THE BUSIEST WEEK

Now, there have been times in life where I have been pretty busy...you know, finals in college, or wedding season, or before I moved to Japan...but this past week goes down in the book as being one of the craziest/busiest/most full weeks ever. Luckily for me, every single thing I did this week was FUN hahaa so I am praising the Lord for that since I know "being busy" means different things to different people. Anyway, welcome to my world and the busiest week ever...

*a few of these things will get their own post later on where I'll expand upon things...but this is just a post about the events in succession.

Let's kick it off with a fun hang out in Tokyo...

- SATURDAY -

My good friend Naomi introduced me to a few new homies in Japan (if you know Naomi, you know that she knows everyone) and on Saturday we all met up in Tokyo. I had never met these guys before but when I met them on the train, it felt like seeing old friends again! The Torrance connection is strong, and knowing these guys went to West and Mira Costa bonded us immediately. We cruised around Shibuya (they all speak fluent Japanese), ate sushi (I know, crazy), went to a game center, played pool, they taught me Japanese slang, and we had the best time! 

- SUNDAY -

THE KANESHIROS IN JAPAN!!! I grew up with this family...or more like...I watched this family grow up! Mr. Kaneshiro was my volleyball coach in high school and my mom has been babysitting the kids since they were tiny tiny little ones, which is how I will always remember them except NOW THEY ARE SO BIG and mature and old and it is so weird!! haha. They came to church with me on Sunday and I was so happy to have them and their grandma there. After church, we headed into Tokyo and went to the Tokyo skytree together to eat lunch and do some shopping. It was so fun to be with them and just be around family again. I loved it and was so thankful for the time with them. 

- MONDAY -

Monday was crazy! I went to school in the morning to get prepared for our ENGLISH CLUB TRIP TO ASAKUSA! We had been planning this for a while now so the fact that the day had finally arrived was a thrill. The kids all met up in one of the classrooms at 11am and we took the bus, and the train together and arrived in Asakusa to eat lunch and talk to foreigners. *this day will have its own post later*

After a fun and HOT day in Asakusa, Steph and I hopped on over to Tokyo station to meet the GVBC team who were here on a missions trip...and it just so happened one of my oldest and best friend KDRESS was on the team so we got to hang outtttttt!!!! *also more on this later*

- TUESDAY - 

So Tuesday I declared BASEBALL DAY. This will also have it's own post. But basically my high school team had a game AND I went to a professional game ON THE SAME DAY...haha. 

- WEDNESDAY - 

Wednesday was a somewhat normal day at work, but for dinner Steph and I headed to our friends house! These ladies are incredible and are SO SO kind and hospitable to everyone. The Kanekos host a lot of students from the states so we met two of them (Colorado and Taipei) and we all enjoyed a backyard bbq together. It was such a fun evening and I definitely felt right at home. 

- THURSDAY - 

Thursday was an exciting day! The TSCA (Torrance Sister City Association) group came to Ichikashi!!! This group of students from Torrance (West and Bishop) are here in Japan for three weeks and they kicked off their trip visiting our school. I always love seeing Torrance students in Japan so this was a fun day forsure. 

We gave the group a school tour and then they were invited to a special performance by the brass band which is ALWAYS a hit. Our band is seriously SO SO GOOD. I've seen them perform many times now and they still blow me away every. single. time. After a powerful show, the Torrance students and a few our our kids headed to the Yoshida House...which is a historical house a few minutes from school. This house was owned by the Yoshida family who were samurai, farmers, and soy sauce producers. The house is the quintessential Japanese home full of 165 years of history. I am definitely going back there!! 

Also, fun story, Jennifer is the adult leader of the TSCA group this year and I actually met her last year before I moved to Japan...at church!! One Sunday my dad was like "Amie come meet Jen and her husband, they lived in Japan" so we chatted for a few minutes and she gave me her contact in case I ever needed anything. I didn't think I would see her anytime soon...but it turns out she was selected as the adult leader so seeing her in Japan was such a trip! I love the connections via church, Torrance, and Japan!!

- FRIDAY - 

Now the only proper way to end a busy week is with a...you guessed it....NOMIKAI! hahaa no kidding. I was invited to the second year Nomikai (with all the 2nd year teachers) and happily accepted. But, the night of, I was so exhausted and tired I found myself wanting to sleep more than I wanted to socialize. But, as I was sitting in my apartment complaining, the Lord spoke to me and told me that the purpose in me going was greater than my own desires to stay at home. whoa. OKAY. So I went knowing God wanted me to love these people and just be open to what He would do.

I ended up sitting with 4 lady teachers and we chatted about a bunch of stuff...and then one of the ladies turned to me and said "Amie, you're Christian right?" WHOA where did that come from! To be honest I was eating my food and they were chatting in Japanese so I wasn't really following the convo...but I answered "YES!" and we then talked for a good 30 minutes about my church, why I go, what we do there...and I even pulled up the church website and invited all of them to come ANYTIME!! One of the ladies is a history teacher so she had so many questions about my denomination and the things we do at church. When I told them "yeah I go every week- it is so fun!" they had this shocked look on their face and couldn't wrap their minds around the fact that church=fun...I think most Japanese think church=boring! HAHA.

