The last weekend was jam packed full of fun and craziness. The freshmen and foreign students all packed together to go on a retreat out in Saitama. The location had an onsen, yakiniku, and lots of drinking! It was probably the first time I've drank until sunrise, and then proceeded to help take everyone back to their rooms and clean up the room we were all drinking in. During which, I was still drunk for the most part. A great weekend to be had.
On Sat morning, we all met up at the rotary in Takadanobaba again to get ready to head off by train to the ryokan that we were staying in. (I'm doing this all from memory from a month ago because I was too lazy to write this earlier) We all got together and headed off to the train. Aiko was late, and we kept messaging and calling her. She finally responded and sent an incomprehensible message. We all boarded the train, and Aiko magically appeared. She explained what had happened, which was very interesting to say the least, and we continued on our way to the retreat. We took the train all the way to a little town where we waited over an hour for our bus. We had lunch, sat around, had some ice cream, and our bus finally got there.
We arrived at the ryokan and settled in before we had dinner. Dinner was an all you can eat yakiniku, but the meat was all pork. Still pretty good dinner though we didn't have any time to cook any vegetables. We played some ice breaking games, some took baths, and some rested before the real party got started. Everyone piled into a room where all the liquor was at, and we all sat around and waited for the big toast. After the toast, a bunch of "Call"'s were done for all the people who arranged everything for the retreat. If you don't know what "call"s are, check out my facebook. I have a video of it there. We all started drinking after that, and it was complete madness. I won't mention any names, but most of the people who went were drunk off their asses. Fun night overall. I ended up not sleeping the entire night because I felt it was pointless. Went to see a pretty awesome river and the surrounding area too. After that, we all gathered and left. When we got back, ate some curry, went home, showered, and slept. Great time to be had. The trip was a little expensive, but it was worth it.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Blah blah...
I know I haven't updated in a while, but here's a quick little update.
So I signed up for a speech contest a while back. I turned in an application, interviewed, and was selected for the contest. I have been working on and off on my speech, but that's not what this update will be about haha. I can't wait to get done with this speech!
Since my previous update, I went to Nikko, which had some excellent scenary, Waseda Fair, where I made and helped to sell nachos, and plenty more drinking. During the drinking, I was also able to learn some new drinking games. They're fun for the most part, but not so fun when I want to drink.
One actual new experience I had here was going to a club in Japan for the first time! One of the the CSU girls' birthday was on the day we went to the club. The club was in Shibuya and it was named Club Atom. 1000yen to get in the door before 12. For your information, trains stop running a little before 12 for most and a little after 12 for some. I bought new outfit and everything for the club, and it was a decent experience. I must say, guys in Japan are quite awkward. They are all willing to go to a club with only dudes and dance around with each other. Seriously bring some chicks with you to the clubs or something, so it's not a complete sausage fest with each other. They apparently also don't believe in maximum occupancy and air conditioning because the rooms were amazingly hot and crowded. The girls tickets also got 2 free drinks with their entrance fee. Overall a very interesting experience to say the least.
I'm going to just drop this update the way it is. It was basically about my club experience. I'm going to update really soon because I had a lot of fun this weekend.
So I signed up for a speech contest a while back. I turned in an application, interviewed, and was selected for the contest. I have been working on and off on my speech, but that's not what this update will be about haha. I can't wait to get done with this speech!
Since my previous update, I went to Nikko, which had some excellent scenary, Waseda Fair, where I made and helped to sell nachos, and plenty more drinking. During the drinking, I was also able to learn some new drinking games. They're fun for the most part, but not so fun when I want to drink.
One actual new experience I had here was going to a club in Japan for the first time! One of the the CSU girls' birthday was on the day we went to the club. The club was in Shibuya and it was named Club Atom. 1000yen to get in the door before 12. For your information, trains stop running a little before 12 for most and a little after 12 for some. I bought new outfit and everything for the club, and it was a decent experience. I must say, guys in Japan are quite awkward. They are all willing to go to a club with only dudes and dance around with each other. Seriously bring some chicks with you to the clubs or something, so it's not a complete sausage fest with each other. They apparently also don't believe in maximum occupancy and air conditioning because the rooms were amazingly hot and crowded. The girls tickets also got 2 free drinks with their entrance fee. Overall a very interesting experience to say the least.
I'm going to just drop this update the way it is. It was basically about my club experience. I'm going to update really soon because I had a lot of fun this weekend.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The past week.
The past week was filled with activities, though not all fun and games. I did enjoy the week, but my wallet and bank account probably don't feel the same. It's ok though, as I just have to get to the 30th, when my scholarship finally kicks in. I know I've probably left out some information on what's been going on, but I probably don't remember what happened all that well anyways. I'm more upset about it than any of my readers probably are, but I'll continue with where I left off.
So on the past week we only had really 3 days of school during the week because we had Wednesday and Thursday off due to some holiday scheduling conflict. On Monday, I dragged myself to school again and dealt with another boring day of class. I remember this day of class because I was sleeping in class. During my light sleep, my classmate decides that during on Kanji lesson, it would be appropriate to bring up the fact that I was sleeping in class. Kind of sucked, but I didn't really care all that much. Culture in Context class wasn't as fun this week because I was so exhausted. I did enjoy the class as usual however. After the class we all basically tried to kill time until the evening when we would throw a party for our friend Kumi. I met up with my fellow CSU Andy coincidentally and walked around to find something to do. We ran into a few WIC members and talked to them for a while. Coincidentally, the WIC member who was very very very drunk the night before was there too, and we talked about the previous night's crazy events. They soon left as did we, and me and my friend headed off to Saizeria to have a early dinner because I had heard dinner would not be provided at the party. We get to Saizeria and see that 2 other CSU members were there, so we sat next to them. We all ate and talked for a couple hours to kill some time before the party. Nothing else really happened, and we eventually all walked over to the party.
At the party, everything was slow to start. We had no booze, not too many people, and NO BOOZE! A few of us went off to buy some snacks and beer, and we went back to the party. They did some fun stuff like shove a cream puff in the birthday girl's face and then take pictures, but the funny stuff didn't happen until after we started drinking and talking to a 4th year Niji no Kai member. It was probably the most hilarious moment since I've been here. I first talked with another acquaintance of mine before the 4th year walked over. I had met the 4th year before, but only once before this time. We started talking about some pretty funny stuff after that. I can't repeat any of the jokes and situational comedy that ensued, but if you want to know, you'll have to ask me directly or message me on facebook. The jokes were hilarious, and I could not believe this guy was uttering some of these jokes. The jokes included gifts that were given, video stores, and Macau. Crazy night of laughing. After everything concluded, most of the people went home, but some of us remained to talked outside the dorm we held the party at. I literally stood around and talked for another 2 hours. I knew the next day was going to suck majorly. I got hungry, so before the night ended, I went with my buddy Shuta to grab a gyudon real quick. Headed home after that to sleep and get ready for school.
So I'm going to throw together something real quick because I haven't updated in a long time. The excerpts before this were actually written a while ago, but I just hadn't had time or motivation to update this. My buddy and I also had arranged to grab lunch the following day, which we did end up doing. We gathered a few people up and headed off to Shinokubo, which apparenlty had lots of Koreans and Korean restaurants. We went to a real cheap place with some good Korean food. It was fun and all, but a terrible thing was about to occur that day. Lunch was great. Great people, great food, great jokes, but after lunch I had to head back to my dorm to deal with some internet crap.
