Sunday June 29, Rainy

I feel like this is the first blog post in which I don’t have to elaborate about Roppongi. Why? Because we had home stay! Home stay for those of you who has never heard about or done it, is a program where foreign students experience the full breadth of a new culture by living with a native family in the foreign country. I have to admit that this is my first experience with home stay. I didn’t know what to make of it before I stepped on the train bound for Yokohama, the town of my host family.

Yokohama is apparently the second largest city in Japan. For a place of such size and importance, it is strange that I have not heard about it as much as Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka. It is a city about 50 miles southeast of Tokyo, and carries a special importance from its role in World War II. While the night life of Yokohama cannot rack up again the feisty air of the foreigner-infested sites of Tokyo like Roppongi or Shinjuku, Yokohama had much to offer, from its Chinatown, the largest in Japan, to the many skilled street performers that would put those in Harajuku to shame.

I met my host in the train station in Yokohama on Friday afternoon. His name is Tetuya, and I thought that he did not look particularly Japanese from the first glance because of his dress and hairstyle. Unlike the Tokyo salary men, who make others feel rather more uncomfortable than anything else with their suits and leather shoes, Tetuya dressed like an American. His normal, un-dyed hair also did not conform to the current Asian frenzy of highlighting hair with unorthodox color, like blue. I would eventually come to find out that he is an electrician, which explains for his dress. And that he isn’t as young as he looks, which explains for the hair color. He walked me back to his home and introduced me to his family- his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. They were great people and received my present well, even though I thought that it was badly chosen gift.

On Friday night, Tetuya took me to a traditional Japanese bath, “Ohuro.” I learned the word at Yale, “Ohuro ni hairu,” which means enter the bath, but I only made the connection when I saw the printed hiragana on the door of the bath house. I didn’t imagine that many people would be interested in going to a public bath when they had shower in their homes, but when I arrived in the packed parking lot of the bath house, I realized that my Japanese textbook taught “Ohuro ni hairu” for a reason- the Japanese “Ohuro” is very “Ninki” (Another new, useful word that I learned which means “popular.” Tetuya gave me a smart and amusing way to memorize it- “Ninki” sounds similar to “Nike,” which is popular in America.)

I have never seen such a sight before when I first entered the bath house. Rows after rows of naked Asian men washing themselves… Haha! For all the girls reading this blog, the last sentence was not supposed to be as disgusting as it sounds. After all, it wasn’t bad; the sight of other naked male did not interfere with my ability to have fun and engage in an intellectual conversation with Tetuya. While we were there, we talked about many things- activities in spare time, Japan, politics, economics, and women. I could not make up my mind about Tetuya until the bath house, but I found during our conversations there that we had commonalities. He was also nice when showing me around the bath house and the equipments there. There were hot baths, cold baths, out door baths, saunas, and massage bath. I could not stay in any of them long, because 5 minutes would give me a headache. However, Tetuya was understanding, and we left before the hot water made me uncomfortable. In the end, I felt that it was a wonderful experience; it gave me a refreshed feeling after a long day of work and commute. When I got home, I hit the hay quickly.

The next day, a Saturday, Tetuya took me to Yokohama proper to see another aspect of Japanese cities. We first went on a ferry ride, which arrived in Yokohama port. The port was symbolic of the Japanese navy, and there was a majestic battle ship docked in the port. I forgot to bring my camera to home stay, and so I had to take photos using Tetuya’s awesome phone, which could be used to watch television. I guess I cannot post it on this blog, but for all of you who know me, I will upload of them onto my facebook. We then met his friend, a Chinese girl from Singapore. I didn’t know whether they were dating or not, so it was kind of awkward in the beginning. She stayed with us the entire day, and because I drank with her later, I felt more natural with her during the night. We strolled around Chinatown, and I had Chinese food for lunch for the first time in two weeks. It felt delicious and relieving. Chinese food to me is a drug; I get chills from not having it for a long time. Japan is the first place I went to in which Chinese food is deemed more expensive and rare than other food. Before leaving America, I never thought I would live to see the day that Chinese food can be anything other than cheap and delicious. In Japan, it was still delicious, but the price rolled my eyeballs out of their sockets.

