Kamakura

Me, Sachiko, and Erika at Hachimangu temple

Me and a DANGER SIGN!!!

Me and Little Buddha

Me and BIG Buddha

Hello Everyone!

Yesterdays journey was a day trip to Kamakura, about an hour outside of Tokyo. Basically, it is the coolest place ever! All us exchange students, our Japanese buddies, and our Program coordinators all piled on to the trains (we took up and entire car!!) to visit temples, shrines, and other attractions of history packed Kamakura.

First, we went a little past Kamakura (but it is still in Kamakura...I am not really sure how it works) to Hase where we visited what I think is one of the coolest things I have ever seen...the Daibutsu!! (Dai=big, butsu=buddha). I read in my book that it was big, but I did not realize how massive it was until I was standing right next to it. You can even go inside!!! SO COOL. In all Japanese temples, they have charm shops (for protection agains car crashes, help with studying, etc.) and I bought 2 daibutsu ones! First, I got a daibutsu phone strap, and then one for strong legs.

We then visited another nearby temple that was just as cool. Inside they had the 11 headed Kannon, and a cool cave with old statues in it. I think I always amuse the Japanese people with how excited I get around old things. Next, we had lunch on the beach! I was standing on the other side of the Pacific for awhile!!! Because it was a really hot day, there were lots of surfers, windsurfers, and body surfers. I wanted to go!!! We even saw a dead puffer-fish (the poisionous kind!!!).

After lunch, we split up into 2 groups-one group went to the island Enoshima, and we went further into Kamakura to some awesome history packed shrines. One was in a cool bamboo forest, the other on a hill. Very exciting!

We then walked about the shopping street, and I bought these really good pancake/bean sandwiches that was basically amazing. We also looked inside another totoro shop (very popular) and ate some sweet natto dish. We had dinner at one of those sushi places where the sushi rotates on a conveyer belt and you pick up the ones you want. All the sushi is on different color plates indicating different prices. After dinner, we took the train home.

On some more fun notes, my host mom watches Prison Break! So prison break night is now thursday. (although they are a season behind).

Also, my class results are in. I am taking Japanese Language, Japanese Art History, and Japanese History. See a theme?

Tonight, we are going to see a fireworks show in Chofu, 30 minutes away by bike. I can't wait!!!

Also, because there are actually more pictures I would like to put up, and when school starts I probably wont have any cool pictures, I might just put up old pictures I think are cool. :)

Love you all!

Health Check and Ikebukuro

Me at Sunshine City with Hello Kitty and Totoro

Today we were required to get a health check so we could use the gym at the school. I imagined we would just have to get our height, weight, and eyesight checked, but in reality it was much more aweful.

First, we had to do a urine test. This made no sense to me, because it is not like they followed you to make sure your pee was your pee. So basically, I have no idea what it was for. And, for some reason, I failed!!! There MUST be something wrong if I failed the test. Apparently, I has too much protein or something...So I have to go back later and do it again. They said I either had a serious kidney disease or I was a little tired. (?) Riff Raff!!!! Also, the pee handlers wore no gloves or anything...kind of unsanitary....

Next, we did an eyesight test. They gave us this paper that explained the procedure, which included turning a triangle to make it turn in the direction of an open circle...We were all confused by the Engrish instructions. When we got up there, it was a basic test where you tell them which way the E was pointing. I have no idea WHAT they were going on about.

After that we did the standard height, weight, blood pressure, but then we had to do a chest xray!!!! This was aweful, we had to get in a van, remove our bras, and stand in front of this machine (no lead protection....) I never thought I'd say this, but I miss American physicals.

When this was finally done (nearly 2 hours later) a goup of us went to explore Ikebukuro, which is just north of our school. There, we went to Sunshine City, which, beleive it or not, used to be the prison for the class A war criminals after WWII, but now is a GIGANTIC shopping mall. We saw a bunch or shops (one was even dedicated to Totoro), but it was all way to expensive.

I took a page out of Sonya's book and bought Harry Potter in Japanese. I know it will take me an hour to read a page, but it will be good practice. :)

Harajuku (again!) and Shinjuku

Me at Shinjuku in front of a big TV
Me at the enterance of the shrine
The Group at the enterance

Hello all! Today I did more sightseeing...big surprise. We had a short orientation (I think it was the last one) and then, as a big group, went to Harajuku to explore some more. We walked amoung all the shops (I bought a crepe!) and I finally saw some of those weird cosplaying people.

