Tonight on FujiTV (and テレビ西日本 in my area here in Fukuoka), there will be a 2 hour show called 花いくさ (Hana Ikusa) - A story about a young Maiko (apprentice Geisha) in Kyoto set just after the war. It stars my favorite Inoue Mao from Hana Yori Dango.. I REALLY am looking forward to seeing this!!! Check out the trailer below:

Also, take a look at the official website HERE for some cool pictures. Yay MAO-chan!!! <3

Today was our last day of classes before the long weekend (this Friday is a national holiday in Japan), and it was also the last day of school at GenkiJACS for one of my classmates - John-kun. John is also from Canada, but is of Philippine descent so he looks Asian and blends in pretty well. I have a good picture of our class, he`s the one sitting beside me. Our teacher for this class, Yuuji sensei, is one of the only male teachers at GenkiJACS right now, and is also the youngest faculty member and one of my favorite teachers because we can make perverted jokes together that I just wouldn`t say around the female staff.
The guy with longer hair who you can`t quiet see on the left side of this pic is my only classmate in Grammar class, as we`re the only Level 3 students at GenkiJACS right now. His Japanese is really good, and I enjoy having class with him because he keeps me on my feet as in some ways he`s ahead of me. At the same time, I know stuff that he doesn`t and we compliment each other well that way.
Also, Yuuji sensei took us to the local grocercy store near the school to search for the ingredients to make Miso soup. Before going out, we learned all about making Miso soup (only in Japanese though), and it was really interesting actually.




The video is rather pointless especially without audio, but todays class was so much fun I wanted to share it on my blog. Anyways, I`m happy for the long weekend, I literally have about 75 new verbs to work on memorizing.
Maybe this weekend will also hold some fun times though, stay tuned.
- Timo

Uncle Phil makes Headlines

Well, My uncle Phil has recently come to Japan aswell and we are both attending GenkiJACS. After doing the level check test, he was placed in the level 1 class and I was placed in the more advanced level 3. None-the-less, I hope he does his best. Yesterday as part of Phil's culture class here at the school, Phil's class visited the local Kushida shrine, and one of the teachers snapped a pretty good picture of Phil saying a prayer. This picture has now been posted on GenkiJACS official school blog website, and you can view it HERE. Check it out!



On a side note, I came accross this really cool video on 3yen that I just had to share with everyone. This is everyday Japan for sure, and does a great job of showcasing my time here (even though I have nothing to do with this video).

I completed my first day at GenkiJACS yesterday. Honestly I'm very excited to be here and really hit the books and study. I actually did all of my homework last night (about 45 minutes of work, I may have more from here on out though because yesterday I missed a 2 hour class because we had to do the level check test thing). On top of the assigned work, I also took a bunch of notes of words that I didn't know during the lesson and there were about 20 or so verbs in particular that I want to memorize.
I found the first class rather challenging, but it was fun and probably just at the right level. Unfortunately there are some small gaps in what I know and what the other students at my level know (in both directions) due to different backgrounds in what courses we studied with before. At GenkiJACS, we're using the GENKI series of books, and at my level we're starting off somewhere in the middle of book 2.
The course at YesJapan.com takes a very in-depth approach to teaching verbs as it explains the context and usage of each individual verb that you learn, but at GenkiJACS they throw groups of maybe 10 verbs at you and have you "plug them in" to various sentences and structures and conjugations. On the other hand, thanks to the course at YesJapan.com, I have probably a more extensive vocabulary of nouns then anyone in my class, as well as knowing a bunch of "tricks" that others may not know, sometimes leaving everyone (except for the teacher) scratching their heads wondering what the heck I just said.
Anyways, I realized that I need some school supplies, so last night Boris and me took a subway over to the nearby Aeon shopping mall. I found some great paper notebooks, including a bunch of them ruled specifically for practicing Kanji (Chinese derived written symbols). I also bought a set of study cards that come on a key chain type ring, and after getting home, I wrote down all of my new words that I want to memorize. Between last night and the subway ride to school this morning, I think I almost have the whole lot of 20 or so new words memorized.
I'm going to be taking a lot of pictures so my next big post should be exciting to see (everyone has asked for more pics and video), I'm also thinking about doing a special about the kappa (mythical swamp monsters?) that live in the water next to my homestay house. Until then take care.
- Timo

