What a weekend!

Oh man sorry I've been too lazy to update! I'm just full of laziness and always tired from all of the rad stuff I'm doing here. As always I will make a promise to update this blog on a regular basis. My time here is ticking down and I really want to be able to look back at this stuff fondly!

Anyway to start off friday! I went and ate lunch with my friend Leela from australia. We were meeting to discuss the prodject thatshe wanted me to help her with. I was supposed to go to Harajuku and take pictures for the new Spring lineup for H.Naoto. So I go there around 3:40 ( I was supposed to be there by 4). And I ask them about the H.Naoto show and the guy seems confused. So I just go to the desk and ask the receptionist. She says the show's at 7. I tell Leela and she sends me a confused message saying that her email said it was supposed to be 4. So I just wander around harajuku for a bit until the show starts. I get into line and notice that alot of people are not really the 'h.naoto' crowd and am like 'okk.... but I've never been to a fashion show anyway' haha

So I go to the show take pics, take notes. They didn't give me a press pass so I had kinda crappy seats. and the whole time I'm like 'Wow, H.Naoto really has changed' Leela shows up and we watch it till the end. After the show she goes and talks to one of the designers and is talking about H.Naoto. He is completley confused and at that point he's like 'We are Fur Fur' Haha We totally crashed the wrong show!


Anywhoo here are some pics for the Spring and Summer 2011 Fur Fur line. Click for full view

From The atmosphere was really nice!

From Cute outfits right?!

After the mixup with all of the fashion we decided to go to the Decadence bar and chill with a DJ who is Mikaru from Dio. I didn't know who he was but he seemed to have alot of foreign fans haha. He had insane hair!! I met alot of cross dresser dudes and a guy from the military! Now I can go and enjoy some taco bell! ;___; I also ran into a girl I used to work with at the maid cafe! Tokyo is truly a village sometimes!

From OMG his hair. WTF LOL

I had a ton of fun at Japan Tent Its a program that places college exchange students with host families so that they can experience japanese culture in the same way that a japanese person would.

To get to Ishikawa I had to take a night bus with other people leaving from Tokyo. I'm retarded so I thought that the departure time was the time that we had to meet up. On my way there I get a message from my friend saying that the meeting time was one hour ahead! I was totally late! I actually got confused about how to get out of the station once I arrived and the Japan Tent people called me. I was totally freaking out the entire way there, especially since I've never been to Tokyo station. I was worried that the bus would leave without me. But luckily I wasn't the only person late and arrived around 11:05. The bus didn't leave without anyone so the departure changed to midnight. LOL I'm glad that everyone didn't have to wait on only me!

The bus ride to Ishikawa was about 8hours long and the bus stopped every 2 hours for smoke breaks and potty breaks I guess so I didn't get to sleep very well. I talked to alot of different people there!

When we finally got there they had a bunch of opening ceremony speeches and stuff like that. TBH most people were exhausted so many people were sleeping. Then they made us watch a movie called Sakura Sakura. The production values weren't so high so the acting was a little off. I think it was 3 hours long but I slept through it.

After that we finally went to our host families. I was worried at first because the grandma seemed very cold and distant towards me. Very japanese quiet and reserved. She was really very nice though, she always bought me food and gifts and even called me this morning to make sure that I made it back on time. Their house was sooo big. It was one of those really old traditional japanese houses. Their job was at a traditional japanese restaurant where they wore kimonos! I told them that I liked sushi and I swear every meal I ate there was sushi. It was insane. Haha they tried everything they could to make sure that I was very comfortable. <3

The second family was in Kanazawa. The city is bigger. They lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 kids. The feeling was alot different! They were alot younger and usually had to work so I didn't really get to do anything too interesting. This time I had a chinese girl from shanghai also stay in the homestay with me. I was glad to have someone to stay with so that I could actually talk/do stuff. We went to the kanazawa castle and the park. We also went shopping and I got a totally cute outfit!

