Long Days make for Long Weeks

It's probably impossible to really update you on everything that has happened in the last couple weeks since I've been keeping so busy. But if I don:t do it now, I:ll only have more to tell you next time I get the chance to write things down.
Thankfully, I already wrote about last week in my personal journal. After work I went to a nearby cafe called Shoto Cafe and spent over an hour there just writing, drinking coffee and enjoying their delicious cake. In between bites, here's what I wrote...
This weeks Highlights

• Saturday (11/15)

I would have to say that my favorite par tof this day was going to Hikarigaooka koen after my hanga class. Class usually puts me into a very relaxed, calm and speculative mood. So when I went to the park I spent my time just thinking about life and language. I thought a lot about the nature of language. NOt so much about human language though but more about the possibility of language as a quality apparent in all life forms. Do plans use a type of language that humans don: thave the capacity to comprehend? I want to further explore these ideas through my art.

• Sunday (11/16)

I had so many English interviews! Oh man..it was to tiering! But for lunch I decided to go out alone to relax and rejuvenate but I didn:t really know which place to eat at. I was standing outside the hippo office trying to decide what direction to set off on. I decided left and as i was setting off, the restraunt next door caught my eye. For some reason it was the first time i had really acknowledged it. The restraunt's name is Dexee Diner (and they have a few locations around Tokyo which is nice) but was covered in "SKYPE" shwag which makes it obvious it is sponcered by skype. I decided it was well worth the try since it was so close (and I like skype). It was a really great experience! The food was worth the price (￥1,000/ $10ish) and the atmosphere was really rad. They have a large table with several chairs for individual parties or large size groups. On the table they have a large spread of art magazines and pamphlets from which I stocked up on. I give it a thumbs up, and I:m really happy it:s right next to my work.

• Tuesday (monday was boring..) 11/18

Since I worked over the weekend I got 2 days off staring on Tuesday. I went to Nanako:s house for the first time since I got to Tokyo. It was really great to go back to such a comfortable place. It made me happy that I already knew how to get around in their house. well...sort of.... you see After eating brunch with Nanako and her grandparents, Nanako said she wanted to go to Yoyogi park with her dad and her new dog Issac. As I gathered my things and made my way donw stairs, I had forgotten how narrow and steep their stairs were. I slipped at the top of the stairs and went bumping and sliding all the way down on my right side. At the bottom I stayed on the floor for a few minutes just focusing on my breath and trying to breath my way through the pain. My body took quite a blow. I have several bruises on my right side (右は　全部　いたい！！！）The worst one is on my thight and is probably the size of my shoe and a wide variety of freaky looking colors. (but mostly purple) But we had a lot of fun at the park nonethe less. I enjoyed running around with Issac and enjoying the fall scenery with Nanako and her dad. After we got back and ate a huge dinner, I played Wii Mario Party with nanako and her mom ( I won! Yay! but just barely) and celebrated our reunion with a few glasses of champagne. I look forward to going back to their house very soon.

• Wednesday (11/19)

This is one of my longer days this week. I went with Nanako's grandparents to the nearby train station and we went to Ueno together. I met up with 3 of my friends from my Hippo Club (all of them have been on a year long exchange program. Konchan-Germany, Minori- France, and Daichi- USA) At first we spent a while in Ueno park trying to decide where to go since it:s so central to all of the museums and attractions in Ueno. They kept saying "what should we do...jess, what art museum do you want to go to?" but i felt like it would be borning for 4 people (my same age) to go to an art museum together...instead I felt like it would be better to go to Ueno Zoo since I'd probably get more chance to socialize with them. They seemed a little suprised with my decision but seemed happy to go none the less. And although I thought it would be a good day for talking with them, it wasn't a talking day for me. (i go through phases...talking phase when I feel confident using words and listening days when I absorb words but can:t yet use them) I was able to learn some new words related to animals (color, size, body parts) for example, we saw a giant turtle and I said "大きい！”　(pronounced ooh-key) which means "big"　but they seemed a little confused but when they saw the turtle they all exclaimed "でかい”　(pronounced deh ka ee) which also means big but I guess it is more common to use dekai when you are speaking and ooki when you are writing (hense why the second one doesn:t have a kanji)

