Horpy Tor!*

All Nippon Ferris Wheel Tour:

Cosmo Clock 21 (Central Yokohama), 112.5m : check.
Hep Five Wheel (Central Osaka), 75m(?): check.
Tempozan Giant Wheel (Tempozan Harbor, Osaka), 112.5m: check.

Next up:
Daikanransha (Odaiba, Tokyo), 115m
Diamonds and Flowers Wheel (Edogawa, Tokyo), 117m


Also, Oosaka is fantastic!

Also, Merry Christmas, everyone! <#

*where Tor == your Christmas

Oosaka!

So, I've written a fair amount over the last week or so that I need to go through and post... But no time for that now!

At the last minute, it turns out that I'm going to Osaka for a few days (leaving in about five minutes, back on the evening of the 27th). I'm not sure if I'll have internet access there, so until then.

Merry Christmas!

"Did you go to that AIKOM Party?" "...Which one?"

Against all reason (considering the Japanese speech the next day), I agreed without hesitation to a nabe party this Thursday with a few AIKOMsei and Hana. I had just been thinking earlier today that I hadn't seen Hana in a while, and then, bam. There's no way I could say no. Should be great!

Some AIKOM friends are taking a day trip to Enoshima this weekend, but I can't go. But, that's because it's the same day as the Chabashira Christmas party, which I'm looking forward to. +D
...And I think I'll take a trip to Enoshima some time during the 2-week break, to make up for it, anyway. XD+

Classes end (with a bang in the form of an exam) on the afternoon of Tuesday the 22nd, a week from today.

Not yet completely sure what I'm doing on Christmas, but it will probably involve going to see Christmas lights and eating chicken with AIKOMsei and maybe some others who have no other plans. <#

The 27th is the Chabashira Bounenkai (end of the year party), which will, of course, be my first bounenkai (though I don't know how different it really is from a new year's party in the US XD).

The 28th-29th I'll be going with Joon Woo, Alden, Sarah, Wu Di, Chen Ken and Yang Rei to the touristy area near Mt. Fuji. I've yet to even see Mt. Fuji from a great distance, so I'm excited about just that. XD We'll stay overnight in a hotel/onsen resort near one of the five large lakes there, and tour around the town and maybe part of a tour of part of the famous forest there ("Sea of Trees"). Fff, awesome. First overnight travel~

In Japan, one officially comes of age and becomes an adult at age 20. But, the way it works, traditionally, is that you count your age on the new year. So, everyone who turned 20 this year (which includes many friends of mine here) has lots of special parties this time of the year, and then a special holiday, 成人の日 (Coming of Age Day) on the second Monday of the new year (the 11th of January, this time) for them... Of course, I turned 20 this year, but there's none of that for me, which I found a little sad. But yesterday I got an envelope from Mitaka City (where I live) congratulating me on my coming of age this year, and inviting me, as a resident of the city who turned 20 in the last lunar year, to participate in a ceremony on Coming of Age Day. Which I thought was really nice. Not sure if I'll go yet (maybe if I can get Miwa to come as my interpreter...?).


In the meantime, for this week, one paper down, two to go (both tomorrow - shouldn't be too hard) and another Japanese speech... Oh, TouDai.

"Now I can grow up and work for Karl Rove in peace."

It seems to me that my entries' contents and titles are getting further and further apart. In this case, there is no relationship.

Last night involved a nabe party out with Sarah, Joon Woo, Yisha, Zoe and Eriko and Ryoko of Chabishara. Sukiyaki and Shabu-shabu tabehoudai... Holy cats, so good. I have no idea when the last time I ate so much meat was. I barely touched my rice and ate a fairly minimum amount of vegetables... Ohh, so many tabehoudai meals. I'll definitely get fat in Tokyo if I'm not more careful.


Annual Fellowship Party between Mitaka dorm residents (such as myself) and Mitaka city citizens this afternoon. I skipped the lecture given by a Toudai professor at the start (partly because it was in Japanese, so I'm not confident I could follow it, and partly because I didn't want to get out of bed). The party/reception afterward consisted of having food thrust upon me by the (senior-)citizens of Mitaka, going manically between three languages in order to chat with them, and being very thankful for nametags. There were also some performances, including, memorably, one by part of the Toudai Ouendan team. Ouendan is like Japanese cheerleading, only completely unlike cheerleading. Where cheerleading in the US is done pretty much exclusively by girls, Ooendan was the most over-the-top macho thing I've seen in Japan, by far. It was really something to see. I almost couldn't believe it was real. XD I also met several really nice Toudaisei I'd never met before, including a friend of Takafumi's and Miyamoto's, and one of the Ouendan guys. XD

Afterward, Sarah, Joon Woo, Wu (Kinoko) Di, Yang Rei and I went to karaoke (karaoke in the afternoon, as opposed to evening, is quite cheap), which was great fun. Wu Di and Yang Rei are really good, liek whoa. Not that the other two weren't, but I already knew that. As for me, I sang some Juanes, Masayoshi Yamazaki, and... Mariah Carey, since it's December 12th and someone has to sing All I Want for Christmas is You.
...No, that's untrue. I totally wanted to sing it. XD The whole afternoon was great fun.

And then, coincidentally, another nabe party, but this time in the MSC room. This was was low-budget, so it was almost all vegetables with minimal meat. So I guess it balances out. Stayed there until just before writing this.

This coming week will be another long, tough one, in terms of schoolwork. キモイ. I guess I'd better actually do some work tomorrow. I had so much fun playing all day today, though...

「なくした約束を星に～」

I'm a little worried that I'm not getting enough sleep lately.
...I write, at midnight, when I have to get up at seven tomorrow... >_>
I do think I need to make more of an effort to sleep properly, though. I don't generally feel too drowsy during the day, but I think that may just be because there's no time to be drowsy. I do feel kind of fuzzy, or more so than normal, and it's hard to concentrate. I took a nap today, which I think was very helpful to writing my paper later. Hm.

Anywho~

Reflecting on how successful our studying was in the cafe on Sunday, I decided to go to Gasuto to write my paper today. Gasuto is quite well suited to this for at least the following reasons.
1. Gasuto is a family restaurant, which in Japan means you stay as long as you like.
2. There's an "Grand Cafe" option, which is free-access (all you can drink) to the soft drink bar.
3. It's located very close to the dorm - an easy five-minute walk.
4. It's quite reasonably priced, and most importantly,
5. Because there's no internet access.

When I got there, it turned out that Erika and Etienne were already there, so I joined them. And, like magic, in just a few hours I got a draft of my paper for Asahi done, read the reading for Japanese... And also probably consumed 1500 calories of hot drinks, but that's another issue. It was excellent for my productivity, though. I'll have to do that kind thing more often.

On another note, yesterday I went into Book-Off (used media store) and picked up the first two volumes of the Honey and Clover (or rather, here, Hachimitsu to Kuroobaa) manga for a couple hundred yen. I've been a little unsatisfied with my "immersion" in Japanese language so far. That's in large part my own fault, though, so I thought reading manga in Japanese, especially manga I really want to read, would be a good way to try to work on it. Plus, when, for example, riding the train home in the evening, I'm generally too tired to have the will to get out my flashcards and study, but reading manga in Japanese (also a form of study, I'd argue), though challenging, is fun, so it's much more doable. And, extremely gratifyingly, I have been pretty much able to read it so far. Yesterday I was using my electronic dictionary a lot when reading it in the library, but today, reading it on the train, I didn't, and still didn't really have any problems.

Because of this, I thought about it, and realized it's been almost exactly four years since I first watched Honey and Clover. Four years in a couple weeks, I guess. High school and university, these four-year cycles... An entire one has passed. Four years is, I guess, in my consciousness now, a very meaningful amount of time. Perhaps the time it takes to grow up and go from one stage of life to another.
Yisha, the other H&C fan in AIKOM said, when we went on the Cosmo Clock 21 (the Ferris wheel in Yokohama that appears in H&C) that H&C is special in the way it stays relevant each time she revisits it. I guess I have the same experience. When I revisit other old favorites, I think I relate to them in a very different way than the first time. I see the work and enjoy it directly, but there's also a feeling of nostalgia, which brings with it a certain double vision. I'm reading or watching (or whatever) the work, but I'm also kind of watching the old me that absorbed and reacted to it last time. It's almost that who I was at the time I first took it in becomes forever attached to it in my mind, and really imprints it in my perception even much later. On a different point, I also think H&C has gotten, in some ways, closer to my heart, or at least stayed close because, in terms of viewing the world through art, which I suspect all or most people do, and I definitely almost always do, H&C is definitely one of the more major works to shape some of the lenses through which I see some things.
It's pretty cool that I'm reading the manga (which I've never read before) in the original Japanese exactly now.

"Harajuku girls know how I feel."

I had lots of plans of Friday afternoon (usually the best block of free time I have on weekdays), but I actually just stayed in most of the afternoon, because it was chilly outside.

Friday evening, though, was the "International Cuisine Potluck" organized mostly by Alden. It was more AIKOM than not, but, besides Sarah, several awesome Japanese students (Marie, Takao, Yamaji, Mikito, Keisuke, Shun and Miyamoto, as far as I remember) came out, most of them not even Mitaka dorm residents. And holy cats, the food was so good. It ended up being the second day in a row of tabehoudai food paradise... In fact, it was such a success that we decided to do it every month!
This time I made a big bowl of guacamole, presented with a bowl of corn chips and a jar of salsa. Most of the Japanese students I've talked to had/have never had guacamole. Shock. So, though it wasn't strictly the cuisine of my country, I figured I was one of only three representatives of the New World, anyway (the other two being from Seattle and Toronto). Amusingly, though, Erika (the other American, from Seattle) and I did not consult with each other ahead of time, and both ended up making/bringing almost the same thing.
After eating until we could eat no more, we played Charades for a while, which was uniquely challenging with a group from so many different countries and languages, but very fun. And then cards and chatting and such in the MSC room until pretty late... A great night.

On Saturday a few of us had arranged to go somewhere (not entirely decided where) together, but when we met at the decided time of twelve o'clock, rain that was forecast to last, liek, eighteen hours was just setting in and so, since the forecast for Sunday was sunny, we decided to postpone our day out. I think the idea was for us to get our homework done on Saturday so that we'd have Sunday free, but... Ah, well, it's just hard to actually do work on Saturday, even if it's a lazy, rainy Saturday in.

