So first things first...Cursive is coming to Japan!! 80% of you reading this probably don't know what that means. But they're one of my favorite bands, and they're playing a show in Tokyo and I have tickets, so I'm pretty excited. It was quite an adventure trying to get the tickets, cause there was no address for the venue on the website, so I had to search for that for awhile. But addresses in Japan don't really make a whole lot of sense so finding the place from the address was even more difficult. Luckily, one of my friends lives in Shimo-kitazawa, the neighborhood where the show is and she helped me out. So yeah, that's my music-related excitement for now. I'm on vacation now, our school has a festival during which we get almost a week off of school. I'm going to the festival tomorrow. I think it'll be pretty neat, they set up booths all over campus and have all sorts of activities. Yesterday, I went to Mitake-Jinja, a 1200 year old mountainside shrine and then climbed Otake-san, a mountain that is near the shrine. The shrine was really cool to see, and it was nice to be out in nature and away from the city for a day. The hike/climb up and down the mountain took about 5 hours and we got to see some beautiful scenery and lots of forest on the way. The trees were kind of strange-looking, they only had branches at the top, not down the sides. I fell a total of 3 times on the way there and back, only once actually injuring myself. I have a good-sized bruise on my leg right now as a souveneir from Otake-san. I guess my running shoes don't make great hiking boots. On the way up the mountain, everyone coming down said "konnichwa" to us and then we said konnichiwa back. Well, I looked up to say konnichiwa to these Japanese ladies, totally didn't see a big rock on the ground and tripped and fell right in front of them. They got all concerned and kept asking "Daijobu?", which means "Are you okay?" It didn't hurt, but it was mildly embarassing. Oh well, they can go home and say they saw a 1200 year old shrine, climbed a mountain and had a big clumsy American fall down right in front of them. But all in all, the day was really nice. The view from the top was decent, but foggy, and now I can say I climbed a mountain in Japan. I really want to climb Mt. Fuji, but the climbing season for that isn't until July. Actually, though, I'm going to Mt. Fuji with some friends on Wednesday. We can't climb it, I think we're just going there to see it/hike around it. It should be fun though. Well, I'm off to meet some friends, eat Mexican food and do karaoke. Any requests?

So yesterday, I had a busy day. After class, I went to the Yasakuni Shrine with some friends. It's actually only a 10-minute walk away from my school. I don't know if those of you reading this know what the Yasakuni Shrine is, but it's been in the media a lot. It's a Shinto Shrine that doubles as a memorial to the Japanese that have died during war, but there are also war criminals buried there that committed horrible atrocities in China and Korea during WWII. So everytime a Japanese Prime Minister visits Yasakuni, many Chinese and Korean people get upset, start complaining about the resurgence of Japanese militarism, boycotting Japanese products, burning Japanese flags. Basically, one visit to this shrine creates a big international controversy. Koizumi visited it just a couple of weeks ago and it was a really big deal. My host parents were really upset about it, because Koizumi doesn't really gain much by going there, but Japan loses a lot in terms of international and regional respectability. So yeah, yesterday I went there. It's a really nice place, there's the shrine and then a nice peaceful garden right in the middle of Tokyo. It's unfortunate that it has become so controversial. So if you're Chinese or Korean and you're reading this, don't be mad at me. I don't support Japanese militarism, I'm just intrigued by large, pretty shrines that can cause huge international controversies. Then last night, I went to do karaoke for the first time. It was really fun, I think I might become a little bit addicted to it. Everyone in our karoke room had a pretty bad voice, but it didn't matter, it was just really fun. You get this little box with a karaoke machine and lights and microphones, they deliver food and drinks to your room, it's pretty great. At first we couldn't find any English songs, but then we found them and I sang, Always Be My Baby, Wonderwall, and Goodbye to You. I really see the allure of the karaoke now and understand why Japanese people do it so much. Well, I really just wanted to talk about the Yasakuni Shrine a bit, I find the whole situation really interesting. If you're reading this and you're my Uncle Marshall, they had a lot of military type stuff at the shrine, but I haven't found any actual articles from WWII, if there's any particular ship or anything that you want, let me know. Well, time for homework, Peace people. P.S.-THE WHITE SOX ARE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS, HOW AWESOME IS THAT? STILL SUCKS TO BE A CUBS FAN ;-)

