TenMoTokyo: 10 Months in Tokyo

Five O'Clock A.M.

2008-07-05T13:14:00.001-07:00

With a little over ten more days left in the semester, I'm really busy with the final inching towards the finish line. Exams, reports, trying to hang out with old friends (and last ditch attempts to make new ones).

I'm going to miss Japan

Shounan Yosakoi～♪

2008-05-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

So that dance team I'm a part of, Tokyo Hanabi? We had our first dance festival of the season, the Shounan Yosakoi Matsuri 2008, and we won the award for Best Naruko Performance~!　　鳴子 (naruko) are the wooden clappers that we dance with. We were all pretty excited to win an award!

It was a really incredible experience, you can see our dance performance here:

鳴子大賞の東京花火っていうよさこいチーム＠平塚市の湘南よさこい祭り２００８
ステージパーフォーマンス

よっさこーい♪♪

2008-05-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

So I have been doing cool things lately!

By a random and sudden sequence of events, despite the fact that I had decided not to join any clubs and wanted to just study hard and focus on my grades this semester, I joined a dance team at the very end of April called Tokyo Hanabi. The style of dance is known as yosakoi, which is an extremely high energy festival dance usually performed in large groups. Basically, I get to wear a badass costume and play with a fan called sensu or wooden clappers called naruko (no, not Naruto!) and hang out with a bunch of wonderful people.

Everyone on the team has such a fun and upbeat personality and we're all practicing really hard for our first performance on May 25th -- Shounan Yosakoi, in Kanagawa. Unfortunately, I joined the team nearly a month later than all the other newbies so I've been working really hard to catch up with everyone else in order to appear in the festival. We have regular practices Tuesdays and Saturdays from 7~9PM and every other day of the week there is independent practice from 6~10PM... so basically I have been practicing nearly every day since the day that I joined! Hopefully I can learn the routine well enough to perform by the end of this month~

Here's a video of a combined performance by the two yosakoi teams at my school, Tokyo Hanabi and Odori Zamurai, at the Waseda 125th Anniversary last year. (I was actually sitting at the front of the audience during this performance. Little did I know that six months later I would be joining this team! >:O) The dancing doesn't start until about 4:30 into the video so I recommend loading it in your browser and then watching.

ボッカ・プリン ...or That's Not a Water Balloon, It's Dessert

2008-04-27T04:04:00.000-07:00

There was a weird looking tube sitting in my host family's fridge, filled with what looked like water balloon shaped mochi.

Well, after dinner (鮪丼 and a piece of 海老フライ) 母さん brought out the weird tube -- that, now that I think of it, vaguely resembles a canister of tennis balls -- and asked me if I would have some プリン (pudding) from Hokkaido. Apparently, you pierce the balloon with a toothpick and eat it with caramel sauce. Well, I've had water balloons explode on me before and let's just say that I did not want to be covered in pudding.

(Photo: Bocca Purin)

I chickened out on the first stab, but the second time I got it. To my relief, the purin didn't explode; the wrapper snapped right off, and I got to enjoy the most delicious purin I've ever tasted in my entire life. Admittedly, I haven't sampled a great many number of puddings, but this one was so creamy and delicious with the caramel sauce lending it just the right amount of sweetness that I feel it's safe to declare Bocca Purin among the best.

2nd Semester! ...or Back into the Crush of Classes

2008-04-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

(Photo: Killing time between classes in the Bldg 22 PC Lab)

April 9th and we've just started our spring semester; it looks like I'm carrying about 18 units this semester - three SILS lecture courses (International Law, Comparitive Econ, and a Japanese Poetry class) at 4 units apiece, できる日本語６A (3 units), and three Japanese electives at 1 unit each - 大愚コミュニケーション５,発音４E, and 漢字５E. Because I'm taking 6 units of Japanese this semester, when the classes transfer back to the CSU they'll be bumped up to 8 units, pretty sweet deal.

FYI, the add/drop period for Japanese starts today and ends two weeks from now; the SILS add/drop period, however, doesn't start until next Tuesday and ends next Saturday. It's kind of lousy since you don't get much time to decide whether or not you actually want to stay in the class, but, interestingly enough, you have until the end of the semester to decide if you want to take a class as pass/fail rather than for credit!

I guess it's kind of nice to be back in classes again... but boy did I enjoy 2 months of vacation just doing whatever I felt like! >_<

(Edit: I'm a bad girl; I dropped 出来る日本語６A and switched into 4A instead. Because I'm lazy.)

