That one time in Japan I served food at a festival....

Finally another update in the "That one time in Japan" series!

This time is when I served food at Kashima Elementary's festival. I believe is was a fundraising festival, but to be honest, it was in December and I didn't speak much Japanese then.

I was woken up one Sunday morning and my host mom said she was going to a festival ( for Japanese learners, 祭り=まつり= matsuri) at the local elementary school and asked if I wanted to go. I said sure, figuring it'd be a quick trip and definitely not realizing what an interesting day it would prove to be.

Once we arrived, I took a look at the stalls, which were filled with your typical festival foods and some activities for the kids. After the typical gaijin in a small town-craze, I was roped into helping sell food with random people my host mom knew. I was helping sell two dishes - some kind of mochi ball-thing and soup. The food, as yummy as it was, was not the reason this day was so much fun.... it was the four ojiisan's I got to work with!

When people would come to buy food, they would obviously ask who this crazy blonde gaijin-san was, why I was there, where I was from, etc. One of the guys spoke decent English, so he would help translate for me. Their answers were either I was their daughter, their mistress, sister-in-law, wife, cousin, twin, and very rarely, an exchange student. Sometimes they would say things in English which caused some confused faces of customers, but everyone working at the booth knew the game and would laugh together.

It was one the funnest days I had in Japan, and definitely one I will not forget!

I only managed to get one photo that day, but it was definitely the most important - a photo with my host mom and the ojiisans! (click for larger image!)

It was during this festival that I apparently said I would do the Japanese Speech Contest (I don't remember this) but regardless, that story is for another time.

Kashima Shrine

I am finally able to post again!!! My computer's fan just stopped working. It was horribly stressful because I had just started looking for jobs in Baltimore, and then my computer suddenly wouldn't stay on for longer than 10 minutes. Luckily I was able to get it fixed for only $65.00!


In other news, today my car decided to stop working as well. In the absolute lack of luck that was today, one of my best friends came to my rescue and hopefully everything will go up from here.


Sometimes I really want to just know how many times in a two year time-frame can you hit rock-bottom, but things will get better eventually, just gotta keep swimming...

So onto a post I've planned and had written for awhile....

鹿島神宮
Kashima Shrine

All photos from : http://city.kashima.ibaraki.jp/kankou/1/zingu.html

Now, don’t call me biased or anything (though I totally am), but today I want to talk about 鹿島神宮Kashima Jinguu, located in Kashima-shi, Ibaraki-ken.

I got to visit this shrine a lot. So much so, I’ve memorized most of it - the pathways, the big, beautiful trees, the deer, the way the pathway felt kind of like quicksand after it rained. This shrine in particular means a whole lot to me.

The Kashima Jinguu shrine is one of the oldest in Japan.

Here’s a little history lesson about Kashima-shi: The original kanji for Kashima was 鹿(ka, “deer”)+島(shima, “island“). This kanji pairing is still used for many things in Kashima such as in the names of the “Kashima Antlers“ soccer team and the shrine. The official kanji pairing used now for the city, however, is 鹿嶋, which still means “deer island”. I’m not exactly sure why they changed the kanji because I could never get a clear answer other than “that sometimes happens in Japan”. Really? I could have never guess that myself. /sarcasm

This “deer island” theme carried over into many aspects of life in Kashima - the Antlers name came from it, their mascot was a pair of deer, the members prayed at the shrine together before every home match and hosted their championship parade there (which I totally skipped school for :] ), and there were many deer kept at this shrine (much more than I’ve seen in other places, such as in Hiroshima).

My school - Seishin Gakuen was located at the upper end of the shrine, so there were a few times during Long Home Room that we were able to walk around the shrine. During the summer, we had a lot of rain, which made the softball field unusable, so instead of doing any real exercise, we just walked to the shrine and looked at the fish. My school also has a special relationship with the shrine, so the Shourinji-kempo, kyuudou, and jyuudou clubs all practiced at the shrine.

I used to ride next to it every day when I rode my bike to and from school at my first host family. I’ve visited it at least 15 times. I’ve seen it damp from rain, covered with leaves in Autumn, covered with snow on Setsubun no Hi(the first day of Spring in February), and have hidden beneath it’s trees on a hot summer’s day. I’ve donated over 1000 yen ($10) in prayer money, for everything from passing tests, to succeeding in love, to fixing issues with host parents, friends, and my last wish - that I could make it back there once again.

Even though I’ve spent so much time there, I still discovered something new every time I’m there. It’s like a little puzzle and I’ve only pieced some of it together - like much of my connection with Japan. I’ve visited this shrine with most of the important people in my life, and I hope that one day I can share it with my friends and my family.

I had plans this past March to revisit Kashima Jinguu but unfortunately, due to the earthquake, I was unable to make it back to Kashima. I managed to pick up pieces of information from different news outlets and people who informed me that the shrine was damaged a little. Unfortunately, I still don’t know how bad, but I honestly don’t think I want to know because the very thought of anything in Kashima being damaged has brought me to tears too often.

