東京 Tokyo Ikimashou!

the gang at dinner in Shibuya

The Playground that is TOKYO

So I went to Tokyo this weekend with some other teachers from my area: Me, Brooke, a cute little gal from SC with the sweetest little accent, Tiffany, also from SC she is a wild one always up for some fun, Melanie, she hails from England and has some of the best stories from uni one could ever imagine, Debbie, also from England Deb's stories of loves and clubs always keep you waiting for more, and then the only man- Niel, is English with stories of his dodgy friends and crazy antics from home. I knew once the group had developed we were all in for a good time- and this was the first time since our orientation that any of us had been to the playground that is TOKYO.

Trying to save money we took the night bus into town Wed night, ETA 4:35 a.m. Due to the amazing efficiency of Japanese transport, we arrived a wee bit earlier at 4:20 a.m. We got let out on some street (literally) in the middle of downtown Tokyo, which none of us know, packs on our back, so we had some time to kill. Being stingy (again) our hotel check-in time was a late check-in. We weren't exactly sure what time "late" entailed- we just figured since normal check-in time in Tokyo was 3, it had to be after that- so we were shooting to kill the time until at least 4pm. That is 12 hours- no sleep from the day before, to kill. (this situation was actually better than our original plan- up until about two hours before catching our bus we had no reservations for a hotel. Our plans were this- try to find somewhere, sleep in the park, and clean up in the public baths, if we got really tired and were too far from a park we were going to hire a karaoke booth for a couple hours and pass out there, this is an option that one must always keep in mind for accommodation here in Japan) Unsure still of what our group dynamic would end up being, we all walked into the Tokyo night, actually early morning, together, ready for our adventure to begin, would the three Americans and the three English survive together?

I would tell you where we walked initially but i don't have the faintest clue. It is amazing though what you see in a city like Tokyo at 4:30 on a Thursday morning (this Thursday was a holiday) So there were many suit clad men walking the streets, or at least trying to walk, break-dancers in the square in front of the Metropolitan Modern Art Museum- we stopped here and hit the head, rested for a bit watching the break-dancers, the domino players, the homeless catching up on their sleep, and then right next to them seeing people pass out for a few hours as they met up on their way out of the clubs. It is quite interesting to see people passing out on some cardboard then waking up and walking home with their Louis Vuitton purse, but hey at least here it is safe enough to do so, we even saw a man stare at a couple kids for a few minutes (which was quite odd- and looked scary to be honest) then he took off his suit-coat and laid it over the couple who were snuggled up together. That is Japan. A country of loving generous people.

After about 30 minutes we left the square. We decided to start walking towards Shinjuku, which according to the sign Neil claims to have read, was only 700 meters away. Well at least 700 meters to the border of Shinjuku, which is like saying you are 700 meters from the edge Chesterfield when you are heading to downtown STL. But that was ok. We had nothing better to do (we just expected to be where we thought we were heading a lot sooner.) So with our packs and all, we walked around Tokyo and then the trains opened about 7 or at least that is when we made it to the station we needed.

One of the highlights (and a definite pick-me-up at this point) was when we found a vending machine and just happened to notice that there was Dr. Pepper. None of us had seen Dr. Pepper since we got here and we did not think Japan had anything but Coke, Pocari Sweat (it is actually the consistency of sweat so it regenerates you fast or something) and various teas and cold coffees. So we all kampaied to some Dr. Pepper.

Once we finally made it to the station, we boarded the train- which we were lucky it was a holiday so it was not too busy and headed to Ginza. We stowed our bags in some lockers and headed back out to the daylight. We were hungry but seeing that we were in a retail district nothing was opened, and would not open for another 30 minutes or hour as we passed. We finally got some coffee (which would be our savior for the weekend) and some food. Ahh, the joys of options of food that Tokyo provided. We made a deal then and there that we would only eat Western food while we were in the city, since Western food is so hard to come by in Niigata.

