Wisteria and Love-chan GET!

This past weekend we went to Kameido Shrine to view the blooming wisteria flowers. There were also a lot of food stands so we gravitated around them before deciding what to eat.

遠藤　えんどう　Endow　遠 = far, 藤= wisteria. Yay.

Afterward there was a CIEE cultural exchange / host family get together. I got to meet Elizabeth's family who were super cute and nice! There was also a nice park that we got to walk around.

Dinner! :D

Last night Britt's boyfriend came over and met the family! Okaa-san, of course, made a crazy huge meal.

The Master in action.

 The food!

 The couple! Britt and her super Asian pose.

Have a great time in Kyoto with your boyfriend and friends Britt!

Today (Fri) I leave for Osaka with Elizabeth and Anna. Before heading out, Elizabeth and I decided to be adventurous during our 1 period break between lunch and class. In 1 hour and 45 minutes we went to Ikebukuro to try and win an AI-CHAN / LOVE-CHAN PLUSHIE! Elizabeth saw this darling dangling when she went to Ikebukuro with her host sister yesterday.

  The victim. You have to try and knock the ring off. The ears are on the left side btw.

The catch!

Long story short - it was an adventure. Barely got the plush (had to ask a staff to make it easier) and barely got back to class on time. But SUCCESS! Thank you EDeng!!

Classes and Shopping

We are coming to the end of the second week of classes. My schedule is as follows:

9:15-10:45 Tu/F Chinese Civilization
11:00-12:30 M/Tu/Th/F Japanese III
1:30-3:00 M/Th Modern Japanese Literature
3:15-4:45 Tu/F Contemporary Japanese Societies

Quick breakdown of how they are going:

Chinese Civ: The professor did some research work at USC so he has a USC email address. Apparently he knows a lot of the EALC professors pretty well. Gets out early every day because he just breezes through a powerpoint. So far a lot about early Chinese writing, pottery, and the dynasties. Typical Chinese civilization material.

Japanese: We went from having 2 sections of jam packed classrooms to 3. I got moved to the new section which is nice because it's on the 1st floor (old section was on the 6th!) but we change between two classrooms every other day. The homework is waaay shorter and waaay easier than Japanese classes at USC.

Japanese Lit: So far we've read these seemingly wacked stories only to have the deeper meaning and significance unwrapped during class. It's like... "what the heck does this mean?" to "what the... why so deep?"

Japanese Societies: Another packed classroom - this time we keep migrating to a new room every day. The professor has labeled us as "homeless" so for now we never know which building or room to go to. The subject matter is really interesting though and it's neat to be able to see examples in everyday life here in Japan.

Now enough about classes. They are only a portion of the study abroad experience.

I went shopping at Harajuku yesterday to pick up some more shoes. I only packed 1 pair (plus a pair of rain boots) and they have quickly deteriorated due to everyday use (school and baseball practice). However, being in Harajuku and up until now not really buying anything except food and essentials, I had to splurge a little..

From left to right: plad backpack, shirt, 2 shoes (the teal ones were only 990 yen!! =$10ish), socks, Sophia sweats.

We are quickly approaching Golden Week here in Japan. Elizabeth, Anna, and I are planning on traveling down to Osaka for a couple of days. I'm looking forward to it!

Yokohama

Last Friday me and the usual culprits went to Yokohama for a day trip. We started around China Town and embarked on another progressive snacking tour with xiao long bao, sesame seed balls, and a giant meat bun. We then migrated to the north shore and had a date with the golden gates of McDonald's. I munched on some crispy fries and in the process made a new friend.

New Boyfriend!

Then we got sidetracked by this cute attraction:

Although I don't agree with leashing bunnies, it was super cute! An A+ tourist attraction.

To work off our growing food bellies we walked over to an awesome place called Oosanbashi Pier, which is a crazy long dock with lots of slopes and curves. It looked like perfect rolling conditions but there were cameras everywhere. So we decided to pretend.

 

Afterward we headed over to an area called Minato Mirai 21, which is a big shopping area. On the way we ran into a Flower Garden display! All of the flowers were very beautiful, and to match the mood a vendor was selling heart shaped croquettes.

Looks like a magazine!

Made with love.

Next we headed over to a nearby mall where we did some window shopping and, of course, eating.

Curry bread (spicy curry inside), beef katsu bread, malasada! Anna's Hawaiian senses detected the Leonard's stand from across the food market. It's a Portuguese donut that's covered with sugar and sometimes has a cream filling.