If you‘re one of those people that like shrines/temples (like me) or are interested in ancient Japan (like me), I highly recommend this shrine. It’s located about an hour by highway bus (it even has it’s own stop) from Tokyo and the city itself has many other interesting things like the BEACH!!, many shops, yakuza, and good restaurants (like the couple my host family owns ;) )

Access:
鹿島神宮
Kashima Jinguu
Kashima Shrine
〒３１４－００３１
茨城県鹿嶋市宮中２３０６－１
Ibaraki-ken, Kashima-shi, Kyuuchuu 2306-1
2306-1 Kyuuchuu, Kashima City, Ibaraki Prefecture


TEL　０２９９－８２－１２０９
FAX　０２９９－８２－１６２５


Links about Kashima Jinguu:
[japanese] http://city.kashima.ibaraki.jp/kankou/1/zingu.html
[japanese] http://www.livedo.net/tabi/96.html
[japanese] http://www.kashimajingu.jp/wp/access/access07 (includes a map of Kashima Jinguu)
[japanese] http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~tohara/kasima.html
[english] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashima_Shrine

[english] http://city.kashima.ibaraki.jp/english/100701.htm


[english] http://www.pref.ibaraki.jp/bukyoku/seikan/kokuko/e-ibaraki-report/0604kashima.html


[english] http://japanexplorer.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/kashima-jingu-enshrines-the-god-of-quake-prevention-ibaraki-prefecture/ (includes a lot of background information)


Please let me know if you have any questions, or give suggestions of what you want to see!
いつも読んでくれてありがとうございます！

That one time in Japan... when they tried feeding me a giant fish head

お久しぶり～！ wayyy too Long time, no see! After my unannounced (and in my defense unintentional) hiatus came about, I had virtually no time to spend blogging. To be honest, I blame it on my smart phone. For most of my computer uses, it's way more convenient than a laptop, but for serious blogging, it's just too time consuming. I got busy with work, got my license, bought a car, have been through many emotions, changed life plans, lost 28 lbs, finally got to visit home again, and sadly, still have no concrete plans to visit Japan anytime soon(but lets keep our fingers crossed!)

Today I bring you a rather unique experience.... so I hope you will enjoy it!


I had been talking with my host mom about my Johnny’s obsession. Like, literal obsession. I have magazines, fan merch, watched all the dramas, memorized stupid facts about the members, even called them by their affectionate nicknames… I had (and still kinda have) a problem. But they’re just so hot and sexy and whatev, not even close to embarrassed.

I read online that recycle shops in Japan often have Johnny CDs and DVDs for wicked cheap prices. When I mentioned this to my host mom, she decided that we should go check one out. We drove to Kamisu City, which is just below Kashima.

I was in heaven!!! I found lots of things I wanted to buy, thought about buying, but I finally decided on two singles (the “Seishun Amigo” single from the dorama Nobuta wo Produce with YamaPi and Kamenashi and Daite Senorita, which is the first solo single of YamaPi) and the Never Ending Wonderful Story DVD from NEWS. (Totally NEWS no dai-fan much? Yeeeeep XD) 

L to R - Seishun Amigo, Never Ending Wonderful Story, and Daite Senorita

After making my purchases, my host mom took me to one of the restaurants that she owns. They were teaching me about the different kinds of food they made there and started showing me the meat. Then, all of a sudden, they showed me this giant fish HEAD! I’m not sure what kind of fish this was, but it’s just scary and creepy and was nothing I wanted to eat.

When they asked me “Tabete mimasen ka?”(Will you try eating it?), I almost died. Apparently, they even use parts of the head!!


Instead, my host mom ordered me lots and lots of chicken(some of which you can see in the picture) so all was good. But I decided to take a picture of the fish head because I had never, ever seen anything like it and haven’t ever since!

That one time in Japan…. I found out what my name sounds like [the bad]

One of my first days of school, I was being introduced to a couple boys who were friendly with the girls I hung out with.

One of them had lived in America (and was pretty cute), but was too much of a “oh, I’m a Japanese boy so I have to pretend to be shy” kinda high-school boy, so he never really talked to me. But I do remember this horrifying conversation which sprung a nickname that ended up solidifying my disdain for my name.

The quiet boy asked one of my friends my name.
Boy: 名前は何？ (What’s her name?)
Girl: ステイシーだよ。(Stacy)
B: ええ？セイシって言ったの？(Did you say “seishi”?
G: 違うよ！ステイシーって。(No, it’s Stacy.)
B: 本当にセイシだと思ってたけど・・・(I really thought you said “seishi”…)

Seems innocent, right? He just misheard. But then I asked what “seishi” meant. No one would tell me. The girls acted surprised and murmured to themselves a bit. The boys close by laughed. The quiet boy and another boy thought it was funny, so they kept calling me “Seishi” but wouldn’t explain what it meant. I knew it couldn’t be good, so I looked through all of my dictionaries. Nothing.

A few weeks passed and I purchased an electronic dictionary. Shortly after I bought it, I heard them call me “seishi” again. I looked it up immediately. The first entry was 精子 and the meaning listed was “sperm”.





Yes. “Seishi” means sperm. Without even scrolling through the other options, I knew this was why I had this nickname.


My name in Japanese sounds like the word for sperm. Sperm. Now tell me that you would not instantly start making you hate your name.

If that wasn’t bad enough, they weren’t the only one who confused my name.

My first host father’s brother came to visit. When they were introducing me, he too thought that my name was a bodily fluid produced by males rather that a name derived from Anastasia. My host dad thought this was hilarious. I, however, did not. So embarrassing~~ 


And to wrap things up, here's an amusing picture explaining how birth control works... haha.

Earthquake Alert App Review

This is the first app review for my mini-series on the EEW system in Japan.


Intro to EEW


I made a video app review for you guys. Yes, my first video笑
I know nothing about editing or anything like that so please forgive me!






