No Place Like London (Home)

Arrival, Settling in, Sumo, Random:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017965&id=1230390045&l=fe935f12ae

Yabusame:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020088&id=1230390045&l=e7e5b19b1f

Night Stroll!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020137&id=1230390045&l=93ef55fb67

Performances and First Night Out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020615&id=1230390045&l=0b59e150e5

Halloween!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021650&id=1230390045&l=7d04beda4e

More Miscellaneous:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022079&id=1230390045&l=319d3e2ac2

-----

(Currently listening to Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street soundtrack. I find it amusing to put either song lyrics or song titles as subject liners when I cannot fathom one better. I will do this from now on, if I can't think of something relevant. The last one is from the soundtrack of the movie Paprika - which my gooooooooooood friend Carrie advised that I watch. I finally got around to watching it and I loved EVERY minute of it. Anyway, I digress...)

My plane ticket home has already been bought, courtesy of my mother. There goes my iron will to not come home until August. There are foreigners (such as some of the teachers at AGU) here in Japan who have not been home in years - I'm not ready for that yet, I suppose. It's just a three week visit from the middle of February to the beginning of March, and then back in Japan until I come home for good.

Only thing I'm not looking forward to are the people who will think I've become fluent in the time that I've been here. I'm not a genius and Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn, so says tons of sources. There are several times during one of my Japanese classes where I look at my assignments or just trying to process what is being said to me, and I wonder to myself: "Why did EVER I think this was a good idea?"

I could have kept up my Spanish and probably be a lot less stressed out. But no, I wanted to take Japanese. It certainly has lead me to meet the most interesting people though. My friends and I have discovered that the secret prerequisite to studying Japanese is that you must be at least little weird (in both good and bad ways). Japan seems to attract people like this, you see, for some reason. You can argue against this, but due to the intensity of the trend, I will stay true to my theory.

But as with most challenges, it's worth it right? Ganbarimasu...

In other news, today, I got to play with babies! Two little 2-year old boys who speak Russian and Japanese (Japanese fathers, Russian/Uzbekistani mothers). and the point was to start instilling English into their little heads by playing games, reading, singing songs, and other things of that nature. I was in my element. They were a little uncomfortable with us at first but they warmed up after a while and we had lots of fun. Honestly, it's Cat's job but she invited me because she knew how much I love working with kids.

I effectively got one of the children to definitely say "circle," "giraffe," and "oops."
I feel like a winner.

Meditational Field

Arrival, Settling in, Sumo, Random:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017965&id=1230390045&l=fe935f12ae

Yabusame:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020088&id=1230390045&l=e7e5b19b1f

Night Stroll!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020137&id=1230390045&l=93ef55fb67

Performances and First Night Out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020615&id=1230390045&l=0b59e150e5

Halloween!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021650&id=1230390045&l=7d04beda4e

More Miscellaneous:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022079&id=1230390045&l=319d3e2ac2

----

My birthday was wonderful! The taiko performance was beyond amazing. Exhilarating and very entertaining. I loved every second of it. The man who came to teach us taiko, who gave us discounted tickets to the performance, looked so much more inhuman as he drummed for an hour straight without stopping. And when he came out, he was the same funny guy from Osaka that wanted to show some foreigners his favorite thing to do. It was great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Kymm6RNW0
The man in this video is Ikki Hino, the man who is amazing. When he and his team perform live, its much more fantastic than this. Believe me.

Afterward, we went for yakiniku which is basically when you order some raw meat and you get to cook it yourself on the little grill on your table. It's delicious. We had a toast for my 21st and my friends paid for my meal :)

That's about it really. I try to not let it get to me that two other friends of mine, had birthday parties that were thrown for them by the same people, one of which has the same birthday as me. She got a cake with her name on it. They invited me to take a picture with her as we had the same birthday, but it was still her cake. Yeah. I'm gonna let it go. I'm trying. I'm just a little....hmm, hurt? I guess. I feel like I'm not as appreciated. But whatever. I'm trying to get over it. I got something, I should just be happy. End of story.

Anyway, my mom has brought up the idea of me coming home for some time in February (preferably, after February 13th, because I discovered that Paramore will be playing at the same venue where I went to see those Japanese bands. But oh man, I LOVE Paramore! I hope I can get the tickets before they're sold out!)

I wanted to be incredibly cool and not be homesick and be able to just travel around the world now that I'm out here and I have the money to do so with the scholarship I gratefully received....

