I've had a lot going on lately since my work is starting to pick up (although the end of this past week was extremely slow since most people were in the States for a 4H conference) and I seem to have nonstop plans. I didn't imagine this being an issue since I usually love keeping myself absurdly busy but I am still in my adjustment period (as much as I dont like to think so) and it:s caused me some exhaustion this past week.
Last saturday was my first moku hanga class which proved to be a bit frustrating since the teacher can:t speak any english and spent a lot of time trying to explain to me the basic ideas of printmaking, which i understand but couldn:t express to him. But it was the first class so i hope that in future classes he will realise that i know more than i am able to express.
Sunday was a bit unusual since I was asked to help out with a Year Long Guidence meeting in Shinjuku on my day off. I was looking forward to going all week and it didn:t at all seem like it would be a problem for me to work. In fact, when I got there...I found that I hardly did anything at all. I think the purpose of having me there was to show all the prospect YL students who I was so that they recognise me when they come in for their English interview with me. I sat in the back sketching the whole time. I had a bit of a headache and was a little tired as well, but i figured it was just because i had been listening to nonstop japanese all day and because i woke up kind of early that morning. As the meeting ended I got up and wandered around as people started slowly filing out. THe room was packed full of Japanese High school students and for some reason, this made me increadibly nervous, as if i had been thrown back into the akwardness of being a new kid in a junior high cafeteria. I found a couple people that I recognised and I said hi but that was about it. The students are very shy which in tern, makes me shy as well.
I went out into the hallway to find one of my coworkers who had met me at shinjuku station and took me to the building we were in and I had assumed she was going to be taking me back to the station since I only had a vauge idea of how to get back. SHe said she was busy so she found another person to take me to the staion, but they were also busy so Yunkery (another person at my work) said she would take me, but then said she was busy and that another set of people would take me. For some reason I felt a rush of tears come flying up and I hurried to the bathroom but the more you try to hide crying, the worse it gets. I composed myself in the bathroom only to break down again infront of like 15 people. I wasn:t upset about who would take me to shinjuku station, infact...i probably coul dhave mannaged on my own but I wanted to walk with someone familiar, talk with them, before going back home. There was now specific reason for me to cry besides the fact that I haven:t cried since I left the US. It just happened to be at the wrong place and the wrong time.
But the next day, I felt better than ever (despite feeling slightly embarassed). I talked with a local broccoli/cauliflower farmer on monday. Tuesday i went to an elementary school and got to play with 2nd graders up to 4th graders. On wednesday I took a day off for the day I worked on sunday and my host mom and i got a lot done. We went to her bank and I opened up an account, we went to a really awesome art museum in Ueno, I bought a japanese cell phone (it:s so rad.) and finished the day with a big ol plate of yakisoba (sooo yummy). Thursday I went shopping on my own and had a conversation with on eof the sales persons as she suggested different items that would look good on me (shopping in japan is a nightmare for my body type). I also started calling year long students who are staying in japan from other countries. It was really hard since speaking in japanese in person is hard enough but not being able to use gestures and talking to someone else who is also learning japanese proves to be a challenge. but i could stick a few english words in to help. friday was a really slow day at work but i went to an art museum after and when i got home called another student and then uploaded music to my cell phone.
my routine makes me pretty tired, and some days feel like they last forever. In the morning I wake up at 7:30. I get dressed, wash my face, put make up on, make and breakfast and (TRY) to make my obento (lunchbox)....all before 8:35 which is when I need to be stepping out of the door. I usually walk to the station (although i enjoy riding a bike to the station on nice days) which takes about 15 minutes. The whole train part of my commute is different every day. SOme days i get on the wrong train and have to switch around, some days i get on the right train but for some reason doesn:t stop where its supposed to, some days i:m in totally stuffed trains (thursday was the WORST i got into the train car on the Yamanote line closest to my exit and i felt like my insides were being crushed...sooo packed) But WHEN i get to shibuya station ihave another 20 minute walk through crowded sidwalks to get to work. and that:s just one way.