Earthquake Alert:
Works in Japan? Worldwide? Yes&Yes
Language(s)? English only.
Best feature: The map.
Good things: Runs/loads fast. Can set filters based on magnitude, date, distance. Can set the units. Map powered by Google Maps. Only works in Real-time so less data storage.
Bad things: No push notifications (separate beta app available). Real-time only (for up to the last week).
Ease of usage: Very easy to navigate, simple to understand.
iPhone app? Yes.
Recommended? For those looking for a simple, wordwide notification app, yes. For those looking for more specific/advanced features or push notifications, no.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Hopefully as I make more videos, I'll get better at them and now sound so crazy. haha.

Do you like the video review? or would you prefer pictures/text? Let me know!!!


Thanks for reading/watching! 

Early Earthquake Warning [EEW] System Introduction

A long time ago I made mention that I would do a review of different apps you can use while in Japan for earthquake alerts and safety information, and after the recent 7.1 earthquake that hit just minutes ago, I figured now would be a decent time.

I clearly remember the first earthquake I ever experienced. It was about a month after I came to Japan. It was a sunny fall day and I was sitting in English class. It was a very, very weak one but I freaked. Everyone else just kept working and minding their own business but I was terrified. (I'm from Northeastern Pennsylvania - ie: No tectonic plates close enough for earthquakes)

Once a couple months had passed they had stopped being terrifying and just became an annoying part of everyday life. Sometimes they happened, sometimes they didn't. Towards the end of my exchange they started happening more frequently, but since most were during the time I was at school or the middle of the night, I never knew much about earthquakes or for that matter, earthquake alerts. At my last host family, we'd watch TV during dinner and my host brother would sometimes predict the earthquakes.(freaky, right?!) We also had a guard dog that would start barking sometimes 15 seconds before it happened! It was at my last host families that I saw the TV's earthquake alert for the first time!

Then the Tohoku Earthquake or Great East Japan Earthquake happened. While I wasn't in Japan when the earthquake happened (I was in an airplane, flying close to Sendai actually), I experienced many of the aftershocks. It was during this time I actually experienced what a early warning alert sounded like, many times a day!

About the 緊急地震速報 (きんきゅう・じしん・そくほう, Earthquake Early Warning system)
The Earthquake Early Warning system was launched in 2007 as part of the 全国瞬時警報システム(literally: all country-instant-warning system) or the J-Alert. The J-Alert system is a satellite system developed so authorities could quickly broadcast alerts for things such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, even military alerts. According to the wikipedia article, Japanese officials claim it takes 1 second to inform authorities and 4 to 20 seconds to inform citizens.

"The EEW system can detect the approximate source and magnitude of an earthquake and send out public alerts via TV, radio, and cellphone--all in less than a minute of a quake's start. It also transmits signals that can automatically shut down computers, stop elevators at the nearest floor, and halt factory production lines."[article] (Note: for more information on the differences between S-waves and P-waves, I'd recommend this article for that as well!)

緊急地震速報 for 携帯(けいたい, cell phones)
Probably the most handy part of the Earthquake Early Warning system is the message alerts that can be sent to cell phones. This article from Japan Angle has a good description: "What happens first is that your phone gets automatically “flashed” by the earthquake warning centre. An alert ring tone goes off (irrespective of whether you’ve set it to silent or not) and a message pops up on your screen telling you the approximate epicentre of the quake. There is then usually a number of seconds before the ground actually starts moving beneath you – the amount of time you get depends on how close you are to the epicentre. This is just enough time for you to open a door or window (to ensure an easy escape route) and duck under something sturdy (to protect yourself from falling objects)."

[source] Translation of the message sent. Messages are usually available in English also.

For Docomo users, here is the page with more information, including a list of compatible devices.
au by KDDI users are unlucky in that the page with information on the EEW system(including how to set it up) is only available in Japanese. More information may be available in your handset's user guide or through customer service.
Softbank on the other hand, doesn't have any information linked from their English website. However, after searching through their Japanese website, I came across this page.
However, on both Softbank [link] and au [link] 's English websites you can find information on the Disaster Message Board Service and how to sign up.


緊急地震速報アプリ(あぷり, application) for スマートフォン(すまーとふぉん, smart phones)
I think this part will be the most appealing to my readers. If you're simply traveling or planning to stay in Japan for any extended period of time, you're probably fairly concerned with safety. If you can't speak Japanese, this probably makes your anxiety even worse.

I want to make this clear: The number and strength of earthquakes has toned down a lot. And it is not unusual at all to experience an earthquake in Japan, as the tectonic plates Japan sits on are very active. I am only doing this to give you a little peace of mind and hopefully help those in the future.

I am going to rate these apps, to the best of my ability, based on the following things:
Ease of usage(from a non-Japanese perspective)
Features such as: GPS location, push-notifications, maps,
Practicality

I will also list pros/cons of usage, best/worst feature, an over-all star rating, if it works world-wide or if it's limited to Japan, and if it there is both an Android and iPhone app. Please note I have an Android phone and can only review Android-based features.

I have four apps I am going to review, and I will also mention any other apps specifically for iPhone that I cannot review personally.

So be prepared for those in the immediate future. :]

Just a quick post.....

.....before I reply to all the past comments and start working on some upcoming posts. (Blogger awards, moar Taiikusai photo spam, app reviews, ninja themepark, Tegomass concert, GazettE live?!? WHAT! haha)


So first things first....
My boyfriend came to visit yesterday. I hadn't seen him in two weeks, since our argument, so I wanted to do something special for him. I made him confetti cupcakes with confetti frosting and decorated them with my writing pens. I made them with my special heart-shaped mini-cupcake maker that I got for $6 at Wal*mart!

He goes by "Ricky", but his real name is "Iwei" or "Great Happiness", which is exactly what he brings to me!