好きになった・・・

Well, I've really warmed up to my homestay family. When I first arrived, I thought this place was going to be so boring, but later that night I met Ms. Hatsue's sons. I cannot remember their names right now, but they are very nice and they both have kids. Her elder son has a little boy named Jun (said like "June" - same name as the actor who plays Domyouji in Hana Yori Dango [shaye you love him you know it!]). Jun is 1 year old and he's just like any other baby probably anywhere in the world. I can best him at Japanese too which makes me feel great =P (joke).
He has a sister named Karin (I think), who's 4 and FULL of engergy! Her Japanese is better than mine, but she speaks simply so it's fun to try to hold a conversation with her. haha.
Anyways, their father is a really nice Man who's patient with my Japanese and is always interesting to talk to. I look forward to getting to know this family more over the course of the next 4 weeks.

Anyways, today was my first day at GenkiJACS. I'm at the school right now actually waiting for my first lesson to start. I just finished taking a level check test with my uncle phil. The test consisted of listening comprehension, an interview in Japanese, and a written test aswell checking for vocabulary and grammar knowledge. I didn't do as well as I'd hoped or expected, but it's ok because if the class is too easy I can be moved to a harder class. They have MANY different levels of classes at this school so it's really convenient for anyone studying Japanese.

Uncle Phil didn't fare as well on the tests either, and we'll be in different classes. Anyways, I shot some video of Phil when he first showed up today. It was really weird to see a familiar western face after so long.





On a side note, I still miss Tokyo.. Somehow that city has a special place in my heart and I do long to go back, but that can wait. In the mean time, I'm going to study like crazy. Esspecially to my family back home, I hope you enjoy seeing a short clip of Phil and me.
- Tim

Missing Tokyo

Well, I`ve arrived in Fukuoka... First impression of this city: Smaller than Tokyo (any city might feel tiny after living there). Upon my arrival, I had no plan... No reservation at any hotel, no idea of transportation from the airport to the city core, no one to meet with, nothing. It was honestly my biggest mess-up in my travels thus far. But, I like a challenge, so it`s all good. From the airport I took a subway to Tenjin station, because a) I liked the name TENJIN and b) It seemed to be pretty much in the city core on the map. Luckly for me and unknown to me at the time, my school is also located in Tenjin ward.

Once off the subway, I found myself once again in a maze of people and honestly it was a little comforting because it almost reminded me of Tokyo (which I`m already getting homesick for but more on that later). After wandering around aimlessly looking for anything that says ホテル (hotel) for about an hour with no luck, I gave in on my pride and called Evan (the director of the school I`m attending). I explained to him my lack of planning, and appologized in embarassment. But, to my delight Evan is an extremely nice person and was more than helpful, he informed me that I was not too far from the school in fact, and he would meet me at the busy intersection just north of my current location.

So onwards I went. Evan met me there, guided me to a nearby hotel and asked if I would need help getting a room. Being overly sure of my self again, I bid him farewell and told him I could handle it from here. So he road away on his bike, and I made my way to the hotel lobby.

Unfortunately, I did not know it was Sumo season in Fukuoka and because of this the hotel would be overrun with semi-intoxicated salary men to the point that there was simply no rooms available to anyone who didn`t already have a reservation. After this was explained to me by the girl behind the desk, I turned around, and realised that once again, I was in a pickle. Worse, Evan had just left and I would feel like an idiot to have to call him again. どうしょう？ I thought to myself.

