Unrelated but...

WTF BJÖRN GUSTAFSSON IS READING OUR KICK OFF.

I think my head just exploded.

... I hope he liked it.

Um.



I'm overwhelmed.

Raining again

It suddenly got much colder today, and the rain came pouring down.
The Nakamura cat wasn't waiting at its usual post. I wish I could just stay indoors as well...

Major coincidences, cool bands and chicken kebab

28/9, Sunday

Because E wasn't going to stay very long today, we made up a quick day schedule: Yoyogi Park (代々木公園) and Akihbara! But in the end, we were only able to go Yoyogi, so now E has an excuse (or, as she puts it, hundres of reasons) to come back here. I mean, of course we need to check out the otaku Mecca in detail!

So we went to Harajuku again (sorry E, lots of Harajuku this time...) because it's easier to get to the park from there rather from the Yoyogi station. We had looked it up real quick on the net before and felt kiiiind of confident on how we were supposed to get there. We went through the Meiji Jingu park again and this time, I took pictures! I'll post them before we move on the events.
1. On our way to Yoyogi Kouen, or so we thought...
2. Nice looking wooden fence.
3. Barrels of sake! Some had very nice art on them, and we also found one that looked like E's Utan face, haha!
4. Main gate (?) to the shrine. We started feeling that we were on the wrong way... But anyway, the torii was huge, see the next photo!
5. Grand. (Photo: E)
6. We found a tree with a mystical hole. Is this where Totoro lives?
7. Entering the shrine.

Yeah, so we definitely weren't on the right path to the park, though something out of the ordinary happened on our way here! E and I were walking around, discussing our path, when, suddenly, three familiar silhouettes entered our field of vision. "Isn't that..." said E, and it was! The three of them, D, P and R, went to the same Japanese course we did in SU! Of all times, of all places in Tokyo, Japan, the world we met them here! That's what I call a coincidence! They came here to study as well, but aren't in the JLSP course. We'll most probably meet up (the lot of us from SU) some time in the near future, that'll be fun.

Anyway, so P gave us some directions to the park (they actually live in Yoyogi) and when E and I got there, we bumped into them again, haha.

Yoyogi Park is THE hot spot for teenagers and youths in Tokyo to express themselves in through art, music and fashion, and mainly on Sundays because everyone's free then. When going to Yoyogi, expect to see the famous Rockabilly gang (they're actually not young at all XD), punks, idol wannabes and brass bands jamming everywhere. Food stalls, lots of people, lots of energy, art performers, huge crows, it's all in Yoyogi! Now let's have some pictures!
1. Cool pink car that just screams "look at me!".
2. Some of the Rockabillies. I wonder if they lead an ordinary salaryman life during the weekdays?
3. Rockabilly girls doing synchronized dancing.
4. Idol-wannabes?
5. Some band with a mini gong-gong?
6. Another band. So far nothing that I really liked, but I these were one of the few who stood out more. All these bands and singers actually stand really, really close to eachother, so when you're watching one group, you always hear one or two more on the side.
7. Strange guy with his head stuck in a plastic ball-thing selling calligraphy. What, Tokyo?
8. This guy was actually pretty cool. He wears this mini stereo thing like a bag and jumps around to some funky music while he does portraits of people on the canvas board you see by the fountain. Here, he's trying to catch the little guy who had his portrait made, but he kept running away. Hehe. Cute.

E and I walked around some more and came across the India Festival being held in another part of Yoyogi! I think that was the first time I saw so many non-Japanese in one place, and it seems like Japan (at least Tokyo) has quite an established Indian community. So this was a very refreshing experience. We also got something to eat:

Chicken kebab! I would've liked some more filling to go with it, but ah, it's business, I suppose it has to be like this. Yum yum!

And soon came the time when E had to go home, so we headed for the station but got stuck watching this awesome band:

EBB, Empty Black Box, a super energetic brass band! They were bursting of charisma and power and were really fun to watch! (Photo kudos to E!) Easily the best band out of the bunch that day. I wouldn't mind going to their one-man gig if they did one.

After sending E off from the Harajuku station, I went home to take the rest of the day easy. I can now safely say that I can find my way home without problems, har har har! Oh, also, I took a picture of the scary cat at the Nakamura's who always sits there watching people walk by with narrowed, plotting eyes...
It avoided me when I pointed the camera at him/her (let's give it a name people!), I wonder if it was shy? When I passed it and turned around, I could see it looking at me again...

Early day, new people and dorkage

Soo! Because we're two happy and energetic super genki girls, we woke up with smiles as bright as sunshine on our faces 0830 in the morning, ready to take on a new day!

No. Not really. We looked like this. ---> D:

Which means that we would've loved to sleep a couple of more hours, but alas, can't make E rot inside my apartment when she's in the big city! And we were going to meet up with a friend of hers anyway, so out we went and got to Harajuku ten o' clock in the morning. While waiting for Y-kun (he's a young one, still in high school) we looked at and analyzed the people around us who also seemed to be waiting for someone. "Hey, it might be that guy in the green hip jacket with the sunglasses!" "Nah, he doesn't look like he's in high school." "Oh! How about that nerdy one over there?" "No way, he's too old." And so on, and so on.

When Y-kun finally found us we took a walk around Harajuku and we managed to make it through a couple of awkward silences now and then, because neither E nor I actually know Y-kun very well. He actually speaks some (a lot) of Swedish and practiced ice hockey when he lived in our side of the world. Tough luck continuing with that in Japan, haha! Anyway, we walked to Omotesando and it's totally different from Harajuku. Omotesando is the place to go if you're looking for exclusive foreign brand-things, while Harajuku has a more DIY-ish atmosphere going on.

We also walked to the Meiji shrine, which is really close to Hara. It's a beautiful area with lots of greens. Peaceful and nice place. I was really surprised when I was there, because of how quiet it was. I didn't think Tokyo could get this quiet, let alone in a place like Harajuku.

When we got to the shrine area we came just in time to see a wedding ceremony. When E and I went back there the day after (read: today) there were at least three weddings going on.

They all looked like this.

Though it's nevertheless still very elegant.

I'm sure that getting wed in the Meiji Jingu means that you'll receive some kind of extraordinaire blessing, but other than that, I don't see why you would want to tie the knot in a place where you'll probably bump into two or three other couples doing the exact same thing at the exact same time, looking exactly the same and on top of this have to deal with hundreds of foreign as well as Japanese tourists just blasting their camera flashes away (like me). I personally don't think it's very romantic or "ideal". But perhaps I'm just thinking too much, they probably just want to share their happiness with everyone, and there's nothing strange about that.

When Y-kun left a couple of hours later to go fishing (hoho, yeah! But not in central Tokyo of course) me and E went to get Harajuku's famous crepes!

