Birthday fun and anticipation!

Hello hello, sorry for the delay in posting. I was quite busy toward the end of last week/beginning of this week and subsequently got distracted from my blogging responsibilities. I met up with my parents again last Friday and took them around to a few new places. That night we went to karaoke again, but this time my parents brought some friends who they had met on their tour and it was really fun. On Saturday we went to Yokohama since I had my play rehearsal that evening. Unfortunately, my parents only got to watch my rehearsal for about five minutes because everyone showed up ridiculously late and my parents had to meet a friend, but I'm still glad they got to see at least a little of the show. After I finished with the rehearsal I also met up with my parents and my dad's friend. My dad met this guy in Connecticut. He's a long time listener of my dad's radio show, but he has lived in Japan for ages - 11 years I believe. I can't even imagine living here for that long, just the idea of it seems insane to me. It's not that I don't like Japan, it's just that it's so different, I can't fathom ever really considering it "home". My dad's friend seems to really love it here though. He has a Japanese wife and he actually works for a subsidiary branch of the corporation I work for, except he teaches English to workers at big companies like Nissan. The day after my parents left was my birthday. It fell on a Monday, which is kind of an unfortunate day for a birthday, but I do have Mondays off, so I met up with Jenn for my birthday dinner. Now normally I tend to frown on going to foreign countries and then eating at American/Western restaurants, but since it was my birthday and I missed home I decided to make an exception. We ate at Outback and it was delicious. First and foremost, I wanted the bloomin' onion, which we discovered has been given a name change in Japan, here it is the "typhoon bloom". Whatever, it's still an onion deep fried in fat, so clearly I'm all for it. When we ordered, our waitress, who spoke very good English, informed us that because the onion is very fatty and heavy maybe we should just get the half size. I was a little surprised by the waitress's suggestion. Jenn and I both agreed that in America no waitress would ever say such a thing for two reasons, 1) A half size costs less money, which in turn would decrease the waitress's tip, but in Japan there are no tips so it doesn't matter 2) It is viewed as completely normal for 2 American women to order a gigantic fried onion and eat the entire thing. I hate it when stereotypes turn out to be kind of true. Oh well, it still tasted good despite its heavy fattiness. After dinner we met up with Ivan to watch a movie, but since he had to be somewhere at a certain time the movie times didn't work out. Instead we went to an arcade and got photos taken in these crazy photo booths that are always impossible to figure out (I've been in three of them and I still get completely lost each time I attempt to use them). Eventually we did get the pictures, however, and they turned out very cute. Once I get the scanned bigger versions back from Ivan I'll try to remember to post them here or on webshots.

I know some of you may be disappointed by my lack of birthday excitement, but not to worry. Tomorrow night I'm going to go out with some more people to celebrate my birth Tokyo style aka clubbing or karaoke. I'm sure it will be fun, but what I'm REALLY REALLY REALLY excited about is Monday because that's when Ashley arrives!!!! YAY!!! For those of you who don't know her, Ashley was one of my college roommates and she is my first friend from home to visit me here! She's coming during Golden Week, which is a set of national holidays that all fall within the same week, so I have the entire week off to spend with her. We are going to have so much fun and a bunch of us are going to visit Kyoto on Wednesday which I'm sure will be amazing. I'm sure after Golden Week I will have LOADS to write about so be ready!!

P.S. The photo below is from the Penis Festival in Kawasaki that I wrote about a few weeks ago

The country girl in me is smiling

After work this past Saturday I took the train to go stay with my friend, James, who lives a few hours away in a little town called Kuroiso. We actually spent the first night clubbing in a city called Utsunomiya, a city which according to all my students is best known for its amazing gyoza (Chinese dumplings). This seems like a strange claim to fame, but in Japan it's fairly common to define areas by the types of food they serve. Really though, gyoza is a pretty simple food, so I can't quite figure out what it is that would make Utsunomiya's particularly special. I didn't end up trying the gyoza, but I did go to a yakiniku restaurant that served some pretty tasty food. Yakiniku is grilled meat and vegetables served on skewers, you can go to restaurants to eat it, but you can also buy it from little stands on the streets in a lot of places. After Yakiniku we went to this fancy shmancy overpriced bar that James's friend had suggested, we stayed for one drink and then left because there was hardly anyone there and it was ridiculously expensive. We ended up at a fun dance club that played good music and had a big crowd. There was an interesting mix of people at this club. Unlike the last one I went to in Tokyo, this one did not have too many westerners. I think the majority of clubbers were Japanese or half Japanese (James called the mixed race Japanese people "Half Breeds" but I didn't think they'd particularly appreciate being referred to as if they were dogs). There were also a number of Brazilians and this random group of Afghani men who seemed to be the VIP's of the club with their own private table and endless drinks. I had originally thought the "leader" of the Afghan Clan was a bouncer because he looked so scary and menacing with his shaved head and sunglasses. James seemed to have some sort of irrational hatred for this man. I danced with a couple of guys and unknowingly started dancing with one of the Afghani men (I didn't find out their ethnicity until later). He bought me a couple of drinks and then a little while later invited James and I to sit at the "VIP" table. While sitting at the table we ended up talking to the man with the shaved head and shades. He was actually quite friendly despite his initial scariness and he bought both James and I a number of drinks. Apparently, all the Afghanis worked in car sales and exportation, which I am thinking must be a fairly lucrative business! The Afghani guy I danced with seemed to really like me, no, not "seemed to"... he did really like me... then he told me he had a wife. The small detail of marriage did not stop him from proclaiming how beautiful and amazing I was and how he wanted us to be good friends. It was a strange situation, but based on the reactions of his friends (which were similar to his) I got the feeling it was not so much him being drunk and creepy, but more of a really big cultural difference, I think these guys really did want me to be their friend.

