Today (30th) was nice. I woke up a little later than I wanted but I made it to my lesson on time. Today was a fun lesson. Sasamoto-sensei taught me two new pieces. The first one is actually a ryuteki solo. I really want to get good at it so that I can impress him next time he comes to Columbia. The other piece was a dance piece that is quite hard but I think I made a good effort at it my first time. Then we also did one other piece but it’s really a piece I’ve done before it’s just in a different mode.
Before I left Sasamoto-sensei asked me if I planned on going anywhere else besides Sendai. I told him if I had time I would really like to go back to Kyoto and he said that I need to make the time. So I said that actually this Thursday if I could manage it I was going to go. And the more I think about it the more I think I will do it.
After the lesson I debated going exploring but the weather was so overcast and looked like it would pour at any moment so I opted for coming back to the center instead. On the way back from the station I saw a lady walking a cute little black pug. He was so cute. It worked out nicely that she stopped to let me pet him.
I checked my email, watched some TV, and basically relaxed for a while. Then around 8ish I went out to the Saty to get some groceries. While I was on line to check out Michael tapped me on the shoulder, apparently he must have gone there after his lesson tonight. After I got back to the center I snacked on some bread and milk while I watched a game show on TV. At about 9pm I got a call on my room phone.
I was wondering who it could be but sure enough it was Terumi-san. She was calling me to let me know that Sasamoto-sensei wanted to plan an outing for us to go to the hot springs spa in Odaiba. I was very excited. We talked about that a little and also I mentioned that I might go to Kyoto on Thursday.Shortly after I got off the phone with her she called me back to let me know that she had talked to Sasamoto-sensei and that Friday or Saturday was fine with him. I told her that Thursday would be better for me. Oddly enough that is the fourth of July. What a way to celebrate huh? I’m so excited. She also let me know that the weather for Thursday didn’t look good but that Sunday and Monday did. So maybe I will go next Monday instead.
After that I finished writing out all my blogs to post online and went up to the second floor to post them while I talked to people online. At about 11pm the lights went out but then they came back on shortly after and just went out a little while ago at 12:30am. One of the guys sitting in the lounge here explained that sometimes the nice older guard will turn the lights back on for people. I thought that an hour and a half was very generous.
And so now I am off to bed after successfully bringing my blog up to date. I bid you all goodnight. Oyasumi.
Sunday (29th) I got up relatively early because I needed to get ready for the visit to the palace. I got up and showered and had just gotten my skirt when Michael knocked on my door. He said that we should probably leave together and I agreed. We tried knocking on Casey’s door but got no response. I didn’t know if she was even awake yet but I was getting tired of trying to be the girl’s keeper. So we both went back to our rooms to get ready.
I was just putting on my stockings when he knocked again. We both headed out in the pouring rain to go to the train station. Casey wasn’t there so we didn’t know if she had somehow left early or what was going on. As planned we got to the meeting place 10 minutes early and we met Terumi-san there. There were some other people waiting there and I had a feeling they were going to be part of our group but I didn’t say anything.
Shortly after that Todd showed up and then Casey showed up thankfully. After that Komoda-sensei and her Lithuanian composer student also showed up. She also introduced us to the other students who were waiting. We waited a little longer because one more of Komoda-sensei’s students was coming and then we headed off.
While we were walking over Terumi-san and I chatted and I told her about having dinner with Yuka. Then we somehow got on the topic of Hana Yori Dango and I suggested that for the next time we hung out that we should go see it. I think she was amused by that and so we made tentative plans to go see the movie. After we went through a security check we took some pictures of all of us at the gate we went in and then we went over to the music building where we were going to meet Togi-sensei, an important person among the Imperial Court Musicians.
We got to the building and there were these cute cats that were hanging out in front of the building. We all remarked how cute they were and then we met Togi-sensei. We put all our bags and things in another room and Togi-sensei led us on a tour of the building. First we got to see one of the practice rooms with an instrument from the 19 th century. Then we went upstairs and we got to see not only instruments used in Gagaku but also masks and a dance costume as well.
After that we came back downstairs and he took us over to the two o-daiko (large taiko) drums that they use. I even got to try hitting one. It was so loud and so cool. We also got to see the practice swords and spears that are used in the dances. After that we went into another practice room, this time on the first floor, where they practice the samai or dances. Also, there were kotos and wagons (no not the things on wheels) there. He took out one of the wagons and showed it to us and let us hear what it sounded like.
After that we were pretty much done. He took us to the room with our bags and we gave him the box of chocolate and our meishi (though Casey forgot hers--*cough*flaky*cough*). After that he took some pictures with us and then we left. I got to pet one of the cats outside. Then we had to decide if we wanted to go for a walk in the gardens or leave. The four of us and the Lithuanian opted to leave. I wasn’t about to see a garden in the pouring rain in a skirt.
I left the others at the subway because I was going to Akihabara to cash in a traveler’s check so that I would have money for my private lesson fee on Monday. I really should just learn to pay more attention. I walked right by the Travelex office again just like I did in Shinjuku. I walked around the whole block and then I finally asked in the big electronics store where it was because it listed it. The girl at the information desk directed me to it and I cashed my check.