When the sun went down the Yokohama Cosmoworld amusement park lit up. The humongous Ferris wheel was stunning! And it also conveniently told the time. Although the park was pretty empty we walked around looking for UFO catchers and ended up taking some purikura pictures.

Very tired after but it was a fun trip. Oh, and happened to stumble across the Yokohama Pokemon Center. Good thing it was 5 minutes before closing. Next time!

Freshman Week

In Japan the new school year starts in the spring so at Sophia all the clubs and circles (clubs are sports related and more hardcore than circles) were out trying to recruit fresh blood before classes started up. It almost reminded me of a USC involvement fair, only there were people in costume running around with giant signs asking anyone and everyone if they had an interest in ____ (fill in the blank).

There were a ton of clubs with a bunch of overlaps. The people at orientation weren't lying when they said there were 20+ "tennis clubs." Here joining a club/circle is a big deal because it gives you group identity and people to hang out with. As a foreigner it also provides interaction with Japanese natives and good communication practice!

Because this is Japan, there is bound to be some really good Engrish flying around. I'd like to highlight a few creative club/circle names - try to guess what kind of group they actually are. Use your mouse to highlight next to each name for the answer.

Fun-ta-Sister Soccer Club
Lauren Beach Volleyball Circle
Lollipoppers Cheer leading Circle
Freaks Ultimate Frisbee Circle
Flying Turkeys Miniature Airplane Flying Circle

I'm going to check out a woman's baseball club this Saturday. Even though I'm here for only a few months they said that it would be cool for me to practice with them. It's been three years since I've played softball so hopefully I'll be okay. :O The flier says that the softball/baseball experienced to beginner ratio is 1:1 so as long as you at least have the spirit to play you are welcomed.

Mountain of fliers and Mamues woman's baseball club!

In other news CIEE had an earthquake / disaster training yesterday. We went through a few videos and simulations, but the "highlight" was getting to blast a fire extinguisher at a huge television screen playing a burning house clip.

Kaji da!!!!

There was also a baby doll casualty in one of the video watching rooms. There is also one hanging out of the washing machine.

What the...

And finally Anna snapped a picture of this sign in the bathroom. Don't judge because it's really good.

"If you lost balance you gonnna fall down on shit!" - it really said that!

This weekend the Masumura house is getting one more CIEE homestay student. I don't know her very well but I hope we have a good time together!

Shibuya, Asakusa Hanami

Boy this weekend sure was packed. On Saturday Elizabeth, Anna, and I went to Shibuya to "eat lunch" and explore. Lunch turned out to be more of a progressive snacking adventure but it was all really yummy!

"German Potato" flavored Taiyaki. Mashed potato, bacon, cheese.

The scrumptious scent of fried food wafted into our noses so we stopped to eat some savory Taiyaki. Next we went to a cute cafe that Elizabeth and her sister had gone to before. We all shared a Kisetsu (Season) Parfait. It was composed of various fruits, pudding, cake, and refreshing frothy jelly.

Beautiful. We are definitely coming back!

After walking around for a while we decided to head over to Harajuku for some shopping. We walked over from Shibuya and good thing we did because the train station was super packed! Here we are trying to get home.

The sea of people at Harajuku Station. Elizabeth and Anna's faces say it all - the trains were not much better. Everyone suck it in!

Saturday night two former Masamura homestay students (Jon and Alex) came over to visit. They are both currently in the JET program and coincidentally picked the same day and time to stop by. The whole Masamura family came over so there were quite a lot of people and a fusion of English-Japanese conversation going on. I didn't realize how good the two brothers Tomo (36) and Tadahiro (27) were at English but I guess they both spent a good deal of time studying in America. Jon taught Eito, Tomo's 7-year-old son, how to balance a spoon on his nose. The kid got a kick out of this trick.

Eito balancing a spoon while simultaneously trying to munch on some chips.

Today (Sunday) I went with Elizabeth to hanami (flower viewing) in Asakusa with Tadahiro and his friends. Although it was chilly, the flowers were very pretty and there was lots of good food. When the sakura (cherry blossoms) are in full bloom it's called "mankai," and people follow a flower forecast so they can catch the flowers at their best. Today was not quite mankai, but I was reminded of last night when Alex kept on accidentally calling it "bankai." (lol for all you Bleach fans) Today also reminded me of the phrase "hana yori dango" which literally means dumplings (dango) over flowers. Basically people usually go to hanami for the food/alcohol/socialization rather than the actual flower viewing. Motives aside, everyone today was very friendly even though Elizabeth and I were on the young side. Some of them were really excited about trying to use English and talking about things in America.

