tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-192556352024-03-13T13:14:46.950-04:00Brizmus Around the WorldHanging out around the world - France to Japan to who knows where. . .brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.comBlogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-16220791183771803782014-06-09T12:58:00.000-04:002014-06-09T13:19:36.320-04:00Here Comes SummerSo, summer is finally here, and I've finally got a minute to think about things other than just WORK all the time. People have always told me that I'm a crazy workaholic - I've never believed them, thinking that I might just be one of the laziest beings on the face of this Earth.
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If the past 5 years of my life are any testament to my character, though, I think I might finally have to admit that "they" are right, and I am wrong. My name is Audrey, and I am a workaholic. The good news is, I totally ADORE my job, teaching math to 17 and 18 (and 19 and 20 and even a 22) year olds. I'm going to mega miss my students. :-P I have to say, though, it's kind of nice to have over 2 months of summer break from work in my immediate future. With the arrival of summer, I find that I have this song constantly stuck in my head:
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I do love <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ilovetheyumyums">the Yum Yums</a>! For the record, <a href="http://www.goldminemag.com/blogs/top-20-releases-2013">Goldmine magazine ranked their album, "...play good music" as number 1 of 2013</a>. Norwegian power pop beat out even Paul McCartney - how cool is that?!? I would totally die of happiness to see them live - come to Montreal????
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Anyhow, so yeah, it's summer, and I've got big summer plans. For those of you that don't know yet, this is what my summer is going to look like:
-right now, I'm in Louisiana. I've been here since last Tuesday, and I'm leaving Wednesday.
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-Malaysia from June 13 to June 30 (I leave the morning of June 11th to arrive on the 13th - I will be traveling FOREVER!!!!)
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-Paris July 1, 2, 3
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-Denmark July 3-8
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-Luxembourg July 8-10
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-Belgium July 10-14
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-Jackson Hole, Wyoming (with the fam!!!!) July 14-21</center>
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After that, things are still up in the air. I am HOPING to head to Japan from July 21st to August 4th or 5th - I'll spend about a week in the Nagoya area before heading up to Akita and Aomori then spend my last two days or so in Tokyo. I guess I'll know tomorrow if that's really happening. If it doesn't happen, I'll either head straight back to Montreal or to Louisiana. I realllllly want to go to Japan, though, so hopefully that works out! :-)
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If you're going to be in any of the places where I am going to be, let me know - I'm sure I'd love to see you! :-)
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I am PLANNING on blogging my way through summer (I know, we all know how my plans for blogging always turn out), so check back sometimes to see if that actually happens. :-)
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ALSO, I've decided to attempt to do the <a href="http://100happydays.com/">100 Happy Days</a> thing. I think the tag line should actually be called "Do you have the discipline to post a picture every day for 100 days straight?" as opposed to "Can you be happy for 100 days straight?" I'm doing my best - if you want to see what makes me happy every days, <a href="http://instagram.com/brizmus#">follow me on instagram</a> (or <a href="http://brizmus.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> or facebook)!
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And that's all for now, folks! And, if anyone's interested, this is what I listened to/watched while composing this entry:
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For serious, <a href="http://kepiland.com/">Kepi Ghoulie</a> has to be one of the coolest dudes ever.brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-1422072711042096672014-01-11T20:45:00.000-05:002014-05-27T20:46:37.961-04:00New Jobs and TV and DECORA!!!!<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2aPMj-4K4Jk/UtHxY9bxAGI/AAAAAAAAGfg/lYZ4XGy2sss/s1600/AVeryMerryMixUp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2aPMj-4K4Jk/UtHxY9bxAGI/AAAAAAAAGfg/lYZ4XGy2sss/s320/AVeryMerryMixUp.jpg" /></a>
I think most of you know already, but on my last day at Vanier, I interviewed at John Abbott College. They were doing their interviews on Thursday, but I had to go in on Monday because I was going to be in Louisiana on Thursday. They were sooooooo nice to work everything out so that they could do the interview on Monday, especially since I was giving a final that night, and my Monday wasn't exactly flexible.
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So then I went to Louisiana, and on Friday morning, I got an e-mail saying that they had picked me for the job and that I was their unanimous first choice!! I thought the interview went well, but still, I was surprised that they picked me (for a daytime position!!!!), when I have so little experience. Anyway, the atmosphere at the interview was super nice, and everyone seemed incredibly friendly. They all seem to really like each other (unlike at Vanier), so, even though it's a suuuuper long commute (an hour and a half - though I guess Vanier was 50 minutes, so it's really not THAT big of a difference), I'm incredibly excited about the new job!
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It will be my first time with an actual salary since I was living in France (and doing the worst job ever with the worst boss ever). I am SUPER EXCITED!!!! It doesn't start until the 20th, but I have meetings all week next week. And I am SUPER NERVOUS about it! What if I end up being an awful, awful teacher, and it was just a fluke that I felt like I did okay this past term and that my students seemed to like me.
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G and I are celebrating Christmas tomorrow (!!!!), so this past week, I have been pretending it's still Christmas. (pretending, pshaw, it IS still Christmas!!!!). As such, I have been watching lots and lots of Christmas movies! :-) And I think I have a new favorite, that I will definitely be adding to the roster of movies that I must watch every year - <a href="http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/averymerrymixup">A Very Merry Mix-Up</a>. It was a Hallmark movie, and it was literally too adorable for words!
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I loved it so much that I've been thinking I might want to start some Hallmark TV. I was thinking of maybe trying <a href="http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/whencallstheheart">When Calls the Heart</a>, even though it looks tooooootally cheesy! But I love cheesy! :-) I've also been thinking of maybe trying to watch <a href="http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/ravenswood">Ravenswood</a>, to try to rekindle my romance with abc Family, which has sort of gone sour since the end of Make it or Break It (BEST SHOW EVER). I've got soooo much TV to watch, though (Japanese TV shows, Sherlock, House of Cards, Downton Abbey), I really don't need to be adding any new shows to the mix. I just FEEL like I do since I have had the past week off. I am sure that once I start work again, I won't have time to watch anything.
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In other news, I have been OBSESSED lately with <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/mimipetit">Mimi Petit Deco</a>. Yaaaaayyyyy for <a href="http://www.lovelyish.com/2011/11/29/what-is-decoden/">Decoden</a>! And yyyaaaaayyyyy for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_street_fashion#Decora">Decora Style</a>!!!! (though, I admit, I could do without all the hairpieces) Anyhow, the Mimi Petit Deco cell phone cases are sooooo cute, and I want to get one soooooo badly! I want one all pink and turquoise with an adorable unicorn on it. Maybe it will be my "I got a new job" present to myself once I have started, if I feel like it goes well.
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Anyhow, that's all I have to say today, folks! Tomorrow is (fake) Christmas, and I'm psyched!
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After Christmas is over tomorrow, perhaps I will post about Christmas in Louisiana then Christmas here. YayyyyyyY! I can't wait to wake up super early and open presents. ::happiness::
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以上です。
brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-88237022660814892922014-01-05T17:11:00.000-05:002014-01-05T17:11:23.999-05:00A Photo Voyage Through 2013Somehow, it really felt like 2013 was a year in which NOTHING happened. And it's true that things were pretty mellow compared to some of the previous years of my life. But yesterday, I was FINALLY taking all of the photos off of my camera (for the first time in nearly a year, since March), and I realized that some pretty cool things actually did happen.
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And, since I posted exactly twice during the year, I thought I would take us on a photo journey through the year!
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In April, boy's brother and his girlfriend took a little trip to New York, so boy and I headed down with Rieko, and we spent a lovely weekend in New York, hanging out with Josh and Rachel and Alex (and his <no longer> new boyfriend Taylor).
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Since I was sad about missing the cherry blossoms in Japan, Alex brought us to a cherry blossom festival in New Jersey, which was suuuuuuuper fun! It wasn't quite as beautifully amazingly wonderful as cherry blossom season in Japan, but it was still great! :-)
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Oh, and I got to hang out with Justin for the first time in AGES, which was amazing!!!!
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A few weeks later, boy's parents, along with his mom's friend, came to visit us, and we had a great time, buying tons of new things (that we desparately needed) for the apartment, hiking up the mountain, and hanging out doing fun Montreal things!
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They also bought us lots and lots of delicious chocolate, which is the thing that makes me most happy in life!
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And now I totally don't remember the order, but this stuff also happened:
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We went to the Francofolies and saw Dumas (who played the SAME SONGS that I remember liking 10 years ago) with Les Trois Accords. Soooooo many people were smoking, though, that it was making me sick, and I had to leave, nauseated with a near migraine, after only seeing them.
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We went to see amazing art at the Botanical Gardens - there were sooooo many amazing sculptures that it's impossible to pick just one as my favorite.
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We also saw beautiful Chinese lights at the Botanical Gardens - I'll definitely be going back this year!
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We went to comicon and saw LOTS of amazing costumes! And I was inspired to try to do cosplay, though I haven't yet had the opportunity to follow through with that.
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Guy got married in a totally beautiful, totally adorable, totally Guy wedding ceremony! (Annie, the bride, and I somehow managed to get our dresses caught together as I was leaving, and I was totally afraid that they were going to have to cut my dress off to separate us. Annie was not amused. I was dying laughing)
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And Pattycakes and I danced like crazy fools! :-)
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Rieko and I dressed up and went to Rocky Horror to celebrate Halloween! I tried to dress up as a rainbow, but I feel like I look a bit more like a 70's disco star gone wrong.
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It was freezing outside, but we had a great time nonetheless, and I think Rieko enjoyed her first Rocky Horror experience.
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We went to le festival Juste Pour Rires and had a great time making our way through this super fun maze!
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I volunteered in the yukata booth at the Nihon Matsuri, and I ended up in a yukata that was WAY TOO SHORT for me! Still, I met some really nice people and was luckily in a position in which I didn't have to actually put yukata on people, as I was terrible at it.
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I went to see the New Kids on the Block (who were, of course, amazing) on their package tour with Boyz II Men (who are now men, and who were terrible) and 98 Degrees (who, with the exception of Nick Lachey, seem to be losing to age)!!!!
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We went back to New York for Rachel and Josh's wedding, which was beautiful and wonderful and perfect and amazing. It took place in a book store, and all of the food was vegan, including the cake!! They were gorgeous, and I can't believe they're married now!
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While in New York this time, it was also Alex's birthday, so we had festivities with him. And my Aunt Boogie was in town, so we stayed with her, and she and I went to see Kinky Boots, which was suuuuuuper rad! I brought Aunt Boogie on the subway, and, apparently, it is to this day an experience she talks about - her great subway experience!
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We also ate lots of delicious vegan doughnuts!!
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We spent the day in Ottawa in the rain.
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On the way back from Ottawa (in the rain), we saw a beautiful double rainbow!
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We played with a giant Nintendo (and saw really cool art) at La Nuit Blanche (for the record, it was not a white night for me - it was far too cold, so I was at home in bed by 1 at the latest).
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We saw lots of people dressed up crazy awesome for the Zombie Walk! Unfortunately, we couldn't participate. But the reason we didn't participate was awesome - we got to go fake crash planes in a flight simulator, which was totally cool. And made me totally sick.
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I did karaoke with Rieko!
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I got a job teaching math at Vanier (though now it looks like I'm probably moving to John Abbott)
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Rieko's sister, Aina, and her mother came into town, and we did lots of hanging out - good times!
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I saw my friends Ukrainian dance troupe, which was super cool. Even if I was unable to imagine how they were DANCING dressed as they were when I was dripping sweat just standing there.
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I dealt with a LOT more snow than I would have liked.
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I got SOAKED in the rain on numerous occasions and was mostly happy about it!
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I played lots and lots of games with friends, including Jenga (for the record, I lost miserably. Almost every time).
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I did lots of hanging out with Rieko!
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I met Andi's turtle and her adopted kitty cats! The turtle was sooooo cute (and also, sadly, traumatized by the kitties).
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I also went to San Francisco to hang out with my friend Mikey G! We had an AMAZING time, and he even brought me to do trapeze, which was soooooooo much fun!!!! There's a video somewhere.
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I went to visit Krist in Colorado, and we went to see Taylor Swift (as my birthday present!!!!), which was soooooo much fun! We also had a "cleaning out your closet" party and went to a Grease sing-a-long! Yay!!!!
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I went to Turks and Caicos with the family, where we stayed in an AMAZING house with an amazing beach and did AMAZING things, including scuba diving! It was my first time ever, and I was pretty scared about it, but it was amazing in the end!
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I also spent several weeks over the summer in Louisiana! Satoshi and Chieko came to visit from Japan, and we did LOTS of stuff - we went to the Tabasco factory, we went on a swamp tour, we saw lots of alligators, we played tennis, we went to Natchitoches, and we just had an amazing time!
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We also celebrated my birthday while there, and I got lots of super fun presents and had lots of fun pink things!
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Satoshi and Chieko also got to go wakeboarding for the first time!
So fun!
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I also was in Louisiana another time for my grandmother's birthday - sooooo much fun! Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any pictures of that. I'm sure lots of other things also happened, but this is long, so this is where I will end now. I'm tired of writing! Bye bye 2013!!!!
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以上です。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-2834960001633075662014-01-01T13:57:00.000-05:002014-01-01T13:57:35.242-05:00New Year's Resolutions for 2014<center>明けまして、おめでとうございます!Happy New Year 2014~!</center>
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So, I have NO IDEA if I'm going to start blogging again this year or not. . .and I've decided not to force it. I always pretend that I'm going to restart and then fail miserably. And really. . .why give myself something else to fail at? So I'm not going to pretend, and then, if it happens, which I would like, it happens. :-) That said, I did decide that I will make some New Year's Resolutions. And what better way to make myself feel accountable than by writing about them in my blog? So, here we go:
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<big><center>New Year's Resolutions 2014</big></center>
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<b>1: </b>Respond to people when they talk to me. Even if I find it uninteresting. Even if I have nothing to say. I will at least make some kind of sign that I heard what was said. (I think that this one is going to be very hard for me)
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<b>2: </b>TRAVEL! 2013 was a bad year for travel - I went to Turks and Caicos and San Francisco. And New York. And of course I spent quite a bit of time in Louisiana. But those were like, little trips. And none of it really felt like "traveling." So, for 2014, I'd like to make it a point to go to at least one place AMAZING - Cambodia and Vietnam, perhaps?
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<b>3: </b>Practice Japanese! 2013 was an awful year for that as well. I started the year with comfortable fluency and ended the year with stuttering inability to find the words that I'm looking for or express the thoughts that I'm thinking. I guess this means I probably need to spend at least 2 weeks in Japan. And make sure that I do something every day to further the learning process, be it watch amazing teen J-Drama (Yamamoto Yuusuke, Miura Shouhei, Mukai Osamu, PLEASE do more teen romance!!), reading something, talking to Japanese friends, or studying kanji. . .just something.
