Travels in Tokyo

ナットわおいしい？？？はい！はい！

2009-07-14T08:15:00.007+09:00

私わ朝ナットをたべます！　ナット輪とてもおいしい！

So 'natto' (ナット）is a traditional Japanese side dish, usually eaten over rice. Its fermented soybeans, but as you can see from the photo, the texture of the fermented beans is that of stringy goo. I tried it at the beginning of my trip, and wretched, but its just so damn healthy! Since I'm a vegetarian in a very un-veggie diet friendly place, I sometimes worry about different sources of protein. natto is the answer to that fear. The beans are pure protein, and the dish is probably one of the most nutritious things I could eat.

Once I got over the snotty texture of the dish, I actually ended up liking it. This morning I put some mustard and some other sauce that it came with on the beans and this gave it some real flavor. If you find any ナット in Canada, I urge you to be adventurous and give it a shot! Its pretty strange at first, but it grows on you and like I've ranted- its pure health in a dish.

Enjoy!

Kamakura

2009-07-14T00:48:00.008+09:00

This Temple is in Kamakura, its called the Hasedera Temple. My three friends and I, Naomi, Yuko and Ayano hiked up a pretty big hill to get to the top, but once we got there we weren't disappointed with the view.

This is taken from someplace near the top of the mountain we were on. The temple (last image) is a bit below where we were when this picture was taken. The water and roof tops looked so tropical to me, sometimes I forget that Japan is an island! Its hard to think of it in those terms when you're living in the middle of Tokyo! All three of us just stood there mesmerized by the view. It was a hot, sunny day but in the forest is was cool.

These two shots are of the surrounding garden. Most large/popular temples have ridiculously manicured gardens around them, and this temple was no exception. They are absolutely beautiful, but a part of me doesn't really like them that much. They are so fake and man made. Even the ponds are made... It takes away from the effect I think. Maybe I just love natural Canadian forests

So this is clearly what made Kamakura so famous. This Buddha statue is absolutely massive. Its at the Kotokuin Temple, and this fella is called "the Great Buddha Daibutsu". It was crazy to think that this nation identifies with being Buddhist, but I have yet to meet a practicing Buddhist Japanese. They only practice Buddhist traditions around funerals here. Buddhism has lost a lot of its authority in Japan.

I think that's why I really liked visiting the Great Buddha. It was such a religious symbol of course, but it was also really historic. I liked how so many families, Japanese or otherwise, were visiting, eagerly snapping photos. I thought it brought people together nicely.

I could also go inside the Buddha itself. The statue is hollow, and the head was replaced not too long ago when an earthquake shook it off. The Buddha's head is so large for its body they have to make all these extra reinforcements from the inside to support the new one. It was pretty cool being inside; actually I should say that it was stifling hot. Since the sun was beating down on the statue, it absorbed all the heat and trapped it inside, when you touched the walls they were actually hot from the inside. I couldn't stay inside very long on account of a million other people and the heat. But it was pretty cool.

Inokashira Park

2009-07-13T01:16:00.005+09:00

Inokashira is a park near the Ghibli Museum. Naomi and I were planning on going to the Ghibli, but with ticket confusion and homework mounting, we ended up wandering around the park instead.

If I was looking for Japanese hippies, I would have to go no further than here. Right on a lake, Inokashira Park was in a forest outside of Mitaka. It was beautiful, and the vibes of this place were awesome. It felt almost Canadian! People were practicing hula and juggling, people were playing bongos, old men were reading stories to a small crowd of kids gathered around them, and couples rented little row boats to paddle around in the sun together.

People were selling their artwork, jewelry, kaitai charms and more. I had the best ice cream ever (Creme Brule, drool) and sat around in the sun enjoying the park. It was a great Sunday afternoon.

They played La Cucarocha and I almost died. Best musical group ever.

This was a super awesome little trio. They obviously made their instruments (except for the banjo). The woman was playing a washboard with some bells attached to it with spoons. The man beside her was playing a stand up base substitute which was a large bucket with a string and stick on it. Pretty original.

Bikes

2009-07-13T01:05:00.003+09:00

Bike Cage in Kamata. Hundreds.

Everybody and their mother's rides a bike in Japan. I love it, but at the same time I hate dodging those suckers when someone comes screaming around a corner at me.
I have become obsessed with photographing them.

Bike, empty lot and house in Inokashira

Bikes, in Inokashira Park.

Things I Have Learned

2009-07-13T00:53:00.004+09:00

This is where the Vietnamese Embassy is located. Its in a place called Motoyoyogi, near Yoyogi-koen station. I was lost for a bit trying to find the place, but using my newfound Japanese skills I was able to piece together directions. Walking around was beautiful though.

Japan has taught me so much about culture differences. I had no idea what to expect when I stepped off the plane, but I know that never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a place like this.

Japan is an extremely strict culture. Bowing is a must, hugging is weird. I learned this when I hugged one of my new Japanese friends. She stepped on my foot, and both our faces turned the same way. We awkwardly hugged with our cheeks pressed together. I will never try that again.

