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Hey! How are you doing? My name
is Allan Noble, and this is my diary. Here you can read the
exciting adventures of a wayfaring student! Seriously, this is the
diary of my trip to Japan, which lasted from March to July 2005. I
hope you find it interesting. Please email me any questions or
suggestions at noblem@uwa.edu.
Peace! |
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January 2, 2006 –– Goodbye… |
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November 25, 2005
Finale
~ They are after me. I can feel them breathing down my neck, beady eyes
boring into my head as their long, grasping fingers reach for me. If I
am caught, there will be no mercy. I will cease to exist; only this
entry will bear mute witness to the fact there ever was a person called
Allan Noble, the “Wandering Student.” Hmmph. Why did I ever pick that as
a nickname. Why did I ever go to Japan to begin with? If only I hadn’t,
if only I had never set foot on that foreign shore - I would never have
met him.
~ To everyone who kept up with my diary entries, thanks. And… forgive me
for failing you. I have fallen too far behind my entries to catch up.
All I can do in the little time remaining me is provide an overview of
my last days in Japan. I’ll try to tell you about all the interesting
things either by summary or by lifting short passages from my diary. My
last entry was June 19, so let’s start there. |
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July 27, 2005
As the chapter comes to a close
My Nostos…
Otosan wouldn’t drive me to the airport, instead he put me on a (nice)
bus and sent me off. I ate my last bento and my last melon bread on the
trip up. Sniff… A hot girl noticed my Sophia shirt, we talked on the way
up. She went to Ichigaya too. After an almost 3 hour bus ride, we
finally got to the airport. We had our passports checked before we even
got off the bus. Isn’t that overkill? I bid the hot girl adieu and got
the (thankfully) complimentary luggage cart (Chicago was complimentary
too, Atlanta wasn’t but it didn’t matter then.) My luggage was big and
heavy so I almost died in gratitude. Bought some mocchi in the duty free
shops for my family to try. The plane trip was the longest of my life,
10½ hours! Not too bad though. I watched “Sahara,” slept, and read a
Stephen King book. I hadn’t realized it was the one I had halfway read
on my New York trip, the book of novellas that included “The Langoliers.”
Funny, huh? I had been dreading customs at O’Hare, but they just waved
me through. They wouldn’t let me keep the hoozuki seeds I was bringing
for my mamaw though. Trouble for nothing. Even more trouble was when the
next security point thought the flask in my carry on looked suspicious,
they kept re-running it and then finally searched it by hand, making me
re-pack it. With all this going on, “by the time I got into the terminal
it was 5 minutes until the plane boarded. I almost ran to the gate,
stopping only to be scalped by a money changer. She took about 10 cents
on the dollar, plus a $3 charge! Finally I get to the “Now Boarding”
plane, rush up to the uniformed guy, and ask him where I board. ‘Ok,’ he
says, ‘The plane just got here.’ Stupid O’Hare! We don’t board until our
departure time, and we leave 30 minutes late, but the flight is still
listed as ‘On time!” The 2½ hour flight wasn’t bad, but when we are
almost at Atlanta we find out there is a lightening storm over Atlanta,
and we that have been place in a holding pattern. When they started
talking about redirecting us to Raleigh, I started getting worried. My
family is waiting in Atlanta! Thankfully, they take us out of the
holding pattern and we land, 45 minutes late. “It was a teary reunion
indeed when I met my family again. And there was a weird guy behind us
laughing at it. Quite disturbing. But it was great to see them all
again. Scott, and Ryan in particular, had sprouted up. Even the airport
loosing some of my luggage didn’t put a damper on it. We left the
airport, and I said I wanted IHOP. I haven’t had a decent American
breakfast in months. Had to look a little, but we found one. Got the
funnel cakes meal with 2 eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, ham, and 2
fruit-covered funnel cakes. It was amazingly good, even though I didn’t
finish it. Wow.” The five hour drive home wasn’t that bad, I slept a
good bit. But imagine my surprise when I came home to find a shiny red
Mustang GT waiting for me. Unbelievable. Actually I wrote here,
“Freaking cool!” I love passing in it. I couldn’t sleep the rest of the
night, so I went through four months of mail and other stuff. Mom fixed
breakfast, nice and big and real Southern food.
~ “And so another chapter in my life has ended. It was a real roller
coaster ride, with more ups than downs. And if I gained nothing else, I
gained the confidence to go adventuring by myself. Thank you, Lord, for
this amazing opportunity. Until next time, peace out! Allan
~Chapter Fin ~ |
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July 26, 2005
Last Full Day in Japan
“This is the end, ad finem, the time has come, standing on my
last legs, memories forgotten, listening to the sad songs play. Tomorrow
I leave. I have been looking forwards to this day for a while. But now
that I am about to go, my mood is melancholic. Maybe because I just
finished reading a sad Bleach volume. |
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July 24, 2005
Things You Can Do in Tokyo You Can’t Do in Thomasville
Okasan left today to be with her daughter and new granddaughter. No
goodbye at the bus stop for me. Anyway, I went to a cos-play con this
morning. Some of the costumes were truly awesome. And there was a huge
vendor area the size of a warehouse, with rows of doujinshi, some cool,
some disturbing. I bought some cool pins though. I decided to stop at
the Panasonic center, had some cool things. Then I went to Shinjuku to
find Golden Gai, this cool tiny area with lots of bars. The guidebook
sent me the wrong way, but a policeman showed me the right way. Imagine
my surprise when I found out it was the cool area I found behind the
shrine when I had showed up on the wrong day for the flea market. Alex
and all had been running around trying to find it, and I found it
without meaning to! I heard some English voices coming out of a place
called “Nelson’s Bar,” so I went there and got a buy one get one free
special. From $12 drinks to $2.50! I had also heard of an all you could
eat shabu shabu (where you boil your own food) place in nearby Kabuki-Cho
that didn’t charge much, so I headed there next. But it was closed, the
lights were off, and caution tape was over the elevator exit. Dang! But
I wandered around for a while and found another place that was even
cheaper! It was sooo good! |
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July 23, 2005
Enoshima
I went to Enoshima island today, near Kamakura. It was so beautiful!
Enoshima means “picturesque” in Japanese. I got to walk along the rocky
shores and see lots of cool stuff, like tidal pools, lots of sea lice,
and rocks with so many mussels the rocks look carpeted. There was one
real cool spring someone had put a stone box around. And lots of crabs!
I caught one and it caught me, then I amused myself by trying to catch
them with sticks as chopsticks. After I bored of that, I started walking
around the island. Had to do a little rock climbing to do it. But it was
worth it, especially when I walked/climbed to the place where everyone
else paid a boat to bring them to. Then I went in a pretty cool cave,
then up some steps to some temples. I stopped to eat some Ramen, the
owner (?) was really impressed that I spoke Japanese. There was a bell
near the top of the island with a fence covered in padlocks (to
symbolize lasting love), that was cool. Bought a straw-type hat from a
shop, I really liked it and was glad they had it in my size. Then took
the luxury train back to Shinjuku. Again, I couldn’t stand to stop
sightseeing, so I decided to find a place where I could see the city
lights. My guidebook suggested a bar at the top of a hotel (45th floor).
Thus I came to the nicest bar I have ever been to (on a short list) and
bought my most expensive drink, at $12. But the view was awesome, the
service great, and there was even live entertainment. To top it all off,
on the other side of the bar you could see fireworks going off. |
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July 22, 2005
Thank you dinner
I wanted to thank my host family for taking care of me, so I decided to
cook for them the most Southern special dinner I could, a fish fry. I
fixed coleslaw, baked beans, hush puppies, French fries, and fried fish
(aji). My host mom helped some (preparing those fish was a big thing)
and I surprised her several times, like with the amount of oil needed.
All in all, it took all afternoon and was a big hit. Oh, and they liked
their presents. |
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July 21, 2005
Errands. And Gospel?
Spent all morning trying to sell my school books. Finally the shop I
originally intended to sell my books at opened, they ripped me off
pretty bad. I got some cash and some store credit for my books. I wanted
to get “Pirates of the Caribbean,” which was on the ¥980 rack, but “the
woman tried to charge me ¥1960! ‘It was on the ¥980 rack,’ says I. ‘But
it has two discs, so it is ¥1960,’ says she. ‘Then I only want to buy 1
DVD,’ I exclaimed! I didn’t want the bloody extras DVD anyway. This
request surprised her so much she almost did it. It would have been
really funny if she had sold me one DVD; no one would have bought just
the extras DVD. Finally I just picked up another movie I had thought
about, ‘Basic.’ Still, of all the nerve…” Afterwards I went to Tokyo
Tower, the tallest tower in the world at 333 meters (the Eiffel tower is
320). Very nice view, not great visibility (again). There were outside
stairs that you could walk down from the lower observatory, I walked
down them. That was nice. Later on, I met Jason in Shinjuku and we went
to Nakano to see the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir (my host sister had given
them to me). I was really excited until I found out it was the Brooklyn
Tabernacle Singers (so only ten people instead of 100+) and they were
singing mostly praise and worship, which just seemed wrong for some
reason. Me and Jason split up, and I started looking around Shinjuku for
dried red beans, since I am cooking tomorrow. “Thus began my wild search
in Shinjuku for beans. 30 min, nothing. Most of the stores were closed
by then. Managed to find sweetened beans, that is useless. Went to
Lumine 2, an apparently not evil depato.” Finally, at the top floor, I
found a bean soup mix with the beans separate from the spices. Yes! |
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July 20, 2005
School has finished!
Ate really good Indian curry at a place called Ajanta, and saw the best
Engrish ever. It was so good, I ran to a conveni to buy batteries for my
camera. On the box of a delivery motorcycle was one word, “RAPEED.” |
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July 17, 2005
Hannabi
“I’ll tell you one thing about Japan, it has a lot of people in it.”
After church I went to an Italian restaurant called Café Michelangelo.
Let’s just say I was impressed enough to write a page on it. Then to
Yokohama and the Ramen Stadium! The admission was cheap, but they said I
was expected to buy at least one bowl of Ramen. “Right…” Anyway, the
main draw was “A full scale reproduction of a section of an old Japanese
neighborhood, complete with neon signs powered by old electric boxes,
movie ads for yesteryear, and lots of Ramen shops. With very long
lines.” I decided to skip the Ramen and instead got a “bubble ice
cream,” ice cream stuck in a balloon. Got a map and found out about a
cool sounding Chinese theme building. It had lots of cool Chinese
things, a recreation of old Shanghai, a live performer playing a two
stringed (pushed together) instrument (biwa?), and lots of food places.
Got a huge manju, very good. Back outside, got some more manju for a
picnic supper, and out to the harbor where the hannabi (fireworks
viewing) was going to be held. “Half of Tokyo must have shown up for
this. People everywhere!” I finally found a spot in the veritable sea of
people, stretched out and read my book for an hour. Unfortunately, it
turned out the fireworks were behind a tree from where I was. And I was
so proud of my spot. Fortunately, I moved away from the tree and some
Japanese teenagers let me sit on a corner of their mat. Yay! “The
fireworks were amazing, lasting over an hour and shooting off more than
7,000. They even had some that exploded in the shape of flowers, cats,
hearts, spirals (naruto!), and my favorite, spirals!” As awesome as the
fireworks were, the mass Exodus was terrible. Everywhere were rivers of
people, and I got stuck on a narrow land bridge for thirty minutes. We
kept stopping and going, because there was a stoplight on the other end.
