Odaiba again

Can you tell it's my favorite place? Oh yes, we went today to celebrate my fellow American's last day in the country, which means no more whiteys for me. So sad. We made the usual rounds, eating at my favorite restaurant called Gigi, though I could be wrong as their card has 3 different tames on it. They have the best carbonara in the world. Really. So we saw the Ferris Wheel, the Toyota show room, the Statue of Liberty and of course (because it's me), FujiTV where I dropped too much cash on merchandise for two comedy troupes I currently love called Hannya and Shizuru. I also went up for the very first time into the giant ball that's the landmark trait of the Fuji TV building, and let me tell you, it wasn't worth the $5 I paid for it. Tokyo Tower, heck, even the Ferris Wheel, have pretty much the same view, and there was nothing else really up there. We also made a pitstop in the game center (aka Arcade), for today's Word of the Day: Purikura. Purikura is a photobooth (you might already be familiar with), where you go in with your friends, take wacky pictures for too much money ($4-$5), then afterwards add hearts, backgrounds and words to personalize it. Another great thing about them is, they make you look better than you really do (though I don't know how). Purikura machines, like vending machines, are truly all over the freaking place in this country, but the arcade under the Ferris Wheel just happens to be a hub for them, having easily 12, if not more, all unique. If I might slightly digress now...

When I came to Japan, I was expecting a technological space age country where your cell phone could set you up on a blind date, make you reservations, charter you a helicopter and then fly it for you, all with the click of a button. I at least expected DVR and Blu-Ray, high definition TVs and a society thriving on digital downloads. I mean, if a country can produce a robot that can tell you when it feels pain in the dentist office (which I can, I saw a special on it), I was expecting to be wowed, to feel shock-and-awe at how behind America really is. And I was sorely disappointed. I'm not very confident that DVRs actually exist in this country. From what I've seen from my family and my teachers, if someone wants to tape something, they do it on a VCR tape. Yes. Their cell phones are only infinitisimally (?) better than ours, and only if you buy the $600 one (their phones are also about 3-5 times more expensive, excluding phone plans). People use their cell phones a lot, more often than not to play solitary, cross words, or watch TV programs. The PSP and Nintendo DS are popular on-the-train time wasters. So, in other words, when you come to Japan, don't expect lofty, super technology. It's pretty much the same as ours, only different brands. What led me to this digression, however, is the purikura machine. Different machines all pretty much do the same thing (they're photobooths), but they have their own style to try to lure you to one particular machine over the other (one's punky, ones traditional, one looks fancy, with prom dresses on the pictures, etc). That being said, we did run across one today that, unfortunately, we did not use, but which still amazed me. Said purikura machine actually changes your physical features. You go in, take the pictures, then during the part after, when you usually draw hearts and stars on your pic, instead you draw makeup on yourself. This machine also literally enlarges your eyes to be almost surreal looking, and if I understand correctly, will change your hair color too. If I ever go back there, I'm definitely going to have to try that one.

Besides the purikura, that arcade is massive, with vending machines, ping pong games, pachinko and more. They even have these animals, about the size of a go cart (giraffe, bear, etc.), which you put a coin in and get on and it will actually walk you around the entire place. I have a picture of me on an inanimate one, if you are interested in seeing it, though I never rode the thing for real. Anywho, I suppose that's really all for now. Tomorrow I'll post about yet another headache involving coming and going between countries and whatnot. Things here are never easy. Also, I forgot about ever posting about the day I dressed in a full kimono (took 45 min. for someone to dress me), I sat through my host mother (the tea master's) tea ceremony, and went out with everyone in our class for a very expensive course menu with 14 courses (literally), all made of tofu. Anyways, here's a pic of me in the kimono. I added a few more on my photobucket. したらね！

Happy New Year!!!!

