Sunday, May 3, 2009

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.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

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).

Friday, May 1, 2009

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! :)