Christmas, Christmas Time is Here~

Ah, Christmas. That beautiful time of year when we remember the birth of Jesus, spend time with family, admire the glimmering lights, carol with friends, cuddle under the kotatsu, write dozens of nengajyo, and eat a bucket of KFC. Wait, what? Okay, so Christmas in Japan is a skosh* different from America. I got a bit miffed when I first started to notice the differences between the two Christmases, but it isn’t such a big problem now, more like a nation-wide game of I SPY. “Can you see the difference? I spy with my little eye something slightly off”. Well, maybe not like that, but something that makes it more Japanese.

Some things that has been fun is seeing all the decorations. Everything is ornate and well organized, matched, and arranged. I love looking at all the displays in stores and along the street. Kichijoji has a display called "Underground Christmas" in which these little robot moles act out various holiday scenes in their burrows. I thought it was adorable! Even my dorm mates got into the decorating spirit. They put up a Christmas tree in the lobby. However, according to my friend Jerry, a Christmas tree expert of the 4^th degree, the branches have too many gaps, the tinsel only is on the top half of the tree, and someone started putting unrelated ornaments it which ruined the whole feel. Personally, the childish way the tree was put together made it rather cute, like the tree that my sister and I would have in our bedroom that only we were allowed to decorate. What is more, I came home today to find that one of the first floor boys had bought (if he made these, I will be floored) tiny, delicate Christmas cookies and hung them in the tree for people to take.

Another first floor boy made a gingerbread house that looks exactly, EXACTLY, like our dorm, complete with pod sections and the security entrance. He even had a window for each of the rooms and a little garden of sugar candies on the second floor terrace! The piece is uncanny. Working off of his inspiration, some second floor girls also made a little gingerbread and left it in our kitchen for the other girls to see.For example, my dorm wanted to join in the campus caroling session. Fine, no problem, I love a little holiday spirit. But when it came time to pick the carols, they choose Seasons of Love from Rent the Musical and Ookina Furui Dokei (The Old Grandfather’s Clock) by Hirai Ken. Both are fine, lovely songs, but neither are Christmas carols nor speak to the message, feeling, or season Christmas. Okay, fine, no problem, if this is what they want, and they are willing to practice, we shouldn’t fight it, after all it is their country and their Christmas, so just calm down now.

Another example, Christmas here isn’t a family holiday, it is a couples/friends holiday. Sort of like a winter Valentine’s Day. Kichijoji (my favorite little city), has a giant lights display outside the station, but it is of a huge heart and ribbons for Christmas Couples. Having a Christmas date is seen as the perfect way to spend the day and is what all the Japanese consider ideal. If you don’t have a date for Christmas, you are said to be having a “Lonely Christmas”, sort of like the Black Heart’s Club. Um, what about the entire reason for the holiday in the first place? Or, less religious than that, what happened to the season of giving and “going home for the holidays”? Once again, we just need to calm down, do things their way, not everyone is Christian and you shouldn’t force ideologies on other people. But it makes me wonder; how did all of this get lost in translation? How did Western Christmas get so altered while appearing almost identical at first glance?

At the beginning of the month, we were having a bit of a wet season, but that all cleared up soon enough and by the 23^rd, things were even starting to warm up! How strange is this! A Christmas without snow? I haven’t experienced that since I lived in Kansas. We did have a minor earthquake at 2 am the other day, got hit by a tsunami that afternoon (barely felt the effects of it here, though), missed out on the lunar eclipse due to cloud cover from the tsunami, but did get a clear, full moon on Wednesday night. So the last few days have been a tumult of natural phenomenon. Tis the season!

Christmas itself is going to be very exciting for me, though! I’ll be spending it with my best friend Gina from Witt who is also studying in Japan right now. We are spending Christmas together in Tokyo (going to see the new Tron movie and see a ska concert on Christmas Day), and then head off to trek across the western part of the island! I’m so excited I can’t sleep, which is good because I still need to pack and do laundry and write more blogs before I’m on hiatus for about 2 weeks, but bad because I’ll be super drowsy (maybe) when I see her tomorrow. All will end well, though – it always does with Gina.

To all of you back home (and to those who have just returned home for break), Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

*skosh comes from the Japanese word sukoshi (少し) meaning “small or little”, and is a prime example of gaijin Jingrish or Japanglish.

City Farms

What in name of Farmville has happened here?! Am I going crazy?! Seeing things?!

So, there are little farms in my town. I can get that. They are more like these little plots of land with an odd assortment of veggies and such grown by who-knows-who for who-knows-what. But they are cute, and our town is small-ish, so they aren’t so out of the ordinary. But I was riding my bike back from Kichijoji, a city which (I personally think) is rather large-ish in Japan (it is by Ohio standards, at least), and I’m riding, and I’m riding, and then I stop riding, because in the parking lot, I see a bird. But not a normal city bird, mind you. I saw a chicken; a live, clucking, walking chicken. Wait, no, there were three chickens. Two hens, one rooster, and a partridge in a pear tree~~ Haha, a little Christmas jest, that.

Apparently, and I didn’t stop to ask too many questions, but the person who owns the parking lot built a super-sketchy "chicken coop" next to the Pepsi and coffee machines and trained his birds to avoid cars (very important) and not to leave the area or go into the street (another useful trick since now no one can ask him, “Why did the chicken cross the..” Oh, you’ve heard that one? My bad). These chickens were rather flustered as I stared at their odd, fowl selves, but they never left their area of safety around the roost. One of them even scampered up to the top shelf to hide away. The others started running in circles which didn't help my confusion.

I just didn’t get it. I still don’t get it.

The Emperor's Birthday

I had such a productive day, it wasn't even funny! I woke up early, cooked some food, got some last minute shopping done, cleaned my room super-thoroughly (I mean broom AND vacuum, ladies and gentlemen), organized my pantry because I have so much food from home that I now have a legit pantry, and now I'm packing for my long-awaited, cross-country, pan-Japan, Giant Robot invasion with my partner in crime, Gina Gray! But as I was out and about, I couldn't help but feel that something was off. What could that something be? We go now to the field where correspondent Me tells Myself what I think. Don't mind the hat, by the way, it was falling off during the shoot. Camera shy, I guess. And the freeze frame? Priceless, as usual.

Soul Run's Disney Sea Videos

I'll admit right now that I'm not the world's most interesting narrator, so I'm sorry for all the repetition in the videos. The first clip is the entrance of Disney Sea all decorated for Christmas; you can hear me most of all, but my friends are chatting and aww-ing in the background, too. The second snippet is of Agrabah, my future home.

Classes Winter Term

When it comes to school and homework, I am soooo bored! I knew that college in Japan was easy, but this is almost pathetic. If it weren’t for the language problem, I’d have almost no work. This term, I’m taking Japanese Level 4, Thai Ethnology Studies, and the History of Japan in Asia in the 14^th-17^th centuries.

Japanese class is pretty cool, but they separated us into smaller groups and now it is all the Keyaki kids minus one: Ellie! They put her in the other class, so now we can’t all talk and practice together. We're watching Totoro, too! That is part of the class: watch and understand the movie Totoro in Japanese. Sounds good to me! Besides that, the Japanese teachers this term seem to be pretty interesting, and one of them is a former Wadaiko player from our club. Since visiting an English class at another nearby college, I've gotten a chance to see how hard teachers try, almost beg for class participation. It made me really pity language teachers, which is why I have been volunteering for more stuff during class this term. And I need the participation grade. And I need to improve my speaking. Okay, so there is a host of reasons and I'm not just doing it out of the ever-flowing kindness of my heart. We can't all be prefect.

