Tokyo Station

Most of the international students don't have classes on Wednesdays so instead we try to go exploring. This particular day we attempted to visit the Imperial Gardens. We strolled around the grounds, and explored Tokyo Station (there's not too much there, mostly office buildings).

Everyone had their camera's out, we definitely looked the part of tourists. Except we figured we slightly got away with it since most tourists visit during the Summer and not at noon on a Wednesday.

This is a guard tower near the entrance to the Imperial Palace

Doing the YMCA in front of the Emperor's house.

Tea Ceremony!

Our school provided a culture day type of event for all of the international students. It was held in the common room of our dorm from 11am to 12:45pm, so skipping wasn't exactly an option. It was really fun though, we got to try on kimonos, make green tea, eat traditional Japanese snacks, and learn traditional Japanese dance. 

Japanese people love Mochi  (rice cake) especially if it's packed with あんこ(anko). Red Bean Paste, it's in just about everything in Japan. It's tolerable but it's not my favorite.

To make traditional Japanese tea, you use a powder and bamboo brush. There are a whole bunch of other important steps involved, including certain ways to hold the bowl, certain ways to politely fold your napkin, etc. It's a very intricate process.

host family

 Today was an awesome day! Although I spent the most of it speaking Japanese, so you'll have to excuse the many grammatical errors that I'm sure I will make. Meiji Gakuin set up the international students with a host family, some of the students spent the night with their family and other just spent the day. I just spent the day with my family, but it was so much fun! The family I got paired up with is the Kojima Family. They are a super nice family of three, they live in a mansion (Japanese style apartment, they live on the 17th floor!), and the little girl (who is 10) spent this summer at a camp in Pennsylvania.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way to their house and picked up some ingredients to make 手巻き寿司 (てまきずし、hand rolled sushi). I am not the most adventurous when it comes to eating certain foods, but while in  Japan I have been following the rule of trying everything at least once.  Oh, I tried so many new things... various kinds of sashimi (raw fish), salmon eggs, 海ぶどうumibudou (literally translates as 'sea grapes' - imagine if tiny grapes and seaweed had a baby. a very, very, very, very salt water tasting baby), and a Japanese vegetable dish that I can't remember the name of. 

The little girl, Yui, broke this little musical instrument out after lunch. It's called a Sanshin, it's an Okinawan instrument. I think this little beauty is about as close to a banjo as I'm going to get in Japan. It has three strings (san means three, shin means strings) and it's supposed to be covered in snakeskin but I don't think this one was. 

Later in the day my host family took me to Asakusa which is probably the most quintessential city in Tokyo. It was my first time going there and it was really nice but very touristy.  The little girl had always wanted to ride a rickshaw but never could because they only hold two seats, so today was a big day for her!



This is the whole family and the dude who dragged us through the streets of Asakusa. You could tell he was definitely worried at first when my host parents left us in his care, he wasn't sure what language to speak to us in and his English was very broken. But he managed to give us a nice tour of Asakusa and I actually learned a bundle of fun facts that I'll happily repeat to anyone who comes for a visit!



After we walked around Asakusa we went to an Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) restaurant because Okonomiyaki is Yui's favorite meal. It was a neat restaurant, traditional and tiny, I had to keep changing positions to keep my feet from going numb though.

Village Vanguard

There is a quirky shop in Japan (surprise, surprise) called Village Vanguard. Technically it's a bookstore, but they have all the random gadgets and gizmos you would expect to find in Japan.   

Washi paper (Japanese style paper) covered clothes pins

bear shaped frying pans

Dali's melting clocks

It's an exciting book sore! 

cool vending machine!

We found this vending machine in Tokyo Station, it was touch screen! It also recommends drinks to you based on what you are wearing. For example if you are wearing a pink shirt it might recommend a strawberry flavored drink. Not entirely sure how it works, but it was really cool.

There is also an option after you've chosen a drink to play a slot machine type of game. Everyone lost, so it's still a big mystery what happens if you win. Maybe next time...

another reunion!

I went out to dinner with my old teacher and her parents. (I realize that 'old teacher' is probably not the best way of phrasing it.. she was my 1st and 2nd grade teacher)  She was my first and second grade teacher at Seigakuin International School in Atlanta. I first met her parents and her siblings when I went with her to Japan in 1999 and again in 2001. Since it had been about 10 years since we'd seen each other last it was very fun. One of the first things her mom asked me was if I still liked cereal (apparently that was all I would eat during my stay with them, so that's what she remembers most). It was nice to be able to catch up and chit chat, mostly in Japanese but with some Japanglish thrown in. The weirdest part was that I was able to have a beer (and wine!) with my first grade teacher.. and her parents. Honestly, how many people can say they've done that?

Bicyles! 自転車！

I've been unintentionally neglecting the blog for awhile, I know everyone must be a wreck trying to imagine the things I've been up to. (It really hasn't been too much) I have some posts that I've been meaning to write, I just need to find the time!  This picture is of my friend Emelie and me trying to ride a bike, one of our Japanese buddies lent us their bike. What you can't tell from this picture is that we had zero balance and could barely make it 2 ft without falling over. 

Shimokitazawa

'Shimokita' as the locals call it, is not your typical Tokyo city. It's about as far from Tokyo as you can imagine, actually. I heard about this place from one of the ISP students who has been here since last semester since very few of the Japanese buddies have actually been to this part of Tokyo. Shimokitazawa is somewhat considered to be a dirty and cheap area. There is graffiti and street art everywhere, very uncommon in Japan, but it is a popular area for younger people and live music and theatre. A lot of the stores here were second hand, thrift stores, and hippy shops.

The Willy Wonka of Senbei (Japanese Rice Crackers)

Probably the most widely recognized Japanese print - The Wave

Hookah Bar

This woman was happily sewing away.

やさいVegetable　酒場（さかば）Bar

This dog had an entire outfit on - a shirt and pants.

Chocolate & Ice Cream Nachos

'tengu' means long-nosed goblin; braggart (I had to look it up, so it might be wrong)

Samurai Ice Cream flavors: Chocolate, Cheese, Soybean Milk, Mango Sherbet, Strawberry, Lemon, and I can't remember the others.

The silver bar with the birds on top I've actually seen in the town close to my dorm

Feel a twinkle on your hearts, blouse and shirts. This was just a sign outside a clothing shop.

old photos!

These are two pictures taken on the front steps of our old house in Japan.