Welcome Party – Sept 27th

Finally, a chance to meet the other International students... Honestly, I couldn’t really care less, since I’ll be meeting a good portion of them in my classes anyways, but the CSU group has been sequestered into our own little world here; being the only group that didn’t participate in the previous massive nomikai kind of made it clear the disconnect between us and the other students. I had a massive breakfast and Okaasan even served me macha (Green tea) and a kind of Yuzu candy (a citrus fruit similar to a tangerine) in a semi-traditional manner. The last time I tasted real green tea it was a bit bitter to my liking, but the yuzu somehow complimented the tea extremely well.

I met up with Derek about an hour before the welcome party was scheduled to start (at 5:30). This time we played some pool for real. Unfortunately, what we thought was a table fee was actually per person, but it still wasn’t unaffordable. I won the second of three games with a flurry of unbelievably lucky shots; I’m going to have to practice so I can win some of these games legitimately.

We went to the Welcome Party, which was kind of like a watered-down mixer. Of course there were students from all over the world, and of course, having spent the better part of the past two weeks acquainting ourselves with people from our own institutions, we all just kind of gravitated towards each other. After commenting on the lack of actual mixing going on, and the lack of social lubricants, a few more clubs came out to urge us to join or go to their events. First was the male cheerleading squad, which was quite impressive, except for the all-male part. Afterwards were a few other groups promoting their upcoming festivals, and that concluded the end of the “party.” We were summarily dismissed from the lunch hall, and waded into the crowd outside.

Granite Bob had finally worked up the courage to talk to Francessca, a student from Italy. At the orientation he told me that his wife was sitting in the front row, she just didn’t know it yet (obviously joking). He had invited her and some friends to get a drink or a bite to eat or something. We went to Saizeriya, but as it turned out, we’d need to get food. Most of us had already stuffed ourselves at the catered party, so we were more interested in libation. We all walked to the rotary, and the group kind of fell into pieces. Apparently we were supposed to meet up with some other people, but I seem to be the only person who knows just what the “rotary” is. We went up to the izakaya we thought they were at. They weren’t there, so we said “fuck it” and sat down anyways.

We got to know a Japanese-Australian girl named Aiko, and a nice Korean-Canadian girl whose name escapes me (there are so many names, it’s a shock I can remember anyone anymore). Granite Bob sat next to her (not wanting to seem too anxious to sit next to Francessca), and we had some good conversation. Eli sat next to Francessca, and they talked for most of the evening. Unfortunately, it seems that her personality doesn’t quite match her appearance. I think Bob wasn’t quite as entranced with her as he was the day before. She’s nice, but there’s something about her that tells me that she’d be trouble for him; of course I told him that he was in for trouble on the bus from the airport, so it’s likely that he’s already found it.

Derek’s Haircut – Sept 26th

Another early rise, I got to the elective registration punctually. We heard another short explanation of what we should do, and made a handful of marks on a page before turning it in. The room was so crowded with students that I decided to just wait in the middle of the room until the crowd (and the line) died down. A couple of the other students had the same notion, and we gossiped about this and that.

We all strolled down to a local Matsuya for a quick bite to eat. For 350 yen, a relatively filling beef bowl is a tempting prospect. With places like this around, I just might be able to afford lunch on a daily basis. Another group from CSU was already there, so we intermingled for a while. I ended up eating rather quickly, so I went outside and chatted with the other students who had already finished. Derek, a student from Chico (but originally from Hong Kong) was talking about going to play pool near ‘baba station, so we jumped on the subway to get to ‘baba. He got a phone call while we were waiting for the subway, and said that Ayaka was going to meet us at the station. We got to ‘baba and waited a while for Ayaka. After she showed up, it became apparent that we weren’t going to play pool, but that Derek wanted to play pool while waiting for Ayaka; she had promised to take him to get his hair cut after work, but her work ended a bit earlier than expected. Intrigued by this story of magic and wonder about a real hair salon where I can get “styled” for only 2,000 yen, I decided to tag along.

We went to the salon and were told it would be a 30 minute wait. We walked down the road to a Mister Donuts, and had a bite to eat whilst we waited. We went back to the salon and started flipping through the “style books,” which were basically magazines of guy’s hairstyles, all with stats for the face shape they go with, thickness and curliness of the hair, etc. There are some pretty bizarre styles out there.

Derek selected a style and a color, and they got to work. It would be a couple hours for the whole process, but Okabe-kun said that he would be at the lab a bit later than anticipated, so I had time to spare. I messaged Josh to see what was going on, and we organized a group dinner at an izakaya near ‘baba. Flipping through the books, I found a couple styles that might suit me, and promised to come back after my hair had grown out a bit. After seeing what they’re capable of, I’m convinced that this Supercuts shit just isn’t cutting it.

Derek finished and we headed back to ‘baba to meet up with everyone. Okabe-kun was running behind, so we went to the izakaya ahead of him and started to eat (we were all pretty hungry at that point). After Josh and I polished off a pitcher, Okabe-kun showed up and we had another round. He was funny as ever, intermittently switching to Japanese to give some brusque orders to the waiters. I think that being an assistant to a professor must make one eager to be in a position of some kind of power or authority. In Japan, there’s probably no better place to order people around than a restaurant. He (Okabe-kun) had won some kind of Marlboro contest, and was going to be in the pit crew of their upcoming F1 championship. The process of meeting the rest of the team and getting to know his responsibilities would start the next day, so he wasn’t able to hang around too long or drink too much (this time). Even neater, he’s flying to Thailand in two weeks for some school research project. Yeah right, nice excuse. I’m sure he’ll have a blast though, when he’s not being studious. I gave him a bag of beef jerky and a sudoku rubiks cube puzzle as omiyage and as thanks for the Super-Mario All Stars game he gave me last year. I’m looking forward to seeing him again once he gets back from the land of sensual massage.

When we finished at the izakaya we headed over to the Hub for a nightcap. I wanted to try the dynamite kid, one of the strongest drinks on the menu. What I got was essentially a triple shot of fruity-flavored fortified vodka--way disappointing. The tarantuala is definately my drink of choice; it might be half as strong, but it tastes twice as good and you get four times as much of it.