As for history, it is pretty much the same course that I took last term with the exact same teacher. That professor complimented my final paper, too. He said, "I recently read a very well done paper on fashion in the 16th century which was able to incorporate images in the reference section of the..." That was my paper! So take that, academia! If it weren't for the two annoying groups of freshmen in that class, it would be pretty good, but these kids drag the professor off on random tangents for DAYS. He knows too much, so whenever they ask an unrelated question, he knows the answer and feels it is his duty as a teacher to tell them. Very sweet, but it takes away from the actual lesson! And they ask about basic, basic stuff! Just let the man lecture, then ask questions at the end!!! We actually had to say straight out that he hadn't spoken about the syllabus for 2 days, and the freshmen got really defensive about it. They should, it is their fault. Besides being a self-proclaimed History Otaku, our professor is also a huge Harry Potter fan, which makes me so happy. He even has the class divided into dormitories and periodically gives 10 points to Griffendor and goes off on all sorts of tangents. The thing about being a history professor is that he can act as a time-traveling-tour guide, “And now let’s jump to the 13^th century, but in order to better understand where this name came from, we should visit the 7^th century.”

Besides those two easy classes, I have an Ethnology class in Japanese….I might die…probably. Luckily, the teacher takes extreme pity on me, gives me extra readings in English, letting me do my presentations and reports in English. As long as I don’t fail, it should all be fine, but every now and then, I can’t stand it. This class is definitely not a class for people who care about their grades. But I was saved the other day! We had to interview these two Thai students for 1 hour and a half, but thankfully the students wanted to do it in English. Praise heavens!! I had spent the whole day in dread for that interview and was prepared to cry myself to sleep that night, but when I found that I knew more Japanese than the Thai kids, I nearly jumped out of my chair! This makes my life so much easier, there was no way I would have survived if it had been in Japanese. Hopefully I’ll get better as we go on, but…hahah, let’s be reasonable now.

The good thing about have very few classes is that I have more time for fun and random activities. Like what? Rakugo, practices, and traveling!!

Soul Run, the Basics

I know I just wrote about Soul Run going to Disney, but in reality, we don’t ever hang out. I used to see them three times a week and now we only meet up for dinner every few weeks or to go out. I miss practices! I miss scrambling from class to the gym back to class again! I miss exercising and dancing with everyone! I get the world’s smallest violin, right? Actually, I won’t be upset for much longer. We just had a Soul Run Bounenkai/Christmas Party at which they announced that we will begin practicing again soon! Apparently a really nice hotel has booked us as live entertainment for some big event and we need to get back into practice, reorganize our lines, and build up those leg muscles again. We did lose a lot of good members because they were only here for the first semester, but this time we won’t be starting from scratch, at least.

But this is a “basics” blog, so let me get the cultural lecture out of the way. I’ve done this speech so many times, and if I’ve already done it on here too, I’m sorry, but I’m sure someone will be reading it for the first time. “Soul Run” is a play on words; the group does a type of dance called Souran Bushi and it sounds a lot like Soul Run, so the name stuck. For Japanese, they translated the name directly (魂走) and call themselves the Running Souls. Kind of cool, kind of creepy, but it works. Souran Bushi is a traditional Japanese (Hodaiko?) fisherman’s dance that has been sped-up and reset to more modern-sounding music. Every group who performs Souran has their own version or style. There are certain parts in the song that are made for slight improve, and of course the number of people changes a lot of flare in the dance. For all my kids in FLA, we did Souran Bushi before, but I wanted to do the real thing here in Japan. It was such an experience and it really showed me how weak my stamina could be, but I soon got the hang of it.

Now that I know the real way to dance, I really want to start a group of my own at Witt. It would have a purpose: we can perform at the East Asian Festival during my senior year, I ‘d be teaching people about Japanese culture, and I would be able to do the dance again (hehe). But if it is under my control, the dancers are going to know their stuff! No slackers allowed! If we dance Souran Bushi, we go hard and fierce! Just saying. It is all still in the planning stages, but it is going to happen. But before then, we have to do the performance in February. Once more with the Running Souls, then I’m on my own in America. Dokkoisho!

Before I finish the post, I was able to find this video on facebook! It is of our final performance during the ICU Festival. The first one is us performing Souran Bushi and the second is the Para Para performance. The boys stage left are the Para Para Club and the kids on stage right are the Shorinji Kempo members. Soul Run is in front of the stage and I'm the one in dead center. Remember, I had dislocated (the relocated) my left knee a week before th performance and had been doing taiko all that week and weekend, too. But I think I kept pace pretty well. Hope you like it!

Disney Sea

WAAAHHH!!! This was beyond great!! I haven’t told you about this yet?! Why not?! Oh, that’s right. I take forever to blog. My bad. Now on with the show!

Going to Tokyo Disney Land and Sea are a Soul Run tradition. They always go to D. Land on the last Friday before finals, which is a given reading day, but who ever reads, right? Then they also go to D. Sea on the next Friday which is at the end of finals. I really, really, really wanted to go with the group, not so much that I love Disney Land/Sea (I’ve never been), or that I was such a Disney kid growing up (which there is no denying – animated musicals all day? Sounds like a party to me!), but I love the Soul Run members and it is always better when you can go with a group of friends. Trust me, I’m a loner for most activities, but an outing is so much better when you can turn to someone that you know and say, “Wasn’t that cool?” or“Dude, we so have to try that!” Going in a group also get you a good discount! The first Friday, as it turned out, I couldn’t go; I had been writing a paper since 2 pm the day before and pulled an all-nighter, but still

wasn’t finished by 7:30 am, when they were all meeting at the train station. I finished the paper by 11, by the way, but I was so bitter about it that I stopped caring (side note, I got an A).

Luckily, not as many people were planning on going to the Disney Sea trip, so I just switched my plans for that day instead. Why not? It was break and I wasn’t doing anything that day.

I didn’t know the differences then, but apparently Disney Sea is better for young adults anyway. The themes are all around water, but very few are water rides. This makes sense because I don’t think that the Japanese like to get wet and then walk around like that all day (they are kind of like cats – always trying to stay clean and neat) and we went during late fall, so the weather was too cold for a water park adventure anyway.

Instead, they had an Italian-Mediterranean-Greek area (each one blurred into the next, pretty much), Atlantis, Atlantica (from the Little

Mermaid), Agraba on the coast, a Boston Harbor area, a lost island place, and even a European coastal town. Everything there was perfectly done and meticulously decorated and detailed. It was too perfect, like being in a drawn world, and maybe it was the weather or my friends, but I loved every-single inch of it. Being there made me seriously consider applying for a part-time job as one of the actors there. I could so do Mary Poppins or Belle, why not?

There were some pretty memorable part to the day: a trio of foreigners dressed as chefs played trash cans, pots, and pans while talking and singing in Japanese, I got to go on some awesome rides, we all met Aladdin and Eric (such sweethearts, and I think that they are actually brothers), watched the Japanese

belly dancers, eat some strawberry flavored popcorn, and take a lot of pictures (I’m so much of a shutterbug, but at Disney Sea, that’s okay). Back to the Aladdin and Eric guys: Eric was wicked tall and had such a pretty face, none of the girls could get over how young and lovely he was. He smiled, acted, spoke, and stood just like a Disney

character, and as we were leaving he said, “If you guys see Ariel in the Mermaid Lagoon, send her my love, okay?” Isn’t that just so charming and princely!? You don’t get it, he was too good. Hardly had we gotten over that shock, then we went to Agraba and met Aladdin. “Hey doesn’t he look familiar?” “Um, yeah, he looks like Aladdin. Duh!” “No, no, no. Its something else. Doesn’t he kinda look like a shorter version of Eric?” “….O….M…G…They’re totally brothers!!”