Oh man...it was such a cool conversation and when I left the party that night I just laughed...because God is just that good you have to laugh sometimes. Here I was, all wrapped up in my own desires and tiredness...when God had plans for me to invite these women to church and share with them a bit of the Father's love. DANG!!!! How good is He?? 

Alright well that wraps up my crazy week. It is Saturday now, and I am writing this outside at a nearby shopping mall. The breeze is so nice and I am just so thankful for all the adventures God has taken me on here in Japan...and all that is to come. He is such a good good father, so full of grace, wisdom, patience, joy, understanding, peace, and so. much. love. 

"What happens at Nomikais, stays at Nomikais"

As the school year wraps up and the temperature gets hotter by the second...I have found myself attending quite a few Nomikais. A sure sign that you have assimilated into Japanese culture is if these Nomikais become the norm for you. 

"Nomikai" basically translates to "drinking party" ...but my working definition of the term is this: a social gathering where coworkers let their guards down and are their true selves. 

Araki Sensei, Tamaoki Sensei, and myself at a recent Nomikai for the music teachers. I am not a music teacher, but as the resident American, I get invited to many Nomikais! 

Here's a rough idea of what goes on at a Nomikai.

A few weeks in advance, an invitation in sent out. You circle your name to RSVP and return the paper to whatever teacher is planning the event. (i.e Welcome Nomikai, End of the year Nomikai, Sports Nomikai, Ladies Nomikai, etc) When you arrive at the restaurant the day of, you first must pay your $40 or $50 and then find your seat among the crowd. The tables are usually stacked with delicious looking food set on small plates to share, along with tiny beer glasses. These beer glasses are meant to be refilled time and time again by your coworkers, who fill your glass as an act of courtesy and greeting. 

The food continues to roll out steadily, and those who don't like beer (me!) can order juice, or any fruity drink of their choice. These gathering are all-you-can-drink-2-hour-events that include an array of speeches and plenty of toasts "Kampai!!!" When it comes to teacher Nomikais, people mingle with those in other departments and are way more approachable than they are within the walls of school. It is fascinating to watch people's true sides come out, and the two hours alway go by too quickly! 

By the end of the party, groups of people head off to nijikais (second parties) where they sing Karaoke, go to a smoking bar, or my favorite option... go eat a huge bowl of ramen. 

Finally, the night wraps up and people say their goodbyes and return to work the following week as if nothing every happened! HAHA. That part, to me, is the funniest and best part of Nomikais. It is like Japanese people live secret lives outside the workplace. They are really into separating work from play and in a way, live that motto "what happens at Nomikais, stays at Nomikais." Some teachers who work together for 10+ years don't even know if the other has kids or not!

Needless to say, I have loved every Nomikai I have attended and hold some fold memories of the conversations I've been able to have at these events. How interesting is it that what is normal in one cultural context could be completely foreign and odd to another culture? There is a lot of beauty to be had in experiencing these things first hand, and sharing them with others. 

Cheers to many more Nomikais and getting a "real" look at the people I work with everyday. 

柏 - KASHIWA

As much as I love Tokyo, Kashiwa will always be home to me. It's the same feeling I have with LA. I love Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, The Arts District...but Torrance will always be home. 

Last weekend I decided it was time to bring my camera around Kashiwa and take some pics of the places most familiar to me. Welcome to my hood...
 

I walk past this car every time I go to the station. I really wanna know who owns this sucker, and why they never drive it?! I wish there was something standing next to it for size reference...it is SO TINY. 

Funny story, I bought these shoes from Zara recently and my friend at church was like, "amie I thought you were wearing socks!" as in she thought my shoes were tan socks... LOL. 

北柏駅- Kita-Kashiwa station. (Kita means "North" in Japanese) this is my home station, a 7 minute walk from my apartment. It's tiny and cute and I love it.

柏駅- one station over from my home station is Kashiwa station which is a pretty big and busy place. Some people have even dubbed it the "Shibuya of Chiba" and considering there are 3 starbucks within 30 seconds of one another and hundreds of students filling the streets...I'd have to agree. 

This is the main exit where a lot of people wait to meet up with friends. Whenever I walk through this part of the station, especially on a weekend, there is a 95% chance I'll see one of my students. All high schoolers in Japan wear uniforms but every school is different so I've become an expert at spotting my students blue uniforms in a crowd! 

I always walk this way to Asahidori to go to my Japanese lessons!

Three major lines run through Kashiwa station...the Joban local line, the Joban rapid line, and the tobu urban park line. From Kashiwa, if i take the rapid line I can get to Tokyo or Ueno station in 30 minutes.  

Japan life = train life

A day is not complete w/o a bathroom selfie...haha jk.

I also spend a lot of time at Kashiwanoha and Nagareyama-Ootakanomori (longest name ever).

