dinner

Alas, Makudonarudo

I finally succumbed to the calling power of McDonalds.

Current Music : "All Together Now" by the Beatles playing in my head after reading Dave's Blog
Current Mood: but there are so many

update

Who's a bad blogger?

Okay, you give up?
It's me. Today I updated you with a week of goings ons. My deepest apologies. I will make up for it with one more post that you have to read. HAHAHAHA.
But really, today I have the day off for Culture Day, another Japanese National Holiday. It's appropriately named enough that you should be able to guess what it celebrates.
I am still really loving working here. I love working with language. Just as I was really starting to yearn for literature, I got invited to a poetry circle on campus.
I've been exhausted for days because I had such a busy weekend. But I recooperated today!
I started Japanese Lessons!!! By Monday I am supposed to know the hiragana alphabet (recongition and be able to write them). I am also picking up a couple more words or phrases every week from talking with people. Language is so exciting.
Current Music : Sludge by The Grooves on Psychedelicatessen
Current Mood: Linguistic (otherwise happy)

Yokohama and Halloween

On Monday, Halloween, I went to Yokohama with my student and friend Ayako. We went to see Chinese Town, have lunch, and see the sea.

We got to the Chinese area and picked out our lunch, nikuman. They are bread balls with delicious meat filling, like what's inside of egg rolls. We also got desert of similar litte sweet bread balls, more like dough than bread though, with sweet seasame or coconut on them and filling.
We took our lunch a park on the sea side to enjoy it and the view.
That was when we met Mr. Hawk. Mr. Hawk was circling above us. Mr. Hawk began eyeing Ayako's nikuman. We didn't see Mr. Hawk watching us. Suddenly, Mr. Hawk swooped down over Ayako's shoulder, hitting her in the back of the head with his impressive wingspan, and grapping her nikuman. He dropped it, still in the bag, about 5 feet in front of us. Perhaps he wasn't expecting to get all of it, or for it to weigh so much. Ayako and I recovered from our shock, and we decided whether or not she could still eat her lunch. We ripped off the part that touch the ground, and the part that Mr. Hawks talons may have touched. And she continued to eat. We continued to enjoy the view of the harbor, and chatted as Mr. Hawk began circling again. I was watching him, but he is a master predator, and I am not used to being prey so we were unprepared as suddenly he swooped down again! Successfully stealing what was left of Ayako's lunch! Twice he attacked her! As the pidgeons began surrounding us (in a creepy "The Birds" way) to pick up the crumbs Mr. Hawk dropped, we moved to another bench. Ayako watched over my shoulder as I finished my lunch hunched over it and holding it close to my mouth (in a very "squirrel" way). I did offer her some, by the way. We watched as Mr. Hawk began circling over a young mother who was eating noodles and playing with her little boy. Ayako hurried over to warn her about Mr. Hawk. We didn't want him taking out a kids eye or anything.

The next stop on our visit, and we hurried there, was Minato Mirai, another city area with a big shopping area, a skyscrapper, and a ferris wheel.

I found a Wendy's! But we didn't eat there of course, having just eaten. Then we took the long train ride home, to get ready for a Halloween party.

I just couldn't not celebrate Halloween, despite being in Japan. So I invited over Perrine and her boyfriend, Marie, Marion, Ayako, and other students who couldn't make it. We had kind of a potluck dinner (I made tacos. Thanks Sarah and Thy!) wore costumes, and carved apples pretending they were pumpkins. Marie was a ghost; Perrine was a rocker; her boyfriend, Tristan, was a Japanese girl in a Hello Kitty (Kitty-chan) kimono; Ayako was Minnie Mouse; Marion was a chinese girl; and I was an Ipod commercial dancer.


Current Music : To the Rescue (Ode to a cop drama)
Current Mood: a little sleepy, it's afternoon nap time

School Festival

Too much food. . .
so much delicious greasy good food.
so full.
Here's the rundown:

Saturday:
fried soba (noodles)
churro
lemon churro
sausage on a stick
sweet bean soup
chocolate covered banana

Sunday:
Pancake with sweet bean paste
fried chicken on a stick
baked potato with butter, mayonaisse and black pepper

So what is the school festival? It is essentially like a fall festival celebrating the school. It is like part Homecoming, part school/church festival and part Discovery Day (with presentations of what they've learned or studied lately.)
I also got to watch the English speech contest (for which I had been busy helping students prepare for a couple of weeks.) They all did very well and I was very proud of them. Congratulations on spectacular speeches!
I got to see one of my students perform at the cheerleading show. They were fantastic! Seriously, very good. They could have competed with top American squads. They played versions of Hey Mickey, YMCA, and the strangest version of Saturday Night(I think originally by the Bay City Rollers) you've ever heard. Appearantly, the Japanese guy who sings "Pecori Night" dresses up like a cheerleader for the video and dances around.
I also went to a dance show for the college's hiphop dance show. The girls were very good! It was kind of like watching a music video being filmed, except it was all Japanese girls. I was surprised when the show was an hour and a half long! I hadn't expected it to be so long, but it was still very good and I enjoyed all of it!
Finally I went to the final festival show. The professor I am working with, Eugene Kohmoto, got me the tickets. I knew that the reason the show was so popular this year was that there was a famous Japanese actor who was to be there to be interviewed, Hiroki Narimiya, and that he is supposed to be very attractive. When I got there I realized that there were almost no males in the audience. I thought, "Kohmoto-senesei what have you gotten me into?"
The show was very enjoyable though. Even though it was in Japanese, there was another dance show, a funny MC, the famous guy, and the culmination of the Pure Lily competition (like Miss Shirayuri). I met up with some of my students at the end, so I had people to chat with while we waited forever to file out of the gymnasium.
I really enjoyed the festival and I was glad I was able to see so much.

This is a picture of me with one of my freshmen students, Ayumi.

Current Music: Norah Jones, Come Away with Me
Current Mood: Relaxed (this blue smilie is supposed to look cool or relaxed, but suddenly I think he kind of just looks blind.)

Akihabara

Last Friday I went to Akihabara with Kayo, Marie, and Perrine.
Akihabara is where to go in Tokyo to find electronics.
Perrine was looking for a digital camera; Marie wanted a pocket dictionary; and I was hoping to find a USB port speaker/microphone adapter. (Yes, it's clear who the geek is.)

I really liked the area, just like most of Tokyo. But we were a bit disappointed when we didnt find what we needed. If you don't find it in THE place to go electronics shopping, then where do you go?

Didn't stop be from taking a few pictures though!It's hard to tell but this one is a big billboard that says "Yellow Submarine" and has a picture of the Beatles Yellow Sub on it.








Current Music : "Favorite" by Liz Phair
Current Mood: cheerful

El Toritr

Mmmmmm. . . Mexican food and beer.
On Wednesday night of last week, I went with Kanami-san and Suruga-san to El Torito in Shinjuku. El Torito is a Mexican restuarant frequented by my predecessors and lots of Japanese people and Westerners. We ate family style, having chorizos, taco salad, a cheese sauce covered fajita burrito, and each sampled the Mexican beers they had available.

I will probably return once or twice with them while I am here.
Also, I got to see the lights of Shinjuku at night, which was nice.


Current Music : Music from Psychadelicatessin by Dave
Current Mood: groovy