On Sunday, however, I went with a pretty altered group from the day before of Yisha, Fiona and Joon Woo to Harajuku. I'd actually never been to the famous area of Harajuku, so it was an interesting experience, though we didn't spend a lot of time there; just had lunch. Sunday is supposedly when all the famed harajuku girls in their cuh-razy fashion come out, but because of some figure-skating event, apparently, the area was extremely crowded, and they all stayed in. I only saw one person in an elaborate Goth-Loli dress, and it was a man, so that was a slight let-down.
We had lunch, met Zhemin briefly, then walked back to Shibuya. I also bought Andrew's Christmas gift, fufufu. Fiona left from Harajuku station with Zhemin, so Yisha, Joon-woo and I went to Shimokita-zawa and went to a little second-floor French (or at least French-themed) cafe to do so schoolwork. It was quite expensive, but quite charming, and actually had the perfect atmosphere for studying. Quiet French music playing in the background and not at all crowded, so there was no pressure to leave... So we stayed for a couple hours. I, at least, got a pretty good amount done. We had dinner afterward elsewhere blahblahblah, but that was the most notable part. I think the AIKOMsei, myself definitely included, are taking quite a shine to Shimokita-zawa. <#

Sweets Paradise

On Thursday I woke up when the alarm on my phone went off. As usual, the room was rather cold, though my bed was very warm. I thought about facing the morning rush and oppressively crowded train that goes with having class first period, and about having class fifth period, which ends long after the sun has gone down. I hadn't really gotten enough sleep, and it was very hard indeed to get up. But then I thought, "hey, I already wrote all three of my essays, and took my exam. The hard part of this week is already over." And it became noticeably easier. XD

What I didn't know was how hard it is to go to "Sweets Paradise" and then come home to Japanese homework, for that was yet to come.

Thursday evening, as mentioned a in my last entry, I went to a restaurant in Shibuya called "Sweets Paradise" with a big group of friends (about 30 all together, I think!). The name of the restaurant gives a hint, but at this restaurant, for about 1500 yen (around $17 USD, at current rates) you get all you can eat and drink for 90 minutes. There is also some real food (rice, curry, pasta), but most of it is sweets, especially cake. Normally cake in Japan in very expansive, so it's quite a treat. And, I must say, though simple, these were some really good cakes and tarts and such. We tested our limits and ate until we could eat no more.

Two months down.

Holy cats, it's not yet ten PM and I'm done studying (that is, confident about all the material) for a major exam in a subject I find challenging. I don't even know when the last time that happened was.

Not too much to tell about yesterday; I mostly stayed in and studied all day. I did, however have a very successful and delicious cooking day, though. About a week ago I bought ingredients to make guacamole... And then couldn't find corn chips in any stores. So yesterday, since time was getting short and the avocados were getting old, I made a special trip to Kichijoiji just to go to Kaldi (imported foods store) and buy corn chips. XD
And so I finally did make guacamole, and it was soooo good.
And since Alejandro and I had been talking about Sukiyaki a little earlier, on a whim I bought some beef sliced for nabe while I was out, and made sukiyaki for dinner. And it was also really, really good.


Holy cats, tomorrow is December! I guess I need to get on buying Christmas gifts, since it'll take a little while to send them. I've been working on a novelty gift for Jiaqi and Patrick for a month or so now, but I should probably beef it up and make it a box to send to all the UM kids. Besides that, I bought a couple souvenirs at the national history museum for my parents... And nothing else so far. What to buy, what to buy...

Also related to it being December already, those of us who are going to be around over the ~2 week break over Christmas and New Year's are figuring out what we're going to do. Many of us want to travel. It's not settled, but I think most likely we'll be going somewhere in the Kansai region. Kyoto might be saved for springtime, so maybe Osaka? Fff, exciting.
Also giving more consideration to other trips. There's a sort of hazily agreed-upon trip right after classes end in the first half of February to Hokkaido, quite possibly Sapporo, for the Snow Festival. And there's also a contingent of us that wants to go Okinawa (gotta be summer) after the completion of AIKOM in July as a celebration trip. Thank you, Heiwa Nakajima Foundation.

The rest of this week will be pretty heavy with schoolwork... But Thursday I'll be going with a lot of friends (centered around AIKOM - so many AIKOMsei and those who often hang with AIKOM) to an amazing place in Shibuya that I have not yet been to, called Sweets Paradise. Oh man.
And Friday is a potluck, put together by Alden due to his and my mutual desire to have a potluck. XD Seems that a lot of people (also centered around AIKOM) will participate, so I'm looking forward to it! I may have to bring chips and salsa and guacamole.

「青白い多摩川に...」

It hasn't been a very eventful weekend for me, so, to some extent, I've filled it up myself. It's funny, I used to do nothing too special most weekends, I think... I guess my standards have been changed partly by getting used to doing things all the time, and partly changed because, being here, I really feel how limited time is, and don't want to waste any.

Today, not wanting to stay in and study all day, around noon I decided to go exploring. I've been here for almost two months now (...omg), and from the dorm the farthest I've biked/gone in each direction is:
North: Kichijouji/Inokashira Park
Northeast: Mitakadai station (though I also walked back from Fujimigaoka once)
East: Mitakadai station (also)
Southeast/South/Southwest: I had never gone south of the dorm whatsoever, except a block or so on the second night, when I was sort of lost.
West: Don Quixote (store)
Northwest: Summit (grocery store)
None of these exceed about 3km, and all but Mitakadai station are probably within 1.5.

So, first I decided to go southwest, since south was totally unexplored, and I'd been further east than west. So I set off west until I was sure I was out of Mitaka, which was a little ways, then I picked a promising-looking street and turned south. I made it as far as Higashifuchuu station, which, with the help of Googlemaps, I estimate to be around eight kilometers away. But, since it was actually quite a city around there, the streets were quite convoluted, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find my way back.
Thinking about this, I remembered the time when I had to walk from Fujimigaoka station to Mitakadai in the middle of the night. At that time, I had been having difficulty trying to follow a straight-ish line through the twisting and irregular surface streets when I came upon a river. As I've mentioned before, one good point about the concrete-banked rivers of Tokyo is that they usually have sidewalks along the sides. So, I just followed the river to where I knew it ran next Mitakadai station, and had no worries about getting lost.
I hadn't seen any rivers on the way to Higashi Fuchuu station, but there is a river, the Sen (Sengawa/仙川）　that runs practically right beside the dorm. This might give me a way to keep riding as far as I want and still have a simple line to follow back. What's more, I was pretty sure it ran south into the Tama river (Tamagawa/多摩川）. The Tamagawa, one of the biggest rivers that runs into Tokyo bay, is quite famous, and I've seen photographs of it... AND there's a song by Spitz, my favorite band, named after it, which I really like. AND, about a year ago, I drew a photo of... Not actually the river, but path along its side. So, with these rather romantic considerations in mind, I figured I'd give it a try, and went back to and then past the dorm.
I vaguely remembered from looking at maps int he past that the Tamagawa was, in a direct line, not all that far south from Mitaka. But I did not know how direct or indirect the course of the Sengawa was, so I figured I'd just go until I either couldn't follow it anymore (there aren't always paths on the sides of the concrete rivers), or until I wanted to turn back.
Though there were a couple times I had to go off the river, I found it again easily, and went quite a ways. There may have been ("may" because I couldn't read all the kanji on the signs) a couple times when I rode on stretches of it where bicycles are prohibited... But there were other cyclists as well, so I didn't worry about it. Thanks to the helpful maps that are set up along the river once in a while, I learned that the Sengawa doesn't actually flow into the Tamagawa, but into the No River　（Nogawa/野川), which shortly afterward flows into the Tamagawa. And I went all the way to where the Nogawa does meet the Tamagawa, which I think was about 13 km, though it was a much more difficult route than the one to Higashifuchuu, since the paths along the river are often very narrow, with other people to get around.

The Tamagawa, just there (I cycled down it only a very short way, since the sun was getting quite low), was actually beautiful, I thought, despite being pretty domesticated and all. I guess it's quite low right now, since the low, river-level, sandy space was far wider than the actual stream of water in the bottom. It's nice to simply be in such a wide, open space, though, I guess. Tokyo doesn't have so many of them. I could also see the mountains in the distance from some points around there, which was really nice.

Now, I think next time I have a boring Saturday with nice weather, I may try to bike to Tokyo bay. It's considerably farther, probably more like 25 km... But I think it would be very doable. I also now, for the first time, kind of want to do some imitating of art and bike long-distance across Japan over some part of the spring break or something... I probably won't, I guess, but I'm not ruling it out. Maybe through Misawa, to Cape Shiriyazaki or something...

Thanksgiving overseas.

I should probably practice the two presentations I have to give in Japanese in a couple hours... Eh, whatever, that's what the train's for.

So, on Wednesday I suddenly realized that the next day was Thanksgiving in the US! Thanksgiving is, I think, my favorite holiday of the year... But it is, of course, not observed outside North America (and different in Canada, anyway). Since it's not observed, everyone has class on both Thursday and Friday, but Mina and I decided we should organize some kind of modest dinner/party. Me being the American, I put it together.
So, a group of 19 (I think) friends went to Gusto, a family restaurant which has Japanese food and some somewhat Japanese'd western food, and had a nice dinner. Eating a cheap steak for Thanksgiving doesn't feel exactly right, and they didn't have any pie, but the cake was delicious. We managed to collect four Americans (myself, Erika, Gyojin and Gyojin's friend), so we all talked about what Thanksgiving is for us, and in the sort of American mythology and everything... XD
I am very thankful for many things. Though there was no traditional Thanksgiving cuisine, I did feel that, sitting down at a big table together, I was with part of my new TouDai family.
I was tempted to copy something Wu Di wrote, which eloquently summed up what I'm feeling.
"Thankful for being one of AIKOMers.君たちに出会えてよかった。" The Japanese meaning something like "I'm glad I could meet you guys."

Komabasai, banzai!

