Later That Day...

So, yet again I'm back early. This time was to save myself. I could have spent days in Akihabara - but I would be so broke if I stayed there anymore than the two hours I did. It's like an anime convention. Only bigger and it stays around all year. Plus it has everything anime under the sun. Anime beach towels, anime cups, anime figurines (this one is common), posters, magnets, keychains, EVERYTHING. However - it's all in claw machines. Yes, you read correctly. CLAW MACHINES. Like I said on Facebook - It's the world's BIGGEST and MOST EFFECTIVE otaku trap. I ended up blowing about 1500 yen trying to win my boyfriend a Rei figurine and a Monster Hunter creature-thing. He'd kill me if he found out though. He purposely told me not to buy him anything he could get off the internet or from an anime convention...><

I finished most of my souvenir buying for people other than myself...^^" The only people I have left are my parents, boyfriend and my boyfriend's parents. And I might get something else for my brother if something pops out at me. A lot of what I bought for people is general type things like folded fans, little figurines, wall scrolls, etc.

I stayed well within my food limit today. I only spent about...1500 yen today on food. But I blew it a bit in Akihabara, stupid attractive claw machines. The claws are waaaaaay under powered for a figurine. And I literally watched a guy rig the game. He was trying to make sure it wouldn't fall off the ledge, so that the under powered claw would HAVE to pick it up. But I definitely got the claws into the holes on the box and it let go because it couldn't hold onto it. X/

I loooove pricing here. EVERYTHING includes tax and at restaurants, tipping. So no calculating tax or anything, just add up the price and you're good. Plus, even at the huge tourist attractions, none of the prices are unreasonable. I've only gone "whoa" once, and that was on a kimono. At gift shops, typically the most expensive item is between 4500 and 3000 yen. Most of the stuff is between 1000 and 2000 yen. Isn't that great? I bought all the "set" gifts for under 4000 yen and I think they're all quite nice. Very nice artwork. AND everything at gift shops are made in Japan.

How nice. The maintenance worker is here. He's nice, but he doesn't talk much. Once a week he comes by and cleans. Twice a week he picks up trash. Plus, he's cute. And he knows how to really work the AC unit. Some nice cold air blowing on me in this humid little room. Lin had the balcony open to save electricity, but I'm too American to truly enjoy outdoor cooling.

I'm going to try and find something to do this afternoon. I might go out and see a movie or something. Already bought dinner (konbini meals). Perhaps google knows if there are any eigakan in Nakano?

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Edit - about an hour later
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Holy crap! I found this spectacular place called Nakano Broadway.

It's got nearly everything an otaku could want. There's book shops, model shops (including a Games Workshop store - Warhammer and LotR), airsoft shops, cosplay stores, manga stores, figurine stores, pagan-belief type stores (with rock magic and incense type), arcades, etc. I even saw some AMERICAN nerds there. Like, with the tucked in shirts and nasally voices. ^^" I had to leave before I bought more stuff. I don't even know how I'm getting my current stuff home... ^^""""

Not Much

Supposed to rain rather hard today. Figure I'll post a little on last night. The Polish girl came back just to check her e-mail and grab her stuff. Polish girl was going to stay here until the last week of August (she's taking a summer language course), but she's moving in with a friend because it's closer to the school.

The French girls left; they couldn't handle this place. I think part of it was because it's so small. It's really not that unclean. It's more like...Lin is living here and it's tiny so her stuff spills out everywhere.

So now there are are 3 empty beds. Meaning just Lin and I. Sooo I left my laptop out because she leaves hers out. Once more girls come and during the day I'll still lock it up, but I just think it's kinda odd that 3 long term people bailed on poor Yadoya and they're fully booked. :( I actually like them; they're very nice. The guy that collects trash always knocks before he comes in (because it's girls only) and never touches anyone's stuff. The young woman and her dad are also very very nice. They even offered to help teach me Japanese and I think I'll try to take them up on it. I'm getting tired of being laughed at.

