Plum Blossoms

 A while ago, I was surprised to see a bunch of white fluffy things stuck to two of the trees in main field here. It wasn't snow or cotton, but it was still so cold out. I asked around and found out that these are the campus' plum blossoms which are notorious for blooming in late winter. They are so cute and they all cover the trees! They are such great flowers, I wish I could keep some. I couldn't get over the contrast between these soft little buds and the stark branches all around them. Hopefully some of these came out well, but I'm going to try and snag more photos later on.

The next exciting flower blooming time will be in April when all the cherry trees start up. ICU's main road is lined with cherry blossom trees, so I won't even have to travel very far to see some. Rumor has it, though, that everyone and their brother swarms our campus in the spring time to look at the flowers, so I might have to fight off an army of hanami (flower viewing) enthusiasts to get some good pictures when the time comes.

Robot Tour!!!

Having only two weeks off for Christmas vacation isn't quite what I'm used to, but I made sure to make that time count this year! With the help of one of my best friends, Gina (we would have brought you with us if we could have, Anna Sophia), I got to backpack across Japan in the "Long-awaited, Cross-country, Pan-Japan, Caffeine-infused, Giant Robot Tour of 冬休み2010". Special featured performances by random bus friends, McDonald's lady, Miki's family, helpful direction givers, Nagoya Hoststay family, and the Japanese train system.

"Was it epic?" you may ponder. "What about Giant Robots is ever un-epic?" I would respond.

The exciting saga is airing on my blog as of March! Stay tuned for more!

Goofy Sailors: Jorren

Have you ever heard news that you thought was so amazing, so fun, and so astounding that you became more excited than the person who told you/it happened to?Haha, well, guess who is feeling that way now!?

My friend Jorren (aka the Pink OYRanger) is a very kind boy from the Netherlands whom I met through Wadaiko Club. He's blonde-haired, blue-eyed, silly, strong, and 6 foot something, which means that the Japanese absolutely LOVE him! I can't get over this kid's accent because it is so soft, but definitely there, and I'm so used to him speaking English, that whenever he speaks in Dutch, it totally knocks me for a loop. I want to keep this kid in my pocket always! He says things like, "I'm sorry: I'm not a native speaker" when he bumps into you accidentally and is always playfully taunting the French girl in our club. Seriously, he is one of the best people on the planet!

Did I mention that this guy has height? And is really cute? So, small wonder why we've been asking him all year to model in Japanese magazines, right? Do you see where this is going? *If not, just check the pictures on either side of this post - it will come to you* .

..........He finally did a modeling shoot! Haha! He had a day free and did a one-time modeling gig for POPEYE the Japanese men's magazine. Jorren, I'm so proud of you!! The topic was called "Goofy Sailors" which fit his personality perfectly. Of course, I bought the magazine (only because he is in it) and I've been showing it off to as many people as I can find! Miki has even agreed that we need to email these photos out to everyone in the club. But I ran out of people here, so I'm showing you all through the power of the Great Internet.

Anyway, I'm just procrastinating a little but, but I do have a slew of stories for you all; I'll post them (or, rather, write them) just as soon as finals are over. Happy St. Valentine's Day, by the way!

A Rumbling

Saturday February 5th, 2010, 10:56 am - ICU campus in Mitaka, Japan

So, there I was, watching a Super Junior music video, doing my Japanese homework, and eating a Snickers my dad sent me, when I started to feel like someone was shacking the couch! Who would be so rude? My friends have all left the dorm for the day, the cleaning ladies don't come near me, and I hadn't seen anyone come into the lobby, so who was shacking the couch?!

Answer: No one.

At first I thought that I was imagining it all: I was dehydrated, tired, something. But then I noticed that the boy in the other room was looking around a little, too. And the lamp was rocking back and forth, too. Why is everything moving around?!

Answer: An earthquake.

I sat and waited through the rest of the tremor, deciding that it was too quiet and calm of a shake to warrant my finely honed Middle School Earthquake Safety skills. Afterwards, I opened up a new tab in Google Chrome (which I love and highly recommend) and found out that I had just experienced a JMA Seismic Intensity 2 earthquake. Here are some other figures I found posted almost immediately after the incident occurred.

Occurred at (JST)	Latitude (degree)	Longitude (degree)	Depth	Magnitude	Region Name
10:56 JST 05 Feb 2011	34.8N	140.7E	70km	5.2	Chiba-ken Nanto-oki

I would be one of the blue dotes on this map.

