Tales from the D

So in place of a my normal update I've opted to instead tell a little story, I'll do my best to make it at least somewhat interesting.

It is common place here in Japan to see business men and women rushing on their way to work in the mornings. In fact, it doesn't even have to be the morning, simply in general everyone in this city is in a hurry. When a train pulls into a platform, half the people exiting the train will quite literally run across the platform to the train sitting on the otherside (which isn't leaving for another 30 seconds, but that doesn't stop them). I'm a pretty slow moving guy and stand as an obstacle to run around (sometimes --through).

On my morning walk to the station, I go across one railroad crossing and from this point, you can see my station (it is elevated maybe 30 ft) and the trains approaching it. Generally, if a train is approaching the crossing, people will rush to get under the gates before they close so they can (presumably) catch the station's train sooner (I really just don't bother and wait for the trains to pass). Likewise, if they hear the sound of a train braking into the station (be they 10ft, or 100ft away) they will run into the station, dash up the stairs, and dive into the doors of a departing train (I'm not kidding about the diving).

On this particular morning (Friday), I was pretty wiped and tired as I steped outside and began my walk to school. As is normally the case, when I approached the crossing the gates began to close to let one of the countless rush hour trains through. But this is where today differs from my previous experiences. As the first gate lowered, a businessman dashed by me in his suit and ducked the first gate. He sped across the tracks, and as he reached the gate on the otherside I couldn't help but wonder how he would crouch under it without dirtying his clothing. Instead of ducking, this man went full-on Olympian and hurdled (yes he threw up both of his legs) the second gate, arms flailing, landed, and continued to run towards the station.

I was pretty much in awe. Essentially, I had just witnessed a live advertisment for Red Bull. And I don't know about you, but when I'm dressed up, I have enough trouble keeping my shoes from getting scuffed. I can't imagine the thought that goes into avoiding a ripped seam when you hurdle train crossings.

When I reached the station, he was standing on the opposite side of the platform (having missed his train anyway) and was just casually awaiting the next train. I don't know if there is a moral to this story, I just really wanted to share it, and leave it up on here to remind myself about it later (it really does make me smile). I just wish I could get whatever it is he has for breakfast (Wheaties - the breakfast of champions?!).

A Month Deep

So I've been in Japan for a month now. So I'll take a few lines here to reflect on some differences that I've noticed.
1). There are no paper towels in the bathrooms
2). I'm losing lots of weight (unintentionally)
3). If I blink, all my money is gone on the weekend.

But overall, I'd say I'm ecstatic for the next 10.5 months here, and so here is my weekend in a flash. Time spent at my host-family's house is a bit lonely. Understandably, the two kids have to study constantly to pass their entrance exams and by the time I get home at 7-8pm, I generally have little to do but study as well. Still, they've been nothing but nice, and I'll make an effort this weekend to spend a bit more time around the house... maybe show them some pictures of my family (haven't gotten around to this yet... woops!)

Saturday:


I met up with Ryo, Hikoya, and Wakana. All members of USHSD which I did 2 years ago. We spent the evening in Shibuya, which is fast becoming my favorite place in Tokyo. The giant televisions, the myriads of young people (dressed absolutely ridiculously), the shopping, the restaurants, and last but not least the karaoke ensure that I enjoy myself every time. Anyway, we chatted for a few, then stopped at a noodle restaurant for dinner. And then afterwards, it was off for some karaoke once again. My present line-up of 'must do' songs is:

Toto - Africa
Queen - Don't Stop me Now
The Beatles - Yesterday
Little Mermaid.... Part of your World

Sunday:


Sunday was spent at Disney Sea. I wasn't intending on going to Disney anytime soon (its really big in Japan), but the girl who rode next to me on the plane, messaged me out of the blue saying she had discount tickets, and how could I possibly resist the offer.
It was Disney, so I was equally as excited to be there as the 5-year olds next to me. Overall it was a great day spent. Especially since I was able to speak a lot more Japanese since when I had ridden the plane with Ayumi. Still, Disney Japan only has slight differences compared with Disney in the US. For one, the average age of the guests is probably early to mid 20's. And you still know you're in Japan once you go to say, the cafeteria and find yourself being served Curry or Noodles. Still, 9 hours later, I was definitely glad that I had gone.




