Kareoke

The right way to start out the week. :)
My selections for the night: Bob Marley- Lively Up Yourself, Radiohead- street spirit, Gorillaz- Feel Good Inc., Incubus-wish you were here, Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Date With The Night, Simon and Garfunkle - Mrs. Robinson, Styx- Domo Arigato Mr Roboto and more
it was a ton of fun. I went with 2 people from business and kasumi from my division. :)

i also added other pictures to flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitemage/sets/72157607449366209/

A LEsson Learned

I wrote in my note book earlier today about my adventure to the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art.But Before I tell you my story, I want to explain something that I didn't know before I left but have found to be very important to pay attention to.

The insanity that is the Tokyo Subway sytem is further reaching than I previously thought. First of all, there is the Tokyo Subyway system in addition to the Greater Tokyo Area subway system. The later of the two consists of privately owned train lines and corporate owned train lines. (imagine if Target had a subway line...haha the train i ride to my house is the Seibu Ikebukuro line...Seibu is an ENORMOUS department store featuring stores like Coach, Prada, and Lois Vitton, so they can afford a few subway lines here and there) Okay....so ontop of that, each line runs different rapid services. let me explain.
Lets take for example my train line

Seibu Ikebukuro Line:

Its not as simple as just hoping on a train headed towards my house because the SI line has several different types of trains.Local, Semi Express, Commuter Semi Express (but on the side of the train it reads semi express so you have to listen up!), Rapid, Express, Commuter Express (same as semi express...keep your ears open, or look at the rapid service map above one of the doors) Rapid Express, and Limited Express.And that's just my subway line. Each subway has different rapid services and some lines turn into different lines without skipping a beat (which in turn changes their rapid services as well).

Today after work I went to the Tokyo Modern Art Museum by myself. Its located on a different subway line that I usual take (or have taken atleast once) I got to the museum just fine, infact it was easier to get to than the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills (I went there on wednesday after work, it's only 2 stops from my work and it:s located in the biggest building in tokyo...hard to miss). But on the way back I had a mild headache and fell asleep on the express train to no where. I woke up above ground in a TOTALLY packed train. I had been trying to listen for the "SHIBUYAAAA" announcement that usuall wakes me up and which would have occured underground.

I don:t know really how it happened or where I wound up but I started on the purple metro line and woke up on some strange privately owned railway that had changed from the purple line into a red line ( but it wasn:t the red line on my little subway map) and the signs on the platform were a different color at each station. I decided to get off as soon as I could squeeze myself out and followed the track signs that pointed towards "Shibuya" (even though the last train that was supposed to be headed to Shibuya led me astray, i had no other option since i had absolutely no idea where i was)

I got on a train that had a funny name that i can:t recall now, that was supposed headed towards shibuya. For about three stops I tried to find where I was on my map but decided that if i kept riding I would end up digging myself an even deeper hole. So, without knowing anything, I jumped off the train and was pleased to see a train arriving on a parallel track that read "Express to Shibuya". Lucky me!!

Tonight is my night to spend as I wish (which means I can stay out as late as I feel fit) since my host mom goes out with her friends on friday nights. I was planning on going back to my house after the museum and then out to a restraunt since I don't have any food to cook at the house. But since it was so late, and my headache was worse after my little endevour and then arriving in Shibuy station at like 8pm on a friday night wasn:t much help. So i decided to eat dinner in 109 (or as trendy japanese girls say "Maru Kyuu" with translates to "O Nine") at an "itallian" food place and treated myself to an ice cold kirin beer for surving my little train accident.

moral of the story
don't fall asleep on express trains on lines you arent familiar with...even if you think "THEY MUST stop at the busiest station on the line" because they might not apparently....

tune in next week for more adventures of a dreaddy in Tokyo

Ja Ne!
Jess
(my new hippo nick name is Kinoko Chan which translates to Little Mushroom girl)

.p.s. I saw a japanese guy with dreads longer than mine the other day and was totally shocked...i can only imagin how other japanese people react to me and my dreads (although i can get a sense from their facial expressions and constant double or tripple takes)

Pictures on Flickr

so what are you waiting for!? go check 'em out!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitemage/

Quick update

Today is the fall equinox and is therefor a day off for most Japanese people. Including me! So today my host family and I are going shopping in Saitama in a few minutes. We just got done watching the red sox game and I have the urge to give you a quick update.

