http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021650&id=1230390045&l=7d04beda4e
Pictures of my Halloween activities....which was actually done on October 30th for reasons I never found out but didn't really care.
----
Getting to Yoyogi Park was harder than it should have been as there was another suicide-caused delay on the trains. Although I can't read what the sign boards are saying but when all the text is orange and red in an ominous way, I know what it means. It's very very very discomforting. A lot of people have reduced it to "another loser jumped in front of the train again."
I wish people were more respectful.
But anyway, the trains were incredibly slow due to this and my friends and I were stuck waiting about 20 minutes per stop before moving forward. We started talking with a woman on the train who has been an English teacher in Japan for the last 13 years and she was able to help us get on to the train that would get us to Shibuya. She made a slight error though, so we ended up doing a lot of train hopping, as I would call it. We made it there eventually and the rest of the evening went smoothly.
So yes. I was a Pikachu. Everywhere I went, people would either do the following:
A) Try to stealthily take pictures with their cellphones of me and my friends (who were also wearing costumes) but their cover was blown by the fact that it makes the shutter sound. FAIL.
B) Actually ask to take my picture - this Japanese girl came up to me and asked me in English if she could and of course, I didn't mind. I sort of asked for it really.
C) Stare (as usual) but this time, trying hard not to but just doing it anyway.
D) Say, "Oh! Pikachu!" to which I didn't really know what to respond. I would just sort of wave and smile at them and fortunately, they did the same thing back to me with great enthusiasm.
E) Talk about me as if I couldn't hear them to only have me turn around and wave at them. Once they got over the surprise of me hearing them, they were nice enough to wave and smile back.
A couple of business men came up to my group of friends and asked us "trick or treat!" We had no candy and they were very disappointed but at least very amused with our costumes.
It was a good night.
I'm going to a concert tomorrow for Abingdon Boys School, Do as Infinity, and HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR (the first one is one of my favorite Japanese bands, the other two I like enough and have some of their music). By myself. It'll be an adventure. Just like every day.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Electric Rodents and More Examples of Native Response to Foreigners
I have my costume. I thought it was just a jacket. Oh no, it's the whole thing, like a one piece thing - and it fits! I was awfully surprised since I am not Japanese-sized. Anyway, I tried it on yesterday. I look like a big yellow blob of ridiculous...ness. My friends said it was cute.
I was running down the hallway in it without my slippers and as I got to my door, I totally slipped and fell. It was equal parts tragic and hilarious. I was trying to get to my room really fast so no one else would see me. I just laid on the floor for a bit laughing at myself before I snuck into my room and took the thing off.
Another little side note:
Apparently, I make people's day by just existing. Cat and I were on the way to the super market and this young Japanese guy with his big sunglasses and his host club hair (aka big and spiky and going everywhere). This guy was riding in the passenger side of someone's car and had his head all the way out the window to stare at us. (They're getting more bold at this game.) Cat and I just sort of stared back but then she made a peace sign at the guy. I started to wave. The guy in the car started waving frantically at us like we were best friends, with his arm all the way out of the window. It's things like that that make me just love this country.
But unfortunately, not everyone is so happy to see us. Cat and I were riding the train and these two boys (probably 13 and 10 years old) got onto the train. There were two seats next to me. The older one sat in the seat one over from me. The younger one started punching him and telling the older one to move over...because apparently, he didn't want to sit next to me. Whomp whomp. The older one obliged and moved over next to me.
I feel like situations like this, it's better to just laugh about it. Getting too upset about it will just make me depressed and I can't afford to be depressed right now/ever.
And now I'm off to the great outdoors...where it's cold and wet. I remember when this kind of weather would make me want to skip class. The feelings are still there but I must fight them. *sigh*
I was running down the hallway in it without my slippers and as I got to my door, I totally slipped and fell. It was equal parts tragic and hilarious. I was trying to get to my room really fast so no one else would see me. I just laid on the floor for a bit laughing at myself before I snuck into my room and took the thing off.
Another little side note:
Apparently, I make people's day by just existing. Cat and I were on the way to the super market and this young Japanese guy with his big sunglasses and his host club hair (aka big and spiky and going everywhere). This guy was riding in the passenger side of someone's car and had his head all the way out the window to stare at us. (They're getting more bold at this game.) Cat and I just sort of stared back but then she made a peace sign at the guy. I started to wave. The guy in the car started waving frantically at us like we were best friends, with his arm all the way out of the window. It's things like that that make me just love this country.
