried when okaasan went up to my room to get the kasa for me because the room is a bit messy (it looks more messy than it is though because the papers from studying are spread on the floor).

On the way to the train, it was raining pretty hard, but a lot of business men were running, so I jumped on the bandwagon and ran with them. I almost got run over by a porsche half of the way through the street after the crosswalk ended, but I stayed in the median and waited, so I was fine. When I had crossed, I followed a student’s example of running to the actual eki, and was able to beat the train to the station. When I got on though, I was really out of breath, so everyone looked at me on the train.

At school, I tried to study for the exam, but I thought it was kind of futile to study at the last minute, so I let the time pass until the exam began. It was in that passing time that I realized I had not turned in my kanji homework (though everyone else had).

In class, we had the mid-term. It was six pages in all. When I got to the end of the bunpou shiken, I realized I had forgotten to study da and de aru patterns, so I think I messed that (the last) section up a bit. The yomimono wasn’t very bad, but some of the questions were confusing, so there is a lot of margin for error.

After the exam, I went to Valor as usual, ate lunch with my friends, and used the internet for about an hour. Two people asked me if I was alright (mentioning that I looked down recently) in that time frame and I’m wondering if there’s something wrong with me.

So, I tried to study for the oral exam this afternoon, and I discovered Japanese radio. First, there was this station that was teaching Chinese in Japanese. Of course, the chinese was over my head, but I was relieved to understand about 90% of the Japanese explanation. You can also learn other languages on that station such as; Russian. As far as music is concerned, it seems that there is a mix of Japanese and English pop and rock (almost 50-50). I heard some Japanese Ska and an American rock song that was pretty great. I’m hoping I can somehow figure out who I’m listening to in Japanese and buy cheap CD’s at BookOff. We’’ll see...

Okaasan made delicious dinner for us tonight. It wasn’t curry (as she made clear) but it was another thick meat sauce over rice. I can’t believe how many dishes I could brush off but am now growing to like in Japan. She also made a yogurt and mayo sauce for salad, which had little flavor, so she just put miso in it and it was delicious. She told me she admires farmers because they only get to harvest once a year. We also talked about sushi shops and how seasonal the catch is, how expensive it is, and that she worries when she goes to the really fresh sushiya’s because she doesn’t know which are well-priced or not. I told her about the tabehodai and she wants to go. The only problem is, I don’t know if I can invite her. I will talk to Mike tomorrow...

For dessert, okaasan gave me manjuu (bean paste in a steamed bun). I love it! It looks like mochi, but instead of being chewy, it’s more like bread. Okaasan said she doesn’t like cleaning up (katazukeru no ga kirai) but she loves cooking because it’s so creative. I hope I will be able to cook once for my host family, but I really don’t want to waste their time if I mess up.

February 24

I wish I had time to write this entry on the actual day it happened, but (you’ll see that) I ran out of time.

At breakfast today, okaasan told me I had an omoshiroi hairstyle, and I explained that I had not dried my hair the night before, so it was a mess (despite brushing). I told her I could get it to work if I wore a hat for a bit, but she was determined to help me, so she showed me her Japanese secret; you put a damp towl in the microwave, then press it over your hair to make it lay flat. I was very grateful.

It was drizzling when I got started. When I got to school, I decided to go to Valor’s before class to get my lunch (since Tuesdays are tight in terms of free time around lunch time). After I had made the (slightly long) walk from the train station to Valor’s though, I found that it was closed, so I hiked the 25% grade hill to school only to realize it was Tuesday, and class would not start until 10:05 (later than I expected) so I walked back to Valor’s, thinking that having passed 9:00 in the process of coming to school, it might be open. When I got there, the blinds were open (unlike the first time I came by) and I read a sign that said Valor’s would open at 9:30 and 10:00, depending on the day. Not looking very closely, I assumed the grocery store worked like an American one, in which it would open earlier on week days and a bit later on weekends. So, I waited until 9:30, and when the store did not open, I looked again at the sign, and realized that Sunday is the only day that they open at 9:30. So, I hiked the hill (again) to class, having wasted quite a bit of time (almost an hour).

I did have a bit of time left before class started, so I went online to see if I had e-mail, and I found Cheryl’s e-mail about coming to Nagoya from Singapore. I called her to confirm our plans (since she would not have a phone by the end of my Japanese class). I had to call the front desk three times because the first time, I was disconnected, and the second time, after making my request to speak to a hotel guest, I was redirected to the front desk and startled by a man’s voice. Unfortunately, I was two minutes late to class as a result and I did not realize I was supposed to turn in my kanji homework. Technically, it will have 50% of its value deducted, so I’m a bit worried.

Class was boring, as we were reviewing for the upcoming oral exam portion of our mid-term. When the first period of Japanese was over, we stopped reviewing and had to write our speeches. I’m not sure why this assignment was given just before the mid-terms, but it was, so we had to write in one class perod, or finish our speeches (as homework) while studying for our mid-terms. Luckily, I got done in time, but since the subject of the paper was the place where I lived/grew up/was born, I had a hard time coming up with what Raleigh is famous for, etc.

When Japanese class (finally) ended, I raced to Valor’s (a third time) to get my lunch before my hanga class began. Hanga was quite uneventful, but afterward, I was able to meet with Cheryl!

I had asked her to meet me at Yagoto Nisseki, but as I made my way to the eki, I realized I had told her that it was on the wrong chikatetsu line (it is on the Meijo, but I told her it was on the Tsurumai) and was worried she would be confused because there is also a Yagoto station which is at the intersection of the right chikatetsu and the one I mistakenly mentioned. Luckily though, Cheryl had remembered Nisseki, so we met right on time! It was really great to see her. We went to Jusco and ate American-Japanese food. I had a fried fish sandwich with egg salad on it and fries. She had spaghetti on a flat scrambled egg (tamagoyaki) with fried ebi on top.

It was raining then, so we didn’t go to Osu. We walked around the university area, going to the giant jinja I had found when I explored earlier, the book-off, and the arcade. As we were leaving the jinja, we saw a guy come out of the woods, pointing a handgun (90º from us), so we turned around to leave through another exit, but as we were walking, we heard the gun go off and what we heard was a bb-gun. We felt very stupid (Cheryl called it a very American reaction) for being scared. As we walked down the street soon after (where the exit we took and the exit we were going to take meet) we passed the guy, who appeared to be a middle-school kid, and his buddies.

It was really nice to talk with Cheryl (though I kept using Japanese words inadvertantly) about my homesickness and getting used to Japan. We even passed a lot of my classmates as we walked, which doesn’t seem to happen outside of school. Before we parted, we walked to Nagoya Daigaku eki. We got a Japanese guy to take our picture by the subway map, and I realized where my okaasan works (the kokusai center is on the map).

Once I boared my chikatetsu and parted from my friend, I began to worry about the time. I had tried to schedule myself to be on the chikatetsu by six so I would be home for dinner, but since my Toyotashi chikatetsu doesn’t come all the time, I was worried I would become late, so I reverted to sending okaasan a text message (since you are not supposed to use your phone in the train). I still don’t know if she got it because she never said anything (nor about the other text message I sent earlier).

When I got home (about 7 before 7), I think I alarmed my (already eating) host family because I was a bit out of breath (from walking fast from the eki). In trying to communicate with my host family (which they want), I told them that my American friend had come from Singapore to Nagoya for one day. They asked a few questions, but for the most part, they were not talkative. I’m trying though, so I hope they will not be so concerned. It’s hard to “communicate” when your host parents don’t say much back.

For the rest of the evening, I studied for my mid-term, since Wednesday is the bunpou an yomimono part of the mid-term.

