Monday, August 19, 2013
Back in Japan~!
Ok... well I'm back in Japan and I'm gonna try to give this blog thing another go. Hopefully I'll be more successful at it this time than last. For the most part, this page will be my usual daily ins-and-outs kind of stuff, but I shall now announce that *drumroll~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* I have started a new blog!! Yes, I know, you are wondering how I can keep up two blogs when I couldn't even handle one before, but I can do it! Because my second blog is meant to be all about the funny (and mildly embarrassing) cultural mistakes that I make. So, scroll to the top and check out the "Confessions of a Gaijin" tab :D
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Adventure Time
Lately I've been having lots of adventures with Macee~~
Yesterday, she and I went to Shibuya to apply for jobs at an English school. Afterwards, we got coffee from Starbucks and walked around for a little bit. While we were walking, we discovered a pet store. I'll let the following picture speak for itself....
After freaking out over finding a Meerkat for sale, we decided to go shopping since Macee had never been to 109 before~ Then we came home and cooked dinner together and planned future epic adventuring times!
Today, we walked together to Toyo's second campus because we both have classes there this semester and wanted to be sure that we remembered where it was. When we got there the sakura were just too pretty to pass up a chance to take pictures~!
On our way home we took a cute little back street and went up some super steep stairs and figured out another way back to school~ It would be an awesome short cut if it weren't for having to climb the staircase of doom.
Yesterday, she and I went to Shibuya to apply for jobs at an English school. Afterwards, we got coffee from Starbucks and walked around for a little bit. While we were walking, we discovered a pet store. I'll let the following picture speak for itself....
After freaking out over finding a Meerkat for sale, we decided to go shopping since Macee had never been to 109 before~ Then we came home and cooked dinner together and planned future epic adventuring times!
Today, we walked together to Toyo's second campus because we both have classes there this semester and wanted to be sure that we remembered where it was. When we got there the sakura were just too pretty to pass up a chance to take pictures~!
On our way home we took a cute little back street and went up some super steep stairs and figured out another way back to school~ It would be an awesome short cut if it weren't for having to climb the staircase of doom.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Registering for Classes
Today Macee and I went back to the school together and I had my advising appointment.I really like my advisor. He's super nice and he likes to just sit there and chat with me during our meetings haha For the moment, I have decided on 4 classes in addition to the 5 Japanese classes I'm required to take. I don't think I will be able to take all 4 of those classes but I wanted lots of options to work with during drop/add.
Ok I'm going to take this opportunity to explain how signing up for classes at Toyo works for exchange students. So if anyone interested in studying abroad there in the future reads this blog it might be helpful for them. I don't know if this is the typical way schools work for foreigners in Japan, but this is how Toyo Uni does it:
First of all, we had to take a placement test at the beginning of the year that split us into three levels: J1-beginner, J2-intermediate, and J3-advanced. Unless you test out of all three levels, it is required for you to take 5 Japanese language courses: Integrated Japanese, Kanji Literacy, Listening Comprehension, Reading and Composition, and Project Work. These classes are taught between 9:00am and 12:10pm Monday through Friday. This is the set time for everyone regardless of level.
After that, there are two packets of classes that we were given at orientation. Timetable A is all the classes offered that are taught solely in Japanese. Timetable B lists the classes that are taught in English or with partial support in English. Unlike most classes in American universities, which require you to attend the same class multiple times per week, classes taken at Toyo are typically taught only one day a week.
You decide what classes you want to take and then write the class information (ie course code, course title, teacher name, etc) on the Registration Form.
Then for the classes you want to take, you also must fill out these permission forms to give to your teachers that basically explain that you are an exchange student and you want permission to take their class. (We were given these forms at orientation as well) They are really simple to fill in. You just write the course title, the day and period of the class, and the room number. All the other information is already printed onto the sheet.
After that, you take your registration form to a meeting with the advisor that the school assigns to you and your advisor signs off on it. Then, you take the registration form and the permission forms to the GIO (Global Initiatives Office) aka the study abroad office. They file the registration form and give you a copy to keep. They also make copies of your permission forms for their own records, but give the originals back to you to give your teachers on the first day of classes.
The first week of class is a "trial period" or what we call "drop/add" at home. If there is any class that you want to change, you just go back to the GIO and make the change on your original registration form.
And that sums up the registration process!