While Japan is strict, there are some strange exceptions to this type of social discipline. For example, people can walk around in public (sidewalks, parks, subways, trains... anywhere) drinking a beer or a yummy chu-hai (this is kind of like a cooler, but definitely sneaks up on you!). I could not get over this. It felt so strange to be walking around bustling Shibuya with open liquor. Its going to suck getting back to Canada! haha

Being caucasin is a blessing and a curse. I can play the dumb "gaigin" card and get away with plenty of stuff. Most of the time I legitimately have no idea what is going on, but sometimes I can pretend... and get out of some pretty sticky Japanese situations (example: I'm a couple yen short of train fare, so I run through the Gate. When I walk back into the station next, I obviously can't use my card to get on the train. So I go to the gate supervisors and explain that I am confused. They usually don't even bother trying to explain to me, and just let me into the station, getting rid of the money I owe on my card.. muahaha.) Sometimes its not so good though. For example, its really hot in Japan right now. Humidity is stifling and the heat is unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Naturally I want to wear a tank top and shorts- but this is pretty faux-pas. Showing skin draws some pretty questionable attention, so instead a sleeved t-shirt and capris it is. Even though its about 30 degrees here, everyone wears pants and a jacket. I just can't believe it.

Eating in public is not a good idea. While it is not illegal or anything, its just taboo and disrespectful. I guess this is another instance where I play the oblivious tourist card... When a girl's got to eat, shes got to eat.

Brown Rice

2009-07-13T00:27:00.009+09:00

FOOD:

My friend Allison introduced me to some of her friends- Ryoko and MK and we all headed down to Harajuku for dinner together. Allison is a vegitarian, so her and I have bonded over the pathetic amount of meat free food they offer here in Tokyo.
Her friends discovered this place online, and told her about it since it offers meat free meals and she invited me along.
The place was right downtown Harajuku, on one of the famous side streets which wind around and lead you along residential buildings cozied up to shops and clothing stores.

See the clothing store right next to a house? its crazy!

I was pretty hungry by the time we got to Brown Rice, and super excited since Allison has proved to have awesome taste in food.

I ordered the bean curry, which had kidney beans in it! man I miss those. The rice was delicious and so was the side salad of seaweed.
This was my meal! It was pretty tiny, but holy hell was it filling.

We ordered a soup to share between us all. When it came we were all so excited! It was brimming with potato chunks, CHICK PEAS and corrot pits, a real nice stew. When we were eating is was completely silent... we were all obviously enjoying the food
yummy soup. allison i owe you one.

So if you know me at all you know that I obviously caved and bought a desert too. I ordered a peacan and cranberry (spelled "cramberry") tart. When it arrived we all couldn't help but laugh at little since it was about the size of a toonie. haha I guess thats what you get for 300 yen!

my tiny little tart.

It was such a great meal. I walked away so full I felt like I would have to nap on the train ride home. I love Harajuku, I love the people I've met here.

Baseball

2009-06-28T21:12:00.003+09:00

Keio played their rivals Wasaeda in baseball. I went with some friends from my dorm.
When we got there, underneath the stadium was filed with people, they weren't letting people in to sit until an exact time. Needless to say everyone was humming with excitement and cheering. School sprit swept over and I was attempting cheers in Japanese alongside hundreds of other dedicated Keio fans.
The cheerleaders performed well, coaxing the crowd into shouting and cheering. Wasaeda had a way better crowd, they perfected the wave, and made a massive "W" with towels they held up to the sky.
Wasaeda won, and it rained pretty hard. It was fun running home through downpours.

photo

2009-06-28T20:39:00.008+09:00

this is rare. an empty train? i was on the takasaki line out to Gunma around 9 pm.

Rice Paddies in Gunma

Rosie's apartment

these fish expected a lot from me.
grooming in the Karuizama Park
The English Rose GardenVegetables+fruit

Rain

2009-06-28T20:38:00.000+09:00

The rain season is not exactly a small sprinkle here in Tokyo. Instead sky-high humidity levels and heavy rainfall contributes to an overall soaking wet Japan for the better part of June and July. Last year, according to Japan’s Statistic Bureau, in the month of June only 120 hours of sunshine were recorded, making for a pretty dark and dreary rain season. Immigrants in Japan are of course aware of the seasonal spike, but seem to know little beyond “it rains”. Fred Dubois, a burly French Canadian thought that the weather we are experiencing now in late May and early June was the rain season. His booming voice sounded pretty confident that he could handle the rain season, and thought his Japanese friends had talked it up as a joke. He said, “I kind of like the rain, not one month of rain, but right now I’m pretty neutral.” After being read the former statistic however, his reaction was “oh… shit, I had no idea! I thought this was the rain season!”

Nijo-jo Castle

2009-05-15T20:23:00.004+09:00

When I was in Kyoto, I visited a Palace called Nijo-jo. Of all the things I saw in Kyoto, this was by far my favorite. It was originally built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu. It was completed in 1626 by the third Tokugawa Shogun. Its a clear example of traditional Edo period style building design, with lavish paintings and carvings everywhere. Its a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and when I went there I understood what all the whooplaw was about.

Complete with a large scale garden in shoin zukuri stype, in the center of the pond stands one large isand- the island of eternal happiness. My favorite part about Nijo-jo had to be the wall paintings. Photography is prohibitted inside, but I snuck a shot to illustrate how ornate everything was inside.

