Nomihodai, Osaka, and Shopping =]

Last Saturday (9/18) the ryuugakusei (foreign exchange students; i.e. us) discovered Nomihodai and Karaoke. A huge group of us went to karaoke with some of the regular Konan students (about 25-30 people in all). It was crazy cheap, like 450 a person (~$5) for two hours. It was lots of fun! I was surprised by how many English songs there were. (Black Eyed Peas, Lincoln Park, even some random Disney songs) The next day, we went shopping in Osaka. Well we didn’t really know where we were going, so we ended up in a huge mall for most of the time. Malls in Japan are more like really expensive stores all put together. You can barely afford anything. But I did manage to find a cheap pair of leggings and a scrunchie, which are the in items here. So I’ve Japanified myself! (One step closer!) Then we went to Nomihodai, which means you can drink as much as you want for a set time and price. The great thing is, it’s amazingly cheap! We paid only 1000 yen per person (~$10) for a 2-hour period and we were allowed to order however much we wanted within those two hours. =D I think we all ordered 6-7 drinks each. It felt unreal; like we were stealing from them. But even so, most of them didn’t have very high alcohol content (save for a few) so we weren’t stumbling around Osaka or anything. Just a bit tipsy =P.

The next day, I went back to Osaka with my host mom to visit Osaka castle. When we got off the train we walked into the courtyard area and they were playing very Japanese music that gave us a dramatic entrance. If felt like a movie! We took a cute little train to the castle where people stared at me again… I’m so American, I stick out like a sore thumb ><. (This one time when I was walking to school a middle-aged man realized I was behind him and when he looked behind, he ran ahead of me a 20 steps! Wtf?) But the castle was so pretty! Castles in Japan are totally different from castles you would find in say London or France. They’re more like pagodas in structure. Like this:

The first 6 or so floors were all about history so I kind of breezed past that part… (not a fan of history though I probably should have looked at it more closely) They also had small boxes lined up where they projected small films. Only they were more like 3D holograms that played in succession, which really surprised me. Oh Japan, you’re so advanced! Then we climbed up all the way to the top and saw an amazing view of Osaka. There were a lot more foreigners in the castle than you usually see in towns. It’s a big tourist attraction so it makes sense. Still, it was comforting!

This week was short because we had off Thursday and Friday. It was also the first week I attended Nippon Kenpo (martial arts). They meet twice a week for three hours. I attended both meets this week and both were very frustrating experiences… I’ve always known Japan was a fairly sexist country but living it gives new perspective to the whole situation. It started out okay. They do physical training for the first hour or so, which consists of the usual – stretching, situps, pushups, floor drills, punching drills, etc. Then for the next two hours, they spar. Now, I’ll admit I’m not a great sparer. But that’s the kind of thing I came to the club to learn. So I could get better at it. I already know basic punches. But that’s as far as they’re willing to teach me. They keep saying it’s “too dangerous for girls.” So I figured I would just keep at it until they accepted me. The first day we were looking at the masks and the helmets were too big for my face (I have a tiny face, even in America) so they told me to bring towels next time. So I bought two towels and brought them to Wednesday’s practice. But after they sat there for 40 minutes having me go through drills and going, “hmm what should we do next” I asked if I could try sparring. This time, he said I needed my own pair of tebukuri (gloves that go under boxing mits). One of the guys didn't bring gloves and they let him spar! So I said, okay, so if I bring gloves on Monday will I be able to spar? And he said yeah. And I asked, Do you promise? And then I saw it all over his face. They have no intention of letting me spar. He said very subtly, probably not. That's the other thing about Japan. They don’t say anything directly. Even the guys are hard to read. Everything is said or asked with an undertone. For example if you think it’s cold and want someone to turn down the AC. You don’t ask, “Can you please turn the AC down” you say, “hmm it’s a bit chilly in here…” You have to hint at it or it’s considered too abrupt and rude. So that’s how this went down. But even so, I’m not sure I like the style. They don’t really have forms or set techniques. They just spar for a few hours. And that’s great for like endurance and increasing speed but it isn’t exactly useful or educational the way I wanted it to be. There isn’t much of a style to it. So maybe I can find another club that would be more fitting to what I want.