“Insane, and completely irritating.” So I was extra happy when the Coke
I bought out of the vending machine was hot and spewed. |
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July 16, 2005
Shopping and a Aoyoma Stroll
I did the rest of my souvenir shopping today, and bought myself a cool
yukata. Otosan was with me part of the day, he bought me lunch at a
Shakey’s Pizza. We had an interesting conversation about him growing up
during the occupation. Afterwards I wandered around Aoyama and down
Omotesando, the “Champs-Ulysses” of Tokyo. I bought some cornmeal at the
Kinokuniya grocery store. I am still astounded I had to go to a foreign
foods store for cornmeal! Oh, they also had mint-flavored water, which I
bought and found I liked it. |
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July 15, 2005
Finale
"Today was the last day of class!” Finally did our musical in “Topics in
Theatre.” If you count out the extremely embarrassing time I forgot what
the next verse was in me and La’s “Anything you can do I can do better,”
it went really well. The teacher loved it, and in my defense I had the
hard, proactive part of the song. Later that night, CIEE threw a really
nice going away party. Even had waiters and a drink bar thing. Class! |
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July 13, 2005
Paper Lanterns
“Brightly glows / the paper lantern / set on fire.” Today I went to the
lantern festival at Yaskuni Jinja. This was my favorite festival I went
to while in Japan. There were thousands of lanterns, some of which had
some high quality paintings on them. “But what immediately attracted my
attention was the live entertainment. There was an old guy singing Enka,
followed by two women doing an intricately choreographed fan dance. But
then some louder music caught my ear. It is amazing how good someone
hitting a brass plate/pan sounds. It was a whole troupe of dancers, 3
shamisen players/chanters, an chanter with a two tier umbrella, and 2
people with flags. They proceeded to dance, chant, and sing. Extremely
cool. Jason (a fellow student) had decided to meet me there, so after
the opening ceremony we started looking around. The huge, half-mile (?)
avenue was completely lined with stalls and two huge walls of lanterns.
“There were even more stalls than Asakusa and with more varieties. There
was also a cool haunted house right out of a Japanese high school
festival, complete with 2 old women barking up the attraction, banging
gongs over people’s heads and dropping ghosts on them. And motorized
moving scary things. We both agreed we had to come back. Then we went
over to the moat to watch Toro Nagashi, a sending of lanterns down a
water source to guide the dead. Imagine my surprise when I found out we
could get in a boat and participate!” They gave us some blank lanterns
to write on and stuck us in a boat. I had a lot of fun rowing around the
lake, and it was simply amazing when everyone lit their lanterns and
floated them out on the water. Sitting in a boat, floating on the
Imperial Moat, surrounded by several hundred gently glowing lanterns,
evoked a feeling hard to describe. Let’s just say it was incredibly
cool. (On the other hand, the sparklers they gave us sucked the big
one.) “Then we went back to the matsuri, which was in full swing at this
point. There were thousands (I don’t believe I exaggerate on the ‘s’) of
people there! The view down the avenue was a sight to behold, all the
lanterns lit, great tori arches, stalls, spotlights playing in the smoke
from the vendors, lots of people (many of whom were in yukata), and
dancers around the statue. One of the coolest things I have ever seen!”
Of course, we had to sample the festival foods. I tried the takoyaki, a
wheat roll thing filled with greens, and a cheap but good chicken
breast. “I amused a Japanese woman by saying ‘Ats ats ats!’ (‘Hot hot
hot!’) when she handed me the wheat roll thing. Next, the haunted house.
It felt like I was part of a Japanese high school festival with all the
teenagers and the screaming, and that was awesome.” It was your normal
haunted house with flying heads and lots of people in masks and sheets.
“One of the masked figures was pressed up against the wall, and when he
leaped out I tried to stare him down! He just gently patted my shoulder
and led me into the next area. If that ain’t Japanese I don’t know what
is. There were several more of these figures running around. When one
ran through a curtain I started screaming, and he stumbled through
another curtain looking scared. Cool. There was a little Japanese girl
(about 19) later on that was hanging back, didn’t want to go on, so I
yelled near her and she ran! And of course, I saved my best screams for
when we exited. |
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July 10, 2005
Hard Rocks and Ground Cherries
Church, then quite a while looking for a Mexican restaurant recommended
in “Metropolis” (A mag in English about Tokyo.) I finally found it only
to find it was only open for supper. “Pissed and starving,” I wandered
around looking for some good non-Japanese food. Eventually I decide to
take the subway to Ueno and eat at the Hard Rock Café. The music
selection was more soft rock and it wasn’t loud enough (it was drowned
out by crowd noise!), but the burger was pretty good. Went in a big toy
store and bought some Advent Children posters “Then to Asakusa for the
Ground Cherry market. Again, Asakusa was flooded with people. Thousands
coming and going. There were rows upon rows of vendors selling wind
chimes and ground cherries. Ground Cherries, or Hoozuki in Japanese, are
these bright red pods that look like peppers, peel away the outside and
in the center is a little red tomato thing.” Okasan later showed me how
to make a noise maker with the center, it was hard and we both failed. I
showed them some pictures my Mom sent me, they loved them, so beautiful!
They said “my mailbox looked like a Japanese lantern cause of it
standing alone with the vines creeping up it. And they said Tannon
looked like Bill Gates! |
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July 9, 2005
Amusement Park?
Bleh, my memories of this day aren’t too good. I spent too much money,
the park didn’t have many rides (I finished it in two hours, even with
no lines), it was raining, and I got depressed. The only cool thing was
I didn’t have to wait in line for the one roller coaster. |
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July 7,2005
Fuji-San!
The group before me had wanted to go to Fuji-San today but canceled, so
the minshuku owner gave me the very complicated and exacting directions
instead. Thanks be to God in the highest! Also, I had to hit the buses
just right (time-wise) and I did. Thanks be to God in the highest! When
I got to Fuji-San (cloudy, of course) “I went to the bathroom guarded by
a guy rattling a tin cup for ¥100 donations to use the bathroom
(actually he directed people toward the donation box). Sensing the
injustice of ambushing people for money as they exited a bathroom, I put
in a ¥10 so he could hear the clink.” Then I was jumped by an old woman
who ran the first souvenir shop. I hate hard sells, so I went to the
next shop where there was a very nice woman who spoke some English. I
bought a bell I had been wanting, and she told me about an overlook on
the side trail. “The trail was definitely off the beaten path, a narrow
little thing winding around and over big tree roots.” When I got there,
the clouds parted a little, but I still couldn’t see too far. But what
was really cool was the small Jizo shrine and its accompanying piles of
rocks. At first I thought the piles were graves, but then I remembered
about children’s purgatory. To make a long story short, each rock you
pile reduces a child’s time in purgatory. Then I went back to the second
shop for lunch. The Engrish menu was very amusing, one entry was
“ONIGIRI = food which grasped rice in a triangle and put on the dried
seaweed.” I ordered curry rice (food which hung curry on the rice), it
was real good. The nice woman said I could have an ice cream for free,
but I had already set my mind on a more expensive sweet bean soup, and
she said okay. “After I ate the disgusting salty pickles, I drank the
hot soup and it was perfect. There was a block of mocchi floating in it
that was a challenge to eat with chopsticks.” Then I headed up the side
of Fuji-San. I knew I was on the difficult side of the slope, but I
wasn’t prepared for the amount or the size of the rocks on the trail. I
climbed for thirty minutes, then headed down. About the time I got to
the bus stop the clouds broke. Fuji-San! “I was afraid I was going to go
all the way here without seeing it. Was only a very brief window though,
by the time I went 50 yards for a pic with no trees it was covered
again. Thanks Lord.” Waiting on the bus, I decided to give granny some
business and bought a coke from her vending machine. She had jacked the
price up 50%... Not even the Expo did that! I took the bus back down,
and in Gotemba I noticed the next highway bus came in 40 minutes. What I
didn’t notice right away was that the bus only ran twice a day.
Definitely was thanking the Lord that I only had to wait 40 minutes. |
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July 6, 2005
Hakone!
My time in Japan was rapidly running out, so I decided to take one more
big trip. I went to Hakone, a mountain park near Fuji and Tokyo. It was
a long train ride. “After a point almost everyone got off and I had a
car all to myself! And the scenery was beautiful, even with the rain and
the clouds. Actually, the rain probably added to the mystique. And
almost sheer mountains going up and covered with trees!” Soon I
transferred to a little two car tram, I rode it up the mountain as it
passed through stone tunnels and by flowers all a-bloom. And when the
trees broke the view was magnificent. Almost as interesting were the
switchbacks, where the tram would stop, and then start going the other
direction! Finally I made it to the open-air sculpture museum. That was
really cool, breathtaking views and awesome art. It would have been even
cooler if the sky wasn’t overcast and I could have seen farther though.
There was also this cool hedgemaze thing and an outdoor footbath with
hot flowing water. But my first stop was their buffet restaurant. I was
the only person there, so “for the first and possibly last time ever, I
got to deflower a virgin buffet.” After looking at all the sculptures, I
had to hurry on so I could see everything but not miss the last boat.
Got in a cable car; it was too cloudy to see much but when I crested
Owakudani valley the clouds disappeared and I could see the hell-holes (sulphur
gas and steam vents). “One cool thing at Owakudani was that the fountain
for cleansing yourself in front of the small shrine was a sulphur water
spring. You got the dipper, dipped the water out of the sulphur
incrusted stone basin next to the Buddha changing colours (from the
sulphur), and cleansed yourself with the hot water.” You could walk real
close to the hell-holes, and you could buy eggs that were boiled in the
sulphur water and had turned black. (I didn’t). I rode this cool
pirate-looking boat across the late, and wandered around the area. There
were a few temples (one had a beautiful tori arch in the water) and a
section of the old Tokaido highway which was lined with huge cedars. I
had a nice picnic on a small pier under the aforementioned arch, and I
finally tried a One-cup sake, the cheapest sake around that you see at
all festivities. Not too bad. I had to call the minshuku (Japanese B&B)
for directions, they told me the wrong &*@% bus! Finally got there, went
to bed fairly soon thereafter. |
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July 4, 2005
4th of July
“To celebrate the fourth of July, I went to McDonalds. Closest I could
get to American food.” |
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July 2, 2005
Otaku-la and Tokyo Spa
I went to an anime lover’s paradise and a spa today. “I stopped in an
arcade to play Pop’n Music, like DDR but with 5 to 9 buttons you had to
hit instead.” Much Fun. “Nakano Broadway… was so awesome, the first
actual mall I have found in Japan, with lots of privately run shops
instead of store shops. And a very large amount of shops selling toys,
anime, figurines, manga, posters, and all sorts of cooly cool geekdom.”
Like heaven. I finally bought some gacha-pon, little toys from toy
dispensers that are so much cooler than the ones in front of Walmart. I
spent hours exploring that mall. Afterwards I went to Shinjuku to try
out the Finlando Sauna. It turned out to be in the arcade building the
manga club took me the first time. Silly me, I had noticed that Finlando
Sauna was there but thought it was part of a chain. There were saunas
and showers and a massive Jacuzzi and TV and couches and a nap room and
a small restaurant. I tried out all the amenities, was given a pair of
underwear by possibly a yakuza (gangster), and ate a chicken meal in
said underwear (and a yukata top). Then I was massaged by a masseur (her
and all the other masseurs laughed and said I was cute because I had
been carrying around a pillow I didn’t know how to get rid of). Then a
short nap and to home. |
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June 29, 2005
Adequacy is beneath me
I had wanted to make sure that I would get an A in my Japanese Lit, so I
had agreed to do a presentation in class for extra credit. I wasn’t
going to be in class the day we went over the author of the
presentation, but I figured it would be okay since he already gave me
permission to miss that day, but I decided I had better make sure. Of
course, the teacher had forgotten about me asking off, then he started
adding things to my presentation while telling me to half the time to
five minutes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he told me after class that
“he didn’t want me to get the impression that the extra credit would get
me an A. There are a lot of really good people in the class, intimating
that I wasn’t one of them. The he said I should aim for a B. He was
afraid I would try for an A and get a C. Not just on the final, he
didn’t think I could get an A on the whole class. It is a real good
thing I am so slow on things like this because the more I thought about
it the more thoroughly I was insulted. I finally figured out the
problem, I had wandered on my midterm thanks to my question reading and
my refusal to enter into the sophistry and literary b.s. that flies
around his classroom. That kind of stuff just makes my brain go numb.