Then I realised I was only about 6 blocks from the school. So off to the school I went to seek help. Might aswell get a sneak peak at the school anyways right? Well, I arrived at the school alive, and made my way up the steps. It`s actually a really nice building with a good atmosphere conductive to learning and I should add the teachers are really nice too. To make a long story short, I found Evan at the school, we called a couple hotels until we found one that had an available room, and I took the Taxi there where I stayed for the rest of the weekend.

The hotel unfortunately has nothing to see or do around it within walking distance, and there was no internet either, so I spent my time watching Japanese TV. It was interesting to stay in a Japanese style room where the floors are covered with TATAMI mats, and sleeping in a REAL futon is EXTREMELY comfortable. Breakfast is served at the Hotel for free until 9AM, without any stove available (like I would use it anyways, right mom?), and only a water heater, I ate mostly CUP NOODLES, NIKUMAN, and POCKY or ICE CREAM for desert.

On sunday (today) I made my way to my homestay house. This place is in a town outside of Fukuoka that is right on the coast of the Sea of Japan, and is surrounded by both mountains and beaches. It`s really beautiful, but there is almost nothing to do here either. This is ok though, it will hopefully mean more time studying, less money being wasted, and some nice quiet before going back to the likes of Tokyo or visiting Kyoto. My host mother is a very kind older woman, and there is another student from GenkiJACS homestaying here aswell. He is from Germany, his name is Boris, and he looks almost identical to my cousin Mike but with lighter hair.

Anyways, thats probably enough to read for one sitting, and my fingers are getting sore. Off to check my e-mail for the first time in a few days.
- Timo

Reports of my disappearance have been greatly exaggerated. I've had a busy past few days.
On Sunday I went to Yokohama and hung out with one of my Japanese friends. We saw a street performer, then went to the top of Yokohama Landmark Tower where I had the best view yet of the cityscape of the greater Tokyo area.





After that, we went to China town and had some really good Chinese snack foods. I'm really grateful to have made good friends in Japan・ It's really an interesting experience to be guided around town by a local person.


You are made aware of a lot of the little streets and paths that you might otherwise not notice or choose to take.
The next 3 days I also spent away from Tokyo in the town of Oota - which is a city about the size of Windsor. It was so weird to be in such a quiet place after living in busy Tokyo for a while.
Anyways, these little trips are the reason I haven't posted in a while.
Tonight I met with Akemi san in Ginza. It was so much fun. First of all, I arrived in Ginza almost 2 hours early, so in need of some way to kill time before meeting Akemi-san, I decided I'd take a subway over to Ebisu - a place I've reallllly wanted to go to but have not made it to until today. Ebisu is about 6 stops away from Ginza station on the Hibiya line. Now, any of you who've seen the Japanese drama Hana Yori Dango (Mom, Shaye) will recognize Ebisu garden place as the special meeting place where Tsukushi and Tsukasa meet (or otherwise wait hopelessly for each other). The scenes from this Japanese show were filmed on location near a prominent concrete sculpture in Ebisu Garden Place. The only problem is, unknown to me at the time, Ebisu Garden Place is a good ways from Ebisu station. So, like usual, I asked someone for directions. This time I asked a middle aged Japanese woman with a nice smile. She was so kind, used very simple Japanese and even walked with me part way until we got to this overpass with an automatic sidewalk (like the moving sidewalks you find in airports. Japan has them in many other places as this country is obsessed with being convenient (usually). Anyways, the woman told me to go to the very end and out the doors and I should be right there.
So, I followed her directions which took me to a small intersection. Upon arriving here, I instantly felt this place was familiar - and looking ahead of me, I spotted a small set of steps leading up to a concrete tarmac・.



You know what, just look at the pictures! This place is maybe meaningless to anyone who hasn't seen Hana Yori Dango, but to us HYD fans, having the opportunity to be there and touch the sculpture and stand right there fulfilled a little dream.