Ok I'm going to take this opportunity to explain how signing up for classes at Toyo works for exchange students. So if anyone interested in studying abroad there in the future reads this blog it might be helpful for them. I don't know if this is the typical way schools work for foreigners in Japan, but this is how Toyo Uni does it:
First of all, we had to take a placement test at the beginning of the year that split us into three levels: J1-beginner, J2-intermediate, and J3-advanced. Unless you test out of all three levels, it is required for you to take 5 Japanese language courses: Integrated Japanese, Kanji Literacy, Listening Comprehension, Reading and Composition, and Project Work. These classes are taught between 9:00am and 12:10pm Monday through Friday. This is the set time for everyone regardless of level.
After that, there are two packets of classes that we were given at orientation. Timetable A is all the classes offered that are taught solely in Japanese. Timetable B lists the classes that are taught in English or with partial support in English. Unlike most classes in American universities, which require you to attend the same class multiple times per week, classes taken at Toyo are typically taught only one day a week.
You decide what classes you want to take and then write the class information (ie course code, course title, teacher name, etc) on the Registration Form.
Then for the classes you want to take, you also must fill out these permission forms to give to your teachers that basically explain that you are an exchange student and you want permission to take their class. (We were given these forms at orientation as well) They are really simple to fill in. You just write the course title, the day and period of the class, and the room number. All the other information is already printed onto the sheet.
After that, you take your registration form to a meeting with the advisor that the school assigns to you and your advisor signs off on it. Then, you take the registration form and the permission forms to the GIO (Global Initiatives Office) aka the study abroad office. They file the registration form and give you a copy to keep. They also make copies of your permission forms for their own records, but give the originals back to you to give your teachers on the first day of classes.
The first week of class is a "trial period" or what we call "drop/add" at home. If there is any class that you want to change, you just go back to the GIO and make the change on your original registration form.
And that sums up the registration process!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Blowin' in the Wind
Well... it's 6AM and I can't sleep....
I have been sick whether from allergies or a cold I'm not quite sure, but either way I can't breathe and it's preventing me from sleeping so I decided to take the spare time to post a blog.
Yesterday was interesting. I went with Macee to the school because we were both supposed to have our advising appointments. Hers was scheduled for 1 and mine was scheduled for 3 so we were planning on just hanging out at the school. However, while we were sitting in 4th building, one of the teachers from GIO found us and told us that all advising appointments for the day had been canceled and that the school was being closed because a bad storm was coming in. This really freaked me out because...well let me go off on a side rant for a moment:
When Quaff stayed at my home in the U.S. it stormed. Nothing super crazy just a normal thunder storm, but it really freaked them out and I didn't understand why. Now, having lived in Japan for 7 months, I think I kind of understand. Thunderstorms don't really happen here unless you count typhoons and even with the one typhoon I encountered here there wasn't a whole lot of thunder, just lots of rain and really strong winds. Since being here, I have only experienced two of what I would view as thunderstorms. One was in November, the other was last night.
So now back to my original point: Japan doesn't really have bad storms very often so when the teacher told me they were shutting down the school because of an approaching storm, me and Macee decided really fast that we needed to get home and stay there. I was really glad we made that decision when I was sitting in my room later that evening listening to the wind shake my door. Yet again I feared that a part of the tree outside my window was going to fly into my room. There was even a tornado warning (which answers my frequently asked question of whether or not Japan has tornadoes) and apparently it was the strongest storm Japan has seen in decades according to this website.
But all is well now and the sun is coming up.... I should be asleep. I hope to go to the doctor soon so I can get over whatever this is that has me feeling so bad. Also, I have to worry about rescheduling my advising appointment. Only a few more days until school starts back~
I have been sick whether from allergies or a cold I'm not quite sure, but either way I can't breathe and it's preventing me from sleeping so I decided to take the spare time to post a blog.
Yesterday was interesting. I went with Macee to the school because we were both supposed to have our advising appointments. Hers was scheduled for 1 and mine was scheduled for 3 so we were planning on just hanging out at the school. However, while we were sitting in 4th building, one of the teachers from GIO found us and told us that all advising appointments for the day had been canceled and that the school was being closed because a bad storm was coming in. This really freaked me out because...well let me go off on a side rant for a moment:
When Quaff stayed at my home in the U.S. it stormed. Nothing super crazy just a normal thunder storm, but it really freaked them out and I didn't understand why. Now, having lived in Japan for 7 months, I think I kind of understand. Thunderstorms don't really happen here unless you count typhoons and even with the one typhoon I encountered here there wasn't a whole lot of thunder, just lots of rain and really strong winds. Since being here, I have only experienced two of what I would view as thunderstorms. One was in November, the other was last night.
