Yes, I'm Still Alive

Hello everyone. I apologize for not writing for a while, I'm gettin' a little burnt out, but I'll give it one last hurrah! (For now)

A bit has happened since I wrote last, so I'll start with, well, the beginning :p

A bunch of us heard there was a Pokemon Center here in Tokyo, so we decided to hit it up and heal our Pokemon! I mean get souvenirs.











































Didn't see anything I needed, but there was a great view of Tokyo Tower nearby!




















For those who don't know, Tokyo Tower is a huge radio/tv tower that was modeled after the Eiffel Tower. I'm planning on going there (finally) with my host mom soon!

Next, I decided ya'll should learn how our Japanese style bath works!

Please the read the ever important/strange instructions to using our bath:




















This is the entrance room area where you get nekkid:
















These are the "showers." You sit on the little stool things and wash yourself off. I think you are supposed to use a bowl and fill it up, then dump it on yourself, but i always just keep the showerhead running. I'm actually starting to like these, but will definitely appreciate my shower at home -_-.
















Note that the entire room is like a walk-in shower, so you can get water anywhere.

Next is the "bath," called "Ofuro" in Japanese. However, you DO NOT wash yourself in said bath. If you read the instructions (and of course you did) you know that this is a huge nono. The bath is for soaking only, and is AWESOME. You basically leave the tub full all day long for everybody to use, and then drain it at the end of the day. A little gross, but I guess you're supposed to be clean before you go in so it's all good right? By the way, the hot water that comes out of the faucet is BOILING hot, ouch.
















Next, and this is mostly for my bro Seth, I found a Gundam Cafe in Akihabara!
















Next, last weekend we took a day trip to a town a little outside Tokyo called Kamakura. Kamakura is known for lots of temples, as well as the "Daibutsu," or Big Buddha. Here are some pics around Kamakura!

A temple:















I think this is a Japanese cemetery? Don't quote me on that...















Some of the beautiful flowers around Kamakura:















At a temple:















A cool lamp (I think?)















Triforce?! No probably not:















Another cemetery?















Another pretty flower:
















A Kamakura Kitty!
















After this we went to the Daibutsu! It's a huge statue made out of metal, that's actually hollow. You can walk inside of it, though it's not too interesting. For more info on the big Buddha click here.

































It even has windows in the back!
















In the inside, you are looking up into the hollow head:
















These are giant straw sandals for the Buddha should he ever decided to get up and walk around:
















After that we went around Kamakura some more:
















Here's a gold Buddha in one of the temples:
















Here's a view of the ocean from one of the temples:
















There was also a cave you could go into. In the cave there where statues of God's carved into the rock. You could buy a candle and burn it in front of whatever God you wanted to help you (for fortune, love, health, etc.) There were the most candles in front of the God/Goddess of love :)






























After this we headed back. The train was REALLY crowded! Here's a pic of some of our group, from left to right, Peter, Yuuka, Wakana, and Matt:















Here's a sign of a dog takin' a leak. Apparently, according to our Japanese friends, it was an ad for incontinence for humans, not dogs :/.
















The next day me and Matt decided to go on a walk through Yoyogi Park, the park we are right next to. Here's some pics!






























We went on a Sunday, when all the strange people come out. Here's a video of a bunch of Greasers dancing to some rockin' tunes!




We decided to walk thru Harajuku and down to Shibuya. On the way we saw a Lotus dealership!
















I also saw a Suzuki motorcycle exactly like mine back home, only in was a 125cc, not like the MONSTROUS 250cc I own.
















When we got to Shibuya, we decided to get a good picture of the Shibuya Scramble!
















And on the way back we saw a tree somehow growing out of someone's window...
















HOW?!

On Thursday I had to go to a modern art museum, which was lame for the most part (modern art is a joke) but there was some cool stuff:

Some bags that were somehow cut to make trees. The second is a Mcdonald's bag:






























A crazy sculpture made out of reflector pieces:





























And the coolest part of the museum, a bunch of junk put together so it plays music!
















































That's it for now.

I leave you with this picture of me killing a Japanese kid:

Back to the NYC

Hello strangers!
Finally got back to my dorm, and I've got a lot of material to cover, so lets get started.

First, last Saturday we took a bus to Mobara. The road went across Tokyo bay, and the first half was submerged under water. There's a rest area about halfway across where we got food!






























We after a BEAUTIFUL ride through the Japanese countryside we reached Mobara, which is kinda in the country. Compared to Center Point its pretty big tho. We went to the city hall and met our families. My host family was the Odaka's. They were a middle aged couple who had two sons about my age. However they weren't ever there because of college etc.
I was also with another guy from the program, Justin.