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<b>4: </b>Respond to e-mails in a timely manner. As in, if I receive a time sensitive e-mail, I will make an effort to respond right away, as opposed to waiting 6 months until the e-mail is no longer relevant. E-mails that aren't time sensitive - yeah, I'm going to make an effort to actually respond to those. Wish me luck!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2EtDSO7dcqM/UsRjmKErwnI/AAAAAAAAGYA/OLiHp75-ILA/s1600/kawaiiperson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2EtDSO7dcqM/UsRjmKErwnI/AAAAAAAAGYA/OLiHp75-ILA/s320/kawaiiperson.jpg" /></a></div>Okay, I think 4 is probably already a lot, but there are lots of other things that I am going to TRY to do in the New Year as well. Like, stay happy! Think less about Japan! Be in touch with old friends! Continue to love teaching math! Try to love teaching English! Be an amazing person to myself and others! Find time to keep learning Python! Smile a lot - all the time, even! Spend more time with people and less time avoiding people! Yeah, that kind of thing.
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Oh, and of course - I must make an effort to surround myself with kawaii things. All the time! Which will help me with the always smiling thing. :-) Which means I must also make an effort to pay more attention to my clothes and dress super kawaii like the girl to the left (I'm sure this won't happen and I will continue to wear jeans and hoodies every day, but I can always DREAM about wearing lolita dresses and tutus with unicorn tights, right?)
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And that's all for now. Perhaps you'll hear from me again soon! I had a great Christmas (even if it was RIGHT AFTER I had surgery and I was therefore in pain and somewhat grumpy from the awful medication that I will NEVER take again), and I'd love to write about it. So maybe I will!
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以上です。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-57123879522633579092013-03-27T14:41:00.002-04:002013-03-27T14:41:52.247-04:00The Return to the Winters of MontrealSo, I've been in Montreal for nearly 5 months now, and I've only written ONCE. Uncool, Audrey, uncool. And it's not really like I've even been all that busy. Anyhow, I finally decided it was time to remedy that.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OQRla5n65hc/UVMo8fIaW4I/AAAAAAAAGJo/Gt1YamoSKk0/s1600/IMG_0935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OQRla5n65hc/UVMo8fIaW4I/AAAAAAAAGJo/Gt1YamoSKk0/s320/IMG_0935.JPG" /></a>I figure the easiest way to go about this is to first talk about all of the things I have been up to in Montreal lately. :-) And then, if I have time, energy, desire, etc. . . I'll go back and talk about Japan (though I lost my camera, and so all of the last pictures I took in Japan are gone. Sadness) and Louisiana time. In the meantime, Montreal. Let's start in the beginning!
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When I first got here, it was fall, and the leaves were beautiful! (though, admittedly, nothing like the momiji in Kourankei)
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I stayed with my friends Marika and Dave for a while while boy and I looked for an apartment.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FMmBXrI2p_Q/UVMo9erGLrI/AAAAAAAAGJ8/e4u_4pl_Af4/s1600/IMG_0964.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FMmBXrI2p_Q/UVMo9erGLrI/AAAAAAAAGJ8/e4u_4pl_Af4/s320/IMG_0964.JPG" /></a><br />Me hanging out with Marika-cakes in Park Jeanne Mance!</center>
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Apartment hunting took way longer than it should have taken, and I ended up staying with boy's friend, Cyril, for a while until we finally found a lovely little apartment in the area of Montreal known as the Plateau.
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It's central to nearly everything, which is good for extraordinarily lazy people like me (it means there's a chance of me actually going out occasionally) but which is also sad because there's just not nearly enough green.
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After several dramas (our pipes froze and we were without water for a week; a huge shelf fell out of the wall on top of me, flooding our kitchen with whiskey, water, sugar, and glass; etc...), we finally got settled into the apartment! :-)
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Alright, here's what's been up. When I first got to Montreal, it was a really cool, because it just so happened to be a time when several old friends that no longer live here (or have never lived here) were visiting. As such,
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tDSVRaJl-gA/UVMo8cvo4NI/AAAAAAAAGJs/TLQwQHldbNM/s1600/IMG_0952.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tDSVRaJl-gA/UVMo8cvo4NI/AAAAAAAAGJs/TLQwQHldbNM/s320/IMG_0952.JPG" /></a><br />I got to hang out with my friend Ashlee from Nova Scotia. I hadn't seen her in over 7 or 8 years, so that was awesome!</center>
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Also,
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqG0dIUeGXg/UVMo9R5ufXI/AAAAAAAAGKA/nkYaoxzprWY/s1600/IMG_0962.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TqG0dIUeGXg/UVMo9R5ufXI/AAAAAAAAGKA/nkYaoxzprWY/s320/IMG_0962.JPG" /></a><br />I got to hang out with my friend Lauren, from McGill. She lived in France when I was living in France, so we got to hang out a bit there, but still, I hadn't seen her in at least 3 years. Good times!</center>
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I've also been having a great time catching up with friends that still live here. It's been especially cool to get to hang out with Pat, Marika, Ariane, and Dave!
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DnRAGQ870Aw/UVMo7tLYVHI/AAAAAAAAGJc/reNfnjfZ6RQ/s1600/IMG_0945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DnRAGQ870Aw/UVMo7tLYVHI/AAAAAAAAGJc/reNfnjfZ6RQ/s320/IMG_0945.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br>Me with Patty-Cakes and Marika<br>
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Unfortunately, Marika has returned to Vancouver for an indefinite period of time, so that's sad, but I'm looking forward to her return!
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I've also been making some new friends and attempting to survive the winter with them. I don't know if you guys know this, but winter in Montreal is LONG. And COLD. And nothing like Louisiana. And nothing like Japan. And somehow I had deluded myself into believing that it wouldn't be this difficult for me.
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In the beginning of winter, I pseudo-consoled myself by baking like a crazy crazy person.
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I also decided that I need to become a crafty person, so I took up knitting (I'm awful at it, but I love it - what can I say),
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and I went crazy making tote bags for everyone I know. I had a little bit of company with this, and Marika decided that she wanted to be crafty with me. :-)</center>
<br />I also manage to force myself to take time AWAY from the kitchen in order to celebrate Ariane's birthday! I think the last time we celebrated together, she was turning 22. Now she's 27 (I THINK - my memory for these things is awful)
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<center><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bgv113tT0Uk/UVM5ELA-_qI/AAAAAAAAGMA/O5FUj6-1ZZM/s1600/IMG_20121110_215139.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bgv113tT0Uk/UVM5ELA-_qI/AAAAAAAAGMA/O5FUj6-1ZZM/s320/IMG_20121110_215139.jpg" /></a><br>Sophie and Ariane at Ariane's birthday!</center>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GcIGvBoEYRI/UVMxiVvj3yI/AAAAAAAAGLQ/jSaJ-nOZbQI/s1600/IMG_1158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GcIGvBoEYRI/UVMxiVvj3yI/AAAAAAAAGLQ/jSaJ-nOZbQI/s320/IMG_1158.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a>Then I went home to Louisiana for Christmas, and when I got back, I immediately sliced my hand open chopping rutabaga and had to get stitches - on the same night that the power went out because of a fire in a building down the street. I put the rutabaga in the powerless oven, forgot to turn the oven back off, and ended up with charred rutabaga in the morning. Fun times! :-)
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This put a minor damper on my feelings of craftiness and perhaps made me realize that I should try to enjoy winter while being outside - Montreal has a plethora of outdoor activities to offer in winter, and I decided it was time to participate.
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Sooo, my friend Rieko and I went La Fete des Neiges, where we got to go tube sliding, which was SUPER fun (though also super freezing)! I also got to eat my very first (and so far only) tire sur la neige of the winter. Yummy!
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iU6-gAG61DE/UVM5D3eV2iI/AAAAAAAAGL0/_OisNHcpu_E/s1600/IMG_20130126_133929.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iU6-gAG61DE/UVM5D3eV2iI/AAAAAAAAGL0/_OisNHcpu_E/s320/IMG_20130126_133929.jpg" /></a><br>Us on the tube that you unfortunately can't see in the photo</center>
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Then we went shopping in Chinatown. Rieko wanted to buy some colored contacts, and it was buy 2 get 1 free, so she got me some purple ones.
<br><center><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SycfQraT8_w/UVMxhO6SYKI/AAAAAAAAGLE/2JahBYCM30Q/s1600/IMG_1216.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SycfQraT8_w/UVMxhO6SYKI/AAAAAAAAGLE/2JahBYCM30Q/s320/IMG_1216.JPG" /></a></br>These are my purple eyes, though you can't really tell. Since then, I have tried to put the contacts in again, to see if they would look miraculously more purple, but I have failed every time.</center>
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We also went to La Nuit Blanche with Guillaume and Nazim, though the lines to get in everywhere seemed to be miles and miles long, so we didn't really do much.
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<center><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g4irbzLEv5Y/UVMxjDm2n3I/AAAAAAAAGLc/4OLe84rx9Es/s1600/IMG_1247.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g4irbzLEv5Y/UVMxjDm2n3I/AAAAAAAAGLc/4OLe84rx9Es/s320/IMG_1247.JPG" /></a><br>Rieko and Audrey, cold at La Nuit Blanche
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playing with the giant Nintendo controller with Guillaume
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eiLatcLfkTo/UVMxjNFE8wI/AAAAAAAAGLg/dd5TasDzeqk/s1600/IMG_1246.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eiLatcLfkTo/UVMxjNFE8wI/AAAAAAAAGLg/dd5TasDzeqk/s320/IMG_1246.JPG" /></a><br>Art at La Nuit Blance - my head is the wrong way!</center>
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To escape the snow and the cold, we've been playing Uno and watching cheesy Japanese variety shows! Yay for friends that want to watch J-variety with me! :-)
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And then a couple weekends ago Guillaume and I went to Toronto for a basketball game.
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<br>Toronto Raptors versus Miami Heat - of course, Miami won, but it was a much closer game than I would have thought. It was actually really fun!</center><br>
While in Toronto, we also got to eat at lots of delicious vegan restaurants - we even got brunch! Banana nut pancakes with tofu scramble and tempeh all doused in maple syrup- pure delicousness!
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Oh, and the other day, it snowed again, even though I had thought that the snow was over. So, I decided that Rieko and I would make a snowman!
<br><center><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c-M19vueWMo/UVM5GY9jWjI/AAAAAAAAGMM/7dlsBRhv1Ko/s1600/IMG_20130323_170411.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c-M19vueWMo/UVM5GY9jWjI/AAAAAAAAGMM/7dlsBRhv1Ko/s320/IMG_20130323_170411.jpg" /></a><br>We both forgot our gloves, so our little dude was SUPER small, but he was definitely the CUTEST snowman in the park!</center><br>
And of course, I keep knitting - every Thursday in a cafe.
<center><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LEaYRI0aFvE/UVM5HW2gMgI/AAAAAAAAGMc/KBI5k9OgN24/s1600/IMG_20130324_162335.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LEaYRI0aFvE/UVM5HW2gMgI/AAAAAAAAGMc/KBI5k9OgN24/s320/IMG_20130324_162335.jpg" /></a><br>Ariane knitting!</center>>
Unfortunately, though, the cafe where we always knit is closing down, so tomorrow will be our last Thursday there. Mega sadness!
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Things I didn't do this winter but probably should have: ice skate (and I really wanted to), hike up Mont Royal (and I really wanted to), and ski (I'll admit that I'm glad I avoided this)
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Aaaaaand, this was super super super super long, but I hope at least the pictures kept you interested! And now you're totally caught up on my life in Montreal! :-) And hopefully I'll post more often so that, next time, it won't be neeearly this long.
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以上です。
brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-51343226570059901362013-01-09T18:51:00.000-05:002013-01-09T18:51:59.683-05:00Things to ComeSo a LOT has happened since I last wrote (as usual, I'm pretty awful at the regular updates - this time it's exceptionally awful, though, as it's been over 3 months. Sorry!).<br />
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The biggest piece of news, which those of you that know me in life pretty much all already know, is that I have left Japan (I assure you, it was NOT easy) and moved back to Montreal. <br />
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It's cold here. And snowy. I don't remember there ever having been this much snow when I lived here before. For serious, there are places where it's literally piled up taller than I am. And, though it's a little bit warmer today (9 degrees fahrenheit, -13 celsius), it was a whopping -10 F (that's -23 C, for serious) when I first got back. I had to venture outside to do some grocery shopping and pick something up from the post office, and I am totally serious when I say that my nose hairs actually froze. Yeah, it was awesome.<br />
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I have been tutoring part-time (in math, French, English, etc...) while looking for a job here, but I don't really know what I want to do yet (maybe teach math, if someone will hire me to do so), so the job hunt isn't really going so fabulously. If anyone reading this has something they would like to pay me to do, don't hesitate to send an e-mail my way!!!! :-) (That may sound like a joke, but I'm actually serious)<br />
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Other than that, I have lots of things to write about:<br />
-the rest of my vacation with Guillaume in Japan<br />
-the end of my time in Japan<br />
-Thanksgiving in Louisiana<br />
-Christmas in Louisiana<br />
-all the cooking I've been doing in Montreal<br />
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And that's what you can expect in soon to come updates in Brizmus Around the World. Yeah!<br />
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以上です。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-32063350917722475522012-09-11T23:06:00.000-04:002012-09-11T23:06:31.009-04:00岡崎花火大会2012:Okazaki Fireworks Festival 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So after <a href="http://brizmus.blogspot.jp/2012/08/tour-12-shinrabanshow-tour-2012.html">Shinrabanshow</a>, the visual kei fest, we spent a little bit more time in the Okazaki / Nagoya area.
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And on Saturday night, there was the yearly Okazaki fireworks festival. Last year, <a href="http://brizmus.blogspot.jp/2011/08/okazaki-fireworks-fest.html">I went in yukata with some friends</a>, and it was super fun! So I was excited to go back with Guillaume and different friends this year.
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Rachael came in from Gifu, Miho came in from Nagoya, and we met up with Carine and went over to the house of one of her boyfriend's friends for a bar-b-que.
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The view of the fireworks from their mini backyard was wonderful, the people were super super nice (and the friend was super into punk, so we got to giddily talk about that for a while - I really don't know how I'm going to separate myself from Japan and being able to see Japanese music live whenever I want), and there was even a bit of vegan food!
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I was really happy that we were able to watch them from a yard, because otherwise the area was so crowded there was barely room to walk, much less sit.
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There were also quite a few kids there, so they had lots of small fireworks set up for us to do. There's this one that's apparently super popular in Japan and just sort of hangs down and only gets bright towards the very end. Of course, though, my lit part managed to always fall off and die before the very end, so I never got to see mine looking cool. :-(
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The next day we decided to head into Nagoya for the day - despite it being Guillaume's 3rd time in Japan (and second time in Okazaki), he'd somehow never been to Nagoya.
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We went over to check out the castle, which I also had somehow never been to before. I was happy to finally go.
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We were unfortunately a little bit rushed, because we got there quite a bit later than we had originally planned and we had to meet up with Miho and Will for lunch, but it was still cool.
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The gardens were really beautiful, and there was actually a lot of cool stuff to see both inside and outside the castle. There also seemed to be some sort of festival going on, so there were lanterns set up everywhere. It was really beautiful.