I do my best to stay positive though despite how difficult it is to wake up some mornings.This weekend I:m taking my freetime to update this blog and then tomorrow i will dedicate myself to drawing and working on my woodblocks. i hope to feel revitalised afterwards. But I*m doing well. My cowerkers and host family are awesome so I think its just because I:m still getting used to my routine. little by little...little by little.....
anyway, check my flickr, and email me your addresses!!!
jessrobinson.art@gmail.com
thanks!
ja ne
Jess
Friday, October 24, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Karuizawa, Japanese Printmaker, and Double Dutch Japan
I've been lucky enough to have the past 5 days off, however I was just as busy!
At 8am thursday (10/09) waka chan and her husband showed up at my house to take me on a 2 day one night vacation in Karuizawa. I read 2012 on the way there since the car ride was about 2 or 3 hours, although we stopped a couple times for coffee and soba. When we got into Karuizawa, two other couples (close friends of waka) and the 3 of us went grocery shopping at a large super market even though it was the same size as a stop and shop or hannaford, thats considered huge in Japan. OUr next stop was to Ama yama (ama mountain) park. I found myself feeling as though I had been temporarily transported back into Maine/NH because for as far as I could see were mountains covered in colorful trees, blue skies and colcanic rock (okay so the volcanic rock is unique to japan's volcanic landscape but you get the point) All the rocks ere covered in several varieties of moss and lichen (including glowing moss..soo cool) We went on an hour long walk through the windy mountain trail before heading to waka's vacation appartment.
At 14 stories tall, the resort appartment was one o fthe only buildings that could be seen across the mountainous landscape. the room was tiny but fully loaded with 2 couches/beds, tatami room (with room for 3 futons) a kitchen, toilet & shower/bath rooms, and a patio. The building also had a hot spring bath in the basement and observation deck on top. The first night there we enjoyed a few beers and an enormous diner. I was pretty tired from the journey, the fresh air and trying to take in all the Japanese. After diner, waka chan and I went to the onsen which I followed up with a few minutes in the sauna.
I stayed up that night reading 2012 until midnight thinking I'd be able to sleep in until at least 7:30. But to my suprise, waka chan threw the lights on at 6:30am with an enthusiastic "OKITERU JESS!! OHAAIIOO!" (Wake Up Jess! Good Morning!) After tossing and grumbling for about 20 minutes I finally woke up to a huge breakfast spred.
After eating, a few of us went to go check out the observation deck. The morning fog and clouds were still lingering but within 2 minutes we watched as it miraculously cleared to reveal an awe inspiring view of Asama Mt. This stoic mountain stod strong in the panorama, steeming forth clouds of smoke resembling a gun after firing a bullet.
We got in the car soon after and drove to a neer by town. IT was a picturesque mountain side town with its aparent claim to fame situated at its center: a sulfer hot spring.
if you could put the overwhelming stench of rotten eggs that permiated the whole town, it was quite charming and wonderful. The color of the rocks affected by the sulfer were a beautiful aqua emerald green color. After taking pictures in fron tof the spring we walked the streets. This humble town turned tourist spot sold various japanese goods ranging from lucky cats, clothes, and food. One store was cooking dumplings out side the store and had merchants greeting the passer byers with a hot cup of green tea and a free sample of their dumplings. I also noticed a man sitting on the side of the road selling various herbs, spices and small vegetables on a rug.
It was a wonderful afternoon and to top it all off, Waka chan and I took a quick dip in the local onsen. This time, instead of feeling like a hotel jakuzi, this onsen was an outdoor onsen much like the one i experienced 2 years ago, except way bigger. we stayed int he onsen for about 30 minutes (which is actually considered quite a long time. I had started to get dizzy by the time we left) We finished our time in the town at a ramen shop before heading back to the apartment. We left Karuizawa around 4 and I didn:t get back to my house until 8 (since we stopped at a rest stop restraunt and had tempura)
On saturday I went with Yuyu and some Hippo Friends to a Japanese Printmakers House about 2 hours away from my house (near Tama Hills if you are familiar with Pom Poko or Whisper of the Heart) He is a pretty old man who has lost the use of his hands and legs, but he was still very excited to have me there and to share a boxed set of his prints. He made a series of over 20 images that incorporated the use of poetry (all japanese of course) and text book imagery of machinery and various biological diagrams. it was so exciting to be able to see this body of work so up close and personal. I was the only one allowed to touch the prints out of all of us since I had washed my hands, used a special powder on my fingertips and because I think he knew that since I:m a printmaker too, I knew how to handle the paper properly without damaging it. He also invited me and my hippo friend Yuria (who is my age) to go to his studio in Chiba. I would really like to go!