Urgh.” |
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June 26, 2005
Doko Square Einix?
“Snake has nothing on my stealth infiltration skills!” Today I
infiltrated the headquarters of Square Einix. It took quite a bit of
walking to find the building, which was a like 20 story office building.
I snuck in the side entrance and ate at the Excelsior, then ducked into
the stair well and started up, checking the directory on every floor.
Finally, on the sixth floor I found ‘Sukuwea Ennakusu, Square Einix.’ I
took a picture and ran. |
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June 25, 2005
Mt. Hiking!
I found out there was a mountain at the end of my train line, so I take
the thirty-ish minute trip to spend the day climbing it. Idyllic
mountain scenery, all green and pretty. Ate sweet katsudon at a
literally mom and pop place, a real greasy spoon. “First thing I see
coming out of the station is a building called ‘The Trick Art Museum.’ A
sucker for anything novel, I headed straight there after I finished
eating. As I approached, I noticed the building has scaffolding on part
of it and people working on it, so I was afraid it was closed. But as I
got close, I noticed the people didn’t move. They were just pictures…”
The whole museum was about different kinds of trick art (duh), like
pictures that looked 3D when you closed one eye or other perspective
tricks. It was real cool. After I finished there, I started climbing the
mountain. Man! It was steep going! I am pretty certain some of the
slopes were above 45 degrees. I didn’t know they made hills like that
anymore. I was very proud of myself for making it to the top. There was
almost no view from the top, but there were some temples that were
interesting, particularly a tengu (a mythical creature) temple. I met
another gaijin on the way down and we had a good time talking. |
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June 19, 2005
Church and Concert
~It is now 11:18, and I really want to go to bed. 6:30 is going to come
way too early.
~ Met Daniel and Chris at Shibuya to go to Church this morning. Daniel’s
train turned around on him at Shinjuku, so he was late. Then we get on
the express I didn’t even know they had, miss our stop, and had to go
back. Finally we get to church, 45 min. late.
~ Then Daniel leaves, and me and Chris go to Shinjuku for lunch cause
Chris wanted kaiten zushi (sushi on a conveyor belt). We get to the
place, and then Chris decides he don’t want it after all... So we end up
at Chinese place, through the wonder of miscommunication I order one
thing of dofu moba (?) to split. It was very small and very expensive so
I immediately left afterwards and went to Lotteria for a burger.
~ Then we mostly wandered Shinjuku. I finally convinced Chris to
tachiyomi, so I get to read Adolf (half of one). I also got to play
Guitar Mania, was cool. Then we went to the live joint, nice place, even
had ½ scale tables and chairs. But the bands sucked hard. Wasn’t even
rock bands, emo-trance-junk-stuff. Even a stupid DJ! Most of the bands
were mostly instrumental. The worst thing was I liked the only-decent
pre-opener best! At least they sang, even if they were mostly soft-rock.
And some of the guitarists were real hacks. There weren’t many people
there on this Sunday night even, and a huge empty place was in front of
the stage, the bands were so pitiful. It burns me up there were 2 other
joints nearby, I picked this one cause the website had good pics. The
last band was rock at least, and real interesting cause they had an
electric cello. But the other bands had killed me and these guys were
only decent (or less) so we left halfway through. Allan |
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June 18, 2005
Mrs. Gore/Beth
~ One of my grandmother’s fellow employees is here in Japan, so my
grandmother thought it would be a good idea to if I showed her around
Tokyo. The woman’s name was Beth Gore, and she was in Japan because the
Japanese government randomly picked some teachers to show Japan to. And
get a full paid trip.
~ Yadda, yada, I get to the station. I walk in the direction of the
hotel, pass it, and have to come back. I missed it because that
particular station took me to the back buildings of the hotel. I have to
go in the banquet building, through a corridor, and take several more
twists and turns before I make it to the lobby. Not too hard to find
Mrs. Gore, who said Beth was good when I asked (Grammar Daemon!). She
was sitting by herself and guessed it was me as I stared at her. She was
about 44, a little on the heavy side, but we hit it off pretty well. She
even liked my sense of humor. And later in the day she was good enough
to say how much she liked my tour as I betrayed my wavering confidence.
“So how is it,” etc.
~ So let’s see how much justice I can conjure up for this very
interesting day. Took the Ginza to Asakusa, told her how she should go
to Tsukiji tomorrow, she waits until I finish to tell me she went this
morning… Ah, well. So I showed her around Asakusa, turned out she had
did most of her shopping already. But she really seemed to enjoy seeing
such a big temple, and there was a monkey trainer in one area and she
got to use a squatty potty for the first time (I have so far managed to
avoid using one of these and intend to go on avoiding them). We also got
the maccha bean paste donut, hot! For lunch we had ramune and
okonomiyaki. I hadn’t thought that she might not be chopstick skilled,
and okonomiyaki is a little difficult if you are not skilled. Oh well.
~ ADD, I saw a new transformers series this morn. Apparently it has
anime fighting styles, alternate dimensions, shadow beast things, and a
Naruto wannabe. WTH?
~ After struggling with cruddy Tokyo 4 Free directions, I found the
Asakusa Kannon Onsen. Beth was kinda hesitant, said she never would have
planned it herself, but really enjoyed it. Now friends, this onsen is
old. Ivy on the outside walls, etc, etc, must have been about fifty
years old. So here’s what you do. Go in, pay your fees and the deposit
on the (small) towel, stick your shoes in the locker, withdraw the
square of wood with the slits cut in the back for the key, then turn
around the corner and see the swinging doored co-ed bathroom, the brown
with age bambi kiddy ride, and the old skate rink looking signs and wall
divisions. Then, into the appropriate gender side. Strip among the old
farts in the dressing room (also obviously old) with the window
loopholes open to the street, and then step into the bath area. Very
large and open, high ceiling, low faucets on the walls, and a topless
mermaid mural along the dividing wall. Go to the faucets, one is for hot
and one is cold, both have lever operated valves; then clean yourself.
Then go into the 113˚F water, several sharp intakes of air. Stay in
until you can heat your heart beat, then go out, use only the cold
faucet, dump the water on your head, one very sharp intake of breath.
Back in the tub. Repeat as necessary. Then go back in the dressing room,
sit under the ceiling fan and be peaceful. The obvious age of the place
was the coolest thing. Afterwards, I sat in the lobby and drank a skinny
Sweat while I waited for Beth. While I waited, a small parade with
different drums and flutes came by, I used the onsen’s geta and watched.
I got handed a flyer, but it was still cool.
~ After Beth came out we went to Ueno-Koen. Along the way I had her try
Calpis and Pocky. I just gave her all sorts of things she could say she
done tried. In Ueno, we kinda just wandered around, looked at some of
the shrines in it. In one you could pay a small fee and walk around and
then in it. A fact that the other nearby group of gaijin missed. Ah ha,
I laugh at them. Then I tried to find another temple I had heard of, but
the T4F guidebook just said it was across from another temple. Well, I
found the other temple, but Jomyoin was not anywhere in sight. I asked a
Japanese guy where it was, but he was a tourist too, and was thoroughly
amused by trying to help us. Then he asked a woman and her dog where it
was (that is, he asked after trying to help us find a temple not on his
map for ten minutes [GD!]) and she led us to it. Cool. Jomyoin’s claim
to fame is 48,900 statues of Jizo, all lined up back to back in rows. It
was like being in a graveyard with only markers and no graves.
Definitely worth seeing.
~ Oh yeah, sometime around this time we got ice cream. It was homemade
and extremely good, particularly the strawberry milk flavor. I told her
to get maccha flavor, she said it was okay, but she did another thing
unique to Japan, I say to justify myself.
~ Must have felt more like writing than I thought. Anyway, after that we
took the subway to find a tempura place, the only restaurant in my
Little Adventures guidebook. Since it was the only restaurant to have a
chapter by itself in that book, I figured it would be great. After
wandering around and finally orienting myself to the map, I had no
problem finding it. A bigger problem was Beth doesn’t like seafood and
that was all they had. But she said shrimp was okay, so I ordered her a
prawn tempura-don. Oh my snakes and garters, that was the best tempura
ever. My bowl was two prawns, whitefish fillet and scallops. So very
good. The fact that I was eating in a small, 75 year old tempura
restaurant that survived the bombing didn’t hurt. But thankfully, Beth
paid the bill. Apparently quality costs.
~ Then one street over to Yoshiwara, the city’s old licensed quarter and
the subject of several of the stories in my Japanese Lit class. Didn’t
see too much, I think I just hit the outskirts, but Beth didn’t seem to
comfortable, so we went ahead and headed home. Hope I can remember to
tell the teacher I went to the Yoshiwara.
~ We pretty much just split up at the station. There you have it. I
wanted to play some Melty Blood tonight, still haven’t installed it, but
I am about to go to sleep. Allan |
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June 17, 2005
F. +2 and Manga Club
~ So, how would you rather deal with a crowd? Would you rather be able
to consciously produce potent flatulence in a crowded area so everyone
avoids you, or rather be able to immediately find an open seat in any
situation?
~ Brekkie, Jap class, commie attack. Today we did our piece for topics
in theatre. It was a two person piece called F. +2. It was about two gas
station attendants with a superficial friendship, I was the black
hearted senpai (senior) that spouted non-sequiters (my favorite) and
tried to act both philosophical and friendly. It was only about 10
minutes long, but it went smoothly, a few lines skipped but no stalls
(unlike the play following us that actually had to be prompted). The
audience got a kick out of it, even laughed.
~ I went back to that bento place with the buffet (Ala carte, actually)
and actually ordered this time. Got a great bento with a hot fresh
tonkatsu, pepper and onion pork, and lotta rice. Took it to the one
secluded place on campus (amazing that it exists on such a small campus,
is only a screen of bushes off the main path) and ate. Extremely nice.
~ Then to Brit Lit, then the computer lab. Printed out the children’s
song “Momotaro-san” to memorize, as well as other stuff. Went to the
manga club room, browsed some really cool Guilty Gear manga before we
left for the meeting. At the meeting they just talked about projects, so
I talked to another Brian called Bryan. He told me how he sucked and how
everyone had picked on him as a kid. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get
involved, but eventually I did and tried to give him what advice, etc
that I could. |
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June 16, 2005
Forgotten Entry
~ Yeah! Nausicaä was so awesome!!!!!
~ “But I was born young, and I grew up with little experience of the
world.” = Joyce Cary
~ I wrote all the above on the 16th, and then forgot to write anymore in
it. I remember making a stand against tyranny in my Japanese class, that
is, as soon as I finished the test I grabbed my book bag and ran as the
teacher called to my back. Afterwards I worked in the computer lab,
Mickey D’s, Japanese Lit. A woman was in my seat and didn’t move when I
asked. Upset me some. Then tachiyomimashita the last volume of Nausicaä,
as stated above it was awesome.
~ I think there was something else interesting, but I can’t remember it.
Allan |
|
June 15, 2005
Taiko!
~ (In a sing-song voice) “So Allan, why weren’t you in Japanese Class
this morning?” “Because I wasn’t there.”
~ Actually I didn’t go because it was my only class and I wanted to
sleep halfway late. And I did, all the way to 8:00. Yay!
~ Then I went to Yotsuya so I wouldn’t run into my Japanese teacher this
time, surfed the net and worked on a paper. At lunch I got pretty good
tasting soup that was entirely water and some not very good inky dinky
sandoicchi-s. But hey, it was cheap.