To be honest, it was my first time making cupcakes all alone, and I'm not very practiced in frosting. Guess I need to start baking more~! Despite the sloppiness, my boyfriend said he really likes the "homemade" feel of them. What a good boyfriend笑
Earlier this week, I had tried the Master Cleanse diet, but after two days, it made me break out in hives! Online forums said it was just the "diet working" but honestly, if it's going to make my skin look gross, I'll just go back to cutting calories! I felt like a failure though, and started crying while on the phone with him. I just felt so frustrated. Some people can easily drop three, even four pounds a week, but I felt like I was struggling with every ounce. My boyfriend kept encouraging me and said I should just try my best to figure out what works for me. And he also said that he'd do whatever diet I do with me, so I don't feel alone♥


He came over, and we decided to get pizza (so much for "supporting" my diet, right?haha) We then took my nieces to the park again, which was a lot of fun. He played hide-and-seek with my five year old niece and promised next time he'd bring her a Frisbee!


He brought me my birthday present, too! Last time I was with him, we went to the Asian market(how typical XD) and browsed around the Korean gift shop. We saw a bunch of cuuuute mugs and I said that someday, we should get matching mugs! He said he thought that would be really cute, too.

He got us matching panda mugs!!!! and look at that spoooooon!!!! *dies of cute overload* At first, he didn't say we had matching ones. I thought he had gotten me a mug. Then I mentioned how cute it'd be if we had matching ones and he goes "....Why do you think I got them? Of course I got two. I wanted them to match our bowls!" (panda bowl picture here) Now we're gonna look for matching panda chopsticks to make the set complete!*is a nerd*...*doesn't care* haha




And MORE! good news!!!! I got a job!!!!!
Yep, it's not the most glamorous job - just working at a call center, but it pays good and it's a good step towards a career. I start my [paid] training July 18th! I'm so excited! My boyfriend also wanted to plan a beach trip into that day, but we might be able to rearrange it so I can still go AND start work. But we'll see~!


Do any of you guys have plans for the fourth? I'm not too sure what I'm doing yet, but I hope it'll be fun! And if you're not American, does your country have an independence-related holiday?

Hope you guys have a great weekend!!!

gets: shoe ver+new glasses+Hello Kitty

Hello everyone~!


Based on answers from my giveaway, I've decided to include some more personal posts and I'll start finishing all those drafts I have partially typed. I swear, there's at least 15 blog posts!


Last night I edited some photos so I decided to blog on that. Recently I bought two pairs of shoes from AMI Clubwear. The site has soooo many cute things! Shipping is expensive, but if you spend $50, you can use a coupon for free shipping!

Tan/Beige Mary Janes

Black OTK Suede boots.

I know, I know, OTK boots are sooo last winter. Well, I don't care! I love them, and they go with a lot of the outfits I want to wear this summer, so I'm sticking with them!


And the Mary Janes are shoes I bought kind of on a whim, but I've noticed they go really well to create a retro-girly kind of look, which I've always loved!

If you take at look at my (recently not updated at all) poupee, you will notice that I LOVE Charlotte Russe. I honestly own wayyyyy too freakin' much from there and it doesn't help my best friend is also obsessed.

I bought these shoes back in February, but I cannot wait to wear them out more! Winter in Pennsylvania makes it so hard to coordinate because there's always lots of snow and random snowstorms and the last thing you want is to be stranded in heels like these. Or really anything other than water-resistant, lined boots, haha!

Yesterday, Jenny made this post which included a picture of a girl with shoes similar to these and over-the-knees similar to these from sockdreams! I currently have white socks that go to my knees, but I'm really tempted to get those from sock dreams, too.

The box pictured above is the new shoe box design. Compare this box above to the box below! I bought these red heels over three years ago! Can you believe that? I recently found these in my room at my dad's house and I thought, "Hey! I might still be able to get some use out of them!"

notice the spot in the right corner? editing fail~ lol

I still really like these heels though! They work well with jeans, which is nice for family Christmas dinners, haha!




Two weeks ago I dyed my hair, again. I really love the two-toned look, so I think I'm going to keep it for while. This time I went with copper red on the left and blonde on the right.

during the dye process.

a couple days ago. can't see it well, but I haven't taken many face shots lately, haha!

And good news: my hair is starting to grow out! In January, my hair was butchered. Like cut so short I cried for three hours and constantly whined about how I had been robbed of my femininity. Now, don't get me wrong, some women are made for short hair. It looks great on them. I am just not one of them. And for some reason every single beautician I go to thinks I want an emo mullet/shag cut when I specifically say "Long, blended layers". Ugh, it still makes me depressed just thinking about it.


Yesterday afternoon I picked up my new glasses. I haven't had new glasses in two and a half years, so it's nice to have the new glasses feeling.

They're purple with a flower design on the side.

I think they make my face more adult-ish. You know what I mean? Probably not, haha~

Yesterday I also painted my nails. Tonight is "Girls Night" with my resident nail artist/bff Melissa, but I just HAD to do something. I was going crazy with all this plain nail-age. So I painted them Dolly Wink #9 ミントグリーン　with a dollar store (!!) brand nail art holographic gold.