After the visit, we made our way back to hippo club. This time I was able to muster the courage to ask a couple girls in the club if they would take me to Harajuku some day soon since I need boots and some new winter clothes. they agreed so i:m really looking forward to it!
Yesterday, after sleeping in a bit, Yuyu and I headed to Shinagawa to meet up with some other Hippo members to go to the Double Dutch Tokyo finals. Kazu, a hippo member, is in his university's Double Dutch team and had made it to the finals. The top 3 teams will be going to NYC in December for the World Finals. The whole experience was quite strange from an American standpoint since the auditorium was packed with Japanese students decked out in hip hop clothes. The MCs were over teh top hip hop and the whole tournament had that feeling. I understand that a lot of Japanese young people like American Pop Culture but it was still quite strange feeling. All the double dutch teams were really good. And I do admit that i found it really fun to experience despite its overwheling hip hop flavor. Kazu's team had really great concentration and was one of the only teams that had a flawless performance. After about an hour of watching all the teams, there were a couple hip hop dance performances before awarding the prizes. To our excitement, Kazu's team got 3rd place, and will be going to new york!
Today I worked on my moku hanga drawings and we went to Nakano Broadway for a little shopping since today was a holiday in Japan. It's sports day, so all the tv programing was about the 2008 olympics.
phew,
long post
i can:t really focus any more. i:m pretty tired and ihave work tomorrow so i:m going to leave it at that for now.
check flickr.
word
xoxo
jess
At 8am thursday (10/09) waka chan and her husband showed up at my house to take me on a 2 day one night vacation in Karuizawa. I read 2012 on the way there since the car ride was about 2 or 3 hours, although we stopped a couple times for coffee and soba. When we got into Karuizawa, two other couples (close friends of waka) and the 3 of us went grocery shopping at a large super market even though it was the same size as a stop and shop or hannaford, thats considered huge in Japan. OUr next stop was to Ama yama (ama mountain) park. I found myself feeling as though I had been temporarily transported back into Maine/NH because for as far as I could see were mountains covered in colorful trees, blue skies and colcanic rock (okay so the volcanic rock is unique to japan's volcanic landscape but you get the point) All the rocks ere covered in several varieties of moss and lichen (including glowing moss..soo cool) We went on an hour long walk through the windy mountain trail before heading to waka's vacation appartment.
At 14 stories tall, the resort appartment was one o fthe only buildings that could be seen across the mountainous landscape. the room was tiny but fully loaded with 2 couches/beds, tatami room (with room for 3 futons) a kitchen, toilet & shower/bath rooms, and a patio. The building also had a hot spring bath in the basement and observation deck on top. The first night there we enjoyed a few beers and an enormous diner. I was pretty tired from the journey, the fresh air and trying to take in all the Japanese. After diner, waka chan and I went to the onsen which I followed up with a few minutes in the sauna.
I stayed up that night reading 2012 until midnight thinking I'd be able to sleep in until at least 7:30. But to my suprise, waka chan threw the lights on at 6:30am with an enthusiastic "OKITERU JESS!! OHAAIIOO!" (Wake Up Jess! Good Morning!) After tossing and grumbling for about 20 minutes I finally woke up to a huge breakfast spred.
After eating, a few of us went to go check out the observation deck. The morning fog and clouds were still lingering but within 2 minutes we watched as it miraculously cleared to reveal an awe inspiring view of Asama Mt. This stoic mountain stod strong in the panorama, steeming forth clouds of smoke resembling a gun after firing a bullet.
We got in the car soon after and drove to a neer by town. IT was a picturesque mountain side town with its aparent claim to fame situated at its center: a sulfer hot spring.
if you could put the overwhelming stench of rotten eggs that permiated the whole town, it was quite charming and wonderful. The color of the rocks affected by the sulfer were a beautiful aqua emerald green color. After taking pictures in fron tof the spring we walked the streets. This humble town turned tourist spot sold various japanese goods ranging from lucky cats, clothes, and food. One store was cooking dumplings out side the store and had merchants greeting the passer byers with a hot cup of green tea and a free sample of their dumplings. I also noticed a man sitting on the side of the road selling various herbs, spices and small vegetables on a rug.