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been really busy/sick. I didn't do much this past weekend, cause I got kind of sick, and I'm just getting over it now. Fukiko was very nice, bringing me orange juice and making me onion soup(which I guess is like the Japanese version of chicken noodle soup). Friday night, I just went home, watched the tape my parents sent me with the White Sox game highlights/game 3 of the Boston series and went to bed. Saturday night, Sarah and I went out to Roppongi. First time I'd been there. It was interesting. In the words of my host mother "it's not really Japan", it's like the part of Disneyworld with all the different countries. There are Mexican restaurants, Chinese goods stores, American Sports Bars, etc. It's like Gaijin (foreigner) central. I wouldn't want to go there all the time, but it was fun. Sarah and I had some Mexican food, which was delicious. She then proceeded to drink way too much Tequila, while a enjoyed a couple of my standard rum and diet cokes. Drinks are really expensive here, though. So her bill ended up being really high. But it was fun. We went to a Sports Bar and got hit on by a creepy American guy old enough to have fathered us. Apparently the presence of creepy American guys that hit on young girls is an international not just a domestic problem. We might be more popular if we exported less of them. Anyway, so that night was fun, and then Sunday I did homework and slept a lot because I felt like total crap. Apparently when you start to feel sick, staying out late and drinking is not the best thing to do in order to feel better. Oh well, lesson learned again. So yeah, today I had a Japanese test and then we took an excursion in my woman's history class to a museum that had replicated part of Tokyo during the Edo period. It was interesting to see how people lived. I had an interesting conversation about discrimination in Japan. Apparently they won't let people of the same sex holding hands into Tokyo Disneyland even if they've paid. Also, many public baths won't let people with tattoos in and will kick them out if they see them, and some bars have a no foreigners policy in general. So that sucks, there goes me on two counts. I don't plan to hold hands with women anytime soon, so I think Disneyland is still alright. It's strange how they allow discrimination here. They have laws against it, but they're not really enforced. It's not like in America where if Disneyworld didn't let a gay couple in or a spa kicked out somebody with body art, they would be immediately sued. I guess that would be the upside of our overly litigious society. I think since I've been in another culture, I've come to appreciate a lot of things about America more. I was getting disillusioned with the political system. But in Japan, they have a parliamentary system where the opposition party has almost no power, and the same party has been in power for almost 50 years. People complain about our 2-party system. But then Japan has a multi-party system that actually functions as a one-party system. I guess it's easy to complain about your own country when you have nothing else to balance your opinions against. I also have a new appreciation for the multi-culturalism of America. Because here, I'll always be seen as Gaijin, no matter how well I speak Japanese, I could marry someone Japanese and have half-Japanese children, I'll always be an outsider in their society because I look different, which is something I can't change. In America, everyone looks different. Children don't stare at foreigners, people don't act different around foreigners because we're all foreigners in a sense. You could be a fourth-generation Korean person and never really be a Japanese citizen, always be known as Korean. But in America, it's like you step of the boat and your Korean-American. I'm starting to realize how much I like the diversity and openness of our society. Plus you don't get shows like the Chappelle Show in a racially homogenous society, and that show was damn funny. Well, I have much homework to do. Peace.

So yeah, I had a really good, but busy weekend. On Friday night, I got done with class at 6:30, then went with some friends to try and do karaoke. Unfortunately, one of our friends said that she knew a cheap karaoke place, but then she couldn't find it and we got completely lost looking for it. Then on Saturday, I went to Kora-kuen, with Sarah and a friend of hers who is teaching english here now. Kora-kuen is an amusement park next to the Tokyo Dome, and then there's also a big, beautiful traditional Japanese garden. So we wandered around the garden and then I went on one ride. This crazy awesome rollercoaster that went through a building. Then Saturday night, I met some friends and went to a bar for what we thought was going to be some sort of open mic night, but really was just a bunch of old foreigners sitting around singing songs. The place was nice, but the drinks were expensive. Then on Sunday I went to Asakusa with the Amity Club and that was really fun. I met Sayaka and Maiko there and spoke the most Japanese I've spoken since I've been here. It was a good time, and I think we mostly understood each other. Plus Sayaka likes a lot of the same music that I do, so we talked about bands for awhile, and might go to some shows together. Although, concerts here are quite a bit more expensive then I'm used to. I've been spoiled by my $10-15 Chicago shows. Then they taught me some japanese slang and asked me about American slang. It took me awhile to think of some. You don't really think of the way you talk as slang until somebody asks. So if you guys can think of any good american slang, let me know. Anyway, THE WHITE SOX ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!! How crazy is that? I mean, I was hoping it would happen, but you never know. I'm super excited. I audibly gasped when I read it on the computer screen here a few minutes ago. Hopefully the games will be playing here. Iguchi is Japanese so I feel that they will be. So yeah, go White Sox! Also, here's a random story from the Nishi-Magome festival that I forgot to tell. A Japanese lady who had lived in NY for awhile, invited us into one of the rooms for tea. She asked us where we were from and one of the guys was from Germany. The first thing she says is "Oh yes, Hitler. I saw your Hitler movie recently it was very good". I thought that was pretty hilarious. That's like me meeting a japanese person for the first time, and being like "ah yes, Japan, the Rape of Nanking". Anyway, I have tons to do. So, peace out!