February 23

Today, I made my own breakfast. Okaasan had asked me how I wanted my eggs and I said anything was fine, but she wanted an answer, so I said scrambled, but she said she didn’t know how (or what?) and thinks it is best done with lots of eggs, so I offered to do it myself, but she assured me she would do it. Then, I’m not sure if she said she would show me how she cooks or if she was asking me to show her how I make scrambled eggs, but I did and she told me I had made tamagoyaki, because (having used a large pan) the eggs spread out like a crepe and weren’t puffy. According to okaasan, Japanese people think the puffier scrambled eggs are, the better. I hope I haven’t insulted her by doing this myself, because she asked if I didn’t like the way she made eggs, (but I assured her that I did) and she asked if the eggs were good (because I had made them myself). Of course, I embarrassed myself by forgetting to turn the gas off the second I left it. D:

Having made breakfast slowly, I caught a later train than usual. It was alright though, and I made it to class on time. In class, we were split into two sections (instead of three). It was confusing and the new (arbitrary) distribution was about two-to-one in terms of student ratios. We went over recent homework and did particle-practice. Hanashiro sensei was worried because no one came to office hours the week before (to prepare for the test).

After the practice, we had one more class, so all three (two) sections came together in the same room. Despite our having four mid-terms in Japanese class alone this week, we were given a “project” in which we will go to a designated shopping district and interview the shop owner or employees. Today, we chose the shops (from 11 candidates), and in groups of three, did initial preparation (which included finding the shops on a hand-drawn map). My group (and two out of three instructors) could not find the Old book store and cafe. Finally, Tsuda sensei told us it was new and would not be on the map, though she gave us a general area to search when we got there. Great...

After class, I went to CJS to see if the officer had figured out what was up with my health insurance and pension plan. Apparently, they sent me the bill for 2008 for health insurance, so I will simply wait until they mail me the current paperwork. In regard to the pension plan, I do have to enroll, defer, and cancel. Great. The officer did contact okaasan though, so she will be helping me when I need to go to the ward office to take care of it.

Before I was done, the officer gave me the same talk okaasan had given me about using the internet, being about half of the way through my stay (somehow 6 weeks in the past equals 12 weeks in the future), needing to practice my Japanese/communication, and getting immersed. Did anyone ever think that maybe it’s hard to make friends with Japanese people when they are on academic break until April, let alone make friends with people in the first place? Maybe it occurred to them that e-mail and facebook are good ways to practice writing and reading Japanese as well as break the ice a bit with newly made Japanese friends. How about the embarrassment of trying to speak with Japanese people, not being able to recognize their words, finally realizing you know what they were saying but for some reason it didn’t register, and the exasperation of the Japanese person through the slow, painful process? Also, did they think that maybe, there are school-related things that students need to do that require the internet?

Oh well. Afterward, I reverted to my panya lunch from Valor’s and went to calligraphy class. I’m liking the more cursive-esque, non-disconnected style of calligraphy that we are doing as of late. I finished (ran out of the ink I made) a bit early, but not early enough to make the process of making more ink valuable, so I left a bit early. I spent a bit of time in the locker room talking with other exchange students until history class.

History class was no different than usual; the instructor lectured (in a rather confusing manner) for quite a while. When it came to the time to have the mid-term explained though, it was wonderful. The entire class was bracing for something to study for, but we got off more than easy; we must make ten to twenty points (listed) on an interesting part of Japanese history and present them to the class in about five minutes. Of course, we have to back ourselves (and our opinion of interest) up with facts, pictures, and (optionally) comparison to another country’s history. I haven’t chosen my subject yet, but I’m thinking about exploring the rise of the samurai class.

After class, I caught the chikatetsu with my classmates. I tried running to the tsurumai line to catch the Toyotashi chikatetsu (it sometimes arrives at exactly the same time as the yagoto chikatetsu, so if you run from one to the other, you can sometimes make the transfer) but as things turned out, I didn’t need to. It’s funny though to watch all of the people (including older men and women too) rush to the train (especially when it’s not really there). The rest of the ride was rather uneventful.

On the way through my neighborhood, I ran into the friendly cat (the one I’ve pet before and who lets the elementary school boys pet it) again. I got home at around six and helped okaasan with dinner. She asked about class, and I tried to explain (though I forgot the word for “review”). She told me the same thing the lady at CJS told me (as if I didn’t feel like a lazy student already).

So, I ate dinner with ryoushin (daikon with miso, misoshiru, gohan, beef bacon, and cabbage), had dessert with them (I had hinamatsuri no momo, hakki-wrapped, ginger-sprinkled, pink mochi with purple bean paste inside). We didn’t talk very much, but since the academy awards are on (and two Japanese films won) we watched that.

After dinner, I tried to discover Japanese radio (since it was suggested to me a few times and there’s a box in my room). The problem is, there are few stations on FM (besides the American music station and the classical station, which come in just fine) and the feedback from AM is too high-pitched to stand (even when properly tuned). I ended up listening to Ben Folds, which is better than most US radio, but definitely not Japanese...

I guess I’ll just study Japanese until I can’t stand it any more, take a shower, go to bed, and repeat everything again.

February 22

Today, okaasan and otousan went to visite their son and his wife at their house. Okaasan got dressed up really nice for the occasion.

An hour or two after they left, I heard a car (with bull-horns) go down the road emitting what seemed to be only random words. I heard things such as denshi-reenji, cd-player, jitensha, pesokon, etc. I wonder what it was for. Perhaps it was the trash collector.

Around one, I headed to the chikatetsu eki to meet up with Keily and Anna. Today, we got to wear kimono!!! I was so excited. Keily lives about the same distance (time frame) away from the Nisshin eki as me, but in the opposite direction. It seems like she lives further away though because she has a very winding journey by comparison to mine.

I had to stop by the grocery store on the way to Keily’s house because I hadn’t bought any omiage for her okaasan (for letting us come over). I bought a pack of bean-paste filled biscuits for her since they looked cute (there were five designs that looked like flowers, leaves, etc.) and not too cheap (though I didn’t have to spend too much).

When we got to her host parents’ house, I didn’t realize it (though I should have from the accounts of her mother that Keily gives me). It was a white house with a wrot iron gate and pink flowers everywhere. The inside is decorated with lots of dolls, flowers, and pink. The coolest part though, is the vacuum. When you see it, you think it is a manequin with a doll’s head (very creepy) and a spotted human-size dress, but when you look under the bottom of the skirt (which I was reluctantly made to do; saseraremashita), you see the vacuum.

Soon after, we had our hair done by Keily’s mom. Since my hair was too short, she put a bit of gel and some flowers in it, and we were done. Anna and Keily had to wait a bit longer because they have long hair and it had to be put up. Keily’s host mom used some of the Japanese decorations like the shibori sashes, painted combs, and fabric flowers for their hair. She told us that most people don’t know how to do their hair for kimono (and some don’t know how to put on kimono) so they usually have it done at a salon.

After our hair was done, we put on the kimono (had them put on us, more accurately). There is so much that goes into it! There is an under kimono, a collar stiffener, an extra collar, too many sashes to count, the actual kimono, the obi, a sash that goes under the obi, and the tie for the obi. It took quite a while for Keily’s okaasan to put all of this on each one of us. I was designated the smallest (though I think I’m about the same as Anna), so I wore the pink kimono. Anna wore the red with purple (such good colors!) and Keily wore orange. Apparently, I am too short even by Japanese standard, because the under kimono had to be pinned up so it wouldn’t show, being longer than the kimono.

Once we were all dressed, we took a long photo shoot inside and outside of Keily’s house. It was really fun (and confusing for Keily’s okaasan who had to figure out all of our cameras).

After the kimono fun, we had un-sushi, made by Keily’s host mother. It was amazing! It was rice with scrambled egg, nori, ebi, salmon, and vegetables (much like sushi, but not assembled). We also had salad with her host mother’s home-made sesame dressing and home-made pudding with strawberries. Keily’s okaasan brought out the omiage I had brought as part of the dessert and thanked Anna and me for bringing omiage, since people usually don’t do so.

It was a bit sad when we had to go, but it was getting late, so we left after the meal.

On the way home, I stopped to get some shampoo. Exciting, no? I was going to buy the cheapest thing I could find, but decided on an American brand (which was a bit more expensive) since it seems like a good investment to get something that won’t leave you itching from over-drying your skin rather than chancing it.

I got home before my host parents by a bit less than an hour. When okaasan did come home, she asked me to help with dinner, which I was happy to do, but she always seems so desperate when she asks me as if I have been fighting her to get out of the responsibility. I guess she expects me to simply offer, but I don’t know the social/cooking conventions (or where half of the supplies are in the house) are to help, so I figure, it might be more embarrassment than help to offer without prompting. Either way, we had bibimbop again because it’s easy to make (I suppose). Okaasan was sorry for the lack of variety, but I was more than happy because I like the dish a lot.

