Tokyo
Friday, April 17th
Today was a full day of teachings, and I got to say that being in the classroom all say is more satisfying then having to sit in the teacher's room all day. So I ate lunch with the students and they were a bit more talkative today. A student made me a paper heart, so that was cute =) So towards the end of the day, I got a phone call from Mr. Nagaoka telling me that there had been a change in schedule and that I would be going to Takaku Junior High next week. I was devastated to hear this because next Friday I was to take a school trip to Aizu http://www.jref.com/practical/aizu_wakamatsu.shtml. So, I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't be able to go. So after lunch I spent a couple hours grading papers and reading. After school, I stopped by the drug store to pick up some lotion. While perusing the isles, I came across a Body oil (that was literally NEXT TO the Johnson's Body Lotion I bought) that said "Hot Massage Super Hard Body" oh, Japan. So then I made my way over to the snack section and they had Yuzu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzu flavored Kit Kat Bars. I got home only to find a message from Grant (one of the managers at Joytalk) that everyone was getting together that night for a party. I really wanted to go, but I was going to Tokyo on Saturday, so I had to decline the invitation. I then attempted to get some sleep, but I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, waiting anxiously for the morning.
Saturday, April 18th
Today I woke up around 8am to take the 9:16am train into Tokyo. I had to leave a little early so that I could get my Suica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suica card charged from my trip from Kuroiso to Kurodahara station last Thursday. So, the train ride was uneventful, although about halfway to Tokyo, a message came on the train information board about an accident on the Tobu Tojo line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobu_Tojo_Line (my old line). Now, in English, the message simply stated "The Tobu Tojo Line has stopped". While, in Japanese, it explained that there had been a "人身事故" between Wakaba and Tsurugashima and that all Tobu Tojo lines had stopped. 人身事故 translates to "Person Body Accident", which means that someone had jumped onto the tracks to commit suicide. Now, I am slightly cynical when it comes to train suicides because it happens in frequency in Japan, and normally they don't have to stop the entire train line unless it's particularly...messy. So, I thought to myself that that sucks. Then I looked around at the ads in the train and saw one for Tokyo International University and was super excited. Seeing stuff like that and seeing my train stop on the JR East train map, makes me feel that I'm not so far away from places that have meaning to me like Kawagoe and Tokyo.
So I arrived in Ueno and took the Yamanote Line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamanote_Line to Harajuku http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harajuku. There I was waiting for a couple friends to meet me. The first, Marius, arrived about the same time I did, so we were just waiting for Krystle to get there. So, we wait about 20 minutes and Krystle calls to let us know that she was stuck on the Tobu Tojo Line, and was going to be late. While waiting I went to the other entrance to the station to see if anyone had shown up there and I saw a tourist get an epic fail when trying to get a picture of some girls in Lolita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_fashion and I was amused. So we waited a little longer and she finally made it, and I was SO HAPPY to see her =D We then walked down Takeshita Street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshita_dori and ate at one of my favorite Italian places, La Pausa http://www.lapausa.jp/. After delicious pizza and a peach sour with freshly squeezed orange juice (by me) we headed out to get a crepe http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2080/2316389977_b8ab6ca8d1.jpg?v=1205002470 at Angel's Heart. After enjoying a tasty Strawberry Cheesecake Crepe, we went in search of Ayumi Hamasaki concert tickets. In Harajuku, there are a couple stores where you go in, and it is a bunch of clear cases that have different tickets in them and different prices. So, we decided to get the cheapest ones at 6000yen (about $60) each!
So, Harajuku also has the CUTEST socks, so I always try to buy them while I'm there. Here is one pair I got:
I bought two other pairs, one just has pink hearts and silver rubbery skulls and the other has a panda on it, but it has some Japanese that I'm too lazy too translate, but when I do, I'll post pictures of it.
