Golden Week!

Well it's now the middle of May and I have just about 2 months left in Japan. I can see the light at the end of this year long tunnel. Oh, wait. That's just lightning from this random thunderstorm we're having this evening. I'll check again when things clear up outside. Until then, I'll try to enjoy my unsatisfying dinner of questionable pieces of chicken and carrots with peanut butter. I've been ordered to leave work earlier, as in, within a half hour of the end of my shift, but that doesn't make up for the fact that I am still completely exhausted when I get home. With only 2 months left, I need to get myself together. I'm hoping to return to America looking a little more mature and not like a hot mess; however, with Japan's humid summer approaching and my self-destructive monthly eyebrow job, I don't see that happening. 

I've just come down from the high of my San Francisco friends visiting me during my "Golden Week" (Why it's called 'Golden Week' is beyond me. It was ridiculously crowded everywhere and mostly raining..not so golden..). It was a much needed break and I'm happy that three of my very good friends were able to come to this strange land we call Japan. 

They began their adventure in Tokyo on their own while I was at work for a couple days. I am so impressed with everyone that has come to visit thus far; finding their way on their own through Tokyo's complicated yet timely train system. Have you ever seen a Tokyo Subway map? It is ridiculous. You think you've had a stroke after looking at it. All you see are different colored lines going every which way and really long syllabic names that you can't pronounce. 

And that's just the subway map. They haven't even added the JR trains or bullet trains or anything else. They stayed in Shinjuku (新宿) near the station, but somehow when they would walk out of the station to get to their hotel, they would exit from a different part of the station every time. When I arrived at the station the first time to meet them on Sunday, I went out the correct exit, but even with my not-so-smart phone I got lost every time there after. Anyway, when I arrived on Sunday I met the girls at their hotel. It was so weird to see them in person again that I couldn't even really speak. I was that excited. 

When I was finally able to communicate clearly we hopped on a train to find the Imperial Palace, stopping along the way for a sushi lunch, where I less than impressed everyone with my ordering skills. What? I can point at words and hold up  four fingers too. Go me. It was a beautiful day for a nice stroll in the Imperial park area. We were able to catch up and compare thoughts about Japan. We all agree--this place is a little strange, but damn. Little Asian kids are adorable. We spent some time wandering around trying to find the garden area, but no one was able to give us clear directions and we ended up at a fountain park. From there we went to Ebisu (恵比寿) to pay a visit to Yebisu beer museum where we enjoyed some beer and oddly flavored snacks. We went one stop over on the subway to Shibuya (渋谷) to see the famously crowded intersection. We spent well over an hour watching the flow of traffic from the Starbucks above the street, trying to catch a glimpse of a Harajuku girl for Megan and so Aly could truly capture the busyness that is the Shibuya Crossing. Aly wound up taking multiple frames which I should figure out how to put into a movie so you can see the herds of people crossing at one time. INSANE. 

At the Imperial Palace

Fountain Park

Aly reading her guide book.

Shibuya Crossing

The next day we went to Tsukiji (築地) to see the fish market. We slept in so we missed all the auctioning action, but the little stores around the area were cute. I am so thankful that Aly got her shellfish allergy she assumed she had all these years under control and was able to enjoy the delicious fish here. Except we didn't eat anything at the fish market. Once we couldn't stand the fishy smell any longer we made our way to Asakusa (浅草)to see the Kaminarimon (雷門) and Senso-ji Temple (浅草寺). To get to the temple you pass through the gate with the giant red lantern and walk along a crowded, shop filled street. When we reached the temple we all pulled numbered sticks to choose our fortune. I got the "good fortune". Megan and Kelly got the "best fortune" and poor Aly got "bad fortune". If you want better luck you can tie your fortune to a nearby tree. Or as Aly did, angrily tie it to a tree and pick a new one. We had lunch at noodle shop where I enjoyed watching my friends struggle eating boiling hot, slippery noodles with chopsticks. Then we went near Harajuku (原宿) to Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) where we saw the beginning of a wedding! We went to Takeshita-dori (竹下通り), a popular shopping street in Harajuku where we had hoped to find some Harajuku girls, but no such luck. We then headed to Roppongi (六本木), took more than our fair share of pictures of the Tokyo Tower and had dinner at a kushiyaki (串焼き) place--like kebabs. It could be the lack of male interaction I've had here, but I thought our waiter was  a cutie. And he spoke English. Winning. Finally, we ended the night at a karaoke bar, singing all the best songs from the years we lived together through college. 

He invited himself into the picture..for the record...

Sky Tree

Kaminarimon

きなこきびだんご--mochi covered in roasted soybean flour

Good Fortune?

Best Fortune!

Best Fortune! 

Aly, angry at her bad fortune...

Senso-ji Temple

Meiji Shrine Gate

I don't know what's happening, exactly, but it's cool!

Harajuku

Food on sticks!

Roppongi

We finally found some Harajuku girls!

@ Karaoke..the rest of the pictures are not allowed to be shown to anyone...

The next morning, we set out to find some breakfast and a photo sticker machine and then made our way towards Shizuoka (静岡), stopping at Atami (熱海) on the way. It was a gloomy day, but I wanted them to see one of my favorite places in Japan. It wasn't as beautiful as I had hoped, but they got to see and touch the ocean and go up the ropeway to the castle. We made it to Shizuoka and I took them to Kappazushi the cheap rotating sushi counter, where among four of us, we had 27 plates, 4 beers, and 4 desserts. We sluggishly walked back in the rain to my apartment to rest up for our excursion to Kyoto (京都) the next day. That will have to be saved for another post. So, until next time! またね！

Atami Castle

Atami is so beautiful...just not now.

