A Tokyo Year

Watching the Clock

2009-05-24T01:40:00.002-04:00

This week has been absurdly busy for me, mostly due to the fact that a Professor from MIT (Dr. Suzanne Flynn) is visiting Tokyo to give a set of talks about her research in the feild of language and language learning which, as it turns out, happens to perfectly support what Hippo Family Club is already doing. I think the people here at Hippo are looking at this as a huge break and hopefully will help the public realize the ease of naturally aquiring a language vs. studying. And more importantly, the importance of learning other languages and supporting a multilingual enviroment. The United States boast diversity but really, most Americans are only exposed to English when we have the opportunity to nurture a multilingual enviroment. Anyway, I have been busy getting ready for her to arrive and yesterday I went to Narita to help welcome her to Japan. Besides that, we are having a big workshop tomorrow and I am on of the MC's and I am a native english speaker so I have been doing a lot of english checking and translating this week. On top of that, I have been to 3 different hippo clubs this week. I have come home around 10pm every night (sometimes later) It has been an exhausting schedule but I am really enjoying it.
I'm busy, but I enjoy getting to meet with people, talk with them and feel like I am apart of something. Part of the reason why i am busy is now I have made a lot of friends and we are realizing i don't have a lot of time left before I leave so I want to make sure i get to spend time with everyone.

anyway, that's all i can write for now
but i'm doing well

Some words

2009-05-11T23:35:00.002-04:00

It's May which means I am in the the last 3 months of this year long experience. It has been a long time since I've strolled through boston with a Tealuxe cup of matte in my hand or pushed off in that wonderful red cannoe in North Waterboro. But I know that as soon as I come back from Japan I'll be reminicing about the inari zushi from 7-11 and being able to get to anywhere I want just using the trains. But really what I miss the most from the states are the people and I know it'll be what I miss the most from here.

We recently had a long vacation called Golden Week at the begining of May. My host family and I took the opportunity to go to Gunma-ken (where my host dad's parents' house is) and Nikko. It was my first experience traveling with the twins but we actually had a fantastic time. I actually think I prefer sight seeing with kids, or atleast Fu and Nori. We jumped up and down all the stairs around the temples and ran around the more open areas and sang songs while we walked or skipped. They held my hands the whole time and I really felt like we spent some good quality play time together.

When we sat down for dinner on that first night at the hotel, Fu chan started saying "I want to sleep in Jess's room! I wanna sleep in Jess's room!" since I had a room to myself that had two beds. " I wanna sleep in Jess's room because I love Jess! I wanna be with Jess!" You can't get any more welcoming than that. But dispite her demands, her mom had the final say and insisted that she sleep with everyone else. What was really suprising to me though was that when we went to the hotel, it was the first time in Nori and Fu's lives that they have slept on beds! ever since they came home from the hospital, they have sleped with their parents on a futon. I guess my host parents were a bit worried about how well they'd handle the beds but they ended up being okay. (but Nori is a squirmer and almost wiggled his way off the bed a couple times since he usually just tumbles around the room in his sleep)

We spent a couple nights at the grandparent's house in Gunma and of course ate lots of food and got lots of sleep. overall it was a fun and relaxing Golden Week vacation.

Last night I was cleaning up my room since I have little storage in my new room, it has a tendancy to get messy really quickly (nothing new really). As I dumped out all my clothes onto my bed for refolding and organizing, the twins came running in demanding an explination. After letting them know I wanted to clean up my room, Fu-chan's little eyes lit up "ishyoni yaru?!" "wanna do it together?" at first i was hesitant since it's hard for me to explain where I want certain things but we started with my clothes. Fu-chan has already been helping her mom fold the laundry so this was perfect for her to do. She set to work folding but meanwhile Nori-kun had different ideas about what "cleaning" meant and set about further messying my room. So i handed him a deck of Doraemon cards to keep him busy. Nori got a little bored with the cards so he decided that he'd help out by setting up a fan and a radio, which actually was really helpful. Fu and I were an efficiant folding team and got the task done in pretty good time. While we were folding clothes, Nori-kun kept himself busy having dialouge about a game he invented for himself with the cards. I don't really know what he was talking about but I did hear him say a few times "powaaaa aaappu! (power up)" followed by some really intense sound effects. When we had finished folding clothes, we tidied up my desk so that we could have a spot to play Babanuki (Old Maid). Card games are still a bit too difficult for them to grasp (openly saying "I have the Maid!" when the cards are dealt, and having issues puting only pairs down, instead of three of a kinds) but we mannage just fine. Just as we finished our second round it was time to eat. As we left my room, Fu Chan grabbed up my hand and said " I wanna sit next to you, Jess because you are so nice!" and we made our way to the dinner table hand in hand.

