A Gaijin in Tokyo

I figured since my last post was about football, might as well keep it themed... not really, but this post just happens to be about sports too.

Last weekend my host family's grandson came to visit and he's a huge fan of baseball, and the Seibu Lions team in particular. As I saw him walking out from the train, he toted along a backpack that was probably about half his size. I asked him what was in it and he said it was filled with things for the baseball game like noise makers, flags, etc. to cheer on his favorite team. The Lions were actually the Japan Series champs last year, and I was in Japan (but not at the game) for their victory. Anyway, I had high expectations for this game I was going to, but as hard as they tried, the Eagles beat them. Lame. Oh well, I don't really have any loyalty to any specific team, so it doesn't really matter. The baseball games are pretty much the same as in the states. I think the stadiums can get quite a bit bigger back home though. There is a band section, a visitor section, mascots (which they had 3 or 4 of...) cheerleaders and cheers, just like in America, so not much to note there. The mascots were quite hilarious though. There was a Lion (duh), but they also had a few less likely mascots. Namely a frog (or maybe a turtle?), a monkey, and a cockroach. Don't ask me. The lion was an actual mascot costume, but the other three sidekicks were those blow-up types and kind of looked like giant balloons. They each had their own "specialty" which was quite funny to see. The frog-turtle wasn't just any frog-turtle. He was a MACHO frog-turtle and his pectorals would flex in and out. The monkey had a similar talent, except with his butt cheeks, and I'm not kidding you. Finally, the coolest one, I thought, was the cockroach. He would crouch down, then do a flip on his head and jump! I mean, obviously the person inside stayed right side up the whole time, but it was still impressive to think about flipping the whole costume upside down when a person was in it.
I feel like maybe the crowds got a bit louder and more excited than a lot of people do back home, but that could have just been my imagination. It was pouring rain outside, but luckily it was a covered dome so we were able to eat our packed lunch of onigiri. My host dad and I even managed to sneak in alcohol! Woo hoo! So overall, I'm glad I got to go to a Japanese baseball game, but it's pretty much the same thing as back in the states. Dancing, half-naked girls, funny mascots who shoot t-shirts into the crowds, and sneaking your own booze in to avoid the ridiculously high costs of those vendor people.





Mascots doing a little jig




You can sort of see the "ash tray." Yeah, that thing that looks like a big blue compost bin. It was nearly full. gross.


Not the best play of the game by any means, but it was the coolest one I got on film

Can you believe it? I can, because I'm quite a lazy person. There has been so much that has happened in the past month that it would be impossible to sum up. I'm sure I will end up doing this anyway, but I'm going to try not to write a little about everything, because even that little bit on each topic would undoubtedly wind up making this single blog post a novel. Actually, I almost immediately take that back. I think that's what I will do - just talk about whatever comes to my mind. Which brings me to this: my blog sucks. irregularly updated, poor grammar, the opposite of engaging, and just misses the mark on informative, and way overshoots the boundaries of being funny. Like this, for example. Who wants to hear me blab on about how lame my blog is, which they just so happen to unfortunately be reading? After reading some other blogs about Japan, Tokyo, and even Waseda, specifically, I feel so... inadequate. All the other blogs have something to offer. Curtis Barnard and (a guy I've mentioned before) David Shackelford's blogs both have excellent photos, are much more updated than mine, and talk about things that are interesting and relevant to Japan. I just keep something similar to a junior high girl's diary, minus all the doodles of hearts and such. Although I probably would do that, if I knew how. Cameron Neale is more tech savvy than me, and probably does know how to do that, if you want to check out his blog.

So since the last time I posted, there was quite a big "event" in Japan. It's not so much of an event as it is a season, though. Millions of people all over Japan do this every year (and I totally don't have any reference for that, but I an say with 90% certainty that I'm right), and the alcohol sales during this time are probably equivalent to those in America around Thanksgiving or Christmas. 花見(hanami). Hanami means "to look at flowers" and if you're living in Japan right now, let me tell you - you better skip this paragraph right over. Hanami basically is a bunch of friends, or co-workers going to a park and sitting under the sakura trees (cherry blossoms) and having a drink or two together. Or 10. Whatever you fancy. I can't tell you the genus or species of the particular trees, but they are really pretty. The leaves don't sprout until after the flower blossoms have gone, so for a week or so, it's just the tree, its branches, and the flowers, which is quite a sight. After the week is done though, the blossoms fall, and the leaves sprout, and the festivities are done. For those of you who don't know, in Japan, the cherry blossom symbolizes a lot of different things. I think the most common of the analogies is the cherry blossom compared to life - short and beautiful, but waning and fragile. The cherry blossoms bloom into life, but only for a short while. As they start to die, they float towards the ground, very gracefully and end their life with a beautiful dance through the wind. However you want to interpret that, that's the gist of the view of cherry blossoms in Japan. Here's a few pictures of the view in Japan...



