Saturday, April 11, 2009

Ohana means

wOw I woke up sweating today--definite sign that it's gonna get brutally warm in Tokyo very soon.


These past 2 weeks have just been Ohanami-ing. Ohanami in Japan means to go see and enjoy the limited days of the Cherry blossoms during its bloom. For a lot of people, it's a time to gather with friends,family,co-workers,etc. just have a good picnic time and of course draank. I've already gone 3 times and all 3 times were a completely different experience but all good. First time was with Erica and her Japanese friend Azusa? (correct spelling?) and we were just evesdropping on hella foreigners just surrounding us while feasting on Erica's home-made fried rice. Second time...ooooh Second Time, was for my dorm-mate Colin's birthday. We seriously gathered like at least 25 international Keio students, so that was ill. And then a couple of us decided to go rowing/swan boat pedaling at the lake next to Senzoku park. Greatest Idea Ever. It was one of those days where I really felt I was in Japan and totally enjoying it once again. Being the rower and going the opposite direction, I got kinda seasick for the first 10 minutes but after that it was all uphill so w00t. And then the 3rd time was for Brian's surprise bday party. This is with the group of people who I first started hanging out with here in Japan during EAP's summer intensive. I forgot that we always forgot how easily we let the time slip by because we were too busy playing outdoor games. (today was badminton, soccer rally, freezetag, and sardines) Note: NEVER play sardines in the Shinjukugyoen.

And then this past Friday, my mom's good long-time friend invited me for a casual tea ceremony demonstration. She's been practicing it since she was 18, and is a teacher now so I knew this was gonna get deep. She also told me I was more than welcome to bring anyone that I wanted so of course I hit up the girl who happened to tell me the weekend before that she regrets not going to the tea ceremony during the summer--Erica. So we meet her at Aobadai station...sweet sweet area. It was a mixture of nice new houses, but also some Inaka/country touches. And it was actually really cool to have a more casual tea ceremony, plus just me and Erica since we got to do more things at our own pace etc etc. There's not much to say, but we had some SERIOUS never-have-i-ever tasted such smooth green tea, bombass boiled water, and mouth-watering traditional Japanese sweets.


Hm, oh yea. Yesterday I saw a Yu Darvish ad in the Tokyu Toyoko train line. He's wearing a suit, and just looks magical. I want IT.

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