Coconut and Cherry Blossom Trees (super long post)

2009-04-09T01:19:00.007-04:00

Yep. It is definitely spring! It is in the uper 60's, blue skies and a soft breeze. Today I went with people from work to Yoyogi park to have lunch under the falling cherry blossoms. It is truely amazing how such gentle wind can give birth to such a heavy shower of flower petals. I have pictures on the way but they don't do the feeling any justice. truely amazing.

But today, what I really want to write about is my experience sitting under coconut trees in Thailand last week.

I went to Thailand from the 26th of March until the 4th of April. It was such an awesome time, I can't wait to go back!
The night before departure I stayed at one of the group leader's house since she lives closer to Ikebukuro where we would change trains a few times and eventually get to Narita. The next morning when we managed to scramble out of her house around 5am, a few snowflakes fluttered above our breath. We missed the first two trains by just a hair which set us back pretty far and we ended up getting to the airport half an hour late. As we made our way through passport check, I was pulled aside since I had joined the rest of the group in the Japanese Citizen Only line by accident and I was asked in English (its been a while since someone has spoken to me in English outside of friends and family) "Excuse me ma'am do you have a Japanese Passport? No? This line is for Japanese Only" It was a bit shocking and embarassing. But thankfully, it wasn't just me, Ipuni (the woman i went to the airport with) is Korean so we got to wait together in the extremely long "foriener" line. And as we boarded the plane the airline staff said "ohaiyo gozaimasu" to the people in front and behind me but "good morning" to me. I guess it really doesn't matter what language they greet me in, but within the group i felt seperated(which isn't a very good thing in Japan) But I just laughed it of. Actually, on the way to Bangkok, the airline staff didn't speak Japanese so I could help out when they talked to the kids in English.

We took Singapore airlines which has Amazing service. The meal was actually filling and the inflight entertainment center was sweet. They had a hand set that could also function as the channel remote and a game controller. I played some Game Boy Classic Kurby for about half an hour before playing a Thai Language learning game until finally I decided to just watch movies. There were probably like 20 different movie channels and you could pause, rewind and fastforward. I watched a bunch of new movies like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (on the return trip), Secret Life of Bees, The Day the Earth Stood Still and clips of a couple others that I dont know the names of. The strange thing about watching these movies is that because they were in English, I got really really sucked into the emotions and the stories. (I hardly ever cry at movies but I cried during the Curious Case of Benjamin Button like 3 times and once during the Secret Life of Bees) Probably because its been a while since I've understood what was coming out of a television.

From Japan to Thailand, our flight path took us right over Mt. Fuji. The birds eye view is probably my favorite view of Fuji-san. And flying over Thailand was really spectacular too. Green covered Mountains, rivers farms and villages spread out below us. the sky was riddled with the most volumous and fluffy looking clouds I have seen in a while. At one point the plane passed through what seemd like a cooridor of clouds towering over us. As we got closer to Bangkok you could see long rows and clusters of l ittle monopoly looking houses all with the same color roof. (mostly red but there were green, orange and blue groups too).

When we entered the airport, a couple of monks strolled by and a band of young boys were playing traditional Thail instraments near the entrance. Jungle like flora was all around us and it finnally struck me that I was in Thailand. We took a 30-40 minute bus ride to the hotel. We spent the rest of the evening feasting on delicioius Thai food and chatting. The Thai host organization leader was really awesome. He was always smiling or laughing and cracking jokes. On our walk back to the hotel i noticed really strange light bursts in the distant sky that i couldn't quite make out but seemed like either fireworks, heat lighting or real lighting. I asked the Thai leader and he replied in Japanese with a huge grin " Oh that? It's just the clouds playing." ("それ？雲の遊び")

3/27 After eating a big breakfast, we met our host families and played games together. My host mom and I got off to a good start. We played a game wehre we had to hold a baloon between ourselves and our bost by the hip. And they taught us all how to say " I'm beautiful" in Thai("chan suai") which I often said when my host family took pictures of me as a joke. Afterwards, my host dad picked us up and brought us to a shopping mall where we met up with my host and her friends. We grabbed mango ice cream (with sweet green rice), and i bought some sandals for 90bahts (around 2 or 3 USD). We went to my host family's house where I unpacked my large luggage and packed a small bag for the following 3 days.