So yesterday I never left Nakano, but I went to Freshness Burger and bought a lime soda (totally gross, by the way), a hot dog (Dad, you would have died. Even I couldn't finish it because of the chunks of...fat? I'll go with super chewy white blobs that crunched like onions), and then a 7-Up that I didn't know they sold because they didn't advertise it. That's something I've noticed - Japanese restaurants don't post their entire menu. Only part of it. You have to ask for a hand-out. And usually the handout doesn't have English.

Then I went to Baskins Robbins and got laughed at. :( Not to my face, though. I heard them laughing as I walked upstairs with my ice cream. This is the second time...

Then I went to this magical place called the 100 Yen Store. Very similar to the dollar store except everything in the 100 Yen store is 106 yen (including tax). The only excepts are the very few items marked otherwise (I saw a huge beach towel for 350 yen). AND they sell everything from food (no meats, all prepackaged) to kitchenware to school supplies. I bought a notebook (to help me keep track of observations, write down train transfers, directions, etc), some little sticky hooks (that I put over my bed so I can dry clothes inside), some tape (to help pack souvenirs) and two small towels. One I'm using as a floor towel when I get out of the shower and the other is a hand towel for the bathroom.

Today - Headed to Ginza (famous for it's high-class shopping), the Tsukiji fish market (lunch?), and the Pokemon Center (for Dan). If I have time, which I probably will, then I'll head over to Akihabara and Kanda. Akihabara is famous as an electronic hub. Kanda is famous for it's many bookstores.

Until Later

An Okay Day

Today was okay. Got somewhat samishii, but that was only when I was finished with the shrine and didn't really have anything to do. Not tomorrow though, I'm going to double up on sights. Because it's really depressing that I keep coming back to the room so early. I think part of the problem is I have no conversational Japanese and to help prevent me from feeling lonely, I need conversational Japanese...I can ask simple questions and make simple replies. Because I get under pressure. I can sit here and talk to myself in Japanese. Simple things, sure, but still. Full sentences, not words...But when under pressure, I can only spout out words.

Any way, Meiji shrine was pretty cool, despite the rain. The rain wasn't that bad, I only had issues taking pictures. But I want to share my experiences through photography, so it still kind of sucked.

While I was out, Norway girl, British Tattoo Girl and Polish girl checked out. Norway girl I knew would be (even though I kind of wanted her contact info), Polish girl was supposed to check out Friday (not Monday, so she was a bit of a shock) and British hardly talked, so I had no clue when she'd be leaving. So now we've got 2 somewhat obnoxious french girls. They talk in French near constantly, then start to whisper if you look at them. They complained about how "dirty" the room is, when it's not the room that's dirty. It was British girl and Chinese girl (mostly). Chinese girl lives here, so I can understand her making something of a mess. I talked to her a bit and she cleaned up her space some, but again, she lives here and the room is tiny...So that should explain enough. But no, they complain that's it's dirty and tiny. I would expect so at 1800 yen a night.

I wish I knew more Japanese. I really do. I almost (ALMOST) wish I had spent this money on a crash course, but not really. Nothing is like the real thing. I recognize a LOT of words and phrases, I just can't remember what they mean. Or there's something in a sentence I don't know. Or I don't know the specific conjugation of the word, but I recognize the root. Japanese has varying degrees of politeness - which essentially is like English contractions. Instead of saying "desu" (the equivalent of to be), a Japanese might say "da" to her friends. You also have different ways of addressing people and yourself. "Watakushi" is the most formal form of "I" and "Ore" (only for males or really, really boyish girls [possibly lesbians]) is the least formal. I guess I'm really enjoying my trip, but just getting my point across isn't all that cool.

I wanna make some friends, but you can't just make friends with people on the street. I'd have to go to a club and hang out with people, but I'm underage. (Drinking age and the age of being an adult is 20 here) I guess, I dunno. It probably could have been beneficial to try and program, but programs are usually upwards of $2000, which sadly, doesn't include food or plane tickets or transportation. But good news. While typing this, I started talking to the Chinese girl. She knows English, and doesn't have too much of an accent, but she knows Japanese much better and I usually have to add the Japanese word for what I'm trying to say. The conversation went like this:
"How long are you living here?"
"Ribbon ear?"
"Eto...sundeimasu?"
"Ah, koko wa? Ichi-nen."
"Ichi-nen? 1 year?"
"Hai, 1 year."
"Ah, cool. What's your name?"
--Blank stare--
"Anata no namae wa?"
"Lin"
"Lin?"
"Yes."
"Amanda"
"Amanda? Nice to meet you."