We walked through the fish market that was pretty dead due to the holiday, and then went to the Emperors palace and laid around and chatted in the lawn there next to the statue of a great samurai on his horse- a well endowed horse. After our short break we went back to Ginza to look at stores. We walked through the SONY building which is amazing showing off all the new technology and up-and-coming products. They even had robot dogs that respond to being pet and it can dance and it will fetch a small ball. I liked the streamlined surround sound speakers the best. or the surround sound headphones. stellar. We looked around the shops a bit more- but shopping in Ginza is like shopping on the Magnificent Mile- most things are over the top- lots of designers, etc. After Ginza we headed to Shibuya. We walked around here a bit. Shibuya is veryveryvery crowded. It is the place where if you are young you go for shopping and things. We were dead tired and sweaty and by this point (somehow) it was almost 4:30 so we headed back to Ginza to get our bags and check-in to the hotel.

Checking in went smoother than expected. We had only reserved for four and only one room for Sat night- yes we are cheap kids. So we were concerned about the room situation and how we would all sneak in. But we were in the annex of the hotel so it worked out perfectly. We took about two hours to clean up and rest a second then we hit the town again. (We are in Tokyo- I'm so glad that I was with people who realized this fact and would not let tired be a word in their vocabulary until we got back on the bus on Sunday)

We got on the train and took it over to Odiba. That was great. Odiba sets on the bay, so you can look back over at the city skyline. You also take the monorail there. It is a beautiful ride across the bridge at night. I highly recommend the experience if you are ever there. Odiba is a wee bit expensive and it was pretty dead. But we heard there was an option for Mexican food there= and we were all about it. The Japanese have an interesting take on mexican food, but it was Oishi (delicious). Some tacos and a couple pitchers of Margaritas later. We were a stumbling bunch giggling and carousing the town. Everyone was laughing at me while some inventors from Sony had fun chatting me up. One was Korean and he knew some english. He liked showing off his camera that he designed, (from what we had seen at the Sony store it is due out next spring) I tried to explain to him I knew one Korean phrase (sorry KJ) and that was A at the end of a name was like shouting hey... I don't know, I have language skills;) To us it seemed as though the trains were taking forever, if you had been in the Tokyo subway Thursday night last week- you may have noticed six gaijin leaning on walls, two lying on the ground, and sleeping against the pillars. We were quite a site. WE got home- following the light of the Tokyo Tower- that looks quite like the Eiffel tower just red and white, to our hotel. Hit the sack because the next day we did Disney.

Tokyo Disneyland. A plethora of childhood fun. Deb had never been- so she made sure to get some ears (she got Bambi ears) to wear around. Neil was strikingly amusing as he got really excited and begged that we try to hit so and so ride. Poor thing we never did make it to the Haunted Mansion like he wanted (the line was like 2.5 hours long) and he was really begging for that one. We started our day off with Space Mountain, and then hit the rest of the fun rides. The lines were very long, and supposedly they always are. They were celebrating Halloween- which was funny since Halloween is not celebrated here so the Japanese people were ecstatic at the thought. At Disneyland, Japanese people bring out their best. They deck themselves out in the best/coolest Disney shirt/outfit. It was great you would see all these punk couples with matching his and her ears. hysterical!

AT the end of the day i had promised Deb that we would go and watch the electrical light parade and fireworks while the others rode rides. So we hang out and then head over to the parade route about 30 minutes into it. One float passes by with mickey and the whole gang on it. They were singing "Singing in the Rain" nothing else. We were confused for a while, because everyone else seemed to be OK and understanding what was going on. Did we miss a whole parade and not notice it while we stood only a few meters away? With deeper thought we figure that maybe they canceled the parade due to the light showers. So now we wait for the fireworks. We camp out in front of the castle, all excited and stuff. Waiting to yell Sagoi and Hannabe! (Which is Great and Firework!) All of a sudden way over at the other side of the park the fireworks begin and no sooner than that they end. Once again no one seemed to care. Then it started to pour down rain. We will never know exactly what happened, oh well. after that, we met up with everyone and started to head out of the park. First though we had to stop and get omiyage. Omiyage is souveniers/gifts. You get it for all your workmates when you go somewhere (it is a costly little custom) but you get candy, treats, and stuff and share it with everyone. So we had to hit the shops before we left- that is when the magic ran out. No longer was Disney fun. People running you down with their prams, kids running between your legs, and parents elbowing thier way through the crowd. Luckily we all made it out alive. We were all complaining, but we were alive!

