We were bored today after school so we started messing around with calligraphy in my dorm room.

This has to be my favorite beverage in Japan. The juice in the carton that only costs a dollar! I was talking to my Japanese friends and they said that Japanese people don't like buying those because they are too big. They would rather buy the plastic bottled (more expensive) version that is about 3 quarters of the size since you don't waste it if you don't drink it all. I guess I have the "American" mentality of getting my money's worth.

We got an email from our university saying that if there is even one case in Japan of the swine flu, they will shut down all college campuses in tokyo! ...someone said maybe the train system too.

Tokyo isn't very Japanese

Before coming to Japan, I had hoped that our neighborhood would have old traditional homes and cool gardens. It is the exact opposite. All the houses are modern and lack the visual aesthetic attraction of traditional Japanese homes. Below are some pics of previous trips to Japan and the neighborhoods I hope to wander through again.

Dorm Welcome Party

Yesterday, the dorm held a welcome party for us. We had some yummy takoyaki.


fresh sushi

a mountain of chicken karaage.

our table.

Went to izakaya for a dorm mates birthday. They had a karaoke machine in the room so we decided to take advantage of that. our dorm mate guntank sang all his favorite gundam songs.

Went to a famous ramen place for lunch. We had to wait in line for 45 minutes, but it was THE best ramen. The noodles had a smokey taste.


Went to service at Tsukiji betsuin for the English seminar.

Their hondo is HUGE. The ministers are really nice and they invited us out to dinner, but we had to pass.


23 of our friends went for all you can drink at the Tequila bar again. Some of us drank a bit too much and had to make a few stops on the way home.

TV isn't working!!

so I tried to watch tv in my room and the signal is too weak. A friend told me that if I made an aluminum foil antenna it would work, so I stopped at the 100 yen shop today and got some foil. We used almost the whole small role and squished together a large antenna... After spending a really long time adjusting and fitting it, we found out that it would only work if I stood on my balcony and held it the antenna in the sky.


I stayed up to 3 last night and ended up waking up late for my ONE class that was at ONE THIRTY in the AFTERNOON. I woke up at 8 for breakfast, and then fell asleep and woke up lat e for school. I didnt want to waste the day so I rode into Shibuya, ate at the cafeteria, hung out, and then went to the bar for happy hour with some friends. I'm still mad that I didn't go to school because I actually did my homework.

電子辞書！

I bought a new Japanese translator. It's prett cool. You write on the pad and it recognizes characters for you. There's also a TV in it, so I can watch it in my room and on the train.

Japanese snacks are the best!

my favorites

1. Pecking duck chips

2. Chinese soup-filled Dumpling flavored chips

3. Shrimp in Chili Sauce flavored chips

4. Yokohama Shumai flavored CHEETOS!

５．アイスの実 frozen balls of sherbet.

Nikko: The Most Beautiful Shrine in Japan

I met my relative in Japan for the first time every this past weekend. She took me to Nikko for a day.

The Sacred Bridge

Tsuneko bough some amazing sushi for me to eat on the way over.

Nikko Omotesando



Pagoda

The famous monkeys: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

This whole shrine/temple complex is the original thing...unlike other places that have been rebuilt throughout history.

The person we asked didn't know how to take photos.

The detail is unbelievable here.


This is Tokugawa Ieyasu's grave. The structures around it are all made out of bronze and gold, but over time they turned greyish blue/green.

The grave

The famous gate..... white and gold


The intricate detail was unbelievable.


Up close

back down to town.

Tsuneko brought a photo of my grandma!

We went shopping for presents and the lady used an abacus.

Of course she surprised me with another bento for the ride home.

On the train.

Thoughts

1. The Japanese love their masks:
They wear them when they catch a cold, in busy places (trains, work), and for allergies. I got a bit sick along with allergies, so I bought one. After I put it on, I didn't have to wipe my nose anymore.

2. Tokyo is very non-Japanese:
I expected that living in Tokyo, I would be exposed to a lot of cultural and Japanese-ness. It's quite the opposite. I live in a new neighborhood, so there are no traditional houses. I commute into Tokyo, which is ultra-metropolitan. The only places to see Japanese culture are the tourist areas of Tokyo. Kyoto is still my favorite city.

3. The food is great: I've never had a non-delicious meal yet.
4. You don't see beer vending machines anymore. Japan is trying to cut down on underage drinking.




I had a busy weekend so I wasn't able to update in the past few days. I went to Hakone on Saturday and got some cool shots. I'll update as soon as I can.