So now back to my original point: Japan doesn't really have bad storms very often so when the teacher told me they were shutting down the school because of an approaching storm, me and Macee decided really fast that we needed to get home and stay there. I was really glad we made that decision when I was sitting in my room later that evening listening to the wind shake my door. Yet again I feared that a part of the tree outside my window was going to fly into my room. There was even a tornado warning (which answers my frequently asked question of whether or not Japan has tornadoes) and apparently it was the strongest storm Japan has seen in decades according to this website.
But all is well now and the sun is coming up.... I should be asleep. I hope to go to the doctor soon so I can get over whatever this is that has me feeling so bad. Also, I have to worry about rescheduling my advising appointment. Only a few more days until school starts back~
Monday, April 2, 2012
ワッショイ!
Last night I went to Gevil's last live show at Club Seata in Kichijyoji.
I took the train to Kichijyoji by myself and somehow managed to get on a train that went past my stop so I had to backtrack some and ended up being late, which meant that I had to ask some 14 year old girls to help me find where Kazuma was waiting for me. Once I met up with Kazuma, we went to Mister Donut and met Haru, Ukisemi, and Takuma. It was really great getting to hang out with them. I miss my big brothers a lot. It was also fun to realize that I can almost follow their conversations in Japanese now.
When we got to the venue, I had the realization that it was the same place I saw Quaff perform for the last time and it made me a little sad, but the show was really great! Also I got to meet Takuma and Kazuma's mom and hang out with Hiroka~ So I was happy!
After the show, we hung around for the after party and I got to talk with Taka for a minute. He gave me some sort of strawberry cream filled pastry that looked like Totoro~! It was so cute I felt bad eating it, but it tasted just as good as it looked and I was super hungry by that point haha I intended to stay until first train, but since Haru and I were both dog tired he and Uki were super sweet and paid for us to take a taxi home <3 So I was able to make it back in time to actually get some sleep~
Today, I had to be at the school by 11:00AM for Spring Semester Orientation. Basically we just had to go get the necessary paperwork and the list of classes and find out when we meet with our adivsors and the let us leave. The -interesting- part of it was outside the buildings. All through campus were two never-ending lines of people handing out flyers for their school clubs. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before. It was so loud and as you walk in between these two lines of people to get into the school building there are people on both sides of you trying to get your attention and holding out papers that they are begging you to take. It was the strangest feeling! I imagine it to be a lot like how rockstars feel when they get done with a show and are walking back to their tour bus or something. Now I'm happily back in my bed where I intend to stay for the rest of the day because I'm not feeling so great and I want to get plenty of rest and make sure I'm healthy and ready for school to start back on Friday~
Here's a LINK to a video that Emily took at the school today. You see me attack Macee in a hug at one point in it ^^
I took the train to Kichijyoji by myself and somehow managed to get on a train that went past my stop so I had to backtrack some and ended up being late, which meant that I had to ask some 14 year old girls to help me find where Kazuma was waiting for me. Once I met up with Kazuma, we went to Mister Donut and met Haru, Ukisemi, and Takuma. It was really great getting to hang out with them. I miss my big brothers a lot. It was also fun to realize that I can almost follow their conversations in Japanese now.
When we got to the venue, I had the realization that it was the same place I saw Quaff perform for the last time and it made me a little sad, but the show was really great! Also I got to meet Takuma and Kazuma's mom and hang out with Hiroka~ So I was happy!
 | |
| "sealing" Gevil |
 |
| encore~ |
After the show, we hung around for the after party and I got to talk with Taka for a minute. He gave me some sort of strawberry cream filled pastry that looked like Totoro~! It was so cute I felt bad eating it, but it tasted just as good as it looked and I was super hungry by that point haha I intended to stay until first train, but since Haru and I were both dog tired he and Uki were super sweet and paid for us to take a taxi home <3 So I was able to make it back in time to actually get some sleep~
 |
| Taka can never pass up an opportunity to make fun of me lol |
Today, I had to be at the school by 11:00AM for Spring Semester Orientation. Basically we just had to go get the necessary paperwork and the list of classes and find out when we meet with our adivsors and the let us leave. The -interesting- part of it was outside the buildings. All through campus were two never-ending lines of people handing out flyers for their school clubs. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before. It was so loud and as you walk in between these two lines of people to get into the school building there are people on both sides of you trying to get your attention and holding out papers that they are begging you to take. It was the strangest feeling! I imagine it to be a lot like how rockstars feel when they get done with a show and are walking back to their tour bus or something. Now I'm happily back in my bed where I intend to stay for the rest of the day because I'm not feeling so great and I want to get plenty of rest and make sure I'm healthy and ready for school to start back on Friday~
Here's a LINK to a video that Emily took at the school today. You see me attack Macee in a hug at one point in it ^^
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Oh yeah... I have a blog....
