A Manila Christmas

Well, I spent the week in the Philippines, it was a great time. Very different atmosphere than Tokyo, so that was nice. Warm, for one. Also, lots of poverty. It was kind of refreshing actually to be in a country again where everything isn’t so perfectly run. The driving was pretty nuts (and I got to drive once)! Lots of jeep-ne’s or however you spell it, which are like the Philippine trademark. Lots of non-functioning traffic lights (it’s awesome, sometimes it goes from green to NOTHING), and suicidal jay-walkers. I remember it was such a change, even though I knew what to expect. But Tokyo made it seem even crazier. The few gunshots I heard helped. And the little kids with guns (which I hope were fake, but who knows).
Also, it seems like most people who aren’t poor have servants, which was crazy.

One of the main highlights was all the SHOPPING. Amazing prices. I bought 7 DVDs and 4 video games for 20 dollars in one go, and then next time I bought 5 TV seasons for a dollar each. You could kind of tell that they weren’t REAL DVD sets (the random people on the covers helped, like for Ugly Betty they had some people from High School Musical, and another show they didn’t even get the main character right). But I can deal with that, it’s still a really good deal. And the movies work perfectly. So I bought a lot of souvenirs, gifts, clothing, DVDs, games, etc. Also, I got the R4 card for the DS, which is AMAZING. Never again do I have to buy a game. And they put 15 games on the card for me as I bought it, which I’m pretty sure is a service not offered many other places. Other highlights include – tour of old Manila with super energetic and gay tour guide, an amazing ballet production, Christmas mass (it was quite the anthropological experience for me, I’ve never really been to a religious ceremony, due to being a heretic), and also watching the director’s cut of the Exorcist right AFTER Christmas.
My arrival in Japan was pretty awful. Firstly, my phone completely died, so I couldn’t let my host family know where I was, so they were really worried. Secondly, The rum-ish drink that I brought from Manila which is like the strongest booze they have, broke in my suitcase and created the most RANCID ass smell. Oh god. When I got on the bus from the airport (which is like 2 hours), it had just enough time to seep into everyone elses’ bags, and also my sweater (the guy next to me looked unpleased). Then I had to take the train from Shinjuku, where people were staring at me because it smelled so bad, and then I had to take another bus to my house. A few people actually fished through their stuff and put on their surgeon masks. I was like “OH NO YOU DIDN’T.” But they did. Then I got home and broke a door.
I just fail at life today.

Photo: Kid with gun, oh snap!

Random Bits

So I’ve realized that my English is getting worse after coming here. I’m serious. I heard people warningly talk about how your English goes, but I thought they were joking! I don’t want to end up like our program director who has been in Japan for 13 years and can’t really speak either language well!
Today was a new low, though. This won’t amuse you very much if you aren’t familiar with Japanese grammar structure, but today I used the adjective-modifier-noun phrase in ENGLISH. It sounded so retarded. I was talking about how I was excited to go to the Philippines, because they speak English there, and I was like “I’m excited to see able to speak English people!” Afterwards we both kind of froze and were horrified. My friend said things, including “my hair hole is bleeding!” instead of follicle and I don’t remember what this was in reference to, but she said “I can’t do it no more.” No. No we can’t. I’ve also been told by a few people back at home that when I talk to them on Skype, I speak different. AHHH please, give me my English back, I need it! I always used to use correct grammar.

My diet is really bad here. I skipped 2nd Japanese class with a friend, and we went around Yotsuya and I got a sorbet, and a large chocolate cake that I ate by myself, and then Pringles. I was eating the sorbet while walking around, which is kind of a huge taboo here, you aren’t supposed to eat while walking or just being in a public non-restaurant place, so we were getting lots of bad looks. We agreed that this is the stupidest taboo ever, and I considered smearing the chocolate on my face and just being like “WHAT?! U GOTZ A PROBLEM?!” But I resisted.

Also, is it bad that I get elated when someone sits next to me on the bus? It just never happens, I feel almost ACCEPTED! Almost.

I sat across from a Yakuza on the train today.

It’s pretty warm now, I could wear a T-Shirt out today, which was nice, considering in America, blizzards abound.