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Then we met up with Miho and Will for lunch.
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We of course had to do purikura - it was Guillaume's first, and I think he really enjoyed it.
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We had a good time hanging around Sakae before heading over to Osu Kannon.
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I spend a LOT of time in both of those areas, so it was cool to get to show Guillaume - I didn't really get the feeling that he was all that impressed, though. I thought it was especially cool this time, because there was a cosplay festival going on.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2-jBGFozUgo/UE_5R9C685I/AAAAAAAAF8E/Mjpy3xVpu-I/s1600/DSC05613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2-jBGFozUgo/UE_5R9C685I/AAAAAAAAF8E/Mjpy3xVpu-I/s400/DSC05613.JPG" /></a><br>I still can't really figure out if this was a girl or a guy</div>
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We saw TONS of people dressed up in every possible anime costume imaginable. I literally had NEVER seen that many cosplayers gathered in one place, even when I went to the cosplay festival in France.
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And with that, the end of our time in the Aichi area. 以上です。
brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-19630728636425368282012-09-10T23:37:00.000-04:002012-09-10T23:37:53.836-04:00アンティック‐珈琲店ー復活ライブ - An Cafe Reunion Lives!So, I have a TON of other things that I'm supposed to be writing about - namely, my three weeks with Guillaume here, which were fabulous and fun and wonderful!
BUT for some reason I just keep putting it off and putting it off, and this past weekend I went to Tokyo for the two most amazing days of my time in Japan - An Cafe's reunion shows in Tokyo!!!!
They were SO AMAZING that I get giddy all over again just thinking about them. I imagine myself an old woman of, like, 80 or 90 or so (if I make it that long) thinking back to these two concerts and still being overwhelmed with happiness.
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<biggest><b><center>DAY 1: 大航海時代</center></b></biggest>
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So the first day of the concert was called daikoukaijidai, which means the Age of Discovery.
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Even though I was going to the first day alone, Rachael and Martin were so kind as to head over with me early to wait in line to buy goods.
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The line looked something like this:
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We must have waited for at least 2 1/2 hours, and as a result, I was over to talk myself out of and then retalk myself into (not just once, but SEVERAL in a continuous cycle) the majority of the goods that were sold - as I was buying the goods, I was in a "talk myself into" state, and I ended up spending FAR MORE money than I would have liked.
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On a happy note, though, I am SUPER happy with my purchases, several of which I am wearing now.
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While waiting, there was a girl across from us that had a HUGE sign thing that she was getting everyone to sign for An Cafe. Of course, I signed it (twice :-P).
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When I went in later, the big sign was hanging for everyone to see as they walked in. So cool! I wonder if they received it.
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The live itself was amazing, even if I was sitting directly behind the band. Still, I was so close I felt like I could practically touch them. :-) I felt like if I could just find a way to reach out my hand a little bit further, I would be touching Teruki.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_3jJBV_jIU/UE6kiFpmQBI/AAAAAAAAF4g/j1Rjb-iDutQ/s1600/IMG_0525.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_3jJBV_jIU/UE6kiFpmQBI/AAAAAAAAF4g/j1Rjb-iDutQ/s400/IMG_0525.PNG" /></a><br> A picture I stole without permission from the An Cafe facebook site</div>
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They started off with Smile Ichiban Ii Onna, and of course, the crowd went absolutely CRAZY. I think that may be their most popular song.
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After playing quite a few AMAZING songs (of course they were amazing, all of their songs are amazing), they did a skit which was absolutely HILARIOUS. Apparently, according to Miku at least, Yuuki thought of it. I guess it was supposed to be like a video game, and Kanon and Teruki were hungry, and Yuuki was supposed to have made food, but he didn't because Takuya didn't give him any ingredients with which to make food.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PwCSFCNMnlE/UE6khubHIII/AAAAAAAAF4U/pJRKLOCaHR4/s1600/IMG_0523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PwCSFCNMnlE/UE6khubHIII/AAAAAAAAF4U/pJRKLOCaHR4/s400/IMG_0523.JPG" /></a><br>This is what I was sitting in front of!</div>
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And then there was a sea monster that was going to eat all 4 of them, but there were 5 of them, so they were confused. Miku did lots of fun voices and Teruki and Kanon's faces were absolutely PRICELESS. I SO hope they make a DVD of the show so everyone can see it.
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<br>I imagined the monster looked like a super cute nyappy character like this</div>
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And of course they had an MC section in which Teruki mimicked someone, Ganon, maybe? - I don't actually remember the name because I didn't know who it was, but it was funny nonetheless. Teruki is always funny. He also had lots of funny stories to tell about Kanon (which prompted Miku to say - you guys get along really well, are you maybe doing it?).
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Anyhow, at sometime in there, they played Amazing Blue, and everyone got out their An Cafe blue light stars, and the entire crowd was BLUE - it was beautiful to behold!
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They also played Jibun Setsumeisho (Self Manual) sometime in there, which is my favorite song from the mini album. They also played quite a few other songs from the new mini album - for one of them, I think it was Saku, Yuuki led us in an absolutely fabulous choreography (according to Miku, he'd spent the last 2 1/2 years coming up with it) - because I'm completely lacking in coordination, it took me a while to get it - but even though I'm completely lacking in coordination, I did manage to eventually get it. Fun times!
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They encored with YOU and ended with Bonds (towels flying!), and it was absolutely beyond amazing - no words to describe the perfection!
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<biggest><b><center>DAY 2: 原宿奪還</center></b></biggest>
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Day 2 was called Harajuku Dakkan, which means Harajuku Recovery (or rescue).
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This time I went with Rachael, and we got there a little bit early to walk around Harajuku - there were SO many people dressed up in An Cafe cosplay - I was sort of jealous. I wish I were capable of something like that. I always think I want to cosplay a member of An Cafe, but unfortunately fail.
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It was super super fun to look at them all, though.
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<br>Me ready for An Cafe!!</div>
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When you first went in, there was a stand of the brand that designed An Cafe's clothes this time around, and they had one of those "be a ~insert whatever~" things for An Cafe, so of course Rachael and I took a picture! :-)
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On day 2, they started off with Maple Gunman, which is absolutely one of my favorite songs. They also played quite a few other of my favorite songs this day - Kakusei Heroism, Snow Scene, and their last song before the encore - Cherry Saku Yuuki. I was, of course, thrilled beyond belief. There were only a few repeats in the set.
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<br>The setup when you first walked into the venue</div>
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For Teruki's mimicking MC, he imitated a famous Japanese singer (again, I don't know the singer, and I'm really bad with names, so I don't remember it) - I thought it was funny, but no one was really laughing. So Miku decided that we didn't know how to laugh and conducted a laughing practice session with us, which was hilarious beyond belief.
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Miku's laugh is so pure and clear - we all couldn't help but just laugh with him.
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They also did the same sea monster skit as the day before - while the beginning was exactly the same, they changed the end up a bit, so it felt fresh and new.
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After several minutes of all of the fans screaming Mou Ippai (One more cup of coffee - it's what An Cafe fans scream instead of Encore), they encored with Bonds, and we all waved our towels around like crazy.
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Then they ended with Smile Ichiban Ii Onna, the song they had opened with the day before. Somehow, it just felt right.
<br>When An Cafe does something, they do it right, and that is all.
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I can't even believe how much I enjoyed myself. I was reminded of why An Cafe will forever and always be my favorite visual kei band. They are just awesome, that is all. More awesome than all of the others.
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I took the bus home Monday morning, and I spent the entire bus ride listening to their discography, from first album to most recent.
<br>I'm listening to Amazing Blue now.
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So yeah, best two days of my 2 1/2 years in Japan.
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An Cafe - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GETTING BACK TOGETHER BEFORE I HAVE TO GO HOME!!!!
brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-9670366940827738332012-08-31T00:56:00.000-04:002012-08-31T00:59:09.353-04:00森羅万象 Tour '12 = Shinrabanshow tour 2012So after hanging out in Tokyo with MikeyG, I rushed back to Okazaki for work and to meet up with Guillaume!!
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He arrived on August 2, and for my day early birthday present, he agreed to join me to a visual kei festival, even though he was super jet-lagged, and it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! I originally wanted to go because I felt like I NEEDED to see Ayabie before leaving Japan, but really almost all of the bands were amazing!
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<big><center><a href="http://www.euclidagency.com/guild/pc/">ギルド</a></center></big>
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Or Guild in romaji, these guys were absolutely AMAZING! They did fun Nana chan poses, and it was super adorable - something they could only get away with doing in Nagoya. (It was actually at during the song in the video that they did the nana chan poses, but given that this video was taken in shibuya, they're not there). (watch until at least the second minute for music!!)
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For those of you who don't know who Nana-chan is, you can see her in the above picture. She's basically a huge doll thing that hangs out right in front of the Meitetsu Station in Nagoya, and she's regularly dressed up in lots of different outfits - in the featured picture, she's dressed up as Naruto.
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Anyway, Guild was definitely my favorite band of the night that I didn't previously know.
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<big><center><a href="http://www.territory-oz.com/">Oz</a></center></big>
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The lights were super flashy and all over the place, so every time I tried to look at the stage to watch them, I started getting a headache. Thus, they were super hard to watch.
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They're on the heavier side of visual kei compared to what I normally like, but they were still pretty good. Much better than I was expecting.
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<big><center><a href="http://www.dueljewel.jp/top.html">Duel Jewel</a></center></big>
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They vocalist apparently had a throat cold and thus wasn't there. Which was. . .weird. In the beginning they were all just jumping around and having fun, and it looked like they weren't even trying to play their instruments. And then they had the singer's voice coming over a recording. It was just, as I said, weird.
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Despite the weirdness, the music was totally awesome, and the bassist was maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen (but unfortunately, he seemed to know it). I've been listening to more of them since, and I'm totally into it!
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I'd be interested to see them live again when they actually have a singer.
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<big><center><a href="http://www.pscompany.co.jp/screw/main.html">Screw</a></center></big>
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Another band on the heavier side of visual kei, they were MUCH better than what I was expecting. I'd even told Guillaume that when they came on, we could take a break, but in the end, that didn't happen. They were super fun - a little bit hard, but I totally got into it. I often judge bands by just one song, and this is totally a case of "I shouldn't have done that."
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<big><center><a href="http://www.ayabie.co.jp/index.php">Ayabie</a></center></big>
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Of course, this was the best concert of all time (I remind people to beware of my tendency to exaggerate). I absolutely LOVE OVER ADORE them, but the show was even better than I ever could have possibly imagined. They played most of my favorite songs, and Yumehito, the singer, with the best voice of all time, was super cute with his explanations of songs and dances (and really expensive fans).
<br>The only sad thing was that they just didn't play long enough (well that and that their t-shirt was really ugly, so I didn't want to buy it). And even though they're on tour now, I won't get to see them again before I leave Japan, because the day they play in Nagoya I will be in Tokyo seeing An Cafe.
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Fingers crossed for a North American tour!
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<big><center><a href="http://www.gotcharocka.com/index2.html">Gotcharocka</a></center></big>
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Stylized Gotcha6a.
<br>YAY!!!! On the ticket, it said there would be a secret band playing, and I don't know why, but I kind of thought it would be Gotcharocka, and they were!!!! HAPPINESS!!!! They were playing as ハイパー (Hyper), but it was still totally them doing their songs, and it was wonderful!
<br>Their songs were just as amazing live, and I'm so happy all those dudes decided to get together to form a group! Pure awesomeness.
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<big><center><a href="http://www.pscompany.co.jp/kra/">Kra</a></center></big>
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I don't LOVE Kra (which I learned this night is actually pronounced kera), but I do like them quite a lot. And that is EXACTLY how I felt about their live as well. I didn't love love LOVE it, but I did like it quite a lot.
<br>The singer has this amazing voice that seems like it can do pretty much anything, go pretty much anywhere. And a lot of their music is really pretty.
<br>Maybe I would have been able to enjoy them more if Ayabie and Gotcharocka hadn't played just right before them
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Anyhow, it was an AMAZING concert (during which Guillaume might have fallen asleep), and I'm SO happy that I got to go!!!! It's so sad for me to think that soon it's no longer going to be so easy for me to just hope over to Nagoya to see visual kei bands whenever I want.
<br>YAY VISUAL KEI!!!! YAY PUNK!!!! (And as I write that, I am listening to kanjani8. Awesome)
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And that's all for now, folks. 以上です。
brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-83221602808961057202012-08-29T10:22:00.000-04:002012-08-29T10:22:33.079-04:00Tanabata, the Zutazutaz, Eito Rangers, and Rurouni Kenshin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0AUQYZcKnhE/UD23RezvnPI/AAAAAAAAFzc/Nk2ZOc3MP_g/s1600/rurounikenshin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="228" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0AUQYZcKnhE/UD23RezvnPI/AAAAAAAAFzc/Nk2ZOc3MP_g/s320/rurounikenshin.jpg" /></a></div> Today, I went to see るろうに剣心 (Rurouni Kenshin) with 佐藤健 (Takeru Satou), a movie based on a manga about a swordsman that takes place somewhere right at the end of the Edo Jidai, beginning of the Meiji Jidai.
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While it absolutely looked like an amazing movie, I'll admit that my main reason for wanting to see it was Satou Takeru - I totally love him!
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I'm so glad he was playing Rurouni, though, because the movie was absolutely AMAZING! It was action-packed but heart-warming, and I laughed, cried, and cringed the whole way through. If this movie ever makes it to America (or Canada or Europe or wherever) - highly recommended!
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Now, let's go back in time a little bit to before I hung out with MikeyG in Tokyo. Two days before I left, I hopped on a train and met up with Rachael in Ichinomiya for the Ichinomiya Tanabata Matsuri.
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Basically, it's a star festival celebrating the stars Vega and Altair - star-crossed lovers separated by the milky way, doomed to only meet once a year (on the seventh day of the seventh month).
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The man and woman on each side were constantly turning but never looking at each other - I can't help but wonder if they did eventually meet, but we didn't stay long enough to check it out.
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I'd been wanting to check out a Tanabata Matsuri since arriving in Japan but had just somehow never found the time. I heard the Ichinomiya one was one of the biggest in the area, so I really wanted to go. But what really drove us there was that <a href="http://www.alfabeto.jp">alfabeto</a> was playing the matsuri.
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I've written quite a bit about alfabeto in the past, as at this point I've seen them more times than I can count. They of course put on an absolutely amazing show that totally made the festival worth it. They were up on a real stage, they seemed totally together, and they absolutely rock!
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While we were there, we saw Darth Vader!
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We also talked quite a bit to alfabeto's manager guy, who suggested that, if I like punk, I would like another band that he manages called the Zutazutaz.
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They just so happened to be playing a free concert the next day at another festival, so I headed over to check them out.
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Manager dude was right, and I absolutely LOVED them. I feel somewhat disloyal saying this, but I actually preferred them to alfabeto.
<br><br>The singer was absolutely nutso, jumping and falling around like a crazy person. He even had a bag of beer that he passed out to everyone (and for a moment I thought he was even going to give some to the children) so that we could all kanpai (cheers) together.