Did I ever show you guys my Hello Kitty laundry bag? If you know me personally, you would know I'm obsessed with: the brand Harajuku Lovers, the brand Body Line (I eat up loli-kei stuff<3), and I will fork over ridiculous amounts of money for HELLO KITTY! I LOVE Hello Kitty. My travel toothbrush is even Hello Kitty (thanks Danielle, luv yaaa! haha)


So, it seems only natural I would have a Hello Kitty laundry bag, right? Maybe you have no idea what that is? Well, before Japan, I didn't either. In Japan, they use them to put smaller items (like underwear, camisoles, or delicates) in the washer without losing them/ruining them. I began telling my mom this and she went, "Uh... I used those when you were a kid too..." Shows how much I remember, haha! My fourth host mom knew I liked Hello Kitty, so she bought it for me so I could put my undies in them on a week long trip I went on! 優しいんだね＾＾ I try not to use it, but lately I've used it to just hold random things (like my makeup and toiletries on my trip to Japan in March!)

For Easter this year, I didn't get much (but I'm also agnostic so, big whoop!). But my mom got me......... Hello Kitty Jellybeans!! Do you think I've opened them yet? Nopeeee~ Maybe I will in July. Jelly beans don't expire, right? Right?!

I'm moving so I've started going through my books. I have a lot on Japanese culture, studying Japanese, different dictionaries and phrasebooks, even the first textbook and workbook in the Genki textbook series used by many colleges. If I were to make a sales post, would anyone be interested? I'll do reviews beforehand, I think. Most would be around $5USD plus shipping. I honestly don't care to charge anyone an arm and a leg for them, you know? Let me know if you're interested!

And lastly, don't forget my giveaway! It ends on the 25th, so don't forget to get as many entries as possible by then! :] 



The next part: The Japan haul! (I really didn't think I had bought much, but I guess I didn't factor in the eyelashes, boots, eco bags, and the snacks! haha!)




May this post find you smiling and enjoying life, wherever you are!

the 和風 giveaway!!!!!

久しぶり！(long time, no see!) My laptop charger recently died after we experienced a blackout after lightning struck a pole near my house! But, I had it looked at and after confirming it was only the charger, I have a new charger and my laptop is back~!

I was so bored during this past week that I actually hand-wrote a couple blog posts. Yes, my life is that boring! hahaha~ I also took a bunch of pictures that you will see in upcoming posts. I've decided that I'm going to start including more of my personal life because I know that once I move I'll have a much more interesting life笑



I've had this planned out for awhile and I was going to hold off, but the weather has been so nice recently, summer is just around the corner and I'm just feeling so great about life that I want to share it all with you guys! That's why I'm announcing my next giveaway!

the 和風 giveaway

The theme of this giveaway is 和風 or Japanese style! I chose this theme because I love all things traditional Japan and I'm sure someone else does, too! haha

the prizes:

- a hand-painted uchiwa from Asakusa, Tokyo!

- a 和柄 (traditional Japanese pattern) flower cell phone strap!

- Bath & Body Works Signature Collection fragrance mist and shower gel in Japanese Cherry Blossom! (my favorite fragrance!)

- a matcha green tea flavored Nestle Kit Kat bar! (comes in a cute box too!)

the rules:

- open internationally

- must be a follower (GFC, bloglovin', bloggers, RSS feeds, anything works!)

how to enter:

- comment with your name and a valid email address.

for extra entries:

[+1] in your comment, state your favorite part of Japanese culture. For example, you could mention Sadou (Japanese tea ceremony), sushi, sumo, maiko, geisha, ikebana, anime, jpop, jrock, kabuki, noh, the possibilities are endless!!

[+1] in your comment, say what you would like to see more of on hello nippon!!. For example, "Things I Learned in Japanese", advice on living in Japan, personal posts, Japanese language lesson posts, reviews of products from Japan, travel posts, etc.

[+1] Retweet my original tweet on twitter or link to this blog post and tag me [@stacywahh] in your tweet. Post the link to your tweet in a separate comment.

[+2] Make a post on tumblr linking back to this blog post. Post the link to your post in a separate comment.

[+2] Make a blog post linking to this blog post. Post the link to your blog post in a separate comment.

each person may have up to 8 entries for this giveaway!

also, feel free to use the picture below to promote the giveaway!

the deadline for this giveaway is Wednesday, May 25th 2011 at 11:59 PM EST! After the entries have been tallied, the winner will be selected by random.org again, and then the winner will be emailed. If the winner has not responded to my email in three days after being selected, I will choose a new winner.

Thank you all for your support and I wish everyone lots of luck!!

成人の日 or Coming of Age Day

(all images provided in this post can be found over at Tokyo Fashion. Please check out their website for updates on all the fashion of Tokyo)

On January 10th of this year, local offices all over Japan held 成人式(seijin-shiki) or "Coming of Age Ceremonies" to celebrate the young men and women who have reached adulthood, or the age of 20. At the age of 20, it is legal to buy tobacco or alcohol products, vote, and you are henceforth considered a full-fledged adult.


The original "Coming of Age Day" was called "Genpukku" for boys and "Mogi" for women. Boys between the ages of 11 to 17 (the median age being 12) were taken to shrines and given their first adult set of clothes. Also, their hair was cut into a more adult style. The equivalent for girls also included the presentation of adult clothes. (wikipedia)

Nowadays, it's a day that both Japanese and non-Japanese alike look forward to.
For Japanese girls, it's very special because they wear furisode, a special type of kimono worn by unmarried women with longer sleeves than a traditional kimono. This symbolizes they are unmarried and an adult, and thus, are available for marriage. The kimono is usually rented, however, because they are very expensive. Girls also usually get their hair done, in both traditional Japanese and Western styles. They also usually hire someone to help them put on the kimono because it is so difficult!!! Young Japanese men usually wear western suits but some still opt for the traditional kimono with hakama. Often, the young Japanese get special photos taken for their family to commemorate this experience.