It was a wonderful afternoon and to top it all off, Waka chan and I took a quick dip in the local onsen. This time, instead of feeling like a hotel jakuzi, this onsen was an outdoor onsen much like the one i experienced 2 years ago, except way bigger. we stayed int he onsen for about 30 minutes (which is actually considered quite a long time. I had started to get dizzy by the time we left) We finished our time in the town at a ramen shop before heading back to the apartment. We left Karuizawa around 4 and I didn:t get back to my house until 8 (since we stopped at a rest stop restraunt and had tempura)
On saturday I went with Yuyu and some Hippo Friends to a Japanese Printmakers House about 2 hours away from my house (near Tama Hills if you are familiar with Pom Poko or Whisper of the Heart) He is a pretty old man who has lost the use of his hands and legs, but he was still very excited to have me there and to share a boxed set of his prints. He made a series of over 20 images that incorporated the use of poetry (all japanese of course) and text book imagery of machinery and various biological diagrams. it was so exciting to be able to see this body of work so up close and personal. I was the only one allowed to touch the prints out of all of us since I had washed my hands, used a special powder on my fingertips and because I think he knew that since I:m a printmaker too, I knew how to handle the paper properly without damaging it. He also invited me and my hippo friend Yuria (who is my age) to go to his studio in Chiba. I would really like to go!
After the visit, we made our way back to hippo club. This time I was able to muster the courage to ask a couple girls in the club if they would take me to Harajuku some day soon since I need boots and some new winter clothes. they agreed so i:m really looking forward to it!
Yesterday, after sleeping in a bit, Yuyu and I headed to Shinagawa to meet up with some other Hippo members to go to the Double Dutch Tokyo finals. Kazu, a hippo member, is in his university's Double Dutch team and had made it to the finals. The top 3 teams will be going to NYC in December for the World Finals. The whole experience was quite strange from an American standpoint since the auditorium was packed with Japanese students decked out in hip hop clothes. The MCs were over teh top hip hop and the whole tournament had that feeling. I understand that a lot of Japanese young people like American Pop Culture but it was still quite strange feeling. All the double dutch teams were really good. And I do admit that i found it really fun to experience despite its overwheling hip hop flavor. Kazu's team had really great concentration and was one of the only teams that had a flawless performance. After about an hour of watching all the teams, there were a couple hip hop dance performances before awarding the prizes. To our excitement, Kazu's team got 3rd place, and will be going to new york!
Today I worked on my moku hanga drawings and we went to Nakano Broadway for a little shopping since today was a holiday in Japan. It's sports day, so all the tv programing was about the 2008 olympics.
phew,
long post
i can:t really focus any more. i:m pretty tired and ihave work tomorrow so i:m going to leave it at that for now.
check flickr.
word
xoxo
jess
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
a new week, a new book of adventures
I've had a good week so far and it seems like it will only get better!
Sunday I had the opportunity to go to a kabuki play with waka chan and my host mom. The performance was held in the famous Kabuki Za theater tucked in the middle of the bustling streets of Ginza. It was sooo awesome! I love everything about kabuki but if you don:t know what that is..here's a brief run down.
Kabuki is a traditional Japanese theater where the actors are extravegantly dressed, decorated and painted (make up) and preform stories in 3 different genres...historic, domestic, and dance. The historical stories usually involve ...suprise..historical events but usually involves some sort of romance to stir things up a bit. Domestic plays are usually about peasants, robbers, lovers or something of the like..think Edo Soap Opera. ("I would rather die by your sword than have you leave for ever. kill me now if you never plan on returning" kind of thing) Dance performances are still a narative but it involves more symbolism, the use of song and set and costume change/transformation. When I went on sunday I saw the most famous dance play's that involve the actor to wear the costume of a budhist lion diety (long read hair) that he swings around in circles in the air for like 5 minutes. its really long hair so would take a lot of skill.
all roles are played by men, which isn:t too unusual for traditional drama (the greeks and even shakespear had male only actors) but when you watch kabuki, the women characters really seem like women. each movement is increadibly delicate, sophisticated, and sometimes sensual creating an illusion that you are watching a woman, when in fact that "woman" in real life is an old man who is called a woman specialist. (or something like that) The actors speak in extravagant voices with increadibly dramatic pauses and verses making each moment epic.
