Again, school the week went by and I do not have much to say on that. It's a little odd, how little I to say on that subject. Right now, my biggest complaint is my [in]ability to do my reading homework. For some reason, my Art History teacher does not give us a syllabus, but expects us to go online and search for it (okay, maybe that sounds a little lazy). Once we find said reading list in the vast web that is Waseda's "Course N@vi" we have to decipher what the heck it says (it really is a jumble of book and journal titles and no dates), and then we have to, somehow, find the readings in the library. Oh, and, there's one or two books for about 35 students. Yeah...not happening. So in the two weeks of school I've done NO reading. I need to talk to the teacher again about how impossible it is to do his homework.
On to the important stuff. Japan. I mean, that's the only reason we're doing this, right? Me, so I can post all the fun, exotic and strange things that surround me and you, so you can read them!
On Saturday, I had my first club meeting. I joined a club called 'Waseda Donuts' a.k.a. 'Wasedo'. After a bit of confusion I managed to meet up with Takero, the co-leader (and a first year, I might add). At first I was afraid I had joined the wrong club, because everyone brought an instrument. There was a guitar, a green clarinet-type thingy, three recorders, an ocarina, a cow bell, a few tambourines, and some cute, kiddie bells. However, once they all started to practice songs like, 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' I didn't feel so bad. I mean, I still had nothing to contribute besides my madd tambourine skillz, but I managed. Then (and here's where some people got weirded out) we went to a sports center to PLAY WITH CHILDREN (All three of them)! Haha, no, they came to us, and we did 'Halloween' stuff. And by that, I mean we did some makeup, some balloon animals, and a musical jam-session. Just like the real Halloween. Oh, did I mention we ate donuts? Yum!
Is that not the cutest kid ever? His name
is Hiro, and he was wild. He's wearing
a nice, traditional halloween costume :)
After a few hours with the kids, we had a nomikai. That translate to 'drinking meeting' and is pretty much what it sounds like. There was dinner too, but the main event is the drinking. We started at 7:30 or 8, and went until 10:30. It is important to start early, because if you rely on a train or subway to take you home, the last one's leave around 11:30 pm. It's pretty inconvenient, but [almost] everyone has to deal with it. So, at 10:30, we left and split into two groups. One group went home (I think?), the other group did a 'second round'. I was in the second round, but I did not stay too long. I had an earlier train to catch. But, I managed to get a membership card for an 'izakaya' (Japanese style bar), so I'm looking forward to that :) All-in-all, I think it was a pretty good day. I hope they ask me to come back :)
Yesterday I was with the Earlham kids (including the Waseda students who were there last year), we walked through Harajuku, Shibuka and ended the night with monjyaki. Monjyaki looks gross. I'm just going to include some pictures, you can judge for yourself what it looks like. What I really want to talk about is Shibuya. Shibuya is famous for a few things; shopping, partying, the statue of Hachiko and Shibuya Crossing. I believe it is one of the worlds most traversed crossings? Well, I'm sure I'm making this up but, see for yourself what it's like:
I started the video before we crossed, and stopped it before we finished.
So, there you have a little taste of what Japan is like. What did you think? Do you recognize it from 'Lost in Translation'? :)
Here's Haruna making the monjyaki...noticehow runny and icky it looks?
It gets a little thicker as it cooks...but it's still odd.
-Lydia
p.s. anything you guys and girls want to see? Send me your requests! haha! Thanks for reading and, as always, I apologize for any spelling errors :)
6 comments:
Wow... What a nice post!!! Lydia that video was so incredible. I got shivers... I don't mean like incredibly artsy but it's just so JAPAN and I can't believe you're there!!!
I'm really enjoying the blog so far and I hope you keep with it!!! I love you!
ahaha everything was so cool, the buildings with videos on their windows, all the crowded people and now I can understand how many people you have to fight to fit on the trains on your way to school, but remember ahaha your bag infornt of you and pushh ahahah like the defensive line of football, ok bad joke ahaha byeeeeee
5kills, that gooey stuff looked gross. I probably wouldn't have eaten it. I liked the video...especially your face popping up at the end. That was by far the best part. I MISS YOU! Take a picture of something delicious that you get to eat. You can be just like Tony Bourdain. And you should take a picture of a Buddha statue if you see one. I'm learning about Japanese Buddhism in my world religion class and it would be cool.
Monjyaki? It looks... interesting. Ramen on a flat skillet with liquefied cow fat? I like the video a lot, especially when all the sudden: there's Lydia! It was a nice contrast to the wide screen pan of Japan.
You should team up with classmates and figure out the reading assignments. Meet in the library, each pick one to find and take turns reading.
i like the video! it doesn't look like that many people at first, but by the time you get to the middle of the street (i think), there are a bajillion people everwhere!! haha. and i agree with washo, you at the end was the best. :) the club you joined sounds like it's going to be fun too. miss you, and talk to you soon!
Lydia you have a blog! WHERE ARE YOU? I haven't seen you all week are we doing something this weekend. I enjoy reading about your life. visit www.cloudedsky.net sometime. It'll be fun!
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