But unfortunately, not everyone is so happy to see us. Cat and I were riding the train and these two boys (probably 13 and 10 years old) got onto the train. There were two seats next to me. The older one sat in the seat one over from me. The younger one started punching him and telling the older one to move over...because apparently, he didn't want to sit next to me. Whomp whomp. The older one obliged and moved over next to me.
I feel like situations like this, it's better to just laugh about it. Getting too upset about it will just make me depressed and I can't afford to be depressed right now/ever.
And now I'm off to the great outdoors...where it's cold and wet. I remember when this kind of weather would make me want to skip class. The feelings are still there but I must fight them. *sigh*
Saturday, October 24, 2009
In This Town, Don't We Love it Now! :D
Oh hi.
My name is Talia and I'm the worst blogger ever.
Sorry about the disappearance of forever. I have pictures to sort of make up for my absence:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020615&id=1230390045&l=0b59e150e5
This is from my friend's performance at a bar and the night onward. This is what happens when you have a curfew at 11, but you miss it, and the trains end at 12, and you miss that too...
------
Anyway, so far my life has consisted of the following:
1) Purchasing the Leaf Green edition of Pokemon for the Gameboy Advance, but it works on my Nintendo DS Lite because Japan was smart enough to figure that people with DS Lites would like to play old games on their system. It's like I'm reliving my past, before my mom staged an intervention due to my obsession with Pocket Monsters (quick lesson: The original name is Pocket Monsters, or in the Japanese, Poketto Monsutaa but Japan LOVES shortening words so the word Pokemon was created. Geniuses.)
I'm fortunate to have friends who are just as nerdy as I am who can appreciate when I complain to them how my Vulpix got dominated by a Rattata. Also, it's all in Japanese. Yeah, that was a challenge I didn't have 10 years ago.
2) I had a presentation to do with my two American friends, Mike and Cat, for our cellphone culture class (talking about cellphone technology in Japan and how we use cellphones in our daily lives...for much more than just talking and texting). Now, this class is all taught in Japanese. We ended up not having any Japanese people in our group for the presentation. We managed to come up with an idea, make a power point and come up with a script of things to say. During class, after one guy finished his presentation, the teacher pointed to us to go next. Cat wasn't really too thrilled but we got up there anyway because we figured we'd just get it over with the sooner the better.
A Japanese girl referred to us as the "gaijin chiimu" which essentially means the "foreigner team". I feel like I would have been more okay with that statement if she said it the less rude way, by saying "gaikokujin" at least. Oh well. I still laughed.
Now, when the first guy did his presentation, nobody was paying attention except the teacher. So, we figured we'd have the same luck. Nope. No such thing. We were walking up there and every single person was looking. They clapped when we got up there. Mike introduced us...they clapped again. I couldn't stop grinning. It's like we were heroes in an absurd way. During our whole presentation, as far as I could tell, everyone listened to us. In our presentation, I included a special barcode which is only done in Japan called a QR Code and it lead to a website. I actually saw one of my Japanese classmates scan it with his phone while Cat was presenting her portion. Class interaction GET! (by the way, the GET! statement is a sort of joke between my friends because on soooo many advertising things, they use the word "get" and it's hilarious).
When we finished, everyone clapped again. It went much better than I had anticipated. We got back to our seats and the same girl who called us the foreigner team said we did well. Thank goodness.
3) Halloween is coming up and Japan is excited. I'm not even sure if kids trick-or-treat or something. But there are costumes and Halloween paraphernalia EVERYWHERE. I plan on going to the nerdiest place in Tokyo (Akihabara) to find my costume. I plan on being a Pikachu because I can't think of anything better and people have suggested it....and I'm shamelessly in love with Pokemon again. And everybody loves Pikachu, right?
4) There are just little things that I do here that just make my day. For example:
So in Japan, there are people on the sidewalks everywhere trying to hand you things. Little packs of tissues with advertisements on the outside, cards with promotional info, posters, etc. trying to get business. As you can imagine, they are all requesting you take their things in Japanese. Sometimes, I'm offered things just because I'm walking past them and other times, I don't get handed anything because they figure it would be a waste as I am not Japanese and they don't think I understand it (which is true for the most part...). However, two times walking down from AGU back to Shibuya Station, we walked past one of those people and he said,
"Hey guys, how are you doing?"
In English. Needless to say, we weren't expecting it. We still kept walking and as we laughed in surprise, we said, "Fine thanks, how are you?"
