Takarazuka〜!! (≧▽≦)

It’s been a while since I’ve updated anyone about my actual life here in Japan! My recent shenanigans have included going out to nomihodai, ice skating (damn, those Granpas are amazing skaters!), karaoke, sharing wine in the park, discovering new restaurants in my town (blue cheese burger?! SCORE!), and hanging out with all the friends I’ve made on this program. (Is it possible I’ve only known these people for six months??)

But the real focus of this post is Takarazuka. Today my host mom and sister took me to see Takarazuka Revue, a theater comprised of five troupes (Flower, Moon, Snow, Star, and Cosmos) who rotate every month to perform a new play for their wide reaching fan base. They perform things from famous Western style productions (such as Romeo and Juliet, Phantom of the Opera, etc) to stories taken from popular Manga and Japanese folktale. They perform all their productions in Japanese (of course) in a Broadway style, which makes it completely different from traditional Japanese forms of theater (thank god...). But out of everything, the biggest kick is that all of the performers, dancers, and singers are women who play both the male and female roles. This androgyny is amazing when you consider the extremely sexist views that remain in Japanese society even today. And even more amazing when you take into account the fact that the theater was created so long ago when surely Japan had even more stereotypical sentiments.

The Takarazuka Theater has encompassed these five troupes performing a new number every month for eighty years! (If you do the math, the number of shows is staggering!) The current cast of just the Flower Troupe, which I saw today, includes some 83 women performers who all have an amazing ability to act, sing, and dance. And within these talented actresses the main characters have a fandom like you wouldn't believe! Well, when you consider the amazing productions they put on and the fact that they have their own photobooks, songs, and several famous character roles they jump into and pull off with elegance, it’s no wonder they have girls lining up for a mile to await their appearance!

Main image for the play! Also the cover of the
pamphlet my host mom bought me!!  -^^-

The show I saw today was called Prelude of Love (愛のプレリュード), adapted from the story of Santa Monica. It’s a love story between the daughter of a famous inventor who’s on the verge of completing a revolutionary device and a bodyguard her father has hired to protect his daughter until its completion. At first Kathy, the daughter, greatly objects to having Freddy (the bodyguard) around, and they both act very coldly to each other. But one day, Freddy finds out that she’s been funding a group of orphans, a project she has undertaken without her father’s knowledge and she begs him not to speak a word of it. But surprisingly, the seemingly indifferent and unemotional Freddy acts warmly towards the boys and offers to teach them baseball. Seeing this, Kathy is taken back at how friendly he acts and she begins to develop a liking for him. He tells her that he has always wanted to protect people and reflects while feeling the breeze on his face that the wind brings wonderful opportunities to people and that one should act to the best of their ability to do whatever they are capable of doing. She says that he is like the wind, going from place to place, protecting people. But we find out when he suddenly collapses that Freddy has a disease that makes him prone to attacks. His friend asks, “Why the hell did you become a bodyguard if you have a disease and a weak body?!” And he answers that he as always wanted to give protection to people.

Meanwhile, a group of thugs are after the coveted invention and they show up several times to attack those surrounding it. These scenes bring back the memory of how Freddie became ill. In his younger days he was protecting his friend and got shot in the head. But the bullet entered grey matter of his brain and still remains, as the doctors are unable to remove it. This is why he falls and why, since he could die any day, that he has vowed to live his life by doing things to the best of his ability.

After several encounters, the police are finally able to track down the gang and put a stop to them. Kathy confesses her love to Freddie as he is preparing to leave but he says he cannot accept her love because that would put a huge burden on her. But just as he turns to leave, she runs after him and is so overwhelmed by his love for her that he throws down his bags and sweeps her into a passionate kiss. ;)

It was like watching a dramatic anime but performed by real people! Not only were the actors highly capable and entertaining, but all the other aspects of the play were also impressive. The stage was complex involving a large revolving circular platform (which they used mid performance for dramatic effects), several backdrops of the views of Santa Montica and on stage sets, and really neat platforms that would rise and sink from the main stage. These moving platforms sometimes were just to give various level changes but also sometimes rose a completely separate section that the performers would be in, ready for the next scene. It was like looking into a rising box (or a rising bar which is actually what it made me think of as my family used to have one in our old house). The stage also had a few parts that reached out into the audience (kind of like a kabuki stage) that would allow the actors to perform in front of the stage while the larger sets were being changed.

The costumes ranged from classic suits and party dresses to elaborate, even gaudy ensembles complete with sparkles, glitter and huge feathers. The orchestra was also amazing and one of my favorite parts. The music was really beautiful and included sounds that I couldn’t pin down to any instruments I was aware of. I thought maybe these could be computer generated but I think they were actually all live sounds so it remains a mystery to me.

So the story comprised the first part of the whole show. After the intermission they put on another part that incorporated not a specific story but several different dances and musical numbers that showed off their skills as performers. It was really cool and the audience got really into it by clapping a beat for their favorite actresses.

At intermission, my host mom guided me down to the restaurant on the first floor and surprised me with a reserved lunch that she had arranged. (such yummy tomato soup!)  She said that the lunch and the performance was a present to me for helping her with her English lessons so many times! ^^ So nice!!

Me and Aya at Takarazuka Theater!

While we were sitting there, my host sister pointed out an extremely ritzy family who looked like they could be part of a royal family. (Their words xD) They told me that several extremely rich people, actors, and TV stars are huge fans of Takurazuka and some even come every month to see the new shows being performed, sitting at the front in the most expensive seats you can buy. Admittedly after seeing the performance I actually can’t blame them and I definitely want to go again as I am now a diehard fan! (could you tell? =P) Maybe I'll even buy one of their performances on video one day! When the performance month is done, they put the whole thing on DVD/Blu-ray so you can buy it (you can imagine how many there were!!!) But they were like 100 dollars for one play! Insane! Maybe when I'm rich? lol

Words of the Day: These are the names of the 5 Takarazuka groups in Japanese followed by the performance aspects that individualizes each one.

花　はな hana – Flower. Known for shows that have larger budget and more lavish stage and costume designs. Their material often comes from operatic material.

月　つき tsuki – Moon. Known to be strong singers and to have a focus on music. They tend to perform drama, Western musicals with modern settings (such as Guys and Dolls!)

雪　ゆき yuki – Snow. This group is considered the upholder of more traditional Japanese drama but recently has been moving towards the style of the previous two.

星　ほし hoshi – Star. This group is thought to be the home of Takurazuka’s biggest stars/most popular performers.

空　そら sora – Sky/cosmos. This is the newest troupe, which is more apt to be experimental. They are more likely to put on Western derived plays (such as Phantom) and tends to involve taller members.

