My Dad's Potatoes

It was a while since I had really good Greek food. When Deena told me that there was a Greek restaurant aptly named Santorini in Itaewon, I was totally game and ready to pig out ever since I landed. But we waited till after the DMZ.

Itaewon is the forienger's district in Seoul, kind of like Roppongi in Tokyo. But Itaewon as mega dirty and I told Deena that compared to Roppongi (I have seen pictures and heard stories, but of course this is a empty opinion since I won't be there till June) this place was worse in terms of the "creepy gaijin/ickiness" factor, and she said that some of her coworkers that just went to Tokyo said the same thing. Guess my opinion wasn't that off. Again, will confirm in June.

Deena has been to Santorini before, and I was eagerly awaiting the yumminess that was Greek food. Oh, taramasalata. After many hills and stairs (Itaewon is actually above Seoul, yikes) we finally reached our destination. When I walked in, I felt like I was in Taverna Kyklades, one of the best Greek restaurants in Astoria. Of all the Greek restaurants in New York City, 80-90% of them are in Astoria. Oh, HEAVEN!

The decor was perfect. Deena said that unlike some other foriegn restuarants that take the foriegn food and "Korean-ize" it and then make it worse, this place was practically untouched. I totally agreed. The menu was not only in Korean and English, but also in Greek. I think the owner must be Greek - how else would it be as good as a place in Astoria? Never asked though.

Have to say it was a wee bit expensive - then again, even when I go to the restaurants back home, I never order the feta cheese or spreads appetizers because it's such a rip off even there. Since we arrived during lunch time, we got the lunch specials - SOUVLAKI! And even better, the potatoes that they had were like the ones that my dad makes. You heat up a pot of olive oil, put the potatoes cut into french-fry size and make them like french fries; when done sprinkle parmesan and basil on top. Yum, yum. I love my dad's potatoes, though these weren't cut french-fry style but rather in small round slices. Still delicious and you can tell that they used olive oil - french fries cooked in olive oil tend to be a wee bit soggier than those in regular cooking oil, but the flavor is great. You just have to be a bit more careful and not keep the french fries in the pot too long.

Since the lunch was pretty cheap, Deena and I split a platter of spreads with warm pieces of bread, from left to right: Tzatziki (cucumber/yogurt), Taramasalata (caviar), Eggplant Spread and Skordalia (garlic):

And to top it off, I had a FRAPPE as a dessert. It was about 6 bucks, but it was big, light and sweet just how I like it and best of all, the straw was sticking straight up in the center of the foamy part of the frappe. That's how you know whether or not a frappe is well made. Totally worth it, as I forgot to bring Nescafe and a frappe shaker back to Japan with me.

"In Front of Them All"

Our civilian tour guide told us that he was not so sure whether or not we would make it back to Seoul alive.

Welcome to the DMZ: one of the most trigger-itchy places on the earth. Trigger-itchy because there aren't any gunshots flying around, but I'll bet that Lil' Kim is hankering for a reason to attack Seoul. Why else were there 4 tunnels discovered by the South Koreans, dug by the North Koreans and covered in black paint to look like a coal mine?

I'll get to the tunnel in a minute.

Everyone in the bus chuckled, as we went through our two military checkpoints, but I couldn't help but be a wee bit wary; if one thinks about it, this will probably be the closest ever (God-willing as the saying goes) that I will be in a "war zone." There was only an armistice signed at the end of the Korean War so technically, SK and NK are still at war and the DMZ was created as a buffer. Doesn't mean that "incidents" don't occur. The last one was in 1984, when a Capt. Boniface (the man that Camp Boniface, the American base just outside the DMZ and the point where we had United States MPs join us with the stern "Do NOT point, gesture, talk, ANYTHING to the North Koreans.") wanted to cut down a large yew tree that was blocking Guard Station 4 on the American/SK side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and the "Bridge of No Return." They were accompanied both by SK and NK military peeps, but in the middle of the tree cutting, the NK army lashed out with an axe attack, killing Boniface and another American high-ranking officer. There is a memorial where the tree once stood, with a circular stone base of about 3 feet in diameter, indicating how large the tree was.

Now to the Bridge of No Return. In the 1970s, SK and NK exhanged POWs at this bridge. The POWs had the option of defecting and staying in the country that they were a POW in, or going back home. However, once you step onto that bridge, you can't go back. Hence the name.

Allow me to backtrack a bit. During the many "briefings" that we tourists (of all the places to make a tourist attraction, really!) one of the things I liked was the slogan that the Americans use in the DMZ/Camp Boniface/Joint Security Area (JSA)-Pan Mun Jom (too many names, IMO) was that they are "In Front of Them All" - "them" being the North Koreans and the very high possibilty of enemy attack right under their nose.

I emphasize - right under their bloody noses. The MDL which divides the 4km wide DMZ runs right through the JSA, cutting buildings literally in half. At one point NK soldiers would literally just come up to the border and look right into the face of an SK soldier. These guys (SK soldiers) are INTIMIDATING from here to kingdom come. They stand in the UN building that is used for "talks" between NK and SK and outside on the SK side of the MDL - in order to be considered for a post in the DMZ, they have to have at least 1st-degree black belt tae kwon do. When I stood back in the single file line to go back into the main building on the SK side, I turned around to get one more look at the room. This guy turned his head in my direction, slowly, and so smoothly it was robot-like I think I muttered an "eep!" and turned back around quickly.

An interesting thing about the UN building that we were in was that it straddled the MDL. So when I crossed to the other side of the building, I was technically in North Korea. Hello, Kim Jung-Il. One interesting factoid that I learned: some of the roadsigns in NK that indicate how many kilometers to your destination don't inidcate how many kilometers to the DMZ (and effectively, the end of NK) - they indicate how many kilometers to Seoul. Creepy stuff.

After the 1 hour tour in the JSA, lunch and another briefing, we headed to the "3rd Tunnel." In the 1970s, SK discovered that NK was building tunnels to prepare for an invasion of Seoul and SK, like I said. Now, we can walk 73m below ground and go into the tunnel for ourselves. As with most places on the DMZ tour, we couldn't take pictures; the MPs and our civilian guide told us when and when not to. We had to wear hardhats in the tunnel - it sort of reminded me of the Caves of Diro near Sparta, where I with my mom and sister rode a boat propelled only by a stick a la Venetian gondolier, with the boatman pushing off the walls or the ceilings. Good thing I did wear a helmet - the ceiling was low, and I am tall so my head actually got knocked about and very far back a few times. It didn't hurt, it was rather the shock of it.

So at the end of the day, and with my trip to the War Museum the day before, I was quite Korean War-ed out, and filled with enough military shorthand and acronyms to maybe give Cat a run for her money - a quick summary of the trip:

"When I went to the DMZ, I visited the JSA and crossed the MDL in a UN building under the eye of a ROK soldier and an MP."

How Can I Sing, "It's A Small World, After All" in Korean?

Deena and I came to the conclusion that Everland is the Korean version of Disneyland. Note that we say DisneyLAND, not DisneyWORLD. Disney World is much bigger (and better in my opinion, though I have not been to Disneyland yet since I am an East Coaster) than Disneyland. Everland is miniscule compared to Disney World, even though it is comprised of more sections than the one we went to.

Every time I think of anything related to Disney, the tune "It's A Small World, After All" and the corresponding ride from the Magic Kingdom pops into my head. I mentioned that I have an uncle that works for Disney and thus get in for free, so you can imagine that I have been on the ride at least 5 times and no more than 10. It sort of sticks - those little animatronic kids are cute, and they don't run "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" because it cost too much to maintain. Said uncle is working on getting me a ticket to Tokyo Disney; to my surprise, TD isn't actually owned by Disney in the States outright - they just licensed the name so the rule might be a bit different. No matter - if I don't get the ticket, I am still going.

Everland has its own share of cute, fuzzy characters, the most memorable being this really fat, round sheep that I got in a cell-phone charm version. I was going to keep it for myself, but figured my sister would appreciate it more - and she did, by the squeals of delight heard over Skype as I showed her via my webcam. Not like they walk around and give autographs to the little kids. According to Deena, Everland is very popular with the kids around the area - her kindergarten charges always talk about it and have season passes. With the different parks that are open different times of the year (including a waterpark) and the fact that its about $100 for a yearly pass it's not that expensive and a good way to keep the kids occupied, especially when school is out.

Which does not mean that Everland is for people under the age of 13. When Deena and I were waiting on line for this ride that not only rocks back and forth, but spins 360 degrees at the same time, there were plently of high school and college age kids around. There are rollercoasters a la Six Flags (none of which are like Kinga Ka, which I refuse to ride on, and Mel has been on twice in a row) but Deena and I were a bit wary of Korean rollercoasters. So after the first ride, we then proceeded to the one next door, an American rodeo theme ride (as we were in the "American" part of Everland, while the European part looks like a cartoon-y Switzerland) and proceeded to get extreme headaches, and my stomach lurched to somewhere in my esophagus and stayed there for the rest of the day.

So we decided to pursue tamer attractions, and went on a "safari" (which was kinda cool since the lions were like right up in front of the safari bus we were on in the enclosure) and looked at all the zoo animals. There was a parade (what theme park DOESN'T have one?) but the interesting thing was that all of the people in the parade were foriegners, and they all had blond wigs.

After the (sort of lame) parade, Deena and I went on the carousel. I like carousels - regardless of which carousel I am on and where I am, I am reminded of the $1.50 carousel in Central Park, near the 65th street entrance. Which reminds me - next time I am in NYC, I am due in for a ride on the carousel, since I did not get to ice skate at Wollman Rink (even though the last time I skated I was 5, at the Queens rink in Flushing-Meadows Park) this past Christmas.

The Men With the Spinning Horsetail Hats

Today, I went with Deena and a few of her friends from work to the Korean Folk Village. As with most of the attractions outside Seoul, Deena lives close by as she is in Yongin City, but in order to get to the places by public transportation, we have to go into Seoul to get to the place. It's the ultimate double-back and a bit annoying.

