Day J14 & J15

Since the China students came to Japan for the last week we went with them to an out of the way part of Tokyo where the old architecture still stands. There, we visited a Buddhist temple and got to see the inside of a traditional Japanese-style house.



Afterwards we went to the Sunshine city building in Ikebukuro for dinner and desert. They had the single oddest ice cream shop that I have ever heard of. Its decorations and the such were somewhat ordinary, but the flavors were not. Images start normally, then.....











That's right. Viper. They had ice cream made out of viper.

Anyways, Next day, we had class and discussed things about Japanese culture in light of the last day's visits and such. Afterwards, we, in our small groups, took the China students on a short trip to various locations around Tokyo (each group did one location). My group brought our China students to Ginza and gave them a little history lesson and discussed cultural observations while viewing various venues such as t Itoya and Mitsukoshi stores. This post now concludes.

Day J13

Not much to report today, I went to Akihabara once more to do fieldwork and language notes. I also did all the rest of the shopping for my trip. Comic Toranoana, right tower, floors 1-4 are now officially my favorite place in Akihabara.
Overall, I had a very relaxing Saturday.

Day J12

Blegh.
I woke up this morning with something of an upset stomach. I ate some breakfast, but that really only made it feel worse. I laid down until I felt better, then I went to class. After class, I was once again not feeling great, so I went back to the dorm, on the way, buying some plain white bread. I think the bread and a nap really helped my upset stomach. Nothing else really notable happened.

Day J11

Caught up! (minus pictures)
Today, for class, we looked at various bookstores.
We started out with the Kinokuniya bookstore in Shinjuku Sanchoume. It was extensive and large, but as the layout and clientele went it was pretty run of the mill. Except for the front display. It included a large TV screen perpetually playing Michael Jackson's music videos. On the way to the next location, every last one of us had Thriller stuck in our heads.
We next were lead by Lennon-sensei (her mother, taking care of Leila, the eight month old daughter of Lennon-sensei, was also there for this portion) to an area which had a name that I do not remember, but it had older bookstores. That is, they sold older books. We split into small groups to explore. In the first shop we entered, there was a large collection of old Japanese books. I couldn't tell what all of them were, but it seemed as if a lot of them were about China, judging by the frequent use of 中 in the titles (中国 is china). Next, we found a place that sold foreign books from the early and mid 1900's. For you comic minded people, they had the first issue of Marvel's The Defenders. The next store specialized in old books about theater and art, specifically Noh. Next, a shop with an extensive collection of pop-culture stuff from the sixties and seventies, with Nirvana playing in the background.
Next was, once again, Akihabara. First was a standard bookstore. Then there was the Toranora stores. I was practically in heaven. I could tell I would love it from the second I saw the buildings. The right tower was draped in posters for series which I had seen and liked. There were three entire floors devoted to Touhou Project merchandise. I bought Touhou 12 and 12.3, for those of you who know what that is.
I then returned to the dorm to catch up on my blog.

Day J10

Even though I woke up late today, I ended up being at class less than ten minutes late, and the girls were also late (they live in a different dorm), so we hadn't started class yet. We had a discussion about the movie we watched on Monday. And discussed the cultural and language noted we have been taking since we arrived.
THEN WE WENT TO THE GHIBLI MUSEUM!!!
It was really a very cool place, they had very interesting exhibits some technical aspects of anime and moving pictures in general. Pictures will be up when I get them from other people.