If you add “gumi” to the end of all these words they transform into the meaning of “~troupe.” =)

FUN FACTS! (These have nothing to do with anything but my host mom told me and I thought they were awesome…^^)

1. The word “iya kimochi” (jealousy) was developed from the word Yakimochi (fried mochi) because when yakimochi is cooked, it puffs out really big. They compare this puffing to when a girl gets angry from jealousy and her cheeks puff out big and round! xD

2. There are two words for rice: “kome” which refers to the uncooked rice grains and “gohan” which refers to rice that is already cooked. When a Japanese mom notices the rice is done she will say “gohan ga taita!” (The rice is done!) But the verb “taku” which means to cook is only supposed to be used with grains that aren’t already done, which means they should say “kome ga taita” instead. So if the kids are teasing their mom they’ll say “chigau! Gohan wa mou taite aru yo~!” (No, the rice is already cooked!)

それではまた次回！

Korean Adventure!

Two weeks after we booked our flight for Korea, it was already time to go. I had no expectations and no knowledge of what we were leaving for whatsoever.  I tried to pack light but with everyone telling me Korea is 10 times colder than Japan, I packed my heavy clothes.

While trying to figure out where the bus pick up was for the airport, my friend and I went in desperate search of an ATM to see if our scholarships had come in. It was expected to arrive that day in our accounts but it was getting down to the time to fly off to Korea and we had absolutely NO money! I left my house with 3000 yen for the bus ride, crossing my fingers that the money would pop into my bank on time.  Luckily, when we checked at the airport right after we had arrived it was there for all of us! PHEW!

We arrived at Incheon Airport and were greeted by Shinae’s Mother who gave us Korean donuts!  They were simply delicious. They were small and chewy with mochi inside of them. Shinae is one of our Korean friends who came with us, though unfortunately she didn’t get to spend much time with us because she was with her family for the Korean New Year. But anyway, after getting our bearings we went to change our money into Won. Did we ever feel rich! I changed about 400 dollars worth and that converted to 52 10,000 won bills! In won, you move the decimal place over three points so it’s basically like getting 400 dollars in tens but that’s a small matter! It felt like we were rolling in cash!

When we got to our hostel, we were greeted by Mary - the most wonderful Korean woman wearing bear claw feet! She was so hospitable and so nice. We came in and she says, “I had to change your room to the suite on the 19^th floor, is that OK?” And we were like, “…o_O For 130 dollars for five nights, that’s more like unbelievable!” Then she proceeded to give us various maps, giving us directions to her favorite restaurants, the clubbing areas, shopping districts in the immediate area; everything we needed! She told us that breakfast was every day from 8-12 and to come and enjoy cereal, toast, and coffee! Our room was a suite with 5 beds, a loft up top, a bathroom, a washing machine, even a tiny stove and coffee maker – all facing a huge wall and a half size window overlooking the city. And it smelled so fresh and clean! What a deal!

The view from our suite! =)

We chose our beds, put down our things (everyone was excited about the beds in the loft but after hitting our heads on the ceiling a few times each, the competition died down ^^;;), and immediately set out to a place in the city Mary had suggested to eat. The weather turned to be great and warmer than Japan! We sat around two tables that had a vent in the middle to cook our food on. As a custom, we were given kimchee, and spicy soups for free with our meal. Everything was delicious! I’m not usually good with spicy food but there was plenty of water to dull the fire. Over dinner our Korean friend, Karhim, who was amazing the whole trip and helped us in every aspect started teaching us some basic Korean phrases. We learned how to order basic things like water and beer and things like thank you. I love the sound of Asian languages, and Korean is definitely awesome sounding. I’m hoping to take at least a year or so of it when I get back to the States!

After dinner we wandered around the city. It’s so much livelier compared to where we live in Japan! There are street vendors everywhere selling delicious food, jewelry, clothes, even puppies. (?!) We found a Turkish ice cream shop and went in. The shopkeeper gave us quite a show! He went outside and had us try to catch the cone he was putting the ice cream in. For those who have never had Turkish ice cream, it kind of has taffy like stretchy texture to it and it’s fun to eat! He really gave Karhim a run. She couldn’t catch it no matter what she did! He would flip it over and sideways on a long stick in front of her face. I tried too and I unexpectedly caught it and crushed my friends’ ice cream cone. <^^ We enjoyed our ice cream and some of our group even found long awaited sandwiches which do not exist in Japan. We were all so satisfied!

Ice cream, anyone?

The next day we all bought subway passes so we could conveniently travel on it without having to buy an individual ticket every time. They popped out in a package resembling a pack of cigarettes haha. Train rides are really cheap in Korea! They were less than a dollar almost every time and we only spent a total of about 10 bucks for the whole trip. We traveled to Jongno and on the way we discovered the giant vending machines that are everywhere, offering large boxes of cookies and other delicious snacks for cheap.

We went out to the town and just shopped around for a bit. We found this really cute store that was selling handmade jewelry where I bought a cute watch necklace. (^^) 

We went all over the town, noticing graffiti all over the walls and the heaps of trash on the ground. (I have to admit, after being on the spotless streets in Japan, it was kind of refreshing!) Then we ate this really delicious street sweet that had red bean paste in the middle of a pastry (I love anko!). We eventually found a restaurant and settled in for lunch. It was a place notorious for its dumplings so we had kind of like a spicy dumpling stew called Mandoo Jeongoal that we shared between four of us.

After roaming, we left to find DeokSu Gung, one of the Five Grand Palaces in Seoul. It was heavily destroyed during the Japanese occupation of Korea so only about a third of it remains but it was still neat to walk around. The architecture was so colorful with vibrant reds and greens and pillars with elaborate patterns on them.

That night we went out in search for a bar or somewhere to eat. We went to a place Mary had recommended but Mary must be rich because this place was really expensive! It had an atmosphere like a Hookah bar. In fact, we thought it WAS a hookah bar what with the poof cushions, Indian drapes and low lighting but we asked and they said they don’t do that kind of thing.  They even had a hookah looking object but apparently they were using it for a special drink? But anyway it was too expensive so we had one drink and then left to find somewhere cheaper. We ended up at a small restaurant where we ate a stew type meal, Daakgalbi, out of a shovel! It literally looked like they had gotten shovels from the store, cut off most of the handle and put it over a flame. It looked gigantic so we shared two between the six of us. On the way home we had some street food (the shovel wasn’t as filling for 3 as we thought). I got the anko pastry again and tried a fried hotdog with Karhim because she was really excited about it and I wanted to try whatever she did. I thought I was going to die! I just couldn’t finish it. Actually I didn’t WANT to finish it. It was disgustingly fried to four times the size of the actual hotdog. Ick!

The next morning, after breakfast again by virtue of Mary, we met Shinae to go shopping and eat. She took us to a place near our hostel where we had dduk bokgi , a red, spicy dish with long log shaped rice cakes that had twi gim mixed into it (basically fried tempura). They also ordered soon dae, a slimy grey substance rolled into a sausage form. It was all really good! They served hot soup that reminded me of miso with it, which was pretty good. Usually we got hot tea with the meals, which never made sense to me because they don’t help counteract the spiciness of the meal. But this actually complemented it pretty well.

