Yamanote Train Party/ Baseball

So the weekend before Halloween there is a tradition in Tokyo that all the Gaijin (Foreigners) get together and ride the Yamanote train that circles Tokyo. So this past Saturday that’s exactly what happened. Apparently this is tolerated by the Japanese train operators, but basically it’s maybe a hundred Gaijin or so, in full costume, drinking and partying. I met up with everyone a little late, but I eventually found the train—it was pretty funny.

As the train pulls up to the station, all the Japanese people are waiting to board like it’s any other train. But then all these drunk white guys, stuck their heads out the windows of the train (I don’t know how the lowered the windows, maybe the just removed them) and started yelling “GAIJIN RULE! GAIJIN RULE” which startled a few Japanese people and gave them another reason to hate foreigners. As the doors opened, a few dozen costumed Gaijin ran from car to car to “switch it up” and I happened to see my friends so I jumped in with them. Once inside it was the sweatiest, Smelliest cramped train car ever. That’s one thing I forgot—gaijin smell bad. At least in the super-cramped trains on the way to work, none of the Japanese business men smell like “Axe” and B.O.

Anyway, everyone was holding a drink and some guy yelled for everyone to take out the light bulbs, and make it a “Night Train” so everyone did. Now the inside is completely dark and we pull up to the next stop and everyone repeats the yelling and car-switching. All in all it was pretty funny; it was also a little embarrassing but I guess people do this every year. I could only stand about 20 minutes of it, so after that I went home. It was about midnight anyway, so I felt it was time.

The huge baseball series was this weekend between Waseda and Keio. I’ve been trying to figure out an apt comparison in American college sports—maybe like Harvard/Yale football, but with both schools actually being top ranked sports programs and not just academic. Maybe like Cal/Stanford, but again, with a little better sports programs. I guess it is kind of like Florida vs. Florida St. but instead the two school are two top ranked academic institutions in addition to being good at sports. Anyway, you get the idea—good teams and good schools. The game was televised, so I watched it from my dorm. I don’t know why I didn’t actually go, that probably would have been better.

So the reason all the students like these games in addition to the school pride, competition, ect, is because there’s a potential to miss school. The first game was Saturday, so all classes after 1^st period were canceled. I still went to class because I had skipped Thursday’s class and didn’t want to miss two in a row, but with only one period of class, spend three hours traveling to and from school for an hour and a half of class time. Stupid commute. Anyway, they played game two on Sunday, (Keio won Saturday, and Waseda hit a homer in the bottom of the 9^th to tie, and another homer in the bottom of the 12^th to win). As my friend from Language School who is studying at Waseda sent me jeering emails, I replied now we all get Monday off, so it’s really a win-win.

So I was all set to skip Monday classes because the series was tied, and I was very relieved because I had a presentation for a Monday class. But someone reminded me that if it rains, theycouldn't play the game, so we would have to go to school. There’s even a hotline you call to see if the game is postponed or not. I got word this morning that school was canceled and have happily spent the day not commuting. And because I didn’t go to class last Thursday, I have been to one period of class between Thursday and Tuesday. This is giving me a nice little break from class, and with my trip to Kyoto at the end of the week, by the time I get back into the routine, I think I’ll be mentally recharged, and ready to attack the remainder of the semester.

clothes pic 2

Look how clever I am. I clothespinned my boxers to the drapes! 

clothes pic

Look how Japanese I am. No Dryers in Japan. 

update oct something

I took a day off from school yesterday, Thursday because we had a test the day before, and we weren’t going to do anything important. This gave me two days off in a row (Thursday and Friday)—it was like a REAL weekend, even though I still have class tomorrow.

I’m becoming Japanese—I bought a clothes line and clothes pins because using the dryer in the laundry room is much too expensive to justify the convenience. But the little poles the give us to use for our clothes lines are too small. So basically I hung as much as I could and I still had 10 t-shirts and 8 pairs of boxers. I think I figured out a clever way to hang a few more boxers up, see picture, but that still leaves me with a ton of wet clothes hanging around my room.

Last weekend I got to play a “Playstation 3” out in Akihabara. They were showing it off on these HUGE, beautiful plasma TVs, with kick-ass sound and such. My friend and I just walked up when they asked for people who wanted to play. In the game we were playing we were a huge warrior and we were killing all these other demon looking people with our samurai swords. The only draw-back was the name was “Genji” which made me thing of “The Tale of Genji” which was an 1100 page book I read freshman year. I don’t think the two are related, but no video game should make me think of homework.

