Fuji, Thanksgiving, and a Kentucky Christmas

Hey everyone, its been awhile since I last posted so here's a quick update of my last two weeks or so.

Last weekend I went to the Fuji area with my program for a retreat. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so clouds were covering up the peak, but it was still gorgeous and a welcome break from the constant movement of Tokyo. Went to an "onsen" or hot spring/bath there for the first time, which was really relaxing.

Thanksgiving is next week and I'm making pumpkin pie with my host mom tomorrow, which should be fun. I haven't done any cooking in months so I'm excited. I've yet to see any turkey here in Japan, so I'll have to come up with some sort of substitute to enjoy Turkey Day.

And I've started to figure out Christmas in Japan. A bunch of places have put up lights for their illumination celebrations. But I was watching TV this week with my host family and saw a KFC commercial advertising a "Kentucky Christmas". For those who don't know, KFC is really popular in Japan (and in China from what I hear). I was laughing really hard since it's kinda surreal being from Tennessee and seeing KFC everywhere. But my host dad told me that they always get KFC for Christmas dinner and that there's always a big line outside the day before. So maybe I'll have a Kentucky Christmas this year!

And unfortunately I actually have to do some serious studying this week as a have a midterm and a big presentation coming up. I definitely do way less schoolwork here than back home, so coming back for spring quarter will be hard and it'll probably kick my ass.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

OBAMA!!!

I am so thrilled that Obama won! Very proud to be an American right now. And I got to watch the coverage thanks to the time difference. When the race was called, it was 1pm here. Kinda jealous of all my Northwestern friends who got to hear him speak, though.

So what did I do after he won? I went to a neko (cat) cafe. So Japanese and delighful. Literally you go to a little cafe place and drink coffee and play with cats. What a fantastic idea. Japan is hilarious sometimes.

Best Weekend Ever; Election Excitement

It's already Tuesday night here in Tokyo, meaning in about 15 hours we'll have a new president back home. I'm incredibly excited, especially because this is the first election I could vote in. There's lots of coverage on Japanese TV, which makes sense considering how close we are to them. They have a lot at stake in this election too. Most of the people here are hoping Obama gets elected, probably because they think he'll be the person to actually bring change. The issue that the Japanese I talked to are concerned the most about has to we bringing the war to an end. So I'm interested in seeing what the reaction here will be whoever ends up winning.

Other than that, I enjoyed a three-day weekend thanks to Monday's culture day. Friday was Halloween, so I dressed up with some friends and went out. Halloween is a relatively recent holiday here in Japan; it just kinda started being celebrated 10 years ago. Although there's been stuff in stores all month long, I don't think they trick-or-treat and many people don't dress up. But the fact that they had Halloween at all was nice. Thanksgiving will definitely be harder to celebrate since its exclusively American. But I'm going to try to have some sort of dinner, especially since its my favorite holiday.

Saturday I went to a very famous Shinto shrine in Harajuku with my host family for a special night event that was held there. This shrine gets the most visitors out of all the ones across Japan during New Year's. The shrine and pathways were all beautifully lit up and they had a Noh theatre (very traditional Japanese theatre) performance that we got to see some of. Couldn't understand what they were saying, but it turns out neither could my host parents since they were speaking very old-style Japanese, which I kinda equated to Shakespearean Old English. Very interesting, and I'm sure an experience not many foreigners get the chance to see.

On Sunday, I went with a friend to my university's baseball game against our hated rival Keio University. We got there at 8:30 to wait in line; the game didn't start til 1. After getting in the stadium at 10:30 we had two hours to kill. Which meant two hours of non-stop cheering! Seriously, the Japanese never stop cheering at their games. Sometimes I forgot that we were actually watching a game because I got caught up in everyone cheering all the time. By the sixth inning and after 5 straight hours of peppy cheering, my friend and I were exhausted. But everyone else was still hard at work. Did it matter that we were down 5 runs? Hell no! "Ganbari, Ganbari!"

Another difference was how friendly this rival game was. Before the game we did their cheers, they returned the favor, and we even swapped cheerleaders for a good portion. My friend and I were expecting at least a little hostility, I mean isn't that what rivalries are for? So after a drink or two, we tried to provide a little bit of anger towards Keio, but failed. We lost 9-3, but I don't think I've had more fun in a losing effort.

Monday was our school's big festival, which was epic and PACKED with people. We saw dance groups, all-male cheerleading groups, Japanese reggae (so wonderful), endless amounts of food booths, and even a guy dressed up in a Playboy bunny outfit who shaked his ass at my friend. It was really fun to say the least. I didn't want the weekend to end. It was easily the best one I'd had in Japan. So here's hoping I can top it.