TOKYO M.I.A.

Thank goodness for stationmasters.

japan. — Thu, 06 May 2010 09:06:47 +0000

As many of you know, I am quite skilled in the art of losing anything of value or importance. This weekend of course was of no exception. After hiking out in the country side (near Mitake) with my roommate and a classmate, I somehow managed to lose my apartment/room key while transferring trains at Tachikawa station, roughly one hour from my house. Upon my arrival at Yotsuya, I realized I didn’t feel the usual presence of my key in my pants’ pocket and began to panic. Not due to the 150USD replacement fee(though that was on my mind), but because these past few days it has been a national holiday known as Golden Week. During this time period everyone from Tokyo leaves and travels the countryside and the entirety of the Japanese countryside somehow ends up in Tokyo. Continuing with my string of bad luck, I could recall my landlord previously mentioning that she would not be in town for the holidays. Thus, essentially leaving me homeless due to my own mistake.

With little hope, I went to the Stationmaster’s office and attempted to explain my situation. Having been raised in the US where customer service is absolutely pathetic, I expected them to say something along the lines of ”Tough luck,” BUT….what Japan Rails did was far beyond anything I had ever expected. Once the stationmaster realized how important it was for me to find my key, he ran into the staff room and got several of the staff who were on break to come out and help aid in the search. They questioned me concerning everything from where I was coming from, what train line I rode, and what time I began/ended my commute. With this information, two of the stationmasters began using the intercom to notify each train presently operating on Chuo-sen (which extends for almost 430miles). two of the other stationmasters began calling each station between Tokyo Station and Mitake Station, a total of 38 stations. During the whole time that this is happening, I could hear each stationmaster apologizing for the disturbing their respective counterparts at the other stations and requesting this “small favor.” After roughly one hour, Tachikawa station called back to inform that my apartment key had been found below the platform on top of the train tracks.

After receiving this information, the stationmasters kindly apologized for the wait and informed me where I could pick up my key…….I was completely flabbergasted to say the least. I must have said “hontou ni arigatou gouzaimashita” 50x times and bowed a few a thousand times to express my thanks and gratitude. Never had I expected it to actually be found. While I was I was waiting in the main office, I was contemplating how to break into my own room from the balcony. Sometimes Japan…you just amaze me.

PHOTOS!

japan. — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:40:38 +0000

I know…I am a horrible person for not updating.

japan. — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:08:32 +0000

Alright guys. I know I am a bad person for not updating, but finally here it is….

—————VIRGINIA—————

Following the completion of my first semester at Sophia University, I began tossing the idea of going to VA back and forth. Initially, I decided to stay in Japan and make the most of my study abroad, but one Sunday I woke up and within a few days began my big surprise visit home (only my parents knew of my coming arrival). It was a lot of convincing most of my friends that I was still in Japan when about 2hrs later I began my series of pranks back at UVA. Most notably pie-ing most of my friends in the face or building elaborate forts out of cardboard boxes and toilet paper.

Yes. My friends probably do regret meeting me.

Of particular note, I would like to thank my best friend Willie G. who not only let me crash on his couch for 2 weeks but also brought me breakfast in bed many a times during my vacation.

—————JAPAN—————

Following my return to Japan, I immediately began planning my trip to visit my older brother who works as an English Language Instructor in Nagasaki City. After an all night clubbing adventure celebrating my return to Tokyo, I caught the first shinkansen (bullet train) of the morning and began my 8hr journey to Kyuushuu (九州), one of the four main islands of Japan. Though I was only in Nagasaki for five days Daniel really showed me a good time. I visited one of the high schools he teaches at (and met several students and co-teachers), explored the peace memorial established there and did a little hiking/bike riding.

—————SCHOOL—————

School started 2 weeks ago and here is my current course load:

Japanese Intermediate 3, Chinese Women’s History, Intro to Sociology, & Intro to International Relations

CWH and Soc seem like they will be interesting will IR is incredibly painful. The professor for that course speaks English, but is Japanese and honestly has know idea what he is talking about. I have already corrected him several times on important dates and he already has equated IR to The Matrix….I feel as though this class may just be the end of me.

—————GOALS—————

I recently have begun undertaking several new goals while in Japan:

1) Join a club at Sophia —> I presently am an active member of the Darts/Billiards Club

2) Hike a mountain at least once every two weeks —> almost every weekend I have been making it out to the country side

3) Try as many new things as I can (food, drinks, etc)

Otherwise, I am sorry this post is all jumpy and rushed but they will be better. I’ll get a lot of pictures uploaded in the coming days.