Day J9

Hokay, so now I'm going to be catching up on my posts. Since it's easier to write these referring to the events as if they happened today, that's how I'll write them. Anyways...
Tuesday
We got up early to experience the rush hour experience on the subways, but we might have missed the proper time because it wasn't honestly that bad. We went to Tsukiji station and went to see the Tokyo Fish Market. I have never seen more seafood in one place. It was kinda like a Frank and Sons or Anime Expo, but for fish.
There. Was. A. Lot.
I have forgotten my camera in my room, so I'll try to negogiate with other people to get their pictures.
We continued from there to check out the standard issue Japanese supermarket. It seemed like a bit more stuff was crammed on shorter shelves. Also there was more pre-cut meat than whole meat, and for better prices.
Lunch happened around here somewhere.
Next, we looked at Ginza, the classier shopping district, and looked at two stores mainly. First were the sweets floor and the grocery floor of a famous department store, the name of which escapes me. The sweets floor was basically what was expected, but the grocery floor was somewhat more interesting. It was set up more like a make-up department, with each section having its own attendant and cash register. Things were generally well priced, but I saw one mysterious piece of meat (looked like fish) selling for about 9000円, which is a little under $100. Since I saw it as we were walking out, I didn't have a chance to analyze what it could be.
Next was the Itoya stationary store, which is rather impressive. I have never seen a $500 pen before.
Next, (after class) a group of us went to the Japanese Sword Museum. It was rather close to closing time, so there were no visitors there besides us. The actual exhibit is only one room, but they have pretty cool items. There were two of Japan's national treasures on display as well as a sword by Masamune and another my another big name old swordsmith, but I can't remember it now. The security guard served as sort of a tour guide and we went to him for questions. Of course, he didn't speak any English, but that made it more fun and educational.

Day J7-J8

Alrighty, I'm gonna be backposting about the last two days here. Tomorrow deserves its own page tho, because unlike on day 8, I actually did something.
Anyways...
We got up early (for a Sunday) and went to Tokyo station to meet our T.A. from last year and a St. Olaf student who is studying abroad (Ueno-sensei and Sara Padula respectively).



We all went to Harajuku to do minor shopping and hang out. I got some souvenirs for people for a good price. We proceeded to have lunch at The Pause.



after lunch we had Crepes from a stand and dawdles a while before entering the subway and going to some sort of building that had a rather comprehensive arcade floor, which had every modern arcade game which I looked for (Melty Blod Actress Again, Fate/Unlimited Codes, as well as tha most recent installations of ALL the major series). The people in the Taiko club played a taiko game at the arcade, I don't think they fared as well as they had expected to. Folloeing that, we went our separate ways for Dinner and returned to the Dorms Uneventfully.

By the way, welcome to Harajuku.



Day J8, we had class and watched the movie おくりびと, it was published as Departures in the US. It was very enjoyable. Afterwards I went back to the dorm to heal my tiredness.

Day J6

As today was Saturday, there was no class and a group of us went to Akihabara again for a longer trip. It was productive and I was able to cross another person off the souvenir list. I have discovered that games are slightly cheaper in Japan and music is more expensive. We went in multiple shops (more like entire buildings devoted to shopping), one of which had FFXIII cosplayers as an advertisement for the game.




There was a store with another cool display idea, a life size Rei and slightly downscaled Unit 01.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, then become learned.

Day J5 Continued

☢ CAUTION ☢ This post has nothing to do with Japan! ☢ CAUTION ☢

So, I was feeling tired at around 5 so I decided to take a nap. I slept for a while and then was awake, but I had no idea what time it was. I felt very well rested, so I assumed that it was near morning. But it was only ten-ish, so I wrote about it. I guess I took it too easy.
Soul silver is pretty cool. I'm using the Pokewalker to level my Bellsprout. It's a pretty clever invention.

Day J5

Today was a pretty low key day overall. We had class and did our second round of interviews, which were difficult because my teammate was sick today, so I had to go it alone. But I think it worked out very well overall. I feel like my Japanese is slowly improving, at least along the lines of the subject matter of the interview. I've been feeling somewhat tired and achy the past few days, so I just went back to the dorm to rest. If anything actually interesting happens I'll post it here, but until then, I'll be taking it easy.

Ed: Thank you, JR

Day J4

Greetings all.
In today's class we had a guest lecture from Professor Lennon, who will be teaching us next week while Professor Kucera is in China. It was an interesting lecture overall, but the best part was that she has a British accent. Whenever I spoke for about half an hour after the lecture, I had to try to not use that accent. Anywho, there was a nice view of the skyline from the classroom window and you could sorta see mount Fuji.



