Halloween

Another varied array of topics today!

First, I am excited to report that I think I am going to be able to spend a month this winter in Okinawa, the southern-most island in Japan known for it's especially unique culture and beautiful beaches (not to mention warm weather!).  For my Japan Study program, I am required to attend what is called a Cultural Practicum for four weeks during the two-month spring break that Waseda allows its students. Thus, for four weeks starting in the beginning of February, the Japan Study students will be split up and sent off to various parts of Japan, living with new host families and working a wide array of jobs. The program offers to place us with pre-set programs, but they also encourage us to create our own. I am fortunate that my high school had a connection with a high school in Okinawa, and thus I have been in contact with the Okinawa representative and it looks like I will be able to do my practicum there. I am so so excited about this- I have been really wanting to visit Okinawa to see my friends who still live there and also learn about the its unique culture, but it seemed it might be a bit too expensive.  If this opportunity works out, I will be able to travel at no charge to and from Okinawa and really get to know the people that live there. So excited about this!

Also, Halloween weekend happened here in Japan.  Obviously in the US Halloween is very much a celebrated holiday and most people get are involved in it in some way, be it passing out candy or attending parties, etc.  In Japan, halloween is more a demarcation of the changing seasons than an actual holiday, meaning that people don't really dress up or celebrate with the fervor of most Americans.  Children don't trick-or-treat and you don't even really find that many college parties commencing in honor of the holiday.  Being a "gaijin" (foreign person), though, offers a window of opportunity in the halloween-celebration department.  Many of my japan study friends attended different halloween parties in some of the glitzier parts of Tokyo, "Blood On The Dance Floor" seeming to have been the most epic.  Unfortunately I wasn't there to witness the excitement. Instead,  I went with my friend to meet up for dinner with Waseda students that had been exchange students at his university in the US.  I was surprised to see all four of the Japanese students were dressed in costume, and they received much attention from passers-by in the street.  The restaurant we went to was a superb fit for the holiday- the tables were sectioned off into small rooms that looked like jail cells, and the decor was very reminiscent of a haunted house, complete with dark lighting and even staff that try to scare you by banging on the door of your "cell".  The dishes were delicious but grotesque attempts to nauseate the guests by their names and presentations,  and the drinks were all served in beakers and test tubes.  A very fitting ambiance for the evening.

I also was able to experience another part of Tokyo life. In Tokyo, the subway trains are obviously the most efficient way to travel- they are by far the cheapest way to go and usually the fastest way as well.  The trains though, do not run through the night, rather stop around twelve-thirty or one am.  Thus, the city-dweller must make important decisions when it comes to planning their evening- leave with enough time to catch the last train, which can sometimes mean a pretty early return home, or stick it out and stay out until the trains start running again at five am.  Last night I made the latter decision, and it was a very interesting experience.  Many restaurants were open 24/7, so there was a wide array of people sharing the cafe my friends and I decided to stop in.  Everyone from tired and drunk businessmen to college student to homeless people sit and chat and eat and sometimes even sleep.  At two am, my friends and I decided to go to a movie.  I wasn't really very interested in the film itself (it was an "anime", a cartoon style action film), but I took the opportunity to snag an hour or so of sleep and left the movie theatre feeling very refreshed.  It was very fun walking the streets of Shinjuku, a very trendy and young part of Tokyo with a bustling night life. There were lots of foreigners out, I would expect partly because Halloween is really only a holiday celebrated by North Americans and (maybe) Europeans.

All in all a fun experience, but getting only two hours of sleep is tough and I don't think I will be making it a regular habit. But, again, it's another part of Japanese youth culture and I was happy to be able to experience it first-hand.

Not to much else happening here now that I can think of with my weary brain.  I am planning to visit a high school currently living in Hong Kong over Christmas break, so I've been price-searching and found some cheap tickets thanks to some help from my host mom.  I have also started tutoring English to private students. An interesting experience I will write more at length about soon.  This post is getting too long.