~ At one me and the rest of the CIEE folks went to a taiko (drum)
concert. I had the misfortune of sitting in front of the CIEE director
so I couldn’t take pictures when the people ahead of me did. Rather
unfortunately, this was a modern instead of a traditional performance,
so instead of ten people hitting the drums in perfect sync there was one
guy hitting several drums. Don’t get me wrong, he was great, but he
lacked the power of a group of players. I thought the revolving stage
was more interesting, since it revolved in the dark and I was pondering
how they moved the drums (men in black suits?). They did do some cool
things with their lighting. Then intermission, the souvenir shop was
double what it should be and a small piece of cake was ¥700! After the
intermission was a girl with a flute and a less energetic drummer. I
followed the examples of several other students and started slipping off
to sleep in the warm theatre.
~ Matt O’Casio had suggested beforehand that we do something afterhand,
but everyone was sleepy and backed out. So instead I went back to
Kinokuniya and tachiyomi-ed another Nausicaä. Only one left! Allan |
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August 31, 2005
Announcement
It was as I had feared. Now that I am back at school I am so busy doing
other things I haven't transcribed many entries. The consequences of
being easily amused. As a bribe, go over to the picture section. I went
through all the pictures I took in Japan, and selected the ones I
thought were the best, 109 in all. Maybe that will keep you busy long
enough for me to make my escape. |
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August 2, 2005
Announcement
Home again, home again, jiggedy jig. That’s right folks, I am back in
the States! And I can say that I am really happy to be back. So I will
soon be caught up with posting my diary? Sad to say, I still hate
transcribing my entries. But I will try to catch up. Maybe it will not
be so crazy for me now that I am home. Thank you for all your patience,
and please enjoy the biggest update yet! |
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September 2, 2005
Hey folks, got a real treat now. I wrote this article while it was still
in Japan, but it came too late to get it in the UWA paper. Figured it
would be a shame if no one got to read it, so here it is!
~~~~~
Allan Noble
April 25, 2005
The Narrow Road East:
The language barrier
Howdy Folks! It’s me again, the
wandering student from places far away. Have you ever tried to
communicate an idea to someone and the thick-brained person just
couldn’t get it? Well imagine if the person speaks another language.
Makes it even more complicated, doesn’t it? I have been dealing with
exactly this for the past month.
The language barrier can be a major, well, barrier. For instance, let’s
assume that, like I did, you try to sign up for some service or club.
For me to be able to use an internet café’s computers, I had to sign up
for a membership. Not only did the only Japanese-speaking clerk have to
have my full personal information, she also insisted on telling me all
the amenities that I would receive and attempting to make sure I
understood her. Next imagine that someone serves you an exciting new
dish. The dish is mainly exciting because you are not sure whether or
not you will survive the task of eating it. Fearful for your life, you
ask your host what the mass in the bowl is. To which your host promptly
replies in Japanese and broken English something along the lines of
“black taste.” (I really did have some ramen that my host said was
called “kuro aji,” black taste ramen. It was actually pretty good.)
Finally, the language barrier really screws you over when you are lost.
For those of you caught up on my online diary at
http://studyabroad.uwa.edu,
bear me out, I know you have heard this story already. About two weeks
into my stay at Japan, I get really really lost. I ended up heading out
from a church and randomly trying to find the next station instead of
backtracking to the one I came from. I ended up walking so far and
making enough turns that I didn’t even know how to get back. So I asked
someone in my broken Japanese where the station was. To which she
promptly answered in perfect Japanese… well I still don’t know what she
said. I ended up going in the direction she pointed, walking about 20
minutes, and arriving back at the woman who gave me directions. I ended
up taking the bus.
But don’t get me wrong, the language barrier can work in your favor too.
For instance, you don’t have to worry about getting in an argument with
anyone, and if someone tries to chew you out it is real easy to ignore
them. One time a little old Japanese woman started fussing at me because
I was about to throw trash in a can she was about to change. Of course I
didn’t know this, so I just stood there with my dumb foreigner face
while she railed on. Eventually she just gave up and took the garbage
out of my hands. Also, not speaking Japanese gives me freedom to do what
a Japanese person can’t do. “What, the sign says no pictures? I didn’t
know that!” or “Stay off the grass? What sign where?” Not speaking
Japanese is really convenient in that regard.
So what can you do to cope with the language barrier? You could learn
Japanese. But that is a lot of work. You could carry around a phrase
book, but that can be a real pain too. Let me tell you what I do. First
off, you learn about 10 words in Japanese, and whenever you need to
communicate you repeat combinations of those words over and over in the
hope that eventually they will get the idea you are trying to
communicate. Mix this in with a lot of pointing, gesturing, and facial
expressions. Circus training really helps here. Or you can do it the
easy way, and find someone who speaks Japanese and English and attach
yourself to them like a leech to a lovehandle. This is really effective,
and doing this was the only way I was able to get a cell phone. Props to
Tadau (for the cell phone, etc), and to Brian (for translating all the
anime circle meetings.
And that’s that in a nutshell. Keep at it, and maybe you will make some
friends. Like the goofballs I met. |
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June 14, 2005
Approx 43 days
~ Is there any difference between a person’s reaction to a real snub and
an imagined snub?
~ My host mom overslept today, so I tried to make breakfast. I had never
cooked oatmeal on the stove before so first I had too little water and
then too much. I had to pour my oatmeal into a strainer. Plus all this
made me late for class.
~ In theatre class we tried to do our one and only dress rehearsal. But
the student director still kept interrupting us, so I finally had to ask
him to be quiet. The production is Friday, and the lack of practice
worries me.
~ I had asked Daniel to wait on me for lunch, he didn’t but instead fell
asleep. So he still ended up available for lunch, and after an awkward
conversation while he was still asleep, we went into the caf. Which was
a mistake. Their food was not good and I got no respect. No one laughed
at my jokes, actually one girl said she didn’t care, and Brian was
mostly disgusted. Daniel was still out of it, but mostly okay. (Oh, did
I mention the theatre teacher didn’t seem very interested in talking to
me too? And she thought I didn’t know my lines, ‘cause Friday she kept
stopping me and breaking my thought train, then jumping in with my lines
when I didn’t start back fast enough when she finished!)
~ And in Brit Lit the same teacher gave away the end of the book I was
reading. Aargh!
~ I looked some more at that minshuku in Hakone. Then I helped Dr. Boyd
with some stuff and then went to Shinjuku. I bought a train pass to
Hakone for 7-6 (July sixth), and then Takashimaya de Nausicaä o
tachiyomimashita. Allan |
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June 13, 2005
Teach us to count the days.
~ I was afraid the Japanese oatmeal box would be a problem. My host mom
fixed oatmeal spaghetti. With sugar.
~ Pitiful noodle breakfast. Doesn’t sound like I am to be satisfied at
brekkie, does it? (Read that grammar as you may.) Stopped by a bakery
for a pastry, also got a milk tea. Japanese class. Then computer. Did
some stuff, found a lot of live houses in Shinjuku. Waited longer than I
should have for Tarik to finish, and we ate at the brick arch place.
Avoided the noodles, got my first tempura-don. Pretty good, but the
tempura was soggy. He left me early to get to a class he was late for,
and I soon after passed him as he was talking to a girl. >~<
~ I asked Tadau to look at the bands and see if he knew them. All no
names. But we found 3 lives in the same block, and me and supposedly
Chris are supposed to go Sunday. I also got a letter from Mom, and it
had my Certs powerful mints in them. I was so happy! And the poem almost
made me tear up.
~ Japanese Lit, then computer again. Found a cheap minshuku (B and B) in
Hakone, then read Death Note. Grabbed a roll thing at Lawson’s, ate my
salad and ignored the spaghetti when I got home at 8:00. Practiced
Aruceid’s physical combos (‘cause the keyboard is too dodgy for special
moves) on Melty Blood, did my core course 2 page assignment, and cut
Riley Armstrong’s “Sleep” into a file that might fit on my cell phone.
186 kb. (I later found out it fit on the phone but the file type was
wrong.) Allan |
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June 12, 2005
Mysterious Ways
~ Have you ever heard of a song called “Concrete Angel?”
~ It was hot today. Quite hot, actually, and it was hot even before I
woke up this morning at 8:00. Had agreed to take Daniel to church with
me, and we planned to go to the 3:00 service. Why so late? Because he
walked the Yamanote line last night with his dorm and was going to sleep
this morn. He sent me a bloody e-mail at 4:00 in the morning to tell me
that he will e-mail me if he manages to wake up. It wouldn’t have been
that bad, but the e-mail made the phone vibrate on the wood counter and
woke me up!
~ Washed clothes, ate breakfast, left at 10:00. Went to a shrine near
Shibuya for a flea market. (Actually the first Shrine I went to for a
flea market way long ago.) There was a decent amount of interesting
things, even an ancient Japanese combination lock. Let me ask you, what
is better, old cotton or new silk? I bought Mom’s souvenir today, an
antique silk kimono undergarment. It was a little stained when I closely
inspected it, but still nice. Then I needed a sash, and after another
seller figured out what I wanted, he produced a thin tie-dyed (kinda)
one that was cool. But he wanted as much for the sash as I had just paid
for the kimono layer, so I offered him half. He didn’t want to move, so
I hemmed and hawed told him I only paid that much for the kimono layer,
and just as I was walking away he took my offer. Yay!
~ Then I went to Harajuku and back down Takemeshita Street (where me and
Daniel went down). I had been told of a good gyro place, found it, but
two doors down was an Italian Viking restaurant. Ponder on that a
moment… For whatever reason Japan calls buffets Vikings, so it was an
Italian buffet. I went down under the street to the restaurant. It was
like being back in the live joint, with venting pipes running along the
wall and cool American rock music playing, but bigger, brighter,
cleaner. The pasta was great, especially the pizza ravioli and even what
I think was ketchup pasta was pretty good. The cherry tomato pizza
wasn’t all that good (think it was the cheese) and that was the only
type of pizza they had.
~ Then I started calling Daniel to make sure he was awake. I called
maybe 6 times and he never answered. He didn’t meet me at Shibuya or
otherwise contact me either. I re-arranged my entire day for him and the
blighter sleeps in! I went on ahead to church and really enjoyed the
service. Since Daniel wasn’t there, I decided to get him a copy of the
sermon notes, which led me to get a map to the church for him, which led
me to get a Japanese copy of the Jesus video to show my host parents.
And of course, none of this would have happened if Daniel had showed up.
Surely the Lord works in mysterious ways. I am probably going to show
the video tonight at supper when I have a captive audience. Will let you
know how it goes.
~ It didn’t go. Otosan said he wasn’t real interested and set it off to
the side. Like he did with the tract. But I found out the funny black
guy’s name was Bobby Ologun. Anyway. Allan |
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June 11, 2005
Kawagoe!
~ Today I went to Kawagoe. Why? Because it is like 3 stops from my
house!
~ I left about 10, caught the train and shortly arrived in Kawagoe. Took
a short walk and went to Kitain Temple. I went in the back so it was all
quiet and nice. But that didn’t last, soon I got to more people. And as
the day wore on and the rain slacked off, more and more people showed
up. There was a kinda museum set up in one of the shrine buildings, and
I got to walk all through it, even over a wooden bridge connecting that
building and the main hall. Had a very nice bathroom, clean, modern,
looking out on one of the rock gardens, and best of all, deserted. In
another area of the temples was an area with 540 statues of the
disciples of Buddha, all doing something different with different faces.
Real cool. One statue was reading a book, another seemed to be eating
ice cream, yet another bared his chest to show the woman on his heart.