• Thursday (11/20)

Before my host mom left for work she noted "today is a very fine day, maybe you can see Mt. Fuji on the seibu sen from the right side". I thought that it would be nice to catch a glipse of mt. fuji but thought it would be imposible since there are so many buildings that get in the way of any view of the horizon. Plus I haven:t seen Mt. Fuji the whole time I've been here so I assumed that it would be a difficult thing to catch. But I made a point to stand on the right side of the train nonetheless. I situated myself so that I had a good view out the window and sure enough, at 富士見台駅 (Fujimidai Eki or Big View of Mt. Fuji Station) the snow covered icon stood large on the horizon towering over Tokyo:s buildings. IT seemed strange to me that I had never been able to see it before since it was so huge and obviously visable that day. But since Tokyo generates a lot of smog and is usually very humid or cloudy, it:s impossible to see Mt. Fuji since it is actuall pretty far away from Tokyo. In any case it was great way to start my day!

After eating lunch at work I attended a 国利か (kokurika or Forien Culture Activity) at an elementary school with a Hippo member, Conzi. I had a lot of fun at this kokurika since we just played games, made origami and had fun together. I was basically invited to be a Japanese kid for a day which was great. I also taught them some American school games. But the most interesting part of Thursday came after.

I told Conzi that I wanted to go to Ikebukuro afterwards which seemed to worry her a bit. Although I figured it wouldn:t be a problem since I can now use the trains very easily. Especially the JR lines which is what I would be using to get to Ikebukuro.

When we got on the Chuo Line together, She explained that I would have to change at Shinjuku to the Jr Line. She asked "do you know the JR Yamanote line?" and I thought this was such a silly question and i thought "Of course! I use it every day, are you kidding?!" but I just politely replied "yes, I know it" but I could tell she didn:t believe me. The train was fairly packed for the majority of the time. It had been experienceing some delays and made longer than usual stops at each station. At one stop while we were waiting, Conzi turned toa group of boys who were chatting near by and asked, "今、どこ行く？" (Where are you going now?" to which they replied "池袋" (Ikebukuro...same as me) Pleased with their answer she excited replied in Japanese "Jess is going to Ikebukuro too but she doesn:t know how to get there, can you please go with her to Ikebukuro?" They were obviously suprised but agreed. Meanwhile I was covering my face and shaking my head "私は　大丈夫だよ！" ("I'm Fine!!!) but she didn:t seem to care what I thought of the situation. so with a bow and a "宜しくお願いします”　"Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu" (what you say when asking for a favor and what you say in response when you have accepted to do a favor for someone) the deal was done. Before conzi got off the train at her stop she reassured that they would help me and was on her way.

Afterwards we (the boys and I) exchanged glances that read from both sides "This is a little akward...what should we do?" When the train cleared out a bit they sat down seperately from me but close enough so I could catch some of what they were saying. Mostly I couldn:t understand but I heard "what should we do? I can:t speak english! your english is really good, you talk to her" and so on. I thought this was pretty hilarious but i felt bad for them since I actually didn:t need their help but we were obligated now. So I composed a good sentance to say to them to assure them that 1. I can understand and speak a little Japanese and 2. I'm not a total dunce.