"I'm good, thank you!" He responded.
"Yay!" I said as we continued to walk by.
Next time I see him, I'm taking whatever he has to offer. And next time, we plan on responding in Japanese to shake things up a bit. The goals we have in life are fantastic.
My name is Talia and I'm the worst blogger ever.
Sorry about the disappearance of forever. I have pictures to sort of make up for my absence:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020615&id=1230390045&l=0b59e150e5
This is from my friend's performance at a bar and the night onward. This is what happens when you have a curfew at 11, but you miss it, and the trains end at 12, and you miss that too...
------
Anyway, so far my life has consisted of the following:
1) Purchasing the Leaf Green edition of Pokemon for the Gameboy Advance, but it works on my Nintendo DS Lite because Japan was smart enough to figure that people with DS Lites would like to play old games on their system. It's like I'm reliving my past, before my mom staged an intervention due to my obsession with Pocket Monsters (quick lesson: The original name is Pocket Monsters, or in the Japanese, Poketto Monsutaa but Japan LOVES shortening words so the word Pokemon was created. Geniuses.)
I'm fortunate to have friends who are just as nerdy as I am who can appreciate when I complain to them how my Vulpix got dominated by a Rattata. Also, it's all in Japanese. Yeah, that was a challenge I didn't have 10 years ago.
2) I had a presentation to do with my two American friends, Mike and Cat, for our cellphone culture class (talking about cellphone technology in Japan and how we use cellphones in our daily lives...for much more than just talking and texting). Now, this class is all taught in Japanese. We ended up not having any Japanese people in our group for the presentation. We managed to come up with an idea, make a power point and come up with a script of things to say. During class, after one guy finished his presentation, the teacher pointed to us to go next. Cat wasn't really too thrilled but we got up there anyway because we figured we'd just get it over with the sooner the better.
A Japanese girl referred to us as the "gaijin chiimu" which essentially means the "foreigner team". I feel like I would have been more okay with that statement if she said it the less rude way, by saying "gaikokujin" at least. Oh well. I still laughed.
Now, when the first guy did his presentation, nobody was paying attention except the teacher. So, we figured we'd have the same luck. Nope. No such thing. We were walking up there and every single person was looking. They clapped when we got up there. Mike introduced us...they clapped again. I couldn't stop grinning. It's like we were heroes in an absurd way. During our whole presentation, as far as I could tell, everyone listened to us. In our presentation, I included a special barcode which is only done in Japan called a QR Code and it lead to a website. I actually saw one of my Japanese classmates scan it with his phone while Cat was presenting her portion. Class interaction GET! (by the way, the GET! statement is a sort of joke between my friends because on soooo many advertising things, they use the word "get" and it's hilarious).
When we finished, everyone clapped again. It went much better than I had anticipated. We got back to our seats and the same girl who called us the foreigner team said we did well. Thank goodness.
3) Halloween is coming up and Japan is excited. I'm not even sure if kids trick-or-treat or something. But there are costumes and Halloween paraphernalia EVERYWHERE. I plan on going to the nerdiest place in Tokyo (Akihabara) to find my costume. I plan on being a Pikachu because I can't think of anything better and people have suggested it....and I'm shamelessly in love with Pokemon again. And everybody loves Pikachu, right?
4) There are just little things that I do here that just make my day. For example:
So in Japan, there are people on the sidewalks everywhere trying to hand you things. Little packs of tissues with advertisements on the outside, cards with promotional info, posters, etc. trying to get business. As you can imagine, they are all requesting you take their things in Japanese. Sometimes, I'm offered things just because I'm walking past them and other times, I don't get handed anything because they figure it would be a waste as I am not Japanese and they don't think I understand it (which is true for the most part...). However, two times walking down from AGU back to Shibuya Station, we walked past one of those people and he said,
"Hey guys, how are you doing?"
In English. Needless to say, we weren't expecting it. We still kept walking and as we laughed in surprise, we said, "Fine thanks, how are you?"
"I'm good, thank you!" He responded.
"Yay!" I said as we continued to walk by.
Next time I see him, I'm taking whatever he has to offer. And next time, we plan on responding in Japanese to shake things up a bit. The goals we have in life are fantastic.
Monday, October 12, 2009
With all the Force of a Great Typhoon!
More pictures of Japan!