As for this week, we've (Pablo[Mexico], James[England], Lola[France]) established that Wednesday is KaraokeWednesday. Students don't have classes Wednesday afternoons and karaoke costs a mere 100yen per 30 minutes, so the idea is that it will make a nice midweek stress reliever from our 3 hour a day Japanese regiment.

Weekend (cont)

Sunday


First in the morning I met up with Tomo and Taisuke. Taisuke had been in Canada when I last went to his house, so I didn't see him before. We went out for some Yaki-niku. Which, as you can see was delicious. Essentially its a small scale barbecue.


I met up with friends from when I came to Japan 2 years ago through the high school diplomats program. I managed to overcome embarassing name forgetting and we headed out to some Iranian restaurant where you sit on rugs. Things started out normal, but the store owner turned out to be completely insane. Apparently that is all part of the appeal of this restaurant though. The guy dressed every up in Iranian clothes (I got a pink skirt), made customers serve other customers, and generally embarassed everybody (but equally, so it was okay). Eventually a bellydancer also showed up (the owner had a fondness for me, who he dubbed "mr. washington") and I somehow also ended up dancing. The meal ended with some tasty desserts, spontaneous fake birthday celebrations, and a hookah. I really just don't know how to describe this restaurant. It was just completely unconventional and unexpected that I couldn't help but have a good time.


Monday

I was invited to dinner at Takuya's(maybe a few posts down) house. I was naturally excited because when you're invited for dinner, people tend to go all out. We had okinomiyaki, which I guess is best described as a cabbage-seafood-pancake. There was also some yakisoba to go along with it. Then there was of course some drinking and conversation, and best of all his grandfather made an appearance once again. Yet again, I managed to eat all my food before I had time to take a picture of it ( sorry I just can't help it).



Tuesday

I (foolishly) went out again today. It was with a friend's friend. We headed out to Ikebukuro and ate Takoyaki (squid balls) and then went to karaoke (for someone that doesn't like to sing, I sure end up at karaoke alot). Maybe the best part of this karaoke was that is cost about 15$ for the 3 hours that we were there and it was nomihoudai (drink all you can). The nomihoudai business model works well with japanese people (who biologically can't drink much), but when a western person goes in you can really get your money's worth. Afterwards it was off to the arcades and, long story short I missed my train and ended up going to my friends dorm for the night.

School Week One: Mission Accomplished

Alright First things first.

Classes.

I have Japanese for 15 hours a week. Thats 3 hours a day... five days at week. Basically, I have 10 different sessions a week, divided among five different sensei. In addition I get to study from 5 different text books. The basic setup is:
Grammar/Reading 5x
Speaking/Listening 3x
Kanji 2x

The greater part of my week was Japanese class and Japanese class homework. But I suppose that is what I'm here for, so its all good. My other class for this semester is an Intro to International Relations course. I'll discuss this stuff later, but for now, its on to the weekend. I'll also try and snap of picture of the rush hour train I ride to school in the mornings. The number of people on this train is pretty hard to describe without a picture.

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Thursday, I stopped by the archery club to see one of their practices. I hadn't expected it to be such a serious club. Everyone was very quite as they warmed up and really focused for the 2 hours that they practiced (I watched maybe the first 30 minutes and snapped these pictures). It takes about 3 months of training before they'll even let you start shooting with the rest of the club and I felt that if I was to join a club, then I'd need to find something less serious. Nonetheless a picture will follow (take note of the giant bows).