Heading to the Philippines tomorrow at 3:30 am.

Photo: Some Kit-Kat brand condoms.

A typical morning...

Hiroshima/Miyajima

So I just got back from a CIEE weekend in Hiroshima and Miyajima. It was actually pretty fun for a lot of it, but it didn’t really feel like a weekend since I barely slept. On Friday, we got on the Shinkansen at around 5, leaving from Tokyo station, for a 4.5 hour ride into Hiroshima. The Shinkansen ride was pretty fun, we stopped off at all the major cities like Kyoto, Osaka, and Nagoya on the way. The next day, we went to various places in Hiroshima. At the A-bomb site, we got some terribly insensitive photos of people giving the peace sign and posing next to a friend who refused to smile and looked terribly serious and angry.
Then we went to the Hiroshima memorial museum, which was actually really interesting. The video they showed though was SO GRAPHIC and disturbing. I am not even usually squeamish, but they really made me gag with the videos of people’s wounds. One girl who lost an eye, they zoomed in and opened it up and it was so disturbing. I can live with never seeing that again. They also had some wax figures that were pretty freaky, with their skin melting off.Then the next day we went to Miyajima, which was very pretty. But the main highlight was the DEERS. And the monkeys. Although the deers were EVERYWHERE. And they were very friendly, I went up and pet a lot of them, and they were always just wandering the streets along with everyone else. It was awesome, all towns should be like that. Although I fear for them sometimes…As I was sitting down, I saw this one dumb bimbo with stiletto heels FEEDING one of the deer a fucking PAMPHLET. I was kind of in shock. And this wasn’t just a small pamphlet. This was a huge pamphlet. And she was standing there for about 5 minutes, giving the deer a bite and then waiting for it to swallow and then giving it again. It was kind of hilariously depressing. And she had no expression on her face, like she had no idea what she was doing. I think she was a Tokyo-ite (from how she was dressed) and probably didn’t know that pamphlets aren’t nutritious meals for animals.
After going to the top of the mountain, I saw a wild monkey, which was pretty exciting. It was very exhibitionist, too, it would just sit down and pose and scratch itself.

Message to My Parents

Uhh, this seems to be the only way that will work to send the video, so ignore this post if you are not my parents (or you can watch it, but it's not overly interesting).

Today I made a trip to Kamakura, which is nicknamed "mini-Kyoto," because it has the same traditional Japanese feeling to it. It was very beautiful, not what I'm used to seeing here in the city. I got lots of great photos of the kouyou (fall leaf colors), I saw a traditional wedding (with really interesting outfits, reminded me of Queen Amidala), and I saw a daibutsu (huge Buddha statue). I used Japanese pretty much the whole day, so by the end I felt much better and more able to speak. And I think the alcohol helped, too.

Side-story: this morning, when I got to my home train station, Mitaka, one of the two trains that runs to Shinjuku was out of service and standing still. So EVERYONE got on the same train, and it was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. It was kind of similar to this video:

NINJAS

Yesterday, I went to a Ninja themed restaurant, which was pretty sweet. The whole staff were dressed as Ninjas, and the restaurant itself was very ninja-esque. When we got there, the lady was like “I wonder where you waiter could be…?” Then this little panel was kicked out from the wall and our ninja-waiter did this acrobatics move and jumped into the room. Then he opened the door and took us on our “ninja training” as he called it, which basically consisted of walking through a ton of dark passages. It was pretty sweet though, I definitely wasn’t expecting it. There was one point where he was like “I’m going to use my ninja powers to create a bridge!” And then a bridge came down and we could cross over into the restaurant. It really was a maze, pretty guaranteed to get lost if you went to the bathroom. It looked like a dungeon, too. The menu itself was a scroll. And these two dishes that we got had swords stuck through them, and had smoke billowing out (see photo). The best was the magician though, there are some things he did that I legit don’t understand. At one point, he made me write my name on a card, and then proceeded to do all these tricks with finding that card. At one point, referring to my friend Jackie he was like “Is that your girlfriend?” “Uhh…no…” Then he turned to her and was like “Do you believe in destiny…?” Then he made her choose cards and it was always the one with my name on it. It was a tad awkward. "You two are destined to be." The food itself was really pricey and really small. My 22 dollar meal should have been like 2 dollars, it was tiny. Like maximum 8 bites.