At dinner, otousan asked me where I went today, and I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him, so I told him I went to a friend’s house. Okaasan asked who and once again, I went with the truth and said Keily’s house. I was worried she would be very angry, but she just said she could not relax in that house because there was so much to look at. She said there were roses and things everywhere and pink. I wasn’t sure what would be good or bad to say in front of her, so I went with how pink it was because I too was overcome with its abundance. She asked what we did, and I honestly said we ate sushi. She didn’t seem angry at all. Perhaps I will not be put in a bad position for interacting with Keily’s host mother.

As I see it, I haven’t done anything wrong, nor should I have acted differently. If my host mother and Keily’s host mother do not get along, it is not really my business (nor should it be a problem for me). I have experienced no unkindness from Keily, my host mother, or Keily’s host mother, so I see no reason to avoid any of them. If our host mothers do not get along, then they do not have to get along with each other, but that should not get in the way of me being able to accept my friend’s invitation to her host family’s house or being on good terms with my host family and hers.

Wait a bit more

Two of the four Tokyo entries are up. Give me some more time...

I`ll be off until probably next week. You can expect more entries then.

February 21

Today was the bus trip to Hikone in Nagahama. I woke up as planned and came to breakfast to an egg, chicken, and tomato sandwich (delicous!). Okaasan came to the kitchen before I left and gave me a big bag of chips and candy. She suggested I eat them on the bus with my friends if I get bored on the hour-long commute. I liked her use of boredom as a reason to eat snacks.

I was able to catch a slightly earlier-than-usual train to Nanzandaigaku and I found, when I got there, that I was still early (about 10 minutes so). I was one of the first people to get to school and I talked with Whitney (the only other student there at the time) until more students came. I got to meet Kim (a very nice girl from IJ300) before the trip too.

There were two busses to choose from; the Japanese guide and the English guide. It was confusing to figure out which bus to ride because we were initally told it didn’t matter, that the indications were simply where the guides would meet us when we got to Hikone, and that we should ride the bus corresponding to which sheet we signed up (as present) on. As it turned out, this was wrong. The people on the Japanese guide bus received all the informational papers in Japanese and the English bus received English. We were able to switch groups for the actual tours, but the buses were still confusing.

Before we even left, there was a minor problem. One of us hadn’t signed up for the trip, but was on the bus to go. The two administrators from Nanzan were so confused that they counted us about five times as well as called aout all the names on the roster at least once looking for their error. It was quite a bit before the person stepped up to help them correct the error. It was pretty funny though to see the Japanese coordinator so confused and constantly saying “ore?!”

When we finally did get going, it was a fairly enjoyable trip. We were travelling west toward the mountains. It even snowed a bit on the way.

When we finally got to the castle, it was pretty cold. We had to keep walking all the time to stay warm. The castle, of course, was located at the top of a mountain, so we had to climb to it. At the entrance to the grounds (not yet at the top of the mountatin) there were lots of signs with drawings of what was explained to be a cat (wearing what looks like a viking hat). The guide explained that it was the castle’s mascot, Hikonya (Hokone + nyao, the sound Japanese cats make). According to the guide, Hiknya is a recognized Japanese citizen and receives many neaw year’s cards and chocolates every year. Hikonya, of course, doesn’t exist, except as souvineres.

The tour guide’s English was alright, but I don’t think we got that much history out of the tour. The main things I can remember are that the castle used to be on a fairly nearby peak, but that it was moved to its new position. The castle was open to the public without government permission. During the warring states period, the castle was partially destroyed (for reasons I forget) but the destruction was halted by one of Japan’s rulers. Parts of the castle come from the other castle (which was deconstructed and brought there, no longer situated on the nearby peak), other parts are original, and yet other parts were recently reconstructed (in the last 100 years).

From the summit, you can see the expansive Biwa Lake and nearby town. It was really beautiful. There was even (coincidentally) a hawk flying nearby. We weren’t able to go in the main castle (due to time constraints) but we went in one other building. The truth is, though, the other building was quite boring. It overlooked Biwa Lake and had literally nothing in it. All that you could do was walk around inside (without shoes to keep your freezing feet warm) and look through clouded windows. Apparently, the building was used to defend against enemies. We also walked by the former stables (now housing cars instead of horses, ironically) and some of the garden area. The gardens are really pretty and there is even a tea house (where you can have a tea ceremony performed) on the grounds. Unfortunately, Japan is still recovering from winter (and a recent snow/rain fall) so the entire area was quite barren. We had to avoid mud as we climed stairs and walked through gardens of leafless trees. The ponds were considerably low, but it’s pretty obvious that the area is beautiful in the Spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming and the plants are showing signs of life.

The castle is still partially used. The old living quarters now house a branch of the Japanese criminal court system. There is also a (modern by Japanes standards) high school which seems to be situated on the castle grounds.

After the tour, we went to the nearby town to eat (overpriced) lunch before boarding the bus to go to Nagahama Otemon Street. Otemon street is like Nagahama’s version of Osu; it’s a small, outdoor shopping district. The difference is, Nagahama seems to be a more historic district, so the shops sell traditional sweets and items as compared to the modern, young-demographic products of Osu. They do, however, have a figure museum with plastic anime and movie figurines. The area, however, seems to be famous for its glasswork.

After Otemon, we headed home. On the bus, we watched the movie, Terminal, and at times, I felt like I was in the US (since the scenery often included no signs and we were watching an American movie). It was really weird. It was also interesting to watch the movie (not the actual story, because that was boring) to pick out dated details and especially yoshinoya, the Japanese cheap food chain that I never realized existed in the US.

I was a little late coming back from the bus (and chikatetsu), but lucky, by some slight of fate, okaasan and otousan had not started eating yet, so I was able to eat with them. Okaasan made bibimbop (if it doesn’t sound like Japanese, that’s because it’s not). It was amazing! Bibimbop is a Korean dish where you place rice, vegetables (mushrooms and something else I forogto), meat, and egg in a bowl and mix it up. I was worried about the egg because it was literally raw, but since the bowl was so hot, I was able to mix it fast enough to cook the egg. We also had hot, red pepper sauce in it. I think it hs been established in my host parents’ minds that I have a special taste for spicy food (and sweets) which works well for me. :D Okaasan placed an entire bowl of bibimbop at my place setting and I was worried I would’t eat it all (it was like a ramen-sized, black stone bowl). I also felt a bit archaic to eat it from such a massive bowl, but luckily, otousan noticed and gave me a smaller bowl to eat from. It seems like such a small detail, but, given that okaasan and otousan were eating on china plates, it was really a concern to me. Okaasan told me it was alright to eat the entire thing, but afterward she said it was okay if I didn’t because she could put the rest away, so I was kind of confused. We also had squid with broccoli salad (and a mustard-like dressing) which okaasan thought I wouldn’t like (it’s really tasty though).

After dinner (which took a long time) we had dessert of strawberries and ebi crackers. I really liked the crackers (which look like overly-bubbly fritos, but are made from shrimp). There were even some wasabi ones.

The rest of the evening was pretty futsuu, but I did get to watch a Japanese drama. It was about a girl who does glass blowing and has a chance at an award. The backstory is that she had a fiancé that died from some sickness, she hasn’t talked to her mom in a year, and she can’t get over her fiancé. There is, of course, a pretty-boy who comes to work at the glass-blowing company who likes her and for some reason, uses the same phrases as her dead fiancé. Okaasan likes the Okinawa-ben that they use on the show (so far, super-rolling your R’s seems to be the quality). I kind of like the show because I think glass-blowing is interesting and unlike American shows, instead of making out, the characters talk about themselves and/or hug. Then again, I still feel kind of embarrised watching an emotional show when people (for example, okaasan) are around.

February 20

Today was very long. I really didn’t want to get out of bed because it was so warm and I knew it would be a cold day (from the sound of the wind outside). Okaasan made scrambled eggs for me and gave me left over spaghetti squash from the night before. It was a delicious breakfast. As the forecast indicated, it rained for about half of the day.