After the shops, we went to the Meiji Jingu and explored the temple their. It was very pretty, and their were a lot less people than there were at Asakusa!!! I was very pleasant and I stopped to take pictures about a million times! There was even a women there posing in a traditional kimono...it was very cool!

Then, (now a much smaller group) we went to a store called "Book off." Basically, it is like Powells, only there are more than one. They have very cheap books, and I bought some manga.:) They even had nintendo DS's for very cheap! I will have to go back soon!!!!

After that, we went shortly to Shinjuku. There, we played crane games and went to a "Don Quixote" store, which sells just about everything you can think of.

By the way, since I can use the internet on my phone, I can read emails anywhere. therefore, you all should email me! Otherwise, the train can be pretty boring...so if you have any news, email my gmail at majaye@gmail.com

Asakusa, Ueno, Japanese Test, Mushi Kingu and more!

Me and Asuka at the Zoo

Me at Asakusa

The Tokyo tour at the Museum

My cell phone

Sorry that it has been awhile...I think that when I move to the room upstairs I have an internet cable to myself, but I am not sure. If this is the case, there will be more posts!

I have been doing a lot since my last post! Today is the first afternoon I have had off in awhile! It has been non-stop events!

After a long and complicated process, I finally got a cell phone. Talking about cell phones in Japanese was challenging for me, but luckily one of the Waseda students was there to help us out. My phone (as you can see from the picture above) is basically the most technically advanced thing I have ever owned. AND....it was the cheapest phone (ZERO yen) and dubbed the "old person" phone by one of my Japan savvy school mates. Let me tell you what it does:

• Goes on the internet


• Takes pictures (with a better "resolution?" than most cameras


• Takes movies


• Sends email (text messaging...kind of)


• Can automatically send and recieve other peoples phone # and emails by touching the phones


• Can give directions when lost (navigator?) I can also see where other people in my phone book are in Tokyo


• Rape alarm (not that it is a problem where I live)


• Japanese-English, English Japanese, Japanese, and Katakana dictionary


• Chat feature
  
  

And I am sure it does much more, i just dont know how to use it. And my monthly bill will be lower than the plan I had in the US. Cool, huh?

Enough of the technobabble- here is what I have been up to:

On Sunday, Asuka and I went to Asakusa and Ueno Zoo, which was SOOOO much fun. Asakusa, as Asuka explained it, is THE most popular shrine in Tokyo. Because it was a holiday, there were a ton of people there, but it was worth the crowds. The enterance is marked by a big red lantern, and then you head down a long path with tons of shops before you arrive at the shrine. At the shrine itself, you can pay 100 yen to get a fourtune. If the fortune is bad, you tie it to these metal tree like things. My fortune was Okay, so at the new year I have to go back and burn it.

Then, Asuka and I went into the shrine and threw a 5 yen coin in and "prayed" (I am not sure what exactly we were doing). After this, we headed to Ueno to visit the zoo. The zoo itself was built in about 1882 so it is very old, but all the attractions and cages were well constucted and good homes for the animals (I think Nina would approve!) They had every animal imaginable, and it was fun to visit the gift shop (which had every cute thing imagineable!!!!!!!)

On Monday, we went on a Tokyo tour with our Waseda buddies. So, we split off into different groups and toured specific areas. My buddy knows I like history, so we (plus Su and 5 other Waseda students) went back to Ueno to visit the National Museum, which was basically the coolest place I have ever been. However, I dont think the others in our group were having as good of a time as me (when we got to the China section I was running around frantically looking at everything). We didnt have enough time to see the whole thing, so I am definately go back later and make an entire day of it. I might have to go alone, because I think the only person who would spend the day there with me is Sonya, and shes in Argentina.

Next, we went to Su's place of choice, Harajuku. Basically, if you dont know, this place is known for expensive shopping and people who cosplay in public. Although I didn't see any cosplayers (I guess they come out on Sunday) I saw a lot of expensive clothes. We also visited a store called "Kiddy Palace" where they had every cute thing imaginable. It was very fun!

After this, all the groups met up and we went to a "Shabu Shabu" restaurant. Basically, you have raw meat and veggies that you dip in a nearly boiling pot of water at your table and then eat it. Although it was a bit expensive, it was very delicious.

I dont know if I said so before, but I had to take a Japanese placement test to determine what class I was to take. I scored surprisingly high (most of my peers were a level lower than me...) so I am a little worried that it will be a little hard. We'll see....I also signed up for classes, although I wont know for sure what class I am in until next week.