We headed back to Shibaya near our hotel and decided on dinner. We decided unanimously on hitting an izakaya. Yep that is Japanese food. Here we were so bent on the idea of eating only Western food all weekend, and we only went a day and a half until we wanted to go to an izakaya. An izakaya is a restaurant where you order various items and all share. It is a great opportunity for trying out all the various delicacies they have to offer in this country. (It was on a schishimi platter at an izakaya in Takada where during my enkai my teachers had me try horse. shichimi is raw- for those of you who don't know- so put that together) It is also quite a kick to go into a bar that foreigners would normally never enter and order food. By the way here is how the system works here in Japan. You get seated, and then when you know what you want you scream SUMIMASEN! and then the server comes over and you order. A lot of the food also takes a bit of knowledge on how to eat it/ or cook it at your table so forth. All this knowledge makes it much easier to get by here. So we chowed down and nomihodaied it for two hours there (that is all you can drink) and Neil and Deb left to go to bed because they were leaving on Sat morning. The rest of us girls sat around sharing raunchy tales and tasteless stories. Mel got tired so she headed home. Well, what are we to do now?

I convinced Tif and Brooke that we should go to Roponggi. Roponggi is the place to be at night (well one of them). You can bar hop here, dance, etc. So we were going to get a cab, but we thought we would ask this group of gents (who were obviously coming out of some kind of enkai) how far away Roponggi is, so we knew what type of cab fare to expect you know;) Well...we got to talking and we all decided we should just hang out together and do some karaoke. Karaoke seriously is the thing to do here. So off to the karaoke bar we went. We got a booth and then convinced the fellows to partake a nomihodai (again- that will make 4.5 hours of nomihodai) and of course it was on them.

So one of them kicked it off with a great japanglish version of Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman. Us girls showed our rapping skills (or lack there of) and then 2.5 hours later- we walked out to the rising sun at 5:30. Tif went astray for a few hours, and I, the good girl I am, helped Brooke home. (Brooke was freaking out over Tiffany's ventures, but I set her straight. I would say Brooke was the only person out of her element this weekend, but oh did that poor girl try to keep up.)

So we hit the hay for a couple of hours again and woke up and started out for our free day- Saturday. We had a list of things to do- five things to be exact between the four of us, 1. go to Asakusa Temple 2. go to akihabara to buy a digital camera 3. go to Ginza to get some guitar strings 4. go to Shibuya to get some shoes 5. go to Shinjuku to Kabukicho for some shopping. And we got only two accomplished..the temple and Kabukicho.

The Temple is surrounded by a loud and bustling market. It also has many visitors. Int the temple you do many rituals in order to pray and be protected. As you enter you will see a gift shop they sell little blessings for various things- one for health, one for good travels, etc. They also sell incense bunches. Light the whole thing and put it in a burner. Then you will see a large incense burner with people surrounding it, wafting the smoke of the incense over their heads, face, and body. This is for purification and for intelligence. There is also a large fountain. Here you pour water over your hands to cleanse yourself before you enter the temple. You may now walk up the steps (be sure to have some loose yen in your pocket so you can toss it in the offering once inside the temple) At the top of the steps you clap twice and bow. Then you toss your coin into the wooden rack. Here you can meditate and pray and stuff. You can also enter further into the building and look at how beautiful it is. And continue with your prayers. At the temple you can also get your fortune. I did not do this because I did not want to do it wrong. Therefore I did not want to mess with my fortune. But now I know what to do. (By the way many people do not do the rituals I just told you about- but it is respectful and proper). To get your fortune you shake this tub of sticks until one falls out- then you match the Kanji up and pull the paper from the drawer. If you have a good fortune you take it with you. If it is bad, you hang it up on a tree or the fence at the temple and it will blow away.

After the temple, which we ended up spending a lot of time at because it was nice to break up and each do our own thing. We then headed over to Kabukicho- the redlight district- for some gawking and shopping. The craziness there led to difficulties in completing the task at hand- so we got some help from some man, who led us around to what we needed. So five stores later (and after combing every corner of the area) we had success. We were also running late at this point- to meet Akio and his friend for the evening.

