My Masterpiece

So tonight I was feeling a strong urge to head to the city. Since I'm living in the suburbs now, I really miss the fast-paced city life of Tokyo. I texted Rob after work and we made plans to head to Harajuku and do some shopping.

We slowly made our way down Takeshita-dori and window shopped. Rob was complaining about all of the girl stores we went in so I came up with the brilliant idea to give Rob a wardrobe makeover.

Now there's nothing really wrong with Rob's wardrobe in the first place... If you're a tourist or an always active person (he wears tennis shoes, exercise shorts and a t-shirt every day). But we decided to develop a new image for him so that he can vamp up his confidence and appeal to the ladies here in Tokyo (yes. yes. he's single, girls!).

It was out with the white sneakers and in with the vans. We stopped at Forever 21 and Top Shop to do some serious damage. Trying on different styles that we have seen throughout the Tokyo streets was a fun experience. We settled on one that could translate back to America when Rob returns.

Before I show you my finished work... I'll show you what Rob wears on an everyday basis, but in different colors..... Prepare yourself. It may be a little scary (joke).

Diggin' those white sneaks, Rob.

A little safe, no? I must give Rob props though. Everyday while I'm dying from the humidity in my heels and long skirts and frilly blouses, Rob stays cool and composed. He definitely beats me when it comes to weather-appropriate travel clothing. 

And now.... drumroll please........ My masterpiece!!

kakkoiiiiiiii! (so cool!) 

I'm very proud of this makeover. I had never had the opportunity before and Rob was such a good sport trying on different things!


I'm now accepting makeover orders! Contact me if you're interested! ;)


Totally kidding.... 

One month left. Wait... What?

I can not believe I only have one month left here in Japan. It's hard to believe that despite everything I've seen and done, there's still so much that I have to do.

Here's a check list that I want to complete before I leave!

1. See Mt. Fuji

2. Visit Asakusa (Sky Tree! Sky Tree! Sky Tree!)

3. Visit the beaches in Chiba

4. Support the Japanese Olympic Team with my friends

5. Go to my town's biggest summer festival

6. Go to Tsukiji fish market at 5am

7. Explore Odaiba

I have so much more planned, but these are my top choices!

My weekends are going to be so busy!

I will leave you with photos from my weekend in Kamakura!

Hydrangeas at Hasedera Temple!

Buddhist statues at Hasedera 

More Buddhist statues at Hasedera

Entrance to Hasedera

In front of Hasedera!

koi pond at the temple

Nao and Rio washing a Buddha!

View of the ocean from the top of the hiking trail at Hasedera!

The main temple at Hasedera.

Adorable Rio

More Hydrangeas. Reminds me of Nona....

beautiful view!

Cute Buddhist statues on the hiking trail at Hasedera

temple-top

picture time!

Inside the cave at Hasedera!

In front of the Daibutsu! Dream come true.

Daibutsu!

I got a kick out of this. In Japanese, the word for "tea' is Matcha. The sign reads "Obama-cha" meaning a green-tea flavored ice cream commemorating President Obama's visit to Japan. 

Ghibli shop in Kamakura!

Hachimangu Temple

Prayer tablets at Hachimangu!

stunning

In front of Hachimangu

We tied our so-so fortunes in hopes of getting better ones next year!

Tori-i at Zeniarai Temple

Washing my money at Zeniarai in hopes that I'll become richer one day! 

Washing my money!

The biggest moth I had ever seen. My host mom looked at it after her prayer and muttered "futsuu." (normal) 

Rage

I had this HUGE post with pictures and EVERYTHING saved and then blogspot decided to delete my archive. I want to punch a wall.

I promise a new post is coming though!!

Tanabata Festival and Rio's 6th Birthday!

Hi all!

I'm very sorry for the week-long hiatus. I'm in the process of switching jobs and host families at the moment, so I'm extremely busy here! I have a lot that I want to share though!