Komabasai was fantastic. There's really nothing like it in the US, and that makes me really sad. There are some things I certainly don't envy the regular TouDai students about, but Komabasai did make me wish a little that I were a regular TouDai student, just to be able to be a part of it at least twice. Besides being enormously fun, it just felt so very positive - everyone coming together for a few days to have fun. There's something really moving about the way people give it their all until they're all exhausted at the end of the last day (but still go out for nomikai afterward). And I could hardly believe how all-out it was. Walking around the campus or inside the buildings, the space and people were completely transformed. I'm so glad I could be a part of it. It'd have been great fun to just be an observer and patron, but I felt so connected to Toudai and everyone there... Ahh, another thing I never want to forget.

The festival doesn't really have much to do with recruiting people for clubs, but in some ways it is all about clubs (and bands, and other groups of students). All kinds of clubs perform (there are lots of stages going all the time, big and small, as well as many rooms indoors where bands are playing), and everywhere outside are tented booths lining the walkways (much like the Ann Arbor Art Fair, for those to whom that means something), run by clubs, mostly selling food and drink.
I spent a good deal of time walking around enjoying the festival, but even more time at and around the Chabashira booth, selling (in my case, mostly hawking) New England style (sort of - it wasn't exactly the same) clam chowder (kuramu chaudaa).
On Saturday I helped a little with preparations to get the soup made, then went off with a guy I'd just met who is an occasional part of Chabashira, whose name I can't remember (d'oh) and, I'm proud to say, I talked with him all in Japanese for a couple hours as we walked around the festival and watched some shows (juggling, Taiko, and a band that included an acquaintance of his). After that I want back to the Chabashira booth and stood in front of it with a sign, hawking for a few hours.

Hawking in Japan is pretty different from in the US, I think. When walking on the street in front of stores people often shout out to you, trying to get your attention. It's noisy, but generally fairly unobtrusive. The methods used to get you to take fliers and things are a little different - they don't shout, but they trust the flier directly in front of you, into your path, and say something to you. They'll swivel and finally withdraw so that if you keep walking you'll never actually touch them, but it's pretty hard to ignore. More obtrusive, but still quite impersonal.
Komabasai was, in many ways, these normal Japanese approaches stepped up a few notches. People constantly shouting from their booths (I must have said "Honba no kuramu chaudaa ikaga desu kaaaaaa?" [~"How about some authentic clam chowder?"] a thousand times), and even people running up to you, trying to engage you personally, talking to you individually, with such great energy. Being a visually-obvious foreigner, I even had a few people come up and try to talk me in broken English when I was walking around. XD
In our case there was also some costume-wearing (no relation to clam chowder in particular - just to get attention - they were costumed as Snow White and and such), call-and-response chants ("Kuramu chaudaa!" "Banzai!" "Kuramu chaudaa!" "Banzai!" "Oishii kuramu chaudaa!" "Banzaaaaaiiiiii!") and even some low-level acrobatics, mostly (me) jumping in the air, which caught a lot of attention (hence my soreness today). I think in the afternoon yesterday we were definitely the most energetic ones in our area. XD Since I wasn't actually right at the tent, but a little ways away, directing people toward it at a big intersection, I don't really know if it worked to sell more clam chowder, but I think we really stood out. In fact, a guy from the Frankfurter stand across the way eventually starting copying our tactics. But, we eventually befriended each other and did some "kokusai kyouryoku" - international cooperation (though there's already plenty of it within Chabashira)- with him occasionally shouting not for his own booth, but rather things like "Korin no kuramu chaudaa ikaga desu ka?" and I, in return, shouting "Takeda no furankufuruto ikaga desu ka?" Pretty awesome. One other thing that comes to mind was that, for awhile, Yo and I were hawking side by side in front of the booth. He speaks English with a really good American accent, because he lived in the US for a couple years in his early teens. So there was me, the American (clam chowder being an American soup) shouting "Kuramu chaudaa!" and he, a Japanese guy, was shouting sometimes the same thing, and sometimes, quite clearly, "Clam chowder!" Oh, Yo. XD

「上ろう！！！」

I need to get going to Komabasai (school festival at our campus) to help with Chabashira's booth soon, so here's a suuuper-fast (maybe) update .

Thursday involved some SURPRISE RAIN (not in the forecast) that in fact lasted all day. It also included Francesco, Alden and I splitting a Windows 7 burger (seven large, greasy, largely tasteless meat patties) at Burger King in Shibuya. Oh man.
Thursday night was William's (a Japanese guy with a western name - not AIKOMsei) birthday party, which included some embarrassing (for him) gifts, lots of dancing (it was in the Common Hall, it was more AIKOM than not, and Hanika was present, so it was inevitable), and then chatting afterward in the MSC room.
I stayed there a bit too late, so I woke feeling very tired on Friday when my alarm went off. Because of Komabasai preparations, there were no classes, but the second official AIKOM field trip was scheduled such that it was necessary to leave fairly early.
I thought, waking up, (Urrrrrrgh,) Am I sure I really want to go on this field trip?
No.
Okay... Will I regret it if I don't go?
Probably.
Okay, guess I better go.

And, in typical grand AIKOM fashion, the group took forever getting together and ended up 20 minutes late to Takaoguchi station, but we ended up not the last to arrive, so it was fine. I was happy to see Mike-senpai there again, but actually never really got a chance to have a chat all day. Ah well~

And so, we hiked up Mt. Takao, which, on the ascent path, was thronged with shockingly energetic and healthy Japanese retirees. And it was really, really beautiful, and I was really happy that I had come. Looking one way was Tokyo, stretching to the horizon, the faint sillohette of some busy district's skyskrapers fading into blue. On top of the mountain there were many shrines and a whole temple complex, which was also quite beautiful. And in the other direction, mountains and mountains.

We also hiked up to another peak, then down the other, much less tame side of the mountains, then down into a valley, then up... It was a very tiring day, but filled with amazing scenery. Like finding that you're getting excited by seeing not-actually-particularly-large patches of forest out the window of the train, another effect of living in Tokyo has to do with sound. I didn't realize it until we were going down the back of the mountain, where we we were totally alone, but in Tokyo there is just about never silence. After about seven weeks of living here, I felt the silence in a physical way I never have before. It was wonderfully serene.
The time of year was just right, so the famous Japanese maples were beautifully red and the weather was gorgeous. And as I explained to several people, being from occasionally hilly but quite mountain-free lower-peninsula Michigan, mountains are a big deal to me. XD
And best of all I had many a really great chat, both fun and interesting. Dinner afterward was also quite fun, and I think I got to know Sho a lot better. +) Fantastic trip, all in all.
I ought to upload them to Picasa or something, since Facebook resizes them to be so small and in this case it really doesn't do them justice, but for now, many photos of the day are here.

"Don't thank me, thank Heiwa Nakajima."

It's been a good couple days.

Yesterday the weather was rather unpleasant. Besides being rather cold (relatively speaking) it was one of these days that seem to be common here, when it's raining when you get up in the morning and still raining when you go to bed. The weather in combination with the morning rush caused me to be late to Japanese for the first time... But, considering that half the class is always late and I was only the fourth student there as it was, I didn't sweat it. XD
As usual on Tuesdays, I was done with class at noon, but stayed on campus all day in order to go to Chabashira from six to eight. Not as usual, however, I got a lot done in the intervening six hours. Chabashira, of course, was good fun, and I signed up for shifts on Sunday and Monday at Komaba-sai. +D Since this is really the only chance I'll have to experience a school festival, I feel I've got to make the most of it and participate as best I can.　 がんばろう！

And, today was Museums, which was quite fascinating. I think that's certainly the class that captures my interest the most, of the non-Japanese AIKOM classes.
Afterward, Joon Woo and I went to little bentouyasan (a shop where you can buy a bentou, in this case just a small window to the street where you order and it gets made and handed to you in a few minutes). Coming back from that I was late for a non-Japanese class for the first time... But at least I was with someone, which made it not as embarrassing. XD+ That class was Literature and Films, which is a class I'm always slightly surprised that I am actually getting two credits for. It is interesting, it's just very easy to keep up with (though I'm sure the final paper will be hard - I'm really not all that good at interpreting literature or films in any sort of intelligent way). We finished watching Rashoumon, which was pretty awesome.
After class I stayed on campus to work on my essay for Uchino. Between yesterday and today, two afternoons spent in computer labs, I got three essays written, two of which I think were pretty good, and the third of which was at least not actually bad. It shouldn't, but it sometimes amazes me how much I can do when I remove distractions and just concentrate for a few hours.

"Ohhhhh... Oh man... Oh man... traumatic..."

For tomorrow there's a take-home grammar quiz due, a reading (an article from Asahi Shinbun, a major Japanese newspaper) to do, a worksheet about the reading due, and a vocab/kanji reading quiz in Japanese class. Bawww, that class is so oppressive. Ariyoshi sensei just reminds us of the things we wrote on our applications to the program last year - "I want to study Japanese intensively!"

But, my Japanese class angst aside (, today included:
- Ariyoshi sensei actually being nice and leading a good class, to the frustration of Zhemin.
- Me picking up "No Longer Human" by Osamu Dazai as the first book I have to read in its entirety for Japanese Novels
- Another day in Boccha sensei's class where I took not even a single word of notes (which brings my total for the semester to... Zero).
- A meeting with Miwa! Hisashiburi... Feels like it's been too long. He helped me look through the book of Toudai clubs. And also gave a very strong, alarming reaction when he saw that I was checking out "No Longer Human." At first he wouldn't say why (knowing that I'm about to read it), and then said only "...traumatic..." ...So my interest is piqued.

In which I recount the adventures of the AIKOMsei and friends in and near Yokohama

First we went to Chukadai, the largest China Town in Japan. Though I think one could easily spend an entire day there, we just had lunch in a smallish restaurant that, appropriately perhaps, was bathed in cigarette smoke. As Erika (the other American) remarked, what was really striking about much of the food was how it was, within the food I've enjoyed in Japan, certainly among the most familiar and reminiscent of home. Reminiscent of the Chinese food I've had in the US, of course, but nonetheless.
We also a visited a Chinese Temple, or walked past it and were, as a group, sort of involuntarily drawn in by its incredible visual ornateness. Eventually, amid complaints that the incense buring all around was making people lightheaded (there seemed to be a common motif of smoke throughout Chinatown), we drifted out, patronized some of the food stalls on our way out, and made our way to Motomachi, which is supposed to be a sort of Europe Town.