My host mom had told me soon after meeting me that they had made plans to take me to a rual place south of Bangkok to stay in their grandmother's sister's house. It took about 2 or 3 hours by car passing through rice and salt fields. Eventually we got to our first destination, Amphawa in the Samut Songkhram Province. This spot is most famous for the large floating market located there. My first experience in the market was pretty shocking. The amount of smells, sounds, sights and people were overwhelming yet facinating. The first 15 minutes we walked through a regular street with food carts busily preparing food along with some booths that were selling toys made out of coconut shells and the like. Eventually we reached a bridge and as we climed over it, the floating market was revealed. Some boats were packed full of fruit while other were cooking up fried rice or noodles. The mixture of smells was a bit much but it all comes with the experience I guess. Over time, as I visisted markets every day, I started to get used to the offensive wave of smells but the 100 humid weather doesn't exactly help matters out.
Around sunset we took a boat down the river to go firefly watching. The fireflies in Thailand only live in one certain kind of tree along the river. As the sky darked, it became obvious which trees they were living in. A delightlful flickering of light came from the leaves and one could have mistaken them for dim christmas lights set to "random". We spent about an hour and a half on the river before returning to the market and buying dinner to go. The car ride from the market to my host grand aunt's house took about 30 minutes but it really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. My host family and I cracked jokes about seeing ghosts in the forest and all kinds of other funny things. When we arrived it was pitch dark (something i dont see in Tokyo) and there were coconut trees all around. We ate dinner next to the canal in front of the house. After eating we all went swimming/bathed in the river with tons of bats flying about over head, and fish swimming around us. my host dad caught a small needle fish in his hand and jokingly threw it at me. But it was really amazing to be back in nature and away from the lights and sounds of the city. Soon after we got out of the river, we went to bed.

to be continued!

Nori-kun and Fu-chan

2009-03-09T22:56:00.003-04:00

The spring sun is out to play after a few days of rain and clouds. The plum blossoms have sprung out of the grey blanket of winter and it is time for change and rebirth. Sunday I moved into my new host family's house. I was greeted with running-start hugs from 2 twin 5 year olds (a boy and a girl) anxious to start playing. My new house is on the 3rd floor of an appartment building and is much smaller in size, but perfectly comfortable. I already feel right at home.

The Twins
Fumina (Fu-chan)
Fu-chan is a very bright girl. She really loves talking and singing. At the dinner table she is usually the main speaker (and the last to finish her food) She finds almost anything hilarious and is constantly busrting out in laughter over anything. When we were about to eat our first dinner together she came to the sudden realization that there are now more girls than boys in the house which was probably the most exciting news in a while. "yaaay! otonna team wa tsuyooii!!" "Yay! The girls team is the strongest!"she boasted as she broke out into a little dance (which was closely followed by bursting out into laughter) She really makes the home atmosphere light and fun.
Norifumi (Nori-kun)
Nori-kun is a little more analytical in his play (although he is prone to his own laughing fits) He really likes watching TV but even　more so, he likes telling me all about the program he's watching (who is related to who, who has done what and so on) even though I can only understand 40 percent of what he's saying. He has also spent some time telling me about some robot characters that he likes and explained to me that the cars in the parking lot "are all the same thing but they all have different marks!" (Nisan, Toyota etc..) He is much quieter than his sister but he keeps very busy

When they found out that I like to draw, nori-kun got out the pencils and fu-chan grabbed paper for everyone and we sat down and drew together on the first night. Before we started drawing they said (all in Japanese of course) "Jess, draw something you like, and we'll copy you" I suggested that they draw whatever they wanted to but it seemed that they wanted to draw whatever I wanted to. I drew the three of us and the results were more adorible than I could have imagined (my two biggest features are my eyes and hair) It was the first of I'm sure many "drawing time"s which makes me really happy. (I might even be able to use some of my art education knowlege) Some other games we've played so far are Rescue Team, Barbie Fashion, Building Tokyo Tower, pingpong, top spinning, and a little origami and more. I have a lot of fun playing with them even though I can't yet understand everything that they say (children speak much differently than adults..much harder to follow) but I have a feeling my Japanese is only going to go steaply uphill in the next coming months.

The kids are still in kindergarden and are just starting to be able to read and write. Yesterday Nori-kun was making a sign for their room that said "Nori Kun and Fu chan 's room" "norikun to fuchan no heya". He was having a hard time writing fu-chan's name so I helped him out and it was an extremely gratifying experience. I really feel like an older sister now that I can share such an important thing as how to write. I am so grateful that I learned how to write hiragana and katakana 5 years ago.