I get back to my dorm, and wait for these losers to come and show up to check my internet again. They finally arrived after being very late, and I graciously allow them to scan my computer. The thing was, these stupid dumb fucks didn't know what the hell they were doing. Apparently, no one in the fucking IT department in Waseda has a fucking clue how to work a MAC really. I told them I had the newest fucking thing, but the dumb fucks didn't seem to understand. I include all these "fucks" because after a while, I really felt like they were raping the shit out of my brand new macbook pro. After I'd say about an hour or so, they decided that their version of anti-virus was actually incompatible with my laptop. I COULD HAVE FUCKING TOLD THEM THAT IF THEY ASKED! What a bunch of fucking dicks. I was sooo angry. They adjusted all my settings, and on top of that, didn't return anything to what it was before! They also downloaded all this shit onto my desktop and didn't even delete. I was quite furious that day. I felt like someone had raped my soul. I felt quite dirty. I literally wiped down my macbook after that.
Following my soul/computer rape, I didn't want to be in the same room as my computer. I got a couple friends, and we went and got some happy hour at a cafe/bar near my dorm. It was pretty cool, and the drinks did help to calm me down. I did have to have a few drinks because Japan seems to enjoy weakening their drinks to the point that they taste like soda. My gin and tonic was mostly tonic and a bit of gin I believe. We got lots of gyoza after that, and a calmed down me was able to head home and deal with my raped computer. I'll update with some more soon, but I have to go to bed to get up tomorrow to have lunch with some friends. Miss you all back home. Send me stuff! My cell phone mail address is "seefutbow@ezweb.ne.jp". If you want to send me actually mail, email me and I'll reply with my actual address. See you all in about 8 months!
So on the past week we only had really 3 days of school during the week because we had Wednesday and Thursday off due to some holiday scheduling conflict. On Monday, I dragged myself to school again and dealt with another boring day of class. I remember this day of class because I was sleeping in class. During my light sleep, my classmate decides that during on Kanji lesson, it would be appropriate to bring up the fact that I was sleeping in class. Kind of sucked, but I didn't really care all that much. Culture in Context class wasn't as fun this week because I was so exhausted. I did enjoy the class as usual however. After the class we all basically tried to kill time until the evening when we would throw a party for our friend Kumi. I met up with my fellow CSU Andy coincidentally and walked around to find something to do. We ran into a few WIC members and talked to them for a while. Coincidentally, the WIC member who was very very very drunk the night before was there too, and we talked about the previous night's crazy events. They soon left as did we, and me and my friend headed off to Saizeria to have a early dinner because I had heard dinner would not be provided at the party. We get to Saizeria and see that 2 other CSU members were there, so we sat next to them. We all ate and talked for a couple hours to kill some time before the party. Nothing else really happened, and we eventually all walked over to the party.
At the party, everything was slow to start. We had no booze, not too many people, and NO BOOZE! A few of us went off to buy some snacks and beer, and we went back to the party. They did some fun stuff like shove a cream puff in the birthday girl's face and then take pictures, but the funny stuff didn't happen until after we started drinking and talking to a 4th year Niji no Kai member. It was probably the most hilarious moment since I've been here. I first talked with another acquaintance of mine before the 4th year walked over. I had met the 4th year before, but only once before this time. We started talking about some pretty funny stuff after that. I can't repeat any of the jokes and situational comedy that ensued, but if you want to know, you'll have to ask me directly or message me on facebook. The jokes were hilarious, and I could not believe this guy was uttering some of these jokes. The jokes included gifts that were given, video stores, and Macau. Crazy night of laughing. After everything concluded, most of the people went home, but some of us remained to talked outside the dorm we held the party at. I literally stood around and talked for another 2 hours. I knew the next day was going to suck majorly. I got hungry, so before the night ended, I went with my buddy Shuta to grab a gyudon real quick. Headed home after that to sleep and get ready for school.
So I'm going to throw together something real quick because I haven't updated in a long time. The excerpts before this were actually written a while ago, but I just hadn't had time or motivation to update this. My buddy and I also had arranged to grab lunch the following day, which we did end up doing. We gathered a few people up and headed off to Shinokubo, which apparenlty had lots of Koreans and Korean restaurants. We went to a real cheap place with some good Korean food. It was fun and all, but a terrible thing was about to occur that day. Lunch was great. Great people, great food, great jokes, but after lunch I had to head back to my dorm to deal with some internet crap.
I get back to my dorm, and wait for these losers to come and show up to check my internet again. They finally arrived after being very late, and I graciously allow them to scan my computer. The thing was, these stupid dumb fucks didn't know what the hell they were doing. Apparently, no one in the fucking IT department in Waseda has a fucking clue how to work a MAC really. I told them I had the newest fucking thing, but the dumb fucks didn't seem to understand. I include all these "fucks" because after a while, I really felt like they were raping the shit out of my brand new macbook pro. After I'd say about an hour or so, they decided that their version of anti-virus was actually incompatible with my laptop. I COULD HAVE FUCKING TOLD THEM THAT IF THEY ASKED! What a bunch of fucking dicks. I was sooo angry. They adjusted all my settings, and on top of that, didn't return anything to what it was before! They also downloaded all this shit onto my desktop and didn't even delete. I was quite furious that day. I felt like someone had raped my soul. I felt quite dirty. I literally wiped down my macbook after that.
Following my soul/computer rape, I didn't want to be in the same room as my computer. I got a couple friends, and we went and got some happy hour at a cafe/bar near my dorm. It was pretty cool, and the drinks did help to calm me down. I did have to have a few drinks because Japan seems to enjoy weakening their drinks to the point that they taste like soda. My gin and tonic was mostly tonic and a bit of gin I believe. We got lots of gyoza after that, and a calmed down me was able to head home and deal with my raped computer. I'll update with some more soon, but I have to go to bed to get up tomorrow to have lunch with some friends. Miss you all back home. Send me stuff! My cell phone mail address is "seefutbow@ezweb.ne.jp". If you want to send me actually mail, email me and I'll reply with my actual address. See you all in about 8 months!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Weekend...
So I'll kind of pick up where I left off in the last post. On Saturday, after sleeping a little over 5 hours, I had to wake up again to help prepare for a Waseda International Club event called Yataimura. It was basically the club and foreign students split into 4 groups from different areas of the world such as the Caribbean and Mediterranean, but the food was pretty Japanese on the same note. I woke up, got ready, and took off with my fellow dormy and group member towards the cooking area where my group was going to do all the cooking at. I probably should not have pulled an all nighter before this day because I was utterly exhausted during the entire day.
So my friends and I were put into the cake group. Apparently in Japan, you must wear a bandanna and an apron if you're going to cook because of some weird rule I guess. Because a few of us didn't have aprons or bandannas, we had to borrow some from other people. We ended up helping them make the cake, but it was a very very long day. I had so much difficulty being nice and smiling to people by the end of the day. We did finish our preparations. My group made a chai cake, though during the creation process I must say it looked like bread dough. We also prepared chicken and some curry for the following day to be sold. After the work, I was invited to go to a bar to have a few drinks, but I modestly declined because I was too tired. I had some dinner with my friend and went home and slept, though it wasn't for too long as the following day we had to meet at 9:30 at school for the actual event.
The actual day of the event was Sunday, so I didn't get to sleep in like I wanted to. We get to school and get dressed up (you can see on facebook, but I deleted most of the tags for where I'm costumed), so that we can help the group sell the food and cakes. The event lasted for 4 hours or so. We sold a lot of cakes, curry, and chicken. It was pretty funny watching the upper class men do as they pleased to try to get people to come buy their food. It was very hard trying to sell to all these old Japanese people. The old members of the club also came by and made their under class men drink which was very very funny. Some of the members were drunk in the middle of the day. After the event, we all went to Toyama park to announce the winners and the placing for each group.