So we go and meet Akio. I felt bad because I thought that it was just going to be me and Tif and Mel. But there was four of us and he was ok with that. But on the way Mel got a call from 2 gals and they were going to meet us. So now 6 gaijin and Akio and his friend. When we get there those 2 girls are in a group of 7. So there ended up being like 14 people 11 gaijin and poor Akio. He barely speaks English, and we definitely stood out. Plus hitting Tokyo on a Sat night in Shibuya is quite a task- morethanless with a big crew like this. But he came through and even got us in at this great little izakaya that all the food and all the drinks were 300 yen each. (that is cheap) we ordered a boatload of drinks and food and all got glazed. From there we went and shot some darts and pool, where I got to throw some darts AND drink a Guinness. (I taught Akio and Wako cricket.) Sagoi !!(excellent)! then we walked by love hotel hill, and then off to clubasia- a hiphop club for some dancing. We all had a blast. We closed the club down and headed home to our hotel at 7:30am. We crashed again for a couple hours- got up- checked out- and then started our trek to the bus to get back to the Joetsu area.

We hit the convieny for some onigiri and waited for our bus. Here is some classic communication error that happens between me and Akio, it is so sweet and hilarious. Let's see if I can give it justice. Since he had been such a good sport for hanging with us for so long and making sure we were doing ok, I was telling him that he could go, he did not have to stay and wait (for the bus) with us, that he could go on. So Akio says to me in reply, "No, I can't go today. I will come and visit Niigata soon, but I can't go with you all today." He thought I was implying that he should just come on home with us. Oh the craziness (and we converse like this all the time- so we both are always laughing- thank god for electronic dictionaries!) (We also both were working off a lack of sleep so our communication was withering)

After introducing hugging to our new friend (the Japanese really don't hug) and saying goodbye- us four girls put our luggage on the bus and then board- only to find out that we are on the wrong bus. Poor Akio is standing there saying goodbye and we all have to get off the bus and wait for bus 2. We were definitely a sight. So another set of goodbyes and see ya's! and we were off. A day of slumber awaited. At least I did Tokyo right. And I am ready to do it again! -----

Dave and Wako making angry faces

Tiffany and Akio at dinner

Working the Language Barriers: Akio and me

Akio and the crude punk guy on the train- he was intriguied by Mel.

Sensoji Temple in Asakura

The man we met on the train on the way back from Saturday night- at like 7:30 in the morning.

tif shooting some pool

Teaching Mel (as well as Akio and Wako) how to play Cricket- Wako won.

Wako and Melanie- taking the photo Japanese style: PEACE!

At dinner

waving down the Subway- headin' out for the night (or maybe coming back- I'm really not sure)

tif being tif

Here is the whole crew at Tokyo Disney! (l-r) Brooke, Me, Tif, Neil, Deb, and Mel

Going 3D- Mel (and then Tif and I in the background) waiting to go into a Disney exhibit

Deb getting a kick out of something in Tokyo

Samurai statue in the Emperor's Garden

me and the girls in front of the Emperor's Palace- from Left: Tiffany, Debbie, Brooke, Mel, and then ME!

The Playground that is Tokyo: a street lined with lanterns- one of the first things we saw as we got off the bus at 4:30 a.m.

to be honest I have no idea what Neil is doing.

A typical Back Alley of Tokyo (well in a residential area)

At the Sony Building, the robot that dog. It responds to petting and it will fetch a ball.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Kompai! Dr Pepper at 6 a.m. We couldn't have asked for a better pick-me-up. We didn't even think they had the stuff in Japan! (Obviously this was also the first time any of us had seen it here...so bottoms up!)