You know what this means, don't you? This is my second, conscious earthquake in Japan! Horray! I must admit, it wasn't quite the tush massage the last one was, but rather a sea sick sort of feeling. From where I was sitting, the couch was moving, but the world was still, so it was boat-ish, I feel. Still weird, still fun, just thought that you would like to know.

Saitama Soccer Game

Remember back when I mentioned settai? If not, you can scroll back in time to find the blog, but if you do recall this little Japanese vocabulary, let’s pick up where we left off.

Well, waaa~~yyy back, my Wadaiko group was set on a string of settai. One was run by our president ("Nani Sore Something Something" Shunyo, the boy looking at this red phone and standing next to me in that ever-so-flattering photo). He absolutely loves soccer, and practically lived on the soccer field in high school, so he opened up a goup outing to see his hometown, pro-team play. A chance to see a Japanese soccer game AND hang out with the Wadaiko members?! I’m in all the way!! And so were the OYRangers, but the other kids….were busy. But even if it was just the foreign students who promised to come, Shunyo went all out; he brought all of his official jerseys and t-shirts for us to wear on top of all our jackets and sweaters, taught us soccer terms, gave us the team’s stats, showed us chants and cheers, and escorted us from start to finish. Thus were the OYRangers made into Urawa Red Diamonds fans. Or, as they say in Japanese, “We are Redzu!” Engrish makes me smile.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. A few things happened before we even made it to the stadium. First of all, we were running a little late. We had to dash straight from practice, so everyone was pretty tuckered, but had to stay somewhat awake on the series of buses and trains. As we were waiting at one of the many stations that took us to Saitama, Shunyo made a call, and then walked down a narrow hallway, stopping in front of a tall, thin boy with a high school uniform.

“What is he doing?” the Yellow Ranger asked. “Maybe the boy is asking him something” the Red Ranger speculated. “Nah,” the Green Ranger piped up, “He wouldn’t have gone all the way down to hallway to get asked a question.” The Red Ranger gave another guess “Maybe they know each other. We’re near Shunyo’s hometown, you know.” After a moment or two, I noticed something a little strange.“Um…hey, guys…does that kid have a white envelope with him? Yeah, it kind of looks like …Shunyo just snatched it away!! Now he’s pushing that kid around! What’s going on!? He’s, he’s hustling that kid!”

After the brief wave of panic, we were able to find out what was really going on. In actuality, that “kid” was one of Shunyo’s kid brothers and was just dropping off our tickets to his big bro (so rough housing is totally normal).

A. Ny. Way. We finally get to the field and this thing is super! I'm so glad that Shunyo used to pretty much live at this field when he was younger, because just navigating the parking lot was an adventure. It tuns out that although we bought tickets, we couldn't find a place to sit, so instead we all stood in the isle, which wasn't that weird as it turns out. From our lofty spot we could see everyone from the opposing team's fans to the players, the die-hard flag wavers, and the ocean of Reds fans.

The stadium was made especially for the FIFA World Cup 2002 Korea/Japan and can hold 63,700, making it Japan's biggest specialized football ground. But more than come to see the game, the fans who fill these stands feel like they are actually a part of the victory. There are dozens of songs, chants, and dances that everyone seems to know. If you don't, you learn them right quick, to be sure. I was worried about using my camera to record them because I figured, "As soon as I turn it on, they'll stop." Not true: one song was repeated for a timed 20 minute interval! The fans feel that if they have just as much energy as the players, it will all be channeled to victory, somehow. We just faked like we knew the words and sang along with the rest of them for the fun of it.

Bad news? Reds lost. Good news? I got to scream at the top of my lungs in Japanese with my friends!!

After the game, there was a huge closing ceremony because it was the last home game of the season/pre-season/actually I'm not sure why they had it. Sorry. I'm sure that you fine folks at home are probably bored to tears with this, so I'll end on some fun videos. Also, if you were looking in my photo gallery and were wondering what the final image that the crowd made was, watch the last video!

For more Reds Fan fun, check out their English website!

http://www.urawa-reds.co.jp/index_en.html

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

ICU Festival: Day 1, Friday, Oct. 29th

WAH! I’m so behind on my blogs, this is embarrassing. If I can catch up with them this weekend, though, I’ll be solid.