From the Yabusame trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020088&id=1230390045&l=e7e5b19b1f
From my mini adventure with my friend Cat:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020137&id=1230390045&l=93ef55fb67
-----
Yeah, so we had a typhoon the other day. I was coming back home late on Wednesday evening and it felt like a monsoon - not that I've ever experienced a monsoon, but it was raining incredibly hard! And then through the night, the wind came. The next morning, you could here things being tossed around outside. Including my screen door which happened to fall off. Fortunately, it didn't go anywhere but it was so loud!
My friends and I were intent on not going to school but the day started to clear up. So, by the time we left the dorm around 10:30 in the morning, it was a bright and sunny day, with blue skies and big puffy clouds! Sure, the clouds were practically racing across the sky from all the wind that was trying desperately to blow us over but it turned out to be a very nice day.
That's the same night I went to a Thai restaurant with some of my friends. It was absolutely delicious and pretty authentic, as my Thai friend was very pleased by the end of the evening :)
I think it's funny that even though I had no intention to come to Aoyama Gakuin University originally (my top three choices of schools for study abroad were Keio University, Rikkyo University and Kobe University...in case I didn't tell you this before) but the study abroad committee picked this school for me. And I absolutely love it here! I love the people and friends I've made, both Japanese and international/other American students. I love that my school is in Shibuya, which has tons of things to see and do and just a great place to explore. Everything is working out so well.
p.s. (if you caught the reference in the title, you're a winner ^__^ )
From the Yabusame trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020088&id=1230390045&l=e7e5b19b1f
From my mini adventure with my friend Cat:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020137&id=1230390045&l=93ef55fb67
-----
Yeah, so we had a typhoon the other day. I was coming back home late on Wednesday evening and it felt like a monsoon - not that I've ever experienced a monsoon, but it was raining incredibly hard! And then through the night, the wind came. The next morning, you could here things being tossed around outside. Including my screen door which happened to fall off. Fortunately, it didn't go anywhere but it was so loud!
My friends and I were intent on not going to school but the day started to clear up. So, by the time we left the dorm around 10:30 in the morning, it was a bright and sunny day, with blue skies and big puffy clouds! Sure, the clouds were practically racing across the sky from all the wind that was trying desperately to blow us over but it turned out to be a very nice day.
That's the same night I went to a Thai restaurant with some of my friends. It was absolutely delicious and pretty authentic, as my Thai friend was very pleased by the end of the evening :)
I think it's funny that even though I had no intention to come to Aoyama Gakuin University originally (my top three choices of schools for study abroad were Keio University, Rikkyo University and Kobe University...in case I didn't tell you this before) but the study abroad committee picked this school for me. And I absolutely love it here! I love the people and friends I've made, both Japanese and international/other American students. I love that my school is in Shibuya, which has tons of things to see and do and just a great place to explore. Everything is working out so well.
p.s. (if you caught the reference in the title, you're a winner ^__^ )
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Discrimination - It Happens
Well, I forgot to point this out in my last entry but I figured that was too happy of a post to ruin it with this topic. But here it is anyway.
While we were in Kamakura to watch the Yabusame, there were lots of middle school children with clipboards and paper, "hunting down" foreigners to talk with them in English for a school assignment. They eagerly came up to my other exchange student friends who were white but they didn't dare come up to me (or my Thai friend). We laughed about it at the time because it seemed so ridiculous. For the next 10 to 15 minutes, we were determined to have a student come interview us. As a person who is interested in children's education and possibly teaching English in Japan in the future, I was really interested in the little chance that presented itself.
I was clearly speaking English and I was standing by my friends who had been picked to be interviewed previously. One of my friends even invited one of the kids to come talk to me, telling them that I speak English. I smiled as nicely as I could but they just sort of looked at me, looked back at their friends, started talking, looked again and walked away.
Ouch.
I was jokingly sad when we had to leave and not one kid spoke to me, but the more I think about it, it bothers me. What perception of black people were in these kids' heads that made them seem afraid of me? I'd rather not think of it as discrimination or racism but when it comes down to it, that's what happened and they were just kids. I hope they grow out of it. It sort of makes me wonder what adults are thinking when they see me - did they grow up the same way and did they get over whatever preconceived notions they had of not only black people but other non-Japanese people? Or are they still like those kids who would wish to have nothing to do with me based on my appearance?
I never thought Japan was perfect but this is definitely a huge disappointment.