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When it was over, I couldn't help myself, and I asked if he was drunk, but apparently, he's just crazy. Totally loved it!
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After the concert, I met up with some friends to go see Eito Rangers, the new <a href="http://www.teichiku.co.jp/artist/kan8/">Kanjani8</a> hero movie, about a future world where your whole life is decided by a test you have to take at the age of 6.
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Needless to say, I LOVED it! Possibly the best hero movie I've ever seen! :-) The pseudo dystopian future was, in my mind, AMAZINGLY well played. And they totally played up the members (of kanjani8) strengths and weaknesses perfectly. Love!
<br><br>I don't get to go to movies a lot here in japan, as they are ridiculously expensive, but I'm happy to say that I feel like I've picked well.
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And that's all for this time, folks!
以上です。
brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-39934546040716261582012-08-25T05:04:00.000-04:002012-08-25T05:04:06.002-04:00Mikey G in Tokyo!!So, at the end of July/beginning of August, Mikey G made a quick stopover in Japan on his tour of Asia, so I headed up there to hang out with him for an AMAZING two days!! I wish it could have been longer, but alas - work.
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Anyhow, since I have SO much blogging to catch up on, Mikey G has graciously allowed me to just use the e-mail he sent about our time togehter - with pictures added in by me, along with commentary in italics.
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<b>Tokyo with Audrey</b></center>
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As I had mentioned, the first two days in Tokyo were spent with Audrey, and we had am absolute blast. I met up with her on Monday morning, and we had a whirlwind tour of a few parts of Tokyo. The first thing we did was head to Shinjuku, where we went to get me a bus ticket. There's an amusement park in Japan that I've always wanted to go to
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<i>(called Fuji Q Highlands, and me, too, I SO want to go. Unfortunately, I am a broke person and was even more of a broke person then)</i><br />
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, and apparently there are "cheap"
bus+entrance combo tickets (cheap being about 100 USD, which is apparently half of what I'd pay if I took trains there), so we went to look for them. And damn, I was lucky that Audrey came along with me because nobody who doesn't speak Japanese would have ever been able to do this alone. We found the bus station, but we didn't see anywhere to buy tickets. Audrey
asked someone, and we had to find staircase 8 and then booth 50. We ended up going up staircase 6, and then she saw a place that sold tickets, but there was no 50 there. When we walked in, she was told that they only sell same-day tickets there, and the advance ticket office was around the corner, through a random warehouse-looking door, up an unmarked flight of stairs, and in a random room where the people didn't speak a word of English. That's one thing that's different from the rest of the trip: Southeast Asia relies so much on tourism that most people speak English on the tourist paths, but Japan doesn't rely on it as much, so very few people speak English. It's an interesting dynamic. Anyway. everything worked out, I got my ticket, and we went to grab some lunch. <br />
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<i>Seriously, though, I don't know how even Japanese people manage to find their way to this ticket counter, with how convoluted, confusing, and unmarked it was. Kristen and Shawn said the same thing about the lack of people in Japan speaking English, as did Guillaume. It's true that it's so much easier to have an awesome time in Japan if you speak a bit of Japanese.</i>
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We went to a restaurant where there's a machine full of buttons with pictures of food and prices, and you push the button of what you want, pay at the machine, and give your receipt to the waiter.
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<i>I've always wanted to eat in one but never been able to because they never have anything vegan.</i><br />
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They then bring out your food. It was somewhat amusing, but what was even more amusing was that Audrey and I were the only people there who weren't businessmen. Not even businesswomen. We walked past several more push button restaurants, and we never saw anyone inside other than businessmen. Perhaps because it's a fast place and they're short on time? Who knows?
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<i>We actually talked to Martin about this somewhat, and somehow, he NEVER noticed that there are never any women in these places.</i>
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After that we went to the Harajuku area and walked down Takeshita street, which is a popular shopping area for teenagers and 20-somethings. We went into an AKB48 store, which was interesting. Apparently AKB48 is this popular girl band group that has something like 98 members that are all teenage girls (more like fifteen years old as opposed to nineteen), and apparently people vote on who gets to be in the music videos (since not all 98 can be featured). But not just anyone votes - there's a minimum age to
do so, and it's apparently quite high, so it's mostly 40- and 50-something year old men voting on which fifteen year old girls they like the most. It's really creepy, but equally amusing.
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<i>It's incredibly depressing, but the more I see them and hear them, the more I find myself liking them. And I even watched one of their graduations (they graduate from the band when they leave, which I assume is when they get too old) on TV the other day, and it made me cry. I might actually buy their new album, and I'm feeling somewhat horrified about this.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BUsmEN_jUN8/UDiG9YV6ZqI/AAAAAAAAFwQ/-g9NMgUcjWo/s1600/gachapon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BUsmEN_jUN8/UDiG9YV6ZqI/AAAAAAAAFwQ/-g9NMgUcjWo/s200/gachapon.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>We also went into a store that's full of those machines that you put quarters in and get little trinkets out,
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<i>They're called capsule machines or gachapon</i><br />
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only these were a bit more expensive (a few bucks each). There were a lot of bubble machines, and Audrey got a keychain of the group ViViD, which is one of the visual kei (just Google it) bands that's tied for her third favorite visual keiband (SuG and Ayabie are also tied, with LM.C taking second place and An Cafe taking first). Not that you need to know her favorite bands, but it was super fun seeing this random bit of culture and how much she likes it. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W2TIBqenVtU/UDiG9tZufkI/AAAAAAAAFwc/gnBKU-7AZXQ/s1600/Shin1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W2TIBqenVtU/UDiG9tZufkI/AAAAAAAAFwc/gnBKU-7AZXQ/s200/Shin1.png" height="197" width="198" /></a>Audrey has absolutely fallen in love with Japan over the past two years, which is sad because she's moving to Montreal soon. But I think she'll be back someday :-)
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After that we went to Meiji Jingu, which is a shrine, and wandered around a nearby park and got lost. I've seen so many temples that while it was amusing to see what a shrine was like, I didn't really have much of a desire to go inside or really take a tour. We also saw a group of Japanese people dressed up in some sort of traditional-looking outfits and doing a dance.
<br><br><i>They had these big antler like things, and they were playing the drums, and it was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen!</i><br><br>
It was amusing because they were interviewing the people, and Audrey told me that one of the older men was asked how the experience was,
and he responded that he was hot and tired and ready for it to be over :-p
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HnbdMIebac8/UDiJPJ1W6fI/AAAAAAAAFw0/s8psibzV9vc/s1600/DSC05539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HnbdMIebac8/UDiJPJ1W6fI/AAAAAAAAFw0/s8psibzV9vc/s320/DSC05539.JPG" /></a></div> After wandering around and getting lost in the park, we went down a nearby street <i>(Omote Sando)</i>to find the Snoopy Store, and I was excited to find that they had Snoopy chopsticks. I've been wanting some chopsticks for home, and I wanted something from the Snoopy store that was definitively Japanese, so they were perfect!
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OpjQzSMklzI/UDiKMhXAAnI/AAAAAAAAFxA/1DYewHkkxKc/s1600/jinnaisho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="218" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OpjQzSMklzI/UDiKMhXAAnI/AAAAAAAAFxA/1DYewHkkxKc/s320/jinnaisho.jpg" /></a></div> Then we went to store featuring D-Boys, which is a group of guys who are actors with the same agency, some of whom Audrey is, of course, in love with. And as we were walking, we ran into a few girls who were dressed up as though they were Anime characters (cosplay), which was cool, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures.
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<i>The guy on the left is Jinnai Sho, and he's my favorite D-Boy. He's in a move about to come out called Pole Dancing Boys that for some reason I can't wait to see!</i>
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After that we went to Shibuya and saw the famous intersection where millions and millions of people cross each day. Then we went into Shibuya 109, which is a very Japanese clothing/department store, and had a blast wandering around. The fashion was just amazing, which was one of my favorite parts of Tokyo. The teenagers and 20-somethings definitely have their own culture, with several subcultures, and it's just fascinating to people watch. It was amusing because Shibuya 109 is separated into men's and women's stores, but there were a lot of really feminine guys covered in make-up shopping in the women's store, and even the men's store had a lot of feminine-looking fashion.
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<i>Fashion is also totally one of my favorite things about Tokyo! I wish I could get away with wearing some of the things they were. . . but somehow because I am taller than most of them, I feel like I would just look awkward and gawky instead of cute. Totally love people watching, though, and trying to stop myself from buying clothes.</i>
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Afterward we met Audrey's friend Martin and went to Asakusa for dinner. Audrey pointed out the giant golden poo, which is supposed to resemble the foam on the top of a glass of beer, but it just...doesn't. We also saw the Tokyo Skytree, which is a new tower that was built solely to be an observation deck. It's kinda sad because it has no other use, and so it was a huge waste of money. Anyway, we grabbed dinner and then went back to our hostels to bed (I'm tired just writing about the busy day)!
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<i>It also seems like a huge waste of money to me, but it seems to be doing extremely well. It's still booked out for the next couple months, and for the time being, it actually seems to be earning a lot of money. Something I will never understand. . .</i>
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Then Kate joined us on Tuesday morning for a bit of sightseeing. We went back to Asakusa (with the giant golden poo), but this time we went to another part which is really the old part of Tokyo. We got to see how the shops used to be, and we went past a cool pagoda.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxuGsJg54B0/UDiOef39teI/AAAAAAAAFyI/9qU6TCq2gUM/s1600/DSC05549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxuGsJg54B0/UDiOef39teI/AAAAAAAAFyI/9qU6TCq2gUM/s320/DSC05549.JPG" /></a></div> Afterward we went to Akihabara, which is the electronics district. We saw women dressed as maids advertising maid cafes (where you are waited on by women dressed as maids, who call you "master" and treat you really nice and whatnot), and then we went to the coolest store in the world, Super Potato! It's a store that focuses on old video games, like the Famicon, which is the original Japanese version of the original Nintendo. They have old games and systems, but also stuffed animals, lamps, and loads of other types of old video game paraphernalia. I wanted to buy everything, but I'm running out of money, so I abstained. I also don't need more *stuff*. But it was all such a part of my childhood that I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get anything. Next time, I suppose.
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<i>Me, too!!!! I want to buy everything every time I go into Super Potato. Unfortunately, money = issue. :-( I also noticed last time I went in there that the sign on Mario that Mikey G and I are blocking by touching him says さわちゃダメ, which means don't touch. heehee! oops!</i>
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After that we went to a convenience store because that's where the sell baseball tickets, and Kate and I wanted to see a baseball game here. And it was another situation where we were lucky to have Audrey with us because a foreigner would have never, ever been able to purchase them without knowing Japanese. So we get to the machine and see that there's no English mode. So Audrey goes in and hits about three buttons to get to the Baseball section (they sell tickets to other things, including other sporting events, Tokyo Disney, and loads of other things). So when we finally got to baseball and picked the correct date, there were four different options for tickets that even Audrey had trouble distinguishing. The first one we tried was for family tickets and only let you purchase a set of 3 tickets, but then we found the right option. But we still had to pick where we wanted to sit, and the first few we tried said that there weren't two seats together (but in Japanese, so Kate and I would have never known). Then we were finally able to find a section with seats together, purchase them, and print them out. It was such an ordeal, and very few people here speak English, so it would have been otherwise impossible to get tickets.
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<i>An ordeal, yes, but one that I for some reason super enjoyed. Anyhow, MikeyG enjoyed his baseball game so much that I will defo be heading to one myself before I leave!!</i>
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After getting tickets we got lunch, and after taking a while looking at restaurants, we found one that featured omlets with rice inside of them, appropriately named Omrice. We were pleasantly surprised at how delicious they were. After that, Kate split off to do her own thing and Audrey and I went to the Parasite Museum, which was small but very amusing. There was a guy and a girl there together, and Audrey pulled me aside and said that she didn't hear their full conversation, but the bit she did hear was the guy saying, "This brings back memories" or something of that sort. <i>It was seriously hilarious - she said it so excitedly while pointing to one of the parasites in the glass. I'm pretty sure it was her and not him.</i>They also had an 8 meter long tapeworm, accompanied by an equally long ribbon that you could play with to see how long the tapeworm really was. I had Audrey wrap it around her and model it for a small photoshoot, which is the sort of ridiculous fun she and I always have when we hang out :-) <i>Yay! Super fun times! I can't wait to visit MikeyG in California!</i>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cs-7kugNnKA/UDiR0VtDONI/AAAAAAAAFys/C3w3PEX1mMk/s1600/DSC05567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cs-7kugNnKA/UDiR0VtDONI/AAAAAAAAFys/C3w3PEX1mMk/s320/DSC05567.JPG" /></a></div> After the museum I wanted to go somewhere to just relax (as my feet were killing me from all the walking), and so Audrey picked a park area called Yebisu Garden Place because it's supposed to be nice and because it was featured in a Japanese television show <i>(Hana Yori Dango!!!!)</i> she watches, and she had never been. We went to the place where Domyouji and Haruka <i>(who is actually called Makino - I totally screwed up her name when telling Mike)</i>
met up for their first date and then later got married. It was funny because there were loads of people taking pictures in that spot, and we were wondering if the others were also super into the show or if there was some other reason. After that we met up with Audrey's friend Karl and his girlfriend and hung out at a cafe <i>(but only after eating a delicious dinner at Little Heaven - mieum!!)</i>.
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<i>I was SO excited! I've been trying to remember to go there every time I go to Tokyo, but I just keep forgetting. While we were there, Mike and I also found a pharmacy in which we took our blood pressures. For some reason, this ended up being one of the highlights of my day. Good times, good times!</i>
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The next morning we grabbed breakfast, and then Audrey had to head back home. Sadface!
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Sadface!, indeed! I had a great time hanging out with MikeyG in Tokyo, and I wish I could have spent more time with him!
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One thing I wish I could have shown him while he was here, that I think I've posted in the blog before:
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Anyhow, hope you enjoyed! Until next time, 以上です。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-87303362806377235272012-08-24T08:55:00.000-04:002012-08-24T09:00:00.523-04:00Hiking in Okazaki: くらがり渓谷 = Kuragari CanyonSo, I just got back from a 3 week vacation around southern Japan, and I have a LOT of catching up to do. So, if things go as planned, expect a bombardment of blog posts in the very near future!
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In the meantime, let's go back in time.
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A long time ago, I woke up one morning, and Chieko asked me if there was anywhere I wanted to go in Okazaki where I hadn't been because I needed a car.
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After much thinking, I realized there really wasn't, so after a brief internet search for waterfalls (私、滝好きだもん) in the Okazaki area, we hopped in the car and headed to Kuragari Keikoku (keikoku = canyon).
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Even though it was super hot outside, there was a nice breeze comfortable shadows from the trees, so the weather felt lovely.
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And the scenery was absolutely AMAZING!
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I am a hardcore fan of lush, green areas, especially when they involve bamboo and trees covered with soft, green moss.
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There were times when I really felt like I was in a Miyazaki film.
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I find it really sad that all of the green space in Japan is slowly, steadily being destroyed. Somehow, the forest areas of Japan feel more majestic, more magical to me than in a lot of the other places I've been.
