Yesterday was another big day. I was taken to a pro baseball game showcasing the Marines vs the Buffaloes. It was around an hour away from my place by train in Chiba prefecture.
I met Miho at one of the train stations I made a transfer at and we continued to the ballpark together. We were trying to make it there early because we wanted to see her sister's performance as she is a cheerleader for the team.
Here is a shot of the stadium from a distance, and a shot of a convention center near it that was hosting the famous Tokyo Game Show while we were there.
Before the game we hung outside the stadium where there were booths setup for buying food and other things being demonstrated. Miho and I ate some Takoyaki (breaded, balled chunks of octopus). We also posed with some police vecicals on display at a little public safety demonstration area.
Finally we went in the stadium and got our seats. It was open seating so it took a while to find seats that were open! There are many differences between American baseball games and Japanese so I will try and see how many I can remember.
The most obvious is the singing and chants. Their chants are not like ours that are started by music that comes from the public address system. Theirs are widely known team specific songs. All of the right field seats were full of people wearing the same colors and chanting constantly when the home team was batting to the beat of one huge drum that lead the pace. Our section above third base was a lot more tame, and we were so high up that it gave me a good view to observe from.
Team accessories also seem a bit more important here in Japan. For example almost everyone has a team scarf that they would raise in the air using two hands when they sang certain songs. Also, there is one point in the game where most of the fans blow up balloons and let them fly at the same time. I got a picture of that.
The enthusiastic right field didn't seem to lose a single person all game and was just as loud even though we were up 8-0. They all stayed, and most of the rest of the crowd too, in the stadium for around 20 minutes after the game to see the "hero interview" that takes place on the field with the player of the game.
Another big difference is how affordable food is in the stadiums. Having already eaten takoyaki, I wasn't too hungry but I did buy a box of cookies for around eighty cents. I think a slice of pizza was like a dollar sixty, beer was five dollars, etc. You also aren't allowed to throw your trash on the floor!
During the game we were trying to spot Miho's sister cheerleading but it was hard to tell which was her. We did get to see her dancing outside the stadium at a post game party though. Here's her picture a also some of the fans watching the cheerleaders perform.
After the game I finally was able to get my cellphone. It is a bit of a headache trying to get a phone as a foreigner here but I finally did it. It is crucial here and people make loose plans assuming you have a phone so you can be reached and notified of changes or people's tardiness. The phone was free and some of it's features is it picks up digital tv signals free, it has infrared sensors for sending files, pictures, and contact info to other phones, and it has only been on the market for a couple weeks! It is really awesome how you just have to hold your phone next to someone else's to get their contact info . That is all people here do now.
Feel free to send an email to my phone anytime!
My address is: ShiaWasedaRen@ezweb.ne.jp
Also, my mailing address is:
Ren Hollis
520 TsurumakiCho Waseda
Apartment 602
Shinjuku-Ku Tokyo 160-0014
Today I went to my school's baseball game. It was pretty fun, but very hot and sunny. It was a cool experience watching baseball in Japan because they cheer so differently. When your team is up, at least in college, you don't sit and you constantly chant and sing different things. It is somewhat comparable to what high school softball teams do in the dugout in the USA.
I had another orientation for a couple hours after that which was really boring. After that I was able to go to my school's symphony's concert. It was quite a show. It was held in a nice venue across town and luckily for me one of the band members gave me a free ticket! It was a real honor to see them play considering they tour the world putting on shows.
Here's a picture of outside the venue, and one from inside.
Yesterday, local members of my school's international department took us Californians on some tours around Tokyo. I was in the group that went to Asakusa and Ueno (both are districts of Tokyo).
We began at a train station where we all met before going on our various tours. The first picture is of an outdoor smoking section that has become quite common in Tokyo. I am pretty sure smoking on sidewalks has been criminalized to there are special designated places. I've even seen special smoking patrols by people who look like police.
Some of the buildings surrounding the train station look like this:
The signs on the buildings vary from pachinko casinos to student loans to karaoke to arcades.