Tourists and gaijin living in Japan alike often blog or post pictures from this day, as this is something exclusive to Japan and one of the rare occasions where you can see a large group of Japanese people in traditional Japanese kimono!

Local city offices typically hold the ceremonies in the morning. They invite all of the local residents who will or have turned 20 between April 1st of the past year and March 31st of the upcoming year to celebrate this special achievement and to congratulate and encourage them in their adult lives.

This national holiday was established in 1948 and was originally celebrated every year on January 20th. However, in 2000 the date was changed to the second Monday in January.


Following the ceremony, many young people pray at shrines and then party with either friends or family to celebrate, often until the wee hours of the night!

Links with articles on Seijin no Hi

Tokyo Fashion's 2010 Seijin no Hi pictures
Tokyo Fashion's 2011 Seijin no Hi pictures
The Hub Pages's artcle "The Celebration of Seijin No Hi" 
Wanna Go To Japan's Article "The day of coming of age – 'Seijin no hi'” 
Billy Hammond's Article "Seijin no Hi"
Pictures from Seijin no Hi at My Tokyo Dream
Article about a Seijinshiki on-location shoot at Graphic Noise
Short post with puri from Seijin no Hi from Mechanical Doll


And now some pictures courtesy of Tokyo Fashion!

 

 Does your country celebrate when someone becomes an adult? Have you ever witnessed Seijin-shiki?




and as a final note, (as I always have in my posts) I am like 90% sure I am returning to Japan for two weeks in March! One of my best friends said I could stay with him and his family! Yay for not having to book hotels!!
Will you be around the Tokyo area? If so, lets meet!!!!!!!

i have a giveaway announcement next :]

Things I Learned in Japan: getting misdiagnosed with the swine flu is not worth skipping school.

First, before I start, I want to let everyone know - I did a guest post over on Finding Tokyo's blog about the holidays in Japan.
Please check it out, comment, follow Hana, and leave us both lots of love! :]

I also wanna give a shout-out to my best blogger buddy, Caroline Josephine at Spooning with a Schoolboy. She's amazing, and recently did a very personal post concerning her struggle with feeling beautiful and loving herself. 

(btw, this post doesn't have our similar coat because I decided to do this post first).

I've also added a blogroll on the right side, so please check those blogs out!

Also, if you're interested in a link exchange, I'm going to be adding a links page, so let me know!

So, I wake up one morning in early December. I'm not feeling too great, but I really just don't want to go to school. No, I wanted to just stay in bed and veg. I get up, mention to my host mother that I don't feel good, that my head hurts, and that my throat is a little sore and ask her to take my temperature.


She does, it's not too high, but she tells me to eat breakfast and sends me back to my room. At around 8:30 AM, she tells me to hurry up, get dressed, throw on a face-mask, and grab my gaijin-pack(my passport, gaijin card, medical insurance card, and a set of 3 phrasebooks with "emergency" and "medical" sections in them) because we're going to the hospital. I'm like, wait, wait, wait - Only my throat hurts! But she insists because I had a "slight" fever. I knew, just knew, this was not going to end good.


Remember last December? The height of all the Swine Flu craze? Japan, the country with the government that likes to scare it's citizens into submission every chance it gets, was in full panic mode. People were urged to go to the hospital with ANY strange symptoms, to always wear face-masks, schools were being closed for it, my own school had a couple classrooms closed (meaning they were banned from coming to school for two weeks). But, my host family always talked about how ridiculous it was and that there was no reason to worry. Or so I thought...


We get to the hospital and a masked man comes out to greet us. The first thing he asks is why we are here. Then I hear it. "My exchange student may have the flu." We had to wait outside, clean off our hands with alcohol, and then after he had double checked with the staff, and we were led into a special "flu only" patient area. Great, leading us into the infected area. I started to protest, I even said, "I don't feel that bad. I kinda just wanted to stay home." She just assumed I was saying this, because she knows of my disdain for doctors, tests, medical treatment, and talking to strange people about my body in a foreign language, so she politely told me to be quiet and just wait for the doctor.


They do the height/weight/oh, you answered me in Japanese! your Japanese is so good/where are you from?/how do you like Japan/do you eat natto? thing before asking me to wait for the doctor. So, I wait. And I wait. And after like 20 minutes, this creepy old dude comes in, starts speaking really fast to my host mom and then leaves. My host mom tells me they're going to do a flu test and then we'll wait for the results and go home.


Now time for the test.
Anyone ever have a flu shot? I'm not sure how they do them in America because I've never had the flu, but in Japan it's borderline "cruel and unusual punishment" which is clearly a violation of article five of the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly (which Japan became a member of in 1956).

A flu test, Japan-style. (google images)

This is how it all went down....
A nurse walks in. She pulls out this long thing in plastic wrapping. She unwraps it. It's a giant Q-tip. She looks at me. "Stacy-san, gomen ne,"("Stacy-san, I'm sorry") is all she says before shoving said Q-tip up my nasal cavity. I don't even get my shriek of horror out before she pulls it out and quickly says, "Owari" ("finished"). My nose hadn't even began to recover before she dashed out of the room.

Another nurse came in with my host mom and said we were free for the next hour until the results came in. So we went to Saizeria. Saize was seriously my first host-mom and I's hangout. She got some kind of gratin and I got the Japanese equivalent of spicy chicken wings and pizza every.single.time.

We came back, and surprise surprise, the test was negative. However, because Swine Flu takes 12 hours to show up on tests after someone contracts it, I was still told to stay home from school and to take all these different medicines, which conveniently enough, did not contact a fever reducer. When we're in the car my host mom tells me the rules for the next few days.

