Performance Tomorrow!

Well, the last six weeks have zoomed by and the big Soul Run performance at the ICU Festival is tomorrow!

We're performing at 14.55 on the "Ahoyama stage", and some of our Japanese friends who we met in Leeds last year, and one of my housemates from last year, are coming to watch us.

I'm nowhere near perfect, but I'll do my best and give it my all!

Fingers crossed I don't make any stupid mistakes!

Re-Contracting

Today Rob, Katy and I celebrated our two month anniversary of being in Japan by going to the head office of our guesthouse and paying our next month's rent.

But we also had to re-contract, because we have to give a month's notice before our contract with them ends if we want to extend the time we're staying in the guesthouse. We all went for another three months and signed the contracts again.

The months are going by quickly again! Just like last year, it seems like I keep coming back to pay more rent!

Hot Spring in Tokyo

Rob, Katy and I were invited to go to Oedo Onsen Monogatari (大江戸温泉物語), which is a public hot spring bath, by two of our friends who were exchange students in Leeds last year, and of course we couldn't resist!

The difference between this onsen and others I'd been to (Hakone and Beppu) is that it has a large area separate to the baths that has been made to look like part of Tokyo, when it was called Edo (江戸) in the aptly named Edo period (江戸時代, edo jidai). It costs Y2,900 for an adult ticket, but when we went they had a discount for November, so it was less than Y2,000.

Oedo Onsen Monogatari is in Odaiba, the man-made island in Tokyo Bay, so it took quite a long time to get there from our guesthouse in Musashi Koganei.

The front was very impressive, and even though it was the evening, there were still a lot of people there, and some coach groups.


We put our shoes in the lockers provided, and then queued for the counter, where we were told what to do. We selected the traditional Japanese robes (yukata) we wanted to wear from another counter. They had eight choices of design for men and eight for women. Rob and I, being tall, went for extra large, and they fitted perfectly.

We then split into men and women and went into our separate changing rooms. We got completely naked for the first time, and put all our clothes into a locker. Wearing our yukata, we went out into the Edo-style town area, where even the ceiling looked like a clear night sky, and met up with the girls.

We had ramen and gyoza at tables in a pretend park, and watched a short performance by men dressed in very traditional clothing.


It felt very strange, wearing nothing but a silky robe, and I was a bit uptight as, although I'd been to onsen before, I'd never been with people I knew.

After dinner, we wandered around the town area and saw what there was.

After looking at the shops and stalls, and generally getting used to being with so many people with only a thin layer of material covering them, we headed through the door to the baths.

We split into girls and boys again, and went into another changing area, where we got two towels, one big and one small. And then it was time to take our friendships to the next level! We put the yukata in another locker with the big towel, and then, covering some choice parts of our anatomies with the small towels, entered the main bathing area. There were quite a lot of men in there, but there was plenty of space for us to bathe.

It was so lovely to be in a bath again! I miss baths in Japan, as usually I can only shower. But my aching muscles (I blame Soul Run) really needed relaxing!

We relaxed quite quickly into the whole "being naked" thing, and enjoyed the experience. We went to the outside bath as well, which was lovely because the water was so hot but the air was so cool. It even spotted rain, which was very nice!

We stayed for about 40 minutes, before we all got a bit too hot, and needed to relax in some normal temperatures for a while. So we got showered and changed back into our yukata, and then met the girls back in the main area. Some of them got ice cream, but it was very expensive so I chose not to indulge that once.

We went to a TV room, that had rows of reclining comfortable chairs and individual TV screens like on an aeroplane. I think we all nearly fell asleep!

We took some purikura (プリクラ) (cute photos that you can draw on and then print out) and then went back to the main area.

We got changed and then went back to the main reception, where we gave back everything we'd borrowed, and collected our shoes from the lockers.

I want to go again now! I think I'll have to save up though... Need to find another way to relieve muscle tension!

Mid-term Results

I got my results for the writing mid-term exams I did last week back on Wednesday. There were three sections - kanji, grammar, and reading comprehension.

