the brilliance of me, rock hard mats, bread, and the old grindstone

2/28/10 room, afternoon - Yesterday I went with my host mom to the computer class she helps teach at the library. I studied in the library while the class went on up stairstairs. Got a lot done yesterday; but there’s always more.

Today I went to Aikido practice. In all my brilliance I daydreamed through my stop on the train and had to get off two stops after it, pay the fare for the extra distance I went and then pay it again to go back the same two stops and actually get off at Ōzone station. My card only covers from Kōzōji to Ōzone and back, so if I make a mistake I pay for it, literally.

Managed to make it to the dojo only a couple minutes late. Had a great class. I am already getting used to the stone mats. After class I was talking to some folks and I got a few leads on finding part time work! :D Apparently English teaching or tutoring can make you good money.

When I got back home my host mom had made bread again!! It was anpan and melonpan and it was DELICIOUS!!! :d Xd

Now I must, once again return to homework and studying. Aw, the joys of life. You know, I can remember a time when I would watch anime on the weekends… Now I look forward to laundry and cleaning as a ligit excuse to not be studying…

naked festival

room, morning - Friday (yesterday) was good. It was a festival day. There was a festival going on all day. I didn’t go but lots of people were talking about it.

It is called the naked man’s festival or naked festival. Basically men go out in just loincloths and march through the streets. Some of them carry a large portable shrine. When all of them arrive at their destination they all try to touch the “true naked man” who has been meditating in a shrine or temple (I forget which). He is completely naked (no loincloth) with a shaved head and he is thrown into the swarming crowd of naked (and largely drunk) men all vying to touch him because he is good luck. The people in the shrine/temple pull him back in by a rope fastened around him and throw him back in two more times. I believe the “true naked man” is supposed to suck all the bad luck or bad thoughts out of you so that is why all the participants want to touch him. That is how we learned it in Religions class last week but there are variations. And if you think I just made that up you are wrong. [Naked Festival]

Lots of people I know went to watch. I didn’t go because, well frankly because I can think of about a hundred ways I’d rather spend my time but lots of afternoon classes were cancelled including my religions class so I got to go home early! :D

My host mom and I had dango, matcha, and matcha cake for a snack (the matcha cake had red beans in it!!) and then I took a nap. ;O

After dinner I did nothing productive and after shower time I continued to do nothing productive. I’m a bad student but I just couldn’t help it; it was Friday.

I went to bed early and got up early and have been doing cleaning. Today is going to be a fun filled day of studying and work. X)

legal! food! aikido!

2/25/10 room, post dinner - Yesterday I went to language class and kanji class and then rushed back to Kōzōji station where my host mom picked me up and we went to finish my alien registration. The ward office had finally gotten my card made. So only now am I officially legal. Hmm, feels good to be within the law again.

Afterwards she took me to a great little tea and sandwhich place. She ordered a pinini and a sundae for me. I also got a tall glass of milk. [so far my only real complaint about anything is the fact that they put ice in milk… not bad for the only complaint.] I got the sundae first and the mircle happened again!! There was mochi, matcha, and azuki in it!!! XD I am going to get so spoiled with Japanese food that when I go back to the US I won’t wanna eat anything. American food sucks… You have to pay out the nose for decent food but in Japan their worst food is tastier than America’s mediocre food. I love Japan.

The pinini was good too and of course the milk was wonderful. I miss milk. :..( I drink tea here; that’s about it. I love tea, but I need my moo juice!

The rest of yesterday evening was spent working and watching the Olympics. The weather was warm again.

Today again the weather was warm and I got to sleep in because Thursdays’ classes start an hour later. I watched the aikido club practice and I will participate next week. The aikido club at Nanzan is aikikai aikido. I practice kokikai aikido but it’s ok if I practice with them I think.

I hope to be productive this evening. Although all I want to do is sleep.

kushi!! and my host mom likes my hair

room, night - My host mom got home from golfing at around 6 and announced that we were eating out. We went to a place that specializes in stuff you eat off of sticks, which is ‘kushi’ dining. The place was really nice and the food amazing. The servers liked my hair and my host mom kept showing it off. (Everywhere we go almost she introduces me and then turns me around and shows off my hair. I let her. I don’t mind. Ever since I showed it to her once when it was unbraided she has been especially eager to point it out to others. She loved it and took a picture of it and everything.) :P

We watched the Olympics when we got home and I did homework after shower time. I got to bed at a decent hour for once.

