But I Dont Think Well Ever Meet Again Ayoyama

Queen of Heart's Last Song

Posted on October 31, 2009 by Margarita

Here's a translation of a Swedish song, Hjärter Dams Sista Sång by the artist Lars Winnerbäck, that I really like. My first boyfriend told me, years after we had split up, that whenever he heard it he thought of me, and it has become very precious to me. The lyrics are also so very true, "it's easy to think back when the confusion gains speed, and when that happens I think of you…". Sorry for the bad translation, hope you'll enjoy the song anyway. Whenever I hear the song nowadays I think of my old loves, and wonder if I'll ever meet someone that I'll feel that way for, ever again…

Where the electric lights led the way home around noon

Where everything was modern around -77

Where the low houses ended and the forests started

There I lived, there you lived

There I and you lived

No earthquakes where we lived, nobody froze or starved

But it shook when you touched me

You were 17 and I was 16 and I skipped everything

I only wanted to be with you

I only wanted to be with you

Now I get to hear that you live every now and then from a friend

And it seems as if everything is ok

And I wonder if you're back there sometimes

And maybe wonder about me

You may be wondering about me

And where the low houses ended and the forests started

Where everything was quiet and calm as on a card

Where the nights whispered about a spurring life

Back then when nothing was done

Back then when nothing was done

Yes it's easy to think back when the confusion gains speed

And when I feel that way I think about you

Everything is so ephemeral, everything can break soon

But to me you're untouched

But to me you're untouched

But the time has the right to change where it goes

And it's with you now and with you and your friend

And I will never again lie down with my head against your hair

And never love you again

Never love you again

But on the road along the stream that slowly led back home

There the sky is a bit closer to me

There time has made a stop for us and everything that happened

There I can go to miss you

There I can go to miss you

But new days await with new adventures

And everything sort of demands more now

So take your memories and get out of my life

Beloved, beloved you

Beloved, beloved you

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: översättning, engelska, english, hjärter dams sista sång, lars winnerbäck, translation, youtube | Leave a comment »

Bakabakabakabakabakabakabakabaaaaaaaaaaakaaaaaa!!!

Posted on October 31, 2009 by Margarita

男の人は本当にば～～～～かだよ！時々。。。時々男の人はきらい！今日はきらい！

I don't like getting angry with a guy, because it usually means that I really like him. Not good! Ok, I've calmed down now, so I'm fine now, I'm cool, coolios, cooler… But earlier…and I don't know why I really care, except that one look from that guy made the caterpillars I apparently swallowed at some earlier point, to start twisting and turning inside my belly, and I really, really, really don't want them to turn into butterflies, because that, my friends, is really bad! It usually means that I will end up very hurt, and alone. So, from now on, I'll just be all coolios about it. Got it? I can do better, right? I deserve someone that chases after me, right? My life was so much simpler just a few weeks ago, and I'm determined to make it that simple again.

Now who am I kidding…really? You all know that I like the damn person, and that I'd be thrilled if he liked me back (which apparently he did. Note the past tense), and if he actually did something about it all. But hey, if he's not contacting me, I take it that he's just not that into me. Right? Right.

Ok, back to the earlier days. Now. I don't need this. Do I? Oh, I hate being so confused! Guys are retarded, as my dear, dear Nat says. Baaaaaaka!

It was a baaaad idea going to that damn Tomodachi-event after all…

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: baka, confused, guys, stupid | Leave a comment »

Abandoned, all alone in Tokyo…

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Margarita

…ok, it's not as bad as it sounds actually, it's just that almost all my classmates left this week, to go on a trip to the Kansai-area (Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima etc), that TIU arranged. Unfortunately this cost 100.000 yen (about 10.000 SEK, 1000€ or 1000$), so there was no way in h*ll I could afford that. The lucky bastards from Oxy and Willamette Uni got the trip paid by their universities, so of course they all went. Unfair! Ok, I shouldn't complain, I don't pay for uni in the first place…good thing to be Swedish sometimes (besides getting that EU-passport, that is).