Orientation and Naan – Sept 25th

Another early morning, I need to time my departures better. By the time I arrived at the lecture hall where academic orientation was to take place, practically everyone else was already seated and listening to the dean’s address. I took a seat as close to the door as I could find, to spare myself the embarrassment of fumbling through the crowd.

After a number of speeches and instruction, 90% of which I’d heard at least once before. Finally, it came time to sign up for classes. I checked my sheet and was shocked to find that I was placed in Level 5, along with a few of the other students. Granite Bob, our nickname for the Robert from Sac State, was placed in level 2, despite his assuredness that he’d be in the lowest level. Eli, the kanji-crazy guy from San Diego, tested out of the Japanese classes, and would instead have to take extra classes to make up for not taking language courses. I signed up for Sound System in languages, Practicum in Japanese Arts, and Topics in American Advertising. Unfortunately, the elective Japanese classes I want to take conflict with my current schedule, so I’ll to sign up for “written expressions” instead. Next semester I think I’ll focus on the classes I was unable to sign up for this semester, provided if they are still being offered. For some odd reason, we wouldn’t be able to sign up for the elective courses until tomorrow.

We left the lecture hall famished. The orientation ran late, so we were all practically sprinting to the Indian restaurant we had chosen in advance. Other students had eaten at the restaurant before, and said it was quite good. I was certainly not disappointed; 750 yen got me all-you-can-eat naan, the likes of which I haven’t tasted since I went to Bindu last year in Osaka. The mutton curry was delicious, but the real star of the meal was the naan. I thanked the chef, who did all of his cooking at a small counter at the front of the shop, and left from there. Josh also wants to get a bag, so I offered to show him around Ueno. We jumped on the train and made our way down the Yamanote line, this time making sure to grab a seat for the 20 minute ride.

We walked around Ameyoko for a while, but Josh couldn’t quite decide which bag to get. We walked through the park a bit, and traced the steps Sachiko and I took last year around Benten shrine. We returned to the park and did a bit of people watching. Eventually returning home, I got an e-mail from Okabe-kun saying he’d have some free time after work tomorrow to meet. Tomorrow the only plans I know of are to sign up for our elective courses, so I can meet up with him for a beer or two.

Ohaka-mairi and Hanabi – Sept 24th

Today we left the house around 10 in the morning to drive to the family grave. Twice a year, most families perform Ohaka-mairi, which literally means “going to the grave,” but is more a minor ritual of respecting the deceased by cleaning the gravesite up and making a quick prayer to one’s ancestors. We drove about an hour to get to the temple, and met up with Yusuke and his family. They cleaned up the family headstone and trimmed the plants on the raised dais. Haruto took great pleasure in pouring water on everything using the traditional ladle provided by the temple. After collecting all the clippings and water buckets, we each made a quick prayer to the ancestors by pouring some water over the headstone, and standing in a moment of silence. They invited me to perform the short ritual as well, so I stood in front of the grave and silently thanked the ancestors for providing me with such a kind and generous family, adding a どうぞよろしくお願いします for good measure. Before returning home, Otousan got permission for me to enter the temple and see the shrine. It is not customary to grant such permission, but not only did the head priest allow it, but he explained some of the rituals to me that are performed for the burial rites. The shrine was quite gorgeous, with almost everything inlaid with gold. They said it was alright to take photos, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. The images burned into my memory should suffice, at least for that experience.

We all headed back to the house; I rode in Yusuke’s car. Haruto was still a bit shy, but started to form an interest in me by the time we got back home. We had a very tasty and traditional lunch, including brown rice, a variety of sashimi, and a kind of mushroom called matsutake that is ridiculously expensive (almost $10 apiece). Spent, I took a nap upstairs, and apparently, so did everyone else. That evening we had a fireworks event planned for the CSU group, so I gave Haruto another handshake and left for school.

After everyone had gathered at main gate of the west campus, we headed to Saizeriya, a family restaurant (much more affordable and tastier than BLDY). I had a spicy (not really) pasta dish, and Hans ordered the squid ink pasta, which absolutely reeked. He said it wasn’t bad, but he’s in no rush to try it again. Afterwards, we headed to the park nearby for fireworks, which apparently are much easier to attain in Japan than back home. We set off all kinds of explosives, bottle rockets, roman candles, and other goodies that are now banned back home for the sake of those who are too dumb to simultaneously have fun and stay safe.

After we had exhausted our arsenal, we returned to the rotary to find a horde of drunken Japanese and exchange students from all over the world. Apparently, there had been a massive nomikai for all the students except for the CSU program. We hung around for a while, mingling with the wasted students. I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what we act like when we go out drinking; another argument for moderation, children. Although there was talk of a trip to the Hub, time was running late, so I decided to just head home, sober but a few hundred yen richer. Tomorrow would need an early start anyways; we’d be signing up for classes and I hadn’t completely picked mine out yet!

Koedo – Sept 23rd

Today was a busy day, despite having no official plans. Okaasan and Yukiko have offered to take me and a few friends to Kawagoe on the end of the Seibu-Shinjuku line, to see 小江戸, or Little Edo. Hans is stuck with various duties around the temple, as it’s the season for ohaka-maeri (going to visit and maintain the family grave). In fact, Okaasan has invited me to come with the family for their ohaka-maeri tomorrow afternoon. Feeling honored, I gratefully accepted, even though she said it would probably bore me. Josh and his wife, however, were free, and were happy to tag along for the day.

While we were waiting for Josh and Asuka at the station, I noticed a short European-looking fellow resembling an older Joe Pesci wandering around a bit. He quickly fixed his eyes on me and waded through the crowd in my direction. “Excuse me, do you know how to buy a ticket to this station?” He handed me a sheet of paper with a small hand-drawn map of the train line to a station about halfway down the Shinjuku line. Obligingly, walked him up to the 切符売り場 (ticket machines) to show him how to read the huge overhead map and how to figure out how much the trip will cost. He called his friend over, a larger Australian fellow, and I explained the process to them. As it turns out, they would be riding the same 急行 (express train) as we were, so I told them that once my friends had arrived, I’d show them through the gate to the right platform.