For both the kanji and reading sections I got 47/50, and for grammar I got 41.5/50. So that means I got 90.3% overall, which is just over the boundary for an A!

I never thought I'd get an A! With the grade boundaries being so much higher than in Britain, I'm just not used to aiming so high. But it was a very nice surprise! I was taken aback that the reading comprehension went as well as kanji, as I found it much more difficult than both of the other sections. Looks like I need to work harder on the grammar next time!

I also had a speaking test, but we've only had general feedback back from that, and not individual grades. I don't hold out any high hopes though. Writing is definitely my strong-point.

Tonight I'm going to an onsen (hot spring) on the other side of Tokyo, so I'll write a post about how it goes tomorrow!

Mid-term Exams

This last week has been quite a busy one, with a lot of tests, and then mid-term exams on Thursday and Friday.

Mid-term exams are a bit of an alien concept to me, as they aren't as common in Britain as in other countries. Last year at Leeds Uni the Beginner class had some mid-term exams, but the Intermediate class only had end of term tests.

The tests were only worth about 18% of the overall grade for this term (all our homework, essays, speaking classes, mini-tests, worksheets and bigger exams count), but every little makes a difference. The one on Thursday consisted of three parts, kanji (Chinese character reading and writing), grammar, and reading comprehension, and then the one yesterday (Friday) was speaking.

I'd had one of the kanji, grammar and reading tests before, for lessons 1 and 2, and then this one was for lessons 3 and 4. On the first test I got a C, which doesn't sound very good in my books, but I got 79%, which is 1% off a B. The grading system is similar to the American one, so 90%+ is an A, 80% is B, 70% is C, 60% is a pass, and anything below 60% is a fail.

So, whereas in Britain 40% is a pass (although not a very good pass), I need to pass at least 60% of the module to continue to Level 6 next term. I was wondering why Britain's grade boundaries are lower, but apparently British exams are harder than American ones, so it balanced out in the end. If it didn't, everyone would be coming to Britain for easy degrees, which they're not!

But anyway, the first test went okay. Just like last time, kanji was the easiest section, and then grammar was okay, and reading comprehension was quite challenging. In the first test on lessons 1 and 2, I only got 2 kanji wrong out of 50, so I doubt I can do that well again!

And then, speaking... Speaking is my downfall. The test only lasted 7 minutes, but we had to read a section that the teacher randomly chose from one of the first four lessons of our textbook, J-501, and then answer questions about what we'd just read. We were tested on our fluency and how natural we sounded with intonation and pauses etc, and then knowledge, understanding and fluency in our answers. Fluency and I don't really mix, so I don't think I did very well at all! But we'll see. We get feedback from the speaking test in the middle of this coming week, and then the other results later on.

I was really tired last night after the test, and then Soul Run practice in the afternoon, but I went to Shibuya with Rob, Katy, and three other people from Leeds who go to Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, which is very near ICU. We had dinner in my favourite cheap restaurant in Shibuya, Kourakuen (幸楽園), and then went to karaoke. We always seem to go to the same restaurant and karaoke place! But they're cheap and we know they're good, so it's not a problem.

We did two hours of karaoke but I burned out about half an hour before the end. We walked back to the station, and then the others decided to stay out all night and go to a club or an izakaya (Japanese-style pub). But I knew I wouldn't last much longer, so I headed home. It seemed to take forever with no one to talk to! But I got back at about midnight and when I got into bed, I spent 12 hours there! I think I must have really needed a long rest.

So I've spent today just doing laundry, cleaning and vacuuming my room and organising my school folders. It's been so nice! Just to not have any plans and be able to relax. I did some food shopping, but because most of my clothes were in the wash I had to go in shorts and a T-shirt. I was worried it would be too cold, but it was just about right. The weather has cooled down now, vending machines are stocking hot drinks as well as cold now. There was a big storm two nights ago, which didn't help the speaking revision, but it was interesting that there was suddenly thunder, hail and rain for just a few minutes, and then it was gone. Quickest storm ever!