Just can't have enough of them. I had chocolate crepe again but I think I'm going to try the peach one next!

At 1300 we met up with another group of people and walked the Takeshita doori again. There's a cool clothing shop called We go, and I really like the clothes they have there. It's not very cheap, but it's not insanely expensive either. Want to go there and get some stuff later!

Later on, we went to meet up with S's friend Kohta-san, who's been studying in Stockholm before. We got to the meeting point late (by 45 minutes x_x) but of course no one complained about that. It felt especially bad because Kohta-san had reserved a table at a hip Thai-fusion restaurant. S apologized about coming late, and now when I think about it, I wish I had made a proper apology as well. Heuh....

The restaurant where we had a table reserved had a dark wood theme going on, it was all very fresh and cool and hip. Even though I felt slightly misplaced, I enjoyed the food and the company. The others only spoke in Japanese so I mostly only answered questions, said "sumimasen" and didn't dare to speak up. Some of them are coming to Sweden in February, so I might meet them there and show them around. (Heh... Me, showing people around in Stockholm? I barely go out and my sense of direction is zero!) I hope it'll be fine... Anyway, it was fun meeting Japanese who weren't somehow involved in the JLSP-program (which doesn't mean I don't enjoy their company, these guys are great people!) because it feels like you're broadening your views a bit. I hope I'll be able to handle the language better as soon as possible so I can keep up with everyone else!

S, E and I went home after this. S needed to ask A (who lives on the first floor) about tomorrow's plans (they were going to onsen!) and somehow it all ended up with us four having a Mario Kart DS party in my room!

Dorks at heart.

I like doing things like this, I feel much more relaxed, and it reminds of the stuff I do back home with Wayis and Gam, so that's probably why. One thing that really got to me, though, was that E, A and I are all veterans when it comes to Mario Kart DS, whereas this was S's first time. Yet he still kicked our asses! What the hell went wrong? Anyway, we didn't stop until A got our revenge. But still, I mean, we're supposed to be able to play this better. Can't let the newbies think that they're good, can we? XD

防災館, E and a stop at the local 280yen izakaya

Friday, 26/9

Woke up with horrible stomach pains 5:00 in the morning and was unable to go back to sleep for an hour. It felt like someone was trying to rip my guts out, urgh. After this, I've gained more respect for my health, which I almost never think about. My mind started to make up all kinds of reasons for this sudden feeling-bad-ness. I had gotten four mosquito bites in one night a couple of days ago, what if I got some disease? I'm not even properly insured! Or maybe it was the few days old bread that I ate the morning before... But hey, I put them in the refrigerator to keep them fresh longer, shouldn't that be okay? Or maybe my stomach finally noticed that I'm eating different things than what I've had for the last 20 years and decided that it was a bad thing to do so. But an hour later (after a couple of rounds to the loo...) it settled down and I could go back to sleep for another hour until it was finally time to wake up. I decided to skip the bread and had half an apple instead.

Three hour class in the morning, I dozed on and off and it was really hard to keep myself concentrated. My teacher must've noticed, but I hope it doesn't get reported on the attitude part of the grades (they have something like that, yeah). I've never had such a hard time being in class and it's hurting my useless pride! Hah.

Because we were going to the Disaster Prevention Museum by 12, class ended early and we rushed to a nearby soba place to get some lunch. It's a so called tachigui (立ち食い) place, a fast food restaurant where you eat your food standing. I swear everything in Japan feels lower! I had to bend down like a cheese doodle to eat my noodles, and I can't cross my legs in class because the tables are so low. And that's only me. Think about O, for example. He's like 2 m tall so that's even worse.

When everyone had gathered in the designated classroom, we set off to the museum (forgot the station name). Oh, and this reminds me of something! When a non-asian guy takes a seat in the metro, you rarely see Japanese people sitting next to them. I mean, what's so horrid about sitting next to somone who's clearly not of the same nationality? We're all just people, we won't hurt you just because we look different. Well, I don't actually have this problem, but I still get upset about it.

At the museum, we were guided around by a nice Japanese lady. The purpose of this visit was to get an awareness of what kind of dangers you might be exposed to while in Japan, and in that case, how to make the best of the situation. First, we got to watch this 3D movie about a disastrous earthquake. How do 3D-glasses work anyway? Is it filtered with different distance-sensors? Naah, they looked pretty cheap. Hm. Anyway, after watching this, I'm hoping that if (when) an earthquake comes, I won't be inside a train. You'll die for sure. :(
Next, we went to a typhoon simulator and we had to pull on colorful bulky rain clothes gears. If we went out like that I bet people would think that we were a part of some underground sect or something, it looked pretty funny! So we went into the simulation room and had to keep firm grips on a couple of bars fastened on the floor. And then, the rain and wind all came at once and it suddenly got very difficult to breath! I've never had a panic attack but I suspect that it feels a bit like that. I had to think really hard and concentrate on just breathing to actually get through this simulation, it was horrible! ;_; Anyway, yeah, strong typhoon comes = death due to suffocation.
The smoke maze room was up next. Point: enter the smoky room and crouch your way out by staying as close to the floor as possible and follow the emergency exit signs. Cleared it without any issues! But then our guide tells us that in reality, there won't be any lights turned on (like ceiling lamps). So that kind of made this simulation useless. If I ever get into this kind of situation, I probably won't make it. Death due to smoked blindness.
Next up was the earthquake simulation! We went into this sort of 80s-futuristic-looking room and plopped down on the cushioned seats while our tour guide prepared the simulation platform. It looked like this:
The guide had problems making it work but after a technician came by to straighten this out it all went smoothly. I know I probably shouldn't say this, but this was actually pretty fun. We had to crouch down under the table and protect our heads while the platform shook up and down. Almost like a roller coaster ride I'd say, hehe! Apparently I forgot to hold onto the table, so if an earthquake comes and I forget this I'm probably doomed. Death again.
Last simulation was the fire fighting training. So now I know how to operate this red fire extinguishing tube thing, yay! Simulation consisted of groups people walking forward to a large screen, turn around, say "kaji da (it's a fire)!" and then proceed to shoot the fire with the contents in the tube. Some of the guys failed to extinguish the fire, so if I get stuck with them when an emergency situation of this kind comes up, I'm going to die.

Conclusion of the Disaster Prevention Museum: sure death. Nah! Just kidding. But yeah, if a natural disaster comes and knocks on the door, your survival will probably just depend on your luck in the end. Nevertheless, this is something I can't control. I'll take precautions and hope for the best. ^^;

Of course we had to take a memorial picture.

So this was our first field trip. Next time, we're going on a bus tour, that should be fun! I think it's in two weeks' time, so nothing to look forward to until then.