We used this third day for shopping! We stopped by a Zara and had fun dressing up the boys in more fashionable clothes for an hour or two. A couple of them even ended up with some nice long sleeved button shirts. Shinae took us to a busy shopping district that was packed with shops, well known and independent alike. We split up from there because we were searching for different items. I went on a search for make up with Karhim which was a HUGE fail and we ended up spending a lot of the time trying to get the stuff off my face! I gave up and we went to the street vendors where we bought gigantic cream puffs and found a cheap Korean knock off of the most recent Harry Potter movie (which turned out to be pretty shit but it was only 3 dollars ;;). We even found this really delicious sweet called kkultarae that was like white candy over nuts. The guys selling it gave quite a show! They even had an English version they performed for me which was extremely entertaining:

After chowing down in the streets we found a Forever 21 and other stores where we scouted a few items on sale. =) Karhim and Patrick even got chucks at a Converse store that were really neat and original.

That night Shinae took us to this awesome bulgogi place (like yakiniku, cooked meat) It was absolutely delicious! I almost didn’t go because I was so exhausted from the day but I’m so glad I did! Shinae and Karhim did all the ordering for us and it was to die for! They cooked it over real coals in the middle of the table. You cook meat and vegetables over top of it. 

Doesn't it look delicious?!

They also supplied us with lettuce and basil leaves where you put the meat and veggies on top of, and then various spicy things which gave it a great taste. Then you roll them all up and shove the whole thing in your mouth! Shinae said that was the best way to eat it. “You can’t eat it just a bite at a time!” Then after we ate what was on the cooker and we thought that was the end, they cleared the whole thing away and gave us a completely new table cooker, leaves, meat and vegetables for another serving. This happened two or three times until we were all stuffed. It was amazing and only like 12 dollars each! We also had traditional rice whine with it, which went really great with the taste of the meal. You have to swirl the bottle around periodically so the rice doesn’t settle in it. We also noticed that the building we were in had no walls but was covered instead with a heavy plastic that you see in construction sites. It was STILL warmer than a Japanese building! Even in our hostel we were absolutely warm and we never even turned on a heater. The way this happens is because Korea uses heated floors and because heat rises, it makes the rest of the room a really comfortable temperature without using much energy!  I was so impressed I wondered why Japan doesn’t catch on to something so simple and effective. (It’s cold to go out of the warm room in my host house and get my butt frozen in the bathroom! Even with the heated seats, there’s a draft!)

The next day was New Year’s. Most shops were closed so we set off for Gyeongbok Gung Palace which was apparently where all the other Korean’s were going too because there were several special events. (Lucky!) We even got in for free because no one pays on the New Year! We saw a guard march, and got free, small New Year cakes. There was a spot outside where kids were playing all types of different traditional Korean games. Some of them resembled old games in the states like pick up sticks, hacky sack and spinning tops. But all the kids were playing in their traditional garb so it was really cute!

This palace had been burned down completely during the Japanese invasion but they’ve slowly been rebuilding the entire complex. The weather turned kind of foggy and Karhim and Patrick spent the whole trip trying to avoid getting their new chucks dirty on the wet sandy ground but we were glad we went! There was also a museum, which we took a long tour around. When we came back out we found they were getting ready to perform a traditional dance! What good timing. They had white strips of paper attached that twirled around from their hats and energetic dancers twirling about.

When we had looked our fill we went back to the main part of town to find food and shopping. While we were looking around we ran into a traditional arcade! Like kids (in a candy shop? Isn’t an arcade just the same? Lol) we played around with some of our favorite games that really brought back memories! They had everything from Tetris to Wack-a-Mole to Zombie shooting games and a DDR game. We fooled around in town until dark and then headed back to our hostel.

We found a site online for an awesome club that was free for the New Year and got jazzed up to go check it out! It was in a district far away so it took about 50 minutes to get to by train. When we got out of the station though we noticed giant iPad (maybe 4x the size) devices that we’d been seeing all around Seoul. In the train stations, on the streets, they’re everywhere you turn. They’re capable of google maps, news updates, weather, and all sorts of other useful information while you’re out and about. Since Shinae couldn’t come with us we decided to take a picture with it and send it to her email. It was so cool and convenient! There was one per block the entire time we were walking to Club Eden. We finally made it after the guys decided to get some snacks and after getting distracted when they spotted a Hooters of all things.

It was definitely lucky that this club free for the night because it was one high rolling place. We happened to pick the night where a bunch of models visiting Seoul also came. They were everywhere! We couldn’t believe it. Some of the tallest people I’ve ever seen. But even so, the drink prices might have been the most outrageous thing we saw. While we got “two free tickets” which basically amounted to two shots of tequila (which don’t do too much), the rest of the drinks were upwards of 220 to 360 dollars! It was ridiculous. There were basic drinks for 10 to 20 dollars but I didn’t see the point of wasting money on them. They also had some awkward names like “Tie me to the bed post,” “Orgasm,” or our favorite, “It Doesn't Matter Anymore.” xD What kind of place was this?! The lighting in the club was definitely cool but the music was so-so. It was techno but I prefer music I can sing too because otherwise it gets a little repetitive. After getting hit on by the 5^th guy I was definitely sick of the place and since the others were dead on their feet (it’s tiring walking around all day and then going out til 4 in the morning!) we decided to take a taxi home instead of waiting for the trains to restart. We thought it would be heinously expensive but between three people it was only 5 bucks each! Everything is cheap in Seoul! (Of course, if you took it during the day it would probably be 10x the price)

On the last day we went out to get Bryan’s hair cut and I ended up finally taking the plunge and getting mine done like I’d been considering for a while! It was worth it just for the experience Korean hair salons give! My friends actually said this place is all over Chicago but we never expected it to be so good. They massaged my head for 2-3 minutes just for my pure enjoyment, had separate people for washing, cutting, drying, brushing off hair, straightening, and styling! They used 8 different kinds of scissors I had never even seen. I kind of like the way it turned out but I’m still trying to learn its ways and how to style it.

Afterwards we split up from the guys and did separate shopping, which turned out to be nice. We looked at accessories and a mall we hadn’t noticed before and found a bunch of cheap sweaters. We ran into a problem there though because we had gone to the bathroom but they don’t keep any form of paper in either the boys’ or the girls’ bathroom! Apparently all the shop owners keep rolls of toilet paper for themselves when they have to go. There should be a sign if it’s something like that! I had to beg one of them in terrible Korean before she finally conceded! What an ordeal.