In addition check out my British friend Mike’s blog (which I sadly must admit utterly humiliates mine)

www.japanisdoomed.com

Sorry for the delay: Winter Break

japan. — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:27:55 +0000

I have just finished finals for my fall semester at Sophia, so now that I have 2.5 months of break I can update everyone on Tokyo!

——————–

Over the holiday break I was invited by my friend from High School Diplomats 2005, Madoka, to visit her family and celebrate the holidays together. I met her on Dec 29^th in Shinjuku, and surprisingly she was with another friend of mine from HSD2005, Mio. After a short reunion, and some purikura photos, Madoka and I headed to Tokyo station to catch the 8:05PM Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hachinohe. I arrived at her parents’ house around 1130PM at night and had a few drinks with her parents before going to bed as they informed me tomorrow was going to be an early day.

The next day, after a delicious breakfast (Madoka’s mother was an incredible cook) I went to her fathers’ parents’ house to help make mochi. [wiki]. While incredibly challenging to make, it was incredibly interesting to see how such a traditional aspect of Japanese culture was still practiced. Following my visit to my homestay grandparents’ house, the family and myself went to several markets and supply stores to get everything ready for Shougatsu (New Years). As the pictures s\how, the stores had a wide variety of weird seafood, along with tons of alcohol and snacks. My family ended up buying several monstrous crabs and lots of alcohol. My homestay father was excited to try drinking me (a foreigner) under the table and as a result, he purchased lots of alcohol (beer, nihonshuu, umeshuu, foreign wines, sake, etc). He also bought like 15 dried squids as they are eaten like jerky when drinking in Aomori-ken. Later that night, my mother taught me how to make nabe [wiki] for dinner and a little later we went to bed to prepare for the big day tomorrow.

On the morning of New Year’s Eve, Madoka took me to her old part time job and were her mother currently works as an administrator, the nearby retirement home. This was probably one of the most eye-opening experiences I have had since coming to Japan. Presently, Japan has one of the largest populations with the highest percent of elderly individuals (+70). In addition, it currently is the record holding nation for number of centurions. Much of my visit to the retirement home including meeting the various staff members and having very light-hearted conversation with the residents. After returning home, my homestay dad took me out for some male bonding and showed me the company that he works for, Japan Railways (JR) Aomori, and also the various trains that are used in the prefecture and how they differ from those in Tokyo. Having spent all but 2 years of his life in the same locale, he was really quite knowledgeable in telling me how the area has changed since his childhood. Eventually, we grabbed some lunch and he drove me to the ocean and we had lunch on the pier while it began to snow.

Later that evening, we began to prepare all the food we had purchased for New Years Dinner. At around 7PM we began to eat and watched Kohaku [wiki]. This show has been going on for 60 years and is meant to highlight the talent of the music industry with both modern and traditional singers and dancers of all ages. This year, due to it being the 60^th Anniversary, had both a children’s kohaku and several guest performers. Additionally, Susan Boyle was the only foreigner invited to perform. Following Kohaku, my homestay father and mother began to drink and we waited till 1AM before heading over to the local temple to draw our New Years Fortune.

The next day, Madoka’s family and myself visited her other grandmother and paid respects to her deceased grandfather’s shrine. I also was given the chance to meet her uncle and his children who were slightly awe struck by the fact that I could speak Japanese so well. Around 2PM, Madoka and I went to the local mall to shop and watch Avatar (in English with Japanese subtitles).For dinner, we had Italian food together, and promptly upon returning home, my homestay father began to drink against me as it was my last night at their home. Finally, around 2AM, we went to bed, but not without creating a fairly large collection of empty wine bottles and beer cans on the living room table.

On my last day in Aomori, Madoka and her family gave me a massive tour of the city, everything from the mountains to the ocean. It really is beautiful prefecture by comparison to Tokyo which is always grey. Nature was everywhere and kind of reminded me of the drive between my home and UVA.

I really can’t express how much I enjoyed their hospitality. In only a few days, they accepted me as a part of their family and took such good care of me. Hopefully, Madoka will be visiting next year and I can’t wait to show her around VA.