By the time the tour ended, I had two hours of free time before I was supposed to go pick E up at Shibuya. A couple of JLSP and the volunteers went to bowling and karaoke, so O and I went to Harajuku for a bit to check some stores out. I left early and finally met E by the green train thing in Shibuya! First time seeing her since Narita, and she seems to have had a good time with the family she's staying with. We walked around for a bit, but we were both tired and went home to take a rest before meeting up all the other JLSPers and a load of volunteers at an izakaya here in Shimotakaido.

Here's E and I about to dig in on a melon pan (melon bread). It tasted great! Oh, and the face E is making? That's a prime example of the Utan face!

We had a really nice time at the Izakaya! We reserved half the place (or so it seemed) because we were a group of 30 people or more. Luckily they had non alcoholic drinks, so I ordered a mango juice. Yum yum. But you get this kiddy straw with it, so it doesn't make you feel like an adult at all.

Mango juice - for kids?

Also got some chicken nanban (fried stuff again...) to go with my juice. I learnt something new, too. In Sweden, you usually order food for yourself, but in Japan (and other parts of Asia, like China) it's more common to order different plates of foods to share with everyone. Nevertheless, I missed that for this nomikai so I had all of the fried goodness for myself, heehee!

My food. Seems like I've been saying "this is great!", "this is awesome!", "this is yummy!" for everything I've been eating, but it's true! I haven't had a bad food experience in Japan yet. :D

Pirate ducks made by folding these wet towels you get to wipe your hands with. You can really sense the "neatness" everywhere in Japan.

E was really happy to actually have the chance to talk to people her own age, doesn't seem like she gets enough social stimulation in Ninomiya. XD But anyway, I had a great time at the izakaya and now I realize that you can actually be a non-drinker and socialize with other people just fine! People won't hate you because you don't drink. Well, except for this American guy who said that I shouldn't be having opinions of alcohol because of that. But he was probably kidding so I didn't take it to heart.

People outside the izakaya. We made the street crowded and difficult to pass through!

Some people were going to karaoke after this, but E and I were going to Harajuku early the next day to meet up one of her friends, Y-kun. So we went home, watched some drama and ate ice cream and then went to bed, ready to embrace another new day after a couple of hours' sleep!

More about trains and school

00:07

Haven't done anything out of the ordinary for the last two days, I guess that's a sign of school life having started for real. Had another three-hour straight lesson in the morning today, and it was tough to keep the concentration on top for the whole time.
Yesterday, I ate katsudon for the first time! It's a rather simple dish, bowl of rice, some egg, and some fried pork on top. Hm... I'd like to try other versions, I should ask people for recommendations.
In the afternoon, we ha a sakubun (作文) class. We got to read some examples from the previous years, and everyone's so entusiastic and write so well. I'm already getting prestationsångest, it feels like there's no way I'll be able to write on that level. Not yet. ^^; Nooo! Come on, spirit up!
Oh, and remember that I mentioned about not looking forward to commuting alone to school? I did it on Wednesday! The most difficult part is to get from home to the Shimotakaidostation. I got lost and had to ask for directions. But the lady was nice (hmm, she probably noticed I wasn't Japanese. Perhaps it was the way I spoke? Or looked like?) and I found it without problems after that. I think I should be able to manage on my own now, going from home to school. Although going to new stations alone still makes me extremely nervous and insecure. Will I ever get used to the Tokyo Metro system? Everything just seems so... messy. People everywhere. I feel lost all the time and there's no time to breath because everybody just rushes everywhere and you end up following a stream of people not knowing where you'll end up. I miss the Stockholm Metro so much... And its empty trains. They don't seem to exist in Tokyo.

I've been studying for my first test for Friday. A kanjitest . We got to see an example and it didn't look very complicated (it didn't seem like you had to know all the kun- and onyomi for every kanji), but I've been trying to study up on that in case it comes up. And I have to do it sooner or later anyway. Hm... But forcing 40 new kanji into the brain in one evening is too much. I'll make better preparations for next time.

Tomorrow we're going to the Disaster Prevention Museum, 防災館, one of the three obligatory field trips. As the name hints at, we're going to experience a simulated earthquake, rainstorms and so on. That should be interesting! Also, meeting E tomorrow. She's been in staying with a couple of acquaintances and I'm looking forward to catch up on her country-ish life! :D Hm, not really country-ish after all. But yeah!

And because pictures are nice to look at, I'm posting a random one here:

Group picture with Sv, O and A!

19:01

22/9 Monday

Classes start at 0900 everyday, so we have to get out by 0800. Now the thing is, this is the time when everybody goes to school or work. So imagine how crowdy the trains are at this time!

We missed our first train but got into the second. You never have to wait long for a train to come in Tokyo, unless accidents happen. Anyway, getting into a train is a feat of itself, but being inside this packed mess is another story of its own! Everytime the train stops you have to make yourself as small as possible and hope that people can get past you and step out to the freedom. Then the next load comes in and you're practically SQUEEZED even further into the mass. And it's not a nice, gentle squeeze, it's a desperate, harsh one! People push and push and everyone feels like they're in the way. Yeah. Sometimes, you have to step out to allow people to exit, and everytime that happens you worry that you might not get onto the train again... And especially for me, if I lose sight of my JLSP mates, I get worried that I might not find the way on my own. But I think I can manage now. Sometimes I still get lost even though I'm with other people, but it's not that bad if you check the signs properly. Hopefully...

So we got to our first class. Japanese for three hours straight! It was intense, but I feel like I'm improving already. On Mondays, we have Iwami-sensei, a nice and cool lady. She spoke in Japanese 99% of the time and it was great! We read this article about the big Kobe earthquake back in 1995 and I'm glad I stayed up so late the day before to study the vocabulary and look up all the kanji I didn't know. ^^; But later on O said he might change to the C class, so if he does that we'll only be three people in D. I don't mind small groups, it's actually quite nice and will probably not be as nerv-wrecking when you have to do speeches. But having someone you know a little better in the same class feels much more safe.

Our first lesson went overtime for a little bit so we only had 25 minutes for lunch. (It's usually around 50 minutes, but today we had to buy a textbook and so got even less lunchtime.) We went to Yoshinoya, a Japanese fast food place, "a guys' place", said S, but A and I went anyway. And true, there were really only salarymen sitting there eating. ^^; But the thing is, it was packed! And I didn't get a seat! And it was only 20 minutes left. And I was told to wait ten minutes before I could get a seat so I didn't bother and went back with an empty stomach. ;_; Next class was Japan Studies, economy. I can almost say that it was painful to be in it. Economics with a teacher (Y-sensei) who doesn't speak English very well and on top of this just read off his paper. Boring! I almost fell asleep a couple of times too. ^^; He also made a comment about the low birthrate in Japan being the women's fault, because, basically, they now actually work and have carreers and because "there are lots of lesbians". WTF? I'm just going to leave it at that.