Because of all this, there was, of course, no classes, so I've been free since Tuesday. What to do in Tokyo when you have a free week? Explore, of course! Not so much fun all alone, so I emailed all my Japanese friends in the Tokyo-area, to see if anyone wanted to join me, but they were all busy/had exams/work/no money (and some people apparently thought  that they were the only ones I contacted and got afraid…Jeez, even if I'm interested it's not like I'd only contact one person if I had free time…I do have other friends as well… Guys sure are retarded, as my dear Nat always says…). I spent Tuesday back at TIU with Andy, correcting some of our PA Asuka's thesis, and then some time at Crea Mall in Kawagoe, where I found a very nice pair of fashionably ripped jeans, a sweater and socks. And shoes. Crea Mall is dangerous…

Luckily for me, Alyssa was still here, and willing to explore Harajuku with me on Wednesday! We walked around there for a few hours, spent way too much money on clothes (well, I did…at H&M of all stores! Damn it! Does it make my "crime" of shopping in Swedish store get lighter by the fact that it was H&M in Harajuku?), and ate too much as well. When we considered Harajuku to be all explored-out, we went to Shibuya and spent about 1-2 hours at Shibuya 109, a veeeeery high building filled with tons of expensive stores (where I spent more money…what can I say, I need winter-clothes…or ehh a winter-dress and a bag?).

Takeshita Dori, Harajuku.

Scary stuff outside a store in Harajuku.

HOOOOOT guy on a big poster in Shibuya! Apparently nicknamed "Yamapi"…gotta find out more about him, daaaaamn he's hot!

After walking around all day, spending too much money and having a lovely time, we finally headed back home…or so I thought…Alyssa decided it was time for karaoke, and so we did a 2-hour stop at Karaoke-All back home in Kasumigaseki. Singing Japanese songs, for practice! It's damn hard, since I still read very, very, veeery slow in Japanese…gaaah! Soooo annoying! Gotta learn to read faster, it's no fun singing only in English! Give me one more month and I'll do it!

On Thursday I went to TIU again to use internet, then went to the post-office, where I all alone successfully managed to open a bank-account and put in some money as well! I'm very proud of myself I might add! Not that I had to talk much though, but still! I did it! Alone! In Japanese! Give me another month and I'll also figure out how to ask how to make a withdrawal…

After this little adventure I headed back to Tokyo, alone this time, to go on a job-interview at this place where Japanese go to learn English. Unfortunately it was only part-time job, once or twice a week, and I need something full-time for the winter-break… At the interview there were also an American and a Canadian girl, who I walked a bit with afterwards. Very nice girls, but I'm here to speak Japanese, not more English…

Some awesome news: my friend Malin, an old classmate and colleague from Stallarna, is currently doing exchange-studies in Taiwan, and found a very cheap flight to Tokyo, so she's coming over next weekend! Tokyo, beware of the Swedish invasion! Stallarna represent, yeah! Will be a very intense and fun weekend… Malin, be prepared to walk a lot! I want to show you as much as possible! So much to see, so little time….gaaaahhh!!!

Ok, so today I had an appointment at salon WHO GA in Akasaka, so I headed back to Tokyo – again! Asians have very different hair from us Europeans (all Japanese think my hair feels like a baby's hair and are all awed by it…personally, I detest my hair, but hey, the grass is always greener on the other side, right?), so I had contacted my embassy a few weeks ago, and asked them if they knew where I could find a hairdresser who understood European hair. The answer: Yuki-san at Who Ga! All the Embassy goes there! Plus hundreds of other gaijins! Yuki-san himself lived in NY for about 20 years and speaks perfect English, and understands thin and ugly hair more than well. So if you're a gaijin lost in translation back here in Tokyo, wondering where the heck to get a decent haircut, preferably by someone who speaks English, I can definitely recommend salon WHO GA in Minato-ku (an area in Tokyo)! Very nice and stylish place and most of the staff speaks English (oh and girls: really cuuute guys working there!). They also offer nail-care if you need that, plus tons of English magazines to flip through while waiting.

You can get there by taking the Marunouchi-line (red line) and get off at the Akasakamitsuke station, walk westwards along Aoyama Dori for about 100 meters (past a big Starbucks on the left, amongst other things), then turn left on the second street, (right before a bank I think, the Mizuno or something was it?) walk under some random arch in the beginning of the street, then walk straight for about 200-300 meters (past tons of little restaurants, izakayas and shops), and there it is, to the left, on the second floor. You've got to look out for the blue and white sign though, so you don't walk past it, but it was quite easy to find (hey, I found it after all…). Their website is http://www.who-ga-newyork.com and you can reach them on number (03) 5575-0855!

After this I met up with  my oneesan, and we headed to Roppongi Hills, my first time visiting! During the 6 hours or so that we were there, we actually only had time to walk around in the same building! It's that big! Tons of shops (for rich people…), restaurant and, museums in the same place! Here's the place to go if you're hunting for a rich partner, or if you're just rich yourself and have tons of money to spend on designer-stuff. Or if you're just sightseeing, like us. We had some discount-tickets, so we could get in really cheap to the exhibition of Ai Wei Wei's art (strange stuff) and the observatory up on the 52nd floor.