So we decided to kill some time before meeting our friends Sean and Eric in Roppongi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roppongi. So we walked down Takeshita street and headed towards Shibuya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya,_Tokyo. On our way, we stopped in the newly opened H&M. And seriously, MAYHEM. It was NUTS! You couldn't turn around without bumping into someone and it had FOUR STORIES! So Krystle and I looked around, stood in a crazy long line to try on some clothes, but left empty handed. SO we walked down Omotesando Street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omotesand%C5%8D,_Tokyo and saw a theater and some crazy sculptures. The weather was absolutely perfect. So we made it to Shibuya station where Marius headed home. Krystle and I then took the Tokyo Metro (which takes Suica now, crazy!) to Roppongi where we met Sean and Eric and their friend Kevin. We had some coffee at Tully's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tully%27s and then went to TGI Fridays (I know, original, right?) for dinner. Although, it was hilarious because Kevin got the "Cheesy Cheeseburger". It had regular cheese and a patty of fried cheese. When he bit into it, the fried cheese exploded everywhere and it was funny =)
So, Sean, Eric and Kevin were all going to a girl rock festival, so we parted around 7:15pm. Krystle and I then went to Ueno and took the Utsunomiya Line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utsunomiya_Line together until she got off at Omiya. I finally got home around 11pm.
It was a great day :)
Sunday, April 19th
Today was a lazy day, I couldn't get my body to understand that I could sleep in, so I woke up around 10am. I cleaned up some, and then drove to a shoe store so that I could buy some sneakers. After I got back from the store I went for a run. While running, there was a car, I'm not sure if it's for Japanese elections or what, but it's basically a minivan with like 5 people in it, a loud speaker and two people waving and talking through the loudspeaker. Again, I'm not sure what it was for, it's a frequent thing in Japan, so yea, they felt the need to directly saying hello to me while I was running. I waved, felt silly, and kept running. Oh, and Colorado, running is a lot more enjoyable when THERE IS AIR TO BREATHE. So I ran/walked for about 20 minutes and came home. I did my laundry, made dinner, talked to Andrew and went to sleep.
Monday, April 20th
So today I woke up at 6:30am to get ready to go to Takaku. Mr. Nagaoka picked me up at 7:40am and drove ahead of me to the school. We arrived at the school, and the teachers gave us a confused look. After one of the teachers pointed out the schedule they had for me, Mr. Nagaoka discovered that he had made a mistake and that I would be at Kurodahara after all this week! So we called Joytalk and then headed over to Kurodahara. Today at school, the 1st graders and the 3rd graders didn't have classes, so it was only the 2nd graders. So I did a short version of MASH http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MASH_(game) involving a teacher getting eaten by a colorful animal, but it went over the 2nd grader's heads. so for the second class (2-2) we played hangman and it was a hit. It was funny, because there were two boys sitting up front and I noticed that one of them was really trying to participate in the game and was more than happy to have me come over and look at his work. So, I thought to myself, hm, maybe this kid has a crush on me! So, I pushed that aside, and left class. Well, I had lunch with 2-2. And, it was confirmed. First, he was just about the only one that ACTIVELY tried to speak English with me (after much whispering to the friends he sat next to, to the teacher, getting up and whispering with friends sitting on the other side of the classroom and by encouragement from the girls saying "You like Julie-sensei!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensei in Japanese. So he informed me that he had 2 brothers, liked baseball and wanted to know if I was from Australia, what food I liked and what music I liked. It escalated after lunch was over to him telling me he liked monkeys and asking if I liked monkeys. Now, I could see what the metaphor was going for, so I said that monkeys were cute. Then I made a mistake and said that I liked Japanese monkeys http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Macaque. And then I got the question "Do you love Japanese boys?" And I said no. I think I crushed him a little LOL. Then, as I was leaving the classroom, he came up to me and said "You are my song" (or soul, I don't know which) and I was like WTF?!! So I asked him what he meant, and he ran away to confer with his friends, so I took the opportunity to leave the classroom. Overall, it was HILARIOUS! I was really trying not to laugh, but it was pretty ridiculous. So, after lunch I went with Mrs. Adachi to the bank so she could pay her ticket. And she got a new car and it was super cute. I was jealous ;) So then I worked on making posters for my "English Board" that will eventually go up, somewhere in the school. Then I graded some papers and looked online for some warm up games. 4:45pm rolled around and I left, stopped by Family Mart and picked up dinner.
That's all for now!
Oh, and ps, I'm grateful for websites that don't block viewing in Japan. Makes listening to the radio and watching my tv shows so much easier!