*click to see pictures!*

Winter Break

Christmas Party!

japan. — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:16:30 +0000

Last Saturday I was invited by Masuda-san, the man I met when hiking Mt. Takao, to attend his Christmas party in Hachioji. In addition to celebrating the holidays, the party’s co-theme was cultural exchange. As a result, many of the attendees had very unique backgrounds. There were 4 Americans, several Chinese and Taiwanese exchange students, a woman from the Ukraine, and a few others. Most of the attendees were in there mid 30′s and therefore brought along their children also.

As the party was planned by a Japanese woman, it was incredibly organized. Upon entering, I was given a planned schedule of all the events that were to occur in the party’s timespan, including dinner, introductions, games, gift exchanges, talent show, etc. While to many this would seem slightly cheesy, it really was a blast. I had a lot of opportunities to practice both my Japanese and Chinese and eat tons of homecooked food.

—————–

As many of the exchange students are running home for the 10-day vacation, this week has been full of holiday parties and early New Year celebrations. Below, is just an assortment of photos from my recent outings.

Yay for mom and dad!

japan. — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:08:02 +0000

It is kind of crazy to think that the holiday season has already begun and many of my friends back at UVA are finishing for the semester. I on the other hand have just passed the halfway marker of my first semester here at Sophia. My parents recently sent me a lovely care package and stealing the idea from my older brother I decided to share its wonderful contents with the world.

I live for this.Whenever I oversleep, I just slather this up on some bread and scarf it down.

no explanation needed.

I have been addicted to these ever since moving to Germany in 1998

snacks for the train ride.

Pineapple! I also was sent some dried mango, but that only lasted about 5 minutes after I opened my package.

Japanese gum is good, but the flavor is short lived...so I asked for the good stuff.

assorted junk candies.

———–

I recently began teaching several students English, so I also asked for a very useful workbook I have had ever since I started working with ESL/EFL.

voila!

Otherwise, life has been fairly uneventful due to all my studying. I am preparing for the Sophia University 5K at the Imperial Palace on Saturday, followed by a Christmas party with some people from my hiking trip at Mt. Takao. I am really excited for my upcoming adventure to Aomori. I even bought a new jacket just for the occasion.

Last week, I met up with some of the Europeans and after going to the 50yen bar we went clubbing in Roppongi were one of my friends knew the owners and bartenders. A good night to say the least.

train ride

more peeps

Cats….

japan. — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:09:27 +0000

I haven’t really gotten homesick here, except for my cats. I have decided Japanese cats are mean. I try to pet the homeless kitties in the park, but they run away…..

But there is hope, I am trying to organize an excursion to a cat cafe sometime in the next week 2 weeks. At said location, there are usually 20+ cats roaming around doing whatever and I can pet them while having a nice cup of tea.

In other news, I have planned my new years trip. While most people are trying to avoid the cold weather, I am taking it head on with a trip to Aomori-ken (青森県). My friend Madoka from HSD2005 invited me to take the nightbus with her from Tokyo (10+ hrs) and visit her family. I am really excited as New Years in Japan is typically a big family-only event.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aomori_Prefecture

Feel free to check out my destination.

———-

Otherwise this past week was pretty much same old same old. Its crazy to say that life here has become very monotonous. The 40+ minute train rides don’t even phase me anymore. To help break away from this. I decided to walk to Kichijoji on Saturday with Dmitry (the russian) just to explore the area. I saw a lot of small family restaurants I am going to try to eat at in the coming weeks and a few stores that have some Japanese children’s books that I want to buy.

On Friday, I had yakiniku tabehoudai (all you can eat grilled meat) at a restaurant I first went to in 2008 with Daniel and Jen. It was a pretty small group and let me get to know Alan (Aussie, Clemonce (French), and Phil (Canadian) a lot better. Afterwards, some of the other French people I know invited me to Le Baron de Paris (http://www.lebaron.jp/) It was the club’s 3rd birthday, so the head owners from Paris flew out for the night along with the Japanese owners. Because the people I was with had connections with bartenders and DJs we got a free table which made it pretty relaxing. Afterwards, I spent the night in Harajuku at a friends because I missed my last train.

On Saturday, I pretty much spent my day sleeping, walking, or doing Karaoke with a group of Sophia kids.

Post-Exam freedom

japan. — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:10:53 +0000

Sorry for the lack of substantial updates these last few weeks. Japanese universities only have serious workloads twice a semester, midterms and finals. Seeing as former of the two has finally

passed by the amount of free time I have has dramatically increased once again.