Things have been really good lately. Yesterday I had class, then went shopping in Harajuku and got some good presents for people. :-) Then last night, there was a big festival at the local buddhist temple by my house, and it was amazing! There was a long parade of lights, that I took about a million pictures of, you could walk through the temple and there were all sorts of game and food stands set up around it, like a carnival. It was really fun! I went with Fukiko and we watched the parade for awhile. I got up right in the front so I could take good pictures, but I was like the tallest person there, so I totally felt like that obnoxious tall guy that's always and concerts, etc. who you can't see over. Never thought I'd be that guy. But then Fukiko left and I met up with Sarah and some guys from Spain and Germany and we just walked around and took lots of pictures and explored the festival. Some Japanese lady, who lived in America for a long time, randomly invited us into one of the buildings to have some tea and crackers and sit down. It was interesting. As was the argument, maintained by the guy from Spain, that the USA should not be referred to as America, but simply as "the states", because calling it America is disrespectful to the people of South America, Central America and somehow Canada, b/c they are all American too. It was a pretty pointless argument. Especially since the US is always referred to as America here and the term for someone from the US is America-jin. But it's nice to know that people from Europe not only take offense to our politics but to our very name as well. Anyway, one of the guys we hung out with last night, was telling me that he's been to 41 countries, and ever since then I've been thinking how much I really need to travel more. I've been to Canada and now Japan and that's it. Granted, I've been all over the United States, but I haven't even begun to explore the world. So now I'm starting to think more seriously about getting a temporary job with the jet program, or some other program after I graduate and then using the money from that to take off for a year and just travel. Being here with people from all over the world has been such a great experience so far, and I feel like I'm learning a lot about Japanese culture and other cultures at the same time. But on the other hand, being in such an international environment has made me very much aware of how little I've seen and how ignorant I am of the rest of the world. So yeah, hopefully many travels await me. Well, I need to do homework now, but that's what is up with me in Japan. Hope all is well in "the states" ;-)

If any of you have gone to my picture website and are only seeing one picture. Look at the top of the screen, and click on the words Japan and/or Japan continued. Those are my albums from Japan that I've posted so far. So yeah, I'm going shopping in Harajuku now, then doing homework. Peace out.

So, this weekend was good. Friday night, I went to a party for Amity Club, which is like a Japanese student/foreign student friendship club. I got there late b/c I had foreign policy until 6:30, but it was still fun. It was nice to meet some more japanese students from the other campus. Then after the party, we went out for food/drinks. Then afterward, some people were going to do karaoke, but Sarah and I thought that we might miss the last train if we went, so we went home. Then, on Saturday, my family threw me a welcome party. It was really nice. We had a picnic down by the bay. It was Fukiko, Isao, Sarah, their 3 kids-Minako, Ryou, and I can't remember the name of the other son, Minako's husband and me. There are pictures of the picnic/other things up if you go to homepages.mac.com/brightiedgrl. Then on Sunday I went shopping for school books/souveneirs for people. I went to Takashiyama? Times Square to a Kinokuniya book store, which was supposed to have a lot of english books. Unfortunately, they only had one of my books, but it was about 1000 yen cheaper than I bought it for at the bookstore, so that helps. Then I went shopping at a deparment store, and got a few souveneirs for people. I want to acquire presents for everyone over the next few months so I can bring home gifts at X-mas, b/c I'm afraid I won't have room for presents in August. So I'm working on that. If anyone wants some specific type of gift, let me know, seriously. I know next to nothing about anime or japanese video games, etc. so if you want something like that, I won't get it for you unless you let me know. Unless you're Sarah, because I'm going to buy her tons of anime no matter what she asks for. :-) So yeah, I guess that's it. School is going well, I had my first test today and it was fine. Later.
P.S.-any big news in Chicago/the QC/ etc.? Let me know.