Thanks for reading!
Today was a full day of teachings, and I got to say that being in the classroom all say is more satisfying then having to sit in the teacher's room all day. So I ate lunch with the students and they were a bit more talkative today. A student made me a paper heart, so that was cute =) So towards the end of the day, I got a phone call from Mr. Nagaoka telling me that there had been a change in schedule and that I would be going to Takaku Junior High next week. I was devastated to hear this because next Friday I was to take a school trip to Aizu http://www.jref.com/practical/aizu_wakamatsu.shtml. So, I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't be able to go. So after lunch I spent a couple hours grading papers and reading. After school, I stopped by the drug store to pick up some lotion. While perusing the isles, I came across a Body oil (that was literally NEXT TO the Johnson's Body Lotion I bought) that said "Hot Massage Super Hard Body" oh, Japan. So then I made my way over to the snack section and they had Yuzu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzu flavored Kit Kat Bars. I got home only to find a message from Grant (one of the managers at Joytalk) that everyone was getting together that night for a party. I really wanted to go, but I was going to Tokyo on Saturday, so I had to decline the invitation. I then attempted to get some sleep, but I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, waiting anxiously for the morning.
Saturday, April 18th
Today I woke up around 8am to take the 9:16am train into Tokyo. I had to leave a little early so that I could get my Suica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suica card charged from my trip from Kuroiso to Kurodahara station last Thursday. So, the train ride was uneventful, although about halfway to Tokyo, a message came on the train information board about an accident on the Tobu Tojo line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobu_Tojo_Line (my old line). Now, in English, the message simply stated "The Tobu Tojo Line has stopped". While, in Japanese, it explained that there had been a "人身事故" between Wakaba and Tsurugashima and that all Tobu Tojo lines had stopped. 人身事故 translates to "Person Body Accident", which means that someone had jumped onto the tracks to commit suicide. Now, I am slightly cynical when it comes to train suicides because it happens in frequency in Japan, and normally they don't have to stop the entire train line unless it's particularly...messy. So, I thought to myself that that sucks. Then I looked around at the ads in the train and saw one for Tokyo International University and was super excited. Seeing stuff like that and seeing my train stop on the JR East train map, makes me feel that I'm not so far away from places that have meaning to me like Kawagoe and Tokyo.
So I arrived in Ueno and took the Yamanote Line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamanote_Line to Harajuku http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harajuku. There I was waiting for a couple friends to meet me. The first, Marius, arrived about the same time I did, so we were just waiting for Krystle to get there. So, we wait about 20 minutes and Krystle calls to let us know that she was stuck on the Tobu Tojo Line, and was going to be late. While waiting I went to the other entrance to the station to see if anyone had shown up there and I saw a tourist get an epic fail when trying to get a picture of some girls in Lolita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_fashion and I was amused. So we waited a little longer and she finally made it, and I was SO HAPPY to see her =D We then walked down Takeshita Street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshita_dori and ate at one of my favorite Italian places, La Pausa http://www.lapausa.jp/. After delicious pizza and a peach sour with freshly squeezed orange juice (by me) we headed out to get a crepe http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2080/2316389977_b8ab6ca8d1.jpg?v=1205002470 at Angel's Heart. After enjoying a tasty Strawberry Cheesecake Crepe, we went in search of Ayumi Hamasaki concert tickets. In Harajuku, there are a couple stores where you go in, and it is a bunch of clear cases that have different tickets in them and different prices. So, we decided to get the cheapest ones at 6000yen (about $60) each!
So, Harajuku also has the CUTEST socks, so I always try to buy them while I'm there. Here is one pair I got:
I bought two other pairs, one just has pink hearts and silver rubbery skulls and the other has a panda on it, but it has some Japanese that I'm too lazy too translate, but when I do, I'll post pictures of it.