Here is our theory: Either Eric or Aladdin came to Japan to pursue his career as an international model because the American agencies wouldn’t use him saying that he looked too young and feminine. Maybe he started out with commercials or ads, but soon he was scouted by Tokyo Disney and hired into their full-time staff. He was doing so well, that he called his brother, who was now looking for som

ething to do, and hooked him up with the other prince job. Disney was overwhelmed, of course, because now they had two young, handsome princes – one tall and pale, the other shorter and willing to get a fake tan – and they all lived happily ever after. The End. Or something like that. I think. Anyway, not only was it Tokyo Disney, but it was Christmas themed Tokyo Disney.

Like I said before, the Japanese don’t have a concept of Thanksgiving (because it is an American holiday), so as soon as possible, they throw up the Christmas lights, decorate everything with snowflakes and call it good. One of the little decorations that we saw everywhere was Pablo the Penguin. Okay, here is where we tell the die-hard fans from the casual observer. As every true Disney kid knows, Pablo the Penguin premiered in movie where Donald Duck learns about birds from all over the world, most notably those from South America (and then he makes two friends from Brazil and Mexico, thereby making the Three Caballeros! Arriba!). But here is the thing, besides the half-Hungarian-half-Mexican girl and me, NOBODY knew who Pablo was. Many of them also didn’t know that Goofy had a son named Max! But there was a character that can only be found in Tokyo Disney called Duffy; he's a light brown teddy bear from who-knows-where, but the Japanese love him. His girlfriend is call Constance Mae, or something like that. :S

It was a fantastic time and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’ll try to be as detailed I can on the pictures, and a little video, too.

All You Can Hit!

(Before we start things off, I just want to say that to tell this I had to really reach back into my memory banks. I’ve really got to start writing events as they happen, instead of going back a few weeks or so every time. I’ll be doing that a lot for the next few posts. But anyways!)

In late November during fall break, I had that chance to attend Wadaiko’s 20^th Anniversary All You Can Hit Party! Literally, that was what they called it: an uchihoudai (打ち放題). Besides being another gathering of Wadaiko players past and present, people made more of an attempt to come and celebrate ICU Wadaiko’s 20^th Anniversary. The current members had quite a task of setting up the event, contacting everyone, and preparing for the day’s activities, but luckily the retired members made sure to help out and we all ended up having a great time. As usual, the OYRangers were dazed and confused throughout much of the day, so we ended up doing odd-jobs, served food, or sat around and tried to stay out of the way. Wadaiko used up the whole basket ball court that day; half of it was covered in blankets for people to sit on and watch, the other half was covered in taikos. I mean it. Absolutely covered in taiko drums! We had every, single drum that was owned by the school and our club out on the floor. Large, small, often used, hardly touched – it didn’t matter.

The first hour or so was spent setting up, signing in, and waiting for everyone to arrive. 10 am marked the start of the party with sensei leading us in a group warm-up exercises. Then the real fun started! On a board was written all the major songs that Wadaiko has played in the past 10 years. No system was given, we just waited for the leader of the event to name a song and everyone who knew it, performed it, liked it, or wanted to try it could go up grab a drum and have a go! Some of these songs were written for 3 to 4 people, but it didn’t matter. We set up every drum we could find for each piece so that anyone who wanted to had a chance to play. There was an army of kodaikos, a plethora of chappas, a swarm of odaikos, you get the idea. Everyone else got to sit and watch the massive group play. I had only been there for one term, so I only knew that songs that they had played for the ICU Festival concert. There were so many songs that I had never heard of before. It was really strange to see the upperclassmen join the retired members to play pieces that I didn’t recognize at all. There were songs that used flutes, different sized/styled drums, and some that had bells, symbols, and gongs! People weren’t trying to have a real performance, just play Wadaiko’s pieces. You see, all but two of the club’s songs are composed by its members. There are two traditional Japanese songs that we play, but everything else is an original, which makes each piece very precious to the club.

Besides just other members, some people brought their children, too. Most of them were under 6 and they were really curious about the drums and what their parents were doing. They would stand next to the taikos as their moms or dads play and were amazed that their parents knew how to do all of these songs/dances. On little girl insisted on sitting in her mother’s lap while she played the kodaiko and another boy hovered around sensei as she performed an odaiko and chime solo. We brought out a giant, fluffy, stuffed pig for them to cuddle with and we had little Wadaikos for them to hit. Anything to keep them interested. Derek's parents even came all the way from California and got a chance to play the drums with him. Afterwards, he took them out around town, but they left us dried mango strips from Trader Joe's! What a treat!

I got to perform all the pieces that I really likes, and even played on some drums that I know the club would never allow me to perform on. That’s what the kick out parties and All You Can Hit sessions are for, after all: experimentation, exploration, and just hitting a drum in a loud room!! Afterwards, we went out to an All You Can Drink place, but I went along for the company and the food. It all turned out to be a great day. I’m really lucky to have come to ICU this year and met the Wadaiko players. They’ve helped me make some of the greatest memories here.

Going to the Park

Woah, this is actually reaching back into my memory bank about two weeks. Bear with me folks, I’ll probably be a little hazy on the details. Here we go:

The OYRangers wanted to spend some time together, but Tokyo doesn’t have many places where people can just “hangout”. No, there seriously isn’t. You have restaurants, houses, businesses, temples, and ramenyas, but no one spends extended periods of time there. There is Starbucks, but they are so small, you can’t fit many people at the same table or be there for the whole night. In order to have some open space to ourselves, we decided to do some exploring and go to a park instead. Someone had heard that there was a lovely park in a nearby city, but once we actually got to the city and looked at the local maps, we noticed that the park was only as big as someone’s front yard. We were hoping for something a tad more spacious or at least big enough for a picnic. So we walked ALL THE WAY to Shinjuku (see photo album) where we heard that there was a national park. We spent more time on trains and on foot than actually at the park. Not “national park” like Yosemite, but more like "national garden" I guess. It had lots of organized garden areas, chrysanthemum beds, a tea house, lots of lakes and fish. Now, in theory, we went to the park to study together, but although we did open up our textbooks, not much studying got done. Instead we ate a lot of junk food, talked, and had a great time. CJ even had some fun.

The good times came afterwards, though. Typical Japan, the park closed at around 5, so we were left with nowhere to go. So we decided to head back to Kichijoji to one of the boy’s houses for dinner. After stoping at Tokyo Hands® in Shinjuku (see another post) we all hoped the train to Derek’s. On the train, we were debating the fastest way to get to Kichi, when a Japanese salaryman jumped into our conversations with some helpful advice. He spoke surprisingly good English, actually. He asked where we were from, if we liked Japan, and what we thought of the people. After, he told us what planes to use and what types of bus tickets to buy if we wanted to go up to Hokaido. Our group had a great time talking to him, and Jorren (our Dutch Ranger) was shocked that a Tokyo man would be so friendly to foreigners he just met on a train. The reason that guy was so nice? Maybe it is because he’s not from Tokyo at all, but from Hiroshima, just like Yuki-chan/sensei. People from the western part of Japan are supposed to be louder, funnier, and friendlier than people from the eastern shore.

That was a little off topic. Anyway, we bought a bunch of food from the local grocery store, went to Derek’s house and cooked up a storm! The only problem was that he lives in one of the Sakura Houses. Sakura House is a company that rents rooms to foreigners who are planning on staying in Japan short term and don’t want to invest in a long-term lease. There was a Korean girl who had moved in the week before and, even though she was in her pajamas and in the middle of making her own dinner, was kind enough to let us use both the stove burners, so we gave her a heaping plate of food and talked with her for the rest of the night. We had to communicate in Japanese (which went….well, I guess) since no one knew Korean and she didn’t know English. Well, that’s a lie. Jorren actually did know how to count to 10 in Korean from his years in Tae Kwon Do and Sarah could go as far as 20 because…she just…knows…that’s not the point! We ended up becoming her best friends and even gave us all adjectives: Derek and Jorren were “interesting/funny”, Sarah was “cute”, and I was “pretty”. She was such a sweetheart and asked us to come back to talk with her sometime. Which we never did. Um, maybe we can still make it back before Derek moves out? Ugh! Now I feel like I’ve wasted time here.