Toyama park was another experience in itself. The WIC members amazed me with their camaraderie and fun traditions. The winners were announced at the park. My group ended up finishing 3rd of 4 in the whole event. The winners were the Caribbean group. Looking back, if I had showed up to the events more prepared, I would have had much more fun. After the announcements were made, all the organizers and leaders were forced to walk up to the front of the groups. Before this happened, WIC members passed around cans of beer to everyone and told us to shake them up and get ready to douse people. Once the signal was sounded, we all doused the organizers with beer. The CSU kids mostly targeted our friend Yusuke, and he ended up being covered in beer. After the beer douse, a crazy ritual ensued.
So as we always do, to end the event we formed a circle, but on this particular day, some very special events occurred. As the organizer of Yaitamura attempted to close the event, someone interrupts them and presents her with a gift of a giant bottle of sake. Apparently, this happens every year, and she and the other organizers line up and drink the bottle of sake one by one until it's gone. The circle of people around sing and clap to make the atmosphere very enjoyable. The organizers attempted to close the event a couple more times, but both times a newer bigger bottle of sake showed up. 2 more bottles of sake were presented, but the organizers didn't drink those, as the first 3 seemed to be more than enough. After the rituals at the park, we ended up going to another nomikai!
So for this drinking party, we had to sit with our groups. I wasn't feeling too good from the beer, but I still had quite a bit of beer that night. Only a few CSU people went to this drinking party, but this was probably one of my favorite drinking parties so far. I enjoyed watching the younger class men get forced to drink, and I myself was strongly urged to down my cups. Overall very fun night. Some highlights of that night were meetings lots of people, Shunsuke sleeping in the rotary while we ended the night, and drinking with my friends. As it was Sunday, the 2nd drinking party wasn't as popular as it usually is. I went and had a bit of food and drink, but not much more. Took my friend home after that, and that was pretty much it.
Next entry I'll try to write about what happened this week. Here are some of what I'll probably write about because it's all I can remember ><.
-My friend Kumi's birthday
-Nikko trip
-Oct. birthdays
-Lunch, computer rape, and some happy hour!
-Shopping and clubbing
-Nachos making!
O yea, I don't really write about what happens in class because it's really boring. Most of my classes suck and are boring as watching paint dry. I literally talk and sleep through half of my classes. I only stay up in Japanese class because it requires participation. The one class I have that I enjoy is too complex for my simple mind to explain. Let's just say it rocks.
So my friends and I were put into the cake group. Apparently in Japan, you must wear a bandanna and an apron if you're going to cook because of some weird rule I guess. Because a few of us didn't have aprons or bandannas, we had to borrow some from other people. We ended up helping them make the cake, but it was a very very long day. I had so much difficulty being nice and smiling to people by the end of the day. We did finish our preparations. My group made a chai cake, though during the creation process I must say it looked like bread dough. We also prepared chicken and some curry for the following day to be sold. After the work, I was invited to go to a bar to have a few drinks, but I modestly declined because I was too tired. I had some dinner with my friend and went home and slept, though it wasn't for too long as the following day we had to meet at 9:30 at school for the actual event.
The actual day of the event was Sunday, so I didn't get to sleep in like I wanted to. We get to school and get dressed up (you can see on facebook, but I deleted most of the tags for where I'm costumed), so that we can help the group sell the food and cakes. The event lasted for 4 hours or so. We sold a lot of cakes, curry, and chicken. It was pretty funny watching the upper class men do as they pleased to try to get people to come buy their food. It was very hard trying to sell to all these old Japanese people. The old members of the club also came by and made their under class men drink which was very very funny. Some of the members were drunk in the middle of the day. After the event, we all went to Toyama park to announce the winners and the placing for each group.
Toyama park was another experience in itself. The WIC members amazed me with their camaraderie and fun traditions. The winners were announced at the park. My group ended up finishing 3rd of 4 in the whole event. The winners were the Caribbean group. Looking back, if I had showed up to the events more prepared, I would have had much more fun. After the announcements were made, all the organizers and leaders were forced to walk up to the front of the groups. Before this happened, WIC members passed around cans of beer to everyone and told us to shake them up and get ready to douse people. Once the signal was sounded, we all doused the organizers with beer. The CSU kids mostly targeted our friend Yusuke, and he ended up being covered in beer. After the beer douse, a crazy ritual ensued.
So as we always do, to end the event we formed a circle, but on this particular day, some very special events occurred. As the organizer of Yaitamura attempted to close the event, someone interrupts them and presents her with a gift of a giant bottle of sake. Apparently, this happens every year, and she and the other organizers line up and drink the bottle of sake one by one until it's gone. The circle of people around sing and clap to make the atmosphere very enjoyable. The organizers attempted to close the event a couple more times, but both times a newer bigger bottle of sake showed up. 2 more bottles of sake were presented, but the organizers didn't drink those, as the first 3 seemed to be more than enough. After the rituals at the park, we ended up going to another nomikai!
So for this drinking party, we had to sit with our groups. I wasn't feeling too good from the beer, but I still had quite a bit of beer that night. Only a few CSU people went to this drinking party, but this was probably one of my favorite drinking parties so far. I enjoyed watching the younger class men get forced to drink, and I myself was strongly urged to down my cups. Overall very fun night. Some highlights of that night were meetings lots of people, Shunsuke sleeping in the rotary while we ended the night, and drinking with my friends. As it was Sunday, the 2nd drinking party wasn't as popular as it usually is. I went and had a bit of food and drink, but not much more. Took my friend home after that, and that was pretty much it.
Next entry I'll try to write about what happened this week. Here are some of what I'll probably write about because it's all I can remember ><.
-My friend Kumi's birthday
-Nikko trip
-Oct. birthdays
-Lunch, computer rape, and some happy hour!
-Shopping and clubbing
-Nachos making!
O yea, I don't really write about what happens in class because it's really boring. Most of my classes suck and are boring as watching paint dry. I literally talk and sleep through half of my classes. I only stay up in Japanese class because it requires participation. The one class I have that I enjoy is too complex for my simple mind to explain. Let's just say it rocks.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Yesterday...
So since I haven't updated in a while. I just drop down a quick few lines about yesterday's party and events afterward.
So 2 nights ago, I get back to my dorm after a normal uneventful day I believe. I walk up to my room, and I notice a small white paper on the door. The paper literally only said, "Tomorrow in the morning please contact the office, from Nakamura". Nakamura is the caretaker here, and no one else in my hall had that small note. I was quite worried. After I worried all night unable to sleep well, I woke up yesterday at 8:40 to a knock on my door. The caretaker, Nakamura, came to my door! I opened up the door, and she let me know that a computer virus had entered the dorm internet or something like that. People were going to come by in the evening to fix it. What a relief that was to hear her tell me that. After that I just basically waited for lunch, had lunch, and went to class.
After class, I had a few hours before the people came to check the computers, so I just hung around school for a bit. I eventually headed back at around 4 and waited. The computer people didn't even go into my room or check my computer, but they informed me that my computer was safe, which is a relief. I headed out to grab a bite with my friend Colin before our drinking party because I had heard there wasn't going to be enough food at the drinking party, and we were right. After having some Mcdonalds, we went to drink!
We get to the drinking place, and us CSU's were the first to get in which was awesome. The place was literally packed full of Japanese and foreign students. We squeezed close to 100 people into the place. The food was ok, but the drinks were all you can drink! It wasn't everything on the menu, but I only really needed beer. Lots of drinking ensued, and later in the drinking part, the Japanese people did a really cool drinking game. I'll describe the drinking game in detail some other time, but let's just say for now that it involves a shit load of chugging and chanting. So after the drinking party, we all headed off to the park to do some more drinking!
