Golden Weekend, Day 2: Kimono Festival

So, in a room (partially) filled with Japanese women, there stands alone one foreign girl. That girl...me.

We arrived at the community center where I rent a kimono, and my host mom drops a bomb on me."Did you bring money"she asks. I give a confused'whaa...' and we move on to get the kimono and try it on.

Which brings us to the room where I am ignored for a good ten minutes before my host mom directs someone to dress me (she had been watching other people being dressed-I was forgotten in a room full of Kimono eye-candy).

I am im my kimono now, and I cant breath. Kimonos were designed to hide the figure of the girl or woman wearing one. But that does not mean they are loose (I just had a hell of a time trying to sneeze, I cant get a good lung-full of air). There are towels tied around me, elastic straps tied around that, not to mention a obi (big, decorative belt) tied around me.

I can already tell today will be a difficult day. We will be walking around, looking at kimono stuff while in kimonos while we look at other people in their kimonos (and as they look at me...). Is your mind spinning yet? Mine is, it must be from lack of oxygen...

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So, I'm back at the home-base, and my mood has considerably improved!

Sorry about the overall negative feel but it's been a trying day. People snapping photos of me, me not knowing how to go to the bathroom in a kimono...

the quote of the day:"Gaijin-san, even you look good in a kimono" (a compliment...I guess).

The photo is me with my host mom...heh.

Golden weekend, Day 1

Cell phone post, sorry if the format is weird.

I am visiting Tsunan Machi(津南町) in Niigata-prefecture (新潟県)with my host parents. We are staying in some relative's house (host-father's brother's family).

The great thing about the country side is that it's not Tokyo. There's lots of nature (I caught a frog!), it's clean, and I can see mountains, fields and rivers. I always learn to love Tokyo by leaving it, but I also start to dread going back!

We did some sightseeing (drove around the mountains, went to some gift stores).

I had sushi and lots of mountain veggies for dinner. Mmm...but kinda weird

Tomorrow we go to the kimono festival (the whole reason we came to Niigata).

Test of blogging with Japanese cell phone.

Baseball and then some...

I went to a baseball game last Sunday, with my host brother and a couple of his co-workers. Let me preface this post by saying the men and women in the Japanese police...what a bunch of crazy characters!

The game was the Tokyo Giants vs I don't know where-Dragons. We sat in...on the right side of out-field? I am obviously not that into baseball, or else I would know the correct terms, sorry!

Before I went to a Japanese baseball game, I had heard that fans were crazy, that they had songs for players, and a billion different cheers. That is half-true. The majority of the stadium was orange (the fans have a dress-code of orange shirts, orange towel), but there was only one main cheering section, which I happened to be in. Every time the Tokyo Giants were batting, we would stand, shout cheers and occasionally sing songs (Yes, the songs were different for different players). There were hired men leading the cheers (the man in the red shirt). It was all very, very professional. Also, can you see the sumo wrestler? He has a blue kimono, and an orange towel!

The first thing we did when we sat down was order...a beer. I was out after one, but my brother and his co-workers each had four. In my opinion, they were each worth almost two beer cans. I have no idea how they drank all that, because after the game we went to a bar and drank even more! I was so glad that I didn't have Monday-morning classes, or else I would have never made it!!


So, this is us! The first one is my host-brother, me and my host-brother's 'superior'. The second one is me, the superior, and the other junior worker. We are wearing matching shirts from a Japanese bar that the superior frequents. It is actually a bar for Tokyo Giant's fans. Only. He had his own corner in the bar where we had dinner, and all of his fan paraphernalia was there. He had signed bats, noise makers, shirts, booze...he was a super-fan! We also have the orange towels that you can wave around to show your support, and I have a noise-maker that I would use to accompany my cheers. Unfortunately, we lost 8-0, so I have been invited to a 'revenge' match. I really, really want to go back!!

This is us with the police mascot. See the things in my hands? That is the third pair that the man gave me! I have now the shirt, the towel, three noise makers, baseball cards and a post card. To pay him back, I will memorize as many player's names, and learn some cheers. Also, I will buy him a few beers next time around.

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That's it for now.

I am going to Niigata Prefecture this weekend for a Kimono Festival! I will post pictures as soon as I get back! :)

Spring is in the Air!!

Hey All! So I’ve been super lazy these past few weeks, and I am terribly sorry!
But the good news is I have plenty to tell you! (I will be making two or three posts over the next week, I hope. Mostly with stories of my life, and not too much interesting cultural observations...sorry!)

So, my second semester at Waseda started two weeks ago! Yay for new classes! Here’s the lineup:

-Japanese 4a
-Culture in Conflict (What is culture, what is the individual, etc.)
-Japanese Economy and Industry (Really boring, I hope it will get better)
-Cultural Interactions of Art between the East and the West (or something along those lines. Call also be called ‘Comparative Art History’. We’ve only had lectures concerning ‘auspicious motifs’ of Japanese Art, but we should be moving onto the movement of art and artistic influence along the Silk Road)

My first two weeks of school were nothing to complain about. In general my classes will be easy, but there are those pesky tests that are worth 40% of the grade (That’s right, one test worth 40%), and papers worth 30%. The grading system here is so skewed (but it got me all A’s last semester!). I was really looking forward to my Japanese Economy class, because I’ve never taken a class like that. After the first four classes, I realized why I never take that sort of class: it’s a bit boring to me. But I have to persevere, and I just hope to learn some new, interesting things about Japan. As for my Art History class…the teacher is a bit crazy. We have to get ‘participation points’ by answering random questions, and when we answer we get a slip of paper to write our name on (which is turned in for points). However, there are easily more than 50 people in the class, so it’s a bit crazy from time-to-time.

