Mulling berries and razzing berries

I have not had internet for the last month or so, which directly hinders my ability to edit my blog. I am so sorry to everyone who reads my blog that I haven't written for an eternity. I will do my best to catch up.

With the combination of the end of spring vacation, starting a new school year, starting a new club, and a new exchange student here, there is a lot going on...

At the end of spring vacation, some of my friends and I from my old homeroom class

got together for a picnic at the very end of the cherry blossom season. We all brought different parts of the meal (for example, I brought Japanese sweets, while my one friend brought a whole chicken--but no knife. See the picture of us attacking the chicken with chopsticks.) On that same day, we found out the different members of the next school year's homeroom classes. The Japanese school year, which ends in March and starts in April, is significant longer than the US, around 240 days a year...as compared to 180 days in America. Thus, everyone is in the same homeroom classes for much longer and therefore becomes very good friends and very used to their different classes. Changing to the next year is not something most people look forward to...

The next day, I went with one of my friends to the much-anticipated Rihanna concert. It was held in Makuhari Messe, a huge convention center that is frankly huge. The concert technically started at 1 pm, but our day started at about 10, since it Makuhari Messe is about an hour and a half train ride from--well, anywhere. Of course, when we got there at 12:30 pm, we had to join the line, which was probably the biggest I have stood in. There were obviously people who had camped out there for a questionable period of time. When we finally got in, and then waited some more--the 4 singers we wanted to see (Rihanna, Sean Kingston, Kanye West, and Ne-Yo) were all performing in the evening, and until then, there were a lot of lesser-known bands--American and Japanese. There were 3 different stages, and we, being hardcore fans (just kidding) stood in front of the stage with our favorite singers 2 hours in advance. Not that the standing room was spacy and comfy--especially when Sean Kingston and Rihanna sang, it was so packed--people had to be pulled out of the crowd because they were getting sick from being squished into the second dimension. It was unbelievably crammed, but it was so great. After standing for almost 12 hours straight (Apparently the world record is around 36 hours...we were getting close) we got back after midnight-ish. The buses had already stopped, and my host family came to pick me up. (They volunteered! Don't worry)

The day before break ended, I met a friend of mine who I met when my family was staying in Japan. She is a Japanese college student (Aiko) who was an exchange student in America and works at the hotel where my family stayed. I thought she was so nice and interesting, and we got together one day at Odaiba. Odaiba is a man-made island originally made to keep out unwanted threats like Commodore Perry, who you probably don't remember from World History 9. Now, it is a tourist attraction, home to Fuji Television, an indoor theme park, and some great shopping. We went on the ferris wheel there, which is not the tallest in the world, but still pretty huge. We chose the "shii suruu" (see-through) car, which we thought would be fun until we got more than 3 feet off of the ground. After that, we went to the Toyota headquarters (also in Odaiba) and didn't drive a self-navigated car (we inhibited it, I suppose) and tried out their race-car simulator. We briefly went into Joypolis, the indoor theme park, which was--thrilling. 

A new exchange student, Hannah, came to my school here in Japan from New Zealand. She is staying for 2 months and is in the grade below me. This makes me a senpai...all throughout Japanese culture is the concept of senpai, a word that literally means "superior" or "senior"...whether within a school team or an office building, to a person who is more superior to you by title (office worker versus boss, high school 2nd grader versus 3rd grader, for example) you are obliged to show respect. While Hannah and I treat each other on the same level, my friends, for example, use a different form of Japanese when speaking to older students from their clubs. Anyways, it is nice to have someone to speak English with, but I have tried to be friendly without speaking English too much! I leave Japan really soon so I want to get my Japanese to the best level possible before I leave!

Speaking of exchange students, my friend John came to start an exchange student-cy for the next year, following the school year in Japan. He came with his host mother, who I couldn't believe was actually his host mother...she looked so young and was dressed so casually--I could only describe her as very cool. After eating lunch together, she had to go to her work, and we walked around Harajuku. It was nice to, well, (I repeat) speak English with someone. 

In Japan, there are a series of consecutive holidays in May (Constitution Day, Greenery Day, Children's Day) that most everyone has off in Japan...this time is called Golden Week, and I was busy every single day of it...

