It's been about one month and two weeks since my last post, so please excuse such a late update on my stay in Japan. However, I do have many, many things to talk about as well!
For instance, since my last post, I participated in a 12-hour marathon in Tokyo. It started from 6pm and continued until 6am, but good thing we were provided many different types of snacks, drinks, and food! One thing I should mention is that, I didn't train at all for this! (This is not advice)...Regardless of the pain I felt, I loved running that day because I hadn't done so in about 2 1/2 years since high school. The purpose for this marathon was to fund raise for the people who were affected due to the big earthquake that hit northern Japan during 2011. This made me realize how much destruction and distress this caused the Japanese people and what they had to experience because of it, which is why I was so excited to help this cause.
I finally had a homestay experience! My home-stay sister is so nice and I still talk with her till this day. I loved visiting her home and being able to meet her parents. (They loved my presents by the way) Fun fact though, she's actually Korean. If you ever happen to come to Japan, one of the highest number of other Asians that you'll see who are not Japanese and that are living in Japan, are Korean people. Although I can definitely say more about this experience, there is also a lot more places I want to mention during this blog post. So, if you'd like to know more, don't hesitate to ask me.
I've also been visiting a preschool every chance I can and it's about an hour away from where I live. I go there to play and talk with some of the 3-5 years who are there, I really love it but it's also really tiring!
Recently, the university I currently attend had a school festival where all the students are welcomed to showcase anything they want or even do booths. There were many things to see during the festival as well as many different types of foods the students help make. As for international exchange students, including myself, we also participated in the festival where we got the opportunity to showcase our own culture. Since my school in the US has an event called Festival of Cultures and we knew that by being in Japan, it meant missing out on this annual event, we all decided to name our showcase after that. Just to let you know what the performances were about, we had a performance done from a Nepali student, a duet done by Malaysian students, a Hmong traditions act, a Mexican performance, a Turkish dance, an insight on Taiwan, a Bulgarian dance, and a mash-up dance which everyone participated in. I'm so happy we were able to incorporate a Festival of Cultures in Japan as well.
Side note: I cut my hair super short!...Anyway...
I have had a few special dinners as well. One was with a guest speaker for our Japanese business class, another was my own dinner that my scholarship program contacted me for in order for me to attend, and another was for my 12-hour marathon group in order to celebrate what we accomplished that night. All of these restaurants I went to had very delicious food!!
There was a Halloween party at my school where everyone was dressed up in amazing costumes. For instance, I was dressed up as Kiki from the movie, Kiki's Delivery Service. (if you didn't happen to know) There was also a bingo at the end of the night, where I won a takoyaki maker! Super cool right? (It's an octopus ball maker.)
Another cool place I went to was to the Ghibli Museum. I love Ghibli films, so I couldn't believe I was at such an amazing place. There was so much art inside it just looked so pretty; I wish we were allowed to take photos inside!
I also got to go to Tokyo Disneyland! I couldn't have been any happier because Disneyland is one of my favorite places to go to. I'm also happy that I had great company with me-that day was just the nicest. I hope that sometime soon, I can make a visit to Disney Sea before I go back home.
Another museum I recently visited was the National Tokyo Museum. It was part of my seminar class to go there but I'm very glad it was. The art I saw there was really cool; there were many different types of art displays available for me to look at.
I also had an opportunity to dress up in a kimono and play an instrument called, shamisen. This instrument is used by kabuki players and it is quite difficult to learn! Not to mention, the songs a kabuki player has to sing is very interesting; it sounds really funny actually. Yet, I enjoyed this experience because of the kind people who helped me put on the kimono and the opportunity to learn some new music experience.
There was recently a "big" trip my study abroad made to Nikko, which is located within Japan unlike Tokyo where it's closer to the sea side. It took about an hour (maybe more) to get there by using the rapid metro link, but about 3 hours (maybe more) when we returned since we used the cheapest metro link. Anyway, there we made a visit to the Toshogu shrine. That place was so beautiful to be at, especially during that time of year because Fall was beginning to make the leaves change colors. The shrine also had the famous three monkeys most people know (I'm assuming); hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil...There was so much history there that I wish I could have still done some more exploring but there wasn't enough time. Other than the shrine visit, I went to go see a beautiful but EXTREMELY cold lake called Chuzenji Lake. I loved the lake so much because it reminded me of Minnesota-and about how much I miss it too. Then I went to go see a great, big waterfall called Kegon Falls. Unfortunately, I couldn't go see other places around Nikko to visit but it was still nice to know I got to see another beautiful part of Japan. That day was also the best because I got to eat Udon noodles, which are one of my favorite noodles here!!
