Harajuku and Shinjuku

9.2.07

Ready for a day filled with adventure, Lauren and I left our apartment at 9:45am and headed to the Tsudanuma train station to take the metro, since it’s cheaper than the train, to Lauren’s church in Nakano (10 minutes from the Shinjuku station). The Korean church happened to be five stores tall with services in Korean, Japanese, and English. I had the chance to meet some new friends like Jenny, Haeji (say “Hedgie”), Alison, Amber, Ai, Min Soo, Joe, Jisoo (say “Chi-so”) and lots more. Many of the people there were actually from America and it was nice to have the opportunity to talk to them. Alison for example, was from New Jersey. She told me that her sister had gone to Binghamton University for economics and business, and we both laughed when I explained that I had gone there too! I can’t forget to add the bit about Lauren’s performance during the service. Decked out with a pink cut-out heart on her chest, she sang and danced with four other church members. Lauren will probably kill me if she knows that I posted this, but honestly, they did a super job!

After the service, we were invited to a little room on the first floor of the building for a traditional Korean lunch called “bee bee bop”. It was delicious for how simple it was: rice with bean sprouts, carrots, some sort of Japanese mushroom/root, spicy-sweet sauce, greens (I don’t know what kind), and some other vegetables. I also had some good American Teddy Grahams! Mmm! Friends and food, what more could you ask for!?

Lauren and I said our goodbyes and headed out to accomplish the remainder of our mission. On the way down the street we stopped at a 100 yen ($1) vending machine and tried some peach (momo) juice. We walked down a few very narrow streets in order to get back to the train station. Our first stop: Harakuju.

Two random side notes: Firstly, it was Sunday. And secondly, the stores in Japan remain open because it is the one day during the week that just about everyone is off (they work on Saturdays too). This is very different from Sundays in America where most businesses close early or are not open at all. By combining these two “rules”, guess what you get? That’s right. Humongous crowds of people, especially in popular shopping areas such as Harajuku and Shinjuku!

Me getting a "free hug" in Harajuku.

We got off at the Harajuku stop and I had my camera all ready for some shots of oddly dressed Harajuku fashion-ites. After my free hug, Lauren and I decide to visit the Meiji Shrine. You know it's a shrine because of the bright architectural colors. Temples are generally very plain; earth tones are most common. It is a very popular shrine that was constructed in honor of the emperor during the Meji Restoration in the early 1900's. There were quite a few tourists. Let’s just say I heard lots of British accents. Lauren and I washed our hands before entering the original shrine arches, walked past the "couple trees", threw our 5 yen coins into the offering basket while clapping three times, and even saw a Shinto wedding procession! Lauren told me that because this shrine is so popular, a very large donation must be made in order to have a wedding at this location. She also explained that the bride wears five layers with white on the outside and red closet to the skin. White symbolizing the purity of the male and red representing the female.

Even though the peacefulness of the shrine drew me in, Lauren and I decided we were ready to head out into Harajuku. We went into the Snoopy store which was all decorated for Halloween (The Great Pumpkin) and then moved onto the main street of Harajuku. We walked around a few shops and also stopped into a three floor 100 yen shop, which is the Japanese version of a $1 store. I took some silly pictures of toilet ash trays, bras (What $1 store sells bras!?), and detailed erasers. I have noticed how important “cool” school supplies are for the children here in Japan. Many of my students have erasers and pencils that smell like candy or flowers. By the time we got out of the 100 yen store it was about 6pm and we were both hungry. We wanted to see the rest of Harakuju, but we decided that the rest could wait for a full day.

We got back on the metro and got off at the Shinjuku stop. We took the east exit to Lauren’s favorite kai-ten sushi place. In a place like this you sit down at the counter, fill your mug up with delicious (oishii) green tea, pour some soy sauce into your little dish, break a pair of chopsticks in half and try to find your favorite type of sushi as it revolves around the conveyor belt. It reminded me of finding your luggage in the airport but about a million times better, mostly because you’re eating! I had salmon (my favorite), some sort of white fish, sweet eggs, and tuna salad sushi. Lauren made fun of me for how I ate and cheered when I fit an entire piece of tuna salad sushi into my mouth. I had been eating it “wrong”; I had been dissecting it like the sciencey person that I am. We laughed and cried as the wasabi sauce burned in our throats and went up into our sinuses. When we finished the waitress/waiter counted our plates (each plate pattern corresponds to a different price) and gives us a receipt to bring up to the cashier. The guy next to me must have had about 20 plates! I only had 4. :)

Tuna salad sushi. I fit that whole piece in my little mouth!

Lauren and I stopped to get some dessert: fruit on a chopstick. We wanted to walk around so that we didn’t fall asleep on the train on account of our full stomachs. Lauren went into the Coach store and asked me if I wanted to go into Louis Vaton. I just laughed and said “Oh no, that’s ok!”. We also visited a bookstore called Books Kinokuniya that was nine stories tall; there were elevator hostesses to help you find your destination. We went to the foreign books section on the seventh floor where I was excited to see an entire section of books by Peter Drucker. Professor McLeod would have been ecstatic.

Engrish alert: While in the bookstore, I saw a guy with a shirt that said “Let’s rock into hysteric”. I couldn’t help but think of Mark Turley and how that would make a great slogan for his new band called Red5.

It was about 8:30pm and Lauren and I were getting tired. We still had to do our planning for class on Monday afternoon so we decided to head home just after seeing a castle on top of a 30 story building advertising the Karaoke place inside.

9.3.07
Today was a great day for classes because I’m finally getting into the swing of things. Lauren and I have decided to come up with a weekly theme together. This makes planning much easier because you have something to work around. I had a make-up lesson today with a 14 year old boy named Jun. He was very funny. I hope he learned from and enjoyed the lesson. We played 3 truths and 1 lie. His lie was that he had a girlfriend. He also told me that his favorite American snacks were Cheetos.

Hiroko announced that she would take Lauren, Peggy, and I to the ocean on Wednesday! We will be going to an inside onsen, which is basically a huge bath. I can’t wait.

When I was taking the garbage out this morning I "met" an older Japanese lady. She said good morning to me in Japanese and then started chatting away. I really wanted to say that I didn't understand but I was too flustered to remember how. She was pointing and I just kept nodding. I tried to tell her that I didn't know Japanese but I don't know if that worked. We nodded our separate ways. Next time I see her I will introduce myself and say:

Se mi ma sen. Nihhon go wa ka ri ma sen. (Please be kind to me I don't understand Japanese) You live and learn right!?

9.4.07
Yay for Tuesdays! Just a normal day today. We’re having a good ‘ol American dinner of mac ‘n cheese thanks to Lauren’s mom; she sent us a package or non-perishable food. Oh and we’re having edaemame too. By the way, I got some letters today! Thanks Hu, Edel, and Mudder! Evidently they've been holding our mail at the post office because we have to register our names at this address. Oopsy!