So we decided to kill some time before meeting our friends Sean and Eric in Roppongi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roppongi. So we walked down Takeshita street and headed towards Shibuya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya,_Tokyo. On our way, we stopped in the newly opened H&M. And seriously, MAYHEM. It was NUTS! You couldn't turn around without bumping into someone and it had FOUR STORIES! So Krystle and I looked around, stood in a crazy long line to try on some clothes, but left empty handed. SO we walked down Omotesando Street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omotesand%C5%8D,_Tokyo and saw a theater and some crazy sculptures. The weather was absolutely perfect. So we made it to Shibuya station where Marius headed home. Krystle and I then took the Tokyo Metro (which takes Suica now, crazy!) to Roppongi where we met Sean and Eric and their friend Kevin. We had some coffee at Tully's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tully%27s and then went to TGI Fridays (I know, original, right?) for dinner. Although, it was hilarious because Kevin got the "Cheesy Cheeseburger". It had regular cheese and a patty of fried cheese. When he bit into it, the fried cheese exploded everywhere and it was funny =)
So, Sean, Eric and Kevin were all going to a girl rock festival, so we parted around 7:15pm. Krystle and I then went to Ueno and took the Utsunomiya Line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utsunomiya_Line together until she got off at Omiya. I finally got home around 11pm.
It was a great day :)
Sunday, April 19th
Today was a lazy day, I couldn't get my body to understand that I could sleep in, so I woke up around 10am. I cleaned up some, and then drove to a shoe store so that I could buy some sneakers. After I got back from the store I went for a run. While running, there was a car, I'm not sure if it's for Japanese elections or what, but it's basically a minivan with like 5 people in it, a loud speaker and two people waving and talking through the loudspeaker. Again, I'm not sure what it was for, it's a frequent thing in Japan, so yea, they felt the need to directly saying hello to me while I was running. I waved, felt silly, and kept running. Oh, and Colorado, running is a lot more enjoyable when THERE IS AIR TO BREATHE. So I ran/walked for about 20 minutes and came home. I did my laundry, made dinner, talked to Andrew and went to sleep.
Monday, April 20th
So today I woke up at 6:30am to get ready to go to Takaku. Mr. Nagaoka picked me up at 7:40am and drove ahead of me to the school. We arrived at the school, and the teachers gave us a confused look. After one of the teachers pointed out the schedule they had for me, Mr. Nagaoka discovered that he had made a mistake and that I would be at Kurodahara after all this week! So we called Joytalk and then headed over to Kurodahara. Today at school, the 1st graders and the 3rd graders didn't have classes, so it was only the 2nd graders. So I did a short version of MASH http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MASH_(game) involving a teacher getting eaten by a colorful animal, but it went over the 2nd grader's heads. so for the second class (2-2) we played hangman and it was a hit. It was funny, because there were two boys sitting up front and I noticed that one of them was really trying to participate in the game and was more than happy to have me come over and look at his work. So, I thought to myself, hm, maybe this kid has a crush on me! So, I pushed that aside, and left class. Well, I had lunch with 2-2. And, it was confirmed. First, he was just about the only one that ACTIVELY tried to speak English with me (after much whispering to the friends he sat next to, to the teacher, getting up and whispering with friends sitting on the other side of the classroom and by encouragement from the girls saying "You like Julie-sensei!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensei in Japanese. So he informed me that he had 2 brothers, liked baseball and wanted to know if I was from Australia, what food I liked and what music I liked. It escalated after lunch was over to him telling me he liked monkeys and asking if I liked monkeys. Now, I could see what the metaphor was going for, so I said that monkeys were cute. Then I made a mistake and said that I liked Japanese monkeys http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Macaque. And then I got the question "Do you love Japanese boys?" And I said no. I think I crushed him a little LOL. Then, as I was leaving the classroom, he came up to me and said "You are my song" (or soul, I don't know which) and I was like WTF?!! So I asked him what he meant, and he ran away to confer with his friends, so I took the opportunity to leave the classroom. Overall, it was HILARIOUS! I was really trying not to laugh, but it was pretty ridiculous. So, after lunch I went with Mrs. Adachi to the bank so she could pay her ticket. And she got a new car and it was super cute. I was jealous ;) So then I worked on making posters for my "English Board" that will eventually go up, somewhere in the school. Then I graded some papers and looked online for some warm up games. 4:45pm rolled around and I left, stopped by Family Mart and picked up dinner.
That's all for now!
Oh, and ps, I'm grateful for websites that don't block viewing in Japan. Makes listening to the radio and watching my tv shows so much easier!
Thanks for reading!