I had really hoped I would have been more punctual about making these blog posts over break, but it just didn’t happen. Partly because I have always been a procrastinator, and partly because I have been painfully aware that I am quickly running out of time here and writing about the things I am doing or talking about how depressed I feel at times by this fact would make it come faster. Its been like a ticking clock constantly counting down in the back of my head. However, now I have sort of come out of that stage and moved on to acceptance. I have been trying to make sure everything that I want to do before I leave gets done so that I can leave with no regrets and feel satisfied.
So I’m going to try to be short and summarize everything that have happened in the last month. Before break started I went to a Kabuki performance with my study abroad group. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, since most people say that you will fall asleep during the performance. Think of it as Japanese opera, or high class theater. But I have always enjoyed theater and although they were speaking Japanese we had the option to rent headphones that translated so I did. The sets, lighting, and costumes were stunning. The performance lasted about four hours with intermissions and there were three tales told all based on old stories based on historical events and people. Needless to say I was impressed.
I planned a trip to the Pokemon Center (a big Pokemon goods store) and Tokyo Tower with a bunch of friends just before break. I spent way too much money in the Pokemon Center but I could have easily spent more. We all really enjoyed Tokyo Tower and it was cool going at the time we did because it was night and we got to see it all lite up. We also got to see Christmas illuminations since it was just before Christmas too. We went up to the main observatory and got to see the gorgeous Tokyo skyline. Now I had seen it before during the day from the government office building in Shinjuku back when we did our scavenger hunt during orientation when we first got here, and also at night from the Mori Arts Center building in Roppongi Hills, but it was still neat to get to actually see it from Tokyo Tower you know? Because it’s such a iconic image of Tokyo. We ate pizza at one of the resturants inside the tower and did some shopping before going outside to see the special town illuminations. For Christmas they had a heart lit up on the tower, and Christmas songs playing. Christmas is more of a couples holiday here.
So for Christmas Eve I went out with friends because we didn’t want to be alone. We went to a dog cafe, which are popular here. It’s where you can bring your dog along with you, and they owners have there dogs running around too. Afterwords, we at at a Thai restaurant and the waitress was rude to us but we went and got “Christmas Cakes” (a tradition here in Japan, we have cookies they have cake) afterwords and that totally made up for it. We didn’t really have anywhere to eat the cakes so we went to a small skater park outside the train station and there were two young guys where were playing song with acoustic guitars so we sat down and listened to them while eating our cake. We even got to talk with them a bit and their friends who were there supporting them. It was there first time preforming on the street (but we couldn’t tell they seemed very natural) and they were SO HAPPY that we stopped to listen to them. They even sang a Christmas song, “all I want for Christmas is you” by Mariah Carey, it is like THE Christmas song here in Japan. They go to Waseda University, which means they are pretty smart because you have to be to get into that school. They were both pretty cute and we could have sat there all night listening to them play. They kept saying it was there last song but then they would play one more just because we would be like “awwwwww” hehe. After that we went into an arcade to take purikura and played around a bit at the games and claw machines. Then I went home.
Christmas Day I exchanged Christmas presents with my Host Family and Maggie (the other student living here). I got my Host Mom and Sister cookbooks since they love to cook, my Host Dad and magic trick book, and Maggie a dessert cookbook because she likes making desserts. I got a Tiger statue bell thing from Maggie (because it is the year of the Tiger and I was born in the year of the Tiger). I got a really nice designer scarf from my Host Sister, and designer gloves from my Host Mom. The Host Dad got us these neat containers with Japanese design prints on them, and by got I mean my Host Mom bought them and told the Host Dad to give them to us hehe. Later on Christmas I watch the Musicstation special (one of my favorite shows), its a music program that went for four hours!
On the 28th I went with my Host Sister to do a bit of shopping, eat out, and see the Cirque du Soleil Corteo show. It was my first time seeing Cirque du Soleil and it was very impressed! I think it was totally worth the price we paid because were were closer to the stage than I expected and had a really great view of everything. The whole show was very entertaining and whimsical. It told the story of an old man who used to be a circus clown and he was dreaming about all his friends and the old circus days and in the end he died, so I guess it sounds kind of sad but it was all so magical and fun to see. I definitely want to see other shows in the future if I can!
I went to Akihabara one day with friends and wasn’t terribly impressed. I guess you really have to be an Otaku (term for a certain type of geek here) to enjoy it. It’s a big district famous for electronics and anime merchandise. But at least I can say I have been now.
On the 30th I went to Disney Sea for the second time, this time with Molly, her boyfriend Kenji, and her Mom and Sister who were visting from the States. We had tons of fun, got to ride a few things, shop, eat yummy popcorn and food, saw a Little Mermaid show and a water show in the bay. It was slightly less crowed than the first time I went which I was grateful. We stayed late because we wanted to see the night water show and fireworks but then they were cancelled because of the wind so that was sad but we all had fun.
