007 - Culture classes and the Tokugawa Museum!

Im going to try and go in chronological order so do keep in mind that the pictures are in reverse.
But basically, in the span of a week, I learned Japanese like I never learned before.

Ive always enjoyed our culture sessions in class but this past week was just jam packed of everything I consider great in the culture. We started out with writing our favorite Kanji on Shodo calligraphy. Being a naturally vain person, I chose my name in Kanji, which is the complex character that reads `hana.` It means flower, but the character itself is not very often used alone, and is always paired with other characters so its meaning can also be `essence` or `resplendant.` Vain aren`t I? But I finally finished my submitted version, and despite my 4th stroke being a little short, it had great balance and I was so proud of my ultimate product. Writing kanji with just a pen is hard, but with an ink brush is near impossible. Technique includes holding the darn thing 90 degrees to the surface, 45 degrees angled tip. Im not kidding. It was a little painful at first, but after the first few hundred papers, I was able to get the first three strokes perfectly. The last few strokes came almost automatically for me. I had actually tried doing it again after I submitted my hard-paper version, and it turned out to be better and as close as I could possibly get to perfection. Alas, I had already used up my cardboard, so I couldnt resubmit. But it was okay.

And then we had manga classes. IT WAS AWESOME! There is also so much more involved in manga than just plain drawing. They have several writing and crafting instruments including screen tones and feather brushes. Its a very exact art. The best way, I learned, is to just use a computer, but my instructor said that this (hand drawn and crafted) way is learned by every Japanese student in middle school. Thats why they have such great mangakas here, theyre discovered at an early age. It was great. I loved that class, and felt a little sad that sis was not with me, cause she would have totally turned into goo in utter gushing love for the subject. But shes still a minor and she wouldnt have fitted in my suitcase (PS on the ghibli ticket, uh excuse me? who has a credit card? who has an ebay account? who can actually buy stuff online. yeah, thats what I thought. :D be nice or Im not giving you your awesome present when I get back).

Then we attended a very beautifully arranged koto concert. I was very much impressed with the skill and dexterity of the musicians hands, I took videos of most of the concert. You shall have to wait for me to come home to listen to a great rendition of My Neighbor Totoro`s Sampo. It was the best version Ive heard yet.

That day ended with Karaoke. Oh yessssss. It was sooo much fun. I was so into it (being a filipino and owning my own very asiany karaoke set) that I was standing on the benches singing Backstreet Boys I Want It That Way with a friend, complete with choreography. Oh yessss. You know I would. People I went with were awesome, it was like we were of one mind. We sang songs I wanted to sing, because we were so in vibe with each others` minds.

Heres a sample list of what we sang.

I Want It That Way - BSB
Moonlight Densetsu - Sailormoon Opening
Im A Barbie Girl - Aqua (I have this on video with me as Barbie and one of the guys as Ken. It is a win, and will be used for blackmail many times hahahaha)
Spice up Your Life- Spice Girls

Theres more Japanese songs in there, but mostly from Anime OP/EDs. And of course we ended up paying for more than we had anticipated because we are tourists and apparently we didnt know the difference between 30 minutes and an hour and a half. Bah. I had so much fun.

The next day we went to the Tokugawa Museum. Spent the first 30 minutes listening to history, then me and a couple of other friends skipped the actual museum and spent the whole hour and a half in the most beautiful garden I have seen. Im not kidding. Theyve got irises bigger than my face. See pictures.

And theyve got Koi bigger than my thighs. And thats saying something...

Actually Im sorta happy with my muscle build-up. When I get back to fayetteville Im going to work my butt off. Literally hahahah. Shouldnt be too hard since there`s no REAL rice in Arkansas. Pbbbt.

So the koi were dubbed bubbly shuckleuckums or something of the sort and we played around and took pictures in the garden. There are more pictures with my friends camera because my camera eats up batteries like chocolates. So Im going to have to buy some more tomorrow...

WHEN I GO AND TOURISTICIZE KYOTO!!! Ahahahahah! I cannot wait. Its basically THE city that was not bombed by the Americans in the war and so all of the history was kept intact. I heard its very beautiful there and they have tea ceremonies with food that counts as the highest kind of art. Im way way way way excited about this and can only hope that my budget will accomodate my excitement, heh.

I dont need to buy anymore souvenirs but I obviously will.

Ha, thanks for the comment spam, but obviously, the people I wanted to be affected by my accusation are either too busy or being mean. So whatever.

Im in Japan, and theyre not.

As malaysian would say, cue sinister laugh.