We got some street food and went to go meet the boys and head towards Seoul Tower by taxi. But when we got there, Patrick realized he had lost his iPhone of 3 years! It was devastating. We tried to call the taxi companies but with only a vague description of the driver and no license number, there was just no chance. It kind of put a damper on the tower, which wasn’t as great anyway because the fog limited our vision of the city. The love lockets were neat though. There’s a legend that if you come to the tower with your lover and tie a lock on it, then you’ll be together forever. There were locks everywhere; even locks in tree formations!

This tree is made out of locks!

When we got back we tried in vain to search the taxis again but it was no use.  We didn’t realize how late it was but it was nearly midnight when we returned to the hostel. Apparently Mary had tried to throw us a dinner for our last day but we didn’t realize because we hadn’t been home all day and didn’t see the post. But in our absence, she had cleaned our entire suite (even rolling up our clothes and putting them in our suitcases) and left us Dunkin Donuts with a loving note! She truly is the nicest woman ever!

We love you Mary!!

Since it was so late anyway and our plane was early in the morning we decided to just stay up until it was time to go. But having only eaten some street chicken we went out to town to find something to eat. After setting up our friends on a date (mwahaha) we ran into a boy from the hostel and his mentor and they offered to take us out for drinks. We spent the next three hours drinking the delicious rice wine we had enjoyed the other night, talking to them and reflecting on the awesome trip we had had. It was a great end to the vacation!

And thus ends this post! Maybe next time I’ll actually get back to talking about my Japanese life! <^^

Korean Word of the Day: Kansamnida! Which means Thank you!

Japanese Word of the Day:　旅　たび or tabi, which means journey or adventure. =)

それではまた次回！^^

Seijin no hi!!

Today is a national holiday in Japan because of what's known as Seijin no hi 成人の日「せいじんのひ」 (literally "Adult Day"), the coming of age day. It's held on the second Monday of January and on this day, all those who have turned 20 years old between April 1st of the previous year and March 31st of the current one are invited to join in the festivities! Those who attend usually dress up in formal attire when they go to celebrate their new maturity. For girls, this means a furisode, a kind of kimono with long sleeves that drape down and traditional zori sandals. Men used to wear a kimono and hakama (sort of like loose fabric resembling pants that goes over the kimono) but I'm told by my friend that nowadays men usually dress up in a Western suit and tie. (I think the kimono's cooler personally ;))

Having turned 20 just last July I was invited this year! Talk about good timing for my study abroad! I was originally not going to go though because my host mom told me the ceremony is kind of boring. But when I was finishing breakfast my host mom was like, "Have you ever worn a kimono?" and I answered no, and she said "You should wear one today!" and I was like, ".....WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?! o_O" So later she brought out all the pieces of the kimono (that she had hand made!) and started dressing me up! Kimonos really are a complicated process! First there's the white tabi socks which have to go first (it would be difficult to put on socks when you have all those layers on you and you're tightly strapped in!), the underdress (at one point she looked down and saw I was still wearing my pajama pants and laughed herself hoarse haha) which has long sleeves to fit into the long sleeves of the top layer, an underbelt to hold it up, a colored piece to show through the top color, the top layer which has to be adjusted to the right length at the obi (belt) which comes next and has to be wrapped around your waist a couple of times, then some more decorative pieces on top! （あぁ疲れた! "Ah, I'm tired!") Nowadays, girls dress up their kimonos a lot adding color ropes and even modern belts! Then my host mom helped me do my hair which I curled in the front, and she braided on the sides.

After all that this was the final product: =)

You can't see my feet in this picture but host mom kept having to tell me to put them angled at a certain way (one kind of pointing into the middle of the other) because that's how they used to walk. Weird, eh? Anyway, we're going to have a peek at the festivities today so hope you enjoyed this small bit!

Word of the day: 巻く、まく or maku。This is the verb you use when you talk about rolling or curling your hair!

UPDATE:

Okay so I just got back from the Seijinshiki (coming of age festival) and it was really fun! But there were SO many people!! I could barely move! The first thing we did was walk to the temple which had a ridiculous line and took forever to get through, as it usually does. As we were lining up I noticed a bunch of twigs that everyone was holding. I asked my host mom and she told me these are fukuzasa (remember fukubukuro?). Well I found out fuku means "lucky" so the fukubukuro is literally "lucky bag" and fukuzasa is "lucky bamboo leaves." Zasa is from sasa, bamboo leaves, but it becomes voiced (s -> z) when put with the first bit (thank you Linguistics...). So every year families buy fukuzasa and keep it for the rest of the year so it can gather your bad luck. Then when the next year turns, you bring the fukuzasa from last year to the shrine, put it in a big pile which is burned later, and then you buy a new fukuzasa for the next year which is supposed to bring luck and success.

Fukuzasa looks like this!

Unlike other times when I've been to temples, this time when we entered there were four priests holding long sticks with a bunch of strips of paper in a kind of pom pom type shape. When you step through, they shake it over your head which is supposed to rid you of all the bad things that happened in the past year. This is called おはらい、or oharai which means Shinto purification. Interestingly, there was another entrance on the side that said 「まぐろ」maguro. We weren't really sure what they were referring to but when we went in we saw that it was talking about a giant tuna! Lined up there was the tuna, vegetables, candy, etc. My host mom told me that this is an おそなえ, Osonae which means an offering to the gods. So everyone threw coins at the offerings (kind of like a wishing well); some people even stuffed coins INTO the open flesh of the tuna! It was a strange sight.

After that we got おみくじ omikuji, written fortunes. I got the same one that I got at New Year's! Highest luck with the God Yebisu! Coincidence? =3 It said things up until now have been bad (burns, surgery, swollen feet... lol) but from here on the gods will lend me power and give me very good luck and health. =) They also came in a really cute fish holder so, totally worth it haha.

We stopped to have some あまざけ amazake which literally means sweet sake or alcohol but it was non-alcoholic (go figure). It was outrageously delicious! It may have just become one of my favorite Japanese drinks! It's made from fermented rice and just has a great, sweet flavour to it. It was also really warm which felt great considering how cold it was outside. When we were done we wandered around the festival shops (there were loads everywhere!). They were selling lots of matsuri (festival) food: cotton candy, chocolate bananas, yakisoba, takoyaki,  candy apples, even candy strawberries and oranges! I bought a candy apple since I had wanted one the last festival I went to and never got it. *うれしい^^* Then we grabbed some yakisoba and headed home with the masses. Fun!

