Mary the Party Animal

The semester is nearly over! Today I have a final in my Japanese politics class then Monday I have my last class for both Japanese and Social and International Relations of Japan. That just leaves my Asian Religions class. So basically, I'm almost done! That means...party time!

I started a little early though. Last Wednesday was Asuka's birthday so we had a tabehoudai/nomihoudai (all you can eat/all you can drink). Sadly I couldn't stay too long because I have class Thursday morning and felt that staying out late would have a negative effect on my grammar quiz grade. I have a picture from then though. In it are Kathleen, me, Asuka (the birthday girl), and Rachel. Sorry, I'm not naming the people in the background since you can only see their backs anyway. It was lots of fun and we got to grill our own food (see that stove thing behind us?). I love do it yourself restaurants though they can get pretty toasty.

Friday I went to Harajuku with Lydia and Briana and Rachel joined us after her class. I got three new pairs of pants! Yay! I now have jeans that aren't falling apart. I also bought a really cute coat for only 3000yen. We also explored a wonderful poster shop, got hit on by a half hispanic half Japanese guy, did purikura (instant photo booth), and ate kabobs and crepes. All in all, a wonderfully fun evening.

Saturday, I was a bum. Nothing more to say about that.

Sunday I again went out (bad Mary!) and met up with Lydia, Briana, and a friend of Lydia's. The friend (his name's Juusong--not sure of the spelling here, he's Korean) invited a Japanese friend of his named Etsuya, and we had lots of fun. I stayed out a little to late and thus did worse than usual on my Monday morning kanji quiz (probably a B instead of an A is all). The picture is Etsuya, Lydia, and myself. This is one of the more normal pictures taken that night. We got a bit silly... There were supposed to be more people, but Rachel had a paper to write and Juusong's other friends apparently got into a fight with some yakuza (Japanese gangsters) the night before. Not sure I would want to meet them anyway. They don't seem that smart if the pick fights with yakuza.

Studio Ghibli Museum

Sorry, photos inside the museum are forbidden. Thought I'd get that out there before I get shot or something. I do have a couple of photos from outside though...

Anyway, I'll actually start before the museum with Friday. Friday it rained. Really really rained. As in I had an umbrella and still managed to get my legs and arms soaking wet. Not pleasant. However, it stopped raining in the evening which was good. That night Jeff, Rachel, and I went to a nomikai which is (adults close your eyes) a drinking party basically. There was food too. Delicious food. I had a lot of fun and met a bunch of really nice people including two Japanese boys that sat accross from us. One was Take (who was about my height and actually knew what area of the US New Mexico is in) and Shogu (who was adorably short as in about 5'2" and one ore two of those inches was his hair). In the picture is myself and Rachel. In Rachel's glass is this really yummy creamy stuff. There was also a delicious green apple drink and lots of beer. And soda and water if you wanted... Sorry we're all sweaty. It was really hot since we had little stoves going on the tables to cook our food. (Basically we dumped meat and veggies in sauces to cook then fished them out piece by piece with our chopsticks.)

So then yesterday was Studio Ghilbli museum day. As I said, no photos from the inside so I'll just have to tell you about it. They have several rooms that you go through and explore with stuff from different movies and there's always fun tunnels or tiny doors or spiral staircases to get places. There was also a big stuffed cat bus, but it was only for little kids so I could not play in it :( Anyway, there was lots of cool stuff so if anyone ever comes to Japan, try to get tickets (they have to be purchased in advance but they're only 1,000en). The only downside to the experience was getting the Ponyo song stuck in my head (Ponyo, Ponyo...those are the only words I know!)And in the above picture is Laura posing on the roof of the museum with the robot from one of the Ghibli movies I actually have not seen. Sorry.

Melissa, you can thank Kate for this photo as she is better at remembering food pictures than me. This was my lunch from the day at the museum. It's a "fish set" with fish, spinach, sweet potatoes and rice. They also served tea. Rachel was more successful eating her fish than me (or at least hers was prettier at the end). Stupid bones.

Also, in random news, birthdays in general are following my usual pattern (as in I always know people who share birthdays). Sarah (who was in the karaoke photos) has the same birthday as Mom, Su-chan's birthday is the same as Kathy's (which means it's also the day before Vammy's), and to top it all off, my host dad's birthday IS THE SAME AS MINE! Finally I've met another August 8th birthday! Though mine's still cooler being 8/8/88 and all (though it's less cool in Japan year as it's 8/8/Showa 63...silly emperors).

And that's what I've got for you today!