Friday October 3, 1997: 11pm
Well today was my turn for the hirukai. Today was a *fun* hirukai. Why? Well because my topic was "Licorice" - the candy none of them had heard of and thought was so - odd. Ah well, after I found out that they'd all never had licorice (about 2 months ago) I'd emailed Jon my request that he bring some out with him when he came to visit so that I could do a hirukai on it. Ah I thought _way_ ahead for once, because I asked in early August or something. Wahduh! So Jon brought over one big bag of black licorice and one big bag of red licorice - now I only had to figure out what to say about the stuff.
I didn't have to think long because while Jon and I were discussing which kind of licorice we like better (a sure topic of conversation when you're around licorice) when a brilliant idea hit Jon, and he told it to me so that's good. His idea was that I should conduct a survey of who prefers what kind - and so that's what I did. Last night I made poll cards from cardboard, put a red box and a black box on. I started the hirukai - asked if there were any announcements... there were, so they said their stuff - then I flipped over the whiteboard with a bit of info on licorice (the flavours and stuff)... and the poll on "which do you prefer, red or black?" and I bring out my plastic bag of goodies - and murmurs circulate the room - laughs... funny! So I explain how I want to find out who likes what kind... and I go around the room, giving each person a red, a black, a poll card and a pen. Wha - none of these guys are familiar with licorice, that's for sure. There were comments like "Ah - so sticky".. "Ew - feels like wax!" .. "Tastes like coffee" (?!?).. and then there wre expressions of deep concentration as everyone contemplated on the taste of each - which did they like better?
The final results are 83% red 17%black. A slaughter! And that's not even counting me, a die-hard red fan.
Saturday October 4, 1997: 4pm
Well it's nice to know that autumn smells the same half-way across the world. If I just close my eyes and drift a bit, I could open them and not know where I was - Tokyo or Waterloo... but I tend not to drift
Raining today. I was originally planning on checking out a festival or two around Tokyo, but most get postponed or cancelled when it rains. Oh well. So I made some pumpkin carrot soup instead. Ok, it was only supposed to be carrot soup (which I still don't know how to make), but I bought the pumpkin for stir-fry, but of course I'd never had pumpkin in stir-fry before - until last night - and it was *not* tasty. So - the rest got plopped into the soup.
Ah, I should give Simon a call, he's in town this weekend.
1am
What.. fun! Simon came by at 7 or so, and we did another CD trade. Cool - more music to listen to! It's like my CD collection has doubled. He also brougth me a bottle of tequila for my bday! I'll have to tell him the Third Law of Alexadynamics, which is "he who gives tequila shall also receive" Heh heh. Gotta love those laws.
So at some point he asks me if I've ever played mahjong. I say no, cuz I really haven't, and he says "Do you want to learn?", and I say yeah, cuz I really do, so he says "well we can go and learn tonight.." and makes a couple of phone calls.. and we're outta here!
We go to Musashi Koganei, where we get picked up, by car, by Ri-san - a girl in her mid-twenties - and she takes us to the house where everyone is playing mahjong. So yeah, it's someone's house, and a couple of friends go there every once in awhile to play. Simon knows some of these people because they're in his dance group (for the Koenji festival). There wre maybe 9 or 10 people there, including Anna (Simon's sister)... so I got introduced to a couple of them. At first the "younger" people (ie. the people who didn't know how to play mahjong) just hung out in the living room while a game of mahjong was going on in another room. After awhile Ri-san asked me if I'd like to go watch them play - so we went to the mahjong room. There were 4 people playing around a small table. I was planning on watching but the ojisan (the man whose house it was - I don't know, but I think it might've been Ri-san's father) brought over another set of mahjong tiles and began to explain their meaning and stuff. Cool! And I started talking with Mikako-chan, and Kei-san - a 20-some year old girl and her boyfriend (I think), respectively. It was neat - we were speaking Japanese (although I wasn't doing much of the talking because I just can't) and the topics were strange! Mikako-chan really wants to learn English, and I suspect that she's already bery good because when I didn't understand something she always knew how to say it in English. We talked for a long time (mahjong forgotten for the time being) - oh, it was funny because Kei-san, when he saw my watch, said "hey Mikako-chan! That's the watch you wanted!", which is very possible since I did buy the watch in Tokyo awhile back. Anyway, we then got to talking about watches, and Mikako-chan shows me how on hers, if you press a button, it plays a song and a stick-man does a dance on its face! (It's a digital watch, btw). No, really! Yeah sure, there's no real use to that, but it was funky nontheless.
Ah yes, so now I got to play some mahjong myself. Simon, Anna, some other dude, and I sit down around the table and start to play. Now keep in mind that none of Simon, Anna nor I know how to play... so we each had our own "helper", ie. someone who told us what to do. This game is fun! It reminded me of poker - and it reminded me of bridge (although I don't know why it reminded me of bridge, considering I can barely play that game. Maybe it was all the rules...). I won't get into the details, but I can say that it's not exactly something you pick up in one game, like "Go Fish" or something. But I don't think it's on the level of Bridge (aka "the game you'll *never* get right"). And it was neat. Of course, it probably helped that I won the first 2 rounds, with awesome "hands" - well, that's what I was told. Cool. Although winning isn't a necessity for me to like a game, I still like it!