I then hopped on a train and came back here to the center. I didn’t do much else for the rest of the night except that on Friday my computer wasn’t registering the power cord again. Apparently this one is either going bad too or there is something wrong with the connection on the back of the machine. Either way I spent quite a bit of time trying to fix that. I also spent a lot of time updating my blog. And that was pretty much the day.
Saturday (28th) I had another 3 hour lesson at Mushashino that went pretty well. The first group there were a couple of people new to playing the ryuteki so we played some simple songs and didn’t do to much new stuff but that was fine because I was a little tired. The second group was the more experienced group. I played a little with them but they were doing songs that I didn’t have the music for and that were new to me so I ended up listening a lot.
Again, I didn’t mind since I was tired. I did end up going back to get the manga I had seen the day before though and let me tell you that I seriously underestimated the weight of 50 volumes of manga as I lugged it back to the center. After I came back to the center I put my manga down and lay down on my bed because I had easily been hefting about 15 pounds of manga around. I had been thinking of going out again but I really needed a nap.
So I watched some TV and ended up falling asleep. Somehow the ringing of my cell phone woke me up and I got up to see who it was. It was Yuka! I answered and she told me she was going to go shopping for a bit but then she was wondering if we should get together for dinner. I was very happy to hear from her and dinner sounded good. It was about a little after 6pm when she called so we made plans to meet at the north Marunochi exit of Tokyo station at 8:30pm.
I watched a little more TV including an anime and then headed out. I got to the meeting spot only about 5 minutes late and gave Yuka a call. She was still a little ways away so I hung out for a while waiting. She got there close to 9pm and we headed over to the Marunochi Building to see what restaurants they had. As it turns out we actually went into the Shin-Marunochi building by accident and while they have some very nice restaurants, including a churrascurria, they were all too expensive.
While we were walking I asked Yuka how she reacted to Terumi-san's husband asking her if she knew me. It was great to here her side. Apparently the man is like her boss or something and at first he said Pat not Patty and so she was confused and then when she figured out who he meant she was more confused. It's really quite funny the weird connections I have. =)
We went looking for a hamburger place Yuka knew about and that’s when we discovered we were in the wrong building. Whoops! So we went back outside and headed over to the right building where sure enough the burger place was on the 5 th floor. We had been chatting the whole time and it was nice to just hang out. It turns out Yuka hadn’t gotten much in the way of clothes but did get a few massagers. =)
The restaurant turned out to be a Hawaiian themed burger restaurant. We order our set meals and picked a table to chat at while we waited for our food. Man was the burger amazing. And the French fries and onion rings were good too. After we finished our food we sat around for a while just talking. All in all it was a very nice time. I didn’t even realize that it had gotten to be 11pm already.
We headed out and walked over to the Yurakucho train station. I said bye to Yuka and told her that if she had the chance we should try to get together one more time before I went home. Then we went our separate ways. On the train I found a fun source of amusement though. This Japanese guy gets on the train and after standing for a stop or two sits down. He then falls asleep. A little while later he somehow manages to slide entirely off his seat and onto the floor.
Now most people would wake up at this point, at least I know I would. But no, this guy is out cold and proceeds to flop over on his side sprawled out on the floor. People just kinda stare at him for a few stops, and a take a few pictures, until one guy decides to try to wake him up. He shakes him and nothing. He shakes him harder, still nothing. At this point another guy gets in on the act. He asks what’s up and the first guy says that it seems like he is just sleeping. So between the two of them they prop the guy up. The guy kinda wakes up at this point and they manage to get him back into his seat.
He manages to stay awake for a little while until he falls asleep again. After the seats next to him empty out he then falls over on his side on those seats asleep. I was highly entertained the entire way back home. I ended up getting back at about a little after midnight and it was the first time I actually had to ring the little bell they have so I could get in. I then puttered around a bit, got my things ready for the next day, and went to bed.
Friday (27th) I was thankful that I was feeling better and that I had an afternoon class. A lot of my classes have been in the morning and while that is all fine and good it is not always convenient. But thankfully today was one of the few days I could sleep in a little. I got and watched a little TV before I got ready for the day.
I then made sure I had the necessary amount of traveler’s checks I needed. I had gotten an email from Terumi-san the night before telling us that we needed to pay part of the room charge by July 1 st and since I knew there were offices in Shinjuku it made sense that since I was going to be there I should cash the checks and save myself an extra trip.
I actually got to the station early enough to cash the checks before I went to the lesson. The funny thing is the amount was so big that they had to call first to check and make sure it was ok. Having accomplished half my mission I went off to my lesson. I always enjoy lessons with Sasamoto-sensei.
After the lesson I said bye and that I would see him tomorrow and headed back to the station. As I passed through the station to get on the train I saw I massive book sale and pondered coming back the next day after my lesson to get a massive amount of manga I wanted for quite cheap. When I got back to the center I promptly paid my bill and then relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.