While we were in Kamakura to watch the Yabusame, there were lots of middle school children with clipboards and paper, "hunting down" foreigners to talk with them in English for a school assignment. They eagerly came up to my other exchange student friends who were white but they didn't dare come up to me (or my Thai friend). We laughed about it at the time because it seemed so ridiculous. For the next 10 to 15 minutes, we were determined to have a student come interview us. As a person who is interested in children's education and possibly teaching English in Japan in the future, I was really interested in the little chance that presented itself.
I was clearly speaking English and I was standing by my friends who had been picked to be interviewed previously. One of my friends even invited one of the kids to come talk to me, telling them that I speak English. I smiled as nicely as I could but they just sort of looked at me, looked back at their friends, started talking, looked again and walked away.
Ouch.
I was jokingly sad when we had to leave and not one kid spoke to me, but the more I think about it, it bothers me. What perception of black people were in these kids' heads that made them seem afraid of me? I'd rather not think of it as discrimination or racism but when it comes down to it, that's what happened and they were just kids. I hope they grow out of it. It sort of makes me wonder what adults are thinking when they see me - did they grow up the same way and did they get over whatever preconceived notions they had of not only black people but other non-Japanese people? Or are they still like those kids who would wish to have nothing to do with me based on my appearance?
I never thought Japan was perfect but this is definitely a huge disappointment.
Yabusame and Yakitori!
On Sunday, I had the awesome opportunity to watch Yabusame Shinji - Japanese archery while riding a galloping horse. It is a Shinto ritual, dating back to 794 AD during the Heian Period (I don't know much about Japanese history yet, I'm just reading this off the packet they gave us!). The whole ceremony started at the temple were several men and a few young girls all assembled and spoke ancient Japanese that I didn't understand. There was music playing, chanting and some prayers. After a while of watching this, we were escorted to another area - right along the track where the horses would be running. An official lead us to the side next to a "Press Seat" box (it was just a bunch of big wood planks put together really) and for a while, we just all crammed together standing next to it. The finally told us that we could sit there. So basically, we had some of the best seats, right by the target that the archers would be shooting at. It seemed that a lot of Japanese people were staring at us and trying to figure out how a bunch of foreigners got the good seats.
Anyway, a priest purified the track and the archers enter the track with their horses and walk back and forth the entire length of the track. After that, the target shooting began. Well, actually, before the archer comes barreling down the track, two people at each end of the track have a fan to indicate when to start. One with a white fan and the other with a red one. When we saw the red fan come up, we knew it was time for them to start coming.
The archers yell, "iyoi iyoi iyoi!" (sounds more epic when you actually hear it) when they approach their target and then fire! Sometimes they missed but when they struck the target, everyone cheers and claps. Most of the horses were going so fast! So fast that at the end of the track where the horse has to suddenly come to a halt, a few archers flew off the horse. They were alright though. One of them had a slight limp, but he still looked like a champ.
I can't remember how many times they did this but it was so exciting every single time. Maybe after 30 minutes or so, they ceremony ended and we were just so stoked that we were able to come see the event. We went our separate ways, me going to eat yakitori or grilled chicken on a stick with two other exchange students. One of them had been to this place two years ago and it was his first time coming back since then. It's a small little place run by a husband and wife - they recognized him immediately and were happy to have him back. We ordered so much and it was all so delicious. I also had my first taste of sake (pronounced "sa-kay" not "sa-key" by the way. You have no excuse to pronounce it wrong from now on, hahaha). I don't like the taste of alcohol at all, so, it's no surprise I didn't like it. But I feel a little more official now that I've had Japan's famous drink.
I can't believe I've been in Japan for nearly a month. It's still pretty magical to me. The magic is dulled a bit by the fact that it's raining all this week (yay for typhoons....). Except for Friday, when me and some other exchange students plan on going to the river (Futako-tamagawa) we see every time we are traveling to school. It's the perfect spot for a picnic. When it's not raining, I often see several people there with tents for camping, people fishing, playing baseball and other sports. It looks positively delightful there. I know I'm going to miss seeing it every day when I go back home. One of those simply beautiful places not overrun by buildings and things like that - a little pocket of serenity.
Anyway, a priest purified the track and the archers enter the track with their horses and walk back and forth the entire length of the track. After that, the target shooting began. Well, actually, before the archer comes barreling down the track, two people at each end of the track have a fan to indicate when to start. One with a white fan and the other with a red one. When we saw the red fan come up, we knew it was time for them to start coming.
