Soba noodles at Jindaiji and Asakusa again

こんにちわ！

I have resigned myself to the fact that most places I visit will require a second visit, and as such have already started. Surprisingly, though I had only one revisit planned this week, I ended up with two!

It turns out that the location of the pottery and soba noodles cultural event was the same as the shrine that the Kuzuharas took me to the first weekend here, Jindaiji, when I had forgotten my camera and vowed to return someday. Well it was easier than I had thought it would be. We got a nice bus ride there (part of the initial fee of the trip), and were ushered into a room where we had the choice of sitting on tatami mats to eat (which I did), and served delicious soba noodles. My second time having them there. Just because, I'm including the pic.

Afterwards, we went to a pottery shop nextdoor and were given a lump of clay. There was an example cup, but we could do whatever we wanted. I made this sweet bowl. Hopefully it'll withstand fireing and the trip back to America. When we were done, we were given the choice of how we wanted it glazed (which they would do for us), and left to our own devices to wander. Wander I did, though I had seen it all before. I took pictures this time, though one must keep in mind that the last time I was there it was days before a festival, and there were many more people and shops open.

So yeah, after that, I headed back to ICU with Charlene, and chilled in her dorm for a bit before we took off in search of a headlamp for my trip up Mt. Fuji in August. She suggested the Hard-Off (real name, I know), which is a second hand shop above a golf store. It was really cool. I got myself an alarm clock while I was there, and also a Japanese DS game (based of the anime Yakitate Japan, a game I know I'll never find in the states or in English, though it is quite difficult to play when you don't understand any of the words). Though no head lamp. So we continued down the block to Don Quihote again (took pictures this time), and I got a semi-cheap one. Noce though.

It was time for dinner, so we walked to McDonalds which was on our way back and I enjoyed a double cheeseburger meal (I was so unbelievably hungry). I don't make a habit of this fyi, just, every now and then I need some familiarity. I spent some of the conversation with Charlene reminicing about the states (though shes a Canadian, Toronto-style) and missing various things, such as the ability to talk to people and have complete understanding.

I headed home then, as it was already 7:30.

Today, we had no quizzes, no tests, and no homework, first time since the first day of class. Instead we prepared for conversations we were to have the next period with the visiting Japanese students who were volunteering to help our studies. Three weeks ago I knew virtually no Japanese and now I had to have a conversation in it? It was very hard, embarrasing, and awkward. Good, I guess. I don't know.

We also prepared for our field trip ro Musashi-sakai station tomorrow, where we would have to go around asking people questions about things and write down/get proof of their answers. Exciting I guess. Better than boring class. After than, Charlene and I are going to head back to Harajuku where I am bound and determined to get a lolita dress of some sort. Kuzuhara-san has also suggested we check out the famous shrine nearby, Meiji Shrine. I'll have to ask Charlene if she's interested tomorrow.

Last of all in class today, we spent some time in the computer lab practicing writing in Japanese, including hiragana, katakana, and kanji, whereas I previously only understood how to work hiragana on my computer. Sample sentence:

あしたわたしは原宿に行きます。

That says, "Tomorrow, I am going to Harajuku", though I am sort of trusing my computer that the Kanji for Harajuku is correct. I'm reasonably sure it is. Anyway, that's it for me. Tomorrow Harajuku, Saturday I meet Kuzuhara-san's other daughter and her children (Kuzuhara-san is a grandmother? I didn't know!) And Sunday... nothing yet. Maybe plans, probably studying, though there's no test on Monday (for once). There will be a huge vocab quiz on Tuesday and a huge 2 chapter test on Friday... can't... get... behind...!

じゃまた！
(Ja Matta - meaning see you later)

Asakusa, Sensoji Shrine

こんにちわ！

So this weekends adventure took me to Asakusa, home of a large Buddhist shrine and of course, an even larger shrine of consumerism. As it should be? Who knows. All I know is that it was awesome.

So first of all, Friday evening and Saturday I was useless. I caught some 24 hour bug, and ended up sleeping off a fever for 16 hours Friday night. Needless to say I had some funky dreams. It was all good though, because I didn't have class, or anything to do but chill in my room and study for my test on Monday (today). So chill I did (relatively speaking given the ever constant weather).

Sunday morning, I got up (very rested after the previous nights immense amount of sleep), hopped on the computer and chatted with Nan and Geetz on skype (my grandparents for those I haven't told the story to). It was lovely, but I soon had to get off to get ready for my solitary trip to Asakusa. I was informed moments later that we were going to meet at 4, not 2, because a couple people were held up on a previous trip. So at 2:10ish I headed out. At 2:13, after having not reached the bus in time, I realized I forgot my camera and went back. I finally got on the next bus (which was only about 15 minutes later) and headed to Mitaka station. Took the Chuo line to Kanda, the Ginza subway line to Asakusa, and then the fun began.

I ended up wandering quite a bit to find Sensoji, or more specifically the huge lantern we were to meet at (and I mean HUGE check out the pics. Dude.), called Kaminarimon. Well after asking about 4 people Sumimasen, Sensoji wa doko desu ka? (Excuse me, where is Sensoji?), I finally stumbled upon it. Hard to miss really. I was sitting there for about 10 minutes getting anxious (I had gotten there exactly at 4), when Ken showed up. He was one of the group. We sat together for another half hour before by using cell phones we realized there were 2 big lanterns. We were at the right one, but the others were at the inner one.

So we finally started exploring. I got a fortune at the shrine. It ws bad and said all sorts of stuff about how the sick person is in danger and the lost item will not be found. Apparently it is also bad for me to marry or employ. It was hilarious. We moved on and wafted the incense over our heads to promote health, took some pictures, and stared to explore the shops.

There was this street of shops all down the line from the one gate (lantern) to the other. I unfortunately did not plan well and forgot to get money from the ATM at ICU when I could, so I had only enought to got to Asakusa and back with a drink. I had to borrow money for dinner. It's alright thoug, I've already planned a trip back this Thursday with some different friends. I'll buy stuff then.

Tomorrow I have a one-on-one meeting with Kojima-sensei, and Wednesday I eat soba noodles and make my own soba noodle bowl. Thursday is Asakusa again and Friday who knows! Lot's of stuff.

Almost forgot! Today there was Rakugo, which means traditional Japanese comedy. Basically two ICU clubs performed. One was a music club playing I think Koto's. Kinda like large floor guitars. It was lovely. Then there was a girl who sat on a table and told a few humorous stories using only a fan and a cloth to help tell the story. Since the videos are too large for flickr, I'm putting them on my YouTube account at http://www.youtube.com/user/himurasarah. They'll take a couple hours to uplaod, but be patient, they're pretty cool.

So yeah, thats it for now. Probably update after Wednesdays expedition.

さようなら！！