Here's a fellow Californian buying a train ticket with help from one of the locals:
My group took a train to a ferry depot and then took a ferry to Asakusa (we could have taken a train but this was better). I chatted a bunch with a new classmate of mine named Yoshiko as we rode the ferry and saw some cool sights including Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge (not very colorful though), Tokyo Dome, and some of the skyscrapers.
Asakusa was quite busy being that this is a 3 day holiday and people come from all over Japan and Asia to see this place. We mainly spent our time checking out street vendors and the shrine.
Then in Ueno we just checked out more street vendors and saw a little of Ueno park.
We all met up again where we originally met and headed to a restaurant where we were being treated to a drinking social. Here we are ordering food on the LCD touch screen:
Toasting (the two Japanese girls on the right are locals):
And that's how the day went! I think I am being taken to Ikea today, but we'll see. See ya later!
Oh ya, I met a girl that went to high school in Japan less than a mile away from where I did!
I am in my second morning in my new apartment here in Tokyo. Overall I am satisfied with the place however it needs a little bit of cleaning. I am really liking my neighborhood because there is a park 1 minute away from my apartment, there is a laundry facility in the same building, French, Indian, Italian, and Japanese restaurants, a supermarket and convenient stores, various medical practises, a police station, and more. Here are a couple pictures of the park:
I went to Harajuku yesterday and did some shopping. Harajuku is well known for young people going and dressing really crazily just to have a good time and be seen. Here's some pictures
I am still getting my room together and will hopefully get some pictures up soon. I just ate my banana and yogurt breakfast and will go to the park and use its exercise equipment. The pullup bar at the park is my new hope for being able to accomplish my New Year's resolution of 10! 
Since I arrived I have been staying at a hotel and have been attending seminars at my school. Jumping back to everyday life in Japan has been no issue at all. At times it doesn't even seem like I am in a foreign country. It is an entirely different experience now that I am here being able to speak Japanese as opposed to how it was in high school. Also, here in Tokyo people are much more used to seeing foreigners so I don't get starred at that much at all.
My first days in Tokyo have been relatively comfortable. I don't notice any air pollution or bad smells, it really doesn't seem that crowded to me, the public transportation is easy to understand, and no other things that I initially worried about seem to be problems. However, I am just getting over some severe jet-lag. Before tonight, I slept just 4.5 hours my first two nights away from California (3 hours on the plane, and 1.5 hours the next night). That led to a very difficult day yesterday, but I am happy to say I have already gotten 6 hours of sleep tonight and will probably get at least one more hour in soon. It is currently 3:30 AM Japanese time.
I had some free time yesterday and went and got my foreign residency card. I was most impressed with how there was a picture booth in the lobby where you could take your own passport pictures and it was only $5 for 4 pictures! I also got the key for my apartment and will go check it out and hopefully meet my roommate from China today.
Before I go I wanted to make a quick comment on the efficiency of Japanese toilets. Lots of toilets only fill the bowl a little assuming you will only deposit something in liquid form. As soon as you sit down though it assumes there will be a need for more water so it fills up a little more. Then, when it comes time to flush you have the option of a big flush, or a small one. I also really like how this hotel puts stationary soap and shampoo containers in the shower the hotel isn't throwing away its hundreds of miniature sized containers every day. Oh yeah, the toilets have a funny warning in English that says: DO NOT splash water or detergent on the product (This may cause fire ot trouble). I might get a picture of it up later.
I made it! It's pouring rain and there was a little lightning. I'm going to bed, talk to you later!
I am about to hit the road and go to the San Francisco international airport. I am not sure what else to say but SAYONARA!
Here are a couple pictures from my last night in Humboldt hanging out with some friends from high school, I mean, all the way back in kindergarten.
Ok, this is the first blog I will write in what should become a regular thing. I move into my apartment in Tokyo next week and I plan on updating this once a week or so. I am still getting a feel for this site so I will see if I can get a picture posted on this from Sami's birthday campout.
We all live in that camper and travel around to county fairs together.