Omedetou Gozaimasu! Happy New Year everyone! Well, I'm finally back online. I safely got my family back to the old U S of A, despite the crazy new airport precautions, and have a lot to report about Christmas and New Years in Japan. Christmas I think I've more or less talked about already, so I won't waste too much time on that, but New Years was a whole new experience. New Years in Japan is a lot like Christmas in the US in that it's the big holiday where everyone makes the long trip back home to spend it with their family. It's riddled with lots of traditions and you get off lots of work for it. Festivities start at 11:45 on the 31st, where the night owls trudge out in the cold to their local shrine and wait in a line (of 2000 people here at our shrine), for the Taiko Drums to signal the start of the New Year, and then everyone proceeds up the steps of the shrine to pray to the god of the New Year, asking for luck and fortune. After this, they proceed to a tent erected especially for the occasion, where the shrine staff (myself included) have stockpiles of charms and fortunes to sell. You see, all the religious memorabilia that people have bought in the previous year are thrown away in a special basket, and new objects are bought at the new year (often with that year's symbol on them [i.e. the Year of the Tiger]). Some of the goods we sold were typical Omamori (cloth charms for specific needs like luck in studies, safety on the road, fortune, love, etc.), small tiger statues, banners with tigers on them, arrows with wooden prayer placards fastened on, wooden praying boards, Daruma (specific dolls, where you draw in one eye and make a wish, and then draw in the other eye when it comes true), and then fortunes, where you shake out a stick with a number and get the corresponding fortune paper. I manned the fortunes until 2 am, before turning in. Other things about New Years: offerings of double-stacked, round mochi (chewy, beaten rice) are offered to the god of the new year on altars in the shrine and in houeholds, and are then eaten on the 7th, ending the New Years festivities. Special chopsticks are used from the 1st to the 3rd, when they are discarded. Special bentos (lunch boxes), filled with specific foods (all of which have a meaning) are eaten. Every morning for 7 days (I think), people in the family wake up and, using a special pot and stacked cups, drink sake for the new year. White folded paper is tied on everything in the shrine to indicate that god resides within. On the days leading up to the 1st, families perform 'spring cleaning' to encourage the god to enter their home. I'm sure there's more, but I won't ramble any longer about that.

In other news, January 2nd is the big shopping day. It is Japan's response to America's "Black Friday," only on a grander scale, if you can imagine that. Today's word is: fukubukuro, which means a grab back. In conjunction with sales, most big name stores, even brands like Gucci, etc., offer grab bags, which are suprise bags, usually costing between $50 and a couple hundred dollars, though the mysterious contents always add up to be much more than what you pay for. Some stores' grab bags, or fukubukuro, are so sought after that people line up two days before to be sure that they will get one. I, myself, participated in this crazed shopping frenzy in a much smaller way, by going to Shibuya with my mother and buying a $50 grab bag from my very favorite store, FrancFranc, which is like a trendier, better version of Pier 1. Inside a nice sized, zip up picnic basket, I discovered two cup and plate sets, gray and pink, two face towels, gray and pink, bath fizzes, gray and pink, something else I've forgotten, and a Panini maker. Wow! I was so excited. I love FrancFranc. Anywho...5000 people packed into the 109 building to secure their grab bags that morning, and everyone else came out later I think, because boy was Shibuya packed.

Well, I've got one more month left of classes before my two month long spring break, and it's officially crunch time. I'm desperately trying to find the motivation to write my big research paper, but I keep putting it off. Gosh I hate school, and to be honest, I think I'm officially ready to come home. Oh well, what's another 200 days, right?

In more important news, I have just finished the first Korean Drama I've watched in probably a year (oh how I've grown to hate the formulaic, sappy Kdramas). I must have taken temporary leave of my senses to be goaded into starting one, but the promise of only 16 episodes (as opposed to 26), was tempting, the storyline sounded diverting, and it was sealed by founding out the guy from the Itaewon Homicide movie was the lead (a man who, I have since fallen in love with). And the reason I bring this drama up is to encourage anyone and everyone to watch it. It is, by far, the best Kdrama I think I've ever seen. It does have it's stereotypical moments (it's a Kdrama, what do you expect), and melds Goong with Coffee Prince, but does it better. And what-ho, it actually had a satisfying ending, something I'd all but given up on for Korean shows. So, I encourage everyone out there to go to dramacrazy.net and watch it right away. You won't be disappointed. It's called "You're Beautiful" and it's about a would-be nun/young girl who, because of reasons I won't bother with, must pretend to be her twin brother in a boy band, thus dressing up like a guy, but of course, our hero (a guy with a troubled, painful past) soon uncovers the truth, and together they go through hijinks with the other main characters to try to keep her real identity a secret until her brother can take his rightful place in the band. And of course, it's a love story too. I mean, take a look at this guy. If he's not enough to make you want to watch the show, I don't know what is.