I also “fixed” my backpack by using a towel and some safety pins. It actually worked out exactly like I thought it would—the towel covers all the infected area and the safety pins hold it all in place. I’m really happy, ‘cause now if I put anything fragile in my backpack it kind of has a padded surface to rest on. Everything pretty much worked out.

Best Face Ever?

Look at my face. Is that not the happiest kid you've ever seen? I was not sober. 

Apple Pic

Look at this freakishly large apple. Guess what? It was $2.50 

Apples

Buying fruit is a pain in the ass because it’s so expensive here. So after going an unhealthy length of time without eating fruit, I went to the grocery store last week to pick up some apples. I bought one. How much did it cost? $2.50. It was HUGE, but also expensive. I’m confused about what I’m supposed to do. I guess the logical answer is pay and eat fruit, but I can’t justify spending $2.50 when a meal at the dining hall costs $4. Oh well, I’ll probably suck it up and just pay for fruit. Something about keeping a doctor away. . .

I will be heading to Kyoto in a few weeks for a 4 day weekend. Because I don’t have class on Friday, and my Monday classes are very, very skip-able, I will leave on a Thursday night and return late Monday. (I will be skipping my awful Saturday morning class *tear*).

Now that I’ve got the hang the classes, I have a few complaints. First, all we do is repeat after a stupid tape. Like the teacher plays a tape, stops it, calls on someone, and that person has to repeat what was said. This is very, very hard. And not very practical. Everyone in our class hates it, and on the tests, we are given about 25 “key words” at the top of the page, and we have to reconstruct a paragraph or two from the story we had spent the previous week repeating. I hate this method of testing. The grammar and sentence particle parts of the tests are disproportionately small, and there is no Kanji section. For example, my last test I got 19.5/20 on the written dictation, 29/30 on grammar/particles, and something like 23/30 on the “key words”—it’s the only part of the test I can’t do, and it’s freaking stupid. I don’t really care too much, and my overall grade should be fine, but Damn, it’s stupid.

On a completely unrelated to Japan note I cleaned my backpack today. Here’s why it was dirty.

Way back when I was a freshman, I had spilled the delicious contents of a Junior Mints box into my backpack without realizing it. I walked around the whole day with the melting chocolate mints mushing themselves into the bottom of my backpack. When I opened it up, I noticed my laptop was covered in chocolate mint, and after I cleaned it up, I discovered the mess that was inside my backpack. I was very mad, but also very lazy, so I took a roll of duct tape and with about three strips I covered the affected chocolaty area. Problem solved. Until this summer when I was caught in a rain storm at Middlebury, and a few of the tape strips came off. Jump to Japan.

Now the other day in class, I noticed all my text books are sticky. I discovered that a mixture of tape adhesive and chocolate was exposed inside my backpack and getting all my things dirty. So today, Sunday, I spend about 30 minutes giving the inside a really good scrubbing with soap and water. Unfortunately, the mixture proved too difficult to remove by sponge, and even after scrubbing it was a quarter to try to remove the gunk, it still remained. Currently my backpack is drying outside (I washed it in the shower) and I’m debating whether to buy a piece of cloth and some safety pins to cover the “infected” area, or just go buy another roll of duct tape. I should probably do the former, but I’m really leaning towards the latter. If anyone has suggestions on how to remove 2 year old chocolate/duct tape remains, please email me. Throwing the backpack away is not an option—I have a sweet-ass Quagmire patch sewn on the back, and I’m not throwing that away.

Tokyo Tower!

Kinda looks like the Eiffel Tower, but, eh, what are you gonna do? 

Night Pic

pretty sweet. 

Tokyo Tower

Sato-Sensei, Kelsey, Morgan, Tyler, Me 

Tokyo Tower, Night, Chinatown (Continued from last post)

After the Crepes and the shopping mall, the 4 of us meet up with our friend Tyler and go off to the Tokyo Tower. None of us had been there, including Sato-sensei, so we were all pretty excited. After a short wait in line we were up to the tower, where we saw pretty much all over Tokyo. It was pretty cool. I saw the huge building in Roppongi where Rem and I ate dinner. It’s really amazing to look out over Tokyo and realize just how many buildings they crammed on to this little section of land.

Yeah, the views were great and all, but my favorite part has to been the Tokyo Tower mascots Noppon and his older brother by the same name. These guys (see picture) are the most phallic, pink, little “towers” ever. Seriously, these little guys look so weird, we were all making a big deal after seeing a picture of them in the tourist map. Well of course when we get there, there’s a guy dressed up in a 7 foot tall costume, greeting the little kids. Japan is so damn goofy. I made it a point to buy a Noppon cell phone strap to always remind me of this weird Japanese mascot.