The Total Language Immersion Experience...or So You Thought You Could Speak Japanese

2008-01-31T16:22:00.001-08:00

Before coming to Japan for the first time, I'd taken about three years of Japanese and gotten A's in all my courses: I was always at the top of my class, received high scores on tests, and was all-around doing very well ...or so I thought. And then I came to Japan, where I realized that I could barely speak Japanese.

Everyone spoke so fast; I couldn't figure out how to say the things I wanted to say and when I did, I made mistakes that I knew were wrong even as I said them; and there were so many kanji EVERYWHERE.

I guess this is what they mean by total language immersion.

Anyway, after about half a year, I feel way more confident in my Japanese abilities. My listening comprehension has gone through the roof; I can even watch ドラマ now without English subtitles (though I still like watching with Japanese subtitles on). I can understand much more kanji than I did a year ago: even when I don't remember the exact reading for a kanji, I usually comprehend the meaning. And I've lost a lot of my shyness when it comes to conversing with others (especially when drinking, haha) and hesitate a lot less when speaking.

Don't get me wrong, though, I still have so far to go in my learning. When I leave Japan in a few months, I won't have daily interaction with native speakers, so all my learning will go back to classroom and independent study. But I won't give up! My goal is to someday get so fluent that people get surprised 「あっ！日本人じゃないの？？」 Haha, a girl can dream, right?

Kimono!! ...or $3000 that I Really, Really Wish I Had

2008-01-31T05:49:00.000-08:00

(Photo: Kimonorific!)

Before I came to Japan, I didn't have much interest in kimono. Really. I mean, sure, I thought they looked pretty but I didn't have any particular interest in them. However, with this year's 成人式 (seijinshiki, Coming of Age Day), seeing all the girls in their beautiful winter kimono made me feel that I really wanted to try it as well. When I talked to my friend Kozue about it, she said she would take me to a department store and try some on!

So we went today and it was really wonderful fun. <3 I wish they weren't so very expensive, haha... I'll never be able to afford one of these. In the pictures to the left, you can see me in the sample kimono they have in the store: the sleeves are way too long and the obi too wide!! But it didn't make any difference at the time because I was too excited～

Eating Around Baba, Pt. I

2007-11-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

My host mom doesn't really cook, so I end up cooking at friends' houses or eating out. A lot. So I thought I would talk about some of the places I frequent~

やすべえ (ya-soo-bay) is a really awesome noodle shop and one of my favorite places to eat. Exiting Takadanobaba station, head past the big box and at the ロッテリア beside The Hub (English pub), make a left. At the next street, make a right--there should be a コンビニ on your right. Walk straight down the street and you'll soon find the noodle palace known as Yasubee on your left!

Their specialty is つけ麺 (tsuke-men), a type of noodle dish where the soup is served separately in a bowl and the noodles are served chilled on a platter and you dip them into the broth as you eat.

The thing I really like about やすべえ　is that 並　regular, 中　medium, and 大盛り　large noodle sizes are ALL THE SAME PRICE. So you can eat a lot here at no extra cost!! Of course, I wouldn't recommend eating the large (I've tried, ugh) and even the medium can make you feel too full. The best flavor is without a doubt the 辛味つけ麺 (karami tsukemen), which is really flavorful with a touch of spiciness. If you really like it hot, then ask them to double the spiciness, it's free~ Also make sure to request the 味玉 (aji-tama), a flavored hard-boiled egg that's really savory. ^_^

久しぶり！　I'm Such a Slacker...

2007-11-14T21:18:00.000-08:00

I've had so many great experiences in Japan since I arrived two months ago. Though I'd intended to update my blog constantly, that plan fell through as soon as I landed at Narita, haha. To make up for it, I'm making a list of things to discuss here in the near future.

My host family, housing arrangements for CSU students
How to sign up for the Waseda gym
Commuting - get a teiki/PASMO/SUICA
Getting a cell phone
Maintaining a long distance relationship
JASSO - a really awesome scholarship

I'll try to do a better job of posting here from now on.

サンマルクカフェ！ST MARC CAFE ☆

2007-09-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

If you ever seen the logo for サンマルクカフェ (St. Marc Cafe) in the morning, STOP. And go in for breakfast!

My hotel roomie Chelsy and I both missed the breakfast buffet at the Sunroute Hotel. Ugggh, even though I woke up early, I am way too slow getting ready in the morning! >:O But Chelsy was super awesome and grabbed me something yummy on the way to orientation at Waseda. What a sweetie~ ♥

They call it the びっくりタマゴ (bikkuri tamago), and it's ham and egg baked together in a flaky croissant-like pastry--so good! I hear that I'm supposed to lose weight in Japan, but if I keep eating these things I don't think I will. XD It's weird, because I dislike breakfast and usually can't stand ham, but for some reason this was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten, kyaaa.

