FINALS ARE OVER! All it took was 3 cups of coffee, some serious donut-ing at Mister Donuts, and tears. I think I did well though…we will see (I get my grades in March).
Waseda is so silly sometimes. My last final, which was for Japanese, was on Friday. And yet, they still wanted us to get up at the crack of dawn to go to our last Japanese class on Saturday (even though we already did the final? Uh what?) Yes well, I slept in..and can you blame me?
Anyway- now I’m done till April, and I’m determined to make this the best spring break ever!
Once upon a time I went to college at University of Oregon. My first Japanese teacher ever was a short little woman that would bustle around the classroom and be hilarious and cute (without trying). Well she turned out to be one of my favorite teachers there, and wrote me an awesome letter of recommendation that got me a scholarship for this trip. And then I heard she was moving back to Japan… Sad to hear- but that also coincides with ME AND DOROTHY LIVING IN JAPAN THIS YEAR.So basically, Dorothy, me and Nick met up with her and ate CAKE BUFFET, and did purikura..MY LYFE IS COMPLETE YOU GUYS. (YOU SHOULD SEE HOW MUCH CAKE THIS LITTLE WOMAN CAN THROW BACK!) Another one of my current Japanese teachers joined us too! She studied at University of Oregon years ago so it was a nice little reunion.
At the cake buffet....THEY HAD MAKE YOUR OWN KAKIGORI (shaved ice) AND DECORATE YOUR OWN POCKY <3 <3 <3
This was how my pocky turned out ...
IT SAYS 'MIKAELA' DUH
Dorothy was a little more pro...
So the half way point is here. And the kids who are only "han-toshi" or half year studying, are going home soon. So we had a little going away party with tons of food and bingo and after party beers in the park.
Imma miss my friends who are going home! But I will see them again in Oregon fo'sho.
It just makes me think of what I'll be doing in 6 more months...having to say goodbye to everyone here....
I don't know if this is cheating...because I already did a separate post on blanket skirt. However, I feel like this time I have more of a complete outfit (not only blanket skirt but poncho jacket!) and better photos thanks to Dorothy!
With it being finals time, I had a bit of a rough week to say the least.... If I'm having a bad day and feel like I look crappy, that only increases my bad mood and I can't wait to go home and hide from the world.
But there's something about wearing clothes you love that can just put you in a good mood and give you confidence. Which are important things fo'sho'
Guess what I did yesterdaaaaaay?
If you guessed 'win a trophy for "Procrastinator of the year" ' well.....close but nope.
This:
SUMO
All the Oregon students went to the "Ryogoku-Kokugikan" today- for the finale of the Sumo Tournament. It was SOOO much fun.
The main bouts started at 3:30 but Dorothy and I got there early to take some photos of the sumo-san entering the building, and walk around the arena a bit.
Outside, the names of the sumo-san on flags.
Sumo entering the building...you can be all "name-san GANBARRE!" (good luck!)
Me and Dorothy near the main entrance
A little side area for, well I don't know what....But it was pretty!
Then we went and ate this soup, "The Special Chanko" which is eaten by sumo wrestlers in vast quantities to help them gain weight.
We also got ice cream! .....twice.....
It's like a chocolate bar...only filled with ice cream!
Let it be known me and Doro will never turn down soft serve....
And this is a side note...but I've encountered these type of sinks twice in Japan now and I think they are the coolest thing ever....The middle is the water, left is soap, then right is air. All automatic in the sink!...COOL HUH (I'm a dork)
Oregon kids!
Anyway, then the Sumo main bouts started:
The Arena
The sumo wrestlers come out in their ceremonial aprons (kesho-mowashi)
Then the bouts begin!
Throwing salt into the ring before entering it:
The wrestlers throw salt in the area as they prepare for their bout to purify the ring as a sacred place. Also, the above picture...the stamping (leg lifting high in the air then onto the ground) is supposed to be to squash the bad spirits. You will also see them sipping water in their corners, to purify their bodies. All religious rituals..
and GO
Boom! In Sumo you beat the other wrestler by either getting them out of the ring, or getting them on the ground.
Here's a video of one of the bouts. It was the last one of the night- I was saying "throw the cushions"..because if the expected winner loses the bout, the people on the floor will throw their cushions at him. Well the expected winner did win...but dang! I wanted to see cushion throwing! (Sometimes people will do it regardless and throw them at the loser) haha
