Tales from the Other Side of the World

Thursday night Liz and I stayed up all night and packed until 5AM when we hailed a cab and took a bus to the airport. We got all checked in and through security and boarded our respective planes. My flight lasted about 12 hours, 3 of which I slept lightly. The plane ride wasn't bad. I got in about 11AM local time and was greeted by my parents and Mike and Meredith! Thanks for reading this! I hope everyone had a great time traveling vicariously and I'll see you guys around America!!!

I've included pictures other people have taken of me on my trip per my mothers request. Enjoy!


LeShawn and I at Shibuya the first day!


LeShawn, Ryan and I at Shibya the first Saturday!


Me, LeShawn, and Jameelah


Sylvia and I waiting for food before Sumo


Michael and I on a train


A lot of the group at a train station


Tamaria, Sylvia, Mariko, and I making our own yakisoba


The visual anthropology program minus Lindsey and Christine at one of the museums...with a WWII plane


Liz, Me, and Mariko as postwar Japanese children in a museum


Tamaria, Sylvia, me, and Tiricka in some gardens


Jon and I getting ready to broadcast at NHK Studios


Jonathan, me and Liz at the Pink Cow.


Me, Tiricka, Sylvia, and Tamaria at the Pink Cow


Me and Tamaria at club Pure


Tiricka, Sylvia, Haruna, me, Tamaria at club Pure


Sylvia, Haruna, me, Tamaria, Tiricka, Jonathan at club Pure.




Thanks for following me on my adventures!!!

For my last day here, LaShawn and I made a trip on the new F subway line to Ikebukuro. We had ramen at a shop there and then went to the 8th floor of Tokyo Hands to "Nekobukuro" (Cat House). There we spent over an hour play with/petting/taking pictures of the many cats. That was so awesome!!!! I took lot of pictures, so check them out. After we decided that we probably couldn't take more of the cats without stealing one to smuggle to the states, we went shopping in the pet store connected. There I bought some fun stuff for Selene (my chinchilla) back home. She'll get a present too! Then we went to Sunshine City, which is basically a huge mall. Did a bit of shopping and decided against paying to go into NamjaTown, where they had a whole lot of food and stuffs. On our way back to the station, we decided to stop by Baskin Robbins for a quick bite. Then came back to the house to pack for a bit.
At about 11PM I got hungry and went to the 24 hour noodle shop. Then continued packing and hanging out with people around here. Now I am continueing to pack and hanging out. And trying not to sleep until I get on the plane tomorrow.

Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011152&l=1e380&id=1572900150

Today was my trip to Ueno park and the Tokyo National Museum. I was sick the day that my class went there as a group. It was a really gorgeous day for it too! There was a lot going on for early afternoon on a weekday. The museum wasn't half bad, either. It was fun! Lots of cool stuff there. Check out the photos. Also, I visited a shrine there in the park.
After that I went to Akihabara and finally bought a DS and games, including a program where I can write Kanji and get definitions. And one game that's like a virtual pet. I resisted from spending my entire savings on
Then came back to the house and realized that in less than 48 hours I will be back in the US. I'm sad to be leaving here; It's been really fun. But I'm glad to be going home.

Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011134&l=9e673&id=1572900150
Check back later for captions...I'm going to sleep now.

Today I went to Meiji Jingu and walked around the park and the shrine. It was really pretty! I spent a while there. Then I did some shopping in Harajuku, and headed back to the house. It might sound like a short day, but it really wasn't. Just look at my pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011053&l=4b055&id=1572900150


Tomorrow, I'm planning my trip to Ueno and some museums stuff.

In less than 3 day I will be back in the States!!! It's really hard to believe!