I planned my schedule so that I would have Friday's off, again! I'm super excited, and I plan on using this to go to Minakami for a long weekend! Yay!

But...I was sad that Spring Break ended, because it meant saying goodbye to complete freedom and relaxation. Now I have to go back to balancing school, homework (which I end up rarely doing), school club, friends and me time. It’s a bit hectic, but it’s life!

Spring in Japan is a magical time. It’s the time of hanami, or flower watching. The traditional thing to do during hanami (which was late May for us in Tokyo) is to go to a park, set up a picnic blanket or tarp, and watch the flowers of the sakura trees, while eating and drinking with friends. That’s right, another excuse to drink (in public, no less!).

The [aristocratic] Japanese have always had an extra special love of nature. It’s probably because they had nothing better to occupy their time with, being that they had no job other than being filthy rich (sounds good to me). Getting together to write haikus was a popular past-time, and fit into the other past-time of nature-viewing.

Without flowing wine
How to enjoy lovely
Cherry blossoms?
Anonymous [poem i found online^__^]

I got to share this love of sakura and nature with the a school circle I am not a member of called ‘niji no kai’ (Which means Rainbow club, there is no relation to GLBT rainbow) . It’s a BIG ‘international circle', meaning they have lots of exchange students and Japanese students who want to speak English. The problem with this club is that it is extremely clique-y, so I had a hard time meeting anyone. I met a few people, but those who I had known from previous meetings barely gave me the time of the day. In the end, I left early to walk around the part and people watch. There was a martial arts club doing their practice and also some kids playing soccer. Both were really fun to watch, but I only have a picture of the martial art's club.

Last weekend, I went to Waseda Donuts' (my circle! yay!) hanami. However, at this point the flowers were falling, or gone, from the tree’s so it was less about the trees and more about having fun. I brought my friend Rachel, and boy did we have fun! We played Frisbee, catch, baseball, jump rope along with sitting, chatting, eating and drinking. There were a few other circles around, the most interesting being the one closest to us. There were always two or three guys dancing to Japanese Pop music (doing similar dances to female Japanese pop stars, no less…). When they finished their dances, Rachel and I would clap, which would encourage them to dance more. However, Rachel and I got bored with them quickly, so they fizzled out soon. There was also a male glee club in the park, and they kept singing Waseda’s alma mater. It was a very relaxing atmosphere, and if I had sat still for long enough, I would have fallen asleep!

The first picture is Ryo, Takero and Rachel. When I first saw Takero, I noticed he looked a little under the weather, so I asked him what was wrong. The answer: he was drunk. Apparently, this was not his first hanami of the day (at this point in the day it was only 3!), he had started drinking around lunch time. The second picture is Rin holding the jump-rope, two little girls, me then Sacchan. The little girls wanted to play jump rope, but they had no one to play with, so their grandfather asked me to play with them, so they held the rope while I jumped. Soon enough most of Wasedo was jumping, and we all took turns holding the rope. It was super fun! haha...

When I come back to Kansas, Indiana or wherever in the US, I hope to bring this tradition of hanami with me. Sure, it's the same as a picnic...or is it? Spending time outside with friends, eating, drinking and playing...what's better than that?

Hey Look at ME!

Quick Post!



I did puri-cura with my friend Cory and his friend Hiromi (now my friend, too! ^__^)
As you can see, Romi (Hiromi) is wearing a Pikachu 'kigurumi' and I'm wearing a Rerakuma 'Kigurumi'.
We are super cool!

Cory and I hope to take these costumes to Harajuku (or anywhere, really) and have a 'high five' contest. I'm going to wear sunglasses and a face-mask on that day.

April Fool's Day!

Happy April Fool's Day! Want to know what I did today? I passed out fliers for the club I'm in (the Waseda Donuts) at Waseda's main campus. It was CRAZY! Today was the entrance ceremony, so all [most of?] the Freshmen of Waseda's various schools were at Okuma Auditorium at some point.

Let me give you a quick run down:
I arrive at 10 am, meet my club-mates at the Student Meeting Hall
We walk to the main campus and immediately are slowed by the vast amounts of bodies that are present.
Sacchan and I take an UNDERGROUND path to bypass campus (and the already huge crowd of 2nd and 3rd years who want to promote their clubs)

((At this point we start handing our fliers to ANYONE in a suit carrying a bag. They are Freshmen 99% of the time (there was one time I tried to give 2nd years our info...they didn't take it). Freshmen were walking around with arms full of papers, and people just kept throwing more on top! It was crazy [fun].))

Pass out fliers until 11, then meet back with everyone to get more.
I go with Hide (sort of pronounced Hee-day) to copy 200 more fliers
Go to the auditorium and start throwing fliers into as many Freshman's 'open' arms and bags saying 'international club, please take' in Japanese
Get Lunch, chill out until 1ish
Pass out more fliers until 3:30ish, when Ne-chan and I finish
Go home.
Pass out.

this is a picture where it's not so crowded...