I'll just have to fb everybody to get over to the Sakura House soon for a final cooking party with Derek's housemate.

By the way, the food was great. Cheap and quickly made, but great. In the end, I had to get back on the 11 pm train so that I could get back to my place in time for good-‘old curfew. Great story, right? Don’t worry, I’ll come up with something better.

Time

I guess that this marks the beginning of my fourth month in Japan. September, October, November: three months done with and most of the California students leaving soon. It is strange to think that many of my new friends and the now familiar faces are going to be gone. Their time with here is done already. Come to think of it, Keith only had three months here, too. How could they be down with so quickly? I was speaking with Liane the other day and she gave me some advice that I should have been following all this time. Because I came here knowing that I would be staying all year, whenever something was scheduled to happen, I didn’t make such a strong effort to attend. Sure I went to activities or events that sounded fun or exciting, but if I missed one outing, I told myself that there was always next time. But for some exchange students like Liane, there would be no next time. She told me that she did not sleep much here. If she did, then she’d miss out on hanging out with friends, going somewhere new, or doing something she can never do again. The other day, I didn’t climb Mt. Takao because I told myself that I could do it in the spring. I also missed out on dinner with my friends because they told me that it would be too late. I didn’t fight them on that subject, but just went home because I thought that we could always just go out another day. No big deal. But maybe it is a big deal. I might be too busy in the spring. Something might happen between now and then that makes it impossible for me to go. That night could have been the last night for me to go out with everyone. Likewise, just staying home in my dorm with the other students could be an important event. By going to bed early or heading up to my room before everyone else, I thought that I was being responsible and getting proper rest. But look at Liane, she didn’t sleep for fear of missing out on the moment and still she had regrets. What if I stay for a year and keep living the way I’m living? Will I have more regrets than her? I still have time, and she is already gone. I should stop holding myself away from everyone when they are close to me now. Later, when I have no way of being with them, I will wish that I had another day, another evening, or another moment to make them smile or share a drink. This may sound like I am talking about death instead of leaving Japan. Maybe I’ll come back, but no one could even guarantee that I’d come here the first time. Who can say that I will come back just because I plan on it?

In retrospect, I have done so much already (like Wadaiko, the OYRangers, teaching English to the high schoolers, and making friends - a difficult task for me), and my Japanese is better than when I first came. I would definitely not say my time has been wasted, but did I miss out on too much by trying to be practical? Should I take more chances, get more involved, go more places, not worry so much about money? Not go crazy, but not be as scared about if something is feasible or entirely rational. It makes some sense. I should live like next week isn’t coming, like I’m leaving at the end of the term, or like I actually won’t be able to come back to Japan again. This means that I won’t be on facebook or skype as often, I’m afraid. I’ll be there by appointment only to help keep me from being so dependent on home.

I’m sorry to have such a downer of a blog entry, everyone, but this has been on my mind for a while. Maybe it was the unhealthy amount of sugar recently that left my mind in a candy-coma. Maybe it was all the cheesy Japanese dramas and music videos that have me feeling a little depressed. Maybe it is because I've been stuck nearly alone in my dorm for 2 weeks! But I digress; speaking about not wasting time, I’ll be sure to post pictures and info about Disney, the Taiko after-party, traveling to Kobe with Gina, and other adventures on here for you to see.

p.s. People came back to the dorm today, so now there are actually people to talk to again. I was starting to spend all my time in the Yearbook club room, but now I can be social in my own dorm again. Finally!

Chebu Take 2

Back, like I said, with a few links to Chebu in Japan.

Cheburashka dancing in Kichijoji, Japan

Cheburashka taking pictures with Japanese fans, watch towards the end for a bunch of girls with Chebu stuff

Chebu Anime, this was created in Japanese, but dubbed back into Russian

Chebu Anime, this was created in Japan, but subbed into Russian, Chebu sounds like such an adorable little baby in Japanese!!

Chebu

We all knew this blog would come. It is now time to discuss, Cheburashka, or as they say in Japan “Cheburaashika”. For the sake of my typing, we’ll just call him Chebu.

Let me just start by saying that the Japanese abso-possi-lutely LOVE Chebu like he was one of their very own. And why not? He is small, fuzzy, has large, innocent eyes, and a cute voice: all these things make for a winning combination in Japan. Some people even know the Chebu theme song or that he is actually a Russian character. But everyone knows that he is adorable. My friend’s host-family were thrilled when she and I started talking about him on skype one day. In the background, I could hear them all start cooing, “Cheburashka is so cute! How does she know him? What an adorable little bear!” My Japanese professor back at Witt had a Chebu key chain. When I asked her about it, she didn’t have a clue as to who he was, but told me that this little character showed up everywhere in Japan. I didn’t really believe her at first, but since I have come here, I’ve bumped into Chebu a couple times; an advertisement flyer for Jujutsu club, a shrine of Chebu merchandise at a store in Kichijoji, and recently he was in a prominent fashion magazine!

That’s right, folks, you heard it here first, Chebu appeared in these two page spread in Japan’s Nanno Magazine, a very popular fashion magazine for teens and young women. He was right between the Nordic sweaters and leg warmers, if memory serves. The advertisement was for a history show of sorts that will start mid-December and is all about little Chebu. The web address is http://www.cheb-kuma.com/index.html, and introduces you to Chebu, all his friends, and different information about the tour. But it is in Japanese. If you really want to check it out, maybe Google Chrome could translate it for you, but pushing random buttons always works for me.

I was just so shocked to see him pop up again, but I really shouldn’t be. Wouldn’t you know, he’s been in Japan longer than I have, so he’s like my sempai.

p.s. I’m writing this entry in the Yearbook clubroom and Anna walked in. Apparently, she’s a die-hard Chebu fan and her friends gave her Chebu stickers for her planner. Also, she says that there is a Chebu anime!!! I told her about the road show and she got super excited! She says that it is probably a movie about Chebu, but I can find out more later.

Exploring Noodles

My favorite Ramen shop (not the one that makes me sick, but the one right next to that one) is kind of expensive, and I was thinking that I should go out to different places every now and again. Not that I don’t love my Ramen shop (they give people free curry and rice, and girls get free dessert, yum!) but other places have different items on the menu. Gutara Ramenya, it isn't you, it's me. No, on second thought, it is you. Sorry.

So coming back from church, Saturday night, I stopped off in a side street, and squeezed myself into one of the many tiny, tiny ramen shops. There was only one old man working, but you could tell that he had everything down pat. I got some soba noodles, concentrated miso soup and a few gyoza to top things off. Just to make sure I knew how to eat it, the man was nice enough to explain the noodle/soup combo to me. I still don’t think I was doing it right, but I tried my best. It was surprisingly spicy, but that was fine by me. I used the gyoza to absorb the last of the sauce and soup. Very tasty!! I’ll have to try a different store next time. Haha, but probably not the one where the salary men sing traditional Japanese enka.

I Went to Vigil!!

I have been soooooo Orthodox deprived, it is not even funny! But I had a free weekend for once and a set of directions, so I made my way to the closest Orthodox Church for a strong dose of Vigil (vespers and matins one after the other). Yet, by “close” what I really mean was…..not….close. The not-so-close-church was the Russian-Japanese Cathedral of Tokyo (score!!) and is an hour and a half away from my dorm. If I ride my bike to the train station, it would only cost me $4.50 to ride the train from Musashi-sakai to Ochanomizu. I was pretty worried about finding my way there, though. I knew how to get to the city, but the Japanese aren’t too big on street names so once I arrived, I would have to just go by arrows and city maps. Also, the Japanese Christian population is only around 1 or 3 percent, so if I stopped for directions, would anyone even know what I was talking about? And the church was 200 meters away from the station; that sounded so far off! Would I make it in time for the service?!

