Not too much...but how bout some Japanese drama stars?

So..Im pretty much and pretty much have been waiting it out till my mom and sister get into Tokyo on sunday. I am going to an art exhibit tommorrow but other than that I havnt been doing much of anything.

So in the mean time...

Remember that show I was talking about, Hana Yori Dango?
Well, I'm going to introduce you to the male cast (which includes the first male pop stars I found attractive). They're cute.

This is Matsumoto Jun. He is also a part of the j-pop group that sings the shows intro theme song. The group is Arashi and the song...well, it's catchy and called "Love so Sweet."

He plays Domiyoji. He's adorable. He yells a lot and does really awkward things. Part of his character is to also say things incorrectly...like sayings and such. In the show he wears his hair sort of permed more on top of his head...at first its wierd but it grows on you.

apparently he's 5'6"...so he's shorter than me. Sad. He looks so tall in the show...but thats probably because the main girl is so short. Darn it!

These are the others boys:

In this order the above guys are actually named: Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, and Abe Tsuyoshi. This is a pretty bad picture of Oguri, he's much cuter in the show. In the show they play (in this order) Hanazawa Rui, Nishikado Sojiro, and Mimasaka Akira. All part of the "F-4", the group that Domiyoji leads in a super rich high school. The main love triangle is Tsukushi (the main girl) and Domiyoji and Hanazawa. I like Domiyoji the best and second I like Nishikado san...he's actually my height too...^.^

Peace!

I must be getting better at this english teaching thing...

But first!
here's the link to Andrew's photobucket album. You guys should favorite it if you want to be privy to his photos...since I'll probably never get around to adding the link.

http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q145/WertleJapan

Now...about this english lesson. I have to say...I always get stressed out about them. I never know if I'm doing a good job or if I have enough planned and plus I feel like a joke anyway since Mrs. Fujisawa knows so much english already. But I do it, hoping that if she really hated me she'd just fire me.

So last night I had the following planned:
First we'd go through stuff about the book we've been reading. It's "Kitchen" by Banana Yoshimoto. A short novel with two different stories in it and I like it quite a lot. I planned to talk about themes and characters and imagry and all that stuff plus if Keiko had any questions.

Next I was going to have Keiko tell me about two of her favorite artists (out of a list of four she had given me). I had found images for both of them and was gonna ask her why she liked them, about their techniques and work and stuff like that.

After that was to be discussion on two...events? that I had read about in some online Japan news websites. One was Abe's Health minister calling women "baby making machines" and the other was an article about how angry Japan was with this Australian guys book about Princess Masako.

And if we still had time my last plan was to ask her those sorts of questions that you find in "question books", like...If you oculd only take one memory with you after death, what would it be...or if you were stranded on an island, what three things would you have with you?

The goal of these plans is mostly to get Keiko confident and talking and sharing her opinion and thinking in English. And I was worried that it wasnt enough or whatever.

SO I go and she asks me a bit about Sapporo and tells me a bit about what she's been doing (which was interesting because it was the first time she volunteered the information on her own...I beleive she's learning darnit!). Apparently the two staff persons at her gallery are both leaving so she and her husband went through 70 interviews to find replacements. Apparently they have to go to a special person to tell them what specific "direction" the persons they hire should have. Very cool. They also hire based on personality because the job has no real skill requirements.

After that we began the book lesson. It turned out Keiko had taken my advice and underlined everything she didn't understand so I could explain it. We spent 30 minutes on this! Much longer than I had anticipated. Mostly what needed to be explained were english phrases that are...err...is colloquial the word? Phrases like "chin up, kid" "slipping through the cracks" and the like. Also some words she had trouble with, like "diminish" and "dense". There were some writing style questions she had and some metaphorical problems that didn't quite translate, I guess. The funniest thing, by far, was when I had to explain the phrase "cut the crap." It was hilarious. First I had to try and explain what crap literally was and it was funny because she didn't know the words "poo" or "feces" or "excretement" and I couldn't think of any other ways to say it partly because I was so embarrased. I also have learned the japanese word for "shit" but couldn't think of it either so I asked to see her english japanese dictionary and looked it up. When she saw what I was talking about she laughed too and was probably a little embarassed as well. after that I kind of explained how it was slang, to some people derogatory but usually not as bad as other words and also explained the different ways it can be used...but briefly. Definatly the best lesson ever.

