Final days with lovely friends

For the most part, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Thursday 7/12
Hinata and I had our level 9 exam part one.
Then, afterward, we went with Tamaki, Makoto, Dai, Catie, and these two other girls from camp Aki and Yoko to Shinjuku for some drinks and dinner. It was a lot of fun.

 

 

Saturday 7/14

Hinata and I had our last exams; except I had three and she had 2. I then rushed to Shibuya, bought a yukata, and rushed to go see fireworks by a river near Sugita. Fireworks bring with them the flavor of summer! Afterwards, we went to an 'ennichi', a small festival with lots of stalls selling food and stuff.

 

 Sunday 7/15
Catie and I went to the Pokemon Center in Hamamatsucho.

It's actually very small, but right in front of it, there were two lines of people with their Nintendo DSs battling each other using Wifi. That was kind of funny.

 Afterward, I went to hang out with Nick and Kameliya and Nick treated me to sushi! Aw...he's so sweet♥ This was my last unagi (eel) in Japan, so I saved it for last! So delicious...

 Monday 7/16
I went to visit Akiba (Akihabara) for the last time. I went by myself for the first time so I could take my time enjoying being a nerd haha...
Bye-bye Akiba!

In the evening, I went with Hinata, Kamelija, Nick, Laura, Miharu, Lisa, and Shawn to Shibuya for dinner and drinks. Aw I'm going to miss everyone...I really love all the exchange student friends I made here! We definitely have to meet someday in the future!

 These were daikon radish noodles. They were really long, as you can see.

 Miharu's everday upset face

 We played a game called 'Hello, governer' and this was the drink you had to drink if you messed up. It got more disgusting as the night when on as people started adding dipping sauce and beer to it...Plus, unfortunately, I was one of the ones who messed up the most...

 A last picture of Shibuya, which Miharu messed up by putting his hands in the way...(upset)

Nick and Miharu; Kamelija and Hinata on our ride home on the train.

Wednesday 7/18

Hinata, Eric, Margaret, and I went to a shabu-shabu (boiled meat) restaurant for dinner with Catie and her dad. We went to Baskin Robbins (aka 31) for dessert. 

Thursday 7/19

Hinata and I ran into Lisa on our way to do errands and we had our last ramen for lunch, as well as my first ramune soda in Japan!

Afterward, we said goodbye to Lisa (T-T), Hinata closed her cellphone account, I closed my bank account, and we came home. On our way home, we came across Kamelija and Nick and Eric and Margaret and we stopped for some ice cream at the convenience store. It was so hot today...

I'm going to really miss bumping into my friends in public all the time...
Tonight, I have a final dinner with some friends, which I'll probably talk about later, and tomorrow I'm off for Australia! This week went by especially fast.

Traditional Japanese Culture Class

One of the courses I took at Keio this past semester was called Traditional Japanese Culture. The first part, as I've already mentioned was tea ceremony.
The second part was about traditional Japanese instruments, and the class was taught about the history of the instruments and was given the opportunity to hear some actual performances and touch the actual instruments ourselves.

The first instrument we learned about was a string instrument called the Heike Biwa.
The biwa was played traditionally by blind monks to earn a living. The monk would play on the biwa for emphasis and tell a story through his song. Because these monks were blind, the music was passed on by ear, although the stories were written down. In this class, we also learned about traditional Japanese culture and how it was expressed through biwa music. Interestingly, to do this, the teacher showed us the end of the Hollywood movie 'The Last Samurai' where Watanabe Ken is dying and saying how all the cherry blossoms are perfect. And the teacher pretty much said yes, this dying warrior is what Japanese consider a hero; this is a perfect example of Japanese culture. An American movie being exemplified as an example of Japanese culture. Wow. Those were my thoughts.

One of the interesting things that I found about the biwa class was that the teacher wore a Japanese priest robe that had a transparent layer on top that looked very light and green. The teacher said that the robe the biwa player wore was very important. In consideration for his audience, the biwa player would wear something that looked cool and refreshing on a hot day in order to make his audience feel cool. Japanese really are considerate about the person they face.

I recorded a music sample from class, but I seem to have lost it, so I've found a clip from Youtube of a biwa player in order to get a feel of what the tune and song sound like.

The next instrument that we learned about was the shamisen.
Me and Hinata loved the teacher because he was kind of young and talked really casually with us, which was unusual for a teacher to do. The best part of the shamisen class was the performance on the second day. The teacher and this other guy who he plays with put on a whole show for us. They are actually a street performer band called Seshami Street, and they're so funny.

Again, I lost my audio clip of them, but I was able to find a video of them on Youtube from 3 years ago. This is pretty much how they performed for us, too. They apparently come to Washington D.C.'s Cherry blossom festival in the spring sometimes, so I hope to see them again sometime! 