After class, we made a quick trip to Akihabara.



This was the first thing I saw when I left the station. There was a performer off to the side playing strangely fitting Peruvian music. Anyways, for the duration of the two or three short hours there, I was able to cross at least three people off my souvenir list, and do extreme shopping for myself, and I didn't even leave sight of the station door. I plan to return on Saturday and see all of the stuff that I didn't on my first trip.
I got semi-lost on the way back to the dorm. I took a train to Minami Funagashi instead of Higashi Funabashi and ended up using a good hour trying to go sbout a ten minute train ride away. I'll call it a learning experience.

Day J3

Hello all, I will start by informing Laura and other people who care that I am staying in the Dormy Higashi Funabashi, which is probably a different one from last year. Anyways....
Today, we did our interviews, in which groups of two or three of us sat down with a Japanese student and interviewed them. This proved to be very difficult, and gave me impetus to strive to better learn the language. Anyways, we learned some interesting things. For example, the guy said that his favorite type of movie is American movies, and according to the girl, Johnny Depp is somewhat popular in Japan. Here's a group photo we took after the fact.




After that was over at around 3:00 a bunch of us went to a store in Nishi Funabashi. It would be best described as a very cramped (in terms of displays and goods) version of Target. I did some shopping, the results of which are shown below.






On the way back, we passed a Pachinko parlor which, oddly enough, had a church in one of the floors above it.

Day J2

Today was a pretty low key day, except for the morning. The dorm manager's wife (Mama-san, as she is known) decided that we didn't know what time breakfast was, and woke us all up. The worst part about it was that I was asleep at the time, and my alarm was set to go off. She knocked at about the same time as it went off. Since it was the morning, I was very very confused. After breakfast (which was good), she launched us out of the door early, so we wouldn't be late. We ended up being about fifteen minutes early. We went to class and had lunch as usual. Then there was more class until about four-ish, after which we went off in groups into the city. The group in which I was went to a bookstore near Akihabara. I bought a nice Japanese pencil and very well priced manga and light novels, so I could practice my Japanese. Some people in the group were pretty tired from walking at that point, so we split into two groups and some of us went back to the dorms, including me. I had dinner and used the Japanese style bath, お風呂, for the first time. It was surprisingly relaxing and not as awkward as I was expecting. I then did some reading and proceeded to sleep until morning, when I realized I hadn't updated yesterday.

Day J1

I woke up this morning and needed to go to the bathroom, so I did. I walked into the stall that contained the dorm's super-toilet, complete with electronic controls and bidet.
Anyways, the bed in my dorm is significantly more comfortable than the one in China. A major part of today was figuring out the public transoprtation system. After class and lunch (I went to the nearby 100yen plaza and bought a counter), we went to the Meiji Shrine, which I liked very much.
BTW, I forgot my camera in my room this morning, so all photos are credited to Kong.

After that we did a repeat of the Mystery Beijing trip, but instead with various locations around Tokyo. Kong and I were a two man group and we were given a slip of paper that only said アメ横.
With a city atlas and train map it was relatively easy to find (we could look it up easily because we knew off the bat how to pronounce アメ (ame), other groups weren't as lucky (they got locations beginning with weird stuff)).