But, the idea to come home and see my family, my friends, drive a car again (which includes singing along to the radio), eat the foods I miss (Chipotle and my mom's cooking, specifically), play the video games I haven't been able to touch for the last few months, possibly go dancing - its getting more and more tempting.

And then reality hits me again and I know that I can't go to all the places I wanted, even with my scholarship. Whomp whomp. I have to make choices. And I feel bad because I want to visit all my friends but I'm just not going to be able to. I hate making decisions sometimes.

There are cats screeching outside my window again.

Good Times

The only album that has been updated is the Miscellaneous one near the bottom (if Facebook isn't failing...). I figured it would be better to put all my albums in one post so you don't have to search. I think I mentioned that already. Oh well. Enjoy!

Arrival, Settling in, Sumo, Random:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017965&id=1230390045&l=fe935f12ae

Yabusame:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020088&id=1230390045&l=e7e5b19b1f

Night Stroll!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020137&id=1230390045&l=93ef55fb67

Performances and First Night Out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020615&id=1230390045&l=0b59e150e5

Halloween!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021650&id=1230390045&l=7d04beda4e

More Miscellaneous:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022079&id=1230390045&l=319d3e2ac2

Osaka!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023469&id=1230390045&l=8a70469a93

Nara!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023470&id=1230390045&l=8746393553

Himeji!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023483&id=1230390045&l=ceb8dd107f

------

In Japan, it's my 21st birthday! W00t! I will be going to a taiko drumming performance by the man that came into my Japanese class to teach us taiko. I'm so excited!

Other things that happened this week:
Thursday: I went with Ayane to make a traditional Japanese candy called ame-zaiku. It involves melting some sort of candy concoction into a waxy texture. Then, you have to take the candy mixture and mold it into a ball and put it on a stick. This gets very difficult as the candy is very hot! So, as your molding it and pulling at it to get it to be smooth, it gets hotter! Yeah, we wore gloves.

Anyway, once you've done that, it's time to make the shape of an animal. We were making rabbits. But you have to do it fast, or it will completely harden and thus become impossible to mold. The man that was teaching us how to do it made it look so easy. We tried and tried, but none of ours looked as nice. He let us take home two - one made by him and one made by ourselves. The differences are VAST.

We had dinner at a Hong Kong restaurant where one of the employees was fascinated with us. She was surprised Ayane spoke such good English and she was surprised when I spoke Japanese. She even sat with us for a while. It was a little awkward sometimes, but she was nice. She gave us an extra free dessert :)

Friday: I went to the elementary school that's part of Aoyama Gakuin and helped the teacher with an arts and crafts activity for their annual English Day. How perfect, right? My favorite! We made ginger bread man cookie-shaped cards!

I was there for four sessions, that involved about twenty 6th graders each and lasted for about half an hour or so. It was a little bit of madness but all in good fun. The kids were happy to say, "Hello!" to me and sometimes that was about all they could manage in English. I'm glad I had the advantage of knowing some Japanese so I could at least answer in English a question they asked me in Japanese. Reminding them that it was English day didn't work very well. They were great kids though. I received a meishi (a name/business card) from the main English teacher there and she was very happy to have me there (I was the only Aoyama Gakuin university student who signed up). She said if I ever wanted to come back or I needed any information, I could contact her. :D

At the end of the day, Aoyama had its annual Christmas Tree Lighting. It was just wonderful. We sang Christmas carols, the Christmas story was read, and the lights came on. It reminded me of home and unfortunately, I got a bit homesick. Although I loved the ceremony, I went home sad, terribly missing the feeling of friends and family hugging me and kissing me.

All was solved from getting a hug from Elizabeth at the dorm, her letting me cry for a moment and then she showed me a ridiculous Korean pop music video involving a giant anthropomorphic marshmallow. And then we went out to eat with Cat too, as the food at the dorm didn't look too tasty. Whomp whomp.

Saturday: Haha, I did nothing yesterday but laundry and read. I hadn't done it in a while. Cat and my other friend Yanique watched one of my new movies that I got for my birthday (I cheated and opened up my box...it just came in and I couldn't help myself!) called Paprika. It's super bizarre and really tugs at your mind, but that's why it's amazing! And also it makes more sense the second or third time you watch it! Go look it up, by director Satoshi Kon. He's briliant.