I will start with my weekend! On Saturday was Keio University's Tanabata Matsuri (七夕祭り: July 7th Festival）。

My host mother helped explain the tradition to me so I'll give some background on what Tanabata is all about.  The literal translation of Tanabata is "the seventh day of the seventh month." According to old Chinese myth (which made its way over to Japan back in the day), the god of everything (think Zeus, you Eurocentric folk) had a daughter that had an amazing talent for weaving. Every day she would weave beautiful cloth for her father. One day the girl met a farm boy and it was love at first sight. They ran away and got married without telling the girl's father. When the girl's father found out, he was so furious that he took his daughter back home and forbade the two from ever seeing each other again. Due to her extreme sadness, the girl stopped weaving and fell into a state of depression. Her father saw how sad she was so he granted her one day every year to see her husband, that day is July 7th. So every year on July 7th, people in Japan celebrate the love that these two share on this one day that they're granted a year. 

The two hands represent the lover's connection after being apart for so long.

Now onto my experience!


When I first started work at Keio, my supervisor told me that she was going to arrange for me to go to the festival with a few coworkers. I thought that this meant my older coworkers and their families. I was beyond excited because I have only seen matsuri in Japanese dramas, anime and movies. I couldn't wait to actually become a part of such a famous part of modern Japanese tradition! My supervisor also told me that I would be wearing a yukata and selling shaved ice along with the coworkers. 


So Friday rolls around and I'm at a my going away party with my coworkers (drank a little too much, I might add), and this young girl that I recognized from serving her at the cafeteria comes in and introduces herself as Kaori. It turns out that I was going to the festival with her and her friends. Nothing against my lovely coworkers, but I became even more excited when I found out that I was actually going with a group of students! She told me to invite Rob and that she had some yukata for us at her 先輩　's（せんぱい／senpai：senior student) apartment. 

Friday going away party with one of my managers and my coworker, Yamamoto. This about sums up that night....

So Saturday rolls around and Rob and I meet Kaori and her best friend Mei at the station closest to Keio. We take a long train ride through Yokohama to the Shonan Campus of Keio, where the festival was held. We make a pit stop at Kaori's senpai Mao's apartment and are shocked to find that Mao speaks perfect English! She takes turns wrapping all four of us up in our kimono and we head to the festival! The funny thing about wearing traditional clothing is that every detail matters. Poor Mao forgot which side was the proper way to wrap a yukata around our bodies, so she had to guess. She guessed wrong. When we got to the festival, all the old women were coming up to Kaori, Mei and me and telling us that the way we had our yukata wrapped was how you were supposed to wrap a kimono around a corpse when preparing it for a funeral! Oops! No biggie... 

Me, Rob and Mei

Kaori, Me and Rob

Us all wrapped up (incorrectly) in our yukata! 

When we get there I meet the rest of Kaori and Mei's friends from school. I had forgotten that I had already met most of them before one day after work when they asked me to participate in their club health activity. It was so much fun getting to hang out with such a fun group of kids my age. I was able to relax and practice my Japanese without feeling the need to be excessively formal. 

Yuuki and I!

We spent a lot of time walking around the festival and stuffing our faces with traditional Japanese festival foods like yakitori (grilled chicken), okonomiyaki (kind-of like a meat or seafood pancake), takosen (octopus ricecracker taco), and shaved ice! 

Miss Keio Pagaent! Notice the backdrop with the princess and the farmer! 

Once we made a few rounds, Mao suggested that I help out the group at the shaved ice stand working the cash register. I was extremely hesitant, but agreed and was taught the ropes by their friend Yuuki. He explained the process which was quite simple, and then let me practice with a few little-kid customers. We sat there talking for a bit about some random things made a few jokes and witty comments to each other and before I knew it, we were sold out of shaved ice!

Working the shaved ice stand with Yuuki.