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I was especially happy with my choice because there were literally waterfalls EVERYWHERE along the hike!<br><br>
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There were ones that were quite a lot larger than this one, but for some reason, I just found this one exceptionally gorgeous.
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Other than hiking, I've also been doing a lot of farming since arriving in my homestay.
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Me with two of the biggest zucchinis I've ever seen!<br><br>
Chieko's parents live on a farm, and they seem to grow every type of everything you could possibly imagine.
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We even went digging up potatoes one day, and it was SUPER hot and SUPER exhausting, but also inexplicably fun!
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But let me just say - the smell of rotting potatoes is one of the most REPULSIVE, RANCID things I have ever smelled in all of my life of smelling.
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We would be having a lovely, pleasant time digging (with me, of course, far too regularluy accidently plunging the pitchfork shovel thing INTO the potato instead of the dirt) when suddenly we would be accosted by a smell so awful that I almost threw up on several occasions.
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Then we woul inevitably come across a potato so rotten that it had literally turned into this whitish brown oozy slimy goop dripping out of a rotting skin.
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So gross.
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Other than that, and the inevitable heat headaches, the farming has been super fun. I hope I get to go again at least a couple times.
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And that's all for this time, folks! 以上です。
brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-71922372446436677502012-07-24T23:05:00.001-04:002012-07-24T23:05:33.953-04:00Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 5: Tokyo aka THE END! :-(After Korea, we hopped on a plane to Osaka, where we then hopped on a Shinkansen to Tokyo for the last part of our trip together (SOB!! They should just move here, I think, and I should never leave).
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When we got to Tokyo, we immediately brought Kristen and Shawn to the capsule hotel in which they would be staying. I was staying with Martin in Shinagawa, so I had booked them a place close to there, and it turned out to be a host district <br />
(if you don't know what a host is, use the picture for reference. It's like the Japanese dude version of a hostess, and they have awesome host hair and are super suave) - the place was literally crawling with hosts. I thought it was a great introduction to Tokyo for Kristen and Shawn! :-)
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The next day, while Kristen and I slept, Shawn woke up super early and went to the fish market (apparently, he got kicked out about 5 times for being a foreigner there so early). When we finally all met up, we headed over to Akihabara for some doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant (and, of course, for them to check out the electronics distric).
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I of course had to bring them to Super Potato to see all the old school games and to sit in the chair made of famcom games (which, unfortunately, was way smaller than it used to be - I guess it went through some trouble).
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So, then we headed over to the Meiji shrine by Yoyogi Koen, and there just so happened to be two weddings going on. Guess we were lucky!
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Martin and I of course had to make goofy poses outtside of the shrine. I feel certain that Kristen and Shawn also made goofy poses, but I don't seem to have those pictures.
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After the shrine, we headed into Harajuku, where there were unfortunately no cosplayers. We really didn't get lucky on the cosplay/lolita front.
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We were actually able to walk down the street and breathe at the same time. I even felt comfortable enough spending the time necessary to pop into a couple idol shops to look for hot visual kei boys (I found none. Sadness).
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We then headed over to the Shinjuku/Shibuya area for a delicious (at least to me, maybe not so much to Krist and Shawn) vegan lunch at <a href="http://pure-cafe.com/">Pure Cafe</a>, the Aveda cafe.<br>
And then delicious chocolate soy shakes from <a href=""http://www.mrbean.com.sg/store_overseas_japan.aspx">Mr. Bean</a>.
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Since we were in the area, we of course had to go check out 109 - I feel like it's a total waste to go to Tokyo and not at least check out the insane awesomeness of it.
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We made some new friends in front of the store who posed in our picture with us!<br>
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Kristen and I had been wanting to buy matching somethings, and we found some adorable t-shirts, so I officially made my very first 109 purchase (and not even from JSG, my favorite store there).
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<center>Making Mary-Kate and Ashley lips in the train.</center>
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That night, Martin and Shawn went to kaiten sushi for dinner while Kristen and I ate spaghetti chez Martin. It was so nice to eat in a house again, oddly enough, instead of hopping around from restaurant to restaurant.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b94JzN1cSWM/UA9f8nppVdI/AAAAAAAAFsg/VLwdJ7oiUfI/s1600/DSC05406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="200" width="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b94JzN1cSWM/UA9f8nppVdI/AAAAAAAAFsg/VLwdJ7oiUfI/s200/DSC05406.JPG" align=right></a>Kristen and Shawn wanted to see the sky tree, so the next morning we woke up and headed over to Asakusa. We walked around a bit looking at the shrine and the fun other Japanesey stuff, and then we headed over to the bridge to check out the sky tree.
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Kristen and Shawn think it's going to be a tourist success, but I'm just not so sure. I mean, it's ugly. And it's whole purpose is to be a tourist attraction. I don't get it. Maybe I'll have to walk up to the top and see the view if I ever want to eventually get it.
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And there it is, right to the left of the really cool building that's supposed to look like beer.
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Then Krist and I headed over to <a href="http://www.lovinghut.jp/">Loving Hut</a> for (what I thought was) a DELICIOUS lunch! Shawn and Martin walked around Shinjuku and ate something else. Then we met up and got doughnuts (!!!! I'm seriously doughnut obsessed) and headed back to Martin's for a few minutes of down-time before getting back on the shinkansen to head back to Nagoya.
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We ate delicious (once again, to me) Indian food, then Kristen and Shawn headed to their hotel by the airport, and I headed back to Okazaki for my first night sleeping with my home stay family.
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Our stay in Tokyo was super short but super fun. Their stay in Japan was super short but super fun. I'm so sad they are gone!
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I'm actually headed back to Tokyo this weekend again, though, to hang out with another friend coming into town. And then, Guillaume comes, and we're headed to Kyushu then Okinawa. So much traveling, so little money!
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And thus, THE END of my adventures with Kristen and Shawn!
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以上です。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-52742394916168011522012-07-21T23:13:00.000-04:002012-07-21T23:15:52.331-04:00雨でFREEDOM NAGOYA 2012: 泥だらけToday, it finally arrived, the festival for which I have been waiting ALL summer: FREEDOM NAGOYA!!
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<a href="http://brizmus.blogspot.jp/2011/08/freedom-nagoya-2011.html">I went last year</a>, and it was DEFINITELY the most amazing outdoor music festival to which I had ever been. I've literally been super psyched about this year's version for several months now.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-75QLHlbguGo/UAqb8chB0tI/AAAAAAAAFl4/fHZ79rFBqro/s1600/Photo-0057.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img align="left" border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-75QLHlbguGo/UAqb8chB0tI/AAAAAAAAFl4/fHZ79rFBqro/s320/Photo-0057.jpg" width="240" /></a> This morning I met Cesar on the train at around 9 - I wanted to get there before 10 so that I would have time to buy a t-shirt (last year, they were sold out when I got there - sadness) and STILL see <a href="http://ip.tosp.co.jp/i.asp?I=pizzapizzakids">Pit's</a>, the band that won the Nagoya audition. I wanted to see what they were all about. Then, I was going to head over to see <a href="http://www.threelightsdownkings.com/">The 3 Lights Down Kings</a>, the band I saw the end of at the <a href="http://brizmus.blogspot.jp/2012/07/punkafoolic-bayside-crash-2012.html">Real Reach/Rookiez is Punk'd show</a> I went to last Friday.
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Unfortunately, upon arrival, the line to buy t-shirts was SUPER long, so I had to choose between buying a t-shirt and seeing Pit's.
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I chose t-shirt. And ended up missing Pit's and the Three Lights Down Kings as well.
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So the first band I saw was <a href="http://freedom.radcreation.jp/common_files/image/artist/04ls.jpg">04 limited sazabys</a>.
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These guys were seriously amazing and definitely up there in my top two or three of the day (so hard to choose, though, maybe my top 4). My notes about them: TOTALLY AWESOME!
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The next band at the big stages was <a href="http://www.hawthorneheights.com/">Hawthorne Heights</a>, who were from America. I watched one song and was bored (lots of people seemed really into them, though), so we headed over to the smaller stages, where I got to see <a href="http://ip.tosp.co.jp/i.asp?I=sxsxf">Sequim</a>, who were pretty great.
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They seem to be fairly new, though, and from Nagoya, so I hope I'll see them around some more.
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Then was <a href="http://ip.tosp.co.jp/i.asp?I=enth_aichi">Enth</a>, who was good but not great and had a sound that was a little bit too whiny for me.
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After Enth, we met up with Rachael - 3人お揃い
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Then we headed back over to the big stages for <a href="http://freedom.radcreation.jp/common_files/image/artist/myfirststory.jpg">My First Story</a>, who was also pretty good, but also a little bit too whiny for me (I really don't mind whiny music and sometimes even love it, but if the guitar sounds whiny to me, that's sometimes too much).
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Then the amazingness of the day started!!!! With a band I also saw last week, <a href="http://www.thecherrycokes.com/">The Cherry Cokes</a>. They somehow managed to rock more this week than they did last week (because it was rainy? because it was free?).
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Please excuse the awfulness of this picture. I decided to post it anyway because I think the guys leg flying perfectly up in the air is hilarious.
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They actually seemed to play some different songs than they did last week, which was super cool. And dancing around crazy like in the mud to their Japanese version of Celctic punk just somehow seemed perfect.
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Then, <a href="http://dirtyoldmen.jp/">Dirty Old Men</a>, who are somewhat whiny, but the kind of whiny I love.
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Despite having been, in the past, at several festivals at which they appeared, this was my first time not only seeing them, but also hearing them. My reaction: TOTALLY AMAZING! A little slow, but I totally loved it!
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Rachael and Cesar totally LOVED them!
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Then for the band that ended up being <big><b>MY FAVORITE BAND OF THE DAY:</b></big> <a href="http://secret7line.com/">Secret 7 Line</a>!!
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Apparently, I am a HUGE Secret 7 Line fan - if you'll recall, <a href="http://brizmus.blogspot.jp/2012/07/punkafoolic-bayside-crash-2012.html">they were also my favorite previously known band of Punkafoolic! Bayside Crash</a> last week. If possible, they rocked even harder this week.
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They unfortunately didn't really seem to leave much of an impression on Cesar or Rachael. :-( I'll defo be buying some of their stuff soon!
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After Secret 7 Line was <a href="http://www.shankofficial.com/">Shank</a>, and while in my head I love them, this is now the second time I've seen them live, and I was somewhat underwhelmed.
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I mean, I definitely liked them both times, but that's it. I only liked them. I guess I need to see them do a one man live to truly be able to judge.
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After Shank, we had decided to take a lunch break - luckily, the food stalls just so happened to be right next to the stage of
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<big><b>MY FAVORITE PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BAND OF THE DAY:</b></big><br />
<a href="http://www.ldandk.com/gagaga/gatop2.html">ガガガSP</a><br />
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These guys were SERIOUSLY AWESOME~!! And to think - I would have missed them if they hadn't been right next to the food.
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I don't really know how to describe why they were so perfectly awesome - they just were. Like this wonderful mixture of old school punk with a lot of power and a little bit of bubblegum (that's only there if you really listen for it). Just, watch the video, and love!
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Next, <a href="http://newroteka.com/">ニューロティカ</a> (Nyuurotika). First, the singer came out dressed as a watermelon, then he changed into a clown on some mega high stilts, then he got rid of the stilts and was just a clown. They were super fun, and the music was pretty good. Though the lasting impression was definitely more the outfits than the music.
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After than, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=19255635">Rotten Graffty</a>, who were absolutely AMAZING!!
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They had a little bit of a punk sound to them, but they were also SUPER hard at some points, with even a little bit of the occasional hip-hoppy feel (which, to be honest, I could have done without).
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They were really super fun live, and I TOTALLY got into the music (though I can't help but wonder if I'll like them less on CD).
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(Also, afterwards, we talked to the singer a bit because Rachael wanted to buy a CD, and he wasn't very nice)
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Then we ran over quickly to the small stages for <a href="http://www.buzzthebears.com/">Buzz the Bears</a>.
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They definitely rocked WAY more this week than they did last week at Bayside Crash. Unfortunately, we had to miss the beginning of them because RottenGraffty was still playing.<br />
I also spent a good portion of their set trying to explain what punk is to Rachael (how do you explain punk - it's very difficult!). So I didn't get quite as into them as I would have liked.
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Still, super super fun! Yay!
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Next, <a href="http://hey-smith.com/">HEY SMITH</a>!!!!
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I had been doing a mostly okay job of jumping around and dancing yet still avoiding the mud, but for Hey Smith, I decided to give that up and plunged skanking into the mud with all of the rest of the crowd.<br />
I of course came out completely covered in mud, but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!! <br />
Fingers crossed that all the mud will come out of my clothes like it came out of my skin.
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Hey Smith started late and thus ended late, which meant that we missed the first bit of <a href="http://www.pan-sound.com/">Pan</a>.
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They were playing the song from the above video when we arrived, though, and as that is my favorite song by them, all was good. :-) Of course, they ROCKED! I hope I get to see them again before I have to leave Japan.
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Then, my favorite Japanese band of all time, <a href="http://www.specialthanks777.com/">Special Thanks</a>.
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<center><br /></center><center><br /></center><center><br /></center><center><br /></center><center><br /></center><center><br /></center><center>Misaki, the singer, is so shy - I wish she were just a little less shy and had just a little more stage presence. But really, she's so adorable, and the music is so amazing - so I forgive her.</center><center><br />
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<center><br /> </center><center> </center><center> </center><center> </center><center> </center><center>I stood right up front, and it felt like I was practically on the stage with them. It was super amazing. I'm going to miss getting to see them live when I leave Japan.
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On our way out, after a wonderful day of wonderful music and moshing and mud (last year, it was SO sunny and SO hot, but this year, even if I was wet and muddy, it was nice and cool), we ran across some adorable dinosaur slides.
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All in all, a totally amazing day.
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I'm already thinking about how I can find a way to go back next year. :-)
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以上です。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-66504824934229088642012-07-17T23:44:00.001-04:002012-07-17T23:44:28.663-04:00Punkafoolic! Bayside Crash 2012So on Saturday I worked in Miyoshi in the morning and then headed back to Okazaki for lunch and my second job of the day up by Higashi Koen. That job over, I ran home to get my stuff and hopped on a train back to Nagoya for
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<big><center><a href="http://www.threelightsdownkings.com/">Three Lights Down Kings</a>, <a href="http://www.rookiez.jp/">Rookiez is Punk'D</a>, and <a href="http://www.real-reach.com">Real Reach!!</a></center></big>
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I'd never heard the Three Lights Down Kings before, and, unfortunately, my job ran late, so I had to miss at least half of them. Still, what I saw was awesome, and I'm totally psyched to check them out again at Freedom Nagoya 2012 this weekend.
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Up next was Rookiez is Punk'D - it was my third time seeing them, and, as usual, they were amazing! Possibly even more amazing than usual, because they actually played "Eggmate of the Year," which is my favorite song by them.
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They also played stuff from their new album coming out July 25 - I'll definitely be getting my hands on that.
