Things I have been up to

I haven't spent all my time in classes and giving English lessons; I've been going to a lot of festivals and parks with friends.  It's been lovely. 

This park is in the middle of Tokyo, next to the bay.  It's near the huge fish market (the largest in the world) where I didn't really go; we did eat lunch there though. 

The contrast of city and park is very typically Tokyo; there are several parks in the middle of the city where the dichotomy is really strong.  These pictures were from a few weeks ago when the sakura (cherry blossoms) were still in bloom. 


Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社) is a really political place; it's a shrine dedicated to Japan's war dead,  and was established in the Meiji era (beginning 1868).  In the 70s or so several class A war criminals from WWII were enshrined, and there were huge protests and outcries; recently, prime ministers have made official visits to the shrine, which many claim blurs the church / state boundaries.  It's a very interesting place, and includes a museum documenting Japan's military (which many believe is very slanted).  Obviously I had to go; I went over the week-long break we had a week or so ago (I was sick for most of it, and so couldn't travel).  This is the meeting hall; I don't have a good picture of the actual shrine or gates. 

Yesterday, I went to a major Shinto festival called the Sanji Festival (三寺祭り), which is an abbreviation of 'three shrines'.  As one might guess, it is put together by three shrines, and is a Big Deal.  Alters are carried about through the street; some weigh several tons.  A major goal of mine was to eat lots of festival food, which I am happy to say I accomplished.  Here are some of the festival participants:

It was a beautiful day and the festival was crowded.  The train was rather full leaving, as well:

Tyis is me photo-shy friend from Edenborough, Claire; we got seats near the end of the trip, but since we were riding the line from one end to the other (in pursuit of another festival), this isn't saying much. 

This is the dog at one of our favorite bars.  The owner is the only person who works there, and he brings Pheobe with him.  The bar is really small and fun; there are masks from all over the world on the walls so well call it 'Tribal Bar' (which is not it's name).  

I've been giving him English lessons; we meet at the bar, and last week Phoebe spent the whole hour snoring in my lap.   Ko always plays excellent music in the evening, which is a great change from the American and Japanese R&B and pop that most places play. 

久し振り

Or, 'it's been a while.'  As many of you already knew, I'm terrible at communication.  Right now I have an embarrassingly long list of emails to send and terribly overdue thank-you notes to write. Please don't take it personally.

My Tokyo life has been getting busier; classes have started and I've been teaching, and I go out with friends a lot.  The commute to school and Tokyo proper can be 40 minutes or more, so I'm often tired when I come home and don't want to do anything responsible.  So I don't.  This hasn't had many unfortunate consequences so far, so the probability I stick with it is dangerously high.

Classes aren't particularly stunning.  I'm in the non-Japanese language program, so most of my classes are in English.  I take four Japanese classes (the most I'm allowed to take); one integrated Japanese class that counts as two and is mostly review, one Kanji (Chinese charterers) class (also mostly review, but Kanji are so hard they need constant review) and one more specific grammar class.  These classes all unfortunately tend to directly follow the textbook for the lesson, and so can be boring.  But I have good friends in all of them so they aren't as dreary as they might otherwise be.

My other classes are all in English.  They are offered through the International Center, and also open to Japanese students.  Some of these classes have quite a few Japanese students in them, which is really fun for all of us.  I've met several interesting people in these classes, and the interactions and language practice are really much more interesting and useful than the actual classes.  These classes range from pretty good to pretty terrible, but again I have good friends in each of them, so they're fun anyway.

The worst part of school is actually getting to class.  The train station is about 15 minutes by foot from my dorm, and I'm (almost) always running late.  It doesn't matter than none of my classes in Tokyo start before 1.00, and that I only have to be there before 2.45 once a week.  I'm always late.  I have to leave for the train about an hour before class starts; the train only runs every fifteen minutes, so if I miss it I have to run at the other end.  The walk from the station to class is about 10 or 12 minutes, and always really crowded, so it can be hard to run properly.  Plus it's getting hot, so running is increasingly unappealing.

Once a week I have class at nine AM at another campus, only about 17 minutes on foot from my dorm.  Nine AM is dreadfully early, especially when I have to actually leave by 8.30.  It's been years since I've had classes before 10 AM (and even ten is really uncalled for...).  This campus might seem dreadfully convenient compared to the other one, and it really is, but there's one huge drawback: the giant stairs one must climb to reach the buildings.  There are four Keio campuses around Tokyo, and I've been to three; so far they all have large flights of stairs leading up to the campus proper, but this one is the worst.  I tried to take some pictures to illustrate how deadly it is, but it's not possible to capture all the stairs in one photo.

The first is a view from (almost) the top.  There are actually two more flights of stairs above it that turn to the left.  The second picture is taken from where the first ends, where the path goes behind the trees.  It's a long way down (and, more frustratingly, a long way up).

I've also been teaching English to try to make some extra money for all the going out I do and to buy food.  I have three regular students; a salary man who works for a pharmaceutical company, the owner of a really excellent small bar we like, and a four year old girl.  They're all fun and it's nice to make some extra money.  Explaining nuances in English or the multitude of uses for the word 'like' makes me realize how absurd the language can be.