I've been in Japan about a week now, and have already experienced so much. Each day has brought me through new journeys, both exciting and unexpected. I am beginning to get a little homesick, but I keep myself so busy that it hasn't slowed me down one bit. I appreciate any emails though, from all of you back home - I miss you a lot!
And without further ado, an outline of my adventures...
Thursday September 4th ~ Yokohama:
I relaxed during the day while Mai was at school. I enjoyed more absurd Japanese TV, and wandered around Kinugasa, the neighborhood just outside Yokohama where I am staying. The streets here are very narrow and there is a convenience store on every corner.
On her way home Mai ran into an old friend from high school, who invited us to go out 
with her to downtown Yokohama. Her name was Yurie, a kind and interesting character who works as a "hair cut model" and loves German trance music. In Yokohama we went shopping and had dinner at an authentic Japanese Izakaya (pub). The food was great, the atmosphere comfortable, and the whole thing was surprisingly affordable - much cooler than the Izakaya in downtown Seattle. We finished off the night with Puri-cura, a Japanese cultural custom which is becoming the norm for me and I will explain in more detail later.
Friday September 5th ~ Ghibli Museum:
Mai didn't have school on Friday, so we had planned to go the Ghibli museum. For those not familiar Ghibli is the production company behind Hayao Miyazaki's and other animators' movies, such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, etc, etc.
What we hadn't known was to get into the Ghibli museum you have to make a reservation and buy your tickets at least the month before you plan on attending. This meant that the reservations for September were filled and I won't be able to visit this trip...*sound of my little heart breaking*. This may have been a tragedy, but we made the best of the situation and went and had a lot of fun in Kamakura.
Friday September 5th ~ Kamakura:
It was a lovely, hot, humid day (all the days here are as such), so we took Fu-chan with us, boarded the train, and headed out to the old city of Kamakura. Kamakura is most famous for its temples, shrines, and having one of the world's largest and most beautiful Buddha statues. I didn't get to see the statue on this particular trip, but I am determined to see it the next time we go to Kamakura over the next couple weeks.
I may not have been able to visit the Ghibli museum, but we got to go to an awesome Ghibli store instead. Needless to say I bought lots of souvenirs <(^-^)>. Mai and I with Fu in tow walked down tiny, narrow streets, looked around many old shops, and ate purple, sweet potato ice cream (Japanese sweet potatoes are purple).
I also got the opportunity to visit my first official Japanese Temple. The gardens and architecture were amazingly beautiful, and the whole complex was surrounded by a lush forest. Mai told me this was the temple she and her family visit on New Years to pray for the coming year. We climbed the stairs to the top most shrine, prayed, and received our fortunes (mine had a very optimistic and lucky premonition).
On our way home I realized to my relief that I am getting accustomed and possibly adept at using the Japanese train system.
Saturday September 6th ~ Shibuya & Karaoke:
Together Mai and I rode the train into Shibuya, a popular district in down town Tokyo. We made a stop in Yokohama first though, so that I could exchange my travelers checks into yen. I am happy to say that so far I have been budgeting myself very well, and shouldn't run into any financial troubles.
The train from Yokohama into Shibuya was quite the experience. Everywhere was crowded, complicated, and confusing for even Japanese people. It makes me realize how lucky we are back in Seattle to have such easy, available, and relativly cheap public transportation. The bus back home costs less than $2 no matter how old you are or where you're going, while here it cost me almost the equivalent of $7 to get to Tokyo.
Once we arrived we met up with our old friends Yuko, Haruka, and Rena. These were the other girls in addition to Mai that I shared a condo with in Honolulu last December. They are all doing well, and we were very happy to see each other again. After our fond reunion, the girls took me out to real Karaoke. The establishment was multiple stories tall, where groups of friends like us could rent a private, sound-proof room by the hour. Our private karaoke room had couches, tables, fancy stereo system, microphones, huge viewing screen, an intercom for ordering snacks and drinks that the staff would deliver to our room, and a computer database filled with thousands of songs in Japanese and English. All of this roughly cost about $2 an hour, not including the cost of food and drink.
For three hours we took our turns singing our little hearts out, and though I stuck to only English songs, I feel I did a pretty good rendition of the Beatles and Rihanna's "Umbrella" :P. It was awesome, cheap fun, and much better than the Karaoke we have back in America. Again we commenced the ritual of Puri-cura, and spent the rest of the evening wandering around the Harajuku district. That night we got home late and collapsed from exhaustion.
Sunday September 7th ~ Onsen, Super Store, & Sushi:
We decided that we needed a relaxing day to recuperate from all the fun we'd been having, so Mai, her father, her mother, and I went to a Japanese onsen in Kannonzaki. An onsen is a traditional Japanese hot spring bath-house. It was a beautiful place right beside the ocean, and even had baths on an outside deck where one could sit in the water and view the sea. In fact most of the water used in the baths was deep sea water, or so I was told.
Its Japanese custom in an onsen for the men and women to have separate bathing areas, and to be completely nude. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first but easily overcame my shyness. The first step is to thoroughly wash the body in individual showers, because everyone shares the baths and cleanliness in important. All the baths were quite hot, came in many different styles or functions, but unfortunately I could only manage to stay for about an hour before I felt light headed. My skin has never been softer ^-^.
After the onsen, we went to a "Super Store" containing everything from a super market, to clothing shops, and anything else one may need. We stopped by the "super" pet shop first to buy Fu some puppy food, and I was surprised when the only animals they had were fish, hamsters kittens, and toy breed dogs.
Next we visited the Sanrio shop (Sanrio is the company that makes Hello Kitty merchandise as well as other cutesy characters), where I bought lots of cute silly things - because I am cute and silly of course.
While browsing I was approached and asked to give directions by an American man, but I honestly didn’t know how to help him, so I pretended to be Ukrainian. This might seem rude but I had a feeling he was after more than just directions so it was effective in getting him to leave me alone.
Finally we went shopping at the Japanese grocery store – more crowded than any I have ever been to in America. We ended the night by going out to eat at a tiny sushi restaurant by Mai's house that has probably been there for over 50 years. The whole family including Mai's sister and grandfather joined us, and it was nice to get to know everyone better. The were pleased with my knowledge of Japanese food, happy that I ate everything, and impressed that I worked in a Japanese restaurant. They are all very kind and make me feel at home.
Today I plan on making Piroshki for Mai's family to further thank them for their hospitality. I miss you all and promise to write more soon.
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