It turns out that アメ横　(ameyoko) was just an abbreviation for アメヤ横丁　(ameyayokochou), which is the last remnant of the black market, open air markets that formed in early post war Japan (the ame stands for America). Most of the stores were relatively cheap, though we didn't buy anything, and it is apparently one of the only places you can haggle over prices in Tokyo. The inside of the center building (you can't see it in the picture) has much more high-class expentive shops (jewelry, etc...). One good that could be found at any part of アメ横 was shoes. I have never seen more shoe shops in one place than there.
After that, we went back to the shrine to meet up with everyone else for dinner. We went to an Okonomiyaki place in Harajuku which was oddly decorated, but really good. We had an all you can eat meal, so I had three courses, two okonomiyaki (one with beef, one with salami) and one yakisoba (with bacon). I also was drinking large amounts of water. I believe the waiters got fed up with me because they eventually just left a full pitcher next to me. After dinner we went back to the dorm.
SIDE NOTE!
WHILEWEWEREONTHEWAYTOAMEYOKOWEWEREINAKIHABARASTATIONANDICANTWAITTOGOTOAKIHABARAIMSOEXCITEDOMGOMGOMG.
I have a trip to Akihabara planned for saturday. For those of you who don't know, it's kinda lika an anime/videogame nerd Mecca.
Just thought you ought to know.
*collapse*

JAPAN!!! (Day J0)

We just flew into Japan tonight, and I am already pleased. So, far everything from the accommodations to the people seem much more friendly, not to mention less dingy. I'm tired and need sleep now, so I'll update tomorrow, maybe with pictures.

Day 5 & 6

We didn't have class this morning so that we could prepare for our trip to the Great Wall. Then we went, by bus. The ride was somewhat long, but it was made better by sleep, music, and an on-board lunch. we got to the wall and it was still cold. I wore two t-shirts, a long sleeved shirt, sweat pants, cargo pants over them, three pairs of socks, a balacalava, the nuclear winter hat, a sweater, my ski jacket, mittens, and shoes. Parts of me still managed to become cold. There were two portions of the wall which we could choose to climb, I went with the group that chose the steeper, more manly route. It was steep. It was the most tiring hike I have ever made, and going back down was an even more difficult task. The entire time we were being followed by "tour guides" who would forcibly help you down the slope, then try to guilt you into buying overpriced souvenirs. While it was tiring, and the vulturous salespeople were annoying, the views were spectacular. I really hadn't realized how freaking long the great wall was until I saw it. You could see the wall towers on nearly every visible mountain. The music I had stuck in my head was "The Lighting of the Beacons" from Lord of the Rings.
Some of those mountains with towers were really tall.



We walked back down the wall a different way from which we came to get to a small farming village with an excellent view of the wall. The village was extremely non-high-tech (see chicken for details) and had the single most classy restroom facilities I have ever seen, you'll have to wait for the elaboration on that until the end of the post though. Anyways, we were made a dinner which was very good. The sleeping accommodations were something of a nightmare. We were told that there would be heated beds. We were told the truth, but were not informed that these "beds" were pretty much just raised sections of floor covered in blankets. The "beds" were large enough to accommodate about four people without being too cramped. We slept with six people to our bed. In summary, I got to sleep on a gigantic warm brick with five other guys. It was not the best night's sleep I have ever had.
The high-tech toiled was a pretty impressive device.

Inside of this eloquent structure was a gap in the floorboards which opened to the small ravine below. There was also a bucket in which to put your used toilet paper. by the way, the streetlights on the road leading to this village and to the wall are all solar powered. There is something wrong with this government's priorities.
We took the bus back to the dorms and I now sit here typing. I leave for Japan tomorrow. I look forward to being in a country where I can drink the water.

Day 4

Hello again, it's still really cold here.
When I left for class I saw what I call the Jesus-cycle. If you get it, then you know something about Christianity.

Today in class, we learned about Beijing and about the layout of the old city. An interesting thing is that the temples dedicated to the celestial bodies were all built outside the city walls. The guest lecturer we had was very enthusiastic and well learned. He has apparently been teaching for quite a while. After this, we went to a museum containing a lot of China and Beijing's historical art and artifacts. The exhibits ranged in time period from super-ancient to the last dynasty. One of the old bronze works, a bath basin, had a small feature which I thought was cute. It needs an, "O hai der" caption. Another piece that stood out was the face of one particular wax figure. It is a near perfect representation of the racist view of a Chinese face. It wasn't supposed to be, this figure is one in a procession of somewhat realistic looking depictions of people in a wedding parade. I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or facepalm when I saw this for the fist time. Aside from these, I really enjoyed their collection of Buddhist statues.