~ Heading towards my next stop, I took my lunch in a soba shop. I ate
cold soba for the first time. It came out on top of a bamboo mat in a
lacquer tray. You get some noodles, dip them in the provided sauce, and
slurp them up. As the place specialized in this, it was really good. And
I even knew to ask for the water the noodles had been cooked in to pour
in my dipping broth at the end. Oishi! (Delicious!)
~ Then I went to an old warehouse district. By old I mean several
hundred years, and in the traditional style. The walls are like four
feet thick, even the shutters are like this, so fire won’t penetrate.
The area was okay, found a ¥1000 shop and bought a cool door curtain.
~ Next was candy alley, an alley full of shops selling candy and small
toys. And one roasted cucumber dealer? It was pretty cool, ‘cept it was
short. I bought some little cake things, a jello drink thing, and
something I thought was dried figs (someone had let me try them before
and they were good) but was some weird sugary candy that is hard to
describe. Nice to suck on though.
~ Then I went to the City Museum. They had an inside table on the other
side of a window between me and a bamboo filled courtyard, and at that
table I read and recouped a while. The museum was okay, a little small,
but okay. On the other hand, the family that had kids running around,
writing in their breath on the display cases, and banging the clickety
buttons for the TVs. I almost told them “Dame! Shizuka!” (Stop it!
Quiet!). (ADD = Too many Japanese people can’t keep their hands to
themselves. 200 year old chest, they have to touch it and make sure it
is real. Dame!)
~ Then I went in the “Castle.” That didn’t take long at all. Then I
caught the bus to the station, then from there to home. Got back at
5:00, Okasan didn’t come in ‘till later and didn’t realize I was there,
so I didn’t get supper until 8:00. Oh well. Allan |
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June 10, 2005
Qwerty
~ If I go crazy, will you still call me Superman?
~ Half a bowl of oatmeal for brekkie. Ignored the rest. Theatre class.
Lunch from conveni. After Brit Lit I asked Dr. Boyd to help me buy a
concert ticket from a Japanese website, but they were sold out. Went to
Yotsuya. Downloaded a Melty Blood demo, extremely awesome. Late for
manga club along with other guy, found them in caf. They were just doing
the book layout, ate and left. Then went to Kinokuniya again, Nausicaä
4. Also really cool. Came home and played Melty Blood. Nice. Allan
|
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June 9, 2005
Calpis Tea
~ Currently reading Ian Rankin’s “Black and Blue.”
~ Breakfast where I had to pick the ham and cheese off the fried tofu.
In Japanese class I did what I had been telling the other classmates I
would do. I finished the test, went out to stretch and took my backpack
with me.
~ After much deliberation Chris decided to go with me to Yaskuni Jinja.
We bought bread, cheese, tuna in olive oil and the big cheap cokes. Add
in the mustard I had been toting in my bag and we had a really nice
lunch. (Chris made fun of me saying, “Where are the picnic tables at?”
He pointed out that I mysteriously ended the sentence with a
preposition, I replied it was Southern dialect and asked him “What kind
of fool do you take me for?”)
~ On the way to the computer lab I ran into Anna and we talked for a
while. Then Yamamura-san came and joined the conversation, which was
cool.
~ I made a B- on my Japanese Lit exam, but since I didn’t realize what
the focus of the first essay question (of 2) was until way too late, it
was okay.
~ Then I went to Akhihabara with Brian and Daniel. Cool Beans! Went in
the Laox Hobby shop I have been meaning to look in. Found the first
manga of Melty Blood/Tsukihime, bought it. Also other cool things in the
store. Followed them around a bit more, then left for home. Didn’t get
home and eat until like 8:30.
~ To tide me over I bought some Calpis in a weird bottle. Turned out to
be Calpis mixed with tea. I actually liked it, kinda fruity and light
but with an unfortunate aftertaste. Allan |
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June 8, 2005
Elementary school.
~ I was supposed to be taking a nap right now. But I couldn’t. At least
I will be able to get to sleep on time tonight.
~ Breakfast, Japanese class, I got a candle stuck up my nose while it
was still lit. Killed time in the computer room, then went on a CIEE
field trip to a top ranking public elementary school.
~ It was definitely an interesting experience. We walked in through the
heavy iron gates into a large courtyard. Now let’s first thing banish
the idea of stately grounds, grass, and shiny stuff. The school was old
and in the middle of Tokyo, and a public school. Which is not to say it
wasn’t nice, the building was large and they even had a (currently dry)
swimming pool. They take us to the one nice tatami mat room in the
school, and press us into service passing out food bowls (for ourselves
only) assembly line style, which was kinda funny. Lunch was about a cup
of good Brunswick stew, a thick piece of toast with sugar cooked
mysteriously atop it, a few pickled vegetables, and about a half pint of
milk. Let’s just say I ate real slow and saved the milk for last. They
gave me another cup of stew and it was just enough to keep me from being
hungry.
~ They led us outside to meet the kids that would show us around school.
I had three R’s, Ryu, Ryohei, and Reina, two boys and a girl. (They had
made me a really cool place mat with origami and a pink washi [handmade
paper] nametag that was there when we ate.) So, they showed me around
the school. Their were these envelopes I had to pick with the locations
in English inside them. One time they were supposed to take me to their
classroom and they took me to the kitchen! The art room was really cool,
apparently they had a famous art teacher and they had even made things
like people statues made from boards. I had said the best way this trip
would be cool is if I could find something anime-ish, and I found that
in the roof. It was a large, open area with free access from the stairs,
just like in anime, even with the box building over the stairs.
~ To the actual children, the girl Reina just kinda did her own thing,
hopping down the stairs and “skating” in the hall. Ryu was the one I
liked best, the leader but also the one playing around the most. But he
also seemed to be the senpai (senior), particularly to the younger kid,
Ryohei. Ryohei seemed either to be about a year younger, and maybe
something else. He kept talking to me in Japanese, not expecting an
answer, and Ryu chastened him for it. Ryohei also had to take it slow on
the stairs and fell a few times… I am still uncertain about it.
~ Then we went to the gym and played a bit. They beat me running but I
thrashed them on running backwards. Then me and Ryu played tag,
experience made it kinda easy. And long arms.
~ There was a small recorder concert, beautiful in its simplicity. Then
they all sang “Sakura Sakura,” also beautiful. Then we parted ways. We
participated in tea ceremony next. I did it in the 3½ sips this time.
The principal talked way too long afterward.
~ On the way back I followed Yamamura-san and Kato-san ‘cause I thought
they were going to a JR station. Actually they were going for a taxi but
the station was nearby anyway. Allan |
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June 7, 2005
Daniel!
~ Gaah! My eyes are so heavy they are trying to fall out of my sockets!
~ Read my Japanese Lit, then theatre class where the director kept
stopping me and breaking me out of character, lunch. I went with some
guys to this nearby Thai place. Good food, good prices. Brit Lit, almost
fell asleep in class so I hid my face with my fan and closed my eyes
until I woke up.
~ After class, I talked to Daniel downstairs and he said he wanted to do
something this evening. So I took care of a few things and we left for
Harajuku. Along the way I found out Daniel was a Christian, and he is
entertained by my sense of humor. Yay!!! We get to the main drag and it
is lined with “cool” stores, mostly like punk and American and slacker
(?) clothes. There is also a lot of used clothes stores. Daniel got
himself a rather nice old leather jacket for about $70, a good price.
~ We ate at a restaurant called Jonathan’s, where I got a BLT with ham
instead of bacon, and only about 10 french fries! On the upside, the
food was really good, and they had an unlimited drink bar.
~ Then to Kinokuniya bookstore for him to get a Japanese version of
Harry Potter, and then we went our separate ways. I was sad. Oh, but he
is going to church with me Saturday. Allan |
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June 6, 2005
Jap Lit midterm.
~ Nothing frosts my butt like a snow cone about this high and Henry
Harrison!” “Let’s leave now. I have everything we’ll need in my pants.”
Leslie Neilson is such a good actor!
~ Breakfast, Japanese class (people are slowly disappearing). Computer
lab. For lunch I went to a sushi place and got a really good charashi-sushi
for a good price. The entire restaurant laughed at the difficulties me
and the waitress had once. Then I went to a hyaku-en store and bought a
folding fan to play with. The DVD showed some cool ways the old Japanese
used fans. Then I studied for the test.
~ The test was pretty easy, even though some of the “questions” were
merely a listing of topics to talk about. Afterwords, I celebrated by
reading vol. 3 of Deathnote.
~ At supper I surprised Otosan with my knowledge of Japanese Lit. He
said understanding haikai was hard. After dinner, a Leslie Neilson movie
came on, in English! It was really funny, and I really enjoyed watching
it. Now I know where Tannon’s “How dare you” quote is from.
~ They were giving away books at the library, so I got Grisham’s Last
Juror and 2 books by Ian Rankin, one of which I am about to read a
little of before sleeping. Allan |
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June 5, 2005
Tachiyomi
~From my Japanese Lit notes, “Amy bites cars, / David eradicates French
gunners, / Helda ignores Jim.”
~ Brekkie, church. Was a little late cause I got the times mixed up.
Since Dr. Boyd had recommended Bella Bella Pizza, I went there for
lunch. I couldn’t understand the strange Japanese pizzas (what the heck
is a margarita pizza?), so I asked the waitress to get me the most
delicious one. In accordance with Murphy’s law, I got the one with the
mostly raw egg on top. It actually tasted good, particularly the few
bits with the herb mayonnaise, but the crust was intolerably soggy and
it wasn’t near enough food. I ended up going in a conveni for ice cream,
so I would feel full. (ADD, the restaurant had no toilet, you had to
leave, walk forever, and then use the mall’s.)
~ After that I went back to Kinokuniya and engaged in one of my favorite
Japanese pastimes, tachiyomi. This art form consists of going to the
bookstore, easing a volume off the shelf, and standing there reading the
whole thing. Tachiyomi literally means standing reading, and it is a
whole lot cheaper than buying the book/manga.
~ So after reading vol. 2&3 of Nausicaä, I went home, did laundry, and
studied for the Japanese Lit exam tomorrow. After supper, I watched a
DVD I borrowed of “Kyogen of Errors” and made an MP3 of the song in it.
Allan |
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June 4, 2005
Yokohama!
~ I don’t normally have a feeling of belonging in Japan. But after
visiting the Foreigners’ Cemetery, seeing crosses instead of grave
markers and the Virgin Mary instead of Buddha, after reading the
memorials in English, after thinking of all the gaijin who lived and
died in Japan, I had a sense of kinship fill me.
~ Slept ‘till 8, more pancakes with no syrup (this time the “sausage”
one had mustard in it). I took my trench coat since I was afraid the
ocean would make Yokohama cold as well as rainy. (I ended up using the
thing only once, it was a real burden until I figured out how to stick
it between the inner and outer parts of my bag.)
~ Got to Yokohama, bought my bus parts, and went to Sebien Gardens. It
was a large garden with really old buildings transplanted in it. It was
really awesome! First things first, by that time I was ready for lunch.
I had the remains of last night’s supper with me, so I perched on a old
retaining wall and ate up. Very nice. A one-eyed cat I nicknamed “mate”
came along and watched me eat. We eventually reached a mutual agreement,
I gave him the sardine tin and he cleaned it out so no sardine juice got
in my bag. (He even saw me off!)
~ The two coolest things in the gardens were this: a really old
farmhouse of a rich man you could go in and explore. It even had old
teapots and farming stuff and straw raincoats, and they had a fire going
in one room, and you could even go look around the attic. I absolutely
loved it! Second, I climbed up all these step old steps to a big pagoda,
the oldest in the region, but then I went up some more steps and through
some bamboo to this really nice observation thing, so I just sat there
for a while and looked over the trees at the water (and industrial
plants).
