やっと冬休み！

冬休みが来た！うれしいです！

まず、一つのノート：「星の王子さま」という本を買って、読み始めた！かわいい！

今日はすごく忙しかった。授業はつまらなかった、しかも３時で終わったから銀行で旅行者用小切手をドルに交換することができなかった。だから、明日しなきゃいけない。成田空港とかベトナムでできるかもしれないけど心配がいっぱいあって、すぐにしたい。

とにかく、その後、池袋でリエちゃんと真紀先生に会った。リエちゃんは本当に本当にいい人だと思ってきた。いろいろな話題を話し合ったり、マックを食べたり、クリスマスプレゼントも交換したりしました！私はジェリーベリーというお菓子を真紀先生に。そして、ココアミックスをリエちゃんに。真紀先生はロッテのチョコレートをくれた。リエちゃんはクリスマス紙で包んだまでかわいい本をくれたんだよ！マックスルケード作家の「大切なきみ」という本です。本の中にクリスマスカードも書いて入れた。それは初めての日本のプレゼントです。カードを読んで、なんか感動した。世の中にこんなにいい人がまだいるのはすばらしいと思うの。

リエちゃんと真紀先生との遊びの後、亀戸にのぶことWendyに会いに行った。Wendyは日本の彼氏と会いたがっているからのぶこの友達は鍋パーティを準備してあげました。のぶこは私と参加したがって、今日にしました。（旅愛好会のクリパに行かなかったのは本当に残念ながら！）のぶこの友達の友達のアパートでやったからちょっと緊張したけどみんなと一緒に食べたり、テレビを見たり、話したりして良かった。日本では人は知らない人にアパートのパーティまで誘うのが珍しいです。会った男の人は思ったより年取ったんだけど面白かった。最年少の私は２０歳で、最年長は２８歳だった。最年長はなんか、テビンという歌手みたいな様子をしました。（とくにかっこいいわけではないけど見るのは面白かった。w）前の遊びで疲れてしまったから印象がいいか悪いかわからないのに人の家（ってか、アパート）に誘うのは初めてだった。あぁ、今すごく疲れている。ー＿ー

それはちょっと関係ないけど...
スーパーライブ２００７を見て、「KAT-TUNがかっこいい？」とか「気持ち悪い！」とか話し合った。超面白かった。でも、NewSが出てきた時、ちょっとびっくりした。ヤマピはやっぱりかっこいいと思ってきちゃった。ずっと前からかっこいいかな？それとも、私の好きなタイプが変わったかな？まぁ、いいか...

(StephanieとChloeへのノート：CMが出る時、ビッグバンのCMが出てきた！びっくりしたのに笑っちゃいました。日本でCMさえ出ているんだよね。頑張ってるみたいだよね。XD)

で...明日ベトナムの準備をしなきゃ〜！荷物まだつめなかった！ワクワクしてるんだよ！みんなさん、メリークリスマスと良いお年を！


Translation...

It's winter vacation! I'm so happy!

First, one note: I bought "Le Petit Prince" and started reading it. It's cute!

Today was really busy. Classes were boring, and on top of that since classes ended at 3pm I wasn't able to exchange my traveler's checks for dollars. So I have to do it tomorrow. I can probably do it at Narita Airport or Vietnam, but since I'm all worried I want to do it quickly.

Anyway, after that I met Rie and Maki in Ikebukuro. I think Rie is a really, really good person. We talked about a bunch of things, ate McDonald's, and exchanged Christmas presents! I gave Maki Jelly Bellies. Maki gave me some Lotte chocolate. Rie gave me a book that was really cute all wrapped up in wrapping paper. It's a book called 'You Are Special' by Max Lucado. She also wrote me a Chrismas card and stuck it inside. Those were my first Chrismas presents in Japan. I was sort of moved when I was reading the card. Like it's kind of amazing that this kind of good person still exists in the world.

