In the Narita International Airport

After checking out of the dorm and loading onto the bus at 12, I was worried that we might be cutting it a little close time-wise, since my flight is at 4 PM, and it takes about 2 hours to drive from Waseda to Narita (since downtown Tokyo is in a constant state of rush hour). The drive, however only took about 1 hour, 45 minutes and I didn't have to wait in any lines at all to check in or to get through security. I wasn't expecting the massive international airport to be the least crowded place I've visited so far in Japan.

I did end up paying an extra $50 since one of my checked bags was too heavy. I didn't want to stress out about what to keep and what to dump on the spot, so I said screw it and paid for the convenience. (and to keep my pillow)

So I still have a half an hour to kill until my flight boards, even after getting on this 100 yen for 10 minutes terminal to check my Facebook and E-mail and write this blog post.

Glad to be coming home, but I still have a long journey ahead of me...

Last day in Tokyo

After the going away lunch, a group of us went to karaoke this afternoon for a couple hours. It was fun, though I imagine it's more fun with alcohol involved (even on our last day, 2 PM is just a bit too early). For dinner we went to an excellent ramen place and got one last delicious meal of Japanese ramen and gyoza.

After that, we decided to have a little party in Kevin and Ethan's dorm room, so I ended up buying this small bottle of sake because it's name was 男山 which literally means "Man Mountain." It wasn't very good (I'm not that big on sake) but it was totally worth it for the bottle.

We also spent a section of the evening trying to find ways to spend Alan's big bag of coins that he had accumulated throughout the program. I'm pretty sure the Wendy's and that convenience store kind of hate us now...

Tomorrow the plan is to get up (having packed entirely the night before, ie right now), go to the bakery and grab some stuff for breakfast and lunch, check out of the dorm at 11, leave on the bus at 12, leave on my plane at 4, land in Moline at 8:30 (I told Mom and Dad 8, but it's actually 8:30!), arrive home around 10, shower, and sleep on a real mattress in my own room.

I'm gonna miss Japan, and I'm especially going to miss all the people I've met here, but I'm getting really anxious to be home.

PICS HERE

Turning into a slacker

So I totally went to class today, took the quiz at the beginning, then left. The rest of the class period was going to be devoted to giving presentations about our "self-study" (at the beginning of the program, we wrote down what we wanted to practice on our own and checked our progress every week or so) which I had not prepared for at all (by conscious choice). If I did do it, my only choices would have been to either lie or embarrass myself (I only did the minimum amount of studying outside of class), and since I've done well enough in the class until now, I decided to cash in on that goodwill on the last day.

In other news, I decided since I've been in Japan for 6 weeks and only really had sushi once, I should go and eat real Japanese sushi one last time. I went with a few people to a nice little place by the station and it was really tasty. Afterwards, having eaten a healthy meal of fish, rice, and salad, we decided to balance things out by getting dessert at Mister Donut, an excellent Japanese donut chain.

While eating our yummy, unhealthy donuts, we discussed what our third meal should be if we wanted to continue our downward spiral into heart disease and diabetes. We decided the ultimate evening of starting healthy and ending dead was as follows:

1. Sushi

2. Donuts

3. The "Tamago Double-Mac" at McDonalds (a limited time sandwich in Japan with two patties and an egg, which me and Jane still want to try)

4. Lying in the gutter eating Pixy Stix.

Later in the evening, I tried this Final Fantasy licensed energy drink that I picked up in Akihabara before. I assume it was an energy drink, at least that would explain at least partially why it was so terrible. The can was cool, though (FFVI FTW!)

PICS HERE

Ninja no minasan to isshou!

So for the going away party tomorrow all the classes are doing some sort of presentation such as a speech, but we are really able to do whatever we choose.

My class is totally doing the Pythagoras Switch Algorithm March.

Epic win.

Namjatown!

Went with Kevin, Vincent, and Tasha to this theme park in Ikebukuro called Namja Town this evening. Our main intention there was to visit the haunted house portion, which was fun (the best part, though, was when we were long out of the scary part and Kevin was startled by some people getting massages in another part of the park). While the first floor was a variety of cool looking games and stuff (most of which we didn't try, since our Japanese was insufficient for solving mysteries and capturing ghosts) the second floor was a huge maze of ice cream and crepe restaurants and stands.

In one of the restaurants we saw that they served the largest float we'd ever seen, so we all threw down and shared a giant melon soda float. About halfway through drinking it (each taking turns drinking from our respective straws in clockwise order) we realized that if Tasha hadn't been there, this would have been about the gayest thing we'd ever done. The thought of (if the girl hadn't been there) the three of us guys sharing a float, then realizing halfway through how queer we looked was just too funny.