Wait, what? We're going all the way up there???

Very new, very modern, very Roppongi.

Art? Or just a very weird table?

I promised oneesan to get rich and invite her back to Roppongi for dinner in the future. Hopefully in the near future. I guess all I'll have to do is take frequent walks around Roppongi Hills' mansions and hope to meet a nice and rich guy…? Naah….rather get a nice job over there instead… Tons of businesses had their offices there too by the way, not too shabby…

Tomorrow I'm heading back to my celebrity-doctor in Kawagoe, to see what he has to say about my persistent zits and hopefully get some more medication against it. After that I'm apparently having lunch with Alyssa and our okaasans. Sunday will be spent at the TIU-festival with oneesan, her colleague and his daughter, who wants to get to know me for some weird reason. We'll see what happens. Can't wait for my dear American (and the German, of course!) classmates to come back. Even though I complain about talking too much English all the time, I've missed them! It's been way too quiet without you guys here! Vedetle my dear (oh yes, you know you're "Vedetle" for ever now mwahaha!), you should not go drinking without me apparently, you need a sempai to look after you, obviously! Jay, my lovely wing-girl, I need you here to back me up and get me to chill and not do stupid stuff, such as emailing certain people even though I had promised not to. And Kei, why the heck are you so far away, when I need my handy little automatic translator/imooto to hug? And all you other guys: I expect you all to have taken lots of nice photos to show me, so I can whine over not being able to go with you! Omiyage?

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: abandonded, ai wei wei, akasaka, akasakamitsuke, alone, bank account, english, exploring, friends, H&M, hairdresser, harajuku, japanese, jobhunting, marunouchi line, marunouchisen, roppongi, roppongi hills, Shibuya, shibuya 109, shopping, Tokyo, who ga | Leave a comment »

Classes, presentations, trips and Halloween

Posted on October 26, 2009 by Margarita

Today we had the stupid presentation about "How democratic was Taisho Democracy", which I've been very sure that I'd fail, since I suck at politics! I somehow managed to bullshit my way through a 6-pages long paper (double-spaced, thank god!) about the subject, and also to give a conclusion about it during our group-presentation. Our side won, yeay! Extra points to the final grade, yeay, I'll definitely need that one! Oh, and I passed the mid-term exam too, with an awesome 63%! Sweet (yes, I had very low hopes for myself at this subject! I'm just happy I passed…)!

I realized that I've never actually told you about my classes…and some people might be interested in this, since the International Office at my uni actually links to my blog from their page…well, here it goes (and if you ever have any questions about anything, feel free to ask me!):

I have Japanese language class 4 days a week (all weekdays except Wednesdays, when we're all free), from 9.10-12-20 (with a 10 min break in the middle). To teachers, Uno sensei and Ommura sensei take turns and teaches us two days each. The JSP as a whole, are divided in to 5 language-groups, after our language-abilities: A, B1, B2, C and D, A being the beginner's class and D the most advanced one (technically there's an E class too, but no-one this semester reached that level, and so there's only up to D-class). I'm in the B2 class, and in the middle so to speak. Hopefully I'll make it to the D class next semester, if I study hard during the winter-break.

Our teachers are the best ever, I adore them! They've studied in the US, and speak English perfectly, although English is dame (forbidden) during class, of course. They're also very funny and nice, and love to joke with us. For example today, after the break, while Sina was busy drawing on the board, and Uno sensei decided to take his seat…

Find anything weird with these pictures?

Sina then had to play the teacher for a while – in Japanese of course, and also managed to explain some English words, that Uno sensei found difficult. Sina got in to his part very well, so well that eventually sensei had to ask him to stop, so we could get back to business.

Then there was that time when Ommura sensei was teaching us the imperative form… Suddenly a robber showed up in the classroom and started shouting and giving orders, all the while we laughed hysterically. Perfect way to remember the lesson!

Dorobou (thief) Shosuke robbing Ommura sensei.

Some people might think that 3 hours of class is a lot, but with the 10 minute break in between it's alright. Besides, the classes are usually quite fun (see above), and it really helps to have funny classmates that ask stupid questions, give silly answers and makes everyone laugh. What will I do next semester when Sina isn't there to talk about eating cats during every class, making Alexander-the-cat-freak annoyed in such a funny way, that Sina has to continue these jokes, class after class? I really hope that my next class will be just as fun!

