Trying to catch up...

Hello! Long time see! I've just been so busy lately...

Today I'll just talk about my expedition on Monday to Tokyo Tower.

Tokyo Tower is like Paris's Eiffel Tower--a huge tower and a landmark of the city. It's visible from my campus so it just takes a few minutes to walk there. Here are some pictures up close:

Tokyo Tower is the world's tallest self-supporting tower (333m tall) and it's even taller than the Eiffel Tower (320m). Here's some more information about it that I found on the main Tokyo Tower site:

Ironically, in class that day we were talking about how Japanese love 'omiyage' or souvenirs. And then, I went to Tokyo Tower and saw with my own eyes how much this was true. The first floor of Tokyo Tower was ALL souvenirs. There were SO many--Hello Kitty phone straps, Stitch keychains, Tshirts...And not all of them were even Tokyo Tower related. Japanese people especially like food souvenires and there were so many pastries that were so cute or pretty--bottles of mineral water in the shape of the tower or baumkuchen apple pie.

On the second floor, there was a miniature town model. I think it was the area over which Tokyo tower was built. It was so intricately done though that it looked as if it were a real town that could come to life.

Nearby, there was a miniature version of Tokyo Tower that lit up. It was pretty.

There was also a game center, several restaurants, a wax museum, a haunted house, and a house of mirrors. It was like a theme park. I didn't actually go up into the tower itself...It kinda felt sad going by myself. Plus, my friend from art class Eriko told me today that it's probably the prettiest if you go up it at night. That way, you'd see all of Tokyo lit up like Christmas!

On my way back to the station, I ran into some pretty interesting things.

1. A building covered in plants. It was called the Green Building. Perhaps an attempt to create an enviornmentally friendly building?

2. The Disney Channel building. Discovery of the Disney Channel Japan branch!? I wasn't sure if just anyone could go in so I peeked in the window from the outside and saw a giant Mickey Mouse, Pooh, and a life sized statue of Jack Sparrow omg

3. I think this is one of the things that epitomizes Japan: a small temple in the city. Modern mixed with traditional; a slice of traditional life nudged into the huge modern life. It looks like it doesn't fit in with the landscape but in a way, that's Japan.

And so tomorrow is Friday and another week comes to an end. What made me happiest today was probably...when I passed "Aoi Oppa" on the way home and we bowed and said hi to each other~~~ Omigosh Aoi Oppa is so cool~~ He's a Korean guy studying as an exchange student in Keio's regular program. He lives on my floor and I first saw him walking down my hallway and thought he was cool cuz he's tall and has nice hair...Then I met him in Stephanie's kitchen the other night and he's really nice and his Japanese speech is so polite that it makes me feel like I need to speak politely, too. His real name isn't Aoi Oppa but everyone calls him that apparently because he usually wears a blue ("aoi") sweater and "oppa" means big brother in Korean. Stephanie calls him that all the time, so the name stuck and I can't remember his real name...But anyways, that's the end of my silly rant...

Tomorrow, I get to meet my Japanese conversation partners from the Keio club I joined called Kosmic. Then, Sunday, I'm going to Akihabara with Stephanie and Tsubasa. I'm excited about trying out a maid cafe♪