When the train reached Shinjuku I looked to them and with a smile said "lets go!" in Japanese. As we stepped out of the train I said to the nearest boy "すみません､　おばさん　は　ちょっと　しんぱいした　でも　少し日本語　が　わかる” (Excuse me/Sorry, that lady was a little worried but I can unerstand a little japanese) Completely shocked he replied enthusiastically "日本語　うまい！" "Japanese! Amazing!" so now that they didn:t need to worry so much about trying to use English (which most japanese young people hate) questions came flying at me in Japanese. On the escalator going up to the next platform though one boy asked in slow English " Can you play tennis?" it sounded straight out of an English text book. I chcukled a bit at the randomness of the question but said, "No I can't. Can you?" and not realizing I had just set him up for it he replied with both thumbs up "Yes I can!" (just like Obama) to which we all had a really good laugh at. His friend sarcastically congradulated him on his English as we made our way down the growded platform.

We stood in line for about 5 or 8 minutes although it felt like much longer. We formed a small circle and they asked me all kinds of questions but I was able to answer back which made me feel really great. I even fired a few questions at them. I asked, "Are you all studying at a University?" when they all answered yes I asked "What are you studying? Tennis? (half joking)" but was suprised when they all shook their head "yes" and the English speaking representitive said "We are on the tennis team" (english)

Soon enough the train arrived, already packed with people so we seperated into 2 cards since we all certainly couldn't fit into one. Me and one of the boys were squashed together against the door, but as we started moving he said , " We only have one stop to go" we talked a little more and it was really funny to see people s faces near as as they started staring at me with funny looks. At shinjuku I parted ways since I felt like they were going to use a different line and I honestly didn:t need their help. I said thans and was on my way.

what an experience!

• Friday (11/21)

Thursday night I stayed up really late preparing something to eat for Friday:s Thanksgiving lunch party at work. I mad e a pumpkin roll for the first time but I think it turned out alright. Our Thanksgiving party was really awesome. Everyone contributed something and ate for almost 2 hours. Kasumin said that it was the biggest party tat she:s seen in the office since she started working here 3 years ago. I really felt like it was Thanksgiving since my cowerkers feel more like a bnig host family. I felt really thankful to have so many great people supporting me. It was my first thanks giving using chopsticks and eating so many rice dishes, but it was delicious and filling nonetheless.


And that:s just last week. The weekend was even more eventful and this week has been non stop. But i feel like this post is long enough already. Maybe after lunch if i:m not busy I:ll write about this week. But tomorrow I will have a lot of time to write about this week since I:m taking the shinkansen to Kyoto!!

This weekend I have english interviews in Osaka on Saturday but tomorrow i will take the shinkasen to Kyoto and stay the night there. On sunday I will move to Osaka. i look forward to seeing Kyoto again, especially since this season is one of the most beautiful seasons to be in Kyoto (next to the number one which is obviously Spring) I really hope to go to Fushimi Inari again since last time i went it was raining and because it:s my favorite place in all of Japan.

So I guess you:lll have to look forward to a very long post sometime next week.

maybe...


haha anyway, I:m doing well and I hope everyone in the states are too!

I miss all of youuuuu!!

Love,
Jess

Bikes, Prints, Shopping, and more

I'm finding that it:s hard to find time to update my blog but i hope to get back into the habbit of updating more. But as I kind of expected, as I settle into my life here, i find everyday activites to be normal and therefor not pressing to write about. But i know you are all eager to hear from me and so I:ll do my best. がんばりますね！

Every so often though, my normal routine turns out to be a particularly interesting happening..like when things go wrong (for example). Or when they go supprisingly well.

Everymorning I struggle to wake up (yeah..suprising huh?) and I:m usually running a bit late. On days that I:m on time I walk to the train station but other days I ride my bike. after 5 minutes by bike, I arrive at the parking garage. I have to plunk ￥100 into a machine which prints out a sticker I have to put onto my bike to verify that I paid. The bike parking garage is quite a sight. There are rows and rows of bikes packed in as close as they can. Each bike has it:s own slot which can be tilted from side to side to allow better access to other bikes on either side. each row has a corrasponding number so you can find your bike when you come back. In the morning there are attendants who take care of your bike for you by putting it in the rack and then taking out your key and happily saying "Thank you, Return Safely!" One particular moring, I was really tired and not really paying attention, i didn:t really take note of where my bike was or what number rack I was at but it was near where I usually put my bike so I figured that was all i needed to remember.