After meeting with Rie and Maki, I went to Kameido to meet with Nobuko and Wendy. Wendy really wants to meet a Japanese boyfriend, so Nobuko's friend prepared a nabe party. Nobuko wanted me to come, so they made it today. (But it's too bad I couldn't go to the Travel Club Christmas party.) I was kinda nervous cuz it was at Nobuko's friend's friend's apartment, but it was good to eat, watch tv, and talk to everyone. Inviting people you don't know to a party at your apartment is rare in Japan. The guys we met were older than I thought, but it was interesting. I was the youngest at 20 and the oldest was 28. The oldest guy had the appearance of this one singer called Taebin. (He wasn't especially good looking, but it was interesting to look at him. haha.) Since I was tired from hanging out before I don't know if I had a good or bad but it was the first time I was invited to someone's home (or...apartment). Ah, I'm so tired. -_-

This doesn't really have anything to do with before, but...
We watched Super Live 2007 and talked about things like "Is KAT-TUN good looking?" and "That looks gross!" It was interesting, but when NewS came out I was kinda surprised. I think Yamapi is good looking after all. Has he always been good looking? Or is it that my taste is changing? I guess it doesn't matter...

(Note to Stephanie and Chloe: When commercials were on, Big Bang came on! I was surprised but then started laughing. Even commercials are coming out in Japan. It seems like they're trying really hard. XD)

So...Tomorrow I have to prepare for Vietnam~! I still haven't packed! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Mobile: 御茶ノ水の橋

Ochanomizu Bridge

写真はそんなにキレイじゃないけど実際に見たらすごい！
This picture isn't that pretty, but the real thing is great!

Weekend!

This was such a good weekend. Since I finished my last midterm and presentation I didn't have to do anything over the weekend, not even study for Japanese. So I ended up having fun. ^^

On Saturday, I met Yuhki and his friend, Shinji in Shibuya for some drinks. Yuhki came out to Tokyo because of Shinji's ゼミ, which is like a research thing. We went to the HUB, which is an English style pub. There's always a lot of foreigners there. Calpis Surfer and Sex on the Beach were really good. Yuhki and Shinji decided to order this drink that had the most number of hearts next to it...which was a very bad idea. It turns out, it was the strongest drink they had, the hearts weren't for popularity. It had an absinthe base and it was disgusting!!! I don't know how they finished it. It's gross just thinking about it. Then I got a motivational speech from Yuhki (with Shinji's interjections here and there) about how I should try to speak more Japanese, to not take the easy way out and use English, and how it's okay to make mistakes. It was actually kind of amazing Yuhki could still say such inspirational stuff after drinking. Haha. He's a good friend so I was glad we could hang out. I felt like garbage going home on the subway, but I made it back safely and didn't feel bad in the morning.


That was a relief because I went to Yohan Waseda Christ Church on Friday morning. Min Jeong met me at the station and I met up with Rie at the church. Everyone there was really nice. It was a little long and hard to understand, but the church is actually pretty music oriented, so there's a lot of music and singing. Afterwards, I was given some cds (gospel and a recording of some of the Christmas Concert) and a copy of the New Testament in Japanese. XD We ate lunch together and I met a few more people. Since Rie and Min Jeong were doing preparation for the other service, Mi Yeon walked me back to the station. Overall, it was a fun experience. I'll probably go with them on their one day trip to onsen on the 3rd. ^^

Nobuko ended up skipping her training for Starbucks and met me in Ikebukuro along with her friend. We went to eat and drink at a little restaurant. I hadn't seen Nobuko in a while, so it was nice to see her. And of course, we went to karaoke after that. Her friend left early, but we stayed there for about 3 hours total. It turns out the only songs we can sing together are old Hamasaki Ayumi songs because we have different tastes in music. XD Anyway...it was great fun. =D

The only downer was that I slept in too long and woke up at 8am, which means I couldn't make it to my Japanese class without being ridiculously late. So I skipped that and showed up for Korean Art and Japanese Literature. We didn't actually have lecture for Korean Art. We all went up to our professor's office and she threw a little mochi party with different kinds of Korean sweets. Korean mochi is really good. ^^ It was interesting, since our class is so small. Most people showed up so we just ate and talked and stuff. Very interesting. Only a few more days to pull through...