The final instrument was koto. The teacher was such an airhead, but she was so cute.
I did a project on koto a few years ago, so I'm pretty familiar with this instrument, but it was cool seeing it performed in Japan. Apparently, there are even koto specialty colleges in Japan, which shows the importance that Japan puts on this traditional instrument even today.

I found the sound clip that I recorded for the koto, so here it is! (Press the small square play button to the direct left of the black MusicUploader banner below to play)



This class was very interesting and a nice break from graded work. There were no tests on the history or anything. There was just a short essay due at the end with the impressions of the class. It was more informative than anything. It was truly a privilege to have these musicians explain their backgrounds and perform in front of us, so this was definitely a class that I enjoyed!

6/26 My birthday

So, I've finally grasped some time to write about my birthday party which took place about 3 weeks ago!
This year's birthday was filled with lots of firsts, appropriate for a year full of firsts, I guess!

For the first time in my life, I had school on my birthday! After all, in America, school doesn't extend into late June. (I have had work on my birthday once, though.) Luckily, I only had one class and it was with my favorite Sugano-sensei! At the end of class, Hinata told him it was my birthday, and he's like "Oh, I'm sorry I don't have anything for you!" Haha, not like he need to get anything for me...why's he so awkwardly adorable? Anyways, hearing his lovely voice throughout the whole class was more than enough♥ Plus, he got up next to me during class so I got to hear his voice up close. Gwah inner explosion...

For the first time in my life, I spent my birthday away from my family. When I took the train in the morning to school, I thought 'Hey, it's my birthday, but none of these people around me know...' It felt a little incomplete to wake up in the morning to a solitary room and not get a birthday hug from my parents, but it's alright...I'm a big girl, so I can deal. haha...

I also organized my own birthday party, ordered a cake (although Hinata paid for it♥), and cooked my own food! I made a bunch of food...I don't think I've made so much since...February. It's not that I don't like to cook, I just don't especially like cooking for myself. I love to cook for other people, and when I do, I think I do a good job. Judging by the fact that it was all eaten by my 7 friends without any of my help, I can say it must not have been completely disgusting...
I took the recipes from a tapas book my mom sent me, thinking I might as well put it to good use while I have it. Here's what I cooked:

Eggplant and red pepper dip with bread

The french baguettes are definitely not what I'm used to though. They're so flimsy and soft that it makes it hard to cut. I think this was the most popular dish.

Potato salad 

The recipe called for an alioli sauce, but I accidentally used up all my eggs, so I couldn't make one. Instead, I just mixed mayonnaise with olive oil and a tablespoon of water to make it liquidy and everyone really liked it!

 Lemon chicken

The lighting makes it look kind of strange, but it was good!

 Deviled Eggs

I also improvised with this recipe, especially since it called for capers and I'm like no that's not happening. (I hate capers) But I made it look pretty and it was tasty!

 My birthday cake!

It was strawberry short cake and was tasty enough, although crazy expensive: around $50. In America, you can get a cake this size for $20 if not less. Plus, it has more substance. Japanese cakes are really light and fluffy with little flavor. But, I'm not complaining. It was delicious! And I love Hinata for buying it for me! My wish for this year? World peace, of course.

I told people they didn't need to bring birthday presents, but a few of them did. Kamelija got me a tiny glass turtle, a glue stick (because I had asked her the other day for glue haha), and a really cute card. The chocoholic Nick got me some English chocolate. Hinata got me the cake, of course. And Tamaki...omigod...he got me the cutest strawberry necklace and wrapped it up himself super cute. Gah, Tamaki's the cutest. I also bought myself a birthday present online which came a few days after my birthday:

It's a DVD of an event that was held for the date simulation game I play. It came with three trading cards, two of which I was like How did they know these were my favorite characters?! Inside the DVD was a pamphlet with all the voice actors that participated in the event. Ahhh the pamphlet is the best part.

Ah! I also got a portable scanner that came in a birthday package from home!♥

Anyways, it was kind of a different birthday than usual, but I still had fun and after everyone left, Kamelija and Nick came to my room and talked with me. They're so sweet. Everyone's so sweet. I have met some great people here. Most of them foreigners, which was a little unexpected, but they're the ones that I can attach to and relate to the easiest. In the end, I suppose it makes sense.

So, I have safely turned 22 years old. I like that number. It's kind of nice. Maybe this year will be a good one. Maybe I can grow up a little bit, have more experiences, meet more people, learn a little more, and become a little bit more. Maybe.

My first goodbyes

Hello, it's been a while.

There are several posts that I want to make, but I'm extremely busy at the moment...

This week is the last week of classes, and I have papers, speeches, and exams on my plate.
The typical college menu.

My friend posted on her facebook the other day that she did laundry, finished a bunch of homework, etc. and feels like an adult. But I thought, as long as we're students doing homework, we're not adults yet. This year I've gained on my life means nothing yet.

Next week is the official exam week, and I have an exam on Thursday and 3 exams on Saturday...
stress stress stress
This is not good for my face.
Not to mention my room.