Thursday (26th) was pretty uneventful. I wasn’t feeling too good that day though because I had pretty bad cramps (I apologize for all the guys reading this but its true). I spent a lot of the day relaxing in bed and even snoozed a little. I was even debating skipping my lesson that night but in the end I decided to go anyway.
I was sitting there at the lesson when Okubo-sensei was trying to make conversation I guess and asked me some questions. I was not happy at trying to answer questions I only half understood in a room full of people who didn’t speak a word of English. I thought my answers went over well however. After that though he asked me to pick a piece and I picked one that I had only played one or twice.
So he makes me play the solo in the beginning and then comes over to show me that I’m not getting the right note because I need to move my flute. That was fine, I didn’t mind that correction. After that, however, I’m pretty sure he went on a whole speech about me picking a piece I didn’t know well or something like that and really I didn’t need to be reprimanded in Japanese in front of people. I was perfectly fine just going along but no, he had to put me on the spot. Oh well. At least next time I will just pick something I’ve played a lot and just do that.
After class we normally all wait for Okubo-sensei to leave before we head to the station but since I had already said my goodbyes I just took off. One I wasn’t feeling good still and two I didn’t want to have to talk to anyone on the walk back. I managed to get on a train just as I arrived in at the station and went back to the center. I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching anime on the TV as well as a special for the release of the Hana Yori Dango Final movie that was coming out on Saturday.
Happy Birthday to me! I had a morning lesson with Sasamoto-sensei but I figured since it looked like it was only going to be overcast that I could do something afterwards. The lesson went well and I learned a new song. Plus I asked sensei questions about the music I had played last night and he made a copy of his music, the same piece, because it had different markings on it for pauses and what not that were easier for me to understand. Before I was going to leave he asked me where I was off to, since I had my guidebook out, and I told him Yasukuni. He gave me good directions on how to get there by subway and off I went.
The train ride wasn’t that far away so it was a relatively short trip. I got there and was amazed as I walked it. The guidebook had mentioned a large metal tori but they weren’t kidding, the thing was HUGE! I walked in and took some pictures, which I will post soon I swear, and went to clean my hands and mouth before I entered the shrine itself.
I entered the shrine and prayed like a good girl. Then I began to wander around. They had some old canons there along with statues in remembrance of the horses and dogs lost in service. They also had a statue for peace and one to remember the war widows and children. Walking further around the back there was a sumo rig, which was closed but I still got a picture of, and some tea houses. There was also an amazing Japanese garden with a mini waterfall and a pond full of koi.
I went over to the little platform that you could feed the koi from. Boy are they smart as soon as they sensed me they same over to be fed. After I took some pictures I bought a box of food to feed them, it was only 100 Yen, and fed them. It was so peaceful that I could have just stayed there all day. After I fed the koi I walked around the back of the shrine through a little wooded area back there. It was very beautiful. I ended up making a full circuit and was back where I had started.
I decided to go poke my head into the lobby of the small museum they have there because it was free. In the lobby they have a train engine, full size, two canons, and a fighter plane that were all used in the war. I took as many pictures as my battery would allow, it was running low, and then went back out. I figured since I couldn’t take pictures in the museum it wasn’t really worth the 5 or 8 hundred Yen to enter.
I then decided to cash some traveler’s checks because I needed money. So I headed over to Shinjuku and decided to go to the other branch they have there. I found it very easily actually and the lady who helped me congratulated me on my birthday. She said her’s was actually the day before. It seems to be a popular time for birthdays. Terumi-san’s was on the 22 nd I believe and Michael’s was on the 23 rd I think. After that I came back to the center and relaxed. Later on I got online to talk to people and check my email. Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes! =)
On Tuesday (24th) it was time for them to change the sheets and clean again. I got up and took my computer up to the second floor while they did what they had to do. I came back down after a little while and ate some breakfast. After a little while Michael came and knocked on my door. He said he had missed a phone call and was wondering if it was from me. I told him no and said that maybe he should ask at the front desk.
I then got ready for the day and when I popped out of my room at one point I ran into Casey. She gave me some lipstick and mascara that she had that was never used. I think the colors will actually look nice on me so I was happy to take them off her hands. Since we didn’t have a lesson until that night I watched some TV while I relaxed.
About an hour before I was going to leave to go to Ono Casey knocked on my door. She wanted to know if I could hear her. Now with construction going on across the street and the gardeners blowing leaves or something outside I could barely hear my TV much less her next door. However, when the noise quieted down outside I could easily hear the drone. I went over to let her know and then a little later I left. I knocked on her door to let her know I was going but she didn’t seem to be coming at that point so I left without her.
As it turns out I ended up being 45 minutes early and only Todd and 2 or 3 other people were there. Since I had nothing else to do I watched Todd heat up the coals for the shos to use. (The shos have to be heated before and after use or they can break.) Casey arrived next and while she was settling in I noticed that I too had missed calls on my phone.
I asked Todd if he did and sure enough it was from the same number but Casey didn’t have a missed call. Michael finally arrived and I asked what number the call was from but he hadn’t charged his phone so he hadn’t brought it with him. While we were waiting for class to start I relocated to sit with the other ryuteki players. This old guy was busy running around and I had no idea what he was doing. As it turns out I think he was taking attendance and he made a big production when the our teachers arrived so he was really getting annoying.