At 12:45 or so I had to leave because Kei-san and Mikako-chan were leaving, and Kei-san was going to give me a ride home! Funky. So on the way home I'm talkin' with them, and Mikako-chan suggests that since I want to learn Japanese, and she wants to learn English - we could make a deal. Yeah, cool! So we decide that we should "asobi" (literally translated = "play", but it means more "hang out/do something"), and while we are asobi-ing, teach eachother the language. Like, for an hour say "this is English hour", and the next say "this is Japanese hour". Ah, this sounds great to me because for one, we seem to get along, and also, I need to practice speaking with other people, and lastly, my Japanese lessons end in 2 weeks... so we exchanged phone numbers and stuff...
And now I'd kinda like to sleep!
Sunday October 5, 1997: 1:30pm
What a bee-yoo-tiful day! It feels like Spring.. it's the perfect temperature, the sky is blue, the sun is bright, the wind is minimal... everyone's outside doing stuff; playing baseball, biking, fishing, walking, picnicing... butterflies and birds are out. I can hear music playing in each house... it's that spring feeling. I think someone need to bonk me on the head so I can get my bearings.
11pm
So at 3 or so I went down to my neighbour Jun's apartment - the one I met last weekend - and we'd said we should hang out this weekend so I went to see what was up. He suggested we go see this movie he's been wanting to see, sounds like a good plan to me cuz I do like movies.. so we went over to Tachikawa. As it turns out, the movie he was thinking of was "Mononoke hime", which happens to be the only movie I've seen since I got here so we tried to get tickets for "The 5th Element", but it was sold out, so we bought tickets for "My Best Friend's Wedding" instead. We had half an hour to kill before lining up to get in, so we wandered around Takashimaya, which, btw, is HUGE. 8 floor department store. Wah. Lotsa stuff. Oh, so we go to the movie, and it was good - quite funny. And then to top it off we went for some Indian food, which could never be NOT yummy to my taste palette.
Ah, so Jun. As it turns out, he was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brasil, where he was right through til the end of university. Even longer actually, I think. But his parents are Japanese so he looks and speaks like a Japanese (um, I think, but really I probably wouldn't be able to tell otherwise). He's very good at English as well. And the guy has travelled everywhere, including good ol' Toronto. Cool.
So when we got back to the apartment he showed me his place, which looks, well, so much more lived in than my place. And we tried to figure out why my phone doesn't work (everytime I phon out the line is busy - um, well not *really*, but my phone seems to think so) but all in vain. *sigh*, next plan.
Anyway, now I'm really tired because I was supposed to go to bed awhile ago but I was distracted by a few long-distance phone calls (I can still receive calls, just not make em) - a welcom distraction, of course!
Monday October 6, 1997: 9pm
I am SO tired, it's incredible, I could barely keep my eyes open at work, or at my Japanese lesson, and it wasn't that it was all boring, cuz it wasn't - just that I didn't get nearly enough sleep.
Hey at lunch today they were talking about my licorice stunt on Friday. Cool. I'll be remembered as the licorice-girl.
Tuesday October 7, 1997: 9pm
Well today something really strange happened - I was at the Toyoda station waiting for a train to my lesson, but none of the trains listed had arrival times like they always do. I found this quite odd because hey, this *is* Japan and things don't just go awry. Ok, so finally a train comes - but on the way to the next station it makes numerous stops as though it's ahead of schedule when, in fact, it's way behind.
So I get to Hachioji and realize that even though I left my apartment early, I am going to be late because of the train. But as I'm hoofing it down the street I hear "Arekkusa-san!", and it's my teacher, who's usually way early for lessons. Ah, so she said something about how she'd had to wait 15 minutes on her train. So I said "There musta been an accident" but she says "Well no, a suicide actually". Ah. I guess it happened right close to my apartment which is somewhat disturbing. I don't like the thought of it - especially because I've heard taht death-by-train is the number one method of suicide here - and the suicide rate is high because of all the hard-working Japanese men. I think everyone needs to relax a bit.
Wednesday October 8, 1997: 3:30pm
Well I'm goin' to the !!! Oh wow, it's so exciting I think I might just have to babble. See, Simon told me on Saturday how he was gonna be a volunteer for the Olympics, and I went "HOW?!?" and he said he had volunteered in Hirooka when they had asked for people. Thus, I was a tad miffed because noone had asked around the Hino office, or at least, I hadn't heard about it. So on Monday I got an email from Simon, saying that he could try to get me in as a volunteer if I wanted. Yes, I wanted.. and sure enough, yesterday a lady phoned to ask if I could speak enough Japanese because - it's a TRANSLATING volunteer job. Don't ask me why I find the thought of me translating absolutely hilarious... Anyway, she faxed me an application form but I still had to wait for Hirabayashi-san, Miyasaka-san, and Ueda-san to approve it. Since I *would* have to take a week off work, it was quite possible I would be refused. But when I came into work this morning there was an email waiting for me, giving me the go-ahead! Yes! So I faxed off the form and all's okeedokee!