Let’s take a trip back a few weeks to the ICU festival. If you’ve ever read manga or seen anime, you know that most high schools and colleges in Japan have these cultural festivals once a year for clubs to show their stuff, make some money, and for the school to attract attention and prove that their students are well-rounded and do more than just study and go to cram school. Sure, right, whatever you have to tell yourself. But these festivals (try to think more like school fair) are really fun and people pour hours upon hours of effort into them. By the time students reach college they are experts at preparing for festivals, which really helped me because I’ve only had the Wittenberg festivals to pull experience from.

I’m in a few clubs here, which means that I had to be a pro at time management and I also had to make some decisions on priority; who was I going to perform with? Which group was I going to help on the day of the festival? Which group would be more forgiving if I didn’t chose them? That sort of thing. My final decision: dedicate myself mostly to Wadaiko, playing with them on both days and attending all of the preliminary events as a Wadaiko member, helping the Yearbook Club leading up to (but not during) the festival, dancing with Soul Run at the closing ceremony only, and supporting my friends whenever I had some free time. It was surprising to see how much importance all the groups were putting on this. Since the first day I joined, the Wadaiko kids were talking about preparations for the festival (which was two-ish months away at that point), and Soul Run was formed ONLY to perform at the festival. Everyone was throwing a lot of pressure on how well we’d be and exactly how every movement would look. There isn’t enough time in my blog to talk about all the preparations, but just know that we practiced a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. I thought it a bit obsessive, but I can’t argue that the results were fantastic.

On the Friday right before the festival, I had morning class, but all afternoon classes were canceled to let kids do final practices and set up for the next morning. I had already promised my time to Taiko, so I ran home, changed into my purple pacchi (a style of traditional Japanese pants) and dashed to a 4 hour practice session. We had to rehearse, of course, but since we would be playing outside on Sunday, people needed to practice bringing and setting up our equipment and instruments for the day of the show. Every movement and responsibility was charted out and directed. Once again, it all seemed super controlled and over the top, but it left no room for error and responsibility was made obvious, so if you didn’t do your part, everyone would know. The OYRs and the freshman were slightly paranoid at this idea, and that is probably why we did so well.

After Wadaiko, I ran over to the Soul Run practice for the finale, and boy, was I in for a shock. There were a few girls there already when I arrived, but I was waiting for the rest of the crew to show up. Soul Run had 53 members this year, and I knew that at the finale only a few of us would be performing. I thought that a few meant 30. It really meant 12. I was one of the 12. WHEN WAS THIS DECIDED?! I mean, it was such an honor to be chosen out of that many people and perform with the top dancers, but I’m not that good! I was so, so embarrassed when the presidents of the club explained that we were the only ones dancing; it finally hit me why everyone else had made a big deal about me being picked. Besides doing the Souran Bushi dance, we also had to do a Shorinji Kempo kata and a Para Para dance. Shorinji Kempo is an energetic and a very disciplined Japanese martial art, that is much more popular at my school than at others, I think, because the leader of the club is a national champion, or some such thing. By the way, one of the Japanese princesses goes to ICU. I just found that out, but that’s beside the point. Para Para started as a joke of a dance, in a way, but is now no laughing matter (even though I laughed at it at every practice). There is an idea that the Japanese can’t dance, but are really good and hand dancing while swaying. So there is a very easy form of hand dancing that caught on in clubs and is used all the time by Japanese pop artists. Think of the Macarena to Japanese music. That is Para Para. I really liked the dance because no matter how outrageously silly, expressive, or dorky you were, you would only be acting more true to the dance style.

Later that night, I went to check up on the Yearbook Club who had turned one of the classrooms into a café for the next day. It was very cute, decorated with Halloween themed origami, and we all ate cheesecake together! But I had to dash and do one more practice with Soul Run on the stage before the mega-huge pizza party!! May I just say that while tasty, Japanese pizza is disappointingly small and uber expensive? They try, but still. Luckily, though, we all paid for the pizza that night, and when I joined up with the Yearbook guys later and they asked me where I could find a lot of change, I was able to hook them up with Soul Run. Yahoo! Chalk one up for the international student!

With all of this running around, I was really hyped up, but had to go to sleep since I’d be up bright and early the next day. I had such a fun day, but there was only one problem: the weather channel that night was calling for rain on the weekend….

Testing: one, two three?

I am connected once again!!