The Korean Folk Village was designed to look well, just like a village in Korea back in the day. It was complete with dirt roads, thatch-roof huts, pigs, pheasants and people making traditional Korean crafts.

However, this is the 21st century and while striing for some historical accuracy, places such as the Korean folk Village have their novelties as well so that everyone can be entertained. Even the bratty, snot-nosed kids that were painted on the banners on the bridge leading up to the kiddie part of Korean Folk Village, which was designed with Playland-like attractions, such as a mini Ferris Wheel, bumper cars and a carousel. We had to pay extra to go on the rides, and since I only budgeted for the basic pass, I didn't go on the rides.

We had lunch at an open-air food court where you first bought meal tickets, then went to the particular booth that made the specific food that you ordered. I ordered a leek pancake, which was leeks in this sort of batter and made into a pancake. One thing I noticed is that Koreans like to cook with ALOT of oil it seems. The woman jsut kept on pounding the cooking oil into the pancake mound and spreading it out, whereas I know that I could have made the same pancake with a helluva lot less cooking oil. It tasted rather greasy, but it was very good.

After lunch, we all headed over to the performance area and saw traditional Korean farmer's dance, seesaw jumping (where girls stood on a seesaw and using each other's weight, propelled themselves into the air) a tightrope walker and horse performances. It felt like a circus at times, but the tricks were very well done. My favorite part was when, in the farmers dance, men wearing horsetail hats spun the rod that connected the tail and the hat and sent the tail swirling, while at the same time propelling themselves about the performance ring like gymnasts.

A Museum Without Walls, But Alot of Repeat Exhibitions

On Sunday, Deena, Geraldine and I went to Gyeongju, a city designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, since it was the capital of the Korean Silla Dynasty. It is 4 hours outside Seoul, near Busan and the Korean version of Kyoto.

On the bus ride, I got a decent look at the Korean countryside - it's more flat than Japan, but still rather mountainous. When the three of us got there, we hightailed it to the Tourist Information Center, got some information and walked around. We first got on the local bus to Bulgaska, a Buddhist temple with various levels, and VERY STEEP STAIRS. I am terrified of stairs. Extremely terrified. So terrified, that I made Deena hold my hand while I went down the first few steps, then I held on to each step behind me while I went down. I even considered going down on my butt. Of course, while Deena and I went down and passed some Koreans going up, we got the obligatory, "Hello, where are you from?" questions.

Unfortunately, we just missed the shuttle bus to some grotto that was an hour's walk, or another hour's wait for the next shuttle. So we decided to skip the grotto and head onto the National Museum and Anapji Pond, a palace site. The museum was very well done and nicely curated, with detailed English explanations - I compared it to my experience at the Kyoto National Museum a week before.

After the museum we walked. Alot. Again. My poor knees and shoulders. It was all good - but the one thing with Gyeong-ju was that yes, its very vast and very open, very different from Seoul, but we covered most of the basics and the major stuff within three hours. Which included tomb mounds of dead kings, one of which we could go inside and was quite creepy if you think of it as "Hmm...we are in a dead person's coffin." Also the oldest observatory "in the Orient" as per the little guidebook that I got at the TIC which was like a mound of stones in the shape of a flat-topped sake bottle no more than three meters high. So since we were done, we went back to the bus station and got our bus tickets changed. Good thing too - with the traffic because of Lunar New Year, it took us over 6 hours to get back to Seoul.

Before we went onto the subway, I had to go to the bathroom. While walking in the bus terminal, this little Korean man took one looked at me, yelled at me in Korean, then walked off. It was rather disconcerting.

This is NOT Seoul. This is Flushing.

Queens is one of the most diverse counties in the United States. Once, in the NYTimes, there was an article about it, with the dozens of flags representing the myraids of nationalities in the shape of the borough.

Astoria - Greece
Woodside - Ireland
Jackson Heights/East Elmhurst - Colombia, Ecuador, India

etc. etc. You get my point.

Of course, the above said places are obvious in their ethnicities, but no place is Queens is more obvious in its nationality than Flushing. That place is Korean, right down to the local McDonald's that serves rice in addition to French Fries.

This past Thursday, I didn't fly to Seoul. I went back to Flushing, and it only took me two hours.

Of course, I went to Seoul. What I am saying is that Seoul is eerily like Flushing, from the office buildings covered in signs from top to bottom to the trash in the street because there are simply just too many people.

The kimchi is a wee bit too spicy for me - I prefer the Japanese version. I left my apartment at 12:35pm and went to the airport via the MK Sky Gate Shuttle anf didn;t get to Deena's apartment unti about 10:30pm because of traffic. That is a bit pathetic, considerting that the flight was only 1 and a half hours out of that 10 hour haul. This is what you get when you live really far from the airports. The bus was quite comfy though and really cheap - 11,000 won which is about $11.

We met up with her friend Geraldine and then went to get dinner at this Korean place and had chicken ghalbi. So I have eaten actual Korean food by now, but I am totally unfamiliar with it so I am a bit wary. To top it off, Deena actually lives near a restaurant that specializes in DOG meat. Oh, gross and poor dogs.

On my first full day, we went to Insadong, the old neighborhood in Seoul and walked around. Before we went to a palace (I forgot the name but it was really long and ends in "-dong") we had lunch at a McDonald's. In Korea, they actually charge you more if you take the food out, use plastic bags at the supermarket and take out coffee and other drinks at places like Starbucks, because they actually use real cups in the places. At McDonald's we had plastic cups that have their own special garbage can. There are so many Western chains here it's ridiculous; according to Deena, there are probably more Starbucks in Seoul than in NYC. I just checked on the Starbucks site: 200 about give or take in NYC proper and 135 in Seoul. Pretty close if you ask me. There are only about no more than 10 Starbucks in Kyoto. Crazy.

Before the tour of the palace, Deena and I walked about. I borrowed her Converses becasue I wanted to wear sneakers and I didn't bring my Asics because of fear that my suitcase would go over the 20kilo weight limit. I ended up with a huge blister on my right pinky toe and very achy legs and feet becasue the tour of the palace was a 2.5km hike. And it was not flat.

By the end of the day we got so exhausted we decided to head on back to Suji where Deena lives, an hour outside Seoul. Not even halfway through, the bus stopped and the driver ordered us all to get off. Turns out there was some sort of emergency and the driver called another bus on the route to pick us up. The bus was so crowded, we ended up standing for another hour and a half in the traffic. I was so exhausted, I was ready to drop. There is a;ways traffic going into Suji. Luckily, there was a Korean man who spoke English and explained the situation to us since we were totally clueless.

To be honest, I was ready to go into a panic; going to Korea was my first time travelling or living in a country where I knew not one shred of the language, not even how to say hello. I can say hello in Chinese, for crying out loud. Add to the fact that the streets in Seoul are even crazier than Japan's and it makes for one rather nervous traveller. People have come up to me to just say hello - they don't do that in Japan and it sort of caught me off guard. Plus, I think I stick out even more in Seoul than in Kyoto; one can chalk it up to that there are alot of tourists in Kyoto, but there are also ALOT of foriegn students, since Kyoto is like Philly - it has the highest concentration of students per square kilometer. And to top it all off, I was homesick.

For Japan.

That totally took me off guard. I got this nagging feeling during my first day in Seoul, and was totally shocked. Whou would have thought? My previous experience living abroad sort of ended in a bit of a disaster, so I wasn't really expecting much in terms of "missing the place" for Japan. But wow - I am homesick for my teeny little apartment, my bike, riding on Kyoto streets along the river and everything else in Japan. And that is just after living here for five months. I can only imagine what the feeling will be like in 13 months from now.

Oh. Holy. Crap. I ONLY have thirteen months left.

A Heart of Jam

Happy Valentines Day!

Chen came by since I had invited her over for brunch and I made pancakes. We both realized that it was Valentine's Day; since we had not chocolate, just syrup, butter, and strawberry jam, we improvised:



And just like chocolate, the pancake was very yummy.

Valentine's Day is done a bit differently in Japan. For starters, it's not really a couple's holiday in the sense that both partners take part in buying gifts for one another, going out to dinner etc. etc. There are actual, prescribed rules for Japan Valentine's Day:



1) If you are single and female you give chocolate that is not too expensive (i.e. Kit-Kat, Snickers, M&M's, 100yen chocolate from QQ Shop) to give to your guy friends, and other men in your life. This can range from your father, your boss or your advisor.
2) If you are single, female and you like a particular guy then you give him a little special chocolate in addition to the Kit-Kats that everyone gets - or is it just that special guy? I am thinking the latter, bit fuzzy here.
3) If you are female and in a relationship, then you give the one you love VERY expensive, VERY special chocolate.

Said chocolate is the type that you get at department stores, in the special events floor. Alisa had gone to one of the department stores in Osaka and gorged on the free samples. On her advice (and good one at that!) I went to the JR Isetan after the kimono taiken and got my chocolate fix. There were hundreds of women going crazy for little bitty pieces of overpriced chocolate from around the world, apparently.

But on February 14, it's all the women that go gaga and shop for all the chocolate that is to be found in Japan. What do the guys do?

Here we enter the world of "Funky Holidays That Only The Japanese Could Make Up." It totally trumps the American greeting card industry and their penchant for designating my birthday as "Happy Peanut Day" or something of the sort.

Enter White Day, Marc h 14. Exactly one month later, all the guys who got chocolate are required to reciprocate back to the ladies. As to how mandatory this is, I don't know. If the guy who got chocolate from a girl who like him and wants to tell her the same thing, then chocolate of the same grade is given back. How sweet - they then become sweeties over sweets.

Kimono, Kimono...HEIMONA!

There is a scene in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (you know you want to lay on the jokes, I know) where Toula Portakalos is reminiscing on her childhood:

Elementary School: the horror of Greek school (trust me and every Greek kid in Astoria, it's pretty bad) and "O Nikos ehei ena katsiki."

Junior High School: Her father daring her friends to give him "Any word and I can tell you that it comes from Greek."

Well, one of her friends took the dare and said, "What about 'kimono'?"