The three plays I saw each had all star casts making the performances even more increadible. the plays i saw were
(descriptions from Kabuki Za website)
| HONCHO NIJUSHIKO -Jusshuko, Kitsunebi- (The Japanese Examples of Filial Piety - The Incense Burning, Foxfires) Princess Yaegaki is mourning the death of her fiance Katsuyori, but as she burns incense in his memory, she notices the resemblance between the new gardener and her fiance's portrait. The gardener is in fact Katsuyori, who has entered the household in disguise to regain possession of a stolen family treasure, a famous battle helmet, with the aid of an accomplice, Nureginu, a woman who also mourns for the man that died in the place of the real Katsuyori. Unfortunately, Yaegaki's father has also seen through the disguise and plans to kill Katsuyori and Yaegaki decides that she must save the man she loves. Taking the helmet, she runs after Katsuyori while surrounded by mysterious fox fires caused by the fox spirit closely associated with the helmet. As she takes on superpowers with the magic of the fox, she begins moving like a Bunraku puppet with an actor as the puppeteer (Onoe Ukon). The role of Princess Yaegaki is one of the most important onnagata female role specialist roles and this month will be played by onnagata superstar Tamasaburo. |
| YUKI NO YUBE IRIYA NO AZEMICHI (Naozamurai and Michitose) The thief Naozamurai has been betrayed and is on the run. He risks one last meeting with his lover, the courtesan Michitose, but he has never revealed his true identity to her and as far as she knows, he is a wealthy merchant. On a freezing, snow-bound night, in a romantic scene accompanied by the lush and erotic singing of Kiyomoto narrative music, the two lovers Naozamurai and Michitose meet and part forever. Starring Kikugoro as Naozamurai and the popular young star Kikunosuke as Michitose. |
| HANABUSA SHUJAKU JISHI (Courtesan Lion Dance) Lion dances show a vigorous masculine spirit that is the guardian of a sacred mountain in China. But the kabuki tradition transforms this fierce dance into a showpiece for an elegant female role specialist. Fukusuke stars as a top-ranking courtesan dancing elegantly in a banquet parlor who is then transformed into a feminine version of the spirit of the lion. |
check flickr for more pictures of the inside of the kabuki za theater.
On monday morning, I slipped into my shoes, grabbed my umberella and set off for my morning commute. It was rainy and rather windy, making it a bit difficult to hold onto my umbrella. But with ratatat "ratatat-ta-tat-ing" in my ears I kept a positive head up and a swift stroll to the train station. When I was walking, a friend from my hippo club (her nick name is Mamo) was riding her bike in the opposite direction. she stopped and said hello. it was such an amazing feeling to see someone I knew on the street so unexpectadly. I greeted her with a huge smile and said good morning and asked where she was going and so on but explained that i needed to get to shibuya and was running a little late (as usual). we said "see you later" and went on our way.
At work I mostly worked on a couple collages that need to be done by wednesday. I ate lunch with my coworker Kasumin and she invited me to go to an international fair later this month and also told me about some awsome used clothes stores in tokyo that she wants to take me to. After lunch I had a meeting about the year long students staying in japan and we talked about some of the students issues and at the end of the meeting Kasumin and Yunkeru (with whom i had the meeting) complimented me by saying that I was very knowlegable about home stays and i had offered a lot of good comments and they look forward to having me help through out the year saying that I had so much experience and all that jazz.
I was able to finish all the collages that night since i stayed late. I made reservations last week for a table for 4 on monday night at a near by egyptian food place called Luxor that also serves you a hookah after your meal. Me and 3 of my coworkers strolled out of the office together at 6:50 since its so close to our office. We had such an awesome time. Ot was really expensive, but i really feel like it was worth it. I miss smoking hookah but also it felt like I could bring part of boston right into the heart of tokyo to share with my new friends. They also mentioned that they have heard of hookah bars in tokyo and said "kinoko chan, we will make you a Tokyo Hookah Map so that you can enjoy many different kinds of hookah bars in tokyo" everyone is soooo kind here.