Other than that...today, I found out I'm staying with my host family all year. My host mom sat me down and asked me what I wanted to do, and when I said I wanted to stay she jumped and shook my hand vigorously. She is made of too much adorable. I want to take her home with me.

Trains, Trains, Trains!!! Toot toot.

So I have a collection of train stories. They seem to be the best ones.

-Yesterday, someone jumped in front of my train and we subsequently stopped for 40 minutes while they cleaned up. I am SO glad I wasn't in the front of the train to witness that. God, how scarring that must be for the other people on the platform. It was funny though, at first I thought the announcer said it was because of a "Jishin" (Earthquake), but he actually said "Jinshin" (Person accident). Damn Japanese and it's words that sound exactly alike! So I went around the whole day being like "Did you guys feel the earthquake this morning?" Only to get confused looks. And then today was it pointed out to me.

-(Not exactly a train story, but a transportation story).

Remember how there’s that guy who I usually sit behind and he turns and stares at me for like 10 minutes straight? Maybe I didn't mention that. Well today I made the mistake of sitting in FRONT of him. So the whole ride, he kept whispering “Ohayoo gozaimasu” (Good Morning) right behind me. At first, I thought some crazy was just talking to himself, but eventually (and I saw this out of the corner of my eye, it was creepy as fuck) he leaned over my seat slowly and whispered in my ear “Ohayoo gozaimasu.” At that point, I wanted to be like “OK, personal bubble, it was okay when you were being creepy 5 inches away, but now you are crossing the line.” But I just pretended I didn’t notice. What’s so fascinating about us foreigners anyway?? I don't remember if I mentioned the other loon who daily commutes on the bus, who just reads from the newspaper in a constant stream of babble, and starts laughing maniacally. He must be late 20s or early 30s, but he's dressed in a little school boy uniform. I think this is probably how Japan deals with mentally retarded people. That, or send them to the Coco farm, where they will make wine and bang on gongs to scare away animals (we went there on a field trip, it was soooo lame, but worth it for all the Coco farm references that everyone makes).

-My train experience on Friday was also rather noteworthy.

I was basically the train’s bitch. People kept entering from the other side, and I just kept getting pushed up against the door more and more until I couldn’t breathe. Whenever anyone wanted more space they would just push BACK and I would feel it ALL. Ugh. I had so much pressure built behind me that when my doors finally opened at Shinjuku, I basically face planted out. I managed to maneuver myself by using my one arm that had a little 3 inch radius maneuverability to push myself back before the doors opened, and then catapulted myself out. If I hadn’t done that I most definitely would have had a complete wipe out, or maybe tripped and fell into the gap between the train and platform. I've seen it happen when the trains are really crowded.

-Also, I think it was last Thursday, someone put on the emergency breaks, so that everyone on the train just toppled on top of each other. It was already so crowded, and that did not help the situation. It was kind of funny watching all these people fall over each other though. I was lucky, I was pushed up against a wall, so I didn't go anywhere.

Thar. I hoped you enjoyed my train tales. Stay tuned!

I can't really think of much to update. A lot has been going on, but nothing particular blog-noteworthy.

But here's a little treasure. You know those girls that I mentioned before who walk ridiculously? Well, I caught one on camera while I was walking down Kichijouji. It's not the best angle, so you can't see the ridiculousness TOO clearly, but it's good enough. Here is the video:



I felt a little creepy trailing this girl and recording her feet, so the video isn't too long.

I have a four day weekend this week, which is reaaally nice. Classes are okay, I have my first essay due next week for Classical Social Theory. The non-Japanese classes are really pretty easy, just lots of reading. But I think I'm about as exhausted as I was back at Skidmore, more due to the everyday things I have to do, like commuting, etc, so it balances out.

Another list, and some updates...