Class ended up starting a little late because our teachers didn’t get there until about 10 minutes after it was scheduled to start. Then the first song we played I not had never heard before but I didn’t have the music for it. Then the second song I tried playing because one of the other players was nice enough to make a copy for me. The song was very difficult though and I didn’t understand the timing. I was getting annoyed.
After we were done working on that, about 45 minutes later, we took a small break. The guy next to me told me the next part required me to have a different smaller flute which I don’t have. So that meant I couldn’t even try playing. I was really getting annoyed now because this class was really becoming a waste of time for me. I could have done other things during the day or just had a day off to myself.
While I was sitting around doing nothing the guy next to me explained that the next two songs that were going to be played the shos didn’t play. Apparently the music from the first part was Chinese based and the ones about to be played were from Korean. The music from the first part could be played as either just a music piece or as Bugaku, or dance music. The music from the second part was only Bugaku and apparently that is why the shos didn’t play. He also explained that the dance costume for the pieces from China was a red color while the costume for the ones from Korean was blue or green.
While this was very fascinating and I learned something new I was still annoyed. I could have done lots of other things. We packed up and Casey wanted a photo but we just wanted to leave and everyone was clearing out so we left and she went to a pharmacy or something, who knows. We said bye to Todd at the station and Mike and I got on the train home. We talked on the way back and bonded a little bit I think, mostly over Casey being flaky.
When we got back we both got bikes and went to the Saty to pick up some food. We got our food and then came back. After I put my food away I went I got on the internet to check my email. I found out that since the shos sensei was going to be away they had the next day, Wednesday, off as well as the Wednesday of the following week. Meanwhile, I didn’t have such luxuries. I was a bit annoyed about that but whatever, I can deal. As I was coming down I stopped briefly to talk to Casey and let her know in case she didn’t get the email. Then I went to bed.
Monday morning (23rd) I somehow managed to get up before my alarm which was impressive since I hadn’t gone to bed that early and also since I had set my alarm for around 7:15am. I checked my email and saw that Todd had responded but that he was operating on the old instructions we had which told us we had to be at the shrine by 9am. I almost wish now that I had let him keep assuming that but we’ll get to that in a minute.
So, I sent him back an email saying that we had to be there between 10-10:30am. I didn’t get an answer from him by 7:30m so I called him after I had gotten dressed and packed all my stuff back up. I got him the second time I called and we talked for a minute. I told him that I would see him at breakfast since he sounded asleep. He said had read my email and gone back to sleep for a bit.
Since I was all ready I decided to go down to the free breakfast and enjoy it so I didn’t have to be rushed. I had a choice between the Japanese breakfast and the Western one and since I didn’t feel like being overly adventurous with breakfast I went for the Western one. It was a buffet style and very nice. The waitress who sat me was trying to tell me in English about the drink part of the buffet and she forgot a word. I felt bad so I told her I actually understood some Japanese and she switched to Japanese. I think she felt relieved.
After I had gotten my food and began eating, Todd arrived. He came over to sit with me and we chatted as we ate our breakfast. It was a very nice meal. I had some eggs, a roll with orange marmalade, something like Canadian bacon, corn flakes, milk, coffee, OJ, and yogurt with honey. As we were finishing up Michael came in and said hi to us but he was going to go to the other restaurant for the Japanese breakfast. It was already a little after 9 and I was getting worried that we hadn’t heard from Casey yet.
After Michael left we finished up and headed back to our rooms. We had all agreed to meet in the lobby between 9:45-10am so that we could leave at 10am by the latest to get there on time. I knocked on Casey’s door on the way back to my room and sure enough she hadn’t eaten yet and wasn’t done packing up her stuff yet (it was about 9:20am). I told her when we were planning on meeting and she asked me about the breakfast choices. I advised her that if she was worried about time she should probably opt for the Western one but that if she went down then she could probably catch Michael and ask him about the Japanese one.
At about 10 minutes to 10am I went down and checked out. Michael and Todd were waiting in the lobby. I went over and sat with them while we waited for Casey. It got to be 10am and still no Casey. I was getting nervous now because they guys had said she was going to breakfast as they had come down.
At 10:05am Todd called Casey. She said she was at breakfast and that she would be done in 10 to 15 minutes. Now I was annoyed because at the fastest it would take about 15 minutes to get there and I hated rushing around. Mike and Todd decided to run across the street to get snacks for lunch, why they hadn’t done that earlier or the night before was beyond me. Now I was annoyed at them too.
At 10:15 Casey finally gets to the lobby and doesn’t even notice me sitting there waiting for her as she nearly walks out the door. A minute later the guys get back and we all go hop in a cab. Sure enough the cab takes about 20 minutes to get there. We get there and Todd is talking to the cab driver but since the right door doesn’t open, the one I’m sitting next to, I get a little short with him and basically tell him to move because I want to get my luggage out of the trunk since we’re already 10 minutes late. That got him moving.