Following that, we wandered around for a bit, then I got some gelato shaped like Rock Lee's face from the anime Naruto. It was pretty awesome, and pretty tasty, too.

Pics from Shibuya yesterday and Namja Town today (being uploaded as I post)

Just finished packing up the majority of my stuff

Space wasn't a problem at all (There will be no need to dump my socks, though I'll be leaving my pillow I bought here and maybe my towel behind). My only worry now is that my checked baggage will be too heavy, so I'm trying to balance everything between by checked and carry on luggage as best as possible.

Having eaten at Anna Miller's this afternoon (tasty, though the pie was sub-par), that concludes my list of things to do in Japan. All that's left is a little last-minute shopping tomorrow, and I'm ready to go home.

Fight-Ohh... OH!

Went and saw Gokusen: The Movie (based on the drama of the same name) tonight. It was just as cheesy, silly, and wonderful as I hoped.

The plot followed the same pattern as pretty much every episode in the series, so it was pretty easy to follow. I've only seen the first season, and that was a long time ago, so I didn't fully appreciate all the old characters being brought back, though.

Definitely worth the 1200¥ ticket and the 650¥ popcorn and coke.

Tomorrow we're going to Anna Miller's (for reals this time) for lunch, then this haunted house themed restaurant in Ikebukuro that we heard about for dinner. That evening I plan to pack, and then devote Wednesday to any final shopping I have to/want to do.

Now it's homework time~

I'll find that restaurant if it's the last thing I do...

Went to the East Imperial Gardens and the Edo Museum this afternoon. The gardens were nice, basically just a big park. The museum was really good, giving an entire history (with most things in english) of the city of Edo (which became Tokyo).

The plan for the evening was to eat at an Anna Miller's, a restaurant chain that's been on my list of things to do from the beginning, but evidently the one where we went had shut down fairly recently, so instead we went to Freshness Burger, probably the last Japanese fast food place I still had to try. I looked on their official website tonight, and I'm pretty sure I found a REAL Anna Miller's in Shinagawa, a few stops to the south. I'm gonna get me some "American Style" pie damn it!

Man, I really don't want to go to class this week...minimum effort...minimum effort...

PICS HERE (being uploaded as I post this)

I have taken 1110 pictures in Japan

That's a lot.

Curry filled Doughnut and Flat Mountain Dew

Today most of my regular crew was going down to Yokohama to visit the ramen museum and other things, so I, having already visited the ramen museum, decided to go off on my own and finish my souvenir shopping. After visiting the huge markets in Ueno and Asakusa, I went back home, finished some homework, and took stock of all the silly things I've bought and plan to take home.

I should be in pretty good shape for luggage space (thanks to Mary and her amazing luggage) surprisingly enough. I guess we'll see this coming week when I pack everything up for real.

This evening I went with my friend Liz to a (beginner friendly) swing dance farther away from the center of the city. There were some cool people there and it was a lot of fun. It seemed like about half of the people there were actually Japanese, and the rest were foreigners from a variety of places. I felt a little intimidated, though, since some of the people there were pretty incredible, and I'm way out of practice anyway. (I feel like there was a time where I actually had a decent repertoire of moves, but that might not actually be true...) There were a number of beginners there also, so I didn't feel too bad.

Now I'm chilling in my room eating curry bread for the first time. I feel like I had to try it since Carrie and Jane have this crazy obsession with curry and curry bread, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. It's actually pretty good, even the cheap convenience store stuff. I think I'm really gonna miss Japanese bread when I come home.

Sugar Rush

Went to Akihabara (for likely the last time) after class on Friday. My tasks were to find Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 for Mathan, and a set of cosplay dog ears for Jazmyn. I didn't manage to find any dog ears (lots of cat ears, though), but it was worth it for the experience of hopping between weird cosplay stores asking for "inu no mimi". I also looked in a number of used game stores for Mathan's game with no success and was about to give up when I found a well-hidden copy of the first Virtual Pro Wrestling. Taking it as a sign, I vowed to continue my search and found a copy of VPR2 (with box and booklet!) in the next store I searched.

That evening I went with a group back to Shibuya to eat at the all-you-can-eat dessert buffet "Sweets Paradise". In addition to their wide selection of cakes and sweets they serve some pasta, so after eating a plate of spaghetti, I went back and ate 2 plates of dessert and a bowl of ice cream. It was a good night.