The archers yell, "iyoi iyoi iyoi!" (sounds more epic when you actually hear it) when they approach their target and then fire! Sometimes they missed but when they struck the target, everyone cheers and claps. Most of the horses were going so fast! So fast that at the end of the track where the horse has to suddenly come to a halt, a few archers flew off the horse. They were alright though. One of them had a slight limp, but he still looked like a champ.
I can't remember how many times they did this but it was so exciting every single time. Maybe after 30 minutes or so, they ceremony ended and we were just so stoked that we were able to come see the event. We went our separate ways, me going to eat yakitori or grilled chicken on a stick with two other exchange students. One of them had been to this place two years ago and it was his first time coming back since then. It's a small little place run by a husband and wife - they recognized him immediately and were happy to have him back. We ordered so much and it was all so delicious. I also had my first taste of sake (pronounced "sa-kay" not "sa-key" by the way. You have no excuse to pronounce it wrong from now on, hahaha). I don't like the taste of alcohol at all, so, it's no surprise I didn't like it. But I feel a little more official now that I've had Japan's famous drink.
I can't believe I've been in Japan for nearly a month. It's still pretty magical to me. The magic is dulled a bit by the fact that it's raining all this week (yay for typhoons....). Except for Friday, when me and some other exchange students plan on going to the river (Futako-tamagawa) we see every time we are traveling to school. It's the perfect spot for a picnic. When it's not raining, I often see several people there with tents for camping, people fishing, playing baseball and other sports. It looks positively delightful there. I know I'm going to miss seeing it every day when I go back home. One of those simply beautiful places not overrun by buildings and things like that - a little pocket of serenity.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
There's Always a Dark Side to Good Things
The trains in Japan are almost never late. In fact, they come into the station to the minute that the digital sign indicates. So, it's always really strange when it comes even a minute late. It was late today by at least 10 minutes - which in Washington D.C. is not so surprising but here it is.
Unfortunately, an infamous reason for delayed trains are people who jump in front of them to commit suicide. One of my friends speculated it and although I have heard of it several times, it left me feeling a bit sick and really upset. I eventually asked my friend if we could stop talking about it. I had to keep myself from crying. Some people may think it a little excessive to have such a reaction, especially since I had no idea whether that actually happened or not. But that doesn't matter - the idea of it is incredibly disturbing and it's depressing that suicide is such a "popular" thing in Japan. I don't know the statistics but they are high in this country. I'm just praying I won't ever have to see it happen.
*Sigh*
Besides that, I've been doing fine. I'm registered for all of my classes for this semester. I've tried going to some more classes that are taught in all Japanese but it just doesn't work. I apologize to the teacher and explain as much as I'd like to take the class, it's much too hard to understand. They're sympathetic and say it's alright.
On Saturday, I'm venturing to Roppongi for a hair appointment. It should be interesting I believe. It may not seem like such a big deal, but as a black person with different needs for my hair, it is sort of is one. I fail at explaining it to people, so sorry if my reasoning didn't sound so fantastic. I don't mean to sound vain or uptight, but I can't just go anywhere to have my hair taken care of - bad things happen.
And with that, it's time to eat dinner, watch Heroes....and then do homework. ^^
Unfortunately, an infamous reason for delayed trains are people who jump in front of them to commit suicide. One of my friends speculated it and although I have heard of it several times, it left me feeling a bit sick and really upset. I eventually asked my friend if we could stop talking about it. I had to keep myself from crying. Some people may think it a little excessive to have such a reaction, especially since I had no idea whether that actually happened or not. But that doesn't matter - the idea of it is incredibly disturbing and it's depressing that suicide is such a "popular" thing in Japan. I don't know the statistics but they are high in this country. I'm just praying I won't ever have to see it happen.
*Sigh*
Besides that, I've been doing fine. I'm registered for all of my classes for this semester. I've tried going to some more classes that are taught in all Japanese but it just doesn't work. I apologize to the teacher and explain as much as I'd like to take the class, it's much too hard to understand. They're sympathetic and say it's alright.
On Saturday, I'm venturing to Roppongi for a hair appointment. It should be interesting I believe. It may not seem like such a big deal, but as a black person with different needs for my hair, it is sort of is one. I fail at explaining it to people, so sorry if my reasoning didn't sound so fantastic. I don't mean to sound vain or uptight, but I can't just go anywhere to have my hair taken care of - bad things happen.
And with that, it's time to eat dinner, watch Heroes....and then do homework. ^^
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