He pauses. "Ah I know! "HEIMONA" What do you wear in the winter? A rrrrrrrrrrrobe."

Winter being "heimona" and the robe a kimono.

Today, I went to a Kimono Taiken at Kyoto Station sponsored by the Kyoto International Prefectural Center. I had been originally denied to attend it because you had to apply for it. But I had a call back and due to a cancellation I was able to attend.

My kimono was a deep teal blue with a gold obi, both in a cherry blossom pattern. The zori were a bit uncomfortable and after putting on the kimono - I got to tie the obi by myself! - and began to walk around, I realized that I needed to slow the pace down.

All of us assembled on the grand staircase of Kyoto Station - quite a scene, 30 gaijin in kimono posing for pictures. A lot of people just stopped in their tracks and stared. Alot of the people wanted to take pcitures with me - those that were also wearing the kimono as well. Overall, it was a very nice experience - my obi wasn't heavy at all (obviously it wasn't the one for maiko!) although it did get a bit hot around the middle with the sashes, the folded kimono and the obi wrapping around you an all.

While we were playing the card games (remember the karuta from a previous post) a man was walking around and taking pictures of us. Turns out he was from the Kyoto Shinbun and proceeded to interview several of us, myself included. The Japanese version of the article is below, and this is the picture in the paper (I am on the far left):

色鮮やかな着物に笑み
下京　留学生ら着付け体験

外国人を対象にした着物の着付け体験教室が１１日、京都市下京区の府国際センターで開かれ、府内在住の留学生や外国人ら約３０人が日本の和装文化に親しんだ。
　同センターの企画に、京都和装産業振興財団が協力して開催した。新装きもの学院（下京区）の谷正美院長ら講師５人が、洋服と異なり、身長を問わず合わせられる着物の魅力や、若者の和装離や浴衣ブームなど和装をとりまく現状を説明。米国や中国、フランス、ウクライナなど各国出身の若者が、講師に手取り足取り指導を受け、着付けに取り組んだ。
　参加者は、すその長さの調整やえり合わせなどに戸惑いながらも、色鮮やかな着物に身を包むと、笑みがこぼれた。着物姿で京都駅ビルの大階段で記念撮影したり、かるた大会を楽しみ、日本文化を満喫した。
　ニュージーランド出身の英語教師ダン・ハリスさん(25)は「初めてだったが面白かった。とても着やすいし、快適」と喜んでいた。

Now, I want to wear a kimono for hanami - cherry blosson season. Chen says they are a bit expensive, but there are used kimono shops everywhere, its Kyoto after all!

One Fine Day

Saturday was such I nice day and for once, I did not have anything planned. No "To Do Lists" no laundry, no cleaning of apartment (postponed to the day before I leave for Korea) no grocery shopping.

Nothing, nothing.

I was faced with the prospect of a somewhat quiet day in my apartment playing Final Fantasy on my DS or piddling away on the internet, when I remembered that there was a special exhibition of the Imperial Palace screens at the Kyoto National Musuem. It ends on the 18th and since I will be in Korea then, Saturday was a very good day to go, indeed. I woke up in the morning and it was sunny and clear.

I rode my bike down to Shichi-jo and was very proud of myself, as I wasn't huffing, puffing or sweating like a pig when I finally arrived. Even though it was the 2nd Saturday of the month where the museum was free (2nd and 4th Saturdays), I paid 800yen (student discount) so that I could attend the special exhibition.


The special exhibition hall was extremely crowded and quiet at the same time. There wasn't much in English - just the title of the screen and who made it - so after a quick glance at the placard and then a look at the screens I moved on. There were audio guides but they were in Japanese as well.

I went to the main collections hall and was politely reminded that there was no photography, even when I was just outside the galleries. Pfft. Oh well. The museum overall was no Met but it was enjoyable. I thought it was going to be alot bigger, but I covered it all in about 2 hours.

After the museum, I began to make my trek back uptown but made an impromptu stop at Yasaka Jinja. The day was really nice so I figured it was a good time to check the shrine out. I stopped at a stall and got some takoyaki and was treated to a pleasant scene: a traditional Japanese wedding complete with the bride in head-to-toe white kimono with a demure and yet melancholic look at the same time.

I then headed up to San-jo where I went to Ogawa Coffee and had a cappucino and a green tea roll cake. I worked on reading "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in Japanese while at the cafe. I stayed there for about an hour and then had a realization: Book-Off, the discount bookstore that also has a branch in NYC was right across the river from Ogawa and on my way home. I had been meaning to get "Memoirs of a Geisha" in Japanese so I went to check out and see if they had it. After a little difficulty, I got both parts of the book (in Japan, books are small so they break larger books into little pieces) and even picked up "The Joy Luck Club" for 105yen.

Woman In Black

Every hear of the infamous "Black American Express" card? You know, the one that supposedly comes in its own chaffeured (sp?) limousine and in a black box and is only for the people that spend on their original Amex's over $250,000 a year?

You do get your own personal concierge with direct email and phone in addition to other perks that I have no use of. I just look foward to the day when I can go to J.Crew and maybe buy a sweater without having to wait for a sale. However, I know that even if that day comes, I will still wait for the sale.

I wonder, how someone in Japan could get such a card especially when alot of the retailers don't accept credit cards and when they do, it's not usually American Express. Then again, those kinds of people shop at Gucci, Apple Store, Prada, Louis Vuitton (biggest market for the company outside of France is Japan), Hermes, etc. etc. without batting an eye.

The Black one has always remained elusive. That is, until yesterday:

I met up with Mayuko at the Apple Store in Osaka's Shinsaibashi area and proceeded to decide upon the orange iPod shuffle (more burnt orange than citrusy orange) after multiple incidents with triggering the alarm on those things. We then ate ramen (YUMMY, kimchi!) and walked around the arcades. Shinsaibashi is my new favorite shopping area and probably one of the very few places that I like in Osaka.

We ended up at Zara - I always knew that they had sales going on and I just wanted to see what they had on offer since that was one of the very few stores in Japan (the second being the Gap and the third maybe Uniqlo) that would have stuff in my size. Lo and behold, they list the American sizes in addition to the Japanese. I found the perfect spring coat that fulfilled my "Audrey Hepburn" requirements: short, interesting buttons and 3/4 sleeves. I will wait on it though and see what there is to offer in Korea.

I did find a pair of capri leggings on sale - I needed a new pair - and this long, light airy scarf that feels like a cotton-silk blend. Original price: 6200 yen. I paid: 945 yen. Awesome. I am starting to like Zara very much - it has changed alot from when I first stepped into one of the many Zara's in Athens back in 2002.

While I was looking for a register, I saw something in the little tray that they use here to put the money:

the black American Express. The Centurion American Express. In retrospect, I wonder if its the titanium version, since they only introduced those last year.

The amount shown charged on the cash register?

61,000yen. That is about 600 dollars.

The person who owned the card and charged all that money?

A middle-aged woman dressed all in black. complete with the Chanel earrings, fake Hermes Kelly bag, real Louis Vuitton wallet, hot-pink pimped out cellphone, fake hair scrunchie, and the hideous Japanese manicure (where they glue on rhinestones in addition to the glitter nailpolish). Even Mayuko remarked that she was too old to be pulling stuff off like that, and shopping at Zara to boot.

Then again, Japan is the home of Princess Tenko, nee TMariko Itakura - the illusionist whose passport Kim Jong-Il once siezed during a visit to Korth Korea because he obsesses over her - who is obligated to "look like 24 forever," as per her contract with Mattel (yeah the same ones who own Barbie). She started performing in 1977 as a teenager, and was born in 1959. It's now 2007. Do the math and you see another example of Japan's youth obsessed culture.

京都で試みる新しい事

　　　２００６年１０月初めて日本へ来たので、少し心配だった。日本について読んだが、でも何も生活について知らなかった。確かに知っていた事は研究と日本語だけである。しかし、日本に行くのは勉強に加えて、また新しい事を試みるチャンスであった。
　　 研究興味に加えて、日本の邦楽にも興味がある。２００４年にロンドンに留学した時、琴の音楽を初めて聞いた。日本へ来る前に、琴の演奏のし方を学びたいと決定した。友達のおかげで、琴を教える人を見つけられた。平和的なので、琴の音楽が好き。なかなか眠れない時、iPodで琴の音楽を聞く。それから、音楽を聞くと、心の緊張がほぐれる。実際は、文部省のインタビューの前に、琴の音楽を聞いて、安心した。
　　　レッスンは楽しいけど、右手より左手の方をよく使うので時々難しい。右手だけで琴を演奏することができる。練習すればするほど、右手を使うことができる。私は挑戦が好きで、琴を演奏するのは、まさしく挑戦である。４月に立命館大学に入学すると、邦楽部に入るつもりであった。
　　　食べ物は費用にかかわらず国の文化の１つの重要な部分である。だから、機会があれば、私は新しい食べ物を食べる。日本に住んでいる最初の５か月、多くの新しい食べ物を食べたが、一番覚えているのは「納豆」と「河豚」と言う食べ物である。
三条で「かいてん寿司」というレストランで納豆を食べた。それはおにぎりにあった。いつもカメラを持って来るので、納豆おにぎりを食べる前に、写真を取った。アメリカに住んでいる友達と家族に毎週Eメールで写真を出すから、その面白い食べ物を見せたかった。つまり、多くの写真を取る。
　最初は、味が別に悪くないと思った。でも、驚いたことに、食べながら、味がとても悪くなった！しかし、おにぎりは全部食べた。おかしな顔をしたので、ともだちがみんなわっと笑い出した。やっぱり嫌いなので、決して納豆のような食べ物をもう食べないわけです。
　　　納豆に比べて、河豚を食べる経験が楽しかった。１１月に大阪で「まゆこ」という同じ大学を卒業したの友達に会った。まゆこちゃんは大阪で生まれたから大阪で多くの有名なレストランを知っている。JR大阪駅で会った時、私に「晩ご飯に何を食べたい？河豚を聞いたことがあるの？」と言った。河豚について読んだことがあるが、まだ食べたことがない。ちょっと心配でも、まゆこちゃんに「うん、面白そう！」と言った。
　　　５時間ぐらい大阪の回りを歩いた後、まゆこちゃんのマンションに着いた。とても疲れた！そこで、まゆこちゃんのお母さんに会って、少し休んだ。６時ぐらいに、河豚のレストランに一緒に行った。レストランは簡単な飾りつけであった。でも、すごかった。そのレストランは本当に日本的なレストランである。まゆこちゃんの家族は２５年ぐらいそのレストランに行っていった。2階の個室でゆかに座った。ゆかに座ることは楽しいことは楽しいですが、難しい。ことレッスンもゆかにすわるのに、いつも困っている。まだゆかに座ることに慣れない。しかし、必ずしもゆかに座らないというわけではない。
　　　もちろん、多くの河豚写真を取った。河豚がおいしいそうであった。そして、河豚のさしみやなべがあった。河豚を食べるのは初めてなので、何から食べるか知らなかった。まゆこちゃんは私を手伝ってくれた。最初は、ちょっとこわかった。彼女は食べ方を説明して、お母さんも色々な河豚の形を説明した。説明の後、あまりこわくなくなって、河豚を全部食べた。そして、特別な酒を飲んでみた。確か酒と河豚を一緒に作ったと思う。河豚を食べる経験が楽しくて、よかった。その経験を忘れたくない。
　　　日本の休日と祭りは、私にまた新しい事を試みる機会を与えた。例えば、節分に、平安神宮でまめもつかんだし、吉田神社で手相を見てもらった。初めての手相を見てもらった。手のひらはコンピュータに読まれて、プリントに「少し運動をしなければならない」と書いてある。それから、占い師によって、９３歳まで生きて、母方の祖母に守られる。びっくりした！
　　　もちろん、もっとたくさん話すことがある。これまでの経験を思い出させる多くの写真がある。例えば、カラオケや、一人で和食を作るの事である。その経験がニューヨークで出きないので、特別になった。新しい事を試みることは楽しみである。