In Japanese class today, we reviewed for the oral exam we will have next week as part of our mid-term exams. We have about five for Japanese alone; reading, speaking, listening, writing, and maybe one other I forgot. I don’t know what my problem is, but when it comes to speaking Japanese, I get all tongue-tied, so I’m really worried about the midterms. My grades seem to be somewhere in the B category and I’m not too pleased with that, so I will probably study a lot this weekend (if I can find the time).

After Japanese class (that dragged on), I ate lunch and worked on my hanga until Art and Culture Class. That was class particularly hard to stay awake through (though I had had two weeks without it due to scheduling) and it seems I spent the first ten minutes of the lecture asleep. I managed to stay awake for the rest of the class, but I know I was writing notes unconsciously at one point.

When class finally ended, I made my way to Yagoto Nisseki so that I could get home in time for dinner. On the way though, I met up with some of the other Nanzan exchange students and met Ryan, a guy from Seattle, for the first time (though I’ve been here for over a month D:). The train ride home went as normal, except for my transfer from the Akaike train to the Toyotashi train (they run the same route, but Toyotashi goes further down the route). I had to wait for two Akaike trains before a Toyotashi one came. I ended up sitting on the edge of a bench while I waited, with nearly no room to sit due to a large group of middle (or maybe high) school boys in uniform who sat next to me.

I made it home just in time to have dinner with my host family. Since it’s Lent, okaasan made fish, salad, and vegetable soup. Okaasan’s vegetable soup is not like American soup though; it’s thick like a cream-based soup, but it has pumkin, carrot, sweet potatoes, and a bunch of other vegetables in it that I can’t identify. We talked about Michelle Obama (Otousan thinks she speaks well) and Hillary Clinton (who is “too much first lady”) as well as the monkey that attacked someone in the US. We also talked a bit about the history of Hikone (where I will be going tomorrow) as a major historic post in the transport of international goods across Biwa Lake. We also talked a bit about traveling to nearby Asian countries. Otousan suggested we go as a family to a historic place in Japan, and I’m really looking forward to it. Before we finished dinner though, okaasan convinced me to leave the house a half-hour later than I planned for tomorrow’s trip. I think she is worried about having to wake up so early (which I hope she doesn’t because I can take care of myself in the morning without burdening her). We will see.

I feel like my brain has shut off since I got to Japan. I think the lack of math and science is to blame. It may not really be related to Japanese, but I think the strain of the subject matter keeps my brain in shape (which would make learning Japanese easier). Oh well...

February 19

I started the day out better than some. I had a normal morning (even caught the first train) for the most part. Okaasan said I seemed more genki today than usual and asked if I had slept well to get that way. I didn’t see it, but it was a nice start to the day. When I saw my friend on the train from Yagoto, I tried to stick to my no-English resolution. It worked for the most part until lunch time.

Japanese class was kind of interesting, but for some reason, despite my genki start, I got really tired half of the way through our four-class marathon. The first was started with Japanese tonguetwisters, so it was fun. Second, we had to start writing a letter in the computer lab (I much prefer the Japanese input system on my mac to the one on the college computers). It didn’t get very far before we had to head off to the third class. There, we just read the passage from the textbook. It was mostly boring (which might have been part of the reason I was so tired).

Afterward, I headed to Valor’s for my daily pan. I’m running out of interesting things to try though, so tomorrow’s lunch will probably be onigiri or something similar. When I got back to school to eat lunch, I decided to read the paper to see what was up in the US (and the world in general). It was here that my all-Japanese resolution broke down because David came in to read the paper too and he brought up some interesting conversation I didn’t have the vocabulary to conduct in Japanese. I’ll have to figure out something else to give up.

I spent a lot of time carving my next hanga (because I really didn’t want to do my other homework or go home). There’s something fulfilling about it.

I got home around six because I made some stupid mistakes on the way home. I left school around 4:30 or something similar, but I decided to accompany my friend to Nagoya Daigaku eki. This was a mistake (for saving time) because she takes a long (as compared to the direct route) to the eki to avoid the hills. It was an interesting walk, but long. Once we got to the eki (and the platform), I forgot that my friend rides the chikatetsu in the opposite direction, so I waited for her train (and missed mine). I had to wait a bit for the next one, which wasn’t that bad, but once I got on, I thought I was riding from my normal stop, which means that I transfer at the next station. Wrong! I got off at the next station, which was my normal station, so I had to wait again for the same train to come by so that I could ride it for one station. That took a bit, and when I finally did make my transfer, it was to an akaike train, which takes the right route for me to go home, but stops its service one eki before mine. I had to wait (again) for the toyotashi line so I could ride it for one length to nisshin. When I got home, I was happy to not have to ride trains and climb hills any more.

Okaasan made a variation of chicken cordonbleu today. She made one for me with no cheese (just tomatoes in the middle and breading on the outside) since the general belief is that I don’t like cheese in the least. It was delicious. At dinner, we talked about the tongue twisters, my tour on Saturday (ryoushin were surprised that the college would have an event on the weekend), and the cooking class at the gaikokusai center on the next Saturday. It seems my communication is getting better with my family, but they’re pretty quiet too, so I find it kind of funny that they want me to talk but they don’t seem to have much to say themselves. For dessert, okaasan gave me a tokyo banana (apparently, they are too sweet for her ): ) and green tea. I think she was worried I don’t like it because I drank it slowly (it’s freaking hot when it comes out of the teapot) and she said she had other kinds of tea. I guess I just need to speak up more, but I get tongue-tied when I speak to my family and I feel so stupid when I can’t speak Japanese well.

After dinner, I used the internet (hayaku, as okaasan has recently started requesting) and we watched a cooking show. They made corn dogs and I told okaasan that I had liked them a lot as a kid. Apparently, if you scramble your eggs with marshmallows, they will be bigger and more pillow-like. Sweetened eggs still creep me out. I’ve had them in bento and sushi, but there’s something weird about sugar instead of pepper when it comes to eggs. They did have Shinichi Osawa playing as the music on the show (which no Japanese person seems to recognize) so I was hooked. There also seemed to be Franz Ferdinand music in a car commercial, so I got my American fix.

I used the internet really quickly one other time to send an e-mail to myself, and I found Okaasan watching an old black-and-white American movie with Japanese subtitles. I wanted to ask her about it, but I had things to take care of.

February 18

Today was better than yesterday, even exciting. I woke up at 6:50 (yes, 20 minutes before my alarm) to the house shaking. Today I expereinced my first earthquake! I don’t know what it was, but as soon as I realized it was happening (mostly from the sound of my room’s wooden, sliding door shaking) I jumped out of bed, looked for something to crawl under, and (finding only a glass-top, knee-high table) grabbed the pillow that I usually sit on on the floor, covered my head, and tried futilly to get under my (also low) bed. I wasn’t sure if it would get worse (or if it was all from the washing machine shaking the house), so I just sat on the floor with the pillow until the shaking stopped. I gave a bit of thought to the possiblility of an aftershock, but being so tired, I just crawled back into bed. I realized later that overall, I would have probably have been just as safe from a quake if I had just covered my head with my pillow and stayed in bed, but at the time, I don’t think I was really in my right mind (I had just woken up in the middle of a dream, after all).

I slept in a bit after my alarm (I let it snooze) and caught my later train to class. Before I left though, I had breakfast as usual (okaasan made an over-easy egg for me and I realized that as much as I am trying to get accustomed to things I don’t like, I can’t do the uncooked yolk thing) and almost left my commuter pass and phone in my room.

We had a kanji quiz at the beginning of the first class (which I, to no surprise, did badly on) and spent the rest of the time listening to the textbook CD and reading the passage for chapter five.

After class, I did the next day’s homework (and talked with Christian, which is always a weird and interesting experience) and got lunch at Valor’s. Lunch was the beginning of a long day of eating. I still wasn’t sure what to give up for lent, so I made sure I didn’t buy any sweets I had had before, but I ended up getting the bacon sandwich, an empty danish, and what was labeled as “french style bread” (french toast). Everything was delicious (and huge) but the “french style bread” was definitely not french toast. It was some kind of sugary cake about three times as wide as American-made french toast and a normal half-slice of bread in the other two dimensions. It was delicious, but too much.

