Kendo & Qipao

I had my first real gym class last week! For the first session, we are learning kendo. Kendo is a modern sport that evolved from traditional Japanese swordsmanship. The competitors wear armor and use bamboo swords called shinai to strike at three vital parts of the body to score points. The points are the head, wrist, and ribs. During gym class, you can hear when the kendo teams start up practice. Men and women scream and shout and loud stomps vibrate through the building. It can be rather frightening! I wish you all could hear my cry as I strike with my shinai. It probably sounds like a frightened rabbit...I have no pictures or videos because I keep forgetting to bring my camera, but next week I will! You will get to see me and my classmates hitting things with bamboo swords wearing armor that reminds me of traditional samurai armor!Here is a stock image in the meantime.

This Saturday, my friends and I went back to the hyakuyen store to get a few things. Along the way, we stopped at the store next to it that has coach bags, music, and other things. On the ceiling hung qipao(cheongsam), or Chinese style dresses. I bought one for 1500 yen($15)! I will be wearing it to the school's welcome party. I promise to get better pictures soon.

qipao

qipao details

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Sunday, I went rice cropping. I am going to make a separate post because I have a TON of pictures I would like to touch up and share.

A Weekend of Adventure

Moteki san, one of the heads of the international office, informed us of a Polish Fest happening in the area. We all agreed to go after classes. We walked 30mins to get there. The place was a huge and had maps inside, it was so big. Everyone was dressed up and the place seemed to sell designer clothes. I saw a display of clothes and the jacket alone on the manikin was $300. Names like Marc Jacobs, Coach, Gucci, and others lined the store fronts as well as fancy cafes and restaurants. Its called Roppongi Hills. Inside, we discovered the Polishfest. Many goods were available for purchase, such as beer, pottery, clothing, boardgames, and toys. There was a food truck selling food that my friend informed me was usually eaten on holidays. On her advice, I tried bigos, a kind of stew-like dish with cabbage,sausage, and beef along with sweet pickle slices and slices of bread. It was slightly sour, though my friend Marta told me that the real thing is much more sour. It was delicious, though the portion was really small. The meals of the students were covered by Moteki san. She is a really wonderful woman. I need to treat her to something in return for her kindness. After eating, we listened to a pianist's performance before taking the bus home.

Roppongi Hills

A spider statue. Moteki san said there is a similar statue in NYC

One of the booths at the Festival

Traditional Polish garb

On the way to the Polish Fest, I chatted with Erika. Erika is half Japanese, half Ghanian.  I was curious, and asked her how it was like to grow up half Japanese in Japan. Erika grew up in the country side, which has little diversity. As a result, she was picked on all through her school age years. The boys would tease her about her dark skin, her kinky hair. They would even call her by her father's name or brother's name to spite her. This wouldn't seem like a big deal to most people, but to her, it was very hurtful. Her name is Erika, why call her by another name? Erika told me that she is grateful for the body she has, because it got her through the tough times and into an environment that is more diverse and welcoming. Her story was truly inspiring and I admire her courage. She is a very friendly and upbeat young woman who studies English and French, as well as some Arabic and Spanish.

The guys organized a trip to Akihabra on Saturday and invited us girls along. There was some confusion. Some folks came late, some folks got separated and we didn't find each other until we got home to the dorms, but we had a great time. The guys told me Akihabara was an anime paradise. They weren't wrong. There were figurine shops and crane machine game rooms willed with stuffed animals everywhere! Some parts of the figurine shops were really creepy and shadey. I really didn't need to know that old man like to covet figurines of scantily clad women...Wouldn't mind so much if there was some equality in the stores! But nope! Only one figurine and it was shirtless, that's it. They had those gumball-like machines, except you get highly detailed and wonderfully painted figurines! These shops had multiple levels. I went to one shope and I couldn't tell which floor was the last. We just kept climbing up and up! There were Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, Pokemon, Men in Black, Avengers, EVERYTHING. There were floors where you could make your own doll from parts in any size or shape you wanted with shelves of clothing and hair and accessories. There was a floor of the machines with the little figurines, a floor of trading cards, literally everything I could possibely want. I didn't buy a thing, because I was so scared of spending my money too fast. I kind of regret it now, but we will be going back one day. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant. You place your order into a machine outside of the store, hand the ticket to the door attendent and then wait at your table. I ordered ginger and garlic pork with cabbage, miso soup, and rice. Most of the guys got pork over noodles, with rice, miso soup, and a raw egg to pour over their meal. I got to try it, it was good!None of them got sick from the egg, which was also good! Afterward, we went the Akihabara Animate, which had many more levels and was so crowded it was hard to move.

Akihabara Station Electric Town exit

Akihabara

Akihabra

Akihabra

The figurine and button machines! There were veggies, Japanese wildlife, endangered species, dinosaurs,fossils,dragons,crabs,Netherland dwarf rabbits, and pets...I wanted them all!