This makes me a little happy. Japanese isn't our native language, yet we had to use it to understand each other.

Mount Fuji - I might go, but the bus to get there is 2600 yen one way. I think I can try and figure out how to get there by train, but I dunno. I'm thinking just taking the bus is easier because then I don't have to transfer to the mini bus once I arrive at Kawaguchiko Station. Buuuut, with the bus, I have to reserve my seat and I'm pretty sure I need to call for that. Mom - I'll tell you this later as well, but a guided tour of Mt Fuji is around $150. Sorry... X/ If I go, I'll hoof it by myself.

I think I'll go out tonight. I'm not sure where, or with what money, but I want to go out tonight. Somewhere...maybe I'll find a movie to go see. Because sitting inside, on my trip, makes it feel like such a waste, despite the rain. I won't take my camera tonight though, probably. Lugging my bag around gets really tiring. Eh, on second thought, I might. It'll help keep me from spending money.

That's an issue I've been having. In this city, there are two things to do. See stuff and buy stuff. Guess what happens when you see stuff? There are cute little gift shops. I bought about 2400 of stuff today. Finished buying gifts for all the cousins, now I have to work on the adults/families.

That's it for now.

Oh Boy

Today I didn't do much, which actually upsets me some. I ended up waiting in Nakano for the Tokyu Department store to open so I could buy hand soap (which isn't in the room I'm staying in), laundry detergent and bread. Then, I had to wait for my laundry to finish. So I got out to Shinjuku around 1 p.m. And then I didn't really know what to do with myself. I wanted to shop, but obviously shopping is hard when you're on a budget. So after wandering for about 30 minutes, I came to a KFC. I ran into a language barrier though and ended up ordering a 7 piece bucket - for myself (which I ended up bringing home. It shall be my dinner and breakfast).

I got really samishii kimochi in my kokoro, which was the reason I got the 1590 yen meal. It can be very isolating when you're out and about and you can't strike up a conversation with anyone but gaijin, and even then, most gaijin in Japan are other nationalities, so English isn't their first language.

One thing I noticed about my fellow gaijin in Japan is that they almost never make eye contact with other gaijin. I noticed tourist looking ones do, but gaijin that look like they live here never do. I'm not sure if it's because they're used to being looked at or if they don't feel like looking back in return. I dunno, I guess I feel a fellow gaijin should kind of look out for less experienced gaijin...

Something strange - in Japan, if rain is in the forecast, expect most Japanese women to be carrying an umbrella over their heads, all ready for rain (even if there isn't any rain for over an hour), but not really any guys. I'm not sure if it's just because guys don't care until it's actually raining or what.

Shinjuku Station - the most confusing station in the world. It's got 6 main exits, all with similar names (East Exit, Central East Exit, Southeast Exit and then the Southeast exist is further North than the Central East exit) and then there's a humongous network of tunnels. There's a tunnel that runs the half-mile to the TMGB. It's got a ton of levels and it services over 20 different train lines (including subway).

Getting used to walking on the left side of the road. Still working on looking right first when crossing the street, but I'm remedying that by looking both ways the whole time I'm crossing.

Tomorrow, I plan to head over to Yoyogi park and Meiji Shrine - rain or shine. No matter how tired I am. I'll post etiquette now though, to help me memorize it.

Upon arriving at the shrine, you'll see a Torii Gate (google it).
Bow once before entering and once before leaving.
Approach the Temizuya (fountain) and perform the following
---First, rinse your left hand using the ladle and fountain water.
---Second, rinse your right hand.
---Third, pour water into your left hand. Rinse your mouth with that water.
---Fourth, rinse your left hand again.
---Fifth, rinse the dipper by allowing the remaining water flow out from the dipper.
To pay respect, place some coins in the offertory box, bow twice, clap twice, make a wish and clap once more.