In the afternoon, Tetuya, his girl friend, and I strolled around Yokohama and chatted. The day was cool and relaxing, and I had fun talking to the two of them. We saw an awesome street performance! Although I can testify that most of the tricks he showed are Chinese tricks and thus common in China, the man injected humor and interactions with the crowed to his performance. Even though I understood nothing that he said, he seemed sociable and fun. Because Tetuya knew when it was time for a new street show, we got front seats, and I witnessed his tricks from only 4-5 feet away. I took many pictures of this guy, and I felt like they could not capture the fun atmosphere of the show.

When night time came around, Tetuya took us to a local bar in the night neighborhood of Yokohama. We talked about life and played some games. The drinks there were weak, and so I felt great even after drinking two glasses of rum and coke. Two glasses of those in America would give anyone a buzz, but I felt only a little warmth from them last night. Before we knew it, it was getting late, and the girl had to go back to Tokyo. We escorted her to the train station, and Tetuya had to instruct her on how to get back home. She was mad at him in the beginning because he gave bad directions (or she thought that he gave bad directions), so Tetuya had to make sure this time around that she knew how to find her way home. After seeing her off, Tetuya and I came home, and once again, I rolled to sleep quickly because of the long and fun day.

Before I knew it, home stay was over and it is today, Sunday, and I had to get back to my apartment in Shinjuku. I slept today for 10 hours and woke up refreshed and feeling lazy. I once again enjoyed the cooked meal that is not a Vendo at Tetuya’s house before leaving for Shinjuku.

I will see Tetuya again in my stay in Japan. We had fun and came to see that we shared many commonalities. He also spoke English, and so I could communicate with him easily about abstract ideas. We talked and agreed that Mt. Fuji would be a good spot for our next adventures. Until then, Ciao!

Sunday June 22,
I can never get around to posting the blog until the last moment. There are just so many things to do here; it's truly amazing.

I joined a gym this week along with two other members of our academy. It actually cost quite a bit, and we were determined to make the full use of our membership. We signed the morning session also to save money. So this week, we all woke up at 6:30AM for three days and dragged ourselves through the workout and later, class. My sleep schedule has been really messed up. It is kind of divided into 2 halves. One is the 5 hour block at night, and the other is the approximately 2-3 hour in the afternoon after I get back from class. I really want to change this so that I get a full 8 hours at night and get through the day with more energy.

The weekend was once again a blast. We had the tea ceremony, a traditional look into how a Japanese "otera", or temple carries out one of its most revered and oldest event.


Here is one of the lovely ladies of the "otera" methodically making tea. The way she was doing this could have taken us several more days if she wanted to drag it on, but fortunately she was "responsible" enough to only do this twice in front of us. I don't think that many people liked the tea anyways; it was way too strong. However, the experience of watching her more than made up for the painful process of waiting. I figured out that she had to get up, kneel, sit, and walk in a special manner. She never stepped on the blue border where the different tatami pieces on the floor join up. Also, she only cuts diagonally through corners. It was in all very interesting.

On both Friday and Saturday night, we went out to experience the Tokyo night life. Friday, we once again went to Roppongi, a haven for foreigners in Japan trolling on the street for local talent. I basically have a great time in Roppongi every night that I go. The foreigners seem to have a secret code- when we pass each other by, everyone in the group yell out "hey!!" and drag it on for about 10 seconds even if no one of either group know anyone from the other. It was funny every time. The only bad part of the night was that when we were leaving our last bar, it was pouring and 3 o'clock in the morning. We first decided to wait around until the rain died down, but our friend from an exchange interview session, Lee-San, told us that the weather forecast predicted that the rain will last all night. So we made the wise decision to take the taxi home. What it's even more wise is that when we got off the cab, Lee-san found a "10000" yen bill, equivalent to $100, on the street. It compensated fully for the taxi fare and left us some more.