Most of us went to convenience stores to get some drinks, including myself as I didn't feel like I drank enough at the party. We did some more drinking at the park, hung out, talked with people, and eventually had to leave because the cops came and told us to scatter. We went to the rotary, where we usually gather, and basically the large group split up and went separate ways. I was hungry, so I went to grab a bite with some Japanese acquaintances. I got to talk to them more, and it was pretty fun. Following the snack, I went to karaoke at around 1-5. It was quite a long time. After karaoke, though I must say I was very very tired at this time, we went to eat breakfast before we went home. I went home and slept until this afternoon, when I have to do some work for another club's event. Sorry it wasn't in as much detail as usual, but you get the gist of what happened last night :D. I'll write again soon, but I'm in a bit of a rush right now. Look forward to more entries, as I'll try to write more now. I miss and love you all back in the states. See you in around 9 months!
So 2 nights ago, I get back to my dorm after a normal uneventful day I believe. I walk up to my room, and I notice a small white paper on the door. The paper literally only said, "Tomorrow in the morning please contact the office, from Nakamura". Nakamura is the caretaker here, and no one else in my hall had that small note. I was quite worried. After I worried all night unable to sleep well, I woke up yesterday at 8:40 to a knock on my door. The caretaker, Nakamura, came to my door! I opened up the door, and she let me know that a computer virus had entered the dorm internet or something like that. People were going to come by in the evening to fix it. What a relief that was to hear her tell me that. After that I just basically waited for lunch, had lunch, and went to class.
After class, I had a few hours before the people came to check the computers, so I just hung around school for a bit. I eventually headed back at around 4 and waited. The computer people didn't even go into my room or check my computer, but they informed me that my computer was safe, which is a relief. I headed out to grab a bite with my friend Colin before our drinking party because I had heard there wasn't going to be enough food at the drinking party, and we were right. After having some Mcdonalds, we went to drink!
We get to the drinking place, and us CSU's were the first to get in which was awesome. The place was literally packed full of Japanese and foreign students. We squeezed close to 100 people into the place. The food was ok, but the drinks were all you can drink! It wasn't everything on the menu, but I only really needed beer. Lots of drinking ensued, and later in the drinking part, the Japanese people did a really cool drinking game. I'll describe the drinking game in detail some other time, but let's just say for now that it involves a shit load of chugging and chanting. So after the drinking party, we all headed off to the park to do some more drinking!
Most of us went to convenience stores to get some drinks, including myself as I didn't feel like I drank enough at the party. We did some more drinking at the park, hung out, talked with people, and eventually had to leave because the cops came and told us to scatter. We went to the rotary, where we usually gather, and basically the large group split up and went separate ways. I was hungry, so I went to grab a bite with some Japanese acquaintances. I got to talk to them more, and it was pretty fun. Following the snack, I went to karaoke at around 1-5. It was quite a long time. After karaoke, though I must say I was very very tired at this time, we went to eat breakfast before we went home. I went home and slept until this afternoon, when I have to do some work for another club's event. Sorry it wasn't in as much detail as usual, but you get the gist of what happened last night :D. I'll write again soon, but I'm in a bit of a rush right now. Look forward to more entries, as I'll try to write more now. I miss and love you all back in the states. See you in around 9 months!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
DSC_0025
Right outside Narai village. After this, it got real traditional. All the other Narai pics are on my point and shoot. Got tired of holding my Nikon.
DSC_0027
Some weird thing outside the castle. I think it's supposed to be an oni or something. I think the onmyouji's and oni's were off duty today. We weren't able to see any onmyouji and oni fights on the day we went.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Everything else... Part 2
As it has been over a week since these events have transpired, I once again stress that I'm doing my best to remember what happened with the help of my handy dandy schedule. Well here goes from, Thursday Sept. 17!
Once again we woke up, had breakfast, and headed over to Waseda University to have what we thought would be our orientations for JASSO, the scholarship I and 9 others from CSU received. Turns out though, there was an orientation for all the students living in the dorms too. They made us fill out a form and watch a video about the rules of living in certain dorms. Pretty boring stuff. After we finished with that room, the us CSU folks went to the next room to find out about our JASSO. We won't receive it without a Japanese bank account, which I recently made with the help of my WIC and Niji no Kai buddies. After the orientations, we all met back up in a classroom at the SILS building, where we waited for everyone to gather back up.
Following the return of all the CSU students, the Japanese students had taken down our names and what we wanted to eat. The Japanese students then split us up into groups, so we could all go out to lunch together. I chose ramen, which turned out to be a really dumb decision. About 10 of us CSU students chose ramen, therefore the group was too large. The CSU ramen group was then split again into more manageable groups, allowing us to fit better into restaurants. My group went to a restaurant named Guren I believe. I thought we went to get ramen, but when we went to the restaurant, the restaurant only sold Abura Men or something and Tsukemen. I reluctantly went with the Tsukemen only to find that it was actually quite good. The restaurant happened to play Michelle Branch, so a few of us CSU'ers decided to sing along. As we left the restaurant the worker told a couple of us to order the smaller portion if we can't finish. Our friend Akki assured us that such a thing was not a common occurrence as it was only our our 3rd day in Japan. After the lunch, we returned to the SILS building to get an orientation for class selection. Quite some boring stuff. Almost fell asleep. We all picked our classes, and the WIC and Niji no Kai students waited for us to finish. They then took all of us in separate groups to Shinjuku to look around for a bit. Following the small tours, we all went to an okonomiyaki restaurant.
Okonomiyaki is pretty easy to make but the monjayaki or whatever it is called, is not all that great. We had all you can eat, but the place was literally like an oven with all the hot plates going at once and the 50+ people in a tiny Japanese restaurant. Overall a fun night. After the hot hot dinner, I believe we all headed to a chain bar called Hub. Had a couple beers to end the night. Very fun night overall. Got to have some drinks with some new friends and make some new friends.
9/18 MOVING DAY
Moving day was probably the 2nd saddest day since I've been here. We all started the morning off the same way we did for the past few days by waking up and going to grab breakfast. Afterward however, we all headed back up to get our luggage ready, so we could store it in another room because we had to check out of the hotel. Following the storing of our luggage, we all went to Waseda again, for the host families needed to be announced. We all took a look at all the host families, and after that we had a pizza lunch with the WIC and Niji no Kai students again. I must say it was very trying for me as I had trouble with my Japanese that day for some unknown reason.
When lunch was finished, we had a final mini orientation to address any final issues any of us might have had. The orientation was short, and we all headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff. We did some final preparations and basically everyone went their separate ways for the time being. The dorm students did however agree to meet up, so that we could all go grab a bite to eat as we didn't have cellphones yet. I'm pretty sure after dinner we all just went home and slept. It was a long and emotional day. The next day we had to pick classes in the morning.
Most of us all magically met up around the same time the following morning. The rundown of the day was pretty simple. We picked classes, had lunch, went to a Hanko store to buy some seals, went to Akihabara for bit though I didn't look at much, ate dinner, and went back to my dorm I believe. Pretty uneventful day overall. With that, I believe I've pretty much caught up with my blog. I'll include some better entries in the near future hopefully! I still have a couple days to write about recently including Ghibili Museum, though don't expect much haha.
Once again we woke up, had breakfast, and headed over to Waseda University to have what we thought would be our orientations for JASSO, the scholarship I and 9 others from CSU received. Turns out though, there was an orientation for all the students living in the dorms too. They made us fill out a form and watch a video about the rules of living in certain dorms. Pretty boring stuff. After we finished with that room, the us CSU folks went to the next room to find out about our JASSO. We won't receive it without a Japanese bank account, which I recently made with the help of my WIC and Niji no Kai buddies. After the orientations, we all met back up in a classroom at the SILS building, where we waited for everyone to gather back up.
