Dinner Parties at Mamiya Hotel

We usually have a dinner party here every week or so. We share food from our own countries because we like hanging out together. The guy in yellow is Moon-kun, and he is the nicest guy I've ever met. I can't explain it in English, but in Japanese, he's very yasashii and he always ki o kiiteiru (noticing the ki in the room and responding to that by helping people out with what they need without needing to ask them what they need). He is so nice that I'm not sure if he likes me or that's him normally--I'll have to find a way to figure it out.

The guy in the front divebombing for the nearest available girl is Fukui-ken, cho inaka (totally from the sticks Japan). He's so country he practically speaks two languages. Most of us in the pic are international students. We joke around that he is studying abroad from Fukui. He is such a perv that he broke my brain the first day we met. That felt really new and good. He makes me laugh so hard that I come home from parties he was at still laughing my ass off. You would not believe the stuff he does, but it's him so I totally believe it.

The girl kneeling next to me is Min-chan. She is cool and we share a lot of the same interests. Kiyo J-Z on the far left is from China (Tsintao), and she always hooks me up with good Chinese digital swag. All of us girls like the same Korean hip hop bands, which is so cool because now I can share my love of K-pop with people who are also into it.

Shang and Liu standing there in the back left corner are two nice guys from Malaysia. Shang is quiet and Liu is super cute in a younger brother kind of way. Liu reminds me of the Chinese superstar Jay Chou in some ways.

I love the people here!!!

Where I Live

MATSURI~#! 野洲の兵主大社での祭り

祭

野洲の兵主大社

It's Golden Week!! Time to matsuri like there's no tomorrow! I went to my first matsuri today, and it was AMAZING! I was going to participate in it with the other exchange students but I'm recovering from a cold-fever so I took it all the pictures. My friends were carrying this huge taiko. As they are walking, they all shout back and forth at each other in a pattern, with kakegoe. On matsuri days, these portable shrines and special drums are taken out of the shrine and paraded around for everyone in the town to see and enjoy.



At matsuri, sake and beer are free for all the participants. The way the guys carry their omikoshi (palanquins) is totally different than the women.
The guys kick up dust and weave in and out, careening everywhere. When these guys weaved in close to the edge of the path where I was standing, they were steaming off sake and sweating like hell. For the guys, carrying the omikoshi is a show of strength--they heft the omikoshi high in the air and then push it around so the guys on their team on the other side has to grab on tight and push back to stay on track. The palanquains like the one below usually weigh about 6,000-7,ooolbs. Some of the guys were so sexy! It was so exciting when the teams of guys were coming out of the shrine with their omikoshi! Hey Tammy, when I saw this, I was thinking, 「激しくて、迫力ある～！すううごい！」 This LINK is also for you


Choi-to!


I will participate in a matsuri later this year. They need people to help out, so if you come to Japan around the right time, you can help them out and participate, too. Many matsuri coordinators don't care where you're from or what you look like, they're just happy to have some help carrying their omikoshi!

There is Nothin Like This

I went to the DVD rental store today, and I saw something that I never thought I'd see: two of my favorite movies FACE OUT right next to each other, along side two other movies that I also like. God, this is out of this world amazing!! What is obscure in the US is popular over here.

I rented six movies today that I would have had to cut off and arm and a leg to get over in the US, some of them you can hardly get information on on wikipedia. I asked the employees, "Do you have this?" and they said, "Hang on a second," and they come back with it in their hands. Oh HELL YEAH!! And get this--on average, it is $2-3 for a week rental. I've died and gone to heaven!!! I cannot express how great this feels! I LOVE Japan!

Ebi Filet at MikeyD's

I've been waiting for this all my life and I didn't know it: the shrimp filet at McDonald's at my local mall. Check out the wrapper--there's little shrimps on it!

Japan is Heaven: Parfaits

I hung out with Dasha in Kyoto for an afternoon. She showed me one of the best things Japan has borrowed from the western world, and made better: Parfaits. We're here at a high-end parfait specialty shop in Sanjyo district, called からふね屋（http://www.karafuneya.jp/）. They have over 100 parfaits, and you can buy a HUGE one about 1/3 my whole body size for $100. Yummmmy!!

京都市 Kyoto City

Kyoto City from 上寂光時 (on the western mountain).