Hello, everyone, and sorry for the unannounced two-ish week hiatus! We were having technical difficulties on my end of the world. But I've saved up my photos, videos, and stories from all that time and have a stream of blogs that will update you all on what was, possibly, on of my best weekends in college yet! Most of it centers around the ICU Culture Festival which I will explain in just a bit. But first, a moment from our sponsors. It is in Japanese (and a few years old), but hopefully the pictures will be able to help explain what I can't. Please pay special attention to the Taiko and Soul Run groups!

Arabian Nights!!

Besides finding the random poster for the Middle Eastern Culture Center (which is supposedly really close), I just found out the the theme for another dorm's ball is "Arabian Nights"! They have made really cool looking hoodies, posters, and flyers for the ball. After yesterday's Japanese test, I even found a bunch of these table decorations. They are so cute, right? I feel that they were made in part by girls, because of the handwriting. Why would that be a little strange? Because the dorm hosting the party is an all-men's dorm. So, maybe they got their girlfriends to help out?

When I first heard that each and every dorm held a yearly "ball," I was really shocked! How could they afford that? Aren't so many balls in one year a bit much? But when they say "ball" what they really mean is "formal," and since every dorm here is the equivalent to our frat/sorority, it really isn't that shocking. Except for, everyone is invited to every ball. Drinks are served (for a price), and you go wearing whatever you wore to school that day, so it is pretty relaxed. As for a performance? I don't know what they are doing, but I'll find out!

Still, this weekend is going to be really busy: taiko practice for about 9 hours, visiting Yasukuni War Shrine, writing another Sociology and Culture essay, and starting my 15-minute-16th-century-Japanese-court-fashion-history presentation. We're in the homestretch for the ICU Festival, and everything for classes is due this week! Who thought this was a good idea?! I guess I deserve it though; a little extra work never hurt.

Later that night, Alexandra went to the Canada House ball after studying on smart.fm for about an hour. The boys had gone all out in decorating (street lined with candles, Arabian designs on the walls, sheets and cloth draped everywhere, and the entire thing done in black light and glow-paint; STUNNING!) and all the hosts were dressed as, well, hosts. There was a band formed specifically to perform at the the ball and their opening song was "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5. A boy from the Yearbook club was their main singer! At this point she was called away by some friends and returned with them to the party a few hours later. Good times, but few people were really dancing, so she came back to Zelkova and spent the rest of the night chatting with the dorm kids and eating Makku (McDonald's).

From America With Love

I got presents!! My daddy sent me a 20 lb box filled with protein (Slim Jims, beef jerky, tuna fish, ham-in-a-can, and beef stew), chocolate (M&Ms and Snickers), and Arab-ness (bulgur wheat and bullion cubes)! There was even a note addressed to Miki to thank her for being so kind to me. When she had gotten a care package from her mother a few weeks ago, I received a personalize note, some towels, and hot chocolate mix. I found out later that Miki had told her mother, "Zaiton has very few things here. It must be very difficult for her." So, taking pity on the poor foreign girl, Miki's mother sent me some items to make my life easier.

I was so happy when it came. I had been checking my mailbox everyday, and the gate keeper would laugh at me when I came back saddened and empty-handed. But one day, I saw a big, red magnet on the outside of my box, which meant that a package had come! I rushed in and gave the magnet to Kagi-san (the gate watcher) and he gave me a very omoi (heavy) box. Apparently, at the post office, my dad had been adding and removing items to get the weight to 20 lbs perfectly. Later, I gave Kagi-san and his wife some Slim Jims, for which Mrs. Kagi was very grateful. In Japanese she told me thank you, and that she hadn't eaten jerky like that in a long time (I suspect since she was last in America).

What else came from America? A festive Halloween lantern, coloring book, and crayons from Grandpa Tom and Grandma Alice!! A week ago, I was in a bit of a panic about my crayon supply, but I think that I'm set for a while, now.

Besides these gifts, my Uncle Paul sent me a housewarming card when I first arrived, so I should probably start sending presents back home to balance out the karma, right?

Matsuri in Kichijoji

I know that I am making everyone wait in between posts, and I've got another one coming. Here is a small something to tide you over, though. This was a group of musicians playing at a main stage in Kichijoji. You can't see the main taiko drummer, but you can hear it, and (at the time) you could feel it, too.

Ramen, the Basics

Be. Yond. Words.