Luckily for me, I don’t know a thing about the metric system! All my worries were unfounded. It turns out, 200 meters is about 1 city block. As for directions, someone stuck this helpful sign up in the train station’s main exit and the street was covered in arrows pointing me towards the church. And, even in Tokyo, a cathedral is still a cathedral, so once I got close, the onion dome and iconography gave it away. Yahoo, Orthodoxy!!

(Side note: I got in a bicycle accident on my way to the station. But it wasn’t my fault! Anyway, I’m fine, just a few scratches on my right arm, but my basket is this really funny shape now. At first I was a little miffed, but it actually holds stuff better now, so all is well.)

The church was actually in a complex, but the main building wasn’t hard to spot. The Japanese man who went in before I did was obviously a little lost and seemed to be exploring for the first time. One of the stewards noticed, though, and was able to help him out. Now, I’m pretty foreign looking, so most people would guess that I’m Ortho, but I decided to not take any chances, put my veil on outside, and walk in like I was a regular.

This. Church. Was. Stunning! In true Russian style, everything was intricately carved or molded, decorated in gold and silver, there were hardly any chairs, and there were candles everywhere. The icons were big and all in the older, Russian style (a lot different from the Greek, Jerusalem, and Antiochian ones I’m used to). The dome itself was plain white, but in the center of the dome hung a huge chandelier right above a raised platform where the bishop would stand. Besides having the main iconostasis, there were two smaller ones on either side, each with a set of royal and deacon’s doors. In front of one of these smaller iconostasis is where two of the priests held confessions between the vespers and matins parts. The choir stood on the other side and contained mostly sopranos and tenors, I feel. The songs were all the Russian ones I knew, but were done in Japanese, sung high-pitched, in an echoing room, so I couldn’t really catch the words. The main alter-man (I’m guessing 25 at the youngest) was also the designated reader and, let me tell you, he knew his stuff! He just read those psalms like it was his job, which it was, but went so fast that, once again, I couldn’t catch the words. The main priest’s Japanese sounded so much like Chinese to me that I couldn’t understand what he said either.

“Um, Alexandra, if you didn’t understand what was being said, what was the point?”

Good question, I can see why you’d ask that. All orthodox services are the same in any language. The priest does the exact same thing at the exact same time in an English service as every other priest does in a Greek, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Ethiopian, Spanish, etc. service. The actions, equipment, songs, and prayers are all the same, but the style and language is the only difference. So even though I didn’t know exactly what they were saying, I knew, “At this point we are doing a litany and praying for there to be peace and prosperity.” Also, I knew what I was supposed to do because protocol for the laity is the same everywhere as well. So, I knew what they were doing and what would come up next, it was just that they were doing it all in code. Not only was it Japanese, but it was honorific keigo Japanese! Go back a few posts for a short rant about keigo, or just wait for a few more posts after this; I will complain about it again.

Anyway, there were a few things I’d like to point out about. 1) There are a lot of foreigners there! Besides my wonderfully exotic, America self, there were several other foreigners and one of the three priest that night was Caucasian, too. So, if I need a priest who speaks English (which I’m pretty sure he does), I’ve got one in Ochanomizu. 2) There is a strict no camera rule inside Orthodox Churches in Japan. When I was first researching about them, I couldn’t find any YouTube videos or internet photos of a typical Japanese-Ortho service or the interior of a Japanese Church. It turns out that for some reason or another, the Japanese-Ortho are really protective about taking photos/videos inside the church. Outside is fine, but not inside, so I won’t be able to show you what the inside looks like, I’m afraid. 3) They were training a new altar boy! He wasn’t young, but he was clueless – probably his first Vigil, I think. He kept getting in trouble for not placing the candle where he was supposed to, how he was supposed to, or when he was supposed to. Also, he kept forgetting to kiss the priest’s hand. Every time he messed up, he’d just do a lot of little bows and the older altar guys would give him this understanding look. It was very cute and I’m sure he’ll get it right the next time. Do your best, Alter Lad!

For more information about this particular church, you can visit this website. Or this website. It is your choice, really.

Mt. Takao: Fail

So, the freshmen from Wadaiko club organized a hiking trip to Mount Takao, but I was not able to go, and stayed in bed for most of the day. “That’s alright,” I consoled myself, “they will be going out to dinner later on and you can just meet up with them later.” Some of the OYRangers were nice enough to text me about dinner, but got the times wrong. Long story short, I showed up an hour late to the station, waited 40 minutes for no one to come, then went out for sushi when I heard that they were pretty much already done. My friends felt really bad about the mix-up, but it all turned out well; I haven’t had sushi for a month and a half, so it was a nice little treat. Too bad I had to wait on a stone bench for that long, though. :S

Hiking trip: Fail

Dinner with friends: Fail

Waiting in the cold: Fail

Getting wicked-cheap-sushi and a cup of everything-will-turn-up-soon-tea: Yatta!!

Sweets Paradise

Are you ready for this?! It is Sweets Paradise!!

Okay, you may remember me talking about All-You-Can-Eat/Drink places here in Japan, right? You know, those restaurants where you pay, like, $10-$35 and get a buffet and a time limit? Bonus info: the longer the time limit, the more you pay. Well, they are really popular for parties and group outings. Well, my friend took some of us out for a newly opened All-You-Can-Eat-Dessert-Buffet! I know, it’s great!!!

The place was called Sweets Paradise and was all done up in a old-fashioned train car feel with an extensive display of cakes, pastries, a chocolate fountain, a fair-ground style popcorn machine, and fruits. For drinks, you could have hot chocolate, soda, teas, coffees, or shaved ice. There was also a pot of curry, rice, a bowl of salad, and several pastas to balance out the meal. It was all so lovely, but not as sweet as you might imagine. Japanese desserts look deceptively sugary. But they mostly taste like fluff or aren’t very sweet. Natural sugars, like those found in fruits and honey, are more appreciated. The Japanese, it seems, have an aversion to anything that’s flavor is too strong, so spicy foods aren’t that spicy and sweet foods aren’t that sweet. Give them a Reese’s for example, and most of them will say, “Too sweet!” or “Too buttery!” Many of the Japanese students at Witt would complain that the cafeteria slacker desserts were amasugiru (too sweet).

Because of this neutral flavor, I didn’t eat more than three platefuls of sweets, but went straight to the curry, which overflowed from my plate and burned my hand! I did what anyone would have done, ate that curry to the last drop and showed it who was boss!!

Would I go back to sweet’s paradise? Definitely, it is surprisingly close (Kichijoji) and I’d be able to get a full meal besides the desserts bar. Maybe sometime in January as a pick-me-up when school starts getting hard, the weather is depressing, and I just feel like eating my weight in strawberry jelly rolls!

Japanese TV

Oh, boy. Here we go.

I’ve been talking with my new Japanese friends and one of the things they keep telling me to do is watch more TV. As a kid, I was never told that. In order to be more fit in high school, I was also not told that. But in college in Japan, people suddenly want me to watch as much TV as I can in my spare time. I can see why: it would expose me to overhear real Japanese conversation without being creepy, it is available all the time, even when everyone else has gone to bed or is busy, there are pictures and video recordings to help me understand what is going on, and many Japanese shows now throw colorful and large subtitles at the bottoms of the screen for added emphasis on something funny or interesting. But I hardly watched TV in America and, besides, Japanese TV has some very strange topics that I don’t know the vocab for and it all goes so fast! But I have been giving it a try recently and here is some of that I’ve found.