Things that have started/will soon start to bother me:
-"Irrashaimasseeeeeeeeeeeeee." When you are walking on the street, or through a shopping complex, people are hired to scream this in the most obnoxious voices ever. I can't demonstrate the intonation here, obviously, but it's a really abrasive noise. The end is elongated, and goes up really high towards the cut-off.
-The Trains. I don't know how I'll do this every day. You literally can't move a limb unless you go in with it in the position you want.
-The previously mentioned inward-walking. Seriously. Walk properly.
-The printing system. And how half the printers in the school hate me. And how I have to print hundreds of pages. Skidmore professors GAVE us articles, these ones make us print them. Evil!
-Pompous Europeans at school. Contrary to your beliefs, speaking Japanese at a high level doesn't make you the coolest person ever.
-American jocks looking to get Japanese girls.
-Intensive Japanese. I just bombed a test today. It's just getting worse and worse, it's consuming my life. And the kanji we are learning is USELESS. Why do I need to be able to write the characters (or even know the words) for "Specific Gravity" and "Directional Current." I can't speak even basic Japanese!
-Moodle. WTF I hate this. It's like Skidmore's WebCT, but with a lot more retarded thrown in. And it's used for EVERY assignment.
-Confusion of R's and L's. Today in class our teacher was talking about political terminology, and she started talking about "elections." I tried very hard not to laugh.

Hm...updates. I've been very busy this past week. Most days I've gone out at like 7:30 in the morning and returned late at night, like between 8-12. It's very exhausting, but I'm glad I'm going out rather than just spending all my time between school and home. On saturday I went with the walking club on a 8 hour walk (I didn't know beforehand it would be that long), it was a lot of fun. I bought a grape kit-kat to go! I am not joking, it's the weirdest food ever, but kind of tasty in a disgusting way.

Last night I met up with Kyoko, my mom's friend from college. We met in Ginza, which is a really rich area, and it was fun just exploring. At dinner, she gave me lots of alcohol, so I got pretty drunk, and when I got home I realized that I had studied the wrong material for the next test. So I did a drunk test-study session, which was very ineffective (and subsequently I bombed it).

And in case you are wondering about the photo...it was at a Chinese restaurant I just went to with a bunch of friends. But look carefully. There are two interesting things here. Very random for a Chinese restaurant, but kind of hilarious.

General Observations

Things I have already become accustomed to seeing on the streets of Tokyo.

-The Infamous Surgeon Masks (these are everywhere now, I guess people are getting sick often. They wigged me out when I got here a bit, but now they don't phase me. I was afraid to tell anyone about my cold after the ice bar, for fear that they would force a mask on me).
-Eyepatches (Yeah, I still don't know what these are about. But I see people with white eyepatches quite often. I think it might have a similar function as the surgeon mask, but I can't be sure. Maybe pink eye)?
-Girls dressed as maids (self-explanatory)
-Umbrellas in sunlight
-Weird inward foot walking (where one's feet point inwards, the tips forming 45 degree angles while walking. It's seen to be an attractive way to walk for Japanese girls, especially young cutesy girls. But seriously, I've seen some girls who overdo it so much that they look utterly retarded).
-The guy who looks like Raiden from Mortal Kombat standing like a statue at my train station.
-I saw a guy missing 2 fingers, I think he was Yakuza.
-I saw this old guy today at Shinjuku station, who was (no joke) bent over at a 110 degree angle. His head was lower than his waist. I didn't know back problems could get that bad!

Hmm this is all I can think of now, but I'm sure there are a lot more. This is a really strange city.

I know the photo isn't overly exciting (it's of Akihabara, electronics/video game/gadget central in Tokyo/the world), but I thought the girl showcased two of the above points (maid outfits, and a mild case of inward feet - but it can get much worse than that).

Otherwise, school/life is busy. It seems like my life right now is filled with little tasks that would take 5 minutes in America, but end up taking hours upon hours here. I miss Skidmore facilities, the faculty did everything for us. Today I got lost looking for the US embassy, so that I could clear up my absentee ballot business. But no, I just happened to forget my phone and my dictionary (for the word "embassy"), so I was useless. Tomorrow I get my alien card. The rest of my time is spent on homework. I am regretting Intensive Japanese. I hope I have more time for fun in the near future.