After spending all night at the club, James and I emerged from the building into full daylight because it was actually about 8 in the morning. I had not actually wanted to stay that long, but when the Afghani man found out that James is Filipino he introduced him to a Filipino girl and then James ended up spending hours talking to her. After finally leaving we took the train back to James's town and slept for a while, then James cooked us some really good spicy food. The majority of Japanese people seem to have an aversion to spiciness, so it was a nice change for my tired little taste buds. After relaxing a bit more we went out to see Sakura (the cherry blossoms) because they were still in full bloom. The cherry blossoms bloom a few weeks later in Kuroiso than they do in Tokyo because Kuroiso is farther north. We walked through the park which was strung up with thousands of beautiful pink and blue lanterns weaving through all the cherry trees. After reaching the end of the park we decided to climb down a maze of spiraling stairs that led to a little lake. Upon reaching the lake we discovered another gorgeous park with a traditional Japanese garden and beautiful ponds and waterfalls. The whole time James has lived in Kuroiso he's complained about how ugly and boring it is, so he was thrilled to find something that made the town seem worthwhile. Since it was already night time when we found the lovely park we decided to return the next day so that we could see it in day light.

The next day we found our way down to the park with our bikes (James had an extra bike for me to ride) and we also decided to explore the river that runs along side the park. After spending months living in a world of brown and gray concrete I had been yearning to be immersed in nature and beauty, pretty parks just weren't cutting it anymore. When we reached the river I was overjoyed to find what I had been looking for; I never dreamed that Kuroiso would be anywhere near as beautiful as it actually was. The river was just gorgeous, it was scattered with grey stones and lined by cliffs and towering forests. The water was immaculately clean and the current was very strong due to the rain we'd had over the past few days. We biked along the river for a while and discovered yet another pretty garden/park and a very lovely camp ground overlooking another small lake. James and I decided that we definitely have to come back and go camping or have a cook out this summer. We headed back to the park with the cherry blossoms and got lots of food from the many vendors selling all types of deliciousness under the trees.

After forcing myself to leave the serenity of Kuroiso I headed back to Tokyo and at the transfer station for the shinkansen (bullet train) a Japanese guy started talking to me... in Japanese. We sat across from each other on the train and did our very best to converse, but with his extremely limited English and my even more limited Japanese it wasn't easy. Still, we managed to get major points across and I think he asked me if I wanted to get a drink with him. I couldn't since I had already paid for the full trip, but it was still pretty nice (if that's what he actually asked). When I got off the train in Itabashi I got a little lost and another guy helped me find the nearest station. Not only did the man walk me about 5 or 6 minutes out of his way to the station, he actually walked me down into the station to make sure I got onto the correct track. The benevolence of Japanese people never ceases to amaze me.

Phallic fun... and my parents (creepiest title ever!)

This past Sunday was highlighted by two very exciting events: Kanamara Matsuri, more commonly known as the Iron Penis Festival, and the arrival of my parents at Narita Airport. At this point I'm sure you're all very curious about the first event and if you're not, well, you should be because it was the coolest festival I have ever attended! Warning: It's important that you have an open mind and a sense of humor while reading about this (and looking at the pictures) because clearly it's a little... different. The penis festival is held at a penis-venerating shrine in Kawasaki where prostitutes used to go to pray for protection against sexually transmitted diseases. Now people go there not only to pray for protection against std's but also for fertility and the money raised during the festival is used to raise money for HIV research. Every April the local transvestites sponsor this ridiculous festival during which people ride wooden seesaw like penises, carve turnip penises, eat lollipop penises, and parade gigantic penises down the street. There was a huge pink one that was at least 6 feet tall and a very revered black penis that was at least 5 feet tall and extremely heavy because it was made of stone or metal and carried on a giant wooden boat like construction. I went to the festival with Jenn and some other friends and while we were there Jenn and I decided to buy the 6 inch brown sugar lollipops. I have never felt more popular, actually, more like a celebrity, in my life! EVERYONE was taking pictures of us eating our lollipops, there must literally be hundreds if not thousands of photos of us now floating in both real and cyber-world, in all of which Jen and I are posing over these gigantic candy penises! People actually came up to us and asked if they could take a picture WITH us. We also got interviewed by a guy from CBCN (Canadian News), so there is a possibility that I was on a bunch of Canadian televisions waving around a huge brown penis pop. The whole thing was just so funny and amusing and unique that we sort of forgot to be creeped out and instead just let our inhibitions go and had a good time.