There are over 3,000 paintings in the building, including works fom the Meiji Period. Of the total, 954 were designated as Important Cultural Properties in 1982. The walls are all painted gold, and elaborate tigers fight on the walls set against beutiful landscapes of mountain peaks and cherry blossom flowers.

Another cool aspect of the Palace is that the floors are built intentionally to squeak and groan. They are called "Mockingbird Floors" and were used to let the Tokugawan Shogun know when people where walking about his crib.

Kyoto

2009-05-15T20:13:00.005+09:00

Last week was a holiday for students and business men alike in Japan. It's called Golden Week, and it really is a little golden ray of sunshine in anyone's schedule.

I decided to head down to Kyoto, a World Heritage Site, and home to most of Japan's most famous temples and art.

I took the night bus to save money, which I did, but the ride sucked. It was 6 hours in total and I couldn't sleep since I was fighting against the AC pumping right next to me and the lights on overhead.

Once I got to Kyoto though, I had forgotten all about the bus trip. It was only about 7 in the morning and we weren't able to check into our hotel till about 11. I found a park and lay down. sleeeppp finally.

I visited tons of temples and art galleries, and I saw plenty of Geisha and Maiako while I was there. Its like all of the stereotypes of Japan are alive and kicking in Kyoto. Its kind of strange though since it feels so manufactured and manicured. The forests are all beautiful and the temples are great, but every corner you round there is a booth set up selling kaitai charms (cell phone charms) or post cards. I thought it was hilarious when I saw a man sweeping, with a broom, the forest floor to keep it clean. While it was beautiful at the temples, I could plainly see how much work went into preserving and capitalizing off of these places. Don't get me wrong, I loved it- I was totally a tourist walking around in awe, but I was also very aware of how much this city depended on its tourists to come and see their National Heritage Destination.

Pictured above is The Golden Temple. I loved it.

Morning Trains...

2009-05-15T20:02:00.003+09:00

morning train to school:

This I was running late when I woke up in the morning. I'm usually pretty good about getting up and down for breakfast, even if I don't have a morning class that day, but on Monday I slept in.

After running frantically down the stairs and out the door, I was soon shuffling from my dorm to the station. This walk usually takes 15 minutes, and I pass a whole bunch of residential buildings, a small grocery store called Maruetsu, the answer to all my chocolate cravings, and many a hair salon. The walk is usually a nice way to wake up, the city streets are so alive at 8 in the morning, you can't help but emerge from sleep when walking over a bridge covering streams which have little turtles in them! its great. Plus you have to dodge all of the cyclists, so if you were half asleep you run the risk of getting plowed over.

Speaking of getting plowed over, the station at 8 in the morning is a world unto itself, complete with its own "every man for himself" mentality and set of rules. Businessmen, students, kids, women on their way to work, everyone catches this morning train. The stations are absolutely packed.

Today I realized that there are actually people hired by the JR called "pushers". These men do exactly as their name suggests. When the train is packed to the rims, the pushers shove people back and push more people on. Once those people are on, the pusher does it again, pushing people in so the doors can slide over their bodies and seal it up.

Everyone on the train is miserable in the morning. Its hot here, its humid here, most of everyone is wearing a suit and are physically sweating drops right next to your own face on account of them being so close. I could smell what people had for breakfast, coffee, tea, egg... you catch my drift. Its like all the disgusting aspects of people come out. Plus people can be assholes when they are just another business exec in a crowd.

Needless to say I made it to class on time. I usually just close my eyes and wait for the announcement "sugi wa Tamachi, Tamachi desu". Sweet relief. Now I somehow have to wiggle my way out of here...

Mochi

2009-05-02T19:01:00.003+09:00

its the best thing i've ever eaten.

Its pulverized rice, which turns into a kind of really thick paste, and then inside of these delectable little balls they put different things. My favorite is the red bean paste, which is exactly what it sounds like. mushed up red beans sweetened, its really tasty. After all of that they are rolled in what i assume is icing sugar. yummmmm

My favorite part about mochi, besides saying the word itself, is when you find an entire red bean inside.

I looked around, and I know that you can also get these in Canada. Go forth! find mochi, eat it. its really yummy.
(p.s. for all you anime fans out there, this is what Sen eats when she is sad in Spirited Away. it makes her feel better. and its the truth, they really do!)

Gunma!

2009-05-01T00:40:00.005+09:00

My friend Rosie is in Japan, teaching English to native Japanese people in a program called JET. I felt really comforted knowing that I knew at least one person in the country before coming here, even though she was a good two hours away from me once all is said and done.

When I got to Gunma, Rosie walked me to her car and we drove a bit further to her prefecture called Annaka. The difference between Annaka and the Japan I had been seeing was immense, I could hardly believe it was the same place. In Tokyo, I'm used to bustling crowds everywhere, signs and tissue packages being pushed at me and shuffling along streets full of shops. In Annaka I was exposed to blossoming rice paddies (do they blossom?) and forests. Rosie lived right beside Mount Myogi!
This is the view from her apartment!

