Recently, it seems like everything is being cancelled. First, the 旅愛好会 (Travel Club) trip to Disneyland on Halloween was cancelled because there weren't enough people. Then, my Korean Art class was cancelled for unknown reasons. (It just said 'Class Cancelled' on the board.) After that, I went to work and found out that they were going to cancel the 7:30 - 8:30 class I teach, so now I only work one hour a week. And, as a continuation from Thursday, the trip to Ueno Zoo was cancelled because it's raining really badly. And the rain, of course, has led to my friend's party being cancelled. He just moved into a new apartment and was planning a party for tonight, but now no one is going because of the rain. Ah, cancelling things sucks.
I recieved a package from my grandma today though. =D おばあちゃん！本当にありがとう！♡
Sorry my updates have not been as interesting or photo-filled as usual. I'm kind of in a rut of having to figure out school and all of that. Hopefully things get better (and less rainy!)
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Ebisu
Nothing too exciting has bee going on. I went to Ebisu for the second time. (The first time was to go to the LIQUIDROOM. haha.) Tonight, I had Singaporean food for the first time with Vinodh, Keith, Monique, Hannah, and a bunch of other people. For a lot of us, it was a new experience. Singaporean food is yummy! =D Curry, bread, rice, chicken, noodles. Really good. It was a really international crowd too. There were 2 girls from Korea, a bunch of Americans, a guy from Singapore, a Japanese girl who studied abroad in Germany. It was all pretty fun. After that we went to an izakaya (drinking place) to talk and drink. Sohee and I just made the last train back home. Even though doing this sort of thing gets expensive, I think it's worth it to meet all the interesting people. =)
I miss people from home a lot recently. Skype is now my new best friend.
I miss people from home a lot recently. Skype is now my new best friend.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Harajuku again...
So I spent a few hours in Harajuku again today. My objective was to visit the Bape Cafe?! (I'm rather proud that I found it by looking it up online and drawing myself a map. =D ) I found Bape Cuts and A Bathing Ape Kids, too. The cafe's atmosphere is kind of dark because of the navy blue walls, but its also full of Kaws art. (like the signature XX eyes and Kimpsons pictures.) It's surprisingly cheap to eat there. I had Red Shrimp Curry and iced coffee for 1000 yen, so a little less than 10 bucks. It's very cute. There are star shaped ice cubes and the ape insignia on everything, including cups, plates, oshibori (wet towel), napkins, and coasters. I recommend visiting it if you're into that kind of design stuff. It was weird the way they seated people. Everyone who was alone was at one big, round table instead of at little individual ones. It was kind of cool.
I also had to buy a new planner because I discovered that the day of the week were labeled incorrectly on my old one. I went to Kiddyland to pick up a Miffy one. =D Then I finished out the day by buying a few pairs of fun socks from Gap and a pair of boots (There's a boot boom this season.) from ABC Mart. I definitely like Harajuku, but this could get expensive. o.O
I also had to buy a new planner because I discovered that the day of the week were labeled incorrectly on my old one. I went to Kiddyland to pick up a Miffy one. =D Then I finished out the day by buying a few pairs of fun socks from Gap and a pair of boots (There's a boot boom this season.) from ABC Mart. I definitely like Harajuku, but this could get expensive. o.O
Monday, October 15, 2007
Yogurt Soju
Okay, so I have to preface this with: I AM NOT AN ALCOHOLIC. (Since I know a few people who will suggest that I'm turning into one.) Anyway, I had a bottle of soju from a bad day that I didn't know what to do with, so I found a recipe for yogurt soju. It's actually really good. I'd drink it without the soju, too.
1 shot soju
fill glass 2/3 full with yogurt drink
top with Sprite
Yum!!
Besides that, I'm just communicating with Thinh to see if a trip to Vietnam over winter break is in the cards. I really want to go!
1 shot soju
fill glass 2/3 full with yogurt drink
top with Sprite
Yum!!
Besides that, I'm just communicating with Thinh to see if a trip to Vietnam over winter break is in the cards. I really want to go!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
料理ブーム
Recently, I've been into cooking things. I'm not a very good cook, so nothing I make is spectacular, but hopefully I'll get better.
Seafood okayu. The grocery store I go to doesn't have very much stuff, but there was a seafood mix...
Beef & onion stir fry. Salad. I could only buy onions in bags of three, so I had to figure out what to do with them.
What else can I make with only one burner?
Seafood okayu. The grocery store I go to doesn't have very much stuff, but there was a seafood mix...