PS, I uploaded more pics here: http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/celebgil05/Family%20Visit/

And here's a preview for the drama. It's a little long, but (ignoring the first 40 goofy seconds) it basically sets you up for what the show is like. If you end up watching, you have to keep me updated with what you think!

The School Fest and the Sea

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I put anything up on here, but you know how school can be sometimes, especially when they even book up your weekends (argh!). So this past weekend was our college's school festival, which was an experience, I guess. To be quite honest, it was a bit lacking compared to the festival I'd pictured in my imagination, but I'm at least glad I went. The festival itself consisted of about 8 or 10 food stalls, all manned by different clubs at the school, a stage where they had a clown, a dating game show sort of thing, and a dancing group from the college who call themselves The Shakeys (my friend Harumi is one of them). There was also a flea market (which consisted of one table of used shirts for sale), a nail salon (which consisted of one table where a lady had brought out all her personal nail polishes and would paint your nails for $5), a bubble area and a balloon game for kids, and a deceptive, darkened hallway that I expected to be a homemade haunted house, but was, in fact, nothing but a darkened hallway. Me and one of the other exchange girls, Katy, went and watched the clown, pretended to help at the flea market, watched the Shakeys and ate and talked up on the roof for a while and then finally left. One thing that was a bit unexpected was the number of guys at the festival, both as spectators and as helpers. It would appear that an all boys school was enlisted to help out, so they were doing all the grunt work while the girls made cotton candy. And of course, my school being the 'princess' school where all the pretty rich girls go, there were lots of guys who came buy to look around. As far as the food, which was more or less the main thing at the festival, they had hot dogs (which I tried, hoping for a taste from home and being sorely disappointed with a weiner with no flavor), yakitori (like chicken kabobs), pork kimchi, tako-something (octopus squashed between to wafers, takoyaki (fried octopus balls similar to hushpuppies), cotton candy and a very suspicious booth decorated with American newspapers and pictures of Obama that I wasn't sure what they served (I thing egg with something). So, that was that.

In other news, my host brother took me and his girlfriend and my host dog, Machi, to this Seaside park way the heck out by Odaiba in the bay and I got to see the sea. Thus, the word of the day is Umi (sea). At the park, despite it being a weekday, there were men fishing, lots of young families with their kids, a bunch of skateboarders (they had a special section of the park), and a few couples. More numerous than anything though, were people with their dogs. Because Machi loves me best (or so I'm told), I was brought along to try to keep him calm in the car, and the park has a special dog park within it where you sign a waiver and then you let your dog loose inside to run and frolic as he likes. However. Machi is a bit of a scaredy cat and would follow one step behind me wherever I went, so to get any exercise in him, I had to run around too. When he was feeling especially brave, he would crawl in between my legs and bark at other dogs. It was a lot of fun though, watching all the different kinds of dogs having a good old time. Once that was over and we were cold (it's cold here now, btw), we walked to the other end of the park and onto the beach to show Machi the sea for the first time. He didn't see what all the hoopla was about, I don't think. After that, we all piled back in the car and my host brother took us home a different way, I think to give me a good tour of the city, because we drove beside the Odaiba ferris wheel, right by the Fuji TV building, took the Rainbow Bridge directly to Tokyo Tower, then veered towards Roppongi Hills (which is right next to the TV Asahi studio), and then back to Shibuya from there. It was also my host mom's birthday and we had a nice cake and tea with her when we got home. So anyways, I suppose that's all the news to report for now. I'm still wanting to strangle my school people and am working hard to let all the piddly little crap they do to make my life heck, go. So, we'll see about that. Tomorrow I think I'm going to some island called Enoshima with a friend from school. So, I'll have to let you know how that turns out. I'll upload some pictures to my photobucket tonight so you'll have something new to peruse. Talk to you cats later!