Then we came home and watched "Run Fatboy, Run" on Ethan's computer. Pretty good movie.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so pics will not be posted :(

Mori Art Museum and Shibuya

Went to the Mori Art Museum and Shibuya today. The Mori Art Museum is a surprisingly cool modern art museum at the top of a skyscraper. There was also an observation floor with another amazing view of the city. The artist who's works were being displayed was all about taking objects (often extremely valuable ones) and stripping away their usefulness (to find the material's true essence... or something). It was interesting, but I think if you can afford to buy a ming vase and paint Coca Cola on it, you should find more productive ways to spend your money.

After that, we took hopped over to Shibuya to look around. Shibuya is a huge shopping district with (probably) the largest, busiest intersection in Tokyo. When that walk light turns green and you see that huge wall of people coming towards you, it's a pretty crazy experience.

PICS HERE

Plans for the coming days:

Friday: Akihabara(?) and Outsider Shot Bar (?)

Saturday: Imperial Palace, Edo Museum (?), Anna Miller's, and Swing Dancing (?)

Sunday: Pack my stuff up and see if I have space to bring anything more back.

Monday or Tuesday: Gokusen the Movie

Wednesday: Karaoke

Stock Exchange and Tokyo Tower

Went to (you guessed it) the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Tokyo Tower today. The stock exchange wasn't very interesting since our tour was all in Japanese. At the end of the tour, though, they showed an "informative video" where a little fairy character (who looked exactly like Pit from Kid Icarus) informed a ditzy Japanese teenager of the wonders of capitalism. It was pretty great.

Afterwards, we finally went to Tokyo Tower, which was pretty neat. Tokyo is really big, if you didn't already know.

On the way home we stopped by a little festival at a shrine. There wasn't much going on, but it was still interesting.

PICS HERE

I believe tomorrow there's talk of going to Shibuya after class. I also think Tasha and I are going to see Gokusen: The Movie in the theater at some point. I probably won't have much idea what's going on, but as long as I get to see Yankumi kick some ass and then deliver a heartfelt speech, I'll be happy.

Grandma Betty

My grandmother passed away this morning at the age of 90. She went quietly and peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, of which she had many. She was one of the greatest and most accomplished people I've ever known.

Goodbye grandma. You knew exactly how much we all loved you.

Mmmmm, melon cream bread...

Went to Ebisu today and visited the Sapporo beer museum and the Tokyo Museum of Photography. At the end of the (very short) beer museum you could, naturally, buy beer, so a few people got some sample sets. I tried all four and the tastes ranged from "really gross" to "less gross, but still far from good."

The exhibit we saw at the Museum of Photography, well... it delivered what it promised. A lot of really good photographs. I'm not that into photography, though, so it was hard to be too excited about it.

Afterward, we stopped at a bakery and I got this amazing melon bread with cantaloupe-flavored cream inside. It was easily the best part of the trip.

PICS HERE

8/10/09

After throwing together a "first draft" for my "project" that was below the minimum length, poorly written, and just substandard overall in the early afternoon, I hopped down to Shinjuku and picked up some concert tickets for my friend Vanessa who is studying abroad here next semester. (it's really hard for foreigners to get tickets since you generally can't use non-Japanese credit cards, which is why I had to track down a real ticket counter).

Having accomplished two tasks exactly as planned, I decided to treat myself to yet another trip to Akihabara. (it's amazing how easy it is for me to spend time there just looking around) This time I mostly just checked out the arcades. I tried a few games, and after mostly failing I was feeling a little low when I stumbled on a neglected Ice Climbers cabinet. After proving to myself that I can get past the 3rd level in something (and breaking the top 10 scores! (though, I think they reset them fairly often)) I bought an incredible pita from this kebab/pita stand outside the station. I'm proooobably gonna have to get another one at some point.

I think I'm about done with arcades here, though. 100 yen is just too much for every game, especially for old ones which are the only games I'm at all competent at.

On the way home, I stopped by a drug store since my allergies have been bothering me (it always happens at this time of year, even on the other side of the planet, I guess). After some difficult communication (or lack thereof) the clerk gave me some all-purpose decongestant pills. I really wanted some antihistamine, but this should help.

PICTURES HERE

Pics from Harajuku

HERE

(currently being uploaded as I post this)

Harajuku

Went to Harajuku today. We walked around for a bit before finding some kind of event being put on by Vitamin Water. Enticed by free beverages, we took an elevator to the top of the H&M building to find a large exhibit of anime figurines. After looking around for a few minutes we went down a set of stairs into the Vitamin Water portion of the event where they had set up sort of a club atmosphere, only the drinks were fortified with vitamin B rather than alcohol.