So yesterday was my first day of work. I had to make the treck from my house near Hoya station to Shibuya. THe journey took about an hour and a half. THe train from Hoya to Ikebukuro was a little crowded but compared to what it felt like to be walking through Ikebukuro station to the Yamanote line track was much worse. You have to be situated in the right flow line of people in order to make it smoothly to your destination. the ride from ikebukuro to shibuya was pretty intense. I didn't have anything to hold on to and I had my LEX bag, umbrella and travel mug of mate and myself smushed up against like 5 people. you have to have very skilled ballence in your feet. otherwise you're screwed.

We had a workshop yesterday which meant all the hippo family club leaders from around tokyo (and afar) show up the first monday of the month to listen to speaches, talk with one another and enjoy large scale hippo activities. Of course, since I:m the new intern I had to stand infront of like 200 people (or more) and introduce myself with my poor japanese. it was really intense.

we had lunch in the yoyogi olympic center (where the workshop was) which was really fun. During lunch I spoted the most beautiful green bird outside a window. I tried looking up what it could have been on the internet and I've decided that it was a green conure that either escaped from it's owner or something. It had a beak like Momo's so it was definitely part of the parrot family but it had a very slender and long , blue tail and a fairly large wing span. I was so supprised when i saw it!
I went back to the office and poked around my desk for half an hour before heading home. (my new rain shoes gave me TERRIBLE blisters) My host parents weren't planning to be home until late so I had to take care of my own dinner and entertain myself for the night. I went to the local soba shop for dinner before heading out to the neighboring train station. They have a pretty nice shopping center there and although I didn't buy anything, it was nice just to walk around and look at stuff. I got home about an hour before my host parents.

anyway, it:s time to go shopping

ja ne

jess

Ganbate!

Gantbate...the word of the week. it means "go for it" or "try your best". I can't even count the amount of times i've heard that word said to me over the past few days. But it's nice that everyone is so encouraging of my efforts to learn Japanese and live the Japanese lifestyle. I've been having really intese dreams everynight (sometimes in japanese) so it's hard for me to sleep. I:m still getting used to sleeping on a futon and while trying to overcome jet lag.

A few days ago we caught the outer bands of a typhoon so it's been raining most of the time i've been here. I even bought myself a new pair of rain shoes (imagine crocks bust stylish). I experienced a much stronger typhoon last time i was in tokyo (near the end of my stay).

Friday I had a hippo family club activity at Waka chan:s club. I had a lot of fun playing with all the little kids. They like to quiz me on my Japanese vocab so I do the same in return. they are soo cute! That night I had orientation at the office in shibuya. (side note, there is this sign in shibuya for axe that scares the shit out of me. it's a scent titled "chocolate temptation" or something like that and it has the SCARIEST looking chocolate man standing behind a woman...i:ll take a picture tomorrow on my way to work and post it with my other pictures...sooooo creeeepy!!! and i have to look at it everyday on myway to work!) I met everyone in the office and got to chill out at my desk for a few hours.　My host mom came to the office around 6 and we had a host family orientation of sorts. it was a way to set general house rules so that the office knew, incase problems come up.

on saturday I had more hippo activities. except, this time i had to be there at 2:30 and stayed there until 9pm. We have 2 clubs on saturday, the first one is for young parents and their kids and the second one is for elementary school through college age kids (and parents). It was so much fun to meet everyone and enjoy singing, dancing and playing games together. except......it was increadibly tiring.