The first thing I noticed about Europe Town was the traffic directors/crossing guards, looking very made up and kind of Christmasy, being all young-ish woman with uniforms of red tartan skirts and sashes and little silver whistles. The second thing I noticed was that, unlike China Town, which was originally created by Chinese traders settling in the area and still contains at least some Chinese people, Europe Town seemed to be composed entirely of Japanese people who, like some Americans, had created the area with a very romantic vision of Europe involving lots of cobblestones, fancily wrought iron and many tiny, pedigree dogs in sweaters. The entire area, including a display set up on the median of the boulevard and most of the store windows, was quite prettily done up with Christmas, with bells and carols chiming out, which might have been quite pleasant for the Westerners among us here in non-Western Japan, had it not been for the facts that, one, it was November 7th, and, two, we've all been taught or developed on our own a deep, if not hatred for, at least annoyance with Christmas decorations in commercial spaces before, say, the third Friday in November.

Slowly we made our way toward the waterfront and the famed Yokohama habor. It was really nice to see the ocean, even it was just the bay; it was the first time I'd seen it since landing in Japan.We took ages being bad at getting jumping photos on a little bridge in front a parked ship, being taken simulataneiously with Zoe's camera and by a little older Japanese man with a point-and-shoot. We all assumed he was being really nice and helpful, not to mention incredibly patient, taking pictures with someone's camera for them, until we were leaving and realized that it was own camera, which was changed him from patient and kind to simply kind of weird.

We finally got to the Cosmo Clock 21, a huge Ferris Wheel, which Yisha had gotten me very geeked about after pointing out that it was featured (as I recalled well, though hadn't realized it was the same one) in Honey and Clover, one of my favorite works of fiction. We rode it, getting an amazing view of the night skyline of Yokohama city and harbor, and Fiona and I were only sort of terrified, while Francesco, Yang Rui and Sebastian seemed to be pretty much fine. XD I think we all enjoyed it quite a bit, though.

And, finally, we got to the main destination of the trip, which was the onsen place, right across the street from the wheel.
For those readers who might not know, onsen are basically hot baths, traditionally with naturally hot water from hot springs. It's a pretty typical vacation-y kind of place to go to in Japan. In this case, the baths were indoors (actually on the seventh floor of a building) or on terraces. And with the exception of one bath that was explicitly marked as spring water (delivered daily by truck) the water was, though not chlorinated or ionized like pool water, not, I think, spring water, and artifically heated.

Fiona had told me something about the onsen experience involving a bunch of people cramming into a small little pool, which made me somewhat anxious. It seemed to combine two things that we westerners, particularly Americans, perhaps, are not so good with: nudity and breach of personal space. Actually, though, it wasn't bad at all. It was pretty weird to be mutually naked around friends at first, but we soon got over it, and there was actually plenty of space in the baths.
Onsen also, for me, carry the image of being extremely hot, so I was surprised by how moderate they felt to me; like nothing beyond normal hot-tub temperature. On the other hand, I like to shower in lava, and Alden and Francesco both said that it felt too hot to them after a while, so it may have just been me.

After a while soaking in the hot baths, Francesco and I found each other and decided to get dressed in our yukatas (provided by the establishment), and go check out some of the other areas of the building. This plan ran into difficulty, however, becasue neither of us actually knew how to put on a yukata.
I was pretty sure that there was a right and wrong way to wrap the two sides in front (this is a traditional Japanese thing, after all: there must be a way it's done and a way it is not done), but wasn't sure what it might be. Francesco was able to provide the interesting but not useful information wrapping one side over the other is for the living, and wrapping it the other way is for dressing the dead. If anything, this only seemed to raise the stakes, actually. It didn't occur to me to think of my kendo gi, which also has two sides that must be similarly wrapped correctly, and which I've put on, successfully, many, many times. Instead, Francesco and I decided to employ that tried and true tactic for figuring out correct or appropriate behavior in Japan which is discreetly spy on a native, see how he or she does it it, and copy. We learned, in this way, that the left side goes over the right, and I learned that yes, one does wear underwear underneath. I won't comment on Francesco with regard to that point, except to point to the video linked at the end of this post.

We found Sebastian, and the three of us spent some time on the roof, where there was an open-air foor bath that went all the way around the building, so that you could enjoy the scenery of the harbor, city, or beautifully lit Ferris wheel while soaking your feet.
Afterward we had dinner all together, which was pleasant but expensive, and then split into boys and girls again and went back to the baths.

I took some time in the sauna, then the cold bath with Etienne, Joon Woo and Park. Alden was going to join us, but fled (it's really cold). XD
We lasted perhaps five minutes in there (a pretty long time), then got out and went to the cypress/mineral water bath, which was my favorite of all.
And then began the long journey home, which was... Well, long. We missed the last bus, so had to walk, which was not so great, as I was starting to feel bad (what would turn into full-blown illness by the following morning), but kind of fun in its own way, and included talking about scary stories as we walked through the rather spooky nighttime Inokashira Park.


Sunday I woke up quite sick. Something quite flu-y, to be certain. Actually quite reminicent of when I got sick earlier this year, just before spring break: headache, body aches, sensitivity to light, sore throat, fever, lack of appetite, and so on. This led to me spending a few days and nights in bed, though I did go to one class on Tuesday in the later afternoon, and resumed going to class after that, though I still felt pretty bad. Wednesday night brought the same bed-soaking sweat that marked the end of the worst of it last time, and on Thursday I was feeling much better. I think I've 90% recovered now, although I'm still sleeping more than normal. My one remark about getting sick in Japan is that if you normally sleep on a thin futon that's comparable to a moderately cheap sleeping bag in terms of padding, get a mattress. Those futons are not meant for bedrest. After about 48 hours, your body hurts, and your back in in agony.
Besides that, though I have to say, I was really touched by the kindness of everyone while I was sick. Alden brought me papers for Japanese, Francesco brought me doughnuts and medicine (which was awesome for a while, though a little too strong later on XD), Joon Woo brought me a reading for Special Relay Lectures, Zoe offered to cook for me, and I got a bunch of really sweet phone messages. <# These guys are the best.

Tonight is a combined birthday dinner for Yu, Zoe, Shahenda and Trang (I think). Looking forward to that! Oh, tabehoudai... Why always tabehoudai?
Also, tomorrow is, I assume, the trip with Taiga. I'm not completely sure where we're going, but what I understood was that there's a famous waterfall and caves. I haven't heard from Taiga about it in a while, though, so I'm not completely sure what's going on.
Oh well. I guess I'd better get some schoolwork done, since I probably won't have much chance to get anything done the rest of the weekend.
Every week is so full of school work, every weekend is so full of fun... The life of a ryuugakusei. XD It's fantastic.

Finally, I embed this video, which is made of clips I myself took on our trip last weekend. For some reason I decided, just after lunch, to make a video of the day, rather than just take photos as usual. I had a lot of fun doing it, though unfortunately not everyone who went is really in the video properly.

(中略)

I know it's been a while since I've posted (and just when I put it all together, too), but I'll post soon... Hopefully~
In the meantime I've been busy with Japanese work, a trip to Yokohama and being sick in bed for a few days, so I'll have lots to write about when I get around to it.

This will be...

As far back as last February or so, when it was pretty certain that I'd be studying abroad, I told people that I'd keep a blog while in Japan. I actually have been writing bloggish entries since I've been here, but to a very limited audience, and usually actually more for myself than others.
But, to share with everyone, I've made this blog which I intend to keep at least until I return to the states.

For anyone who doesn't know, I'm an undergraduate (junior this year) at the University of Michigan, majoring in Political Science (international) and minoring in Japanese. I'm studying at the University of Tokyo, or as I will surely be referring to it, TouDai (short for Toukyou Daigaku - "Tokyo University") for one academic year, which, due to the difference in academic calendar between the two schools, ends up being October 1st, 2009 through approximately the end of July, 2010, about ten months. I'm here via a global exchange program called Abroad In Komaba (AIKOM), which brings 25 students from 21 universities around the world. We take classes with each other as well as well with the Japanese students at TouDai and all live in a dormitory in Mitaka-shi, Tokyo, along with some other international students and a few hundred Japanese students. This year, 2009-2010, is AIKOM 15, that is, the fifteenth year of the program.

I've titled the blog "愛コムの日々", pronounced aikomu no hibi, to mean something like "AIKOM Days." Normally AIKOM is written in Japanese simply using the same Roman characters, "AIKOM." If one had to write it in Japanese kana, it'd be アイコム ("aikomu"). However, I've chosen to copy a plaque made by, presumably, one of the previous years' AIKOMsei (AIKOM students) which writes the "ai" in "aikomu" with the character 愛, meaning love (in a general, not necessarily romantic sense), because AIKOM has been, this first month, truly a place and experience of great love.

To start with I'll paste some of the things I've written in the last month, and from now on I hope to keep up and post at least semi-regularly. This way, not only will I create a more organized and unified document for myself, but the blog can also serve as an easy way to communicate with everyone back at home.

I'm pretty good at dull list-of-events journal entries, so I'll try to keep that under control. I do intend to write some entries that are purely diary, as well as more general reflections and thoughts, and maybe even some of the essays I've been writing so much more the last few months.

So, hooray for the last month, and the next nine to come!
AIKOM, banzai!

The one-month mark.