I will continue tomorrow; too sleepy right now to finish. ;O

first warm day

room, afternoon - today was really warm. By the time Kai san and I arrived at Nanzan I had shed two of my four layers. (I am down to only one layer as I write this.) We watched Doraemon, which is an anime, in class today. It was only a 10-minute clip but it was still cool.

I ate lunch in the locker room and Georga and a friend of hers came in at one point. They are both British and they were discussing the American education system and how they do not understand it. They started pumping me for info. I offered the insight I could, based on my own experiences. It was interesting.

In translation class we listened to songs and tried to translate the lyrics. One was by a singer named Hana hana, which means flower flower. The song was about someone whose beloved died. The next one was by Angela Aki and it was about someone who was writing a letter to their future self. They were nice songs, but I am easy to impress when it comes to music.

On the way home I encountered an army of tiny Japanese children on the train. There was a hoard of them in each car (I just caught the train by hopping in it at the front and I was walking to the back). They were with a few adults and were dressed in matching uniforms. At each station one hoard from one car got off and waved to the train as it pulled away. There were about 30 or so kids per hoard and only about 2 to 3 adults with each group. They were doing pretty well wrangling them though for such a high kid to adult ratio.

I am back at my host mom’s house now and she is not home yet. Hopefully it will be a productive evening for me.

exciting day + the perception of America

room, post dinner - Today we had a kanji quiz. I know I missed at least one.

Then the teacher showed us a card she got at a store with pictures of all the different kewpie dolls they sell on it. This nation is kewpie crazy. The kewpies on the card each represented a different country with the clothes they were wearing. Of course, the American kewpie was dressed as a cowboy. Not that I have anything personally against cowboys or the whole wild west idea but honestly that’s all people in other countries think of when they think of American history. Case in point, later in this entry I will talk about the Olympics and you’ll see what I mean.

Then we read manga in class. Yes, we read comics IN CLASS!!! I could understand it too! For those of you who might know what this is, the manga we read was Doraemon. I was so excited to read manga, in class, in Japanese, AND understand it!! :D

After class I put a bunch of food into Koibito (my locker) that I had brought from home. I have two stashes of food, one in my room and one in my locker. It’s exciting. :P

I ate my lunch, which was onigiri, and read the newspapers that are in the locker room. Eventually I went to tea ceremony class. I took Hoi san’s long fan today because Adam was too swift for me. Hoi san, or Nathanial san to use his given name, wanted a larger fan because he said he was hot and wanted to fan himself. So Shio san traded with him. So there was a bunch of fan shuffling going on.

The manju (which is the name of the sweets served with the tea) was cool this time. They were sandwiched between two leaves. :3 When my host mom served me sakura manju it was wrapped in a cherry blossom leaf which you could eat. This time though the teacher said the leaves weren’t edible. I was just excited because I was wearing my leaf shirt today, so I matched, kind of. Yes, I get excited easily. (I saved my manju leaves!! XP)

During class Diana san was telling me about her friend who works at a hair salon, who is currently doing free cuts until the end of March. I like the word free but I usually am very distrustful of other people coming anywhere near my hair with scissors. I have been trimming my hair myself but I have been doing it with an ordinary paper scissors and it is really best to use hair scissors. So I may call the salon and ask if they have scissors there for purchase.

Diana san also told me about a friend of hers who does Aikido at the University in the Aikido club. After class we happened to cross paths with that same friend. Paige san will take me with her to practice this Wednesday. :3 I’m excited. (Oops, there I go again.)

The commute back home was largely uneventful. My host mom gave me dango and the pancake fish anko from yesterday (see previous entry) as my after school snack.

I helped make dinner which was sashimi (sliced raw fish) and we did the dishes together like we usually do.

We watched the ice-dancing event in the Olympics. Which is where two skaters dance on the ice (shocker). This was the dance where they get to pick a cultural dance or song from any country they want and do their own choreography to it. (Yeah, anything goes in the Olympics these days, anything.) A pair from Britain and a pair from France did an American country song. Each of them were dressed in cowboy-like attire. See what I mean about people in other countries thinking Americans are all cowboy and country? The two American teams that competed did a song/ dance from anther country, just fyi.

