NOVEMBER 3
School Festival Day One:
Our group gathered together this
morning to prepare for the main showcases. Really, most of us were only their
for support because only five groups performed today: girl’s hip hop, break
dance, pop, lock, and a parody put on by a group of upperclassmen. Some
graduated members also showed their support by coming to the performance. With
all the practicing I’ve been doing, I’m surprised I haven’t seen these groups
practicing! Their performances were nothing short of amazing, though the break
dancers did have a few stumbles at first (too many people on a small stage).
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Jason had also joined a club in time to be a part of
their festivities. Like many of the other clubs, Jason’s club, the English
Speaking Society, set up a small food stall along the campus mall. Yakisoba,
Frankfurt's, waffles, and in Jason’s case bite-size “puchi cakes” (donut
balls). Of course, I had to show my support, so I bought a small cup of “puchi
cakes”.
By that time a few of the other exchange students
showed up to see the festival. We decided that we would explore the rest of the
festival once Jason was done with his shift. As we perused the food stalls
again I happened to start a conversation with one of the girls from the tennis
club. Not only was she able to speak some English, but she hoped to study
abroad at my University the following year. In short, we became quick friends,
and she convinced me to buy some of the waffles her group was selling— I wanted
some anyway, so all she had to do was ask.
Jason’s break rolled around so he, Mark, and I, along with three Japanese girls went up to the University’s 5th floor where the amusement section was set up. An entire wing was dedicated to trump card games, and magic tricks. That hall itself was decorated with card suits (heart, diamond, club, and spade) and the rooms were labeled after the face cards (King, Queen, Jack). The magic room was labeled as such. Honestly, I didn’t have too many expectations for the magic, but since I’m not an avid card player I put two of my 5 free tickets into seeing magic. I was pleasantly surprised; the students who performed the slight of hands were very very good. There was once a time when I was practicing card tricks. I tried to recall them as I pondered over the tricks before me, but I couldn’t figure out the trick.
Next, we went to the Joker room, where a version of
Rock-Paper-Scissors was being played by throwing cards. Everyone starts with
three jewels, and they can receive or lose jewels depending on whether they win
against their opponent. My luck was running high. When everyone in our room had
finished going through their small deck (about six cards per person) I ended up
with seven jewels. The guy in charge didn’t even know what to give me for a
prize. The prize was determined that if you can get four jewels you will
receive two free tickets, so he just gave me four tickets.
I was back up to five tickets, and I didn’t really
want them. I was satisfied leaving on a win, so I passed my tickets on to the
Japanese girls, and the guys and I joined Long to go shopping. I wanted to find
some shoes for futsal, so first we checked out the stores near the station.
There was a nice pair for about 4000 yen, but I wasn’t set on them. Long
suggested that there might be cheaper shoes in Osu, so we rode our bikes out
there. He was right. I found a good pair of Adidas, a little more casual, but
once I break them in I think they will work great. Only 2990 yen! Even if they
don’t quite work out for futsal, at least I finally have a new pair of casual
shoes.
Thanks to the store in Osu, I saved about 1000 yen;
and what did I do with that money I saved? I bought pizza and ice cream
obviously! Delicious Pizza Pasquale from Solo Pizza, and the essential
convenient store ice cream. Now that I think about it, a lot of our hangouts
end with ice cream, even though it’s getting cooler. It’s usually a sign of a
good day.
NOVEMBER 4
School Festival Day Two: The day started out a little
rough. The groups assembled at 9am for one final practice, but we were unable
to do so. Last night it rained, and the stage that today’s performances were
going to take place on happened to be uncovered. It was also the type of
flooring with a thin layer of carpet that sucked up the rain water. As a
result, we spent a good hour trying to soak up the water in toilet paper and
towels. At 11am it was time to open the show. The freshmen group, Freashman’s
Beat, my first group, was the opening showcase. Thankfully, by then the sun
came out, too, and helped dry up the stage some.
Freashman’s Beat danced to Chris Brown’s Yeah Yeah Yeah, with choreography by Yuki. We had the most members among the groups, but we managed to fit everyone on the stage. It was tight, but it worked. I went most of the dance without missing a step, but the second I realized that (in the last chorus)—oops, wrong transition. Still, it was awesome!!