Yesterday I finished a survey project I've been working on since I got here, cleaned my desk and kind of got to relax a bit. I went shopping in shibuya for a couple hours. I found a store that is exactly like mexicali blues on the other side of Tokyu Hands not far from my office. I plan on going back there when I have money. I went into a couple stores just to pass the time before heading back to the office to attend Chack's hippo family club.
I had a couple mishapps with my train ride home again since I wasn:t paying attention (reading and listening to music) so I didn:t get home until 11 and didn:t get to bed until 1:30.
Tomorrow I will go with my hippo fellow Waka chan to Karuizawa, north of tokyo. It is going to be a lot of fun and most of all, really relaxing (access to a hot springs bath for 24 hours straight)
send me some comments! they brighten my day!
ja ne
xoxo
jess
aka
kinoko chan
Yesterday I finished a survey project I've been working on since I got here, cleaned my desk and kind of got to relax a bit. I went shopping in shibuya for a couple hours. I found a store that is exactly like mexicali blues on the other side of Tokyu Hands not far from my office. I plan on going back there when I have money. I went into a couple stores just to pass the time before heading back to the office to attend Chack's hippo family club.
I had a couple mishapps with my train ride home again since I wasn:t paying attention (reading and listening to music) so I didn:t get home until 11 and didn:t get to bed until 1:30.
Tomorrow I will go with my hippo fellow Waka chan to Karuizawa, north of tokyo. It is going to be a lot of fun and most of all, really relaxing (access to a hot springs bath for 24 hours straight)
send me some comments! they brighten my day!
ja ne
xoxo
jess
aka
kinoko chan
Monday, October 6, 2008
Posts on the way
I:ve been really busy this week but it:s been a great week and i want to share with you all the joy ive had but ....like i said...ive been so busy. posts coming soon...
tonight i hope!!
stay tuned
ja ne
(ps, if you haven't noticed, my apostrophes are always colons because the keyboards are different here and i'm so conditioned to use shift + pinkie finger but on japanese keyboards its located as the shift+7..bear with my typos as i adjust)
tonight i hope!!
stay tuned
ja ne
(ps, if you haven't noticed, my apostrophes are always colons because the keyboards are different here and i'm so conditioned to use shift + pinkie finger but on japanese keyboards its located as the shift+7..bear with my typos as i adjust)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
October Breeze
The past couple of days at work have been pretty nice. I've been working on various collages for the upcoming 4H conference in the states. We even had a day where we rearranged the whole office and I was in charge of shredding all the old files they hadn:t gotten around to disposing of. I've gotten into the habbit of going somewhere in shibuya or ikebukuro after work, even though after about an hour of being alone in the crowds I start to feel lonely and make my way home. I think one of the most facinating things is going into Seibu or 109 where there are so many little stores that are style specific and have some outragous things. But my problem with clothes shopping in Japan is that I don:t have a Japanese figure. It:s very frustrating, but good for my wallet i suppose.
Yesterday was a pretty exceptional day though. I woke up kind of late, ate a piece of toast and then my host mom and I hopped on bikes and rode to the train station. (the best part about riding bikes in japan is that it is SO FLAT) From there we went to Nerima where we switched to the Toei Oedo line and got off at Hikari Ga Oka. From the platflorm we rode up the escalator 4 floors through an enormous shopping center to the NHK floor and where I will be having my Japanese woodcut classes. My host mom and I had the opportunity to watch in on the class for about an hour and a half before deciding to take it or not. The professor is a very skilled artist as I mentioned before and the class has 5 students (not including me) which means I will get an opportunity to have one on one time with him, but unfortunately he doesn:t know any english, so I've got to work my hardest to communicate with him. But it:s a visual class, so I'm hoping it will be easier. I:m looking forward to starting a week from next.
