Free at last! Cool skyskraper in Odaiba.

Today I had my last test for the autumn semester, I'm hereby a free man in Tokyo for a little more than two sweet months. How many times have people asked me about my plans for the "spring holidays?" Too many. And when I say that I most likely will stay right here in Tokyo, they ask me what I'm going to do here, like there was nothing to do in Tokyo... ehhh.. like there's a million things to see and do out in the small towns and countryside? I doubt it. Either way, it can wait. I'm on a two month vacation in Tokyo and I'm going to enjoy every second of it!

School
I bought lots of Japanese text books yesterday, for further studies and preparation for the next semester. My courses went fine I think.. all except this damn art course.. "Introduction to Asian Art." It's very interesting to learn about the art history of India, China, Japan and the rest of Asia, but the teacher didn't exactly make it easy for us to pass the tests. One week before the final exam, he told us the results of the MID-TERM exam, and how lousy our scores were! Great motivation... the tests themselves consist of slide identification; we look at a picture and write about what it is, where it's from, when it's from, historical significance etc. The problem is, there are only two volumes of the class textbook in the library and many of the pieces of art we are shown aren't even in that book!! So how does the professor figure we remember the pictures?? I saw one guy in class take photos with his digital camera, but ahhhh.. why can't the teacher just give us handouts? Even black & whites would be better than nothing! What's more, we don't even know which of the displayed artworks we are supposed to study! He gave us a list of items that "may appear on the final exam" ONE WEEK before the test! That's just stupid. Why, oh why, does he need to make it so uncomfortable for his students? I asked him early on about the way he wants us to approach the material and what he expects from us, especially since I'm not used to studying art or art history, but he just smiled and said "don't worry hehe" as if it's impossible to fail or something (that seems to be the case for most courses in Japanese universities, sometimes you don't even have to attend - and you can still get an A). I felt relieved at the time, but when he presented the mid-term results I felt a bit cheated. I studied hard for the final exam, but I had trouble organizing and prioritizing the information available to us. As long as I pass, I'll be happy. I was told, by the course assistant last week, that I'm currently at a C. They use that ABC system of grading here, so anything better than F means I pass (I think). Anyway.. that class is finally over, my goodness it was boring to sit in that huge classroom with WAY too many chairs and tables (making it really uncomfortable to walk in, only to squeeze yourself in between a chair and a miniature table with metal bars under it that you keep bumping your knees on, causing intense pain as the sharp edges repeatedly cut into your kneecaps). Seeing things from the bright side, there are a few cute girls in the class and I think I made a few friends, although people evacuate the room as soon as the bell rings (not the fire alarm-type of bell, but yes, whenever classes begin and end there's a little chimes melody playing everywhere in the university) so I don't get time to approach anyone except the little group of exchange student über dorks staying after class, talking about what.. if not World of Warcraft then the latest weird Anime cartoon they watch or perhaps discussing American politics. No choice but to leave quietly and take the train back home. When that class ends, it's almost 17.00 and it's getting dark outside. Some students still have one more class, others go to the library (which is quite a comfortable place, apart from the strict guard at the entrance who almost threatens to kill you if you don't present your student ID fast enough) to study or, more commonly, sleep. Others have club activities to attend, something I'm planning on exploring next semester.

I almost forgot to tell you, during one of the Japanese final exams there was an earthquake! We were on the 6th floor and the teacher just smiled and said "this is a small one.." People in the classroom, including me, laughed about it at first.. then suddenly stopped, as we started thinking about how serious it actually was..

