Days and Life

Well, the kanji test went better than I thought I would have went. Way better than the speaking test (that I totally failed. I’ve gone down a grade level, and the teacher won’t let me sit in the higher level class so I can do something other than reviewing what I’ve already learned). On a more slightly positive note, I have at least 3 friends in the correct level that are willing to teach me as they go. So, there’s that at least. And I can take the jump test over winter break to get into the right class. The biggest bummer is that they scheduled the new classes over some of my sumi-e classes, so I need to talk with the teacher and reschedule myself. Which I’m doing tomorrow.

This slightly distressing event was just the icing on the cake, though, because last night, I became sick. Really sick. Half living in the bathroom sick. Sick enough to have Okaasan wondering whether she should take me to the hospital (though it seems like if you’re in Japan, even coming down with the sniffles is an immediate hospital visit). But this morning I was fine, and I just kept on taking fluids throughout the day, and I’m thinking I’m all better now (don’t worry, I’m still being cautious!).

Today I also went down to Hirakata-shi Eki (Hirakata City Station—the place where all the buses and trains are) with my friends Heather and Liz and one of Liz’s friends whose name I unfortunately cannot remember. We went to a store called Kiddy Land which was filled to the brim with the most adorable things imaginable. We also went to the eight-floor department store, Aeon, which the most incredible thing happened. I finally completed my cell phone look.

But, Sarah, you ask. Don’t you already have a cell phone? The answer is, yes, yes I do. However, my cell phone was missing just one key component: cell phone charms. Okaasan noticed my lack of charms and gave me one that she got in Dubai. Now, Okaasan is a very generous person, but the charm is of a hotel owned by a famous soccer player. The phone was not officially mine until it had something of mine that I loved dangling from it.

As you enter the sixth floor of Aeon, you are greeted by a jangling noise that is vaguely reminiscent of music. If music was a mixture of cats yowling, keys jangling, cymbals crashing, and buzzers buzzing. As you turn the corner, you are assaulted by a riot of light and sound as you enter…the gaming arcade! (dun dun dun! Name totally created by me!) Here you can have a number of things done, not limited to a foot massage (7 minutes for only 100 yen!), photo booth picture taking (purikura all the way!) and capsule machines. There had to be over 150 capsule machines in that arcade and, lucky me, I happened to find a Skelanimals one. For those of you unaware of the cuteness that is Skelanimals, they are a brand that shows little animals colored black with their skulls on the outside. They’re adorable and I love them to death, but they’re a little on the pricey range. That’s why I was flipping out to see them sold very cheaply as cell phone charms in Japan. Thanks to the good luck mojo master that Liz is, I now have a Skelanimals cat cell phone charm of my very own! YAAAAAAAY!

Tonight was also a full moon. Apparently this once-a-month event is really big in Japan. In language classes, we learned about different uses for the word moon and tonight, Okaasan went to the store and bought a special “moon-viewing” dango (rice flour sweets (月見るだんご)) for us to eat as we watched the moon. This dango is supposed to represent the full moon (white) with clouds around it (brown/red). The “clouds” are anko, a paste made out of adzuki beans, water and sugar. I was surprised at how much of a deal everyone made out of this. It like happens twelve times a year, and sometimes the crescent moon looks nicer. I mean, I do appreciate a good full moon, especially the Harvest Moon, but I guess I associate it more with feelings of negativity (like “lunatics” and “murderous werewolves” or Mom’s infamous “people just go crazy when it’s a full moon”) than the wonder that seemed inspired today. And, okay, so I’ve read lots of waka (old-style poems) and haiku about people watching the moon, but I always applied it to “then,” not “now.” It’s interesting to see the old traditions still used in today’s society. 

Also, I've added pictures to my earlier posts, so if you want to see pictures of the shrine or purikura, please check them out!