After he paid the driver and we grab our luggage it’s now time to hurry over to the building where we’re meeting Miyata-sensei. I hate being late especially in Japan. I was fuming at this point. And I had to rush around carrying a backpack that easily weighing 30-40 pounds and I was walking in wedge heels.
So we hurry in and Todd locates the building on the map. We rush to the other end of the shrine and go down a WHOLE LOT OF STAIRS. I mean A LOT! When we get to the bottom of them he’s like, “Oops, the building was right before the stairs, we have to go back up.” I wanted to kill him for that, and Casey for making us late.
So we get all the way back up and we find the building. We drop off our luggage, introduce ourselves to the head of the shrine, present him with the chocolates and business cards, and then head off for a tour of the shrine. Normally, since the shrine is a national treasure, pictures are not permitted but the head of the shrine said he would make a special exception for us and I felt extremely honored.
We headed over to the shrine and got a short explanation of how they have to replace the roof after every so many years, the process of that, and how they lacquer the outside of the building. It was really quite amazing. After that we got a special ceremony and blessing in the shrine itself. I was amazed. Then we got to take pictures there too. As we were about to leave the building connected to the shrine we got bags of gifts from the shrine. We got DVDs about the shrine, a book about the architecture, and even postcards with photos. I was so happy.
After that we headed back to the building with our luggage because that was where the Mai class we were going to watch was. The class was very interesting and we got to watch a few of the priestesses of the shrine practice their dances. After that class was over we had some time for lunch and to look around the shrine as well.
I ate my jam bread that Todd had picked up for me earlier (only because I didn’t want to have more chocolate chip melon bread) and then excused myself to go out and take some pictures. I stopped back in after wandering around a little and found that I had a cherry and a cup of coffee waiting for me. I was so happy. I quickly finished them off and then we all went back out to explore the shrine a little.
I prayed at the shrine and walked around a little. Then we all headed back to the building for our group gagaku lesson. The shrine priestesses were going to join us and I was relieved that I wasn’t going to be the only ryuteki. It was a fun lesson and I liked the girl that was sitting next to me, she was very cheerful. After the lesson I somehow ended up showing them Bharta Natyam (again). They were all fascinated at the odd positions and movements.
Then it was time for us to leave and one of the men at the shrine was kind enough to drive us in a van back to the train station. We chatted on the ride back. Then we said bye to Miyata-sensei because she had to run to catch her train back. Then we all went in to bye our Shinkansen tickets for the ride back. Todd, Michael, and I all ended up on the same train going back but Casey bought an unreserved ticket. This basically meant she couldn’t be on our train since it didn’t have any unreserved cars.
Apparently she had bought the suit that she was looking at when she was out with Todd and was now going to pick it up from the store. I guess she didn’t want to get a reserved ticket in case there was going to be any problem with picking up her suit. I myself was tired of carrying around my heavy bags and was eager to get back to Kita-Urawa to relax a little.
On a side note the tickets were cheaper coming back and wondered why that was. In the conversation we were having about this I found out that the ticket for on the way up covered me from Kita-Urawa and so I didn’t need to use my Suica card. This made me mad because no one told me that and even though I went to the window before going to get on the Shinkansen I think they took the money off my Suica card. I was mad, but it balanced itself out because I didn’t have to pay for the ride from Omiya back to Kita-Urawa so I felt better.
Todd and Michael wanted to look around since we had some time before the train. I wandered with them for a little bit and then went to the bathroom. Todd ended up getting some omiyage (gifts) for some of his friends and I think Michael went off to look for a cheap ekiben (bentou lunch box bought in train stations).
When I got back from the bathroom Todd was finishing up buying his stuff and was looking for food. We went upstairs and he went to get some udon or something while I sat in the waiting room for a bit. Then before I headed up to the tracks I stopped in to say bye and Michael was there. We headed up to the train together but he went off to buy his ekiben, apparently he hadn’t found a cheap enough one before, and I went to wait for the train.
When we got back to Kita-Urawa I ran into him again on the platform. We both were trying to figure out if we had to pay from Omiya to there because of the way we bought our tickets but we ended up not having too and so we were both happy about that. We headed back to the center and I relaxed in my room while watching some TV and anime.
I got up early on Sunday (22nd) to finish getting ready and check email really quick. I saw that Todd had emailed us about if we were going together and I saw Casey had responded that she would call him so I just ignored it. I got ready to leave, ate a little food for breakfast and left my room.
As I was going out Casey was coming back in. Apparently she had just gotten some food from the Saty and she asked if I could wait 5 minutes for her. I was hesitant but at first I agreed. Then as she was going into her room she said 10 minutes and I thought to myself “Oh no”. I told her that I hadn’t gotten my ticket for the Shinkansen and that I wanted to catch a train tat was leaving in a little bit. So I told her that I would meet her there, I assumed that I would see her at Omiya waiting for the Shinkansen.