Tomorrow I'm going to continue with the relaxing and go and meet one of my Chinese housemates from last year who's studying at University near here. It'll be the first time I've seen him in over a year so I'm really looking forward to that!

Then on Monday it's back to the normal routine of classes. Better start learning the kanji for next week's test!

My First Japanese Club

Last night I went to a nightclub in Roppongi (六本木) with Rob and another friend from Leeds called Matt. It was a very interesting experience, as it's only in the last year or so I've been to British clubs and bars (age being the issue, in Britain you have to be 18, and in Japan 20).

We went to the British pub we went to a couple of weeks ago in Kichijoji with Katy first, and then we headed off to Roppongi, and she went home as she had a lot of work to do the next day.

We took the Chuo line (中央線) to Shinjuku, where we changed to the Yamanote loop line (山手線), and changed to the Hibiya subway line (地下鉄日比谷線) at Ebisu. It was about 11.30pm and it was the last train (終電, shuuden) from Ebisu to Hiroo, which is only one stop, so we had to walk the last twenty minutes or so to Roppongi. As with any night out in Tokyo, once the last train has finished, you're stranded until the first train (初電, shoden) starts in the morning, which is usually about 4.30 or 5am. So there was no turning back for us! We didn't want to spend £70 on a taxi home!

In Ebisu station we met a couple of loud Australians, who were nice, but in Japan on a kind of party trip, and weren't really our sort of people. So we escaped being roped into going to a club with them by declining their offer of sharing a taxi.

We were looking for a particular club called 3.2.8 (さんにいっぱ) because Rob had been there with the friend he came to Japan with last year. He said it was really foreigner friendly, and it was easy to meet people and practise Japanese.

We rounded the corner onto Roppongi-doori and there it was! We'd passed it briefly on the Midnight Walk we did through Tokyo last weekend, but it was quite far out from the main area of Roppongi, where most foreigners go. It has to be said that Roppongi is not usually the place I would choose to go, due to the type of people it attracts, but I knew that the club didn't look like the kind of place they would go.

It was around midnight by the time we arrived, and I was already a little bit tired, but I knew I'd wake up once we were inside. We paid the Y2,500 (£16) to get in, which included two drinks, which were around Y800 (£5) each. It was expensive but we weren't going to find anywhere cheaper!

We got drinks and then sat down and watched the people. It was quite a bohemian atmosphere, and the people seemed like nice, relaxed types. The sound system was good, and there was a mix of 90s British rock, modern English dance, and Japanese music too, some of the songs I hadn't heard for years and years! But, in the middle of the evening, the music switched to quite low key reggae covers of pop songs from the 90s, which wasn't at all where it should have gone, it was the peak!

The highlight was definitely when the Japanese version of YMCA came on. Everyone was there doing the dance, and singing along with the Japanese lyrics. All I understood was "若い子" (Young man!)

I thought it was such a difference from British clubs to see the DJ smoking! (But he wasn't meant to see me taking this photo...)

The people there were mainly Japanese, and we were brought into a circle of frantically jumping Japanese guys early on, but they left at about 2am. Later on, quite a large group of Westerners came in and took photos of nearly every corner of the club before having a drink. There were also quite a few business men and women there too, some dancing, some just drinking. The average age was about 30 I think. We were definitely the youngest people there!

By 3.30 we were all quite tired, so we stopped dancing and sat at the bar chatting for a while. Just before 4 we decided to go to a family restaurant I'd seen as we walked from the station, Jonathans, and have a bite to eat. We were all falling asleep, but we got one of the first trains at around 5.30am and retraced our steps home.

The first trains are so strange! They're eeriely quite, and everyone on there is falling asleep, either because they'd been out all night, or have to be up early for something. Not what Tokyo trains should be like!

Needless to say, I slept very well when we got back to the guesthouse!

Typhoon Number 18

The good news is, I survived the typhoon! But, it wasn't the experience it was built up to be. Tokyo didn't get the brunt of the force at all. In fact, this afternoon has been the nicest weather for nearly two weeks! I'm glad that nothing bad happened here, but looking at the news (the only thing on is weather report after weather report) there is quite a lot of devastation along the direct path of the typhoon.