The sports clubs were a lot more insistent than other clubs. Often you would see soccer or baseball men throwing their arms around some poor frosh saying "you interested?". I managed to walk into a group of Freshmen boys at one point (more like I was half-pushed) and said "Let's speak English!" and gave them the our paper...They proceeded to say "Donuts?!" and I just smiled. There were a few "I'm not interested" every now and then but mostly the Freshmen just took everything that was handed to them. That way you can just make it through the crowd. If you refuse something, often the person handing it to you will stick to your side/front until you take their flyer. It's a pretty amazing sight. You always knew when a Frosh was walking your way when a big crowd of people shouting "onegaishimasu" started moving towards you.

At the end of the day we had passed out around 400 fliers (Hide said it was around 500, but I'm not sure about that. Who knows, we may get one, two new members?).
Crazy stuff...
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I ate some yummy panda snacks yesterday. Here's photographic evidence of it's Japanese-ness

"Sakusaku Panda" I think that means crunchy panda? They ARE crunchy :)
Biscuit on one side, cute chocolaty face on the other!

Here's their comic. I've taken the liberty of translating it into non-engrish English to the best of my ability. Not 100%, but the idea is the same
(EDIT start at the upper RIGHT frame, move down, then upper left, then down)
1-Ah! Rain!
2-My biscuit is getting wet (okay, that just sounds weird no matter how i try and translate it, sorry!).
3. Hurry!
4. The 'Saku-Pandas', to be safe from rain, have built underground passages.

Have You Seen This Man?

note: I'm going to be writing things you may or may not agree with. They are not scathing or offending things, just my assertions based on loose knowledge of (for example) Doi Takeo's works. If there are any inaccuracies or points that are disagreed with...leave a comment! I'm a student and I'm always learning new things!

Have you seen this man? He walks around the streets of Tokyo, a bluish-gray uniform with billowing pant-legs, white towel wrapped on his head, sometimes with white gloves. He is often carrying a cigarette, and can be seen in a pack of two or three. He wears shoes that can only be described as...ninja-like?

sorry for poor quality...I have no scanner!

Okay, so maybe those are NOT ninja shoes (but they look like ninja shoes). That's okay, because this is not really a 'wanted' or 'lost persons' picture. This is my own [non artistic] rendering of a typical Japanese workman. Why, you ask, did Lydia post this picture. Well, it's not because I wanted to showoff my drawing 'skillz'.

One of the first things many people notice when visiting Japan for the first time is the uniforms. [Practically] All jobs have a sort of uniform (not counting fashion industry, but even then...). From the workman (which I have so painstakingly re-created for you) to bank-tellers, from the convenience store worker to the salary man and office ladies.

Maybe it has something to do with the 'group-mentality' Japan is so often attributed with. When you are part of something, be it high school, work or home, you are part of a group. Doi Takeo talked about uchi and soto, terms meaning home/inside and outside. According to Takeo, and many other scholars who write about Japan, it is a common phenomenon to group yourself and acquaintances into these inside and outside groups. It may be automatic, for example using polite language to a superior, or by choice (I guess the best example I can thing of is speaking informally with a new acquaintance?). Why do the Japanese make such group distinctions? Well, don't we all? I know I treat strangers differently than I treat my siblings. It's a social tool that dictates how you act, that way you aren't doing inappropriate things at inappropriate times!

I think that it's really easy to do this in Japan because of the language. There are different verb-endings for honorific, humble, formal and plain-language. If you ask your boss how his family is, you ask him with honorific, and he will reply with formal, or maybe plain-language. If he asks you, he asks using formal and you answer with humble-language. It's all very confusing, and, I hear, that modern youths in Tokyo often confuse humble and honorific language.

This is a photo that my father took. He was quick to note the uniforms, especially these pink ones of the ladies who cleaned the shinkansen. Although you usually see uniforms for jobs such as these, I believe Japan takes a step up and above institutions in the United States. Note the pink. There were no men in this uniform, only women.

On that note [tangent], there is a common theme of gendering uniforms. For example, police men and women have different hats (I don't understand this). I was at a cafe the other day, and I noticed that the male servers wore a blue apron and the female servers had a red one. Interesting, and a little disturbing.

Okay, okay. I know what you might be thinking. 'In the US there are uniforms for all sorts of jobs too, but you don't see me writing about it'. Well, that is true, but uniforms in the US are just so...uniform. You don't see pink suits on the ladies cleaning Amtrack Trains (do you ever see people cleaning Amtrack?!), and you never notice that a female police officer has a different hat than a male officer. Uniforms in Japan are so tailored, clean and fresh looking that it's hard not to notice someone wearing one.

Maybe not my most interesting post, but I enjoyed writing it!

Thanks for reading :)

Another Month, gone!

Well, my parents were in Japan from the 13th to the 22nd! It was a blast!
(Mom and Dad at Ueno Park)

We went to Kyoto, Osaka, Minakami and (of course) Tokyo. Here's a smidgen of photos, you can find the rest on my facebook page (as soon as I load them ^_^)

Our second night in Tokyo, we enjoyed fine Japanese cuisine at a bar in Asakusa.
And by that, I mean we had fried chiken, oya-ko don, and some good Japanese beer.
mmm-mm!