I showered and now I will study and try to get to bed early (riiight).

Aikido, food..., oh and homework

room, late afternoon or early evening - today I went to Aikido class. I wound up getting to the dojo way early and the children’s class right before the adult’s class was still going on. Sensei thrust me in to practice with them.

Actually the second I walked through the door a bunch of kids looked up and saw me. Their eyes expanded to twice their normal diameter and they started turning to their classmates and talking excitedly.

They seemed kind of shy around me at first. I practiced with them on my knees because otherwise I’d be way to high.

Inevitably they noticed my hair and were quite amazed by it. The younger ones wanted to touch it. I would say the youngest ones were around 4 or 5. I have proven to have a horrible perception of ages as of late but that’s my best guess. The oldest ones might have been 11 or 12.

Class for the adults started and the mats were as hard as I remember. I was talking to another American student and he said he has traveled all over to camps for Aikido and he hasn’t been to another dojo in any country where the mats are as hard as they are in this dojo. Great. :/ I guess I’m in for some toughening up. I could use some of that really. I think about it like this: when I eventually return to the dojo in Rochester, the mats there, which before felt pretty firm, will feel like pillows. ^_^

I was talking to Miki san after class. At sixteen, she is a shodan (show - don) already. That is a first degree black belt, which means you get to wear a skirt with your gi! I’m just kidding; they are just really baggy pants. They are called hakama (hah kah mah). Yes, the coveted hakama of the black belts. When you make shodan you are then considered a serious student. I am go kyu (sounds like it is spelled), which is 5^th rank. It goes beginner, 6^th kyu, 5^th kyu, 4^th kyu, etc up to 1^st kyu. Then after 1^st kyu is shodan.

Miki san was really nice and to have shodan at 16 already is impressive. I’m just hoping for 4^th kyu by the end of this year…

I went right back home after class because I still had homework. (As I write this I still have homework.) My host mom served me dango, azuki bread, and curry. It was all delicious. I love dango (rhymes with bongo) and azuki!!! :d this azuki was inside a pancake type bread that was in the shape of a fish. It was adorable…and delicious!!!

Food here is often adorable and delicious. Presentation is as important as taste in Japanese cooking. Food often looks so nice I almost don’t want to eat it (almost). I have taken so many pictures of my food at restaurants before I start eating. My parents are going to be so mad at me. I can just hear them, “YOU ONLY HAVE PICTURES OF FOOD!!! THERE ARE 5 PICTURES WITH YOU IN THEM AND 5 THOUSAND OF JUST FOOD!!!” :P What can I say? It is bothersome to take pictures of yourself but it is fun to take pictures of the beautiful food here. But I do get a kick out of finding mirrors or reflective surfaces and taking a picture of myself so as to appease the parental units.

Another thing here is that a lot of restaurants have display cases outside that showcase all their food items. But the food in the cases isn’t real, it’s plastic. There is a huge fake food making industry here in Japan. The CJS building (Center for Japanese Studies) at Nanzan University offered a workshop to learn to make these plastic food items. I decided not to go because I have been really busy and I thought it would be too much of a tease for me.

Where was I? Ah, yes! Food. Host mom gave me food. Gave me food after Aikido practice. She then asked if I wanted to go with her to her painting class at four. It broke my heart but I had to tell her I couldn’t go. I hate homework. >:(

I only have one subject left to go so I thought I’d write this entry now because tonight I have to wash my hair and talk to my parents online. Tomorrow is Monday [sigh]. It came so soon.

sorry for all the one liner entries...

2/20/10 room, late - Today I did cleaning and homework. I watched the Olympics and did more work. It was a very easy day.

caught up

2/19/10 room, post dinner- Hey time to get caught up. The test was ok. Listening section was a horror though. Machida Sensei spoke so quickly and softly that I think a Japanese person would have had trouble. L

The mask was a little troublesome because my glasses kept fogging up. I started wearing my glasses instead of my contacts to save 3 minutes in the mornings and I miss my contacts because glasses are pretty inconvenient sometimes.

I got back from school and did homework until late.