I slept in pretty late today. Except...i was abruptly woken up this morning at 8am when the house was suddenly shaking. I thought it was increadibly unusual since i never feel my host parents moving about the house, the floor is extremely sturdy. then i realised as the trembling got worse that yes....in fact....i was experiencing my first earthquake!!! I kind of thought I was hyper lucid dreaming for a minute. after the trembling ended I went back to sleep. When I woke up later I said to my host mom "so...this morning...the house....shaking?" and she confirmed my suspisions. She told me that usually the earthquakes around here are at a level 1 or 2 but today we experienced a 3.5! sugoi ne!? (amazing isn't it!?)

today my host mom and I went grocery shopping in Oizumi gakuen. She took me to an increadible tea shop where I was able to buy more "mate cha" (yerba mate) for pretty cheep (considering this is tokyo).

Tomorrow is my first day of work. I'm excited to make my first morning commute since Shibuya is such an exciting place to walk through. I can:t wait to settle into my office life since now i feel very comfortable here at my host family's house. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 7 in order to leave the house a little before 8. it takes about an hour and a half by train and walking to get to my work all he way across the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Also, the way that Waka chan showed me how to get to work is no good for my pasmo (imagine the charlie card). SO tomorrow I have to navigate two of the busiest train stations by myself for the first time. But my host mom gave me really good directions and they have a lot of signs in english...i should be fine.

anyway, i don:t know when i:ll get the chance to update again..so take care until then!

ja ne!!

Finally Here

I arrived safely in Narita Airport yesterday after 20 hours of transit. I continued my journey for a nother 2.5 hours to my home in Nerima Ku. It`s so beautiful out here! There are a lot of really nice houses and patches of green. Since it`s a suberb far away from the center of Tokyo, it`s fairly quiet (for a city that is).
My room is a traditional tatami room fully loaded with a futon, desk and air conditioner (thank god! it`s still 24 degrees celcious here, and we`re expecting a typhoon to hit our area tomorrow or the day after). My host family`s house is spacious for a japanese house.

Houya station is a 10 minute walk from my house wich is pretty sweet. Increadibly convenient, although i still need a map to get there. Thankfully my host mom drew an excelent map for me. Today I went with Waka chan to Hibari ga oka (humming bird hill) station right next door. She showed me where my saturday hippo family club meetings would be before sitting down to some traditional rammen. Totemo oishii so!! (sooo delicious!) I`ll be going to hibari ga oka tomorrow for an open club before making my way to shibuya (about an hour long treck by train.)

tonight i helped make vegetable tempura. I was the one in charge of frying, except the Japanese doing use spatulas or straining laddles or tongs when frying...you MUST use o-hashi (chopsticks) I got to show off my mediochre chopsticks skills around hot oil. it doesn:t really leave a lot of room for mistakes hahaha! I joked with my host mom that it was like my chopsticks test since i had to work quickly around very hot oil to get the tempura just right. I had a lot of fun learning how to cook from my host mom. My host dad didn:t come home until late tonight but we could still enjoy talking about soccer (is favorite sport) and about each others days.

i`m finding that my japanese is coming back to me very quickly in the form of understanding what is being said around me. i am still struggling with forming sentances but i know it will all come in time.

anyway, i`m rather tiered from the jet lag and trying to injest all of the japanese. it:s time for me to roll out my futon and hit the sack.

just wanted to check in to let you all know that i:m doing just fine. i:ll be posting pictures in the near future.

ja ne!

Jess

The Count Down Begins

8 days. a week from tomorrow. holy crap

So I had a couple going away parties in Maine this weekend. It was fantastic! Friday night, me and some of my really close friends from Maine and Boston had a late night canoeing , rope swinging, and sitting 'round a camp fire session. It was a good way for me to say good bye to maine but I think my Boston friends were so pleased to be out of the city and able to enjoy my back yard. The next afternoon, a lot of my family came to celebrate my trip but also to welcome Robbie and Jasmin home from England. It's hard to get the Dugals together these days but we had a really nice turn out. We had all kinds of food to munch on and decorations everywhere. For a while I was a bit overwhelmed by all the people in my house but I had to muster up the confidence to not shy away in the corner (since it was my going away party after all!)

That night, my friend Patricia from Boston came to see me and we drove in torrential rains to Portland. Gib was hosting a welcome home party for Jasmin and Robbie. Everyone from high school made an appearance! It was incredible! I got to see people I haven't seen in ages like Tina, Ian, Nick, Joe, Jared...man..it was crazy! We had a really awesome time catching up and chillin like we used to.