Anywho, after the museum, in small groups, the Chinese language students led the Japanese students (hi) to a location which they had been researching. The group in which I was went to a place that started with a Y and had ming somewhere in the name. It was the ruins of the Emperor's summer palace. The group gave us a brief history lesson and brought us through a section of the park. The snow made the ruins practically invisible, but it was a nice park anyways. Myself and Adam had a picture taken of us at a tourist spot. You may call me Emperor Jeff.

Here's a statue from the place.

Day 3

Sorry, no new pictures today. It was a free day, so I spent it trying to upload pictures and update the blog, without much success. I went into town with a group for lunch and dinner, so my day was not by any means of Chinese cultural experience. Speaking of that which is quintessentially Chinese (sarcasm) we found an excellent Pizza bar near campus and we have had dinner the past two nights. You're allowed to write on the walls and their large pizza is about as big in diameter as the table is wide. I really like this place.

Day 2

Today, I woke up and went to the dumpling stand near the school. Those things are really good, it is essentially grease and pork inside bread for very cheap, since it's China.

After that, we had class, which was basically a sort of orientation of rules and regulations, etc...
Next, we took a bus to nearer the center of the city and had us some lunch at a vegetarian restaurant. None of the food was particularly good (except the rice), but it did look like somewhat convincing meat. After that we walked to the Beijing city planning museum. On the way, a lady selling things followed us almost to the museum, but I don't think anyone bought anything from her. We arrived at the museum and were lead around the exhibits regarding old Beijing by a Chinese man who looked pretty much exactly like Boris Badenov. The museum itself was pretty interesting. A prominent feature was the miniature version of the entire city. The entire time I was looking at the model city, the Godzilla music was running through my head.

After we were done with the museum, we made our way to Tienanmen Square for our next assignment. It was an exercise entitled "Mystery Beijing." For this assignment, were split into groups of two, with one Chinese and one Japanese studdent in each group. We were given the name of a place in Beijing, written in Chinese. We were only allowed to use our atlases and communication with the locals to find our way. By the atlas, I found pretty quickly that that our location was directly north of us. As were walking towards one of the nearest subway stops, we heard people talking to us in bad English from behind. There was a group of three or four Chinese people (college aged, mostly female) who apparently wanted to take a picture with us. They took the picture, and my teammate, Dereck(sp?), asked them about the location of our destination. We found out exactly how to get there using the bus system, and we did so. Our location (pronounced Gulou, or something) was an ancient tower containing many large drums. it was used for keeping track of the time in old Beijing. We got to dee people do a performance on the drums as well, it was pretty dang cool. Here's a drum.

On the way back to report our success, we stopped by an electronics store and I purchased a set of video game peripherals worth $200 US. I spend about $13 US. China is cheap. We got back without further incident.

Day 1

Hokay, so
After being on airplanes for a grand total of eighteen hours within two days, I arrived at Beijing.When we arrived, it was still light. For some obscure security reason, there was no photography allowed before we properly went through immigration and customs, so there are no pictures of the airport. It is an interesting structure and I'm sure you can find pictures of it somewhere on the internet. We took an incredibly slow and crowded tram to get to the baggage claim and after that we were on a nice bus to get to the dorms. Following is the first ever picture of me in China. I seem confused for some reason.

The dorm is a bit janky. We had to buy our own toilet paper to bring to and from the bathrooms. The plumbing is poorly behaved, so we cannot flush toilet paper. The room feels much smaller than the picture suggests, but everything at least works. Except for the internet. The wired connection won't let me connect at all and the wireless is just plain bad, not to mention a bunch of sites (facebook, youtube) are blocked by the Chinese government, so it is rather inconvenient.

Next, we had dinner. It was excellent.