The next day my cold was better but I was still tired. This was yesterday and it was day four of me not re-braiding my hair. I could not find time to do it. Now, I have been busy before but it is plain ridiculous these days. Last night I finally combed and re-did it. I watched the Olympics with my host mom a bit before shower time. It was the men’s figure skating event. We also watched a bit of men’s half pipe. I REALLY enjoyed that. Shaun White won (of course).

I did homework after shower time and was so tired afterwards I couldn’t force myself to write an entry.

Today was good. I got a pretty good score on the test. I would have done really well if not for the listening section. I ALWAYS suck at listening tests. Back at the U of R I dreaded them. You would think with all the anime I watch--or used to watch anyway--that I would be good at listening comprehension. But I’m not.

I found out that Kai san is not around 20 like I thought she was. SHE IS 32!!!!!!!!!!!! I was floored by this. She does not look a day over 22!

Well after that revelation I went to religions class. Always wonderful and fascinating. This week we talked about “new religions” and “new new religions”. I was so tired though I was struggling to stay awake during the film we watched. It was partially anime so I was especially interested.

When I got home from school my host mom gave me sakura mochi. It was a miracle again!!! Mochi, matcha, and azuki all in one!!! XD This is the second such siting of my taste bud power combination. Mochi is a rice paste, matcha is green tea powder, and azuki is sweet red bean paste. I was in heaven. ^_^

I will watch Olympics with my host mom tonight. I want to spend time with her whenever I can because I am usually at school or holed up in my room.

It is also a wash hair night. DX After I finish my hair I am going to sleep. It shall be glorious.

I am sure I have forgotten details of the past few days but if I remember them later I will add them.

wiped out

2/18/10 room, way too late - I am too exhausted tonight to write an entry (just like last night). Tomorrow I will get caught up. :P

field trip! part 2, then yesterday, today, back to yesterday, last week, yesterday, and today [threw chronology out the window on this one]

2/16/10 - room, post dinner- My titles are obnoxious. It almost didn't fit in the text box!

I couldn’t write last night. But now the exciting conclusion to the Iga field trip!

After lunch we went to a ninja village. That’s right, a village full of people descended from actual ninja. We got to see a demonstration and a traditional house and a museum full of ninja stuff. During the demonstration of ninja combat, music from the anime Naruto was playing. It was funny. Our tour guide was Tomonosukei but he said to call him Tomo chan. I immediately thought of my host mom’s grandson, Tomo chan. Everyone chuckled at the ninja asking them to call him such a cute nickname. He was really funny and spoke English really well.

Then we headed back to Nagoya train station. I did some homework but mostly slept because I was exhausted (still a little sick remember).

When I got to Kōzōji station I called my host mom and she came and picked me up. She insists I never take the bus and walk home when it is dark.

We got back and I gave her a case of strawberries I picked. You were limited to one case. It was all you could eat but not all you could carry. L My host mom loved them. [I once picked apples at an orchard in Rochester with two friends. They had an ‘all you can eat AND carry’ policy. It was nice.]

Next day was back to school again. It went fine. The commute was draining in my weakened state. Of course the train was late. They are never late but yesterday this one was. (5 minutes, that’s astronomically late for Japanese trains. I mean, barring suicides, trains are not late... That was terrible.) So because it was late more people managed to get on it. It was even more crowded than usual. At one point the doors opened at a stop and about 20 people pushed their way into the car I was in and no one got out. The Japanese know how to bend physics. I honestly thought there was no way any more people could cram into this car. But then the doors opened and I felt like I was in a trash compacter except with people. I was half lying on poor Kai san. The man in front of me was so close the back of his head was only a couple of centimeters away. He had bad dandruff… It. Kept. Flaking. Off. I pride myself on not being all that squeamish, but I found myself flattening poor Kai san in an effort to lean farther away from this guy’s head.

That was in the morning. On the way home in the afternoon I went into the commuter ticket office at Ōzone station to renew my student pass and when I left I forgot my textbook on the counter. I had pulled it out to look up a word so I could better convey what I wanted. I didn’t realize I had left it until I was standing outside Kōzōji station. My host mom called the station and they said I could pick it up tomorrow morning at the stationmaster’s office.