Tsuki-chan really enjoys this anime called Mushi Kingu (insect king) and watches it constantly. Basically, it is the next thing in Japan (on the level of pokemon. There is also the prequal Kyoryu Kingu, dinosaur king, which he watched also). In addition to live bugs, he also has several mushi kingu bug action figures. I played with him one evening, and we have become friends! While he had 5 mushi kingu to my one, it was very fun. He was also quite impressed with my card tricks (especially the one Megan taught me!) and decided to try one himself. Basically, he showed me a white plastic airplane, and then made me close my eyes (for about 5 minutes!) when I opened them, he had colored the place blue with a marker! (it was so cute, he even had the marker all over his hands!).

I have yet to take a picture of the family, but I promise to take one soon!

Thats all for now!

Host Family and Fun

In the Okuma Garden, On campus. Notice the fish!!!
Me and the Waseda Bear- the mascot of waseda
The Koshi house, where I now live.

Sorry this post took so long to create! On my form, it said to use the Internet at school, so I couldn't use it in the house. But I told my host mom I was leaving early for school for the computer, so she said I could use their line! These last couple of days have been super busy, so there is probably a lot to write.

.

The day of meeting our host families, the Waseda students took us around campus again. We had lunch and then headed toward the building where we meet our families. Earlier, we had to write a short speech for the introduction period. I was nervous and thought I would forget the order of saying things, so I wrote the main order on my hand (to everyones amusement later)...Then, they made us go into the room one by one to meet the families. Only my host dad ("papa") was there, because the mom (mama) and child (Tsuki-chan) were in Taiwan for a kimono show (I am pretty sure she is a student of making kimono...). After all the introductions, I left with papa to his car, were we drove to his house, which was roughly 20 minutes away.

.

There, because his wife was not there, we ordered pizza from pizza hut-yes, more pizza. This one, I think, had squid tentacles on it, I am not sure. Then, as papa had explained in the car but I didn't quite understand, Tomick (sp) their Polish exchange students for only a few more weeks, came in. His English is very good, so we talked a little bit. Until he leaves, I sleep in the Tatami room. Then we went to pick up mother and child-who seemed to have had a good time. We all came back and went to sleep.

.

The next day, mama took me to the school on the trains (my route is pretty uncomplicated...I only change trains once) but I have no experience riding public trains. Because we went in the morning rush hour, it was very crowded...you see those crowded trains where the conductors are literally pushing people in in pictures, but maybe I thought it didn't quite happen to that extent. However, this is exactly how it was-it was crazy! Luckily, there are women only cars, so I don't have to worry about perverts (which I guess is a big problem on the trains).

.

From the train station, I was on my own to get to school. I made it with about 5 minutes to spare for the Japanese placement test. Originally, i was scared that if I didn't get a certain score I could not complete my Japanese major, but it turns out that you get credit for the next year you were supposed to enter regardless, so now I dont care what level I get into.

.

I rode the trains back with my friend Su, who takes the same train before I switch. It was nice to have her there, because I certainly would have gotten lost. But now I have ridden the trains twice, so I think from now on I will have not problems.

.

I had told my papa that I liked curry a lot, so when I got home we had a curry dinner. It was very delicious! Now I was able to get to know the family better. Because my family is very young, they have a more modern approach to things, and are very busy. Mama seems to like prada a lot, for I have seen several prada items. Her english is quite good, so if I don't understand something, she will explain to me in English. Also, if I don't know a word, I can give it to her in English and she will tell me the word in Japanese.

.

Papa, as I told you, is a fireman, and sometimes has to work 24 hour shifts! He is very funny, and only speaks Japanese. We had a fun time at the city office trying to acquire my alien registration form, which is too difficult and complex for me to really understand in Japanese. We have a good time trying to communicate, though.

.

Tsuki-chan is still a little afraid of me, but I think he is warming up. He watches a lot of anime, especially ones with bugs and dinosaurs (he has some of those kabuto bugs in the house, and I was just told he found a mantis outside). He is a very energetic child, and could be compared to a monkey, because he climbs and rolls around a lot.

.

Because the family is young and modern, they use very casual speech. They want me to use casual speech with them too. I learned very little casual speech at school, so now I am having a crash course. I understand more and more everyday, so soon, hopefully, I will be able to survive in Japan.

.

Today, I go to get my cell phone, have ANOTHER orientation, and will go to nomi-kai with the Waseda students. (nomi-kai is a traditional Japanese drinking party...) So, stay tuned!

Orientation: Day Two

The pizza I ate-yes, that is corn!
The drink book-the hearts are how dangerous the drink is!