Sunday: I'm here...writing this. I've read all of my birthday cards from the family, read my card from my friends from England (Rachel, Kristy and Sophie! :D Yay! xoxo ) and getting ready for the rest of the day.

Life hasn't been necessarily peachy here, especially concerning human relationships and the difficulty of comprehending Japanese, but I'm trying my best to not let those things get me down. As we would say in Japanese, "ganbarimasu!" which basically means, "I'll do my best!" It's one of my favorite things to say.

p.s. My friend Mike has invited me to sing at one of his shows sometime in December and we've decided to do a cover of the song "Home" by Marc Broussard. I LOVE THIS SONG. I couldn't be happier! I love singing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC1v5trmB1E

There it is. Now groove.

Yahoo!

Well, I found that doctor. I got my papers signed and everything even though the IEC told me not to worry about it anymore since the health department hadn't called about me. Oh, well. At least I accomplished it.

I visited the Kansai region this past weekend to visit friends, Emi, Akiyo, and Juan, who were exchanges at UMD in the 2007-2008 school year. They were just too good for me! They took me to all the places I wanted to go to, I stayed over at the apartment of one of them and they gave me an early birthday present! It was simply wonderful. The only thing I was really disappointed about was how my Japanese failed me. I barely understood what they said to me, and if I did, it was hard to respond. Augh. It's times like this whether I even have the mental capacity to fully grasp a foreign language. Sure, I can learn some phrases, read a little bit of it and whatnot, but is that all I can do? It feels like it.

Anyway, my trip was a great reunion. I'm so happy I was able to see them. Unfortunately, my friend Ayane wasn't able to join us. She originally had planned to come, but she had a job interview that Sunday.

So yeah, here are the pictures. There are quite a lot.

Osaka!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023469&id=1230390045&l=8a70469a93

Nara!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023470&id=1230390045&l=8746393553

Himeji!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023483&id=1230390045&l=ceb8dd107f

What Happens in Eda...

Oh, another thing. I had my first earthquake. It was really only a matter of time.

At 4:00 AM or so, I woke up and sat up to find my bed vibrating underneath of me and heard this weird creaking sound. Of course, being awakened at that time, I'm incredibly confused. I thought I was dreaming. After it stopped, all I could think of was "that was an earthquake....!" or in Japanese, "jishin datta...!"

I went back to sleep.

I woke up a couple hours later trying to figure out whether I was dreaming or not. Either way, I was sort of excited. I've always wanted to experience an earthquake (a real one, the one at Universal Studios didn't count!) - I just wish I was more awake and less disoriented. I finally talked to some of my friends in the afternoon and they said they felt it too. So, it really happened!

Speaking of strange things happening in Eda, the other night I thought I heard a baby screaming and crying outside...at 11:00 at night. And then it got louder and creepier sounding. I anxiously alerted Elizabeth and while I was bringing her to my room, my friend Nikki came out of her room and asked if we could hear the noises too. We gathered in my room to listen to the variety of moans, wails, and general obnoxious sound-making. There was a knock on my door and it was Cat who came to inform us that the sounds were coming from two cats.

Having a very loud discussion across the street.

I've never heard such loud cats in my life. Sort of epic really. And once you got over how disturbing it sounded, it's hilarious.

Oy Vey

Arrival, Settling in, Sumo, Random:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017965&id=1230390045&l=fe935f12ae

Yabusame:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020088&id=1230390045&l=e7e5b19b1f

Night Stroll!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020137&id=1230390045&l=93ef55fb67

Performances and First Night Out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020615&id=1230390045&l=0b59e150e5

Halloween!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021650&id=1230390045&l=7d04beda4e

More Miscellaneous:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022079&id=1230390045&l=319d3e2ac2

-----

This week seems to have been epically fail-tastic, as I would say.

There is some confusion as to whether I had swine flu or not - one of the people at the International Exchange Center told me I did have it, but someone else said I had the regular kind. The one that said I had swine flu told me that I needed a doctor's note in order to attend class again. Whomp whomp.

Before my mom went to Blue Cross Blue Shield's website to find doctors that speak English, I was depending on my friend Elizabeth's dad's suggestion (he has lived here countless times). However, finding places in Japan seems to be nearly impossible (it's hard to ask for directions for me). They're not too big on street names here in Japan and there are tons of little not distinctive alleys that you could go through. Needless to say, the first time I tried finding it, I failed. It didn't help my mood that it was raining.

