（・ω・;）（;・ω・）
Back again (`^ω^´)
This time with a minor update... I've kind of given up catching up with the events ... It's just impossible... So you just have to bear with me writing about stuff from 2 months ago （＝_＝∥）
By the way, it's tsuyu (梅雨) now, the rainy season. Usually this means several weeks of rainy days in a row, but thanks to global warming, it's only raining one or two days and then it's hot again... Well, the humidity is killing me anyway, whether it's raining or not. Yesterday, we had 95%. And it wasn't even raining yet.
Imagine you sit in a sauna with all your clothes on... （＋Д＋∥）
５月３日 - 43回小田原北條五代祭り (43th Odawara Hojo 5 Generations Festival)
The Japanese students from the German conversation club asked us to go to the 43th Odawara Hojo 5 Generations Festival back in May. It's an annual festival to celebrate the late 5 generations of the Hojo Clan (北條氏), one of the most powerful warrior clans in Japan in the Sengoku period (1493-1573).
It was a fun day with brilliant weather - of course I managed to get sunburnt （＝＿＝）
First, we went to Odawara Castle, where the opening ceremony was held (and where I got sunburnt because of a lack of shady trees); then we went to search a quiet place to watch the parade, the main event. Afterwards we went to the beach where I, yet again, began to wonder about the maturity of Japanese men and to a nice little family restaurant. When I reached the L-kan again that night, I watched the Real Face Tour DVD with Juyoung （＾∨＾）V *insert tiny fangirly scream here*
The parade basically consisted of several hundred people wearing historical costumes inspired by the late 15th/early 16th century. Aparently everyone could take part, from elementary students to senior citizens. Considering the heat that day I have to express my respect for wearing those costumes... (o.O) Well, the armors were mainly made of plasic, but the fabric seemed to be pretty thick and heavy.
Junyoung and me trying some samurai helmets in front of the castle. Please just ignore my frog-like grin... (￢＿￢)
Yoko, current chairwoman of the Prost club and me while waiting for the parade to start. Nevermind my hair ... humidity, you know...
Well, enough torture with pictures of me, here are some random impressions of the parade:
The last part of the parade: The Mikoshi (神輿), a portable shinto shrine. I have no clue about the actual weight of it but it was carried by at least 30 exhausted looking men....
５月４日 - 弘法山 (Koboyama)
The festival was kind of exhausting, but after all it was Golden Week, a special week in May with several national holidays in a row, where everyone goes on vacation. Because of this and due to the fact that the weather was still quite nice, me and Katja spontaneously decided to take a walk ... and ended up climbing Koboyama, a small mountain (235m) close to the station. Because we kind of got there by accident, we couldn't follow any hinking trails, but literally fought our way through the forest. The scenery was really beautiful and our efforts were rewarded with a nice view of the campus and the station.
We were pretty surprised when we found a temple on top of the mountain ... and the we were scared to death by the black buddha statue that was inside... It had some white gems as eyes, which contributed to a quite frightening look... I actually got nightmares that night ... But then again, that might be because Katja started telling horror stories to tease me... (>_>)
Look what we found on our way to the top (´^ω^`)
It doesn't really have anything to do with it, but ... Quiz time: Why do Japanese sometimes put small plastic figures in their purses?
Actually, it's because of a word play: The Japanese word for frog, "kaeru" (蛙) is pronounced the same way as the verb for "come back" (帰る), so if you want your money to come back to your purse, you'll have to put a frog in it...
５月１５日 - 東京都庁舎 (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building)
On 15th of May Candy and me took yet another trip to Harajuku. However this time, we didn't spent the whole day there, but also went to do waht we as foreigners are supposed to do in Japan: Sightseeing.
So after JEshopping was done we went to Shinjuku to see the city hall - which is actually a tall and massive building that offers you a nice view over the eastern part of Tokyo (on clear days you might even see Mt. Fuji) - for free! You just have to stand in line for some time (and get your luggage inspected) and then you can get on one of the elevators that take you to the obervatory on the 45th floor.
The main buidling, designed by the famous architect Tange Kenzo (丹下健三). As you can see it actually has two towers and both have an observatory on the 45th floor accessable free of charge for public.
One of the different views. It was kind of cloudy that day, plus, there's quite some smog in Tokyo. (>_<)
On the right you can see the Shinjuku Park Tower, also designed by Tange Kenzo, in the back on the left side you can see the gardens surrounding Meiji Shrine.
５月２１日 - 日本舞踊 (Japanese Dance)
In May 25th, the university offered some free lessons in traditional Japanese dancing - how could I resist?
Well... honestly, I totally suck at remembering moves, but still it was quite fun. I was interviewed twice by Asahi and Yomiuri Shinbun and actually both newspapers published my comments ... although Asahi mispelled my name (￢.￢)
Eun-Kyeong (mostly called Shin-chan) and me. She's so cute and tiny (>ω<). She's in my class as well and lately we often spend time together.
And er... well, I have no pictures of us dancing, so instead I'll show you a video someone took. It's a little bit shaky and the beginning is missing, but you get the general idea...
I'm sorry, but I have to drop the "Absurdities in Daily Japan" section this time, because I'm way too tired (4 a.m. by the way) to search for something. Next time, promise.