Of course you have the news, but Japanese news is more colorful, trendy, and young than American news. The only problem? Japanese news reports are given in keigo, an honorific language in Japanese that gives us such humorous translations as “I meekly suggest that you honorably shut up before I humbly punch you in your great and wonderful face.” Don’t get me wrong, I love a good bout of keigo as much as the next foreign student, and it is much easier to hear than to use, but it is rather tiring, so I can only do it for a little while before I need to change the channel. Next are dramas! Every country has them, but Japanese dramas can be as typical as Days of Our Lives, as far-out and unbelievable as Star Treck, or as historically inaccurate as Memoirs of a Geisha (which is an entirely different rant). I like to watch dramas on my computer (with subtitles to help catch words I don’t know yet), but watching a drama on TV? I’m just not ready for that. Then, I thought that I’d be safe with a children’s program. They are cute and easy to understand, and one that I was watching tried to teach kids the difference between the trashcan and the toy box. It is a very important difference! However, my television is in the common room, and I’d get a lot of looks if that were all I watched.

I was finally saved when I realized that versatility of variety shows. Let me just say, they are varied! You can find anything on variety shows: art/history education, world travel, famous actors/singers/comedians, pranks, quizzes, stories, music, live performances, games, and fun acts. Also, no matter which variety show you pick, at least one other person on the floor will like it, too, and want to watch it with you. I usually stick with variety show with famous people I recognize or like (Johnny’s Entertainment members like Nikishido Ryo and Tegoshi Yuya, for instance). If none of those are on, I’ll pick one whose rules I can understand within the first 3 minutes. Usually, they all end in a batsu (punishment) for the loser or a prize for the person who gets the most points. All in all, very fun, but be careful because they get more strange and less understandable as you near the early morning hours. Then, somewhere in the TV broadcasting waves, something trips and everything turns back to news. Peculiar…

Helping House Mom with English

I feel so helpful! I was lounging in the lounge when my House Mom came up to me with a question about English! We rehearsed a script about the next day’s fire drill that she had to give over the loud speakers. She was so worried that she’d pronounce something wrong, so for half an hour we tried to get her comfortable with proper accents and timing for all the new words (like “evacuate” v. “evacuation”). I thought it was a one-time thing, but apparently now I’m her go-to-girl for all these things. We even have a time set up for her to practice the English readings of other dorm-wide announcements. It is great to see her taking her responsibilities so seriously. She has very good English, but she wants to make sure that she’s clearly understood so that all the students know what to do and everyone will be happy and protected. Awww, thanks, Mrs. Kaji.

English Club at High School

Guys!!! Okay, this is kind of rather late, but I’m still super excited about it: the local Japanese high school has (get this) an ENGLISH CLUB!! Now, I don’t really know what that means, but I DO know that after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, anyone who is interested in learning more about English and English-speaking countries meets up to talk about all things English. No, really, that’s what they do.

I found out about this club through an organization called Chi-Q-Jin (a play off of the Japanese words for Earthling/person: chikyuujin). This organization partners foreign exchange students with local elementary and middle schools to play games, talk about what other countries are like, and get young kids excited about the world. They also support this English Club, but were having a hard time recruiting ICU students and most of the other Chi-Q-Jin members are Chinese, Korean, or Hispanic.

I was more than willing to help out the high schoolers, especially because most of their class time is dedicated to route translation or situation role play, not very flexible for developing real conversation skills. So I decided to drop in on the next club meeting. But we kept it a secret from the students so that it wouldn’t negatively affect attendance. Before meeting with the students, the teachers explained that they had only started learning English last April, so they would be a little shy and hesitant. Also, I was asked to pretend to know NO Japanese whatsoever. The teachers would also only speak to me in English to keep up the charade.

Well, right now (or two weeks ago) all the upperclassmen were busy studying for their college entrance exams, so only the first-years were left in the club. Make that 4 first-year boys, one who was pretty good with English so he dominated much of the Q&A time, one who was fidgety and giggly and silly, one who was exhausted from watching too much television the night before, and one who was from the Western part of Japan and who obviously was not being invited to be “in the in group” by the other three, but was trying his best to say what he was thinking in English. They talked more to each other and the teachers than they did to me, but that was because they were trying to figure out what to say or how to say something. It was rather funny, because each question directed my way involved about 5 minutes of preparation and practicing before one of the boys felt confident enough to try it out and see if I could understand them. Since I knew what they were talking about in Japanese, it helped me know what they were trying to say, but I only answered based on what they actually said in Enlgish. It will be better for them that way.

The topics were pretty basic. Since it was our first time meeting, they asked for my name, where I was from, where I go to school, if I like sports, etc. My name (Alexandra) was a bit too difficult for them and sent one of the little guys into a stammering fit just trying to pronounce it; in Japanese, to say “Alexandra” you need to add a whole bunch of vowels, making it extra long – Arekusandora. I made them guess my age and that took about 15 minutes! As hard it is for Westerners to guess an Asian person’s age, they have the same difficulty for us. The only thing is, they always guess too old, instead of too young. I did tell them that I was in college and that I was older than them but younger than their teacher. But they were so flustered (not wanting to be wrong, embarrass themselves, embarrass the teacher, insult me) the just said, “ehh…ehhh…EHHHH? 27 years?” Hahahahahaha, no.

That’s when I decided to take over and just let them listen, which they enjoyed. I told them about the magical and mysterious world of America, where special trucks drive around town selling ice cream in the summer, sushi is expensive, kids can make tunnels and houses in the snow, squirrels run on top of telephone wires, deer are bigger than people, and you can see rabbits every day. I shared with them these wonders and each time they stared back in disbelief. They would even ask their teacher if what I said was true. “Why do trucks take ice cream around if people can just buy ice cream at the convenience store?” “Because most people don’t buy daily groceries from the convenience store in America and these trucks can attract all the kids in the neighborhoods who don’t go shopping with their parents.” “Isn’t it dangerous to have all those wild animals around?” “Americans are very used to seeing birds, raccoons, and other animals around.” And on and on it went.

At the very end I gave the boys and the teachers some Dove’s Chocolate melts-things because on the inside of the wrapper are English phrases that they could read. The main teacher thought this was a fantastic idea, but the boys just liked the candy and tried to trick the teacher into giving them more. I’m going to try to go back there most Thursdays, but we’ll see how well I do in the coming weeks.

So, I Was Battling a Praying Mantis the Other Day…

No lie, these things are everywhere. I used to think, “Oh, the praying mantis. That is such a tough motif to use. They must be a super nature-y summer bug that the Japanese and Chinese like to use.” Wrong. There is a practical praying mantis plague at my campus, ‘yall! We’ve been seeing them since the school year started, and now that it is getting cold, they are still lurking. The kids here love the praying mantis and play with them all the time. One girl was trying to get hers to fly and instead incised it into a slashing frenzy before it finally flew/glided away to safety. The other day, I was walking around, and happened to looking down at my mp3 player, when I saw a brown one poised to strike my blue shoes!* Um, excuse me smallish-but-menicing-bug-who-inspired-Kung-Fu-artists-for-centuries, but in case you haven’t noticed, you’re TINY!! Don’t get all “fighting stance” with me or my shoes; I almost squished you! There is a time for defending one’s honor and a time for running, young mantis. What is more, on my way back down the same road, I had forgotten that Little Fearless was still there and I almost stepped on her again! If it wasn’t for my quick thinking, panther-like reflexes, and for the fact that when it moved I was so scared that I jumped back, my mantis would have been sentenced to the 2-demensional world of Flatedness. This is an advisory message to all rough-and-tough praying mantises at ICU: protect yourselves and your families from the big people! They will not always be looking down and there will come a day when you find yourselves in a losing battle against a sneaker.

You have been warned.

Middle Eastern Culture Center

Ah-ha!! I found it! You thought you could hide behind your deceptively friendly, tattooed hippopotamus, simple maps, and street names that don’t exist, but I found you none the less!