Our orientation session today centered around our host families and their expectations, ect. It was kind of long..so I will not go in to it here.

.

Next, the Waseda students took us on a LONG tour of the campus-I will be lucky if I can remember any buildings at all. They also took us to a cell phone shop so we could get cell phone information and forms (We need our alien registration cards before we can get one). Having cell phones explained to me in Japanese was very confusing...I am not sure I would even understand in English. But the Waseda students helped us fill out the forms. We had some delicious Indian food for lunch, and then headed back to the hotel to rest.

Su and I were accompanied by 2 students where I taught them all "Great Dalmuti"...a card game that is unfortunately very hard to explain in Japanese. They thought the levels of power you can have in the game very exciting.

Afterwards, we went for a pizza dinner at a nearby restaurant. Now you may think pizza in Japan wouldn't be very good, but it was probably the best pizza I have ever had. It had some weird toppings, but it was very good.

After dinner, we were given information of the hostfamilies we were to meet tomorrow. My family, the Koshi family:

Mom: Kiyoko, 32--homemaker and part time student

Dad: Yoshikazu, 42--fireman!

Brother: Taigetsu, 5--Kindergardener. Under hobbies, he listed "dinosaur." :)

I meet my host family today at 1:00pm!! (or 13:00...) I am so excited!!!

After the restaurant, the Waseda students took us to a British style pub. Drinking is VERY popular in Japan!!! In our orientation booklet, the gave us information on how to perform their form of shots correctly...very strange. I took a picture of one of the pages on the menu- the hearts you see are how dangerous the drink is...I have never been to a bar in America, so I do not know if we do this too, but I thought it was pretty funny. :) Also, they had a scary looking mystery drink....very strange. In addition, it is illeagal to encourage someone to drink. In the US, we often chant "drink, drink!" but that is not ok here, especially if that drunk person gets hurt. (the blame falls on you!)

Orientation: Day One

A coca cola add...notice the samurai's hair.

Me and Su at the shrine

Me and the Okuma Shigenobu statue on campus. Yes, I am wearing a skirt! It was 90 F...No pants for me!

Today was day one of orientation. Our day began with an early interview (mine was at 8:00am!) concerning our host families. I think it went pretty well.....I hope. Then, we met some Waseda student volunteers who took us to campus for our orientation class. Overall it was pretty boring...mostly I learned things I already knew. We also watched a funny informative video about customs of Japan which was pretty humorous. (The actors were way melodramatic and messed up simple things). "Yes, the water is safe to drink in Japan!"

.

After orientation, the Waseda students took us to lunch, where we ate soba. I made the mistake of ordering hot soba (noodles, basically) when it is about 34 degrees Celsius (aka, about 100 degrees F). Then, the students took us to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building where we went up 45 stories to see the view of Tokyo from high up. I knew Tokyo was big, but I didn't appreciate how big until I could see the 360 degree view of city.

After that, we ate dinner in a traditional Japanese restaurant where we had to sit on the floor on pillows and everything! My feet fell asleep after just five minutes...It really makes you appreciate chairs. We ate MORE soba (cold this time) and a crab/rice/shrimp dish that was pretty good.

.

By the way, whoever said the Japanese eat small portions was wrong. At every meal I seem to have way more than I can eat! I even when to great effort to shrink my stomach before I came, but it turns out I didn't need to. All the food is really delicious, however, and I have yet to have something I do not like.

.

The Waseda students also took us to a small shrine, where we put coins in a box and made a wish. It was cool because everyone in the shrine was wearing traditional clothes, which looked pretty cool.

.

Toward the beginning of the day, I had a difficult time talking to the Japanese students. They all speak very fast and very casually so it is very hard to follow along. Its hard to join a conversation if you have no idea what it is about! However, as the day went on, I became more comfortable and understood more. It was also easier if I started the conversations, because then I know the conversation's topic. I also decided to stop making my Japanese sound so perfect (which was causing me to take forever to form a sentence) and just winged it. This worked well!!

.

Asuka's help also made the transition easier for me. Asuka gave me a suica card (which is basically a charge card to use on the trains) so I don't have to buy individual tickets everytime I use the train (which will be a lot!!!). The waseda students were pretty impressed that I had one. Also, Tokyo Disneyland proved to be a good conversation topic! Thanks again Asuka, I am forever in your debt!

Stay tuned for day 2 of orientation. :)

Goobye Asuka!

My hotel room with all my luggage!

My lunch, Mrs. Makise's (Asuka's Mom) delicious ramen.

