I had something very interesting happen this morning while waiting for the train, which was my inspiration for writing this post. I bought a drink at one of the vending machines, and finished it while waiting in line for the train to show up. There were about 6 people waiting at the same spot as me, in a neat line, which looked something like this ::: - I was one of the middle dots. I went and threw my empty can away, and when I came back, I went to the back of the line, but noticed the person behind me hadn't moved up. He then turned around and said, that I could have my spot back. This may not be a big deal, but I have never seen anyone do anything like that in Philly, NYC, or Cleveland... Which leads me to my post, about how to not look like a stupid foreigner when traveling around Japan.

If you ever are in Japan, there is one thing you will be doing a lot, which is walking. When walking in Japan, there are some things that you need to be aware of, or else you will be wondering why you are getting dirty/weird looks from the other people on the sidewalk. There are exceptions to all these, but their purpose is to be a basic outline.

First, make sure you are always walking on (your) left side of the sidewalk. You'll notice that while you're walking, everyone that is going the same direction as you will be on the left hand side. You won't get arrested or anything if you walk on the right, but you will bump into someone every 5 seconds, and have a bunch of frustrated Japanese looking at you.

Second, do not jaywalk. If you are waiting at an intersection to cross the street, and the crosswalk signal is not the little green guy, do not cross. For one, this will get you stopped by one of Tokyo's finest, and you'll have to produce either your passport or alien registration card. If, however, you see a bunch of Japanese crossing when they aren't supposed to, feel free to walk with them. There is one particular corner on the way to school where everyone seems to get stuck at, so people ignore this rule all the time and cross. I always wait for a Japanese to go first though -- maybe I'm just paranoid.

Third, don't eat and walk. I have yet to see anyone walking down the street munching on a cheeseburger or taiyaki. I really have no idea why this is, but I just know Japanese don't eat and walk at the same time, so you shouldn't either!


Now on to train etiquette. Inevitably you will also ride a train at least once while in Japan. I love the public transportation here. It is on time... all the time. And you can get anywhere in Tokyo for a fair price, and quickly. However, there are some "rules" to abide by on and around the trains.

First and foremost, you are not supposed to talk on the trains. I'm pretty sure every foreigner, and Japanese has broken this one at least once (I'm up to about 4 times now >.<). From what I've noticed, the younger generation of Japanese talk with their friends much more frequently than the older generations. This talking rule only applies if the person you're talking to is also on the train though; absolutely no talking on the cell phone though. There is a sign every 10 feet probably saying something along the lines of," please put your cell phone on silent mode, and refrain from talking while on the train."

When you are waiting for the train, do not stand directly in front of the door when it arrives. There will be between 1-50 people getting off at your stop, and when they are getting off they do not expect there to be someone standing in front of the door - if there is someone, the people leaving the train will be like, "what the hell?" Just stand off to the side, and once everyone has exited the car, then you can enter. It's kind of silly, but a) it makes things work really smoothly (especially at super busy stations) and b) you will really impress the Japanese!

This should go without saying, but if you see an elderly/handicaped/pregnant woman, let them sit down...

All of this stuff is what I believe the Japanese would bundle in with "meiwaku," which is a term that can broadly be defined as not causing the people around you trouble. I will update this more if/when I think of or see more interesting things.

P.S. I also *finally* posted the pictures from my karaoke/pool adventure. They're listed under ”友達” (tomodachi - or friend(s) in Japanese). 

I'd like to start off by saying that I must have jinxed myself regarding the weather --- there is now about 3" of snow on the ground! When I got home tonight the first thing I said to my host family was ”オハイよ州みたいよ" which translates into something along the lines of "this is just like Ohio." They got a kick out of that and laughed.

I spent most of the day in Shibuya with my friends Cliff, Chinami, and Yuka. Cliff is a study abroad student here at TUJ, and also has aspirations to be an investment banker after he graduates. Chinami and Yuka both attend Musashi University in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Cliff and I met them through Temple's culture exchange program; and we figured going and hanging out in Shibuya would be a good way to get to know each other.

