where?

I went out alone for the first time today and actually got lost. The roads in Japan are confusing because there are no street signs; it's hard to find specific locations just based on an address alone. Therefore, most restaurants/shops/stores include a map of their location in their advertisements.
Another thing about Japan's streets is that there are no sidewalks. Of course on larger streets, there are, but on the small streets in the residence areas, there are no sidewalks. People and cars walk together. However, people are very courteous and drivers are very safe; nobody ever honks. Since the roads are quite narrow, there is no street parking. Most people park in parkings lots or, if they own a house, their own parking spot. The parking lots do get crowded and I always wonder how anyone could ever park inside. The good thing about parking in Japan is that each parking spot has two bricks/rocks at the back along where the tires sit, which helps indicate when you should stop. Just like how there are no garbage cans yet no garbage on the ground, there are also no scratches or dents on cars, despite how congested the city is.

A small pond. Look at all the sakura petals!

A small park around the neighborhood. It's actually more of a path/walkway. Many seniors sit around and picnic or chat.

I did find a small market around my dorm, though, called "SASAYA." Fruits and vegetables were so cheap there! A bag of potatoes (5) for ¥150 and taro (6) for ¥98.

So tonight's dinner is tomato, celery, potato, mushroom stew, and broccoli.

Clementines ¥398

Chestnut cream and peanut butter. Japanese peanut better is totally different from American peanut butter. It's harder to spread and not as creamy. Also, there is not much of a peanut taste; to me, it just tastes like sugar paste.

wakame onigiri and plain yogurt.

If you come to Japan, make sure you have an adapter. All the outlets here are two-pin. But I guess if you don't have one, you could always buy it here..

And if you decide to stay at DK House Warabi, you're going to need one of these power strips because there are only two outlets in the room, both located on the wall of the window. Even though there are two, though, you can only really use one, since the other one is located next to the desk and the space between them is so small that it's impossible to plug anything in.

花見 Hanami

Today, I went to Harajuku for cherry blossom viewing (hanami). Cherry blossom is almost over, though, unfortunately, but I'm happy I was able to see it. My friend, Kaito, suggested two places: Ueno Park and Yoyogi Park. I decided on Yoyogi since one, I've never been there before, and two, Ueno is a big place. There is a zoo, a museum, along with the park, so i thought it'd be much better to devote one full day for that later on.

Today was a beautiful day. Unlike the past two days ><" which were terrible-almost as cold as New York before I left. Plus, it was raining. When I stepped out this morning, I was greeted by the warm sun and manymanymany cherry blossoms. ^^

There were several of these fountains throughout the park. Just sitting and watching it was really entertaining. I couldn't catch it in my photos, but as the breeze blew, the sakura petals would sprinkle down slowly to the ground.

Well, Yoyogi Park is a pretty popular place. Usually, there are many more people and can get quite crowded, especially on weekends. The only park in New York I can really compare Yoyogi-kouen to is Central Park. Central Park is definitely bigger and the trees are taller, but Yoyogi is so much cleaner and quieter. They don't have the horses that Central Park does, but there are a lot of ravens. As for the people, everyone seems pretty relaxed. Every other person is on a date ^^ and the ones that aren't are either picnic-ing or playing badminton and frisbee.

Next to the park (or maybe the other side of the park?) is a shrine called Meiji Jinguu. The shrine was built in memory of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shouken, whose greatest contribution to Japan was ending their isolation from the outside world.

Before entering the shrine, you must clean your hands here.

And this is the entrance of the shrine. I didn't get a picture, but the entrance is two-doored, with a ledge that stands half a foot from the ground. I learned today that you should not step on the ledge, but cross astride it.

Inside the shrine, there is a place where people pray, called the offering hall. The steps to correctly praying is to first throw a coin into the offering box, then bow deeply twice, then clap your hands palm to palm twice, bow deeply again and pray for a moment, then conclude with one last bow.

This is a poem that Emperor Meiji wrote; an example of a waka (kind of like a song), which runs on a 5-7-5-7-7 meter.