We grabbed lunch in the mall before making our way to the nearby park. Okay..little history lesson: Hikari ga Oka used to be a WWII army base that remained there for quite a while afterwards (as occupation) before being turned into a huge park with a library, sports center and bird sanctuary. Surrounding this park are several skyscraper-like appartments whose occupants rush to the park on a nice saturday afternoon like yesterday. It was really nice to be around trees and to be in a park atmosphere.
from there I went straight to my hippo family activities in Hibari ga oka (not to be confused with the place mentioned above...Hikari ga oka...confusing? tell me about it!) At hippo we spend about 45 minutes dancing to various songs (with really interesting coriography) and then we try imitating stories in various languages (including english and japanese which we all get a good kick out of acting out very dramatically), we try to recite stories in other languages without the cd and then it:s sharing time. Our evening clubs have a lot of members so our meetings usually run from 7 to 10 (which is pretty long for hippo). We have a large number of highschool and college age kids in our club, which seems like a huge advantage, but right now it feels more like tease. I miss my friends in Boston and Maine all the time but on saturdays it seems to feel real serious. I cant talk with anyone my age, i don:t know what to say or talk about, and they are extremely shy towards me. It makes me feel kind of sad since all I want to do is be friends with them but the obsticle seems much bigger than i had imagined. I just keep telling myself to be patient, it will all come in time. Afterall, this month gives me some opportunities to get to know them outside of Hippo. I'm going to a Barbaque with some hippo members, visiting a printmaker's house with Yuyu's friend and her daughter, and I'm going to a hippo member's double touch tournament (if his team wins they go to the world championship games in NYC). I'm looking forward to all of this and hope that it will break the ice a bit.
today I'm going to the Kabuki za in Ginza to see a Kabuki play with my host mom and Waka chan. I'm really excited to watch kabuki since it's so beautiful and interesting. its long though...its like 4 hours of old Japanese (like shakespeare..but japanese) but it should be a lot of fun.
anyway, i should grab some lunch. we need to be on our way in a little bit.
ja ne!
Jess
Yesterday was a pretty exceptional day though. I woke up kind of late, ate a piece of toast and then my host mom and I hopped on bikes and rode to the train station. (the best part about riding bikes in japan is that it is SO FLAT) From there we went to Nerima where we switched to the Toei Oedo line and got off at Hikari Ga Oka. From the platflorm we rode up the escalator 4 floors through an enormous shopping center to the NHK floor and where I will be having my Japanese woodcut classes. My host mom and I had the opportunity to watch in on the class for about an hour and a half before deciding to take it or not. The professor is a very skilled artist as I mentioned before and the class has 5 students (not including me) which means I will get an opportunity to have one on one time with him, but unfortunately he doesn:t know any english, so I've got to work my hardest to communicate with him. But it:s a visual class, so I'm hoping it will be easier. I:m looking forward to starting a week from next.
We grabbed lunch in the mall before making our way to the nearby park. Okay..little history lesson: Hikari ga Oka used to be a WWII army base that remained there for quite a while afterwards (as occupation) before being turned into a huge park with a library, sports center and bird sanctuary. Surrounding this park are several skyscraper-like appartments whose occupants rush to the park on a nice saturday afternoon like yesterday. It was really nice to be around trees and to be in a park atmosphere.
from there I went straight to my hippo family activities in Hibari ga oka (not to be confused with the place mentioned above...Hikari ga oka...confusing? tell me about it!) At hippo we spend about 45 minutes dancing to various songs (with really interesting coriography) and then we try imitating stories in various languages (including english and japanese which we all get a good kick out of acting out very dramatically), we try to recite stories in other languages without the cd and then it:s sharing time. Our evening clubs have a lot of members so our meetings usually run from 7 to 10 (which is pretty long for hippo). We have a large number of highschool and college age kids in our club, which seems like a huge advantage, but right now it feels more like tease. I miss my friends in Boston and Maine all the time but on saturdays it seems to feel real serious. I cant talk with anyone my age, i don:t know what to say or talk about, and they are extremely shy towards me. It makes me feel kind of sad since all I want to do is be friends with them but the obsticle seems much bigger than i had imagined. I just keep telling myself to be patient, it will all come in time. Afterall, this month gives me some opportunities to get to know them outside of Hippo. I'm going to a Barbaque with some hippo members, visiting a printmaker's house with Yuyu's friend and her daughter, and I'm going to a hippo member's double touch tournament (if his team wins they go to the world championship games in NYC). I'm looking forward to all of this and hope that it will break the ice a bit.
today I'm going to the Kabuki za in Ginza to see a Kabuki play with my host mom and Waka chan. I'm really excited to watch kabuki since it's so beautiful and interesting. its long though...its like 4 hours of old Japanese (like shakespeare..but japanese) but it should be a lot of fun.
anyway, i should grab some lunch. we need to be on our way in a little bit.
ja ne!