By the time the Japan Studies class ended it was 1430, and me and a OS went to the main building to pay our rent. They only take 15000 for September because we came in halfway through the month. The rent for October and November will each be on 30k yen, and December 4k only because the course only lasts until the 3rd.

The last (fourth) period is usually not obligatory, but it is recommended that you take a class or two extra anyway. We went to this free conversation class, where you get to meet volunteers from the university and just sit and have a talk. This conversation class we went to had more Japanese volunteers than actual participants, so it was a bit awkward. ^^; We made self introductions (I lost count of how many I've done by now...) and me and my speaking partner (Maasa-san) went through a couple of awkward silences. Agh. Why can't I be this super social and talkative person that everyone else is?! Sigh. I will probably keep going because it's good practice. I'm thinking of taking an extra kanji or grammar class too.

So, fourth period ended by 1610 and a couple of us JLSP students went to Shibuya where people were going to get cell phones. I wonder if I should get one too. But in the end you seem to have to go through a lot of trouble in order to finally have one. The price though, is not so bad. 10k for the phone, a charger and a prepaid card (3k of the amount). The actual phone was just 5k so it was really cheap. Might be worth it. A word about Japanese electronic stores - they're sooo packed and crowded and narrow! At least for the low-price ones. The Donki (name of the store) stores in Shibuya and Shinjuku (we had to go there in the end because the Shibuya one was out of stock) were all of this type. Whereas this Softbank store in Harajuku was more like the ones we see in Sweden. Light, plenty of showcase room and also, good ventilation!
On our way back home, we saw this:

Kabukichou! Tokyo's equivalent of red-light districts. This is supposedly where the "love hotels" are.

We had made up plans with the other JLSP students to go to an izakaya (something of a Japanese equivalent to a pub) back in Shimotakaido. So home we went, changed clothes and got ready to go out - when we saw Kouji-san and Atsuko-san walking past our dorm! They were apparently going to join up with us JLSPers but the place was packed, so everyone had migrated to a park nearby. And there we went, the park was large and several groups of people sat spread out all across the area. Us JLSPers had taken over an area with tables and benches. People were already getting drunk! Because some of us hadn't eaten for over 8 hours (12 for me cause I missed lunch! ;_;) we headed to a supermarket to get som bento. They were all half price because it was so late (~2130) and the store wanted to sell them off, I suppose. So I bought this:and a bag of korokke (check the link for pictures), for only 400 yen! It was so cheap, unbelievable! And it was good too. :D The others bought drinks and while me and A were eating people started to seriously get drunk. Some JLSPers went over to another group of junior-high yankees (!! 14 years old and yankees!) to talk. That was interesting. K-san, who's Japanese, managed to fool them into thinking that he's half Finnish, but I mean, he speaks fluent Japanese so I wonder how he managed to do that!

So anyway. Drunkness. People's faces reddened and they all started to speak in a louder voice. This is a new experience for me too, cause I usually don't tag along out when people go drink, Sweden or Japan. It was fun though cause people laughed a lot more and seemed more talkative. :D Some people offered me to drink but I was strong and withstood it, yay!

The day ended an hour or two later when A and I went home. The park's just a couple of minutes walk from our dorm so it's really convenient. But I still don't seem to be able to locate anything so I always make sure I go home with someone, hehehe.

Today (tuesday) is a public holiday, so we're all free! I woke up 1430 (oh my gosh... I almost slept for 12 hours...) and I have been taking it easy so far. I'm not going out (it's already 1900) and I have some studying to do, so occupied I will be, all day!

Japan life starts for real now!

Nezu Matsuri

21/9, Sunday

I hadn't planned on doing anything in particular today except studying and preparing for the first "real" class that was going to start on Monday, but when we got invited to go to the Nezu Matsuri (Nezu Festival) I just couldn't say no! A and I had wanted to go see the cosplayers at Harajuku, but that will have to wait until some other Sunday. See, exciting things or things just out of the ordinary usually take place on a Sunday in Japan, because that's the day when most people are free from work and school. In Akihabara, for example, I've heard that they close down the main street on Sundays to let people walk freely on the roads.

On our way to the festival area. In the background, you can see a couple of shrine-carriers carrying the top part of a mikoshi (portable shrine).

So! Nezu Matsuri! It wasn't far from school (nothing in Tokyo feels far away though...) and the whole experience was very refreshing and interesting despite the rain. At times it was just a drizzle, but there were also times when it came pouring down as if there was no tomorrow. Oh, and before I forget, I mentioned the earthquake in yesterday's post. It was just a small one (in the Tokyo periphery anyway) and occured in the middle of the night. I woke up feeling everything shaking from side to side. It's quite difficult to describe the feeling, but I never felt afraid, I was just like "oh, an earthquake!". I'm happy though that it wasn't a major one. Anyway, nothing to worry about!

The festival gate. Err, you actually only see the top part of the gate!

We got to Nezu at about 1400 with one of the volunteers, Atsuko-san (really nice and friendly!), and the mikoshi parade was supposed to start at 1430, but it got postponed due to the heavy rainfall. So we walked around the area and tried to feel the atmosphere. It wasn't very crowded, probably due to the weather, unfortunately...

There were lots of food and candy stands all over the area (which houses a temple as well). We also saw stands where you try to scoop a goldfish into a bowl. You've seen that so many times in anime and manga, so it was nice to see how it worked out in real life, and it doesn't differ much.

The temple/festival area is actually located in a pretty foresty area, so mud and dirt got kicked up everywhere. Which is why my shoes have brown spots on them now. T_T Oh well, I can probably chuck them into the washing machine sometime. But hey, let's move on to the pictures instead.
Let's have some explanatory text to go along with the pictures! (From left to right):
1. A small stand with plastic figures in water going round and round. Very colorful and cute, but who wants wet toys? Kids probably like these kind of things though!
2. One of the many food stalls. This one is selling Toppoki, whatever that might be. Seems to be a Korean dish. I don't remember it very well, but I seem to be seeing sausages swimming in a reddish sauce in my mind. @_@ It looked pretty good.
3. Small green bridge which takes you to the inner area of the temple. You can almost feel the rain in this picture.
4. This one was one of the play-stalls. You pay a certain amount of yen and you get this toy-gun to shoot down the prices rotating on the stand in the background.
5. A hidden area behind the many stalls. It was quite beautiful and peaceful.
6. Boy at the toy-gun stand. He was really into it! I don't know if he won anything though, I hope he did!
7. Two food stalls in front of an eating area. The one to the right is selling yakisoba, fried noodles.
8. This is a performance area I think. Later, there would be musicians sitting there playing on Japanese traditional instruments. I have a video of it, so I might upload it when I have more time!
1. Boy in yellow raincoat with a blue umbrella. He really stood out so it was a shame that the picture got all blurry and fuzzy.
2. More stands. More people. More umbrellas.
3. Just outside the main entrance. We heard that the mikoshi was coming soon, so we went standby by the entrance to check things out. This slope caught my eye so I took a picture of fit. The curves look nice.
4. What I had for lunch! Hiroshima-okonomiyaki. Hm. It was alright. Not really my thing. Lots of salad inside. XD
5. The slope is getting filled with people waiting for the mikoshi.
6. And here it comes! It's actually the second or third mikoshi. There were more fancier ones, but I'm saving those for the video! During these festivities, when people carry mikoshi, they shout "wasshoi" in unison. I don't think it means anything, it's just something you say for circumstances like these.
7. One of the mikoshi-carriers with a picture of a deceased person. You don't really see it in this picture, but everyone was smiling and jumping, including the man holding the picture. So I suppose it's not something to be sad about! Oh, and see the police officer? They're everywhere in Tokyo, ready to help people anytime.