But I'll try.

Ramen is not what you think. Ramen is not what I thought. Ramen is, by far, the best things I've had since I came to Japan. Everyone who has been to Japan before me wouldn't stop saying that they all got hooked on Ramen. "What is so special about Japanese-pork-and-noodle-soup?" I would wonder. "Maybe that is the Japanese comfort food or something."

Wrong. So, here's the story:

If you look in my Mitaka photo album, you'll notice that I got caught in a torrential rainstorm on my way home from the store one day. It was a long walk back to school, and I had already made pit-stops everywhere I could trying to stay dry as I lugged (full-out, lugged) a laundry basket filled with groceries and such back to ICU. After making it about 2/3rds of the way home, I thought of just stopping for a while and waiting till the rain calmed down a bit. But by then, I was right outside a ラーメン屋 (Ramen shop). Were they even open? Would they want someone who was all wet? How does one order Ramen? Just then, a young man came outside the shop to fix the "open" sign that had fallen from the winds. He saw me standing there. I saw him see me standing there. He looked at me. I looked at the sign. He looked at the sign. It was priceless.

A couple quick bows later and I was inside the store, my umbrella sopping wet in a rack, and my laundry basket-'o-stuff right next to it so as not to moisten the entire store. I threw my stuff down at the bar (for those who don't know, there is a bar that surrounds the Ramen store's kitchen) and pulled out my wallet. Now, buying food in Japan is a little different than back in the States. In this store, right next to the main doorway, was a vending machine. But not an ordinary vending machine, no Sir, this was a menu machine! You placed any amount of money into the machine, then pushed the button for the items(s) you wanted, and received the change and tickets for your meal once you were done. Then, just had the ticket to the cook and wait at your seat. Sounds easy enough, but the menu was all in Japanese. What was worse, it was mostly in kanji~! So I picked one that I could read, gave the man my ticket, and (after a while) he gave me a hot bowl of Ramen.

It looked soooooo good! Everything was in one bowl, sure, but it was neatly placed and orderly. And everything I needed to enjoy the Ramen fit on the bar top (tissues - for when your nose starts to run from the hot soup, soy sauce, pickled veggies - in the black and red container, and all you can drink water and tea). The taste was unbelievable, too!!! I'm a noodle-lover by nature, but this was more than my palete had ever handled from soup before; there was a buttery feeling, the veggies were still somewhat firm, but the meat was so, so soft, and the entire thing smelled like fall (don't ask me what that means, just have some for yourself). I was so dissapointed that I came there alone! I just wanted to turn to someone, ANYONE, and say, "Isn't this fantastic?! Can you believe this was just $7? They gave me so much, I don't think that I can finish all of this!!" There was a lot, by the way. It took me a good half hour to get it all down. But I loved every drop!

The moral of the story? Eat real Ramen, REAL Ramen, before you say that you don't like Japanese food. Don't like sushi? Fine. Can't find a taste for tempura? I can understand that. Eal just not your thing? I can dig it. But there is no way that in this world, someone exists who does not like Ramen. Get on over to Mitaka, if you can; I know a great little place just up the street.

Kichijoji Festival!!!!

Okay, so I thought that I loved Kichijoji before. But I was wrong. I LOVE KICHIJOJI!! It is so artsy, filled with interesting shops, and has all these little secrets that you have to snoop around to find! It is so a great place to explore, and if you get bored with the main streets, take a back road, or go underground. It's a blast!

I went this Sunday night with a friend named Shin from my dorm. Shin helped me buy a bike in the afternoon, and asked if I had time to kill during the evening. We rode my new bicycle all the way to Kichijoji (taking back roads and hidden paths to avoid the police - two people riding one bike is illegal in Japan), and got there in about 20 minutes. For free!! I didn't have to buy a bus or train ticket! He showed me how to get to the park, zoo, basement shops, washoku (Japanese cuisine) restaurants, and we even caught the tail end of the matsuri! I told you that there is a festival going on everyday in Japan; this past weekend was Kichijoji's matsuri, and I got to be right in the middle of it!

I'm so in love with that city, that I've made a photo album for it.

Anyway, after all of that excitement, I was thuroughly lost and couldn't have gotten back to my bicycle if Shin wasn't there. I guess living in a city is the best way to know how to get around in it, but I'll just have to visit Kichijoji in order to do more exploring. On the way back to the parking lot, we bought steamed buns (soooooo delicious~~~) and Taiyaki, which was warm, adorable, and tasty.