Josh and Asuka showed up, and after some brief introductions, We all went through the turnstyles and up to the platform. On the train, the two travelers (who I had learned were only here for a few days on layover on their way back home from a tour through Europe) peppered me with various questions about my experience with Japan and my ability with the language. As they disembarked I wished them luck on their travels. Observing my Japanese travel companion’s faces while I was talking to the foreigners, it was obvious that they were a bit uncomfortable about strangers; I find it interesting the way that the concepts of 内 (uchi, inside) and 外 (soto, outside) make themselves apparent in Japanese social practices. Whereas a Japanese person wouldn’t deny help to a person who asked for it, they would probably much sooner end the exchange once their services had been rendered. My friendly banter with the two foreigners was an act of kindness, if not an entirely Japanese thing to do. Doesn’t matter to me, I made them feel a little more comfortable in a strange land, and probably earned a few karmic points today.

We reached the end of the Seibu-Shinjuku line in about 40 minutes or so. After a short walk from the station, we were soon surrounded by old-style edo-era buildings and shops. The atmosphere was a mixture of traditional and modern elements. Rickshaws intermingled with cars on the narrow streets, satellite dishes capped ancient-looking roofs, the smell of dried fish and okonomiyaki interrupted the rows of large plastic ice-cream cones. A very anachronistic experience, to say the least.

We ducked into a few different shops, with a variety of yam-related goods for sale. The sweet potato is a specialty of Kawagoe, so there were all kinds of sweets and goods made from the purple tuber. We took a look into a knife shop, where the shopkeep, a man of at least 60 years, demonstrated to me the proper way to sharpen a blade using the special sharpening stones. The knives were unbelievably sharp; just by the weight of the blade, I was able to glide the knife through a thick piece of daikon with absolutely no effort. I have never felt anything cut that easily, and that includes a hot knife through butter.

Looking for lunch, we found a side-alley row of shops, including a small okonomiyaki kitchen. We ordered our lunch there, and what came was something like a okonomiyaki taco. They were so delicious that Josh and I went back for seconds. We hung out by the stand a bit longer, talking about all sorts of random things. Afterwards, we did some more walking around, marveling at the various foodstands (cucumber on a stick, anyone?), shops, and even stopping at a few shrines and temples in the area. We found a particularly interesting statue of an emaciated Buddha seated in full lotus surrounded by a garden of lotus plants.

We also stopped by an old house that had been turned into a kind of museum. Only having to pay 50 yen to enter, I was able to see the kind of 和室 (Japanese-style rooms) that people exclusively lived in for centuries before the western modernization. There were also smaller buildings in the back housing memorabilia from days gone by, like a fireman’s uniform and water-reservoir, over 100 years old. After a quick rest, we decided to start heading back home. On the way back to the station, we grabbed some sweet-potato ice cream, which was surprisingly good. We all fell asleep on the train back home, but woke up just in time to depart at our station; gotta love that internal clock that tells you to wake up and get the hell off the train. Okaasan somehow managed to conjure up a delicious dinner, after which I promptly fell into a coma. Days like this prove that you learn so much more outside the classroom.

Ueno, not Ghibli – Sept 22nd

Well, I’m not hungover today but I certainly took my time in getting up. I arose around 9:30, a full two hours later than normal. Today a large group of the CSU students would be going to the Ghibli museum to pay homage to Hayao Miyazaki, something like the Walt Disney of Japan. Miyazaki’s works have been very popular for decades now, and have started to slowly leak into the American market. As much as I’ve enjoyed the few Miyazaki films that I’ve watched, I’m not so eager to spend 1,000 yen for an hour’s worth of walking around in a cramped space; the Tokyo Tower got that out of my system already. Nevertheless, I figured I would go and just hang out with whoever else wasn’t going to the museum.

We gathered at the rotary around 12:30 and opted to go for lunch. People were headed for BLDY, the lackluster family restaurant I’d already been to. I expressed my disdain at such a grim prospect for lunch, and instead opted to go to the Mister Donuts down the street. Hans and John decided to join me. I got a couple donuts and a cup of “American coffee,” which, despite its mediocrity, I enjoyed immensely.

Afterwards we had some time left before our 2:30 meeting time, so we ran to the arcade (geisen) on the 6^th floor of the Big Box building right in front of the rotary. I played a few shooting games with John, who was predictably better than me. We made our way down to the waiting crowd, which seemed to have swollen in numbers since lunch. After inquiring around, I found that only Hans, Hilary and myself opted not to go to Ghibli. I figured that anyone else who had decided not to go probably didn’t bother coming to the rotary today, so I wasn’t terribly surprised that there were only three of us.

Hilary hadn’t been feeling too well, and decided she’d go back to her apartment to rest. Hans and I, being the gentlemen we are, walked her to her doorstep, before turning back towards the school to pay a visit to Kazaoka-sensei. I got a refund for my teiki (train pass) and asked a few questions about the upcoming semester. Hans inquired about the possibility of doing a Mt. Fuji hike, and we learned that the mountain is closed between October and July, so we’d need to go soon if at all this year. We later learned that anyone who climbs the mountain after August is either a pro or a fool, so we figured it’d be better to just wait until July.

After a pleasant visit with Kazaoka-sensei, we made our way to the station to take the Yamanote line to Ueno. I’d forgotten just how far it was; practically 11 stops away from ‘baba. As we stepped out of the station, a flood of memories came bubbling up from my subconscious. The last time I was here, it was with Sachiko, marveling at the fish mongers and “cheap” prices. This time I knew the landscape a little better, and knew how to scrutinize the merchandise. I was determined to get a suitable wallet and schoolbag, and the fates did not deny me my prize. For about 5,000 yen I got a nice canvas bag with adjustable straps and a side pocket just perfect for the wallet I picked up. I found a Stefano Valentino (or very nice knock-off) for 2,500 yen in one of the small shops buried deep under the train tracks. The place where I got my bag had a nice selection of fine-grain wallets, including the same brand (and style) for almost twice as much as what I paid, so I know I found a decent deal. There was a really cheap Chinese knock-off for only 1,000 yen, but I knew I would probably regret that purchase further down the road.

Satisfied with my new stuff, we stopped by Freshness burger before parting ways. I have to say that although it’s a bit pricey, Freshness burger tops even Mos Burger in terms of taste and quality. It’s no In-n-Out, but it’s the closest thing I’ve found in Japan so far.

PS: Thanks to everyone who left comments for me in my last entry; it’s nice to know that people are actually reading this thing.