I caught a cold at an ice bar. But it was so worth the sickness and the 30 dollars. It was freezing like crazy, but everything was made of ICE. It was so nifty. The chairs, the tables, the bar itself, the glasses. It was pretty awesome. They gave us Eskimo suits, which was sweet, too. It made the outside feel like a sauna, when it was actually pretty chilly.

On the way back, I got cornered by a hooker who wanted to massage me. That was awkward. She wouldn't let me go either, I had to pry her off me and push her away.

I also went to Akihabara - that place is amazing. It's like a gadget geek paradise. Or a video gamer paradise. I felt like a little kid in a candy store.

And I don't think anyone reads these (I gave the link to like two people). I might just switch to putting up photos on Facebook.

This past week has been pretty busy.

On Monday, we visited a disaster simulation building, which was both hilarious and fun. I think the fire simulation was the best - we were supposed to find our way out of a smoke filled office complex while our instructor watched us on numerous television screen. We didn't even realize she was watching us, until, in response to our constant laughing, her voice over the loud speaker "No speak!!" You die in real life!! The Japanese businessmen who went after us did it in like 30 seconds, with complete teamwork and concentration, it was kind of amazing.

The earthquake simulation was pretty awesome also. We had to find cover while experiencing a level 6 quake, with stuff falling down and the lights going off. We also did CPR and the shock treatment on manikins. Lastly, we watched a 3D instructional movie - naturally, like most instructional films, the dubbing and acting was god-awfully hilarious. They all had incredibly strong Japanese accent, except for this one Japanese businessman who was dubbed over with an Australian guy. And the 3D was a little excessive, and the video kept throwing things at the screen so it looked like it was coming at us.

The next day, we went to an elementary school. First, we observed the classes. Then they laid out this elaborate welcome ceremony for us with rainbow arches and speeches and everything. Then they sat us down in a row and had the children do one of the most bizarre dances I've seen in front of us. They had these weird instruments and kept doing these spider/crab like moves. Even if it was bizarre, it was incredibly well organized, I have to give those Japanese children credit for that.

Then each class was given two foreigners. The kids were so curious about us, we were like aliens to them. I couldn't understand anything the children said to me, they were very quiet and fast. But they were pretty adorable. We prepared a mini lesson for the kids, and then we ate lunch with them. Then they took us to the gym, where we proceeded to play games I didn't understand at all. One was like tournament, life-size rock-paper-scissors.

Also, classes started yesterday. It's a ton of work so far (and I've only had Japanese class homework so far). But I spent about 4-5 hours on it the first night, and we have this class for over 3 hours every day. It's really, really intensive. Ganbarimasuyo!

Almost two weeks now...

I should probably update this. I don't really know what to write about, though. I've been pretty busy (well, active at least). CIEE keeps us moving, even if it's not always the most exciting thing. But I guess that's good. I've been going around Tokyo a lot, doing lots of karaoke and the like. On Thursday, the CIEE group left for an overnight trip to Nikko, which is a small town with lots of shrines and temples, about 3 hours North of Tokyo. The weather was nice, and the area was very pretty (see photo).

Other than that, I am just waiting for classes to begin. Oh, my phone is super advanced, even though it was the cheapest one I could find. It has infrared! So if you want to exchange contact information, simple touch your phones together and it does it automatically! Lots of other nifty features, too.

Hajimete. 日本は楽しい。

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Oh god, all of my blog menus are now in Japanese. I'm in Japan! I've only been here 2 days so far, but I've been very busy with orientation, and also just exploring the city separately. It's an amazing place! I heard about how different Japanese culture was, but actually being here, it really hits you. I do love the mix of traditional and modern. Also, such a contrast to my Russian stay - everyone here is so polite (whereas in Russia, they were often pretty rude on the street). I'm not very confident in my Japanese yet, but I suspect it will get better (I just moved in with my host family today, and they speak no English at all, so I had to get over my hesitation to speak Japanese).

We've been on a few bus tours and the like so far, which I didn't really get any pictures of (because it was inside a bus, and therefore crappy). But I got to walk around some very nice streets, I'll just post a few photos.

I deleted a bunch, because the formatting was really weird. But these two are of Shibuya crossing (the most famous Tokyo area probably), and an all-purpose store.