Today I took a trip toward Asakusa again. spent a bit trying to find the place that was listed in my guidebook, but I finally got to the Yoshitoku doll shop. It's been doing business wince 1711! Some seriously beautiful dolls! You could get anything up to a few thousand dollars worth! Needless to say, I did buy a few things (though admittedly did not spend a thousand dollars).
Came back to the house to drop off my purchases and then Ryan and I went to dinner and then to Akihabara. We went to try and find a Kanji program for the DS but no luck. I'm going to go back there Wednesday to keep looking. Then we went to Ginza just to look around. Ginza is basically Tokyo's 5th Ave, where you can get lots of designer stuff if you're willing to dish out a load of cash! It makes for pretty pictures, though!
Then got back to the house again and chilled with people.

Pictures of my adventures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011053&l=4b055&id=1572900150

Yesterday: I worked on my paper a bit before heading off to Odaiba (near the bay) where the school had a BBQ (in Japan, that means grilling Yakisoba (noodles) and seafood primarily). The food was good and it was all you can eat until the ran out, which didn't happen. Then Sylvi, Tamaria, and I made a quick trip to Harajuku (they had to pick something up) before returning to the dorm. We then met up with Haruna in Shinjuku for a party at a bar there. Stayed out until 6AM dancing, which was fun. Got back to the dorm and went to sleep around 8:30AM this morning.

Woke back up around 1:00 and finished my paper and chilled for most of the day.


Some pictures from the past few days:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010906&l=d104a&id=1572900150

Days til I leave: 5

Last day of class was awesome! I think the presentation went really well. Other presentations were pretty interesting, some were fashion, temples, cleanliness, buildings. Now I have to write a paper for the end of the course by Monday. Shuldn't be too bad.

In a week I will be in America!

I am done with my video!!! And my powerpoint!!! All I have to do now is go to class tomorrow and hope the professor doesn't ask me a bunch of really odd questions! You can see the completed video here:
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=JYKrrDPPCrk

It's not great, but it'll do. I wish I had had more time to get some of the footage, but it's my first one, so whatcha gonna do?

That's pretty much what I did today. Tomorrow is the last day of class! Then I'm going to try and find some more fun things to do before I leave next Friday! Is that crazy or what???

Yesterday I walked down to the station in Jiyugaoka and got one interview, but for the most part people were not very willing, which I expected. Then I came back to the room and worked on my project.

Today I woke up and got to work on my project. I've been doing that all day, with brief breaks of chatting with friends here.

Some random pictures from the past few days:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010906&l=d104a&id=1572900150

Today I went into class late because Lindsey said on Friday that we would be starting late today. I walk into the room only to find out that only 1 person aside from the person I walked in with and myself was there. And apparently we needed to end by noon. So we didn't have class. Instead I went to the library and checked out some books. Then I came back to the room and worked on the photo journal due today (the last one!!). I also got the translations back from Lindsey for my project, but I'm still thinking about doing a bit more book work than originally planned, since this would also require translating the answers. Anyway, I'm going to go down to the train station tomorrow and try and talk with some people and look through magazines and the like. Hopefully I'll find something good.
At 6 I meet Kevin Zirkle at the train station again for dinner with the Zirkles! It was really good food and we played more games. This time we played a game called Chronology in which you have to guess where an event is in the timeline of events you have. It was really fun actually, even though I lost both times we played, but those are the best kind of games. Katie Kerr and Hudey would both love this, and I think Hudey should use it in his class. Then we played Beyond Balderdash! I haven't played that in forever! Kevin won and I came in 3 of 4 I think. It was still fun.

Photos I forgot to upload from last weekend:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010679&l=274b9&id=1572900150


On another net, today is Reema Samaha's birthday. She is missed, but I know she is smiling.

Yesterday I made my way to the train station and tried to interview a few people, however, the translation I had for my questions was apparently not very good. No one could understand particularly what I was asking. So I emailed Lindsey and hopefully he'll get back to me about how best to translate them.

Today I worked on my project. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm making some progress. So that's where I am with that.

Tomorrow is class, work, and dinner with the Zirkles again!

Thursday was a bit of a bummer. I had a migraine so I ended up staying inside most of the day. I did just a little bit of work, though, so not all bad.