Nyuugaku Nomikai – Sept 21st

Today was a busy day, starting with the placement test at 9am. Since I’ve arrived, I’ve been going to bed relatively early, and getting up extremely early. Every day starts at around 7:30am. Perhaps I was just living in Japan-time all along, and now that I’m halfway around the world, I’m keeping actual normal hours.

I got to school with a bit of time to spare, but I was in the wrong building for the test. After a brief panic and some text-messages, I found the right building, already packed with foreign students from all around the world. Around 200 or so people are here for a short term (single year) exchange—we are known as SP3 students. At around 9:15 or so, the test started.

The placement test was broken into three short parts: grammar, vocabulary, and composition. The first part was a 3-page list of about 25 sentences of increasing complexity/difficulty. Certain characters of the sentence were missing, and our job was to fill them in with the appropriate hiragana to complete the grammar structure of the sentence. The vocabulary test was similar, but instead of a list of sentences, it was a series of dialogues and paragraphs. There were two 3-page booklets to this, the first being meant only for hiragana to be filled in, and the second hiragana, katakana, and kanji. The basic goal of this test is to try to fill in the blanks using the context of the surrounding sentences. The final two paragraphs of these tests were extremely complicated, about the recycling industry and art theory. Although I was able to read the passages almost in their entirety, I had no idea what was supposed to go in the blanks. The final portion of the test was just a 400-600 character essay regarding anything about computers. This wasn’t so bad, but they only gave us 20 minutes to do it. I came within one line of the 400-character mark, but it seems that most people weren’t able to write that much, so I’m not too worried. As I walked around the room during the brief breaks between classes, I heard almost everyone say “this is bullshit!” or something similar. Of course, this was a placement test, there really was no right or wrong; it’s all about placing you in the proper level. I’ve just been wondering to myself exactly what my level is these days.

After the test everyone went to eat, and pending some comments about my outfit (“so, you’re going to wear that?”), I decided to head home and change. Yukiko dropped Okaasan and I off at the west gate with plenty of time to spare; most everybody was milling around the front of the building where the entrance ceremony would be held. The ceremony was mostly just a quick introduction to the teachers, some speeches by the MC, the dean, and Dr. Shek, and a performance by the Glee Club and the Waseda Orchestra. The speeches were interesting, especially when the English dean gave his speech a second time, completely in Japanese. As always, Dr. Shek was brief but eloquent. The clubs were truly impressive; I took some videos that I’ll use to help me memorize the school anthem, which is one of the best-known in the country. I can’t wait to go to a baseball game with Keio and sing the school song.

Afterwards we puttered around the building for a while and Okaasan said she’d catch the train home. We (the students) made plans to meet up at the rotary later for a nomikai. Hilary was heading home, so Hans and I walked her back to her place. I hadn’t spent much time on that side of the campus, where the subway station and the gym are located, so I wanted to explore that a bit. We hung out at Hilary’s for a while, and jumped on the Tozai line to go up to Takadanobaba and meet everyone in the rotary. An impressive group had gathered, including many CSU and Japanese students, as well as a few of the students from the Oregon program. We made a beeline for a new izakaya, which had a surprising amount of space.

The nomikai was nothing terribly special: we ate, we drank, we laughed, and made new friends. A funny thing that Josh and I noticed was that the Japanese ladies were constantly surrounded by the guys. Even after a while I went over to talk to them and cut in on the conversation. I’ve noticed that Josh and I are at an interesting vantage point; I’m able to goof off and cockblock the other guys and even make a fool of myself, because unlike the single guys, I’m not looking to score. I’m sure some of the guys are enjoying themselves as much as they can, but I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that whole mess. I’ve already predicted that some of them are going to run into trouble, it’s only a matter of time.

This time, I sent Okaasan a message to make sure that she knew when and in what state I’d be returning home. My walk home has become immensely more enjoyable with my ipod, which I had to leave home due to the fact that I was wearing pants with limited cargo space. I desperately need to get a bag!

What, me study? – Sept 20th

Ok, so tomorrow is the big placement test; all of the sp3 (temporary) foreign students will take this test together, and then later in the afternoon there will be a 入学式, or official entrance ceremony into the program. Today, some of us had the bright idea to attempt to actually study for the test, so wemet up at the rotary to get some lunch, then hit the books, so to speak.

We went down to 一風堂 to get some Ramen. Ippuudou is a famous ramen chain, and I must say that it lives up to its reputation. This is the kind of food you simply can’t get in the States. Afterwards we walked down to building 19, the SILS main building, and sat around the lounge for a while, trying to study for a test you aren’t supposed to study for.

Eventually, all of us except Hans had given up on studying. Billy left, and Derek, Peta and myself all sat around chatting and mocking Hans for being so studious. A big guy came in and looked around at the posters on the wall, and asked me if I spoke English (since all our conversations had been in Japanese; in fact yesterday has been the only time since I arrived where I spoke more English than Japanese). He was an exchange student named Nick from Italy, who had arrived in Japan not four hours ago. Nick was trying to figure out how and when we’d be signing up for classes. I took him to the office to ask the receptionist, since I was curious as well. We talked for a while longer before he wished us luck on tomorrow’s test and took off. I got home and my host family actually helped me study some kanji I had forgotten. Somewhere between anxious and confident, I hit the hay; I’d have to be at the school by 9am for the test.

Keitai! – Sept 19th

There have been requests for photos of the house I’m staying in, so here are a few for you greedy readers. It’s also been made known to me that the comments were restricted to registered bloggers only, so I changed it so anyone can comment if they’d like. So fire away, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one reading this thing.

Today the world starts up again and we can go out to the kuyakusho for Shinjuku-ku to apply for our 外国人登録証 (foreigner registration card). I’m looking forward to getting mine, because I’m sick of carrying my passport around already! Alas, it would be another ten days before I can go pick the card, but at least we could get the proof of residence necessary to get a cell phone these days (登録原票記載事故証明書). Yukiko-san has generously offered to take me to make sure everything goes smoothly, and invited anyone else who needs help to come along. Josh, Hilary and Hans all need either a cell phone or to apply for their gaijin cards (or both), so they came along with us. We went down to Seibu-Shinjuku station and made our way to the kuyakusho, but not before I realized that we weren’t even a block away from the capsule hotel I stayed at last year. I recognized the street as we passed the only McDonald’s I had eaten at in the past decade (and still regretted).