I will be unable to take pictures inside the shrine, but I can take them outside.

Done for now. Enjoy.

Bunches of Stuff

So lemme start from the beginning.

I got to Shinjuku on Saturday morning no problem. I began searching for Shinjuku gyoen, just walking around like how I remembered the map. I eventually found the park, but not the gate so I walked around the edge until I found a gate. The park opened at 9:00 a.m. and I got to the gate at 8:50 a.m. so I waited a bit. I saw two English speakers, one of which I know for sure was gaijin, the other not so much.

The park opened and I wander around for about 2 and a half hours. Only saw about 1/3 of the park though. It's a really big park. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. There's a bite about every 2 square inches on my leg, and I'm really allergic so they swell up. >< I met an old guy who looked at me and told me good morning in Japanese, and I got to respond. And then every Japanese person I saw after that I said "Ohayou gozaimasu" with a smile.

(shall update more later)
Saw some really freaky cats. One was bringing it's kill to the group and called them to it. Never seen this behavior before and I know cats really well.

So there was this wonderful old man. He was around the age of 75, give or take. And he noticed I was lost and beckoned me in the weird Japanese beckoning way (it's pretty much like shooing someone away or beckoning someone in America upside down). Anyway, he beckoned me over and we struggled to make conversation for about 15 minutes. I'm okay with Japanese and I understand a lot more than I can say (cause I'm under pressure) and he knew a little bit of English so we worked out a system. I listened a lot more than talked, but it really helped my listening skills. Now I just listen for any word I can recognize and thanks to the help of Norway-girl (whose name I really hope to get before she leaves tomorrow), I now know and can remember how to say "Please slow your speech" (Yukkuri hanashite kudasai). The little old man ended up showing me around Shinjuku station and giving me general directions to Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. He also got me some Japanese maps in English. And then, he took me to the terminal and said "Ganbare" and left. Ganbare is the rough Japanese equivalent to "good luck" but it can also mean "try your hardest" as well.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (or TMGB as I shall refer to it) is free if you want to go up to the observation decks. Plus, it's air conditioned. So, between both the North and South Towers, I easily spent about two hours up there relaxing after my hard walk in the park. The view is from the 45 story and you take an elevator (erebeitaa) that makes your ears pop twice.

The interesting story I have about the Japanese society and the TMGB is that I actually lost my sunglasses. And I got them back. In America, you're pretty sure you'll never see your stuff again, but you always go back and check the lost and found. Here, you usually will get it back. And they act like it's an emergency. So - I left the TMGB and went to grab my sunglasses, which I left in the North Tower. I had just left the South Tower, so I wasn't even where they'd be. But I all but ran back to the South Tower and when I got to the top, and saw the elevator director, I said "Sumimasen, megane" (Excuse me, glasses) and I made the motions for glasses (a sad fact is that even though I've practiced getting rid of stressing syllables, my Japanese speaking ability is still hard for the natives to understand...But I'm better than someone who hasn't practiced at all). She nodded and asked a question in Japanese and then said "lost?" I responded "Hai" (yes) and she called it in on her radio. They had indeed found my glasses and I went back down to retriever them (the conductor even let me onto the very next down elevator, instead of making me wait in line). I got to the bottom floor and an employee escorted me to the lost and found (which is always run by the police. In Japan, if you lose something, the people who find it take it to the nearest police station). I got my sunglasses back and signed the release form. It was a happy ending.

I'm also iffy on staying up late. I could stay out later...but I get tired because I wake up early. Going out early is good too, though, because it beats the heat.

More on Japan

Soooo, I've got some more interesting things to talk about.

There's a mall about 5 minutes (walking) from where I'm staying and it's actually pretty fun to walk around. I swear, I must of looked like the biggest tourist ever because people were staring. And not just the little double-take. Flat-out staring. But I was warned of this. Tokyo gets a lot of foreigners, but we're spread out and I'm not actually in a touristy area.