We climbed a section of the Myogi-san, and I was surprised to see elderly Japanese people up there! They were decked out to the nines in hiking gear; hiking sticks, bear bells, hats, reflective tarps, gators and hats with scarves to cover their necks. Its funny because Mount Myogi is too small to do anything more than a day hike, so they were probably only up there for a couple of hours!

Myogi had Stone Arches called gates carved into it, leaving the huge rock peaks hollow. I am pretty sure that they were engineered gates, but they were beautiful.

We hiked for a couple hours then went back to Annaka. On the way out for Soba (the best noodles ever!) Rosie and I stopped for an Onsen! It was my frist time at a public bath, and at first I was more than a little shy. However in ten minutes I was having the most relaxing hot tub outside looking over the mountains in the foreground. It was an amazing trip.

Garbage Bins, where are they!?

2009-05-01T00:35:00.003+09:00

One of the weirdest things about Japan so far is the lack of garbage bins.

In Canada, wherever you go, you are surrounded by garbage and recycling bins. This ensures that people don't littler, it encourages proper disposal of waste etc. Plus, once you have a gum wrapper, a useless flyer or something of the sort, all you want to do is get rid of it and stop carrying it around.

In Japan, there are no garbage bins. Not on the street, not in the library, not on campus, not in train stations etc. I mean, you can find one if you really look, you might have to hold on to an old pop can for twenty minutes before you can find the right garbage bin for it. At the library today, I had to change floors to throw away a scrap piece of paper!

It goes against the rumors of efficiency... don't you think? at least the Japanese have a really advanced (and confusing) recycling procedure. You have to divide your garbage into approximately 5 different things where I live: burnables, recyclable paper and cardboard, garbage with food on it, garbage without food on it, bottles, plastic and glass... there are probably more but I am unaware of them.

school.

2009-04-21T00:37:00.002+09:00

so my classes so far seem to be going well. I'm into my third week at Keio and have found the academic transition to be far more agreeable than the culture transition. The classrooms are mostly very nice, my profs seem very educated and eager to teach exchange students in tandem with the local Japanese students and I picked courses that genuinely interest me.

I'm taking nine courses (I decided to not take the extra Japanese class), and am conducting an "Independent Study" while I am here too. The independent study is hopefully going to be really awesome- I basically get to read books I want to, write some reports and comparative essays and hopefully get a credit that will transfer over at Queen's.

While I'm a bit worried about the Japanese class I am taking (we have weekly tests), my other courses seem like they will be at a very steady pace, and I don't see myself getting stressed out about much in terms of school. All the readings are pretty short because the profs have to consider that some students will be reading in their second language and may not realistically be able to read 60-100 pages in a week. Its nice because I get the chance to really look at a piece of work, and try to pick apart more and pay attention to the smaller details.

I think that my favorite class would have to be 20th century Japanese and Western Short Fiction, or Literature as History with a special focus on colonialism. I feel like I have a strong background for the colonial class and can contribute a lot to in-class discussion, and the 20th century short fiction class is really interesting. Comparing the two different styles is revealing plenty about cultural differences.

Anyways, class has started. I'm surviving and liking them. Sooo, so far so good.

Ice Cream

2009-04-20T14:20:00.003+09:00

Okay, so I HAD to do a post on Ice Cream.

Obviously I love the stuff, and am pretty adventurous when it comes to flavours- or so I thought!
I went to Asakusa this past weekend to check out another temple when I stumbled across an ice cream booth. I was hungry and wanted something sweet (what else is new..) and died when I read the labels of the ice cream flavours. There was "Soybean Paste", "Tea", "Milk", "Sakura" (which is the name of the famous pink flowers that bloom here), "PUMPKIN"!!!! "Sweet Potatoe"... you catch my drift. I was amazed, and now faced with the perdicament of what flavour to choose! I ended up going with Pumpkin, and Tea, an odd combination, but on their own they tasted great. The pumpkin was literally pumkin flavour, not sweetened, but tasted exactally like what you pull our of pumpkins when carving them for halloween, I loved it.

Harajuku

2009-04-20T13:48:00.009+09:00

After a long time of day dreaming about going to Harajuku, I finally decided to go and check out what all the fuss was about. My friend Riccardo and I met up in the busy Harajuku station two weekends ago to explore the fashion district of Tokyo together.

When I got off the train, I couldn't tell I was in the famous Harajuku district though- the station was pretty shabby in comparison to places like Shibyua, Shinjuku, even my little station Kamata! I was pretty surprised by this. When I finally found Riccardo (westerners stand out here...) we decided to check out a near by Meiji Temple. It was so bizarre how the city was right beside us, but we found ourselves in the forest, surrounded by nothing but beautiful trees and amazing temples.

This is an example of the walk through the woods to the temple. It was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining through the trees and lit up the entire place this brilliant bright green. I felt almost like I was back home in British Columbia! It was amazing. Riccardo thought it was funny that I was more impressed by the forest than the temple itself- but I can't help but get the feeling like once you've seen a couple temples, they all start to become one and the same. I have got to say that the Meiji Temple was beautiful, and I was lucky enough to watch a marriage being held while I was there. The bride was stunning, and dressed obviously in Traditional Japanese Wedding attire, huge head dress and all.