~ Then I took the bus to a shopping street to go to the Foreigners’
Cemetery (hereafter known as FC). There were some interesting shops,
like the imported goods store, but eventually I found out I had went the
wrong way and had to turn around. I pretty quickly found the way to the
FC, but I had to take a tall curvy hill up. As I passed the C, it was
nice to actually see crosses in a c. When I got to the entrance, I found
I actually couldn’t go in and look around, but there was a nice view
over it and a memorial. Requiescat in pace.
~ Then I went to Harbor View Park. On the same hill as FC, the view was
terrific. I sat on a bench on the observatory platform where I ate a
doughnut and contemplated the asses of the people in front of me.
~ Next I went to this cool “We carry everything” store. You would never
believe what was looping in one section of the store. Mia Hee, Mia Ha,
Mia Haha! Numa numa A, Numa numa numa A! Then I went to China Town, the
reason I wanted to go to Yokohama to begin with. And the Lord sent me
with perfect timing, ‘cause just as I arrived a lot of firecrackers went
off and 2 two-person papier-mâché and cloth lions came out. And just as
I walked by, the really loud drums started and I jumped a foot! The
performance was really cool, and the performers in the suits jumped on
their shoulders for the lion to stand, and then got on these tall poles
and started jumping from pole to pole. Really fun.
~ Most of the restaurants were really expensive (actually, “China Town”
was mostly restaurants). Then out of the blue I met some fellow CIEE
students, they suggested a restraint and suggested I get mabu-dofu (?),
a fried tofu stew with pork and chili paste. It looks absolutely
disgusting, so I have been avoiding eating it. But I remembered Dr.
Slimp had recommended it, so I tried it. It was incredibly good! And it
was tofu! The waitress talked to me a bit (you use chopsticks well!) and
so did the owner who spoke some English. They were nice. They gave me a
business card and told me to tell my friends.
~ For souvenirs I bought a cool papier-mâché mask, and a hand-operated
clipper. Now I don’t have to worry about trimming my goatee! Allan
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June 3, 2005
Letters!
~ Do you know what is amazingly cool/funny? MxPx singing “Barbie Girl!”
I let Stephanie hear it and she almost died laughing.
~ I had four letters and my Issetan newsletter waiting for me in the
mailbox. I was so happy!
~ Breakfast, boring Japanese class, another explosion. For Theatre
practice, there was some line practice, and a good amount of movie
conversation. Went to the caf, saw they had a new meal at the ticket
machine, Chikin Saree I read. Oh, chicken salad! So I ordered it and got
curry rice with a stingy three little chicken lumps. I was extremely
confused until I figured out I had mistaken the letter for “ka” for the
letter for “sa.” I took it upstairs to class so I could help Fatemeh
study. 30 minutes later a horde of people came in and started eating.
Then they got louder and louder until I couldn’t stand it anymore and
had to whip around and tell them to be quiet.
~ The Brit Lit midterm was pretty straight forward and easy. Afterward I
went to the computer room. Dr. Boyd lent me the “Kyogen of Errors” DVD,
so I downloaded a sound recorder so I can get the Ya Ya Koshi Ya song.
Also got some MP3s, studied for my Japanese Lit test, and read vol 2 of
“Death Note.” Reading the manga was real nice.
~ By that time it was like 6:30, so I called Okasan and told her I
wouldn’t make it to supper. I went walkabout and got some food before
returning to campus to use their table for a picnic. I had some awesome
bread, really good sardines (at ¥120 a can they should be), brown coarse
mustard, and ume chu-hi. I really enjoyed myself, and still have some
left. Allan |
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June 2, 2005
Manga!
~ If you took away a fly’s wings would it be called a walk?
~ Breakfast, annoying Japanese class, explosion. After that I went to
Yotsuya and checked out a book I will need for my Brit Lit midterm
tomorrow. (I still can’t believe it is open book and open note.) Then I
ate lunch at the second of Yotsuya’s 3 cafeterias. It had a bakery in
it. So I ate baked goods and a small salad for lunch. My favorite baked
good was a roll with a hashbrown patty on top.
~ Then computer lab. Looked up the fox god, called a kitsune in
Japanese. Related to the god of wealth and harvests, kitsune appears to
have a lot to do with business. I still think it has something to do
with cleverness, too.
~ I found a site with scanlations of “Death Note,” and spent an hour
reading that. It was pretty cool. Then I transcribed an entry and went
back to school. I showed Mrs. Boyd the “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” flash
and she got a kick out of it. She was surprised to find it was a
Beetles’ song.
~ Japanese Lit class. I got the teacher to say he would do a wordbank
for ID, which is the easiest way possible.
~ Feeling restless, I stopped on my way home in Shinjuku. Went to the
Kinokuniya bookstore and read the first manga of Nausicaä. Really good.
They also had other mangas I wanted to read, like Hellsing 6, but I
didn’t have time. Dad had asked for a book of Japanese stories, but I
saw a book of Sazae-san and thought he would like that too, so I bought
it. And read it on the way home. Allan |
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June 1, 2005
Ghibli!
~ Totoro to-toro, totoro to-toro! Repeat ad infinitum.
~ Today was a Ghibli day! But to start with breakfast. Yesterday evening
I bought a box of Quaker non-instant oatmeal with mushrooms… Actually it
was just plain oats, the mushrooms on the front of the box was a serving
suggestion. Bleh! Even though she had never seen oatmeal before and had
trouble grasping the premise, Okasan did a good job of cooking it. I.e.
I had a really nice breakfast, particularly since I also had a donut and
no wretched egg.
~ Now that I have filled up a third of a page with breakfast… The second
part of my Japanese exam was harder, but a lot of the difficulty was
writing the answer. Since “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” “Breaking the
Habit,” and “Late Again” sometimes go through my head, I had to listen
to these before I went to
~ The Ghibli museum! For those of you not in the know, Ghibli is a top
rate animation studio in Japan, and the most famous. The top man’s name
is Miyazaki, and he did “Princess Mononoke,” and “Spirited Away,” among
others. I bought a ham sandwich and a ¥100 bag of Doritos taco chips and
eat them as I wait in line for the museum bus. It was so nice to have
Doritos again. I ended up being an hour early for my 2:00 ticket time,
so I wandered the nearby park for a while.
~ In retrospect, it is hard to give the museum a rating. There were a
few cool things, but there just wasn’t enough stuff. I took my time and
only spent 2 hours. And the ticket was $10. Some of the architecture and
layout was cool, but except for a spiral staircase thing it wasn’t too
impressive. There were only 2 really cool things, models that spun
around really fast with a strobe that made them look like they were
moving, and a recreation of the director’s work place, complete with
original art and storyboards, piles of books, and candy wrappers. Their
was a museum-only short film, but I watched it through the exit door
windows so I could keep my cool ticket with the “Spirited Away” film
strip. The film was crudely animated in comparison to his movies, a
short little nothing piece about magically going to the ocean and
catching a whale.
~ I stopped in at a Barber‘s salon place on the way back. The Lord
blessed me ‘cause the barber spoke some English. He was good too, used
nothing but scissors and a comb. Thought I was getting an amazingly good
price of ¥500, but that was just the added shampoo price.
~ When I got back, I rented “My Neighbor Totoro.” It is apparently the
movie that made Ghibli famous, and it was really nice. Allan |
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May 31, 2005
…
~ You know how you can be having a good day, and then for absolutely no
discernible reason your breathing tightens, your heart drops, and the
food is being eaten only for the sake of eating it? This happened to me
this evening. Actually, I think the reason was reading e-mails from home
made me homesick and then I started thinking about all the work left for
me to do.
~ Last night I told Okasan “no egg,” so I got tofu instead. I need to go
buy cereal or something… In Japanese class I had the first part of my
midterm. Was okay.
~ Everything else is boring, except I was told today to have my lines
memorized by Friday, smack in the middle of midterms. Allan
P.S. I love Jesus! |
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May 30, 2005
Saizerya and UniQlo
~ Have you ever heard of a song called “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer?” It is
a twisted song about a serial killer clanging people with a silver
hammer, and is by the Beatles!
~ Very little to report. But I bet I can still fill most of this page.
Sigh. I really did feel like I might puke when I stuffed a third of that
egg in my mouth and I tried to choke it down.
~ For lunch me and Chris went for a walk in the rain to the same
Saizerya I went to Fri. Before I left, I dropped off my backpack at my
Japanese Lit teacher’s office. Very nice of him. Anyway, I really
enjoyed talking to Chris along the way. I really enjoyed my meal, and
Chris said he did too.
~After class, I went to another UniQlo I found out about in Shinjuku.
They had a good bit more stuff than the station one in Tokyo eki. I
found a really cool shirt with a manga on the front of a son knocking
his dad out, an explanation on the back about the Japanese practice of
it. But they only had one shirt left, and it was a large. So no go.
There was another shirt that said “House is tree” and a cool Ramune
shirt, but I settled on a greenish shirt with a silhouette of flower
petals falling and a man with a rickshaw. It looks just like something
from the stencil dyeing exhibit I just went to. Allan |
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May 29, 2005
New Church.
~ This is a plug for The Dream of Water by Kyoko Mori. It is an
extremely good book about an expatriated Japanese who returns home after
fleeing a bad family situation. Read it if you can.
~ I went to a new church that was supposed to be closer than the one in
Shibuya. I think I saved 30 minutes but spent more money getting there.
Anyway, I get to their little room in a “Culture Center,” and out of
fifteen people I was the only gaijin. The service was in Japanese and so
were the hymns. As you could imagine, this was quite a new experience
(especially the hymns)! But the American pastor had English sermon notes
and a Hawaiian couple came in that I could talk to. It was funny though
because I really felt like the minority! Overall a pleasant experience
and the hearty tea afterwards even had noodles!
~ I am fixing Thai curry for my host family tonight. (Remember I bought
curry and coconut milk when I went to Ikebukero with Chris?). Unless
something weird happens, assume everyone liked it. Allan |
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May 28, 2005
Shitamachi Graveyard Zone
~ I went to a part of old Tokyo today, a part that avoided the bombs of
WWII. There were so many graveyards!
~ Again following my awesome guidebook, “39 Little Adventures in Tokyo,”
I started in Sendagi in a little park. It encircled a pond that had lots
of turtles and a small shrine thing. I liked it, partially because of
its compactness. Except the mean Japanese water fountain that shoots
straight up got me wet!
~ Then on to an old-style shopping street. I bought some baru (fishcake
balls) and ate them as I strolled down the street, watching the people
go by. Finally I came to another suggested shop that sold tea. Upon
entering I was given a cup of tea and looked around. The guidebook said
there was a small garden out the back. I waited until the mean man
moved, and then went out there. I was then called in by a seemingly
amused shopkeeper. Apparently some things have changed in the seven
years since the book was written. I shake my fist in their general
direction. I had already decided I wanted to buy some tea, so I bought
some kagome (?), a green tea made from the stems of the leaves, and
supposed to have a gentle flavor. I was surprised to see other gaijin in
the shop, but everything was explained when I saw they had the same
guidebook. We both got a good laugh out of it.
~ (ADD, I saw the Viewtiful Joe anime this morning. It was really cool,
esp. Joe.)
~ More shops, then a kinda interesting temple with a kinda interesting
graveyard. While there I met another gaijin couple. Smiling, I asked
them if they had a guidebook. They didn’t, some Japanese friends told
them about it. They also suggested I go down the street to this shrine
and go to this museum I was already going to.
~ I went to the shrine, and I liked it. (Speaking of which, that area
has about as many shrines as Asakusa and even more graveyards.) There
was an overlook over the railroad station at the shrine that was cool
too.
~ Back on the guidebook track, I went down this covered arcade alley. It
was very interesting, particularly since people had their washing
machines in the streets and were washing clothes. Is that what is called
showing the whole neighborhood your dirty laundry?