Mom and I are happy that our shinkansen has arrived, but are anxious to get on board and eat!! (Please note: the beer. eki-ben always taste better when consumed on the train, with a beer!)

Here we are, in Kyoto! The first one is Kinkaku-ji, and the other is Chio-in dera.
Chio-in is a pretty sweet Buddhist temple. You are allowed to go inside, even if there is a ceremony going on! I believe it is pure-land Buddhism. I think pure-land is the one where anyone can reach...the pure land? Enlightenment? Well, I make no claims to know anything about Buddhism, but I know that this place has a really great atmosphere. It's kind of 'off the beaten path' so it's never as busy as the other temples. Plus, being able to sit inside the temple and listen to the chanting is a unique experience that I really enjoyed!

We were in Kyoto for St. Patrick's Day...and wouldn't you know? I didn't wear green that day! At least we got a good Guinness. Yum yum.
I managed to convince my parents to go to karaoke that night (after we got some not-delicious after the beer)

The didn't think they would enjoy it, butI think they had more fun than I did!

We went to Osaka on the 18th, to catch the fourth day of the Osaka Sumo Tournament. It was a massive event. And I mean....MASSIVE!


The pic on the right shows Dad's favorite wrestler: Yamamotoyama (山本山). He's so big, his name has TWO mountains in it! He won that night, but he's not doing well currently. He is 5-4.
There are 15 days in a sumo tournament, and each day the [top ranked men] wrestler one match. The lower ranks start from 9:30 am and go all the way through lunch time. The high-ranked pros don't start until 3, and they finish at 6.
We were there from 11am to 6pm. It was pretty awesome.

We also went to Minakami to visit my other host family. It was a relaxing time, because we were out of Tokyo and Kyoto, and didn't have to worry about catching trains or buses. We could just sit and soak in the breath-taking mountain views of Tanigawa Mountain:



Our time at the Yamaji Pencion was spent mostly doing things like drinking coffee, eating gourmet meals, napping and taking baths. It was a very relaxing time! I got to play monopoly with my host family while my parents went to bed early. Jetlag is a drag sometimes (all the time >.<)

I was reunited with my host family...There's Mitsuki and I being silly, and then me helping clean up. It's almost like I never left!

So, there's a peak into my time with my parents. All 6 of them. Now, if my Tokyo and Minakami host parents ever come to Kansas at the same time, that is going to be a very trying experience for me. Can you imagine having three mothers and three fathers all at once? Especially since they all have such different personalities! Ah!

OH! I also did puri-cura with my parents...but I didn't get the photos sent to my cell :( Let's just say, you don't need/want to see them. We are so dazzling, it's a danger to your health!

I'm making no promises for my next post...but I have an idea for my next short one already :)
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Let's learn Japanese!

oya-ko don (親子丼) It means "parent-child bowl". It's scrambled egg and chicken on top of rice, plain and simple. But it's seasoned with soy sauce, mirin, and sake, so it's not that plain. It's one of my favorite bowl dishes!

ekiben／eki bento　(駅弁／駅弁当) ekiben is the abbreviated way of saying ekibento. The Japanese love to make abbreviations to make words easier to say. So instead of saying "Staion Lunch Box" you say "Station Lunch" (basically...)

shinkansen　(新幹線) the bullet train. People (my parents) always get confused when I use the Japanese word...Not that I blame them. I didn't know the word Shinkansen until my second year of learning Japanese.

<3

Minakami: Memories

blogger's apology: I am deeply sorry for that typo in the previous post...it makes me sound like a pervert! haha... My typos are usually more harmless than that!
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This post will have a lot of pictures :)

So, I'm counting down my last days in Minakami, so I will share with you some of my best memories. Oddly enough, the majority of them take place outside of the pension (NOTE: Apparently a 'pension' refers to European[western]-style inns that provide a meal and room for a fixed wage). In no particular order, here they come:

1. Walking my host sister home from school.
This only happened once. My friend Mary was visiting us that day, so I thought it would be a god way to show her our area. The walk to the school took about half an hour. The walk back took much longer. Maybe it was the constant state of snowball-war we were in?Maybe it was the scenery? The wild monkeys? It was a fun walk, and a bit educational, with it's share of mini-culture shock: Japanese children are bullies. It was not the case that everyone was beating each other up, but older children have a sort of 'right' to pick on the younger children.

It's called the senpai-kouhai relationship, in English it's similar to "senior-junior" type relationships. In Japan, it crosses all boundaries: school, business, part-time jobs, sports teams,etc.
It seems that there's always an instance where the younger (or newer to a group) person is exploited; serve tea, pick up equipment, clean up, or in this day's case, take unnecessary bullying, and brushing it off saying "daijyoubu!" (it's fine!). It's not always demeaning work, but rather sort of character building, "I had to do it when I was a kouhai" type thing. In this instant, it's a bit unnecessary, but as I said, they are just children. Children can be mean (not a good excuse, but true).

But in all, it was a good walk. The children kept calling my sister "crazy girl" or other mixtures of mean Japanese words with "girl". I was impressed with their vocab, both Japanese and English! My favorite was when they pointed at the wild monkey we happened to see and said "Japanese monkey". Wow! They then started to call my sister "perverted monkey" (sukebe monkey). How cute :)

Check them out! too wild...the one
who is blurry is my host-sister...
she is crazy sometimes


What's going on here? A messed up senpai-kouhai
relationship...this is how she views our relationship? haha!