After that we spent another 30 minutes on book discussion about general themes, character and plot. Then we took our usual tea break, talked a bit about valentine's traditions (thanks thenikku!) and then talked about the articles. After that we had time to talk about one of her artists. So I overplanned! for the first time! yay!

I was very happy.

Much Love!

Sapporo Finale and Pictures!

Well...
I'm back home and I've pretty much been relazing since getting back on Monday. The Shinkansen ride back was 9 hours, 3 of which were actually on a Shinkansen train. The last day in Otaru was nice. Andrew and I spent time in the actual city and saw the lantern festivities and such. Andrew and I have both put pictures in our photobucket accounts so feel free to browse them.

Other than that...it's relaxing and saving money till mom and Rae get here!
^.^
Much Love!

The Ryokan, a first class experience

No joke.

After checking out of the hostel Andrew and I went to Sapporo where we wound up purchasing Shinkansen tickets for a whopping 22000 yen (around 200 bucks I guess). OUr flight here was cheaper so now I know, next time just book the round trip tickets by plane and you'll save time and money. But at least we know how we're getting home.

In any case, we made our way to Otaru-chikko station which turned out not to be the best station to go to since it wasn't walking distance. It didn't matter anyway because my right foot is so sore it hurts to walk anyway. So we hopped into the nearest taxi, which happened to be called "takai taxi". In Japanese Takai means either tall or expensive. It made me and Andrew laugh and indeed, the ride to the Korakuen Ryokan was 600 yen a piece.

For those that don't know, a Ryokan is a tradtional Japanese inn. It comes with tatami rooms and futon beds, onsen (hot springs for bathing) if you're lucky, and really fancy dinner and breakfast if you choose it. We had to wait to check in, but were allowed to drop our bags off in the lobby while we walked around outside. Just the outside of the inn is breathtaking. Once we were allowed to check in they showed us to our room where they had already brought our bags. Once we got there a polite woman made tea for us and explained the different aspects of the room, showing us where the toilet and yukata and tabi were and such. Aside from the tea there were also little snacks to nibble on and she also found out what time we wanted dinner brought to our room. Once she left I immediatly changed into a Yukata (they are soooo comfortable) and havn't really worn anything else inside the Ryokan.

The service doesn't stop there.

While waiting for dinner (scheduled for 7:30), I decided to check out the onsen. I know I've gone through this before but I'll go through it again briefly. Onsen are hot baths, usually public. In this ryokan they have both outdoor and indoor baths, separated by sex. You don't bath in the onsen, no. You shower first, make sure you are completely clean, and then you relaz in the onsen for as long as you can. I've discovered I like sytarting in the indoor bath and then moving outside. After being outside the indoor one just feels too stifling. There's something really amazing about being able to sit outside completely naked in the middle of a bunch of snow (even if technically you're in a hot spring which is surrounded by snow. I've definatly gotten over the shyness of bathing in front of other girls. Today I even got to sit next to a nice, I think Chinese, family.

In any case, dinner came to our room at exactly 7:30 and a lady set out all the dishes and explained a few of them. She left after that leaving andrew and I to decide which of the ten small but appetizing looking plates to start with. Let me say, if you are picky do not get meals at the ryokan. I have no idea what have the stuff I have been eating is and it also includes a lot of sashimi (which i love but I know some people have a problem with). I really liked dinner last night because it also had crab. Once you finish eating you call the front desk. Two ladies came and whisked away all the dishes and set up our futons (they go in the closet during the day). They moved really fast! they also brought Ice cream so of course I love them. The futons are a lot softer than you might expect, and warmer.

The rooms also have TVs so I didn't even have to miss Hana Yori Dango.

Upon waking this morning Andrew and I headed to breakfast which we go to a sort of cafeteria for. I say sort of because, though everyone in the hotel eats there, its much nicer than I can describe. They already had our meal set up and we enjoyed more sashimi, fish, miso and more little dishes. Quite delicous.

Andrew and I were appreciating the relazxing amotsphere of the Ryokan so we didn't really go anywhere today. We did walk around the Ryokan gardens (which are covered in snow and gorgeous, though are probably equally gorgeous in the fall and spring) and played in the snow some and that was nice. I took another bath and we enjoyed another wonderful dinner. Oh, while we were out some people straitened up our room and even left some more treats to have with more tea. Really amazing!