With their heads bowed, slowly walking through the temple grounds, I realized that the difference between West and East cultures is pretty amazingly huge. Weddings are always a celebration, and it was clearly a celebration in Japan, but it was so solemn and serious. The bride was not smiling at all, instead she looked about ready to cry under her gorgeous veil. Although I haven't been to many weddings anyways, I get the feeling that a western wedding is more of a giant party. People laughing and dancing, music playing as the bride glides down the isle. It was very different here to say the least.

This is a shot of the temple, and some geisha I saw in Harajuku!

It was amazing.

Now for the fashion of Harajuku!

I went back later on that weekend with Naomi, to spend some more time in the city part of Harajuku. I wanted to know where Gwen Stefani got all her inspiration from! Walking down the streets I was not surprised that a westerner like Stefani would be delighted at the style here. The girls wore freaking CRAZY outfits, ranging from Little Bo Peep, to hard core punks with boots like you wouldn't believe and face masks with drawn on sad mouths. I wandered around with my mouth hanging open, trying not to stand out as much as I knew I was.
While you're not supposed to take photos of the clothes in the stores, I could not resist when I saw this line up of outfits. I was trying to picture the reaction my mother would have to something like this and was uncontrollably laughing with Naomi as we picked out which outfit we would for sure go out clubbing in (sarcasm insert here...). After I snapped the shot however I thought that it might be a good idea to head out, I was worried the store owner would be upset if he caught me and I didn't want to cause a scene. We left and continued down along one of the most packed streets I have ever laid eyes on. (Pictured to the right) I felt so overwhelmed at all the people, all the colours, designs and noise. But it was amazing. Naomi and I got an ice cream at "Mac-u-don-al-u-do's" and continued to wander down the street in awe.

After finishing up there, we found a place called "Kiddie Land" and decided to check it out. It was an entire building (at least 6 floors) dedicated to toys and different themes ranging from Hello Kitty to Snoopy to random stuffed animals to Miyazaki. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! They had everything you could ever imagine as a child; cool T Shirts, awesome headphones, Ipod covers with various themes, stuffed animals in every inch of the place and toys and toys in between. It was amazing. they have this popular animation here which is basically any type of bean cartooned with a smiley face on it. They had life sized stuffed animals of these beans and I thought that they were pretty cute. Everything was brightly coloured, making little noises and there were impressed kids all around me. I loved it.

I hope to go back to Harajuku again soon to explore a little more of the district. I feel like it has so much to offer and I know that two trips will not cover even half of it. I can't wait to see it again- who knows, maybe I'll come back with crazy style after all the exposure here.

Dinner With the Maeda'a

2009-04-20T13:33:00.002+09:00

During my flight over to Tokyo, fate favoured me and I sat next to one of my high school administrators. He put me in touch with a family whom had gone to Brentwood, and whom he said would be more than willing to meet me and show me a good time.

After much correspondence with the family- the Maeda's, I met up with them in the central, business sector of Tokyo. We went to a hotel, the Grand Arc Hazomon and ducked downstairs to our very own private room with two sushi chefs just for us. I was a little nervous to try all the raw fish, as many of you know I've been a strict vegitarian for a while now and bringing fish back into my diet was a special exception made for Japan. I figure there is no time like the present, and no way I'm ever going to eat sushi like the sushi I'm going to eat here!

The starter was raw octopus, with its little suction cups still on the legs of it! I was kind of freaking out, but popped it into my mouth with a big smile on, not wanting to be rude. To my surprise I actually liked it! While the texture took a while to get used to, the flavour was nice and strong, (marinated with tariaki and ginger).

Next came rounds of sashimi (raw fish) served over rice, traditional sushi. They only serve one or two pieces of each type of sushi here, to make sure that guests are able to try each style before getting full. I hoovered down raw fish after raw fish, raw squid (my stomach did a back flip when I realized what I had just ate! I didn't ask questions, I just ate everything I could!). The different flavours, the textures, everything was a new experience. I really like the raw tuna, and was proud of myself for trying the raw salmon eggs. The eggs were really strange, they kind of popped in your mouth when you bit down on them, exploding everywhere and coating your mouth with a strong fish flavour. Interesting...

I had some warmed Saki, and some beers while I was eating and had great conversation with one of the sons who had come along to dinner with us, Shinsuke. His friend, Yusuke came along, and we had a great time over dinner while they explained to me what I was eating. They thought my reactions were hilarious, and they probably were.

Afterwards they took me out to another hotel to the 14th floor to have a cocktail. With the entire city scape of Tokyo sprawled out beneath us, all lit up for the evening, I was completley speechless. I had a yummy Daqari, and marveled at Tokyo Tower, which was lit up special that evening in hopes of impressing Olympics officials who had come to check out the city that night. It was beautiful.

I felt a little bad when I arrived to meet the Maeda's, because I thought a good gift idea would be to give them some real authentic Quebec Maply Syrup! I brought along a can that I had bought off a French Canadian in my dorm. I was happy to give them the gift, but felt a little sheepish when they handed me an elaborate gift all wrapped up and clearly very expensive. Inside a little wooden box was traditional Japanese Jelly, which you eat by itself. Its very firm and sweet, and made from a red bean here. Its delicious, but like I said, I felt bad handing them a can of maple syrup after I saw what they had for me! Oh well..

