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

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