Sing, Sing!

So I finally sucked it up and overcame my "I hate karaoke" mantra.

Ingram texted me the other day asking if I wanted to go to karaoke on Monday (today). Since that was the day of my last test, relatively cheap and I wanted a way to unwind from all the exam broo-ha-ha, I figured why not. Suck it up and sing.

The playlist, as far as I can remember:

"Bye, Bye Bye"
"Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
"As Long as You Love Me"
"Twist & Shout"
"House of Velocity"
"Man! I Feel Like a Woman"
"Addicted"
"We Will Rock You"
"Spice Up Your Life"
"Please Mr. Postman"
"Material Girl"
"Barbie Girl"
"Around the World"

The first song that I sang was "Spice Up Your Life" by the Spice Girls (might as well sing the stupidest sngs out there) but it's a hard song to do karaoke to, so I got a little dicsouraged. Then I saw ATC's "Around the World," and started to get into it. Everyone really got into "Addicted" by Simple Plan, but we (the Americans/Canadian amongst us) were aghast at the spelling mistake in the lyrics:

"I'm a d*ck, I'm addicted to you"

That was HILARIOUS - we lost our momento after the second time that popped up. Oh, Engrish. Gotta love it. Next time I go to karaoke I am going to make sure that song is up - not only so that I can sing along to it, because it's a really good song to karaoke to - but to take a picture of that particular line and post it on this site that calls for "Engrish" submissions. Hehe.

I had to leave early, but literally, people can stay there for HOURS. There is a one drink minimum but they also have food and dessert as well. The room that we were in was really cool - at first it seems like a normal room with wallpapered walls, but when the lights dimmed and the blacklights turned on:


Glow in the dark sea theme! I felt like I was in an aquarium.

Too Many Titles, Too Much Harry Potter

Ok, so Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter is doing the "full monty" in the West End. And "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" (cue the eery Halloween "OoOoO" music) is coming out July 21. Just like I did last time, I am going to stand on line at midnight and attend a Harry Potter party provided I am back home. I went to one for the 6th book and got the illustrator of the covers to autograph my sister's nice versions of 4,5 and 6. She has two sets: one that is literally in pieces (at least 4 and 5) to read and another set off first editions, hardcover (three of which are now autographed) for no one else to touch and is in separate plastic bags.

However, I am more concerned with what the heck the name of the 5th book in the series was - I totally forgot. Since Deena was on Skype, I began the following conversation after about 10 minutes of silence, since we (at least me, dunno about her) prefer to have Skype on since it's one less person that we have to type im's to. They can get messy, especially when you are talking to 6 people at the same time. Here is a reiteration of our Skype conversation (since it wasn't iChat it's not verbatim but you get the gist):

M: Oh, drat what's the name of the 5th book?
D: Umm..."Order of the Phoenix"
M: No, that's not it - that's the 6th book! Do you realize how pathetic we are, knowing that we are both talking about Harry Potter without having to say "Harry Potter?"
D: It is the "Order of the Phoenix."
M: Wait so what was the 4th book then?
D: The Goblet of Fire.
M: Oh drat...I'm confused, which movie is coming out next summer then - I thought it was the 6th book?
D: No...it's Order of the Phoenix that is coming out. Half-Blood Prince is number 6.
M: (head in hands) Ugh, I feel so stupid...

Got Demons? Use Mame.

This past weekend was Setsubun. According to Wikipedia, Setsubun is described as follows:

"In Japan, Setsubun (節分) is the day before the beginning of each season. The name literally means "seasonal division", but usually the term refers to the Spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun (立春), celebrated yearly on February 3. In its association with the Lunar New Year, Spring Setsubun can be thought of (and indeed was previously thought of) as a sort of New Year's Eve, and so was accompanied by a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. "

You can't get any more succinct than that.

Setsubun on a popular level is also a chance for really really big street festivals. Since I live near Yoshida Jinja, I got to see all the hoopla up close and not have to worry about rushing to find a bathroom. ;-) According to my teachers, Yoshida is the most famous shrine for Setsubun, and has special omikuji (fortune papers) inside little daruma dolls that are only at Yoshida. I got myself one and it said "Daikichi" - which is the best of luck! I also got a normal paper omikuji which said "kichi" (average) so I guess it all balances out and looks like I will have a decent year.

But the street fairs were a ton of fun. I ate myself silly! I had okonomiyaki, yakisoba, choco-banana, choco-ichigo, kobe-beef-on-a-stick, takoyaki, 2 crepes and a doughy fish with bacon and egg. Yum yum! Stall food is soo good but rather expensive.

On the first day of Setsubun, Colleen and I were at Yoshida in the evening for Tsuinashiki, a special procession done by people dressed in Oni (demon) costumes and Shinto priests - there is one big Oni and a bunch of smaller ones, and then the big Oni drives out the smaller Oni. This was more of a prelude to what was going to happen the next day which was the real Setsubun. Everyone that I knew was at the Friday night events - it was so crowded that at one point I ended up in front of a group of kindergarteners. One took a look at me and said pretty loudly: "Ah! Gaijin da!" (Ah! It's a forienger!) There were not alot of foreign faces - I practically knew most of them since they were all students at Kyodai - but I thought it was kind of intersting how my sheer presence can make a little kid exclaim rather loudly (it was quite noisy at Yoshida).

So the next day (Saturday) Colleen and I trekked on our bikes to Heian Jingu for the mame-throwing. Traditionally, you are supposed to throw mame whilst yelling "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (Demons out! Blessing in!). I found out on the net that this was going to happen at Heian Jingu at 3:00pm. Even though I did research on Heian Jingu and saw some photos, I was totally unprepared for the sheer ostentatiousness of the place. The torii was huge - and I think even though its on a smaller scale than the Daidairi, it sure as hell sticks out alot more than your typical Shinto shrine.


Colleen and I are walking around, trying to figure out what was going to happen and why the people were just standing on two sides of the courtyard. We soon got our answer: Heian Jingu did its own version of driving out the demons. After the demons were driven out of the compound, the barricades holding the crowd back were let away and total chaos ensued. For all the reputation of Japanese being orderly, they sure as hell went nuts for a bunch of soybeans in packets! Colleen and I then went closer to the crowd (after they ran to the main stage) to just take pictures of the chaos. Turns out, a packet of mame bounced off an obaa-san's head and dropped at my feet. In a split-second, I shot down and grabbed it! total impulse but I figured hey why not, I am in the midst of the corwd and being shoved I might as well get some mame. I shared the packet with Colleen, even though that for good luck I am supposed to eat one mame bean for each year that I am, plus one for good luck - 23.

Some of the people that were throwing out the mame packets were boring old officials and old ladies with poorly died hair in kimono. However, three of them were real maiko. Turns out, at the larger shrines across Japan, celebrities and famous sumo wrestlers and other personalities go to the shrines and toss mame packets to the crowd. So in kyoto, the local celebreties are the maiko and geiko.

After the crazy Japanese run, Colleen and I then went to Mibu-Dera to see a play about Setsubun and met up with her friend Charlie. Even though it was Kyogen, the play was rather boring. After, I rode my bike back to my apartment and met up with Mayuko who was back in Japan. We are going to meet up in Osaka at the Apple store this Thursday to get my iPod shuffle (in orange! My iPod died twice on me yesterday). Ate some more, walked around Yoshida some more and then went back home because my body was so tired from the long bike ride.

Before I left, I had my palm read by computer - it was in English. In addition to the printout that I got, a man read my palm and Mayuko translated for me. He said:

1) That I will live till 93 and be healthy;
2) I have "so much good luck" because my maternal grandmother (who is alive still) is protecting me;
3) And that I had better marry the guy that I am with since he is a very good match with me.

Domo, Makku Desu. Konnichiwa, Pasokon Desu. Bye-bye, iPoddo Desu.

I have just about had it.

My iPod is totally shot from here to kindgom come. I can`t put it on hold anymore because the hold button will freeze my iPod (harks back to the time when I did not use my case and just tossed it into the depths of my bag) and the battery is so gone that I have to carry my charger with me now so that I don`t have a dead iPod for my 2 minute bike ride home.

