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