6 days until Vietnam!

Christmas Concert

Last Sunday, I went to a Christmas Concert in Shinokubo with a girl I met at school. It was a little strange that she randomly invited me, but I figured it was worth it just for fun. When we got to there, I met a couple of other people. I've never been to a Christian church or anything, so it was an interesting experience for me. It was a really interesting mix of people. It was mostly Japanese and Korean people, but everyone spoke Japanese. Some gospel singers, No Mu Han, Song Ok Nam Gung, Aram, and Naeri performed, which was a big deal for a bunch of people there since they came from Korea. (But not for me since I didn't really know who they are.)

Apparently the Japanese way of saying 'Jesus' is 'イエス' which roughly sounds like 'yes', and made me confused at first. Then after I actually listened to the rest of the words I thought, "Ohhh, Jesus." Hahaha. They sang Christmas carols, 'Fight', 'Love', 'Amazing Grace', 'イエス', and 'Holy Night', but my favorite by far was 'You Raise Me Up'. No Mu Han and Aram sang it together (they're father and son) so it was really cute. XD Singing was done in Japanese, English, and Korean, which was kind of funny, but cool because everyone sang in all 3 languages, even the little kids.

Afterwards, I met a few more girls. I was surprised that I didn't meet any Japanese people there since most of it was held in Japanese. Most of the girls there that were my age were Korean, but they have amazing Japanese. o_O Anyway, I'll probably go on Sundays (I know...weiiirrrddd...don't worry, I'm not converting.) to hang out with them. One girl used to be Buddhist and ended up converting and all of that so she understands how weird it feels, but since I'm only here for a year and they don't care if I only go for fun it should be interesting. We'll see how it goes...

Besides that, I have a midterm and presentation this week. As long as I can make it through those, I'll be home free. Vietnam in 11 days!!! I'm so excited!

しゃぶしゃぶ & Pure Suite

This past week, I had a crazy craving for shabu shabu, but I couldn't go out to eat any, so I decided to try and make it. It's a lot harder than it seems to make it taste right. Mine definitely didn't taste as good as the real thing, but hey, I tried. I didn't have the right kind of pot and I think I used the wrong kind of stock for the soupy part, but I ended up full and happy so it's okay.

Before:

After:


On Friday, I met Nobuko in Shibuya to look around at shops and things. I ended up finding the cd I've been looking at online for a while now. It's Francfranc presents Pure Suite Love Song House Covers. (I know, a mouthful.) It's a compilation of love songs remade by different electronica artists. Daishi Dance (who did FreeTEMPO's "HARMONY (DAISHI DANCE REMIX)"), Clazziquai Project (Past albums: Instant Pig, Love Child of the Century), GTS ("ABSOLUTE" featuring Ryohei) and ROMANTIC COUCH (mastermind behind Humming Urban Stereo and Instant Romantic Floor) are alll on it in addition to a few new artists I've never heard of. Overall, a good cd. And the packaging is quite impressive. I'll end up blogging this on my music blog later, though it's been a bit overshadowed by ETERNAL MORNING at the moment. =) It'll be nice to have some unconventional love songs to listen to around Christmas. (For some reason all I've been hearing in stores is that one Christmas song that goes, "Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very same day you gave it away...")


I'm getting really sick of school and I'm impatient to finally go on break. I hope you're all doing well. It's getting cold, so don't get sick!

John Lennon Museum

Today is Xavier Day, and Sophia, being a Jesuit university, gave us the day off (whoo!), but I woke up really late, making me two hours late to meet So-ky in Akihabara to go to the John Lennon Museum in Saitama. I felt so horrible. He spent two hours waiting around Akiba for me to show up. I'm lucky he's such a nice person.