First, a bit about Shibuya. This is the place to be if you are into fashion, nightlife, or Japan's youth culture. Shibuya station is just as huge as Tokyo Station, and sees something like 3 million people per day. The streets are lined with fashionable places to shop, karaoke buildings, and places to eat. It's super lively, and a ton of fun. It can also get expensive if you aren't careful. Now, on to my adventure...

We started out by going to this 6 story "game" building. One floor was similar to an arcade, the next floor was a bowling alley, then a billiards floor, etc.. We played 2 games of pool first: The teams were Chinami and myself vs. Cliff and Yuka. Neither Chinami or Yuka had played pool before, so Cliff and I had to use our awesome (read: poor) Japanese to explain the rules. I have a feeling that something around 80% of communication is from body language may have played a part in this, but we managed to finally get all the rules explained and taught them how to use the pool que. By some stroke of luck, Chinami and I managed to win both games (she played better than me the second game, actually haha) - but if you know me, you know I'm terrible at any kind of pool other than speed pool (Kev and Conor - I'm not sure they would enjoy speed pool here. It is way too rowdy).

We then headed downstairs to bowl. The bowling alley was pretty cool; it was light by black lights, and had glow in the dark wallpaper, and lights all over the place. It reminded me of a birthday party I had way back in the past. We switched up the teams for bowling, so it was Yuka and myself vs. Cliff and Chinami. I am glad that I decided to go into finance instead of professional bowling, because I would be one poor bowler! My score was the highest at 96, then Chinami, Cliff, and Yuka. All the scores were actually in the 90s, which to me is pretty damn good - until you compare those scores with the 150+s grandma puts up... shyoganai ne (It can't be helped). Bowling was a ton of fun though - and cheap!

After bowling we decided to go get something eat. Cliff knew about a certain style of Japanese resturaunt, and after about 5 minutes we figured out that it is an ikezaya. So we went to the nearest one to eat. Basically at an ikezaya (it might be ikizaya, I forget) you get your own little room, and have a little lcd screen where you can order food from, and they bring it out for you. The particular one we went to was 290yen for everything (around $3). The best way to describe how the food comes out is family style. They just bring a plate of what ever your ordered, and everyone shares. We bought kimchi (Korean dish - don't ask what it's made out of), Sushi, Salad, Tamago (egg), chicken, and some other stuff.

The topic of conversation was pretty random. It is a very unique experience talking with people your own age in a foreign language, and have them speak to you in your native language. Basically Cliff and I would say stuff in Japanese, and they would respond in English. You definitely start to appreciate being able to express the same idea in multiple ways though. We ended up talking about movies, and in order to figure out movie we were talking about we had to describe what happened in the movie. One of the funnier examples was probably the explanation & acting out of various horror movies. I also mentioned that I had seen the move "Black Rain" by Kurosawa, which is "kuroi ame" in Japanese - which is what I said. For some reason that I still don't know this was hilarious to Chinami and Yuka. They said it was a funny combination of words - but it makes me wonder!

Following dinner, we went to karaoke... I was half-way skeptical about it since I can't sing to save my life, but it ended up being really fun. It was really funny because we kept trying to pick songs everyone else would know, however the other people ended up not knowing the songs. We managed to find some common ground with Michael Jackson and the Beatles. I think one of the funniest songs we sang was Thriller, since it was accompanied by a few of the dance moves. The most difficult was definitely ABC by the Jackson 5 -- we all kind of gave up on it about half way through.

The karaoke room was probably 12'x15, and the outer wall was lined with booth-style seating, and then there was a table in the middle for drinks and the mics. In the front of the room is the tv where the lyrics are displayed (it was like a 40" LCD - legit). There was also a phone so you could order stuff, and two tablet-pc esq things where you chose the songs from. Along with my bowling career, I will forgo singing - however karaoke is a lot of fun.

The entire day which started at around 2 and ended at 10ish cost only $30, which is not bad considering the variety and amount of things we did.

I will post pictures tomorrow, but for now I'm going to go get some much needed sleep!