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Last up, REAL REACH! If you read about <a href="http://brizmus.blogspot.jp/2012/06/sakae-spring-2012-2012day-2.html">me seeing them at Sakae Spring 2012</a>, you know how much I love them. They were, of course, amazing! And the guitarist is such a fast talker that it also managed, I think, to be good listening practice. Though there were still some things I didn't understand. :-(
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They also had a new album out mid-June, and as soon as I have money again - yeah, it's totally mine.
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So when the AMAZING concert ended, I met up with Steven and hopped on a night bus to Tokyo to spend the next day at
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<big><center>Punkafoolic! Bayside Crash 2012</center></big>
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This was an all day outdoor music festival - it started at 10, and I didn't get home until about 9 PM. With a sunburn, despite the enormous amounts of sunblock I applied, and happiness from a full day of awesome music! In total, <b>*23*</b> bands! (would be 24, but I missed <a href="http://forareason.jp/">For A Reason</a> while searching for water)
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Let's do this by ratings:<br>
<b>BEST BAND OF THE DAY:</b> <a href="http://www.electricsummer.jp/news.html">Electric Summer</a>
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They were also the last band of the day.
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It was super late, and I was super exhausted, so I was kind of hoping they would be bad, but when they came out with the singer dressed as a dragon and one of the dudes in a Devo hat, suddenly all of my energy came right back!
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Sorry, my picture taking skills aren't the best. <br>
Steven didn't like him because he said he didn't like the singer's voice. I totally loved the singer's voice. And everything else about them!
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Now, let's do all the rest of the rankings as if Electric Summer weren't there.
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<b>BEST PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BAND OF THE DAY:</b> Tie between <a href="http://www.mr-jingles.com/">Mr. Jingles</a> and <a href="http://www.smnjp.com/">S.M.N.</a>
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Both were totally punk rock and totally awesome, and I totally couldn't stop myself from dancing around like a crazy person the whole time!
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S.M.N also has a bit of a ska sound - I love how ska punk is still in in Japan!
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I can't find a Mr. Jingles video. :-(
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<b>BEST PREVIOUSLY KNOWN BAND OF THE DAY:</b> <a href="http://secret7line.com/">Secret 7 Line</a>
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Sure, I'd heard these guys before, but nothing could have prepared me for how awesome they were going to be live! They rocked some kind of hardcore!!
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I really hope I get to see them again, to do a full live!
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<b>RUNNER UP FOR BEST PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BAND OF THE DAY:</b> Tie between <a href="http://tnxpunk.com/">TNX</a> and <a href="http://stelmosfire.jp/">St. Elmo's Fire</a>
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TNX is just plain ole punk rock, and they are awesome! They even did a cover of the Offspring's "What Happened to You?" While I've never been a huge Offspring fan, their version was awesome!
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St. Elmo's Fire is a little harder, but still - just plain ole punk rock that makes pogo and head bang like it's nobody's business.
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<b>BAND I LOVED BUT WAS EXPECTING TO LOVE MORE:</b> <a href="http://www.thecherrycokes.com/">The Cherry Coke$</a>
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I saw them last year at Haziketemazare (which I apparently never wrote about - weird), and they were beyond awesome then! Celtic punk, in the vein of Flogging Molly. They were totally awesome this time as well, but for some reason, maybe because I was tired and sunburned and needing water, I had trouble getting into them as much as I thought I would.
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Still, I highly recommend you check them out!
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<b>MOST SURPRISING THING:</b> There were SO MANY PEOPLE WITH TATTOOS! When I first got to Japan, I knew that Japanese people don't get tattoos as much as westerners. Still, I though that might be different in the punk community. In Nagoya, though, you really just don't see them that often. So I was surprised.
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I've been to punk fests now in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo, and I DEFINITELY like the Nagoya atmosphere best. There's something almost innocent about it. It just feels like it fits me.
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<b>MOST HILARIOUS MOMENT:</b> At one point, this guy climbed up to the top of one of the tall lamps and was hanging around and flying around like a monkey. Then he pulled his pants down and mooned the whole crowd. I tried to get out my camera to get a picture, but was unfortunately too late. :-(
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<b>OTHER PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN BANDS THAT WERE AWESOME: </b> (with my notes I made at the concert written to the side)
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<a href="http://bassui.jp/">Bassui</a> - OKAY!
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<a href="http://www.geocities.jp/thesensationspunk/">The Sensations</a> - ska, good fun!
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<a href="http://mbsp.jp/skallheadz/">Skallheadz</a> - great, fun!
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<a href="http://tosp.co.jp/i.asp?I=matter_company">Matter</a> - Operation Ivy cover was totally awesome!
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<a href="http://www.buzzthebears.com/">Buzz the Bears</a> - quite good, but their sound seemed off. Think they could have been better.
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<a href="http://www.hakaihayabusa.com/">Hakaihayabusa</a> - alright
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<a href="http://www.fib-21cnos.com/">F.I.B.</a> - water run during them, but what I heard was great!
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<b>OTHER PREVIOUSLY KNOWN BANDS THAT WERE AWESOME: </b> (with my notes I made at the concert written to the side)
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<a href="http://www.dradnats.net/">Dradnats</a> - great!
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<a href="http://www.theninthapollo.com/shank/">Shank</a> - yay!
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<a href="http://www.fourgetmeanots.net/">Four Get Me A Nots</a> - good, but not as good as I remembered
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<a href="http://www.step-up-records.com/countryyard.html">Country Yard</a> - AWESOME!
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<b>BANDS THAT DIDN'T DO IT FOR ME: </b> (with my notes I made at the concert written to the side)
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<a href="http://hardcore-fanclub.com/">Hardcore Fanclub</a> - not my style
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<a href="http://www.punkafoolic.com/baysidecrash2012/ph/lineup/a_velocity.gif">Velocity</a> - voice a little too emo for me
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<a href="http://www.meaning666.com/">Meaning</a> - okay sometimes, but in general not really my style
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<a href="http://fightitout.web.fc2.com/">Fight It Out</a> - alright, but really too hard for me
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<a href="http://aowgig.web.fc2.com/home.html">A.O.W.</a> - totally not my style
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The next day I took the bus back to Nagoya in time for work. Crazy busy weekend of non-stop PUNK ROCK! I really just don't know if I could ask for anything more.
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以上ですbrizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-10466752370934673202012-07-16T20:48:00.000-04:002012-07-17T08:55:14.167-04:00Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 4: 韓国スタイル Seoul, South Korea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mNTp-NSLoH0/T__By5BWoTI/AAAAAAAAFhw/FFj-YsLT6q8/s1600/DSC05268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mNTp-NSLoH0/T__By5BWoTI/AAAAAAAAFhw/FFj-YsLT6q8/s320/DSC05268.JPG" /></a></div>After Kyoto, we hopped on a plane and flew over to South Korea. I had to leave country to change my visa status to a tourist visa, since my student visa was about to expire, and Kristen and Shawn were all "We want to go, too!"
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I don't know why, but even when I'm thinking in English now, I've started thinking of South Korea as Kankoku. Maybe it's because I never really thought about Kankoku before coming to Japan.<br>
Conversations often go like:<br><br>
<i>American Friend: Ah, you went to South Korea! How was it?<br><br>
Me: Huh?!? Oh, you mean Kankoku?</i>
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That said, it was fabulous!
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When we first arrived, we went directly to <a href="http://lovinghut.kr/kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=restaurants_kr_en&wr_id=61&sca=Seoul&county=Seoul&lang=_en">Loving Hut</a> to eat. There are actually about 5 in Seoul (yay for vegans), and the one we picked was very good, if a little expensive. We met my friend Uri and her boyfriend Patric there.
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<center><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tVYoiFRXcIk/T__CWpCTX3I/AAAAAAAAFh8/B-RV5QwHdTk/s1600/DSC05284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tVYoiFRXcIk/T__CWpCTX3I/AAAAAAAAFh8/B-RV5QwHdTk/s400/DSC05284.JPG" /></a><br>Uri making me look somewhat like a giant</center>
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I hadn't seen Uri in over a year, so it was super awesome to get to hang out! And plus, we have both gotten MUCH better at Japanese since when we met, so we were actually able to talk a bit.
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Luckily, though, her boyfriend, Patric, lives in America, so he was able to talk lots to Kristen and Shawn.
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After eating and a brief rest, they showed us around a bit.
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That thing was really cool, though I don't remember at all what it was. Maybe the dude that founded South Korea.
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gk6RiplAmYc/T__C0hKa57I/AAAAAAAAFig/I-hJS5UAVMA/s1600/DSC05309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gk6RiplAmYc/T__C0hKa57I/AAAAAAAAFig/I-hJS5UAVMA/s320/DSC05309.JPG" align=left></a><br>
Apparently we were there at, like, the South Korean independence day or something, so we were happy to stumble upon a little concert (and you KNOW how much I love concerts).
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They were all playing these light up drums and dancing around. It was really cool. Afterwards, they invited us on stage to take a picture with them, but I don't have it anywhere.<br>Of course, it would have been better if we had stumbled upon a punk show, but this was still cool.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JwOQpXaFPVE/T__CXPKYX4I/AAAAAAAAFiI/d31_4yShH-4/s1600/DSC05295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JwOQpXaFPVE/T__CXPKYX4I/AAAAAAAAFiI/d31_4yShH-4/s400/DSC05295.JPG"></a>
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Then this big thing was also really cool, so we of course had to take a picture with it. I wanted to get in the water, but I suppose that would have been a bad idea.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SFmN0zGyl1w/T__C1GwqbkI/AAAAAAAAFis/5qdkbumi_x4/s1600/DSC05317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SFmN0zGyl1w/T__C1GwqbkI/AAAAAAAAFis/5qdkbumi_x4/s320/DSC05317.JPG" /></a><br>We actually got to see the presidential procession pass in front of this building, which was super cool.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHycJJdqNGs/T__C1dpqYRI/AAAAAAAAFi4/iRQj9a2msLo/s1600/DSC05318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHycJJdqNGs/T__C1dpqYRI/AAAAAAAAFi4/iRQj9a2msLo/s320/DSC05318.JPG" /></a><br>And then this little dude is called Haechi, or something like that (do not take my word on that spelling), and apparently he's in front of all the temples in South Korea. He was a mega cutey face.</center>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H0gQTUzSc0Q/T__C1wqJ_iI/AAAAAAAAFjE/ap48GN8Zxbw/s1600/DSC05329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H0gQTUzSc0Q/T__C1wqJ_iI/AAAAAAAAFjE/ap48GN8Zxbw/s320/DSC05329.JPG" align=right></a>After exploring, we spent some time in the night market and woke up super early the next morning to go on a tour of Panmunjon and the DMV.<br><br>We got really lucky because, even though we weren't on the defactor tour, there was a North Korean defector on the bus with us. We got to ask her lots of questions, and it was really super eye-opening and enlightening.<br><br>
We learned all about how life was for her in North Korea, why she decided to run away, how she ran away, what she misses. . . it was pretty amazing!
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kr-VXrQCpM0/UASzxk6yqWI/AAAAAAAAFj0/x5cZI8LhFSM/s1600/DSC05348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kr-VXrQCpM0/UASzxk6yqWI/AAAAAAAAFj0/x5cZI8LhFSM/s320/DSC05348.JPG" align=left></a><br><br>We also got to look through binoculars at a fake North Korean city. It was SO weird because there were all these buildings and absolutely NO ONE there. <br>Apparently, there used to be fake people made to be looking like they were having fun. But now, I guess, North Korea no longer cares what we think about them.<br><br> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dw6s98H3zmY/T__C2bk0XyI/AAAAAAAAFjQ/ZE_2HFiDIVg/s1600/DSC05336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dw6s98H3zmY/T__C2bk0XyI/AAAAAAAAFjQ/ZE_2HFiDIVg/s320/DSC05336.JPG" align=right></a><br><br><center>This train is apparently an old remnant of the war. I don't know more about it than that.</center>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u0UxPsyNtgM/UASzzmfTxfI/AAAAAAAAFkM/e-QhbVJtj7o/s1600/DSC05357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u0UxPsyNtgM/UASzzmfTxfI/AAAAAAAAFkM/e-QhbVJtj7o/s320/DSC05357.JPG" /></a><br>Me and our new friend, Geil, with a guard in front of the train that goes from South Korea to North Korea.</center>
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I really thought that North Korea and South Korea had very minimal relations, but apparently there's actually a South Korean factory in North Korea, and every day South Koreans get on a train to go to work (and be paid in American dollars). I was actually really surprised!
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Me and Geil trying to reach North Korea</center>
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We also went to the DMZ, but no pictures allowed there.
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We went to the night market again that night and then, the next morning, after taking a somewhat leisurely morning break (during which Shawn, who does not sleep, walked around), we hopped back on an airplane to head towards Tokyo.
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In other news, we were actually WEIGHED to get on the airplane and then given a pen for our troubles. That was a first to me.
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Check back soon for the last installment of my travels with Kristen and Shawn!brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-66132843216006918952012-07-11T21:58:00.000-04:002012-07-11T21:58:31.798-04:00Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 3: Temple Stay and Nara aka a deer bit my buttSo our last morning in Kyoto, we woke up super early for a meditation class at the temple where we would be spending our last night.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oVtPGYf2Ka0/T_oviqvQ1iI/AAAAAAAAFeY/cJN7dlXSxfc/s1600/DSC05215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oVtPGYf2Ka0/T_oviqvQ1iI/AAAAAAAAFeY/cJN7dlXSxfc/s400/DSC05215.JPG" /></a><br>The room in which we meditated</center>
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It was a really good class, and I felt like I might have actually properly meditated for the first time in my life. He talked about how forcing yourself to clear your head is actually associated with ego, because it's forcing. Thoughts just come normally, and you just have to let them come and go naturally - it's normal, he said, to have thoughts pass through your head while meditating - that's just how the brain is.
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After, we got a little tour of the temple, and it was super beautiful (though I had totally been before with Rachel and Josh and just forgotten all about it).<br><br>
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The top picture is the view from the meditation room and the bottom picture is the temple rock garden.
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When we were done meditating and temple touring, we had green tea with Manju which, because we were at a Buddhist temple, was vegan, so I could eat it. So I forced myself to drink the tea with it, and it actually wasn't that bad.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cjWBe2eSAD8/T_z9Xt6PDrI/AAAAAAAAFgg/_bymMDHDHus/s1600/DSC05229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cjWBe2eSAD8/T_z9Xt6PDrI/AAAAAAAAFgg/_bymMDHDHus/s320/DSC05229.JPG" /></a></div> And then we hopped on a train for what was probably my 8th time in Nara (I've really stopped keeping count.<br>
We wanted to eat at the delicious falafel restaurant I ate at last time I was there, but unfortunately - it closed down in the interim. :-( Sadness! In the end, we got Indian food.<br>
Kristen and Shawn had some naan left over in a bag, so when we first walked into a section with deers, they were seriously all over us. They kept chasing Kristen around to try to get her naan while she was trying to feed them deer biscuits.