Actually, a Japanese girl gave me directions (which I forgot), so I was going to look back at that map (but I didn’t feel like walking to the bus stop), so I started wandering around the outside perimeter of the school. Luckily for me, the Japanese really like organizing things, so a whole bunch of institutions were all lined up neatly behind my school. There was another college, a theology seminary, a chemical research lab, and the Middle Eastern Culture Center!! This place right outside of ICU’s western gate, so no extensive searching was called for, nor did I need the bus. However, and this is the BIG however, the Center is closed for maintenance and renovation for the foreseeable future. I think that it is through the end of the month. :S I was hoping that sometime during the break, I’d be able to go and see the exhibits, but now I have to wait until everything is opened again. I couldn’t even find out how much the entrance fee was or learn about what it is they actually show. It was a total zannen.

Piano Concert and Earthquake

Guess what, guys? I had an earthquake! Or a tush-massage, I’m not quite sure which.

Here’s the story: A boy in my Japanese class announced one day that he and his friend would be giving a free piano concert in the cafeteria the next night. Being a fellow performer and wishing to support the arts (especially when the event is free), I made a memo in my planner and told myself that the recital would be a good break from essay writing. The concert itself was very nice: simple, respectful, and surprisingly high quality. The boy whom I had come to see played many, many Final Fantasy pieces from memory (and, while kind of shaky on some parts, did very well overall), and his friend ( a Japanese student, I’m guessing a junior?) played a piece by Shubert and 2 songs by List. The Japanese boy was fantastic! So expressive and his playing was just so….clean and….clear and…unnaturally accurate, but still very sincere. I don’t know how he did it! We were all mesmerized by this kid’s playing when, during a nocturne, I felt my chair start to vibrate. Was my phone ringing? No, it was on the table. Was my leg bouncing from me sitting too long? No, that wasn’t it. But I swear my bottom was swaying underneath me. I was puzzled and confused, but at least I wasn’t the only one; the other students at my table had the exact same expressions as me. But it was only the foreign students that seemed to be feeling this. All the Japanese kids were sitting as cool as stones. This shaking had gone on for some time when one of the second years guessed, “Is this an earthquake?’ Yes, that had to be it! How else were we all feeling this exact same sensation? That also made sense because the Japanese kids would have been all but numb to this regular sensation. Even the pianist continued to play as if nothing were happening. Another 5 minutes more and everything was still again. Super weird…

The next day some of us were talking and the news confirmed what we had felt. There had been an earthquake in our area during the time of the recital. It was too small for most people to notice, but we knew what it was. It was rather pleasant, nothing broke, and everyone was safe; it is a pity not all earthquakes are like that. For a girl who has lived on a stable tectonic plate all her life, it was quite a sensation. Probably boring for you all to read about, but it sure shook up my night!

Missing: Grandma Nashi

Oh, no! I was walking along one day, when I realized that something was missing. Had I lost my wallet? Did I forget to do my homework? Nope. Someone was missing: Grandma Nashi!!

Next to one of the little farms/gardens near my school, a little, old woman would sit selling Asian pears (nashi, hence her nickname) which I would buy about once a week. But lately, I was so busy with the festival that I hadn’t gone to see her. But on that day, I realized that I haven’t seen her out by the fruit stand in a while. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the fruit stand, either. So, not only have I not had an Asian pear in weeks, but I haven’t gotten to see my little obaasan. :S

What sad times are these when foreign college students cannot purchase Asian pears from Japanese grandmothers in autumn. Maybe she is not growing pears anymore or has moved her location, but I was hoping that come fall, she would have more fruit. *sigh* I guess not.

Fall Holidays, the Basics

It came as a shock to some of the exchange students here, but Japan has different holidays than the US. Japan has some strange holidays like Respect the Elderly Day, Culture Day, Sports Day, and Autumnal Equinox Day. But it doesn’t have things like Daylight Savings Day, Halloween, or Thanksgiving. Those are pretty Western/American concepts (because of the European historical and cultural heritage of the United States that never happened in Japan). “But, Alexandra, didn’t you just say in a previous blog that you dressed up for a Halloween party?” Yes, I did. Let me explain.

While Halloween, for example, is not a nationally recognized holiday here in Japan, many people think that it is a really fun idea, and groups of people celebrate it on their own. Halloween parties, neighborhood organized Trick-or-Treating, and Halloween decorations/goods can be found, but these are just based on whether or not anyone does it on their own. Dressing up in costumes, stories about ghost/daemons, colorful decorations, free sweets, and a reason to let loose all appeal to the Japanese (especially young people). Plus, except for local festivals, this time of fall has a void of national holidays, which people are eager to fill.

But something that hasn’t quite caught on here is Thanksgiving. Buttery mashed potatoes, thick gravey, a huge turkey, and corn on the cob hasn’t nabbed the Japanese appetite, nor has the idea that you spend one day being thankful for all that you have. Why not? Well, as far as the Japanese are concerned, they’ve always lived in Japan and didn’t have to make their way in any New World, but have inherited everything from the generations before them or the gods. If you want to express thanks, you simply honor your ancestors or visit a shrine. Simple as that. There are also other times for people to show they are grateful. They have their own, so why adopt a foreign concept? That is why instead of little pilgrim and Indian decorations, the Christmas lights and wreaths have already gone up, and a nation where less than 1% of the population is Christian is waiting the festivities of their adopted holiday.

ICU Festival: Day 3, Sunday, Oct. 31st

The final day of the festival had the Wadaiko kids a little on hedge. At 7 am, the President had declared it sunny enough for us to perform outside, but it was still a touch on the gray side by the time we started setting up. The other groups seemed to be in better spirits, though, so we moved all the instruments, equipment, and curtains, then went about the yard calling to potential guests and making a huge ruckus. It was great! But by the time we got back to home base, it had started to drizzle!! Everyone rushed to the drums, which would be ruined by the rain. We threw blankets, coats, and jackets on all the taiko and wooden stands. “Oh, great,” everyone was saying, “what if this doesn’t stop in time for the performance?” But the weather did clear and, trust me on this one, no one was more excited than the President, who started jumping up and down on the hill.

The concert was a great success and we had people stretched far and wide, past the back of the stage just to listen to us. We had the largest audience out of any group at the festival! And it was no surprise why the upperclassmen had been so particular about our practices. When I was talking to other students later that day, they were telling me how huge the Wadaiko reputation was, so I could see why we couldn’t allow any major mistakes. I was focusing too much on my responsibility during the concert, that I didn’t notice who was in the audience. Apparently, everyone I knew was there at one point or another (even my house parents, Kaji-san!). During the next few days, I got so many compliments and more respect now that everyone knew that I was a taiko member.

After we cleaned up and stored all of the equipment, I had to dash over and prepare for Soul Run’s final performance which would be that night on the main stage. We met up, changed clothes, practices the dances and kata a few times, and even dressed our male president in a traditional fisherman’s wrap to add to the coolness of his costume. Haha, I have to admit though, it looked a lot like a body cast, and he said it was very hard to breathe in at first.

The festival organizers moved us out onto the side stage pretty early, and it was confusing to know when to go one because we were in the very middle of the finale. Before I went on, some of the Yearbookers even came up to me and told me they'd be around during the show to sell hot chocolate. It was a good idea because the night was starting to get chilly. Once we finally took the stage (I mean, grass) it looked really cool, because we were under the spotlights and right up in front of the audience! Many of the other Soul Run kids were gathered and cheered us on from dead center, so when I looked up, I saw a mess of red, purple, and shining light (from cameras and spot lights). My knee was kind of hurting by this point, because I had dislocated it again (great job, Alexandra) the weekend before, but my mother had sent and Ace-bandage which saved the day! It was such a rush to be with them and dance Souran Bushi together. I got to be in the very middle, right behind the two club presidents when we performed. Between having the other 11 up there dancing with all they had and our fellow members sitting right in front of us, shouting along with the song, I was in some sort of dream world. Everything was buzzing with life, even when we moved onto the different parts of the show. Dancing Para Para even felt intense! It is so sad that I'll never get to have this feeling again, but maybe I can somehow share it once I get back home. My school has an East Asian Festival once a year, and maybe I can make a Soul Run group to perform then, too.