Following are some of the most frequent questions people have been asking me about my life in Japan so far. Hopefully this answers what you want to know!

Q. What is the area around TUJ like?
A. TUJ is basically located in the middle of downtown Tokyo. It is in the Minato ward, which is about a 15 minute or so walk from Roppongi. According to the TUJ Study Abroad orientation, Minato has the biggest foreigner population of all Tokyo's 23 wards, but you wouldn't know it. The area directly around TUJ is mostly office buildings, with a few apartments scattered about. There also happens to be this awesome family owned fruit shop like 2 minutes from campus where you can buy みかん (mikan: mandarin orange) for super cheap -- and they're absolutely delicious. Despite being in the center of Tokyo, the streets aren't super crowded like you would think. Compared with Shibuya or other high-traffic areas, Minato is pretty laid back.

Q. What are the classes like?!
A. Well, this answer is going to depend on the class really:
 - Risk Management is quite difficult due to the teacher going way outside of Temple's requirements for the course. The teacher is focusing heavily on finance (which I'm psyched about), however he moves extremely quick in order to make sure he fits everything in. This is troublesome because he will not even explain key points and just assume we understand them already. It's still an extremely interesting class though if you're interested in finance.
  - International Trade (Economics) is far too easy for a 3500 level college course. We spent the last 2 weeks reviewing comparative advantage, which is a real bummer since that topic is super simple. I got a perfect score on our first quiz without even studying o.O (pretend you didn't read that last part). I really hope this class gets more interesting since I love economics.
 - Advanced Japanese is very.... very difficult. It is quite a bit more intense than Advanced 1 at main campus. The teacher's vocab quizzes are a hybrid grammar, vocab, knowledge of Japanese sayings quiz, which makes them quite hard. The first test is on Monday (Feb. 1st), and unlike econ, I will be studying a ton. I'm against taking difficult classes though - I'm ready to take on the challenge.
 - Professional Development strategies is a course that all Temple Business majors have to take. You basically learn how to make resumes, cover letters, and act professional. Thanks to all the support I've gotten over the years, especially this last year, this class is really not very mindblowing. You meet for 1 hour a week, once a week. The guy that is teaching it is the head of the MBA program at TUJ though, so it's cool getting to know him. Still going to try and make the best out of it, and try to squeeze some new info out.
- Managerial Accounting is with the same professor as the one who teaches my Risk Mgmt. class... so needless to say it is difficult. However, he is staying more withing the confines of what you are supposed to teach for this course so he isn't flying through the material. I'm really enjoying this class though, which makes me feel like a huge nerd -- who likes accounting?

Q. Is Tokyo really that expensive?
A. Yes and no. It can be as expensive as you want to make it (i.e. going shopping in the Ginza district every weekend; Ginza is like Fifth Avenue in NYC... except an entire ward). You can also spend a lot of money at the vending machines that are all over the place. Japanese money is deceptive since the small 100 yen coins are worth about $1, but they don't feel like it since it's about the size of a dime -- stopping at a vending machine costs 120 yen minimum... this adds up. If you try and eat and do stuff like the locals, you will be okay. You get hit with a lot of expenses at the start of the study abroad program: health care, cell phone, commuter pass, books, etc.. After that though, you can pretty easily keep your costs down. I will do a separate post later about this.

Q. What is the weather like?
A. The weather has been between 40-60, and has only rained 1 or 2 days so far. The weather in Tokyo seems to be slightly warmer than the weather in Chiba (where I live).

Q. How is your host family?
A. They're incredibly nice. It is just the host-mom, dad, and me most of the time; on the weekends though, their grandchildren stay the night. It is a lot of fun having a 6 year old show you up with their Japanese skills. The host mom has cooked every night since I've been here -- all the food is delicious. I also went shopping with my host parent's youngest son, Kohei, the other day. That was a really fun experience since he works in Shibuya, so he loves outrageous clothes. He particularly likes this furry red fedora. I'll get a picture of everyone as quick as possible.

I hope this answers most of the questions I've received over the last couple weeks. If you have any more, just post them in the comments and I'll reply.

