DisneySea, Birthdays, and Volleyball

Me and Daisey Duck. Some cute little girl drew her a picture and gave it to her. Adorable!

Hey all! Hope everything is going well. :) I have been up to quite a bit, so here it goes!

I don't think I wrote about it in the blog before, but my host Dad invited me and some friends to a "bonenkai" (forgetting the year party) at the end of last December with his firemen (and women) buddies. It was a big hit with everyone, so be decided to have a "shinenkai" (New Years party).

My host Dad's friends really seem to enjoy mingling with us Americans, and it is nice because we can practice our Japanese. First, we started out at a restaurant in Ebisu where we dined on Peking Duck (delicious) and other delicious treats. When everyone is sufficiently drunk, (except me of course :P) we head out to karaoke. I swear, everyone in Japan is pretty much an awesome singer! It was a very good time.

Over the next couple of days I went to several birthday parties which were all very fun. One was for someone in our group, and the other for a Japanese girl. Both of the parties were for people turning 21, so they were sufficiently crazy. We all had a good time and met some cool people.


Me and some friends at a birthday party

I also hung out with Asuka for an entire day, which was a delight! We started with a early movie, "Bridge to Teribithia" which left us pretty sad. (watch at your own risk!). Then, we headed out for our usual karaoke, with asuka singing like a pop-star and me out of key. But it is always fun. Then we went to her house and played "wii-fit" which is a video came where you stand on this scale thing and play games that have to do with balance. Asuka is pretty much an expert! Then we went to a Japanese Style Speghetti place for dinner which was beyond delicious. :)

For Valentines day we played poker in a coffee shop to avoid the craziness that is Valentines day in Japan. I dont know if you know, but on V-day only girls give chocolates, then a month later on March 14th boys give chocolates and flowers in return. I of cousre gave some to my H-family which I am pretty sure Tsuki-chan devoured. My friend Lynnette was brave and gave a small Chocolate box to her favorite Barrista, which it looked like he enjoyed.

At this coffee shop one day while we were playing poker, a random Korean girl (named Mun, prounounced moon) asked to play with us. She is currently studying and trying to learn English. So we got to talking, and all decided to meet up for drinks later in the week. She brought her Japanese friend along, and we had a good time (and more time to practice Japanese!). We went to Karaoke afterwards, and, as expected, they both turned out to be pop stars. We have made further palns to visit the hard rock cafe in Roppongi, although I cannot remember why we decided on this....


Me and new Japanese friend, Naho, at Karaoke

And, just yesterday, I went to DisneySea! So much fun! Also, because it was a Monday and a little chilly (although it was sunny) it was not very crowded. So our waits in line were short and we were even able to ride some of the attractions twice! My favorite by far was the Indian Jones ride, which was out of control. The waits in line (although short) allowed us to speak Japanese, which was also good practice. We stayed the entire day!



Me and the Tower of Terror ride. They basically take you up to the top of this tower, and then drop you. Very scary!



Me and Lynette with Mickey Mouse



The group with Donald!!!!

On another note, I got on the information on my new host-family I will stay with during my internship. Here are the stats-

NameRelationshipAge
OHATA, Yuji (大畠祐次)Grand Father77
OHATA, Rika (大畠利加)Grand Mother75
OHATA, Hiroto (大畠弘人)Father45
OHATA, Hiroe (大畠弘江)Mother40
OHATA, Kana（大畠佳奈）Daughter16
OHATA, Kazu（大畠佳途）Daughter14

Big family, huh? I am super excited to meet everyone. I leave this Sunday for Saitama, which is where I will be for the 9 days of my internship. I have to prepare a presentation about myself and Alaska and my family.....better get started, huh? I am so bad at using powerpoint!!! In addition to teaching at middle and elementary schools, we have a day where we get to make ceramics and make soba (a type of noodle) which should be very fun!