My host Parents
Host Mom: Emera
She is a Hippo Fellow (group leader) so we often talk about Hippo related stuff. I really enjoy talking with Emera because she is really light hearted, enjoys joking around and is genuinely a kind person. She has a lot of patience and i get a sense that she is really interested in listening to what I have to say. She is a very powerful yet extremely nice mother and I already have a lot of respect for her.
Host Dad: Masami
I haven't spent too much time with him since he is like the typical Japanese father, first out the door and last to come back home (both usually while everyone is still asleep) but on sunday when he was around, he seemed really kind. He asked me a few questions but mostly concentrated on playing with the kids which was really nice to see.

I am really pleased with my new host family situation.

I want to write more, but I am already late..I just wanted to throw a quick update up while I had the chance. (work is super busy!!!)

love and miss you all!

until next time (cause we all know it could be a while...)

ja ne!

Jess

Saikyo Line aka Psycho Line

2009-01-27T02:06:00.004-05:00

Just a brief little post about my adventures yesterday.

I spent all weekend in my futon trying to get my fever down. I had a temperature of 100.9 on Friday and it mannaged to work its way down to normal by Monday morning. I took a little extra time getting ready for work since I had permission to go to the Nerima City Office before going to work. I needed to get a re-entry visa for when I go to Thailand (but the travel agency needs it way in advance of course). Following my host mom's hand drawn map, I mannaged to find my way to the City Office only to be told that I had to go to the opposite side of the city to get my re-entry visa. I hopped on the train and made my way all the way to Shinagawa Station (about 15 minutes past Shibuya) and find the bus that would take me to the Immigration Office. I got in line for the bus behind a Mongolian Sumo Wrestler and infront of a very Russian old man. I think the diversity on the bus to the Immigration office was the most I've seen in one small area since I've been here, but I guess that makes sense after all.

The immigration office is much like going to the DMV. You take a ticket, wait in line, and the people at the counter look like they haven't had a good day in months. After an hour of being in the Immigration Office I was granted permission to get out of the country and come back again. yay! That was one big thing on my to do list that was scratched off my list. The bus ride from the Immigration Office was like taking a tour of the Tokyo Harbor Area. It was an unexpected chance to see huge barges, cranes, fork lifts, pipes and all the rest on a Tokyo scale.

Next, I needed to make it to the Olympic Center in Yoyogi before 1pm. There was a Hippo Workshop going on for Group Fellows (Chaperones who go with exchange groups) that my department had been working really hard on for the past 2 weeks. I mannaged to get to the doors of the workshop just in time to watch them open up and let everyone out. Oh well.. everyone said it was a lot of fun but reassured me that it was no problem that I missed it (since my visa is a time sensitive thing)

At work I stayed busy after lunch until about 5:30. After making a stop at the postoffice in shibuya I made my way to the station to make my way home. As I stepped up onto the Yamanote line platform, a man with a megaphone was announcing that the train headed towards Shinjuku and Ikebukuro had been severly delayed and directed everyone to use the Saikyo Line instead. The walk between the Yamanote line platform and the Saikyo line takes you through this wide walkway that resembles a large airport (with walking sidewalks and all). As I decended the stairs into the walkway, all I could see infront of me was a sea of people. In my experience of crowds in Tokyo, this ranked in the top 3. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, we all squeeeezed our way down the stairs onto the platform. (I really wish it had been possible for me to stop and take a picture but there was just no way in hell I was going to risk standing still in this kind of stampede, not to mention, i hate feeling like a tourist and whipping on my camera at every crowded situation in Tokyo...i feel it gets old after a while)

As I waited inline for the next train, I made it a point to take long deep breaths of the cold, fresh air (since the platform is outside) and thought "this is going to suck." We all filed on and just when you think that there is no possible way anyone else could possibly fit, 10 more people try to push on making it litterally impossible to move any part of your body. I had one hand on my messanger bag strap while my other arm was in a really akward possition away from me. I mannaged to pull it in but still only had half of one foot on the floor since my body was tilted diagonally and was being completely held up by the people around me. As the doors shut, we all tried adjusting a bit in preperation for motion when my headphones came unplugged from my cellphone. I thought " well I can't hear anything so maybe it came unplugged from the addaptor chord" because my cellphone has very powerful speakers built into the back of it. The train set into motion and every muscle in my body wished inertia didn't exist. Especially my left foot which was trying its hardest to keep me ballenced on the outside edge of my foot. After a minute or so (after all the jolting of leaving the station) I was able to get both feet properly on the ground. As the train reached its cruising speed, there was silence, and then a very audible primal "Ooooo-ooooiiiiooooo!". My once private music selection (Shpongle- A New Way To Say Hooray for those who know it) had now been made extremely public since my head phones had come unplugged from the actual cellphone. It was imposible for me to silence my phone because i couldn't move and my hand closest to my bag was full. I wrestled with ideas to figure out how I could get at my phone but decided that it was a lost cause. I just sort of laughed to myself at the situation and didnt get to worried about it. afterall...there was no way of telling where it was coming from although they probably could have made a really good guess. :)

Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted from the ride home last night. So I was really happy that my host mom and I watched "Field of Dreams" on TV after dinner. My host mom couldn't believe the amount of open space in Iowa (and how much corn there is). I was really excited to see that in the scene where Ray is driving in Boston, he drives right past MassArt! Anyway, it was a nice wholesom midwestern end to a long day in Tokyo.

I miss everyone a lot!

Love
Jess

Has it really been a month?

2009-01-15T20:57:00.003-05:00

あけまして　おめでとう　ございます！！　(Happy New Year!)
きょねん　も　よろしくおねがいします　(continue to help this year)

Here comes a broken record.....
"Sorry that I haven't written in a month...I've been so busy"

Alright, now that's over with...

Swa-dee-ka! (Thai for hello!)
I have started listening to the Thai language cd everyday during work and when I get home. I only have a month and a half until I make my journey to Thailand and I need to adjust my ears from Japanese to Thai (and try to pick up a few words here and there if possible) Afterall, I:ve been only using 5 vowels my whole life but in Thailand there are over 38....don:t ask me how that is possible....and lets not even talk about tonal variation

Christmas was totally different here since actually, christmas is most seriously celebrated only by couples (like a variation of valentines day since, they also celebrate that differently here too) But my host mom and I went to a jazz concert which was Amazing! I couldn't believe that the band we saw was my host mom's favorite band. It was a mix between ska, rock and jazz (extremely fast passed and the lights were out of controll) and what was even more suprising was to look over at my moderately conservative host mom jumping up and down with her fist in the air. But we had a great time. And when we got home, we finished the day off by eating the Christmas Cake (the single most important part of christmas in Japan) It was a chocolate strawberry cake...soooo good! Santa brought me a scarf, a bear(holding a moon) for my cell phone, tea, and chocolate.

New years was pretty relaxed despite my grand expectations for "Golden Week" At the end of December I had a couple "ぼねんかい”　("bonenkai" or end of the year) parties at work and at my hippo club. Despite the festivities I was feeling quite meloncholy and self consious for no apparent reason. But I enjoyed myself as best as I could. On my week off I spent a lot of time sleeping in, reading, and making my new years cards (ねんがじょう) which I did in wood cut. Its the year of the cow so I was able to make it pretty simple (black, white and green) so it only took me a couple days to make. As I was getting ready for making my new years card I made my way to a famous department store for craft goods in Kichijyoji (my new favorite place) called Yuzawaya which is the equivilent of taking A.C. Moores and multiplying it by 6 floors (not even kidding you) I just about died when I got to the floor for just drawing, painting and printmaking supplies (and just for the saftey of my wallet I completely avoided exploring the fabric floor). I also mannaged to find a pretty sweet 100￥　shop (like a dollar store) near by which was filled with all kinds of strange/cheep treasures.

On new years eve day I spent the day deep cleaning my room since it is extremely important to the Japanese to completely clean everything before the new year comes so that the New Year starts out with good feelings. I spent a lot of time looking at the stuff that I:ve accumulated over the past 4 months, whcih is mostly strange fliers, a couple magazines and other random things. I will be changing host families next month so I did my best to get rid of stuff that I really didn:t need. For dinner, Japanese people usually eat a very traditional japanese meal including carmalized sardines, pickled vegetables and all kinds of other strange things but my host mom made "nabe" instead which I was really greatful for (Nabe is a big soup that is kept hot on the table with a table top kerosine stove. the broth has a lot of spices and my host mom put in lots of mushrooms, tofu, daikon (japanese raddish), and other tasty things that I like. Those who are reading this who know my history of strange eating habbits might be suprised that I was infact happy to eat soup, something I had firmly placed on my "absolutely will not eat" list. I think it was all the ramen that I ate that made me change my mind.