P.S. Expect a bunch more pictures after this weekend!

P.P.S. What do you think of the new layout/design?

A ton of new pictures were just added (64 I think?) to my web album. Go take a look!:

http://picasaweb.google.com/devgru8/Asakusa#slideshow/5430568139620479570

Now that I finally have a real camera, I'll be taking an unnecessary amount of pictures. I'll try to integrate them into the blog, but the link to view the entire album online is:

http://picasaweb.google.com/devgru8

Yesterday I went to Akihabara (so that I could buy a camera for really cheap). Akihabara, or Aki, is basically any computer/anime/video game/collectors items nerds paradise. Since I probably fall under a couple of those categories it was highly entertaining.

When I got off the train I took the exit that would take me away from the main part of Aki, and I'm glad I did, because I found a store that was selling the camera i wanted for 50% off, but I digress. I walked around for about 30 minutes without finding anything else very interesting, other than the electronics store, so I ventured toward what people call the "Electric City." It is so named because of the hundreds of electronics stores packed in a probably 8 square block radius. Some of the buildings are 7-8 stories tall, with each level selling a different toy -- floor 1 has TVs; floor 2 has cameras, etc

All of the electronics stores are cool, but not what makes Aki so insane. The anime/manga culture that this place facilitates is really interesting. For those of you who don't know: Anime are basically Japanese cartoons. It is short for "animation," and pretty popular. Manga are Japanese comic books, but they are a bit different than American comics, but I'm not a big enough expert to give specifics. I'm really not sure how to describe it, but I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the life-sized statues of anime girls accompanied by a voice recording trying to get guys to come into the store.

This is only outdone by the girls wearing maid outfits every 50 or so feet trying to get customers to come into one of the many maid cafes. A maid cafe is basically a cafe, but all of the waitresses wear maid outfits, and roleplay. They'll sing, dance, and do other goofy stuff for the customers.

As my main mission was buying a camera, I didn't really do anything other than go into the camera shops, so I'm not able to add anything else.

Japanese food (日本料理) or nihon ryouri is absolutely delicious. Most people are familiar with things such as sushi or ramen, but that barely scratches the surface of the myriad of tasty treats that Japanese eat every day. Being that I am not a picky eater I have really enjoyed all the food my host family has prepared me so far.

My first night here we went out to eat and I had a nice bowl of ramen, accompanied by some gyoza. Ramen is basically noodles in a bowl of broth (mine was shoyu or soy sauce). Along with the noodles you usually get some seaweed, slices of meat, and veggies. When you eat your noodles, try and forget all the rules your mom told you about not slurping your soup, and be as noisy as possible. Gyoza are just dumplings, and can have a variety of fillings. Incidentally, a nice bowl of ramen is what got me really sick last time I was in Japan. Hopefully I don't lose any more battles to this tasty dish.

All of the breakfasts I've had are surprisingly "American." An egg, hash browns, toast with jam, maybe a piece of ham. Nothing really out of the ordinary other than the fact that I've actually been eating the most important meal of the day.

I forget what I ate the second night here.

My third night we had what looked like spaghetti noodles, that had a paste made from fish eggs and miso soup. Surprisingly it was really good.

Last night we had gyoza, and a huge selection of other Japanese dishes. It is really difficult to remember everything since there are generally 8 or 9 different things on the table for dinner. Accompanying the gyoza was miso soup, and these black beans which were incredibly sweet. I would venture to say that you could almost eat them as dessert. The crowning piece of this meal had to be the cow tongue though. They described to me what it was in Japanese before I ate it. I told them I'd give it a try, and true to my word, I did. And it was quite delicious. It had the consistency of very dense ham, and had a peppery taste. I really suggest trying it at least once. We also had mashed Japanese sweet potatoes, but they weren't quite as awesome as American sweet potatoes.

Tonight we had another very Japanese dish, and I have already forgotten the name of it. Everything was covered in a sponge-y bread type batter, and in a brown broth. There were different veggies, and and seafood inside of the batter, which you dipped into Japanese mustard (Note to Kevin: Even I thought this mustard was spicy). Yet another outrageously delicious dish.