The afternoon-classes are different though… This semester there's 4 elective classes, all being taught in English; politics, economy, history and literature (all about the Japanese aspects of these things, of course). You pick two, and have them in the afternoon, 13.10-16.20, once a week. I'm taking History of Modern Japan (yawn) and Japanese Literature (mega-yawn), and have afternoon-classes on Mondays and Thursdays. The teachers are all American (except the economy-teacher, who's Japanese). The classes could have been interesting, if only…the teachers were any good…or well, the history teacher is alright actually, I like him, but there's not much history in it, at least I don't think so…it's al politics to me, and I suck at politics, as I've mentioned earlier. The literature-teacher, on the other hand, is one of the worst teachers ever, since he's definitely not talking literature, and I believe that everyone stopped listening to him already after the first class, and got more interested in facebooking, emailing etc during the lit-class, instead of taking notes. Once I get the mid-term back, I'll let you know if it was an easy class to pass or not!

Well, over the the Halloween-part about this blog! Halloween is closing in, and the Japanese stores have been advertising for it since we got to Japan about 2 months ago! Will be interesting to see if they will quickly change to Christmas-decorations once Halloween is over…

Anyway, some TIU students arranged a Halloween-party at the uni tonight, which was very nice. Costume-contest, haunted house and all! Lots of food too, too bad I had already had dinner at home… And, after the party ended at 20.30, a bunch of us went to…karaoke! Yeah, I know, you're probably not even surprised by now.

Kate and Chris dressed up as some band that nobody knew…

Pumpkin-Kai having a way too good a time with Yasu's boobs…and Yasu too…

Kai and I showing up some other poses other than the "peace-sign".

Tomorrow everyone (oh well, most of them at least) are going on the Kansai-trip, which was ridiculously expensive (100.000 yen for 5 days!!!), so I (and some others, like Trayjay (Tracy + AJ), Andy and Audrey) will have a week off to do whatever we want. I, for my part, plan on exploring Tokyo and go see some new parts that I haven't been to yet, such as Roppongi, Harajuku and Shinjuku. Please kick my ass very hard if I haven't accomplished this by the end of the week! I would also like to meet Mr. Certain Someone too, but have decided to be stubborn and not give in and contact him until he contacts me (which will never happen), so I guess I'll have to check with some other friends if they want to explore Tokyo with me… Anyone wanna join?

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: class, elective classes, explore, free, friends, halloween, history, holiday, japan, japanese class, kansai trip, karaoke, literature, presentation, sensei, teachers, TIU classes | Leave a comment »

A night out in Shibuya – more accidental meetings and kowai guys!

Posted on October 26, 2009 by Margarita

Finally, after being here for about 2 months roughly, I went out clubbing in Tokyo! Better late than never, right? This evening, after napping for about 2 hours in the late afternoon, Kei and Vedette came by my house to get ready, and we headed out to meet Janelle and the boys (Monrique, Kai, Lance & Nick) at the Kawagoe station. The 8 of us then headed out to Shibuya, where we, after chucking down a quick drink from nearest conbini (convenient store – they're everywhere here in Japan, and indeed convenient…), headed towards nearest club, which happened to be Gas Panic. The place was free of charge, but required the guests to have a drink in their hands at all times (apparently not required for the female guests though, since none of us bought anything…). It was tiny, narrow and packed, but the music was nice and we had a good time. However, we had to split up, since the boys were determined to go clubbing in Roppongi, a flashier and considered more dangerous area of Tokyo, while Kei and Vedette were equally determined to stay in Shibuya to go to Club Atom (which I for a long time thought was called Club Adam, due to Kei's weird pronunciation…). I tag along with the girls, since I had gotten a message earlier on the day from a certain someone that he was in Shibuya and wondering if he could tag along… Obviously Janelle decided to hang out with us girls, and so 4 girls and 4 guys parted to different parts of the Tokyo nightlife.

All ready to make Tokyo rock!

The gang minus me.

Shibuya by night.

We eventually managed to find the club, which wasn't hard at all actually. About 600 meters from Shibuya 109, one of Tokyo's landmarks (a huge store filled with big brands…too expensive to even go inside and have a look…), on a side-street, next to an AM/PM conbini, and luckily not at all crowded when we got there. The cover was 1000 yen/person, although the ladies also got 2 drinks included (before 24h). Beware though, after midnight the price changes and turns to 2000 yen for the guys, and 1000 for the ladies, although with only one drink included (also, the drinks included can cost max. 500 yen…)! 5 floors up, we found ourselves in a somewhat big and dark room, filled with nice R&B playing (different music on different floors people! Something for most people!), and realized that:

