And back…

Hi yall

Sorry for my noticeably long absence. Life is settling down into a routine and I haven't really figured out where regular blogging sessions fit into it as of yet. Tokyo is good … good times… a lot of Japanese … but that shouldn't surprise anyone …. I think… sooo I guess new stuff… I went to a different onsen is odaiba last weekend which was a completely different experience. Basically it was an hot spring amusement park. I don't really want to explain everything but you could literally live in this place and I think some people do for limited amounts of time…

This weekend was good too. I was to a video arcade with my friend josh on Sunday and unfortunately got sucked into one of the token-slot feed-coins tip into bucket-someone gets a Ferrari games…. Best use of 1000 yen ever…..not…. woops.

Yes…. Mmmm Japanese is going …. Slowly. I think before I left I had convinced myself that the learning process was going to be less painful because I would be "immersed" in the language. Well… ill tell you, bringing a dinner party to a complete standstill because you can't "pass the yakitori" is pretty bad… and I'm only slightly kidding… 焼き鳥おねがいします。でもときどき毎日一日中日本語を勉強する時つかれている。

Anyways good times. Ill yall later.

Oh and Bryan.

I hope everything is going well with you. It was nice to get that message from you. Unfortunately I won't be home for a long time but I hear the rest of my family is going to Hawaii for thanksgiving. Give my dad a call and see if you can snag a ride. Once you are in Hawaii you will be ½ way here…

And nakano

 

Hi everyone,

So I went out to nakano this weekend. It was just fabulous. Its incredibly how the scenery here almost looks like those sparse Japanese scenery paintings. The leaves have begun to change here and with the chill in the air this weekend I could definitely feel the oncoming winter. But the reason I was out looking at the scenery Is because I went to an onsen (hot spring) with a few other kids while we were on the trip. Supposedly its some famous hot spring but I didn't really get filled in on all of the history while I was there… what I did get was my first authentic bath house experience. So get ready… so we go there and at first everyone is a little upset. The taxi ride was 8 bucks per person which is a little much. Everyone pays and the boys and girls split up and head into their separate bath houses. Sucks that I don't get to go do some nude bathing which a bunch of chicks I know, but im sure it saved me from some embarrassing moments. Anyways we entered the bath house and take off our shoes at the little step. After we have placed them in a little locker we head into the changing room which is already filled with a bunch of nude Japanese guys. So to set the scene. It's a tall while kid with a weeks worth of stuble (me), two African American guys, and a little Japanese kid walking into a traditional onsen bathhouse locker room. We got some looks. We do the whole undressing thing and with some covert looks around to try and figure out when exactly we remove the last article of clothing remove the boxers and step out into the bathing area. Now not only are there one white kid, two African American kids, and one small Japanese kids, but one white kid, two African American kids, and one small Japanese kid standing around completely naked trying to figure out the next step in the process. We look around and figure out that its time to get clean before we jump into the steaming hot tubs infront of us. We sit down on little wooden stools and fill wooden bowls with hot water while soaking ourselves with normal removable shower heads. We wash and scrub and then pour the big wooden tub over our heads and backs to wash off all the bubbles. It was pretty cool. Post bathing we all walk into the indoor tub and relax down into the stone ledge. The water is natural spring water so little pieces of dirt and stuff are visible floating around in the huge tub. I get the feeling im not allowed to go swimming…. After relaxing for a while to head into the outside pool then into the ridiculously hot sana. After that I decided it would be a good idea to get into the cold pool. Really there should have been some kind of warning because I almost gave myself a heart attack. It was not a cold pool per say but a freezing cold death trap probably used to snare unsuspecting foreigners like myself. Post the near death experience we got back in the outdoor pool.

So good times. It was a great experience.

To the SMITHS!!

Japan is exclent. Its cooled down a bunch which is really nice. Im warm blooded and I don't need any extra help from the sun …. However I did go to my host families second house and go body surfing out in the sun last weekend which was a ton of fun. You guys would have laughed hard. A bunch of completely normal Japanese people and me. I don't think it will snow here in Tokyo; my host mother tells me that it usually does not. But up in hokaido I think it snowed for the first time this season last week. However I will probably see a lot of snow this season. It looks like I will be spending my spring cultural practicum at a Japanese ski resort. Supposedly it's a really hard core work from 5:30 am – 12 then ski from 2-6 then more work schedule but I think it sounds great. I need to figure out a way to get my gear over here though. I don't think im going to try and get boots or skis but I definitely want my cloths.

That's great you are looking at a new pair of skis m. I have a brand new pair of skis at home that ive skied all of once…. Im such a spoiled little boy…. If you think you can handle them you can give them a try this winter. I hope you guys are doing well. Marty – drink a martini for me this season.