I just got back from a fun sports event on campus which was really fun! We were formed into teams and challenged each other at volleyball and dodgeball. At Volleyball we won all of our games, but lost all of our Dodgeball games. regaurdless, we won first place!!! We were awarded a bottle of champagne and some snacks. I, for some reason, won the women's MVP award, and was awarded a giant sheep pillow. For some reason, I seem to get MVP awards...weird, huh?

Righto- that is about all I have for now. Later!

Sumo Video

So, apparently the sumo video exceeds the maximum amount....so if you want to see it, just ask and I will send it to you. Sorry!

Sumo, Chinatown, and Out-of-Class fun!

Hey all! Sorry it has taken me sooooo long to post....I am going to try and be better at posting more often! A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks, so here it goes!

First, as I promised last time, lets talk about Sumo!!!! Our program cost includes tickets to the Sumo final, so we were all able to see Sumo wrestlers in action! I definately thought it would be boring...fat men in thongs pushing each other around....BUT HOW WRONG I WAS! It was actually very exciting. Sumo wrestlers are required to live and train in sumo stables with a highly restricted lifestyle. So it is really amazing to see all their hard work go into practice! And I am pretty sure all that fat is to hide and protect their muscles.


Me at the Sumo arena. It was early, so we got to sit up close!

A bunch of us decided to go there really early to see whats what, which was good. The morning bouts are for the ametuers, so there were a lot of good seats open. It was a good introduction to the sport, for we could see up close all the formality involved. First, the sumo ring is a very sacred area, and it is treated as such. Before the match, there is often some chanting and ceremonial sweeping. The wrestlers themselves throw salt to purify the arena (this part can sometimes go on for awhile, as you will see in the sumo video). The goal is to throw your opponent out of the rink or make something other than his feet touch the ring.


Me in front of the Sumo arena.

As time went on, more and more people came, so we had to retreat to our seats in the balcony. From here, we bet on our favorite sumos (usually based on the color of their thongs or their size, as we did not really know much about the individual wresters themselves). The last match, the match that is on the video I have posted, was unusal in the fact that it continued for awhile...usually they last no longer than 20 seconds. The movie I took is about 10 minutes long, so if you want to skip ahead to about 6:00, that is about when the match begins. Part of sumo is intimidation, and the last too guys kep trying to psych the other out. The winner was Sho Hakuho from Mongolia.

As I may have mentioned, school is out! This means more time to do fun things. Our study abroad group had a going away party for 2 of our members who are going back to the US, which included some very delicious food. I hung out with Asuka and we did some serious karaoke-ing. Playing pool and going to museums. I really have not had one day just to rest around since the break ended! But it has been fun.

Me on one of my many fun outings. This is Ebisu Beer Garden, where we went for a friends Birthday.

Yesterday, to commemorate the day before lent, I arranged another all you can eat cake event. As some of you know, I give up sweets and coffee every year from ash wednesday to easter. So, I wanted to have one last cake delight. I might have overdosed on chocolate a little....I also imagine I will be going through sugar withdrawal soon. Wish me luck!


Snow!!! I love it! But it melts so fast.....

By the way, Happy New Year! Thats right, today is the start of the Chinese new year! We are now in the year of the rat! To celebrate the occausion, some of us traveled to Chinatown in Yokohama today. I once wrote a paper on American Chinatowns, so I was eager to see I Japanese one.


Me and friend at Chinatown.

It was fun, albeit a bit expensive where food was concerned. The touristy shops were fun, and I bought a few little gifts. Toward the end of the day, dragon dancer people went by every Chinese restaurant and did a little dance in front of it (see the movie). We were amused when the passed over starbucks! It was very exciting! Watch the movie below. :)

If you think I have been having too much fun, I also, for 2 hours daily, meet my friends at school and study Japanese. So hopefully I will improve over Spring Break without any classes. We will see....Also, my New Years resolution was to get up earlier, so I have been waking up at 7:00 every morning!


Panda snacks I cannot eat!

Righto, this weekend is going to be jammed packed as well, but I will try to not stay out as much...Miss you all, talk to ya soon!


Me and a Saigo Takamori statue, who you may know as "The last samurai."