So lately I have been doing a whole lot of nothing. But I've been really enjoying the whole lot of nothing I've been doing. My sleep schedule is terribly off and it's going to suck when school starts back, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
If the last month of my life was a book the title would probably be something along the lines of
Yeah, I never thought I would be able to list cooking as one of my hobbies, but lately I've developed a love for it. It all started with me and E trying to get creative with the spaghetti because we got tired of eating the same thing every day. It became a game to see what all we could actually manage to make with the limited ingredients we had available.
Also added to this list would be a chocolate cake for Daiki's birthday, biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, chocolate truffles, chicken soup, cheddar garlic biscuits, and what E and I call 'Mexican Spaghetti' which is basically like eating spaghetti noodles with queso poured over it. We get desperate for Mexican food fixes around here haha
The 'Short Stories' of this month would include:
Actually in all seriousness, this was a fantastic experience. We went to the school and were able to wear real (rather expensive) Kimonos. But I'm not lying when I say that I had to learn to survive with significantly less oxygen than normal while I was wearing it. There was SO MUCH padding to the outfit, but this padding is meant to suction you in and hold the fabric in place. I don't think it really -pads- anything. I am convinced that the woman dressing me was not going to give up until she achieved giving me the appearance of having a bust size equivalent to that of a 13 year-old. Once we were dressed, we were allowed to walk around in them and take pictures for about 30 minutes before the next group had a chance to try them on. After we were back in our normal clothes, we were able to take part in a mock tea ceremony as well. However, I think mine and Molly's most excited moment was discovering the traditional Japanese sweet that was basically the equivalent of a Fig Newton. The little things make us happy.
In Japan Valentine's Day is celebrated a little differently than it is in the U.S. On February 14th, girls are expected to give the guys they like chocolates, then on March 14th the guys return the favor. But since E, Macee, and I have no guys to return the favor we decided to celebrate White Day in our own style: a girl's night out! We got dolled up and headed to Shinjuku for a fun night of drinking and being with friends! I'm so glad I have these two around <3
Daiki's birthday was on the 19th so me and Elle celebrated with the guys a little early. We baked a super yummy chocolate cake and cooked chicken soup for everyone~ And naturally after we ate, we had to have our usual game of Super Smash Bros. Having a big group of boys sprawled out in the middle of my living room playing video games is such a typical sight for me and I love it. I always have such a great time with them, even if I still lose every time.
Yep, that's right. Me and E went to KFC from about 1AM until 3:30AM for no other reason than we couldn't sleep anyway and we were tired of sitting in my dorm. We spent about $20 but it was the most meat we had eaten in weeks and it was -fantastic-! It was also made even better by the fact that we were the only ones in there so we could be as loud as we wanted and listen to music on my iphone.
If the last month of my life was a book the title would probably be something along the lines of
The Epic Cooking Adventure
Part 4 of the on-going Elle and Lauren series
Yeah, I never thought I would be able to list cooking as one of my hobbies, but lately I've developed a love for it. It all started with me and E trying to get creative with the spaghetti because we got tired of eating the same thing every day. It became a game to see what all we could actually manage to make with the limited ingredients we had available.
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| Taco Ring |
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| Chicken Alfredo Spaghetti |
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| Horchata |
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| Hayashi Rice |
 | ||
| 4AM On-a-Whim Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Sugar Cookies |
Also added to this list would be a chocolate cake for Daiki's birthday, biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, chocolate truffles, chicken soup, cheddar garlic biscuits, and what E and I call 'Mexican Spaghetti' which is basically like eating spaghetti noodles with queso poured over it. We get desperate for Mexican food fixes around here haha
The 'Short Stories' of this month would include:
30 Minutes Without Air
"Wearing a Kimono was everything Lauren dreamed it would be
until she realized she couldn't breathe..."