Word of the day: りんごアメ, ringoame which means candy apple! Yum! =)

それではまた次回！^-^

Bringing in the New Year: Sendai! ^^

After seven hours on the night bus, I finally reached Sendai! A much colder region of Japan, there was even some snow accumulated on the ground. I was so tired that they just took me straight back to my friend’s apartment where I iced and put up my foot, and ate breakfast and we chatted. We spent the day pretty much relaxing and talking. Then that night we went out to eat curry at this really nice steak place (they were probably pissed that they only customers they got ordered the cheapest thing on the menu) and then we went to an onsen! My first real one! It was a pretty cool experience. An onsen is a Japanese natural hot spring/public bath. So you do the same thing that you do with any public bath: wash and bathe before you enter the bath with a bunch of other naked women. But the difference with a natural onsen is that the bath is outside! The mixture of the piping hot water with the chilly winter air was blissful. So relaxing. There’s also a bunch of etiquette rules that goes with an onsen. For instance, you are given one small towel when you go in, about the size of a hand towel. You can use it when washing with the provided soap and shampoo but when you go in the actual bath you are not allowed to let it touch the water because that’s considered unclean. So you can use it to cover your parts when you walk out but make sure to move it to the top of your head (the typical spot) when you enter the water. You also have to sit down while bathing. You have two waterspouts, one out of a faucet, and one that’s attached to a showerhead. You use the showerhead to rinse your hair and then you fill a basin with the faucet and use it to rinse the towel, douse yourself with to remove soap. We talked with a Japanese woman while we were sitting in the onsen and she was surprised to see two white girls out in this middle of nowhere town. But it was a really neat experience and I would definitely go again.

I spent most of my week in Sendai eating, sleeping in, drinking, karaoke and going out. It was a really nice vacation and I had really great hosts. =) The small town feeling was a nice change. All of Harold’s friends were really nice and even drove us around. They also gave us loads of homemade, delicious Osechi, food for the New Year! One of his friends gave us a full out 3-layer box of Japanese goodies that were elaborately prepared by hand by his mother accompanied by homemade apple juice! We were also given homemade mochi from his other friend that we ate hot and it was delicious. Mochi is a kind of Japanese food that’s unlike anything I’ve ever had in America. It can be put in soup, stew, or eaten just as a sweet. Harold’s friend, Tajima, put it with sweet, handmade sauces that were really amazing. Mochi itself is white and it has a kind of chewy, melty, sweet flavor to it. It’s probably one of my favorite foods in Japan.

New Year’s was quite a different experience than I’m used to. In Japan it’s custom to visit the local temple at midnight when it turns from one year to the next. So we set out to the nearest one around 10:30pm. It was so cold! But we walked up the 220 steps to the top (and nearly keeled over) to stand in line to make our wishes for the new year. When the clock finally changed to 12am 1/1/11, we screamed out “Happy New Year!” in English among a thousand plus Japanese people which incurred a few looks. We also exclaimed the Japanese expression, of course. ;) The temple gates were opened and we filed in line to make our prayer/wishes. So customarily, you throw in a small coin, bow twice, clap twice, make your prayer, and then bow again. We found out from our Japanese friend that on New Years, if you throw in a 1 yen coin, it means you have a crush on someone and wish to become one with that person. You throw a 5-yen coin in if you already have a lover and want to continue with them. And then you throw a 10-yen coin in if you just want love in general to find you that year. I just threw in 11 cents for the year 2011. I sent my Happy New Years texts to all my friends and yes, the phone lines are just as crowded on New Year's in Japan as they are in America. It took about 5 tries to get it through. I did learn, however, that Yoi Otoshi Wo, which is what you say to others as a “Hope you have a good year!” type of saying is only used BEFORE the New Year. You’re not allowed to use it afterwards. Oops.

The Torii of the Temple we went to! We had to walk up all those steps >.<

Then after you finish making your wish, there’s a festival that takes place around the temple. We all picked 100 yen New Years fortunes for the fun of it and were pleasantly surprised! They were all good. =) Mine was apparently a very nice one, and it said I would have good health this year. (Boy could I use that!) The fortunes also contained one of the 7 lucky gods. I got Yebisu, the god of fishermen who is known for bringing good luck and health. Yay! His name is also known for a Japanese brand name of beer. *G* After that, we enjoyed some free, hot tea that they were giving us and it was so nice because we were so cold! The streets are filled with food stands you can buy from too. It was pretty cool to have a festival at 1-2 in the morning, though admittedly we were so cold we did not stay long. We bought some small sweets (chocolate bananas anyone?) and headed back to the car. On the way back, we heard this woman saying, “touch touch touch” in English behind us. We were really confused so we turned around and a woman and her five-year-old daughter were coming up to us saying, “touch, high touch.” They wanted a high five from us! It was so adorable! I guess they had noticed us because we were foreigners in a very local, not often traveled to area and wanted to say hello. So we wished them a happy new year and headed home. It’s also a custom in Japan to stay up and watch the first sunrise of the year but we were so exhausted we just passed out when we got home haha. Maybe next year!

When the year changes, it's customary for stores and homes to put up kadomatsu, a kind of new years gate decoration around the entrance door. It's placed to welcome ancestral spirits and house gods of the harvest. So there will be a pair (representing male and female), one on each side and they are usually made up of three stalks of bamboo that are artfully cut. These are placed at different levels and represent heaven, humanity, and earth.  Pine branches, and other decorative features like berries and fans can also be added to make it more e. I noticed them a lot around Miyagi and I thought it was a really neat tradition!

Now just imagine two of these framing the
doorways of Japanese homes and shops! ;)

On my last day in Miyagi we drove to the shopping area of Sendai for some last minute fun and so I could get omiyage (gifts) for my host family. We wanted to make sure we did purikura together to commemorate the trip so we did that first. It was really fun taking time to draw all over them and thoroughly add smileys, sparkles, and bows everywhere (there was no one behind us so we were able to take our time. Purikura takes a surprisingly long time because there’s so many options, tabs, colors, etc.- you’d be surprised!).  After eating (we found a diner!) and shopping around for a bit, it was finally time to leave so my friends took me to Sendai station to buy omiyage for my family. I asked them what food Sendai is most known for and the answer: cow tongue. Yeah. I did try it. It was actually pretty good but I don’t think I could actually eat it because the thought grosses me out. But I bought it for my family (who loved it by the way), said my good byes, and boarded the bus for home! What a great oshougatsu (New Year's Holiday)! ^^

Okay, that's all for my trip! Thanks for reading. <3 それではまた次回！

Word of the day: まつぽい or matsupoi is a word from touhokuben (the accent of the area of Sendai I was in) which means “really bright.” We used it a lot because of the reflection on the snow! ^^;

Phrase of the day: 明けましておめでとうございます！ Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Happy New Year!

Tokyo Adventures Part 2!

So we finally reached Hachiko! We traded taking pictures with some other friendly American tourists. For those who are wondering what I’m talking about, Hachiko is the name of a very famous Japanese dog. The story is that Hachiko would always come to greet his master, after his long day of work, outside of Shibuya station. But one day, his master did not return. He had tragically suffered a brain hemorrhage and died. But for the next 9 years of Hachiko’s life, the dog continued to come to the station to meet his master, at the precise time when his train used to come in every day. Hachiko was given away after his owner passed but would escape to carry out the loyalty for his master. He noticed that his master no longer lived in their house but would go and search for him at the train station where they had spent so many years together. Over the years, many of the daily commuters had noticed Hachiko and would even feed and nourish him during his wait so his story became publicized. The statue remains fixed where Hachiko would always stand and is a symbol of loyalty to the Japanese people.