Good night. *snooooooooooore* (-０-)zzZ
This time with a minor update... I've kind of given up catching up with the events ... It's just impossible... So you just have to bear with me writing about stuff from 2 months ago （＝_＝∥）
By the way, it's tsuyu (梅雨) now, the rainy season. Usually this means several weeks of rainy days in a row, but thanks to global warming, it's only raining one or two days and then it's hot again... Well, the humidity is killing me anyway, whether it's raining or not. Yesterday, we had 95%. And it wasn't even raining yet.
Imagine you sit in a sauna with all your clothes on... （＋Д＋∥）
５月３日 - 43回小田原北條五代祭り (43th Odawara Hojo 5 Generations Festival)
The Japanese students from the German conversation club asked us to go to the 43th Odawara Hojo 5 Generations Festival back in May. It's an annual festival to celebrate the late 5 generations of the Hojo Clan (北條氏), one of the most powerful warrior clans in Japan in the Sengoku period (1493-1573).
It was a fun day with brilliant weather - of course I managed to get sunburnt （＝＿＝）
First, we went to Odawara Castle, where the opening ceremony was held (and where I got sunburnt because of a lack of shady trees); then we went to search a quiet place to watch the parade, the main event. Afterwards we went to the beach where I, yet again, began to wonder about the maturity of Japanese men and to a nice little family restaurant. When I reached the L-kan again that night, I watched the Real Face Tour DVD with Juyoung （＾∨＾）V *insert tiny fangirly scream here*
The parade basically consisted of several hundred people wearing historical costumes inspired by the late 15th/early 16th century. Aparently everyone could take part, from elementary students to senior citizens. Considering the heat that day I have to express my respect for wearing those costumes... (o.O) Well, the armors were mainly made of plasic, but the fabric seemed to be pretty thick and heavy.
Junyoung and me trying some samurai helmets in front of the castle. Please just ignore my frog-like grin... (￢＿￢)
Yoko, current chairwoman of the Prost club and me while waiting for the parade to start. Nevermind my hair ... humidity, you know...
Well, enough torture with pictures of me, here are some random impressions of the parade:
The last part of the parade: The Mikoshi (神輿), a portable shinto shrine. I have no clue about the actual weight of it but it was carried by at least 30 exhausted looking men....
５月４日 - 弘法山 (Koboyama)
The festival was kind of exhausting, but after all it was Golden Week, a special week in May with several national holidays in a row, where everyone goes on vacation. Because of this and due to the fact that the weather was still quite nice, me and Katja spontaneously decided to take a walk ... and ended up climbing Koboyama, a small mountain (235m) close to the station. Because we kind of got there by accident, we couldn't follow any hinking trails, but literally fought our way through the forest. The scenery was really beautiful and our efforts were rewarded with a nice view of the campus and the station.
We were pretty surprised when we found a temple on top of the mountain ... and the we were scared to death by the black buddha statue that was inside... It had some white gems as eyes, which contributed to a quite frightening look... I actually got nightmares that night ... But then again, that might be because Katja started telling horror stories to tease me... (>_>)
Look what we found on our way to the top (´^ω^`)
It doesn't really have anything to do with it, but ... Quiz time: Why do Japanese sometimes put small plastic figures in their purses?
Actually, it's because of a word play: The Japanese word for frog, "kaeru" (蛙) is pronounced the same way as the verb for "come back" (帰る), so if you want your money to come back to your purse, you'll have to put a frog in it...
５月１５日 - 東京都庁舎 (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building)
On 15th of May Candy and me took yet another trip to Harajuku. However this time, we didn't spent the whole day there, but also went to do waht we as foreigners are supposed to do in Japan: Sightseeing.
So after JEshopping was done we went to Shinjuku to see the city hall - which is actually a tall and massive building that offers you a nice view over the eastern part of Tokyo (on clear days you might even see Mt. Fuji) - for free! You just have to stand in line for some time (and get your luggage inspected) and then you can get on one of the elevators that take you to the obervatory on the 45th floor.
The main buidling, designed by the famous architect Tange Kenzo (丹下健三). As you can see it actually has two towers and both have an observatory on the 45th floor accessable free of charge for public.
One of the different views. It was kind of cloudy that day, plus, there's quite some smog in Tokyo. (>_<)
On the right you can see the Shinjuku Park Tower, also designed by Tange Kenzo, in the back on the left side you can see the gardens surrounding Meiji Shrine.
５月２１日 - 日本舞踊 (Japanese Dance)
In May 25th, the university offered some free lessons in traditional Japanese dancing - how could I resist?
Well... honestly, I totally suck at remembering moves, but still it was quite fun. I was interviewed twice by Asahi and Yomiuri Shinbun and actually both newspapers published my comments ... although Asahi mispelled my name (￢.￢)
Eun-Kyeong (mostly called Shin-chan) and me. She's so cute and tiny (>ω<). She's in my class as well and lately we often spend time together.
And er... well, I have no pictures of us dancing, so instead I'll show you a video someone took. It's a little bit shaky and the beginning is missing, but you get the general idea...
I'm sorry, but I have to drop the "Absurdities in Daily Japan" section this time, because I'm way too tired (4 a.m. by the way) to search for something. Next time, promise.
Good night. *snooooooooooore* (-０-)zzZ