I have always been prone to leaving things behind. In grade school I couldn’t go a single day almost without forgetting something: books, homework, lunch. I know! ME forgetting my lunch? Me being able to accidently leave food behind is a testament to how scatterbrained I can be. My mom would get so exasperated with me. She always said, “CATHERINE!!! AGAIN?!?!?! I swear you would forget your own head if it weren’t attached!!!” I hated it when she called me “Catherine” instead of “Cathy”. It meant I had disappointed again.

I guess I have gotten better. I don’t forget things daily anymore but every now and again I leave something behind and sometimes it is a really important thing. I couldn’t really study last night because I didn’t have the book. Luckily I didn’t have homework in it or anything.

So yes, yesterday’s commute was a bit uh, character building.

Today’s commute was bearable, although it was draining too. I picked up my textbook on the way to school.

It rained all day yesterday. I am embracing the culture and dutifully using my umbrella when it rains. It wasn’t so bad really. At the entrance of every building there is an umbrella rack so it isn’t as inconvenient to carry an umbrella as it is in the US.

On the way to tea ceremony class, I almost stepped on a bird. I was on campus and this small bird was on the walkway a few meters ahead of me. I thought it would move so I just kept walking. It got closer and closer and closer. I was almost upon it so I had to quickly move over to avoid it. One leg was in the air and I half hopped, half danced to one side. Only then did it fly away. It was a downhill slope. Someone at the top of the slope could have been looking and all they would have seen was a weird gaijin (foreigner) staggering drunkenly down the hill, with an umbrella no less. That was one lazy bird.

During tea ceremony males get longer fans than females do. Well, obviously I couldn’t just let that go now could I? Last class I stole Adam’s long fan and switched it with mine. I wanted a long fan too. L He pretended to cry because I took his fan. This time when the fans were being passed around they came to me before him. He said, “Aw, great now I won’t get the long one.” Since he said that I couldn’t disappoint him. So I took the last long one and gave him the remaining short one.

Class proceeded as usual. This time all the students took a turn making the tea. The instructor said I did really well. It’s because my host mom and I practice all the time at home. :3 The sweet was awesome and my legs cramped up, same old same old.

When class was finished I reached behind me to grab the fan and return it. It was a short one! Adam said, “Sucker”. He switched them! I don’t know when he did it but next week I’ll get him back.

My host mom and I watched some of the Olympics that evening. It was figure skating.

Today went well. I bought facemasks. When they are sick (or sometimes simply to avoid getting sick) the Japanese wear facemasks to prevent the spread of germs. They are quite germ phobic. It is actually a pretty considerate thing I suppose. I want to participate in this cultural activity. I’ll try them out tomorrow.

Tonight I am studying for a test tomorrow over TWO chapters. :..( So that’s it for now. The blog automatically puts the time up when I post entries so I think I will stop writing it myself after every one. (It took way too long for me to realize that…)

field trip! part 1

2/15/10 room, post breakfast - I didn’t have a chance to write an entry last night so I will write up until I have to leave this morning.

Yesterday I got up at 6:20. It was the day of the IES field trip to Iga. IES is the program through which I am studying abroad and we have trips we go on throughout the semester.

Just as I was leaving the house my host mom said I had mail and handed me a red envelope postmarked from the US. It was a Valentine’s Day card from my parents. I was so surprised; I hadn’t been expecting anything. It arrived ON VALENTINE’S DAY!! What timing! :D It was so sweet of them.

I got to Nagoya train station and wandered around looking for the Daiichi Fuji Hotel. We were all meeting there and it was the same hotel where we were taken after arriving in Nagoya on the 5^th of January. Actually I was looking for the correct exit to leave the station from.

I ran into Leigh who was looking for it too. Then we came upon Erin who was also searching. Finally we found the correct exit to take out of the station. It is a huge station.