Meanwhile, one of my family’s prior ryuugakusei came and visited for a few days. She’s currently in the JET program (おめでとう！)　So she met me after school on Tuesday and showed me a few cute places/study spots where she used to hang out which I had never noticed before. Then we went to Sannomiya for a pokemon hunt. The new black and white games came out and they were already sold out in most places when I went looking for one. I managed to get one of the last 3 whites that this huge department store had so, luckii. =) Now I just have to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing as it is all in Japanese. >.>

Last Thursday was the anniversary of my late host father’s death day. So the whole family went out to the cemetery to visit him. I went out on my own instead since it was more of a family thing and I didn’t want to intrude. But I think it involves cleaning the grave and placing incense and flowers on it. I went out to eat in Okamoto with a couple of my friends along with some Konan students instead. [All the ryuugakusei had off that day because one, it was a national holiday (Shubun no hi – Autumnal Equinox Day) and two, we were going on a field trip the next day so we got a day to prepare.] One of the girls we went to lunch with was turning 20 (hatachi), which is the big birthday here in Japan. It’s the age where you become able to do everything legally.  Usually there is a big party in town one day of the year for all the people who turned 20 for that year (“Seiji no Hi”). They all dress up in elaborate kimonos to celebrate. Although I’m happy I’m already 20 and can do anything I want, it would have been nice to turn here for the big celebration… *pout* Anyway, the place we ate at was small and had an old cabin feel to it like you’re at a lodge in the mountains (probably felt that way because it was raining that day). Since it was lunchtime they only gave us two choices for food: ramen or ramen set. Weird. You’d think they’d have more choices.

After that we all split off to do our own things as some of our group had “youji” (previous engagements/plans) so a couple of the guys and I went to Nishinomiya Gardens to do some shopping. It’s right outside the Nishinomiya station which is one stop away from mine (who knew I had this huge mall so close to me?!). The place was seriously gigantic. There were 5 levels and each level must have had at least 50 or so stores. Every time you turned a corner to think you had finally gone through a whole level you would be like, “I don't recognize this at all… ?_?” We went for shopping but truth be told most of the stuff was too frickin expensive to actually buy anything. Every store we went in I would pick up a random shirt or pair of pants and it would be ¥10,000 – 35,000 (~$120-$370!!). So I didn’t buy much. We did, however find a store on the first floor that was devoted to just Tonari no Totoro and Majo no Takyuubin! It was so cute! They had even had the songs from Kiki playing in the store and there were giant stuffed animals. So I caved in and bought a Totoro blanket that turned out to be a lot smaller than I thought but still worth it! *G*

We found a Coldstone creamery downstairs as well and you know how in America, all the employees sing songs when you tip them? Well it’s the same here! They all sung cute Japanese versions and they actually looked excited to be singing for all the customers; they even danced! (I put a video up on FB if you're interested) There was also a bakery right across from it that had the nicest smelling bread and pastries. So we each bought a few. There were even ones shaped like Totoro that had a creamy filling! CUTE NOM. Then we wondered over to Uniqlo, which is one of the most popular stores here. Everything’s nice but at a good price; so I bought a couple of tops. When I went in the fitting room though I didn’t realize that in Japan, you’re supposed to take off your shoes before you go in the fitting room (as they do with most rooms: house, gym, high schools, etc). I definitely committed that cultural blunder… >< The lady was like, “お客様、お靴は。。。”(Okyakusama, okutsu wa“)”Ma’am, your shoes…” And I was like, Oh! I’m sorry!! Foreigner moment! So let that be a lesson to anyone who goes to Japan after this.

Word of the day:  武道　“budou” or martial arts.

それではまた次回！