Well...that pretty much catches me up to now. Tomorrow Andrew and I plan on waking up early to make the most of the day and see Otaru. The location is famous for music boxes and glass so I hope I can find some less expensive items for gifts. Also, there is the lantern festival. I'm excited!

Like I said, pictures will be up at the end of the week! Though, the ryokan pictures are going to be in andrew's albums since I've run out of batteries for my camera.


on a side note:
please vote for Anrew's mom who is in a contest to be the ultimate narnia fan and get a chance to visit the set of the next movie. This is a big deal and she's already one of six finalists!!!
here's the link:
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/fanclub/fanclub_winners.html
you can vote once a day!

Much Love!

PS:
thanks for all the comments!
@theNikku-yeah, we had to book our stuff like two months ago and that was LATE timing for booking. Sucks! I havn't heard much about a warm winter here..but everyone is complaining about it back in Tokyo.

@Alice-You dirty dirty girl

@Dad-I found something for you^.^ Nothing big...kind of funny though.

@Wervyn-hah hah. Havn't seen it yet. "pouches" hah hah

@Rae and Sara...I miss you both! Not too long till I see you Rae!!!

Sapporo Day Three-or four? umm....

Yesterday was an interesting day. I woke up early enough to discover that we had missed a small, outer lying section of the Snow Festival in a place called Sato Land. Realizing that it would take a little bit more time to get there than the other places, and beause there were certain other things I wanted to see...I woke andrew up early and we headed off (around 9:30ish....).

First we took our usual walking route towars the ice sculptures but detoured slightly so we could see the Ramen Alley. It`s an incredibly narrow alley hidden away in on eof the city blocks. The only shops there sell Ramen and it all looked delicous. Unfortunatly it was a little too early for Ramen so we simply walked through. The shopkeepers, they minute they see you walking by, always shout `Irrashaimase!` and doozo, and the like to get you to come in and try THEIR ramen. Very funny and a little difficult for me because it makes me want to eat at all the restaruants so no one feels bad.

After that we made our way to the little souvineir shop called Tanukiya. Tanukia are like tiny little Japanese totems of these wierd looking animals. Their balls are considered good luck. That:s right, their balls. So all the little wooden statues, which looked creepy in the first place, had humongous genetalia handing off them. Seriously, usually the genetalia took up more space than their legs. The shop features other souveniers but i wasnt sure what to get anyone. I found two small gifts and I would have loved to buy a Tanuki for someone (maybe dad, or maybe a couple for dad and tamara-the female tanuki`s breasts pale in comparison to the male`s balls though) but they were rather expensive, being hand carved and all. We may go back today to purchase more souveniers since I realized I have a bit more money than I thought (I`ve decided to forgo snowboarding anyway though).

I apologize for the crude turn my entries seem to be taking as of late but I feel it`s my job to report everything.

After Tanukiya we walked to see the finished competeing snow sculptures. My favorites are hong Kong, which featured a really elaborate but typical chinese dragon, Singapore, for the really detailed and beautiful backside of the sculpture featuring the national flower and some doves, hawaii, for it:s mermaid and turtle, Germany, because theirs was awesome, they managed to make the boat they constructed and the figures all look like they were coming out of water, and finally Canada, just ebcause theirs was funny. It was supposed to be a couple dancing and you get a really nice view of the lady`s cleavage...the couple really looks like they are doing something dirty. America was disapointing....they chose the story of the frog prince as their theme and the figure wasnt very well former, though they did a nice job on the trees. There was another one which I thought would have been nicer had the competitors come back to clean the snow off the sculpture. I think they had finished the day before and just decided not to come back because snow was a little piled on top.

Anyway, they were all nice.

From here we made our way to Sato Land. I have learned not to trust websites from this experience and instead ask people the correct route. The website told me to go to one of three subway stations so I chose one and went and the sign at said station told me that I had to go to one of the other two. Poor luck on my part, I suppose. But we made it and Sato land turned out to be a kid oriented zone, just fine for me and Andrew. We got to go tubing down a snow mountain, find our way through an ice maze, and build tiny little snowmen (I called mine Sabishii Lover though I accidently spelled the katakana for lover as robe instead...whoops, now its the the lonely robe). There was supposed to be horse drawn carriages and butter making and mochi smashing but I didnt see it. No problem though. While we were eating I chatted not only with the people who gave me my food but an older lady I gave my seat too. One of the people in the Ramen shop complimented my accent, which was nice.

