It's been a while since I last wrote, but I can't say that too many major events have happened in the interim. I'm still on break from school (until this Thursday - simultaneous joy and agony) and I've just been working hard at making preparations for everything to come. As I sit here, I am joined by my massive bowl of mashed potatoes - he says 'hi'.
So then, what have I been getting up to...
I suppose the thing to start with would be the much talked-about concert at the Cotton Club. All I can say is that I have a new favorite concert venue, and that is it. The place is very small, only seating somewhere between 3-400 people, and it is built very much in the spirit of the old-fashioned jazz clubs of yesteryear. Before the show got started, there was a dinner service - I had a wonderful onion soup, as well as a wonderful little house cocktail called a "Little Wing". I'm not sure exactly what it was, other than that it was very tasty. Finally, the curtain went up, and there they were - The Manhattan Transfer themselves. They did a great set - lots of favorites, including "Birdland" and "Soul Food to Go", along with a bunch of songs from both their newest and older albums. The big surprise for me came right towards the beginning when they did my favorite TMT song - "Shaker Song". It's not one of their most famous songs, but I absolutely love it. Each of the singers also had a chance to take the spotlight for themselves and do something from each of their solo albums - it was just a fantastic evening all-around. At the end, we were able to coax them out for one encore, and we tried valiantly for a second - all clapping in rhythm and cheering for them to come back. When it seemed that that wasn't going to work, a couple people somewhere in the club started singing "Birdland" themselves, and before you knew it, the entire room had joined in. We all left on a very high note - smiling all the way back to Tokyo Station, or wherever we all were headed. I couldn't take pictures of the event itself inside the club, but here are a couple of exterior shots to give you an idea of the place:
Dana and I did another Costco run the next day, and I was very pleased with myself at what I was able to find while keeping myself to spending less than 10,000 yen (approx. $100). I walked away with lots of good foodstuffs, including my usual cashews, cheese bagels, and Stagg Chili, and I also had a few new finds, like Idahoan instant mashed potatoes (now my faithful companion) and a 16-pack of canned tunafish for sandwiches. I'm also starting to slowly work my way away from instant and takeout foods as such a large part of my diet, and I'm working on and refining a few recipes that I think people might be interested in once I return to the good ol' US of A.
Another big event was a little trip that I took to a place in Tokyo called Nakano, which is the third of the three major hubs for anime fans, the other two being Ikebukuro (where I used to live) and Akihabara (two train stops from where I live now - do I detect a pattern?). The thing that I learned about Nakano was that in addition to the usual merchandise, goods, and books, Nakano had a large supply of original animation cels from old anime productions. Nowadays, most anime are generated using computer technology, retaining the same artistic styles, but much more streamlined in production values. As such, most of the cels available are from older shows. I went there not knowing exactly what to expect, but boy, did I hit the jackpot. In one little shop, I found two cels from two shows that were among my very favorites when I was growing up - one of Gene Starwind from "Outlaw Star" (the first real anime I ever saw - I still remember fondly sitting on the couch with Dad and Nate in that little apartment on First Street in Gresham every night to watch the new episodes), then other of Roger Smith from "The Big O". The cels weren't particularly expensive - some of them run into the thousands of dollars - both of these were well under a hundred. Dana also found one that fell into the "I must have this" category, and so she picked it up. Subsequently, we met up at a later date in Shinjuku to go to a place called Sekaido, which is an art supply and framing shop. She taught me all the ins and outs, dos and don'ts of cel framing, and we both got what we were looking for. As I didn't want to spend a ton on framing (due simply to limited funds), I came to a good solution in custom-matting the cels to match a standard-sized frame. The matting cost around four dollars per cel, and I found two really nice frames in the shop, each of which suits its showpiece masterfully. Here are some pictures.
Roger Smith from "The Big O"
The last big event for me was a trip to the Tokyo Anime Fair, which was held at Tokyo Big Sight - the same place where the Tokyo Game Show happened last Fall. Sad to say, the show was actually a bit of a disappointment - it was more of a trade show than anything else, and there actually wasn't a whole lot to do. The big events were all ticketed, and we arrived unfortunately late to get into anything that wanted, either due to lack of tickets, or otherwise just because we didn't want to deal with the crowds. I'll have to say that of the big three (Tokyo Game Show, Comiket/Comic Market, and Tokyo Anime Fair), Comiket was definitely the most fun of the three. I have a feeling that the reason for that is that it is an even that is primarily put on by the fans instead of the productions companies. It was an event for fans, by fans, and the production companies just jumped on board. This time, it was by the industry and primarily for the industry - oh well, at least we can say we went, and here are a couple pictures.
Scale model from the Gundam 00 booth - the movie comes out later this year.
Those are the big events of my break time here on my own in Tokyo, aside from hanging out with friends and a little bit more of exploring the city. Most of my time has been directed towards several things -
- Getting ready for the new semester at Keio.
- Getting ready for my triumphant return in the Fall to Rice U and everything that entails.
- Getting ready to take the GRE (Graduate Records Exam), the test necessary for entrance to graduate school.
- Getting ready to start teaching at two new Tokyu Sports Oasis locations across the city.