Train-spotting
If you come visit me in Tokyo, you'll most likely find me on a train somewhere... If you sit down next to me, the first thing you will feel is the heated seat toasting your butt. While it can be pleasant on a cold winter day, on milder days it's just a waste of electricity, forcing you to either sit there sweating, strip or give up your seat and stand up as if you had butt-acne. It IS a nice innovation, though and I wonder why Swedish trains don't come equipped with similar functions. It IS colder in Scandinavia, after all. You may have heard about Japanese school girls etc. Well it is a fact that most schools in Japan make their students wear uniforms. Boys have suits with that "asian style" collar and girls have to wear a skirt, all year around, in rain or shine. I think this is what makes girls so extremely resistant to cold and can continue to wear short skirts throughout the winter, even after they get older and can choose what to wear. It's the trend that has always been around, or at least since the 90's or so. Short skirts and high boots + high heels. It can look great etc, but at the same time I find it disturbing. For someone who dislikes the cold as much as I do, seeing a girl sporting a short skirt and walking around in low shoes with no socks or pantyhose in winter makes me feel just as uncomfortable as seeing one of those Indian dudes walking around with metal spikes and hooks piercing his face and body... PAIN!!

My point is, if girls dress like that even in winter, what's left for guys to look forward to in the summer?? Please girls, respect the four seasons and dress accordingly!

Back to the schoolgirls. I think they keep their baby fat for much longer than girls in the west. Most girls I see in the university are slim etc., so how come the younger girls are so chubby? In Sweden it's usually the other way around; people gain weight when they get above 18-20 as they change their eating habits, eating out more often, more sweets, no time for sports, no sports in school etc. Right? Right. My theory is that they keep their baby fat until they're like 17 or something. The body grows, so the fat is spread out, divided evenly over the expanding body volume, resulting in a more slim body around 20 years of age, compared to 5-10 years earlier.
Anyway, most Japanese schoolgirls are ugly, period. If my theory is accurate, they will undergo a weird transformation, making them cute by the time they are 18-20 years old. If I'm wrong, Japan may see a whole generation of not-very-cute women eating donuts and those new, best-selling quadruple burgers. Heard a new American donut shop opened in Shinjuku recently (wildly popular, with customers standing in line to buy boxes of donuts) and Burger King is making a comeback in Japan this year. Congratulations, all parents worried about their children's health...

Party
I haven't partied much this year. That's something I'm planning to do these coming months. There are a few clubs I really want to check out, but the problem is always that I get too tired to stay all night. The situation in Tokyo is that if you don't take your last train home, around 00.30 or even earlier depending on where you live, you'll have to stay until the first train in the morning around 4 or 5 o'clock. Failing to stay awake means either sleeping right in the club, with people walking over you (I've walked over sleeping people myself) or paying to stay a few hours in an internet cafe booth, karaoke room or love hotel. It's also possible to stay in some 24 hours restaurants such as McD but you'll still have to buy something and might not get much sleep due to the bright lights and disturbing music. I was in a McD in Shinjuku very early one morning where they had some kind of retarded hard rock playing out of busted speakers and fat women in weird clothes were half-sleeping, half-eating an egg muffin and drinking coffee. Downstairs was a black guy who was yelling at me: "Hey boy! What!? You never seen a black guy before?" Fantastic city, isn't it?

Last night I went to one of those places where Japanese people typically go, in groups or couples, to drink and eat a bit. It's called "izakaya" and means "bar, pub, inn or tap" according to my dictionary, but it's more of a restaurant than a bar. There are a lot of weird izakayas... this time it was an Arabic setting, complete with belly-dancing chicks (hot like the sand of Sahara) and lamps that you can rub.. It's a great way to get to know people better, even though the food and drinks are typically of sub-standard quality. After examining the little flyer I was given upon leaving the place, I learnt that they offer a special, black pyramid-shaped "love-tent" for couples! Quite nice, eh? Another such "couple-friendly" service I've seen is in the hair salons, offering seats paired off for couples cutting their hair together. I guess it's a typical girl thing to always do things together with their girl friend, but considering how much time and effort many guys in Tokyo seem to spend on their hair, I wouldn't be surprised if guys go 2 and 2 too, or at least with their girlfriend!
I told you before and I'm telling you again, PDA is RARE in Tokyo!! PDA = Public Display of Affection = hugging, touching & kissing in public areas such as in trains, stations, shopping malls, streets, restaurants etc. I saw a guy kiss his girl ONCE in the train yesterday and another young couple hug before saying goodbye as the guy was leaving the city, but that's about all I've seen so far this year. My Japanese friends don't agree, however; they say they see PDA all the time. Guess I'll have to look more closely. I must admit I'm not too attentive usually.. I give people a quick glance, but I quickly lose interest. One of my friends here said she saw a couple on the train and when the man stepped off, apparently having reached his destination before the lady, they parted and as soon as the doors closed, the woman took off her ring and put in her bag! HEHE... devious lady..