Following the return of all the CSU students, the Japanese students had taken down our names and what we wanted to eat. The Japanese students then split us up into groups, so we could all go out to lunch together. I chose ramen, which turned out to be a really dumb decision. About 10 of us CSU students chose ramen, therefore the group was too large. The CSU ramen group was then split again into more manageable groups, allowing us to fit better into restaurants. My group went to a restaurant named Guren I believe. I thought we went to get ramen, but when we went to the restaurant, the restaurant only sold Abura Men or something and Tsukemen. I reluctantly went with the Tsukemen only to find that it was actually quite good. The restaurant happened to play Michelle Branch, so a few of us CSU'ers decided to sing along. As we left the restaurant the worker told a couple of us to order the smaller portion if we can't finish. Our friend Akki assured us that such a thing was not a common occurrence as it was only our our 3rd day in Japan. After the lunch, we returned to the SILS building to get an orientation for class selection. Quite some boring stuff. Almost fell asleep. We all picked our classes, and the WIC and Niji no Kai students waited for us to finish. They then took all of us in separate groups to Shinjuku to look around for a bit. Following the small tours, we all went to an okonomiyaki restaurant.
Okonomiyaki is pretty easy to make but the monjayaki or whatever it is called, is not all that great. We had all you can eat, but the place was literally like an oven with all the hot plates going at once and the 50+ people in a tiny Japanese restaurant. Overall a fun night. After the hot hot dinner, I believe we all headed to a chain bar called Hub. Had a couple beers to end the night. Very fun night overall. Got to have some drinks with some new friends and make some new friends.
9/18 MOVING DAY
Moving day was probably the 2nd saddest day since I've been here. We all started the morning off the same way we did for the past few days by waking up and going to grab breakfast. Afterward however, we all headed back up to get our luggage ready, so we could store it in another room because we had to check out of the hotel. Following the storing of our luggage, we all went to Waseda again, for the host families needed to be announced. We all took a look at all the host families, and after that we had a pizza lunch with the WIC and Niji no Kai students again. I must say it was very trying for me as I had trouble with my Japanese that day for some unknown reason.
When lunch was finished, we had a final mini orientation to address any final issues any of us might have had. The orientation was short, and we all headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff. We did some final preparations and basically everyone went their separate ways for the time being. The dorm students did however agree to meet up, so that we could all go grab a bite to eat as we didn't have cellphones yet. I'm pretty sure after dinner we all just went home and slept. It was a long and emotional day. The next day we had to pick classes in the morning.
Most of us all magically met up around the same time the following morning. The rundown of the day was pretty simple. We picked classes, had lunch, went to a Hanko store to buy some seals, went to Akihabara for bit though I didn't look at much, ate dinner, and went back to my dorm I believe. Pretty uneventful day overall. With that, I believe I've pretty much caught up with my blog. I'll include some better entries in the near future hopefully! I still have a couple days to write about recently including Ghibili Museum, though don't expect much haha.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Cell Phones
Alright, I'm going to try to write this while I have bit of leftover buzz from the drinking earlier. The day before yesterday was the day all of us CSU students got our phones. The day was surprisingly long and stressful.
The day started off with all of us CSU students going to our respective district offices, so we could all obtain our alien registration cards. The Waseda students also wanted to take all of us CSU students cell phone shopping later in the day after lunch, therefore we all had to go to our respective district offices relatively early depending on where we lived. I, of course living in Shinjuku, had to go the "busy" Shinjuku office very early, which turned out to be hardly even busy so early in the morning. Us CSU dorm students met up around 7:30 to head out to the office and arrived before almost anyone was there. It was lucky that we got to the office and hardly anyone was there. We filled out our sheets, and after some confusion about sheets and copies, we eventually made our way to the 4th floor of the same building to deal apply for insurance.
After I had finished applying for my insurance, an elderly gentleman near the entrance to the health insurance area suddenly got quite angered. He started a small commotion, however the workers at the bank were able to calm him down for a while. As he sat down to finish his application for whatever he was applying for, he started to smoke a cigarette. He was soon escorted to the smoking every, but upon returning, he started another small commotion and proceeded to remove his top to show his many tattoos on his body as if to say he was some sort of yakuza. We decided to ignore the odd gentleman and moved on with our group.
Following a bit of exploring and ice cream, the group decided to go eat. Almost everyone from the CSU group met up, so that we could all get lunch together at an "Italian" family restaurant. I must say tuna with tomato sauce is actually quite tastely, contrary to what I believed it would taste like. We finished eating and headed off to a Hanko (a family seal) store, so that we could all buy Hanko's and be able to open a bank account in case we all wanted to get SoftBank. I bought a Hanko with my family name on it, and after everyone selected their Hanko, we all headed to make our bank accounts. It was there that I first noticed that a lot of the Japanese students were visibly exhausted. They had to have been very tired as they had been helping us CSU students out a great deal since we stepped into the country. After we made our bank accounts, the students set off to check out cell phones!
As I entered the cell phone shop, a few of my fellow students had actually picked phones already and gone with the company AU. I personally was still considering between AU and Softbank, so I decided to check out some of the phones, so I could compare them. The AU phones were nothing special, though a couple did catch my eye. As nothing made a big impact on me, I asked one of the workers there if there were any other phones possibly available to which he responded by opening up a secret compartment under the available phones to show me 1 more phone. I was interested in the phone, but not particularly attached. That is, until he mentioned the phone would be free if I decided to get it. My decision was basically made for me because on top of the fact the phone was free and had a 8 megapixel camera, I would be the only CSU student with that phone in that color. If any knows me, I try to get electronics or anything that is or is more exclusive to one person. I ended up getting the phone, and trading numbers was possibly the best part of the night. (I originally stopped writing this post here, and I'm going to continue it now. 9/29)
It was really interesting how Japanese phones just use infrared to trade profiles between phones. You literally line up the infrared areas to trade profiles. After all the number trading, we went to dinner at some restaurant called Jonathan's, which wasn't very good and allowed smoking inside. Wasn't very fun. Some of the CSU students finished getting their phones when we finished eating, so they went to eat some Mcdonalds. Nothing else really happened, and I went home afterwards.
The day started off with all of us CSU students going to our respective district offices, so we could all obtain our alien registration cards. The Waseda students also wanted to take all of us CSU students cell phone shopping later in the day after lunch, therefore we all had to go to our respective district offices relatively early depending on where we lived. I, of course living in Shinjuku, had to go the "busy" Shinjuku office very early, which turned out to be hardly even busy so early in the morning. Us CSU dorm students met up around 7:30 to head out to the office and arrived before almost anyone was there. It was lucky that we got to the office and hardly anyone was there. We filled out our sheets, and after some confusion about sheets and copies, we eventually made our way to the 4th floor of the same building to deal apply for insurance.
After I had finished applying for my insurance, an elderly gentleman near the entrance to the health insurance area suddenly got quite angered. He started a small commotion, however the workers at the bank were able to calm him down for a while. As he sat down to finish his application for whatever he was applying for, he started to smoke a cigarette. He was soon escorted to the smoking every, but upon returning, he started another small commotion and proceeded to remove his top to show his many tattoos on his body as if to say he was some sort of yakuza. We decided to ignore the odd gentleman and moved on with our group.