Leaving sato land, our next trek was to the Sapporo Beer Museum. We went to the correct station and started walking. We made in a brief stop in Hobby/book off where andrew bought a cheap game and I debated relivign the past and buying some old Japanese pokemon cards. No buy...though I`m reconsidering. After this we walked aways, realized we had passed the place, I got frustrated (I really felt like we`d been having travel trouble all day and my foot was hurting so _I just wanted toget there!), andrew got the brunt of my wrath, and the we finally found it. The museum was small but free and cute. It had old Sapporo beer and Ebisu posters that were cool...I would have loved to have one. Andrew tasted the dark beer and there was this adorabel little model of how Beer is made...though I think parts were a little fantastical...you`ll have to see the pics.

After we left the museum we were directed to what I thought was a souvenier shop, part of it was, but the other part was a large menu where they tell you you should eat at the Beer garden. It ws very well planned out, they had somewhere there who spoke english and started talking to us about the beer and the lamb and how many people were getting the tabehoudaiand how delicous it ould be. Well, Andrew and I, after a moment of deciding wether to throw down the 3500 yen each or not, were sold and decided we deserved at least one nice dinner on our trip. Besides, Sapporo is famous for lamb and beer so why not?

We spent Two hours in the restaurant eating and cooking our own lamb. It was delicous and I think we went through five trays. I actually managed to drink two beers, and I`ve decided if I have to drink beer (I know I don`t HAVE to, which is why I only had two and spaced them out with lots of food and cola), Sapporo is okay though I really think I`m not a beer person. Andrew enjoyed his though and I think we definatly got the most out of our Tabe/nomihoudai.

Finally we made a last stop at the arcade to play some relazing games and then we walked home, making it before curfew at 11:30. It was an extremely full and satisfying day.

Today we check out of the hostel and go to the Ryokan. The ryokan is closer to Otaru, which apparently and luckily is having a lantern festival during our stay. So the next round of entries will be focused in that area rather than Sapporo.
Before we head over there we may try to make one last trip to a souvineir store or maybe Mt. Moiwa and the rope walkway, which I did kind of want to see. We`ll figure it out.

Anyway,
Much love and sorry for all the typos!

On t o Sapporo! The white winter I never had!

Yes, I am now in Sapporo, Hokkaido (for those of you that don't know, Hokkaido is the northern most island of Japan).

I left Tokyo and arrived on the 5th. After getting to the airport way too early with Andrew, we then got to board a Pokemon decked airplane and had a nice relazing hour or so flight. We had emergency exit seats (my choice), so plenty of leg room. We arrived in Hokkaido and caught our first glimpse of snow and then go to spend about 30 minutes on the train seeing part of the country side on the way to Sapporo. Beautiful.
The hostel we are staying in was easy to fine and is a short walk from the southern area of Downtown sapporo, and an even shorter, though somewhat expensive, subway ride. I'm rooming with for other girls (one's from singapore, the other from south america, and the other has hardly said a word). The hostel is nice and really cheap, with a Japanese style bath or either a normal shower. I really couldnt ask for a better place to be staying for the first half of our trip.