Mt Takao:

As many of you know, I love the outdoors. I would take countryside and mountains any day over the hustle-and-bustle of Tokyo. On the 15th, my friend Risa (USHSD2006) invited me to go hiking with some students from her English conversation club.http://tokyomia.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php Having mainly spent my time hanging out with students from Sophia University (who are almost all fluent in English), I jumped on the opportunity to meet new students and practice my Japanese.

Mt Takao (info here) is roughly 40 minutes by train from where I live (Musashi-Koganei) and despite being over an hour and a half from the center of the city, it is still considered to be within the great Tokyo-area. Although the landscape (mountains & forests) is completely different from say Shibuya or Shinjuku (skyscrapers), its still in city limits.

The hike started around 1Pm and took roughly an hour to get to the top. Along the way I talked with Andy (a 40yr old foreigner residing in Tokyo who is in the process of establishing his own NPO) and Masuda-san (an incredibly charismatic 60+ year old Japanese man). In addition, several Chinese and Taiwanese international students were present so I was able to practice my Chinese as well. :] Despite the simplicity of the day’s activities, I really had a great time practicing my Japanese and meeting such a diverse group of people. I really wish I had been given the opportunity to apply to a school outside of Tokyo where everyone is much more inclined to use Japanese when speaking to me instead of English.

British Invasion:

These past 2 weekends, I have been hanging with Mike, a British international student, and 2 of his friends who are on gap year and teaching in Japan. One of the things I enjoy about this crowd of people is how much they appreciate good company. Lots of the other exchange students, always seem to want to go somewhere flashy and hip, while this group appreciates casual drinking and conversation. This past Friday, we went to Warrior Celt, a british pub, and Tachinomi, a standing bar in Ueno. I really enjoy the pub primarily because there is no pressure to spend a lot of money there. The owners are very relaxed and so long as you buy one beer you can stay for as long as you want. A definite plus when you are on a student budget.

This past Saturday, Mike at the last minute invited me to an orchestra concert at Kinshicho to watch the Hosei University Orchestra. To no surprise, out of the 300+ people present, we were the only two foreigners. Even better was the fact that we could hear people talking about us on all sides…but little did they know we understood everything. The performance was quite amazing and for some reason made me very excited for winter this year…despite the fact that nothing Christmas-y was played.

Afterwards, we walked to Kameido (the station my older brother used to live at in 2008). I remembered the location of a darts bar my brother took me to so we decided to have a drink and just relax till we caught our respective trains home. I chit chatted with one of the hostesses and surprisingly she remembered my older brother and his roommate. When I returned home, I noticed the freshly installed christmas tree and santa in the lobby of the dorm.

Ralph and Andy (2 of the brits)

Mike

pho....<3

Mt. Fuji

Kouyou (Autumn leaves)

First train in the morning ---- all alone.

Tokyo sunset

HSD2007 peeps

HSD2005/7

street vendor

aflac commercial

japan. — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:22:28 +0000

Epic Halloween Weekend

japan. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:47:53 +0000

On Wednesday night, I decided that I wanted to go to the big Sophia-Waseda Halloween party in Roppongi on Thursday, but was in need of a costume. I went to the nearest Donki, a store that basically is like Wal-Mart, Spencers, and KB Toys combined into one single shop. This chain of stores is always cluttered, disorganized, and a total wreck. There really no way to find anything efficiently without combing the entire store looking for that one thing. At the same time though, this is a very effective way of keeping customers trapped in your stores.

Around 30 minutes after entering the store, I finally found what I was looking for: the giant pajama costumes. I scanned over the rack for a good 20 minutes before being forced to make the hardest decision of my life……did I want to be the blue carebear or the purple one.

As you can tell from my pictures, I choose the former. I quickly rushed home for the night to try to cram out 5+ pages of essay that were due on Friday, so that I could make the most use of my Thurs night

Thursday

Around 7Pm I met up with my friend Phil, a giant monstrosity of a French-Canadian, and Alex, a true Frenchman, to get a little pregame on before we headed out to Roppongi. On the train, I realized the hilariousness that was going to ensue for the next few days as I began to realize all the stares our outfits received….well maybe it was just mine due to its vibrant color as Phil was a soldier and Alex was a convict….either way it was slightly awkward.

Throughout the night, I met up with friends from Sophia (foreigners and Japanese) and then met a ton of new students from a variety of universities. Before I knew it, the first party had ended as it was now midnight and I had to figure out whether I should catch last train and head back to my dormitory or stay out all night. Upon the realization that I can only be young once, I decided to push through the night and go to the after-party event. Phil and I trudged forward into the night and made it the next club, but not without picking up some new friends.