I also celebrated Christmas/New years with the Nomi family which was a ton of fun. I really love going over to their house, everyone is so welcoming. Even nanako's grandfater said to me in his best english "you are my family" and we always have a lot of fun eating, drinking, playing, laughing and singing. We also went on an adventure to Akihabara, Electric Town, whcih was really crazy. I enjoyed it a lot because of how strange it was. There was a whole market place that had low celings, tiny booths scrunched in really tight selling very specific electric parts of all different sizes, shapes and varieties. One booth sold only switches, but was packed with every type of "switch" imaginable. Next door was a booth dedicated only to different kinds of computer board circuits, and another to wires. Totally strange, but awesome at the same time. I honestly expected to see a family of robots squeezing past to look for new parts to either use or eat (since it looked exactly like food market made out of electronics) I went out to eat in Shinjuku with Nanakos parents which was a really awesome experiences. I was able to have almost all of my conversation in japanese with them, something i couldn:t do when I came two years ago. I had a great sense of accomplishment after that visit with them.

Anyway, after eating diner my host sister who is in France called the house to wish us a happy new year. I talked to her for the first time which was really nice. I look forward to meeting her when she gets back. My host mom and I watched a countdown program on NHK which had all the major music artists perform one after another up until the countdown. But we got bored just watching singers so we had changed the channel to watch a comedy where a group of comedians were staying in a newspaper company office for 2 days and were not allowed to laugh or they would be hit quite forcefully on their back side by people dressed in all black (they resembled ninjas). We got pretty sucked into watching this show that we totally forgot that we were waiting to watch the countdown and when we finally got sick of watching the comedian show and switched it back, the confetti had already fallen and we looked up at the clock and it was 15 minutes after midnight. Oh well.

The next day we went to the nearby shrine to pay or first visit of the year and to wish for good things to come. The shrine we went to was the shrine to the god of studying. we had to wait in line for over an hour to pay our respects before heading back home. The next day we went to a different shrine (to the children's god) and then did a bit of post-new years shopping. Just like in the states after christmas, everyone goes shopping after new years because kids usually get lots of money from their parrents and so there are a lot of sales and what not. My host mom didnt't give me money but she bought me a sweatshirt and jacket (she insisted that she needed to buy them as a new years present since I am now like her real daughter) So we weathered the crowds to find a reasonably priced jacket that fit me. new pictures will be up on flickr soon so you can see my new jacket there. I dig it a lot.

On saturday the 3rd, my friend Lilla was expected to come to Tokyo from Boston. Her host mom, dad, younger sister and I met at Houya station at 12 on saturday to make our way to Narita, a 2 hour and 45 minute treck one way by train. We got there about an hour early but we were pleased to see that her flight would be coming in a half hour early. We decided to spend some time sipping tea in starbucks before waiting at the arrival gate. We waited anxiously for about an hour and a half, and she still hadn:t come out of the arrival gate. It was obvious that her flight had finished passing through customs and doubt sunk in. We tried to brain storm what could have happened and tried to go find her, thinking that she had gone somewhere strange to look for us. We even paged her several times (over the enire airport) and bugged the information people for all kinds of ideas to figure out where Lilla was. Finally, her host sister Risa commented that Lilla had written her phone number on her information sheet. after going through a long process of figuring out how to call overseas from my cell phone I called the number she had listed.

I wasn:t sure if it was her phone number or her mom's but i was certain that it was extremely early in the morning, boston time. But I called anyway. When someone picked up on the other line i thought for sure it was her mom since lilla only has a cell phone and wouldn:t be able to use it if she was in transit or in Narita airport somewhere. "Hello, is this Lilla's mom?" i said hesitantly, worrying that I was about to have to explain to my friends mom that her daughter was no where to be found. "no, this is her daughter" she replied "Lilla?" "Yes, this is Lilla, I'm sleeping, who is this?" obviously annoyed. "This is Jess...where are you?" "Boston" "Ohhh my godd......are you serious?" at that point I realised that there must have been a big mistake between time difference (even though her itinerary didn:t say she would be arriving on the 4th) and I realised that I had just dragged 3 people with me all the way out the air port, put them through an extremely stressful situation all to realise that she wasn:t going to be coming until the next day after all. After I ended the conversation with Lilla, we all had a big laugh at the situation but I still felt extremely bad since it was such a rediculous mistake to make on my part. We made our way home to attend a new years party at Waka chans house and laughed at all the craziness of the day.

Waka chan reasured us that this sort of thing happens all the time since Japan has such an extreme time difference to a lot of countries (americas and europe) and that people in Hippo are used to these sort of misshaps. it made me feel better but still....