~ The almighty guidebook suggested eating at a curry place where they
grow their own spices, but the prices started at ¥1500, and went up from
there. So I ate at a little mom and pop (literally) ramen place. I got
miso ramen. It was the best I have yet had! And it didn’t even have the
best sauce. Probably it was so good because the old man made sure it was
right, I saw him tasting the broth.
~ Then I went on to the Asakura Choso museum. It is the house of a
famous sculptor. The sculptures were interesting, but the house and the
rock and water garden were so much cooler. The garden was in the middle
of the house, like a Spanish house with the rooms encircling the
courtyard. There were trees, big stones, flowers, coi – it was like
having a pond in your house! In one place, water welled out of a pool in
a rock and dripped off the moss into the water. Cool! The house was nice
too. The large room at the top was called the morning sun room, and as I
sat and contemplated I could see, rising over the buildings, a billboard
for Hotel Sunny. Ironic?
~ Next stop was a paper shop, where I re-met the first group of gaijin.
But they were in the wrong shop! I however, found the right shop. I am
so smart and full of worldly wisdom. And then I botched the directions
and got lost. It took me thirty minutes to find the ice cream shop the
almighty guidebook mentioned, and when I did it was on the wrong side of
the street! The guidebook made me lost! In actuality, I had went down
the wrong street, which is why I had to take a left instead of a right.
~ Anyway, at the ice cream place I ordered the couple’s ice cream, a
scoop of azuki (bean) and a scoop of vanilla. Both were homemade and
very good. The beans had a kinda cleansing, earthy taste to it. It
tasted like beans too.
~ So when I became straightened out I was on the last leg of my trip. I
stopped at a Japanese color dealer to buy some pigments. I get a
moderately priced grey. I want to ask her what the pigments are from,
but I can only manage “What is this?” She looks at me with surprise,
mouth gaping open, not believing I am buying something I don’t know what
it is. I could hear her thinking what a stupid tourist I am. Finally I
get across to her what I mean, and find out the expensive stuff is made
from rocks and plants, what I bought was man-made. Oh well.
~ I was tired, so I decided not to take the possibly long walk the
almighty guidebook has set for me. I started following the signs for one
station, wander around, end up back in front of the museum, and made it
to another station entirely. But I happened on an art gallery I saw in
“Tokyo for Free” and “Metropolis.” It was Scai the Bathouse, and had
some small, interesting picture and video pieces. Guess it worked out.
~ McDonalds was supper. This time they tricked me into a ¥200 fries.
~ My host family loved the ocha (tea) I bought. Not very bitter. Allan
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May 27, 2005
Night City walk.
~ With these changes in attitudes, changes in latitudes, nothing remains
quite the same. With all of my running and all of my cunning, if I
couldn’t laugh I would go insane.
~ Breakfast, etc. One day I will retch up that egg. Japanese class.
Before Topics in Theatre I ran to buy lunch. Passed about 3 of my
classmates and had to explain why I would be late. Went to a bakery
named, oddly enough, “The Little Mermaid.” Bought a baguette and some
cheese. I wanted to buy an apple but it was ¥200! I go to class, me and
two other guys go through the lines. After we finish, I start eating
(and share some). Then the teacher decides to call us, and I tell her we
are eating, so she laughs and calls another group. Cool teacher.
~ After Brit lit she also laughingly complained about these “scrappy
pieces of paper” I keep “balancing miraculously” on her door’s letter
slot. In response, I tell her “semper ubi sub ubi.” It takes her a
little while to get it, then she drops her head and groans/laughs.
~ To then Yotsuya. Turned in my piece for the manga club, get my intro
book (I’m first!), talked to Brian, left. Started walking down Shinjuku-dori,
the road in front of Yotsuya, to find someplace to eat. Explored some
interesting side streets, and just when I was getting really hungry and
almost ready to debase myself to Yoshinoya, I spotted a Saizerya’s. A
Godsend! I went in and ordered doria (rice in a cream sauce with cheese
and marinara baked on top) and a ham pizza. Since the water was broke
(it was funny watching the Japanese customers poke and prod it), I got
free Coke! After eating, I walked all the way to Shinjuku at a quick
pace, jamming on the perfect walking music, Jimmy Buffet. It took about
25 minutes. Allan |
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May 26, 2005
Spam Sushi!
~ Lemon cheesecake Pocky is so good!
~ My Japanese teacher didn’t say anything about yesterday. Instead, she
gave me yesterday’s homework and an absence form. Taking my cue from
Bartleby the scrivener, on the reason for absence form I wrote “I prefer
not to say.”
~ For lunch I bought another katsu-don and ate it in Yaskuni Jinja.
Nice. Oh, the to-go place was selling spam sushi! No lie.
~ I checked out a book called “Dreams of Water,” about an expatriated
Japanese paying her home a return visit. Seems real good.
~ I shared with my Japanese Lit teacher the only Latin I know, “semper
ubi sub ubi” (always where under where). He smiled and said I was
incorrigible. (Thanx Dr. Slimp!)
~ TV was interesting tonight. First I saw a Japanese “Who Wants To Be a
Millionaire,” complete with “Final Answer” in English. Then I saw a
commercial with an instrumental version of the Muppet’s “Manah Manah”
song playing. Finally, there was a really interesting show about a black
guy’s life living on potatoes. His name was Bobby, and the actor was
incredibly funny, top notch, and apparently ex-military ‘cause he was
really in shape. I burst out laughing several times. And was really
surprised to see who appeared to be Bernie Mac show up. Oh, and the
subtitles for gaijin laughing are in katakana. Allan |
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May 24, 2005
(Spoiled) Hooky Day!
~ Today was a very interesting day.
~ Ok, here is the deal. I only had 2 classes today, my Japanese class
and a lecture on Japanese education for my CIEE core class. I was
interested in neither one of these classes and neither transferred so
this grade doesn’t count. Which made this a perfect day to play hooky
and skip.
~ In celebration of this, I slept until 9:00, and left about 10:00 for a
leisurely day of sightseeing. First off, the National Museum of Modern
Arts Craft Gallery. If you remember, I got a free ticket to a museum
from Issetan, and this was it. So I had a nice stroll through Kitanomaru
park to the all brick museum. Inside was pretty nice, both the building
and the pieces. As I entered, I was thinking how nice, cool, and smart
it would be if they had free lockers so I could stash my bag, and they
did! Anyway, the pieces centered around stencil dyeing (which is exactly
what it sounds like).
~ I got through there fairly quickly, so I decided to give the nearby
Science Museum a look. Since it was 12ish, I was hungry, and since I was
in a park and didn’t know where the next food would be, I decided to eat
in the caf under the museum. And that is where I bought the worst meal I
have had in Japan. I saw a pretty good looking rice bowl I wanted to
get, but when I entered I found 3 different caf lines, so I queued up in
a line randomly cause the sign outside didn’t say who sold it. And the
woman couldn’t understand what I wanted, so I just pointed to a pictured
that looked close to what I wanted. It ended up being udon (noodles). My
stomach lurched when she broke the barely-boiled egg into the bowl. I
start eating it and the udon is tough and chewy cause it was undercooked
and the egg I had to eat around jiggled menacingly. The only way I was
able to eat it was I mixed in some onion and wasabi (which will kill any
taste), and because I was really hungry. Oh, it was ¥650!
~ Deciding that they had enough of my money, I left. I wandered down a
ways, over the moat and through a wooden gate in the palace wall. I
looked around a little, lay under a tree and watched the clouds for a
while, tried to find a wood-ant free zone, and then got a phone call. It
was Mrs. Yamamura asking why I wasn’t at the lecture. I said I went to a
museum, but I would be there soon. One time it sucks to be likeable, if
she hadn’t been worried about me she wouldn’t have called. Sigh.
~ Thusly I hurried back. On the way I passed my Japanese teacher, she
said “Hi” much to my dismay but I ignored her. All in all, I was only
about 30 – 45 minutes late. But I started thinking about passing the
teacher, and I ended up writing an apology note. After an
un-enlightening lecture, I asked Kato-san what she thought about the
note. She said it would be a nice gesture, but shouldn’t be necessary
‘cause my teacher should know my character. Then I reminded her we
didn’t get along, so I did just end up leaving it in her box, for better
or for worse. I also asked Kato-san to apologize to Yamamura-san for me,
and got directions to Yaskuni Jinja.
~ Yaskuni Jinja is the shrine of Peace to All Nations (I think). It is
also a memorial to Japanese war dead. This includes people who died in
Japanese wars of aggression, so some easily offended countries don’t
like it. I though, really enjoyed it. Particularly the long, wide avenue
leading up to it, with two huge tori arches. The grounds were cool, even
had a pond in the back with stepping stones and stone slab bridges. Also
on the grounds was a war museum (Japan’s oldest museum) with all sorts
of cool things like swords, guns, and a human guided torpedo. Very cool.
Of course, some of the propaganda was so outlandish as to be funny, like
Roosevelt (?) planning before he was even President to involve Japan in
a war, and the Rape of Nanking being called The China Incident.
~ And then I went home. Allan |
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May 24, 2005
Ho Hum.
~ I struggle with forward motion.
~ Accidentally slept ‘till 7:30, had to rush out of the house. Took my
breakfast wrapped in foil, 4 small onigiri. Ate them at Takadanobaba an
hour later. They weren’t very good, even the best sauce only made them
edible.
~ Etc, etc. Started actual dialogue in Theatre. Lunch from conveni, when
I asked Brian if he would keep me company while I ate he started making
excuses. So I just left. In Brit lit the presentation went real smooth,
but we went on too long, almost an hour. Someone expanded their part.
~ That’s about it. Got a letter from my mom, which I really liked.
~ Actually, that’s not it. I wrote a thank you letter to the host of the
party Sat, and everyone seems impressed. The dude told Nubia, his host
daughter, to tell me, and Okasan also heard about it and told me he said
thanks. And when my host dad commented on my good manners, I was able to
introduce the subject of religion. Allan |
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May 23, 2005
2 month anniversary!
~ I have been in Japan 2 months and four days now. I am counting the
days, only about 64 more!
~ Breakfast, toast was nice, choked down egg. Japanese class was mostly
okay. Except we have an oral test coming up, and I ended up writing the
test script by myself because the woman was not there, then after I turn
it in she writes a brand new one because mine is “too short.” But hers
is a little shorter than mine, it’s just double-spaced! And copied
almost exactly out of the book. She even screwed up and got our roles
switched once. And she put it in hiragana and katakana so I have to
translate it!
~ Then computer lab, etc. Lunch at McDonalds, talked to a guy named Dan
there. He saw the theatre piece Friday, and we met. Enjoyed talking
about the food situation here.
~ After that, I took the play we will be doing part of outside and read
it. Some of the parts were funny. A guy nearby was playing a flute-thing
and I thanked him for the background music. Then lit class. Afterwards,
I helped a girl study for lit, and then talked for a while with Alex and
Tadou. Except for me grabbing half a sandwich to tide me over (It was
6:15, but I don’t want to make a habit of this) on the way home, that’s
it. Allan |
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May 22, 2005
Sanja Matsuri!
~ What is more amazing than a gaijin? A gaijin in traditional Japanese
garb!
~ Decent fried rice breakfast. Left at 8:30 for church. Service was
fine. Interesting anecdote about bring the only gaijin in town, going to
the grocery store and people looking inside your basket to see what you
bought.
~ Then to Asakusa for the festival. I went back down the shop lined
street. I bought a handkerchief with the subway lines on it (the sample
was in English, but the one she sold me in the paper package was in
Japanese!), and I finally found the woven wicker hat I have been looking
for. I bought it and wore it the rest of the day, and between that hat
and the happi I was wearing I got plenty of stares. And 2 Japanese
people took my picture! I also had one tourist couple ask me where I
bought it, after they made sure I speak English. Then they continued
walking away from the store. But I am going to use my hat as a rain hat.