We met up with Tsukamoto Satoshi Sensei and Kanede san, his assistant, 10 minutes early. Satoshi Sensei gave me my reimbursement for my commute (SWEET!). The bus ride to Iga was long. I did homework and slept (I am still a little sick.) Half way we stopped at a rest stop and I purchased a small matcha bun, which was yummy. :d

After two and a half hours we arrived at Mokumoku Farm. We did lots of cool things. We looked at the farm animals and the scenery and such. We went to the strawberry greenhouse and ate / picked strawberries. :d (You were totally allowed and encouraged to eat them.) The strawberry plant is really cool by the way. I intend to do research on it at my next convenience…

Then we ate at the bbq restaurant they had there. (I seemed to be the only one who found it unsettling that they had a bbq place on the farm where all the show animals were…) :o The Japanese style bbq was really good but my whole table didn’t get enough to eat. I ordered milk to drink!! I know it was fresh too!! I wanted to purchase some goat’s milk at one of the gift shops but it was a bit pricy. Lunch was on IES, which was nice.

Well that’s all for now. To be continued… (7:26)

Olympics!! Head cold!! 50th entry!! oh my...

2/13/10 room, pre-dinner - Today my host mom and I watched the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games! It was pretty cool. I love the Olympics!!! There was English, French, and Japanese announcing going on so I got to practice listening comprehension with all three of my languages. Well not English, I mean I don’t need a lot of practice there…

Otherwise been working all day.

My host mom gave me udon, takoyaki, dango, and seaweed snacks today, which are all favorites of mine. :D If you don’t know what they are look them up. ;P

In other news, I have caught a cold.

I don’t think it was the luke warm shower I took last night that did it either. It has been coming on for a while. My immune system is a little like, “Ah, Japan. What? Wait… Japan?” If immune systems could talk anyway that’s what mine would have been saying for the last month. Plus it is a damp winter with no central heating. If it’s just a head cold my appetite won’t be too affected. But if I get really sick, it’ll tank.

This is also my 50^th entry!!!!! Omedetou Gozaimasu to me (congrats). I really need to start doing more link and pictures. I did two link in the very beginning and haven't done any since.

This was not one of the more coherent entries but oh well. (18:04)

health tips!! [this blog is so weird...]

2/12/10 room, post dinner- Today was pretty chill. Not much to report. I did work that was punctuated by my host mom’s great cooking. Although for the last couple hours I have been taking a break from work and doing one of my favorite things, researching anatomy!! :D

I have a couple theories on my pseudo gout from a few nights ago (yep, I am still on about that). But I won’t subject you to it unless you ask for my findings personally. XP

I also have been looking at hair anatomy and health (mostly Caucasian and African/Aborigine). Tip for any type of hair though: it needs biotin to be healthy. Which is a complex B vitamin found in the following foods (partial list): nuts, liver, egg yolks, soybeans and fish.

It is almost shower time and I am somewhat dreading it because I recently learned that heat is bad, like detrimental, to hair AND skin, especially really hot showers and baths (all sources seem to agree). Yet otherwise, I will freeze to death. Ah, decisions… (19:16)

excited, nauseous, geometric

2/11/10 room, post dinner- It’s been a long two days!!!

Yesterday my host mom took me to a museum. Back when Japan was ruled by a shogun instead of the imperial family, there were daimyo for each city-state that directly served the shogun. The daimyo for this area had a huge collection of clothing, armor, dolls, etc that have been put in this museum.

My favorite part of the museum was the doll collection. The dolls themselves were pretty skillfully made but the doll’s possessions were even more impressive. There were miniature furniture, animals, gardens, instruments, tea sets, and lots more. There were miniature combs that would have been too small for my eyelashes. There was a miniature calligraphy set that was so tiny but so detailed, even the finest brush had individual bristles. Color me impressed.

There was a little restaurant in the museum that we ate at, just a snack of tea and finger sandwiches. My host mom bought me a packet of candy from the restaurant. If you have seen the movie Spirited Away then you have seen these candies before. They are the little star-like things used to feed the enchanted soot balls. If you haven’t seen that movie then you have no idea what I just said. (And you should go see it!)

After the museum we went to a shopping center / airport. Yes, it was an airport and a mall connected to one another. See the Japanese know how to manage space wisely (said with only a hint of sarcasm). This mall was cool though. My host mom wanted to see a movie at the movie theater and I was of course not objecting (the person who isn’t paying for anything usually has no say in the itinerary). When I found out it was Avatar that we were seeing I all but flipped out. I saw Avatar over winter break with high school friends back in the US. I LOVED IT!!!! Words cannot express how much I like that movie. And now I was going to get to see it IN JAPANESE!! XD I don’t care who you are or what you like you must see Avatar. My sister and I both loved it and we are almost always opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to taste so...