As of yesterday, the first, I've been here for a month. Is that really possible? It's gone so, so fast (as has each individual week within it) that it is hard to believe.
At the same time though, some things have become so familiar that it's almost slightly strange that it's only been a month. For a while, of course, when you go somewhere new, you're very conscious of everything, but now, for example, I don't think about coming home to my room here. I think about other things when I'm climbing the stairs, unlocking the door, and so on. It's become natural. I used to be always somewhat self-conscious in public: worried that I'd commit some kind of faux pas or just conscious of my visually obvious gaikokujin-ness. But now, I was reflecting yesterday while walking around a convenience store... Although I still think about these things somewhat, it's very different. It's less conscious, and rather than as a topic or issue in itself, it's more like something I consider as a factor in how to do things.
And more strangely than anything... It's sort of hard to believe that it's all so new. Japan is very different from the US in so many little everyday ways. Crosswalks look different. People use sidewalks differently. So, though the Japanese girl accompanying me didn't really understand why, I was just staring out the window of the cab taking me to the dorm, because everything was new and different and un-experienced. Now, what I want to say is, it's a little bit hard to believe that this hasn't always been with me. It's a little hard to remember what it was like in my head a month ago, never having been here, though having spent much time talking with Japanese
One month. Holy cats. It's also a little scary in that that means, I guess, that there are only nine months left. XD+ I've had "ten months" in my head for so long, told it to so many people again and again... It's quite shocking to now see something smaller than that. Really? have I really already been here for one tenth of my ten months?

On another note, I haven't listened to This American Life (my favorite radio program which I normally listen to religiously) in weeks. I suppose that if anything can show that my life has been both busy and radically different for the last month, it's that.

Tomorrow is a national holiday, and for that reason there are no classes, and for that reason many friends are going out... But I've already attended parties the last three consecutive nights, and for that reason I've decided to take a night to rest. XD+ The thing about clubbing here is that you can't just go out and come back at two or three; you have to stay all night, since the trains stop shortly after midnight, which means tomorrow is pretty much shot too, and I should really use tomorrow to get various things done.

Related, of course, the Chabashira Halloween party was yesterday. Long party was looong (liek, eight hours), but quite fun, and I had a lot of fun doing more Ranger antics in my costume and chatting with everyone. It's strange to say this, since a month ago I'd never really danced at a party in my life, but I found myself a little disappointed that the Japanese students wouldn't

Our (Japaenese 5's) first speech in Japanese (about the US [my country's] educational system) is on Thursday. I wrote the first draft, got feedback and corrections from sensei, and now I need to revise and practice it. If I'm not too lazy, hopefully I'll do the revising part after writing this. First papers for External Relations and Special Relay Lectures are also due Thursday. They're pretty short, though... It's just a matter of sitting myself down and making myself work through them. I might post the script of my speech here, after I've given it.
Okay, time to get to work!

Reddo Wan! Reddo Tsu! Reddo Surii!

Two parties down, one to go...
Practically no schoolwork down, many hours' worth to go. >_>

So, for the Halloween party, Etienne, Hana(fusa) and I used some costumes Hana already had and were the Sou Desu Ne Rangers. We had some practiced moves (after watching Rolling Bomber Special for inspiration) and formations. I think we were quite successful at the Mitaka Ryou party. Hopefully some more good pictures will find their way from peoples' cameras to Facebook eventually.

Today was a field trip for Boccha sensei's class. On the one hand I was rather unhappy that he neglected to mention how much time and money it would cost... But it was cool to get out of Tokyo (not just the megalopolis, but the prefecture!) for the first time since I've been here. It's kind of ridiculous, but when we suddenly saw open fields out the train window, we all got excited and pointed and such. XD Funny how just a few weeks can change the way you see things.
Ultimately, we went the to the National History Museum in Sakura, Chiba, which was pretty cool (though between coming and going we spent more time in transit than actually at the museum). There was a headphone audio tour in English, which was great, since I could hardly read the plaques at all...

Afterward, when we finally got back we prepared for Alden's surprise birthday party. Umeshuu and temakizushi ingredients were bought, the common hall was decorated, and eventually we got him there. He wasn't 100% surprised (of course), but it we still great. +D

Being busy is better, after all.

I can't seem to concentrate on my schoolwork right now, so I guess it's journal time!

I that life recently went from very busy to UUULTRA busy.

This weekend has a party on Friday (Mitaka Ryou), Saturday (Alden's birthday), and Sunday (Chabashira), all of which I have some vested interest in attending. XD
Next weekend some friends (mostly AIKOM) are planning an overnight trip to Yokohama for "shopping and onsen," which I definitely want to attend.
The weekend after next I've been invited by another friend to go... Somewhere (not yet really decided) around Tokyo on another possibly-overnight trip by rental car.
Also, upcoming first large test in Japanese, first big speech next week... XD Ah, this is great.

Coping strategy #1

Living in a country and town whose institutions, cultural norms and topography I, at best, only partially understand presents many unexpected challenges in daily life.
One approach to dealing with situations for which I am not well-equipped is to, essentially, make a relatively large number of random shots into the area where I think the target might be most (or at least more) likely to be and hope that, with some patience, I can hit it. Even if you've only got a 1% chance, all you have to do is try 100 times, right?
For example: On Wednesday of last week I received my scholarship money. I really wanted to schedule a time to go with Miwa, my "tutor," to buy a mobile phone and electronic dictionary. Unfortunately, the only leads I had for contacting him were the mail address and number of his mobile phone (Japanese mobile phones use their own email addresses... Don't worry about it). Not having a phone, this wasn't terribly useful. So, on Thursday I decided that, since I didn't really want to eat lunch during the lunch-hour rush anyway, I'd try to find him. I had this much to go on:
1. I once saw him at lunch time shouting into a megaphone for some group or other on the corner of the little plaza/intersection where the long ginko-lined path ends in front of the cafeteria.
2. The day we met, he took me to the small food shop that's sort of between buildings 1 and 11, and commented that it was better to go there than the cafeteria or bigger co-op store, since the crowd is less oppressive.
3. On the same day, he then led me over to the benches around the fountain that's adjacent to the ginko-lined path, and we ate lunch there.

So, armed with these pieces of information about where he might be slightly more likely to be than other places else on the big campus at lunch time and also the feeling that maybe I could find him since, this campus having only somewhere around 9,000 students, compared to the 30,000+ I'm used to at UM, I tend to feel like I'm always bumping into people I know (which is a feeling I love, by the way).

And, after about ten minutes of walking between the cafeteria and fountain, I did in fact run right into Miwa, and we scheduled a time to meet on Saturday.

「新たな世界の入り口に立ち。。。」

Colin: *for no reason, skips over to the piano, where the group is gathered*
Di: アッ！　さすがお金持ち！　（~"Ah! As expected of the rich person!")
Colin:　ワァァァァァァ～　うれしい～　（"Ahhhhh, so happy~")

Oh, AIKOM. <#
...Yeah, though everyone in AIKOM seems to be receiving some kind of scholarship, most are JASSO (though the Japanese government) and haven't arrived yet, and mine is largest. XD+

Although there was, as previously noted, no party on Friday, last night (Saturday night) made up for it, I guess. XD
It was the Mitaka Ryou Ongakusai (Music Festival). It started out with a lineup of all the people and groups that had signed up to perform, and that went for maybe an hour and a half or so. All the performances were pretty great. Highlights include Alden being a pop star, and Sarah, who I knew was a great singer, nevertheless surprising everyone and moving a couple people to tears. Fiona on piano was also great, and there was another pianist who played for, liek, everyone, and who I met and talked to afterward, but can't quite remember the name of... D+ I'll have to ask Sarah.
And, of course, the AIKOMers sang ３月９日 ("March 9th"). We weren't very good to listen to, perhaps, but it was still a great, moving experience to do it with everyone.

Afterward was the customary Mitaka Ryou food and drink, the customary drunk Miyamoto, and the customary crazy dancing AIKOMers (and largely too-shy-to-dance Japanese student XD+ ). We also played cards, and I met many new people, including the (in?)famous Daisuke, as well Akine, Aki, Sho, the piano guy, and several others I remember but am too fail at Japanese names to remember the names of. We also played Mafia, which was pretty amazing that the group we played it with had effectively English-only speakers, effectively Japanese-only speakers, and the rest of us all somewhere in-between. In fact, they were possibly some of the best games of Mafia I've ever played. XD

Also yesterday I met Miwa, and we went to Kichijouji to buy me a mobile phone and electronic dictionary. We accomplished both of these goals. I'd had my eye on a super-cool phone, but upon closer inspection found that, aside from looking really, really cool, the additional features it had weren't too useful to me. So, although I have more set-up money than I could ever need, I got, liek, the cheapest phone, instead (...it's still much cooler than any US phone I've ever had). XD Since I can't use it when I go back to the states anyway, I figure it's probably a good choice.
We also looked at toys, he bought a model, and we we had lunch at Gasto, which was pretty fun. Hooray~

アメリカ

It's funny how my relationship with the University of Michigan and my relationship with the USA has changed by being here. I think they've both changed in similar ways. In some ways, I feel somewhat warmer toward both.
Not out of longing... I feel a great love for UofM, and would certainly miss it if I had time to do so, but I really haven't had it, and there have been so many great new things all the time that I haven't really been homesick at all. Being in America, in a more general sense, I really long for even less. The things that are different so far seem, more often than not, just sort of incidental and insignificant. The streets look different, people act differently... But at first Tokyo was so fascinating I just wanted to observe as much as possible, and now that I'm more used to it, I don't really feel like one place is more comfortable than the other.
I think the real difference is almost more about how I conceive of myself and the US and the University. As we AIKOMers, a small global community, talk about our lives and experiences amongst each other and with the Japanese, I speak about the US a lot. I haven't entirely pinned it down yet, but something about that, reflecting on my own life and observations in order to find truths, however inconsequential, about the country, has changed the way I feel about it. Although I still don't feel that I can speak for the country, and certainly still don't feel that it can speak for me, somehow, seeing it from the outside has led me to feel more aware and more accepting of my status as ~1/300000000th of it, where before I think I felt my self as being more apart from it. Similarly, with my school, though I loved my life there very much, I've always ultimately felt that my time there was mine, and the school and its institutions were more tools, apart myself, which I could use, and which, of course, I had to pay for in return.
It's kind of pleasant, this way. I always liked that I felt that I could choose to have or not have a sort of national personal identity, in that it was my attitude to reject the notion that people can't control something like that if they try. And I think much of the reason I never have really accepted an "American" identity is that I've felt myself a citizen of world and of humanity as a whole, far, far before being a citizen of the USA. I still definitely feel this way - my obligation to any one country is still, for me, basically zero, and my obligation to humankind is all-encompassing. But, besides this new feeling of myself as one part of the USA, I also now kind of feel that the USA is part of me. After all, I have to talk about the country (and my school) to talk about myself and my experiences, and vice versa. So, I still feel myself a citizen of the world, and I still do feel that I am not limited by my place of birth more than I choose to be - if anything, the feelings I'm developing toward Tokyo lead me to believe that things like "home" are something I get to construct and have a great say in myself - but, I also do now feel some kind of identity of origin and history and established, realized (as opposed to potential, or unrealized) connection that I didn't feel before. It is nice.