Beef & onion stir fry. Salad. I could only buy onions in bags of three, so I had to figure out what to do with them.
What else can I make with only one burner?
update
Wow, it's been a while. Since last time, I've mainly just been going to school and doing normal everyday things. I started my conversation partner/tutoring job at the Nerima culture center on Thursday. I only have to work with 6 people, 3 at a time, so it's really easy. The only bummer is that I leave my apartment at 8AM and don't get home until around 9:30PM, so it's a long day.
Classes are going fine, and having Wednesdays off is definiately nice, I just wish the classes were more interesting. Right now, I'm looking into joining the travel club and/or the cinema club, depending on how they fit in my schedule and all of that.
Yesterday, I went to Shibuya and met up with Nobuko. We went shopping at Shibuya109, which is a gigantic mall. Only bought one thing, but it was fun to look at all the ridiculous stuff they had there. Then we went to a movie theatre and watched "The Kingdom". Movies in Japan are really expensive, about $15 each. It was a good movie though, makes you think. It is kind of depressing though.
Today will be spent cleaning and studying. Thanks to Yuhki, I have this new addiction to Hershey's ice cream bars. I'll have to get outta here and go find something else to eat. Japanese test tomorrow, wish me luck!
Classes are going fine, and having Wednesdays off is definiately nice, I just wish the classes were more interesting. Right now, I'm looking into joining the travel club and/or the cinema club, depending on how they fit in my schedule and all of that.
Yesterday, I went to Shibuya and met up with Nobuko. We went shopping at Shibuya109, which is a gigantic mall. Only bought one thing, but it was fun to look at all the ridiculous stuff they had there. Then we went to a movie theatre and watched "The Kingdom". Movies in Japan are really expensive, about $15 each. It was a good movie though, makes you think. It is kind of depressing though.
Today will be spent cleaning and studying. Thanks to Yuhki, I have this new addiction to Hershey's ice cream bars. I'll have to get outta here and go find something else to eat. Japanese test tomorrow, wish me luck!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Weekend in Tochigi!
This weekend was awesome!
On Friday, I got a package from my mom that had a bunch of stuff I needed, so I was excited. Then I left for Tochigi to see Yuhki. The train ride took about three hours long, but it was well worth it. When I got there, we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant that one of Yuhki's students' parents own. Afterwards, we went back to his apartment and played Wii. (Yuhki is king of video games.)
Russell arrived from Kyushu on Saturday morning, with a severe lack of sleep. It was kind of crazy to see him since I haven't seen him since he graduated a year or two ago. He brought me a Kabosu (citrus fruit his town is famous for) Hello Kitty strap. First, Yuhki took us on a walk around Ootahara, his town. There were a few people fishing in the rivers for ayu fish. We also visited a smaller temple that Yuhki said was haunted and 大雄時 (Sorry, I forgot how to read this temple's name correctly), which had a bunch of statues...and mosquitoes. It's 600 years old, so that's pretty crazy. The area is well known for soba, so we stopped at a little place to pick up omiyage. At one point while we were at the temple, Yuhki told us that his town was also known because the poet, Basho, spent one of his days walking through it and said it was very pretty (which is true).
Next, we went for tonkatsu at a little restaurant. It was delicious. It was the first tonkatsu I've had since coming to Japan, which is good because it was yummy, but bad because now I'm going to compare everything to it. =P Then we went to a little gathering at the eki-mae (sort of like where people gather...it looked like a swap meet) for gelato. There were craaazy flavors. The town is also known for their togarashi (red peppers) so there was togarashi flavored gelato, as well as maccha (bitter green tea), kurogoma (black sesame), nashi (asian pear) sorbet, and hakubijin negi (a type of green onion). I didn't get to try all of them, but based on all the flavors we collectively tried, we decided that all of the flavors must be good. =D
Afterwards, Yuhki drove us to Nikko. On our way there, we went up Irohazaka, which is an extremely curvy road. There's a curve for every letter in the hiragana alphabet (hence the name of the road). For anyone out there who likes Initial D, one of the roads in the game is based on that road. You can see skid marks from drifting on the way down. We stopped in the middle and took pictures of the greenery. The temple at Nikko was already closed since we got there around 4:30, but we did see this great waterfall (that's supposedly haunted). Then we stopped in a shop to try yuba (the film from making tofu) and rice crackers that are made in that area, which were also delicious. We finished out the night by eating at a place called Kite, talking, and playing video games.