Following a bit of exploring and ice cream, the group decided to go eat. Almost everyone from the CSU group met up, so that we could all get lunch together at an "Italian" family restaurant. I must say tuna with tomato sauce is actually quite tastely, contrary to what I believed it would taste like. We finished eating and headed off to a Hanko (a family seal) store, so that we could all buy Hanko's and be able to open a bank account in case we all wanted to get SoftBank. I bought a Hanko with my family name on it, and after everyone selected their Hanko, we all headed to make our bank accounts. It was there that I first noticed that a lot of the Japanese students were visibly exhausted. They had to have been very tired as they had been helping us CSU students out a great deal since we stepped into the country. After we made our bank accounts, the students set off to check out cell phones!
As I entered the cell phone shop, a few of my fellow students had actually picked phones already and gone with the company AU. I personally was still considering between AU and Softbank, so I decided to check out some of the phones, so I could compare them. The AU phones were nothing special, though a couple did catch my eye. As nothing made a big impact on me, I asked one of the workers there if there were any other phones possibly available to which he responded by opening up a secret compartment under the available phones to show me 1 more phone. I was interested in the phone, but not particularly attached. That is, until he mentioned the phone would be free if I decided to get it. My decision was basically made for me because on top of the fact the phone was free and had a 8 megapixel camera, I would be the only CSU student with that phone in that color. If any knows me, I try to get electronics or anything that is or is more exclusive to one person. I ended up getting the phone, and trading numbers was possibly the best part of the night. (I originally stopped writing this post here, and I'm going to continue it now. 9/29)
It was really interesting how Japanese phones just use infrared to trade profiles between phones. You literally line up the infrared areas to trade profiles. After all the number trading, we went to dinner at some restaurant called Jonathan's, which wasn't very good and allowed smoking inside. Wasn't very fun. Some of the CSU students finished getting their phones when we finished eating, so they went to eat some Mcdonalds. Nothing else really happened, and I went home afterwards.
DSC_0110
I know she's not in Japan, but I miss her. Who's going to lick my face at 9 in the morning or jump into bed with me without even asking?
Everything else... Part 1
As I didn't write about what happened from when I landed until around the 20th, I'll try my best to remember what happened with the help of my handy dandy schedule. So let's start off with the flight!
All Nippon Airways was a joy to fly with. The seats weren't as spacious as I would have preferred, but no one sat to my left. I always have trouble sleeping on flights and while I'm sitting, so I didn't sleep much on the flight. The 3 kids and lady behind me kicking my chair also didn't help much. I was still a bit hungover on the flight, but enough of my appetite had returned for me to eat the meals on the flight. Though the food on the flight wasn't gourmet quality, I did enjoy what was available and had a couple beers with my meals (yes while I was still a bit hungover). The movie selection was pretty good, even though I wished the screen was of better quality. I watched a couple episodes of Prison Break, Taken, Little Miss Sunshine, and some of Angels and Demons and Monsters vs. Aliens. I didn't find the last couple interesting enough to continue watching. Overall a good flight. As this was my first flight alone, I was quite worried as I tried to navigate the airport by myself in a foreign country. I somehow managed to fill out all the paperwork, grab my bags, and get through customs fine.
As I left customs, I looked for the Waseda student signs that were supposed to be there. I first looked to the right and saw a sign that said Waseda students, but I decided to also look to the left which had a sign that said CSU IP Waseda students. Instinctively I went with the left, and as I approached the Japanese students holding the signs, one of them called me by my name, which threw me for a loop. How does a student who I've never even met before know my name? To say I was surprised is an understatement, for I was bewildered at how they knew who I was. We got introductions out of the way, and it turns out they had printed out sheets with all us CSU students' faces on it. I was also surprised to find out my dorm mate Aiko was on the same plane as me. Well more introductions were made as all the people began showing up, and we all headed off with everyone towards the Sunroute Hotel where we stayed at for the next few days. The ride wasn't too long considering we hit traffic most of the time. As we arrived, we were greeted on the street by what seemed to be the entire Waseda International Club and Niji no Kai club. Imagine being greeted by about 75-100 Japanese students who you've never met, all offering to help carry your luggage to your hotel. We basically just ate dinner and went to sleep that night. Dinner was Shakey's pizza, if you can call what we ate pizza (no offense).
The next morning we woke up, went downstairs to eat breakfast, and proceeded to walk to Waseda University for the very first time. The walk was advertised as a 15min walk, but from recent calculations, the walk is more like a 20-25 min walk for us foreigners I guess. We basically just took our placement test there, which I totally failed. I got into level 4 out of 8 levels. I know I'm a major fail. We later met up in a classroom to get ready for lunch and an orientation. The Japanese students purchased bentou for us CSU students to eat, and we all walked outside to have lunch. We ate at "the Dungeon" which is this year's CSU student's nickname for the Okuma court. Finishing up with lunch, we attended our first of many orientations to come. The first orientation concluded, and the home stay students had to do their interviews. The dorms students went off on the first tour of the Waseda area, which is quite large I must say. We walked all over the place, and I definitely wasn't able to remember where all the places were. Japan is a very visually stimulating place with signs, lights, and color everywhere hoping to grab your attention. The tour was tiring, but overall very fun. The tour ended, and we all ended up going back to the classroom to have our interviews conducted. Our interviews were easier because it was only to inform us of our housing situations. It turns out that the CSU people knew where I was going to be staying for a while already, but they just hadn't sent the information to me. I stay at a international student dorm named SouDaiRyou among the students. After the interviews, the CSU IP students went to the welcoming party at a restaurant named Wan. I wasn't feeling very good, so I didn't eat or drink as much as I would have liked. I felt pretty dehydrated, so I didn't think drinking much would have been a good idea anyways. The night pretty much ended with us going back to the hotel across the street.
One thing I wanted to mention was I'm quite glad I opened up while I was here. I would not have had as much fun as I have been if I hadn't decided to try harder to get to know strangers and give them a bit of trust. I don't think I've ever made friends as fast as I have while I've been in Japan. I also figured the situation calls for us to rely on each other too as we are all the family we have while we are in Japan, though that really applies more for the students who are not home staying. I still consider you all my family. To my family in Japan, let's continue having a great year, and my family back in the states, I miss and love you all. Wish me a safe year. Thanks for reading as always.
All Nippon Airways was a joy to fly with. The seats weren't as spacious as I would have preferred, but no one sat to my left. I always have trouble sleeping on flights and while I'm sitting, so I didn't sleep much on the flight. The 3 kids and lady behind me kicking my chair also didn't help much. I was still a bit hungover on the flight, but enough of my appetite had returned for me to eat the meals on the flight. Though the food on the flight wasn't gourmet quality, I did enjoy what was available and had a couple beers with my meals (yes while I was still a bit hungover). The movie selection was pretty good, even though I wished the screen was of better quality. I watched a couple episodes of Prison Break, Taken, Little Miss Sunshine, and some of Angels and Demons and Monsters vs. Aliens. I didn't find the last couple interesting enough to continue watching. Overall a good flight. As this was my first flight alone, I was quite worried as I tried to navigate the airport by myself in a foreign country. I somehow managed to fill out all the paperwork, grab my bags, and get through customs fine.
As I left customs, I looked for the Waseda student signs that were supposed to be there. I first looked to the right and saw a sign that said Waseda students, but I decided to also look to the left which had a sign that said CSU IP Waseda students. Instinctively I went with the left, and as I approached the Japanese students holding the signs, one of them called me by my name, which threw me for a loop. How does a student who I've never even met before know my name? To say I was surprised is an understatement, for I was bewildered at how they knew who I was. We got introductions out of the way, and it turns out they had printed out sheets with all us CSU students' faces on it. I was also surprised to find out my dorm mate Aiko was on the same plane as me. Well more introductions were made as all the people began showing up, and we all headed off with everyone towards the Sunroute Hotel where we stayed at for the next few days. The ride wasn't too long considering we hit traffic most of the time. As we arrived, we were greeted on the street by what seemed to be the entire Waseda International Club and Niji no Kai club. Imagine being greeted by about 75-100 Japanese students who you've never met, all offering to help carry your luggage to your hotel. We basically just ate dinner and went to sleep that night. Dinner was Shakey's pizza, if you can call what we ate pizza (no offense).