After wandering around this place in awe and trying to re-create various camera-angles from the show, I returned to Ginza where I met Akemi in front of Mistukoshi departo.
Ginza is a bustling shopping district (how many of these Tokyo has is beginning to become uncountable, but they are always exciting and lively.). Akemi was so generous and great to hang out with tonight. We started our excursion by visiting Tokyo tower. Tokyo Tower is basically a smaller replica of the Eiffel Tower. We took a tour up to the observatory of this Tower and I caught some magnificent views of Tokyo's skyline at night.
After that, Akemi treated me to an amazing and classy Japanese restaurant in Ginzawhere we had a great assortment of delicious food. Not everything in Japan tastes like the ocean (but a lot of it does), but the food was great and we ate so much of it too! Oh, and we took a taxi on the way there - the first taxi I've taken in Japan - and it reminded me of the opening shots of Lost in Translation so I captured some video..






Anyways, after all of that, I came back to the hostel and packed up all of my stuff as Tommorow I知 flying to Fukuoka. It will be interesting as I don't know where I'm staying for the first 2 days in Fukuoka before my homestay begins so I guess I'll have to figure out a hotel or something once I arrive.
Well, enough rambling for one day, enjoy the pictures and video.
- Tim

Well, just wanted to post a quick update because I woke up extra early this morning for some reason. Yesterday was another adventure of Lost in Tokyo... This city is so big, yet, its actually pretty easy to navigate on the macro level once you get a feeling for where all of the different boroughs are located relative to each other. The subway system here, although massive with something like 18 different subway lines (compared to Toronto's 4), are extremely convenient and easy to navigate - esspecially if you speak Japanese.
Yesterday it pretty much rained all morning and most of the afternoon and on and off all evening too.. Tokyo becomes this picturesq scene of crowds of busy people walking, almost all of them with the exact same type of completely transparent plastic umbrellas over their heads.
Anyways, today's itinerary is basically, I'm going down to Yokohama (a city in the Tokyo area of about 3 million people).
This is the first time aside from my first day here where I've travelled so far away on my own so I'll be practicing extra dilligence. Luckly, all of the areas I have to pass through or transfer at are very safe areas of Tokyo. Still, it could be scarey to get lost by myself, but I have a few friend's cell phone numbers on hand if needed.
Well, I'll post again later on.. I should come back with lots of pictures too!
PS - I went to Akihabara last night, its basically the electronics / anime / computer / managa / video game heaven.. Complete with Maid Cafes, which are basically coffee shops where cute girls dressed in Lolita maid costumes serve you and pretend that you're their goshuujin sama (meaning "master" in this context).. It's a little weird but I'm curious to experience it though a little embarrassed as it might be considered slightly hentai (perverted). I'll make a full Akihabara post after I return with my camera in hand.

Anyways, I'm off to eat breakfast. ja mata

Arrival, Pictures, Updates

Well, I've arrived in Japan without a hitch! I'm going to try to lay this post out like a photo Journal because I managed to snap a lot of pictures on my journey!


First, the flight was smooth sailing almost the entire time through, except that I got air sick part way through but after some much needed sleep I felt better!

^ The food served on the flight from Vancouver to Tokyo was the first hint that I was going to Japan (and the fact that all the flight announcements were repeated in Japanese). A quick note that I must make: Japan is FULL of CUUUUUTE girls!!! Tim is in heaven!

After going through customs and immigration at Narita, I found myself finally in Japan. I have to stress, the Japanese people have been soooo helpful to me thus far, but at the same time, I think someone who only spoke english would have a very difficult and frustrating time travelling in this country. Some people in Canada often told me "Everyone there speaks English anyways" and this could not be further from the truth with the exception of airport and hotel staff. There is a train station in Narita airport, which is important because Narita is actually not in Tokyo but rathering in the neighbouring city of Chiba which is a 75 minute train ride from Tokyo.
As soon as I got to the train platform, I found myself a little lost, and for the first time, my Japanese skills came to the rescue. I met a really nice woman and her daughter, and explained to them that I needed to go to Asakusa and that I know I'll have to transfer but I'm not sure which line to take. Fortunately, they were also headed in the same direction. Boarding the train/subway, I found myself surrounded by interesting posters. I cannot lie, this city - Tokyo - is VERY commercialized!