Just goes to show how dependent on my iPod I am. I am using it again at night to help me fall asleep since I haven`t been sleeping well lately.

This re-emergence of the loathing that I have for my dear iPod was triggered once again by an email I got from Apple, announcing that their nifty clip-on iPod shuffles now come in color a la iPod Nano. About time. They are also very affordable to - $79 or 9800yen. Before everyone goes aghast at the difference in price, I did the math: when you configure the NYC taxes (as the 9800yen list price includes the tax) and convert 9800yen into USD, its actually $80 - 5 dollars less than the $79 iPod shuffle after taxes (which comes to about $85). And besides, my income is in yen - best get things on this side of the world. I WOULD get an iPod video, but I want to wait for the latest generation (or the iPhone!). Furthermore, the iPod shuffle is good for the gym, which I plan to join in March.

On another note, when I was on the Japanese site, I came across the Japanese versions of the Mac vs. PC commercials. Not only did I understand them but they were HILARIOUS. There is this one where the Pasokon (PC - as represented by a salaryman) is decked out in all protective gear with the katakana for `Pa` (as in `pa-so-ko-n`) emblazoned on the front. He tells the Mac (hipster) that it`s for protection against viruses, and they are all the spyware and firewalls. Mac doesn`t wear anything (obviously!) but here is the kicker: unlike the American commercials, where Mac and PC keep chatting till the end, Japan Mac tells Pasokon that there is a virus (off screen) and then Pasokon slowly meanders behind Mac. Mac just looks at Pasokon, who has this look of fear on his face.

For some strange reason, the Japanese Mac ads are much more hilarious than the American ones. I noticed that Mac uses informal language, while PC uses formal language. That surely drives the point home, ne?

DIE, KANJI, DIE.

I just took my kanji final and my grammar final.

Kanji - failed. For sure. I took one look at that thing, and in spite of the fact that I studied maybe over 200 words, the ones that I studied were not on the test.

Not that it matters; the down low for the Monbusho kids is that so long as you try and go to the classes and make some effort, its not like they are going to kick you out of the program. And that will be the only final that I fail regardless. I took Intermediate Kanji as opposed to Basic Kanji III because I wanted a challenge and I did not want to repeat stuff I learned. So while I did learn ALOT of new Kanji and vocabulary, etc. etc. the stuff I did cover was unfortunately not on the test. Maybe I will pass the class by the skin of my teeth - I always do well on the quizzes and I come to every class.And besides! EVERYONE and their mothers use the denshi jishos anyways. You see all the Japanese kids with one (You can tell I am in a bad mood over my kanji final - I busted my ass for THREE weeks preparing for that test and it was all for naught at least in terms of passing the test).

I on the other hand, have my pink Nintendo with the pink pig cell phone charm, which my teachers are just amazed by - my kanji teacher asked that since I got my DS in NYC can I play Japanese games? Of course - I got the jisho game here.

DS`s are very rare in Japan and if you do find one, its twice the price than the US.

Moving along...Grammar - pass. That was pretty easy. Maybe over an 80 - I will be happy with that, but I still get the ~sou desu stuff mixed up sometimes.

Remaining tests*

Listening: Final/Wed
Integrated: Quiz on Ch. 9 & 12/Wed; Final/Thurs
Reading: Quiz & HW/Fri
Coversation: Final/Mon

Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffttttttttttttttt...

Ok, for the LAST TIME...

...I am NOT a professor!

Get it straight!

I did not write it anywhere in my application. I know that you think that that is the safest action so that you do not offend anyone, but when you have the 5 different options for salutation (Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms./Dr.) and I do NOT choose `Dr.` obviously I am not a doctor!

In other news, I just got my official notification that I was accepted to the Asian Studies Conference Japan in Tokyo this June - in my Spam box.

Shake, Rattle and Roll...Ride that Earthquake Baby!

Karma can really bite you in the arse.

The day that I say that I haven`t experienced an earthquake was the EXACT same day that I experienced one!

I went to bed my normal time, but around 2:14 a.m. my bed shook enough to wake me up. I can be a bit of a light sleeper (sometimes I need a blindfold just to force my eyes closed so I stay asleep, but then the elastic wears out so I go through quite a few blindfolds) so needless to say I was obviously woken up. By the time I gathered my senses - oh, about less than half a minute - the shaking stopped.

`HOLY CRAP! What was that?` I thought.

I sent texts to Colleen and Alisa; Alisa responded, confirming that it was indeed an earthquake. She asked if I was alright; I was perfectly fine, if a bit shaken up because I had never experienced an earthquake. So, I began to laugh because it was a bit funny because I freaked out so much.

According to a link from the Japan Meterological Agency that a forum member posted in a thread aptly titled, `Shake, Rattle and Roll...Ride that Earthquake Baby!` there was an earthquake in Fukui-ken and the measurement was a 4.4 - what I liked about that link what that it measured the seismic activity in the rest of the area, and in my neck of the woods, it was a 1.

Of course, my mom got all freaked out but with good reason - she was in a 7.1 earthquake back in the day when she used to live in California.

Musings for the End of the Semester

The end of the first third of my year in Japan is coming to a close. More so school-wise than time-wise; of course when one is going to travel to KOREA for two weeks, then Mel coming for two weeks in March, surely makes the almost two month long vacation less dreary, for at first, i I didn't know how to fill it up. For the time that I am not in Korea or that Mel isn't here (did I mention he is coming in March? WOO-HOO!) I plan to do the following:

1) SLEEP. Oh yes, sleep till like 1 o'clock in the afternoon like any proper student should!
2) Practice the koto.
3) Reading and research - but that is enjoyable. And yes, I once again reiterate the fact that I am a geek.
4) General sightseeing around Kyoto - Colleen and I plan to go to Nara for a day.
5) HAVE FUN. Ingram, if you are reading this, I MIGHT consider karaoke. Just might.
6) Oh yeah, and review my Japanese, in preparation for the scary transition that is known as "From Safe, Pretty Bubble of Japanese Classes to 'The Real World-Japan.'" Bye-bye, getting away with speaking English most of the time since that is the common language (besides jacked-up Japanese) amongst the international students at Kyodai.

The reading/research part will probably take up alot of time. There is alot of background reading that I want to do. I plan to do it all at cafes - namely Ogawa and Starbucks. I'll probably switch back and forth between the two.

So, I have compiled a list of my first impressions/general observations about Japan. Maybe when March 2008 comes, I will look back on this and laugh. And provide my list of second impressions.

The Musings:


1) Anything that has the word “katsu” in it is extremely addicting and is my nutritional downfall.
2) I was able to bypass the horror known as the Japanese rental system, because I pay attention to the bulletin boards at school and look DOWN as well as UP.
3) Google and I have a great relationship. Without Google, I wouldn't have found the place in Osaka that does eyebrow waxing. On the other hand…
4) …I have a love-hate relationship with iPhoto. I hate the fact that it sort of duplicates my photos in form so I can use the program, but I love how I can make a really spiffy photo album and then order it when I am done. So, unlike my London photo album which is still not done yet, I will have my Japan photo album waiting for me when I arrive home.
5) I notice there is a big difference in mentality between the Monbusho kids (already college graduates and then some) and the KUINEP kids (still in college).
6) Japanese college students really like their drums and brass instruments. I hear a cacophony of them at all hours of the day on campus and I hear them outside the library.
7) People really like my project. For real! I got accepted to the Asian Studies Conference Japan in TOKYO, run by the Association for Asian Studies - woot! (It's posted on the site, they havent given me official notice yet.)
8) But I really need to get my bum cracking on something related to it, even if outside background reading. Can someone give me suggestions?
9) I am definitely going to have to come back hear for another year at least in grad school.
10) Japanese cell phones aren’t as confusing as one thought. I actually do have a manual in English. And I figured out how to use the internet on my phone. Can anyone say, "Yahooooooo!"
11) Speaking of English stuff – I don’t use the English bus map. I try to incorporate Japanese as much as possible.
12) I know all the street signs of the major streets on the Eastern side of the city like the back of my hand and in kanji to boot.
13) I can read the kanji of a street sign before I get close enough to read the romaji.
14) I hate karaoke. I refuse to do karaoke. I have a hate-hate relationship with karaoke.
15) Nitori delivers furniture for free. Not that I need anymore.
16) Feta does exist in Japan. At a price.
17) I can cook Japanese food. Heck, I can cook!
18) My speaking is still a bit off.
19) Jikoshokai is the most annoying thing – how many times do I have to do it?
20) My legs are too long for this country.
21) My left knee has been bothering me since I left Japan – I can’t bend my leg back all the way – and I have no clue why.
22) I can’t sit on the floor with my legs folded underneath – see knee problem above.
23) Free koto lessons! And at the same time, Japanese language practice with someone that is not a teacher or a classmate.
24) Kyoto is really rainy. And really humid. And apparently, really cold.
25) But that means I get to use a really cool umbrella. And contrary to popular sayings from the locals, come on, its NOT that cold! I am used to zero degree weather (Fahrenheit) WITH a wind chill. Beat that.
26) You would be stupid if you didn’t have a bike.
27) You would be crazy to ride your bike in the rain, holding your umbrella with all your crap in the bike basket – that’s why they invented umbrella holders to attach your umbrella to the handlebars. But that doesn’t mean I have one yet.
28) There is no such thing as gas or oil heat. Unless you have a kerosene heater.
29) Shop 99, 3 Coin Shop and any 100-yen shop are a student’s lifesaver.
30) The cafes here are awesome. If sometimes a bit expensive.
31) It is actually cheaper to eat out than in sometimes.
32) Sushi on a conveyor belt!
33) The cafeteria here kicks Sodexho’s butt anyday.
34) That drum cacophony is REALLY pissing me off.
35) I feel more comfortable in Kyoto than in Osaka. And I am not the only one who thinks so.
36) Onigiri is a great snack. But beware if you can't read the label, then it's the most disgusting food on earth, next to natto.
37) Japanese chocolate – wow. It kicks Cadbury's butt anyday.
38) PIZA MAN!
39) When I get back home for good, I am definitely going to get tons of stuff from Sun Mart and Hong Kong supermarket.
40) They need to introduce the uni coop system in the States. Travel agency, dry cleaner, pharmacy, book store, school supplies, books and food all in one spot – come on! One stop shopping for students!
41) Photocopying is really cheap, so long as you make the paper settings to B4.
42) Unfortunately if I did get that umbrella holder for my bike, I would be laughed at from here to kingdom come, since only "obaa-sans" have that on their bikes.
43) I still haven't felt an earthquake.
44) Japanese offices are run so bureaucratically to the point that they become inefficient.
45) I still can't type properly.
46) And I still write my kanji a bit backwards. Gotta love genetics for making me a lefty.
47) However, that might be rectified, since the electronic dictionary for my Nintendo only recognizes the kanji if it's written in the correct stroke order.
48) Cute little pink pigs as cell phone charms? Of course!
49) Cell phone charms in general? Hell yeah!

and for the last one:

50) The McDonald's in Japan are way cleaner, much nicer and is THE place for students to chill and do their homework. The Kyodai area really needs a Starbucks.