Play
I regret not having had the opportunity to play either PS3 or Wii. I was close to playing PS3 once, but the game froze just as I was grabbing the controller and the shop assistant took a quick look and then pretty much ignored me when I asked him to fix it. The DS games I see on the Japanese shelves are either of the "brain-exercising" kind meant for grown-ups (math problems, memory trainers, sudoku, word games and quizzes etc) or of the colorful, anime-style, monster-collecting kind that only Japanese kids can appreciate. I guess it's fun if you 1) understand Japanese and 2) have a bunch of friends to play with, but I'm not quite there yet. Like I said before, people of all ages seem to have a DS. I see businessmen playing it on the trains and schoolkids running around with their DS in a pouch attached to their backpack, the DS itself decorated with stickers, just like the teenage girls decorate their mobile phones with all sorts of stickers, photo stickers and plastic gems. I even saw a blinged-out girl on the train with a little barbie doll mermaid attached to her clamshell phone! And if they don't have a DS, they play all kinds of games on their mobile phones! I see middle-aged mothers playing tetris and a lot of scruffy-looking guys (possible Pachinko-slaves) playing various card games on their phones.

How about I show you some photos as a reward for reading this far?
Here's a bunch of photos from New Year's Eve!
This is some sort of rice-cake.. people put it somewhere for New Year's, but I've never seen anyone actually eat it.. I should know more about it, but I'm too lazy to ask or check Wikipedia.









Host-Mom walking our dog, Totti.








What Japanese do on New Year's: go to a shrine, throw some coins on it and pray to Mr Spirit. This is after midnight on January 1st, LOTS of people went to the local shrine to do the "hatsumoude" as it's called. We actually stood in line for 30 minutes or so before we could do this little 10 second ceremony, I barely managed to snap this shot of the crowd before Host-Mom was done and on her way back home! Very cold night, by the way.
This is a temple next to the shrine (or was it the other way? I always mix them up) where not so many people went. Host-Mom took us there, only to discover that this big rope-circle-thing had to be approached in a certain way. There is a little instruction manual hanging to the left, which she read. Apparently you were supposed to enter it from behind, then circle it like the shape of an eight (8), before you walked up to the podium and tossed your coins etc. She wasn't sure she got it right, but since she's so laid back, she just quickly circled it a bit and did her thing before going home.
I was just as clueless as she seemed to be... and I was freezing, even though I was wearing an extra pair of everything...






For some added ambiance, the caretakers of the temple/shrine had put this stereo outside, playing that typical "3-string guitar" type of Japanese music, just like in movies. We doin' it Edo style, bitches.





Here you take your little fortune telling piece of paper and, after reading it, tie it onto the string so that it will come true, or something.. Excuse my ignorance. My fortune telling was "Small Fortune."





Coming back from the ceremonies, it was time to eat some "osechi ryouri" which is the traditional New Year's food. The thing that surprised me the most was the lack of white rice, which is otherwise so common with almost everything you eat here. There was some kind of rubbery rice-cake though, that was sort of hard to chew and swallow. I heard a lot of old people and sometimes kids choke and die on those, every year... The other food was nice though, although I know too little to describe what you see. Let's just say there's some egg, fish, more fish, sweet potato, vegetables and beans.










Totti, Host-Dad and Host-Mom.


Host-Mom is opening a special bento box of this osechi ryouri. This box cost about 30 000 yen, approximately $300 or SEK 1700. You'd expect some pretty nice food then.. and maybe some foot massage at least.. but to be honest, I preferred the food Host-Mom prepared. Home-cooked is the best.. ¶ 18:24