Japan tent was a bunch of fun. Def something that I reccomend to other exchange students in japan. Its free! Seriously I had 12,000 yen before I left and maybe only 10,000 afterwards because I bought some clothes. 3 days after being back in tokyo, its only 4000. HAHA

The host club was pretty fun! First we met up at Kabukicho and then went to a restuarant to pregame. I'm not sure why we pregamed when host clubs are usually all you can drink, but it was fun anyway. I ate some cake! It was delicious! Then we wandered around the shady red light district in search of some boyssssss. We found some that had a club for 1000 yen an hour so we decided to go there.



That one was alot better than the one I went to last time. Pretty much all of the guys had cool hair and outfits and were very nice to us. I was really surprised! They rotated guys pretty often and all of them made good conversation even though my japanese is somewhat limited. I drank alootttt that night haha. I wasn't completely wasted but I was getting to the point where I thought I would start forgetting stuff. It was a fun night!



So after that I decided I needed to stop spending money. I stayed inside for a few days and studied kanji while watching a buttload of anime. So far I've watched all of Code Geass and the Black Rock Shooter OVA.

And today I went with my friends to go see Inception. It was a pretty sweet movie! A++ would watch again!

I'm gonna start watching Kino no Tabi (Kino's adventure) soon and study more kanji! I've got a lesson tomorrow too!

ವಿಥ್ ಹೋಪ್ ಫಾರ್ ದಿ ಫ್ಯೂಚರ್.

Its been a while! ( I feel like I begin all of my posts with this line), but I'm back if only for today, to blog!

Summer vacation is in full swing! By full swing it means that I spend most of my time indoors and on the internet. At least I'm being productive! I'm studying kanji and grammar using Heisig and Genki respectively. Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle. The more I learn the more I realize that I don't know. Its fun though and everyday I feel that I'm moving towards where I need to be before I leave.

Yesterday I went to the pool with heather, elodie and jennifer. It was fun! The pool was only about 5 feet deep though and sorta crowded so swimming was really hard. Most of the time we just chilled out on the side and watched people. It was really interesting though because a group of japanese boys were somewhat following us and would randomly say things in english. I guess that sort of thing happens alot to foreign girls though.

Ooh but the main reason I wanted to write this post was because I was looking at the Avatar: Last Airbender artbook (DO WANT HINT HINT) and I really realized what I want to do with my life. (LOL WTF)

I mean, ever since I was small I always watched disney and animated movies with awe and wonder. I remember watching the sailor moon anime and loving it because of its wonderful art style. I think animation is totally a field that I want to be in. Not just any old animation but 2D traditional animation. There is something magical about it that 3D simply cannot capture correctly.

Its very interesting reading art books and seeing what really goes on behind the finished product. I'm always amazed and feel moved just a little closer to where I want to be.

But then again I realize that I suck at working hard to achieve my goals. I really want to progress and create a porfolio, but I seem to just sit around and think about it instead of actually getting up to go do it. That is something that I need to change.

Since I have wayyyy too much free time here in japan I'm going to try and draw and complete one thing a week. I think I do better when I put myself on deadlines. My deadline for this year is to learn all 2000joyo kanji and for the most part finish reading all of my japanese text books. I think its doable to an extent. I'll figure it out.

Anyway tonight I'm going to a host club with my friends!

Oh /random/ I think my camera is dying. Its having a hard time focusing and there is a string of dead pixels on its screen. IDK if I should have it sent back to the US to get fixed or what. I SAD. I think I might keep it for a bit while I'm here and if it dies buy a new one or something. I'll still have some warranty left by the time I get back to the states and am able to handle it correctly. I just hope my baby is alright. ;;

I just felt like I should make a blog post. I feel like I should be writing down and recording the things that I do and that happen around me. I have a really bad and fuzzy memory sometimes so its better if I do this on a regular basis. Even if I'm just kinda foot noting things and not actually writing thoughtful or insightful entries.