Afterward, I looked through Christian’s sketchbook while talking with him and James (a Britt) about making money by reselling what we buy in Japan as well as childish jokes. I worked on my next hanga until coffee hour, which would start at 3:30.

Coffee hour was supposed to be in the cafeteria of the C building, but it got moved to the Logos Center. We had a hard time finding it, so we walked around a bit until we ran into Alvin, Dan, and some others. We spent the rest of the time (before coffee hour) looking for more people to invite, but to no avail. Finally, we went down the winding hall in the Logos Center and had chocolate fondue while talking with some Japanese girls (there was only one Japanese guy to talk to and he would only speak English). I ate much too much chocolate fondue on biscuits (you’ve turned me, James), marshmallows, bananas, strawberries, and kiwi. Unfortunately, the experience reinforced my conviction that my ability to hear and comprehend Japanese is lacking, but I did get an e-mail address from one of the Japanese students, so hopefully I will have a chance to practice my writing and reading, if not meet and hang out with my new friend.

Afterward, no one wanted to go home, so we hung around outside the coffee hour room and talked, walked to Lawson’s and talked, and walked to our ekis. I talked with Yasha a bit about cars and motor cycles. Once again, it was considered shocking that a girl likes cars (and apparently it was a contrast to kawaii kyoumi of most Japanese girls). Then again, I did get the compliment of being genki and Japanese earlier that day, so who knows.

I got home a bit later than expected, but okaasan told me it was alright since I hadn’t missed dinner. At dinner though, she told me that it was important that I talk (which I don’t do much of at home) since okaasan and otousan don’t know me well enough to read me without words. She was worrying about why I don’t use ketchup on my eggs or soy sauce in general. I told her I don’t use oyuu because its flavor is too strong. I should have said more, because what I meant was the flavor would overpower the oishii quality of her cooking. Okaasan made omuraisu (omlet rice) aka katsudon. It was kind of sweet (and tasted like the rice souflé) but she gave me so much (on top of the fondue I had eaten) that I had a hard time finishing. When she brought out ice cream with strawberries after, I tried to decline politely, but I failed, so I had to eat it because it was “only a bit of ice cream and strawberries.”

Afterward I felt sick. I haven’t been sick from overeating since my paternal Grandparents’ wedding anniversary (which is so far back in my childhood that I can’t remember which one it was). I do remember that my cousins would pinch the flame of the candle on the table with their fingers (that trick where you don’t burn yourself). Anyway, I ate a lot of food today and I don’t want to again.

After dinner, I used the internet for a while. The first thing on TV (while I surfed) was some kind of talk show about brain activity during different stimuli (such as fear and concern). It was really interesting, but Japanese TV is really weird. First of all, if it’s possible (99% of the time) there will be some kind of chart, graph, model, etc. of a process or statistic. This time, they took it one point further and had humans (in costume, of course) act out the activity of the brain (two people represented two phenomena within the brain). To take it a step further, there was moonwalking and a cord that plugged into a belt and lit up. Yeah, this stuff is off the wall. Second of all, there were celebrities (whose sole role in the show was to sit and comment on/react to the video). There were fish tanks in the background; one with those black eel-like fish and one with angelfish. I liked them more than the celbrities. Anyway, there were tests (such as solving puzzles before a bee-like pin popped a huge balloon) where brain activity was monitored and it was found that one kind of activity takes over in the case of stress (such as anxiety). I wish I understood Japanese more so I could understand the show more.

After surfing, I watched a drama with a famous 70-year old Japanese lady in it (Japanese people do not age, this woman was very pretty) with okaasan. The story was that the lady picked up a guy who seemed homeless, but he turned out to be a bad man who had drugged another lady, so the first lady poisoned him and he (while dying) tried to make it look like a suicide (since he loved the first lady). The star of the film was a detective who was able to tell the whole story from the clues. In the end though, he laughs with the killer lady before driving her off. I’m not really sure why that happened.

Okaasan brought out her hinamatsuri ningyou. They are so pretty! I like them better than the ones I saw because their faces are prettier. She has three sets; the royal couple (made by her okaasan from fabric), three priestesses (I like their clothing the best), and a smaller, simple ribbon-like royal couple. I was surprised when she said her mother made them because they look so perfect. The couple is made like stuffed animals (the clothing is not actual clothing, but the outer layer of the stuffed doll) and the faces are porcelain. The priestesses are old (okaasan thinks they’re cute, but not pretty because of this) and have instruments made from metal. They wear the traditional white shirts and red hakama. Their faces and hands are porcelain and very dainty (for lack of better word). The simple fabric couple looks like pouches of kimono fabric. I asked okaasan what they were because I didn’t see the faces, which are tiny balls of white fabric on top. Okaasan said she has a whole set (with the stairs, I think) but that she doesn’t want to bring them out because putting them back is a pain. I was really grateful that she brought them out for me (since she wouldn’t have otherwise).

I think I’ve figured out what I will give up for lent; English. Obviously, I can’t give it up completely (or I couldn’t write this blog), but I think I can give it up enough to make it a sacrifice. I use English when I speak with my American/English/Australian/Polish/etc. friends (which is often), so it will be a challenge. There are a few times when I will need to use it, but otherwise, I will try to eliminate it until Easter. Thus, my resolution is to use only Japanese except when; writing my blog, required by professors/course structure, dealing with important official matters (such as bill payment and NCSU), writing (online) to people who don’t speak Japanese, and emergencies (yet to be experienced).

P.S. Japanese people’s legs fall asleep too when they sit as Japanese people do. My friends John and Yoshi can do it without their legs hurting, but Matt’s host father has asked him to kick his legs so they would wake up (after sitting like that) and today, I saw okaasan get up from sitting at the computer and she audibly said itatatatatatata (itai) while limping to the door.

February 17

It was a pretty futsuu day for the most part. I got up (but didn’t want to because it was so cold outside of bed), ate breakfast, and caught my train to class. I ended up thinking it was another 9:20 day, so I went to my Japanese class early, only to find that I had about 45 extra minutes, so I went back to the CJS office to see if I could figure out what I had received in the mail (over the last month). I showed my mail to a lady at CJS and she tried to explain it to me. One envelope was a book for recording my pension since I’m twenty, and by law, people of the age of twenty in Japan must fill out pension information. It was explained to me that through some kind of Alliance between the US and Japan, I was not exempted from this law, but that I would have to apply for a postponement of payment for my pension so that I wouldn’t have to pay while in Japan. Afterward (after returning to the US) I could apply for a cancellation. Japan is so backward sometimes. I don’t think the cancellation is possible without engagement, even though I am a foreign citizen.

I also asked about the payment for my health insurance. The letter I received in the mail is of course, in one of the Japanese emperor's notation in terms of date (Sometimes, Japan does not use the Julian calendar to denote the date, instead they count from the years of a specific emperor's ruling period) and otherwise, the letter was confusing (The lady I spoke to said i was even confusing to Japanese people).

In the end, the lady asked to keep my paperwork for a week while she consulted with my host mother and the ward office to figure out what I needed to do (and, as she said, to figure out the English to explain it to me in). She was very helpful. I’m a bit bothered though, because my American friend (who is 21) said she didn’t have to deal with this pension crap, that her health insurance bill would be sent to her months later, and that there is probably something wrong.

Oh well. We had our second quiz of three this week in Japanese. Afterward, we had three hours of class and I headed off to Valor for lunch. I bought another yakisoba sandwich (they cook the yakisoba in the middle of the bread), a cream puff, and a flaky apple pastery with half of an apple baked into it.

Afterward, I had hanga class (which was not stressful, as usual) and then I headed home. I decided that today would be the day I took my Toyota (with no cars, but cute felt animals on it) calendar home so that it would not take up all the space in my locker any more. Unfortunately, today was also the day there would be a big gust of wind, my hand would be numb from the cold, and I would drop my calendar. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it didn’t go flying into a divided highway where it was run over (ironically) by quite a few Hondas. I was pretty angry about it since I had taken such good care of it thus far and I started getting angry about being in Japan while I did so.