This is right outside one of the gates of Waseda


An afternoon up at the top of Toyama Park with Evie

Another view from the top of Toyama Park

Well - I'll leave it at that for now, even though there has been loads of other things happening. I'll save it for the next post, which I PROMISE will be sooner than later.

This is actually taken from an email I wrote a friend, but I didn't really want to rewrite it so I just copy pasted and edited it a little to make it to a broader audience.

So last night I spent the night at a friend's place, and I thought my host mom was upset with me for not telling her sooner. So, this morning when I listened to my voice mails, they were from my real family (who are visiting me in Japan right now) saying they were locked out of the house and had no where to sleep. I thought my host mom went crazy psycho on me and my family and intentionally locked them out of the house (there's usually a hide-a-key). I thought she was mad at me for spending the night at my friend's place and taking it out on my family and I was probably the most furious I've ever been at someone in my life. I rushed home to yell at my host mom and was planning to move out of her house because if she actually did what I thought she did, I don't know if I could ever look at her the same way, or trust her again.

On my way home, I texted her saying "why was there no key? Lydia (my 3 year old niece) had no place to stay." Anyway, when I finally got to our street, I saw her walking the dog and she said "welcome home" but I just kept walking towards the house to check on my family, only saying "good morning" really coldly.

Turns out I was wrong about everything though.

The night before, I sent a text message to my host mom saying that I needed to take a break from my family. Turns out it actually said something like "I'm taking a family break" so she thought that me and my family were going somewhere for the night, and that's why she didn't put the key out. I felt TERRIBLE. I didn't actually do or say anything really awful to my host mom besides the cold sounding "good morning" and a mean glare as I walked by, but because I was so furious at her, when I found out it was my fault, I became as humbled as I was mad and it was an awful feeling. I truly hated her when I thought she locked my family out, and when I found out it was just a misunderstanding from a fault of mine, I broke down and apologized profusely to her and my host dad. I was crying while apologizing because... I honest to god, truly hated her before I found out what actually happened, and I don't think I've ever hated a person before. It just made me feel like crap that I came to a conclusion that completely altered my view of someone, and it ended up being a simple misunderstanding. My host family didn't understand why I was crying, I don't think, but I just told them it was because I was "actually mad at her" so maybe they got it. Anyway, I guess I learned a lesson, and will try not to jump to conclusions in such an extreme way next time.

Here's an email I received through Opera. I am even leaving her email address up so spam can be sent to her, just like it was to me. But seriously... Do people actually do this sort of thing?? I'm guessing if it is a real person, she just wants to move to America, or marry a rich dude, or both. I am definitely not rich, Miss Dacia, so sorry about that one. I'll be sure and get back to you sometime though...

"Hello
My name is miss Daciaa young beautiful never married girl i saw your profile today and became intrested in you,i will also like to know you more,and i want you to send an email to my email address so i can give you my picture, Here is my email address ;(dacia4042@yahoo.com) I believe we can move from here! I am waiting for your mail to my email address above. (Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life)
Miss.Dacia"

So I realized I hadn't updated people on things I've actually been doing, so much as things I've been thinking, or other stupid things like "Dog Wiz." That being said, here's a little update!

It's spring break right now, which is a whopping 2 months long! It's great. I had a 3 month long summer vacation right before a got here, then since I've been here there was winter break which was a week (or two, I've already forgotten). Now, a glorious 2 months of freedom in Tokyo. It may come as a surprise to you, but you know how you sometimes get bored during vacations at home? Same thing goes for Tokyo. I usually find myself sitting at my computer all day long looking outside my window at the sunshine, which is a pity, I know. It's hard to get people together here in Japan, especially Japanese friends. I was told (and have found it to be true) that Japanese people are very... I can't think of the word right now, so let me explain it. If you don't make a PLAN at least a week ahead of time, it's very difficult to hang out with people here. There is no such thing as a last minute plan here. It seems so "organized" that sometimes it makes me crazy. This organization, or.. systematic way of doing things spans further than just hanging out, too. In every aspect of life here, it seems there is a cut and dry way of doing anything, whether it be the fine art of calligraphy, focusing on every minute detail such as the way you hold your brush, the way you sit, the pressure you apply to the paper from the brush, and as always with kanji, the stroke order... all the way to the way a convenience store clerk bags your purchased items. Really, you'd be surprised to see how much care a clerk handles anything you buy, even if it's simply a pack of gum, they will take it with both hands, place it gently in the bag, and carefully put the bag's handles together and place a piece of tape to close the bag, then hand it to you in a very humble fashion, even before they take the 95 yen. It's amazing, really. Before you get the wrong idea that all Japanese are so "square," there is a rebellious side of the Japanese. On the trains, you are supposed to turn off your cell phones when near the priority seats (for the handicapped, disabled, pregnant, and elderly) but no one does that. Way to stick it to the man, Japan. ANYWAY... There's a little observational tidbit for you, now let me get to my recent escapades!