Next week is also my last week of Donguri, my conversation club. Yesterday, my fairly new partner Seki-san gave me a bunch of presents--a beautiful Genji art folder, a traditional dish towel made of mosquito gauze from Nara, and some Japanese grammar documents that she made herself for my studies. The first part of the club, she had a serious conversation with me about how she's been planning her life lately, knowing that she probably doesn't have that much time left in the world. I mean, she's a very energetic lady, but we all have to die someday. She said that if she doesn't start planning now, she'll have regrets. Even if I come back to Japan one day, thinking that the lovely people I've met may not be here is very sad. But, hopefully I'll be back soon enough to see them again.

So, I have about 2 weeks left in Japan. During the last days I have, other than doing things I have to do like settling my bank account, etc., I want to eat as many kinds of Japanese foods I can, make presents and write letters to all the dear people that I will be leaving, go to final places I want to go, and meet up with people to say good bye.

I've already started saying good byes. Yesterday was my last class with my favorite Sugano sensei and my last Donguri club with my favorite Satou-san crycry... Overall, I did not come to like Japanese guys very much at all. The only Japanese guys I absolutely loved were both old and married haha. My two favorite Japanese men sayonara~~

Anyways, before I leave, I'll make sure to upload the last pictures and make the last blog posts that I want to make. Until then~

Another view of Japan

So, I've just come back from a busy weekend of lots of firsts and new stuff with friends. I have a lot of pictures, so I'll mostly let the pictures talk on their own.

First, on Saturday after class, Me, Hinata, Tamaki, Catie, and I met up with their mutual Japanese camp friend Atsuo, who works as an English teacher for the JET program in Chiba, in Korean town for a grilled meat dinner.

 

The following picture isn't where we ate, but I've noticed that Koreans tend to like pigs a lot. It's the mascot for almost everything Korean I've seen lately.

 Afterwards, Catie and Atsuo went home and Tamaki, Hinata, and I went to Dai-san's neighborhood and met up with Dai-san, Makoto, and later on another friend from Japanese camp Risa. First, we went to all night karaoke. Super fun but I was probably the one with the most energy haha... Dai-san and Makoto sang a lot though.

This was Tamaki at the beginning of the night. He was really good at singing Lady Gaga haha

 Hinata and Makoto singing together.

 Tamaki and Risa dead at 2 in the morning.

 And of course, our reaction is to take pictures of them as they sleep. Hinata, Makoto, Dai-san.

I like how Makoto is the only one who realized I was taking a picture of the three of them.

 At about 4am, we called it quits and walked to Dai-san's apartment and stayed the night. Japanese apartments are really small, but I really don't feel like there was need for any more space for someone who lives by themselves. In fact, it seemed like the perfect amount of space.

The next morning, we woke up, got dressed, and started out on our road trip! 

Dai-san had rented a car and he drove us up into the mountains to this area called Okutama. It was still Tokyo, but it was as if we weren't in Tokyo I know anymore.

First, we stopped for--as Dai-san says--Brrrrunch. It was called 'kamameshi', which consists of food that is steamed in a pot (kama) as the main dish. I had the vegetable set, which was vegetable tempura, raw konnyaku in ginger sauce, pickled vegetables, potato with miso, a greens soup, and a bunch of vegetables and a quail's egg on top of rice. I couldn't finish my rice, so I gave it to Dai-san, who on top of my unfinished rice, ate all of Risa's rice, plus his own rice. I really don't know where he stores it all...

 After lunch, we went for an adventure in nature~

 This doesn't look like Tokyo anymore, right? It was my first time experiencing so much nature in a year. It was really beautiful.

 In the middle of nowhere, these little shrines remind you that you're still in Japan.

 Waterfall! It had a really cool name--Twin Dragon Waterfall.

 Then, we went by the side of the river. The feel of the area by the riverside reminded me a lot of the creek next to my old house, although the river was definitely much bigger. So once we got to the riverside...

Risa took pictures and Dai-san decided to sunbathe,

 Makoto started being pensive by the water,

and then decided to sleep,

and then everyone started skipping stones--or rather throwing big rocks into the water.

After that, we went to an onsen--hotsprings and took a bath. It was really nice. An onsen means that the water in the bath comes from a source that naturally produces warm water, so it's even cleaner and has more healing properties that the regular water that we shower/bathe in everyday. After a bath, you have to get either milk or ice cream, so Tamaki and I got mango soft serve, and Hinata got green tea soft serve. Makoto got macadamian nut ice cream (because he's an adult) and Dai-san got strawberry cheesecake (because he's still a child).

Anyways, that was my day. I am so sleepy, but it was pretty fun. 

I really appreciate the fact that Hinata and Tamaki have led me into their circle of friends from camp, so I've got to meet lots of different people, and I know that they consider me as one of the group already. But I can't help but feel left out of all the memories and time that they've spent together. It's a bit lonely... But I appreciate and will always treasure the memories that we are making now.