So, as you can see, there's been a lot of preparation that I've had to attend to in this last month, along with my own playtime. Keio, for some reason, was very slow about distributing the list of available courses for this upcoming semester, and so it wasn't until just a few days ago that I was able to start planning my courseload for this semester. It looks like it's going to be a good time, especially since I don't have to go to school until 1pm every day but Wednesday, when I have to be there at 10:45. Compared to last semester, when I had to be there at 9am every other day - including Saturday, and now coming from a place much closer to campus, I think that I'm going to enjoy this semester quite a bit more in terms of my own functionality. Yay for transferring to the Keio International Program! I'm still going to be taking language classes, and my courseload looks like it's going to be pretty involved, but I think it'll be fun. I'm doing two courses on Japanese literature, another seminar in ethics, a course on Japanese cinema, one on Japanese Buddhism and social suffering, one on geisha, and one on Japan in the foreign imagination. For language classes, I'm doing one on newspaper reading, one on reading modern texts, one on kanji, and possibly one that is a social studies course focused around production of Japanese animation and TV game shows (three guesses why I would want to take that one). It's supposed to just be for upper-level students, and I'm currently just at intermediate-level, but I'm still going to try and make a case for being able to take the course. We'll see what happens. The placement test for language courses went well - as I said above, I tested into the intermediate level bracket, specifically level 4. The actual level doesn't make that much difference to me - it's more just about the bracket now that I'm in KIP instead of JLP. So, in all, it looks like I'll be busy, but I'll be well-rested and able to manage. Good times.
As far as preparations for Rice are concerned, they just released the course guide, and it looks like Fall will be a good semester for me. I've got a tentative list of courses picked out, but I'll hold off on specifics until after registration - it tends to get a bit competitive. I've also got my rooming situation figured out, which was a very important thing that I wanted to have figured out. I'll be back on campus next year, rooming with three good friends, two of which were suitemates of mine from last year. It's a huge weight off of my mind to know that that's all figured out, and in a few days, I'll even know which room I'm in. Stay tuned!
I've only just started my preparations for the GRE, and I'm probably not going to get to heavily into practice with it during the semester, but it's a good thing that I'm getting this early start. Originally, I had planned to take the LSAT (Law School Admissions Test), but after talking with some friends of mine who are recent graduates of law school about what my interests were, they advised me that what I really wanted was a Masters and/or Ph.D. program in philosophy of law - seeing as my interest is more in legal theory than in legal practice. This doesn't exactly mean that that's what I'm going to be doing after graduation - I've got several irons in the fire, but it's good to have options and to keep them open. Unfortunately for me, part of the GRE is a mathematics section (go on, science majors, have your laugh), and I haven't done any intensive math work in over four years. Still, I found a GRE study book at Junkudo that had a comprehensive math review that has been very helpful. I still have a long way to go before I feel I'm ready to tackle the test itself, but by starting now, I'm saving myself a lot of stress and trouble later.
Finally, my new classes kicked off this last weekend - and I am EXHAUSTED from them, but very happy. Whereas for the last three months, I was teaching one 45-minute class once a week, I'm now up to three classes a week (one temporary) with a good chance that more may be forthcoming. The temporary one is a 45-minute Group Step class at Jujo, where I've been teaching for the last three months. As a matter of fact, it's in the same timeslot as my previous class was, so I knew most of the people there. Using what I learned from the event class I taught a month ago, I was able to tailor the class for the group, and the results were astronomical - right from the get-go, everyone really had a grasp on what was going on. It made me feel great. Another instructor will be taking over the class week after next, but I'll still be around Jujo every now and then for events, subbing, and just to take classes - I love the place and the people there, so I'm not just going to disappear.
I'm also working at one club that's farther than I've gone before, in a place outside of Tokyo called Musashi Kosugi in Kawasaki City. It's a really gorgeous area and it reminds me quite a bit of Portland in its layout, architectural style, and those sorts of things. If I end up moving here, I might have to settle down 'round there. The class I'm teaching at that branch of Tokyo Sports Oasis is a full 60-minute Group Kick class. Last night was my debut, and it went off really well - we all had a great time - there were about 30 of us total. It's kind of late-night, but I have a really relaxing train ride home afterward. The other class is at the Oasis branch at St. Luke's Tower in Chuo-ku. It's in the basement of a twin-skyscraper building which houses, among other things, restaurants, a full hospital, and about a hundred different businesses. This branch is the closest one to my house, and is actually accessible via the train line I take to school, so I can get there for free. The class is a 45-minute Group Power class on Sunday afternoons at 1pm. It was one of the best single classes I've taught on either side of the Pacific - the group and I just clicked, right from the start. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
Today was Easter here in Tokyo (I realize some of you are just starting off the holiday now - happy Easter to you all). We had three services at church, the first two of which I was able to come for (I had to get to St. Luke's by 1pm to teach my class). It was a great service with all the usual bells and whistles of an Easter service. The best part was right at the end, when our joint choir - comprised of regular choir members and other people in the congregation - came up to the front to to a super-spectacular happy-clappy gospel revival arrangement of Handel's Hallelujah chorus, complete with an amazing jazz trio. It was a fantastic morning, and the day just kept getting better and better - first church, then class, then home, and that most important element of Easter - the afternoon nap.
I've just got the next three days of break remaining, and then it's shoulder to the plow pretty much up until the end of the year when I move back. There are a few scattered breaks, and I've got some plans and ideas for them, but we'll just see how that all works out. I'll try to write again soon - hopefully before another month goes by. I'll leave you tonight with a couple pictures of the legendary Japanese cherry blossoms (sakura) in bloom. This is the symbol of the arrival of spring, and it is a BIG deal over here when they bloom. Since the wind over the last week has been something fierce, there was some worry that the blossoms would all be blown away before we had a chance to enjoy them. Still, they are hanging tough, and so are we.
Over and out.
絶望した！