2. Minakami outing!
We (the three foreign students) were invited to join some Minakami elementary school students at a community/tourist center. There, we participated in wall climbing, mochi making and overall merry-making and foreigner showing-off. The children were cute, as children are bound to be, and they really loved Ian. Maybe it's because he is a guy, and they feel better about playing rough with him, or maybe it is because he is so tall, but they were all over him! It was fun to watch, but I was a little jealous. On the up side, I actually made it up all the way on the climbing wall, and it was one of those walls that juts out (it was not straight up…). I was super scared, but I did it!

Yatta! I did it!

Mochi making! Pound hot rice gruel into a glutenous mass!
slather that with sweet red beans, a sweet mixture of soy flour and sugar, or
cover it with soy sauce and nori. Yummy!
Aren't those twins sooo cute? I wish I was better with my camera...

3. Going to…Wait, where was it again?
My Minakami host family and I went to Niigata Prefecture by train, which is just north of Gunma Prefecture where I am right now. We did leave the station, but we didn't stray far. It looked similar to Minakami, being that it was surrounded by mountains. We ate a delicious Japanese-style meal, walked a bit, played one of those cork-gun-shooting games (we all won prizes! Mine was a sympathy prize…), and meandered around the HUGE station. This part of Niigata is famous for rice and, as we all know, sake (Japanese alcohol) is made from rice. Naturally there is a huge section of this station dedicated to souvenirs (the majority of it being consumables), and a big part of this huge section is dedicated to sake! At the back and to the side is this magical room:

Looking at this picture (it's a bit dark) you can see rows of sake dispensers. My father bought some tokens (9!) and we shared a little cup and drank samples. I only had 3, but that was enough! I am not terribly fond of the stuff. Not to mention, I didn't want to end up like these guys:

DRUNK MANNEQUINS! Scary stuff!

Ryota, Mitsuki and Lydia.
Note the facial expressions.

This was a good day because I connected with Ryota through a zombie-shooting video game! What a wonderful time. We had to waste an hour in the station because we missed our earlier train back home. Unlike Tokyo which runs trains every 2 to 10 minutes, the trains going to Minakami were far and few between. But, I'm not complaining! I think the best part of this trip was that I was with my family in a completely non-work related setting. Since we live in the pension, it's hard to be 100% relaxed, even when we have no customers. There's always something that can be cleaned, etc. We called it our 'mini-vacation', and it was just that!

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So, there's an update! Tomorrow I am going to an onsen, so I can practice the art of bathing. Speaking of which, I took a bath with my host sister tonight, and it was interesting. As usual, Japan in theory is thrown off by actual Japan. What do I mean? Well, the first thing she did upon entering the bath/shower room was jump into the bath! She didn't wash off first! I asked her about it and she did her whole daijyoubu! routine. I think part of it was that she knows I have no real authority over her and since I cant argue with her in Japanese, I just let it go. In the end, it was a very interesting bath. She talks a lot, and she doesn't even mind that she has to explain vocab to me. She likes to talk :)

Oh, remember the mask from the previous post? I made that at the 'Craft Village' and we are going back there as well! We will do that, go to the onsen and then...drink! Ian told our Minakami associate that he likes to drink, so we are going to an Izakaya (Japanese style bar) together!

Also, I went snowshoeing a few days ago, and I would like to post a little about that, so I'll do that in a few days!

Jya, mata ne! (See ya next time!)

To Bathe or not to Bathe...

...sorry for the cliche title!

So, in honor of my parents coming to Japan (mid-March, woo!) I am going to write about the appropriate way to bathe in a Japanese style bath, be it a public bath, an onsen or a private bath at home. I don’t know much about the history of Japanese bathing (okay, so I don’t know anything about the history of Japanese bathing), but it’s a wonderful everyday ritual that I wish would come to America. As many of you might now, I wrote my college application essay on my first Japanese public bathing experience (which was also my first-ever night in Japan).

baths are a steamy place! ^_^

Here is a picture of the bath in the Pension Yamaji. As you can [not really] see there are two faucets, two stools and two basins. There is also a cute bath. The doors you see lead to the outdoor bath (there is a wonderful view of some trees and a road. I have yet to use the outdoor bath…).

The first thing you do is, big surprise, undress. It's bathing 101: you don’t wear your clothes into a bath. Instead, you leave your clothes and towel in a dressing-room cubby. The only thing you need to take into the bath (if it’s a public bath) is a wash-towel: there is always body wash and shampoo provided. If you don’t think you can brave the bath with just a washcloth, get one of those mini-towel sized washcloths, you can hold it half-folded over the body part of choice (my suggestion for the females: cover your top-half. Without being too graphic: Japanese women and Western women have different…skin types).

Once you find a spot to wash (an empty stool and bucket) you can begin your washing. I have NOT (OOPS BIG BAD TYPO) actively watched Japanese women bathe, so I don’t know the exact ritual, but I will tell you how I think it’s done. First, a quick rising of the body using the hose, then a thorough soap-up (with the water turned off), followed by a bucket-full of water to wash it off (Wash ALL of your body, including your…particulars! Make sure you scrub your back and feet as well!). Shampoo, rinse, conditioner, rinse, and finally a quick rinse of the whole body with the hose. They key element in this is getting your body as clean as possible, using as little water as possible. You don’t have to ration it, just don’t keep the hose turned on when you are shampooing, conditioning, etc.