Phil just happens to be a fluent speaker of Thai (along with French, English, and Spanish) and somehow he just picked up a ton of Thai students studying at Waseda on the way. I don’t exact remember the details of what was said but this is a pretty good summary

Thai kids: blah blah blah

Phil: Blah blah (throws in some handgestures)

Thai kids: Holy crap?!

Friday

Phil and I eventually called it a night, sometime around the point of the sunrise. I crashed on his floor for about 1.5 hrs and then unwillingly forced myself to attend 1st period classes. Normally, I would have skipped, but seeing as I had a paper due, I really had no say in the matter. I wore my costume to school as I had no other clothes at the time and made what must be the longest and most humiliating trek of my life. My smile carebear outfit completely juxtaposed my half-dead facial expression making for a good laugh for anyone who passed by. Yet oddly enough, despite it being 8am, I still was approached almost endlessly for photos.

I eventually made it to class, but don’t really remember what happened at all during the day as I was so tired. I know I slept a lot in Chinese history class, but my professor didn’t mind at all. As I have already taken several history courses on East Asia back at UVa, I kind of half everything under wraps here. I think my professor is more impressed that even when I zone out for an hour or so I can still ask extremely thought provoking and relevant questions.

I finished school around 1:30PM and promptly rushed home to collapse on both the train ride, and upon entering my room. I didn’t even make it out of my costume before following deep into sleep.

Friday Night

Phil sent me a text message inviting me to a bar in Gotanda that has really cheap beer (150 yen [buck fifty] a pint), so of course I couldn’t say no. Upon my arrival, Phil warned me about how sketchy the area is. Being Japan, I took that as a joke as people here tend to be very non-confrontational. My eyes have once again been opened. We walked to the bar only to be approached by several women who offered to “I sex you now. 5000 yen. Good deal.” and other variations spoken to us in both Japanese and English.

The bar itself was kind of like a mahjong parlor. A gray haze covered the entire room. It was noisy, dirty, and chaotic. None the less it was one of my best nights so far. Most of the people present where French, but there was 1 other American(from New York), a few Germans and an Aussie. Much of the night’s conversation involved teaching the Australian how to say bad phrases in different languages and talking about everyone’s activities the night before. A very mellow night in comparison to the night before.

I don’t really remember what I did afterwards, just lots of time killing in my dorm, but it wasn’t until around 7am when I finally decided to hit the hay.

HALLOWEEN

This day was utter madness. For 3 days my university is having a huge student organized festival which it uses to help boost recruitment into the school and basically let the students have a good time with each other. On Saturday night, the festival had its opening ceremony which I decided to attend. The events were surprisingly organized for something that was entirely student operated. I managed to get incredibly close to main stage despite the crowd and had an excellent view of all the events for the night.

The highlight of the night was two guest performances by J-pop Singer Beni Arashiro (BENI) and popper ひとりでできるもん(Hitori de dekirumon).

Following the festival, I had plans to due “Free Hugs” in Shibuya. My friend Kaz (dressed as Stitch from Lilo & Stitch) and I walked around the world’s largest intersection giving free hugs out. We were a little hesitant at first concerning the success of our campaign, but our doubt quickly vanished after the first 50 hugs. We even had extra signs to give people and have them join us. It was hilarious to see people waiting patiently to run over and get photos and hugs. I rode on my tall Australian friend’s shoulder for a while and that attracted tons of attention. Basically, the success of our event was indescribable. Pictures alone can’t even give it justice.

trying to get on Chris' shoulders

Free Hugs with DEATH

Right before we decided to leave for the night, 3 other care bears (who oddly enough happened to be foreigners studying at Sophia with me) appeared. Even better was the fact that they were missing the blue carebear in their group. I tagged along and we made our way to a bar stopping every 5 meters for a photo op with tons of Japanese people and other foreigners.

Around midnight, we decided to head to AGEHA, the largest night club in Asia. I honestly don’t even know how to describe the madness from this point onwards. By far, this ranks as my best night in Japan thus far. Around 6AM the music stopped and our group began the long commute home. At Tokyo station, we separated and I rode Chuo-sen back to my dormitory alone. I know for sure that this was a night that I will never forget. New friends, new experiences, and an incredibly positive outlook towards the rest of my time in Japan.

Michael Jackson performer

sunrise over Tokyo Bay

time to go home