The mikoshi-carrying continued outside to the street, where there was this truck which people sat inside and played instruments in. So it kept going back and forth. By this time it had gotten quite crowded. And very, very rainy. The streets were practically flooded with water! You could make a pretty big splash if you kicked the road.

All in all, it was very cool to be able to experience a traditional Japanese matsuri. It finally felt like we were doing something that everyone else in Japan also do, and it was great to be a part of it. In the end, we had to wait around a long time for the mikoshi, but it was well worth it. I thought I wouldn't be able to go to any festivals while staying in Japan because the matsuri season ends with the summer. We're lucky we caught this one! To round the matsuri-chapter off, I'm posting this picture:

Look at the blue sign! It's an alien-man kidnapping a little girl! But she looks kinda slug-ish too, so maybe it's an alien dad and an alien daughter going to school together.

After this, S, O, A, the Finnish students, me, Kouji-san and Atsuko-san went back to Ichigaya to grab something to eat. We went to this place called Mos Burger, which is a hamburger chain in Japan. Don't expect any McDonald's though, the Mos we went to was very clean (oh, yeah, I'm in Japan) and actually not busy at all. Also, you don't get teriyaki filling in a McD's, but you do in Mos! That's what I had, a teriyaki burger. Yummy!

The ice tea, on the other hand...

And then we went home and I prepared for the first lesson and didn't go to sleep at until 0200. I had to get up at 0720 too. >_<>

Ready-made sushi bought at a convenience store. Hm, not that bad. But then again I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to sushi.

So anyway, I had my first real class today and it went fine because I prepared well the night before! I think I enjoy studying. More about that when I wake up later today. It's like 0315 but that's alright because I don't have any class tomorrow! I'm one day behind with my blogging but that will be taken care of as well. More studying and blogging awaits!

Saturday fun with A

(The posting time is not accurate form some reason... Remove 8 hours from what is written.)
20/9

On Saturday, I was woken up by A ringing on my door at 12:30. 12:30!! I had set the alarm clock to 10 or 11, but I must have shut it down and then gone back to sleep... Good thing A woke me up so we could actually go do something fun on our free day. But man was I still sleepy...

We decided to check some areas out and settled for Harajuku, one of the trendiest places in Tokyo, packed with fashionable teens and 20-somethings any time of the day. Going there makes me feel kind of... worn out, as far as clothing and styles go. But it's not that bad.

There's this one main street in Harajuku, Takeshita-doori, which is filled with accessory shops, gift shops and the like. This is where everyone goes. Now here's me looking terribly awkward by the entrance:

Just look at the crowd! It's like... one massive clump of people jammed together on this narrow little street. A living life form of its own. Oh, and look at the two girls in the front, they look almost exactly the same!

We stopped by an accessory shop (do I need to say that it had lots of bling bling and pink cute stuff? You'd love it Waya!) and got some goods. Everytime we exit a shop and stepped outside, I was shocked by the heat that rushed towards us, slapping a reminder in our face. You forget it easily when you go inside a store, welcomed by the soothing air conditioner blowing pleasant chilly winds. Mmm... I hope Tokyo gets colder soon. Anyway, next, we moved on to this huge 100円 shop (actually it's 105円 nowadays) and browsed through shelf after shelf storing things of all kinds. Fancy a face-roll massager, anyone? So we spent a lot of time there but I didn't get anything. I'm a bit worried about not having enough space in my baggage so I'm putting restrictions on myself for now. ^^;

And now, the highlight of our day! Harajuku's famous crepes! They come in all kinds of flavours, but I'm a chocolate girl so of course I went for something chocolatey. It was so good! I strongly recommend everyone to have Tokyo crepes at least 100 times before you leave, seriously!

Yummy.

Because we got out late (at around 14:00), the sun was already on its way down when we were finished with our crepes. We checked a couple of more stores out and I have now come to the conclusion that clothes needn't be that expensive in Tokyo (if you aren't going to 109 in Shibuya or Ginza). There's a lot of cheaper alternatives in Harajuku, so I really want to go there again soon to buy new outfits. Need to satisfy my materialistic needs...

So A and I strolled around the area some more, and we walked aaall the way to Shibuya (we saw a sign pointing there, so hey, why not!). I dragged her into Tower Records (CD, DVD, books galore) and I found lots of albums and singles that I wanted to get my hands on. I didn't get anything then though, I'm thinking of writing a list of everything I want first and then check out the store combing through every shelf later, har har har!

By the way, on our way to Shibuya, we found these food stands:

Traditional Japanese style! Seems kinda out of place though.

We got down to have a look, but no one was eating there and it looked sort of shabby, so we skipped it. Instead, we ate at a place that served... Hm, food. Like, normal, husmanskostaktig food. And it was good! They had an interesting layout at the place. There's one long table placed in the middle of the room, stretching from one end to another. So people sit beside eachother when they eat, and the opposite side is separated by a board so you don't have to face strangers. Pretty cool! I had some kind of "healthy chicken" (it was fried XD) with sauce. It was a 定食menu, meaning that you get miso, rice, and side dishes aside from the main dish that you've ordered. And because I know you're all curious about what I eat (at least mom and dad!), I took a picture for you!

The pink thing you see to the left is supposedly ginger. I didn't try it. ^^; Oh! And there was a slice of peach too. That felt really out of place but was actually quite refreshing.

Me and A had walked around a lot before we settled on that place, strange thing is that we didn't see the famous crossing or the 109-building even once on our almost 1 hour restaurant search. Hmm... I guess we got into some weird circle cast with a magic spell so we couldn't get out. On our way to the Shibuya station, A taught me a useful trick. To find the station in the easiest possible way, go down the slopes. The Shibuya area is actually pretty hilly, so if you head down, you'll definitely find the station.