After getting our registration out of the way, we went upstairs to apply for the national health insurance. For less than 10 bucks a month, I get about 70% of my medical expenses paid for. On top of the American insurance company we had to apply for before leaving, we should be covered for practically everything. It took a while to get that done with, and Yukiko proved to be very helpful. Daily conversation is one thing, but a lot of these officials use a set of keigo and vocabulary that I’m unfamiliar with.

Afterwards we went to pick out cell phones. Hilary already had one, but the guys all needed ones of our own. Again, Yukiko was indispensable. I was able to absorb most of what he was saying, but there were some points that I needed to ask about, and wouldn’t have been able to do without her there. We all got the same phone with ridiculous discounts. Josh paid 1 yen for his, I had to pay a bit more since the charger is sold separately. The main reason for cell phones around here is text messaging, so we got a good plan with plenty of packets. I’m going to have to do a lot of e-mailing to get my money’s worth out of all this, but with the student discount, it comes out to only about 30 bucks a month.

It would take almost an hour to activate the phones, so we shuffled around Shinjuku for a while. I still needed to get a bag, so I was looking around at the shops in the area. Everything was understandably overpriced: shopping in Shinjuku is not a good idea if you are on a student’s budget. Even the cheap-looking bags were over 6,000 yen. Afterwards we wandered back to the shop to pick up our phones, and since we all wanted to thank Yukiko for her help, we took her to an izakaya for a quick bite to eat and a beer. It was 5pm, so it wasn’t too early for a beer, right? We got pummeled with more irasshaimase’s in thirty seconds than I normally hear in an entire day. We had some fried chicken and Korean-style appetizers to go with a pitcher of beer while we thought about what e-mail address to choose for our new phones. I eventually settled on one, and pending a lot of “what the hell kanji is this!?” was able to set mine up properly. My phone is really neat, but there is no English function, which means I get to learn what all this crap means! Everything turns into a language lesson around here.

Haruto – Sept 18th

Today is respect for the elderly day, and I’m going to respect my weary ass by not going out at all. This is all for the best, since not only are there no plans, but most places are closed on a holiday such as this. I woke up a bit later than usual and had breakfast with everyone, learning the word “hashigo,” which means ladder, but refers to the Japanese style of bar-hopping I was introduced to the previous night.

My host-brother Yusuke came up from Kawasaki with his family to visit. I was excited, not only to meet him and his wife and child, but also because he was the only one in the family who knew how to get the damned wireless network going; no one else even knew where the router was! I’m already sympathizing with him. We finally got the network up and running, and now I’m sailing on the family’s neglected fiber-optic connection. The second I jumped on I got several instant messages from people, welcoming me back to the internet. After briefly saying hi to everyone online and checking my e-mail, I excused myself to go downstairs to spend some time with the family.

Yusuke’s 1.5 year old son Haruto is one of the most adorable children I’ve ever encountered. Never before did I truly grasp the phrase “食べちゃいたい” Look for yourselves, the kid is a doll. He was a little shy at first, but by the time they left, he was shaking my hand and giving high-fives. He’s not quite yet able to speak, so every word for him is a single syllable or “mama,” even his poor dad is “mama.” Haruto loves grapes, or 葡萄 (budou), but he just says “bu! bu!” Freaking precious.

That’s about all for today, I had a lovely time and I can’t wait to meet them again. Now that I have the internet again, I have to set up this journal and get to work catching up on events past.

Hashigo – Sept 17th

Today was the second day of tours around Tokyo, and I decided this time to go with Tokyo Tower and Roppongi, since I hadn’t been to either before. Today again the group going to Asakusa was enormous; with only myself and Reed (from SF State) going to Tokyo Tower. Our guides were almost the same as the day before, but Jin, the guy in the foreground from the Asakusa group photo, went home as we met up with Hans by Tokyo Tower. I don’t think he likes heights all that much. I was shocked at the cost of going up just to the mid-level area of the tower: 820 yen! Since everyone else was going up, I really had no choice in the matter but get left behind in the light rain. Okaasan (host-mom) knew it would rain today, so she picked up a compact umbrella at the 100 yen shop and gave it to me. We waited in line and went up to the viewing station. The overcast day robbed us of much of our visibility, but it was still a nice view. On a clear night, it would make an excellent date spot.

We had spent so much time at Tokyo Tower that we barely had time to walk around Roppongi Hills, the posh skyscraper at the center of the bustling business sector. There was some sort of aquarium expo going on, so a quick look at the fishes, and we retreated back to the station. There was another big nomikai planned tonight, and we were going to be late!

We arrived about 15 minutes after the nomihoudai had started, and everyone was in good spirits, especially a small American girl named Lindsey, who had a clear head start on us. We enjoyed ourselves for a good hour or so, and Ayaka, one of the Japanese students showed up to face a huge drunken chorus of “Happy Birthday” and a little cake. Apparently, she had just turned 20 or 21, darned whippersnappers. With several people standing up to hit the pitchers of chu-hai, everyone was in good spirits by the time we stumbled down the stairs. Lindsey had unfortunately had wayyy too much to drink, and despite having thrown up on herself, one of the tables, and my umbrella, maintained a glazed smile of bliss and contentment. I grabbed my umbrella and washed it in the bathroom sink, bearing no ill will towards the poor girl who had to somehow find her way back to the dorms in Chiba.

When we got to the ground floor, I was confronted with a sea of white people in pink shirts. I had to ask.

“sorry, but who on Earth ARE you??”
“We’re the Oxford rugby team, we just had a match with Waseda today.”

I did not know about that, but I must know the result.

“So who won?”
“Waseda…”
I tried to hide my exuberance and told them to “drink up” in the most consoling voice I could conjure.

We all gathered in the rotary again for another hand-clapping unison, and even some tossing of Teru and Teruki, the leaders of WIC and Niji no Kai, in the air. Afterwards, Teru invited me to a second nomihoudai at another izakaya. Honestly a breath away from sober, I consented. We made our way to the new izakaya, this time in a much smaller group, and repeated the whole process. I met a few more of the Japanese students, since Hans and myself were the only Americans in the group. When time had run out, I was about 15 minutes away from the last train home. Hans had already missed his, and I would later learn that he went to a third izakaya with the group and spent an hour or so at Teru’s American-themed apartment before catching the first train back to the temple. My umbrella went missing, so someone gave me one they had (reassuring me that “it’s alright, it’s not mine!”) I said my goodbyes to everyone and walked up to the platform.