That day I was really busy at work and then I went shoppnig for halloween for a long time by myself afterwork. It was pretty late by the time i got back to Hoya station. I walked towards where i figured my bike was and started looking for the 3 main features of my bike: a light blue color, a broken bell and a sticker of my host sisters highschool on the back wheel cover. I walked down the row that I usually put my bike and hwere I thought my bike was and was suprised when I didn:t see a bike that matched those three features. I walked up and down the same row again, this time looking more carefully but still...nothing. So I walked around some more going up and down rows, stopping to observe any bike that was the same color as mine. But none of them had the same broken bell. I spent an hour searching each rack for my bike. THe whole time i thought " my bike must be here! i have the key! where is itt???" I checked the rack i thought it was on several times until finally, the last time I went by looking not for the bell, but for the high school sticker. Sure enough, it was on the rack I thought it was but my bell had been removed. I then remembered that my host mom had my bike fixed earlier that week and I hadn:t noticed that she also had my broken bell removed.

now i have a right blue towel tied to my umbrella holder. i don:t have any problems now hahaha

Last saturday was exceptionally busy for me. I had to go into work early in the morning to conduct a couple english interviews. I had to wake up at the same time I do on a regular week day (7:30am) and made it to Shibuya with fewer people (but not by much). After the interviews I went straight to my moku hanga class. I enjoyed relaxing to the sound of wood being carved and a gentle flicker of sunlight on my desk through the tree covered window. My moku hanga class is very quiet and meditative. I brought my prints from last years print series to show to my teacher and to my classmates. One girl in my class is a high school student who is very friendly. By the end of class I was able to exchange phone data with her in hopes that maybe some day we can go do something fun together.
I had some extra time on my hands after class and since I just got my paycheck and desprately needed new shoes (my black and green flats started to smell bad from weathering the humidity, rain and constant use every day...and I need boots for the rain and snow) pants and wallet (I spilled soy sauce on my old one) so I went shopping for a few hours.

Hikari ga oka has a huge shopping center. I spent a lot of time wandering around looking for boots and wallets that weren:t made out of leather. I found a pair of boots that I believe are made out of fake leather and made my way around the center looking for pants or a skirt i liked. I found a nice pair of pants and tried them on..but they were far too long but they fit well at the waist. I thought this was strange since I:m not much taller than japanese people and they all seem to have pants that fit perfectly (lenth wise...no one cuffs their jeans or has torn up pant legs) In the dressing room, I cuffed the pants to the desired length and decided that I could live with them being cuffed.

I brought them to the sales counter and paid. I stood there waiting for my bag when the sales person pulled out a ruler and measured the cuff i made. I thought this was slightly strange, why would she want to know the length of my cuff? After measuring she wanted to confirm that it 7cm was okay. I realised then that perhaps she was going to be hemming them for me and asked if I could try them on again, since i wanted tomake sure it was the right length. I tried them on again but this time the sales person helped me. Afterwards she said "come back in one hour to pick them up" I was happily supprised that my jeans were going to be tailored to my size and thought "this is an excelent store!" But when I talked to my host mom and told her how awesome it was that they hemmed my pants she said "of course! we always have our pants hemmed when we buy them" and suddenly it became obvious that it was very normal and acutally expected that you would have your pants hemmed to the appropriate length. bt of course...in the states its not really the same. you only get your pants hemmed if you are renting a tux or something.

Later that night i went to hippo club. It was unusually big and I was able to talk with a lot of people which brought on a lot of good feelings for me. 2 elementary school girls suddenly became good friends with me, clinging onto my arms and asking me non stop questions in japanese. they also really enjoyed playing a hand game i thought them (double double this this) The atmosphere of the club was really great and I looked forward to showing my hippo friends my new prints.