Today, we woke up late. We meant to go to Nikko again to see the temple, but we were too sleepy. So we started out the day with lunch, where we ran into Yuhki's taiko teacher and his son. The food there was amazing, too. (Yuhki's town, despite being out in the country is full of so much good food!!!) We ordered yakiudon, nabeyaki udon, and soup yakisoba. Yuhki's sensei treated us to basashi (horse sashimi), which I'm still not that fond of, but this one was way better than the first one I had since it had ginger and katsuobushi (bonito flakes). We went back to the gelato place (where I discovered the chestnut glace flavor XD) Then we hit Uniqlo really quick and then I got ready to go. Russell is staying until tomorrow (since it's a holiday, but I still have school) On my way back home, I wasn't paying attention and missed my stop and had to ride the line really far, so I got back late, but it turned out alright.
After talking with Yuhki and Russel, eating so much good food, being out in nature (where you can actually breathe and look up and see stars), and actually living in the same room with people again I feel a lot more relaxed. The trip kind of made me want to live further away from the city, though I think it'd be even harder to make friends my age there, there are so many other good things about it. It's a real side of Japan I think a lot of people overlook, but I want to go back. =D
On Friday, I got a package from my mom that had a bunch of stuff I needed, so I was excited. Then I left for Tochigi to see Yuhki. The train ride took about three hours long, but it was well worth it. When I got there, we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant that one of Yuhki's students' parents own. Afterwards, we went back to his apartment and played Wii. (Yuhki is king of video games.)
Russell arrived from Kyushu on Saturday morning, with a severe lack of sleep. It was kind of crazy to see him since I haven't seen him since he graduated a year or two ago. He brought me a Kabosu (citrus fruit his town is famous for) Hello Kitty strap. First, Yuhki took us on a walk around Ootahara, his town. There were a few people fishing in the rivers for ayu fish. We also visited a smaller temple that Yuhki said was haunted and 大雄時 (Sorry, I forgot how to read this temple's name correctly), which had a bunch of statues...and mosquitoes. It's 600 years old, so that's pretty crazy. The area is well known for soba, so we stopped at a little place to pick up omiyage. At one point while we were at the temple, Yuhki told us that his town was also known because the poet, Basho, spent one of his days walking through it and said it was very pretty (which is true).
Next, we went for tonkatsu at a little restaurant. It was delicious. It was the first tonkatsu I've had since coming to Japan, which is good because it was yummy, but bad because now I'm going to compare everything to it. =P Then we went to a little gathering at the eki-mae (sort of like where people gather...it looked like a swap meet) for gelato. There were craaazy flavors. The town is also known for their togarashi (red peppers) so there was togarashi flavored gelato, as well as maccha (bitter green tea), kurogoma (black sesame), nashi (asian pear) sorbet, and hakubijin negi (a type of green onion). I didn't get to try all of them, but based on all the flavors we collectively tried, we decided that all of the flavors must be good. =D
Afterwards, Yuhki drove us to Nikko. On our way there, we went up Irohazaka, which is an extremely curvy road. There's a curve for every letter in the hiragana alphabet (hence the name of the road). For anyone out there who likes Initial D, one of the roads in the game is based on that road. You can see skid marks from drifting on the way down. We stopped in the middle and took pictures of the greenery. The temple at Nikko was already closed since we got there around 4:30, but we did see this great waterfall (that's supposedly haunted). Then we stopped in a shop to try yuba (the film from making tofu) and rice crackers that are made in that area, which were also delicious. We finished out the night by eating at a place called Kite, talking, and playing video games.
Today, we woke up late. We meant to go to Nikko again to see the temple, but we were too sleepy. So we started out the day with lunch, where we ran into Yuhki's taiko teacher and his son. The food there was amazing, too. (Yuhki's town, despite being out in the country is full of so much good food!!!) We ordered yakiudon, nabeyaki udon, and soup yakisoba. Yuhki's sensei treated us to basashi (horse sashimi), which I'm still not that fond of, but this one was way better than the first one I had since it had ginger and katsuobushi (bonito flakes). We went back to the gelato place (where I discovered the chestnut glace flavor XD) Then we hit Uniqlo really quick and then I got ready to go. Russell is staying until tomorrow (since it's a holiday, but I still have school) On my way back home, I wasn't paying attention and missed my stop and had to ride the line really far, so I got back late, but it turned out alright.
After talking with Yuhki and Russel, eating so much good food, being out in nature (where you can actually breathe and look up and see stars), and actually living in the same room with people again I feel a lot more relaxed. The trip kind of made me want to live further away from the city, though I think it'd be even harder to make friends my age there, there are so many other good things about it. It's a real side of Japan I think a lot of people overlook, but I want to go back. =D
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Harajuku, Shinjuku, Tochigi!!!