Once you make sure you are all soap-free, rinse off your area, bucket and stool with the hose and line them back up. Then you are free to enter the bath! Sure, there are two other women in the tub but, as I said, you clean off BEFORE you enter the bath. I mean, you’ve gotten in a pool before, yes? At least this way, you know everyone is clean because it’s a public bath.

The bigger baths and onsen will often have more than one bath, so make sure you try all of them! What I like to do is alternate between the hot and cold baths! That’s a really good way to refresh yourself!

ーー

That was mostly for my mother, but hopefully everyone now realizes the extent of my personal hygiene :)

Minakami has been fun! Yesterday I went with my fellow peers (Mary and Ian) to a local Japanese High School! All my wishes have been fulfilled! All the teenagers in their uniforms...What a dream come true! When Mary and I walked in, the first thing I heard was "kakkoii! cho kakkoii!" which means "cool! super cool!". I was very happy. Of course, Ian got the most attention, because he was the tallest person they've ever seen and he's also from Hawaii. I still got a big kick out of all of the boys acting like...well, high schoolers! It was just like American High School (but not like Pembroke the...). We got the usual question "do you have a boyfriend" but were also asked things like "who is your favorite Japanese star" and "what do you want to do in Japan". I answered "Currently, I like Haruna Ai, iuyo nee~" and "I want to get a Japanese part-time job". I think I impressed them ^_^

We also went to "Takumi no Sato" which basically means the traditional crafts village. It's a place, very touristy, that has traditional hand-made crafts such as bamboo weaving, wood crafts and pottery making. We went to the 'Omen no Ie' (Mask House) and painted masks! I chose a hanya, which is a female-demon mask. I may be weird, but I really like it. She's very...scary, in a happy sort of way!

Miss Hanya! I made her red...I was trying to
get a more rusty-brown...it didn't work!
but she's got a wonderful golden smile! :)

Minakami 1

This post is the first of (I hope many) about my "spring practicum". This is a month-long even that the Japan Study Program (the program I am in for my year abroad ^_^) sends it's students on. The purpose is for us to 'experience Japan', under the theory that Tokyo is not Japan (It's the same idea that New York City is the United States...it's not). We are being dispersed all around Japan, but still on the main island. Some are going to Shimane to teach English and United States culture to small-town Japanese children, and others are spending a month in a Buddhist temple, doing all the things monks do (wake up at 4:30 am, pray, eat, pray, clean, pray, eat, pray, etc). Those are just two examples. Needless to say, we are being taken away from our simple, get anywhere you want on a train, shopping anytime-we-want life. It should be interesting.

I started writing this post 2/07.

Today is my first full day at Nakajima’s Yamaji. It’s a small Inn, nestled within the mountains near Minakami-machi in Gunma prefecture. My host father is a trained-chef, who specializes in French cuisine (I believe). I have a brother, Ryota (12) who does Judo and skis, and a sister, Mitsuki, who does piano and skis…all this among other things ☺ they are traditional Japanese children, in that they have many after-school activities. My mother is the lady of the house, and can turn on and off the “Japanese service-lady” voice in an instant, a very admirable skill!

Here is a run down of my first day in terms of a time table:
6:30- Wake up.
7:00- Go to the kitchen for breakfast (a traditional Japanese breakfast)
7:35-Begin washing dishes (our own, and the ones my host-father used to cook)
8:00-The guests come in to eat (today, there were only 7, 2 of them being children)/ I’m still washing dishes.
9:20-Cleaned the men’s bath
9:40- I get a little free time- I use it to clean my stuff out of the room, and move it into the grandparent’s house
10:00-Make beds
10:30-Mop/dust the whole Inn (minus the rooms)
11:30-Coffee with the family (Mama, Papa, Ryota, Mitsuki, Grandma and Grandpa)
12:00 Lunch
12:40- Free time (I watched ‘The Dark Knight‘ ^_^)
15:00ish: Went back to the kitchen, had tea time with my sister. That’s twice today!
16:00ish helped prep food (wrapped pieces of prosciutto around breadsticks -_-) and help prep for dinner.
When dinner came around, I was given ‘drying’ duties. There was a lot of work to be done…we finished around 20:00
20:00ish: eat dinner
21:00ish: fall into my bed after the world’s quickest bath
22:00ish: Asleep

I'm a little shaky on what exactly it is I did that day, as I was so tired. Even now I am so tired, I keep typing in the wrong word (know instead of now, shaking instead of shaky), so I apologize for future (and past) spelling mistakes.

This took me two days to write because 1-I was so tired, 2-I lost power on my computer and 3- I didn’t have a lot of time to myself (when I did, my computer had already run out of battery >.<) So, I just repeated 6:30am-13:0o, except the difference is I had to make 2x as many beds, and do 2x as much dusting. On the bright side, we will not be serving 28 people for dinner tonight, so I have free time until 17:00ish ^___^ I have already taken my shower, and am preparing myself for a nap. I have not had times to take picture of the “pension” , as they call it, but I will include a picture of me in my lovely, lovely (high-fashion for all the grandmothers of Japan) uniform!