Lets seee. This week I went to the Ghibli museum with some friends. It was really fun! They had so many neat exhibits there. I really wish they would have let us take videos! They had a ton of really neat displays of different animation techniques like stop motion and alot of rube goldberg contraptions that create the illusion of movement. My favorite part of the museum was when they had the exhibits of Miyazaki's rooms. It was insane. So many drawings plastered everywhere. This man is amazing! I wish I had that kind of drive. I really wish I had pictures. There were drawings and books and pencils everywhere. I hope I have a room like that one day. I really have to get crackin'

I wanted to ride the catbus but they only let kids ride it! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it too! Alas I only have a picture of the small catbus I got at the gift shop. Upon entering they also gave us a slide with 3 frames from some of the films! IDK where mine is from. I really need to watch more ghibli movies!

Speaking of animation. I just finished watching Wakfu. WHAT AN AMAZING SHOW! seriously! Stuff like that makes me want to move to france and learn french to learn from the masters! Ugh I'm gonna study flash so hardcore when I get back to the states. Its amazingggg!




Also gonna try keeping this blog every few days and maybe as a dream journal too! lols

A key that opens many locks is an awesome key.
A lock that is opened by many keys, is a worthless lock.

A key that can't open a single lock, is a useless key.
A lock that can't be opened by a single key, is a mighty strong lock.

lols

growing up

growing up.

is something i never want to do.

i never want to enjoy the taste of
black coffee, red ginger or golden draft beer.

they say these are adult flavors that you'll learn to love
I don't think I'll ever get used to them

Hey guys, er- whoever reads this! I'm back for the time being. I think I should just start blogging and writing about my experiences here in japan. I have a video blog here but I thought I would just write things. I think its easier for me to stay focused. I think both of these blogs will go hand in hand though. I'll say things and write about them and vice versa.

I love the weekend! I haven't really had a weekend since highschool because of part time jobs so now that I'm here I have more time to just chill and relax when I'm not in school. School isn't that hard or stressful either. I pretty much only have 2 classes where I actually have to worry about my grade and performance so its not bad at all. This weekend me and heather decided to take saturdays off from work so I'm just going to spend this day studying kanji and grammar then trying to finish up some anime.

Since I'm a foreigner here people are always wondering about my interests in anime and honestly I don't watch too much. I'm working my way through Code Geass today. I have such a long list of stuff I should be watching. I think after Geass I'm going to watch Sayounara Zetsubou sensei and then Kuroshitsuji. I' not sure what to watch after that but I have a ton of dramas I need to watch too.

Last year I was totally into Jdramas! they are so addictive! I really need to study japanese alot harder than I am now. Usually in my free time I'm just browsing facebook and am like, 'lol too tired to study'. I really need to get out of that habit. If I'm too tired I might as well go to bed I guess instead of wasting my time on stuff like that.

Oooh and I think japanese food has a weird effect on me. I've noticed that sine I've arrived here I have dreams more often. My dreams are really weird too. Like last night/this morning I had a dream that somehow a jelly fish had gotten into our house and was floating around. Everyone in my family had just regarded it as some sort of weird flying bug. It floated by the ceiling fan and then got chopped to bits. There was goo everywhere on the ceiling. Someone then told me to go clean it up, so I went over and got on a chair to go reach for it. Afterwards it grabbed me and reformed over my hand! So weird. So I went outside and it was pitch black. The jellyfish on my hand glowed like how they do in the nature films then it flew off. I don't remember it hurting but I remember being worried. After that I woke up and I just felt too shaken to go back to bed. Luckily it was about 730.

But its really lame to be awake so early on a saturday. I feel like i should have gone to work and earned some money. I've been responding to random things on craigslist. So far I have a job being in a music video next week. I'm excited! we have to learn a dance for a music video!

Well I guess thats all for now. I think I'll go study some grammar and vocabulary then write a mixi entry! I really need to write japanese more!