I got on the train and went to Omiya. Then I transferred over to the Shinkansen. I ended up catching the 12:34pm Shinkansen which got me in to the Sendai station at about 2:15pm which was perfect since check-in at the hotel started at 2pm. I didn’t realize it when I bought the ticket but I was in a two level car which I had seen last time I was here but never knew where they went. This time I ended up on the top level which was good because I got to see a lot of the countryside and let me tell you there are a lot of rice fields.
I got to Sendai and checked into the hotel which is literally right next to the train station. The room was on the small side but very nice and reminded me of the hotel from last time in the little disposable slippers they provided, the amenities in the bathroom, and the yukata for use on the bed. As the girl showed me around my room briefly she told me I had free internet. I was happy about that. I had lugged my computer all the way to Sendai and at least carrying the extra weight wasn’t in vain.
A little while later I heard Casey arrive, she was in the room next door. I poked my head out and she said that she was going to come over. So I left the door a little open and sure enough she came over shortly after. I told her that I was going to go out for a little bit and look around though it was rainy. She told me about how she had taken longer than she thought to get ready then had to go all the way back to the center from the station because she forgot her instructions on how to get there. And then to top it off she said she lost her umbrella. I listened and then I also mentioned the email to her because we were wondering where Todd and Michael were.
It was at that point that she remembered she had told him she would call him and she realized that she hadn’t. Like I’ve said before, she’s a nice girl but kinda flaky. So after that I unpacked my stuff and headed out. I didn’t get to go too far since I just went across the street. But I grabbed a bite to eat and ended up looking around a department store there which was fun. After that since my foot was hurting a little and it was so ugly outside I headed back to the hotel.
On the way back I saw a Buddhist monk standing around which was a slightly amusing to me. When I got back to my room I got on the internet and played a computer game while I watched some TV. Casey came around again a little later and asked me about pricing on a suit. I told her I had no idea and she said that she was going to go look for Todd because maybe he would know. I told her to let me know if she found him. I found out the next day that they ended up going shopping for a bit after I had talked to her and she hadn’t bothered to let me know. That led me to be more annoyed with her than I already was, but will get to that in the post for Monday.
Anyway, I sent out an email to everyone asking about meeting and going to the shrine in the morning because it said in the instructions that it took about 15-20 minutes by cab so I was trying to figure that out. Then I ended up playing around on the computer and watching TV until I fell asleep. I must say the bed was exceptionally comfortable and I wished that the bed back at the center was like that.
I got up just before noon on Saturday (21st) because I had been up so late the night before finishing my laundry. About 15 minutes later there was a knock on my door. Casey was there looking pretty bad. Apparently she wanted to let me know she wasn’t going to be coming to the samai class because she wasn’t feeling well and something about her grandmother needing to have tests done or something. I felt bad for her and told her I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t come that time.
So a little later I was dressed and on my way to the dance class. At first I was the only one there and feeling a bit nervous but just before class was going to start Todd showed up. However, he was in a suit and I imagined that wasn’t going to be too easy to dance in. I found out later that Michael had gone to a practice at Kunitachi and ended up staying there until about 4 something which meant that coming to the samai class wasn’t even an option at that point.
I was amused at one point though because Nakamura-sensei asked Todd where he had danced and he told her. And then she asked me and I wasn’t sure if I would need Todd to answer so I answered in English and as soon as she heard that I had done Bharata Natyam in college she wanted me to demonstrate. So I did a little demo for her and the class. It was a little embarrassing but also a little fun.
After class I asked Todd about the suit and he explained that he had done a study abroad program from a rotary club and that he had been at a luncheon thing related to that, hence the suit. I said bye to him and came back to the center. I borrowed a bike and went over to the 7-11 and the Saty to buy some groceries. While I was at the Saty I ran into Michael and that’s when I found out why he hadn’t come to the samai class.
I came back to the center and had some dinner. After that I packed up my stuff for the trip to Sendai the next day. I also watched a bunch of anime and even found the new season of Saiunkoku Monogatari (the anime I became obsessed with two years ago when I was here). It was on at about 1:15am but then I’ve noticed a lot of anime is on after midnight.
Friday morning (20th) I was awakened by the phone in my room ringing at about 10:30am. I hadn’t planned on going to Kunitachi that day because both Michael and Todd had said that I probably wouldn’t need to so I was planning on sleeping in, but obviously that didn’t work. So anyway, the phone call was from the people here in the center because I had emailed Tsurumi-san about the sheet. They were calling to ask when they could have the cleaning people come change it. I told them that 1:30pm would work best for me.
After that, since I was awake, I had some Japanese French toast from the 7-11 and then got my stuff together to get on my computer upstairs. As I was leaving my room I ran into Casey and asked her to give me a call if it looked like the one other ryuteki player would show up, otherwise I wasn’t going to go all the way out there. She agreed and then I went upstairs.
After I was done up there I came back down and snacked on some potato chips while I cleaned up a little since they would be coming to change the sheet. I got a call from Casey around 1pm saying that it looked like I wouldn’t have to come and I said ok. Then about 10 minutes later she called back and said my sensei was there and I should come. I nearly crapped myself at first because I was like “Why is my sensei there?” But as it turns out she meant senpai and just didn’t say it right.