This is it for Saturday. Today I went to a festival (matsuri) in Nezu. The rain was pouring down and my white shoes now have brown spots all over them. More about the festivities tomorrow! And the earthquake! (Cliffhanger!)

Rain, rain, rain.

Jag är tillbaka!

Eftersom alla bloggposterna kom med en gång så får ni inte glömma att börja om från början! Scrolla alltså längst ned för att läsa allt i kronologisk ordning.

Imorgon (lördag) drar en tyfon över Tokyo, så vi har blivit avrådda från att gå ut. Men det ska inte vara några större problem annars. Jag har mat och vatten så det finns inget att oroa sig för. På söndag ska det vara över igen!

Första föreläsningen och tåget hemåt

Äntligen har jag catchat upp med bloggen! Idag har vi haft vår första föreläsning och jag hamnade i D-klassen, som lärarna ville att jag skulle gå på istället för C (E är högst). Vi hade en mjukstart och introducerade oss själva, kikade i textboken och lärde känna varandra. O är i samma klass som jag så det är ju skönt.

Öppningsceremonin började 11:30. Där fick alla utbytesstudenter introducera sig själva igen, men denna gång framför alla viktiga människor (dvs, gubbar i kostymer. Hoho, låter jag kanske lite som att jag inte ger tillräckligt mycket med respekt?)

Lunch i kafeterian med volontärerna och sen hemåt. De andra skulle ut och dricka senare på kvällen (s.k. nomikai, 飲み会) men jag avböjde. Vet inte hur jag ska tackla min nykterhetsställning i ett samhälle där dricka är en regel snarare än ett undantag. Jag hoppas folk inte tycker att jag är (för) tråkig, för jag vill ju faktiskt lära känna dem bättre och få nya kompisar. Men inte under såna här omständigheter bara, trots att det kanske är då man släpper ner sin gard som mest och låter folk inpå livet. Kan man inte göra det annars?
Jaja, vi får se hur jag löser det här. Yosh kom med förslaget att för varje gång jag säger nej till nånting, så ska jag också säga ja till nästa sak! Det ska jag försöka sikta på. :D

Anyway, vid 1230 åkte några av oss hem. Medan vi väntade på det försenade tåget i Shinjuku blev vi underrättade om en jiko (事故) nånstans på spåret.

Det var förmodligen självmord.

Hur många gånger kommer det här hända under min vistelse?
Hur många på den fullpackade perrongen tänkte att han eller hon kommer orsaka nästa försening?
Och viktigast av allt, hur många tänkte "jag är glad att jag inte gjorde det"?

En dag full av aktiviteter

18/9

Idag skulle vi bli guidade runt Ichigaya (där skolan ligger) av en grupp japanska volontärstudenter. Jag och resten av SU:arna och en tjej från universitetet i Toronto hamnade tillsammans med volontärerna Satoko-san, Satoko-san (två stycken!) och Kouji-san. De är alla ungefär lika gamla som vi och väldigt trevliga och snälla, som japaner oftast är.
Först tog de oss till Yasukunitemplet, som är ganska omdiskuterat för dess kontroversiella budskap. Det finns en sammanfattning av det hela i Wikipedia, men för att uttrycka det kort har det med andra världskriget och tveksamma åsikter om hjältedåd och en smula racism mot koreaner och kineser att göra. Så för mig var jag där med blandade känslor. Själva tempelområdet var ju fint och så, men jag ringde varken några klockor eller köpte några souvenirer. Det kändes inte helt rätt. Men nog av den här stämningen! Dags för lite foton:De här fotona togs precis innan en busload med pensionärer kom fram och invaderade stället, komplett med guide som håller i en liten flagga såklart!Fortune strips med dåliga öden. De som är bra tar man hem. De som är dåliga knyter man upp på det här sättet så att olyckan förs bort.
Ett gruppfoto i närheten då vi står på en bro och blockerar vägen för personer som går förbi, woot! Råkade ställa in kameran i fel läge så det blev överexponerat. Jarr.

Efter besöket i templet gick vi vidare och kom förbi 武道館, Budoukan, som är en av Tokyos största konsertarenor! Tokyo Jihen har spelat där, ååååh. Och så en massa andra stora artister såklart, som L'Arc. Just när vi var där började en lång kö med medelålders+ människor att forma sig. De kanske skulle se någon sportmatch eller äldre artist?

Jag köpte i alla fall den här citrondrickan, som var väldigt uppfriskande och god:
Svalkande i hettan!

Efter det vandrade hela truppen till ett annat universitet där vi skulle snylta på deras lunchkafeteria. Vi åkte upp till 13:e våningen och vyn var fantastisk! Just den dagen var det i och för sig lite dimmigt och kvavt så det fanns ett hölje av värme som låg över hustaken. Amy (som jag pratar mest med) från Torontos Uni berättade för mig att man inte brukar ha våning 13 i byggnader i Kanada eftersom det är ett otursnummer, så hon var väldigt skrajsen av sig medan vi var där. ^^; Däremot har jag inte sett några byggnader som hoppar över våning 4 (4 och 死 låter precis likadant i Japan). Hoppar man isåfall över 14 i Hong Kong?! XD;;

Anyways, där fick vi smaka på curryburgare (utan bröd), ganska... gott. Men jag gillar ju curry. Som inte är stark dårå... Tam curry! Med lunch i magen var det dags för 解散, men jag och Amy skulle till Shinjuku och skaffa lite grejer och fick sällskap av många av volontärerna. Jag kunde knappt prata nån japanska med dem för att jag är så rädd för att göra bort mig eller bli oförstådd. Jag hoppas de inte tar illa upp. 今度こそ頑張ります。

I Yodobashi Camera (stor elektronikkedja) skaffade jag mig äntligen en händig liten adapter som for sure skulle funka för strömkabeln (och det gjorde den ju, som ni ser nu!). De snälla volontärerna hjälpte mig jättemycket, och jag är väldigt tacksam. Hoppas jag träffar dem igen snart så att jag kan säga det. Är Japan ett samhälle där man lätt får dåligt samvete? Ja, bara när man inte kan språket så bra förmodligen. Som överallt i världen. Jag bara säger en massa uppenbara saker. ^^;

Glad och nöjd mötte vårt gäng upp det andra gänget med volontärer och O och S. Det var dags för KARAOKE! Också i Shinjuku, ett ganska ljust men trångt ställe. Och rent var det såklart. Jag behöver nog inte nämna det i framtiden, men det är rent överallt i det här landet! And migosh, vad hög volymen var! Vi satt 11 personer i ett litet rum och jag vågade såklart inte sjunga nånting. ._. Men alla andra var väldigt sjungglada och gjorde det för fulla halsar. Och det låter för det mesta bra! Jag vill nog inte göra min karaokedebut bland så många människor. Fast nu tycker de förmodligen att jag är tråkig och besvärlig. Uff...