A) We're pretty much the only ladies in the room…

and

B) We're pretty much the only gaijins in the room…

With Vedette dancing the way she dances (X-rated, that's all I have to say!), and Kei's dress ending before it began, no wonder that all the eyes in the room were on us all the time, and soon we found ourselves within a circle of more or less brave Japanese guys, some of who eventually dared to dance or talk with us. Meanwhile, I was more interested in my keitai (mobile-phone), that Janelle had in her pocket, and the messages from Mr. Certain Someone (oh yes, you all know that I'm talking about Masa, so I'll just write his name from now on!), and when him and his friend finally managed to find the club (after searching for about one hour…), Janelle and I went downstairs to meet them, only to find out that they didn't have their ID's with them… After going back upstairs to tell the other girls, Jay and I decided to leave the club, which was getting too crowded (besides, we're not much for only dancing all night long, we wanted to sit down and chill and actually talk too). When we finally managed to arrange things with lockers, keys etc (there's lockers instead of coat-rooms in the Tokyo clubs!), we managed to escape, only to realize that Masa and Daichi were nowhere to be found! After a couple of phonecalls we found out that they were at some McDonalds, resting, which they left to go find us again. However, their phone died and so Jay and I walked around aimlessly, all alone, in Shibuya at about 3 am in the morning… We actually had a very good time while doing this, getting surprised at how many shops, beauty-salons and restaurants were still open, taking photos of funny posters and drunk guys peeing in public (see below) and getting sex-proposals from random Japanese guys… Oh yes, it's apparently very common for gaijin-girls to get such proposals from Japanese guys, since they're more likely to say yes…unfortunately… The guy that approached us, while we were standing in front of Shibuya 109 wondering what to do, spoke to us un English, all the while we kept answering in Japanese. The conversation went somewhat like this (shortened):

Japanese guy: Hey girls where are you from?

Us: Euuhm…Sueeden to amerika?

Japanese guy: What do you think about Japanese guys?

Us: Kakko ii? (good-looking)

Japanesse guy: Oh really? Me too? Thank you! So, what are you doing now? Are you free? Wanna go on a date?

Jay: Date? What, like ima? (now)

Japanese guy: Yes, now!

Jay: Euuhmm…deeto de, nani o shitai desu ka? (what do you wanna do on the date?)

Japanese guy: Fuck?!

Jay: ??? Mou ichi do??? (one more time)

Japanese guy: Fuck?!

Jay: ??? Mou ichi do????? (this is where we asked ourselves "did we just hear what we think we heard???)

Japanese guy: Fuck?!

Jay: Nihongo de?? (In Japanese??)

Japanese guy: Have sex?!!

Jay: Euuuhh….iieee…sonna kantanna onna ga janai yo! (we're not such easy girls)

Japanese guy: Oh ok, well thank you, bye bye ( bowing and leaving!).

Us:  Euuuhh….byye…?

I was very shocked to hear something like this from a Japanese guy, and had to pull back my urge to slap him, and instead pull Jay away…very weird and creepy! Next time, I'm definitely making sure that at least one of the guy is with us!

If anyone can please tell me what the heck men's egg is, let me know!

Follow Jay's pointing finger…

Jay and I continued our stroll around Shibuya at night, visiting every McDonald's we saw, just to check if the boys (Masa and Daichi) might be there, but very soon giving up the hope to see them again. Then, suddenly, while walking around, there he was! Daichi! Sitting at some stairs, equally surprised! And moments later Masa showed up! Coincidence? Fate? Jay told me later on that she had thought to herself "if we actually end up meeting them, it's definitely fate!"… Well, the boys were quite tired, especially Masa, who looked like he could fall asleep standing up. Rightly so, since they had been walking around in Tokyo all day long! We went to nearest – guess what? Yes! McDonald's! Whyyy??? – and chilled there for about 2 hours, playing games and talking (well mostly Jay and Daichi, since Masa was too tired/shy and I just didn't know what to say/was too shy), until the first trains started going at around 5-ish. Then we went to the station, parted, and headed back home.

What are the odds that you'll meet the guys that you wanted to meet, 3 am in Shibuya?

Unfortunately for me, my body is used to getting up early each morning, so even though I got to bed at 7am, I still woke up about 2-3 hours later… I forced myself to the uni, to finish my paper for the presentation the next day, then went back home and slept for about 12 hours (and was still sleepy when I woke up!).

Well, that was the story about my first night out in Tokyo. More accidental meetings, creepy guys and sex-proposals, and getting stared at by all the guys in a packed club. Very interesting, fun, and sort of weird all at the same time, but I'll do it again. Although, this time, I'd make sure to stick with the guys from the beginning, I do not recommend ladies to walk around alone at night, not anywhere in the world.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Club Atom, clubbing, friends, Gas Panic, japan, Kawagoe, nightlife, Tokyo | Leave a comment »

Hakone

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Margarita

Wednesdays are our free day here at the JSP program, which gives us a nice break in the middle of the week. Usually I stay at home and study or something, but this week I had a trip to Hakone to look forward too.