Yesterday was awesome! We went to class at 11 and listened to Linsdey lacture for about 2 1/2 hours. Then we had time to eat and made our way to Ginza to the Kabuki theater. We saw a part of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura ("Yoshitsune adn the One Thousand Cherry Trees"). It's a popular story and started out in the puppet theatre. Tht was really fun to see all the stuff I studied last semester in Japanese Theatre in practice. We were not supposed to take pictures in the theatre, but being the rebel that I am I got several photos! The performance was rather long, and I opted to not get the English translation, which I think was not the best choice. But I understood enough of it. That ended around 6:30 and we made our way back to the house for an hour or so.
Then Tiricka, Sylvia, Tamaria, Jonathan, and I went to Shibuya to Club Pure. That's where they were having a graduation celebration for Temple University Japan students, which included an open bar 10-12 for only 2500 yen (about $25)! We were some of the first ones there and didn't really get much company until about midnight. Jon got a little sick so we left around 2, I think, went to Freshness Burger (which was okay), and caught a cab back to the dorm since the trains and busses were no longer running. Got back to the house around 3 and went to sleep!

Here are some fun pictures you should check out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010785&l=2eb13&id=1572900150

Yesterday we went into class later than usual (class started at 10AM). We watched a documentary of Japanese gardens and then we watched Mr. Baseball. That was a funny movie. For anyone who doesn't know, it's an American movie about an American baseball player who gets traded to a Japanese team and moves to Japan, where he is an ugly American until he learns a bunch of things that you're supposed to do/not do. I kind of wish I had seen it before I came for that reason. But it was rather a silly movie. After the movie finished, we got on the train and rode to Koishikawa Korakuen, and Neo-Confucian garden in Tokyo by ToKyo Dome. That was really really pretty. See the pictures I took. Then several of us rode on a really crazy roller coaster (again, see pictures)!
Then we went to the stadium and ate at California Pizza Kitchen! They had an English menu!!! The first one I think I have seen here!
Then the four of us that were together went into the stadium to try and find out seats. We had a hard time finding them so we just sat in 4 free seats. Stayed there for a while until the owners of the seats came and we had to move. We found our real seats which were a lot further up. In the end the Tokyo Giants won 2 to 1!
After the game we went back to Jiyugaoka. Sylvia, Tamaria, and I went to One Coin Bar for a few hours and a few drinks. Then I came back to the room and slept!



Gardens:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010747&l=856a5&id=1572900150
Baseball:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010752&l=5017a&id=1572900150

Today we went to campus at 11 for a lecture by Anne Allison, an anthropologist who wrote one of our textbooks. She talked about her research on Japanese toys and the global imagination and on hostess clubs. It was really interesting and she does a lot of work focusing on gender, so I asked her (and she agreed) to look at some of my work. I'm pretty excited about that. After that, I came back to the room, ate, and sent out some emails to women's groups around the area. Hopefully they will email me back soon and I can go in and interview some people. I don't really need too much information, but I haven't gotten many audio clips I can use. The rest of the evening I did laundry and a little bit of work. Tomorrow will be gardens and baseball!

Happy Birthday to the Gnomey!!!

Today was a long day. So last night, around 10:30 I was actually starting to feel kind of tired, but I made myself work until 12 midnight when I finally laid down. Of course, my body decided that it was awake at that point, so after lying there for about an hour, I gave in, got up, and did some more work. Come 3AM, I decide that it's worth another go, and it was a relative success. I did, however, have to wake up at 7AM, which left me with probably no more than 3 hours of sleep last night. Why am I telling you all about my odd sleep pattern? Well, partly to ask your pardon if this entry comes off strange, and partly to explain the reason for posting at 9PM and probably going to sleep soon after.