I'm in my oss gambarimasu pose. 'oss' is a sound which can mean,
in this case, let's do this! or here i go or it's really just a sound...
gambarimas is hard to translate, you can say it to someone
who is about to run a race, take a test, or do some hard activity/work. It
can mean "fight" or "do your best"

Oh, as I was just writing on my twin's facebook wall...I've been eating some interesting things. Although my host-father is a great chef, schooled in the French culinary arts...He does cook us Japanese style food. We get the simple stuff (Japanese food is very easy to cook), for example...grilled chicken kabobs (called yakitori in Japanese). What sort of chicken, you ask. Well, one was regular old chicken (with the skin included-which I've grown to not hate), and the other was...chicken stomach. The taste was fine, but the texture...I dont like it. I had [three tiny pieces of] it for dinner last night, and this morning I found it in my breakfast. I admire my little sister who was so excited to see we (her parents and I) had it for dinner that she begged for a stick of it. Wow. She gobbled it down!

Okay, that's it. I'm ready for my nap :)

See ya next time...

I'm a little off today...

Hey Gang!

Here's a quick post. I am a little upset right now, because I cannot log into my Earlham email. Was I hacked?! Who would do that, and why? I am convinced I remember my password (I mean, it's been the same one for the past few months...), so I cannot think of any other reason to why. I hope I am just overreacting...

Moving on! Sunday morning around 7am, I was lying in my bed trying to start my day when...There was an earthquake! So far, it has been the longest real earthquake I have experienced (I say real, because I was in an earthquake simulation room a few months ago. We were learning about earthquake safety...It was interesting). My first reaction was "this isn't an earthquake" because my house shakes a lot, due to subways and buses. But, it kept on going. My next reaction was "I should get under my desk". But my bed was soo warm and the air outside of my comforter was cold, a sentiment I'm sure many can relate to. I opted for the warmth which, in retrospect, might have been a bad idea. It turns out, that a volcano in the prefecture north-west of Tokyo erupted. Connection? I think so...

I should also note, that this "prefecture north-west of Tokyo" is where I will be all next month.
(okay, so maybe this volcano is on the border of two prefectures, and is not right next to where I'll be staying...haha!)

Speaking of next month, I guess I should say this month! -_-;;
I will be staying in/near Minakami-machi in Gunma-ken. It's a very mountainous, cold area! I will be working/staying in a small Inn, where I will take the jobs of cleaner, waitress and babysitter. I am really looking forward to it, but I am told it may be a lot of hard work. I will tell you more about it after my first week (assuming I have internet!)

I want to show you one of my favoirite things about Japan, puri-cura. I have no idea what that means, but it's often translated [by us foreigners] as 'instant photo'. You make think this looks like those photo booths in America BUT they are totally different! With this one, you control the background, foreground, flash brightness, etc. You can writine on the photos when you're done, put stamps, change your hair color even!

See those two crazy gaijin (impolite word for foreigners, used predominantly for white/American foreigners)? Yeah, that's me and Caitlin (for those who don't know me, I am on the right, Caitlin is on the left). The first one is...PUNCH. It's hard to read, but the stamp translates to "lovey-dovey" with kissey faces ("raburabu (oVBV) -kiss- (VEVo)" the faces look something like that...) . I wrote "jyanai!!" (think Borat NOOOT!). The second one...we are tomogachi's, those little pet toys? I wrote "poop friends" (unko tomodachi), because I thought it would be funny...and we decorated it with poop stamps. I guess I need to admit I enjoy poop humor sometimes. Another great thing about these instant-photo machines, is that you can send the pictures to your [Japanese] cell phone! That's how I got these ones online. :)

So, that's my post! Sorry I didn't write more, I'm a little off today (why cant I sign into my email?!). I will try to get another post in before I leave for Minakami on Friday!

LYDIA<3

Haircut :)

Yesterday I got my second haircut in Japan. Many foreigners, like myself, find this a daunting task; there are lots of worrisome variables that go into it. How do we convey the cut we want? Will the hairstylist be able to adapt to our hair (it’s thicker/thinner than the average customer). How do we make a reservation?

Okay, maybe everyone doesn’t have these worries, but I do. My advice for those who want a cut in Japan will be fine if they take some of these precautions: First, find a cut you like and bring a picture in. Duh, you say, this is basic advice that applies to your home country too. I know, I know. But this way, you don’t have to try and explain in Japanese. I just point and say, “このようなカット好きです” (“I like this sort of haircut”).　I don’t know any special terms (like layering) in Japanese, so this trick works well! The hairstylist will ask questions, and if you don’t understand, a combination of hand-gestures, broken Japanese and English will pass.

Second, memorize a few phrases. Such as “３センチぐらい”(about three centimeters) or “まかせます” (I’m in your care, i.e. I trust you, do whatever you want). Obviously, these are the phrases I memorized, because my view of hair is that it always grows back, so if the stylist ends up doing something weird, It grows back (I always end up saying things like “please do whatever you recommend” but my styles end up looking just like the pictures. They do a good job, but are not going to be responsible for me crying over a haircut ^__^). This is not really an advice entry, so I’m not going to be giving a lot of Japanese phrases, sorry!