(Oh, I also forgot to mention that I went to Futako-Tamagawa [a stop on my train line] on my birthday where I proceeded to fall into a mud puddle and make a fool of myself. Even so, it was an utterly beautiful place, on the Tamagawa river, and no doubt you've seen it in tons of Jdramas, usually when to people are riding a bike at sunset by the river. I've uploaded pictures of that too)

Cell Phone Search and Word of the Day

The entirety of today was spent in a quest to get me a cell phone. That is why, today's Word of the Day is Keitai (kay-tah-ee), which is the shortened word for cell phone (the full word is keitai denwa). In Japan, there are three major cell phone companies: AU, Softbank, and NTT Docomo. Thank the big man upstairs, that my host brother is a good guy, and so he and his girlfriend took me out to look at how much it would cost to buy a cell phone. We tried AU first, because he thought they might have a special discount for students, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case, so we moved on to Softbank next, which was just across the street. The store was really slick looking, snazzy, and their phones are also really nice (they had a disney set of phones that I loved). Another good thing about Softbank is that they do have a 'scholarship' thing where, if you're a student you can get a way reduced price. That's great news right? I mean, five bucks a month? That's a deal. What's not so great is that those 'advisors' at my school still haven't given us a Student ID, proving that we are in fact legally going to a Japanese institution for study. Yeah, after a month of waiting, they're going to do that (as well as sign me up for classes, the syllabus of which I've yet to see), the day before school starts. Great plan, huh? And it just so happens that the student plan at Softbank ends that very freaking same day. Oh yes, Becca's infamous luck strikes again.

So we went on from there to Docomo's store, which was not nearly so snazzy looking, but which did have an hour wait, and after that wait, we got to talk to a trainee clerk, who broke down the prices on her little doodle magnet-o-pad thing, and after hearing the entire spiel, my brother, his girlfriend and I went to Denny's to have coffee and for him to explain the different packages to me (btw, Denny's here is NOTHING like the Dennys back home, though it is the same company). Anyway, so here's what was explained to me: the premium choice would be Softbank, except that the scholarship deal is more or less impossible for me to get, so there's really no difference for me there, however, if you have a Softbank plan, you have unlimited calling to other Softbank subscribers. AU was both expensive and not all that special. Docomo was good because, while the other two companies offer only two year plans, Docomo offers either a one year or a two year plan. The catch is this: if you get a one year plan, you have to pay the full price of whatever phone you pick out, whereas if you get a two year plan, you get a phone for free, but when you cancel it after one year (since I'm only here one year), you have to pay a penalty fee of about $100. This penalty fee is the same across the board for the three companies, when you void your contract. So, naturally, I was leaning towards the one year plan. The problem is that all the phones offered (at any of the stores) cost at least $200, most of them more, which then means that paying the penalty fee at the end of one year, with a two year contract, is the best deal. So, after making that decision, we went back to Docomo and talked to the girl again, and she basically broke down the prices and everything. The cheapest deal you could get was a $10 a month bill, which buys you 25 min. calling and then texting. I opted for one more step up, at $20 for 55 min. and texting, though they went up to about $60 a month. No surprise, everything here is expensive (it boggles my mind that people can actually afford to live in this country). So, as it is, I got a two year contract, which made my phone free (only selected models), and it gets me 55 min. a month of national calling, and then internet and texting, though after a certain amount of internet usage, they tack on fees, so my brother advised me to just not do it much (I think I can handle that). And no, my free phone can't cook me dinner or play 3D movies or anything, like what you expect Japanese cell phones to do, but it can do basic stuff, like I need, and that's just fine. Another thing with Docomo, is that you can opt to pay a bill, or have it charge onto your credit card, which I did. One thing to note, however, is that the first payment (today), is more expensive because you have to pay for other crap too, like a memory card that goes in your phone, etc.