After that, we walked to the Meiji shrine, which had the amazing feeling of being in the middle of a forest despite being located in a park in the middle of Tokyo. Evidently it's a very popular place for weddings, despite being packed with tourists, so we saw a couple processions while we were there. Those Japanese weddings were the most solemn weddings I'd ever seen. Then again, everyone might have just been in a bad mood because it was so hot.

After taking pictures at the shrine (and buying a good-luck charm for "victory"!) we left and walked around this nearby park. It was probably the most surreal place I've ever been. It's just a big park where people go to do... just about anything. By the entrance we passed by these groups of grown men dressed up like greasers from the 50s dancing around to old music. I'd never seen so many pompadours in my life... actually I don't think I'd ever seen one before that in real life.

As we walked along the sidewalk we saw the most random assortment of things possible. Jugglers, dancers, picnickers, Japanese musicians, foreign musicians, swordsmen, and a dog riding a skateboard to name a few.

Pictures to come.

Weird Feeling

Looks like I just experienced my first earthquake. Just a small one that shook our building for maybe a minute.

Misc. Pictures from the past few days

HERE

I apologize in advance

Seen in an arcade in Shinjuku.

Samurai maid cafe!

Went to Akihabara with Ethan and Kevin today. Between shopping, we decided the time had come to visit one of Akihabara's famous maid cafe's. (basically a maid cafe is an overpriced cafe, often with a cover charge, where the waitresses are all dressed up as maids and treat the customers extra politely) We decided to go to the weirdest sounding one we knew of, so we walked to Mononopu, a cafe where the waitresses wear a costume that is a combination of maid and samurai.

It was actually a little disappointing since it was so expensive, but the service wasn't that much different from any other restaurant in Japan (i.e. always friendly and polite). We even had to pay extra to get a picture with our waitress. It was worth it for the experience, though.

Later on, Kevin and I tried to make it down to the bay to watch the big fireworks show tonight, but we ended up running late and missing the whole thing. (except for the last few which we saw through a reflection in a tall building) After spending the entire afternoon shopping I was exhausted, so I just came home, picked up some supermarket sushi (which was marked down since it was getting late), and chilled in my room watching the Daily Show.

Tomorrow we're planning on checking out Shibuya and Harajuku, two big shopping/fashion districts.

It's the weekend!

Our big project before the end of the program is a 6-7 minute speech/presentation about pretty much whatever we want, so today I started writing my terrible speech on the differences between Japanese meals and American meals (namely the portion sizes and the kinds of food). I've probably got a good 2 minutes written, so I'm done for the day, which means it's the weekend!

So I've decided I'm not a big fan of my class.

The teachers are fine, and there's nothing wrong with the content, its just that it moves so fast I don't feel like I really absorb anything.

I do, however, like the activities where we converse with the Japanese students who volunteer in our class. After class today I had lunch with two Waseda students who had both studied abroad in England, so when they spoke English it was with a heavy (and awesome) British accent.

One was a bit older and studying for a PHD, but the other was still an undergraduate, so it was interesting to see how whenever the younger one spoke in Japanese to their senior it was always in polite form, but when they switched into English they spoke casually. When speaking to them in Japanese, I found I often slipped into short form when I probably shouldn't have. I should probably work on that before I come back home and have to always speak formally with the teachers.

Yay!

I FINALLY got my financial aid for this program! This means I won't be totally broke until probably next year some time rather than right after this summer!

Things I'm cut off from buying after visiting Akihabara and Nakano Broadway:

Manga

Figures

T-Shirts (unless something reeeealy catches my eye)

Games

---

At Nakano Broadway today (it's a big mall with a lot of Anime related stores) I went to a little arcade and tried out Street Fighter 4. I was doing really well against the computer, but then another player joined.

I can now cross "getting my butt kicked in Street Fighter" off my list of things to do while in Japan.

Japanese arcades are really cool, but each game costs 100 yen so it's really expensive.

Hima na toki!

So today was my first day of my afternoon workshop on "learning Japanese through Anime and Manga." It was more interesting than my workshops last week but I still felt like my time would be better spent either focusing on my regular language class or exploring Tokyo more. I decided, screw it, I can do better by just sitting in my room reading all the manga I've bought and learning at my own pace, so I dropped the class, which means I only have class from 9-12 every day.

I wasn't sure if it was the right choice, though. I mean, I am spending a lot of money to be here, I really should get my money's worth...