I met my friend at Odaiba (again) on a free day from school. She had to convince her mom to let her go--she usually can't meet friends because she has to study...she told her mom it was a "farewell party" sort of thing to meet me =) We went and walked through the big shopping areas of Odaiba, which I didn't do the time before when I went there. After walking through the shops together, we split a drink from Godiva (who has apparently started making drinks)...it was perhaps the most delicious dessert-drink I have ever tasted--we both took a picture of it beforehand and made loud obnoxious slurping noises when we finished it off. It was that deliciously scrumptious.

The next day (Greenery Day, FYI) I got up really early to go volunteer with my friends at a Festival in a distant town. ("Distant town" is the only correct way to describe this place.) We all thought we were going to be doing waitress-like volunteering, but we were stuck washing dishes outside. Nevertheless, it was seriously fun, besides getting a wee-tad sunburned. 

After getting back from volunteering that same day, I went to go hang out with my Natsu, Keito, and some friends that don't go to my current school that I don't meet a lot. We went to another festival and then, in an epic twist, decided to go to a ¥100 store (the same basic principle as a dollar store) and buy a really big deck of cards (¥100) and play in a cheap cafe. (It was a ball, really--no sarcasm =) ) Keito and I spent the night at Natsu's house, and I must say that sleepovers in Japan are just as fun as those anywhere else.

I got my hair cut (not trimmed, cut) during Golden Week based on advice from my ever-helpful and advice-doling host sisters. My hair-do is currently a short bob...At first, I hated it...really really hated my hairstyle...now, I am used to it/dare I say I like it? However, I think I will grow my hair out over the summer...I am still judging it.

Do you remember my speech contest back in about March? The sponsor (the ever-generous Suginami Rotary Club) invited me and the other two winners back to give our speech agin at their meeting...which was a bit awkward, since there were about 35 older men in business suits all using really really really polite Japanese ("I am humbly named So-and-so. I beg your favor." And so on. ) and no women besides me and my Japanese teacher. Never the less, my speech was more confident this time (reportedly)...

One of the girls at my school is the daughter of a former sumo wrestler. She took Hannah and me to see sumo at the only sumo arena in Tokyo. It was really a novel experience. The wrestlers are truly gigantic. The actual wrestling general lasts about 10 seconds; however, the sumo wrestlers do a lot of staring down, throwing salt to expel evil spirits, and slapping their lard before hand to build suspense ("Slap that fat!"). Sumo starts in the morning, but the best wrestlers start at 4 pm, so we went a bit late. The seats on the first floor are not typical theater-style seats, but rather pillows that one kneels on--also to be thrown in the air to express emotion at a wrestler's win. The best wrestler currently is Koto Oushu, a Bulgarian (Japanese sumo wrestlers are becoming scarcer and scarcer, though the sport is gaining more and more popularity in foreign countries--Mongolia and Russia, for example.) The wrestling takes place on a raised cement (?) platform...the most expensive seats are right around the ring, I believe, though they are potentially dangerous when a wrestler is pushed out of the ring and falls down backwards on an unsuspecting spectator. This happened to an unfortunate cameraman...The most impressive match was when one sumo wrestler pretty much flipped the other...All in all, perhaps not a sport that will catch fire in America soon, but you can never tell.

Like I mentioned, I started a new club--badminton! I was so bad at first, but it has been so so much fun for me. I have gradually gotten good (or at least better) and I am really hoping I can do it when I get back. However, it still won't be the same...it isn't uncommon for my friends and I to become incapacitated with fits of laughter because our club time is so fun =)

The midterm exams start very soon here. I will take math (seriously not good...it is the same subject matter as I would learn in America...but then they take it about 7 zillion levels up and then work through a textbook in a day) and Japanese. For chemistry, I have to write a report about a given theme (in English--so I am not worried at all.) 

After these tests, I will leave Japan on June 15th. It is going to be so hard for me to leave...I feel like a Japanese person myself, and I have so many good friends and people I care about here that I don't know how I am going to leave. I still remember the outright humiliation that was the first day of school clearly, and it feels like someone pressed fast forward since then...time has passed quicker than I imagined it could, and it really is time to treat every day like it is the last, because pretty soon it will be. On the other hand, I am going to be unbelievably happy to be home--I have thought being back so much recently. 

I am out of personal thoughts and steam right now. Once again, my sincere apologies (Or as they say, "I humbly made thee wait honorably.") And I will be back soon! 22 days and counting...down.