Tokyo: otaku culture, shrines and karaoke

one of the first things that one notices here: life in Tokyo is soooooo much more busy and time consuming than my nice, cute pacific island life! Partially this is due to the fact that whatever I want to do in Tokyo I need to calculate a good 1,5hrs travel time oneway into Tokyo downtown from my host families' place. If you wonder why - well have a look at the Metro map:














But it is also way more diverse and interesting. Thanks to couchsurfing.org I immediately found contact to some open Japanese who are keen to meet foreign people, show them around their area and brush up their English:

With Keiko and her friends we went for an evening in the crazy Shibuyah district, had in a hidden restaurant great chinese food for around 5 EUR per person including drinks and went after that to Karaoke! there is not much more Japanese you can do I guess!

Rie took me for a clubbing night out in Roppongi, the Party district on a saturday night and the following day we met in Shinjuku, where she took me to a famous cake shop and her favourite shopping place. We had a typical Japanese girls sunday afternoon - one goes to different department stores and tries out make-up and other things. And Japanese are mad about cake and chocolate. No idea how they keep in shape with this...

Kyoko asked me to join her for a Couchsurfing house party hosted by a Japanese-American guy and it was a nice mix of Japnese and "gaijins" present.

With Mizuki I spent an afternoon in Akihabara, the centre of technic things and Anime-Otaku culture. Its the idolization of comic girls, which materializes in little dolls, manga-porn and even maido caffes, where you can meet with a girl who is dresses as your favourite Anime figure. It was great to go there with a Japanese - he took me to little shops where I would have NEVER dared to go in myself. I also tried some famous Udon-Noodles.

Saeko and Hideki invited me to an afternoon with her friend Raymond from Ghana and Mariona from Barcelona. Raymond had just returned from Ghana and cooked some very interesting food for us. It was a fantastic day where I learned a lot about that country and we had some great discussions.

I visited Marga, a Romanian girl who lives in Yokohama since 10 years for a walk and a drink in the well known Sakuragichou Area. We had met at the Couchsurfing-house Party two weeks before.

The cultural Part was covered by Masao-san, my host family dad. We went together to the Akasake Mikusa shrine and Museum, which was frequented by Japanese nationalists on that day.

Everyday life

I have Japanese class every day from 1-5 pm and usually I learn in the mornings another 2 hours, as I can not keep up with the speed of the class. My host family is very nice, we come along perfectly well and Fumiko-san, the mother is a great conversation partner.

And she also looks faboulous! I hope we manage to go out together one evening!!

Tokyo – very many people and very low temperatures

My first day in Tokyo and what a shock for my body: It has had 3 inches of snow tonight. It's freezing cold and every part of me is trying hard to adjust.

To cope with cold climate I can put on another pullover and some gloves. But to adjust is indeed a hard task – it's a different world:

Don't steal bicycles and never be late!!

When I arrived at the language school the first thing I was given was a booklet with behavioral rules as a language school student in Japan: don't work as a Janitor in the red-light district and don't take a bicycle which is not yours, etc… together with it came a 20 Paragraph handout about the school's rules: don't leave school without permission, don't ask other students questions in class, and NEVER come late! But the best ever was the pie-chart-scheme how being late has direct influence on your attendance rate.

After signing the acceptance of these rules I was given the schedule: every day from 1:00- 4:50pm is class. After each 50 minutes, a break of 10 minutes is granted. This plan is not even altered by a second as you can imagine. Teachers are Japanese girls in my age and the students consist of an international mix of Europeans, Koreans and even a guy from Ghana, all around 20-25 years old.

We have tests every week to check if everybody is still in sync with the class performance. The learning speed is fascinating: The group I joined was almost on the level I had been after three months class at Uni – the only difference is that these guys did not speak a single piece of Japanese 2 weeks ago. Extreme brain-wash-method!

My host family:

I live together with the Abuku family in a tiny 2-room-flat 20minutes by train from the city centre. I have a 5m² room, which is a real luxury situation. Because the rest of the family shares an open living/dining room space of 20m² for all activities of their life at home. 10-year-old daughter Moegi has her books, desk and toys right next to Daddy Masao's magazines and mother Fumiko's Laptop.