1. I must stay in my room unless told otherwise, so I don't infect my host-grandmother.
2. No leaving the house for the next 48 hours.
3. No going to school.
4. No studying or videogames or computer, unless it's to watch movies.
5. No bathing until my fever goes down.

I figure, okay. So no bath tonight. That blows, but tomorrow I'll just wait and see how my temp is and I should be okay, right? Wrong.

So began my solitary confinement.
The first day was alright. My host grandmother ate dinner before me and I was relieved of my duties to clean in the morning and to do the dishes after dinner.

The second day, I woke up. Took my temperature. It was 38°C, which is kind of high, but I was also ovulating during this time period. In case any guys are reading this and didn't pay attention during health class, I'll explain: When a woman ovulates, she often has a low-grade fever. A fever of around 38°C is definitely low-grade.

How I spent my days: fangirling over Johnny's!

This continued all day, and into the next day. On the morning of Day 3, my host mom said that if my fever goes down to 36°, I can bathe. I was feeling better, so when my host-grandmother wasn't around, I snuck out of my room to grab a drink. She came out, I went to make a dash for my room, and she said not to. She asked how I was doing, and after I said I was okay, she told me about how my host-mom was trying to get her to get a flu shot, but she was just baka because I didn't have the flu. Right at that time, my host-mom came home and when she saw the two of us in the same room, she freaked and scolded me for being out of my room, especially with my host-grandmother there.

I took my fever around 3PM and it was 36.2°. My host mom said, "You're good enough to shower tonight" but my host-grandmother turned on me and said, "No. You said 36°. 36.2° is not 36°." And that was that, no shower again.

later on in the year, but notice my Minnie mirror? and awesome deco'd phone? :]

By the next morning, my skin was dry and gross. I could feel the dirtyness on me and it was the grossest I've ever felt. My fever was 37.5° when I woke up. I could have cried. It was Sunday and tomorrow was school. If I couldn't shower tonight, I was not going to school. My host-mom couldn't understand why I was so uptight, so I explained to her the American view of hygiene: we bathe daily. You skip a day, you better take a shower the next night or else you do not leave the house.

As to be expected, my fever did not go down until 10PM when it was finally 35.8°. I asked excitedly if I could shower, but my host-mom said she had to "ask my grandmother in the morning". uuuugggghhh. I told my host-mother that if I could not shower tomorrow, I would die. She laughed and sent me to bed.

The next morning my temperature was the same so my host-grandmother said I could shower. So I asked, "Can I shower right now?!?!" and surprisingly, she said yes. So I took a quick shower and went to my local 7/11 and Cheerio to celebrate~! That night I took another shower and spent 45 minutes in the tub. I was never, ever so thankful to have a shower in my entire life.


So, I learned my lesson: never try to skip school because four days of being denied shower privileges is not worth it. Or, at the very least, never try it during flu season.

Have you ever been diagnosed with the flu? Did you ever have a flu test? What are any experiences you have with the medical care in Japan?

Thank you all for reading!
don't forget to check out:

I hope you enjoyed this post and also that you will come back for my post later this week about "Seijin no Hi" or "Coming-of-Age Day" which, this year, is January 10th (today in America, yesterday in Japan)!

良い一日になりますように , wherever this post finds you♥

Things I learned in Japan: everybody poops.

So, silly me forgot that all the Christmas fun doesn't end until after New Years, when my family has it's final get together, which means I'm not doing the Christmas haul until after I've gotten everything and can take pictures of it all.

**Note: this post discusses bodily functions, which some cultures might find inappropriate and some people might find gross. However, this is a cultural difference I definitely felt was worth discussing. Please bear with me!


I was often sick in Japan, from various colds, being misdiagnosed with the swine flu, and, needing a root canal(expect posts on all of these, haha!).

I had never had an major mouth problems, but I did have braces for a year and a half (from the age of 15 til I was almost 17). I take good care of my smile, especially since it's now worth over 5k, hahaha!

One day my face was swollen. My mouth hurt and I could barely eat or drink anything. I thought I was going to die. Little did I know, after I got a root canal it'd all get better, but that's besides the point.

While waiting for my host mother to return the nurse's call, she had me fill out the mandatory form for visiting the office.
At my school, when you went to the nurse's office, you had to fill out a form that asked the following questions:
Name.
Homeroom.
Class you came from.
Your symptoms.
What you ate for breakfast.
How many hours your slept.
If you pooped this morning.


Yes, you read correctly. It asked you if you pooped, and if it seemed abnormal, to describe it.

At first I thought I read the kanji wrong, but after double, triple checking my electronic dictionary, I realized it was in fact asking me if I had pooped first thing this morning. 

I was shocked. In America, or at least, where I live, we don't talk about poop. It's not that we absolutely cannot mention it, but I guess we just figure it a personal thing and once you no longer need assistance in the bathroom, if it's normal, we just don't discuss it.

But there I was, in Japan, being asked about my poop cycle.

I am a very curious person, and even though poop is not something I prefer to talk about, I simply had to know why I was being asked this.(how un-Japanese of me, asking why~ haha) My nurse explained to me that, apparently, pooping first thing in the morning is very important for your body to get rid of all the toxins and waste left over from the day before.

She said that when people don't release this waste, it can make their stomach hurt, so when students come in complaining of their stomach hurting, if they answer no to this question, they are simply sent to the bathroom to "work it out".

She asked me if I had ever heard of this, and I answered "no", because, well, it sounded like another crazy Japanese health myth. However, last night I googled it, and it appears it may have some value. Go figure~ haha

Some comic relief - a google images result from searching 「お腹が痛い」 "onaka ga itai", or "my stomach hurts".