I also got to meet my host family's son a couple days ago, and his wife tonight. They are both extremely nice people, and I had a ton of fun chatting with them. It seems like everyone really likes the gift I bought them, as every day the grandchildren get it out and have me explain the different places to everybody. Tonight I spent at least an hour looking through it with my host family's daughter-in-law, and figuring out how to describe each picture in Japanese. She was really amazed at how huge and diverse the U.S. is, and after really taking time to look through the book with her I'm a bit amazed too. I think it might be something you take for granted living their your entire life. I think her favorite picture was one of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran when there is a huge amount of fog covering it. My favorite has to be a picture of one of they hot springs in Yellowstone.

School starts tomorrow... this is going to be a very busy week. Hope everyone is doing well back in the U.S..

Today was my first excursion into the city, and as the title suggests, I got quite lost. Luckily, getting lost in a foreign country is incredibly fun (for me at least... your mileage may vary). Now, on with the recipe!

Going from my house to the Inzai Sation was really easy, as my host-mother went with me, and she told me the station I needed to exit at (Mita Station). This is just a straight shot on the Asakusa-line, so it was nearly impossible to screw up.

As soon as I got off the train the fun began. First, I should say that in Japan there are no street names to go by (there are exceptions). Second, in the TUJ handout there is no map from how to get from Mita Station to the campus. Needless to say, I was pretty damn lost before even leaving the station. I'm not sure why, but I figured I should be able to find the school without asking for directions.... right?

Maybe if I was Bear Grylls... After exiting the station I decided to walk down the main road for about 15 or so minutes while looking around for any sign of TUJ. While strolling down the street I noticed the sign for the Mita Police station, but more on this later. After my 15 minute walk, I realized that this was not an effective way to find the campus (not that I really thought that when I started), so I went back to Mita Station to start over.

Upon returning to the station I started searching for some kind of map, and after about 5 minutes I managed to find a map of the surrounding area. On the map there were two important landmarks: 1. Police Boxes 2. Keio University. I figured if I did get lost and could at least get to a police box, they could help direct me to the school (which turned out to be correct). And Keio University happens to be like 3 minutes from Temple's campus, however the map cut off right at Keio, but I didn't know this yet.

So, I went to the nearest police box, and in my best Japanese said that I was lost, and looking for Temple University. The officers just laughed which gave me the feeling that I was not the first student lost and looking for Temple's campus. He proceeded to get out a gigantic map, and show me where we were in relation to the campus, and how to get there. With my new found information I figured I was in good shape, and trotted off after thanking the officer.

Wrong, yet again. Apparently the right turn I took wasn't "right" enough. Basically I went diagonally right, instead of 90 degree right. So I continued on for about 25 minutes in this direction, and finally said to myself that I need to turn around and go back to the crossing. Luckily, the Mita Police Station I mentioned earlier was at this crossing! Lucky for me there were 2 officers walking out of the station, so I approached them, and again in my best Japanese told them I was lost and looking for Temple's campus. The one officer produced a map, and gave directions. I thanked him, and then I was off!

Confident with my new directions, I started down the correct road and made my way to the next turn. My next turn happened to take me to one of the few roads in Japan that actually has a name - Sakuradori (if I remember correctly). After walking for 5 or so minutes, I came across one of the TUJ buildings, however it was the incorrect one. Luckily the building I needed was just down the street, so I proceeded to school and checked in.

Total time being lost: 2 hours

Some things to note: During orientation today, they made Japanese police officers seem like ruthless, heartless, and quite mean spirited to foreigners... After speaking with about 8 officers over the course of the day, I must say that my experience was completely different, and they were all quite nice and helpful. I'd like to contribute that to me using Japanese when speaking with them, however I could be wrong.

I have a feeling that this is just the first in what will be a very long list of "I got lost in Japan" stories. If I had to place a bet, I'd say that it will be this Sunday when headed to the hombu dojo for martial arts.