I would love to tell you how to do all this stuff on your own, but I have to give a standing ovation to any foreigner who managed to get a cell phone on their own. Not only is the jargon complicated, and the concepts difficult to understand, but no one speaks any English to you, and they use the most polite form of speaking, which is more than even I can keep up with. It took us three and a half hours to get all this accomplished, and I wish I could advise any cell phone buyers better than that, but all I can say to you is, good luck! The only advice I'll offer is that you should bring your Alien Card (a must), and your passport both with you, as well as a School ID from your Japanese institution, if you have one. Alrighty then, that's all for now

Japanese Nuances

Hey there everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a day or two, but really, I've had some uneventful days, so there's nothing much to report. Yesterday, I went up to my school for the first time (it's 23 stops from where I am), and got to see the school, which is about a fifteen-twenty min. walk from the station, though Grandberry Mall is there. The school is quite small, just about three buildings, and one of them is just faculty offices. We didn't really get a tour or do anything productive whatsoever, like sign up for classes. Basically me and the other student who came from my school got introduced to the international faculty, and then sat in the library for an hour and that was it. My advisor, and old white guy from Kansas did buy me lunch (Korean Kimchi Fried Rice), but that was the extent of my day, and today all I did was clean and sleep, which was nice since I haven't had a day off yet.

Word of the day: Konbini (Con-bee-nee), n. means convenience store, home of everything you need.

I keep trying desperately to get a picture from my balcony that will do the view/city justice, but my little camera just can't do it, I don't think. So instead, today I'm just going to talk about a few little things I've noticed here and there. First of all, the Japanese don't drink much with meals, at most a small glass of usually green tea, and when there are napkins, they dab politely, not wipe. To show that the food is good, you slurp (soup and other things), and with noodles this is also in part to cool the noodles down as you eat them, rather than blowing on them before hand like Americans do (it really works!). Men who work in manual labor and construction often wear these baggy, almost Alladin looking pants, so they're easy to spot around lunch time. I don't know if this is universal, but as far as home-cooked meals go, they don't seem to need the food hot, so it's usually lukewarm when you eat, though when you go to a restaurant, it's always piping hot. Italian and French are the big non-Asian food places to eat, with little to no Mexican food to be found. Most carbonated drinks, if not in a bottle, are in those mini cans like Starbucks Double shots are in. They do have bats here, and wicked mosquitoes. At night, in construction zones, their orange cones are illuminated, rather than using separate signs/lights. In busy places where there are major highrise buildings, there are signs that go along the side that tell you which floor has which store, that way you know when you're coming in. Most people don't wear sunglasses, but instead carry around umbrellas to shield them from the sun (they don't like to sweat or tan/burn). My friend also tells me, though I haven't witnessed this myself, that just how we have ice cream trucks that drive around the neighborhoods in the States, they have trucks that drive around selling sweet potatoes out in the 'burbs. Pretty crazy huh? Well, anyways, that's all the stuff I can think of for now. That pic, btw, is of a Japanese toilet. You squat over it. Nowadays, most places in the city have regular western toilets, but my college is a little bit older, and that's what they had. I'll have to make sure I go to the potty before I leave for school. Ttyl!

Word of the Day: Sado and Ogoru

Hello everyone! So the journey continues. Today I got to participate in my host mother's tea ceremony classes that she teaches, which was really cool, and thus the reason for one of today's words of the day. Sado (sah-do), refers to the Japanese tea ceremony, which I will talk about more in a minute. Also, today I went out to lunch with my big brother and his lovely girlfriend and he taught me how to say, 'My treat' as in, I'll pay. To say that, you say "Ogorimasu." So if you say this, be prepared to pay the bill. I also found out that in the Shinto religion, if a member of your family dies, or if you have really bad luck, you are not allowed in the shrine (the jinja) for one week, because the Shinto god likes to stay away from death and bad luck. I had a kind of ramen, btw, called I think it was Tatamen, which was noodles in a gravyish broth with ground beef and white sesame, as well as a few veggies. It is said to be a bit spicy, but I didn't really think so. It was good though.

In other news, I wento the tea ceremony, where my host mother was all dressed up in her kimono looking lovely. There were two different ceremonies I participated in, one with cold green tea, where I sat in a chair like contraption, and one with hot green tea where I had to kneel for forty five minutes until I thought my bones were going to break. I won't go into all the details because it would take too long for one blog, but suffice it to say that the meticulous nature of every aspect of the tea ceremony is amazing. Everything has to be precise, from the angles and places you set things, to the number of times you do something, or how much water you put in, or which foot you lead with when you leave, or how to hold this or that and when. It was an amazing experience, I have to say and I was overwhelmed by the timeless, deep nature of the Japanese tradition. Btw, when Americans think of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, they usually think of powdered green tea that you put in the bowl thing and mix with a whisk until it is a deep green color, but that is ot the only type of tea ceremony. That is used with Macha, which is green tea powder, whereas what I witnessed today was all using Kyusu, which are the actual leaves, and it can be a ceremony for hot green tea or cold green tea. So, suffice it to say, I learned a lot about tea today.