The weather that day was so bipolar that we were all a little worried that we wouldn't be able to see the 花火（はなび/ hanabi: fireworks). As soon as we shut down the ice stand, the sky opened up and it started raining hard. We were a little disappointed, but after half an hour or so, the rain subsided enough to let the fireworks show start. It was absolutely amazing. The fireworks didn't compare at all to the ones I've seen in America. Maybe it's because they were lit closer to the crowd, so they appeared bigger, but they were so vibrant and plentiful despite the gloomy backdrop. I was living my own little anime dream.

After the fireworks ended, we all changed out of our yukata and headed home. It was such a great way to experience my first matsuri! I really hope I can go to one more before I leave! :)

When I got home, we celebrated Rio's 6th birthday! It really made me miss my little brothers back home. Oh to be that young again.......

Rio blowing out her birthday candles! Happy Birthday Chibi-chan!

It was a great Saturday! :)

Keio Soccer!

Hello all!

Tonight I went to the National Stadium in Shinjuku to watch the Keio Men's Soccer Team and support the school that I work at! Go Keio Unicorns! Yes, lol, that is their mascot.... Oh, Japan......

Rob tagged along because our opponent was Waseda University (the school he works at). Booooo!

I got invited to go to the game by the team's goal keeper, Masatsugu. It was so cool to be able to take part in student life for once instead of being on the interning side. We, unfortunately, lost. I apologized to my friend for being such a bad luck charm! It was a good game though!

Here's a video and some photos I took tonight!

Pre-game ceremony

Waseda (left, red) and Keio (right, yellow)
Rob thinks they look like ketchup and mustard.

Group Huddle!

Go Keio! :)

Ticket and Roster! My friend's name is on there! :)

JPop and KPop

So for those of you who don't know, I am a big lover of asian music. Boy and girl groups still dominate the charts, much like the 90s in America. Although it is a bit strange to most Americans, I think that Asian music is on the verge of a breakthrough in reaching global audiences.

Here are some songs that are quite big in Japan and Korea now:

T-Ara: Day By Day

This song was released just this morning and has already received what Koreans call an "All-Kill" in reaching the number one spot on most (if not all) the major music charts in Korea. The subtle rapping and the beautiful harmonies paired with the lullaby instrumentals prove that even Korea music can be cutting-edge. The music video for this song is a fifteen minute drama-like video with a post-apocalyptic plot line. If you're actually interested in watching it, click here!

少女時代 (Girls' Generation) : Paparazzi

This song has taken Japan by storm. Despite the group being made up of nine Korean girls, all are able to sing coherently in Japanese. No matter where you go in Japan, whether small convenient store or Shibuya Crossing, this song and its music video are everywhere!

Big Bang: Bad Boy

One simply cannot mention Asian music without Big Bang. Winning numerous awards all over Asia and Europe, Big Bang has proven that their music transcends nationalities. Their song "Bad Boy" is clearly their best one ever. Smooth music with great lyrics and awesome rapping made this song and Big Bang soar all over the world. For those interested in a different, yet still catchy, song by them, I recommend their song "Fantastic Baby." A more dubstep-y pop song, it is surely one of the catchiest songs produced in Korea. Click Here!

Arashi: Your Eyes

Japan has placed these five on a pedestal. Arashi has won the hearts of women (and probably men) of all ages with their smooth voices and great ballad songs. This song is currently ranked high on the Japanese Oricon chart, and sees much air-time on Japanese music shows!

AKB48: Manatsu no Sounds Good

Did you really think I wouldn't mention AKB48? These girls are EVERYWHERE in Japan. Their video doesn't disappoint in matching up with the stereotypical image Americans have of Japan as being a nation full of "WTF moments". Ah, Japan, why you so weird? Needless to say, this song is quite catchy.

After School: Flashback

This song oozes sexiness. It reminds me so much of Britney Spears' Toxic-era meets new age electronic music. All of the girls scream sex appeal and in watching their live performances on television, you can see their talents in their live vocals as well. This song has made it onto my morning commute playlist!

I really hope that you guys enjoyed this little pop-culture post! I will post more about my time here when I get caught up at work!!

xoxo