From there we kind of wandered to other highlighted prefectures. We visited Akihabara, the biggest electronics district in Japan that is also home to many anime, manga, and gaming shops to geek out in. We got to Ueno park pretty late in the day so it was actually kind of creepy with a bunch of weird, half drunk guys out. So I went around taking pictures, camera in one hand, mace in the other. xD By the end of all that, we were pretty much dead on our feet so we went back to Hatagaya and collapsed at our hotel.

The funny thing about visiting other places is that it makes you appreciate things about your home that you normally take for granted. Tokyo is fun for shopping and for a short vacation but honestly if I had come to Japan and just gone to Tokyo, I think I would have been disappointed. My vacation made me realize how much I love Kobe: the towns, the accent, even the familiar voice announcing my train station. You just can’t get a good feeling of Japan from Tokyo like you can from the less well-known prefectures. I’m happy to say it made me realize how much I love the Kansai region and that I picked the right place for my study abroad in Japan! Yay!

The next day, I kind of ventured out on my own. I went to the Ginza district of Tokyo, which is another big shopping area known for more expensive brands: Louis Vuitton, Apple, Sony, etc. I actually didn’t know how to get there so I asked a policeman at a Kouban (police box) for directions and he was this old Japanese man and was really awesome. He told me exactly how to get there. He was so nice and helpful! He seemed surprised that I could speak Japanese and kept switching back to English out of habit of talking to many English-speaking tourists haha. So I did some more shopping; got a few more articles of clothing and did some accessory shopping at a Forever 21 there and just kind of wandered. I met up with my friend midway through the day to hop a bus to Tokyo Tower. It looked exactly like the Eiffel Tower but... in Tokyo. *G* We rode up to the main deck and spent a lot of time taking pictures of the skyline and ourselves with the skyline.

Tokyo Towaa!

The view from the main observation deck =)

When I had taken my fill of pictures, I left to meet up with a few other friends to go out drinking. It was fun to kick back and chat for a few hours. We went to an Izakaya (bar) for nomihoudai until I had to go home to re-check in to the hotel. By the end of this day my feet were killing me so I took a long soak in the tub (much cleaner than American Hotel bathtubs). But I still woke up with aching feet so I took it easy for my last day in Tokyo. I debated going to Tokyo Disney but decided in the end it would just be too much walking for me to handle. And Studio Ghibli was sold out for all the days I was there *tear* so I went to Asakusa with some friends to visit the Sensoji Shrine, known for the 2 mighty gods, Raijin and Fujin, god of thunder and wind respectively. It’s the largest Buddhist temple in Tokyo and also contains a beautiful 5 story Pagoda. 

After perusing around the temple and taking pictures because it was a gorgeous day, I went to Harajuku to check out a bit of the nightlife, and then left to get my bus to Sendai!

The bus system was insane. The company had about 50 buses all going in different directions, and they were all late. There must have been about 2000 people waiting outside in the bitter cold for their buses. You had to sign in first when they called and then wait for the bus to be called by megaphone, which was hard to hear besides the fact that they were announcing in Japanese. So I got closer to the speaker so I could hear more clearly and bunkered down on my bag to wait because no way I was standing for that long. About an hour later, I heard my bus call and staggered to my swollen, aching feet to limp to the bus where I slept uneasily for the six-hour ride. Not the most comfortable part of my trip.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if my feet weren’t painful to move in any direction. So when I got off at 6am, I could barely walk and basically limped slowly to the subway and took one line to meet my friends. *しんどいわ*

Wait for the final installment of Nana's winter vacation! それではまた次回！

Word of the day: しんどい, Shindoi. This is an expression you use when you feel you can’t go any further like, “I’m beat!” or “I’m exhausted!” It has a feeling of, “I am going to die if I go any further. ~_~” Very useful. =3

Tokyo Adventures Part 1!

So arriving in Tokyo was like arriving in Japan all over again. What a completely different place! The people are less friendly and less fashionable, there are homeless people everywhere, even the atmosphere is stressed with overworked salary men. We arrived at a painful 6am, with luggage in tow, in the middle of Shinjuku, one of the busiest hubs in the world. The station itself is massive, with an underground map that looks like a bowl of spaghetti. I met up with my two friends who had elected to take a more comfortable bus than I was willing to pay for and we set off to figure out where to start.

Tokyo Subway Map o_O

Shibuya, Tokyo

So where do we go at 6:30am on a Monday morning in the middle of Tokyo? One of the only places open: McDonalds. Tokyo wakes up surprisingly late for how international it is. Normally back home people are out and about by 6:30-7 and it’s getting on to rush hour by that time. But it was dead here. Nothing open, nothing to explore. So after eating we went to visit some sites that didn’t require being open to see. We set off to see Hachiko, a statue of the most famous dog in Japan that’s located in Shibuya but we discovered that we could get an all day JR pass for 730 yen and we just couldn't pass it up. So since it was free to go everywhere in the Tokyo area, we decided to stop by Harajuku first because it was on the way. Harajuku is known as a fashion spot of Tokyo. Not for it’s high model fashion, but for its unique street fashion. It’s the known hang out spot for the crazy Japanese people dressed in cosplay and hair 3 times the normal size. It’s known to have an active nightlife because of these frequent goers. However, seeing as how it was still 7 in the morning, nothing was open. We did have a good look around though, and the stores are gigantic, 10x the scale of American ones! After getting lost several times on our way back to the station, we decided to come back to it later.

We continued on to Shibuya from there, the fashion district of Tokyo, which is one of the largest fashion capitals in the world. Our train was delayed though. A Japanese person had committed suicide on the tracks. Talk about shock. I had heard that Tokyo has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, but to have it happen in the first two hours of being in the city? On our line? Either it was a really big coincidence, or this is so frequent that we just experienced a regular occurrence. After you realize how frequent suicides are in Tokyo, the preventions Japan takes to preventing them seem more noticeable. I didn’t really pay any mind at first, but then I started noticing the walls put up around the tracks in almost every station that close and open with the train doors, the “happy bird” replica that plays at the station to give a less city like atmosphere, even the music that plays to announce the train coming is supposed to be an “uplifting” noise to get your mind off of depressing thoughts (though I found it quite annoying actually). It’s really crazy to know they need to put so much effort in just to decrease the statistics.

When we finally got to Shibuya, it was about time that the shops were opening up anyway so it was perfect timing. One of the first things we did was take the epic walk across the famous crosswalks. It’s one of the busiest crosswalks in the world, sporting five crosswalks connecting a four way street. Being in the middle of one of Tokyo’s busiest districts, when the walking man turns green, it’s like a swarm of people mashing together from all directions. Then I got a white mocha from the Starbucks that is located across from it. It’s always advertised in the background when showing this famous scene so I had to get something hehe.