Burger in Japan.

Friday night and no party? What? Am I still at AIKOM?
Nah, actually it's kind of nice to have a night in that's not spent studying/working until midnight. XD This is only the second or third one since I've been here, I think.

Yesterday was a long day of classes (my longest of the week), then dinner at Freshness Burger. Etienne was joking that it should be like a taste of home for me (the American), and, indeed, it was really the first "American" food I'd had since being here.

Friday is my shortest day of classes of the week, so after Japanese and a visit to the AIKOM office (where I turned in my course registration sheet! No going back now...), I went with Sebastian, Aprille, Yisha and Fiona to Shimokitazawa where we got donuts and shopped the shops. Later, I came back, then went out to the little Uniqlo that's right here in Mitaka and bought a shirt. In the US, men's small shirts are generally just slightly too big for me, so that they're wearable, but don't look good. The small men's shirt here is perfect. Although, oddly, I note that it says it's for chest sizes 80-88 cm, and I measured myself at 88 with the measuring tape that was int he sewing kit I got at the 100en shop, so it ought to be just big enough... But there's definitely room to spare. Huh.
I probably shouldn't spend my scholarship money on clothes, at least not before I get into some kind of predictable rhythm of more important spending, so that I can budget accordingly, but I had been wanting a another nice-ish shirt for daily wear since before I came here, so I feel okay about it. It is, I think, a very Japanese shirt. Striped body with solid white collar and cuffs... I've seen them a lot here, but practically never in the US, so in my mind, anyway, it's kind of a Japanese style.

Korin-sei tte... Nan darou...

It's already past my bedtime, but I think I'll update anyway.

1. Japanese class is oh so demanding. Srsly, a whole new vocab list, a reading and a worksheet each night? Man...

2. Today I went to lunch at Heiwa Nakajima's headquarters. Which was on the 33rd floor of a skyscraper in Roppongi (pretty central Tokyo), with, from the lunch table area, a stunning view of the sky-scraper filled area and a great view of Tokyo Tower (from that window was the first time I ever saw it, actually XD).
I got the first 200000 yen of my scholarship (the moving/set-up allowance). Holy cats. Now to buy a cell phone and denshi jisho.
We also had lunch, which was not just sushi, but great, expensive sushi. Man. I wasn't totally sure if I should wear a tie and get all dressed up, but as soon as I walked in and saw the oak paneling I knew I'd made the right decision.
I also got treated to a long lecture in Japanese about how the kanji for many newer words were determined by the Japanese, by combining old characters, of course, like 銀 and 行 to make ginkou ("bank" - a relatively new word in Japanese, which did not have kanji when it was introduced), not the Chinese, and how although some Chinese people know of this, most Japanese do not. I understood maybe 60% of it, tops, but he was so nice that I felt I had to keep listening.
Anyway, all in all it was a quite pleasant experience, I got the financial relief I was desperate for (having had only about 4000 yen left XD). Plus, though I had to take three trains to do it, I got to Roppongi all by myself. XD

3. We practiced our song tonight. +) I think our arrangement will be almost entirely all of us just singing in unison, since we have so little time to practice, but I'm still glad.

We come in peace.

This morning I got my Alien Registration Card (basically my government-issued photo ID saying that I'm not just on vacation, and also not in the country illegally, also known as a Gaijin card). It's really sparkly and shimmery. I want my photo ID at home to be so cool...

Since today we finally had Monday class, I think I finalized my course selection. I'll be taking Japanese 5 (of course), Special Relay Lectures (compulsory) , Learning from Museums, Reading Japanese Novels, Dynamics of Japanese Cultural History, Japanese Literature, Culture and Film, and Japan's External Relations.
Classes in Japan tend to be (and all of mine are, except Japanese) a small number of credits each, meeting only once a week, so you have to take, as in my case, at least seven (or eight or nine). I did end up with class every day, but I'm done at noon on Tuesdays and Fridays, which is pretty pro.
Should be good, though. I'll have seventeen credits, which is quite respectable, I think. I kind of want to take that history class, and there's also that class about Corporate Finance that was pretty good, but alas, I doubt that I can take more than 18 credits. Probably better, anyway. I do want to have time to do all kinds of other things.

Tomorrow is Chabashira! I'm excited. +D I told a bunch of friends about it, and now it seems that a lot of AIKOMsei will go this week... XD I'm sure the Chabashira folks will be pleased.

Finally, it's been decided that the AIKOMsei will sing Sangatsu Kokonoka at the upcoming dorm music festival. This beautiful , meaningful song is, in fact, one of my favorite songs ever... And I wasn't even the one who suggested it. XD I'm really looking forward it.

"Kanji all learned, I guess I can go to bed now.

...Or... I could practice my moonwalk a little, first."

I decided to practice. And then write here.

So, yesterday was a birthday for Kenji, who's actually on the Hongo campus, but hangs around with the AIKOMsei a lot. I'm not sure if he has any official affiliation, though he is the boyfriend of my senpai (the Michigan AIKOMsei from last year).
Anyway, all the AIKOMsei were invited, but only seven of us (six AIKOM-15 plus Sarah) ended up coming. He had reserved a "standing lounge" for the night, and we (the whole group) filled the whole place pretty well. XD
I had a good chat with Joon-woo, and talked to Clara and Di some, but best, I met one of Kenji's (many) friends, Akira, and we had a great conversation. XD Also, we both like a lot of the same music. XD There were also some other very notable meetings, including Taiga and Yoshiko. I'm going to go to a sort of international exchange club, Chabashira (which is apparently mostly Japanese students), to see several of the people from last night again, this week. +D
After that, the other AIKOMsei went home, but I decided to go to Karaoke with the rest of the group. It was fun, though not as good as it can be, since many of us didn't really know one another. Bu tonly afterward did the real adventure begin.
So, the party and karaoke were both in Shibuya, which is relatively close to Mitaka, where I live, but probably about a 20 to 40-minute train ride (plus 15-minute bike ride). After Karaoke, which we had wrapped up at the time we did because it was getting close to the time of the last trains, Taiga and Akira guided me to the station. But I got confused about which line to take. So, I floundered around for a few minutes, got scolded by a station officer, and then found my line (Inokashira). It seemed that the train coming was the last train of the night, judging by the great number of people waiting for it. But when it came, the display said it was bound for Fujimigaoka. Normally, I take the train for Kichijouji (and get off at Mitaka-dai, two stops before Kichijouji). So, I thought it wasn't the right train and was really confused, since I was pretty sure it was the right line, and it just goes back and forth between Kichijouji and Shibuya... So, after the massive crowd had crammed itself into the train and I was standing on the totally empty platform, I found and slowly walked over to a line map, all in Kanji, and worked on trying to read it, to figure out what was up. And then, at the last second, as the tone is ringing to announce that the train doors are about to close, I realize that Fujimigaoka, where the train is going, is on the line I want. I ran over and got inside the train just in time. Unfortunately, Fujimigaoka is, of course, not Kichijouji. So I studied the map inside the train more and found that it was two stops short of Mitaka-dai, where I was headed. I hoped that somehow I could continue on another train or something from there to Mitaka-dai... But, sure enough, when it got to Fujimigaoka the whole station was closing for the night.
So, what to do? It's one in the morning, and I'm two stops short of where my bike is, in an area I don't know at all, alone. I was pretty sure that it wasn't actually very far to Mitaka-dai station I decided that if I followed the railway, I could find it. But, of course, the roads don't actually run parallel to the rail line at all, so I just tried, as much as possible, to not lose sight of it for long, and walked through the surface streets, mainly though residential neighborhoods. Soon, though, I found the river that runs right next to Mitaka-dai station. Like most of the concrete-banked rivers in Tokyo (that is, like most of all of them), there was a sidewalk all down the side of it. Although it was a more meandering, less direct route, I decided it would be less risky than trying to take the streets and not lose track of the line. And, lo, perhaps forty minutes later, at about 1:30, I arrived at Mitaka-dai.
Also, I was carrying all the remaining money I have to last me until my scholarship arrives, and my digital camera... Hopefully my parents won't ever read this. Thank god Japan is so safe... XD
Now, after that, I feel that nothing living in a foreign country can throw at me will be more than I can handle. Fun though it kind of was, I think I'll keep closer track of when the last train is and allow myself time to get confused and sorted out in the station, next time. XD

Anyway, today I went with Francesco and Zoe to a folk crafts museum in Komaba for our Museums class. It was pretty cool, I have to say. It's been remarked that this year's AIKOMsei seem to get along very well, and I'm very glad that it's so. It was quite lovely spending time with those two today, and always has been with everyone.
Then I came home and went to the supermarket where I ran into Erika and Ayu. I had only eggs (the sign of the cooking-inept male AIKOMsei, apparently XD) in my basket, but I saw that Ayu had all kinds of veggies and meats and things to do some serious cooking. So, feeling inspired, I bought some (raw) chicken, some broccoli, some curry, and other things. I came home and cooked something besides egg-and-"delicious sauce"-fried-rice for the first time... And it was not really good, but at least it was a good experience. XD

Nareteite...

Man, I've been here for kind of a while now. I think I'm really starting to settle in. I feel that sort of relief of being home when I pull into the dorm area from the street, finding difficulty in recapturing the sense of how I felt when seeing the narrow streets on the way to Mitaka-dai the first few times, how they looked to me, or actually spacing out and thinking about completely other things when riding my bicycle today... Things like that.

More first classes and class shopping

I was considering not taking any classes on Wednesdays ( reaaaally considering), since it's the one day that that's possible, but I decided I'd check out the three offered in English today. Unfortunately for my plans, at least one of them is a definite keeper. Learning from Museums ffffff. Definitely the best first class I've had so far. The professor really impressed me, and raised so many genuinely interesting questions.
Japanese Literature, Culture and Film was okay and Environment in Everyday Life was pretty uninspiring. >_>
For the meantime I'm going to continue going to everything I can, then pick between those that weren't obviously winners after at least one class of each.