Near our spot was a peculiar building that had a golden glob on top. I though it looked like a sweet potato, Elizabeth though it was poop. You be the judge.

I don't know why you would put that on your building...

Apparently the mystery blob is coupled with the building on the left, which is the Asahi beer company building. The left building is suppose to resemble a glass of beer - tall yellow sides = full glass of beer, glass panels on the top = foam. I can see the resemblance. The strange gold thing I guess is a beer splash? No one really knows but the Japanese also call it the poop building.

Shinjuku Crepes

Yesterday (Fri) was the Japanese placement test and a foreign student welcome party. Let's not talk about the test - the party had some neat performances by the shamisen club and karate club. I was surprised at the amount of people that came out - both foreigners and Japanese students. Afterward Elizabeth, Anna, and I went to Shinjuku to walk around for a bit. We ended up eating some yummy crepes!

Yay street food!

Strawberry, whipped creme, cheese cake!

And... we ran into this:

The "big black house."

Sadly it's not the ramen restaurant but a normal store. :(

Kamakura

Wednesday was our day trip to Kamakura. We visited three different sites – Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura Daibutsu (Giant Buddha), and Hasedera Temple. My small group (Group 6 – Kotatsu!) was led by Noriko-san. She did a great job explaining the historical background and cultural significance of the things we saw. According to Noriko, Kamakura is a popular place for all generations – older people go to appreciate the history while the younger crowds surf the waves!

Group photo at Hasedera Temple

A sad part of the trip was when Noriko shared about the Ginkgo tree that use to stand next to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. Earlier this March the tree collapsed due to strong winds. (It happened in the morning so no one was hurt.) The tree was over 1000 years old and was well known for its beautiful golden leaves during autumn. It also served as a hiding place for monk Kugyou when he assassinated Minamoto no Sanetomo. Apparently people all over Japan were mourning its fall and in general it was a very surprising, unexpected occurrence. Noriko said that all they can do is try to sprout a new tree from the left over trunk.

I know this is a stretch but imagine the wind carried away every single piece of bread on earth. For the Christian practice of communion, bread is highly significant and symbolic. Bread has always been a part of the tradition. You don't expect it to ever be missing but now it is. Shocking? Yes. Could you imagine it happening? No. But it did. There is definitely the feeling of an empty gap.

Gingko tree right after it fell. Now only the trunk remains.

The Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine itself is said to be a place of good luck. I think the guy that had it built was victorious in many battles so now people come here to pray when they desire victory over something. There is a nice path that leads up to the shrine - normally it's an 8 minute walk but on New Years Day it can take up to 2 hours! Talk about popular!

Going up to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Temple. They let people up in waves so it looks really crowded here.

Here is the lunch we were provided. Chicken karaage, miso soup, and tofu. The tofu was so soft and silky! The restaurant played Arashi's newest single "Troublemaker" during lunch.

Yum!

Next up was the Daibutsu Buddha. He was pretty huge! The balls on his head are suppose to be curls of hair, which represents wisdom. He also has one curl on his forehead - super wisdom I guess. We also got to go inside of him for 10 yen. Yes, he's hollow and I was told that they reinforced the inside by the neck area for earthquake protection. Noriko said that he looks the best at this angle so I snapped a shot of his good side.

No one knows if he's opening or closing his eyes, but he can always see you!

Finally we went to the Hasedera Temple. A large statue of the Buddhist god Kannon is said to have washed ashore near Kamakura and now they have it enshrined here. The founder of Canon (cameras) named the company and designed their first logo with this god in mind in hopes of the company expanding across the world. (and it has!) 

Although Hasedera is a Buddhist site, there is also a small Shinto shrine in a cave on its grounds. Inside there was one part where you could purchase a small statue for making a wish. I though that all of these little guys hanging off the larger wall carving was an amusing sight. Sorry but the picture is a bit dark.

There were a lot more on the ground.

Thanks for showing us around, Noriko! All of the tour guides for our group were volunteers so we really appreciated their expertise and enthusiasm for Kamakura!

After the tour some friends and I walked around a street lined with shops. One of the stores was dedicated to tons of amazingly cute 300 yen phone straps! In Japan people pimp out their phones with these things so I couldn't resist...

This little guy will dangle from my phone from now on.

Today (Friday) is the Japanese placement test! I'm a bit nervous but hopefully it will turn out okay... I also realize that TCF's second ever Encounter is also happening "today" (Thursday night in the states). Good luck to everyone that has a hand in it - I'm sure God has great things planned. I want to hear stories!