Cramming Your Already Sensorily-Overloaded Brain with Tons of Info, or... Orientation Week, Day One

2007-09-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a very loose recap of my first couple of days in Japan... My memory's kind of fuzzy on the details, but let's see how much I can remember.

Day One
Incoming CSU IP students! When you stay at the Hotel Sunroute Takadanobaba, make sure to partake in the breakfast buffet because you get free vouchers and the food is hardcore yummy. The first morning I spent too long getting ready so I was only able to run in the last five minutes and grab something really quickly. T_T

It was raining and I didn't bring any proper shoes for the rain so my feet got absolutely soaked through! (My hair has also frizzed like CRAZY, which sucks because it takes forever to iron it.) Because it was raining, we took a bus to Waseda, which Kazaoka-sensei paid for and toured the campus just a little bit. We stopped by her office on the 3F of 6号館 (Bldg 6) and picked up our orientation materials. She passed out some plastic portfolios, and it was funny because there were only two colors: pink and black... and not nearly enough black ones for the people who wanted to receive them. So I got stuck with a pink one, as did a bunch of guys, haha.

We then headed over to 19号館 (Bldg 19), which is the building for 国際教養学部 (kokusai kyouyou gakubu) the School of International Liberal Arts or SILS, where we will be taking most of our classes. I sat next to a random person so that my new friend Bora could sit behind me. Turns out his name is Erek, he's been in Japan for a while already, and his cell phone is the awesomest shade of blue ever!

For lunch, a bunch of people came over from the International Circle 虹の会 (Niji no Kai) and took us out to lunch. I met the nicest girl ever named Kiki★ and a few other really nice people; we all went to 松屋 Matsuya together, which is a fast-food gyuudon place. [For the record, I should just say that most of the fast-food gyuudon/donburi chains are all pretty terrible... Matsuya, Yoshinoya, Sukiya; you can get way better gyuudon at most any mom-and-pop gyuudon restaurant in Japan and for fairly affordable prices.] The rest of the day was spent walking around the Baba (short for 高田馬場　Takadanobaba) and Waseda area, and checked out a hyakkin, or ￥100 shop. The nickname comes from 100円均一 (hyakuen kin'itsu), which means "everything for ￥100."

When evening rolled around, we headed to an izakaya by our hotel called 天の天 (Ten no Ten). While Bora and I waited for everyone else, an oyaji walked by and totally ogled my chest because I was wearing a tank top... and I decided to never wear that camisole in Japan again. Which brings me to my next point: Girls in Japan expose very little of the upper body. If they do wear a camisole, it's layered over a light long-sleeve! I've seen plenty of J-girls wearing long-sleeve shirts, even in the ulta humid summertime.

At the izakaya, I tried beer for the first time and couldn't handle the bitterness, haha... ^^; I headed back to my hotel room early since my first attempt at drinking was a failure and watched some "A Clockwork Orange" with Kelsey before she had to head back to her room... And then someone knocked at my door. I opened it to find a large crowd of people and my roommie Chelsy who'd had too much to drink and had to be carried back. Everyone was really glad that I was her roommate (have they already suspected that I'm responsible?!) Erek sat in the corner making funny comments the whole time. Then everyone finally left, and I got to take care of Chelsy which wasn't actually that bad since she's super sweet-★

Flying to Japan

2007-09-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

I intended to write this back in September when Ifirst arrived and my memory was still fresh... but there's something about Japan that keeps me too busy to blog, haha. Anyway, here is what I can remember about my first international flight, and I hope it will be of use to someone.

I booked my flight through Travel Cuts, which arranged group flights for CSU IP: one out of SFO, one out of LAX. (I flew out of Los Angeles via United Airlines; the round trip ticket was just under $1000) We were allowed two pieces of luggage (up to fifty lbs a piece), a carry-on, and one personal item like a purse or laptop. A word of caution - if you do max out your luggage, make sure you can carry it... mine was way too heavy for me. ^^; Luggage carts at LAX cost a few bucks, and I didn't have any more American money on me / didn't want to pay for it anyway, so I suffered.

The seats on the plane were terribly narrow, even for me, and I'm a really small person. The flight took ten to eleven hours and included two meals (one on departure, one on arrival) and one snack break. Because I'm really antsy about flying and it was my first international flight, I panicked on takeoff; so I took some Dramamine and was knocked out for at least six hours. It was kind of embarassing because I fell asleep during the dinner meal, and when I woke up again the flight attendants had taken my tray away!