After making it to Asakusa station, I followed the directions given from the Sakura Hostel website. However, a few parts of the instructions were a little foggy and once again I found myself starting to get lost as it's a weaving 15 minute walk from Asakusa station to Sakura Hostel, which, by the way was filled with Tori gates, temples, and... an Amusement park. I found a local construction worker or traffic director, I couldn't tell which, and explained to him Sumimasen, chotto maigo ni narimashita... etto... Kaminarimon wa doko desu ka?, which basically means Excuse me, I'm a little lost, where is Kaminari gate? Unfortunately, he wasn't sure, and told me it could be in 2 different directions, but then he stopped 2 women passing by, and asked them about the location of the temple.. The women explained to me (again in Japanese) that I'd have to go the other way, cross the street at the next corner, and walk a little down the street.

So, I followed those directions, and found myself at the entrence gate, which was lined with traditional shops on either side of the path leading to the temple ground. Finally at the end of this path, which is extremely long and still had a fair amount of people at it even in evening hours, I came to Sensoji temple and some people were at the top stairs to the entrance, saying prayers and throwing money into the big bowl (which you do when you pray). And, of course, again I found myself a little lost (no offence to the hostel's directions but they are a little unclear about direction when they say something like "Go past the entrance" and there's two ways to go.
So, this time I asked an older man who was standing outside of some sort of shop outside of the temple grounds where the theme park is (there's a theme park near the temple, and the hostel is behind the themepark.. that's Japan though =P), I soon realised he was drunk from the smell of his breath, nonetheless he showed the the correct direction and explained how to get to the other side of the theme park. And so I arrived. Later that night, I went out to a Karaoke box with some people from the hostel that I've met (more about them in a future post perhaps), and had an awsome time! It reallllly reminded me of the Karaoke scene in Lost in Translation and I think for that reason it fulfilled a little dream of mine as I LOVE that movie. *deep breath* Today I had the coolest time exploring Tokyo! I've been constantly surprised at how approachable people are. I realise, it's part of the culture to save face and be polite whenever possible, but at the same time, it's amazing that in such a big city complete strangers are easy to share a joke with. For example, on the way of our travels, I was explaining to one of my hostel friends the difference between ippai (which means "Full") and oppai (which means breasts, haha) and some random younger Japanese guy, maybe around 20 years old, laughed a little at overhearing our conversation and said "oppai ne" (basically "Breasts, huh?") and I told him I was explaining the word to my friend but that it was a funny gaijin joke.
Also, we were given help by many people in getting lost, and I found out something really interesting, if we started the conversation with even one english word, for example, if I said "Excuse me, chotto taskette kudasai" and used EXCUSE ME instead of sumimasen (Excuse me in Japanese), people would avoid us.. I've heard from some people to not expect people in Tokyo to be helpful or approachable, esspecially to us Gaijin (foreigners), but now I think maybe that was only because those people were trying to speak to them in English. Japanese people, although many times eager to learn and practice english, seem to get very nervous about their english when on the spot. Maybe this is why they appeared cold to some people I've talked to about Tokyo. I LOVE TOKYO! It's soooo big and sooooo busy... but surprisingly, I'm finding the people are mostly friendly! Anyways, I'm getting tired of typing alot, so following are a bunch of pictures.. They're mostly of Shibuya crossing which I visited today. It's the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, you'll believe it when you see it! Take a look, I even included some video because the pictures don't do it justice.