After the phallic fun was over I headed to the airport to pick up my parents who were arriving that evening. Clearly I was very happy to see them and they were thrilled to see me. Schlepping to my apartment from the airport was not quite so thrilling, but we stopped in between and ate lots of meat at Gyukaku, so my parents' first Japanese meal was definitely a good one. We spent Monday and Tuesday traveling all over Tokyo to places that I've written about previously in my blog. We went to Ueno to see the cherry blossoms, but unfortunately they were pretty much all gone due to the rain from the night before. We also went to Akiba so that my parents could experience a maid cafe, and it was once again a strange experience. I took them to Harajuku and Shibuya which would have been a little more pleasant if it hadn't been raining the entire time, but they still seemed to enjoy themselves. We finished off the night with karaoke in Shibuya. I'm not going to lie, it was a little weird going to a karaoke room with my parents, but we all had a good time, actually my parents had a great time, they both asked if we could do karaoke again when they return from their tour next week. I am slightly relieved that next week when they return they will both be staying in a hotel, rather than on the floor of my apartment. It was great seeing them, but it was just so cramped and messy with the three of us living in my tiny little room that I was going nuts. I think I've become rather used to living on my own so it was kind of weird having my parents around constantly, but they were so grateful to have me to show them around. They were really happy that I was able to take them to some places that weren't really recommended in the tour books (like Gyukaku, the best ramen shop ever in Shibuya, and sketchy maid cafes on the back streets of Akiba). Next week I plan to take them to Yokohama and to my local supermarket in addition to other places that have not yet been decided. For now I am going to get ready for work and hope that the sore throat/head cold I have developed over the last couple of days goes away, because it is important to be able to speak in my particular profession and currently my voice is sounding a little frog like.

Food, fun, and cherry blossom bliss

Life lately has been pretty nice. The cherry blossoms are out, it's getting warmer, and I finally feel like I have a bit of a social network. This weekend I went to a birthday party/gathering for a friend of a friend's. We went out to a couple of bars and to a club called Pure, in Shibuya. It was fun, I love dancing to really loud music. There was a rugby player from New Zealand who seemed to fancy me so we danced together for a good portion of the time and I just had a really good time. I also witnessed professional pole dancers for the first time, they were amazing! I never knew it took so much talent to pole dance, those girls are freakin' strong! Anyway, we stayed out all night and I finally crawled into bed around 6:30 am on Sunday just to crawl back out two hours later to get to play rehearsal in Yokohama at 11 am (a little under a 2 hour commute). By the time I returned from Yokohama I was pretty much dead so I slept for a very long time. On Monday my coworker had a Nigerian food party (he's originally from Nigeria) and it was quite splendid. He said that since his food selection was somewhat limited the dishes were more fusion than true Nigerian since he had to improvise a bit, but it still tasted great, very spicy!

Yesterday I didn't have to be at work until 6 pm so I decided to visit Ueno Park. The park is known for its spectacular cherry blossoms so I definitely wanted to check it out. I thought that since I was visiting on a Tuesday there might not be too many people but I was very wrong, apparently there are a lot of people in Japan who don't work during the day! Japanese people love to have cherry blossom viewing parties called Hanami and there were lots of them going on. Basically Hanami consist of a tarp on the ground under the trees, food, and lots of alcohol. I've also heard that some people bring mini-karaoke machines to these parties, but I didn't see any. In the park there was one path that was lined with hundreds of trees and that's where the majority of people had set up their tarps, which were blocked off by ropes. Other people just grabbed pieces of cardboard and set up makeshift parties wherever they could find space. I didn't join any parties, but I did take about five million pictures of the blossoms and people partying beneath them. I also went to Ueno Zoo which is within the park because it was said to be a very good zoo. I didn't really find it to be that spectacular, but I like animals so it was nice for a little while and there was a beautiful pond surrounded by cherry trees and willows so I took lots of pictures and walked around it. On my way out of the park as I walked back along the blossom covered path a Japanese man asked me in English if I wanted to have my picture taken. I said sure and chatted with him for a bit after he took the picture (actually, he didn't really take one, but I didn't bother to tell him since I already had enough). He told me he'd been to the U.S. five times and had visited San Francisco, Cape Cod, Wisconsin, and some other places that I can't remember. When I told him I was from Connecticut he said, "Oh, do you know Hartford? I've been there." WHAT??!! I was so shocked, because honestly, out of the entire country he had visited a city twenty minutes from where I grew up! He told me he had a friend who lived there so he went to visit him. Crazy crazy crazy! Living so far from home makes me forget sometimes what a small world this really is. Well, home will seem much closer this weekend because my parents are coming to visit and I'm so excited! Now I just need to clean... ehh, it'll happen... eventually.