Lil' Miss Goody Two-Books

Finals are approaching. I have 5 tests in three days, and then one more the following Monday. That is just pure hell.

I had a three day weekend since this Friday was the day of reckoning for all high-school students:

the once-a-year-do-or-die-National-Examination-Day.

In an ironic twist of fate I think, the exams were held at Kyodai (as far as I know, for there could be other test sites) - the one place that all high schoolers want to go to to, second only to Tokyo Uni (Todai). That could motivate students more, as Alisa pointed out but I tend to look on the darker side of things. I took the SAT once at Columbia and I had that awful experience of two rejection letters on the same day.

So, what did I do this weekend? I surely did not go out and see the pretty sights of Kyoto even though the weather was nice.

STUDY.
STUDY.
STUDY.

I wasn't the only one - the library on all three days was packed. When I got there in the mornings, the bike racks in front of the library were all full; on a normal non-finals-are-coming-up day, they are usually pretty empty. By the time I left at around 4pm (Saturday and Sunday, I left the library at 8 on Friday, but got there at 1), not only were the bikes racks PACKED, but the space in between them (for there are two sets of bike racks at the library) were so filled with bikes that you couldn't even walk in between them. Funnily enough, there are signs everywhere that say to not park your bike in that area. You always park your bike where the signs say to not park your bike.

Nonetheless, I work my arse off in the library but when I get home, all the stuff on my "To Do" list is done. Comapred to my procrastinating habits in college it sort of feels good to come home and then just chill because all your stuff is done. Sometimes I worry that I am not studying enough for finals because I come home and then chill for 5 hours before I go to sleep or so but I need to kind of remind myself that you worked in the library for 6 hours. Chill. It will get more hectic during the week with class and all but it is manageable.

So now my dinner is cooking - tonight I will slurp udon whilst watching "Monsoon Wedding."

You Know You`re a Mac User When...

...you are on AIM on a PC and you forgot all your friend`s screenames and get them mixed up, because on iChat you have it configured so that it shows the real name and not the screen name.

Also, when you are on a PC you unconsciously move the mouse to the upper right hand corner and get mad when nothing happens, because you have too many windows open and you just want to get to that particular one that you need in a flash.

The Air Routes More Traveled

I cannot contain myself!

I AM GOING TO KOREA!

I AM TRAVELLING!

I AM GETTING OUT OF THE COUNTRY!

I WILL SET FOOT ON MAINLAND ASIA!

On a sarcastic note as Deena pointed out, it's not like I can get to the rest of Asia through Korea - good ol' Kim Jong-Il is standing in the way with his oversized Ray-Bans and frizzy combover.

I got my plane ticket today from Kyoto Uni's Co-op today; Alisa told me that they have good discounts for students. Another thing I like about the co-op is that I can pay my ticket in cash right then and there and thus would not have to use my credit card. Pay it and get it over with. I like that Japan is more cash-based: don't have the money, then you don't buy it because they don't take debit or credit cards 90% of the time anyways.

I was going to do it this morning actually - I had gone to the co-op, asked for the information, got the information and was just about to fork over the money when I realized that I should err on the side of caution, and ask my homeroom teacher just in case about when the classes officially end and when break begins. So I took my printout and told the lady I would come back probably on Thursday, since I would see my homeroom teacher tomorrow for listening class.

Turns out, I ran into her today; so right after grammar class, I went back to the co-op. I have to say it was quite interesting to actually fork over the money to a travel-agent-person and just get it all done and over with.

Deena already has a bunch of stuff planned. Ice skating, skiing, the DMZ, her kindergarten class graduation, shopping, museums, palaces, and maybe a temple stay overnight.

So excited!

Go Ahead. Make His Day.

So, the guy from the company that runs my building dropped in promptly at 7pm this evening, as per our arrangment over the phone earlier today. He comes in, takes his shoes off and heads to my itinerant bathroom with the pissy pipes, bucket and plunger in hand.

Pissy pipes - not really. More like stuffed up strainer.

He lifts up the metal lid on the floor and I actually gasp out of embarrasment. It wasn't a case of "the shower is clogged, get the Drano and sulfuric acid" (one time, I poured candle wax down the sink, now THAT was embarrassing). The plumbing here is a wee bit different - the pipe from the shower and the sink empty into this hole that the strainer was covering together. There is no separate pipe for the shower, like back home. I was thinking that it was going to be a major operation, as memories of my dad with the infamous "snake" came into mind.

No, this was a simple case of the strainer wasn't cleaned. I was so embarrased, and started to ramble off in Japanese: "I am so sorry, this is so embarrasing, this is my first time living alone, Japanese plumbing is quite different..." I felt so bad that I had to make the guy come, I took the strainer and began to clean it myself - and since he also touched it, pumped some of the liquid hand soap that I had luckily bought earlier in the day and directed him to the kitchen sink so that he can wash his hands.

I then proceeded to wash the strainer in the kitchen sink; he kneeled on the floor and we chatted about this and that, since I wanted to make sure that it was just the strainer and not some bigger problem.

In retrospect, it was a total "gaijin" moment and quite funny. I'll bet it will be the watercooler topic for tomorrow at the company.

One other thing that I noticed: when I was rambling quite coherently all in Japanese, I noticed that I did just that - ramble in the way that I just let myself go and didn't stop to think about trying to translate a sentence or a word. I probably made some mistakes but I didn't stop, which I think, is a good thing.

This little fiasco probably made the guy's day - go to building, soothe nervous female gaijin and get to sit down and chat while she cleans the strainer.

Beef: It's What's for Tabehodai

Japanese Lesson #12 (I think):

1) Tabehodai: ALL.YOU.CAN.EAT.

Other than the nice, juicy steaks that I had back when I was home for Christmas - prompting my mother to comment that I am eating too much red meat, but there isn't much to be had on this side of the sea regardless - I don't and haven't had the chance to eat red meat ever since I left for Japan. Like beef for example. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Yum yum. My "farewell" dinner cooked by Mel back in October was a steak, potatoes au gratin, corn and A-1 steak sauce.

Of course a lot of red meat is bad for you, and it's really expensive here so I don't bother. It's chicken and fish for me, with the occasional meatballs.

On Saturday, the day before the "my bathroom is flooded" fiasco, I went to Prof. S.'s house in Gion (I love that house) for a presentation on a course that he is preparing for next fall: Kyoto's Modern History. When he told me about it, I had the following reactions (internally of course):

1) My mouth dropped.
2) I began to hate those future KCJS kids, damn lucky people.
3) "PLEASE PLEASE can I just at least sit in on the class? I will be quiet, not say a peep and do all the readings and the homework!"

Just as I was getting the balls to ask if I can sit in the back corner of the J-pod next fall, he turns around and says, "You know, since you are doing this exact thing, you could be my TA, help out with the students, etc...."

So my internal reactions changed to the following:

"HOLY CRAP, REALLY?!?! Thank you so much this is such an awesome opportunity!!!"

First off, I'll get more hands-on-force-me-to-think in depth study. Secondly, I would get paid (not that it matters, hell I would have done it for free since it's such a great oppoortunity). Thirdly, its nice "shiny" (as Cat would say) TA experience that would look great on my resume and grad school apps. This was all before vacation but I really didn't say anything till now because of the presentation and that it is still all up in the air. Scheduling and all, but I will make this fit. Not like I have to take zillions of classes, especially in Fall '07.

Fourhtly, I have now more resources to look at. Part of the presentation included a tentative syllabus. What was cool was that about half of the stuff can be found in my bibliography. At least I know I am doing something right. ;-)

The presentation was in Japanese but I got about 50% of the specifics and a good general sense about it. Prof. S. actually introduced me (and this other student) to the crowd of the academic people attending and actually passed around two copies of my thesis (the edited/long one, as of June 2006). At first I was a wee bit surprised but I figured fine by me. One woman actually took a copy, saying that my work was very interesting. I also met a girl, who said that she was in the seminar hosted by my professor at Ritsumeikan (Prof. S. asked me who was my teacher in front of the whole crowd when introducing me); I asked what kind of teacher he was and she said "Very kind." That's a relief - one guy mysteriously guffawed loudly when I said my teacher's name to the crowd.

After, I called Alisa and asked if she was still up for watching Grey's Anatomy together. She totally forgot, saying that she was at Fuji Daimaru with Ted and Tracy (two JETs) - but since I had told her that I was on Shijo anyway, want to come for dinner? (We watched GA the next day).

No prob, I said. Sounded like fun. And now, Fuji Daimaru is my new favorite department store. I want to buy stuff from there, and furnish my future house/apartment with that stuff. Japanese house stuff is awesome.

We all got hungry. MEGA hungry. And we wanted to pig out. So Ted knew this Korean BBQ tabehodai place for about 2000yen. We had to wait a bit when we got inside, but it was totally worth it. We had a starter of three plates of meat and kimchi veggies, and THEN comes the all-you-can-eat. My favorite was this beef called "Den-niku" which uses the characters for "heaven" and "meat" so Alisa and I called it "heavenly meat." It sure was heavenly!