Thanks, ojiisan!

First real Japanese class today - actually a double, so three hours of it. It was... Really hard. XD But I'm sure I'm gonna learn a ton. Kondou sensei, the sensei we had for the second half, seems so sweet, too. Reminds me of all my Michigan sensei. <#
I also went to a Japanese history class that I think may take, along with quite a few AIKOMsei.

Sunday was the welcome party for Mitaka dorm, especially celebrating the presence of the international students (mainly AIKOM), apparently. It was really weird to me to see a school-sponsored event where alcohol was not only allowed, but provided. XD It was quite fun, though.
Afterward, a rich alum of the dorm took everyone who wanted to go (I think around fifty of us) out to eat and drink. I actually got seated at a table with him, along with Yisha and Shahenda (and some other residents of the dorm), though, which kind of put a damper on much of the night, I think. Eventually we got away, guilty though I feel for saying it like that. It was pretty fun then, though. I also had sukiyaki for the first time, which was fantastic.

Then, yesterday was a national holiday, so we had no classes. I went with Zoe to Kichijouji an hour after a large group went to try to get cell phones, but they took much longer. We had a nice lunch at a pizza buffet, and then I came back and napped and wasted time.

I would have been able to get the first 200,000 yen of my scholarship tomorrow, but because I went along with the AIKOM office making my bank account, it'll take until at least next week. ;_;
Related, to save money I bought a lot more ingredients to cook today. Just now I did my first real cooking here, making a sort of fried rice with egg, bean sprouts and what might be Wooster sauce. All I know is that it's by Kikkoman (a very prevalent brand of soy sauce in the US) and it says "derishasu soosu" (delicious sauce). Since I couldn't really figure out many of the bottles (curse you, kanji!), a brand I know and the word "delicious" seemed as good a route to take as any.
Anyway, the end product is quite decent, surprisingly. XD
This reminds me of something I've noticed myself doing, and asked a few other AIKOMsei about, getting the report that they do it too. When in a store, shopping (especially somewhere like the 100yen shop, which has all kinds of things), it's terrible, but I very often find myself trying to figure out what a strange item is just by looking at it and handling it before even trying to read the label. XD+ Denshi jisho will help with that, hopefully.

Also related to buying things, today I went into a bicycle shop because one of my bike's tires leaks air from the nozzle. Not really knowing anything about bikes or their tires, I thought maybe the little plastic cap on the end was defective, so I asked for one... And the guy let me have one for free. Whoa. I mean, sure, it's probably only worth five cents, but I was still really touched.
Of course, I then went back to the dorm, where my bike was, and actually poked around with it a bit more, and found that that cap doesn't really do anything anyway, and what I really need is a different little piece. So I'll definitely have to go back to that guy to buy it tomorrow. +)

Briefly: AIKOM field trip #1

So, I'm eating a Peanut Soft and strawberry jam sandwich. It's not exactly a pbj, but it's pretty close. <#

Yesterday's field trip (and 飲み会 afterward) was pretty awesome. We went to a 1300-year-old temple, I spent a lot more time with my tutor, Miwa, we visited TouDai's other big campus, Hongo, a museum about the Ueno area, a Denny's, a shrine to a goddess of scholarship, and several other things.

ミシガンパワー！！

The night before last a "once in ten years" big typhoon came. Originally classes were meant to start on Thursday, but they were canceled, apparently for the first time AIKOM history. I slept* through the worst of it (*it was really loud and woke me up, but I didn't get up >_>), and then it stormed for a while in the morning, then cleared up and was merely windy, but actually sunny for once. By the afternoon it became maybe the nicest days yet, in terms of weather.

The AIKOMsei that gathered for lunch split up, and I went with a smaller group to Don Quixote (a discount store), where I bought a wallet, since Japanese bills are wider and don't really fit properly in my American wallet. XD+
Afterward, Yisha, Zhemin, Sebastian, Erika, Francesco and I biked to Inokashira kouen (Inokashira park). Akai-san had recommended it highly to me, so I was expecting it to be nice, but even so, I was surprised by how beautiful it was. We walked around, then up to Kichijouji, which is right next to it, for dinner. It was really excellent.

When we finally got back at night, the placement tests were at last posted, and I saw that I'd been put in the advanced level (as opposed to intermediate), as I'd hoped. XD Delightful. 安心した！
Actually, I think the only surprises were pleasant ones: a couple people who thought they'd be in intermediate getting into advanced. XD

So, today was the first day of class. A group of five or six of us who didn't have class until 10:30 rode to Mitaka-dai more or less together, which was nice. I may have mentioned it before, but I really like the bike route there. XD
Our first Japanese class was quite nice. The sensei today (we have a different one every class of the week!) was really nice, and we basically introduced and talked about each other and the course.
Afterward, we finally met our individually-assigned tutors. Mine was really nice, though I was a little shy, I guess. XD+ I'll see him tomorrow, though. I was really happy, though. I've heard of some really bad tutors, but I think I've got nothing to fear (and, on the contrary, much to hope for!) . Again, 安心した. XD We only got to talk, for, liek, 20 minutes, though, since I had another class.
Class number two was just.... wtf. In the booklet we have of the classes designed for AIKOMsei (also open to s normal TouDaisei) it's titled "Aspects of Japanese Society" and the course description says it "covers contemporary issues in Japanese politics, society and economy." It's also a special class conducted in Partnership with Seoul National University, where we basically video-conference with a class there every class, and have discussion/lecture together (the only AIKOM class like this).
So then we're there... And the lecture, delivered by the professor in Korea, is really weird. It's all about globalization and sustainable growth for companies... Nothing particularly to do with Japan, and certain not its society and politics... So, eventually we get a syllabus, on which the class is titled "Modern Management and Economics in the Global Society." Wat. This is a totally different course. Add to this the fact that it's three hours long (but only gives the same credit as a normal 90-minute class), all the weird abstract generalities thrown out without real support, a kind of crazy project assigned straight-off, and the obvious lack of communication and proper coordination between the two professors and I don't think many of us are going back. >_>;

Third class was much better, though. Corporate Value Enhancement Strategy and the Case Study, this time the sensei actually basically stuck to what we'd been told the course was. He seems really knowledgeable (resume is really impressive), and I do actually feel that I can learn a lot in there. Sux that it goes to 5:50pm on Fridays, but I think I may take it.

Tomorrow is our first AIKOM field trip! I'm suuuuuper excited.

Also, I'll hopefully be able to get the first 200,000 yen (~$2,250) of my scholarship mid-week! Most excellent. Especially since my US bank account is getting a little low.

I'm enjoying myself so much, here, everything seems enchanted, too good to be true. I was never exactly nervous, but I did have some anxieties before coming. But now I am so, so glad I'm here. I know it's only been a week, but still. XD

Pasmo, saikou!

The day before yesterday was the oral portion of the Japanese placement test. I really feel that I didn't display my full ability. Sigh. A lot of the problem was that I was really nervous, and a large portion was also the questions themselves. "Discuss the dilemma facing developing countries between economic development and environmental protection. Take a stand and defend your position." I guess that's to see how advanced our vocabulary and such is, but that's a tough question to articulate a strong answer with examples in English for me. XD+ And, naturally, after she turned the tape recorder off and asked me more conversational questions, I spoke really fluently.
The results of the placement should be posted today. In fact, I might go check after writing this.

After the test a group of us who had interviews around the same time had lunch in the cafeteria on campus, conducted some business in the AIKOM office, then walked to Shibuya. We couldn't remember the way we took a few days ago, so we just took a little side street through a neighborhood, following the rail, and it was a really lovely walk. I bought some things from a stationary store, but I think I must have lost them later in the day, because I haven't been able to find them. Only a few hundred yen, though.

Later on there was an orientation for using the campus computers, and then eventually dinner in the cafeteria. We were considering buying cellphones, but ultimately decided we needed to do some more research first.

The cafeteria is pretty great. I'm definitely a fan. It's generally quite cheap (usually under 500 yen, for me), and the food is varied and delicious.

Yesterday we had to go to campus for our medical check. I was really surprised at how thorough it was, but apparently these compulsory exams are quite common in Asia. We had to have a chest x-ray, blood work, a cardiogram, urinalysis, and plenty of paperwork. Afterward was another lunch in the cafeteria, then many of us AIKOMsei went and got Pasmo, for unlimited use of the train to school (for three months, in my case). As international students we technically weren't eligible for the student commuter rate, but we all managed to get it.
Excellent because it's a huge savings, but it's also a time-saver. The cards have a chip in them, so you just touch your wallet (which contains the card) to a sensor at the gate and walk through. Ffff So cool. You can also load money onto it and touch it on buses for bus fair, and at some vending machines and fast food restaurants, to pay. Why don't we use this technology more in the states?

Went shopping in Kichijouji for a little while, where I finally got a new umbrella. <# Not only is it not broken, as the one I was using was, but it looks much more Japanese, in that it's like the ones that everyone uses here. Since we were celebrating Di's birthday (which we missed a few days ago), Francesco's (which was actually yesterday), and Sarah's (today, but with the typhoon we didn't think we'd be able to do anything), all the AIKOMsei plus Miriam ate together in a really cool restaurant. It was underground, on Sunroad. I can't for the life of me come up witht he name of the type of restaurant right now, but it was a shoes-off, sitting on tatami place, where your table orders lots of little dishes and passes them around. It was such a blast. XD

We had bought cheap-ish chiffon cakes for the three (cakes are generally, based on our experience trying to buy some yesterday, decadent and beautiful and delicious in Japan, but also extremely expensive), and Sarah showed up with another two cakes for Di and Francesco. XD

I've decided to try anything and try to experience as much as I possibly can while I'm here, so in this case it included Japanese beer, which was my first time drinking at all. I only had about a drink and a half, but it did feel quite strange, though not unpleasant. I got a headache afterward, though. XD+

Let's get placed!