Hakone, for those who might not know, is a place about 1.5h train-ride away from Tokyo (to the east), and is famous for its various onsen (hot-springs) and beautiful scenery towards Mount Fuji. My oneesan and I had planned this trip pretty much since I arrived to the house, and so already on Tuesday, I ran off immediately after my Japanese language-class and hurried to Shinjuku to meet up with her. About 1.5h later we arrived in Hakone and took yet another train, which goes zig-zag up the mountain, higher and higher up, only to ride yet another ride – this time a ropeway! This ride took us aaaaall the way up a mountain, and to a place famous for its kuro-tamago (black eggs) and view towards Fujisan.

Ropeway

Fujisan

The famous black eggs – eat one and live 7 years longer! I had 3…

The view was breathtaking, and I was happy to get so close to Mt. Fuji. Some day I intend to climb it! Some day… Soon enough the sun set, and I got tons of nice photos (I need a new camera!). We headed back down and to our hotel for the night, where we quickly jumped in to the onsen and relaxed after a long day. The dinner itself was delicious, and I can't stop getting surprised every time I see how much these small Japanese people can eat! Where do they put all the food? They're all so tiny and skinny!!! I'm the one who gets full first of all!

Oyasumi!

The next day we woke up bright and early to get as much as possible from the day. First we met up with oneesan's friend Kadzumi, who was our volunteer-guide for the day, then she drove us to the 星の王子様美術館 – The Little Prince's Museum! (Original title: Le Petit Prince) I was thrilled, since my thesis was actually an analysis of that book. A bit strange to end up in a French house and garden though, in the middle of the Japanese mountains…but it was beautiful! Also, they were recording some new Japanese drama there, so maybe I bumped into some famous actors, who knows. Gotta watch the drama when it comes out next month though!

Le Petit Prince

After this we headed for lunch at a Chinese restaurant, and again I was surprised at how much these people can eat! How do they do it???

Anyway, next up was the Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands, where we spent a couple of hours walking around, looking at the plants and mountains. Very pretty! Must be a thousand times better during spring or summer when there's more flowers blooming though.

At the botanical garden

Later on we went to Hakone Glass Forest – Venetian Glass Art Museum, where – again – my breath was taken away! Imagine trees made out of metal and glass, and the sunshine sparkling through the crystals, making hundreds of little rainbows! You've got to see it!

Glass-tree

Italy? Nope, Japan…

At the glass-museum we got treated to cake and tea by a friend of Kadzumi, very nice. There was an Italian duo there, entertaining the crowd, and obviously they spotted the only gaijin in the place…so of course the singer, an old man, had to stroll up to our table, singing, shake our hands, call oneesan and me "bella bella" and ask if I was Italian… Somewhat embarrassing, at least when he was singing to me, but fun.

The Japanese are the only people I know who will make hour-long trips just to go watch the wind blow in the grass at some beautiful place, and I really appreciate it! Since it's autumn already, there's not many flowers to watch blowing around, but there is the suzuki (no, not the car!) – a long type of grass that turns white at the top. So of course we went to a place where we could watch this, and at this moment my camera decided to give up, but I did manage to get some photos!

Suzuki blowing in the wind

Sunset over the suzuki.

We drove off to a small curry-restaurant right after this, and I had to eat it all, even though I was full since breakfast-time, it was sooo good! If you're in Hakone, go find Cocoro, awesome little curry-place, tiny, but really cozy, with a really nice and cool owner that takes photos of all his customers and puts on his web-page (damn, I forgot to check it out…)!

On the train back to Tokyo I had to do my homework and try to remember all the words for the vocab-quiz that we had this morning. Everything went just fine, up until I was on the local train back home to Kasumigaseki… Someone had decided that life wasn't worth living and jumped in front of a train, on my line! Obviously this meant a major delay, and I got home about 1.5h later than predicted. I can't help but feel sorry for the poor person who jumped and its family…

Anyway, last mid-term exam was today, literature this time. Finally over, for now. Now I have papers to write about exactly how democratic was really the Taisho democracy? Really? Oh man…help…I no nothing about politics, I signed up for the history-course, not the politics one, so whyyyyy is there politics in this??? Gaaaah!!! Gotta finish it by tomorrow so I can go out karaokeing with Janelle and…oh yes…him and his friends…then there's the plan to go out clubbing in Roppongi on Saturday… Someone please help me write the paper!!!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: clubbing, cocoro, curry, drama, food, fuji, glass museum, glass trees, hakone, hoshi no oujisama, japan, karaoke, le petit prince, mountains, museum, onsen, roppongi, suzuki, the little prince, Tokyo, venetian glass art | Leave a comment »

Kawagoe Matsuri & accidental dates in Japanese

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Margarita

Well apparently I survived the weekend, though I've been too exhausted/busy/lazy to update my blog… I'll take each thing, one at a time, each in its own blog-post, so it won't become an entire novel here.