As soon as I got off the phone with her I got my stuff together, got ready, and left. It was about 1:40pm at that point and I was wondering where the people to change my sheet were. I figured they would either do it after I left or maybe they got confused and would do it the next day. I had no idea.
So I hurried and got to Kunitachi as fast as possible but as it happened I miss every connection and had to wait a lot so it took me longer than usual to get there. I ended up getting there around 3 something. I got to practice one piece with the shos and the other ryuteki. Then Todd left at around 4:10ish and soon after Casey and Michael followed. Asami had shown up right after Todd left and so at least I didn’t feel too awkward after all the shos were gone. We practiced a little together, and the other ryuteki guy joined in a little but overall it wasn’t really that helpful for me.
I had asked Asami if she could hang out and she said she couldn’t because she had a lot of work but she said the Rie showed up at the very end and her and I ended up hanging out for a little bit. First we went from Kunitachi over to the Tachikawa shopping area and wandered around a little bit. We saw some very nice clothes, that wouldn’t fit me, and a lot of jewelry that was really expensive. After a little bit we headed over to a place that Rie knew of that had cheaper prices and wasn’t too far away.
So we got on a train and headed over to Kichijoji. We left the station and wandered around the shopping area a little bit. Rie ended up buying a pair of cute sandals from a shop we passed. They are apparently famous for making really comfortable shoes, including high heels. After that we passed a little stand where we bought some little croquettes to snack on.
We decided to go have them at a popular park that was nearby. The park was apparently a popular date spot and we saw a lot of couples there. We found an empty bench by the pond and ate our croquettes, it was so delicious. After we finished we headed back to the station because it was getting later and I wanted to get back before it got too late because I need to do laundry before we went to Sendai on Sunday. Rie mentioned something about wearing my yukata to a festival sometime soon and said she would call me. I said bye to her and hopped on the train.
After I got back I started my laundry. I don’t mind that the wash takes about an hour but the fact that it took about 3 hours to dry was just really unacceptable. I ended up being up until about 3am finishing my laundry. I got to watch some TV in between but it was really a pain to have to keep going over to the laundry room to see if it was done yet. Finally I went to sleep and was thankful that I only had the samai dance class the next day in the afternoon and that they had changed the sheet. Yay!
Since I had a free morning on Thursday (19th) I got up and got my computer to talk to people. I also tried to do some work on my growing collection of photos but didn’t end up getting very far with that. It’s really more time consuming than I originally thought. I got ready for the gagaku performance I was going to see that night and also watched a little TV before I left.
When I got to the station near where the performance was going to be I spotted a Denny’s, yes they have them in Japan, and debated maybe going there for dinner. I walked over to the building where the concert was going to be and went to wait for an elevator. They were impossibly slow so I decided after about 5 minutes or so to just go up by escalator. As I was going up I saw they had an arcade on one floor and that they had the taiko drum game. I was so amused and was thinking about playing after the concert.
I got to the theatre and found my seat. Michael was already there and was talking to one of our sempai from Kunitachi. Slowly the others arrived as well as Terumi-san. She handed us the information we would need for our palace visit and we chatted for a little bit. Besides our sempai from Kunitachi that were at the concert a couple of people I knew from my group lessons with Sasamoto-sensei were there also.
The concert was absolutely wonderful. The first part was more traditional gagaku music but the second half was quite interesting. It was newer music that was Buddhist themed with chanting by Buddhist priest. Different instruments were also used like Tibetan singing bowls, little mouth whistle things, etc. I was captivated the entire way through.
After the performance we met up \with the people from Kunitachi and I asked Masami if she wanted to play the taiko drum game for a bit. She was amused and said yes. First however we were all going to see Miyata-sensei and Sasamoto-sensei to congratulate them on the concert. We headed backstage but soon realized that we had to go down a floor first.
We said congratulations to Miyata-sensei, I got to see Sasamoto-sensei really quickly and I also got to meet his mentor so that was cool. After that as we were going to leave we got little paper things that the Buddhist priests had been scattering on the stage, I think they’re charms or something. We then were headed down to play the taiko game but unfortunately that floor was closed. I was sad, I wanted to drum.
We went outside and people were trying to decide what to do. I wanted to go home and so Michael and I headed back here and Asami went home too. Everyone else headed out to drink in Shinjuku. When we got back to Kita-Urawa I had a little bit of Wendy’s for dinner since I was hungry and then came back to the center.
I saw the very end of the finale of Last Friends, a drama that I had become addicted to, and then went online for a little bit. Then I came back down to my room and watched some anime for a little bit. It’s so nice being able to watch anime on TV. I was just about to doze off when I heard a loud noise from next door which signaled that Casey had gotten back. It was almost 2am. After it got quiet again I went to sleep finally.
I had to get up quite early for my lesson on Wednesday because it required a lot of transfers and was over an hour away. I wanted to leave even earlier than I had to actually because it was somewhere I had never been before. I had been to a place a stop before it a little while back but not this particular place and I wanted to allow time in case I got lost or something.