But Lilla arrived on the 4th safely and I went to greet her at the air port with my host mom and it was so crazy to be able to speak in english with her but also to see part of my life in America very physically juxtaposed with my surroundings. She'll be going back home on sunday which is really too bad. I feel like these two weeks have gone by too fast. I took her to a lot of really interesting places and was able to talk to her about a lot of things that have been on my mind that I wanted to let out. I have found that my english vocabulary is dwindling a bit since I haven't been using it. But one very obvious thing was how much my Japanese has improved. I had to do a lot of translating for Lilla to catch her up with what was being said during converstations and to explain how to do a few things around her house and our schedule. One thing we found to be a huge obsticle during her stay here was our host families. My host mom and her host mom were constantly hounding me to tell them what Lilla would be doing while I was at work and wouldn:t take "she wants to go somewhere by herself" for an answer. They were extremely protective of her and we had a lot of frustrations about it. But over all, I had a really great time just talking and relaxing with Lilla. It has really boosted my spirits. But it is too bad that she is going back so soon.

I think that is enough for now. I will be posting pictures soon. (I already posted some from christmas and new years on flickr if you want to check those out in the mean time)

love, peace, dreadlocks and happiness!!

jess

sashiburi!! (long time no see)

2008-12-12T02:37:00.004-05:00

Wow.

Sorry!
It:s been far too long since I've written so I just wanted to drop a line telling you all that I'm alive a well!

Today is the Grand Cross full moon meaning that 4 planets will allign with the full moon. The december full moon is always the biggest and longest because of the position of the earth in its orbit but today's full moon is especially big since it is the closest the moon has been in 8 years (and therefore wont be this big again until 2016). Since I was born in June (Cancer) I have always been effected by the moon and its phases so I am really pumped about this full moon. Its a chance for me to recharge my batteries since lately I've been feeling exhausted, and meloncholy. Anyway...its a little off topic but I thought I'd fill you in on curren astrological news :)

Way too much has happened since the last time I updated to possibly try to write down here so I'll give you the highlighted events!

Hanno
My host mom was out of town for the weekend so I decided instead of staying in my house alone all weekend that it would be fun to visit one of my Hippo friends house. She is actually a hippo Fellow (leader) in her free time but her occupation is a childrens book illustrator. She prints etchings and then hand colors them with watercolor. I was really anxious to see her studio and her home but also looking forward to spending time with her. She's a really sweet woman and it always brightens my day when I get to see her. Her house is in Hanno which is a mountain side city that is just out side Tokyo, but it sure doesn:t look like it. Farm stands, old shops, and trees make it seem like a scene from New England. The house was shockingly cold but they had 2 karosine heaters with boiling water resting on top to heat the living room. (also the cats' favorite place) I enjoyed talking with Saki and her family about all kinds of things and had a really great time at their house. I stayed there 2 nights. One of the days I was with Saki we went to a hippo meeting and afterwards we went with a couple moms and their children to a near by shrine. The shrine is famous for its beautiful Maple trees and when we were there the colors were in their peak state. It was a sunny, slightly chilly autumn afternoon spent playing with leaves and playing tag with a bunch of kids in a shrine park. It was a wonderful experience. But the highlight of the day was when I spotted a tangerine tree at the top of the hill. We all enjoyed picking and eating the delicious fruit. Although they were a bit sour, the situation itself was sweet.

I made friends imediately with a little 3 year old boy who wouldn't let me leave his side. We sang songs, jumped around like frogs and picked as many different colored and sized leaves as we could. at the end of the day as we made our way back he looked up at me with big eyes and said "Kinoko...tomarareru?!" I looked at him with a blank look indicating i hadn:t understood what he was asking of me and he said again more slowly "to-ma-ra-re-ru??" And although i had no idea what he was asking i decided to just reply "tabun" (maybe). This response seemed to please him as he whirled around and shouted out to his mother (who was about 30 feet behind us) "Okaaasaaaan! Kinoko wa 「tomarareru wa tabun｣ te yuuuuuuu!!!" (Mom! Kinoko chan said maybe! (tomarareru)) He did a little dance and tugged on my arm before setting off sprinting..he was oviously very excited. So i let him run ahead with his sister and i turned around to ask his mom what exactly i had said maybe to. Tomareru means like to stay over or in my case, homestay. I was touched but honestly iwas far too tired to stay the night. However, the next day saki and I visited their house and played cards with them. The whole weekend was extremely heart warming and wonderful.

Next highlight
Kyoto/ Osaka

It was the second time going to Kyoto so I was excited to go back. When I arrived on the shinkansen (bullet train) platform I was greeted by a Hippo Fellow (Nick name: Leafy) who took me sight seeing. She asked me where I would like to go and I didn't hesitate for a second when I replied "Fushimi Inari" It's my favorite place in Japan and was really hoping I could go. So we made our way to Japans biggest shinto shrine. Last time I went was in the summer so when I arrived this time in late november it looked completely different. All the trees had changed color to match the towering orange Tori Gates. After climing a portion of the Tori covered mountain path, we made our way to a more modert shrine of electricity and transportation, Kyoto station. The architecture is amazing. We took a walk on the sky walk and had a great view of kyoto city.