Efter en en och en halvtimmes karaokesession sa vi hejdå till volontärerna och S, O, A och jag åkte vidare till Akihabara där S skulle träffa en släkting. Han jobbar i en stor, mörk och väldigt stilren byggnad med enorma fönster någon minut från stationen. Det såg så fint och modernt ut inuti! Tillsammans åkte vi upp till 22:a våningen. And the view was fantastic! En överväldigande känsla bara sköljde sig över mig. Man kunde se hela Akiba och mer därtill. Det gick inte att titta sig mätt på det och det var helt omöjligt att fånga känslan med mina ickeexisterande fotoskills. Lägger upp ett foto i alla fall så att ni får se.
När det här var avklarat visade S oss runt i Akiba lite. Vi hann inte gå in i alla kända nördaffärer men tog en tur till Segabyggnaden, som består av flera våningar bara med arkadspel och UFO catcher-boxar. Det var en hel våning nästan bara för Street Fighter IV (you hear that Kajfa?!). Jag tror inte att du kommer vara vara så besviken på det sen när du väl kommer in i det! Just då var det dock inte så mycket folk, förmodligen för att det var en vardag och dessutom runt middagsdags. Kikade dessutom in i en cosplayaffär, och det är fullt med maid costumes och superlånga sockor och skoluniformer! Just what you would expect from Akiba...

Våningen under SFIV-våningen. Tror det är Virtua Fighter?

Middagen åts på ett kaitenzushi (回転寿司)-ställe. Min första gång i Japan! Åt sex eller sju tallrikar och det hela gick på mindre än 1000 yen. :D Wihihi. Mat behöver inte vara så dyrt i Japan förstår man nu!

Efter detta åtnjöt vi ännu en runda av shopcruising och kollade in alla fina mobiltelefoner, bärbara datorer (de är så små!) och elektroniska ordböcker. Sen bar det av hem och jag kunde testa min nyinköpta adapter. Nu är allting smooth igen!

Detta var den mest händelserika dagen under Japanresan hittills, men så har den ju bara precis börjat!
Men nästa gång ska jag försöka våga mig på karaoke. Bara det inte är för många personer förstås. Uhuuu.

Shimotakaidoområdet

17/9 - 2008

På morgonen samlades alla nya utbytesstudenter utanför portarna till bostadsområdet. Vi skulle iväg till skolan för första gången, och det kändes spännande. I samlad trupp vandrade vi till Shimotakaidos t-banestation och trängdes vid perrongen. Jag har åkt tunnelbana flera gånger sen dess men har fortfarande inte mod att göra det själv eftersom jag är rädd att jag irrar bort mig. Dessutom har jag mestadels följt andra runt så jag vet egentligen inte vilka stationer och vilka linjer och möjligheter det finns. Jag fasar för den dag då jag måste åka själv... Jaja, den dagen det händer kommer det förmodligen resultera i ett långt blogginlägg om alla misstag jag gjort!
För att ta sig till skolan måste man byta tåg en gång, vi gör det i Shinjuku. Shinjuku är lite som T-centralen, fast flera, flera gånger större och hetsigare. Därifrån kan man koppla sig vidare till de flesta (eller alla?) andra linjer, och är dessutom världens mest hektiska tunnelbanestation. Det är ett distrikt med många affärer, restauranger och diverse annat kul (nu låter jag som en Wikiartikel...). I alla fall, med tågbyte inräknat tar det runt 30 minuter att åka, så vi brukar gå hemifrån en timme innan en föreläsning börjar.
Väl där fick vi göra ett par placement tests för att bli sorterade in i olika nivåer, samt få en introduktion till hur allt kommer att fungera där. Jag kom in i mittengruppen (C) men blev senare pushad till en högre grupp (D) ^^; vi får se hur det går med det. Det är liiite svårt för mig, men det blir bra med utmaningar, så pushar man sig själv framåt.

Efter testen var klockan 16 (lunchen åts i skolkafeterian för motsvarande 60kr) och många av oss utbytesstudenter åkte hem tillsammans. I Shimotakaido stannade vi till i mataffären som har öppet dygnet runt för att köpa lite supplies; frukost och nudlar för min del. När alla var färdiga och hemkomna var klockan redan 18, och äntligen dags för lite privat tid. Jag klarar inte att umgås så intensivt med så många människor än, måste ta det lite lugnt. ^^;
Resten av dagen spenderades i studentlägenheten där jag åt cup noodles i currysmak till middag, då jag även kokade vatten med gasspis för första gången. Det är en sån vattenkokare som ska pipa när vattnet är färdigt (tror jag), men jag tyckte att jag kände någon konstig gaslukt så jag stängde av spisen innan det började låta. Vattnet var varmt ändå så det var okej. Frågan är nu om jag nånsin kommer våga låta vattenkokaren ta sin fulla tid!

Skaffade även ett Suicakort som funkar för alla tunnelbanelinjer och som man även kan handla med i vissa vending machines. Kostade nästan 30 000 yen och gäller i tre månader.

Avrundade sedan dagen med lite skum japansk TV och gick och lade mig sen.
Någonstans där ute kunde man höra tågen fortsätta rulla.

Ankomst och rundvandring

16/9 - 2008 (Japan)

När vi stiger ur planet är klockan ungefär 11:30. Innan vi går igenom passkontrollen fyller vi i några blanketter med information om vart vi kommer hålla hus och för att försäkra dem (dvs flygplanspersonalen och all annan byreåkratisk säkerhetspersonal) om att vi inte tar med oss narkotika in i landet. Uh, yeah, för man skulle verkligen inte ljuga om det! Hehe! Nu tycker jag att du ska sluta titta sådär konstigt på mig.
E,S, och O går igenom passkontrollen smärtfritt och sen var det min tur. Nu var jag ensam i den stora hallen. Jag räcker fram mina papper och låter personalen ta mina fingeravtryck och ett kort på mig (som de gör med alla som inte är invånare i Japan). Så nu finns mina fingeravtryck där ute nånstans och irrar runt. De kommer förmodligen samla datordamm i all evighet.
Passkontrolleraren mumlar litegrann. Sen tittar han på mig och mumlar lite till. Sen frågar han mig (på japanska) om min adress. Jag hade ännu inte fått nån adress då, så jag hade bara klottrat dit nåt "apartment in xx". Det dög (förståeligt) inte, och jag försökte förklara min situation för honom. Jag pratar på engelska med honom, han pratar på japanska med mig. Så gick det fram och tillbaka en stund innan han tillkallade en till person för att hjälpa till. Hon pratade också bara japanska så kommunikationen gick inte framåt. Sedan tog hon med mig in till ett stort, vitt rum med blåa stolar och stirrande lampor. Shit, nu är det ute med mig tänkte jag, jag kommer deporteras tillbaka! De kommer regga mig i nåt läskigt register så att jag aldrig kommer kunna komma in!
... Men så blev det ju inte, som tur är. Kvinnan bad mig visa bevis på att jag verkligen skulle studera där, och då kände jag mig väldigt glad över att jag tagit med mig alla papper i handbagaget. Ett par telefonsamtal (tror jag, kunde inte se bakom skrivborden) senare fick jag gå. Phew! Hela denna procedur tog allt som allt 10-15 minuter. Inte så farligt och jag kunde till slut lämna Naritas flygplats med en ny erfarenhet i bagaget.
Jag kanske har låtit lite dömande när jag påpekade att personalen på flygplatsen inte kan någon engelska, men alla var jättesnälla och det var trots allt ingen fara alls. Skönt!