"Sumimasen," meaning something like "excuse me," is definitely the most useful phrase I know in Japanese for living in Japan. Someone walking in your way when biking? Call out, sumimasen! He'll notice you and move to the side of the path. Can't understand what the cashier is offering you? Just say sumimasen, and she'll just let you order. Get lost? Hail someone to ask for directions - "Sumimasen!" Bump into someone? Sumimasen. It's like magic. In a pinch? Sumimasen.

But really, I haven't been in any terrible pinches so far. XD It helps, perhaps that I've mostly been with groups of various size of other AIKOMsei. Between us, even if the time it takes to decide or figure anything out goes up by a factor of the number of people present, squared, with our collective resources and awareness we can usually get by without bothering anyone much.

Yesterday, for example, as I mentioned the plans for previously, a large group of us biked to Mitakadai station to practice the complicated route. We did get a little lost once, and did end up asking directions from　a nice man, but aside from that one intersection, we did it on our own. Then we went back to the hall, then to kichijouji, and from there to Ochanomizu where we changed trains to go to Akihabara (Electric town!), all without the help of any tutors. We pretty much all price-checked denshi jisho (electric dictionary), and between us (a group of fourteen) a computer and camera were actually purchased. Akihabara didn't really floor me in the same way Shibuya did, but I only saw a small area near the station, and there's also the fact that I'd already been to Shibuya. Besides those two things and train/bus fair, though, the only things I know for sure that were bought on the trip were western tea for Sebastian and a coffee float for me.
It's funny, I really never drink coffee normally, but I've done so on two occasions already, here. Like yogurt, I find that the first few sips tend to taste rather bad, but then it sort of settles into your mouth and is enjoyable. Of course, most drinks are made more palatable by putting a scoop of ice cream in them. I am also steered toward ordering it when I can't read/understand half the other options.
I doubt I'll become much of a coffee drinker any time soon, though. Every time I drink some I am hyper-aware of the fact that coffee can stain teeth. It's probably a very slight effect, but I really like my braces-straightened, white-ish teeth.
Which reminds me of something else. There are many people here with crooked teeth. I didn't understand immediately why something seemed to catch my attention, but I realized that it's because adults with crooked teeth are pretty uncommon in the USA now. On the one hand, that there's not such a culture of cosmetic orthodontics seems kind of more healthy. I mean, braces and the like are both expensive and physically painful. On the other hand, I'm kind of glad that it does exist in the USA, since I suppose it's to thank for my teeth that are extra-excellent here in Japan.

Anywho... Today was the first official day of orientation. We met some of the AIKOM staff, got several pounds of documents and things, ate lunch and then had our placement test.
The Japanese courses for AIKOM are said to be very intense, but I think I'll still order a copy of the Tobira textbook (I lost my other one with all my notes written in it a few days before coming here... Hopefully it'll turn up).
I'm absolutely sure that if I were closer to where I should be in my Japanese after third year (that is, if I'd retained more of what I studied) I'd have been placed in the advanced class. As it is... I'm not sure. It'll certainly be either the advanced or the intermediate. Either way, it'll be okay. I'm sure I'll learn a huge amount no matter what, as long as I put in the time.
Ganbarou!

On the way back from campus some of us rode our bikes back from Mitakadai in the rain. It was maybe a bit foolish, and I don't know about the others, but I enjoyed it. XD Getting wet (or completely soaked) on a warm day isn't so bad when you're going home anyway.
This evening a bunch of AIKOMsei (past and present) went to Karaoke, the first time ever for many, including myself (Asian-style karaoke doesn't exist in the mainstream in the US). Oh lawd. Almost no one actually drank, but you wouldn't know it. XD It was really a blast, for me. For now I should probably save my money, but I look forward to going again. I feel like I've really started to bond with some of the AIKOMsei. I'm really glad. XD Of course, hopefully I can make some more Japanese friends, but that'll be easier when classes start and I'm actually on campus more.

Tomorrow is the oral portion of the placement test. Like most of us not raised with kanji, I generally feel much better about speaking and listening than reading and writing when it comes to Japanese, so I'm not as concerned about it as I was for today's portion.

First trip to Komaba and Shibuya

Fff, jetlag is the worst. I was absolutely exhausted last night (really, really wanted to sleep around 8pm), but stayed up until a more normal bedtime (11:30 or so), and still woke up at 5:30. XD+

Today was to be the "bike tour" to Mitakadai station. It was raining at ten, but since so many of us had gathered we decided we would take the bus to Kichijoji and then those who wanted to could take the train to Komaba (campus), to see it. But it was a big group, so we were moving slowly, and by the time we got to the bus stop the rain had stopped. So, most of us (seventeen AIKOMsei and two tutors, I think) went back to the hall to get our bikes, and biked to Mitaka-dai station, after all. We then all got on the train to Komaba for the first time.
What we saw of the campus was exciting. As we walked down the steps from the station and the main gate tot he campuseveryone suddenly sort of gasped.
I guess it's to be expected from TouDai, but the campus was really pretty. The trees are especially pretty, though right now the ginko nuts are falling and smell bad. We ate in the dining hall there, then walked to Shibuya, which is a very short walk from one side of the campus. '

Shibuya was just amazing. I really couldn't even take it in. There's just so much. At the same time, though, it was actually easier to get around and navigate than I expected. We saw the famous statue of Hachikou (pictures later...), then split up to shop/explore/etc. for two hours. I went with Robert (Norway/New Zealand), Bastien (France), and Zhemin (and maybe one more person?) to an electronics store, since Robert and Bastien both had things they needed. We ended up mixing with some other AIKOMsei there, and I ultimately left with Hanika and Etienne (both France). It was the first time I really talked to Etienne, so I was very glad for that. We explored a Book-Off there, where I bought a Spitz CD, Etienne bought a bunch of CDs, and Anika bought a dictionary and little stuffed animal thing. We looked though all the floors of the building (all used merchandise), including the clothing shop int he basement. I also found a Mameshiba keychain in a Gahapon machine. Since I was thinking just this morning that I needed something to put my keys on, since having loose keys makes me nervous about losing them, and since I love Mameshiba, I bought one. <# It was really very much fun, and I got to know Etienne and Anika much more. We finally met everyone back at Hachikou, then rode the train from the Shibuya station back to Mitakadai, and biked back (this time on the more dangerous/difficult, but straightforward route). After we got back to the dorm Sebastian and I were going to meet with some others at seven to go out to eat, but then he came and got me from my room when they left early to try to go put some money in toward our internet. The two konbini we went to both required Japanese bank accounts (which we don't have yet), so we went back to hall, met a bunch more AIKOMsei (to make 17 of us, I think), and then went to eat. Some went off to try to go to a nearby Ramen shop, but since it was too small for all of us the rest of us tried to go to the nearby kaitenzushi restaurant. But, this being Saturday night, it was really busy, with a long wait, so we ended up going to Gassto(?), the restaurant many of us went to two days ago. The way the seating ended up, I talked mostly to Erica and Francesco, which was really nice because I hadn't really talked to Francesco much yet at all. Afterward we met the ramenya folks and all went to a Supermarket, which is something I've been wanting to do since I arrived. XD I bought some bananas (craving fresh food after so much packages and restaurant food), a package of anman, some milk, some dish soap and a kettle. Yisha, Shahenda myself and someone else (>_>) also talked to a really friendly local woman a bit, in Japanese, which was really cool.

Another thing... So, last summer I think, I wrote about my experience with British friends, how I was sometimes involuntarily picking up their accent after being around them (really involuntarily- I was trying not to, since it was kind of embarrassing). It's definitely happening really strongly here. Today with Etienne and Hanika, and their French accents... And definitely with Zhemin and his Chinese accent (spiced with a British accent on a few words). I keep hearing really strange things come out of my mouth. XD+
On the other hand, though, it may be that this thing I do with accents has an upside. I think I can hear an improvement in my Japanese speaking, in terms of intonation and pronunciation, being around so many native speakers all the time. I guess that's worth it, if the price is a temporary loss of my normal ability to speak English with entirely my normal Midwest/Michigan SAE accent.

I mentioned to Sebastian that I wanted to practice riding to Mitaka-dai station on the "safe route" (complicated and harder to remember, but dramatically less stressful than the "dangerous route"), just make a dry run tomorrow, before I'm actually expected to get to Komaba on any schedule. And he mentioned it to someone, and now, after a few more iterations of this, it seems that a fairly large group of us will be going, with is pretty rad, I think. I've really enjoyed spending time time with the various AIKOMsei so far, so I'm looking forward to it.

First entry from Japan!

Originally posted 02 October 2009 @ 09:05 pm, Tokyo.

I started to write all about being here so far, since I felt like I should... But I guess because I didn't want to (I really just want to sleep, but I ought to stay up in order to overcome jetlag), it was coming out really dull. Here are a handful of bullet points instead, for the meantime.

-Thirteen hour flight oh mai gahh
---No one in the seat next to me!
---New Star Trek was one of the in-flight movies! I got to watch Sylar in space from the sky!
---THIRTEEN HOUR FLIGHT
-The AIKOM tutors (TouDai students) are awesome. <# -Tokyo is wtfhuge. Liek, endless metropolis. I can't even get my head around it. I learned something about this from the 2-hour bus ride through endless densely developed areas. -I have a microwave, fridge, some dishes, cables and other things... Thanks, senpai! <# -I met most of the other AIKOMsei (at least introductions). Really talked with a few of them, especially Zhemin and Sebastian. -It is much warmer here than in Michigan. Seeing how things were just getting colder, slowly moving toward winter, in Michgian, this is excellent. -Eating out is surprisingly reasonably priced. I've yet to really explore to price of food in stores, but I suspect the gap in cost of eating out vs. in is smaller here. -Speaking of eating out, it is a gift from god that all the restaurant menus (so far) have photos of each dish, not just textual lists, as in the USA. -The three times I've ventured out without any bilingual TouDai student guide, twice to a 7-11 konbini, and once with Sebastian to a kaitenzushi place right down the road, my Japanese was, if broken and pained, adequate. +D -People actually (and always) stopping and waiting at red cross-walk lights? What?
-Akai-san, Zhemin and I went to a Batting Center (batting cages)... On the roof of a building. Oh, Tokyo.