Jess
ps. check flickr
Thursday, October 2, 2008
NEW CAMERA
Yesterday was my pay day, so to celebrate I bought myself a brand new camera. I desperately needed one and Japan is the perfect place to buy nice electronics for a nice price. My host mom and I made our way to Bic Camera in Ikebukuro to make my purchase. 2 weeks ago we went shopping there so I could get a couple little things. We took a few minutes to look at the cameras and get an idea for prices. I picked out a really nice FujiFilm camera that was only like $260. We took a pamphlet home with us for future reference. When we went back yesterday the price of the camera had gone up to $310, which seemed a little too much for me so I had already started looking at other cameras for cheeper, but my host mom wasn't so ready to give up on my first choice.
She asked a sales person for assistance and asked why the camera was so expensive now. She explained to me that his answer was that on the weekends it:s cheeper and during the week it:s more expensive. she said to him "that's unbelievable! i can:t believe its so expensive" and so on. the sales clerk said "please wait a moment, I will go ask about it" and when he came back he announced that i would be able to purchace the camera for $260! I'm so lucky to have a Japanese Host mom from Osaka, where the people are known to be persistant barganers. yay!
check it out here:
http://fujifilm.jp/personal/digitalcamera/finepixf100fd/design002.html
It's a 12megapixles, 5x optical zoom whith a huge LCD screen, large menu and it is really small.
So with that being said, I have new pictures up on Flickr from my new camera, follow the link from the previous post. I'll probably be taking more pictures now that I'm not embarassed of pulling out a really old and broken camera that takes forever to load and bla bla bla.
anyway, things are going well, I'm feeling great and I'm really looking forward to this month. I have a lot of interesting plans coming up. The first one being my japanese wood cut class. I get to go observe for 50 minutes and if I like it I can sign up. My host mom found the teacher's website and he looks really awesome. I looked him up on wikipedia and found out he's the president of the Japan Print Society and teaches at a really famous art school here in Tokyo. I'm pumped.
here's another link
http://www.itowtakumi.com/en/index.html
Also, this is a side note, but I'm watching a really funny show on TV with my host mom right now about an aspiring business man who gets the help from ganesh on his quest for success. http://www.ytv.co.jp/yumezou/index.html
That's all for now!
ja ne
~Jess
She asked a sales person for assistance and asked why the camera was so expensive now. She explained to me that his answer was that on the weekends it:s cheeper and during the week it:s more expensive. she said to him "that's unbelievable! i can:t believe its so expensive" and so on. the sales clerk said "please wait a moment, I will go ask about it" and when he came back he announced that i would be able to purchace the camera for $260! I'm so lucky to have a Japanese Host mom from Osaka, where the people are known to be persistant barganers. yay!
check it out here:
http://fujifilm.jp/personal/digitalcamera/finepixf100fd/design002.html
It's a 12megapixles, 5x optical zoom whith a huge LCD screen, large menu and it is really small.
So with that being said, I have new pictures up on Flickr from my new camera, follow the link from the previous post. I'll probably be taking more pictures now that I'm not embarassed of pulling out a really old and broken camera that takes forever to load and bla bla bla.
anyway, things are going well, I'm feeling great and I'm really looking forward to this month. I have a lot of interesting plans coming up. The first one being my japanese wood cut class. I get to go observe for 50 minutes and if I like it I can sign up. My host mom found the teacher's website and he looks really awesome. I looked him up on wikipedia and found out he's the president of the Japan Print Society and teaches at a really famous art school here in Tokyo. I'm pumped.
here's another link
http://www.itowtakumi.com/en/index.html
Also, this is a side note, but I'm watching a really funny show on TV with my host mom right now about an aspiring business man who gets the help from ganesh on his quest for success. http://www.ytv.co.jp/yumezou/index.html
That's all for now!
ja ne
~Jess
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