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Saturday
I joined the 'Walking Circle.' We spent 5 hours Saturday walking between two distant train stations. We divided up into groups of about 10 students and then followed an easy scavenger hunt map around the city. I really enjoyed the club because it moved at a relaxed pace and was composed of mostly Japanese students, and in 5 hours, that is a lot of conversation practice. We stopped at various checkpoints to rest and eat. Some of these pictures are from the checkpoints (I like the one with the little girls swinging their batons).
After a long hard walk. We 'rewarded' ourselves for a hard days work by going to this restaurant that is an eat/drink as much as you want establishment. You pay by the hour and it was relatively cheap. After that, it was on to karaoke. (Which Japanese students are ecstatic about). All this was done before midnight (since there are no trains after midnight) which was all in all very strange. I'll leave you with a few more pictures and cap off the weekend with sunday and monday tomorrow.

Cultural Anecdote for the Moment

The Japanese language is full of borrowed english words. For example, a 'paso-kon' is a personal computer, 'toreningu' is training, and a no-o-to is a notebook. Anyway, my host family doesn't speak english but often times they surprise me with the random english words that they use. But seeing as to how their exposure to these words is limited, they usually don't know all the connotations for a particular word. Anyway, my mom decided to send them a letter, thanking them for 'hosting' me at their house. Problem is, in Japan, the word host is usually used at say, a hosuto-baa (Host Bar). You know... the bars where businessman go after a long day at work and spend all their money getting drinks from (possibly) scantily clad hostess'. Anyway, they were somewhat shocked when they recognized the word 'host' in the letter and associated it with this negative connotation of a host-bar waitress. It was quite difficult for me to convey any positive connotations, like the idea of a gracious host at say, a party for example. It was really just interesting to note because this is the kind of mix-up that comes from being in Japan and makes me realize how much there is to consider when conversing with someone in another language.

There is a Wendy's Picture at the end of this post.

It rained today!

In other words it was about 20 degrees cooler and I was very much grateful.


I met up with a boy named Takuya the otherday. He had stayed at my house during the summer when I last came to Japan. So I had never met him before. (Most of these meetings involve free food for me, so I'm always up for it). We met up with his friend (his name is escaping me) and they handed me a comically small bike and off we rode to have some lunch. Riding a bike around Tokyo has been a frightful affair. The roads are much too small, the cars move too fast, and I always look the wrong direction for traffic. Nevertheless, I risked my life to take some of these pictures while on the move.


Lunch was ramen of the salty variety (as opposed to the Miso or bitter variety). I remembered to take a picture of my food this time before I ate it. Enjoy, I know I did.


After lunch we ran around for some shopping (I took this picture of a fake lacoste shirt - family turn away!), drank some coffee, and stopped by a bakery. All in all I felt like quite the metrosexual. Then I met Takuya's grandfather, who I must say is awesome. I unno, he'll be commented on another time (I was invited back for dinner on a later date!)


Pictured here is my cell phone. As far as useful features go, it has two clocks (one I set to east coast time), it has a handy little swivel camera, it can text in English, Japanese, and Korean, and lastly its nice and slim. Technically the phone is Korean (and not Japanese) but its still nice nonetheless. I probably use the conversion feature the most. (What are these metres, celsius, and kilograms that everyone is speaking of???)

Oh and the other day I went to a restaurant all by myself. I know. Big deal. It was for me, there is a 90% chance that I won't be able to read anything on the menu in most cases (which is why I've gone with friends before). But I pulled through and without an ounce of english. Go Daniel.


Around the house, I helped my homestay sister with her english pronounciation. I never realized how hard it is to determine the pronounciation of a word in english. There are far too many exceptions to our pronounciation rules to call it a real system in my opinion. I think she'll only get better with experience and from hearing the words pronounced. Also I spent alot of time explaining that fear, fire, fare, and far do not sound the same.