I was angry because I feel isolated, as there are no Japanese students around right now and we don’t take classes with them anyway. I was angry because I have a hard time understanding Japanese when I hear it, and also that I don’t know enough kanji to read most of the things around me. I was angry that I can’t be online so often, where I can e-mail my American friends and my few Japanese friends, (rather than spending about $3 per minute on the phone) write my blog, find sheet music, and read the news. I really wanted to be home in the US where I could relax, not feel guilty for not being out with my Nanzan friends (who don’t seem interested in much but getting smashed or impersonating anime) or doing homework all the time, be warm (central heating makes you happy), and not be so tired.

Today is MartiGras. I’ve been thinking (as of today) about what I could give up. I could give up the internet (except e-mail), but I feel like it would be wrong to cut my contacts. I could give up sweets, but I want to try new things when I see them (maybe I’ll give up sweets that I’ve had before). I might give up listening to music (which I do sometimes when I write or do homework, though I haven’t touched my iPod since I got off my flight). I can’t give up TV because it’s always on in the house, but it wouldn’t be that much to give up anyway because every time a drama comes on, okaasan switches the TV to another news channel. Otherwise, there isn’t much to give up; I go to school, come home and do homework, eat dinner, use the internet, and go to bed.

I guess I’m just having a bad day.

When I got home, I didn’t do much before taking a hirune. I slept until dinner and when I came to the table, okaasan was worried because she thought I didn’t like the gyouza (Chinese dumplings) she had made. I told her that I I had taken a nap and had become very tired. She was worried that something was wrong at school or home, but I assured her there wasn’t. I don’t understand this though, I get a solid 8 hours, but I’m still tired. Like I said, okaasan made delicious gyouza for dinner with rice (:D) and miso (that had salmon and potatoes in it among other things). For dessert, we had strawberries and otousan’s valentine’s chocolate. I especially like the godiva orange rind in dark chocolate (surprisingly). During dessert, we watched the news since Hillary Clinton is in town. Apparently, we want to ally with Japan against North Korea (which has been abducting Japanese people). Okaasan said I have a long way to go to be sixty like Hillary and to take lots of vitamins so I can get there. Hillary clinton got to meet the empress. I want to do that....

February 16

This is another day-late entry, so I hope it’s accurate.

I missed my train by about a second today. When I got (finished running) to my platform, the train was just waiting, but the doors were closed, and in a few more seconds, it pulled away. I caught the next one and everything was fine, but I hate waiting.

In Japanese class today, we had our first of three assessments for the week. This one was the two-part chapter exam. It wasn’t too bad (I don’t think), but I’m guessing I made a few errors. After the test, we had Japanese class that was a bit different from normal. The three periods of class were adjusted around the test and our course sections were mixed, so I ended up moving to a new classroom with students from another section. It wasn’t too bad, but since Molly was no longer in my class, I didn’t have the guts to give the chocolate snack that was left over from Yoshi’s gift to Hanashiro Sensei as a Valentine’s day Joke. I ate it instead, and it was delicious.

Afterward, I had shodou class. We wrote kanji in script. Rather than making each stroke individually, we connected them and it was really artistic. I liked it a lot, though it is really hard to make a perfect work. I think I’m catching on to the technique though, and I’m finding I need to use as little ink as possible and a higher ink-to-water ratio.

Directly after shodou was history class. We were moving through the material so slowly that our professor postponed our mid-term by a week. Originally, it was supposed to be next week (the fifth class of about 14), which I thought was really early. I’m a bit worried about it though because the professor’s thought process is hard to follow and I’m not sure what he will ask on the exam. He assured us though that he would let us know more about the exam next week so we would be prepared. We’ll see....

Afterward, I went home (as always) and okaasan made dinner earlier than I had expected. We had chicken, potato, and mushroom soup as well as rice (yay!), miso soup, and salad. Okaasan commented that I had been in Japan for about a month and wanted to know if I was homesick. I said I was, and when she asked what for, I said I missed my family and friends. She thought this was crazy since I speak to them every day (according to her) online. She said that when she and otousan were in South Africa, they were the only people that spoke Japanese and that the only other people were natives and English people. They only communicated with Japan by letter and that their friends only phone once per year. She told me that people are spoiled now with the internet.

After dinner, we had a Japanese dessert. I can’t remember the name, but it’s a reddish-orange Japanese fruit about the size of an apricot. It’s dried and filled with chestnut paste (marzipan?) and it tastes like a sweet potato. It was very good, but unexpected.

February 15

I got up at about 9:00 today. I had hit the alarm and was getting ready to sleep again when I herd okaasan call. She wasn’t calling me, but I woke up anyway. It was probably for the best though because I was having another bad dream.

I spent two whole hours talking with my family and friends on skype today. I can’t believe how much I miss everyone. Afterward, I had nikumon with otousan and began studying for my Japanese exam on Monday (pretty evil after a week-long break).

When 2:00 rolled around, I went with Otousan to pick up okaasan from the chikatetsu eki to to to Asuke. Asuke is a (very old) neighborhood in Nagoya that is no longer a neighborhood, but a shopping district. It was particularly pretty and since hina matsuri is coming up, all of the shops have their doll sets on display. There are some that are about a hundred years old (as okaasan says), but most of them are in the same style. When we first got there, we stopped by the sake shop to litterally get two bottles filled and visit a bit with the shop owner. I was labeled the (kawai) atarashii hito. We walked around the village (where okaasan pointed out the yuubinkyoku and the ginko) before returning for the sake order. Okaasan and the owner exchanged jokes I could only half-understand and we had (tiny) tea before leaving.

I was really tired on the way back and when we did get home, my Japanese studies were interrupted twice by hirune. We had udon for dinner (I think it’s what okaasan makes when she doesn’t really want to cook) and it was delicious (of course). In the udon soup were tiny mushrooms, chicken, fried tofu (which is delicious, unlike uncooked tofu), leeks, and cabbage. There was also a kind of “seafood salad” that okaasan was worried I would not eat, but I told her I wanted to try it, so she gave some to me. It was tiny squid (about 2” long), wakame seaweed, and tiny mushrooms. I was worried a whole squid would feel bad to eat, but it was delicious! I was glad she gave me two, despite otousan suggesting it might be too much if I didn’t like it.

Dessert was mochi (oh no!). It was actually pretty good (probably because it was green tea flavored and filled with sweet bean paste) and I would eat it again if offered to me. Then again, if given a choice, I would probably choose something else.

Otousan seems to have a toothache, so he didn’t eat much at dinner. We talked about the leading woman politicians in America. He asked me who I liked the most out of Sarah Palen, Laura Bush, Condalisa Rice, Michelle Obama, and Hillary Clinton. I couldn’t come up with an honest answer, so I told him I didn’t know and that they were all politicians to me. Otousan seems to like Condalisa Rice and Hillary Clinton the most (for their knowledge) and Sarah Palen the least (for her lack thereof). I had a feeling that was the answer when I asked why he liked her least.

P.S. On the way to Asuke, I saw three of my five favorite cars in less than ten minutes; a Lotus, Stingray, and Miata. I think I also saw an rx-7 (or whichever is the miata-like one with the rounded pop-ups) and an old Mustang GT. I saw a second lotus on the way back.

February 14

Today was Valentine’s Day. I had completely overlooked it until about half of the way through the Tokyo trip, when I saw a sign advertising something for the day. After that, I forgot again until one of my friends told me online. I wonder if I should have gotten otousan chocolate.

I woke up really late (about 1:30). I was dreaming about being in my maternal grandparents’ house (which grew to epic proportions) with my childhood friend, Lisa, and her brother Andrew. I was practicing staff (Kung Fu) and (in the dream) checking my watch and phone for the time (to wake up). I dreampt that I slept until 3:00.