The hip-hop group that I was performing with was
number 4 in the second half of the showcases, so I had plenty of time to
change, watch other showcases, and mentally prepare. I don’t recall messing up,
but I wouldn’t be surprised if my timing was off at times (it’s hard to tell
from my friend’s pictures).
My first and last school festival… first stage
performance… I’m not even half way done with my study abroad yet, but I am
going to miss BPM terribly when I have to leave.
That night, for no particular reason except that we
were free, nine of us went to Sushi-Ro for dinner. Usually, I try to keep my
balance under 1000 yen, which is a maximum of nine plates at 105 yen each.
Today however, a student from AIDAI named Maeda joined us. I guess normally he
eats over fifteen plates, so those of us sitting right next to him were
influenced. The guys ate more than their usual fair, nearly tying with Maeda. I
myself had twelve plates and a green tea parfait, none of which do I regret.
(Again, the day/meal ends in ice cream!) Also~ Shrimp Avocado is my
favorite~~ with the sweet sauce and onions and mayo it reminds me of a burger-
I know that doesn’t make sense, but that’s what it reminds me of. I think it’s
the aforementioned sauce, fresh onions and mayo mix that triggers that memory
though.
They night didn’t end there! It was only 7pm, so we
went to karaoke. You may notice that I’m quickly becoming a fan of this
pastime, know that I found songs I can enjoy. Those three hours we went was
more expensive than if we had gone until morning, but there’s always next time.
It was still an all-you-can-drink three hours, and I drank a ton of
cocoa-coffee, leaving me simultaneously tired and wired. I need to quit the
coffee…
Tomorrow is Totoro’s birthday, so we are going to go
to a place called Sweets Paradise: one price, all-you-can-eat pasta and
desserts for seventy-minutes. My body is going to hate me.
NOVEMBER 5
My cell phone minutes expired today so I bought a new
prepaid card, 3000 yen, for the next two months. Now I have 50+ minutes. I
should call home and use some up I guess, since I never use it for daily life
here, only LINE and Wifi.
11am rolled around quickly and we all met up outside
the subway station to walk to Sweets Paradise. 70 minutes for 1480 yen. I had
to start with dessert; I mean the place is called Sweets Paradise, not Pasta
and Sweets Paradise. First plate was lined up with half a dozen samplings, it
was delicious. Second plate; should have stopped, it was a good place to stop, but
I had at least one sample over everything. These are dinner-size plates by the
way. Then, I made the mistake of getting a third plate with my favorites. I had
a feeling I shouldn’t have once I sat back down, but it was too late. After
that plate I needed a 40-minute break. It wasn’t just me at that point, half of
us opted to rest, but some kept going. The pasta smelled so good. I tried a
bite of Joy’s, which was also a mistake, because it was delicious, and once I
had digested the past three plates enough to stand up, I got some pasta.
I can only wonder ‘Why are there so many
all-you-can-eat/drink places in Japan?’ It’s either that, or you pay a lot for
an itty-bitty serving. Maybe I should just cook at home more.
Our time was up, and the group of us hobbled home,
tired and stuffed. A nap would have been nice, but I needed to get homework
done and print out my already late homework. Jason, Mark and I decided to go to
the library, but they had to go on ahead because I found a huge hole in my
front tire. That means no biking for a while. The walk was good, though I doubt
it helped much with the mass of food settling in my stomach.
Tonight, it’s vegetable nabe. We must cleanse~
NOVEMBER 6
Our short vacation is over~ It’s back to school. I finally
turned in my homework, and made things right. I even brought a change of
clothes to go workout, but my timing was bad, so I couldn’t actually go to the
gym.
NOVEMBER 7
Morning class; one of the English teachers wants to
start an English Café for the students during second period, but we haven’t
heard anything about it yet. I stopped at MaxValu on the way home for lunch,
bought some groceries and a chicken teriyaki pizza. Joy, Rachael and I ate our
lunch together in Rachael’s room, and then I went back to school around 2pm for
dance.