I ventured out on my own for a little bit today, going to the local 7/11 for toilet paper and what not, found a 100 Yen vending machine (which is cheaper than most) where I bought the drinks in the picture, and then went to pick up some photos I'd gotten at a store by the station. Speaking of which, the dang passport photo saga continues. When you come to Japan, if you're staying, not just visiting, and are going to get an Alien Registration Card, bring two passport size photos with you, because as I learned the hard way, getting them here will set you back $15.00 (the first money I spent in Japan : / ) and might take a while to find a shop to do it, if you don't have a host family to ask.

Well, tonight we're having some guests from the neighborhood over for Okonomiyaki, which is a sort of omelette/pancake thing with meat and veggies in it. Oh, be forewarned that some places in Japan don't have napkins (like my family doesn't use them), so you might want to brink a packet of napkins with you, or take some that are being passed out with ads on the streets in busy places like Shibuya. But that's a story for another day. I'll talk to you all soon!

Trains and People Everywhere!!

Today's word of the day: Eki (pronounced eh-ki) n. (駅) meaning station (as in train station).

Well, I managed the train system today with the caring guidance of my host parents. I did not have the experience of having to figure out my fare and what not, because we went ahead and just bought a Pasmo card. Pasmo is a rechargeable card that you buy at the ticket purchasing machines (also works on buses and in some stores as cash). I don't know about the other stations, but at the Ikejiri Ohashi, there is an English button you can press to proceed through purchasing it. There is a $5 fee when you buy the card, which I believe you can get back if you turn the card back in to some desk at a later date. The card has various amounts you can charge onto it, and it is in fact rechargeable. From what I saw today, about 95% of the people use these rather than the regular ticket, and often just keep them in their wallet or datebook and place that on the sensor. With a regular ticket, you stick it in the slot, but with the Pasmo (or the Suica, which is basically the same thing), there is a sensor on the turnstyles and you just slide your card over that. You slide your card both on the way in and on the way out of the station to allow the machines to calculate your fee from how far you went. The trains were a bit confusing, and where I am has express trains as well as the regular train, which is different, and to switch lines there's numerous escalators and walkways and millions of people, but I can see that, with time, I'll figure it out easily enough. If tourists can do it, so can I. When we got on the train to go to Shibuya station (one of the major stations), the lovely men with white gloves were waiting, lest they need to help pack people into the train cars. And they were dangerously close to needing to. In America, if a train was that packed, no one would attempt to get on, but we managed somehow. At Shibuya we switched to the JR line's Yamamote Line, which was somewhat less crowded, and had the added bonus of making all their announcements in both Japanese and English, as well as having digital screens with both telling you where you're going.

Today we went to Ebisu/Ebisu Garden Place. From the exit, all we had to do was cross the street to enter the area and immediately on the left was the famous statue from the Hana Yori Dango series. Being an absolute retard, I of course forgot to put the card back in my camera and don't have the cord, so the pictures I took today will remain a secret to you, and for that, I'm sorry. It was, in a word though, amazing. Ebisu is a very rich looking area with snazzy shops smacking with European influence and design. There was an Armani jeans store, a McCafe without the McDonalds, and a towering, three story Chateau looking structure in the distance that I'm told is a VERY expensive restaurant. I believe it. Once you go down the walkway to the middle circle (where at Xmas they have a large Xmas tree), to your right is the Ebisu Garden building, and to your right, through a walkway is the Yebisu beer museum. We went to both. The beer museum was interesting, especially if you're a beer fan, and though they have a brochure in English, all the writing and video is in Japanese. At the end of the journey, there is a vending machine where you choose a Yebisu/Sapporo beer type you'd like to try, pay for it and recieve a ticket which you give to the man over at a bar to your left. The tower is huge and I honestly have no clue what's inside it except for that there are restaurants on the 39th floor, as well as windows where you can overlook the entire city. Of course I took unviewable pictures of that too. These restaurants are fancy and expensive, but they weren't open when we went, so I didn't get a peek inside.