Whoo. Talk about a tiring...half a week. My schedule at Jouchi (Sophia/上智) is pretty much figured out now. I don't have 2nd period at all and I always finish by 4th, so it isn't too bad, except that I hate having to stand all the time on the subway, but that can't be helped. I still haven't decided on a club to join, so I'll have to look into that more, but I don't want it to be one of the ones that takes over my life. (For example, G-Splash, the amazing dance group, practices everyday for 2 hours.) I haven't really made any native friends yet, a lot of exchange students though...we'll see how this goes. I'm told that the key is to join a club...which I haven't. You know the loser-y kids who don't know where to go or what to do at lunch? I'm trying not to be one of those. T.T
Anyway, Wednesdays are wonderful. I don't have class, so I decided to go to Harajuku to check out the shopping. (I prefer shopping on my own, or with a few select people.) I found omiyage for Jerry, which was fun. It was nice to be there on a weekday because there were waaaay less people than on the weekends. I found the Undefeated, KSwiss, and Stussy stores. They look like the kind you'd find on honeyee.com or hypebeast. I looked way to country bumpkin/female/poor to go in though. There was a guy dressed like Verbal (Japanese rapper) sitting outside and he kinda intimidated me away. I did see this cool mural though. Made me think of Wooster Collective. Another cool find was the Uniqlo UT store, where they sell collaboration/artist designed t-shirts in tubes. I got another skull shirt (remember the Jessica Michibata one?) designed by a girl named Seri. The shirts are quite reasonable. I found so many things I want, and so many things I've been looking for, but they're all just too expensive. Even the small stores that look cheap are expensive. =( I finally found lotion for cheap at the Body Shop, which was good because my heels hate me right now for not taking care of them. Moving on...
I got a call from the lady I contacted before about the tutoring/teaching job in Nerima that's for 2 hours a week on Thursdays, and I'll be starting next week. I hope it goes well. The first hour is beginners and the 2nd is advanced, but I'm not sure what that means. Wish me luck! It's not a lot, but any income is better than none...now I have all these things to look forward to getting in Harajuku. Hehehe.
Because I was unsucessful in my search for some kind of hoodie/sweater/jacket to wear since it's getting a little cooler but not freezing, I went to Shinjuku after school today. (I don't think I'll be doing that again. It tired me out, I had to do homework and laundry, and now I have vocabulary to memorize.) I got a black hoodie at Muji. It's kind of like a Japanese-style Gap, but with home goods and other random things.
But the highlight for this first week in school is that I made plans to go visit Yuhki in Tochigi!!! It's about three hours away by train and a tiny bit pricey for the weekend, but I really wanted to get out of the city and Russell (a guy who graduated from UCI a year ago) is visiting too since he's on JET. According to Yuhki, it will be good, cheap food and nature! I'll be glad to see some real nature. I'll be close to Nikko, but I don't know if I'll get around to seeing it this time, it depends. I'm leaving at 5PM tomorrow and coming back sometime on Sunday. Ahhh, I'm excited!
Anyway, Wednesdays are wonderful. I don't have class, so I decided to go to Harajuku to check out the shopping. (I prefer shopping on my own, or with a few select people.) I found omiyage for Jerry, which was fun. It was nice to be there on a weekday because there were waaaay less people than on the weekends. I found the Undefeated, KSwiss, and Stussy stores. They look like the kind you'd find on honeyee.com or hypebeast. I looked way to country bumpkin/female/poor to go in though. There was a guy dressed like Verbal (Japanese rapper) sitting outside and he kinda intimidated me away. I did see this cool mural though. Made me think of Wooster Collective. Another cool find was the Uniqlo UT store, where they sell collaboration/artist designed t-shirts in tubes. I got another skull shirt (remember the Jessica Michibata one?) designed by a girl named Seri. The shirts are quite reasonable. I found so many things I want, and so many things I've been looking for, but they're all just too expensive. Even the small stores that look cheap are expensive. =( I finally found lotion for cheap at the Body Shop, which was good because my heels hate me right now for not taking care of them. Moving on...
I got a call from the lady I contacted before about the tutoring/teaching job in Nerima that's for 2 hours a week on Thursdays, and I'll be starting next week. I hope it goes well. The first hour is beginners and the 2nd is advanced, but I'm not sure what that means. Wish me luck! It's not a lot, but any income is better than none...now I have all these things to look forward to getting in Harajuku. Hehehe.