In any case. The first night Andrew and I didn't do much except we did manage to find a nice little soba restaurant to eat at. Cheap and delicous.
The second day we had our first go at the Yuki Matsuri (snow festival). We decided to walk and discovered that not only does it save money, it's really a nice walk during which you get to see a ton of beautiful snow, a nice long bridge, and you even walk by a park. The walk lead strait to the main street of Sapporo which had the ice sculpture section on it. Though we realized they werent finished, indeed the competeing sculptors were either just starting or not even out yet. We had left the hostel a bit too early (9:00), so nothing was open yet except fast food joints and some shopping places. So we spent some time in a famous Japanese...errr, junk store?, Don Quioxte. After that we grabbed some cocoa and finally some of the more entertaining stores/locations were open, i.e. the arcade. We went and had a grand time playing games and even got to ride a ferris wheel in the snow (it was on top of the building with the arcade). We spent enough time there that we thought the Yuki matsuri might be a little more underway so we set off. Indeed, the festival was hoppin. Although the competeing snow sculptors were still working (they had till today), the sponsers ad humongous and eaborate snow sculptures to enjoy. Vendors were selling everything from warm milk to meat popsicles (andrew bought one so there is a picture) and I even got to play a flag game on one of the stages.
For a late lunch we went to a sort of Ramen expo in Sapporo station which probably wasnt the best idea (considering how indecisive andrew and I are) but we did make a choice and enjoyed some Sapporo Ramen (one of the foods Hokkaido is famouse for, also: crab, lamb, sushi). Being pretty beat we decided to head back to the hostel (which from Sapporo station, the northern most part of downtown sapporo, is about an hour). We did stop and check out the observation tower as well as the ice bars selling drinks in the street. These were fun and I had a bailey's and milk which was really good. We finally made it back to the hostel where I remembered to check my cell phone. Turns out that John from my japanese class, who was also in Sapporo, had called. We talked and Andrew and I headed back out to meet him for a couple drinks...which turned into us all drinking a few bailey's and milks in the street followed by my first experience at a sushi rotating belt restaruant. The sushi was delicous and really cheap and John made my day by saying we made his trip to Sapporo (he was traveling with his host mom and her relatives, all older people who are in bed by 8).
By the way, most of this day had been a little drizzly but by night time the snow was falling almost constantly in varied heaviness. These, as we learned today, were far better conditions for snow sculpting. Good thing for the competetors. Yes yes, we woke up today to find the snow still falling and looking more beautiful than ever. Andrew and I walked once more to witness completed Ice and snow sculptures. This took a good while to observe but not too long which was good.
We then headed to Maruyama Zoo. We had planned to go on the Sapporo Beer Museum tour afterwards but aside from the subway to Maruyama station we walked the whole way to the Zoo (instead of taking a bus or taxi). Once again, not only did we save money but I really feel like we got to truly experience the snow...no matter how cold it was.
The Zoo was practically deserted but we got to see all the animals (except the Gorrilas who we couldnt find and their Elephant who recently passed away). I really liked the zoo...It's been a lonf time since I've been to one and you kind of forget how amazing animals are. I also felt like this one had animals I'd never really witnessed at a zoo. For instance, I really enjoyed seeing wolves and reindeer. The big seal was entertaining because the minute he saw me he jumped up on his pedestal and started posing. The bears were a bit disapointing, though one looked like baloo. I am completely in love with birds of prey so no need to explain how amazing they were to see. For some reason, the Giraffes were expecially asstounding to me and Andrew, their sheer size is incredible. And I've decided a few things about monkeys. Though they can sometimes be cute, they are really quite disgusting. I'm not sating I dont like monkeys, like I said, they can be cute and I know they are just animals so I'm not supposed to expect too much or something. But after seeing the chimps poo in their hands and/or lick their poo of the walls....after witnessing some little black monkey just jump on a female and start humping, five second later stopping producing the most hilarious yet disturbing "o face" I have ever seen (from the female)...after seing way too many puffy, lumpy, oddly colored monkey butts...I just can't help but think they're kind of gross. But the chimp babies were cute, and it was somewhat exhilerating whenever the monkeys would get all excited.
After the zoo we were pretty beat so we just came back tot he hostel and here I sit typing up my adventures thus far in Sapporo. We may go bowling later and tomorrow we may do the beer museum but I'm not sure yet. Andrew and I have never been much for planning.

By the way, I finally got through finals and that last week was the worst. I know I said I'd post my papers but they, hoestly, were not a product of my most dedicated work. I was seriously resenting the fact that I had to spend a whole week writing papers. Andrew and I did go out to dinner with a few people from My japanese class and my japanese teachers, which was odd, and we bowled after that, which was fun. Hmmm...anything else? I'm really kind of missing my host family here in Sapporo. It'd probably be really fun to see them here, all in the snow and stuff.

I'll be uploading pictures in photobucket at the end of the week so you'll have to wait till then to see. Andrew also has a lot of pictures which he'll likely put in his account at the end of the week.

Yay!
Much love,
Jessica

PS-to those of you who say I was hardly on Skype, I had actually been on skype a lot more the two weeks before leaving for Sapporo than any other time. It was all of you thta I was not seeing. I miss you all so after this week you had all better be on skype all the time until you talk to me.

Oh and, I really want to go see Stevie wonder in osaka or something but I don't think I'll be able to. Timing and money is way off. Those same reasons...well, the money part anyway, are preventing me from snowboarding here in sapporo! Sad.

And special thanks to dad for the fabulous shoes...thoough my right achilles tendon is really sore from wearing them, they protecdt really well from the snow.