Like I've mentioned before, as part of our classes here at my university, we're supposed to make field visits to certain locations. One of them was to a multi-cultural center for my social development class. That multi-cultural are for teenagers who are struggling to be successful in Japan due to the fact that they came here without knowing or really understanding the Japanese language. Some of the reasons as to why they're in Japan in the first are really sad but we didn't want to make the teens feel uncomfortable. We did however, play some fun English learning games. I'm glad I got to meet them and know about this situation about those teens (and many others) who are struggling to survive in Japan because of the lack of education, which isn't by choice. I also made a visit to what is known as The National Diet Building; the parliament in Japan. The parliament is really beautiful inside and also very busy by all the people who help run any type of business that deals with the government. After looking around the building, we got to speak with one of the council members involved in the parliament, about some of Japan's issues. One of them were about whether or not Japan should reopen their nuclear power plants. This issue on whether or not it is a good decision is very difficult because of the fact that Japan is known to have earthquakes like no other place on earth, and big ones as well.
I finally saw Mt. Fuji all the way from my school!
I went to an All-Star Baseball Game at the Tokyo Dome in Korakuen, Tokyo, Japan! Japan won of course!
Last but not least, this past Saturday was when we had a student-led tour by some Japanese students at my university. They helped lead us to an area called the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. It is a really big and open-spaced area with a lot of trees. The nature surrounding the shrine is really beautiful and I also saw some great events while visiting the shrine. I was able to witness a Japanese style wedding as well as seeing "Shichi-Go-San Day." It is when little kids from 3, 5, and 7 years old (boy and girl) dress up in kimonos and are taken to the shrine by their parents to celebrate their health and growth. After that Meiji Shrine visit, I visited another famous shrine called Sensoji Shrine. This shrine was in an area called Asakusa, where it is also near the Tokyo Sky-Tree. There, we were told some history about the buildings including an opportunity to pray there. Just so you know, if you ever happen to pray at a shrine, the best coin you can give is a 5 cent coin. The reason is because saying "en" meas relationship and "go" is to make it good and respectable, so if you wanted to demonstrate a strong relationship with the deity you're praying too, it's best to give that coin when making a donation before praying.
Now, other than attending the events that my school here and my school in the US have planned for me, I also try my best to explore on my own or with my friends.
Normally what I do is look up places I can go and visit, for instance, I went to go visit a really old building with great architectural features in Japan. I came across it online and I thought it looked really interesting, so I went to go see it myself. Sometimes my friends and I have those moments where we want to go to Karaoke, so we go! (Sometimes all night too!) Or I'll go down to some mall nearby called Korakuen to look around some cool-looking "Spencer's store" (at least that's what I like to call it) Or I go find some fun things to do at Shibuya like eat at a Malaysian restaurants and check out the local stores around that area. Food really does take me places though, because I've been to many restaurants around Tokyo and they're all SO delicious! I've also been to an Indian restaurant where, again, the food tasted great. Sushi, udon, yakisoba, and takonomiyaki are all my favorite foods here since I've been to Japan.I guess to name a few more places would be like: Ueno, Akihabara, Yokohama, Roppongi Hills, and onsens (hot springs).
As for today's exploration, I went to Harajuku where I found many different types of "Lolita" shops and cutesy dress-up places as well as some vintage clothing shops. This area is really cool to shop at and look around as well. Kiddy Land is also here, which is basically a big Japanese toy store full of famous toys like from Studio Ghibi to Legos. Eventually, I was able to make my way to Tokyo Tower where the view is magnificent! I went during the night time and the lights made Japan look so beautiful.
At this point, I have had so many moments since my stay here, where I ask myself if I'm really in Japan or not-it just seems too good to be true.