The next morning we woke up, went downstairs to eat breakfast, and proceeded to walk to Waseda University for the very first time. The walk was advertised as a 15min walk, but from recent calculations, the walk is more like a 20-25 min walk for us foreigners I guess. We basically just took our placement test there, which I totally failed. I got into level 4 out of 8 levels. I know I'm a major fail. We later met up in a classroom to get ready for lunch and an orientation. The Japanese students purchased bentou for us CSU students to eat, and we all walked outside to have lunch. We ate at "the Dungeon" which is this year's CSU student's nickname for the Okuma court. Finishing up with lunch, we attended our first of many orientations to come. The first orientation concluded, and the home stay students had to do their interviews. The dorms students went off on the first tour of the Waseda area, which is quite large I must say. We walked all over the place, and I definitely wasn't able to remember where all the places were. Japan is a very visually stimulating place with signs, lights, and color everywhere hoping to grab your attention. The tour was tiring, but overall very fun. The tour ended, and we all ended up going back to the classroom to have our interviews conducted. Our interviews were easier because it was only to inform us of our housing situations. It turns out that the CSU people knew where I was going to be staying for a while already, but they just hadn't sent the information to me. I stay at a international student dorm named SouDaiRyou among the students. After the interviews, the CSU IP students went to the welcoming party at a restaurant named Wan. I wasn't feeling very good, so I didn't eat or drink as much as I would have liked. I felt pretty dehydrated, so I didn't think drinking much would have been a good idea anyways. The night pretty much ended with us going back to the hotel across the street.
One thing I wanted to mention was I'm quite glad I opened up while I was here. I would not have had as much fun as I have been if I hadn't decided to try harder to get to know strangers and give them a bit of trust. I don't think I've ever made friends as fast as I have while I've been in Japan. I also figured the situation calls for us to rely on each other too as we are all the family we have while we are in Japan, though that really applies more for the students who are not home staying. I still consider you all my family. To my family in Japan, let's continue having a great year, and my family back in the states, I miss and love you all. Wish me a safe year. Thanks for reading as always.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Kamakura Tour
So yesterday was pretty much a big blur. Not too much happened. Just a boring opening ceremony for Waseda. As important as it sounds, it was very very boring. Explored a bit of the Shinjuku district kind of around where I live. Wasn't very eventful.
Today was quite a different story. The Japanese students planned a tour of Kamakura, and almost all of the CSU students went. We were separated into groups with a few study abroad students and almost twice as many Japanese students, and we all set off on our trip. The train ride took over an hour, but I kind of lost track of how much time it actually took. We arrived and walked to a big shrine where a few of the groups gathered only to disperse into different directions to go find places to eat lunch. Lunch was extremely expensive because Kamakura is a tourist spot. I ended up paying something like 14 bucks for some lightly spiced soup style curry. Afterward we proceeded to meet up with some other our members, who went elsewhere while the rest of us ate the soup curry. After our group, C group, regathered, we saw a different group walking towards us.
As the other group walked toward us, I proceeded to join them and pretend to be part of their group which was probably a dumb idea anyways because the street was super crowded. I ended up getting kind of swept up by the crowd, so I asked to join their group, which was alright by the chief. Some conversing happened, and I switched groups. We ended up going to a huge shrine where we got to do some cleaning ritual and make a wish at the top of the shrine. The scenery was amazing. My eyes were blown away by what I was seeing. The greenery behind the temple really contrasted the temple well. As we were leaving the temple, we got to see a couple that was apparently doing part of their wedding ceremony at the temple. Very cool stuff overall.
We started walking toward the station for some reason or another, but I didn't have my ticket as I had switched groups. I believe what happened next was, our chief called the other group to ask them to meet up somwhere, so we met up at the Daibutsu as the other group was there already. We walked for what seemed like at least 2-3 miles to where the Daibutsu was. I'm not lying when I say the Daibutsu is amazing. I was blown away by the sheer majestic nature of the Daibutsu. The others were saying how the one in Nara is even bigger than the Kamakura Daibutsu, so I'm looking forward to being able to see the other one too. The best part of the whole Daibutsu experience is that for 20 yen you can go inside the Daibutsu and have a look around! It was really cool, and people put coins into the walls of the Daibutsu itself. Overall walking around inside the Daibutsu was a very unreal experience.
After the Daibutsu, we walked back towards the station so we could go home. Halfway back, some of our members were missing, and it turned out that they walked into a store to get something to eat. While we were waiting, us CSU students tried to explain several English words and concepts to a few of the Japanese students. For example, I kept saying stuff blew my mind because everything in Japan is extremely visually stimulating. I also happened to make a comment about how pieces of my brains were all over the inside of the Daibutsu because that really blew my mind. We tried our best to explain weird English words and concepts like that. Our group reformed, and we headed to the train station. While riding at the end of a super crowded train, my friend Colin almost lost his balance, when I noticed a small child who was up against the window at the end of the train. I happened to make a comment about how if he did lose his balance, that kid's brains would be all over the window. The joke was inappropriate, but at the time it was hilarious. I don't know why, but it was. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.
The final thing which was really funny was a few of us taught some of the Japanese students how to say and use "hella". We also persuaded her to use it when she talked to someone from Socal. It was pretty funny at first because our Socal friend didn't understand what she was saying at first, but he figured it out and loved it. After which we proceeded to have dinner and head home for the night.
Today was pretty uneventful. Just a day of rest and research on cellphones. Had lunch at a wonderful little udon shop with 105yen udon. It was very good for 105 yen. Croquettes weren't that great there, but it was pretty worth it.
And finally, I got this bug bite which I think is a mosquito bite, but the bite got huge without me even scratching it really. Took me 2 days to buy some anti-itch stuff for it. I should have taken a picture of it, but I'll spare you the gross stuff.
Also I'll start posting pictures once I get a cable for my point and shoot. I've been trying my best to chronicle most of my meals here. Well be safe everyone and I love you all.
Today was quite a different story. The Japanese students planned a tour of Kamakura, and almost all of the CSU students went. We were separated into groups with a few study abroad students and almost twice as many Japanese students, and we all set off on our trip. The train ride took over an hour, but I kind of lost track of how much time it actually took. We arrived and walked to a big shrine where a few of the groups gathered only to disperse into different directions to go find places to eat lunch. Lunch was extremely expensive because Kamakura is a tourist spot. I ended up paying something like 14 bucks for some lightly spiced soup style curry. Afterward we proceeded to meet up with some other our members, who went elsewhere while the rest of us ate the soup curry. After our group, C group, regathered, we saw a different group walking towards us.
As the other group walked toward us, I proceeded to join them and pretend to be part of their group which was probably a dumb idea anyways because the street was super crowded. I ended up getting kind of swept up by the crowd, so I asked to join their group, which was alright by the chief. Some conversing happened, and I switched groups. We ended up going to a huge shrine where we got to do some cleaning ritual and make a wish at the top of the shrine. The scenery was amazing. My eyes were blown away by what I was seeing. The greenery behind the temple really contrasted the temple well. As we were leaving the temple, we got to see a couple that was apparently doing part of their wedding ceremony at the temple. Very cool stuff overall.