The Japanese are smart about tabehodai. To prevent customers from staying there FOREVER, there is a 90-minute time limit. Fine by us. We got stuffed, and we had all three desserts on the tabehodai menu.

That was the best meal I have ever had while going out for dinner in Japan. Gotta love tabehodai.

Being An Adult Sucks

You have to pay bills.

Yiu have to pay health insurance.

Don't forget the rent!

Oh yeah, and if you rent an apartment and something goes awry, you have to wait till the landlord recieved your email so that he can fix the clog in your shower that lead to a flood in the bathroom because all the piping is connected. Daddy isn't here anymore with the snake.

Luckily, my landlord is the sort to reply to his emails promptly.

What Country Are You In Now?

So I never did any of my homework over the vacation.

Oh, bloody well. I needed to detox - this vacation was sorely needed to "take the edge off" as Mary says.

Study for million hours? Yeah, I needed that two week break. Plus in the first week, I was stil getting over my cold and had really bad jet lag - on Wednesday last, I slept for 20 hours straight. I really didn't do that much if you think about it, since the first week was rest and detox from my first three months in Japan. When I go back, it's only a month and a half of class left then six weeks vacation. Awesome. I am making a list of places to go and things to do already. I refuse to stay put, except for maybe the last week or two where I will study to prepare for my placement tests in Japanese at Rits (nickname for Ritsumeikan, which is what I will use from now on.)

So how was my vacation? I'll make a list for ya:

1) According to a Fordham insider I am still famous at Fordham. Yikes. I was mentioned in the Fordham Magazine like three times for the same thing. Sort of excessive in my opinion. Oh well, all universities toot their horns any chance they get - and Fordham slipped two spots this year in the US News & World Report rankings.

2) Saw friends. They loved all their little goodies from Japan. And I missed going out in NYC. I love the downtown/Wall Street bar scene, because the pubs date back from the 1800s and pub food is so good.

3) Went to Whole Foods. Twice. Woot!

4) Jaywalked. Four times. Double woot!

5) J.Crew "After Christmas" sale. 'Nuff said.

6) GREEK FOOD. Oh, greek food.

7) STEAK. Mashed potatoes. REAL FOOD.

8) My friend Kathy thought the line, "I was born in Astoria, but I live in Japan now" is really cool. In a way it is. ;-) It's kind of funny, how I have two cell phones, for two totally different countries. In London, I used the same cell as I did in the States since the network is the same, I just had a different SIM card. The bar has been raised in terms of the fact that I am a resident of two countries.

9) Downloaded alot of 80's music. I am on an 80's music kick.

10) I got the Nintendo DS Lite in PINK! Triple woot. Now I will be occupied when I am bored, and will get the dictionary game so I can use it in class.

11) It was SEVENTY DEGREES FAHRENHEIT (about 23 C for the non-US crowd) today in the city. It is JANUARY. I wore a cardigan and no jacket. The world is coming to an end. I never needed my warm weather clothes and again, I overpacked.

12) Saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway with Leah and my parents. It was awesome - the music is amazing, and Leah got us good seats.

So again, I am packed and I go home with more stuff, like some of my Spring clothes (which isn't much, because I don't like warm weather clothes that much). My next return to the States will be July, but in March I go to Korea and in May I go to the Philippines (90% possible).

Lots of countries. Not enough passport pages.

A Whack in the Face

I know I am home.

First off, on the way back home from the airport, Mel and I were yelling (a bit) at the other stupid drivers with out of town license plates (yes we are evil when it comes to the highway) because they drove too slow and don't know how to handle NYC traffic.

Secondly, I went into the city and preceeded to be swarmed by tourists and people who actually STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK to take photos of the "really tall buildings." MOVE IT, people!

Thirdly, I totally lost my uptown-downtown/East Side-West Side orientation. Shame on me.

Fourthly, in my futile search to find a pink Nintendo DS Lite (obviously sold out because every kid wanted one for Christmas) I got whacked in the face by a father at the Toys R Us in Times Square (stupid, stupid move Maria, you do NOT go to Times Square!) wielding those plastic security cases with a video game inside. There is a scratch along my right eye, and the father proceeded to say "Sorry!" so fast and so loud as if I was going to pounce on him because he wacked me in the face.

I was exclaiming rather loudly, but no I wasn't going to kill him.

I am a NICE New Yorker.

But sometimes, I do give out the wrong directions on the subway. That's an accident.

Guess Who's Back, Back Again...

Here is my version of the Mastercard commerical:

1) Plane ticket from Osaka to NYC: 1400 USD
2) Shuttle bus from apartment to Kansai International Airport: 3000 JPY
3) The looks on my parent's faces: priceless.

The flight was really long. There was a guy in the next section over playing Final Fantasy 3 (in Japanese) on his Nintendo DS Lite. At that very moment, I resolved that I had to get myself a Nintendo DS. I was somewhat concerned about the lack of a pink DS in the States because DS's are rather expensive in Japan as compared to the States. However, when I finally went on the internet and to the Toys 'R' Us site - pink! I am going to get it today. On a side note, the DS will prove usefull - there is a game that serves as a denshi jisho. Until I scrape the money to get the real thing, it will do for now.

Regardless, I couldn't sleep. Too excited and was still suffering from my cold. Detroit was well, Detroit. Gray and industrial. Our flight was delayed because of baggage issues from connecting flights and I landed at LGA at 4pm, a good 20 hours after I left Osaka. Flying to Japan is one thing. Flying to New York is quite another; with the jet lag, I think it's harder to come stateside than it is to go to Japan. It is now 5am here in NYC and I am still jet-lagged.

I met up with Mel at the airport - so happy! We drove back to my house - I live 10 minutes away from LGA - and Mel didn't park the car in the driveway. My mom tends to look out the front window when she hears a car pull in and we didn't want her to see any vestiges of me. So I sort of had to duck as I went to the basement door (the entry to the garage and the basement outside slopes downward. Mel and I entered quietly and then we began to make our way upstairs.

Mel: (coming through the basement door) Can I give you my present now?
Mom: Sure! (Goes out of kitchen into dining room to get Mel's gift, returns to kitchen) Oh my GOD!
Me: Hello! I come from Japan, bearing gifts and a cold.

My parents were totally shocked. They had NO CLUE. As in, my dad was in disbelief for a few good hours and still laughing about it and my mom nearly had a heart attack and said it was a good thing she wasn't holding anything.

Pretty much, anyone in my circle under the age of 30 (with the exception of Mel's parents, as we asked his mom for help in finding a plane ticket) knew. My mom called her friend Katherine who is Ellie's mom:

Mom: Katherine. Ask Ellie if she knows anything about my Christmas present.
Katherine (calls over to Ellie): What's this about Helen's Christmas present?
Ellie: I dunno.
Katherine (turns to mom): What are you talking about?
Mom: Ask Ellie if she knows about Maria.
Katherine (turns to Ellie): What's this about Maria? isn't she in Korea?
Ellie: Um, no. She is in Astoria.

I even called my relatives in Florida and they were shocked too. My mom is going to have the best story to tell at work; like I mentioned, she told all her coworkers (as they like to keep updated on my status) that I was going to Korea.

Got them!

The Name is Fuji. Mr. Fuji.

Japanese Lesson #11:

1) San - "Mr." or "Miss," "Mrs." etc. Honorific tied onto the names.
2) Yama - mountain

I was trying to doze off and keep an eye out for the flight attendants who were giving out the lunches at the same time when the captain of the plane made an announcement:

"If you look onto your right, Mt. Fuji will be coming up on your left." Naturally, everyone in the plane began to go gaga, myself included. Who gets an aerial view on a clear day of one of the most well-known symbols of Japan? Sometimes I wonder if those maiko I saw back in October were really tourists dressing up as geisha (which is quite common) so the prospect of seeing geisha in general is extremely slim.

Mt. Fuji is one of the most famous symbols of Japan. Everyone knows what Mt. Fuji is regardless of whether or not they have anything to do with Japan. One can climb that mountain - :::cough cough::: volcano - and it's famous for being really pretty from afar, but gross up close. The place is covered with trash.

It's also famous for the "Black Forest." Not the one in Germany - no, this Black Forest's floor is covered with iron from the volcano, rendering regular Boy Scout compasses and cell phones useless. People go in there to commit suicide. The police conduct a round-up of the bodies once a year, and have to tie ropes around their waists so that they don't get lost in the forest.



There is something funny about Mt. Fuji. The Japanese call Mt. Fuji "Fuji-San," as opposed to "Fuji-yama." There are mountains that have the name + yama to create the official name of the mountain, but dear ol' Fuji is the only one with "san" at the end of the name. I know that this harks back to respect for the mountain and several thousand years of custom and traditional Shinto belief, but it's kinda funny when you say "Fuji-san, and it can also mean quite literally, "Mr. Fuji."

I wonder if the mountain likes his lava shaken, not stirred.

Over the Ocean and Across the Continent...

...to my parent's house we go!

One important thing about this blog entry:

I am not publishing this until December 24, 2006. My mom reads this blog and thus, publishing this on the date when I begin this journey of 6000+ miles and my American Express card doing some tough exercise to the tune of about $1400 entirely defeats the purpose of being on my parent's doorstep on December 24, ringing the doorbell and saying "Yoo-hoo! Guess who is here?" in a high-pitched, grandmother-ly voice (which, I think, is hilarious). Or, I can come up through the basement, and then just APPEAR in the living room.

Oh, the options and elements of surprise. I just hope I don't give my parents heart attacks.

(Note: Obviously, this is going to be a LONG entry. You were warned.)

November 21, 2006: Operation - Surprise the Parents

It all began with the following premise: I have two weeks off at the end of December. Before I came to Japan, I was exploring my options of what I will do over the holiday break, which I probably have sketched out in previous entries. To clarify:

1) Go to Hong Kong with Deena

OR

2) Go to Philippines with Mel.

Over the course of my first two months in Japan, another option presented itself, because a ticket to Hong Kong is $1300 from Osaka (WTF?!?!?!?!?):

3) Mel comes visit me in Japan.

