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!