I thought maybe this was just something limited to that instance, but once time passed and I started to be able to follow conversations more, which made me realize some strange things in my friend's conversations. They talked about poop a lot. My one friend always announced to our lunch group when she was going to poop, everyday.

Another time, I had a stomachache the day after my trip to Nikko. My host brother and I are, and to this day, remain very close. But we never discussed anything too personal (ie: love lifes, personal problems, and especially not our bathroom business). So, when I casually mentioned that my stomach hurt, I was dumbfounded by his response: 「トイレに行けば？」"What if you went to the bathroom?" I was like, "huh?" Needless to say, I made a comment about just taking medicine and made a quick dash for it. Awkward moment almost avoided.


But, since we're on the subject of potties, lest we not forget one of my favorite things about Japan~!
toilets that make sounds!


yes, there are many toilets in Japan that have buttons on the side that allow you to play an (obviously fake) flushing sound while using the bathroom. Some even have music buttons! Some also come with heaters, which is something I looooved during the winter! haha

Picture of above-mentioned toilet seat. Taken from here

So, essentially, you can talk about your bodily functions but lest someone hear you while doing them!

Even though this is one of the things that makes me go "oh, japan...", I appreciate this because I do not want anyone to hear me pee! Since coming home, it's very hard or me to feel comfortable when I'm using a public bathroom.

By the way, I heard from someone (I think it was my Japanese teacher or one of my Japan-related books) that the reason they started producing toilet seats with these sounds was to cut down on water waste because women repeatedly flushed the toilet. Yay Japan for being more eco-friendly!

I'm a follower of the blog "1000 Things About Japan" and #156 is dealing with potty talk.  I really like this blog so please check it out! It's very interesting for those who have lived in Japan or are simply curious.

Now, this didn't really bother me as much as make me really wonder. Why is it that we Americans cannot freely discuss our bodily functions? Why is it that Japanese people, especially Japanese women, can?

I guess it's simply a difference in cultural norms, huh? What about your country? Does it differ person-to-person? Do you feel uncomfortable discussing it with others?

Also, while searching google for images, I also came across this site, which if you can't speak Japanese might still be interesting. But if you can, I'm sure you'll get some laughs out of it.



And last but not least, please check out my giveaway! It's open until the end of January and I'd really like as many people to enter as possible!

Thank you so much for reading.
Now time for bed!
お休みなさい, wherever this post finds you♥

Sweet Things Giveaway!!!

Hello everyone!
This is a quick blog to announce my first ever giveaway!!!

I just want to say THANK YOU to all of my readers and followers. Every single one of you are very special to me, and all of your nice emails and comments make keeping this blog so worthwhile!


So, to show a little love for the now over 60 followers I have, I'm having my first giveaway!

 The only rule to enter is that you must be a follower of my blog, through Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin', RSS Feeds, stalking the link to my blog, whatever!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 entry - comment with your name, email, and how you follow my blog (I'm really curious!)

and, of course, for extra entries....
+2 entries - write a blog linking back to this entry. Please feel free to include the image above advertising this giveaway as well! Comment with the link to your post.
+1 entry - mention this blog post on twitter! please use "@stacywahh" and comment back with the link.(feel free to retweet my original tweet mentioning this post) Comment with the link to your tweet.
+1 entry - if you post this giveaway on tumblr! Again, fee free to use the image above) I don't use tumblr, so please make it so I can see it! Comment with the link to your post.

So, you can have a total of five entries to this giveaway!

the deadline is January 31st at 11:00PM EST.


Here are some of the prizes!

The prizes included here are listed on the above image. But, I'm waiting on an order to go through so I can have even more goodies.
Some of these items are leftovers from Japan, but all are new and unopened and waiting for someone to love them!


I will update with another post detailing all of the prizes as soon as they are received.

The winner will be decided by random.org so even if I know you, you will receive no biases, haha!

Thank you all so much for following my blog. I hope at least one person will enter so I can feel like I accomplished something! Hahaha.


**next post: Christmas Haul, then a post in the "Things I Learned About Japan" series!

Nails, recent gets!

Today I called my host brother, and as we were hanging up the phone, he told me I had to update my blog! haha

玄ちゃんは厳しいね（笑）

How was everyone's Christmas?
Did you eat a lot?
What was the best present you received?

So, to start off my next few days of constant posts, here are my Christmas nails and recent purchases!


My friend Melissa did my nails again. This time, I took pictures of all of our holiday nails.

my nails. A red color with cold glitter with a Revlon silver glitter top coat.

Lynda's. A pale nude color with blue and silver glitter (to match our tree, and favorite football team. GO DALLAS!)

Melissa's. Bright red polish with one green glitter nail.

I loved my nails soooo much! I'm so sad they didn't last forever

^ See that sirotan icon? ohmygosh, love it sooooooooooooo much!!


I recently went shopping at Charlotte Russe. It is my favorite store. I went there for the purpose of getting my sister in law a gift card, and I ended up buying myself more stuff! haha.

I love the corset, and to think, it was only $10!!! I actually own a couple corsets from Charlotte. They're cheap and make so many kinds, I can't help but love them.

I also got a grey and a black camisole but those are rather insignificant, haha!


So, this is all for now, because my next post will be about my giveaway, followed by a christmas haul post, Things I Learned in Japan post, a christmas party post, and by the time those are finished, it'll be time for new years!


As always, thanks for following my blog and I hope you all enjoy my posts. If you ever have any suggestions, please let me know!!