When I first watched Avatar I watched it cold. Meaning I didn’t know anything about it beforehand. It was right after the end of last semester and during the semester I am in an academic bubble where I am not exposed to the general media and I don’t seek it out. My friends had chosen this movie and I hadn’t seen a single preview of it or anything. I was blown away. I also freaked out because the blue people on the other planet all have long braids!!!! LIKE MINE!!!!! :D :D :D I was like yes!! Rock the braid!!!!

I love my braid; I think it is the coolest thing about me. My profile picture is a long blond braid too. Yeah, I guess you could say I am proud of it. The Japanese have thus far been even more impressed with it than typical Americans are and that is the only attention I can take without feeling uncomfortable. I lap it up a little b/c I had control over this particular feature. It took dedication and well, I like it when people recognize!!

After the movie I told my host mom that I’m an Avatar too (not their actual name but people call them that because of the title of the movie) and I indicated my braid. She laughed and thought it was really cool too. :3 :3 :3

But I’m getting ahead of myself. We bought the tickets for the movie and then had two hours to kill before it started. So we walked around this enormous mall and looked at cool / cute / interesting things in different stores. In a bookstore I ran across the book The Hungry Caterpillar in Japanese and had a mini freak out because I love that book. When I was little I read it over and over again. Because you see it is about a little caterpillar that can’t get full so it keeps eating and eating. You see? I empathized with it! I WAS the hungry caterpillar!! Anyway I tried to read it and I actually could!!! In Japanese!! Finally hit a level in my Japanese reading ability. Apparently I am at the “Hungry Caterpillar” level. Yeah, still a long ways to go…

My host mom took me to get a sundae next. It had anko (another word for red bean paste), mochi, and green tea in it!!!!!!!!!!! JACKPOT! My taste buds were in heaven.

Next we hit the arcade. This mall has a gigantic gaming section. I was looking around feeling intimidated. I know gamers who would have lost their minds. My host mom suggested we try this one game with huge traditional Japanese drums. The object was to hit the drum at the right time, in the right way, in the right spot when the little dots told you to. My host mom and I took a bit to get used to it but in the end we were totally jamming (sorta). It was fun though.

We then went back to the movie theater and turns out that the movie was in 3D. I can’t remember if it was in 3D the first time I saw it or not. It didn’t need 3D to be awesome though really. It was just as good the second time, if not better (and I couldn’t even understand most of the dialog)!

It was shaping up to be a really good day. It would have been perfect except for what happened next.

After the movie we had dinner in this restaurant with a buffet and a chocolate fountain. And I learned a very important thing. Japanese food + me+ BUFFET = major stomachache. It was embarrassing people, I tell you, I way way overate. I could barely hobble my butt after my host mom when we were leaving the restaurant. We were stopping by the grocery section of the mall to pick up a few things before we left. I was feeling very hot (like feverish), and wobbly. I was nauseous thinking about food and just the sight of it was a little scary. And where were we going? A grocery store, filled with food. It was like my just desserts I tell you, the perfect ironic punishment. I have been whining about wanting more food at meals and so I was given my fill and now I was surrounded by food and it was just plain painful.

I think I faded in and out of sleep, or in and out of my food coma on the way home in the car. I was going to crash, literally. My blood sugar experienced a massive spike and then started to plummet, fast. We got home and it was almost my shower time. I showered quickly and got into bed as soon as I could. I was queasy and had a headache and needed to sleep it off. It was about 9:30 or so and I was out.

I woke up this morning recovered and feeling pretty annoyed with myself. At breakfast I was a little trigger shy and was eating and chewing very slowly and carefully.

Just before lunch my host mom said she wanted to start setting up the hinamaturi dolls. Hinamaturi is the dolls’ festival in Japan that happens on March 3^rd. The dolls are usually set up early so they can be enjoyed for a long time before the actual holiday.