First things first: karaoke and Kawagoe matsuri! As I wrote last time, I made some new friends at the tomodachi event last week, and especially one was very interesting I might add… Obviously I took the opportunity of our weekly karaoke-tours to invite him and his friends, and we all had a very nice time although the communication wasn't the easiest thing. Even so, I ended up having an accidental date with him the next day. But that's for later (soon, promise! Or just skip the next paragraph if you want to fast forward). After the karaoke Masa and his friend Hiro walked me home, all the while Hiro was strongly promoting the poor, embarrassed Masa, pointing out that we're both the same age, single and…well…

Filling our stomachs before the karaoke.

The day after I went to Kawagoe Matsuri together with my hostfamily and their friends from Nagano. The festival itself was huge and crowded, especially at the spots where you could find the dashi, the traditional floats pulling a local kami-sama (god). Even more crowded when two dashi met and "battled"… There was tons of food and trinkets for sale, and I have to add that the Japanese festivals definitely win over the Swedish ones! I could easily walk around there all day and still not see everything (and spend a minor fortune…).

Dashi

After walking around for a while with my hostfamily, I met up with Masa at Crea Mall, and I think we were both equally surprised/awkward when we realized that none of us had brought friends, so we were alone – together! We walked around for a while, trying to find a not so crowded and noisy place so we could actually sit down and talk, and for the millionth time so far, I now again wished that I would become fluent in Japanese in the blink of an eye. Or at least faster… Awkward, yes. Embarrassing, yes. But very nice! Hopefully he'll be less embarrassed and more relaxed next time we meet.

The day after it was time for us JSPs to join the parade and actually pull one of the dashi ourselves! Or, well, together with 40 or so other people. Still, it was fun. Hot, but fun, it' was a very very sunny day after all. Everywhere we went, people were equally happy/surprised to see a gang of gaijins pulling one of the dashis, the oldest one of them all on top of that! We were all cheerful and waved back though, and I think that we're now in hundreds of Japanese families' photo-albums…

Matsuri-boys

If anyone wonders; it says "Kawagoe" on the back.

Our dashi: the Kawagoe Motomachi Dashi

Stopping to greet another local kami's crib.

We pulled the dashi all over town for about 2.5 hours, and were then treated to lunch by the people who arranged the pulling-business. After that, we soon split up, and I ended up walking around with Kai and Jonathan for a while, searching for sweet-potato ice-cream, getting stuck between not two, not three, but four battling dashi, which meant that we were literally stuck on the spot for 45 minutes! We managed to escape eventually, and met up with Kozue and her friend, who guided us towards the ice-cream and local beer.

How to make a German happy: give him a beer…and an ice-cream.

After this, Kai and Jonathan left us, and the remaining three of us headed to a cafe with very special tea…(very expensive too I have to add, but an interesting experience!)

Jasmine-tea. Flower and all.

My tea-set. See the tiny white cup? That's what I poured the tea in, over and over again. Like taking tea-shots. Tasty though!

Soon enough I had to head back home and study for the upcoming mid-term exams, but at least I had a yet another great weekend in Japan!

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: accidental, communication, dashi, date, festival, floats, friends, japan, JSP, karaoke, Kawagoe, matsuri, tea | Leave a comment »

More exploring, more friends and more confusion…

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Margarita

The past weekend was quite busy, karaoke again on Friday, of course, it has become a weekly event  (for some of the other JSP's, more than once a week even). Before the karaoke I bought some super strong minty chewing gums, that come in a plastic box, and – *drumroll* – paper squares to roll up your used chewing-gum in!!! Only in Japan people, only in Japan…

The super-strong-minty chewing-gum, it's box & papers.

On Saturday I went to Ueno Kouen Doubutsuen (上野公園動物園 – Ueno Park Zoo) together with Sina and Alex (not the cat-freak) and looked at lions, tigers and bears (Oh my! – Sorry, couldn't help it!), and tons of other cute animals.

Sina wanted to lick the tiger first, but later on…

Poser otter.