The stroll home was brisk but uneventful, my only worry being that okaasan would be up waiting for me. I had no cell phone, so I didn’t have any way of letting her know if and when I’d be home. I had gotten the front door open when I heard “arara!” She assured me it was ok, she just wasn’t able to sleep out of worry. Yukiko-san (my host-sister) later told me that okaasan actually fell asleep watching TV, and that I shouldn’t feel bad, but I am anxious to get my cell phone so this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. Tomorrow is 敬老の日 (respect the elderly day), so the kuyakusho is closed until Tuesday. Once I apply for my gaijin registration card, I can get my keitai!

Asakusa Tour – Sept 16th

Today and tomorrow we have a set of guided tours to choose from; either Asakusa, Shinjuku and Harajuku, or Tokyo Tower

and Roppongi. Although I had already been to Asakusa, most of the folks I had become acquainted with were headed there, and so I decided on that. My ulterior motives for choosing Asakusa is that it’s close to Akihabara, where I can easily find a plug adapter for my laptop, and maybe a bag.

There was a pretty large group of folks headed towards Asakusa, so after we arrived and took a big group photo in front of the huge Kaminari-mon (thunder gate), we split into smaller groups. It’s so much easier for a group of 5 or so to move around than a group of 20, for obvious reasons. We walked down the rows of tourist-trap shops that line the walkway to Sensou-ji, the famous temple at Asakusa. This year I had no interest in buying gifts for people back home (yet), so I was able to fight the urge to buy anything. We did the whole temple thing, wafting good-luck incense smoke towards our heads for good health, tossing the five yen coin into the coffers, and praying for something or another. The everlasting hail of coins hitting the bottom of the wooden boxes made me wonder how much income the temple saw in a single day.

We split off to the left, into a tranquil little garden with a koi pond. At this point, it was just me, Hans, Hilary, and four Japanese guides, none of whom had actually been to Asakusa before. So I guided the group around the areas I knew, and when it became obvious that there really was nothing else worth seeing in Asakusa, I made it known that I’d like to swing by Akihabara. Hilary’s boyfriend (who is coincidentally the 2000 yo-yo world champion, holy shit) stopped by and she took off with him to unknown parts. We found a subway station and skipped down to Akihabara, which again, I was the only one in the group who had visited before. We found a converter in no time at all, and took a look at a few bags and phone plans for the upcoming keitai purchase. Remembering a new Akiba-kei phenomenon, I asked if anyone was interested in checking out a maid café. These cafes are like any other kissatten, except the waitresses are all dressed like 18^th century maids, call you goshujin-sama (master), and supposedly act all cutesy and stuff which drives the local otaku wild. We couldn’t find the café, but thought to call the yo-yo champ. I’ll be damned if he didn’t know exactly where it was, and just how long the wait would be. I wonder if Hilary is alright with that…

We puttered around for a while longer, and ducked into a large store. Hans was interested in getting a Nintendo DS lite, so we walked through an impressively large Akiba superstore. I saw a lot of decent-looking bikes for under 30,000 yen, which is about 280 bucks, but no brands that I recognized (other than one bike which was actually emblazoned with the Chevy logo). The DSes were all out of stock, so we went upstairs to a little bistro and enjoyed some expensive cheesecake. Yeah it was good, but can’t hold a candle to the cheesecake factory in terms of quality or quantity. Hans and I split some kind of multi-fruit cheesecake tart. The trouble with traveling with a group of Japanese students is that when they start to speak to each other, I get lost in a hurry. I can generally pick up the majority of the conversation, but I’ll miss what the subject is, and be at a total loss. At the time I was a bit uncomfortable, since it was obvious that Hans and I couldn’t follow what they were talking about, but now that I think of it, it’s just another reminder that I still have a long way to go in my studies. I have no choice to but do my best.

I forgot to mention that on the way home (as this was my first commute on my own), I overshot a turn and walked into the next chome, which is like a zip-code. I realized I had walked too far, and asked an elderly gentlemen who was trimming his hedges for help. The first thing he asked me is モルモン教? (are you Mormon?) Totally taken aback, I said “no no, I’m lost!” He was able to point me in the right direction, and I made it back to my house about twenty minutes later. I told my host family what happened and they had a good laugh and said they worried I might get a bit lost, but that they expected me to get on the wrong train! Apparently, there’s a Mormon church in the area, so the old man’s question wasn’t completely random, but it sure wasn’t what I was expecting!

I meet my host family – Sept 15th

I can’t remember how the day began, but today we not only find out which families we have been paired with, but also get to go home with them! Kazaoka-sensei put me with a new family that, aside from short stints with French students a couple years ago, had never hosted a student before. I’d have a host sister living at home, and a brother who has gotten married and moved to Kawasaki. Dad still works, and mom is a homemaker whose hobbies include “flower design,” not to be confused with ikebana, traditional flower arrangement.

After receiving our fates, we walked back to the hotel lobby where we’d await the arrival of our new families. Some of the other students were paired up with some interesting families. One host-mom owns a seven-eleven, while another father runs an udon shop, and actually asked for someone who could help out with the shop and be his drinking buddy. The commutes all vary, going all the way up to over an hour. My family would be close to 新井薬師駅 (arai-yakushi station), only three stops away from ‘baba on the seibu-shinjuku line. My commute involves more walking than train-riding, and I’m actually within biking distance if I decide to take that route.

As the host families came and the number of students began to dwindle, I got increasingly more nervous about my upcoming first-impression. Would I screw up my introduction? How did I look? What will they be like? With about 15 minutes before their scheduled arrival, Dr. Shek summoned me to the door. She’d already arrived! With barely any time for introductions, she was practically hugging me. With applause from the remaining students and a wink from Kazaoka-sensei (she asked me to keep her up to date). I was spirited out the door and into a taxi cab. We had a bit of small talk in the car, and arrived at the house in practically no time at all. My first impression of the house was that it was meticulously kept-up, and very well decorated. The house is surrounded by a variety of plants and flowers, and the interior is just as lively. Having only been to a handful of Japanese houses, I’d say this one falls on the more spacious end of the spectrum, but the use of space is exceptionally efficient. My room was surprisingly large, with a very high sloping ceiling, desk, bed, bookshelves, and plenty of storage space for my belongings. I’ll get a flickr account going soon, I promise.