Later, Derek and I made our way back to Dialogue House where the Wadaiko freshman were making presents for the upperclassmen. We helped them out for a while, then ducked upstairs to change into our Halloween outfits for Wadaiko's nomihodai that night (see previous post).

Costume Shopping with the OYRangers

In the Wadaiko club, there is a small group of us gaijin (mostly OYRs – One Year Regular students) who have bonded rather well this term. We had to learn everything and experienced “firsts” together: buying our own drumsticks (the Harry Potter adventure), wearing pacchi pants, performing, and eating different treats. We even had a captain named Koji, so we felt like quite the little team of amigos.

To celebrate our great spirit of wa, we decided to have a group costume for Halloween, since we’d be going out with the Wadaiko kids that night anyway and they would really appreciate it. Our shopping venture brought us to Don Quixote, the Japanese version of Marcs; a cheap store where you can find anything and everything, you just need to look in the right place. There were not a lot of choices for costumes, unless we all wanted to be pumpkins or Japanese Pop stars. Which, are both totally fine, but let’s be serious. Luckily, we were able to find something cheap and befitting of our team: Color Ranger masks!! How is this not perfect?!

The Rangers are a totally Japanese idea, represent the power of teamwork, while recognizing personal contribution and differences, and would allow us the chance to do obnoxious poses in the middle of the train station! And that, as we all know, is the true meaning of Halloween. The Color Ranger masks came in 5 colors and were one-size fits all. Sure, one of us would have to double up on color, but that was fine. We ended up deciding to buy track suits in the same color as the masks, and as for special weapons (which couldn’t really be weapons because of Japanese law, fear of deportation, and the scare factor on public transportation) we all grabbed household items to accessorize our outfits.

Getting into our outfits was a bit of a hassle, we needed to maneuver around the freshmen, who were working on presents for the upperclassmen in the main floor of the building we were changing in, then we needed to get to Kichijoji and make sure out costumes were hidden until we made our grand debut as a group. While I rode my bike to the train station, the others took the bus and ended up almost an hour late! But when we all came out in mask and all, we got roars of applause from the other members and there was much picture taking.

Now, allow me to introduce the Rangers.

Derek from California: Yellow Ranger with the golden shoe scoop

Alice from France: Red Ranger with fearsome batsu fan

Jorren from the Netherlands: Pink Ranger with fluffy feather-duster of justice

Liane from California: (also) Pink Ranger with fluffy feather-duster of truth

Sara from North Carolina: Green Ranger with emerald shoe scoop

Alexandra from Ohio: Blue Ranger with dual laundry pins of furry

“OYRangers, ikou~~!” (OYRangers, let’s go~~!)

Samrat Restaurant

Just a “by the way” sort of thing:

After Wadaiko, but before the Soul Run nomihoudai, Kai, I, and another former OYR went out to eat in Kichijoji. They had both gone to ICU and had spent a lot of time in Kichi, and there was one place in particular that they wanted to go to: Samrat. It was an Indian restaurant tucked in underground with a hard to find entrance that we only caught on the second time. As we started down the stairs I could already smell the kitchen that reminded me so much of Rashmi and Sophie’s houses I got a rush of high school memories! But as soon as we stepped inside I was pulled back to reality as a tall, bearded Indian man greeted us with a loud Japanese “Irasshaimase!” I’m in Japan, not Ohio. I’m in Japan, not Ohio. Got it.

The great thing about this place, I found out, was that there was an unlimited bread rule, which we three probably abused. While my friends got some of the more mild flavors, I asked for some daal terka and spicy veggie curry. It was so good, but the portions were tiny and I was done with mine in almost an instant. I ended up eating the rest of someone else’s, too. But it isn’t my fault!! Japan’s serving sizes (even in Ethnic restaurants, it seems) are super small not super sized. I wanted to stay and talk with everyone a little more, but Soul Run was meeting at the station soon and I didn’t want to be left behind.

I would give this place a 7 out of 10, a good place to stop back again, but just a touch expensive.

ICU Festival: Day 2, Saturday, Oct. 30th

Good morning!! Rise and shine, because it is time for Taiko!

My entire day was spent with the Taiko group, preparing for the concert, setting up the gym, grabbing some lunch, walking around (in the rain) calling out to the festival goers (in Japanese and English) to come and see us perform, and tear down. Luckily, we were over at around 3 pm, so I still had some time to catch another glimpse of the festival that day. It was drizzling the whole time, which had my spirits down at first, but everyone was trying to be as energetic as possible and that really affected my mood too. As you walked down the sidewalks, everyone was yelling out to passers-by, waving signs, dressed up, and fighting for your attention. How can you ignore that kind of life and energy? What’s more, Kai was there!! He came up from Kyoto for the weekend to see his ICU friends and to cheer on Wadaiko! We were able to perform in our usual gym, which made our sound reverb off the walls and give us this awesome presence while keeping the drums dray. There was a modest crowd, but I was kind of nervous anyways. I only did two half songs, but I had to carry and rearrange drums, so I was a part of the concert the whole time. It was really fun, but I messed up in two parts. It didn’t show, but I know that I made those mistakes and that is what matters. Miki’s mom was there, too! She had come all the way from Kamakura just to see Miki perform, but she stayed a little while after the show to talk to me, too. I was so revved up from the show that my Japanese was getting confused, but she said that she was very proud of both of us and was such a mom about it all. Kids from my dorm and classes were also there, too. They were all super surprised that I did Taiko and said that it was a shock to see me so energetic and active in the last song. I know I’m a bit on the quiet side sometimes, but I guess people don’t expect me to do something big or loud. I don’t usually do that sort of thing, but for that song, I just couldn’t help it!

Outside in the rain, you could to see all the different club booths and group that I got a little carried away. I bought a chocolate and sprinkle covered banana, freshly made yakisoba and fried mochi on a stick, a kabob that was pronounces kay-ba-bu, delicious lamb, grilled beef (from the Lacrosse boys, good friends of mine), hot chocolate, and a muffin (from the Yearbook kids). It was all so scrumptious, but I had to pull back before I spent too much on just food.

During the same time as Wadaiko that day, Soul Run’s main group performed on the stage. Since it was raining, they had to go inside the auditorium, but there was a slight problem with this; the indoor stage was too small to fit everyone, so only the freshman and exchange students were able to perform. Anyone older (including the seniors!!) weren’t able to dance. Later, I watch a video that one of the presidents had recorded of the group, and it looked good, but I know that it was slightly disappointed for the upper classman not to dance. To celebrate their hard work, Soul Run organized a nomihoudai (literally, “All You Can Drink Party”) in Kichijoji that night. Myself and another Wadaiko/Soul Run kids, Derek, tagged along too even though we wouldn’t be performing until the next night. Besides a lot of drinks (I had cola, thank you) the food was great and seemed to just keep coming! Some of the members were a little too enthusiastic about the beverages, but no one got too rowdy; unless you count a group-late-night-cream-puff fight rowdy. Haha, I guess that part is just a yearly Soul Run tradition. All of the members gave the upperclassmen and the co-presidents presents, we told stories about practicing together, took a lot of pictures, and had a grand old time. It was good to celebrate with everyone, but I’ll miss our lunchtime dance sessions.

I don’t know how late everyone stayed out, but I went back to my dorm in time for curfew and to try to get some rest. There was still one more day of the festival and I knew it was going to be a long day.