いっらしゃいませーーーー！ The penguins welcoming us…

I have one word for this animal: KAWAIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!! SOOO CUUUTEE!! I want one!!

The word for this animal is: WTF!?!?!?

On Sunday I met up with my neechan in Tokyo, to go to her work-areas matsuri (祭り – festival) in 港区 (Minatoku), and we also managed to get up on Tokyo Tower after waiting in line for about 1.5 hours… A good advice: if it's lovely weather outside, it's a holiday on the current day and a holiday the day after, and people can get in for free – don't go there!!! Wait for another day…I'm just letting you know… The view was great though, but I got even better pics from the World Trade Center later on, and there was less people there!

Dancers.

Tokyo Tower – 333m high (higher than the Eiffel Tower!)

Tokyo I love you!

Sunset over Tokyo

When we got back home both my hostbrothers were waiting, Hiroaki with his whole family, since they live close, Yuuichiro alone,since he lives in Nagoya. We had a lovely sashimi-party and a fun talking. Yuuichi-niichan is a hilarious person, too bad he lives so far away! He's crazy, I love it! Hiroaki-niichan is slowly but surely letting me to know him, which I'm happy about, he's a fun person too, but Yuuichi-niichan wins that battle, sorry.

Sashimi!! Daaiiiisuuukiiii!!!

This week has been a bit stressful, with the mid-term exams coming up and all. Luckily the literature-exam got cancelled this week, since the teacher didn't show up last week for the review, so we'll have the review this week and the exam next. Still, there's the Japanese-exam on Friday… Cross your fingers for me, will you?

Today my okaasan took me to a really, really, really good doctor in Kawagoe, so good that he's on TV and all sometimes. No wonder we had to wait 3.5 hours to see him… I really hope that the damn medicine he gave me will get my annoying zit-problem to an end. Okaasan and I went to Starbucks for my new favourite drink macha frappuccino while waiting. There's yet another reason to stay in Japan: macha frappuccino!

The maccha frappuccino's that Oneesan and I drank on Sunday.

After the trip to the doctor and back, I rushed to the station to meet up with Andy, and together we slowly, but surely, found our way to the Dainii-campus (second campus. Yes, there's several campuses…), and even managed to get lost inside the campus. It was huge. Yohei, our trustworthy PA saved us though, and guided us to the lounge, where most of the JSP's and tons of new Japanese students were getting to know each other. Here's where the confusion-part of the title comes in: try to understand Japanese in a noisy room full of gaijins and Japanese trying to hear/talk to each other over some very loud music… I made some new friends though, especially two really nice and fun guys that I invited for karaoke on Friday.

Me, Masataka and Chingun

There's some more, personal confusion to all this too, but, I won't tell you about that just yet. For now, I'm just looking forward to Friday: finishing the damn exam and then relaxing with karaoke, new friends and the Kawagoe Matsuri, where I will be pulling one of the huge, traditional floats together with my fellow JSP's. More about that next week, if I survive the weekend, that is…

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: campus, confusion, exploring, friends, hostfamily, japan, JSP, karaoke, Kawagoe, matsuri, sashimi, sightseeing, TIU, Tokyo, Tokyo Tower, Ueno Kouen, Ueno Park, zoo | Leave a comment »

Naaaaaaat!

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Margarita

Dammit, why are you so far away when I miss you? At least you'll be nearby by April next year… I miss my best friend! Hurry up and get your Canadian ass over here!

I miss my best friend…

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

A job, please!

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Margarita

I will have the longest winter-break in my entire life this year, spanning from December 16th  until March 5th or so, and since I don't want/can't go back to Sweden for the break (I don't want to forget my Japanese/improve it, tickets are too expensive), I plan on staying here in Japan, hopefully working. So, as an appeal to whoever might read this; if you have any good advice about where I can find a job here in Japan for the months of January and February, anywhere in Japan is ok, let me know asap! Please! I'll teach English, do some bartending, whatever, as long as I have something to do and can earn some money to pay the rent for wherever I'll be living.

Second request: I'll need a place to live too, so if you know about any cheap and nice places where I can rent a room, do a house-share, whatever, please inform me!

That's about it for today. Regarding the typhoon, which decided to pass over Japan instead of beside it, I can tell you that it was…windy. Several train-lines had to close, but luckily I live close to the uni, so I wasn't affected. Now the sun is shining from a bright blue sky, and hopefully I'll get to sleep tonight without worrying if something will blow through my window.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: accomodation, help, japan, job, work | 1 Comment »

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Source: https://themargaritamix.wordpress.com/2009/10/

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