Their TV is a large 40-something inch plasma, rivaled only by my grandfather’s 60 inch Samsung. The image quality is true HDTV; absolutely stellar. It turns out they watch a good deal of TV, and especially enjoy musicals! I sat at the dinner table with okaasan (mom) for almost four hours, getting to know each other and talking about all sorts of things (all in Japanese). Surprisingly, I was able to keep up with almost everything she said. I think she’s greatly relieved to be hosting a student she can communicate with. The others were late in getting home, so we ate dinner together. My host-sister has worked in the travel industry for a number of years, and just returned home from New Caledonia (google it) a couple months back. Due to a sudden decline in her health, she decided to quit her job and take it easy for a while, so she’d be around the house and willing to help me learn my way around. Fortunately for me, her English is excellent, and can serve as a translator when I run into something I can’t quite express. She arrived home around 9 or so, and we talked for a while. Dad got home around 10, and we spoke a bit, but I was completely exhausted from the marathon of Japanese, and was ready to crash. I presented my omiyage to them and made my way to the bathroom at their behest. I gave them three gifts: handsoap we could use together, chocolates we could eat together, and wine that we could drink together. They seemed delighted at my thoughtfulness. After a quick shower I dragged myself upstairs and promptly passed out, completely spent and satisfied that I made the best impression I could.

Welcome to Japan - Sept. 14th

Ok, bear in mind that this is all from memory at this point…

Today we met up again and went back to the SILS building for some more orientation fun. We met up again with the Japanese students from WIC and Niji no Kai, and we broke into smaller groups for a bit of touring around Shinjuku and Harajuku, the prospect of which made a few people predictably squealed with glee. Yes, we’re in Japan, you can put down the crack pipes now…

Anyways, myself and three other American guys (Robert, Philip and James) teamed up with a friendly guy named Shun and three Japanese ladies for our part of the trip. We had lunch at a family restaurant called “BLDY” (pronounced “buildy”), where we got better aquainted over something resembling western food. We then took off and toured around Shinjuku for a while, occasionally meeting up with random other groups of CSU students and their Japanese guides. What I didn’t notice at the time was that the Japanese students were constantly keeping in touch via their cell-phones. Having never before used text-messaging in the states, I was practically oblivious that every 10 minutes or so, Shun or one of the girls would take out their cell-phones for a few seconds. The speed at which they can write on those things is quite impressive.

We visited several spots around Shinjuku, including an impressive skyscraper from which we enjoyed the view from 45 stories up. A lone musician was playing some beautiful songs on the harp as some visitors sat enraptured, and others loitered around, more impressed by the view than by the dirge.

Afterwards, we puttered over to Harajuku, and pending a brief moment’s rest and another “chance” encounter with two other groups of students, we walked around the enormous park engulfing Meiji shrine. When we got there, I tossed our 5-yen coins into the coffers and made a quick prayer for a good, safe year. After exiting the park, we made the compulsory walk down the shopping strip off the main road. It hadn’t changed much since last year. We walked, we gawked, then we turned the corner and started to head back in the station’s general direction. Time was running short, and we had our first international nomikai (drinking party) to get to. We didn’t even have time to stop in Condomania, the prophylactic super-store. Maybe next time, I suppose. Although people watching aside, I don’t really care for Harajuku all that much. The park and shrine were quite peaceful though.

We all arrived back at the ‘baba (takadanobaba) rotary, and made our way to a nearby izakaya for a good long nomihoudai (all you can drink for a couple hours). We somehow managed to squeeze a ridiculous amount of people into a ridiculously small room. There was barely standing room; a fire would have wiped out the whole lot of us. The nomikai began with a raucous “KANPAI!” followed by several hours of less impressive but increasingly frequent toasts. Having experienced the full brunt of a nomikai before, and having seen the effects it can have on even an experienced drinker, I kept my wits about me. Whilst getting a fair value of the nomihoudai fees, I spent most of my time either engrossed in conversation, or moving about to spark up new ones. The customary pitchers of mixed chu-hai drinks were as weak as ever; Japanese and American students alike would intermittently stand up and down an entire pitcher. One such Japanese student, a diminutive but hilarious guy called Peta, downed two or three such pitchers, before running to the bathroom to make room for more. A good time was had by all, even Ethesham, who does not drink (due to his religion).

After the nomihoudai ended, we made our way back to the rotary, and arranged ourselves into a big circle, and all clapped once in unison, to signify the end of the nomikai. Once again, Teru welcomed us to Japan. I and a few of the more prudent students who hadn’t quite had their fill at the izakaya made our way to the Hub, a popular British-style pub by our hotel. I ordered a Tarantula: a small but strong cocktail, due to the fact that it is made with Spirits, similar to everclear (about 96% alcohol by volume). Despite being cut with other liquids, the Tarantula still comes out to about 30% alcohol by volume. Feeling comfortable with my choice (instead of the Dynamite Kid, which is twice as large and twice as strong), I helped Teru sing the (American) national anthem, as he was missing an entire stanza in his notebook. Teru, the leader of sorts of WIC, is quite a character. He spent a year or so studying at UCLA, and it has clearly had a substantial effect on him. He has a total hard-on for all things American, and is always seen either in a UCLA or Governator t-shirt and baseball cap, waving either an American, Japanese, or giant Waseda flag. A very entertaining, if not slightly strange guy.

After polishing off my drink and making sure Teru had the anthem right, I headed back up to the street level and returned to my room, where Stephen had already crashed. Welcome to Japan.

First Full Day – Sept. 13th

Today we got up early and walked to the Waseda campus. We took a similar route to the one I guided students around last night, but then we stopped at building 19, the fairly new SILS building. I think SILS stands for the School of International Liberal Studies, its Japanese name is 国際教養学部 (kokusai kyouyou gakubu). This will be our main building for the next year. After gathering in a large classroom, we were group up with some Japanese volunteers from the two International clubs at Waseda: WIC (Waseda International Club), and 虹の会 (Niji no Kai). Our guides showed us around the campus a bit more, and we got lunch at a local Ramen shop. Fortunately for us students, there is a plethora of cheap food in close proximity to the campus. We’re all on our own for lunch, so the variety of cheap food will definitely come in handy.