After the activities were finished, I pulle dout my prints to some people but more and more people came over to see them. They were rolled up in a tube and therefore very hard to hold open by myself and easily snapped back into being curled. I was enjoying explaining about my prints when suddenly the lights were flickering on and off and people (waka chan,and a few other people near the door) were saying "Hurry! Lets Go! Lets go! Hurry!! whos shoes are those? shoes? whos shoooes? whos bags??" it was very clear that it was time to go so I tried my best to roll up my prints but as I was doing so, several people at the same time were rushing me, pushing prints into my hands and trying to assist me in rolling my prints. The sound of so many people yelling and rushing me a long with the lights flickering on and off I got really nervous and sort of frustrated. As i tried to put my prints into the the tube, it didn:t fit. So i tried rolling them up again, but it was too big again. But as i kept trying, people got more anxious around me. at this point i was trying desprately to just roll my prints tothe right size but my surroundings made me really nervous and i ended up ripping one of my prints in the process. My mood switched completely as i stared down at my ripped print and listened to the constant barage of japanese being yelled at me. I gave up trying to put my prints into the case and just grabbed up all my stuff, put my shoes on and made it down stairs before I started crying. It was a really overwhelming feeling that surged up suddenly. Why didn:t they listen when I said I was fine, that I was going as fast as i could? why couldn:t they leave me alone after I was starting to get ready to leave? don:t they realise that these aren:t just posters, they are my art and i care very much about them and want to take care of them, it can:t be rushed," all of this and other thoughts filled my head as i sat on the stairs crying. I tried to explain myself but it was all too much. we made our way home and the whole time i was thinking about my favorite print that was now practically ripped in half.

i talked with my host mom later that night and eventually felt much better as i could express my feelings. I wasn:t upset so much that my print was ripped (although that contributed to my frustation) I was frustrated with my inability to properly communicate with people that " Yes i understand its time to leave, but i:m doing my best, i:m going as fast as i can, please wait," as well as the whole situation being very stressfull after such a long day. I appologised for crying so much to my host mom and explained that it wasn:t a big deal that my print was ripped, but i was overwhelmed by the situation.

In better news

I went shopping in Harajuku with my friend from Hippo which was a lot of fun. We went on Culture Day which is a public holiday in Japan. It's a sort of comming of age day for 3, 7 and 9 year olds to celebrate by going to the shrine and wearing a kimono. We went to Meji shrine which is the most famous shrine in Tokyo and was expected to have tons of kids there. We went pretty early in the morning so there weren:t a lot of people there but the kids who were there were increadibly adorible. Afterwards we had lunch and pushed our way through the crowded shops of Harajuku. I didn:t see too many people dressed up since most of that takes place in Yoyogi park.

After wards I went shopping by myself in Ikebukuro. i went into one shop and was browsing around when an attendent came up to me and said in english "Can I help you?" and to my own supprise i responded in japanese "Ah! Ego dayo ka!" "Oh, in english!?" to which the atteneded was suprised and said "oh! you speak japanese! excuse me!" I was able to cary out a fairly long conversation with her about an article of clothing i had selected to try on. "Chou kawaii deshyou!!?" ("it's really cute isn:t it?) I said after I tried it on. When I went to the counter to pay she asked me more about where i was living, why i was here, for how long and the like. She was really impressed with my japanese and to be quite honest, I was supprised as well. My japanese seems to come in waves. I seem to have periods where I can understand things being said to me and can respond appropriately....and then there are periods where i struggle to speak and understand only a handful of words being said. But after these dryspells, I always emerge from them being able to speak a few more more words and a better understanding of the proper way to use words i had learned before. It:s an interesting feeling...this whole language aquisition....but i enjoy it.

I guess htat:s a long enough post for you guys for now


i appologise, my writing abilies are getting worse as i start to forget english words and grammar....aahhhhh
gomeneeeeee

ja ne

Jess
Kinoko Chan

ps. CHECK FLICKR!!!!!