Last night, I stayed up til 1am building a bed for my homestay mom. This was no ordinary bed either. It is like a cabin bed with a secret compartment that you can hide in if there is a break-in or more importantly an earthquake (the bed supports 2,000 kg of weight!?!). Then it had a swivelling headboard so you'd still be able to access the closet in the room and some fancy captain's bed type drawers. I guess my main problem was that there really wasn't any manuevering room to do all this. But it was nice to feel useful, and I always did like playing with legos.

In terms of studying. I purchased these sweet children's books to learn Kanji (Chinese characters adopted by Japan). Though I feel ridiculous when I break them out in the library among all the other students who are using 'real' textbooks. But as a bonus I can now say things such as 'Today is opposite day' 'I arched my back and dodged the ball' 'and 'Yesterday I was digging and found a dinosaur fossil.'


Well I guess thats it for today. Tomorrow I'm tracking down some toothpaste, school supplies, and relaxing before I get back into the grind with classes (I'm 4.5 months rusty at this point).


Oh and here is a Wendy's.
Japan hasn't yet been graced by the Triple Stack or the Baconator yet.
But I'm sure it's coming and they'll be all the heavier for it.

OH thats how it works.

So apparently in Japan. If you want hot water to come out of the shower. You have to use an electrical panel to turn on the hot-water... and then you can adjust the hot-water nozzle. I find this out after nearly a week of cold showers...

First off, I forgot to take my camera with me on monday so I don't have any pictures from then. But no worries, I'll make it up with more pictures from the rest of the week. Monday I went to go meet up with my host family from when I came to Japan 2 years ago (this is where I regret bringing my camera). My old host-bro was actually in Canada and so I didn't get to meet up with him, but hopefully I'll see him tomorrow (Thursday).

Their house was actually just a 15 minutes train ride from where I am currently living and I didn't even have to switch trains on the way. I'll definintely have to visit more often (especially since I got a free Chinese restaurant dinner and lots of cake out of it). It was rewarding if only because, last time I was there I couldn't even communicate with my host father since he didn't speak any english and I couldn't speak any Japanese (not that I'd claim to be able to speak now either).

Tuesday I met up with Tomo (he homestayed with me back in 2005). He took me to the 'Japanese Times Square' in Shinjuku. Of all the things to be famous for, this place features the only Krispy Kreme in Japan. And it always has a full line. Its all pretty ridiculous considering that you can buy a box of donuts for 5$ back in the states. Starbucks on the otherhand can be found at every street corner in Japan. It might even have a stronger foothold in Japan than its has in the states.

I also received my Japanese placements score today. I ended up doing better than expected and making it into the intermediate class. (Good thing because I already got the book). So it looks like I'll be taking Japanese 3 hours a day... 5 days a week. Hopefully a fraction of the Japanese I'll be exposed to will manage to sink in. I even met one of my classmates today (Juan Pablo Ruiz Velasco Enriquez). He's from Mexico, and really I just wanted to share his name because its simply amazing (like every stereotypical name packed into one super-name).

As for today, I met up with my friend Shoko. (I also met her back in 2005) She goes to Tokyo University which is the equivalent of the Japanese Harvard. If I tell a Japanese person that I'm going to meet my friend from Tokyo University, they are instantly impressed with me. As if I somehow am just as smart by association.

We went to Shibuya, had some Udon, and then she showed me around. I also bought stationary (Japan has some really unique and colorful pieces of stationary), which some of you just may receive over the next few months. Lastly we stopped by this statue of a dog (his name is hachi) who was apparenlty really loyal... and therefore a statue was made for him (? I'm unclear about the details here). Then I piced up some Melon bread from the bakery. I'm quickly developing an addiction to it. Its like a sweet bread that kinda tastes like fruit too? Its hard to explain, but if I could ship a crate back with me, I definitely would.

As for school, I'm really enjoying all the nuns and f

athers that walk around campus (it was founded as a jesuit school). Its a weird mix seeing so many temples and shrines around the city and then the campus church all mixed into one. (I'm mentioning this because an priest with a heavy irish accent just came up to me and made sure I wasn't hurting my eyes typing on my laptop here in the dark).

-Dan