The idea of visiting Deena in Korea over Xmas was nil, precisely because I have those 6 weeks off between Kyoto Uni and Ritsumeikan Uni. So I knew I was going to Korea in February or March. Hong Kong was out because of the ticket price; I found an amazing hotel that was reasonably priced from The Frugal Traveler column in the NYTimes so that was ok to go, as Jodie Foster would say. However, since I did not know when my vacation was exactly (and neither did Deena hers), I couldn't make any travel plans before I came to Japan (when tickets would have been cheaper). So, bye bye Hong Kong. I'll visit it through Wong Kar Wai movies for the moment, even if they do take place in the 60's.

Obviously, I did not want to just sit on my butt during the holidays. Yeah, I know "OMG, COME ON you are in Kyoto! Celebrate it Japanese style!"

I got a year and a half here. Don't worry. There is still another October-March set come next year. So I get two chances to see pretty autumn leaves and two chances to see the temple bells ring 108 times at New Year. Besides, I am coercing the familia (that is my parents, Leah and probably Mel, if he can) to come HERE for Xmas and New Year '07, as opposed to my mom and sister coming in spring '07. I want my dad to come too and since he runs the ice cream truck in the spring and summer, he isn't able to travel for extended periods of time during the hot months. We go out when it rains. It's a quirk of the family. All families have quirks.

Quirkiness aside, the idea of Mel coming to Kyoto was slowly being put on the back burner because of this revelation and another option:

4) It is cheaper for me to come home than for Mel to come to Japan,

SO...

I will come home for two weeks. Specifically, 17 days.

It's holiday season in the U.S. In Japan, people go back home for New Year (remember the inaka from your lessons!) and Christmas is more of a couples holiday. So travel is normal, not crazy. Hence, ticket prices aren't unreasonable.

And besides! Nothing kicks butt more than Christmas in New York. I have been to Times Square on New Year's twice already. It rocks. And I still need to go ice skating in either Rockefeller Center or Central Park's Wollman Rink. Last time I went skating, I was 5 years old at the Queens rink. There is a video of me, going around on my toepicks and whining the whole time. Oh, the embarrasing memories.

I had mentioned in passing to my mom (gotta love Skype) that I am considering coming home, but I haven't brought up the subject again. Since she knows that it's too expensive for Mel to come to Japan, I told Mel, Deena and my sister (who I told that I wanted to surprise the 'rents) that I am going to KOREA. To visit DEENA. NO NYC.

So now, I am in the process of finding my ticket. Mel is better at searching than me, so he was able to get the Osaka-Detroit-NYC and vice versa; I was getting results that would have me either in a 12 hour layover in Honolulu going to NYC (via Minneapolis, so then it would be two connections), or an overnight layover in Columbus going back to Kyoto (then Detroit, then Osaka so two connections again), and me losing out on time with the familia.

Granted, a 12-hour layover in Honolulu would be sweet. I was looking foward to getting a lei. But I would have arrived in NYC on December 24, at 10:30 am (at LGA which is like a hop skip and jump away from my house, but still). Yes, it makes the whole ambiance of "coming home for Christmas" very sweet, but no.

Need.To.Maximize.Time.In. NYC.

Hence, I am skipping class on January 5, a Friday. We have vacation from 12/23 to 1/4, but we come back on the 5th and THEN we have a three day weekend. They should have just given us the Friday off. Bah. I double-checked the requirements for that class, and since its just weekly quizzes and no midterm, I can skip safely. Plus I am going to tell my teacher; we had to write an essay in Japanese on our "O-Sho-Gatsu" (New Year) but for the kids from the US and Europe, New Year is just one big party where you're up all night then you pass out the next day (because you were up all night), she told us we can write about Christmas. I wrote two pages on Christmas in NYC, so I think I will be in the clear, as I got really nice comments about my essay.

Stay tuned - still need to get my ticket.

November 22, 2006: The Most Essential Piece for the Plan

I got my plane ticket. Or rather, Mel got the ticket for me and charged it on my credit card - I was on Skype when he did the whole thing. Unfortunately, I will not be arriving on the 23 of December as originally planned, but on the 24th. Nonetheless, there are two upshots:

1) ticket is $100 cheaper

and

2) I do not have crazy layovers lasting more than 12 hours. This is a neat and tidy KIX-DTW-LGA and LGA-DTW-KIX plane ticket.

So, turns out I will be surprising my parents on Christmas Eve. However, I will not jump out of a box, as someone (I won't mention who) hysterically mentioned.

I'm still debating on just coming up through the basement (point being, totally shock them by just simply acting as I would if I was already in the house, leading to the reaction of "Where did you come from?!?!?") or ring the doorbell. Unfortunately, I cannot take a poll on this, as it will spoil the surprise.

Think, think, think. As Winnie-the-Pooh would say.

November 29, 2006: Of Bed-Lifts and Coercion

I was complaining to my mom about how the curtains in Japan are ridiculously expensive (4000 YEN A PANEL?!?! WTF?!?!) or this cheap crap from the 100yen shop that will fall apart within a week. I got curtains for now (lime green and totally clashes with the pink and brown motif of my apartment, but I need them for now), being that I know that when I go home, a trip to Ikea is in order. My mom was going to send me a care package anyways with cereal (as in right proper Corn Pops, Costco size!) bed sheet set, etc. because she is a mom, and was clamoring for my new address.

I then told her my fib: "Ma, don't send me anything. I am going to Korea to visit Deena for about a week so if you send me anything, I probably won't be home to accept it. So mail me the stuff AFTER the Christmas break."

She totally bought it. Even asked me when I was going to go - "Oh, December 24th so I can be there Xmas Eve and all," was what I said. Haha. I am going to be flying in her direction the 24th.

But I almost let it out. Instead of just a mattress, I might be buying a bed frame and keeping that bed unit thing up against the wall, since the mattresses at Muji and Nitori (Japanese version of Ikea) don't fit the unit's bed frame exaclty. However, if my futon mattress fits in the part that is slightly sunken in so that the mattress will lie plumb with the frame and won't sink, then I will get just the mattress. Maybe.

Point is, I was looking at bed lifts (you know, the ones college kids use to raise the beds in the dorms so that they have extra storage underneath) and I told my mom as I was explaining my mattress problems, "I am looking at Bed Bath and Beyond right now so that I can buy bed lifts to raise the bed frame...which you are going to have to ship to me in January." OoOoO, I almost left her hanging there.

And I think I will go with the coming-through-the-basement route. Cat told me that when she surprised her parents on Columbus day, she just walked into the living room and since her mother wasn't expecting anything, the look on her face was priceless. I will probably get the same reaction if I ring the doorbell, but I think coming up the stairs in my slippers and with a "Ho-hum, what's for dinner?" attitude, the reaction will be even better.

December 3, 2006: A 25-Day Late Cake

I am still going to have a cake, but in NYC. I’m thinking that Mel and I will celebrate our birthday’s together, as his is on December 31. And I will go out with the girls as well so not only do I get to see them but I also go out for my birthday. 25 days late but who is counting?

December 16, 2006: SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!

I really need to shut up. I almost let it out to my mom on two separate occasions. However, according to Leah, the parents are totally oblvivious - even though we got 4 tickets to go see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. My mom found out about that; she was planning to go to Florida after Xmas and Leah was like NO!

Mom: "Why?"
Leah: "Because...oh drat, we got you and daddy tickets to Phantom of the Opera."
Mom: "OoOoO...Daddy is going to love that! But why four?"
Leah:".......Mel is coming too!"

December 23, 2006: Subbering brom a Stubbed Ub Dose

I was reading over this blog, checking for spelling mistakes because I am a horrible typer. I noticed that I wrote that I would come up from the basement in my slippers - but I don't wear slippers at home.

Point is, I wear slippers in Japan because everyone does. Shows that I am getting used the Japanese lifestyle here.

Nonetheless, I return home to the States a sick person. My parents will be recieving an "Ill Maria" for Christmas.

It never fails. Almost ever December/Janaury, I get sick. I have been taking Vitamin C pills, using Purell, washing my hands AND I live in a country where people wear face masks when they are sick so they don't get the people around them sick. My immune system is WEAK. Boo, immune system.

On Thursday night, I felt the all too familiar tinglings of a sore throat. All too familiar because I have a LONG and extensive history with them, especially as a child. I was in a bit of a panic, because I didn't want to get any worse - anyone remember when I had the abcessed (sp?) tonsil before I came to London? I didn't want to get any more sick than I was.

So, Friday morning, I hightailed it to the doctor at the health center. He probably thought I was a paranoid American pill-popper. Seriously - the first question that my flatmate asked me back in England was, "Are all Americans pill poppers?"

It's not that I am a pill popper. It's that I have a history of bad sore throats. Do I want to get any worse? Plus, I have over 24 hours of traveling ahead of me. Thank god I was able to get an aisle seat at least.

Cost of session with doctor and prescriptions: 320 yen. Awesome. I got medicine for 4 days. One of the medicines is actually this salty powedered stuff - heaven help customs if they try to take that away from me. My prescriptions don't come in the standard bottle that they have in the States with the printed label, its just in an official little envelope bag with my name (in katakana) and indicating how long the medicine is for and how many times a day I have to take it (3x, with food). My pills are Mucosolvan anyone heard of it? I googled it before I took it and apparently, its one of the most common medicines in the world used for coughs and colds. Go figure, I don't know it because the FDA hasn't approved it yet.

Good thing is that within a day or too the tingling was gone. Preventative measures worked! So now I have just a cold. My mom just noticed on Skype so I had to admit that I had a small cold, which is nothing major anyway. Just that sore throat thing worried me.

So my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, and I'm standing here in the airport with a lot of packets of tissues in hand. My mom is totally clueless. She told her coworkers at work that I am going to Korea for Christmas. The only people that know I am coming are a few friends (both college and family), Mel and Leah. None of my relatives know, and none of the relatives of my family friends (which are like family) know.

Tee-hee. EVERYONE is going to be surprised.

"Hi - achoo! - I'm home!"