After that, we went back onto the train (less crowded this time), and got off at Shibuya, crossing that famously congested crosswalk and entering the 109 building, which is a famous fashion building packed with stores. It was like the mother of all malls. And on the bottom floor to the right is a store that sells some overseas goods like Pringles and American candybars and things, so if you're hankering for something from home, this is perfect for you. So, that concludes the festivities for now, and I'll bring you more of the story as it happens!

Trains

So, 5 days! Just thought I'd pop in to add some info on trains. As far as I understand, a train ticket, (unless it is a commuter pass), only works from point A to point B, and thus are not round trip or day tickets. Also, of course you have to buy a different every time you switch lines, so I'm really hoping that this whole train thing doesn't cost me an arm and a leg. Also, there are things called Suica and Pasmo cards, which I think I'll end up getting. They are both like fast pass cards, used to cut down on the time wasted buying tickets. It does not give you a discount, but instead of having to always buy a ticket from A to B, then buy another at the next station, you just prepay for it, load it up for whatever amount you want, and then swipe it over the turnstyles. These cards do cost around 5 bucks, which you get back if you turn the card back in later, or you can keep and just lose the $5. Well anyway, that didn't seem very clear, cause I'm tired, but I'll post again later and it'll be more understandable. Until then! Oh, word of the day: Densha (電車）, is a noun which means train. See ya later!!

Today's Band: Ayabie and Word of the Day

Hello everyone! I come bringing a few different things for you to read. I'll start off with a word of the day. Since I just finished the drama, "The Flowershop Without Roses," I'm making today's word the word for flower. Hana (花）is the Japanese word for all flowers, and more specifically, Bara, is the name for a Rose, or Roses (as there aren't really plurals in Japanese). And continuing on in that thread, I'll share my thoughts on the drama. This is one of the better dramas I've seen in a long time. It has romance in it, but it delves far deeper than that. The makers of this one do an artful job taking something so seemingly simple on the outside (a father who raises his daughter alone after his wife dies in childbirth, and a new blind girl in town who is drawn to him), and making every single character deep and complicated. The makers do a great job of splitting each character to show their inner demons or conflicts while still holding onto the pure person they were when we first met them. Every episode serves to complicate the web weaving everyone together. It was well acted (especially the little girl playing Shizuku), it was real, it was great. A pleasant surprise for me was when Tetsuji Tamayama cropped up out of number (on my Top 5) list, and he looked gorgeous as ever. And, without giving anything away, I will tell you that no little children are crushed to death in the lumber/construction yard, despite how foreboding the episode titles sound. So rest assured there.

And lastly, I'm going to intro the band Ayabie. Ayabie came together in 2004, made up of Aoi (Vocals), Intetsu (Bassist), Takehito (Guitarist) and Ryohei (Guitarist), with a nameless support drummer for their concerts. The next year they had a debut album, and found their permanent drummer in the ever-talented Kenzo. However, the band hit a few bumps in the road when in 2006, member Ryouhei left the band over disagreements with the members and went on to form his own successful band, Megamasso. Despite this small snag, Ayabie pushed on and found current guitarist Yumehito, and the band's lineup has remained the same ever since. Ayabie has had the good fortune to tour Europe twice, first in 2006, then again in 2007, and came to America for a small tour in 2008 (Aoi also doing an MC part on a small DVD magazine release in California). Ayabie announced at the beginning of the year that they were going major, and their debut major release came out just recently in May of this year. This band is showing no signs of slowing down, and I look forward to seeing what more they have in them.

Today's Band: a.b.s and Word of the Day!

Ok, first of all, we're going to start out with the word/phrase of the day, which is: Omedetou Gozaimasu (おめでとうございます）. This phrase means 'Congratulations,' and can be used, just as in English, for pretty much any occasion, such as birthdays (tanjyoubi omedetou gozaimasu), getting a new job, getting an award, etc. But the reason this phrase is our word of the day today, is because Miyavi, that jrock-punk singer that I can't help but love (b/c of his personality not his music) just welcomed his baby girl into the world yesterday. He and his beautiful wife, pop singer Melody, welcomed the little one at 4:40 PM (Japan time) after 20 hours of labor. So, Miyavi-sama, Omedetou Gozaimasu!