The pets series from the machines

The veggies series

Pokemon figurines!

Doll making bodies

Sunday, in Shinjuku, the Multicultural Plaza was hosting an event where you could wear kimono for around 200 yen($2). The event was from 10:30-1pm, so we hustled onto the train to Shinjuku. Shinjuku seems more multicultural than other areas, as we saw Indian, Korean, and Thai shops. We saw some homeless people sleeping outside. It was a grim reminder that not everyone shares the prosperity of Japan. We did not know how to get to the Multicultural Plaza, so we asked many people for directions and walked what feels like all over Shinjuku. It ended up we had passed it and circled it before finally finding it. We stopped by a local police station and they just pointed around the corner and there it was! We rushed in, hoping we weren't too late. The elevators could only go to certain floors, which was a bit annoying to find out, but we made it! We were bustled in, got to pick our kimonos and then were dressed by the assistants. They then took us outside with the group and we were allowed to walk down the street in our kimono and hakama(for the guys) and take pictures. It was well worth the walk!

Today, my class was supposed to go to an open air folk house museum, but it was canceled due to the wind and rain. It will hopefully be rescheduled. This weekend, I will be waking up bright and early to go rice cropping!

Shinjuku view from the Plaza

A horse statue we saw during our journey to the plaza

Pedo bear makes an appearance! Naw, they were just running down the sidewalk waving at people and we got pictures

My friends and I look good in kimono!

Soccer balls and sneakers stacked to the ceiling in a shop in Shinjuku. All I could think was that my brother Isaiah would love the selection.

Takoyaki

Monday was the first day of classes. It was also another holiday, the Autumn Equinox. This meant that there was no dorm cafeteria food. Its so nice having meals that are already prepared and waiting for you to eat! I bought some food Sunday and ate a parfait and some bread crusts. “Bread crusts?” you may ask. Why? Because I was making myself a cute lunch! I made a teddy bear PBJ sandwich with some hearts cut out from the crust, an apple, and a juice box. Of course, I was still hungry after that, those teddy sandwiches are tiny! I bought hotdog, as it was the cheapest and I thought it would be a smaller meal. That hotdog was huge and tasted pretty different from the wieners at Walmart. Speaking of imperialistic businesses, Seven Elevens are EVERYWHERE.

There wasn't really much class time the first day. For Japanese class, we had a proficiency exam, which was very difficult, as well as an interview. Then, later in the evening we had gym class. We watched a video on kendo and then received our Judo gear. Don't we look cool?

Dinner was a cup of Shin Ramyeon. Delicious, spicy stuff! Wish I had kimchi to put in it... My friends Sara and Nazuha then cooked and shared their meal with me. I LOVE Malaysian food! For lunch, Nazuha shared some curry and rice. Dinner was rice,curry, and squash. Delicious! 

On the train ride to and from the University, I see a lot of fathers with their babies or young children, its really adorable. Nice to see dads spending time with their children and sharing the parenting duties.

 For Japanese class Tuesday, we split into groups to create maps of Shibuya with a theme. My group's theme was fast food. This was around lunch time and everything smelled so good! Next, I went to Religion and culture. The class will feature many field trips, which I am excited about. We will be going rice cropping October 6th! Rice holds great importance in Japanese culture, especially in the Shinto religion. I am excited to learn about this connection! Next was Law and Politics class. We just introduced ourselves to the class and then it was time to go home. The train was PACKED tonight! After we got off the train, we noticed a street vendor selling takoyaki(a kind of grilled octopus dumpling)! This is one from a list of food I have wanted to try! Takoyaki is so good! I was a bit apprehensive that the octopus would be hard and chewy, but it was soft and very good! It had a kind of smoky flavor and was sweet from the batter.

 

Bento boxes

Bento boxed lunches are lovingly prepared by parents for their children. The food is cut into fun shapes and characters and are just the cutest things ever. I think this is a great way to get your kids to eat more and be excited about lunch. Here is a picture I found off the internet to show an example:

Now, I bought some groceries and items I needed from the hyakuyen store, but I couldn't help but buy a sandwich cutter to make my meals more exciting. ITS SO CUTE! If anyone wants one of these, get in touch. There are pie vent patterns, heart cut outs, pigs, and plain old crust removers. I'm sure I could find more if I looked in other stores. I can't wait to try this with PBJ, slice up some apples...The bear one is used to make curry bread, the hearts one is for apple bread. Usually you toast the bread.