Here's a picture of the Odaka's and I!
















I referred to them as Otou-san (dad) and Oka-san (mom). They were extremely nice people, but spoke very little English. It was great practice however!

Our first night our host family took us to a Kaiten-zushi, where they have a conveyor belt full of all kinds of sushi and stuff, rotating around a big bar! It was really cool! The plates were also different colors, corresponding to different prices. It was great, and by the end of the meal I had a stack of plates half a foot tall. We went back to the house and hung out. I got my own room, kinda, since it was also they're office (big room). The next day was a free day with our host family, but Otou-san had to work, so we went out with our host mom and her friend. First we drove out to the country and stopped to check on our host dad's parents house, which is currently vacant due to both of them being ill. It was AMAZING, I loved it! It was a traditional Japanese style home. Here are some pics!

Family shrine:

































Beautiful paper doors:














After this we went to a shrine in town.












































We went thru the same routine as I did with Chiharu...































Here's some random shrine pics:













































After the shrine we got to go see the ocean!



Here's some pics too:

Host mom and her friend
















Host mom explaining that my name sounds like bread:
















And there were tons of surfers! Got a pic with a surfer dude:
















After that we went to eat at a Japanese Denny's. That's right, there's Denny's in Japan. Very different from American Denny's for sure, but very good!

After that we went to do Taiko drumming with some other people. It was really fun! They played for us first, and then we got to try!






























After that (very long day right?) we got to do the traditional Japanese art of Aikido! We went to a dojo and got to learn how to do moves! I kinda think it was just an excuse for Japanese people to beat up Americans but....
Here's pics!











































The next day we had activities for IES, which were lame, i.e. listening to a old white guy talk about Japanese history for an hour (zzzzzz), and making fans...
Anyways after that we went to an auditorium, and after waiting for like an hour we were treated to the Mobara dance.






























We also got to learn it, and look like idiots!

The next day after that, we went to Otaki Castle, a rebuilt castle from...a long time ago I guess?
















View from the top:



































We also got to dress up in Samurai gear!




















Me storming the castle:




















After this we went on a nice train ride thru the country:
















Me, Matt and John, looking hopelessly depressed (emo):
















View of Otaki Castle from the tracks:















Oh ya, in the town we were in there was a sweet Nissan Skyline:































Righteous.

After the train ride, we when to a Buddhist temple and did Zazen meditation.
Alright, I'm going to explain this the best I can, but it's just going to end up sounding funny/ridiculous. We all sat in this temple cross legged for half an hour without moving or talking, and this monk came around and wacked us on the back with this stick he had. Once again, I think it was just another excuse to beat on Americans.

After activities of the day, our host mom took us to her friend's house. The house was AMAZING! It was basically a Japanese mansion. My camera died so I don't have any pictures :(

That night our host family went out for Yakitori, a.k.a. chicken on a stick.















We had SO much food, and it was all pretty delicious. After we were done, some of the guys who worked at the restaurant wanted to arm wrestle us. One guy was a wrestler. Needless to say, he beat me.















The next day (our last in Mobara), we got to go to a Japanese highschool! We went to a couple classes, and tried to help the kids with there English. The kids were all pretty shy, and didn't speak great English. A kid gave me a Pokemon card tho! Here are some pics around the school:
















Choir club:















Cool/creepy painting by a student of... a person getting owned by aliens?





















We also got to watch the Kendo club practice!

After this our host mom took us to the supermarket to get food we wanted and she cooked us a great meal! Thanks Oka-san!

In the morning we headed back to Tokyo. It was sad leaving, but I had a great time, and learned a lot! Thanks Odaka's!











































On the way back to Tokyo we stopped in Odaiba, and went to the Museum of Emerging Technology, or something to that effect. It was pretty lame, except we got to see Asamo, Honda's robot!

















There was also a cool globe with LEDs that made it look like it was rotating:
















Oh ya, and Doraemon (basically Japanese Garfield)
















After that, we went to a SWEET mall, meant to look like the streets of Venice:












































But there were mostly chick stores, so me and Matt did the manliest thing possible: constructed things out of LEGOs at the LEGO store!

My sweet airplane thing:
















Matt's pimpin' hotrod:
















There was also a center court place named Palette Town



No Ash Ketchum tho :/
















There was also the Toyota Megaweb, basically a showroom for Toyota:
















Futuristic human transport, definitely not safe:
















And we got to try a Gran Turismo 4 simulator!
















We also got to go on a ride in these automatic driving (they weren't on a track, they were little Toyota cars that went all by themselves, how ironic) They went on a little course thru the complex and outside.

After our busy day, we FINALLY got back to the NYC. And that's that, stay tuned for more!