Second time I tried to find it, I was with Elizabeth. I printed out directions that I found on Google maps but there was another problem with that. We took the train from Shibuya to Roppongi and ended up walking back to Shibuya in our vain attempt to find this clinic. Fortunately, because I was with Elizabeth, I felt more compelled to laugh about the unfortunate situation instead of crying about it. She's incredibly good company and a great friend.

I just hope I can find one of the places my mom suggested.

I've also bought a ticket to go to Osaka to visit some friends who were exchange students at Maryland a couple years ago and some from last year. I need to confirm with my friend Ayane that I bought the right ones. I bought the tickets by myself, which I now regret, because I'm worried I may have done something wrong. I wish I understood Japanese.

But that's what I'm here to do right?
It's all very frustrating and tiring.

Oh, and it's freezing now. And raining all the time. Do. Not. Like.

A Lot Happens in Four Days...Duh

All the pictures since I've been here. I got my copious picture taking habit from my father :)

Arrival, Settling in, Sumo, Random:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017965&id=1230390045&l=fe935f12ae

Yabusame:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020088&id=1230390045&l=e7e5b19b1f

Night Stroll!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020137&id=1230390045&l=93ef55fb67

Performances and First Night Out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020615&id=1230390045&l=0b59e150e5

Halloween!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021650&id=1230390045&l=7d04beda4e

More Miscellaneous:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022079&id=1230390045&l=319d3e2ac2

---

At AGU, every year, classes are cancelled for 3 days and students end up with a five day weekend. Why? For the school festival! Full of fun, music, food...and people friendly harassing you into buying their food. I got cornered a couple times by some guys practicing their English, insisting I eat their okonomiyaki (for those who don't know what it is, it's incredibly delicious. The equivalent of a pancake, but full of spring onions, often seafood and other things - topped with a sauce made of Worcester, ketchup and mayo...I believe that's the combination. It's amazing.) or their frankfurts. My friends had to help me back them away and let me walk away.

After the festival, I made my way to Shinkiba to the concert I mentioned briefly before. The bands/singers, abingdon boys school, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, Do As Infinity, Hey Monday and Shuuhei Kita were wonderful! The venue wasn't hard to get to and once I asked some people how the process of entering worked, it was all good.

During really brief intermissions while each band or singer set up, they'd play popular anime theme songs and I was able to sing along for the most part with everyone. I was the only one who knew the song for one of my absolute favorite shows, Honey and Clover. The girls next to me were impressed. I felt good.

All the performances were positively electrifying, but abingdon boys school and HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR made my night. I'd love to see them perform again.

The next day, I was off to Shizuoka in a bus with a bunch of AGU friends to pick grapes, make noodles, and have the chance to talk with more Japanese students. I wasn't feeling so good but I really wanted to go, so I pushed myself. The grapes had a different texture and a little hard to eat, and I was too lethargic to bother with them. I only ate a few. We then had Japanese style BBQ (which is a lot like Korean I've discovered). There's a super hot plate and from my experience, you put bean sprouts and cabbage on first. And then the meat. You move them around with your chopsticks and once it's done, you take what you want and dip it in some sauce. Eat with rice. Drink some tea. Feel satisfied! :D

I was feel pretty energetic by then and after some goofing around with friends, we had to get back in the bus to go to the hotel. By the time we got to the hotel, I felt awful and I was sent to bed. Turns out I had a fever of 104 F. When the International Exchange Center's director measured it, it said 40 C which didn't really mean much to me because I'm still not used to using celsius yet. She just sucked in her teeth and stepped away.

Never a good sign.

A nurse came and checked if I had swine flu (which I don't, thankfully) by sticking some sort of probe up my nose. It hurt. She kept apologizing to me in English. We ended up doing this twice unfortunately. She gave me some medicine and I slept like the dead.

When I finally woke up and felt like moving around the hotel room, I went to the window, wiped away the condensation and to my surprise, there was Mt. Fuji! I didn't expect that at all. It instantly cheered me up.

I went home that day.

Next day, is when the quarantined business began. The dorm manager's wife told me a lot of things I didn't understand but what I do know is that I was prohibited to go to the dining room, couldn't use the shower, I had a specific toilet I was supposed to use, I had to use the alcohol spray bottle to disinfect, and I had to wear a mask if I left my room.

At least my dinner and breakfast are brought to my room.
Tonight, I've been granted permission to go back to the dining hall as I don't have a fever! Now I need to ask about all the other things....