I woke up this morning just before my alarm was set to go off at 8:30. I'm not sure what woke me, but the wind was blowing a gale, and there was a really odd constant shifting in light. I think the sun must have been going in and out of clouds because my room would be really bright one second, and then dark again straight away.

I turned my laptop on and the first thing I did was log onto ICU's website to see if the classes had been cancelled or not. They hadn't! I was really surprised, because there was a hurricane heading past Tokyo! But I got ready and checked the weather forecast and news over breakfast.

Here are the weather maps for this morning:

Just before we left, I heard on the news that several train line services, including the Chuo-line which serves ICU, were suspended. I'd heard that if the Chuo-line was cancelled, ICU would close for the day, but there was still no announcement on the website, so we left. It wasn't raining much, but it was very gloomy and windy.



Generally, the cycle into Uni went okay, but there were a couple of times when sudden gusts of wind blew us off balance.
We got to the campus, and found all the paths covered in leaves and branches that had been blown off the trees.



And when we got to one of the bike parks, look at the destruction!


I went to my classroom, and only about half the class had turned up. It was mostly people who live in dorms either on-campus or nearby, but anyone who needed to take the train hadn't made it in. I saw this uprooted tree from my seat near the window.


The wind interrupted the lesson a few times with its howling, but nothing untoward happened. After the classes, I went to meet Rob for lunch, and was really surprised to find that it was warm and sunny! Except for the occassional blast of wind, it was a really lovely day.





I then went to my Linguistics elective and Rob cycled home to open a bank account. At the start of the lesson, my teacher read out a message she'd received from the University to her phone. It said that lots of students wouldn't be able to make it in because of delays on the trains (one student in the class had been on the Chuo-line for 3 hours trying to get in) and teachers should make the lessons so anyone who couldn't make it could catch up easily. Not an easy request! But we went through the lecture and it was fine. The teacher did a very good job.

Then I cycled home, in the gorgeous sunshine, feeling much better as the clouds had gone!

Now, the typhoon has moved north of Tokyo towards Sendai.


It's predicted to continue to the north-east, leaving Japan's coast this evening. Here's the predicted course:

The Chuo-line re-opened regular service about half an hour ago, and before that it had been running only local trains, at a slower pace than normal. Most train lines in Tokyo are operating normally now.

But while things get back to normal for Tokyo, lots of areas in Japan are still suffering the aftermath of the storm.

Floods, landslides, gale force winds up to 123mph, and torrential rain have caused destruction in South-East Kyushu (九州), central Honshu (本州) and Tohoku (東北). At least two people have been killed, dozens injured, and thousands evacuated from rural areas. Even areas near Tokyo have been severely affected, with widespread flooding in Kanagawa prefecture (神奈川県) to the south, and Saitama (埼玉県) to the north. Tokyo has suffered damage from wind and rain, but was largely safe. There's more information in this news story.

It's still blustery outside now, but the sky is quite calm, and it's obvious the worst of the weather has moved past us. I'll keep watching the news to see if anything else happens, but I imagine the job now is for the government and locals to start clearing up the mess Typhoon Number 18 (or Typhoon Melor) left behind. As I cycled home I saw people sweeping debris and leaves up in the street outside their houses. People here really do know what to do in these situations.

There's still a month or so left of typhoon season, so Japan could be hit again, but it's more likely that South-East Asia will be much worse off. Even this typhoon just gone caused Typhoon Parma to remain virtually stationary near the Philippines, due to the Fujiwara effect. And to continue in a similar vein of natural disasters, a Magnitude 8 earthquake struck near Vanuatu in the South Pacific this morning, causing destruction and tsunami warnings in the area, but areas as far away as Japan won't be affected.

What a day! Despite the lack of roofs being blown off and Tokyo being inundated by five metres of water, it was a good experience to be in the middle of such a powerful force. I'm sure there will be many similar experiences to come! Still waiting for a big earthquake...