<br>So then I took the bag, and they were chasing me around, and one definitely bit my butt. Apparently, Kristen's butt also got bitten.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SqK-1cQ9uZo/T_z9i4rEM7I/AAAAAAAAFgs/3ZcvQH5vpSQ/s1600/DSC05235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SqK-1cQ9uZo/T_z9i4rEM7I/AAAAAAAAFgs/3ZcvQH5vpSQ/s400/DSC05235.JPG" /></a><br>Welcome to Nara!</center>
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Later, I decided to get deliciously yummy mitarashi dango, and the deer were super into that, too. I don't understand how some of the other people seemed to be eating in peace. One of the deer literally bowed at me trying to get some. In the end, I had to hold it in the air to eat it.
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After numerous attacks by deer, we managed to make it to the 大仏間 (daibutsukan), with the HUGE Buddha in it. Kristen and Shawn were duly impressed.
<br>Shawn was wearing his samurai shirt, and people kept commenting on it all day. Finally, a Japanese high school boy asked if they could take a picture together. It was so cute - they pretended to be samurai.
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On the train ride on the way back, there were some junior high school boys sitting by us all trying to show off with their English. Shawn was thinking about the Kyari Pamyu Pamyu video that I had showed him for Ponponpon.
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At 1:29, a rainbow comes out of her but, so Shawn wanted me to teach him how to say "I made a rainbow fart." What was amazing was that the junior high school boys actually got it and spent the rest of the train right singing Kyari Pamyu Pamyu and dancing. SO CUTE!
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That night we spent in the temple, and it was lovely.
以上です。
(For a less wordy version of our time in Japan, check out <a href="http://www.kindergarten2011-2012.blogspot.jp/"> Kristen's blog that she makes for her kindergartners</a>! She wrote all about it!)brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-65405061900817323612012-07-10T08:45:00.000-04:002012-07-10T09:50:09.366-04:00日本語を話すのに少し臆病すぎてしまうI've really got to get over my fear of speaking Japanese with Japanese people. For serious.
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I'm almost way too afraid to ever actually speak to a Japanese person in Japanese, and when I finally do, I get all nervous and flustered and flaily, and my arms just sort of go hugely all over the place.
<br><br>Which of course makes me even more embarrassed and makes me less inclined to try to speak in the future.
<br><br>But if I continue to go forth with such timidity, I'm really just never going to get better. And as it is, I'm feeling totally stuck - 日本語の行き詰まり。
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Anyhow, I received it from Rachael:
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Me, Rachael, and the Reviews Scorer dudes. I've been listening to their albums ever since we received them, and they are SO GOOD! For serious. I really wish they were going to be playing at Nagoya Freedom.
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They were so super super nice!!
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In other news, I met up with Yumiko today for the first time in ages, and she brought her French teacher with her, so instead of speaking Japanese, we spoke French the whole time. I'd love to be able to get my Japanese to the same level as my French. For serious.
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More on the Saga of Kristen and Shawn Visit Japan to come soon!!brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-88908759974613083662012-07-09T02:01:00.000-04:002012-07-09T20:28:52.479-04:00Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 2: Kyoto and Arashiyama, aka a monkey peed on my headTo continue the hanging out with Krist and Shawn story, after Okazaki, we headed to Kyoto!!
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After getting settled in the place where we would stay (which was a SUPER nice Japanese style ryokan with an AMAZING garden view), we headed over to eat at <a href="http://www.proverbs1517.com/">Cafe Proverbs</a>, which is possibly the most delicious vegan (well, almost entirely vegan) restaurant in all of Japan. I got soy milk ramen and a chocolate sundae, and my happiness was extreme. Even Kristen loved her curry rice!
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Then we headed over to (銀閣寺) Ginkakuji, the silver temple.
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As usual, the grounds were gorgeous. And somehow, perhaps because I hadn't been in a real Japanese style garden (or really a real any garden) in an extremely long time, I felt like the grounds were even more gorgeous than normal.
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When finished, we took a little walk down the "Philosopher's Road." It wasn't really the season for it, but it was still quite pretty.
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Then, we headed over to 金閣寺 (kinkakuji), the golden temple.
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I'm sure I'll eventually get tired of seeing it, but at this point, I'm still amazed by its' beauty every time I see it.
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After that, Gion for a little bit of shopping and geisha searching. And we actually saw a geisha! I was shocked! Even though I've now been in Japan for two years, it was my first real geisha. And I got to see her with Krist and Shawn. Super psyched-ness.
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The next day, we woke up fairly early, and after a morning at the bank (it took WAY LONGER than it should have), we met up with Alexis for lunch (at <a href="http://thinkagain.jp/cafe/matsuontoko/index.html">Cafe Matsuontoko</a> - decent food, awesomely placed, somewhat expensive, entirely vegan, good times!) and then headed to Arashiyama to see some monkeys and some bamboo.
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(I just realized I got distracted blogging and listened to the same song, a song I don't really even like, a good 10 times in a row)
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Us pretending to be monkeys on a bench on the way up. Unfortunately, all of the fun monkey pictures are Kristen and Shawn's cameras.
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The highlight of this event was, of course, that as we were walking down about to leave, something wet fell out of the air onto my head and shoulders. Everyone else was dry and fine. I looked up, and it turned out a monkey had just peed on my head. I somehow feel like something like this could ONLY happen to me. Everyone there was in agreement. Only me.
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Then we walked through Arashiyama looking at pretty old buildings, heading towards bamboo.
<br>Once again, Kristen and Shawn have all of the fun pictures. This is literally the only picture I took of bamboo (note: that is the correct usage of literally, but I am a huge fan of misusing literally).
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It was beautiful. There's something really mysterious and wonderful about walking through bamboo forests. I don't really know how to explain it, but it's sort-of the perfect feeling.
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For dinner, we went to a place called <a href="http://mikouan.com/index.html">Mikouan</a>. I'd been there before, and the food was good. And it's true that the food was good this time as well, but I really don't think I'll go again. When we got there, the owner was super moody and rude to us and probably wouldn't have let us in (because we were 4) if there hadn't been a nice man sitting there that practically made her let us in.
<br>Combine that with the fact that there were roaches crawling on the walls (I'm convinced there was a dead one in the curry) and ants crawling all over the dry ingredients, and all in all, it was just a bad experience.<br>
So, even though the food is yum, I can't recommend it.
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Just a lovely day in Kyoto!!
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More Kristen and Shawn Visit to come soon!brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-2782911196662166282012-07-08T20:28:00.000-04:002012-07-08T20:34:45.095-04:00プレゼントYesterday, I got some presents!!!! Three, to be exact. I love presents! Though I don't know if we can really call these presents - just things that were given to me.
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And yesterday I really needed them, because Rachael and I were feeling sad.
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First, we went to the Fukuro museum in Tokyo Hands at 名古屋駅, because Rachael has been telling me about the cool bags there, and I wanted to see them.
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And then we were walking over to 栄 (Sakae) when this somewhat crazy person approaches us all repeating all over and over again "アメリカは一番悪い” - America ha ichiban warui, which means "America is the worst." For some reason, me being me, I thought that maybe this person would have something interesting to say, so I turned and was all like "Don't you think North Korea is worse." And he was all "No, North Korea's good. America is the worst." And then he just kept repeating it over and over again.
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Still for some reason having faith that maybe this person could have an INTERESTING conversation about why America is the worst, I was all "Why?" And his response was "Obama. Obama is the worst. America is the worst. America is stupid. Stupid. Stupid. You're all stupid. America is the worst." At that point, I left it alone.
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But it made me really sad. It made Rachael really angry, and she wanted to punch the guy. It just made me sad.
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Anyhow, point being - I thus needed something to cheer me up.
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On Saturday, I went with Rachael and Steven to see free outdoor concerts in 栄.
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It was super fun, and Rachael and I talked a lot to the singer of <a href="http://alfabeto.jp/">alfabeto</a>, who told us that he was going to bring us some small figurines the next day, Sunday.
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And when we went back on Sunday, he actually DID bring us little figurines. I got a small blue fish, and Rachael got a cutey face little goldfish.
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<br>me, alfabeto singer, Rachael, our new fishy faces</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TETjp8TWJtU/T_ogcvSZZWI/AAAAAAAAFc0/2gyaqBH9tAw/s1600/IMG_0241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TETjp8TWJtU/T_ogcvSZZWI/AAAAAAAAFc0/2gyaqBH9tAw/s320/IMG_0241.JPG" align=left></a><br>Between lives, we went over to the jewelry shop that we for some reason frequent (even though I've never bought anything - thank you, Rachael, for buying lots of jewelry). We were talking to one of the workers there, Kazuki, and he for some reason gave me this little picture of himself as a devil. Super cute! He likes <a href=http://www.paymoneytomypain.com/">Pay Money to My Pain</a>. I like <a href=http://www.paymoneytomypain.com/">Pay Money to My Pain</a>. Happiness.
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For now, it's hanging out in 岡崎 (Okazaki) with me for a while, but when I leave, I'll give it to Rachael so it can hang out in 岐阜 (Gifu) with her.
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Then we headed back to Sound Street or Sky Air or whatever it's called to see a band called <a href="http://www.the-reviews-scorer.com/webContents/menu.html">The Reviews Scorer</a>, that we had seen once a couple months ago. They were awesome then, and they were awesome again.
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After their show (during which they were all wearing t-shirts with American flags on them, and this made me feel somewhat better about things), I asked the singer if they had a CD or something, and he said yes, and to hang on. And then he came back with their two CDs and just gave them to us. He was all "サービス、サービス、内緒" and then making the "shhh," sign, like we shouldn't tell anyone.
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I still have NO IDEA why he decided to give us the CDs, but I'm listening to one now, and it is amazing.
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The next time they are playing is the same day as Freedom Nagoya, so I am sad that I won't get to see them. Apparently they auditioned for Freedom Nagoya and failed (which makes me super sad, as they are amazing. I totally don't get why. Though apparently they made the money sign when I said that I don't get why). I wish I could see them again AND go to Freedom Nagoya.
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So then a little bit later we went over and asked them to sign the CDs that they had given us, and they were SO nice!
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1RX-tVIWjy4/T_oZyiYZDbI/AAAAAAAAFcU/pe93_ZXA_Rw/s1600/IMG_0239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1RX-tVIWjy4/T_oZyiYZDbI/AAAAAAAAFcU/pe93_ZXA_Rw/s400/IMG_0239.JPG" /></a><br>Me with Hiro (who is not a hero), the bassist, and Yasuhiro (who is a ninja), the drummer.</div>
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Rachael has the picture of us with the whole band. We must have talked to them for at least 20 minutes. Shockingly, they were actually the ones who suggested we take pictures.
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So yes, those were my three presents yesterday! And this was supposed to be a super short blog post about that, but it has now turned into a manuscript. Sorry I'm so wordy.
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And now to write more about Kristen and Shawn's visit.<br>
以上です。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-3965782473814584992012-07-05T08:11:00.000-04:002012-07-05T08:11:30.350-04:00Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 1: Hanging in Okazaki and Nagoya<big><center>KRISTEN AND SHAWN ARRIVE</center></big>
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Because flying from America to Japan is super long and exhausting, we decided to hang out in Okazaki and just chill on their first day here. Which meant waking up leisurely, going to see Yamasa and some of the places I used to work, and then heading to the enormous Book Off over Seiyu so we could look at used things. Shawn was into this.
After a delicious curry cauliflower lunch made chez me, we headed up to Okazaki Castle and walked around there being all touristy for a bit.
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I ended up with ONE whole picture of our castle day, and this is it. If you look closely, you can see Kristen on the other side. Sadness that this is my only one. Perhaps Kristen and Shawn will send me their pictures later.
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Then Krist and Shawn came to work with me in Daimon so that Shawn could meet my boss, Taka, because he drives race cars, and Shawn loves racing. Taka was kind enough to drive him around in his car and to offer to drive him around later.
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After work, we headed to KARAOKE!!!! Since Kristen's all a karaoke lover, we had to go at least once while they were here.
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Cesar, Carine, and Idit also came to hang out with us, and Kristen and Shawn managed to get into the Japanese songs we sang even though they didn't understand them. They, of course, both did some amazing rock ballads!
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After karaoke, they got to go racing on a mountain in Gamagori while I went home to finish packing things up for my move and to hang out with Carine.
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Next day, NAGOYA. I of course had to bring them to Toganji temple, because I LOVE it there, even if no one else here seems to have ever heard of it.
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How could you not love this adorable little Buddha face with his elephants surrounded by such greenery?</center>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o7Yqb3E9FwA/T_WBHZsDOsI/AAAAAAAAFbg/g7gWY2fOl3M/s1600/P6230470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o7Yqb3E9FwA/T_WBHZsDOsI/AAAAAAAAFbg/g7gWY2fOl3M/s320/P6230470.JPG" /></a></div>Then we met up with Rachael for lunch at Nagoya's vegan restaurant, <a href="http://heal-ai.com/organiccafe.html">the Pupu Kitchen</a>. It was my first time there, and I'm sad I waited so long. We ate vegan donburi, and it was totally beyond delish! Definitely recommended if you ever find your way to Nagoya. Just make sure you check the opening times.
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After a brief tour of Sakae and Osu Kannon, we headed back to Okazaki for dinner with my new host stay family. Kristen actually tried to eat sushi, which was totally shocking to me. She didn't actually like it, but she TRIED it! She also tried pumpkin tempura and loved it. We were all very proud of her!
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The next morning, we woke up super early and headed to Kyoto. More to come soooooon! :-)brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-18902379982441055732012-07-05T05:55:00.000-04:002012-07-05T05:55:27.810-04:00Crazy NonStop-pednessSo it feels like things have been really for serious crazy non-stop since I last wrote.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DWI4Ol5tP2g/T_VXLJ9ENHI/AAAAAAAAFZ0/rndLRT9Fi5Y/s1600/crazybusy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DWI4Ol5tP2g/T_VXLJ9ENHI/AAAAAAAAFZ0/rndLRT9Fi5Y/s200/crazybusy.jpg" /><br>This is something like I was.</a></div> I couldn't talk for a very very long time, which had my energy level feeling somewhat less than it should be. So in what minimal free time I had (between going to school, analyzing my survey for my final presentation, studying for my final tests, working every day, practicing the guitar, and packing to move out of my apartment, this was basically none), I did a lot of forcing myself to rest and not talk. Very difficult for me.
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I also hit up a little shamisen concert that my friend put on.
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I learned that the body part of the shamisen tends to be made from either dog skin or cat skin, as other animals don't make quite the same sound. But because dogs are considered somewhat sacred in most parts of the world, they have to import the leather from China.
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His was made from dog, because he said that cat is often too small, and also you can see the nipples. Which, though he didn't say it, is weird.
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Look how lady-like I look while trying to play myself!
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I of course immediately thought that I needed to learn to play the shamisen myself, and Hikaru was kind enough to oblige in showing me a little bit.<br> However, when I asked about using synthetic fibers in the place of the dog/cat skin, he said it was impossible and the sound would just be wrong. If this is true, my shamisen learning dreams were very short-lived.