I found two possibly good gifts today. One of which is for my mother (haven't bought anything yet). I'm not sure if I'll get it at the store I found it at or browse until I find a better one. Then I found gorgeous cloth fans. And I do mean pretty. Plus, they're not ridiculously priced, either. (About $11 for what looks like it'd easily be $40 in America)

Vending machines - They aren't kidding when they say they're everywhere. So far I've found drinks, cigarettes, ice cream and perfume. OH and ramen ticket machines. I might eat at one of those places for dinner, depending on the price. I bought a mini coke from one. It tastes the same, but I will warn thee. Drinks in Japan are not always what they seem. I bought a little thing of "water" (said that in English characters) and it turned out to be similar to Pocari Sweat (a lightly sweetened drink kind of like gatorade but with no real flavor) except for the fact that it tasted a little like citrus. Another misleading Japanese drink - lemonade. I bought a little cup of lemonade and it's literally lemon water. Except this lemon water also had mango flavoring mixed in and you talk about sweeeet. I don't mind sweet, but not when it's 85F and nearly as humid as a rainforest.

I hit my first language barrier. The man in the 7-11 was trying to ask me if I wanted the plastic removed off the umbrella I was buying (because it started to drizzle) and I understood that. But I didn't quite know how to respond because I've never actually been asked that kind of question. What store clerk in America would do more work than they have to? So in the end we stared at each other for a couple seconds and then I said "Eto...watashi wa...chotto nihongo" (literally: "um...I...little japanese language"). Then it wasn't so bad. He double checked that I did indeed want the plastic off and away I went.

Moms in Japan seem to be the primary care-taker of children. I've seen many moms carrying around their infants in carry-pouches or strollers or on bikes. I was told Japanese men have very little to do with childcare, but I actually disagree to some extent. Yes, I've only seen a few men helping with their children, but I think it depends on the family, just like it depends on the family in America. We still have stay-at-home moms, just like Japan. And not all parents in America do joint care either. I know my mom was my main caregiver as a child. Because of her, I never got sick until around 2-3 years old. I dunno, I guess I feel the Japanese aren't really any worse than the rest of the world.

So, there's a reason they call June-July the rainy season in Japan. Because it rains daily. Good thing I invested in that umbrella!

Been Awhile

It's been awhile but today is my first full day in Japan. I arrived at the Yadoya around 7 p.m. (Japan time) and 6 a.m. (Eastern shore time). The room was really hot but that's because they turn off the AC during the day when no one is here. Took me about 20 minutes but I figured it out a bit. The place is really small. And by really small, the whole room is probably the size my bedroom. This includes the beds, fridge, lockers, TV, bathroom and kitchen. But I already knew it was tiny.

The two girls I'm staying with are really messy. The one girl is sleeping in like, a cave, with so much junk (clothes, things they bought, etc). The other one snores and hits against the cardboard barrier in her sleep. Too bad I'm a light sleeper.

I've been to the conbini twice. The first was Lawsons, and I dropped by for drinks (apple juice that really does taste like apples) and food (sandwiches, haven't finished the third. The first was ham with raw onion and the second was ham with some kind of egg paste. I also bought some Japanese pringles (a habit when I go out of the country, I like something from home to keep me sain.).

My second visit was about 20 minutes ago. Went wandering around and eventually ended up right across the street. This conbini is called Sunkus (I think) and I bought some essential things like tissues, shampoo, bandaids and scissors. I'll leave the left overs here when I leave, though. I can't bring all of it back on the plane with me.

Speaking of the plane, that was the longest day of my life. I couldn't sleep on the last leg, no matter how hard I tried and on the first two parts, I kept drifting off. So all-in-all on my 32 hour day, I got probably 4 hours of sleep. On top of the 3 hours of sleep that I got the night before I left.

The trains from the airport to here aren't that bad. I totally enjoyed the Narita Express (bought with the Suica and NEX package). And the transfer wasn't that hard. Just follow the signs (which are both Japanese and English) and you'll be fine.

I'm completely blown. While my allergy medicine isn't legal here, they didn't check for it at all. I totally could have brought it and saved myself the pain of using nasal spray. Which, by the way, is the most disgusting stuff ever.

I'm done for now. I'll post again with what I did today tonight (tomorrow morning of East Coast USA).