During the flight, you fill out an immigration arrival card and a luggage declaration form. Since my family was going to send me my winter clothes once I arrived in Japan, I had to declare that I had unaccompanied articles and submit two copies of the form.

When I finally arrived in Tokyo, it was a long walk from the gate to Immigration. I had a little bit of trouble since I didn't have the address of the hotel where we were staying for the CSU IP orientation. (However, it worked out okay since I was able to get the address from other people in my group.) They look at your passport and check your visa, etc. No big deal. Once through Immigration, the other CSU students who took the LA flight and I picked up our luggage, and we found out that at Narita International Airport luggage carts are free!

From the baggage claim area you head through Customs, where they ask if you have anything to declare. I submitted my forms stating that I would have unaccompanied articles; Customs took one copy and returned the second copy to me to keep until my extra baggage arrived.

From there I walked down a hall and when I came out into the general area of the airport, there was a group of students from 虹の会 (Niji no Kai) and WIC, two international clubs, there to greet all the CSU arrivals. Kazaoka-sensei was also there with a print-out of all our photos so she could recognize us, along with Koshino-sensei, the CSU representative for this year.

We took a chartered bus over to Takadanobaba, where our hotel (Sunroute Takadanobaba was located and had dinner at Shakey's Pizza, much to everyone's amusement.

Japanese Visa

2007-08-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

On August 22, Aaron and I went to Los Angeles to apply for our visas to Japan at the Tokyo Consulate, located at the California Plaza II building on the 17th floor:

350 South Grand Avenue, Suite 1700
Los Angeles, CA 90071

I had to submit one passport photo along with the Visa Application form and two copies of a Certificate of Eligibility (received from Waseda). They're open 9:30 to 12PM and 1PM to 4:30, and you have to first sign in at the front desk then take the elevator upstairs. Parking in the building is ridiculous, so we parked a block down the street for just $5.

It takes two days to process a visa, so they were ready to be picked up on Friday the 24th.

Less Than a Month to Go

2007-08-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

I've been busy working this summer to save up money for Japan. Since I last updated, here's some news...

Financially, I'm all set to go. Though I didn't get the Boren Undergrad Scholarship (poo), I did receive the JASSO, which I wasn't even expecting since I didn't actively apply for it! (I was automatically submitted for this scholarship through CSU IP.) I also applied for two student loans: a Stafford loan and a private student loan through my bank Wells Fargo. Between my loans and my existing National Merit Scholarship and California Governor's Scholarship, I should definitely have a cozy time in Tokyo.

I received my voucher in the mail for my plane ticket. I'm flying United on the group flight arranged through IP by Travel Cuts. The round trip ticket cost was $979, which means that there will be someone to greet me on arrival at the airport. They're also chartering a bus to take us and our luggage to the hotel, yay. As for my return flight, I requested a different date from the rest of the group. I'm going to stay in Japan until the 25th of July, so Aaron and I can relax together away from any school responsibilities for a while.

I was supposed to go to the Consulate in LA today for my visa, but that plan got crushed so it looks like I'll be doing that next week instead. I'm a little bit worried since I'm beginning to cut it close, but it's only supposed to take three days to arrive. Hopefully, that will go through smoothly. According to the website, there aren't any fees for US Citizens to get the visa, which is nice because I feel like I've paid a million fees already, heh. I still need to finish the pre-paid program cost, but all of that is pending my loans, so... now I'm just waiting.

I haven't done too much trip shopping yet, but I'll have to start soon. I have picked up luggage, TSA-approved locks, space bags, a new external HD, and a few bags for carrying different things; but I haven't picked up anything like toiletries and such yet. I guess I'm just putting all that off until the last moment. I've also got to start thinking about what clothes I'll be taking with me now and what I'll have shipped to me later.

I can't believe there's less than a month to go!

The Thick Letter

2007-04-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Oh my god, I got in! I got in!!! I checked the mail today, and it was the thick envelope. I'm going to Japan!

Waiting Anxiously

2007-03-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit quiet after my previous post. Since then, I've submitted the Waseda essay (which is separate from the CSU IP essay) after several painstaking nights of typing. The forms were on A4 paper, so I had to use a typewriter. Unfortunately, on the last night before it was due, my typewriter ribbon ran out of ink, so one of the pages of the application was slightly crooked as opposed to the neater copy I was in the middle of redoing when the ribbon died.

I'm supposed to find out whether or not I've been accepted by April 15th. In the meantime, I'm crossing my fingers!