Omikuji is sort of like fortune telling, without the teller. Usually, you offer a coin and draw from a box. However, at Meiji Jingu, there is a container of sticks which you shake until one falls out. Your fortune goes according to what number you get (indicated on the stick).

I drew number one, which was this fortune. Not really a fortune, but more of a tanka (short poem) that teaches you how to live.

On our way out of the shrine, we passed by Takeshita Street, which apparently has a newly installed camera. However, it's quite small and incomparable to the one in Times Square.

We went to eat in Shinjuku. I forgot the name of the restaurant, but they served monjayaki and okonomiyaki, which are sort of like pancakes. They're cooked on an iron plate.

This is okonomiyaki, which literally translates to "(grilled) whatever you like". There are a variety of ingredients; the one I had today was kimchi. There were also carrots, onions, ginger, and pork, etc. You can add whatever toppings you want after. We added nori (dried seaweed) and katsuobushi (dried fish flakes).

This is monjayaki. It is much more liquidy than okonomiyaki. I chose sakura ebi (literally "cherry blossom shrimp"; it's just dried shrimp, but very tiny). The batter included cabbage, an egg, carrots, etc. Because it is so runny, it is eaten directly off the grill with a small metal spatula.

Welcome!

Hello, everyone.
My name is Alice. I am a student from St. John's University and I will be an exchange student at Sophia University in Tokyo for the spring 2013 semester. I created this blog for two reasons: one is for self interest and the other for the Gilman Scholarship. I'd like to document my life here, as well as help other students or anyone who is planning on coming to Japan. When I was applying to study here, there weren't any sources or references I could access, so I had, and perhaps still have, many unanswered questions. Therefore, please feel free to ask me anything. I cannot guarantee an answer, but I will definitely do my best to answer your question.

I arrived in Japan yesterday. I decided to come a few days early in fear of jet lag and also so that I could travel around the place before school starts. The flight was long (about thirteen hours), but I arrived safely. I didn't think I would have much to bring, but somehow, I ended up packing two large suitcases, each about two-thirds full, and a small carry-on. Luckily for me, two of my friends came to pick me up at the airport, so I didn't have to deal with the subways or trains. Thinking back on it now, if we did have to rely on public transportation, I don't know how I could've managed alone. Then again, I guess I could always just mail my luggage to the place I'm staying at.
Well, first impressions first. It is really cold. Apparently, the temperature just dropped the day I arrived; before then, it was actually quite warm, in the mid to high sixties. On the way here from New York, it was actually snowing. I was really looking forward to nice spring weather, but it was actually quite cloudy.
Another thing is sanitation. Everything is so clean! I realized this when I first visited Japan a few years ago, but I'm still quite amazed at how clean everything is, especially since there are no garbage cans around. Back then, I actually asked the receptionist at a hotel I stayed at about this and he answered me that it was to prevent odors in the air. 
The cars and roads here are also very different. I never drove or sat in a car in Japan, so even though I knew about this, it still felt quite strange in person. EVERYTHING is opposite from America, the steering wheel, the coming and going lanes, and all the little details such as the signals to turn and the gear stick.
The first thing I did was go shopping; not for clothes, but for cleaning supplies haha. Of course, being the clean freak that I am, I cannot tolerate anything unless I clean it myself, so we went to a supermarket called Aeon. They have everything there, literally, from fresh produce, to processed food, to electronics, hair dryers, stationery, books, etc. I didn't get any pictures because I was so lost in the place, looking for everything that I needed. After that, we went to eat in Chiba, which was the area that we were at. We went to a restaurant called Pomme (ポームの樹). Their main dish is omurice, which, the name is literally a combination of omelette and rice. 

In Japan, usually restaurants have a three dimensional display of their menu. I can't tell you how realistic they look. I could mistake it for the real thing!

And this is what I ordered. I forgot the exact name but its basically chicken teriyaki with a white sauce. I ordered a "Ladies Set", so the portions are smaller, but it came with a bunch of stuff: miso soup, salad, a desert, and a drink.