Getting home I was exhausted and collapsed in my bed. I had class the next morning at 9 and had to be up showered, fed and dressed for the train by 8.

What a long day.

oops, this is overdue

2009-04-20T13:14:00.002+09:00

My friend Niomi and I went back to Shibuya to explore a bit of the city some more. We had seen the night life there, but in the morning haze we didn't really get to experience what Shibuya was all about. We decided to check out some museums there, and stumbles across the Tokyo Museum of Electricity. This is where i found this little toy dog robot! What was really cool about this robot is that on a large screen behind it, it would display what the dog was looking at. So when he barked and looked at me, the screen would show my face smiling back at him. It was really cool.

There were tons of other things there too, interesting science fair type experiments, little movies playing information about global warming and how nulcear energy can be more efficient than gas/ electric. Everything was in Japanese, and I got the feeling that this museum was more for young kids than university students, but Niomi and I had a gas while we were there.

mori museum

2009-04-03T21:42:00.004+09:00

tokyo tower at night

yayyyy... me+tokyo=love

during sunset

the view from mori museum

2009-04-03T21:35:00.001+09:00

creepiest statue ever! outside the mori museum

checking out night life in downtown tokyo, and preparing for school

2009-04-03T21:11:00.003+09:00

classes still haven't started, which is awesome. so I've been traveling around Tokyo and going out as much as i can before academics kick in.

I've been back to shibuya a few times, and I went out with some other international students who go to a different university in Tokyo. we had an absolute blast of a night- which didn't end until the first train home in the morning! we went to this place where there was hiyaku en beers (100 yen/beer!) and then we went to a very small club and danced away all night. it was great to see the night life here, its pretty wild!

I had no idea coming here what alcohol was going to be like, but i was surprised when i found out that you can buy alcohol in any convenient store for very cheap, and you can drink it when you walk around! (although this is very taboo, at 3 in the morning people are partying all over the streets!) i was completely shocked, as this is so different from Canada and BC more particularly where liquor is expensive, you can't just drink it outside and you have to go to a liquor store to get it. its interesting

recently, my building started to provide meals for us (lunch and dinner), which is really nice since i was spending so much money on food during the very beginning of my trip. i couldn't help but laugh when i walked downstairs at 7:30 in the morning to find that the "western" breakfast they were serving was hamburgers! i think its because in japan, you eat the same things you would eat for dinner as you do when you eat breakfast. rice is served at every meal, and usually fish and miso soup. i guess the western concept of "breakfast foods" doesn't really translate here. needless to say I've been eating a lot of rice here (A LOT of rice...) and its really good. i am a master at chop sticks now and some of my Japanese friends even compliment me! haha its so cute. there is no juice or milk or anything like that, there is a large water dispenser which outputs cold water, hot water and of course, green tea. I've been drinking lots of tea since I've arrived and I've really developed a taste for the green tea here. its much different than the type of green tea we get in Canada, since its a power that you add to the water, not a tea bag. i found it entertaining that even the water dispensers have green tea, they love the stuff here!

i went to a museum the other day with two friends in the middle of the city. the museum is called the "Mori" museum and its absolutely spectacular. i didn't get the chance to go into the gallery, but i did go up to what they call the "Observatory" floor. the museum is a massive skyscraper in the heart of Tokyo- right near Tokyo tower, and its 53 stories high. the observatory floor is the 52nd floor, and from floor to ceiling, 360 degrees around it is windows. you can only imagine the view of the city. Naomi, Ning and I arrived at the perfect time, just before sun set! so we got the privilege of watching the sun set over the city and watch as the city lights emerged turning Tokyo into hundreds of buzzing neon lights as far as the eye can see. i have never lived in a large city, or spent much time in a city for that matter and the feeling i got when i was on that floor was indescribable. on one hand i felt on top of the world, looking down casually over the immense city, but then on the other hand i felt extremely insignificant in the larger scheme of things. there are millions of people in Tokyo, some train stations deal with more than 15 million people per day (shibuya station woo!) and trying to wrap my head around that is next to impossible. i laughed and told my friends that where i live, the trees are the size of the skyscrapers.

I'm really excited for classes to start. I'm feeling very motivated and interested in all of the classes I've picked. each student must take at least 7 courses, and being the over zealous keener i am I'm thinking of registering for 10-11 classes. there are just so many awesome classes to choose from that i couldn't decide! i had a meeting with my academic advisor while I'm here and she thought i was hilarious. she really appreciated my enthusiasm for classes, and even suggested that she introduce me to one of the head literature professors at keio so that i can do some independent study for credit! how awesome is that? i get to pick what i want to read, read it, and report back to this amazingly intelligent woman and basically discuss once a week what i think about the literature. I'm choosing to focus on 20th century American literature, so i hope to cover some novels as well as poetry. i guess I'll find out more once i start! I'm also taking Japanese literature classes (taught in English duh) and some Japanese politics classes. I'm really excited. there is a class I'm looking into on Japanese art history, and another one about Japanese Buddhism. i have to maybe try to cut down a class or two, but luckily at keio they have a "trail week" where you can attend as many classes as you want and then the following week you register for your class. this is because you have to ask the professors blessing to take their class (a respect thing) and the process can be difficult. luckily all of my classes are okay to just sign up for without discussing with the professors first, and they are all offered in English. i was also told that class sizes will be very small (around 8 people) so I'm really looking forward to it!