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Thursday was my LAST DAY OF YAMASA! It was sort of sad, but not quite as sad as when I left the last time. This time I had to give a speech, though, and mine went something like this: "お腹もすいたし、涙もろいし、その上スピーチも苦手です。ですので、みんな、ありがとう" Which means something like "I'm hungry, I cry a lot, and I'm bad at speeches. So, everyone, thanks!" <br>
I'm basically really awful at talking in front of people, and I certainly didn't want to make everyone wait through my inevitable tears, so that was that.
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Then I went to lunch with my classmates and teachers, then I went and had a lesson with Koushi, and Michie made me delicious vegan curry rice for dinner.
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THEN KRISTEN AND SHAWN ARRIVED!!
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We had an AWESOME time, and now they have left me. Be prepared over the next few days for a bombardment of blogging about their visit.
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以上です。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-56715006638108174182012-06-14T03:01:00.000-04:002012-06-14T03:01:53.162-04:00Laryngitis = no fun at all!I miss talking.
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I was in the middle of a conversation on Saturday night when suddenly my voice just stopped coming out. Seriously. One word was totally fine and the next was all "squeak squeak scratch scratch, huh!"
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Saturday night. Then on Sunday I decided to keep talking all day anyway, but it was just weird sounds coming out of my mouth, and it was painful. Then Monday was even WORSE. I had to go teach after school, and it took such effort to get words out of my mouth that I almost threw up.
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Then Tuesday I woke up and called Kristen to tell her Happy Birthday (have you voted for her yet? You have one day left, and it's super easy, so DO IT NOW: <a href="">VOTE FOR THE AWESOMENESS OF KRISTEN BAKER!!!!</a>), and we could only talk for about 5 minutes because it was so painful. And then when I got to school and tried to speak, nothing came out. I literally couldn't speak a word for the entire day.
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I even had to go to work and was all gestures and dancing and CD, because the words just weren't coming out of my mouth.
<br><br>Today, THURSDAY, it is FINALLY starting to get a little bit better, but frankly, I still sound like I'm crying instead of speaking. And it hurts. And every time I say more than a sentence or two at a time, I start coughing like a psycho maniac.
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I am sure this is very interesting to you all. It's just that I'm just so over it - I love to talk! I want to talk! Dear voice, PLEASE come back to me!
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In other news, I bought my tickets to go see <a href="http://www.ayabie.co.jp/">Ayabie</a>, and I am more than excited beyond belief! I thus leave you with a song I've been totally digging lately:
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It's only a short clip, but I am SO into the way 夢人(Yumehito, the singer) sort-of throws his voice around. The singer of <a href="http://knockoutmonkey.com/">Knock Out Monkey</a> does the same thing, and I more than love it!brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-19567490682106782142012-06-10T08:47:00.000-04:002012-06-10T08:47:51.389-04:00飲み会 and Black FailApparently, I've gone blog updating crazy. I mean, for serious - every day since June 4, minus yesterday.
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Rachael came to Okazaki to spend the weekend with me, and on Saturday night, we met up with my old students from the office English class I used to teach for a 飲み会 (nomikai - drinking party). Madness ensued.
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Apparently, I make Naoki crazy, because, according to the new guy in their class, he was totally normal until I got there, and then he went completely insane. I really missed him, though, and Ryouko and the whole class really, so it was great to see them again.
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<center><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XRjLxHqSh48/T9SQb4BXVMI/AAAAAAAAFYk/_Ak2jlvAeXc/s1600/DSC05070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XRjLxHqSh48/T9SQb4BXVMI/AAAAAAAAFYk/_Ak2jlvAeXc/s400/DSC05070.JPG" /></a></center>
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Then Megumi got drunk and told us all about how she is learning karate. I made the mistake of jokingly telling her that she should practice on Naoki, and:
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<center><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53jZXkPH9i0/T9SQQY3Mr2I/AAAAAAAAFYY/-APyj5UgMQY/s1600/DSC05064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53jZXkPH9i0/T9SQQY3Mr2I/AAAAAAAAFYY/-APyj5UgMQY/s400/DSC05064.JPG" /></a></center>
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She was definitely way more into it than the picture shows, by my picture taking skills are definitely not to be noted.
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Anyone who knows my knows how much I absolutely LOVE making 変顔 (hengao - funny faces - Kristen and I and Martin and I have huge collections of them). Apparently, Naoki is also a fan of the hengao, so we must have spent a good half hour or more just making stupid faces.
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<center><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_JBkwwOMjOk/T9SQcT88yxI/AAAAAAAAFYw/F7E69OqtwFE/s1600/DSC05074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_JBkwwOMjOk/T9SQcT88yxI/AAAAAAAAFYw/F7E69OqtwFE/s400/DSC05074.JPG" /></a></center>
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<center><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Px0GiYlmLdU/T9SQv3UXb4I/AAAAAAAAFY8/lh_iMgoB2mE/s1600/DSC05081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Px0GiYlmLdU/T9SQv3UXb4I/AAAAAAAAFY8/lh_iMgoB2mE/s400/DSC05081.JPG" /></a><br>Naoki and I were definitely the best at 変顔</center>
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It was seriously awesome to get to see them all again and see that they're doing well - WHY does their class have to be on Saturday? I got to speak Japanese the whole night, too, which was awesome (well, except at the end, when I lost my voice and then couldn't talk anymore).
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After, Glen (also known as Takeru), who is the new teacher of their class, came over to my place after, and we had a pseudo dance party je sais meme pas quoi at my place, with just the three of us.
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<center><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XcSqShUaYJg/T9SSvonwy8I/AAAAAAAAFZI/t_YEsIxyM6c/s1600/DSC05098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XcSqShUaYJg/T9SSvonwy8I/AAAAAAAAFZI/t_YEsIxyM6c/s400/DSC05098.JPG" /></a></center>
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Glen somewhat fell in love with the posters I have on my wall of 三浦翔平 (Miura Shouhei) and 山本裕典 (Yamamoto Yuusuke) - I mean, naturally, who wouldn't?
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<center><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tjbERAs_bhk/T9STQ5NWLcI/AAAAAAAAFZU/2fE7OZYzA6Y/s1600/DSC05086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tjbERAs_bhk/T9STQ5NWLcI/AAAAAAAAFZU/2fE7OZYzA6Y/s320/DSC05086.JPG" /></a>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WQtNtODMUrc/T9STRUT7icI/AAAAAAAAFZg/vuVBSuZwjvM/s1600/DSC05087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WQtNtODMUrc/T9STRUT7icI/AAAAAAAAFZg/vuVBSuZwjvM/s320/DSC05087.JPG" /></a>
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Good times were had, and we danced and acted like weirdos until about 3 AM. I was naturally reminded of that song by the Unlovables "Dance party for two, me and you," except that we were three (on a side note, I miss the Unlovables - won't they put out a new album soon?)
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<center><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R-Ang4tY8eU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
Because no post would be complete without a music video of some sort attached.</center>
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Then today Rachael and I went and hung out at Aeon for a while, and we were talking about how I'm old and my hair is all grey, and she was all "Maybe you should die it," and I was all, "Yeah, maybe I could do black." So we bought some black hair dye and tried to dye my hair back, but unfortunately it was a mega fail (I really didn't know you could ever fail with black), and my hair pretty much didn't change colors at all. :-( (and by pretty much I mean it is still exactly the same color as it was before I started)
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And I realize the complete pointlessness of this post but,. . .I believe in pointlessness. Yes.
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and on that note, お休みなさい。brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19255635.post-23082562264732900302012-06-08T02:37:00.001-04:002012-07-05T04:50:52.889-04:00Sakae Spring 2012, サカスプ2012 DAY 2<small><i>Note: Those that get this by e-mail, go to the actual page if you want to see the youtube links.</i></small>
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So, after a late night out Saturday (I actually didn't finally go to sleep until around 3 in the morning), I woke up and Rachael and I headed to the onsen (good job, Saya, on picking a hotel with a 露天風呂- rotenburo, even if I am now even more broke than the already broke I was) (Saya and Mari had to get ready for their dates; they skipped out on day 2) for a relaxing soak to get us ready for a day of concert hopping.
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Then we met up with Steven and Nate and headed over to Magic Theater for
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<b><a href="http://milkbar.me/">MILKBAR</a></b>
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<center><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Veit2PkOrXs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>
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I've been hearing about MILKBAR for ages (I guess their friends with some other bands I like) and listening to them on youtube. They're kinda slow, kinda folksy, kinda rock, and, in a perhaps weird way, they remind me somewhat of the Radwimps.<br>
Nate thought they were kind of boring, but I thought they were an absolutely perfect start to a day of concert hopping. The singer was incredibly passionate about what he was singing, to the point that, with his last song, crying out "君に涙、僕に涙” I actually almost started crying myself. I definitely wanted to go home and listen to the song a thousand times over again.<br>
They've also got a stand-up bass, which adds a a sort-of unexpected and extremely pleasant level to their sound. Totally into them!
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<b><a href="http://www.rookiez.jp/">ROOKIEZ is PUNK'D</a></b>
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<center><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fJ2j44IoVUo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>
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So then we headed downstairs to Ozon (how convenient that Ozon and Magic Theater are in the same building) for a band that I love and had previously seen several times.<br>
They did a song for an anime that both Rachael and Steven love (Dararara or something - I've never heard of it), so they got super into it. Naturally. They have a sort-of rock/hip-hop/pop sound that really appeals to me, and they even have a couple songs (i.e. Eggmate of the Year) that are super pop-punky. <3<br>
I also saw them at Sakae Spring 2011, and it was sort-of amazing to realize how big they've gotten. The crowd was at least 3 times larger than it was last year when I saw them at R.A.D. Probably even more than three times larger. Apparently, they also did a song for Bleach - apparently, you do an anime song, you get big.<br>
Anyhow, as expected, they totally totally ROCKED!
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GpXyDYo7QFw/T9GZYKhdu9I/AAAAAAAAFXU/XAYVSqS_7bA/s1600/DSC04033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GpXyDYo7QFw/T9GZYKhdu9I/AAAAAAAAFXU/XAYVSqS_7bA/s400/DSC04033.JPG" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flip-4.com/">Flip</a> played after ROOKIEZ is PUNK'D at Ozon, and I kind of wanted to stick around and see them. But Steven and Rachael were hungry, so we went down to get them pizza, and when I sat down, my feet said thank you, so we just chilled for a bit.
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<b><a href="http://www.ldh-rootless.jp/">The ROOTLESS</a></b>
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And I'm glad we did chill for a bit, because in the end we headed over to Tight Rope a bit early to see Real Reach, and as such, we got to see the last few songs of The ROOTLESS, a band I'd never heard of before, who was AMAZING.<br>
Pure rock, at least the songs we saw. And with a huge crowd - there were seriously so many people in Tight Rope that I'm surprised they let us in. (I've just discovered that they have a song in One Piece, which would explain the crowd)
<br>While they are totally not visual kei, I found that they kind of had a bit of a visual kei sound (though I'm sure they would NOT like to hear that), and I was thus totally into it.
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<b><a href="http://www.real-reach.com/">REAL REACH</a></b>
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I love Real Reach. Like seriously love them. Totally American 90's style punk rock, done to Japanese perfection. They're one of the first Japanese bands I ever got into (along with Special Thanks, Stompin' Bird, Shachi, and Saboten), and I have literally been trying to find a way to get to see them ever since getting to Japan.<br>
As they seem to be 名古屋(Nagoya)based, this really shouldn't have been hard, and yet. . .somehow literally every time they've played, I've not been able to go.<br>
So after two years of trying, Sakae Spring 2012 was my first time, and it was even more awesome than I possibly could have expected. I actually even accidentally moshed and had a great time doing it (I don't think I've enjoyed moshing since I was, like, 21ish).<br>
And when they were doing their towel song (every Japanese band seems to have a neck towel song), one of the dudes threw his neck towel in my direction, and it landed on my head, but I was so busy jumping around like a crazy person that I didn't notice until the person beside me stole it off my head.<br>
THEY WERE SO AWESOME! Definitely the highlight of my day!
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<b><a href="http://theclutch.jp/">THE CLUTCH</a></b>
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<center><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Cd6tTzp8uVY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>
The discovery of the day - The Clutch! (Guillaume says we should change their name to Les punks de la foret) Since on Saturday, all of the awesome bands seemed to be playing at X-Hall, after Real Reach we headed over there and managed to see a good bit of the Clutch's set.<br>
And they totally rocked. For serious. There is something about Japanese rockers doing what I think of as epitaph-style punk that's just really perfect. They totally brought back memories of listening to Hi-Standard in high school, of road trips to Lake Charles on the weekend to see whatever band the L.A.D.S had planned (I realize that probably means next to nothing to everyone but me, but just - brought back some mega awesome memories).<br>
It seems rare for me to hear new music like that nowadays that I actually WANT to keep listening to (am I getting old?), but I totally wanted to keep listening to them. More and more and more.
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<b><a href="http://suzumoku.info/">suzumoku</a></b>
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<iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HA6Cf8j_oX0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><br><br>
After so much awesome rock, it was time for a bit of a rest, so we headed over to Blue Note for suzumoko, a slower, more folksy singer that I totally love. It was nice to sit down for a bit. We met up with Nate and Joanna there, and they both thought he was boring. Rachael thought he lacked stage presence. Not me.<br>
Sure, he didn't really move a lot around the stage, and he didn't really have much to say, he just stood there singing and singing and singing. And somehow that just felt really intense and powerful to me (I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I associate opening your mouth really big when you sing with passion - as both suzumoko and milkbar singer opened their mouths enormously wide).<br>
Anyhow, it was beautiful.
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<b><a href="http://knockoutmonkey.com/">Knock Out Monkey</a></b>
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Then back to X-Hall for Knock Out Monkey, the last band of the day. I have an album of theirs that I love, so I was totally looking forward to seeing them live, and. . .let's just say that they rocked so hard that they actually managed to beat out Real Reach for best band of the day.<br>
Lots of skanking, moshing, and head-banging. I can't decide if I can call them punk or just rock or what. I guess it doesn't matter - what matters is that they are awesome. Pure awesome. And pure awesome times were had.
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All in all, a totally awesome two days, and I'm sort-of sad when I think that this is probably my last Sakae Spring. (I just have to keep reminding myself that next year I will be going to Insubordination Fest).<br>
Two bands of the day I'm sad I missed: <a href="http://sakaespring.com/artist2012/bigmama.html">BIGMAMA</a> and <a href="http://audioleaf.com/howlactions/">Howl Actions</a>. I'd actually never heard of BIGMAMA before, but the singer of Glory Jackpot System recommended them, so I listened when I got home, and I totally LOVE. THey were at Quattro, though, and I really didn't think it would be possible to get in.<br>
I could be wrong, but I think Howl Actions is from 岡崎 (Okazaki). Anyhow, they're really good, but they were playing at the same time as Real Reach, so that was out before it was in.
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And this is extraordinarily long (I can't help it - I love music!), and I doubt anyone will read it all the way through. Except maybe me in the me future.brizmushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18163313230550265190noreply@blogger.com0