As it ends up it’s a good thing that I did because I ended up having an issue switching trains. I thought the train I got was going to Shibuya but it only went until Shinjuku, the stop before. So I had to switch yet again at Shinjuku which was a bit of a pain since the train pulled into a different part of the station. After I wandered around for a little bit I managed to get on the train I needed.
I got there early just like I wanted and since I was thirsty I decided to stop at a conbini on my way to my lesson. As I was on line to pay for my tea I saw Sasamoto-sensei in the same conbini. It was kinda funny because he had picked up tea too, just a bigger bottle. We ended up walking over to the place where the lesson was together and went downstairs to the room.
The room actually smelled a little moldy but oh well. There were a couple of women from the group there already and I was surprised because it was easily about 40 minutes before the lesson was scheduled to start. Before everyone else arrived Sasamoto-sensei had me and one of the other ladies practice a little bit. I liked having the little bit of personal attention.
The lesson was very good. Not only did I get to learn a new song but I also got yummy cookies from Sapporo. Both in the beginning and at the end of the lesson I made sure that everyone had one of my little meshi (business card). I walked back with most everyone to the station but I somehow managed to be the only one to get on the train. I went to the stop before to take some pictures of the other place where I had my lesson before because the neighborhood was quite pretty.
That only took a few minutes so I hopped back on the train and went back to Shibuya. What a day for coincidences because I ran into Sasamoto-sensei again in the station, which is not small by any means. I was confused though how I ran into him there. I know he didn’t get on the train when I did because he was walking away after we all said goodbye. So I’m thinking that he stopped somewhere and then got on another train, or maybe he walked to another station? No idea.
So after that I somehow managed to get on a train that was heading in the exact opposite direction of where I wanted to go. But I fixed my mistake at the next station and was at Shinjuku not too long after. I needed to cash some traveler’s checks and instead of going all the way back to Akaska I had picked up a brochure of their locations and decided that since Shinjuku was on my way back I would go there instead.
Since I had never been to that location before I wasn’t sure how easy to find it would be. I followed the little map in the brochure and was going to walk one more block up before crossing the street. I should have trusted my instincts because it was really one block down and right across the street.
Instead I ended up wandering around for like almost a half an hour and passing this one McDonald’s like 5 times. The funny part was I went into the subway to try to see if I could find a train that went to Akasaka and the map down there showed where the building was. And it was so close; in fact it was right under the McDonald’s I passed so many times. So I went there and changed my money and then went upstairs to get some McDonald’s.
After I was done eating I headed back to the station to come back to the center because I was tired. I had passed this homeless guy earlier when I was on my way to find the money exchange place. Now as I passed him it looked like he was unconscious and a police man was trying to wake him. I noticed someone else gesturing to the cop so maybe the guy fell or something.
Back at the center I watched the drama called Last Friends, yet something else I’ve become a fan of here in Japan. It got windy outside, I could tell from my window, and I watched some children’s shows including ピタゴラスィーチ(Pythagoras switch), which has little cartoons and such interspersed with clever little Rube Goldberg-like contraptions, and ぜんまいさむらい (zenmai samurai), a cartoon about a little kid that goes around doing good or something like that.
Then later on I played around some more on my computer trying to put the pictures in order and label them all. I got a little further but still wasn’t done. I stayed up a little late since I had a free morning but eventually I went to bed.
Tuesday morning (17th) I woke up a little before 10am because I knew they were coming to clean the room and change me sheets. I almost have it down to a science of when I need to be up by in order to just grab my computer and go upstairs while they do whatever.
While I was upstairs I did one of the massive blog updates that I’ve had to do lately because I just don’t have time to do them that often. After a while I came back down and got ready for the day. I didn’t have a class so I took my time and then I went out to the Saty supermarket nearby to get some groceries. I got myself some ramen, OJ, and milk among a few other things.
I came back and put my stuff away and watched a little TV while relaxing on the bed. Later on I went out once more to the 7-11 this time to get some melon bread, an ichigo-sando, and I also bought a small chocolate bread loaf. I came back and watched a little more TV before I went back on the computer for a little more. While I was doing that I also got the chocolate ready for the Sho team because they would need a box for the next day. I gave it to Casey because she seems to be the chocolate giver for them.
I went back to working on the computer. I spent most of my time on the computer that evening trying to put photos up on the web and finding it difficult and time consuming. After a while I decided to give up for the night and go back to my room to get reayd for bed. I found Full House dubbed in Japanese while I got ready for bed, and let me tell you that was hysterical.
As I pulled back the sheets I found that the bottom sheet had a small stain and a rather large rip in it. I found it rather annoying considering they had just changed the sheets. I decided then 1) to prevent from having to pay a fee for sheets that I didn’t rip and 2) just out of principle, that I would email Tsurumi-san, the lady that gave us the tour way back, about it. She seems to be the person to go to if we have a problem here. Then I went to sleep because I had an early lesson the next day.
So I just wanted to stick this little post in here to let whoever is reading this know that I've fallen waaaay behind this time, about two weeks worth in fact. The next bunch of posts start with Tuesday June 17th and go up to today, Monday June 30th. Happy reading!