I met with my host family soon after and we made our way back to their house. My host family was my host dad, mom, and two sisters (and one brother who has already moved out) One of the sisters is hoping to go to the United States next year for our year long program so i ended up interviewing her the next day (she was one luck girl, huh?) I enjoyed my time at their house talking and sharing travel experiences and interests. My host sister and I watched Pirates of the Caribean and Nightmare Before Christmas together on the Tokyo Disney channel (in English!!yay!) which was really fun. We both made comments on Jonny Depp of course ;)

THe next day in Osaka I had a few english interviews but mostly I enjoyed using my Osaka accent with the other hippo staff. That night i headed back to Tokyo pretty late.

Next Highlight
NAGOYA!
......
But i am actually kind of busy today so i:ll leave the best highlight for next time since it requires a lot of writing.

But i will tell you another little anicdote from today!
As I was leaving work and was on the train headed for home, I decided to stop in Harajuku. After all...a full moon on a friday night i thought Harajuku would be an interesting place to see. But as I was walking down the famous street bustling with anxious shoppers and shop keepers I remembered the last time i was in harajuku. I had stopped at a "hippie" style shop (like Mexicali Blues) and I had a coversation with the girl behind the counter. SHe was really nice to me then and was very impressed by my dreads. she had a few baby dreads that she was working on which made me really happy since not alot of peopel have dreads in japan. Today I decided I'd pop in and see if she was there and I also wanted to ask her about something she had mentioned before (some concert on friday nights in Yoyogi park)

I walked up the stairs to find the same girl smiling and happily saying "irashaimase!" (welcome [to the store]) I broused the racks for a while before finally aproaching her at the counter. She said in english "Have you been here before?" "yes I have" "I remember you!" "i remember you too!" "really? oh yeah! just a minute!" and she ran behind the counter and grabbed something. when she came back around she said "this is for you!" and she presented me with a pinkish orange glass dread bead. "it:s my birthday so I want to do something good for someone" as she said this she pulled out a dread and put it on me. I chuckled out of amazement and said "tanjyobi omedeto!" (happy birthday) and "thank yo usoooo much!" It was such a wondeful suprise. Plus, the bead looked familiar to me since a few weeks I found a glass shop in shibuya and bought a dread bead similar to it but blue. when i showed it to her we compared it and it is definitely from the same artist. we were both delighted by the coincidence. I am glad to have two beads in my hair that represent the color of dawn and dusk and i have them situated on my head in the same way (on either sides of my head) I stood there talking with her for probably 25 minutes. SHe can speak english well because she spent two years in canada so we mixed japanese and english to carry out a wonderful coversation. I explained to her that today was a special full moon and i was looking forward to celebrating by going to yoyogi park to see the concert she had mentioned. She solomnly replied "well the police are really strict now so there is no more party in Yoyogi park but there are other events you could go to" and she started researching for me.but all the places were far from my house and charged. But I did mannage to get the names of a few cafes that she reccomended and I showed her some of my prints (i happened to have them on me because tomorrow i will go to an elementary school to give a talk) All in all it was an amazing experience and I look forward to visiting my new found friend soon.

thats all for today!

love
Jess

Long Days make for Long Weeks

2008-11-26T20:26:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-05T23:02:00.007-05:00

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!!!!!

Ups and Downs

2008-10-24T23:27:00.002-04:00

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

Karuizawa, Japanese Printmaker, and Double Dutch Japan

2008-10-13T07:31:00.002-04:00

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

a new week, a new book of adventures

2008-10-08T02:14:00.003-04:00

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

Posts on the way

2008-10-06T21:32:00.002-04:00

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)

October Breeze

2008-10-04T21:41:00.004-04:00

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

ps. check flickr

NEW CAMERA

2008-10-02T07:21:00.004-04:00

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

Kareoke

2008-09-30T09:08:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-26T11:06:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-23T08:26:00.001-04:00

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

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

Quick update

2008-09-22T22:15:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-09-21T07:06:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-18T09:23:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-08T12:22:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-04T00:01:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-02T00:51:00.000-04:00

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.

Pre Departure Preperations

2008-08-30T23:35:00.000-04:00

As I prepare to embark on my yearlong extravaganza, I find myself swamped by to-do lists. Now that I've created this blog, I can scratch that off of my list.

look forward to more after the 16th of September