We started walking toward the station for some reason or another, but I didn't have my ticket as I had switched groups. I believe what happened next was, our chief called the other group to ask them to meet up somwhere, so we met up at the Daibutsu as the other group was there already. We walked for what seemed like at least 2-3 miles to where the Daibutsu was. I'm not lying when I say the Daibutsu is amazing. I was blown away by the sheer majestic nature of the Daibutsu. The others were saying how the one in Nara is even bigger than the Kamakura Daibutsu, so I'm looking forward to being able to see the other one too. The best part of the whole Daibutsu experience is that for 20 yen you can go inside the Daibutsu and have a look around! It was really cool, and people put coins into the walls of the Daibutsu itself. Overall walking around inside the Daibutsu was a very unreal experience.
After the Daibutsu, we walked back towards the station so we could go home. Halfway back, some of our members were missing, and it turned out that they walked into a store to get something to eat. While we were waiting, us CSU students tried to explain several English words and concepts to a few of the Japanese students. For example, I kept saying stuff blew my mind because everything in Japan is extremely visually stimulating. I also happened to make a comment about how pieces of my brains were all over the inside of the Daibutsu because that really blew my mind. We tried our best to explain weird English words and concepts like that. Our group reformed, and we headed to the train station. While riding at the end of a super crowded train, my friend Colin almost lost his balance, when I noticed a small child who was up against the window at the end of the train. I happened to make a comment about how if he did lose his balance, that kid's brains would be all over the window. The joke was inappropriate, but at the time it was hilarious. I don't know why, but it was. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.
The final thing which was really funny was a few of us taught some of the Japanese students how to say and use "hella". We also persuaded her to use it when she talked to someone from Socal. It was pretty funny at first because our Socal friend didn't understand what she was saying at first, but he figured it out and loved it. After which we proceeded to have dinner and head home for the night.
Today was pretty uneventful. Just a day of rest and research on cellphones. Had lunch at a wonderful little udon shop with 105yen udon. It was very good for 105 yen. Croquettes weren't that great there, but it was pretty worth it.
And finally, I got this bug bite which I think is a mosquito bite, but the bite got huge without me even scratching it really. Took me 2 days to buy some anti-itch stuff for it. I should have taken a picture of it, but I'll spare you the gross stuff.
Also I'll start posting pictures once I get a cable for my point and shoot. I've been trying my best to chronicle most of my meals here. Well be safe everyone and I love you all.
Monday, September 21, 2009
So far...
I'll probably update later about what's happened up until today, but I'll just blog about yesterday first. What can I say about yesterday, other than that it was a pretty amazing night. I mean where else do I get to go to an all you can drink restaurant, drink a crap load, and go to a park after that to drink again. And here's a quick rundown of my day. O yea, I'm not going to post too many pictures right off the bat. I'm too lazy to lug round my Nikon, and my point and shoot is full right now. I'll post more pictures later when I'm able to navigate the city comfortably on my own.
So we started off the day meeting up at this circle area called the rotary. The Japanese students planned out a Tokyo Tour for us CSU students. The tour was split up into 4 groups and us CSU students were able to choose from the 4 different places available. I chose Ueno because there was a festival going on there, and it wasn't something I could go visit at anytime. The choice was definitely a good one because I had tons of fun. I bought a bunch of cheap food when we first got into Ueno, but most people got 1 or 2 things. I felt like such a fatty patty compared to everyone else, but at least I was full for the rest of the afternoon. We walked on and on until we made it to the festival, where we were able to play a bunch of games and eat some more interesting foods. I also got my fortune read, and I bought a couple of Omamoris. After that we left to go look at the Zoo.
When I say we went to look at the zoo, I really mean we just looked at the zoo. We didn't go inside because we didn't have enough time and it costs money. We walked on and on and finally rested at the Ueno park. Ueno park is probably the most interesting and at the same time uncomfortable moment so far in Japan. While all of us were sitting down resting, an old man walked over and dropped a cat in front of my friends. The old man then sat down next to me and proceeded to inquire about us CSU students. He asked me all kinds of different stuff and told me about himself too. Now that might seen normal and uninteresting, but the whole time I was talking to this old man, I could smell the alcohol on his breath. It was terrible. I would have walked away, but I decided I'd take one for the team. The old man wasn't discouraged however and proceeded to walk over to my friend Jaime and pull her over to the cat so she could pet it. Quite an awkward moment. After that we walked around some more on a super busy street called Ameyoko I think. Pretty boring after that. The fun started after we went to what I think is an all you can drink Izakaya type place.
So we get into the place, and everyone sits down waiting for one of the club chiefs to give an opening speech so we can get the festivities under way. Naoto, a chief from the Niji no Kai side, gave a great opening speech. By the way, for some reason or another, Japanese people seem to enjoy yelling at the top of their lungs when they give their speeches. Pretty interesting stuff. After the drinking started, I don't know about others, but I pounded down a few right off the bat. The food was also really good. I'd say about halfway in, the chiefs of the clubs got together and did a drinking performance that was really fun to watch. I must say it's quite unique with all the clapping and chanting. We drank at a park afterward, but nothing too eventful happened there to my memory. My memory is also a bit fuzzy though, as I had a couple beers last night. I'll update with pictures soon. I love you all and keep me updated on your lives also, as I do care even though I'm in Japan having the time of my life.
So we started off the day meeting up at this circle area called the rotary. The Japanese students planned out a Tokyo Tour for us CSU students. The tour was split up into 4 groups and us CSU students were able to choose from the 4 different places available. I chose Ueno because there was a festival going on there, and it wasn't something I could go visit at anytime. The choice was definitely a good one because I had tons of fun. I bought a bunch of cheap food when we first got into Ueno, but most people got 1 or 2 things. I felt like such a fatty patty compared to everyone else, but at least I was full for the rest of the afternoon. We walked on and on until we made it to the festival, where we were able to play a bunch of games and eat some more interesting foods. I also got my fortune read, and I bought a couple of Omamoris. After that we left to go look at the Zoo.
When I say we went to look at the zoo, I really mean we just looked at the zoo. We didn't go inside because we didn't have enough time and it costs money. We walked on and on and finally rested at the Ueno park. Ueno park is probably the most interesting and at the same time uncomfortable moment so far in Japan. While all of us were sitting down resting, an old man walked over and dropped a cat in front of my friends. The old man then sat down next to me and proceeded to inquire about us CSU students. He asked me all kinds of different stuff and told me about himself too. Now that might seen normal and uninteresting, but the whole time I was talking to this old man, I could smell the alcohol on his breath. It was terrible. I would have walked away, but I decided I'd take one for the team. The old man wasn't discouraged however and proceeded to walk over to my friend Jaime and pull her over to the cat so she could pet it. Quite an awkward moment. After that we walked around some more on a super busy street called Ameyoko I think. Pretty boring after that. The fun started after we went to what I think is an all you can drink Izakaya type place.
So we get into the place, and everyone sits down waiting for one of the club chiefs to give an opening speech so we can get the festivities under way. Naoto, a chief from the Niji no Kai side, gave a great opening speech. By the way, for some reason or another, Japanese people seem to enjoy yelling at the top of their lungs when they give their speeches. Pretty interesting stuff. After the drinking started, I don't know about others, but I pounded down a few right off the bat. The food was also really good. I'd say about halfway in, the chiefs of the clubs got together and did a drinking performance that was really fun to watch. I must say it's quite unique with all the clapping and chanting. We drank at a park afterward, but nothing too eventful happened there to my memory. My memory is also a bit fuzzy though, as I had a couple beers last night. I'll update with pictures soon. I love you all and keep me updated on your lives also, as I do care even though I'm in Japan having the time of my life.
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