2009-03-29T12:06:00.002+09:00

Shibuya crossing. ridiculous! this is when the light is on walk....

this is when the light is red... see the difference? wow. trying to walk through that was insane.

2009-03-29T11:38:00.002+09:00

okay so the language barrier is really hard.

i knew that choosing to come to Tokyo obviously meant that i would struggle communicating, but i kind of thought people would understand sooommeee English. my houseing manager doesn't speak a word of English, which is frusterating because I can't ask him questions, notices and information are posted in Japanese and when I need help with something, he can't really help me. I feel bad because I know that this is frusterating for him as well, but its super hard for me. We had our housing oritation, and all of the international students came downstairs into the cafeteria. I discovered that I am the only person in my building who only speaks English and who does not understand Japanese. Its really difficult because everyone just converses with each other in Japanese, and since the Japanese are so shy, they get nervous when I approach them and introduce myself in English.

I know that I will learn, I will adapt, I will get used to it- but right now its pretty tough.

Yesterday I decided to get out of my residence and I went to Shibuya (very famous in Japan). I went with my friend Ning, who is from China, and another international student that I met on the main campus Mita- his name is Riccardo and he's from Italy.

Shibuya is crazy. Absolute madness. The buildings are huge and covered in advertisments, the amount of people makes it literally difficult to walk down the sidewalk. there is music playing, people screaming from stores to "COME IN, KUDASAI!". i went into this shopping building called 109 which had probably 14 floors of just crazy fashion and was filled with even crazier people.

its almost like the girls here have to wear costumes in order to stand out. there are girls dressed like hard core punks, there are flousy little hippies, there are hoochies GALORE and then the classic harajuku style of colour colour and more colour. Everyone has their hair done up perfectly and tons of make up on. I also noticed that every single girl wears at least 3 in heels at all times. (the shoes here are technicolour and fabulous!). needless to say i loved it, was completely in awe and wandering around the streets with my mouth gaping.

i went into a disney themed store and almost died. EVERYTHING was straight out of the disney movies. there was mickey mouses and minnie mouses everywhere, as well as the disney films playing everywhere and the store clerks dressed in fantastical outfits shuffling around tidding up after kids everywhere. it was awesome.

I am going to go and see the cherry tree flowers today. there is a park a little ways away from my dorm that i can go to on the trains and i'm pretty excited. then my friend Joanna from Hong Kong wants me to take her to the shopping center i went to because of all the different stores i told her about.

I might go to shinjuku tomorrow, and i want to get to osaka too. there is so much to see here and I still have a week before classes actually start!

I am going to be taking some Japanese classes while i am here... i am SO excited to learn, but I am starting from absolutely nothing. Its going to be ahuge challenge, but while i am here, completely submerged in the culture and language i figure there is no time like the present.

its freaking hard to live here, but its also beautiful. i just need to meet a few more international students (or people who speak english!) and i'm sure my comfort level will rise.

i miss my housemates lots. eva would love all the kick ass shoes here. you have never seen kicks like this before eva. i am in amazement. paloma, you would love all the jewelry and the upper class fashion here, its is beautiful and makes me think of you. morris there are business men everywhere adorned in their best suits that i know you would love, justin the art here is CRAZY and cecilia i saw a bagel shop and thought of you- woo common ground!)

2009-03-25T21:41:00.003+09:00

i think the best way to describe the city where i live is "efficient". obviously, that's kind of what you think of when you imagine Tokyo. but its pretty astonishing when you are looking at it in person. there are neon signs everywhere, cartoons with Japanese characters everywhere, and today i saw a geisha walk casually by me. there are little alleys that are roofed over, and inside of them are bustling stores (hyaku en stores are the best! hyaku means 100, and en means yen. everything in this store is 100 yen! you could literally furnish your apartment here..) there are cell phone booths everywhere, people handing out leaflets, random stores everywhere selling god knows what and music playing in every one. its so overwhelming, but every person that i have interacted with has gone out of their way to help me/communicate with me/be kind to me. i didn't really think that me being Caucasian would be unusual here- they are exposed to a lot of western culture, but today i had a little Japanese man stop and stare at me. i smiled and bowed to him to show respect, but he just continued to gawk at me. another young man commented how he was jealous of my eyes and loved the way English sounded, its bizarre.

that is a picture of the main station where i live. its incredible!

I made some new friends today. one girl is from hong kong, her name is Joanna, and another girl from Taiwan named Pai-ii. they are both 24 and are so helpful and kind. i wouldn't be able to function in the city without them! today we (Naomi, Joanna pai-ii and i) all went exploring our city, and we went out for dinner and purchased cell phones. dinner was great, i splurged and bought beer, and had amazing rice and a salad. the food here is crazy so i am taking baby steps with what i try. i made a promise to myself that i would try everything i can and that i wouldn't hold back though! so i have to warm up to the cuisine pretty quickly!

buying a cell phone was quite the experience. the man who was helping us out was by far and away the cutest Japanese man I've ever met! he kept giggling at my attempts to speak Japanese, and would high five me when i got a word right. he was SO helpful, and spend a long time with Naomi and i trying to explain our plan, our cell phones etc. its weird here because no one uses their cell phones to call, they email from phone to phone. there is no SMS texting here, so when you purchase a phone you are given an email address. if you feel so inclined, my address is jes.halll888@ezweb.ne.jp i will receive the email like a text and be able to fire you back one instantly! all those of you with blackberries, hit me up!

this has been such an amazing day. i don't think that i will ever just walk down a street here without an amazed look on my face. this place is going to be awesome!