This is what four hungry Americans do in Japan. We were beat by a couple of old ladies...

turned my bedroom into one giant bed for all of us!

**Posts about the rest of our trip will be posted soon..I'm working on it! 

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New Vocabulary:

~雷雨  rah-ee-oo  thunderstorm

~地下鉄  chee-kah-teh-tsu  subway

~これお願いします  ko-reh-oh-neh-guy-she-mah-soo    This please

~おみくじ    oh-me-koo-gee     fortune

~プリクラ  poo-ree-koo-rah     photo sticker booth

When I Return....

With a little more than two months left in Japan, I have already begun to plan my homecoming.Who am I kidding? I can't even lie in a blog post. I've been planning for awhile...I told my mom months ago that when I fly back to Los Angeles, I want to do four things before I get home. 1) eat In n Out 2) mani/pedi + eyebrow (now possibly lip as well..so unfortunate)  3) Trader Joes and 4) Walk into Target, just to smell it. These four things are necessary. And they're all on the way home from the airport. In addition to these four things I've made yet another list of things I want to do before I get my life back together..

(In no real particular order...)

I can't wait to...

1. Spend an entire day cooking/baking

2. visit all my friends and family

3. that includes trips to New York and Washington and San Francisco

4. spend a weekend in Palm Springs (where it's hot, but not moist)

5. turn my blog posts into a book for myself

6. learn how to drive again and go on a road trip

7. exchange my Japanese yen for REAL money and swim in it for a moment before I put it in the bank. Wait, I can't swim. Let's make it rain.
8. get a massage.
9. Go back to Target, this time to buy American brand necessities
10. get my teeth fixed
11. find a job (which I will start looking for soon!)
12. find a place to live
13. go back to Target and furnish my new place
14. find a hubby. or at least go on some dates.
15. get a hair cut
16. go to brunch. (Boy, do I miss brunch.)
17. buy new clothes that fit
18. Go out dancing
19. Eat Mexican food
20. begin making a scrapbook of my trip to Japan that I will probably never finish

11 more busy weeks of work and then off to Osaka to travel with the Culver City Sister City Exchange group for a week. I just had three wonderful visitors for about 12 days. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my last vacation time in Japan (that will be another post..I have a lot to catch up on..). Well, until next time! またね！
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New Vocabulary:
~あと二ヶ月     ah-toe-knee-kah-get-sue      After (only) two months
~雨が降るように    ah-meh-gah-foo-roo-yo-knee        Make it rain

A Dick Festival for Douche Bags.

Happy April everyone! Sorry for the delay..work has been crazy lately. I've been staying past 11pm writing progress records and planning for seminars and supplemental lessons, which don't mean much to those of you reading this, but to me and my colleagues it means a lot of useless work. Instead of giving the teachers a break between semesters to review their new schedule and new books and plan well thought out lessons, the company finds it necessary to pack our schedules with supplemental lessons that use a ridiculously stupid book. The parents buy into this scheme because their child is going to English school and talking to (or in most cases, staring at) a native English speaker. It all sounds great, but I'm not falling for it. The company uses it as an excuse to gain more revenue. Fine, whatever helps you sleep at night. At least one of us got some sleep.

Instead of spending my weekend catching up on sleep and planning lessons, I went to a Dick Festival. It's technically a fertility festival or an awareness against STDs, but that's not as jarring. Did I mention that this was at a shrine? This country confuses me. I went with my coworker, Shawna, and met my friends Heather and Mary at Kanamara Shrine in Kawasaki (川崎), near Yokohama. The whole surrounding area was infested with young men from the nearby Army base. In theory, that sounds amazing, considering I work with all girls and one Japanese-Canadian guy, who is really more like a butchy girl that dresses very metro (genders are complicated here..), but it was like being at a frat party or a bar where they let all the underage kids come and drink. My daily testosterone intake is being compromised in this country, but the abundance of it at this event made up for all that was lacking. While I wanted to be excited to be surrounded by raging, drunk, American men, my body's response was "let's fit in and make your mustache a little more visible".   Between the giant penis statues and the sea of white people, we had all forgotten we were in Japan. We also had forgotten that everyone around us could understand what we were saying. I'm going to need help censoring myself when I get back to America. And a lip wax.
After we ditched the dicks and douche bags, we walked down some side streets and stumbled upon a temple with monks chanting. It was all very peaceful until some idiot came over near me to feed the birds.
We headed in towards Heather's house to meet another teacher at a Mexican restaurant. I had my doubts, but it was good! Again, my standards for good food are significantly lower, but I enjoyed myself very much.
We headed back on the bullet train to Shizuoka. I love the bullet train. It took us 45 minutes to get home rather than the 3 hours it took to get there via local train. I'm definitely going to miss the trains...

Yes. That is a penis statue. Yes, they parade this around. Wait, there's a bigger one. 

I'm not sure...Shit's weird here..

Heather going through the many mini shrine gates

I think this is where they pray for a bigger one...just a hunch. 

Maybe it's this one...

Thank you fellow American. Way to rep the USA.

Let's drink and try to fit in! 

clever.

Love his hair. Love this sign. 

I don't know which is worse. The child in the picture or he awkward masked man with a silver penis and pigtails. I really hate adult pigtails. 

I was really hoping they would start busting out, Sister Act style. 

Anyway, I will try to catch up with my life more frequently. I am excited for my upcoming week off in which Aly, Megan, and Kelly are coming to visit..and the best news: Aly isn't actually allergic to shellfish. Which means we can be less careful of cross-contamination! I am thrilled. Until next time! またね！
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New Vocabulary:
~ちんちん    cheen-cheen  dick
~祭り   mah-tsu-ree   festival
~口ひげ   koo-chee-hee-geh   mustache