(This is a picture of us sitting on the street waiting for the rain to pass).


On Saturday night, we went to KARAOKE! It was yet one of the best experience in Tokyo. Everyone had so much fun. Especially for some of us who haven't done it before, doing it for the first time in Tokyo, where it was probably invented, was a fulfilling experience. We were lucky enough to find a relatively cheap place to sing, because we had the company of my Japanese buddy, Satoru. He led us through the streets of Shinjuku and hand-picked this venue for us. It was very sweet of him, and all of us remembered him well when he sang a Japanese song (I forgot the name.)

Next week is homestay! I can't wait to meet my host family, but before that, I need to buy a gift. Any ideas?

Well, I just made it here this Thursday. As I am writing this now, it is currently 11 PM at night on Sunday. The past 4 days have been awesome.

I am trying the best I can to capture each and every moment worth mentioning, but it will probably still feel like a water-down list of summary just because so many things happened.

Thursday-
I felt really excited about the trip before it even started. When I finally landed in Tokyo, I started feeling the impending realization of what is about to happen. For the time period between I settled on doing the Light Fellowship and now, I have not yet thought carefully on the what to expect in Japan. I thought I would do great, and it would just be like a trip to Florida or something. However, as I came down from the plane, the immediate experience with immigration control and customs made me feel isolated and lost. This is a country that I have never been to, with a language that I don't really know how to speak. I was scared for a second, but I regained my composure quickly when fellow Yalies came into the picture. I still had friends, and together, rather than alone, I shall take on the challenge of penetrating into a foreign culture.


I went to sleep quickly on Thursday in preparations for the diagnostic test. Even though I knew to my heart that it probably would not determine that much of my reputation in the academy, I had to leave a good first impression.

I wanted to visit Club eX in the Shinagawa Prince hotel, the hotel in which our language academy generously reserved rooms for us. However, jet lag got the best of me, and I had to settle for a good night's sleep.

Friday
-- The test didn't go that bad at all. Although it tested many things that I have not learned in class, I felt that I performed well. It was enough to justify a night out partying. So we went out to Roppongi, Tokyo's clubbing nucleus, for a Light Fellows' bonding experience.


The bars were just like in America, the people- an entirely different world. Let me begin by reiterating a famous saying- "Don't judge a book by it's cover."

Japanese people look reserved and cautious, but that's only for the show on the streets. Go to any Japanese bar or club, and you will find the contrary. These people are wild and crazy; they crave for a good time. We danced until around 12 AM and left for the last train. It was a great time, and I jumped into bed without taking my clothes off.

Saturday
-- No classes.
We went to Roppongi again, and it was pretty much the same thing except wilder and crazier. I was actually approached by a Japanese girl. Never have I had this experience, where I didn't have to do anything, and a girl comes to me. I didn't know what to think of it, and later decided that it was not really as cool as I imagined it to be.

I later talked to some other girls sitting at a table, and fully expressed my inability to generate comprehensible sentences in Japanese. Surprisingly, they said that I was "zyoozu", which meant skilled. I felt very flattered, but I didn't think that they were telling me the truth.

We decided that the partying should conclude at 3 AM, but felt hat it was too expensive to take a taxi back. So we stopped over at a Ramen place and enjoyed some mid-night, or shall I say early morning, snack. I came out of the store and notice immediately that dawn was quickly approaching. I take a look on the street and notice that Roppongi is livelier than ever at 4 AM in the morning. Never had I witness this before. Even in Time Square, at 4 AM, the streets will seem more deserted than at day time, but Roppongi is somehow more crowded now than in the day. Another Light Fellow, already experienced with Tokyo-style partying, told me that the night starts at 12 AM and ends whenever you want it too. I now truly admired the spirit of the Japanese for whatever it is that they do- cars, video games, and now- partying.

I had a lot of fun, and again came back home and fell asleep without taking any of my clothes off.