I really need to get back to Kichijoji soon, but maybe I should practice riding my bike first. I know that people never forget how to ride, but I don't completely remember. Who knows? Maybe I'll be back by this weekend to get more steamed buns!

Taiyaki

Taiyaki (literally “baked sea bream”) is a Japanese fish-shaped cake. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, or cheese. Some shops even sell taiyaki with okonomiyaki, gyoza filling, or a sausage inside.Taiyaki is made using regular pancake or waffle batter. The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold for each side. The filling is then put on one side and the mold is closed. It is then cooked on both sides until golden brown. Taiyaki was first baked by a sweet shop Naniwaya in Azabu, Tokyo in 1909, and now can be found all over Japan, especially at food courts of supermarkets and Japanese festivals. They are similar to imagawayaki (今川焼き?), which are thick round cakes also filled with sweet azuki bean paste or custard.

Meeting the Dorm's Protector

Today was the second day to register for classes. I was rushing around all morning to different offices and buildings, but I finally got it all done. I'll be taking Japanese level 3, Readings in Japanese History, and a Society and Culture course. I was so pumped to take some Japanese PE classes, but the freshman and sophomores filled up every class! This term, I'm only taking 12 credits out of the alloted 13, which is such a shock. I normally overload on classes back home, but I really need to pace myself here, have time for extra studying, and give myself a chance to have a social life. (Editor's note: I have since joined the Yearbook Club and the Soul Run -Souran Bushi Dance- group).

On a side note, while I was running around like crazy, I forgot that the girls were supposed to have health examinations today, so I have to take it next week right before the boys go!

Anyway, I was coming into the kitchen to make a quick snack before my 3 hour long class (I know, right?), when I saw something a little strange. There were a few girls in the kitchen, cleaning, cooking, chatting, but what caught my eye was about 3 inches long, had small green stripes, and was hiding on the floor. In order to make sure it wasn't a joke, I got pretty close. IT MOVED!!

To get the other girls' attention, I thought I'd practice some Japanese. Shall I demonstrate? Eh hem....he hem.....this is my theory.... eh hem..."Heeee! Nande kore?!" It was very casual and very quick, so they all turned around in succession. Soon each girl had given her own surprised "heee" or "ooiii", but none of them were scared of it. They thought it was cute and one girl even started taking pictures with here phone. The poor little guy was so scared that he dashed behind the recycling bins. We had to move each one out of the way to find him again. I suggested that we use a "kuppu" and "sara" to get him out of the kitchen. One girl held the plate/sara while I used the cup/kuppu to scare him towards her. After that, we let him outside and all the girls wished him safe travels and told him to be careful in Japanese.

Daddy, if you are reading this, I hope that you are smiling, because the little critter was a yamori: house gecko. After my little run in with him, I asked my roommate what it was. From my description, she said that I had met the dorm's protector. It turns out that the kanji for yamori is 家守り which means "protecting the house". Well, he is outside the house now, but hopefully he'll still be around.

Final Stages of Packing and Prep

Is it so wrong to be organized? So what if my junk draw has the rubber bands sorted by size, and my bathroom drawers are organized by the times I've used each item? Maybe that is a bit much for the average person, but it feels to safe and structured to me. The important part is to be realistic about this sort of obsession: I can not expect others to be at my level of intensity, and I know that some things if life just can't be completely stacked and alphabetized, and some things are going to be lost or forgotten. But when it came to packing for this trip (packing, by the way, is my part-time job in life - as in part of my life has always been spent packing) I wanted to make sure that I forgot as little as possible.

My first order of business was to go through all of my clothes. No, really...ALL of my clothes. Luckily, I had a great little helper named Crew to help me fold and arrange everything into 5 very distinct and very large piles. I then repeated this process 3 times. In 2 different rooms. Over 5 days. Don't look at me in that tone of voice! This is just how I do things!

But, as luck or fate would have it, I did forget several things. Several important things, actually: my certificate of eligibility, my flip-phone, tennis shoes, and other items that would have been nice to have. Most of that was not entirely my fault though, they wouldn't have fit if I had tried! However, I was the one who was packing so I have to take responsibility for it.

No, Crew, you don't have so say anything; I know you tried your very best.

"But why were those things so important?" you might ask. That I will have to save for another night.