すげぇ！

I wanted to know what the Japanese word for "Dayuuuuum!" was. Apparently it's "Sugee!" the more masculine version of "Sugoi!" which is something like "awesome" or "cool." My little old teacher heard me using it and was scandalized. I guess I won't be using it...in front of her.

It's my new favorite word because it accurately and succinctly describes my first week in Japan. Every day I go out exploring, I realize just how big of a city Tokyo really is.

First, you have Ginza, where you go if you have takusan okane (lots of money):


Then, there's the Kabukichou, Tokyo's red-light district:


There's also Akihabara, the place to go if you want to buy the newest electronics and/or get pampered in a maid cafe:


If that's only the first week, I'm excited for what the next 7 weeks hold. I feel like I shouldn't be this comfortable just a week in, but I already feel like I'm settled into a routine: wake up, eat breakfast, catch the train, go to class, have lunch, explore, go home, eat dinner, do homework, take a shower, go to bed. Aaand repeat.

And the train situation? I don't even know what I was worried about. Yes, the morning commute sucks because everyone's actually packed in like sardines in a can. And yes, because I have no sense of direction and can't properly follow the arrows on the numerous signs, I always get lost WITHIN the station. But other than that, all good!

It feels like I never have enough time. Unfortunately, homework is my lowest priority right now. I feel like talking with my host family is a better use of my time than doing homework about oh-so-useful things like waiting time differences between the sexes and the difference between ghosts and phantoms. I mean, really? Hopefully, class will pick up and become more interesting next week. Also, I'm the only girl in the third-year class, so the teacher always asks me, the token jousei (lady), what I think. It seems like I'm expected to have a different opinion than my male classmates, but almost all of the time, I agree with them. Maybe it's a culture thing, thinking that males and females should have drastically different opinions?

Outside of class, I've already had some...interesting encounters.

On Tuesday, after taking in the view from the observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, I decided to sit down for a bit to rest my feet. There I was, just chilling with the others, being the gaijin (foreigners) that we were, when I notice some random ojiisan (old guy) take a picture of me from behind. My confusion heightens when he stands directly in front of me and takes a picture. He was about to walk away until I greeted him with a confused Konnichiwa. I tried to ask him why exactly he was taking a picture of me when he said "Nihongo ga jouzu da ne!" (You're really good at Japanese!) and tells me that I'm a pretty lady and that yellow looks good on me (I was wearing a yellow dress). He then proceeds to sit down and we have a conversation that consists of him asking how old I think he is and me trying to flatter him by saying he looked 30 (such a huuuuuuge lie haha). He calls over his friend, and their wives and it becomes a party.

Three salarymen were passing by, and seemed interested in our little group: a bunch of gaijin talking to an old guy in Japanese. The old guy called the three guys over, and that's when things got interesting. The old guy eventually left, but we all had a pretty lengthy conversation with the salarymen. They seemed eager to talk to us. We even got business cards from them. It was a weird, albeit fun, experience. It's nice to see how eager Japanese are to get to know foreigners, at least in my experience so far.

I think it was after this that I fully embraced my status as a gaijin. Yes, I stick out like a sore thumb, but there's no use trying to run away from the fact. Whenever I get stared at, I tell myself that it's because they secretly want to be friends with me. Who wouldn't? Srsly.

I'll leave it at this for now. So much to say, yet such a short attention span!

First days

These past two days were a whirlwind--a happy whirlwind--but a whirlwind nonetheless. Where to start, where to start...I have a feeling this is going to be a monster post.

After checking out from my hotel room, I met up with the rest of the Sun Academy students in the lobby, where we met up with the teachers. Our school building was a short train ride away. We immediately got down to business and took our placement tests, which wasn't that bad, nothing to stress out about. I'll be in the 3rd year class with three other students, a nice and small class.

We got to meet our buddies after that. Each of us are paired with a local university student. I was a little nervous because meeting someone for the first time is awkward enough without the language barrier. But I really had nothing to worry about. My buddy Remi-san is a first-year student at Keio University, which is one of Japan's top schools. We have a lot in common actually: we're both studying political science, we both dance, and we both love Harry Potter. I think ハリー・ポターが好きですか (= Do you like Harry Potter?) will be my go-to phrase from now on.

After we exchanged numbers, we had yet another orientation for our homestays. Then, we got to meet our host families. My host mom, Jun-san, came to pick me up. The Shibanos' condo (which is ironically called a mansion in Japanese) is in Edogawa-ku, about a 40 minute commute from the school. The area is really convenient; not only is the train station right across the street, but there's a 7-11 in front of the condo, and a supermarket down the street.