For dinner, we met up with the rest of our Middlebury College alumni from this past summer—there were about 10 of us. We went out to an all you can drink place that served a moderate amount of food. Sato-sensei came too, making it really fun.

After that the Sato sensei left and we all went out to a Japanese club. It was loud and smoky. We executed our plan of staying out until the first train at 5am—not the best idea. Apparently it’s really “Fun” to miss the last train at 12:30 and stay all night until the morning. It was a little overrated—I just got really tired around 3am and I think in the future I’m willing to just pay for a cab and come home when I want. But of course I needed to try doing it once.

Because we didn’t get home until close to 6:30am, we slept all day and pretty much wrecked our Sunday, being hung-over, tired, and not getting up until about 3pm.

On Monday, we met back up with Sato sensei and went to Chinatown in downtown Yokohama. It was fun, but I was still pretty tired from Saturday night. (Monday we didn’t have school because of “Sports and Health day”, go figure). Overall, it was a pretty successful weekend.

Noppon

Tokyo Tower Mascot or "Chinpo" in overalls? 

Friends Come to Tokyo

It’s been a crazy week or so and a lot has happened. I’m going to try to remember it all.

Last weekend, Oct 6^th-9^th, friends (Kelsey and Morgan) came from Kyoto to explore the craziness of Tokyo. So even though they arrived Friday night, because of my glorious Saturday morning class, we couldn’t meet up until Saturday afternoon. (I had a test that day, too—Best Saturday Class Ever).

We meet up for lunch in Shibuya, and I was pleasantly surprised that our teacher, Sato-sensei from summer school came along with them. This was a great opportunity because I was finally going to hang out with one of my teachers, in Japan, like we all said we would. (Kelsey and Morgan we’re staying at Sato-sensei’s house, so I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised that she came).

Anyway, I was put in charge of finding a place to eat, and I had the perfect one in mind—This awesome Katsu Don place. Katsu Don is basically fried pork and an egg in a bowl, over rice--awesomeness. But my navigation skills failed me, and as I searched up and down the winding streets of Shibuya, I realized I had no clue where it was, even though I had been there the day before. Eventually I found it and we had nice meal—I really enjoyed finally speaking only Japanese. It’s really tough in Tokyo, because everyone so readily speaks English, but Sato-sensei was great because she wouldn’t speak any English, but she could understand what we were saying if we used it. This led to a really fun, hybrid Japanese-English that I really like using because it makes me feel like I can talk really fast.

After lunch, everyone stops for a crepe, but because I was so full, I opted for just a bottle of this Japanese-style Gatorade. When I offer to take a picture of the three of them with their crepes, I put my bottle down and take a few pictures. I turn around and hand the camera back to Kelsey, and this old guy swoops in and STEALS MY HALF DRUNK BOTTLE. I even yelled after him, “HEY!!?! HEY! HEY!” but he was in and out in like two seconds. The first think that was ever stolen from me in Japan.

We went to this famous shopping mall and it all very fashionable (ie, expensive) girls’ clothes that all girls in Tokyo wear. I tag along as the three of them go from shop to shop, but eventually I just sit next to a wall because it’s too crowded in the little stores, and all the girls there are crazy—running, grabbing, trying-on things. . .

While I’m sitting on the wall, Sato-sensei points out ALL the other guys in the mall we’re also just leaning against the wall as their girlfriends/wives/daughters went nuts in this place. I guess our cultures aren’t so different—everywhere in the world guys stand around looking bored when women shop.

Crepes!!!

This is the picture I was taking when the old guy stole my bottle of Gatorade. I have no idea why they're all wearing blue.
(Kelsey, Sato-sensei, Morgan) 

Subways

I had a lot of expectations about riding the famed “Tokyo Subways” because, legend has it, they are the most crowded, cramped, and busiest in the world. The day before my first day of classes, I went on a “practice run” to test out my route. Two Problems. First: I didn’t look at what time I left my dorm, I started timing from the first subway ride. Second: This was a lazy Sunday afternoon, not 7:30am on a Monday, so I didn’t account for the time involved in maneuvering around the station.

Well, after riding in the mornings for almost 2 weeks, I would like to think I’ve got the hang of it. Here’s basically how it goes. When the train pulls up, each time without fail, I think “there’s no way anyone else can fit in there.” There are literally people packed into every inch of the train. I’m usually about the 10^th person in line at any given door, so I’m praying that at least 10 people get off. Well, usually about 5 get off. So, with a full head of steam, and the force of everyone pushing behind me, I smash my way in, barely making it into train car.