Actually in all seriousness, this was a fantastic experience. We went to the school and were able to wear real (rather expensive) Kimonos. But I'm not lying when I say that I had to learn to survive with significantly less oxygen than normal while I was wearing it. There was SO MUCH padding to the outfit, but this padding is meant to suction you in and hold the fabric in place. I don't think it really -pads- anything. I am convinced that the woman dressing me was not going to give up until she achieved giving me the appearance of having a bust size equivalent to that of a 13 year-old. Once we were dressed, we were allowed to walk around in them and take pictures for about 30 minutes before the next group had a chance to try them on. After we were back in our normal clothes, we were able to take part in a mock tea ceremony as well. However, I think mine and Molly's most excited moment was discovering the traditional Japanese sweet that was basically the equivalent of a Fig Newton. The little things make us happy.
Three Sexy Ladies
"Shinjuku didn't know what hit it when these three women came out to celebrate White Day."
In Japan Valentine's Day is celebrated a little differently than it is in the U.S. On February 14th, girls are expected to give the guys they like chocolates, then on March 14th the guys return the favor. But since E, Macee, and I have no guys to return the favor we decided to celebrate White Day in our own style: a girl's night out! We got dolled up and headed to Shinjuku for a fun night of drinking and being with friends! I'm so glad I have these two around <3
A Gamer's Guide to Birthdays
"Nothing says Happy Birthday like chocolate cake, presents,
and a good competitive game of Super Smash Bros."
Daiki's birthday was on the 19th so me and Elle celebrated with the guys a little early. We baked a super yummy chocolate cake and cooked chicken soup for everyone~ And naturally after we ate, we had to have our usual game of Super Smash Bros. Having a big group of boys sprawled out in the middle of my living room playing video games is such a typical sight for me and I love it. I always have such a great time with them, even if I still lose every time.
A Night With The Colonel
"Two girls spend the night at the home of one of the most famous colonels in history:
Colonel Sanders"
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| E showing the lack of people in the restaurant with us. |
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| A chicken sandwich, a chicken leg, a large french fry, and a drink: each. SO MUCH FOOD!! |
Yep, that's right. Me and E went to KFC from about 1AM until 3:30AM for no other reason than we couldn't sleep anyway and we were tired of sitting in my dorm. We spent about $20 but it was the most meat we had eaten in weeks and it was -fantastic-! It was also made even better by the fact that we were the only ones in there so we could be as loud as we wanted and listen to music on my iphone.
The Fuzzy Hat Duo
"The story of two friends and their hats"
There really isn't too much of a story to this other than we were going grocery shopping and we realized that we were wearing the same kind of hat. We also noticed that our hair colors matched our jackets. And naturally we couldn't just take a normal pretty picture. It's just not our style haha
Journey to the Live House of Kashiwa
"Three young women set out on a journey to Kashiwa
that puts them on a path toward old and new friends."
Ok really that's just a long way of me saying that Macee, Elle, and I went to see Daiki's band perform. The venue was in a section of Tokyo called Kashiwa, which as E repeatedly pointed out was in the middle of NOWHERE. It's a good thing Daiki and Kazuya met us at the station or we never would have found our way there. We had a great time hearing Daiki's band perform covers of X Japan and Luna Sea. Also, during their set I made friends with a Japanese girl behind me and she and I rocked out for the last two songs together <3 Her name was Monica and she was so sweet! After we saw Daiki's band we decided to hang around for a little while. We were the only foreigners there so -naturally- we stood out so I didn't think much of it when E told me that there was a guy who kept eyeing us and kind of hovering. However, eventually this guy got the courage to talk to us and informed us that he was the brother of one of the guys in the band we had just watched. He was really sweet and adorable so we were happy to stand there talking to him and he eventually introduced us to his brother. At first I was totally stoked that there was a cute guy standing there being obviously flirty with me.... until.... he told me that the guy in the band was his older brother. Upon asking said older brother his age, a huge neon flashing "I DON'T THINK SO KID" sign went up in my mind because the OLDER brother was 19. Dude trying to flirt with me: 16. While I'm flattered that people often think I'm younger than I really am.....that was just ridiculous.
These Boots are Made for Cross-dressing
"The story of how one pair of boots will forever haunt the boys of I-House..."
So... I have these boots... they are thigh-high, 5-inch heel, rhinestone studded, REALLY AWESOME boots. And for some reason these boots fascinate the guys who visit my room, particularly when they are intoxicated. I'm pretty sure that before I come home most of my male friends will have tried on these boots....usually at Molly's suggestion. It's mine and Molly's evil plot to have blackmail on all of them (not really, but I guess we do accidentally haha) Shou didn't know what he was getting himself into tonight when he said he wanted to come hang out in our room. He should consider himself lucky that this didn't end up as my facebook profile picture haha This was the eventful part of the night. The rest was spent playing Mario Kart.
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