I took this from the top of said Starbucks. Watch the madness unfold ;)

From this point on, we discovered the amazing stores that the Shibuya district houses. We spent a good two hours in Forever 21. But this was not like the dinky, one room Forever 21’s that you see in the States. There were no racks packed together, or articles of clothing and jewelry messily strewn about. This was Japan run, five floors of amazingly cute, cheap, women’s clothing, with a sixth floor just for accessories. We were taken hostage haha. After making it out of there, our wallets considerably lighter, we shopped around a bit more; hit H&M and such. We also got a free “3D” picture done outside of Shibuya 109 where we looked like we were on a tight rope over an ice glacier type thing, which was pretty cool. We then went in search of something to eat. Shopping is hungry work! So we went to look for something good but affordable, where we could sit down and rest after shopping/traveling all day on 2-3 hours of sleep. So what better place than MOS Burger? Lol The Japanese burger place that is second most popular in Japan, lagging behind only McDonalds in sales. I found out later that MOS burger stands for Mountain, Ocean, and Sun. We originally thought it was because it was saying that it served things from all those places; “everything under the sun” type deal; but it really only sells burgers, so the name is a bit of a mystery. The name used to be MOST delicious burger, but the T somehow got dropped, probably due to Japanese pronunciation. I actually prefer it over McDonalds. The typical burger is like, a beef patty, plus a sloppy-joe type substance, with a tomato and mayonnaise (the Japanese put Mayo on everything).

When we left to finally visit Hachiko, two Japanese people stopped us right before the crosswalks. They started talking to us in Japanese and asking us where we were from and held up this paper bag and asked us if we had ever heard of it. We told them where we had come from and no, we had never heard of this “fukubukuro.” They told us that near the New Year, Japanese stores start carrying these paper bags that can have really cool things in it, even a couple of hundred dollars. They asked us if our countries did this during the New Year and what we thought of it and then they were like, could we borrow you for a few minutes? And they started pulling out this video camera. And we were like, “ummm…” *thinking of our 2 hours of sleep and increased exhaustion from shopping* “suuure, I guess?” So we got interviewed on film about the fukubukuro and it will be broadcast on Japanese TV on the 5^th of January at 7:20am. It was pretty exciting! We even got free hugs from these Japanese people who were giving them out. And when we asked them why they were giving out free hugs, they replied that they just wanted to connect with foreigners and Japanese people alike.

Free Hugs! Isn't it adorable?

Okay, I'm going to put a break here in the Tokyo Adventures. Stay tuned for part 2!   \(^-^)/

Word of the Day: 電鉄、でんてつ。Dentetsu, literally Electric Railway. This is the kind of train I ride at home, which is different from a subway (Chikatetsu) or the JR line (Japanese Railway). The JR is the line that spreads across all of Japan. If you visit Japan for 30 days or under you can get a JR pass that goes all over Japan for just 200 dollars!

それではまた次回！

Surgery, Kouyou, and Ikebana!

Two Sundays ago, I went with my host family to my host sister’s field hockey match. Even though I couldn't understand the penalty calls I think the rules were basically the same as they always are, though I am a novice when it comes to sports. I did, however, manage to get some really great action shots of her playing! Afterwards, we went shopping with Rie (my other host sister) and my host mom in Sannomiya and ate lunch at a really good Italian place (I had tomato pasta that was really good!). Then we did some shopping around for clothes and I have succeeded in going one step closer to becoming Japanese! ;)

That Monday, I had the morning off, so I went to the hospital to have the bump on my face checked out. It’s been developing for a couple of months and it didn’t seem to be going away so I thought it best to make a plan to get it removed. It turns out that Japanese hospitals are amazing! I was registered as a new patient, saw the doctor, made an appointment for the procedure, and had a blood test done, all under 2 hours! The hospital was much better run than American ones. Everything was in order. Every desk gives you a waiting number slip and the consultations are quick and effective.

I helped my mom with her students again that week. We played a game with cards that had the past, present, and future forms of verbs on each of them. They all have a suit on them as well: clover means you take the pile, triangle means nothing changes, heart means you have to put all your cards down, and the last one means you can ask anyone in the game for 5 of their cards. I won! It was really fun. ^^

I skipped out on my Friday afternoon classes to go to the hospital with my host mom and have the surgery done. It was kind of a surreal experience. There were no less than FIVE doctors operating on me. And they started before schedule, which would never happen in America. They numbed my face, which felt like someone was cutting my face open but afterwards all I saw was bright light as I listened to this weird, depressing music that they put on in the background. It was something like titanic mixed with some other tragic defeat of a hero or something. It almost felt like I was dying lol. But it was quick and done in 30 minutes. The Japanese doctors were surprised that I could speak Japanese (as all Japanese people always are even if you can only say hello), so it was fun to listen to them talk even if I didn’t understand the medical jargon.

I caught this really graceful crane!

The following Sunday, me and three other ryuugakusei were taken to Kyoto by the Japanese friends we made a couple of weeks ago; the ones we had a sort of get together with that was originally only E class members but my teacher invited me to. We went to go see the changing colors of the fall leaves, (kouyou) which is amazing because Kobe and Kyoto are surrounded by mountains. So you can see different colored trees pan out across the scenery. It was truly beautiful. But there were SO many people! The streets were overwhelmingly crowded - just a sea of human heads. Everyone had come to see the turning of the leaves. While we were there we also went boating on the lake! It was really fun. We split up into twos and threes and took a boat. I was actually pretty good at it having done kayaking and row boating before so I was teaching my friend how to turn, go backwards, forwards, etc. We walked around a lot after that looking for shrines that we could go into but it was getting to like 430 and most of them were closing. But we had a nice scenic walk! After that I was thinking of going home early because I had a test the next day but light up night was starting soon so I decided to stay. They talked me in it! They even paid for me because I had run clean out of money. But I’m glad I stayed because it was so pretty! We paid to enter this walled off area that had a bunch of trees with lights underneath them that just lit them up spectacularly.