~ I spotted Chris in the crowd and bodily ran into him twice and he
never looked at me. Another group of tourists said I was a “pushy
fellow” and I had to explain that I knew him. I ended up having to shout
his name at him before he noticed me. I found out he had already been
there and was leaving, which sucked.
~ So I explored by myself. There was no concert, but there was a mass of
stalls, less midways than the Kanja matsuri, but more food. I got this
really good fried bread and meat thing called a shaapen, and a gyro.
Then I checked out the omikoshi. I was a little wary about trying my
hand at it again after last time. Eventually I grabbed the end of it and
held it up. Then a Japanese guy told me to use my shoulder and shoved me
under it! I did okay for a while, but then the bobbing picked up and
started banging my shoulder again.
~ After that I went back to Ueno station, and looked a little at Ueno
park. It was real big, and pretty nice. But I didn’t want to walk too
much or go to the museums, and there was a fair amount of people, so I
got up on this little hill area and finished reading the book I
borrowed. And watched the huge crow with the big beak raid the trash
can. After seeing them in person, I can see why so much scary stuff is
done about them. Then I left, and in the station there was a shop called
“The American Pharmacy.” They had the Andes mints I have been wanting,
so I bought a pack.
~ Now I am heading home. I want a milkshake or something. Allan |
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May 21, 2005
CIEE BBQ!
~ CIEE had a BBQ today! I had been looking forward a little to it
because of the chance to eat real American food again, baked beans,
potato salad, BBQ chicken. Yay! Unfortunately my hopes were dashed on
the cruel rocks of reality.
~ Bleh breakfast, left with Okasan about 8:20. From Tokyo station took
the bus north about an hour. We went into a town that made me feel
homesick. A straight, tree lined main road, with buildings that were
actually spaced out made me think of a beach town, Gulf shores or
something. I wish I lived there instead of Tokyo.
~ The place we had the picnic at was so cool. It was a like 200 year old
Japanese farmhouse and big! I thought it was a shrine first, especially
since it was walled in and the wall had the cool shingled roof. Their
was a fair amount of trees and bushes around, and I was taken on a tour
of the inside, which was also real cool. The only disturbing thing was
when the host swatted me on the butt. I was told this was not uncommon,
butt…
~ The food was traditional Japanese party food, so my hopes were dashed,
but it was still really nice. I helped move the tables and chairs under
the tree. I had yakisoba, plain onigiri (rice ball), good hamburger
patties, and yakitori.
~ ADD, Kato-san (CIEE assistant director) told me Hino (the annoying
Japanese teacher) had came to talk to her about me. Kato-san was afraid
I wasn’t feeling well. When I told her I was fine we just didn’t get
along well, a wave of understanding showed on her face. On retrospect,
she probably remembered how this teacher always gets bad reviews. So she
just said something about Japanese people. I now dislike this teacher
even more.
~ After eating, they had some entertainments for us. First I got to wear
a cool yukata (although it was awkward going behind a screen and
removing my pants). I also finally go to do tea ceremony, which was
really cool after the screaming brat shut up. Some parents… Anyway, I
had to whip the tea myself, and everyone was real impressed that I
whipped it up, and not just stirred it. But I have had to do that in
cooking before, so it wasn’t my first time. Finally, they let us do some
calligraphy and taped it to a bamboo stick mat. When I got home I sewed
the paper on and hung it up. Oh yeah, the kanji I wrote can mean wakaru,
“understand,” or kai “answer.” I think.
~ I had had my fill socializing, plus there was nothing left to do, so I
left my host mom there (at her okay) and took the bus back. I had seen a
cheap shirt store Yamamura-san and friends had told me about (UniQlo),
so I went in a bought a shirt. It was ¥790, fit okay, and was designed
by a student in Donghua U, Shanghai. And I loved the design.
~ Supper was chirashi-zushi (rice bowl with sushi toppings), one of my
favorite dishes. Although I was thinking it was like a sashimi-don to
begin with. Allan |
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May 20, 2005
Theatre play thing!
~ Viewtiful Joe coming out! I have decided I will no longer do the daily
Japanese homework, in an attempt to stay sane.
~ Another unenjoyable breakfast. I wrote a trifle on the board before
class and the teacher questioned everyone who did it, and made me erase
it. But I made her hand me the eraser and just swiped over it once, not
quite a victory.
~ We finally performed the theatre piece all the way through. It
consists of a pedestrian scene (me!), someone getting killed, sushi
(me!), interrogation, thieves fighting in a art gallery, a factory
making butter a prisoner uses to escape, people blowing in the wind, and
a pizza and baby delivery (also me!). It was a lot of scenes real fast.
We taped it, and it was pretty okay.
~ Then I had a torii-don (chicken bowl) for lunch while we talked with
my Brit. Lit. presentation Tuesday. Then a boring Brit. Lit. with a
flawed presentation. Thought up 2 song lyric lines, not sure what to do
with them. Rock the dawn / All fall down. (In hindsight these are
terrible.)
~ Then I went to Yotsuya, stayed in the computer room for a while. Now
going home. Allan |
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Mar 19, 2005
Untitled
~ What’s the saddest thing? The children on the food wrapper being happy
when you are not.
~ Breakfast sucked this morning, cold scrambled eggs with fish and
fishbone, a side of boiled greens, and an orange thing that was bitter
and tough. On the way to college I bought a kinda chocolate almond
pastry thing and some milk tea.
~ The teacher asked me before class if I understood what we had been
doing. I said I was working on it, but actually I had figured out some
grammar rules by myself so I can do it fine on paper. She also
completely dismissed a kanji question I had.
~ For lunch me and a guy whose name I forget was going to go to Matsuya
but I had screwed up the directions so we went to Yotsuya to eat. I had
a good set meal. Then I found a place between 2 buildings and practiced
my speech. Unfortunately I disturbed someone because I saw them close
the window.
~ One of the Engrish phrases I took a picture of in Kyoto was on the
Engrish.com site!
~ Then Japanese Lit. class where I almost fell asleep. Helped Arisa a
little with her presentation, and went home. Allan |
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March 18, 2005
long-work-at-computer day.
~ Today, I mostly just worked at the computer.
~ Breakfast, etc. Thought about pretending to eat and then go to Mr.
Donuts for breakfast, but she made some fried potatoes and that made the
egg edible. Japanese class was the same, but I am beginning to care less
and less.
~ For lunch I was going to go to Curry King but then I went walkabout.
Found a lot of eating establishments and even a little park near the
station. (Wish I knew that the times I ate in front of the conveni or
under the overhang of a building.) Finally I decided on a rather large
katsu-don for ¥500 in a cool to-go bowl. I like. Then stopped at a small
grocery store and was surprised to find they sold some American
products. They also had 20oz Coke cans for ¥100, ¥20 cheaper than the
vending machine. I then consumed all this in the park. I enjoyed myself
immensely.
~ Then I visited Dr. Mary Boyd (my Theatre and British Lit. teacher),
and had a very nice talk with her. I told her how much I enjoyed the
play too (the one I saw last night; it was for Topics in Theatre). We
talked about other stuff as well, including the sometimes necessity of
just skimming a work. Very cool teacher.
~ Next I worked from approx 2:00 to 5:30 I had to do as part of a group.
My part had to be about 10 min long, so that is a lot of info.
~ Finally home, stopping at the hyaku-en for magnesium batteries and
chocolate chip raisin cookies. Allan |
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May 17, 2005
Yaya koshiya
~ Ya-ya-koshi-ya. Ya-ya-koshi-ya! Ya-ya-koshi-ya!!!
~ How complicated! Today I went to see “Kyogen of Errors,” an adaptation
of kyogen (Japanese farce) to Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors.”
~ Everything today started pretty much the same. I went to a German
pub-restaurant right by the college for lunch. I paid a decent price for
too little food, mostly bread and sausage, but the drink was included in
the price and the atmosphere was nice.
~ Class, computer room, etc, until I left for the play. I had directions
to the stop, and I get there fine. but what I didn’t realize is I didn’t
know where the building was. Finally I found it, scarfed a rather lousy
7/11 meal, and went in.
~ I am tired enough right now to be writing cross-eyed, so I don’t know
if I can give the really cool play justice. (ADD I wish I had my car so
at least I would be in control of my long commute.) To begin with, I had
a stage left balcony seat, and was positioned so it felt like I was in a
box seat. Then all the actors were in black hoods and masks and
interacting with or bothering the audience, which was cool. Then the
play started.
~ It was a lot like the book, but their were some stylistic things done
with the masks and little tricks and movement and it all combined for a
great show. There was even singing of sorts (Japanese sorts), and chant
and all. Ya-ya-koshi-ya! My powers of description fail to give it
justice or say how much I enjoyed it. The man actor was good, but the
famous funny sidekick (Nomura Mansai) was the best. Allan |
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May 16, 2005
Edo Museum
~ Today I went to school and to a museum where they had full scale
replicas of Edo period houses!
~ Breakfast, etc. The house has no soundproofing so a funky sounding car
or something woke me up last night. Japanese class was okay until we got
to the “te” form of verbs, when the teacher stopped explaining and just
conjugated verbs. After class, Chris invited me on a field trip his
class was having. We weren’t supposed to be there until 1:10. And we
both decided Ruth was really rude, because she snubbed both of us. He
had asked when she was leaving for the field trip so he didn’t have to
go alone, but she just walked off. I have just been having nothing to do
with her, but Chris was shocked. (And later on Tarik and Matt talked
about how rude she was, never returning hellos and the like.)
~ After a short computer session, me, Kate, and Chris went for food. I
went to the grocery and got a hotdog and a pizza tortilla thing (yum!)
and then to Mickey D’s for fries. These we ate on the subway
(Kate-less). At the transfer stop we met Ruth and two others. Who acted
as if we didn’t exist. So while they ran around lost, we went straight
where we should go. Moral Superiority wins again.
~ The museum was real interesting, it had about 5 buildings, and a small
waterfront you could explore. I really liked it, particularly the straw
raincoats, bathroom, and fish drying. Then back to school for class and
now to home. Allan |
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May 15, 2005
Sumo!
~ I’m a full-fledged sumo wrestler wannabe! Even if you keep on making
fun of me, but you know that’s all I ever wannabe!
~ Today I got to see sumo! Yay!
~ I slept ‘till 8:30 and for breakfast I had kinda pizza on toast. It
was nice because I had to toast it so it was hot, but I am afraid the
small amount of tomato sauce was ketchup. I went to church, which went
well. Then I left to meet Alex at sumo.
~ At 1:30 I met Alex and his friend Mark. It was really easy to find the
sumo place. Went in, watched a few minor league matches, bought a bento,
and continued watching. Eventually the big guys came up. All and all
very enjoyable and relaxing, chilling and talking between matches, being
thrilled during them.
~ Okay, so I gave you that brief overview so I could dedicate a part to
how sumo is. First, they are all calm and peaceful, performing their
rituals. Then they start staring each other off, trying to psyche their
opponent out. They will retreat to their corner for water and salt to
throw, get back in their stance and look like they are ready to go, then
back off again. The fight can’t start unless both of them have their
hands on the floor and one starts forward. But when they finally start,
they are Vicious! First, they move really fast and they wail on each
other with slaps. Oftentimes when a wrestler is thrown from the ring he
flies out a few feet before landing in the audience. I mean these people
really go at it. Particularly cool to watch are the throws and
reversals. The coolest thing I saw was when a sumo pushed to the edge of
the ring flipped his opponent out of it. There was also gaijin sumo
(gaijin = not Japanese) and this showboat sumo. And the head sumo, the
Yokozuna. The former two had a lot of people who | | |
Diary from Japan
