A Visit to Japanese elementary school

I haven't been able to update my blog for two weeks now, but I'm about to give all the details of what has been going on with my life.

On July 16th (Fri) our entire Japanese class went to a local Japanese elementary local to

become one-day teachers to the kids.

July 17-19

July 19 (Monday) was 海の日 (Marine Day), a national holiday in Japan.

Twelve of our Tokyo crew took a weekend trip to Atami, known for its beach and Onsen (Japanese hot spring)

July 23 (Friday)

I climbed Mt. Fuji (the tallest mountain in Japan!) with several friends.

I think I will start with the elementary school first.

One of the cutest things in Japan other than Pokemon, Totoro, and other small Japanese animation characters is the children. I have never really understood Lolitas before

but upon seeing how adorable these children are even I felt the urge to pack one of these children into my suitcase back home.

My theme of the day was "Halloween Party." Apparently, it is common for Japanese people to think that Americans eat pumpkins on Halloween. I asked the kids to draw a costume they would wear if they went trick-or-treating on Halloween, and what I got back was

pages full of ghosts and pumpkins. I promise I did tell them that they can be anything

they want for Halloween like Spiderman or princess.

I was in charge of 1st grade; the expression of children's innocence always fascinates me.

I know I was once a seven-year-old too, but I guess people always find youthful innocence of childhood nostalgic because they know that they can never go back again.

Another interesting experience was eating きゅうしょく(Kyoosyoku: Japanese school lunch).

The food was surprisingly really good. I think I could have easily finished another serving.

I will update my Atami & Fuji experience shortly....

Let's dance in front of a purple spirit

Midterm's over. I sat in Starbucks seven in the morning cramming for three hours. I think I definitely passed.

But all that cramming causes stress and what is a better way to crash stress than a crazy Lady Gaga hour at the Japanese Karaoke place, followed by a nice steak dinner (all Japanese-style of course) and a festival at Asakusa? My dear friend Jason and I have turned up the heat by improvising a Tango dance in front of a Buddhist Temple in Asakusa. However, I think we might have upset the Buddhist spirits of the temple in the process. I actually have a picture proof for this--a purple spirit randomly showed up right around the place where we danced. Oops. Please don't be mad at us oh-you-holy spirits.

Purple Buddhist Spirit?

Then, we looked for an ice cream place that has about forty different ice cream flavors (that's nine more than divine Baskin Robbins). Too bad the store was closed and we had to go home empty-handed.

I'm not disappointed about the dessert situation in Japan though. Japanese definitely have a way of making desserts. I went to a cafe known for its toasts the other day, and had a bunny-shaped french toast vanilla ice cream. Yum! The only downfall: the dessert was kid-sized.

One other interesting area to explore in Japan is Shinjuku. The number of delicious restaurants followed by stores, and izakayas (bar) are almost overwhelming. Not to mention the creativity flourishing in many billboards and posters. I wish I knew more Kanji to understand what they're talking about.

I have accidentally ran into a bar that has many, many Japanese boys with high-arched eyebrows and sensitive fashion on stand-by. I think you pay about 3,000 yen (about $30) for two hours with them. Who knows. Maybe it's an innocent get-together for people who are lonely.

Before I left for Japan, I have been told about the step curve learning process while in Japan. There would be ups and downs, and it would be up to our determination to reverse the downward curve back up. So far, I have been frustrated few times with my Japanese skills, but

nothing major to discourage me from what I want to do. And my Japanese is getting a lot better. Sometimes I find myself speaking in Japanese even when I'm by myself. There's only a month left in Japan now, and I can only await more wonders in this ancient island.

The Japanese life

At a cat cafe Cha Ma Mo

Another week has passed by in the bustling city of Tokyo.

The best thing about Tokyo is that there isn't a single day when I don't find something new.

Just last week, my friends and I found a Cat Cafe. What is a Cat Cafe you may ask?

Well, it is actually quite simple. It's just a cafe with bunch of cats. Of course, if you are a

cat mania, then you definitely cannot miss this place. Interestingly enough, although cat cafes are popular in Japan, it was actually in Taiwan where the world's first cat cafe opened back in 1998. It was only in 2004 when Japan's first cat cafe made its debut it Osaka. The puffy cats are sleepy most of the time, but you can easily spark their interest just with a playful touch.

Another new event this week was the Japanese tea ceremony. Japanese's ancient love for green tea is ritualized in this sacred ceremony. A Japanese tea ceremony may take up to three hours and it is a set of very formal, polite way of making, pouring, and drinking tea. A stark contrast to America's pick-up and go style of dining. But our Sun Academy class was invited to a local high school to participate in a Japanese tea ceremony. Everything, even the slight gesture when offering tea, was done with great care and respect. It is tradition to eat a small okasi (sweets) to before drinking green tea, so balance slightly bitter taste of tea with sweetness of okasi. As a fan of green tea myself, the chance to drink lots of green tea was delightful.

The greatest thing about my stay in Tokyo is that I get to achieve my first and foremost objective of studying Japanese while enjoying myself at the same time. Talking to my host family, hanging out with local Japanese college students, and going to Japanese class everyday are all my favorite things to do. Okay, maybe minus the test part. I am learning to be less and less scared of the unknown, as daunting as it may sound. I am learning to be stronger both mentally and physically (well, I am doing a lot of climbing up the stairs on subways....).

I feel energized, optimistic, eager to learn new things everyday. This is the magic of Japanese life.

Performing class skit Urashima Taro