Strangely, there weren’t that many people at practice
today. I guess there was an event down in Toyohashi, but I didn’t catch the
details. Mark and I took the opportunity to learn how to pop from one of the
members. You’re supposed to go from 0 to 100, which creates that sudden pop.
The first time is easy enough, but I keep getting stuck when I need to go back
down to 0. Maybe I’m thinking about it too hard.
Tonight, Chaerim, Jason and I made kimchi nabe.
I wasn’t a huge fan of kimchi before, but it’s pretty good in nabe.
NOVEMBER 8
Culture class today was our calligraphy (shodo)
experience! Rather than choosing a single kanji or word to write, I had
song lyrics stuck in my head, so I wrote out a line. It’s from Tohoshinki’s Doushite
(Why did I end up liking you?) I also tried to put an artistic touch on the
layout, but I kept messing up in one little place… the ‘ta’ or the ‘te’. By the
end of the period, I wished I just picked a few kanji, haha.
There was an earthquake drill during lunch time, so
all of the students had to leave the building, meet in the parking lot and
check-in. It didn’t look like anyone really knew what was going on, so the process
took longer than expected. There was also a survey past the check point, which
I think was the cause of the time delay.
After that, Joy and I were going to try and workout in
the fitness room after class, but we were unable to because there was fitness
classes all day. Instead, we and Rachael went shopping in Sakae and Osu. I
bought a sweater~! Because it’s getting cold and most of the clothes I brought
were to prepare for the hot, humid summer. I need to find pants somewhere else
though, there’s no way I can fit in the women’s pants yet.
In Osu, there was a new store called Alice on
Wednesday. It looks like it would be really big from the outside because
the door display is really long. Then you enter through a small door (about 3
feet tall), and you find yourself in a small boutique, with two small rooms.
All the merchandise was Alice in Wonderland themed, but it was pretty cramped.
I guess during peak times they have to control the number of people inside.
We returned home after that to kill some time before
heading out to the Elephant’s Nest. I borrowed Mark’s bike and joined Rachael
and Joy at the bar for some delicious Fish n’ Chips, karage (fried
chicken), and Nachos. We also got a major discount from our friend who worked
there! We didn’t expect it, but he only asked us for half the price. I’m
grateful, but I hope he doesn’t get in trouble for that.
NOVEMBER 9
I believe this week has been about food, nothing else.
The saga continues with the Toyokawa B-1 Granprix.
When I was invited a few weeks ago, I heard the word ‘granprix’ and I assumed
we were going to a car race. Yes, it’s true I didn’t bother to check the
website, so last week when my friend confirmed with me that I was going I
noticed it was actually about food. The B-1 Granprix is more like a giant food
contest, with many different regions bringing their specialties to one gigantic
event. And, when I say, gigantic, I mean it was PACKED with people.
We boarded the Meitetsu train in Nagoya, and it was
quite packed then. From there, it only got worse. We were packed like sardines,
and then they shoved more people in, that’s how bad it was. Along the way we
also had to change trains, so try to imagine a large trail people going up and
other the tracks to the next platform. This was one of the few times that
politeness seemed to take a back seat to personal priority. I was just praying
that once we arrived it wouldn’t be as bad.
Thankfully, the event took place
throughout a park, and nearby sports fields. It was still packed in all areas
near the food stands, but it was bearable. Lines for food were obscenely long—
it’s true when they say that the Japanese like to line up for things. Some
lines took almost three hours, just to get one order of food. Our group split
up into three and we divided and conquered: yakisoba (yes, we waited two
hours for yakisoba), gyoza, karage, and zanzai. The karage
chicken and zenzai, adzuki bean dessert, were my favorite. Was it worth
the hours of waiting? I wouldn’t say that, but we had fun hanging out in the
lines, coordinating food orders and wondering ‘Why are we here again?’ Then we
would see the orders of food and remember: food.
Going home
was just as bad as coming. I can’t imagine traveling even that far again just
to eat. Maybe I just haven’t noticed before, but there is a really prominent
food culture here. I suppose, that goes for anywhere though. There’s always
some special food to try, and there’s always someone who goes to try it. If I
hadn’t been invited and gone with friends, there would have been no way I would
have gone. At this point, I’m over eating.
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