Eating, wii-playing, homework and - yes – sleeping all happens in this area. At night three futon-bed-sets are taken out of the cupboard and the entire family sleeps there. It's not a big deal, because Masao-san is out of home working from 7AM to 10PM. This is no exaggeration – he really doesn't come home before 10PM! By that time Moegi usually sleeps already. "Japanese simply love their job", was the answer, when I was asking very astonished if these are normal working hours. Masao-san even says he doesn't work hard, others would work more – is this physically possible?!

I guess I should never ever complain with a Japanese about overtime working. I don't know how he survives this schedule…

this is my room. of course I also put up my futon-set every night! It had a bit of a Harry-Potter-Cupboard-Feeling in the beginning...

Fumiko-san prepares yummy Japanese food every night. Fish (raw or cooked) is a daily component, as well as seaweed, soy-beans and rice in different forms. I got my own chopsticks and Moegi would fall off the chair laughing at my unskilled trials to eat with them, if we would not all sit on the floor around a flat table.

At night each family member takes a bath after cleansing thoroughly under the shower. The bath is for relaxation and inner purification – not to get clean.

My host family (actually it's only Fumiko-san I primarily see) is very open and experiences with "gaijins" (foreigners), so I may also just take a shower without having to sit in the bathtub afterwards. And it is tolerated that I go for a run after getting up at 8AM, instead of studying the entire morning from 6AM onwards…

Trains and People Part I:

Taking trains in Tokyo is not as bad as I thought. When I am travelling to the school around noon I always get a seat and even when going home between 5-7pm it's not too crowded at all. And it's great for people watching, especially changing at the famous Shibuya-station…

Last days in Pohnpei – leaving the Pacific region

Karneval presentation for 7th grade kids in Kolonia

I had been asked by Josephine if I would like to talk in front of her class about a random topic from my culture. She teaches in grade 7 of the Pohnpei Catholic school and has primarily young Pohnpeians in her class.

After some consideration I decided to talk about "Fastnacht" – Carneval. This comes close to the rituals they know and is so typical for my region and my family – and – a former Carneval's Princess is definitely entitled to speak about that custom.

I got some pictures and facts together and indeed – the kids were completely fascinated, each from different aspects: some liked the scary witches and devils, others liked the beautiful uniform of the Mainzer Prinzengarde. It was very cute to see the glowing faces and the hot discussions about costume options in the break after the presentations. I was told, the rest of the day teaching was hardly possible. I then received some thank-you letters with even costume drawings. How cool is this?

Surfer's paradise

As surfing on a reef with highly toxic corals is not the best idea for beginners like me I just enjoyed a day out on the boat with the Pohnpei surfclub without getting to close to a board. The waves were not high at all this day, but the real Pro's are an event to look at on its own right. That day, Chrissy, a 16-year-old supertalent from the US was ruling the reef. Top surfers are on island almost every week.

Yes, I did work!!!

I realized that I did not post any pictures so far of the Micronesian Seminar, the library, our weekly Monday morning staff meetings and the colourful lunch sessions…

The MicSem team consist of three Chuukese, four Philipinos, two Americans and Father Fran. Although actually American the Jesuit Priest is in Micronesia since 50 years and although now in his 70s ruling the MicSem as a Director with admirable dedication and toughness since over three decades. He is not only one of the most acknowledged scholars for Micronesian History but also a fascinating person. He plays Basketball every day with the young guys and/or goes for a run on the causeway; at functions he is the most wanted conversation partner and I personally learned a lot in every single conversation I had with him.

But also with the other team members I really had enjoyed working together. Eugenia, the Chuukese spent quite some lunch breaks with me together telling me about her life back in Chuuk. Sepio and Raymond, the two younger Chuukese guys went with us to the dance club (sorry no pics from these evenings) and the Philipino ladies are the most cheerful bunch I ever met.

Farewell with flowers in the hair

When I left the island I got a traditional mamar, which is given to people when they arrive or leave the society. With respect to re-use options for Carneval I did not get the one with fresh flowers, but a re-usable one, which will have its revival to do together with my Hibiscus grass skirt and the shell-necklaces next year for the 5^th season…

I was leaving the island in a mixed mood. On the one hand I am looking forward to what lies ahead of me, but on the other hand I know that this spot of the world is a bit hard to reach again…