Dry Ski Jumping

Tea Ceremony, Dry Ski Jumping, and Karaoke

This past weekend was full of good times. We celebrated Karmen's birthday by hosting her friend, and now mine, Akio, from Tokyo. He was super cool, and really shy at first because it had been a long time since he was in a situation where he had to speak so much English. and i can finally say that i have started to really pick up on my Japanese. Two months into it not so bad. (I guess)

On Saturday Karmen and I took our first road trip in our little car. We drove to Nagano City, yep where the Olympics were held. It was a beautiful drive. And it is only about an hour and fifteen minutes to the heart of it. We saw all the apple trees, mountain trails, and ski slopes on the drive (now we are really excited for winter). Duncan, I need to ask you a few questions about boarding when you get a chance- difficult to call you since you are like 15 hours behind- so tell me when the best time to call you is- Well we went to Nagano and picked Akio up from the shinkansen (that is the highspeed train here in Japan- so if anyone visits you will get a day in Nagano and a ride on the shink. And I would pick you up there= it is easiest due to my location in the south of niigata= the nagano prefecture border is really only about 25 min away from me- just passed Mount Myoko.

Then Karmen went and practiced taiko and Akio came with me to a Japanese tea ceremony that my students had invited to me. The ceremony is very formal and rigid (formal ceremony- not necessary for formal style- got me?) But there is a proper way to drink the tea, hold the cup, spin the cup, set the cup down, hold the chopsticks- say things- and i knew none of it. It is very traditional and many girls and ladies train at some point in their life, and I took Akio who had never been, so he was just as clueless as me, but he surprised me by trying to help translate as much as he could. but both of us did not do everything right we found out- no matter how much we tried. oh well. The problem and hilarity is that the sempei (like a sensei but more of a mentor, and always older- Mr. Miagi is a sempia to DanielSan) stuck me in the first chair- intentionally- so i was the first served. When I was served she goes- Dozo. which means go ahead. but i waited for someone else so i could follow- but no one else would be served until i was. so i whispered to akio what do i do, he said he had no idea and we waved over the sempei and asked her- oh the hilarity of the whole thing- she proceeded to tell me- but she left our the traditional things that i kind of knew so akio asked her about it and she told him for us it didnt really matter what we did. yep classic. after that ceremony we went into the tatami room where we had to sit kneeling for like 45 minutes through another ceremony. when was the last time you sat kneeling on your knees sitting on your feet for a long time- it is not comfortable, nor natural. when we began some ladies asked me if i was going to be ok- akio was complaining but i was sure i was fine- until about the ten to fifteen minute mark were the pain from my feet falling asleep began- and then about ten minutes later it passed. Gambare! Go fight win! but it was nice , the tea was frothy and the rice candy surprisingly delicious. After the ceremony we went to catch the end of the taiko festival and out to dinner with my taiko group- of which no one speaks english and i was actually doing ok- don't ask me how- the wonders of a dictionary and some understanding that grammar doesn\t matter at this point and a lot of pretending to understand (on all parties so i don't feel too bad) Karmen, Akio and I had a nightcap of sake and then off to sleep.

The next morning we headed up Myoko for the Summer Ski Jumping Event. This was my first ski jumping event so it was even more interesting to see it dry. We picniced on the slopes with Keko and her husband- keko is the lady who let us join taiko. she is awesome. she also comes to the coffee club events that Chieko plans with us- so she is a member of that too. There were six olympic jumpers there- and no crashes- well one junior high kid crashed but before the clouds were broken up early in the morning so nothing too bad and not anyones fault. there were times during those practice runs where there was no visibility. But I learned a lot of words like TOMBO- dragonfly and taught Keko a lot of vocab too. After dryskijumping we went to an onsen and then home to chill out before the night ahead of us for Karmen's birthday celebration.

We went to Takada for nomihoedai, which is all you can have for a time limit kind of thing. Well we nomihoediaed it for two hours- then followed that with nomihoedai Karaoke for two hours. So four hours of nomihoedai. Very nice. very enjoyable.

Well I am getting ready to catch a bus to Tokyo for the weekend, so I will have more stories next week. I hope all is well with everyone. Oh yea, I work too. All day everyday. longer than i am suppose to, because that is the culture. The kids are good- I am developing my favorites, and i have some classes who are little brats, but i will get them.

Good times, good times- Sagoi!!

IwamiSensei takes the mic

SuzukiSensei and MinigawaSensei sing a duet