I’m so packed in that I have to put my arm up before I get in the car, because there’s on room to lift or lower my arms once I’m inside, so if I want to hold onto a handle, I need my arm up BEFORE I get in. Well, after I’m in about 10-15 more people cram themselves in the car. Now I’m no longer by the door, but smooshed into the middle—keep in mind I thought I was lucky to get in at all. Anyway, I’m completely stuck, and although I’m taller than most people, there are a lot of tall Japanese people (not everyone’s an oopma loompa like I imagined), I’m usually staring into some guys armpit.

At the next stop, there’s a crushing flow of people as those who want get off but are stuck in the middle, just force there way towards the doors. Now that there’s a moment of actually space/fresh air. This is short lived. Now I’m on the inside watching the craziness as a huge amount of people force themselves into the car.

The subway “pros” (ie, all the guys in business suits) close there eyes, and BACK INTO people. Apparently that’s the protocol because you don’t look at the person you’re trampling over. Back first also gives you more leverage to force your way in. I imagine the eye-closing also serves as some sort of Japanese meditation technique to escape the fact that for the next 15-20 minutes you’ll be essentially grinding with the 5 closest guys.

The other day when I got on the second train (I have a transfer in my commute) as soon as the doors opened, this poor woman was looking down, and she just got bum-rushed. I’m mean she looked like a defensive tackle getting blown off the line of scrimmage. I could tell she was trying to dig in, but she went from the front door to the back door with about 15 people pushing her in about 2 seconds. Well, with the path cleared for me, I just stepped in the car, unscathed.

A final note about the station attendants with white gloves. I was really hoping that these guys would actually push people on the train car like I had heard. Well, while they don’t actually push anyone (at least I’ve never seen it) they do kind of prop people up who would have fallen out, until the doors can safely close. The whole time they’re touching someone, they use the politely expression something it’s translate “Honorably, excuse my extreme rudeness.” Or something like that. These guys also help shut the doors if there are too many people leaning on them. The doors are unlike those in America. In America if you stick your hand between them as they close, the doors pop back open, and you would never lean on the doors while the train is moving. In Japan, get away from the doors when they’re closing, ‘cause you’d probably lose a finger (well maybe not, but these doors don’t spring open, the slam shut, again) and you have no choice but to lean on them when it’s so crowded.

More thoughts

I wrote this last week, but forgot to post it. (oops) At least it will keep you guys busy while I try to finish up another post. These are getting harder to write, now that I have class and homework.

I had my first day of classes, but it wouldn’t call it the real thing quite yet. Today is one of my “off” days, meaning I don’t have any core classes. I have core classes 4 days a week, TUES, WED, THURS, and SATURDAY. Yes. . . Saturday. The core classes start at 9am which means with my commute, I’ll be leaving my dorm just before 7:30 on each of those mornings. So I technically I have Monday and Friday off, but because I have to schedule 5 elective classes and because most of the one’s I want to take fall on either Monday or Friday, it’s looking increasingly likely that I’ll have class 6 days a week. Electives aren’t until the afternoon, so at least on Monday and Friday I wont start before 1pm. This week all the elective classes are just orientation-style while we choose which ones we want.

I went to a newspaper reading class today and immediately liked the teacher, but once he passed out the newspaper articles, they were kinda easy to read. Then he explained that these are the newspapers for elementary school children—meaning very basic grammar, style, and all the kanji have the pronunciations written above. I liked everything about the class, especially since he said that we’re allowed to miss 4 classes our of 12 total classes; there’s no homework; and if we miss class, all we need to do is find the paper and read the article and it would be just like we went to class. I was a little concerned about not reading a real paper, but all my friends though that this class was appropriate because while the articles weren't terribly difficult, I still didn’t know a lot of the Kanji and vocab. I figure this class is on the easier side of the scale, but I haven’t ruled it out because I like everything else about it.

I went to an advanced level composition class next. This class I could just tell was different, and while I probably could do the work, it would really be difficult because it is an advanced class and I’m only in the intermediate level. After that class, I tried the same type of composition class, just that it was intended for my level, and it happened to be taught by the newspaper guy. I think I’m going to stick with those classes, and try to take more challenging classes in other subjects (like Kanji, Grammar, and Listening Comprehension).

It’s really tough because there is a more difficult level newspaper reading class, but it’s only offered Saturday afternoon. I’m extremely reluctant to take a third class on Saturday (in addition to my two core classes on Saturday mornings) because that’ll just ruin my life. I’m going to try it this Saturday (note: I didn't, I went home and took a nap), but I’m really trying to find the balance of learning as much as I can, and still being able to maintain my sanity.