*OVER STIMULATION ALERT*, the advertising and commercials on the buildings have AUDIO too that broadcasts over loudspeakers for all to hear! Unfortunately (or fortunately for those who can't handle it) my digital camera does not record audio.



This is a video I took while crossing shibuya *As seen in Lost in Translation



The birds eye shots of Shibuya crossing were taking from a place called "Shape City" (I think?) which is a sort of shopping mall/center that encircles half of the perimiter of Shibuya crossing.

and another video, showing why it's the busiest crossing in the world. NOTE: This is not even close to rush hour, as this was taken at about 2pm. You should see it around 5 to 7pm. Personally, I loved it, but I think my mom would hate it very quickly it's just so much sensory overload! ^_^







This next video was taken from the pedestrian crossing next to Ueno station in Ueno Tokyo (You can take a subway from Ueno to Shibuya very easily) This was my first time in a "downtown" type place in Japan, and it really hit me how big Tokyo is when I came here so I took this video:







This next video is of my first glimps of Shibuya crossing, as we approached it, the sidewalk became more and more alive with people, and the sounds of the advertisment commercials started to be heard (though you cant hear anything in my videos v.v)







Next: Asakusa Sensoji Temple. Very cool place, the smoke is said to have healing properties if you put it on your body that part of your body that it touches will become better. Many students put this smoke on their heads. hehehe






As a final note of something I just wanted to add, on the way back from my travels I walked down this side street here in Asakusa, and there's always traditional japanese music playing on a series of loudspeakers mounted on the posts to the street lights which on this street are traditional style lanterns. There's many many nice Japanese shops and restaurants! Maybe I'll take some pictures and add them here soon so keep reading! Mata ne!

About to fly...

Well, we're about to leave in about half an hour from now to go to the airport. As I'm slightly pressed for time, I'll have to make this brief. I'm about to embark on the largest journey of my life. I've had wonderful support from my friends and family and I'd like to thank everyone who's been there for me and lent a hand with putting this all together. I love you all, and I hope to tell some great stories to everyone when I return (In the meantime, read here for more or less realtime coverage).
I've also had a great 2 days in Toronto hanging out with my Mom. She really has put up with a lot of obsessive compulsive type behavior from me, and managed to still keep her cool and has also been the most supportive person for me in this endeavour.
Yesterday, after we ate at some chinese buffet place (and I avoided the sushi and seafood like the plague sighting an oncomming daily diet of rice and fish), we all recieved fortune cookies. Ironically, they seemed to really fit..

My mom's fortune cookie read
You are a social and entertaining person - which is funny, because my mom is a clown and entertainer as a profession.
and mine said:
You will soon step foot on the soil of distant countries - I wont even point out the coincidence here as I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence.

Last but not least, at the last minute last night we went to a big wal-mart and I bought a new luggage suitcase as the existing one was too big and bulky. My new luggage is ultra small, compact, and portable. Yay me!
Well, my next blog post should be from Japanese soil, until then.

- Tim

Packing and Road Trip

Well, this will have to be a short entry because I'm a little pressed for time. But I must say that packing is a bit of a nightmare come to life.
First, you should always make a packing list, this way, you'll be sure not to forget anything.
Also, especially for a long trip, you should always make sure to pack lightly, because you will have to carry your luggage sometimes whether you like it or not. So yea, pack lightly unless you have a team of linebackers or pro-wrestlers to help you out.

Unfortunately, I have more luggage than I aimed for. Only 1 suitcase and a small backpack, but the suitcase is heavier than I wanted and a little bigger than I need. I would of bought a smaller suitcase in hindsight.

It's also a good idea to put a brightly colored sticker or tape or something attached to your luggage to help it stand out a bit when it comes off of the carousel.

Well, today we're leaving for Toronto, in approximately 1 hour. There's a slight chance of rain and I always hated driving on the 401 in the rain. I think we'll be safe though. I have a good feeling about everything right now.