So I've been going to classes all week and I feel like it's been the longest week ever. I'm taking Japanese women's history, Japanese Foreign Policy, Japanese Government and Politics and language. All of the classes are really interesting, I guess I'm just not used to being in class so much, since I haven't been for awhile. I have to get up at 7 everyday, make my hour long commute, and have language class at 9:15. Gives me a whole new appreciation of the old wake up, throw on a sweatshirt and walk to class option that I had at Loyola. People don't really wear sweatpants or grungy clothes to class here. Honestly, most of the girls at Sophia dress like they are making their way down the catwalk rather than just going to class. It's a mystery to me how Japanese girls have the time and more especially the money, to go shopping all the time and buy expensive clothes. I'm used to the old standard of college students being poor and not being able to afford high-end fashion, but that is certainly not the case here. That was kind of a random rant. Anyway, tonight I'm going to this school party after class and then going out to eat/drink/and possibly do karaoke with some friends tonight. Should be good for de-stressing after this long week. Karaoke should be interesting. Then tomorrow my family is throwing me a welcome party, which has been in flux since I got here. First it was going to be on Sunday, then it moved to Saturday, then it was going to be at a picnic/beach area by the ocean, but then the weather was going to be bad. So now, I am going to be welcomed at the house of Minako, my host parent's daughter, tomorrow at 2 or 3. Should be intersting, probably a lot of Japanese people I don't know saying things to me that I don't understand. Also, it's barbecue themed, which I think is funny. It's going to be hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. I guess to remind me of home. Should be an interesting affair. Also, I am coming home Dec. 22nd through Jan. 3rd for X-mas. So if anyone wants to see me, I'll be in the states. Well, I've got stuff to do, and classes to attend, so peace out!
P.S.-Can I just say that the White Sox rock and I am so excited for their winning. Especially since Iguchi hit a 3-run home run in the last game, while I was wearing my Iguchi shirt and sending him/them good luck from Japan. It was in all of the Japanese papers, I saved the section so I can remember that I was in Japan when White Sox/Iguchi were being hardcore awesome. So yeah, everyone reading this should support the White Sox, and Iguchi Tadahito is my personal hero.

I had my first day of classes today. I started Japanese language and also Japanese government and politics. Only 2 classes today, my big day is tomorrow. For my language class alone (the non-intensive one) I had to buy 5 different books, so I guess we're going to cover a lot. The teacher seemed very nice though, and it's a small class, so that'll be good. We're getting right back into things, we have our first quiz tomorrow, so I have to study tonight. Anyway, my weekend was good. On Saturday Fukiko and Isao took me sightseeing, we went to the Imperial Palace, to Odeiba (which is down by the bay) and Asakusa which is an area with a famous temple and a carnival-like atmosphere outside with lots of street merchants selling goods and food. We also took a boatride on a boat that seriously looked like a spaceship. I took a picture, it was pretty awesome. Then Sat. night they took me out for a sushi dinner. It was delicious. Isao also ordered me beer and a little bit of sake so I had my first experience drinking legally (except for that time in Canada :-) Ah, the pleasures of legal drinking. Anyway, it was a fun day and I even met a random Japanese woman at the sushi restaurant whose children had been born in America. She wanted them to practice their english with me, but they were a little bit nervous about it, I think. Sophia has a community service program where I can go to a local elementary school and play with some second graders and raise their awareness about foreigners and the international world, I think I'd like to do that if I can. It sounds like a great program. So yeah, sightseeing, classes and lots of expensive books, that is what's up with me in Japan. I'm sending waves of good luck to the White Sox in the playoffs from here, since I can't watch the game or be there, and any of you reading this should do the same. Peace out! :-)