In addition to today's excitement, yesterday I went shopping in Shibuya for the first time. I hadn't even planned to go, but the awesome staff of the K-step program offered to show me and my friends where the shops were. I went to a hobby store and I was blown away. They have little $2 build your own monsters, anime characters, and animals. They have paint that is the best of the best for half of the price in the U.S.A. I bought a can and I need to check how much I can bring in my checked luggage. I am also hunting for sable paint brushes, which are now banned from import in the U.S. Its really dumb, cause the animals are not endangered or anything and everywhere else is importing them no problem. These brushes are the best of the best and I only need one, a kolinsky script liner brush in the smallest size available for my model horse painting. There were also Pokemon kits with all the starter Pokemon that you could build yourself, incredible origami and more! The hobby stores, even the small floors of a giant department store beats AcMoore or Micheals by a long shot. Of course, the store my friend and I were drooling over the most was Animate+ Anime and manga for MILES. An exaggeration, but they had EVERYTHING. I was almost crying I was so happy. I wandered around a long time, just looking at everything and wishing I had money to spend on everything I wanted. I bought one book to practice my reading, but I will be sure to go back. They even had books and supplies to make your own manga. SIGH.

I started reading my manga. For those who like manga and anime, I highly recommend the series: Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan. Manga is written in kanji, but has hiragana on the side for easier reading. I still don't know a lot of words, so I had my computer next to me with google translate on. I was trying to figure out how to type the hiragana when I saw the option for drawing the characters in the translate box! YES! This is so much easier! Hopefully this will speed up my reading!

Bus Hike

I went on an overnight trip Wednesday with regular Kokugakuin students as well as K-step students. At 8:15 am, we piled onto the bus, each K-step student paired with a Japanese student. We were also assigned hotel rooms at the same time. The bus was very nice, it had cup holders on every seat, little trays and nets on the seats to hold things, as well as overhead compartments for backpacks, curtains, and a large flat screen tv. I got to know the girls around me very well on the trip and they were so nice and patient with me, especially with my limited Japanese. We took so many pictures! On the way, we spotted Mt. Fuji. I didn't get any good pictures, because we were so far away, but here is my best photo. Fuji is the farthest mountain in the picture:

Mt Fuji

We stopped at a rest stop which had various vending machines and many different types of food. I bought strawberry flavored kitkat bars and marveled at all the different breads. The green ones are melon flavored. My friend even bought bread shaped like Mt. Fuji! My friend sitting next to me had packed snacks and offered me a sweet. It had sweet bean paste and was soft, very good!

Melon bread

A sweet

After a long drive, we arrived at the Kamaboko factory. Kamaboko is fish paste. There are many flavors and colors. We wandered around the souvenire shop, which sold fish, seafood sausages, and kamaboko themed items. Then, we went into the Kamaboko museum where we made our own Kamaboko. Mine looked horrible, but the nice lady running the workshop came over and showed me how it was done. You have to smush the paste around and cut it into a square. You then roll the sticky paste onto a bamboo stick with the help of a knife and cook it. It was a bit sweet for me.

The kamaboko I made

We then continued on to the Odawara castle. The tour was entirely in Japanese, but it was really cool to see the castle and the grounds and go through the gates. The museum within the castle was filled with armor, weapons, scrolls, everyday items used in years past, as well as saddles and a souvenir shop. There was a wasp that must have been Japan's giant wasps, it was at least 2in long! It was massive!

Odawara castle

tempura lunch

We then stopped at the hotel. It was very nice, with an outdoor and indoor onsen(hot spring) and across from the sea. There were four of us to a room. It was a traditional style hotel, so the floors were made of tatami mats and we slept on futons. Dinner featured traditional Japanese fare: seafood and rice and soup! There was so much food and they kept bringing out more!Dinner was a lot of fun, as there was a karaoke machine in the room. Students and staff got up to sing their hearts out, including one memorable performance of Gangnam style. Afterward, I went to try the hot springs with my group. I was really nervous, because everyone is naked and bathes before getting in the hot spring. It was easier when I realized that everyone was minding their own business and not staring at me. The water was really hot and relaxing and in the outdoor hotspring, we could see the moon. I got to dress up in a Yukata. Excuse the obi, it was too small for me. I am going to have to buy one before I return home. My friends informed me of a used clothing shop with Yukata and kimono starting at $10!!!

room mates

futons

Dinner

Yukata

traditional Japanese breakfast

The next day, we visited the shrine. The trees were enormous! Everything was so beautiful! We got to go in the shrine and view a prayer and afterward, the priestess and priest handed out candy and holy water. We then went to a different room where we ate sweet bean paste sweets and tea. Still not a fan of tea. Hahaha.

Hakone shrine

We then visited a Hokone village reconstruction, which had several souvenir shops, and ate lunch at a lakeside restaurant. They had many flavors of ice cream, including tea flavor, wasabi, and sesame seed flavor. We played around the lake and I even rented a little swan boat with some friends, which we steered around the lake beneath the shrine. I got some nice pictures of the water gate. Then, it was a long drive home! This was a great and memorable trip. We visited so many sites and ate such grand meals and it was only around $40! Everyone was so nice and friendly and helpful, to use the words of my friends, "I felt like I was Japanese, not a foreigner." Thank you everyone at Kokugakuin for this amazing experience!

lunch, there was rice beneath the toppings