Because I was unsucessful in my search for some kind of hoodie/sweater/jacket to wear since it's getting a little cooler but not freezing, I went to Shinjuku after school today. (I don't think I'll be doing that again. It tired me out, I had to do homework and laundry, and now I have vocabulary to memorize.) I got a black hoodie at Muji. It's kind of like a Japanese-style Gap, but with home goods and other random things.
But the highlight for this first week in school is that I made plans to go visit Yuhki in Tochigi!!! It's about three hours away by train and a tiny bit pricey for the weekend, but I really wanted to get out of the city and Russell (a guy who graduated from UCI a year ago) is visiting too since he's on JET. According to Yuhki, it will be good, cheap food and nature! I'll be glad to see some real nature. I'll be close to Nikko, but I don't know if I'll get around to seeing it this time, it depends. I'm leaving at 5PM tomorrow and coming back sometime on Sunday. Ahhh, I'm excited!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
上智大学！
Sophia University!
Wow, it's been two days. Our schedules haven't been decided yet. (We're in a sort of 'shopping period' and we have to register by the 9th.) I'm planning on taking Japanese 4, Survey of Korean Art 2, Survey of Japanese Literature 1, and Development of Japanese Civilization. None of them are particularly riveting, but interesting enough. Literature is winning so far. Each class is an hour and a half long.
As far as the people at Sophia, I'm sad to say I haven't really met any native speakers yet. (It's a lot stranger to approach them than I thought.) It's hard to tell whether to speak to them in Japanese or English because you can't really tell what anyone can speak by looking at them. Then you have other random languages that they can speak too. It's so crazy. On top of that, honestly, all the girls here are ridiculously cute. I hear a lot of girls from Sophia are models or become reporter people on tv. There aren't very many guys here, but even the guys are stylish. It's the strangest feeling to want to dress up to go to school. (It sounds weird, but you'd feel the same.)
On another note, Sophia doesn't have a taiko group. =(
I don't know what happened because I guess they used to, but I went to student affairs and they said there wasn't one. I was so sad when I found out. I don't know what I'm going to do. I need to decide on some other club to join...what to do what to do?
School has been making me really tired, probably because I haven't been sleeping enough, but I don't have any classes tomorrow, so that'll be nice. I also got a package from Cheryl that I was ecstatic about because I was so tired and unhappy from school. It was full of postcards, and chocolates, and stories about her trip abroad. =) She's my favorite!
I am also quite excited since I now have internet capabilities in my room...unfortunately, I have not yet figured out how to hook it all up because NTT Communications is stupid and sent me a billion papers and two cd roms, none of which I need. (From what I've been told I don't need them, anyway.) But on that note, expect direct updates from my little apartment in Heiwadai.
Wow, it's been two days. Our schedules haven't been decided yet. (We're in a sort of 'shopping period' and we have to register by the 9th.) I'm planning on taking Japanese 4, Survey of Korean Art 2, Survey of Japanese Literature 1, and Development of Japanese Civilization. None of them are particularly riveting, but interesting enough. Literature is winning so far. Each class is an hour and a half long.
As far as the people at Sophia, I'm sad to say I haven't really met any native speakers yet. (It's a lot stranger to approach them than I thought.) It's hard to tell whether to speak to them in Japanese or English because you can't really tell what anyone can speak by looking at them. Then you have other random languages that they can speak too. It's so crazy. On top of that, honestly, all the girls here are ridiculously cute. I hear a lot of girls from Sophia are models or become reporter people on tv. There aren't very many guys here, but even the guys are stylish. It's the strangest feeling to want to dress up to go to school. (It sounds weird, but you'd feel the same.)
On another note, Sophia doesn't have a taiko group. =(
I don't know what happened because I guess they used to, but I went to student affairs and they said there wasn't one. I was so sad when I found out. I don't know what I'm going to do. I need to decide on some other club to join...what to do what to do?
School has been making me really tired, probably because I haven't been sleeping enough, but I don't have any classes tomorrow, so that'll be nice. I also got a package from Cheryl that I was ecstatic about because I was so tired and unhappy from school. It was full of postcards, and chocolates, and stories about her trip abroad. =) She's my favorite!
I am also quite excited since I now have internet capabilities in my room...unfortunately, I have not yet figured out how to hook it all up because NTT Communications is stupid and sent me a billion papers and two cd roms, none of which I need. (From what I've been told I don't need them, anyway.) But on that note, expect direct updates from my little apartment in Heiwadai.
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