When I finally did get up, okaasan was in the kitchen finishing lunch and I made breakfast (slowly). She gave me one of the Tokyo bananas I had bought for her and otousan and ensured that they were delicious. I was too tired to say yokatta. Afterward, I talked to my parents, grandpa, and Andrew. I was really excited and happy to be able to (It seems like it’s been a long time). I had to get offline early though, because I was going to go with okaasan to the supaa, which turned out to be a supaa connected to a mall. Okaasan went in the Justco supaa and I explored the rest of the mall. There was a band (with a girl lead singer) in the middle of the mall and it was pretty cool, but I didn’t have my camera (because I had rushed out of the house). I also found a store that sells the exact same things as the stationary store in the Yagoto Justco (though it was disconnected from Justco). I wanted to try the icecream I saw at a place in the mall (it was surprisingly cheap) but I had to meet okaasan after her shopping. She asked me if I wanted to try something, but I said no, since I feel a bit strange eating in front of people and I didn’t want to hold her up any more. I had, of course, held her up before coming by having a hard time finding my socks.

When we got home, I realized I had forgotten to close the gate to the “garage” in my hurry and I felt like an idiot. I did lock the front door though, and okaasan seemed thankful that I helped her carry the groceries, so I think I’m not in trouble.

At home, okaasan let me use the internet before dinner (so I wouldn’t be up late using it) so I uploaded (all six albums of) my Tokyo pictures and talked more with Andrew. Okaasan also showed me the last host student’s pictures from Tokyo (they were on her computer because the student didn’t bring their own to Japan) and I felt a bit bad because my eye is not so skilled for photography. We also watched a program on TV about butterflies flocking in Mexico and okaasan thought it was a bit disturbing (kimochi warui) but I thought it was beautiful. She said that in South Africa, the same kind of thing happened (but on the roads) so when you drove a car, they would flock in mass to the sky. She said it was something she would never forget. I watched TV and used the internet so long that it was time for dinner before I noticed.

Okaasan made a very special (and big) dinner. First of all, she made (a Nagoya specialty of) chicken wings. Otousan thought they were considered scraps in the US, but I assured them they were a specialty in Buffalo, NY. He also informed me of the plane crash in Buffalo and the collision of a US cellular satellite with a Russian one. I really need to read the paper now that I’m not in the US. We also had oyster, broccoli, and mushroom tenpura (irresistible!). There was delicious gohan (of course), miso, and avacado and chicken salad (yum!). Okaasan finished fast, Otousan ate little (because it’s the weekend and he drinks sake then), and I was left with lots of food to finish (as well as multiple helpings that ryoushin continued to offer).

We had a really nice meal (outside of the delicious food) in that we talked a lot (and laughed a lot). Mainly, we talked about where I went in Tokyo and previous host students. Okaasan asked if I had met interesting people in Akihabara. Otousan told me it was alright to have friends (explicitly limited to ones who are girls) stay overnight. Okaasan and otousan said they prefered hosting girls over boys because they are more mature, and told me about a French boy who was especially hard to host. Along the way, okaasan kept whying to otousan to eat faster (since he eats slowly with sake), not to drink so much, and so on. It was pretty funny (I could tell Otousan was getting a kick out of baiting her too) but in good humor.

After dinner, okaasan brought out otousan’s valentine’s chocolate. He’s pretty popular; he got three boxes of chocolates (one of which was Godiva). He asked about Valentine’s day in the US, and I told him, that contrary to the Japanese tradition, guys bought things for girls. He asked what the girls would do, and I could only come up with “they don’t do anything.” He thought it was pretty funny.

In case you don’t know; in Japan, on Valentine’s day (Red Day), girls usually buy chocolate for guys. This seems a bit backward, but girls get a return one month later on White Day, when guys are supposed to buy things for the girls who gave them chocolate.

Eating dessert was interesting. Otousan got chocolate-dipped candied lemon and orange rinds along with his godivas. I was offered a Godiva, lemon rind, and the Tokyo banana that okaasan gave me at breakfast (a time at which I didn’t feel I had the ability to eat sweets). The Tokyo Banana resembles a crooked twinky, but in the middle is what I mistaken for an actual banana slice. It’s custard, but tastes like real bananas (which it is probably made from). Otousan said the orange rind (I think) was mazukatta. I don’t think ryoushin thought I could understand. I found it funny along with the other conversation of the evening. Otousan invited me to go with okaasan after her work at the gaikokujin center to see their granddaughter’s hinamatsuri. I am so excited. :D

Even the weather was nice today; I didn’t need to turn on the heater except around shower time and when I left the house with okaasan, I didn’t bring a coat.

It was a really nice day today. (:

February 13

Today was the last day in Tokyo. We got off to a semi-late start around 10:00 am. After all of us got out the door and found both of the room keys (one was lost in a bag) we headed off for Asukusa. It was a bit of a trip, but we finally got there and it was a beautiful place. There is a huge buddhist shrine surrounded by a traditional park and many smaller shrines, as well as a giant pagoda. At the entrance, there was a long line of shops (selling traditional Japanese toys) that we visited later. Inside the temple grounds were a few significant items. The first was a giant covered pot emitting smoke. People come by, breathe in the smoke, and pray. There is also a fountain with ladles around it. You are supposed to clean your hands (and mouth) with the water before entering the shrine. Another part of the shrine is the omikuji; you pay a small fee, put your hand in a box, and pull out a paper that will say bad, good, or very good, indicating your fortune. You are then supposed to roll up the paper and tie it to a wire in the shrine. Another similar item is a cylindrical box of small bamboo sticks. You shake the cylinder until one stick stands out from the rest and it will tell your fortune. There was also a koi pond. It was a really beautiful area and I wish we had more time to explore, but we didn’t since we would have to catch our bus today (after returning to the hostle to pick up our bags and going back toward Tokyo. Ana and Mandy left before us to catch their earlier bus (as they had earlier last trains to catch when they got back to Nagoya).

Molly’s friend, Yoshi, met the remaining three of us at Asukusa after lunch (of cheap but delicious tenpura udon). He brought us chocolate pies and hashi as parting gifts. We tried to show our gratitude by buying him a donut from Mister Donut (expensive but delicious) but he wouldn’t accept. Soon after, we had to go, so we went to the hostel to retrieve our bags. We had our picture taken by the nice receptionist and signed the guestbook. When we finally left and arrived at the eki, we saw the real tokyo bananas (the cakes Yoshi said would make good gifts for our host families). Unfortunately, we had been tricked into buying (relatively expensive) knock-offs around the shrine earlier that day, and decided to do the respectable thing; we bought the real banana cakes for our families and kept the fakes for ourselves.

At the bus stop, we had a long (and sad) goodbye with Yoshi. We tried to get him to come with us by getting in the baggage compartment, but it couldn’t be done. On the bus, Dan, Molly, and I (all swindled at the shrine) pulled out our fake banana cakes and toasted to a successful trip to Tokyo. Despite it being Friday, the 13th, it did not rain and we did not miss our bus (thanks to Yoshi). The bus trip, in fact, was fairly short, and when we did make it to Nagoya eki, I was able to board my train by 11:00, long before the last bus.

The ride was long, and I was completely exhausted when I got home. I was worried I would scare my host family by being home, since they weren’t around when I got there. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and I gave the (real) Tokyo bananas to okaasan.

February 12

I woke up at 7:00am today for my interview. I was supposed to get a call at 7:15, but no one called until around 7:30, so I was getting a bit worried. In between, I fell back to sleep (because I was so exhausted from staying up to check my facts). The pone finally did ring though, and I had my interview with three members of the Rice University staff. I’m still kicking myself for falling back to sleep and not being well-rested for the interview. The questions included; introduce yourself, why did you apply to nanotech, what are your goals (clarified to pertain to my career), what are you doing/why in Japan, what have you learned about Japanese thinking and how might it apply to the lab, and at the end of your semester, might you want to return home? I screwed up a lot with vagueness and probably the last question’s answer, which was “It is possible, but I have only been here (in Japan) for a month, so I would not lie to give a definite answer.” I felt so crappy afterward, that I just went to sleep and left it up to everyone else to wake up.