New Years Eve I went out for lunch to a Shakey’s, which is an American pizza place, with friends to have there buffet. It was super yummy and we all ate too much. My older host brother and his wife came to stay this day, they ended up staying until the evening of the 2nd. The 31st is his birthday so we had a nice dinner then watched Kohaku (the famous New Years Eve music show here). We at soba around 10pm, because you are suppose to eat it before midnight here in order to ensure you have a long life (since soba noodle are long). They all went to bed early but I stayed up in my room after midnight. It was rather quiet except for some firecrackers I could hear someone setting off.
New Years day is HUGE here. It is like THE holiday and very important in Japanese culture and I’m so glad I got to experience it. In the morning we ate a special obento (box lunch) that they had prepared a few days before which some omochi (rice cake) soup. To be honest, it wasn’t tasty, but it is what you eat at New Years. Even my host sister told me she didn’t like eating it. We all felt kinda of bad though because Maggie got pretty sick the day before, she ate some raw shrimp and probably got food poisoning from it and ended up puking a bunch of times so she couldn’t get up or go with us to the “first” shrine visit of the year. But we went without her and I was dumb and forgot my camera so I was sad I couldn’t take pictures. We went to a Shrine close to Inagi (where we live) and there were all kinds of food vendors and the line to get in was SO LONG! But wait only like a half and hour to get in, and I was expecting to wait longer. When we got back home, later in the day I heard this music coming from outside and these dancers were coming down the street and Maki (host sister) ran out and was like “hey come to our house” and this guy dressed up like a dragon came and danced a bit at the front door in order to “banish evil from the house” and then these cute kids came to collect money and gave us a special 5 yen coin for year of the tiger and Okaasan gave it to me because I’m year of the tiger. For New Years dinner, Okaasan made a ton of food as usual. Otoosan’s brother and wife and kids came over to have dinner with us, which I totally didn’t know was happening and it was SO AKWARD especially since Maggie wasn’t there to help.
The rest of my break was rather boring… I kind of just sat around and watched movies, shows, and played sims 3. I REALLY didn’t want school to start again.
Last Monday we had off because it was the special holiday for people who are 20 years of age (the age you are considered an adult in Japan). I went to Yokohama with Molly and Kenji to visit Chinatown and it was neat. We went to a really strange aquarium, ate Chinese food, had bubble tea, and I bought a Hello Kitty “fukubukoro” (lucky bag, where you just pay a set price and you don’t know what you will get in the bag but you usually get alot of stuff and worth more than what you paid for. Afterwords, we said goodbye to Kenji and Molly came over to my house for dinner with my host family. They asked her so many questions I kind of felt a little bad but everyone enjoyed themselves.
On Friday we had our “farewell party” for CIEE and it was both entertaining and sad at parts because there were a lot of pictures from everything we have done and it’s weird to look back at something that felt like yesterday but was actually five months ago. Everyone was like “I’m going to miss you!” and I was like “I’m not leaving yet!” haha
Yesterday I went out with some friends to the Studio Ghibli Museum which is the studio that produces Hayao Miyazaki films (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, etc.) It was amazing and really like a wonderland inside but they don’t allow you to take photographs inside unfortunately. We got to see a really cute short animation though about sumo wrestling mice! It was too adorable.
Today on the way to school I got sick and had to come back home. I have been stressed out lately and yesterday when I got home I just felt completely exhausted. I went to bed early but still felt strange when I got up. On the train it was very crowded and humid, they didn’t have the air running or any of the window cracked and the train kept making these stops for “checks” that they do, more so than usual. I felt very overheated and thought I was going to faint at one point because I couldn’t breathe and my vision got very blurry and I felt weak but I force myself to hang on and then I felt sick to my stomach and almost threw up on the train but I forced myself not to do that either because we were almost to the next stop. So I got off and emailed my host sister and mom and decided to turn back. I was so out of it I just got on the local so I could have a seat since they are less crowded. I made it home fine and felt better, I didn’t have a fever but was very tired so I slept most of today. I did have a slight fever at one point but it may have been because I was overheated from the electric blanket.
This week is busy for me because I have two papers to turn in and Wednesday I may be going to Disneyland with friends. But next Monday, the 25th, is the last day of classes and then I have exams until like the 28th and then I’m done! The 29th I have plans to go to Asakusa (famous old district of Tokyo) with Erika (whom I went to Kyoto with) to say goodbye. I’m going to be saying goodbye a lot in the next couple weeks and that is going to be the most difficult part.
I think in my next post I’m going to make a list of things that i will miss about living in Japan and thing that I definitely won’t miss from living in Japan.
