Tokyo Game Show and Hosts

Today, I got to fulfill another dream of mine. I got to go to a video game convention! Not only was it a video game convention, but it was in Japan where all video games are originated from. I must say, it was one of the best experiences of my life. Although it was super crowded, it was still a lot of fun. I was even more excited for all the free stuff I got. Hello, Sonic the Hedgehog fan! I got to play some games that haven’t been released yet in Japan or America. Not only did I get to satisfy my nerdy side, but I also got the opportunity to see what a host club would be like (click here if you don’t know what a host club is: Host Club) A company was advertising their new dating sim game by having guys come and sit down with you and talk. When I got up to the line, I was extremely nervous, but my friend convinced me into doing it. They ended up actually having a guy who could speak English since he was an American too. So, I ended up sitting with him and we started speaking Japanese to each other at first, but then switched to English. He got out of character when we spoke English and started having a normal conversation with me. It was kind of awkward because everyone was watching us. He told me that he is going to Sophia college in Tokyo, and that he knows about ICU. I could tell he was happy that he could finally speak English to some one. He then quickly snapped back into character and was saying cheesy lines like: “Did you come all the way to Japan just so you could see me?”. It was pretty funny. We then had to ring a bell to signify love or something really cheesy like that. But, I ended up breaking the bell when we did it (which you will then see me apologizing to the staff in the video) It’s super embarrassing, but watch the video below to see me interact with him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OF1Co21iCE

Back to the convention! I saw the trailer and some gameplay for the new Final Fantasy game and I got chills. It’s hard to believe that the Japanese have found a way to make graphics so stunning in video games. I also ended up playing some other games like Sonic Lost World, Gungdam, Maple Story, etc. Once you play a game, the staff gives you free stuff from that game. For Sonic, I got a fan. Gungdam, a sweet bag! The nerd in me loved everything about today. The only thing I regret is not taking a picture with Sonic the Hedgehog.

– Amy

Video clips of the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfBsZtpRku8

Update

I’m sorry for the lack of posts lately. Classes started this last week, and everything has been pretty hectic. I hope I will be able to update you all on what I’ve been doing soon. For now, I will just say that classes look pretty easy so far. Other than Japanese. I placed into a higher level Japanese, but since I’m taking more classes here than the average student, I went down to the level below mine. I will say this Japanese class is too easy for me, but it’s good to have a review and be reminded of all the vocabulary I’ve forgotten. It also gives me a lot more free time during the week to go out and expierence Japan and join clubs here at the university. Also, my advisor said she would still count this Japanese class as a 300 level course back at WSU. So, everything worked out in the end. Miss you all! And feel free to look at the new pictures I just posted.

– Amy

Japanese Culture

10 Cultural things I noticed:

1. They have bathroom slippers in the house. So, whenever you go to the bathroom you put them on so you “leave the mess where it belongs”.
2. When riding the bus, the bus driver announces every stop. They also thank everyone when they get off, and apologize for the inconvenience of stopping to the rest who stayed on. They’re very polite and prompt here.
3. This one I had to learn the hard way. Apparently when you ride the escalator you have to stand on the left side so others who are in a hurry, can run past you on the right. You have to leave at least one space between you and the person in front of you as well. I learned this the hard way because I got on right after this high school boy since there were a lot of people waiting to use the escalator. However, I guess I was too close because he bumped into me with his bag then said sorry and started laughing. It was a very hazukashi (embarrassing) experience.
4. You don’t tip. Ever. However, some restaurants may have a seat charge which is usually only 100 yen.
5. They don’t card you when you order alcohol. I haven’t been carded once. When I bought some beer at the convenience store, I just had to press a button saying that I was 20 years or older. Oh! And I finally saw a beer vending machine. But I forgot to take a picture of it.
6. They have “women only” cars on the subway in the morning because of chikan (perverts).
7. Pachinko places are everywhere. Pachinko is like the Japanese version of slots. I’m hoping to try it out sometime while I’m here. Apparently you have to be 20 to do it. So, I picked the perfect time to go to Japan!
8. Japanese people are super impressed if you’re a foreigner and know just a little bit of Japanese. My Japanese is horrible, but I have been told multiple times that it is good after just saying one sentence.
9. Being a gaijin does make you stand out and get noticed. It’s not like anyone has pointed me out, or stared for a long period of time. But, I have gotten some looks. And a middle school boy took a double take at me when he walked by the other day. It’s really embarrassing.
10. When paying for something, you put the cash in a tray right by the cashier. In America, we just hand our money to the cashier, but in Japan they set it in a tray, as well as your change.