IP Interview

2007-03-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

I just had my interview for study abroad today, and I think it went super well! I tried to stay calm going in, and everyone was super nice. I'm glad that I contacted a lot of people before I went into the interview because I was absolutely prepared and it went without a hitch. I'm writing down the details to help other people who might need to prepare for the IP interview in the future.

I dressed up for the interview in a skirt and nice blouse, and the interview panel (Cecilia from the study abroad office and four volunteering CSU professors) was also sporting dressy-casual. We started with introductions, and then the questions began. Here's a summary of the things they asked me:

What classes do you intend to take in Japan, and how does this contribute to your major?

What's the greatest thing you hope to gain from your studies abroad?

How does going to Japan relate to your future career goals?

What is your main worry about going to Japan?

How have you prepared yourself for going abroad? Have you contacted any program alumni?

Financially, how are you preparing to go to Japan?

Name a challenging event in your life that has helped you.

What interests you culturally about Japan?

Talk about Japanese current events.

Question about the Japanese Empress.

Application Stress!

2007-02-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

So I already submitted my application to the CSU IP (International Programs), right? Yesterday in the mail I received a separate application to Waseda itself. Nobody mentioned that there was a separate Waseda application! (I should have figured, but since no one breathed a word about it, I kind of took it for granted that I might have to fill out another for Waseda itself.)

And now I'm all freaked out because this is Waseda we're talking about, with their fancy forms that need to be typed on or neatly printed, and I now also need to find a typewriter. In addition, I have to write a three page essay, argh! I know that all I need to do is combine and rewrite the multiple essays that I've already done for IP and NSEP, but I'm still nervous. I'm also working on getting a passport since I've never traveled ever. I'm researching online all the details, and it doesn't look too difficult. I just need to make sure to do this quickly!

So I'm just a tad bit stressed out at the moment. Thank God that I took a lighter courseload than usual this semester so that I could focus on applying to study
abroad.

Oh, yeah, I submitted the NSEP Boren Undergrad Scholarship application. I'm crossing my fingers on that one!

NSEP Boren Scholarship

2007-02-05T00:16:00.000-08:00

I just finished my application to the IP program, which was due on February 1st. Now I just have to wait for my interview with them. Other than that, things left to do at the moment are 1) apply for a passport 2) do my taxes so I can update my FAFSA with the correct information 3) finish my application for the NSEP Boren Scholarship.

Asking for a Recommendation

2007-01-14T01:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I forgot to post about some progress I've had on the application process for studying abroad. The IP program requires two faculty recommendation, one of which must be within your department.

Well, I approached Dr. Martinez, my poli-sci professor, and Kataoka-sensei, who teaches my Japanese advanced conversation class. Dr. Martinez used to be on the IP selection board, so he gave me some tips on my essay. He said that the board is interested in how studying abroad will help me in my future career, so I should make sure to discuss my interest in working in the field of US-Japan relations.

It was harder to meet with Kataoka-sensei, but I finally got to ask her to be my reference during the one-on-one oral final for my Japanese class. Before we started, I asked if I could discuss something with her and brought up my intentions to study abroad. And then I asked her if she would please write me a recommendation letter. Awesomely enough, we learned in our conversation class how to make that very request, so I got to put my skills to use.

推薦状を書いてくれないかと思いまして．．．
suisenjyou wo kaite kurenai ka to omoimashite...

Which translates to something along the lines of "I was wondering if you would please maybe do me the favor of writing me a recommendation letter..." After asking some questions on when the due date, etc. was, Kataoka-sensei agreed to be my reference (yay) and even better -- since I had done all this in Japanese, she said I had completed that section of my oral and it wasn't necessary to do the role-play she had prepared.

Now I just have to finish my application and get my transcripts prepared. I'm nearly done, though I still need to write the essay question, which I haven't even begun to work on yet. I want to submit my application by Tuesday (Wednesday at the latest) because the faculty recommendation requests won't be sent out online until my application is submitted. As long as I submit by Wednesday the 17th, that should give my profs about two weeks to work on it. And faculty recommendations are due Thursday, February 1st.

First post, testing out my new blog TenMoTokyo!

2006-12-05T06:45:00.001-08:00

I am a third year college student, currently in the application process to study abroad for the 2007-2008 school year at Waseda University (wiki) in Tokyo. I'll be there for approximately ten months, thus the name of the blog, and I will be living with a host family.

I intend to use this web log to keep in touch with friends back into the states, to share all the interesting things I discover in Japan, and to keep track of my research for my senior thesis. I just attended an application workshop last week, so I am working on that at the moment. I'll make sure to update when anything happens, but I'm sure that most of the interesting stuff won't happen until I'm in Tokyo.