I just got back from Osaka! I had a great time there, staying with my Japanese friend Shinobu that I made back home in Portland. I was the first gaijin ever to stay at their home, so hopefully I made a good impression for us all I took a highway bus there which was scheduled to arrive at 7:45 in the morning, departing from Tokyo at 10:50 pm the night before. UGH, long bus ride. Thankfully, the bus arrived early and I got into Osaka around 6:30. Because my friend was still sleeping, expecting me to arrive over an hour later, I made my way to her house on my own, to which I received praise for by everyone. "You're so kashikoi!" is what I heard from everyone. I always took the compliment (which means clever/smart) in a very Japanese fashion, looking down and humbly saying, "no, no." That, along with bowing and apologizing profusely for anything someone does for me, I think will be something I unconsciously take back home with me, which will definitely make me look weird for at least the first week or two. Sorry in advance if I bow and say sorry to you when you do me a favor.

The first night I went to karaoke with Shinobu, her family, and about 10-15 of their friends. They threw quite the party for me, and I was a bit flabbergasted. Shinobu's dad labored away in the kitchen all day making the food for the party, and it was great! Everyone at the party kept encouraging me to sing karaoke, which I had never done before. I am actually quite shy about my voice, even if I do frequently burst into song around my friends. It's just being put on the spot, I think. Anyway, I kept refusing, but in the end, I thought that it would be rude of me if I didn't at least try one song. After all, the party was for me, and everyone paid so much attention to me, I thought I should try. I went up with Shinobu and a bunch of her friends near the end of the night to sing the "Totoro" theme song, to which I only knew the chorus which was just saying "totoro" over and over again. I did my best, sang horribly off pitch, and smiled alot. Everyone applauded the mediocre-poor, border lining horrendous performance, and a good time was had by everyone. I made a friend that night, too. A man in his late fifties named Mr. Kuwabara, who was rather handsome if I might say so myself. He said everyone told him he had a cunning resemblance to Brad Pitt, which I didn't see but I told him he was even more handsome. I continued to tell everyone that Brad Pitt was actually my man crush (which is not a lie) and then explained what a "man crush" was to everyone. Someone then said "I think you are Mr. Kuwabara's man crush" which could have very well been true. The man loved me. He gave an invite to me to go bowling and to sushi with him the next day, which I accepted. Had a great time there, too. The slogan was "Let's bowling" and that's exactly what I did. I bowled my heart out, and got 155 or something like that. I thought it bad etiquette to beat the man who invited me, but figured he wasn't going to be my boss or anything, so convinced myself not to worry about it too much.

To sum up the next few days, I went to Osaka castle, which was completely gutted and restored as a museum on the inside. I went to a bunch of awesome restaurants with Shinobu and her friends, who always refused when I begged them to let me help pay. Osaka is famous for their food, especially Okonomiyaki, and Takoyaki. I also got the chance to spend a day at Universal Studios Osaka and had a blast. After causing a ruckus in Osaka, we went to Shiga prefecture where Biwako lake is located, the biggest lake in Japan. Doesn't compare in size to say, Lake Michigan, but it was still pretty impressive and the water was really beautiful and clear. It's said that if you visit the lake, you'll become smarter. Hopefully the rumor is true, cause I'll need it for next term. We went back to Osaka the night I had to leave, and went to a great bar where the bar tender gave me his meishi, or business card, and told me to come back anytime. It was really relaxed and laid back - there was only one other woman in the bar but apparently it's usually really busy. Sunday night just isn't prime time for bars, I suppose. As a last hoorah, we went to a really good takoyaki restaurant (I hadn't had the chance to eat it yet) and enjoyed a glass of Jack Daniel's to compliment the takoyaki covered in a generous amount of chopped green onions to top them. It was awesome. We then navigated to the bus garage and I set off on my 8 hour trip back home.

Well, that sums up my trip. Can't thank Shinobu, her family and her friends enough for all of their hospitality and kindness to me. They all definitely made my Osaka experience a great one. The people there are so much more friendly and warm than most people here in Tokyo, and it was a breath of fresh air from it all. It's definitely a place I want to go back, and would recommend it to anyone. One of Shinobu's friends even told me they'd help get me a job at the famous bathroom fixture company TOTO, which I might just take her up on, who knows... maybe one day I'll be selling you the top-of-the-line, shiniest and newest talking toilet or something, in the near future

PS - I'm gonna make a Flickr account to post all my pictures so I don't have to keep posting facebook links. It'll make it easier for everyone, so I'll let you know when that's finished!

Here's Mr Kuwabara looking ravishingly handsome. He later corrected himself saying people don't think he looks like Brad Pitt, but Leonardo Decaprio. I actually see it a little..