It's been a long weekend. Yesterday after I got home i crashed and I slept in pretty late today. I have a few more days left at home. I'm not really sure what to do with myself. I feel like I have so much to work on but at the same time, I don't really know what to do. Thursday I'm going to Boston for the weekend. I have orientation on Friday and Saturday and one last going away party with my MassArt friends. (which reminds me, i have to pick up my prints from mass art..and maybe make a few while i'm there) I'll be coming back on sunday and then just have Monday to get my shit together before I leave on tuesday. I'm going to start packing on wednesday before I go to Boston just in case I need to buy anything while i'm there I can.

I'm taking it one day at a time right now.

I think I'm going to go explore the rapids with my sketch book. I need to re train my hand how to draw what i see.

Anxieties Building

Yesterday I was able to finish putting together my encyclopedia sketch book. I think it came out really great. It's a really thick and sturdy sketchbook with 5 or 6 different types of paper in each signature. It has 280 pages plus a pocket in the back. This sketchbook will act as a daily sketch journal for my year in Tokyo so it's important that it be sturdy and big enough to last the whole year.

With that out of the way, it's on to the next project which is my kamishibai. Due to my allergies i haven't really gotten much done today besides picking out pictures to print out. I bought another year on Flickr pro so I could access the really old pictures I have uploaded. This brought up two major concerns of mine. Money and a camera. I found myself in a very sticky financial situation. I need to pay off my electricity bill which is close to $300. With $100 in the bank and only $130 or so on the way from my last pay check, I'm starting to freak out. I need to pay this bill plus have money for the first two weeks in Tokyo. Once I'm in Tokyo I need to continue to pay off my credit card bill here in the states and address the second issue....a camera.

My camera is broken. At a time in my life when having a camera seems to be essential, I'm a bit frustrated. However, looking on the bright side, it'll force me to describe my setting and situations by drawing rather than shooting photos. I'm just not confident enough in my drawing abilities to want to rely on them as a source of sharing my one-in-a-lifetime experiences with people. maybe the pressure will do me good (until I'm able to buy a camera that is)

with less than two weeks left here, I guess it's not that surprising that I'm anxious and worrying about all kinds of little things. However, it doesn't make it any easier.

~Jess

World Book Encyclopedia Sketch Journal

Tonight I started gutting the I-J volume of a World Book Encyclopedia (copyright 1950). I found it in a free pile in Vermont last year and have finally put it to use. I was able to carefully salvage the 2 signatures of the book that include the "Japan and Korea" article. Filled with all kinds of old black and white photos of Japan with accompanying 1950's impressions of what the Japanese were like. I plan on including these pages in my sketch book along with graph paper from a composition notebook, line paper from a moleskin notebook, watercolor paper, Bristol board, plain drawing paper, pastel paper and whatever else appeals to me tomorrow at AC Moore's.
I just got the idea to use the encyclopedia cover today when I was rummaging through my books. Now that I have a sturdy cover, all I have to do is sew the signatures together and glue them in place. That makes this project ten times easier than I had thought it was going to be. With this project off to a good start, I feel relieved.

The next project I need to start working on (the one that will be more involved than the sketch book) is my "kamishibai" (paper theater) aka: an intro album. My last kamishibai took me a long time to put together but the comments I received were well worth it. I will be using this kamishibai in all of the hippo family club meetings and school visits as well as when I meet new host families and their friends. (So...basically everyone I meet is going to see it) It's important that it visually represent who i am through pictures of my family, pets, friends, homes (Maine and Boston), school and my hobbies. I also want to communicate more than just factual things, but my personal style as well. Since I'm an artist, its essential that I show people just how unique I am through my artistic lense. This requires a much more thoughtful approach than this sketch book (for the time being, since the sketch journal will be a MAJOR part of my cultural project and en enormous undertaking.) Although it may sound like I'm stressing out over it, I'm actually quite excited to get started. I've been thinking about it for a while and it's always exciting to see how it all plays out.