I helped my host mom get the dolls down from my closet shelf and I was wondering where we would put them. We went downstairs and my host mom OPENED UP A WALL TO A SECRET ROOM I’D NEVER SEEN BEFORE!!!! She really just slid open a sliding door in the wall but still, I hadn’t even known about this room before. It has the family shrine in it (with a picture of her late husband). It has tatami floors and a stand for the hinamatsuri dolls. I hadn’t even seen the whole house yet! You could have knocked me over with a feather.

While we were setting the dolls up on their platform Megumi san and her two boys, Tomo chan and Ko chan came by. My host mom had been expecting her daughter and grandsons and had made pizza for lunch. We finished setting up the dolls [the boys just played around under the stand and kept taking the doll’s little katana (swords) and playing with them]. Then we ate lunch.

I talked to a friend on skype for a while after that. She was my roommate last semester and I miss seeing her because I used to see her all the time.

After I finished talking with her I went downstairs to find them making origami. Actually the kids were playing video games and my host mom and Megumi san were making origami. I joined in for a while but I am utterly hopeless at origami I’m afraid. They gave me the little geometric figures we created. They are cool looking so I was happy.

Megumi san and the kids left and my host mom and I ate dinner. After dinner we watched Pokemon. And now it is almost time for me to shower. It is a wash hair night. Oh, the humanity. I LOVE my braid but I gotta work for it you know. (20:29)

extremes

2/9/10 room, post shower- Today I went with my host mom to her weekly English lesson. This week I was the lesson. I just talked while these five ladies listened intently. The teacher got along with English very well; the others held their own.

At this point I was not surprised when the conversation turned to my skin, hair, and eyes. I finally told them it was very strange for me to have people compliment my appearance. One lady said it was because they were fascinated by it. My host mom piped up saying that for them white skin like mine is so beautiful, mostly because it is really rare. Again she launched into the story of my ethnical heritage. She even laid her hand next to mine saying, “See, your skin is white and mine is yellowish right? That’s why we think yours is so pretty.” She said this as if it were the most logical thing in the world and as though she thought I should be able to understand this oh so natural reaction.

All I could think while I dutifully studied our two hands was how arbitrary a system it was. White? Yellow? Who came up with and assigned these ludicrously simple terms to the hugely complex and varying hues of human skin? So to them “white” is rare and “yellow” is ordinary. I guess it’s true, here in Asia, and on the global scale, Caucasians are the minority.

The ease with which they use the terms is weird for me too. In America, at least in my experience, it is more or less taboo to talk about Asians in terms of being “yellow”. If I used the word “yellow” in the same sentence that was referencing Asiatic people I could be branded racist so fast it would make your head spin. No such limitation here.

It just keeps coming up, this subject. It has come up more times in the past month here than it has in my entire life back home. It’s like a fixation here.

At first I thought it was silly. But who am I to judge? If they want to attach some sort of value to something because it is rare I guess it is their prerogative. I will never feel comfortable with so much attention though.

I guess in America we are all so paranoid about past prejudices and preoccupied with being PC that we limit ourselves and make talking about one’s ancestry uncomfortable. That’s the other extreme, and it is extremes that are not good, in either direction.

************

At around lunchtime my host mom and I went to a restaurant with a friend of hers. It was a cool place where you get to cook the food yourself on a grill in front of you. I have no idea what it was called, what we made, but it was yummy. :d It seemed like coleslaw with egg, shrimp, and tentacles in it fried like a patty on the grill. Weird and delicious, just my style.

We went to the friend’s house for coffee and tea afterwards (coffee for them, tea for me) and my host mom talked about my family’s origins again, explaining that I have German blood so I’m light colored and have blue eyes and… I think she is going to tell every person we meet from now on. It’s cool. Her audience is always fascinated by it.

++++++++++++++++++++

I studied/worked on stuff (FUN) until dinner. It was curry. I mentioned in a previous entry that after my first encounter with curry I was not crazy about it but that I was willing to give it another shot. My host mom’s curry was way better than the stuff at the Curry House on campus. :d

After dinner we had anko (red bean paste confections) and made matcha (we whisked powdered green tea in hot water until it was all frothy). I LOVE this country. The food and tea alone is enough to make me want to live here forever.

Speaking of tea I will now read Curisoi-tea until I pass out from exhaustion. If I could read more than a few chapters a night before succumbing to sleep I could probably get through this book faster. It’s bloody entertaining though, at any speed. (23:19)