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So, my long day today. I got to class slightly early because I am not good at judging how long a bus ride is going to take. I was the first one there. Then 2 other people came (keep in mind about 3 of my classmates were on a trip). As 9:00 approached, Lindsey decided that we had better start class, which today consisted of a movie! It was awesome! We watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (who also wrote and directed Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Proncess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, all of which I had seen in Japanese classes before). I had read the original manga (comic book) for the movie several years ago (it was probably the only manga I've read, but I did enjoy it), but had never seen the movie...until now! It was good, and I encourage you to see it.
We watched this in preparation for the field trip we went on today to Studio Ghibli, the museum of Miyazaki's work. Before the museum we trekked through Kichijoji park, which was really beautiful (see pictures). That led us to the studio, which was pretty phenomenal! Although we were not allowed to take pictures inside, I did take some outside and on the roof. Once we were done with that I came back to the room, Liz got back, I submitted my work that was due today, and I have been resting a bit. And now I shall relax some more and sleep.

Not many pictures, but some:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010679&l=274b9&id=1572900150

Today I went over to Harajuku. That's where the "costume play" girls dress up on Sundays and hang out. It was fun. I walked down the main drag of restaurants and got a crepe (banana cocolate...good stuff) and looking in some of the shops. I was actually expecting a little more than I saw in terms of people dressed up, even though I went to the bridge where they all hang out. There were only a few groups of people. I think that some probably don't go there anymore because they don't want people taking pictures of them, as many of the people there were telling me. I did get an interview with a german girl about her view on femininity in Japan and that was good, but for the most part they didn't really want to talk with me. I may go back next week to see if I have any better luck.
Anyway, then I got back to the room and finished up some work for tomorrow. And had the room to myself since Liz and some other people are in Hakone on a trip. I could have signed up, but I think it's better this way. I can get work done and go on the trip tomorrow with class.

I stayed around Jiyugaoka today, but I went out and filmed a bunch. I got a fair amount of street filming done. I went to a noodle shop for lunch right my the train station. Later, Ryan and I had dinner at a really good Chinese place over near the station and then wandered around the area for a bit.


Things to know before coming to Japan
How to use chopsticks. They honestly are EVERYWHERE. seriously. And you don't want to constantly be asking for a fork.
They don't do doggy bags, so order what you can eat.
Eat every grain of rice in your bowl or the kami (gods) will not help you.
Take off your shoes when entering a house, especially with tatami mats, and when entering a fitting room in a store.
You will stick out like a sore thumb.
People will be really surprised if you speak any Japanese at all.
They're excited to speak English. Generally if they know any, and usually younger people do, they are excited to be able to use it to talk with you.
Yes, they are polite, but generally not approachable. It's true that Japanese people in general are very polite, but they are also very formal about it, which makes them hard to chat with.

Yesterday: rested some more and did some research. Got to feeling a bit better than I have been.

Today: Woke up and went to class where we had a lecture for about an hour before heading out to Shibuya and NHK studio (the big broadcasting network here). That was cool. It reminded me a lot of the Newseum in DC. You could be a news anchor (which I did) play with their version of a green screen (which requires no screen, but a room tha stays the same...the camera knows the background, it's awesome!), and practice dubbing. Then we got to see a slightly well known TV star come in to do a live interview (unfortunately they did not allow cameras at all and were really strict about it). It was really great! We also got to see the studios where they film. I decided to be a tech and take pictures of the lights and the guys building some of the flats. See the pictures below. Then it was back to the dorm for a good nap and some down time.



http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010588&l=b54e5&id=1572900150

I woke up this morning after getting very little sleep and couldn't swallow. I didn't go to class. I went to the doctor this afternoon and he said it is a cold. He did give me a prescription for some medicine to make it better. I also got to walk by Tokyo Tower and got some pictures, so the day was not all wasted. I then came back to the house and rested and got some research done for my project. Tomorrow I hope to get some library research done and possibly some filming.


Here are some pictures from the past week:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010588&l=b54e5&id=1572900150

Yesterday (Day 25) I spent the day doing some work and pretty much being a bum. I did go down to seven eleven and get some snacks but other than that I pretty much stayed in/around my room. This was a good thing because now I am up this morning for class (after not getting much sleep at all) and I can't swallow. Good. I'm going to make an appointment to see a doctor as soon as the office opens. ew. But I did have a good weekend at least.