Later on, we walked back to the hotel to meet up in the lobby, and headed over to a local izakaya (Japanese bar/restaurant) for dinner. Kazaoka-sensei asked if we’d like nomihoudai (all you can drink for a set period of time, about 2-3 hours usually), and of course we all consented. We had a second round of slightly more detailed self-introductions, and a second big toast to the upcoming year. In all of OIP, Japan’s program is the only one that isn’t dry. Drinking is an important part of student life here, and it’s a good thing that the teachers understand this fact and allow us to use alcohol as an icebreaker with the Japanese students. Of course there will be people who will suffer from poor judgment as a result of this permissiveness, but ultimately, it’s a good thing to let adults act like adults. Besides, all-out prohibition would simply lead to all-out disobedience.

I was sitting across from Shek-sensei and his son Alvin, who is here for about a month to visit. Next to me was my roommate Stephen, and next to him was Heather, a girl who was actually born in Japan but moved to the States at an early age. Stephen, a lover of umeshu (plum wine), kept a steady stream of glasses coming to the table. Pretty soon, everyone was drinking umeshu, especially Heather. After the nomihoudai had ended, we all kind of broke off into separate groups. I went with a big group of people to the karaoke-kan for some drunken karaoke (although granted I really wasn’t even buzzed, Heather was drunk enough for the whole lot of us). We crammed into two of the rooms and started trying to figure out just what we could sing. Hilary, one of the students from Chico State, has a great voice and belted out some Japanese songs I’d never heard before. I did my usual rounds of Ulfuls, SMAP, and some random American songs I found. I even sang “A Whole New World,” with Hans (from Fullerton) as my Jasmine. Singing the Disney songs really made me miss Sacchan; I couldn’t bring myself to try “Beauty and Stupid.” One of the other students, an unassuming chap named Robert (from SF State) busted out California Love in a very convincing imitation of Tupac. After karaoke, I walked around a bit in the rain to survey the area, and returned to my room to once again pass out.

PS: These events happened about a week ago, but since I’m just now getting around to writing them, please be patient as I play catch up.

And before I know it...

I’m back in Japan.

It’s been a long summer; I knew there would be much to do when I got my acceptance letter to Waseda University, but I practically burned out before I even got to Japan. On top of all of the preparations for my upcoming journey, I had a number of jobs that kept me quite busy throughout the summer months. I’m surprised that I was able to get everything done in time to leave. Everyone has asked me one of two questions at least once this summer: "are you packed," and "are you excited." With all the frantic scrambling to get everything done and ready to go, up until the day before my flight, I was neither.

Originally, around 45 students from the various CSU campuses were accepted by the Office of International Programs (OIP) in Long Beach, but for some reason or another, only about 24 of us made it through the second round of selections by Waseda’s own office. I feel a strange mixture of relief and guilt; while I am glad that I was able to make the cut and get into the program, I feel sorry not only for those who weren’t as lucky, but also for the Japanese degree-seeking students who had worked so hard to pass their entrance exams, and are paying tuition fees astronomically higher than mine. I know there is little point in feeling this way, I just felt like recording this observation for posterity. We all follow our own paths, and although I am paying far less than the average student here, I am doing so without the aid of scholarships or student loans. I can only be thankful for having been blessed with such prudent parents.

Ordering the group flight tickets offered by OIP, my departure date was set for September 11^th. This ominous date was compounded by the fact that I’d be flying United. Despite the coincidence of my travel plans, I knew that there was little point in worrying about what might happen. The only hiccup in my plans was the restrictions on liquids in carry-on luggage. As I was planning on bringing honey and wine as omiyage (souvenirs/gifts), I had to devise a method of packing them to withstand the onslaught of baggage “throwers.” My solution was to secure the bottles in a thick layer of bubble wrap, then vacuum seal them to protect against leaks into the rest of my luggage. Everything made it to our destination without incident, so I might be onto something.

After saying my goodbyes to everyone the morning of my flight, my dad drove me down to the airport. On the way down, we stopped at In-and-Out for my “sayonara burger.” We made it down to the airport about two hours before my flight was scheduled, and he waited in the baggage line with me. A week prior, we went down to Marin to walk the Bear Valley Trail together. I had invited the new Japanese exchange students to join us, but with the school year starting the day after the hike, they were mercifully indisposed. In silence or engrossed in conversation, I enjoy my father’s company immensely.

While the baggage counter took an unacceptable amount of time, it gave me a chance to say a proper goodbye to my dad. I sailed through security passed the throngs of confused travelers who didn’t have the foresight to check the TSA’s website for the new security restrictions. The flight was relatively uneventful; my video monitor was busted, so the stewardesses gave me a voucher for some kind of discount in the future. In either case, I found a window seat with a working screen, so I was able to enjoy the glory that is Nacho Libre and Mission Impossible 3. Needless to say, I spent most of the flight either reading or meditating.

After touchdown, I once again sailed through customs and security. One of the other students was wearing a black trench-coat and large-rimmed black hat, and got patted down. I guess it pays to look the part of the unassuming tourist. Kazaoka-sensei, the Japanese teacher in charge of Waseda’s CSU program was waiting at the gate with Shek-sensei, her American counterpart (coincidentally from my own school). They escorted us to the bus for the 2-hour ride to our hotel in Tokyo.

We arrived at the hotel and were assigned rooms; my roommate was a nice guy named Stephen, from San Francisco State (as is practically else from CSU). We have quite an eclectic group of students in our midst. I have no illusions of clairvoyance, but you know that feeling you get when you first meet someone and you hope that first impressions are just that, but the more time you spend with them the more solid your convictions become? Well, for now I think I'll just chalk it up to the excitement of finally getting to this point in their lives.

Our first dinner was at, believe it or not, Shakey’s pizza. We had a toast to the coming year and some brief introductions. That night, I led a group of about 6 students on a little expedition to show them the school. Surprisingly enough, I had remembered the layout well enough to guide them through the maze of side-streets and alleys to show them the major areas they would become familiar with in the coming months. I swear I don’t seek a leadership position, but I just tend to end up ahead of the pack. Exhausted, we returned to the hotel and promptly passed out. This is going to be an interesting year.