Tokyo Pictures

At the "News Deli" restaurant and bar in Shinjuku.
The News Deli Restaurant and Bar in Shinjuku.
A park next to the Shinjuku Center Building

Akihabara

Samurai armor in the National Museum in Ueno Park

Ueno Park

A performer in Ueno Park

The "pepper" statue in Akasuka, near our hostel.

"Engrish" on a bag in Shibuya

An Asahi poster in Shibuya

At the main bus terminal in Shibuya

The main intersection in Shibuya around 11PM

The bar 'Rooney 2008' in southern Shibuya

The Shibuya station with newly installed art.

Shibuya

A department store sign...

Some Japanese are Obama fans

Get an 'explosive' haircut in Shibuya

Kanye West sunglasses in Shibuya

My favorite clothing store, Uniqlo, in Tokyo

Shibuya shopping district

The busiest intersection I have seen; in Shibuya.

Shinjuku

Harajuku

"Sexy Dynamite" in Harajuku

The Harajuku shopping district

A sign on the subway reminding you not to drink on the train.

Another Lively Friday in Kyoto

On Friday the 14th, I went to a local grade school again. This time I was at Inae-Higashi, which was considerably farther than the last school I went to; Kawase. Unlike the visit to Kawase, I spent considerably more time with the children than in the principals’ office. I was again ushered into the office upon our arrival, and tea was served. Yire, Andrew, and Braden were much better than the students were over the summer, and the three of them engaged the staff in Japanese unlike the summer group. The principal offered us Japanese sweets and then we went over to the gymnasium to meet the children.
Over seventy-five first-graders were waiting for us. A song from the children greeted our entrance; some played cymbals, recorders, and triangles while some formed a choir. After the song, we played games with the children and then made some crafts. The children all seemed pleased to see us; I had a few children holding each of my hands. Before we left, the class played dodge ball; and I had a blast. There is something great about dodge ball that I cannot really explain; but the kids loved to play. If you were hit, you went behind the other team and then if you were able to catch an errant ball you could strike at the opposing team from behind and get back in. I always had a group of students surrounding me, running and jumping out of the way of the flying red balls. The children never threw at the JCMU students, but we attacked each other and the hit I scored on Andrew drew a great cheer from my team of first-graders.

After a brief rest back at JCMU, I set out with my friends to Kyoto. The Koka Women’s University, a private Buddhist college, had invited JCMU to send students to Kyoto for a party. The Koka people had sent ahead vouchers for the taxi fares, and once we arrived at the university, our contact at Koka gave us gift certificates for ¥3000 to cover the ¥2000 train fare. In short, Koka University paid to attend a party thrown for us where the Koka University fed well and entertained by the members of the English Speaking Society of the university. After eating Domino’s pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a plateful of sushi, we played bingo and a few other social games before the party ended. Taxis drove us back to Kyoto Station where Adam, Kevin, and I set out for dinner. After a nice walk through the eastern part of Kyoto, we met Yui and Kelly and made for an izakaya: a Japanese restaurant style, which serves every types of Japanese food and even some foreign foods. The few izakaya, which I have been, are generally large affairs, occupying a few floors of a building. Usually my group has eaten at a section of a long table, our portion of the table marked by curtains hung for privacy. Yui ordered us raw horse, which was delicious. After a few beers at the riverfront, I caught the last train back to Hikone.

Habituated

I seem to have fallen into a routine and before I realized it, time has flashed by. I am not ready to think about leaving, but with a four-day break at the end of the month and a trip to Tokyo and maybe Hiroshima in mind I am excited.
During the week, I spend a few nights at Starbucks. One of the office women works there part time and Ishihara-san will usually come by our table for a bit to chat with us. Ishihara-san is young and talking with her helps me practice speaking informally. Besides, Ishihara-san is hysterical and jokes well with us.
The Japanese did not get the memo that the Christmas season does not start until after Thanksgiving. Starbucks plays Christmas music constantly, and I think I may have to buy better earphones to drone out ‘Silent Night’ and ‘White Christmas’. The local stores are already selling Christmas decorations. At Starbucks Ishihara-san pointed out to us that the ‘Chrismas’ blend had been misspelled.
For all the talk about the Kansai region (where I live) having a rude nature, the people overall are very nice. Storekeepers are happy to hear me speak Japanese to them, even thought I am at a low level. One of the Starbucks clerks told me that I was very skillful, which is not true but still nice. Even though storekeepers are generally friendly, it is nice that so many Japanese encourage us.
I have developed an unhealthy addiction to the clothing store Uniqlo. Uniqlo sells everything except shoes, but I have bought a few shirts and sweaters there as well as a snappy looking flat cap. Every time I try on something I am amused that in Japan I wear and XL size shirt.