And, not only will I be in Nagano during the Olympics, it's also considered as a business trip, which means all expenses paid, and it's counted as work time! So like, they're going to get me a hotel, pay for the hotel, and pay for my trip there (probably on the brand new Shinkansen!) and transportation in Nagano - and pay for my FOOD and give me all this insurance (I think the insurance is $100,000 if I die! Now I know _I_ shouldn't be excited about this, but Mom and Dad should be thinking of ways to get me knocked off) Oooo - I wonder if they'll also pay me the daily "business trip salary"?!? Now that would be awesome!
Anyway, all in all I'm pretty darn happy about this! Sure, I still may not SEE an event, but I'll be *that* much closer. At least I could run into someone neat. Cool!
And Jason's doing it too, along with Simon and Geoff. Should be a blast! I'm going to NAGANO!!
9:20pm
Ah! Sensei is SO nice, it's incredible! Ok, so I got to her place - we chatted for over an hour.. she fed me treats and hot ocha - and showed me some of her art encylopedias. And she explained Noh to me - it's this traditional kind of Japanese play that's pretty famous. She said that most people, especially foreigners, prefer Noh over Kabuki. And, since I like Kabuki so much, I would undoubtedly think Noh is cool! She said that the next time she had tickets she would invite me. So nice!
And then she told me how she loves to swim - and she asked me if I swam, and we agreed we should go swimming sometime, because sensei doesn't like to go to the pool by herself, and she has noone to go with at this moment.
Oh, she explained the wind to me today, because woah! was it ever windy! All the bikes at work had fallen over like a kid's game of dominoes. Ah, and because it was so windy I could see Mt. Fuji from the Higashi Koganei Station - at sunset.. and it was absolutely stunning. No, really. Sure, I see fabulous sunrises all the time, but I rarely see a sunset worth mentioning. Today though.. the mountain range was a deep navy blue, and all the stars were out. The navy blue sky gradually turned into purple, then a blood red, then pink and into orange, and the orange sky met the mountain ranges. Wah, I wasn't the only one gawking - there was a crowd at the station going "Ah! Kirei!" (Wo! Beatiful!)
Ok, so back to my calligraphy lesson. Today's was "uroko gumo", which is directly translated as "scaly clouds", but it makes more sense with an explanation. See, in the autumn, the sky is big, and the clouds are usually high off the ground. Also, they have the appearance of the scales on a fish, if you can picture this. Anyway, that was today's lesson.
Sensei gave me a mini calligraphy set though and it's SO COOL! Cute as hell, but cuter! See, she'd asked how Jon had like the calligraphy and I told her how he'd loved it and he'd even taken back a miniature calligraphy set back with him, um.. to practice. (ok, he took back a set, but I don't think he'll be practicing) And she said "Oh, but I had a set I could've given him!" So later on in the lesson she showed me this calligraphy set, and it kicks the butt outta the one I gave Jon. It's got *5* mini brushes, an ink maker, ink, a little water bowl (to make the ink), a mini-spoon (to dish out the water from the water bowl), a chop (a traditional kind of hanko, or signature stamp. Artists use it), a chop stamping-pad, and a porcelain brush rest. Wow! AND, because a chop is supposed to have your name on it, and the one in this set was still blank, she said she was going to give it to a friend of hers who engraves chops (chops are usually made of stone) and the friend could do my name for me. Wow! She is so nice!
But wait, I'm not finished. As I was leaving she gave me some dinner... but this isn't any ordinary dinner.. it's some kind of Japanese mushroom/rice dish, made with these reallly expensive mushrooms. Like, when I say expensive, I mean $100/packet of these things! I didn't know quite what to say! What a nice lady!
Ok, so now I'm on the train home. I'll have to try this dinner when I get back.
Thursday October 9, 1997: 11pm
Well the rice meal was very tasty, for sure! Of course, it was sensei's cooking so that's just what I expected!
Oh so today after work I went searching for pumpkin puree but to no avail. I also couldn't find a pie crust, so I'm beginning to wonder if I could really make this pie. But, I shall keep on searching throughout the weekend.
Ah, tonight I got a phone call from Mikako-chan, and we decided to go to the zoo on Sunday, for our first Japanese/English lesson. Cool!
Oh yeah, another funny game show on TV tonight. It was like a quiz show with 2 teams (a bit like Family Feud or something) - but when you answered correctly you got to throw a big pie at one of the other team's member's face! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And then these teams had a race down white water rapids on INNER TUBES!! Needless to say, not many of them actually made it!
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