That was a horrible idea, because we woke up at 11:00 (one hour before the ticket time for the Ghibli museum). This, of course, was the commute time alone (15 minutes greater than expected) and with everyone’s slowness (I’m really frustrated with how much my travel companions dawdle) we showed up one hour after the ticket time. Along the way, we had to decide wheather to ride the bus (or walk to save 200en) for the last leg of the commute. Since everyone had shown a lack of decisiveness, I made the executie decision to walk, at which point I was confronted with “When someone voices a concern, you don’t say ‘Let’s go this way,’ you say ‘Oh, okay’” from one of my trave mates. There was a voice of cern with the added time walking woudl batke, but no one had said “let’s take the bus,” an there was a previous comment of “we’re going to be late anyway,” on the table, so I was a bit taken aback by the defensive proclamation. I was really concerned because the website stated explicitely that you were supposed to appear within a half-hour of the ticket time, that changes would not be made, and (of course) I had paid already for all (5000en) fo the tickets, whether we oculd use them or not.

In the end, we did ride the bus to the museum. Wehen we got there, the ticket man was rather unhappy that our tickets were out of date (time) and asked us a couple of times why we were late. I explained that we had gotten a bit lost (whcih is pretty much true) and that we were staying far away. Eventually, he told us that “this time,” it was alright, but gave us the impression taht if we weren’t foreigners (and hadn’t been albe to speak any Japanese) we would be out of luck.

When we were finally admitted into the museum though, all of the crappiness of the day lifted. The Ghibli museum sia wonderful place (except for that clause about not being able to take pictures inside). There are three stories of intriguing thigns and the museum itself is like the inside of Hal’s moving castle. There is a (very narrow) spiral starcase, elevators that look like they’re from a Miyazaki film, stained-glass windows with his characters in them, small archways to duck under before coming onto indoor balconies, and a bridge on the third floor over the interior of the house. On the first floor, there is a room with beautiful displays. Some are multiple sheets of glass with paintings on them to look like 3-D paintings. There are models of characters in successive poses that spin with a strobe light on them so that it looks like they’re moving. There is a robot in a tube with birds on it that spins and gives the illusion of the birds flying (similar to the models). There is also a film reel with the machine and tons of gears.

On the second floor is Miyazaki’s work rooms. There are hundreds of paintings and sketches from various movies all over the walls, what looks like a work desk (complete with spent colored pencils, peanuts, and unfinished storyboard columns) and a library (with books, shop tools, models of airships, and other objects that make it look like a work place). It seems Miyazaki’s home is as detailed and intriguing as his complex drawings of the inside of Hal’s castle or the witch’s home in Spirited Away. He seems to work a lot with mechanical items too. There was a piece on the wall to the workroom that looks like an airship with four robots pedaling, all moving together by way of gears.

There is also a “Petite Louvre” with reproductions of famous renaissance paintings. Inside, there is also a tiny model of what looks like an old European town and a fake well, complete with dripping water inside and a television (showing reflecting water) inside.

The third floor holds the gift shop, which, as planned, sells museum quality (and priced) items. I didn’t buy anything because I couldn’t find anything I wanted (that I couldn’t get cheaper elsewhere). That floor also held the cat bus (which is large enough for children to play in (It’s even encouraged).

Outside the third floor (on a balcony) was a larger outdoor spiral staircase to the roof. There were benches that looked like fish and made chiming noises when you turned a crank where the eye should be, as well as an iron water fountain. The main attraction though was the 15-ish foot robot on the roof.

After we had seen everything, we went to the movie room (on the first floor) to watch an original short about a water spider and a skipping water bug. It is amazing how Miyazaki can take something so mundane and, without the use of words, give personalities, emotions, intrigue, and beauty to everything. The movie was short, but told the story of a spider who meets a mosquito and saves it from being eaten by a fish, then a crawfish, and makes friends with it, only to be separated in the end. Everything was beautiful; the sound effects and orchestral compositions were perfect, and the representation of water and air bubbles is unparalleled in animated rendition. Even the simplest of organisms are presented and play important roles.

Eventually though, everyone became hungry (we didn’t have time for breakfast) and we went in search of food around 4:00. We walked back the way the bus had come and split off to find food. Three of us ate at the same restaurant we ate at the last night (Yoshinoya), and I went with one other to search for something more Japanese. We walked up and down the strip only to come back to the corner our travel mates were eating on. We did find a restaurant nearby that had (a bit) more selection, but it turned out to be essentially the same. We were able to get tuna though instead of bacon and I helped increase my tolerance for wasabi by using an entire packet for my bowl of tuna, nori, and rice. The tuna resembled a hamburger steak (uncooked) though, so I added a bit of soy sauce too.

Afterward, we headed back to Ueno to meet Yoshi to go to Ameyoko. We weren’t sure exactly where he was, so we had Dan in the middle of the train station waving his arms like a crazy person until Yoshi arrived (and walked past him without noticing). The funny thing was; no one else noticed either.

Ameyoko turned out to be like Osu, but smaller. We ran into the guy who used to room with my travel buddies (weird). We didn’t spend much time there though, before heading back to the hostel (for another night of karaoke). Before we left though, I hopped in a gundam pod. This one’s for you, Jean-Karlo.

When we got back, we spent a ton of time talking (of course) and went to dinner (sort of). We went to the vending machine restaurant again and I (inadvertently) ordered the same thing as yesterday. After we had finished (but before we left) the Australians came to take us to karaoke (by putting their faces on the windows and yelling). Yoshi split to catch his last train home and I left for the hostel (not wanting to spend any more money). After a while of being at the hostel, I received a call from Dan’s phone from a (drunk) Australian proclaiming that they wouldn’t start until I came, but I deferred on the count that I didn’t drink and didn’t want to spend the money). I think he lost interest in the argument, so he turned the phone over to Dan.

I am learning about myself from my experiences; I need my alone time, I don’t like indecisiveness, and I like to move at a fast pace to get to the things I’m interested in so I can spend the majority of my time enjoying those interests.

February 11

Today, we went to Harajuku and Shibuya. I was rather disappointed by Harajuku. We got a late start and had to wait for Dan’s friend, Ryan for quite a while after arriving there. I did see a lot of Harajuku girls though, so many I could not take many of their pictures (though the crowds did not help). Harajuku (or at least the part we saw) was like Osu but with more gothic lolita choices. I went into Body line (the super-cute, over-the-top gothic lolita store). They were running a sale (no way!) and I found a fancy jacket that was cheap and that I wanted, but there was a no-try-on’s-before-you-by policy, so I was heartbroken.

Afterward, we got crépes (filled with whipped cream and nowhere as good as French ones (with nutella) and made our way to Shibuya. It wasn’t very exciting (to shop in) but it was the big city district, so it was interesting by other measures. There’s some atmosphere to an area with so many people and such big buildings plastered with moving advertisements. We saw my first (and second) hummer in Japan, and the giant Audi building. We went into the Japanese equivalent of Wal-Mart, called Don Quixote. It’s four or five stories of basically junk and locked cases of (what could be) designer items (or knock-offs). It’s like a bad dream (or a Chinese knock-off sore) and there are so many narrow aisles and overstocked shelves that I wouldn’t be surprised if tons of things are lifted every day. Aftereard, we visited a seven-story soccer shop and rode the elevator to the stockroom and back because there are no elevator restrictions. We wondered how the place could stay open with such overpriced merchandise and few customers. We think it is the headquarters for the corporate side of the Japanese football team (who was playing Australia tonight).

For dinner, we went to Dan’s usual restaurant where he eats dinner with salarymen every night. There are three items on the menu; beef bacon over rice, pork bacon over rice, or rice with a slice of fish. It was more basic than Chinese food in the US, but I ordered there anyway since all of my travel companions were eating there.

Throughout the evening, we were all very tired (we hadn’t recovered from our 4-am crash) and we decided to call it a night. At the train station, a Japanese man with a metal briefcase approached us, asked us if we were alright (I assume he meant for directions) and asked for 500en. I wasn’t going to give it to him, but Dan and Amy gave him 200en and he bowed (on his knees), bowed again (standing) after accepting it with bandaged hands, and walked (at a running pace) away. We speculated about his situation and the two biggest theories are that he is either homeless or owes money to the Yakuza.

When we finally got back, I bouht some (imitation) donuts at the konbini and spent the evening online re-reading abut nanotechnology to be ready for my interview in the morning. I think I got to bed around one, which turned out to be a bad idea.