 

There’s your culture lesson for the day.

 

–       Amy

Nomihodai and Harajuku

Friday night a bunch of us decided to try out the Nomihodai at Izayaka. Basically, you pay an overall fee and you are able to drink and eat as much as you want for 2 hours. It was a lot of fun! After we did that, some of us went to karaoke with these two Japanese guys we just met. They were super nice and even paid for our karaoke. The next day, I went to Harajuku with five other of my friends. We went down the famous Takeshita Street and did some shopping. We were waiting for some people outside the 4-story Daiso store, when all of a sudden this Japanese guy came up to me and said “Herro. It’s nice to meet chu.” I introduced myself and he gave me a huge hug, then went on to my friend Ashley and gave her one too. He then came back to me and gave me ANOTHER hug. Umm..okay. It was a little bit weird. But, my friend and I ended up taking a picture with him. After the picture, he gave me ANOTHER hug (which lasted for a long time) and then left. I was sort of creeped out, but it made for a good memory!

We ended up doing some more shopping afterwards and headed out towards the main streets of Harajuku. As we turned the corner, we all saw banners saying “Tokyo’s Fashion Night Out! September 7th.” We all just looked at each other and yelled “That’s tonight!!!”. We ended up taking pictures with the stars from the T.V. show called “Arrow”. Afterwards we went to this rooftop party where they gave us free drinks and some other stuff. We then went across the street, for both my friend and I to be stopped to let this famous model get out of her car and go into the event. I was so close to her, that I could touch her. But, I didn’t. As we got across the street, we went to another fashion celebration and got more free stuff. We were watching this famous designer talk, and started to take pictures until a lady came up to us saying: “写真をとらないでください！”  (Please don’t take pictures). But, she neglected to tell the Japanese girls in the room to stop taking them. So, I guess foreigners are the only ones not allowed to take them? After that, we ended up going to Forever 21, getting a free bag, and watching a makeup tutorial. Our Dorm Parents wanted us home around 9, so we had to leave right after that and head back onto the train. However, once we got to the Harajuku station, it was crowded with people because of the event. Thankfully, the train we went on wasn’t that full though. We finally got back to campus, ate ice cream, and went to bed. It was an amazing night.

Remembering My Grandfather

I just want to take a moment and talk about how I was reminded of my Grandfather today. I took this picture when we were on the ferry for a tour of Tokyo. Everywhere my Nana and Grandfather traveled, my Grandfather would take AMAZING photos of everything. But the one thing he did really well was display how the natives live/how they think. Although this picture can never live up to the many that my Grandfather took, it still reminds me of him.

After taking this picture, I talked a tiny bit with this older couple. They were so cute. They also reminded me of my grandparents. Traveling together, taking in every moment, and loving on everyone they meet. The obasan (older woman) told me that I was really cute and pretty and she was impressed that I’m from America and was speaking some Japanese. Seeing couples like this always remind me of my grandparents, and I hope to someday have a love like theirs.

Miss you, Grandfather!

– Amy

Shibuya, Harajuku, and Ikebukuro

Yesterday was a long, eventful day. A huge group of us (probably around 20) all wanted to go to Shibuya. So we hopped on the train and headed out to the big city. For those of you who don’t know, Shibuya is that place that you see in pictures with the thousands of people crossing the street at the same time, while huge Skyscrapers are everywhere. In Shibuya, a couple of us wanted to go to Softbank to get our prepaid phones. However, they didn’t have anymore so they told us to come back on Monday. After that, some of us went to the coolest sushi place. Here, you each get your own screen and order on it. Then your meal will come shooting out from the kitchen and stop right in front of you. Watch the video I made Here. After lunch, we walked around Shibuya for a bit, and then decided to go to Harajuku. Harajuku is the place where there’s a lot of girls dressing up in unique fashion (such as lolita, goth, etc). We did some shopping there and we ended up spending a good amount of time in the 4 story Daiso store. I will definitely be going back there soon. After Harajuku, we met up with some others at Ikebukuro and went to Sunshine City to see the sun fall on the city. Then, for dinner four of us split off from the group and went to Mos Burger (It’s like a Japanese McDonalds). It was so nice to finally have fries again. I missed them so much. After dinner we were all pretty tired and ended up going back to the dorm. It was one of the longest days of exploring I’ve had yet. But, it was super fun!

– Amy

Look at my pictures here: https://amyintokyo.wordpress.com/pictures/