The Red Momiji (Maple Leaves)

They even had Take! (Bamboo)

Tuesday was such a great day! Tuesdays are usually awesome anyway because we have a short Japanese day and no afternoon classes. Tuesday’s also the day that we usually watch a Ghibli film (Miyazaki films are referred to as “Ghibli” here) so it just makes it all the better.  We’re currently watching “mimi o sumaseba” or Whisper of the Heart as it’s known in its English version.  It’s not a very well known one internationally but it’s really cute and is really popular among young Japanese girls. It’s about a girl named Shizuku who reads a lot of books and notices a pattern in the library cards. The same boy’s name keeps popping up: Amawase Seiji. So while curious about this mysterious prince of books she meets a boy her age that she finds absolutely infuriating. He teases her and calls her lyrics she made “corny.” But he happens to be the grandson of this shopkeeper she made friends with. She finds out that he wants to quit school after middle school and go to Italy to become a great violinmaker. His parents are dead set against it, but they finally agree to let him try out his talent on the condition that he apprentices there for two months. She thought it so admirable that he already knew what he wanted to be. And he told her that she should take writing more seriously because she had written a version of the song "country roads" and made it "concrete roads" and it was really good, he thought. So while he's gone she decides she wants to find a talent of her own and she starts writing a story about this doll that's in the shop: a fox carved out of wood. She gets in the mind set that she has to finish this story by the time he gets back after the two months so she works furiously day and night, forgetting about her studies. And when she finishes she realizes that she rushed too much. She saw Seiji getting farther and farther ahead while following his dream and that she was falling backwards. The shopkeeper is the first one she lets read it because it was about his doll. He tells her that her story is very good: rough stone that has a jewel inside that she now needs to polish. Seiji comes back and tells her that he's decided to try and be a violinist maker. He's going for 10 years but he'll be back. They both promised to work as hard as they can to aspire to their dreams and one day be together. It’s an adorable love story!  I highly recommend it since I don't think many Americans have heard of it.

Anyway after Japanese we had a special Kansai accent class with the Japanese students that had taken us to Kyoto on Sunday. It was kind of a practice teaching exercise for them and really beneficial for the few of us who were lucky enough to attend. The accents in Japan are much more drastic than those in America I think. It’s not just different intonation that differentiates them but completely different words and conjugations. For instance to say “must watch” you would usually say “minakereba narimasen” in standard Japanese. But in Kansai ben (the suffix ben means accent) you would say “mina akan.” You drop everything after na and add akan. For negative endings too, the conjugation is different. Instead of ~nai they say ~hen. So instead of “minai” (I don’t watch), they say “mihen.” They also end sentences differently, with combinations of ya, wa, and de and have specialized Kansai/Osaka words like “dekai” (really big), “akan” (bad/no good), bochibochi (so-so), etc. Kansai ben has slightly different intonation as well. They tend to make a lot more words have a rising intonation. So like the morning greeting “ohayoo” (good morning) which is usually said with flat intonation for “yoo,” is pronounced with an upwards intonation; the same with “arigatou” (thank you).  It was really interesting and helpful to learn somewhat formally. I had picked up a lot of the words already, but the conjugations and such are things that need to be learned in rule format to really use accurately.

I also had tutoring which was an amazing success this week! I usually only have two people who come consistently but in addition to them, I had six other girls come! Four came in a group, they were all freshman and all very shy and quiet, not used to voicing their opinion on anything. Then I had my two regulars, a friend of one of them and a random girl who came by herself just to get an essay fixed quickly before handing it in. It was quite a weird essay too! She used a lot of hard words that were right but sounded like she had copied them from something. Actually, at least half the essay was quotes; except she didn’t use quote markings. She would say like: blah blah blah, said Disney. It was about the Disney company and their production rate and stuff. Really weird.

But out of all of the students who came, my regular is still my absolute favorite. She’s such a riot! In juxtaposition with the new Japanese girls who came, I really noticed how much more outspoken and almost Western she is compared to the others. She’ll blurt things out and input her opinion while using all sorts of frantic body language to get her point across. But she knows so many random facts that when she tells them to us conversationally, no one will have ever heard what she’s talking about and she’ll start doubting her information and thinking she’s been lied to. “MY MOTHER LIED TO ME ABOUT THIS TOO?!?!”

I’ve also noticed a HUGE improvement in her English since the first time she came to the tutor sessions about a month and a half ago. Her essay this week was really good. She’s really getting a feel for the language and she’s getting so good! She was the one who talked the most out of all eight people! She said she’s been watching a lot of American TV (she found Hell’s Kitchen on TV and loves it! XD) and studying English every night. It’s really paying off! Even in her actions, I can tell she’s not quite as sheltered and held back as other Japanese people I’ve met. I brought ritz crackers for everyone to share and she ate like half of them haha. I was happy to give them to her! But usually, Japanese people take like one and then they’re like, “Yeah… I’m full…” I like her way better though! =)

When I got home, my host sister had gotten back from America! She had gone to visit the host family she had stayed with when she did study abroad 10 years ago. She brought all sorts of omiyage (gifts) back for us: letter blocks for Mama’s English class, travel bath and body works hand sanitizers that have these rubber travel cases, a doggy toy for Tiff that he absolutely cannot be separated from, various candies, etc. She even brought me back skittles and chewy sweet tart candies so I can take them to my next tutoring session! We spent a good part of two hours talking about what she had done and looking at her pictures. All the pictures made me miss home. The snow and one level shopping centers, snow angels, shots of her Thanksgiving dinner.

On Thursday I was lucky enough to happen into an Ikebana (flower arranging) lesson from a real master! The Art History class was having a demonstration lesson from the top president of one of the top ikebana schools in Japan and I heard and kind of just jumped on the band-wagon. He was such a wise old Japanese man. He told us that he really doesn’t like the translation of ikebana as “flower arranging” because “ike” can have three different kanjis associated with it: 活け, to arrange; 生け、to live; and 埋け、to enhance. Therefore, the job of ikebana is really to enhance the life of the flowers and arrange it in a way that gives it new life. And “bana” (hana) while usually referring to flowers, is really anything that is beautiful. So branches, leaves, even people can also have their own beauty and that’s why more than just flowers are used in ikebana. When the Japanese do ikebana, they make sure that all the flowers are happy and facing upward, like they would be naturally to grow towards the sun. He said you have to make all the flowers and plants happy. And as the artist, you have to find what’s most beautiful about the flower or branch and enhance that part of it. So if it has a really interesting bend then you should arrange it so that it’s apparent.

He also explained that how in japan, they dont like thinking about winter because its usually associated with death. Instead, when it becomes winter, they are already thinking about the spring. And when they write Christmas cards and wishes for the New year they always mention something about Spring. They are always looking towards the future and towards the new beginning. That’s also why everything in Japan starts in the Spring, around April, like the school year and even the fiscal year. We also found out that Japan always looks for things in odd numbers. He said that they always think of the one left over from even numbers as a hope for the future. So things are always found in odd numbers and they avoid even numbers because there will be nothing left for the future. He said that even tea sets and such usually come in sets of 5. Even though Japanese tables are made for four, six people. The speaker was so amazing! He’s been to around 35 countries all over the world teaching about ikebana and the tradition behind it.

So we were given chrysanthemums, small yellow flowers, and red leaved branches to work with because Japan is currently celebrating “Kouyou,” the turning of the autumn leaves. It was really fun to think so artistically and I think my group’s was my favorite!

That's all for now! それではまた次回！

Word of the Day: 紅葉　こうよう "Kouyou" or the changing of the Autumn leaves.