Koto Club update!

 Hello everyone! So it is finally Saturday which means I have time to post.

The past few days have been brutal and I seriously would sneak home just a few hours of sleep before getting up and doing it all over again! talk about a busy life in Tokyo! I love it though so no complaints here...except for some blistered fingers..I had koto practice for 7 hours yesterday which was tons of fun but also quite tiring. 2-3 times a month my club has a koto sensei (teacher), who is one of the best players in the world, come to give the members lessons and yesterday she came to help them prepare for their December concert. If you know anything about Japanese culture, she was to be given the highest form of respect possible to a sensei. For example, before she arrived we all had to sit in seiza style (legs tucked under ur booty) facing the door and when she arrived we quitely were to say konnichiwa while bowing our heads all the way to the ground. The senior members then would rush to her to grab her coat and purse and one would go and pour her drink. If you were in the same room as her you also had to sit in the perfect seiza position at all times and not flinch or reposition yourself. This may not sound like much, but try sitting with ur legs tucked under you for a long period of time on a hard surface. Within about 10 minutes your legs wont be feeling a thing!!! The other American in the club burst into tears after the sensei left because her legs were hurting so bad. The seiza was not fun but it just takes some getting used to. So during the last 15 minutes of the lesson Iwaki-sensei checked the new members forms and it looks like there is hope for me! The sensei even joked that I must have been Japanese in the past as I have a perfect seiza posture, especially for an American. She must be right cause that would explain my interest in Japan! ; ) This definitely helps shorten my whole "So why are you majoring in Japanese?" response...well it's time for bed, Trav has a fun day planned for me tomorrow!!! I miss you all!

Nikko Trip

My little 手の指 (fingers) got spoiled tonight!!!

these are the most expensive finger decorators Ill ever own!

These are called つめ (tsume) and they are the finger picks you use to play the koto. The lady that fitted me for mine was very sweet but also quite perplexed by my freakishly long hands! Akari, one of the club members that speaks great english helped me pick out the case..I think this purple definitely suits me = ) I officially start in the club on Friday so hopefully I will be able to keep everyone updated on how this musical endevour goes!!

But before I go to bed, I leave you with this adorable pic of Trav:

Does he not look like an eight-year old on Xmas morning?!?! Guess that's what you get when you give a pizza deprived guy his own large brooklyn style pizza from dominos (thank god for buy one get one free and 15% off coupons! ya I know how to work the Japanese coupon system ;P )

The boring life of a college student...

So not much new is going on right now for us..Its gonna be another crazy week with school but hopefully we will have some exciting news to post about soon! I didn't get to buy my "tsume" today due to the fact that it was some irrelevant holiday and the shop was closed...Im going on Wed though and will post about it then!! and for now, random picture time::

Julie and I at a "nomikai" in Takadanobaba..We weren't past the point of no return when this pic was taken..promise  =)

7 years later (^_^)

....and you thought I had outgrown my fangirl days! Trav took this pic of me in front of a giant Utada Hikaru poster at Harajuku station! For all of you that don't know, she is the singer that started it all for me! It was through her music that I started to develop an interest in the Japanese language and if it weren't for that random encounter with her music, I may not have ever ended up here! So I gotta show her the love!★'.･.LOVE~(^▽^*)~LOVE.･.･:☆ 

Lee's newest endevour!!

So once again we have been neglecting our blogging duties.. 本当にゴメンm(_ _)m 

October is already looking to be a busy month but hopefully we will be able to update everyone on all the exciting things we are doing!! Trav and I are settling into our school routine pretty well and aside from the grueling 1 1/2 hour commute to school, we are really liking our classes and classmates! The 1 1/2 hour commute is not too bad either since I'm kinda used to it from last time and I absolutely love riding the train!! However, there are times where commuting 3 hours for an hour and a half class just doesn't seem right!  I've also finally made the big decision to join the Koto Club here at Waseda! The clubs in Japan are much more serious than in America and require quite a bit from you, so this will definitely be taking up a lot of my time. But it is completely worth it! I've wanted to learn Koto since I tried one three years ago but haven't had the chance to in America. This will also be a great opportunity for me to make some Japanese friends and will force me to use Japanese since only 2 out of the 15 members speak English（でも、ちょっとこわそうね）So what is a koto exactly? It's technically a type of zither but that probably doesn't help explain anything (^_^)..The easiest way to describe one is that it is a 6 foot long table harp...and most of you are probably still completley unsure as to what I'm talking about so here are some pics:

It has 13 strings that are strung over 13 movable bridges along the width of the instrument and you use three finger picks to pluck the strings. I am going on Monday with one of the club members to be fitted for my finger picks. It is very hard to properly play this instrument without wearing finger picks that have been made to fit your fingers, and so this is the first order of business for all new members! This is my first experience with a Japanese club so I'm sure I'll have lots of interesting things to keep you all updated on! Now its time to study for my Japanese quiz..Yes, I have school on Saturday...for just one class.....during first period....and that class is a language course.....bad Waseda bad...(@_@)

おやすみ！！

大きい猫はチちゃんに尋問させる！

It's the new kitty interrogation!! (=^･ｪ･^=)

Look what Trav won me in just one try...Its my favorite Japanese kitty, Chi!!

Although it looks like she might have to hold her own against the fat kitties (笑）

Also, Tokyo Tower decided to go pink tonight!! Must be Ladies Night over there!!

and thats the end of my random post! We've been crazy busy with school lately, so there's not much to update..Miss you all!!!

(ー｡ー；)ｚｚｚ♪ぉゃすみ★