I must say, I'm not a big John Lennon fan, though I do like the Beatles and all that, but the museum was very well done. When we got to the entrance, one of the people working there was explaining a special thing that just started today. They put a tree in the entrance for people to tie their wishes to. Then those wishes are going to be sent to the 'Imagine Peace Tower' being built in Iceland. (Random right?) Apparently, Yoko Ono was at the museum. I didn't get a good look at her or or anything, but that's why it was a big deal. She's doing the 'Dream Power' concert that's going to be on the 8th, so that's why I'm guessing she visited today.


The museum itself was very well done. It was split up nicely and each section had its own feel. I especially liked the end. The date of John Lennon's death was on a big white wall and that led into the 'Message Room' that was a white exhibit room that had a big wall that had his quotes and lyrics. It looked really cool, but we weren't able to take any pictures inside. At the end, there's a lounge that you can go into to look at books, watch dvds, and listen to music Lennon made, which is actually a pretty cool idea. We closed out the visit by adding our wishes to the tree downstairs. Can't say it's a must-see exhibit, but if you like John Lennon or have the time and want to go to Saitama it's really interesting and very well presented.

I've been on a museum fritz recently. I don't think it'll last much longer since there's only that other art exhibit I want to go to, but wow. So many museums!

Space For Your Future!

Wow, Space for Your Future was amazing. It's a temporary exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) that's going on right now. I couldn't take any pictures, so I actually bought a book about the exhibit, because wow...I really wish you all could see it. Amaaazing. I originally wanted to go to see Ninagawa Mika's section of the exhibit. (She's a photographer whose work I really admire.) But it turns out that her section of the exhibit wasn't even the best part.

I started out by sitting in these bubbly chairs that appeared white, but lit up a neon color once I sat down. Then there was a piece that was huge scrolls of tissue paper hanging from the ceiling that had been cut with an xacto knife to make designs that I thought Steph would have really liked. Really beautiful. I also tried out this beanbag suit-chair. There's a flap for your arms and head to go through that attaches you to the rest of the beanbag that's hanging behind you. Then you sit down and you can lay back. It's a really strange chair because you can't get into it by yourself, but once you put it on, it's really comfortable.

A surprising amount of the exhibits were interactive. Well..I guess it isn't that surprising since it is about 'space', but they were interactive in ways I didn't expect. My absolute favorite part of the entire exhibit was the Disco Phonebooth. From the outside, it looks like an empty booth with a disco ball hanging from the top and headphones to put on. If someone goes in, you can see them in their mini disco. The catch is that the person inside can't see outside. When I went in, it was all me. The inside of the booth is covered with mirrors, so it really feels like a private disco booth, and makes you want to dance. The thing is that if you dance, everyone outside can see you. Really fun and funny.

There was jewelry, photographs, Ninagawa Mika's room, movies, lighting devices... I can't really go through it all, but I must say, the most impressive thing was the 4 story tall square balloon. Yup, square balloon. It was floating in the middle of the building. It's so confusing because 1) it's gigantic, 2) it's just floating there, 3) it's square, 4) it's made out of metal, 5) it distorts your image in the reflection, 6) what the heck?!?!?!

It's hands down the best museum exhibit I've seen in my life. It makes me really excited to go to the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi because it has a similar take on mixing genres and media. They have a sort of partnership where if you go see one and show your ticket, you get a discount at the other. The exhibit is called Roppongi Crossing: Future Beats in Contemporary Art. I missed the Future Beats in Music and Moving Images event where Shinichi Osawa DJed and I also missed this interactive sculpture/music workshop with Ogai Takeharu. (Ryuichi Sakamoto composed the music for it. Augh.) Booo. Anyway, I'm still looking forward to it.

Iloveart.

Mobile:カボチャ

かぼちゃパールドリンク！美味しい！
Pumpkin pearl drink! Yum!

Yesterday I went to Harajuku with Britten so she could look for nice clothes and I could buy a new jacket. (Yes!) After that, we went to Denny's! (I had steak. I forgot how much I miss eating big pieces of meat. XD)