Then I used my newfound free time to visit Akihabara this afternoon. It was the right choice.

I only had time to visit 2 stores (since I spent about an hour in each...), one of which was "Super Potato" a huge 4 story store devoted solely to retro games. (Paul, you are going to fucking worship me when you see what I got you there...) The top floor was even a little arcade with old games. I played R-Type and died on the second level :(

Outside and inside the store they're constantly playing themes and songs from 8-bit games. It drew me in like a moth to a flame...

When I get rich, I am TOTALLY getting a cocktail-style Ice Climbers arcade machine.

Pics from the homestay weekend

Here

(they're a bit out of order, though)

While at the mall in Yokohama, we went to a T-Shirt store and Yoko wanted to get Fumio something so I helped her pick one out but decided I liked it too, so I bought one for myself. You'll notice we're wearing matching shirts in the pictures from today. :P Good times.

Also, there's another long post about this weekend a few posts below this.

So I'm looking at all the souvenirs I've bought so far,

and I think the Japanese economy might have just turned around.

Everything still fits in my suitcase, though. Starting with Akihabara this coming Saturday, I'll start being much more selective.

Pics from this weekend to come (there's a lot).

I just ate a ridiculous amount of home-made takoyaki

That's all for now.

Saturday and Sunday

After getting a surprisingly good sleep on my Japanese-style futon and eating breakfast with my host mother, we headed down to Yokohama to the Ramen Museum. On the way, we stopped at a Book-Off for a bit (naturally I bought just ONE MORE volume...), then continued on our way. It was about a 40 minute drive away, but the museum was pretty cool. Inside the building they had basically recreated a small section of 1950s Tokyo and filled it with different ramen restaurants. I would have liked to try more of the restaurants, but I tend to get full really fast...

I probably spent more than I should have at the gift-shop, but I couldn't help that Neko-Ramen is a total badass.

After that, we stopped at this huge mall where I once again spent too much money. We also got tasty crepes at the food court.

Once we were back home, she likes American music so I burned CDs with a variety of bands. (Death Cab for Cutie, Electric Six (for the hell of it), Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Gnarls Barkley, The Handsome Furs, JET, MGMT, The Mother Hips, The Rapture, and The Shins)

During that, we drove and picked up Yoko's English-studying friend Yuuko. Since she had never been to Yoko's house before, she brought a gift (some really tasty sweet potatoes). It was interesting to see that aspect of Japanese culture from a different perspective.

It felt a little weird speaking English there, especially since I'm used to being the one struggling to understand the person I'm talking to, but it was a lot of fun. She was pretty good, but she still had a long way to go. I'm probably more able to have normal conversations in Japanese, than she is in English, but I think a lot of the problem was my American accent and her Japanese accent.

That night we made takoyaki (sort of a ball of lightly fried batter with octopus in the middle which my host father, Fumio, described (in English) as "Japanese junk food") which was a lot of fun. It turns out I'm pretty good at it. By about halfway through the meal I was satisfied, but we kept making more and they kept putting them on my plate. It was really good and lots of fun, so I kind of want to buy a takoyaki-maker and make them at home.

Today (Sunday), Fumio didn't have work, so the three of us drove to Asakusa to check out the huge shrine there, and then to Ueno to look around the huge market under the train tracks before dropping me off back at the dorm.

The homestay experience was very interesting and fun. I fell like if this entire program was a homestay my Japanese would improve way more than it is now, but it would also be a lot more difficult and stressful to not always be able to communicate effectively.

My family's relationship was very traditional, which I'm not used to at all. Yoko always had dinner ready for when Fumio came home and did all the cleaning in the house (which was ridiculously spotless). It was an interesting experience, even if I wasn't very comfortable with being waited on quite that much. They were very surprised to hear that my dad only works 7 or 8 hours a day and does all the cooking at home.

They are both great people and I'm really glad to have met them and plan to keep in contact by e-mail.

I learned a lot from the experience, but mostly I realized that I'm at sort of a turning point in my Japanese ability. Right now I'm able to have basic conversations by only occasionally having to look anything up in a dictionary (though I often have to ask for things to be rephrased or repeated), but anything beyond discussing light subjects like food or some differences between Japan and the US is incredibly difficult. Since that's the case, if I were to stop taking classes after this summer I'd probably never progress beyond this point, so I'm probably going to revise my plans for the coming semesters at Iowa and continue taking Japanese language classes (starting with 3rd year conversation next semester).

Also, I could never drive in Tokyo. If you thought driving in Chicago rush hour was crazy, you don't know nuthin'.