 

Bye everyone.

the computer lab at school

hi everyone,

so sitting at a computer in the comp lab in building 22... looking at what i think is a 14 inch screen... huh...

waseda is one big contradiction. supposedly it is the second or third most difficult school to get into in japan; the three in the running are waseda, tokyo university, and keio. (or maybe not, im sure someone could take offense to this gross simplification). but anyways its one of the best schools in japan with a rich tradition of research, education and active development to new fields and studies.

then why am i looking at a 14 inch monitor? on the surface waseda is this incredibly beautiful place with several sprawling campuses inside the yamanote line. on the inside, however, this are a little different. the walls of the beautiful stone buildings need a new set of paint and the desks probably need to be replaced. the are many computers on campus but the have little tiny 14 inch monitors. im not complaining about the quality of the facilities so much as commenting on an aspect of japanese culture ive not experienced before. i think im general, in japan, there is a pervasive culture of maintaining what one already has. for example, in the supermarkets you can buy plastic bags of whatever special soap or laundry detergent or hand soap right next to the real bottles of the product. the whole idea is that once you have finished the bottle, you dont just throw it out, you go to the store and buy the refill and pour it in. its very very different.

i guess what im trying to say is that a lot of things here are worn, the desks in the class rooms, the soccer fields, the train stations, but its not because of a lack of care (believe me, you regularly see shop cleaners scrubbing the sidewalk in front of their building or workers in the train station diving little mopping cars... there is a lot of upkeep going on).

what i think it is, and i could be wrong, is just a product of the intense use everything receives. millions and millions of people use the subway stations everyday, 40 k students attend waseda, there are 40 tenis circles at waseda alone trying to use the same courts.

so good times. im going to log off now and go study for a bit. later

Tozai line…

Hey everyone

Atm I am on the tozai seseki (train line) headed to nakano. Unfortunately, nakano is not where I want to go. At this time of the night I have to take the tozai or chuo line out to nakano then transfer onto another tozai line that goes out towards mitaka… to describe the scene a bit, there is a Japanese guy to my left that is wearing blue jeans with those gray merroll shoes (im trying to read how to spell merroll off of his shoe but its not working… well…) above the waist he has a white criss-cross shirt on with a camera and laptop bag on his lap. He is reading one random Japanese book with an old Japanese lady on it…. Ahh we just arrived at nakano… I have to get off here…

 

Anyways good times. I bought a bottle of sake in akihabara. It was a glass bottle with a removable aluminum lid. It was interesting.

bed again...

so im sitting, or rather laying in bed again.. as par for the course on this blog thing...

ive been working on kanji this evening trying to jam as much as i can into my head before my test tomorrow.... good times.

one of the thing i noticed this afternoon/evening how quite and almost lonley it is when im locked up in my room studying. for my host family it must not only be they have some strange strange white kid holled up in their upstairs bedroom, i think they must be use to that, but a strange white kid who is grumpy and purposefully secluding himself.... hmm interesting. without informal communication, the type that takes place inside a few words muttered after dinner about a how much homework i have, thigs become much more significant. if i manage to get out that i have a bunch of homework and i need to study all night it means exactly that... hmm i dont know..

I think im just use to laying around the common room back at case with esther and aj and dave. back there i would be lucky to get in 45 minutes of sold reading before something really requiring my attention comes up aka dave beating ninja gaden again, aj commenting on the futility of life/being emo, or esther rationalizing that she doesn't need to go to chapter tonight because she saw some sisters in class that day... here though, when i shut my door the only distractions are the ones i make (a la checking steep and cheep twice a minute)...

the bed

hi yall

im sitting in bed at. its 7:50 ... i dont have school today which is pretty cool... ive never had a day off completely... good times

so i kinda want to relate my ride to school because it just seems other worldly to me. when i imagined coming to japan i knew what the train systems and crowds looked like but i never pictured myself in them.

so in the morning is get up at about 7:30. sometimes my host mother, yuu, is already working on breakfast other not. depending on the progress on the breakfast from i sit down in the bean bag chair in the kitchen/living room area and watch japanese television. i have no idea whats going on with these shows but i do know that rei-chans show is on at 7:30 and my host moms soap is on at 8:15.

when breakfast is ready i jump up to the table and dig in with a fork and knife. yuu-san noticed early on that i have difficultly navigating breakfast with hashi so now i get utensils. breakfast is usually fairly simple. toast, an omelet and some cucumber slices or a egg sunny side up on a piece of ham with some yogurt. after breakfast i clear the plates for myself and yuu-san. rai-chan is usually a bit or two into his toast at this point.

and break! time for my breakfast ... i will continue later...

Check out the pics again

Hi everyone,

Please check out my pictures again. Ive updated them with some captions. Make sure to look at the posts not on the main page too