Oh, quickly on the point about making reservations. The first time I got a cut, it was a Tuesday or a Thursday, and I was able to walk into the salon, fill out a membership card, then get a cut. Yesterday we went in and were asked to come back at 1 for a reservation. (If anyone wants to know what I said I said this: 予約がないんですけど、今カットをできますか？ Or something like that. It’s not perfect Japanese, but I made an effort -_-;;. I was trying to say ‘I don’t have a reservation, but can I get a cut?”).

So, the haircut! This time, I had my hair shampooed and…let me tell you. All those rumors you hear about the great service in Japanese salons, well they are true! They spent at least 10 minutes shampooing, conditioning and massaging. The guy who was doing it for me, he kept using super-polite Japanese when he had to move my head, or when he was washing out the shampoo. He was so adorably-polite. I’m glad there was a towel over my head, or else I would have freaked him out with all the weird faces I was making. It was so relaxing! At one point, during the luxurious head-massage, I got this crazy twitch in my leg! What was that all about?

In the end, I didn’t get much of a cut, because I told my stylist that I liked the length (I’m trying to grow my hair out) but I have shorter, strait bangs (no more side-swept bangs!). I like it, it was a little expensive considering how little was cut, but the head massage was worth it! In all, it was about the same price as my American salon cuts at around ￥3600 (around $40). That's the average price for American salons but, as Japanse salons go, that is fairly cheap. I'm very happy with my cut!

Thanks for reading :)
I should post more substantial. Next time? Haha... ^__^

明けましておめでとう！

“Akemashite Omedetoh”

That means ‘Happy New Year’. And what a happy new year it will be, eh? Let’s hear it for the year of the cow! Moo!

A little culture lesson:

Around the start of the new year, stores in Japan like to sell fukubukuro. The kanji is 福袋, and a direct translation is “lucky fortune bag”, but a more descriptive translation might be “bag of mystery”, which is just something I made up, on the spot. Wow. Now, onto the lesson! My observation on the origins of this delightful tradition, is that it stems from the practice of trying to make leftover, un-sold merchandise into something everyone wants. The most popular types of fukubukuro are, of course, clothes bags. Shirts, jackets, scarves, dresses, etc, anything from the past season that has not sold, is put into a bag with anywhere from 2 to 10 (give or take) other objects, and can be priced in the range of 2500 (around $26) yen to 15000 yen (around $160) (again, give or take some). I, of course, partook in this traditional even, purchasing a fukubukuro at a department store in Shinjuku.

My bag was 3150 yen (about $33.50). It looked like this:
What was inside? Well, a lot of stuff. My favorites are my white fluffy cap, and a big sweater, which is really, REALLY big. My least favorite item is the hippy bag from hell (brown, [probably] fake leather, absolutely dripping in fringe). In total, I give it the value of OVER 20000 yen (over $213 dollars), even though there are a few items I would NEVER wear.

1-Ugly Hippy Bag. 2-Leopard-Print Jacket. 3-Long Black Jacket (with fleece lined hood).4-Cute Fluffy Hat!5-Odd, checkered Fleece Coat.6-White Fleece...Jumper (looks like a bathrobe mixed with a wrestling singlet!). 7-BIG/Long Striped Sweater. 8-Long Sweater/Dress. Depends on how you wear it.

Good buy, yeah?!!

Next, I should tell you a little about my trip to Kyoto!

I went with my two [American] friends, Briana and Kathleen. We left at 3pm, December 23rd and returned to Tokyo 10 am December 29th. We used a special [cheaper] ticket, called the Seishun Juuhachi Kippu. Which means somethingsomething 18 Ticket. It’s a little hard to explain (look it up in wiki!!) but basically, I have 5 (non-consecutive) days (24 hr period, ends 12 pm the day you get it stamped) to go anywhere in Japan, using only local lines. So, when we left Tokyo at 3pm, we arrived 8 hours, 5 train transfers later. It was a little stressful, but so much cheaper than Shinkansen! We went to a lot of temples, my favorites were Shimogamo, Kiyomizu and Chioin. I have been to Kiyomizu in the past (four years ago, when I went to Osaka through AFS), but this time it had a different feel, because it was raining! I also went to Kinkakuji this time around, and the show made it absolutely stunning! Check out this picture:

Kinkakuji in the snow! Click on it for a bigger size!
I really like this photo :) Kinkakuji looks good in the snow!!

Being in Kyoto was such a nice change of pace. Tokyo is quite hectic and, especially since I’m a student, there is not a lot of time for me to relax (without worrying about homework and my social life). Kyoto is a fairly big city, but without the big city feel. There are not a lot of big buildings (you can see the mountains from almost any part of the city!), and it’s built on a grid system (so it’s very easy to get around on foot). I was so relaxed! I mean, the hostel was so-so (and our last few nights we had MALE roommates), but going to all those temples, and seeing nature was really a great change!

The scenery at Shimogamo! What a great, winter day!

The rock garden at Ginkakuji. It's so green here!

Most of my money was spent on transportation and lodging, so I didn't leave myself a lot for food/entrance fees. Luckily, my host family gifted me with a little food money, so I didn't have to worry about that. I ended up buying my siblings various charms, hopefully I will send them soon. I know Ann need hers *wink*

Well, take care!