Jun-san and I were talking and drinking when my host father, Hide-san, came home. For some reason, I expected him to a be one of those stereotypical salaryman,

(haha, I'm so bad)

but he seems far from it. He's really nice and laidback. Jun-san is too. They're so cute. Ai, Hide-san's daughter, came over for dinner with her boyfriend Maa, and her 8-year-old daughter Ren-chan. All in all, they're a cute family and have a great dynamic.. We ate and drank so much that I was surprised when I realized we had been talking for 6 hours. I was really tired, yet I was enjoying myself. An internal tug of war, between finally retiring to bed and accepting more beer, ensued.

I awoke to find my other suitcase delivered, safe and sound. So relieved! We--
Hide-san, Ai, Maa, Ren-chan, and I (Jun-san had to go to work)--all went out after having breakfast First we went to the electronics store, where I bought an electronic dictionary and a converter. After that, we went to Asakusa to visit the Senso-ji Temple.

Ai, a jetlagged me, Hide-san, and Ren-chan

They say if you'll become smarter if you waft the smoke onto your head. I did it in the hope of getting better at Japanese.

Here, you get a fortune by inserting 100 yen, shaking a metal thing until a stick with a number comes out, opening the drawer with the corresponding number, and taking out your fortune. If it's bad, you tie it onto the little rack thingy.

Unfortunately, both Ren-chan and I got bad fortunes T_T

On the way home, we passed by Tokyo Sky Tree, which is currently under construction. It's on track to becoming the tallest tower in the world.

sugoiii!

Once Jun-san got back home from work, we all went out to Sushiro, a sushi place for dinner. Mind you, it wasn't just any sushi place: it was one of the restaurants where the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt. You can order through a little touchscreen at your table in addition to picking up anything that goes around that strikes your fancy.

I could sit here for hours and eat...

Gaaah it's late! Tomorrow marks the first day of classes, which means the first time Ruu-chan gets to navigate the Tokyo train system by herself, which could end in disaster or success. I'm hoping for the latter. Wish me luck!

Don't put all your eggs in one basket...

or in my case, don't put all your summer clothes in one suitcase. Yes, I learned the hard way: one of my suitcases got lost. Or delayed? Anyway, I hope I'll get it back soon =/

On the bright side, I made my first Japanese friend! We met on my flight to Tokyo from Toronto. The woman next to me saw me cram-, I mean, reviewing for my placement exam tomorrow and was impressed at all the kanji I was reading. We talked for the rest of the flight (well not continuously because that's a really long time to be talking) in a kind of Japanese/English hybrid. I was rusty at first because I haven't really spoken Japanese since May, but I was surprised at how quickly it came rushing back. Our conversation allowed us to practice our language skills, hers in English, mine in Japanese. I found out that she coached a synchronized swimming team, and had traveled to Toronto for a competition with one of her girls. We ended up talking about random things. The Cold War randomly came up...? Don't ask me how. I got my first meishi (business card/name card) from her, which the Japanese are really big about. She also gave me a little coin purse! She was nice enough to not only wait with me at the baggage claim place, (so sad to watch that conveyor belt go round and round, but never bring around your suitcase) but she also helped me file a report, send my baggage to my host family's house, and buy a limosine bus ticket to the hotel I'm staying at tonight. By the way, here's a view from my room:


I wish I'd gotten a picture with her, but we promised to get a meal together, so I'll be seeing her again hopefully.

I love nice people =]

This is me not packing

Why, hello there.

I leave for Japan the day after tomorrow (!), and thought that finally starting up my blog would be a better use of my time than packing (I'll regret this later). Thanks to the unbelievable generosity of the Light Fellowship, I'll be spending the next 6 months of my life in Japan--the summer in Tokyo attending Sun Academy and the fall in Nagoya attending Nanzan University. It blows my mind that I'll be spending such a long period of time halfway around the world, thousands of miles away from home, in a completely foreign country. It hasn't sunk in yet at all. I don't think it will until my feet actually make contact with Japanese ground.

It's surreal how my interest in J-pop, born when I was 11 and remains with me even now, has brought me to this point: on the edge, ready to take the plunge and immerse myself in the Japanese culture, one I had previously considered completely remote from me. This whole experience is no doubt going to be scary, filled with its share of awkward moments and cultural missteps, but I'm excited nonetheless. One doesn't get many opportunities like this in life, so I'd be stupid not to milk this experience for all its worth, and then some. Psh, with a fully funded trip to a study in Japan, who wouldn't?

All I know about the host family I'll be staying with during the summer is that it consists of a host mother, a host father, and "2 budgerigars." I had to look up what "budgerigars" were. Haha, I don't know what I expected, but I definitely didn't expect them to be birds.

I haven't really thought extensively about goals for my time abroad, but two off the top of my head are:

• make at least one Japanese friend
• learn how to use chopsticks
  

Yah, I know these might sound small, but I like to take baby steps! Nah, I'm sure more substantial ones will pop up.

All righty. This was less painful than I expected. Next time I write, I'll be in Japan. YAY!