2009-03-25T21:14:00.005+09:00

this is the view from my room! its amazing. little houses stacked on top of one another as far as the eye can see. i've learned that the village i live in (Ota) is one of the largest in Tokyo. its gorgeous.

2009-03-24T16:57:00.002+09:00

wow.
after the painfully long wait i had, i finally find myself in tokyo!

the journey here is a story in and of itself, the stars seemed to align for me because luck was on my side! you see, i was scheduled to fly into "narita airport" which is about an hour and a half to two hours away from where i needed to be. what i had to do from narita airport is get on the bullet train from narita to tokyo station, one of the largest train stations in the city. from there i would have to maneouver my bags totaling almost 90 lbs around the station in order to find the blue line, called the keihin-tohoku line. from there i was going to have to figure out where to get off, and then find a cab, then pay around 50 bucks to get to my residence. problem: i was scheduled to land in narita around 3:20, and my residence building closed at 6. it was going to be a race against time for me to get to my dorm (called Omori).

i had been panicking about how i was going to get around the stations, and understand where i was supposed to go, worried about trying to communicate with people and read signs, and to top it all off i would have three big bags with me. when i borded the plane from victoria to vancouver, this was all i could think about. suddenly i looked up and one of my high school teachers walked onto the tiny plane and sat down right beside me! john allpress is his name, and he was just as shocked as i was to see him on the airline. we got to talking and i told him how i was travelling to tokyo today, to start my epic journey, but that i was very worried about actually finding my way to my dormitory. he was in the middle of giving me some contacts in tokyo when the man sitting infront of us turned around and introduced himself. it turns out he was a Keio graduate (the university i am going to) and spoke fluent japanese. he was also on the same flight as me to tokyo, and said that he could help me figure out some sort of transportation once i got there. you can understand my excitment.

the man i met on the plane, ken carnes, lives in victoria, but goes to japan all the time. he was fairly familiar with all of the train lines and places, but when i told him where i was living he was drawing a blank. once in the vancouver airport, ken took me into the business lounge with me, and he talked to some japanese women and asked them if they knew where omori was. they could help us a little bit, but the journey i had ahead of me was still riddled with obstacles. ken was worried for me, and wanted to help me out (thank god, lord knows i needed the help!)

just before we boarded the plane, i heard my name called over the intercom, "JESS HALL PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF" nervously i walked to the front of the line only to find a very familiar face smiling at me. one of my familys closest friends Pat Hurlbert was piloting my plane! i was so excited, and to top it all off he handed me a first class ticket, and told me that my seat had been switched. ahhhh. during take off i was feeling on top of the world, sipping champaign in a recliner seat.

i took a gravol and passed out for about 6 hours, and when i woke up i heard pat on the intercom once again. there had been an airplane crash at the narita airport, and the place was now virtually shut down. we had to change where we were headed and started off for Haneda airport, which is right downtown tokyo. i turned around to face ken (who was sitting a mere 4 seats behind me) and smiled. the haneda airport was at most half an hour away from my residence, and instead of battling the crowds in complicated train stations, i could just jump into a cab and direct them to 7-4-27 ormori nishi ota-ku, tokyo japan. i still cannot believe my luck. first of all meeting john allpress on the plane, behing overheard by ken, then having the plane have to land in haneda! it all lined up perfectly.

when i got to my res 5,000 yen later i was exhausted, starving and lonely. i tried to communicate with the building manager, but he hardly spoke any english and it made things very difficult. he showed me to my room, which is very nice, and closed the door after playing charades for quite some time trying to explain the rules of the building. when the door closed, my stomach just dropped. i was actually here, i couldn't speak to anyone, and i didn't know anyone in tokyo. sometimes i question my judgment....

i looked around my room to discover that there was no mattress on my bed, and that i didn't know how to dial out of my room in order to call home. i went back down to the first floor to ask the manager to help me out. he said that futons weren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow and that i might have to stay in a hotel. this was getting super frusterating for me, becuase i had already spend so much money on a cab, and who knows how much a hotel would cost me in the middle of tokyo. luckily he took pity on me and called the futon suppliers and asked if they could drop some off a bit early. what i recieved looked like a large, flat body pillow to sleep on with a bean bag for a pillow and some blankets. i'm trying to be optomistic about my bed... but its a pretty shitty sleep thats for sure. i woke up with bruises on my hip bones from the wood pressing into me.

when i woke up i had the pleasure of working the toilet. there was an entire remote control instructing me how to flush. everything was in japanese and i was pretty confused, it was quite the little adventure which ended with me soaking wet all over. i learned that button three means water spray.

anyways, this is a long enough post. i have more adventures to share at a latter date.

i miss you all