Today I have arrived at the Hotel Sunroute, the location of my orientation. Tomorrow at 7:00am I have my interview for my host family and then a tour of the Waseda campus.

Asuka took me 1 1/2 hours by train to the Takanobaba station where my hotel and campus are located. It was tough with all my luggage (especially since we had to switch trains in Tokyo station, which is the most busy) but we managed pretty well. When we went inside the hotel, we learned that we were not allowed to leave! This was bad, because Asuka wanted to show me some of the hot spots to go. We thought this was dumb, so we left anyways with my roommate Su-en in tow. She took us to a 100 Yen store and a local cafe where I had a green tea chocolate muffin.

Of particular note, I watched some fun Japanese game shows at Asuka's. One, as far as I could tell, involved teams guessing how much several women's plastic surgery cost. In another, contestants guessed what stroke order certain characters were written. Very strange!

Thanks for all the fun comments, and I will try to write tomorrow!

Tokyo Disneyland and Arcade Game Convention!

Me in Toon Town and on the spinning teacup ride.

The prizes Asuka and I won.

On Friday, Asuka took me to Tokyo Disneyland! Although it was a little crowded (and by little, I mean a lot) we went on over 20 rides! It was like 90 degrees (I think, everything here is in Celsius) and we fought our way through the crowds to attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean (I enjoyed this one because it was in a cold cavern), Thunder Mountain, and Pooh's Honey Hunt.

Because　it　is　so　near　Halloween,　there　everyone　was　dressed　up　as　Disney　characters　and　all　the　attractions had Halloween decorations. Asuka told me that Halloween was not a big deal until 3 years ago, so I guess they are making up for lost time. We stayed the entire day (about 13 hours!) and by the time we were finished we were exhausted.

The next day We met up with Asuka’s friend Yagi (a nickname combining her first and last name, it means ‘goat’) and went to a new arcade game convention. For free, we were allowed to test out all the up and coming arcade games, which included mostly crane games.

Of particular note, I was able test out Tekken 6!!!!! For those who care, it is very fun and packed with new characters (who seem to be very strong!) Asuka and I were the only girls in line for this, which was pretty amusing. I can’t wait for it to come to the US!

Tomorrow I go and meet up with the rest of the students on exchange. This should be fun as I have to take all my luggage 1 1/2 hours by train! Stay tuned!

I'm Here!!!!

こにちは！

So I have finally arrived in Japan after literally an entire day of flight. I left Alaska Monday night and arrived Wednesday night! When I exited the plane the very first thing I noticed was the humidity of the air! I cannot imagine how it will be when it begins to get cold!

My Japanese friend Asuka's Mom met a sleepy/confused me atthe airport and we traveled by bus to their beautiful condo. Asuka arrived shortly after from her part time job and we had a delicious Japanese dinner of rice, chicken, sushi, and sashimi (raw fish).

The next day Asuka took me around her town Urayasu. She took me on the trains where she tought me how to ride them...it is a very high tech process! You simply tap a card over a sensor (there are no blockades to get to the trains...its all honor system as far as I know) and hand out on a platform where your train will literally come just as you get up there.

We took the train one stop to this amazing mall close to Tokyo Disneyland (which we will visit tomorrow!) and shopped in the shops and had a ramen lunch. Next, we visited an aquarium that not only had fish, but sharks, penguins, and puffins! It was very classy...they even had people waiting at the bottom of escalators to welcome you!

After the aquarium, Asuka took me to a Karaoke place where I relearned what an aweful singer I am...But Asuka could seriously be a singer! It was cool because they had an English music section where I sang songs like "Hotel California" (for you, Megan!) and various Beatles songs. I am suprised these places have not caught on in America!

We then went to an arcade where I failed at various Japanese games...it was kind of sad. Asuka and I did get "print club" photos that turned out very nice! These machines are so advanced I bet you could get a decent senior photo out of it!

As it was about 6:00 when we were done here, we headed home for another delicious dinner. I have never tasted such delicious food in my life!

So far, my Japanese has been terrible-everyone speaks so quickly and I have trouble following along. If I was not with Asuka, I would be having some serious trouble! Hopefully soon I will be able to understand/speak better soon...

On Sunday I begin Orientation for my program and next Wednesday I meet my host family. Everyone is so nice in Japan, I don't think I will have any problems. Wish me luck!!!!

I hope everyone is doing well!

Pictures: 1.Me next to a water fountain near the aquarium

2. Asuka with a plastic fish at the aquarium

3. Me and a stuffed penguin at the gift shop