And moving on...

Today's band is abingdon boys school (aka a.b.s). A.b.s formed in 2005 around the already famous jrock singer TM Revolution (real name Takanori Nishikawa). He decided to form a new unit with a few of his current backup band members to establish a new sound. A.b.s was a surprise to most fans for the lack of build up before their debut, and first became a blip on the radar via a NANA tribute album for the anime. Over time, they gained some popularity (many of TM's fans naturally became fans of a.b.s. as well), and they made songs, as most new jrockers do, for anime opening songs. In late 2006 they released their first single 'Innocent Sorrow' and it's been looking up from there. What sets a.b.s apart from many other jrock bands is their lack of official drummer or bassist, their English school boy dress (they're named after a real boys school in England), their age (TM is in his 40s), and Takanori's tendency to write songs with entirely English lyrics. The band is: TM Revolution/Takanori on Vocals, Sunao and Shibasaki Hiroshi both on guitar, and Toshiyuki Kishi on Keyboard. And without any further ado,

Today's Word of the Day

Greetings Minna (everyone)! So, I realized I haven't posted one of these in a few days and thought I should remedy that, so today's Word of the Day is:

大丈夫 (Daijoubu). This is a word you will hear a lot, like a whole lot. You'll hear it in movies, shows, songs and on the street in regular speech. It basically means, 'I'm ok', or when posed as a question, 'Are you ok?' This answer can mean being fine in the physical sense, as in, if you just fell but you're not badly injured, you could reply with 'Daijoubu.' On the other hand, it can also apply to emotional well being. If you've just had a heartbreak, or even a big scare and people ask you, 'Daijoubu desu ka,' and you want to reply in the affirmative, you'd say, 'Daijoubu.'

Well then I hope that was educational for everybody, and I'll talk to you cats later!

Problem Resolved!

今日は！今日は元気？ How is everyone doing? Still hanging in there? Well I come to report good news on the housing front. The college just e-mailed me back today and have agreed to let me stay with a family for the first semester and in an independent apartment for the second, which then means I get the best of both worlds, and I don't have to choose! So that's exciting. Also, they just got my Certificate of Eligibility from Immigration, and are sending it today, which means I will now be able to apply for my visa. From what I'm told, to a apply for a visa, you have to download a form from the embassy website and you can either mail it in, or you can go do it yourself at the embassy. You must have the form, an ID, a passport and your Certificate I believe. By the way, if anyone ever has a question, feel free to e-mail me with it. I'll be happy to help you out!

In other news, I finally finished Love Shuffle. You know, I will say that it wasn't my very favorite show, but it was quite good. It was goofy and funny, but had a lot of puns that don't translate well. I did like how it ended, though it was a bit different than expected. Really, it was an interesting look at different sorts of love, and what made the show good was its cast. I mean tamaki hiroshi, matsuda shota and Daigo. So it was good. I'd give it probably 3.5/5 stars.

Last thing: the word of the day is Itadakimasu (頂きます). The word, in itself is an honorific way to show the recieving of some thing or some action, but what you should know now is that it is what you must always say before you start eating. Catch you guys later!

Word of the Day/Week

I'm going to try doing this as often as I can. I'll introduce a word in Japanese that I think might be useful for you guys to know.

Word of the Day/Week: Nukumori (n)、温もり

Nukumori means warmth, and you will probably hear it often used in Japanese pop and rock songs. It is often used in phrases like 'Kimi no nukumori' (Your warmth) or 'Te no nukumori' (The warmth of your hand), and expresses a sort of, kindness or fondness often in one's memory. While it does mean literal warmth, it goes beyond that to often mean the warmth of the person it's connected to.

In other news, I wanted to wish Shou from alice nine., a belated Happy Birthday (because we all know he reads English little known blogs). Even so,　誕生日おめでとうございます！ They tell me he's 28 now, and still looking freaking amazing, if I may say so myself. Well, catch y'all later!