På flygplatsen blev vi upphämtade av S-san, som är huvudansvarig för utbytesstudenterna. E, som skulle någon annanstans, lämnade oss och försvann bort i den stora flygplatsen. Från Narita tog vi bussen in till Tokyo (kostnad: ~3000 yen) och sedan vidare mot vårt bostadsområde med taxi. Hettan slog mot oss när vi klev ut från bilen. Luften var kvav och det var varmt ute - raka motsatsen till hur vädret i Sverige ser ut så här års.

Området vi bor i heter Shimotakaido. Det är ett ställe som ligger lagom intill hjärtat av Tokyo, men är inget renodlat bostadsområde. Vad jag har hört från de andra utbytesstudenterna är det här ett ganska fint och tyst ställe. Människor i alla åldrar finns att hitta här. Det ska tydligen också vara ett 'oshare'-område, alltså lite ungdomligt och hippt.
Såhär ser porten till huset jag bor i, tillsammans med några andra utbytare.

Corrine Grand Chariot. Ser nytt och fräscht ut!

S-san guidade oss tre från Stockholms Universitet och en tjej från Cambridge U runt och visade oss hur man använder redskapen och maskinerna i lägenheten. Vi bor på högsta våningen (3), ingen hiss. I maskinväg är alla lägenheter utrustade med air conditioner, TV, tvättmaskin, kokvrå och annat smått och gott. Det känns väldigt lyxigt och lägenheterna är ljusa, rena och väldigt, väldigt fräscha! Jag blev mycket positivt överraskad, eftersom man hade sett lite halvtaskiga foton på skolans hemsida och därav fått en felaktig bild. De tar verkligen hand om oss här, och hyran är ingenting med tanke på allt man får. Boytan är också generös, det är mer än nog!

Såhär bor jag.

Efter rundvisningen tog vi en sväng i Shimotakaidoområdet. S-san visade oss vart vi kunde hitta lite affärer och vart tunnelbanestationen låg. Det är relativt nära, till fots tar det tio minuter. Kanske tolv. I närheten av stationen ligger en mataffär (lite som Maxi, men med en mer... japansk utformning) som har öppet dygnet runt, varje dag! Jättebra om man bara vill gå och köpa nåt lite snabbt. Finns en 7/11 lite närmare som man kan ta ut pengar från, så det är skönt!
När rundvisningen var slut blev vi lämnade vid Corrine. Vi bestämde oss för att bekanta oss med lägenheterna och träffas en timme senare för att gå ut och ta en bit mat.

Sagt och gjort, en timme senare träffades vi från Stockholms Universitet och vi åkte in till Shibuya (hippt område i centrala Tokyo). Jag måste bara säga att det är så skönt att ha S och O som sällskap. De har varit i Tokyo tidigare och hittar ganska bra, så jag bara svansar efter dem. ^^; Jag måste lära mig hitta själv...Juste, måste gå och ta en sväng till HMV eller Tower Records för att kolla in skivorna!

När man är i Shibuya går det inte att undvika det stora megaövergångsstället. Det är verkligen hur mycket folk som helst som bara kommer emot en när ljuset slår om till grönt. När byggnaderna tornar upp mot himlen och man knappt hör vad man själv tänker för att det är så mycket ljud och intryck som tränger sig på en - då känner man sig liten. Men jag ogillar inte det, att sjunka in i bakgrunden och bli ett mönster i tapeten. Det känns tryggt på nåt sätt. Samtidigt så fanns det en annan sida som håller mig alert, jag var noga med att inte tappa bort killarna. Jag vet inte vad jag skulle göra då, så handlingsfattig är jag. Ack!
Tillbaka till dagssammanfattningen - vi gick runt i Shibuya en stund och höll utkik efter ett ställe att äta på. Vi bestämde oss för ett ramenställe, där man först väljer sin maträtt i en maskin på gatan utanför, som sedan spottar ut sig en biljett som man räcker fram till personalen inne i restaurangen. Smidigt och snabbt. Kostade väl en 60-70kr för en relativt stor skål (för mig) med ramen. Vem var det som sa nåt om att portionerna i Japan är mindre? XD I alla fall, det verkar ganska vanligt att man i små japanska restauranger sitter i en s.k. "ö". Mitt i smeten står kockarna och tillagar maten medan gästerna sitter som ett rullband kring det lilla köket. Som gäst känns det på ett sätt väldigt relaxing att se vad kockarna gör, och de är generellt väldigt renliga av sig härborta, överallt, inte bara i restauranger.

Med magarna fulla av mat strosade vi runt lite till. Solen hade gått ner, men gatorna var fortfarande fulla av folk. O försökte köpa cigaretter i en vending machine, men man måste tydligen ha nåt som bevisar att man är i laglig ålder, hoho!

Efter detta åkte vi hem och avslutade vår första dag i Japan. Det var då nästa problem dök upp. Jag tänkte föra över foton till datorn och drog fram alla kablar och bläckfiskadaptern. Och DÅ visar det sig att strömkabeln till datorn inte får plats i bläckfisken! Gaah! Frustration! Ångest! Desperation! Ett tag funderade jag på att knipsa bort de där utstickande delarna som var i vägen, men det kanske inte är så bra så jag lät bli... När insikten om att jag varit så dum att jag inte kollat upp det här innan jag åkte iväg sjönk in, började jag acceptera läget och mentalt förbereda mig för att behöva köpa en ny som passar. Och inte förvänta mig hitta nåt. XD; Det här låg i alla fall som ett ångesttäcke över mig i två dagar. Lyckades ha igång datorn i tio, femton minuter och få ett par lugnande ord från Yosh, innan jag till slut gick och la mig. Min första natt i detta land.