Down this street you'll find a ton of restaurants, Kashiwa shrine, a DonQuijote (like target on steroids) , my fav place white gyoza, and eventually the Kashiwa Reysol stadium where the soccer games are held. 

At Kashiwa station there are a bunch of malls...Soho, Takashimaya, Marui, Vat...and they're all sort of connected but hold a variety of stores. I get lost all the time when I'm like..."wait was the Disney store here or in the other mall?" "Was it on the 2nd floor...or 8th floor?" Malls in Japan are tall and narrow so often times there are 10 floors to get lost on. haha 

So there you have it folks...the place I call home and the station that will always feel the most familiar to me. There are a lot of station in Japan, all with their own character and vibe, but I love that I get to call this one home.  

FOOD DIARIES

Most days, I stop by the convenience store in the morning to pick up some yogurt, small bento or sandwich for lunch and head to school. Our school doesn't have a cafeteria and it's not really practical for me to make a bento every morning for myself, so convenience store it is!

The weeks usually fill up with dinner with friends, dinner in Kashiwa before my Japanese lesson, or various events and outings so I find myself eating out a lot. In the states thats a no-go, super unhealthy and expensive...but in Japan, eating out is the easiest, most delicious, and best way to go for me! 

Feast your eyes on what I have been eating lately...

TABLE BEET - Talk about some beautiful vegetables. I grew up eating my grandmothers incredible pickled beets (seriously, so good) so to have a restaurant in my hometown here called TABLE BEET was just so perfect. Along with some beautiful vegetables they also serve a mean cafe mocha. 

KAITEN SUSHI-The life of a non-seafood-eating-human in Japan. Yes, yes all of you sushi lovers are shaking your head looking at this photo...but the truth is this is all I eat at sushi restaurants and I am perfectly content! Tamago (egg), corn+mayonnaise, and hamburger sushi!! 

BASEBALL GAME BENTO - You know you're in Japan when they sell amazing beef bentos at baseball games. This one came with pickled veggies on the side...and the meat was so good!

ROKURINSHA - classis. This is a hot spot for tourist (mostly foodies) and locals who know a good bowl of tsukemen when they see it. The broth here is a littttttle too shrimpy for me but honestly its so good I don't mind! 

GYUKATSU MOTOMURA - once again, the 4hour meal. Literally waited 4 hours for this plate of food. It may look simple, but BOY LET ME TELL YOU THE BEEF WAS OFF THE CHAIN. Next time I am going at an off hour and ordering two filets haha. 

THIRTY-LOVE - this cafe is conveniently a 5 minute walk from my house and feels more like your best friend's mom's kitchen rather than a restaurant. It's that cozy! They have this crazy good katsu-donburi (amazing friend pork over rice smothered in delicious sauce and topped with EGGGG YUMMM). 

*side note, in Japan it is not common to have to-go boxes. Probably because Japan actually has proper portion sizes so people can actually finish a meal. But this restaurant has to-go boxes so when I order the katsudon I get two meals in one!!

MARUCHO- this is a tiny restaurant down the back streets of kashiwa and is always booked months in advance. My coworker called in for us three of us to go and we got a tiny table there and enjoyed some really really good yakitori! The raw egg with the chicken meatball skewer was out of this world...and ironically, my fav was the bacon wrapped tomatoes which had no chicken at all but was so so good.  

These beautiful looking onigiris are from the basement of kashiwa station. These are honestly the most beautiful inari I have ever seen and getting food in the basement of the shopping mall is one of the best parts of Japanese life. 

SENJU- Yakinikuuuuuuuu!! My friends Mina and Aki took me here and we feasted on some amazing beef. Beef tongue is super popular here in Japan, it's a little too chewy for me, but this place had pretty good tongue! 

On weekdays when I don't have a dinner to go to I usually stop by 7-11 next to my apt and get dinner. The food there is really good and this time I tried the buta tofu (pork tofu). They even warm it up for you at the store so you are good to go. I ate it while catching up on the NBA finals. *also, for size reference, that's my ipad not my phone!! 

FESTA MARIO - Paella! Found this new spanish spot earlier this year and they serve a killer paella. This whole giant plate cost like $10 and this cheeze one was amazing. Definitely good to mix up the cuisine every once in a while so I always love coming here. 

TRIBE VIBES - what a cool name right? This tiny burger spot is a bit of a walk from the station but they make one of the best burgers I've had. My friend got this one with a MARSHMALLOW INSIDE. YES, A MALLOW IN A BURGER WHAT? I got the super spicy one with jalapeno and hot sauce...amazing. 

MOS BURGER- the McDonalds of Japan and the spot for rice burgers! NOMZZZ. You know you're in Japan when you can order a rice-burger at your nearby fast food spot.

This was another basement-floor-of-the-department-store lunch I had. How perfect is it? Two onigiri (love the umeboshi one) two karage, and tamago It cost about $3...so simple, so good. 

7-11 TACO RICE!! For those of you who don't know, there is a thing that exists in Japan called TACOS RICE. It is basically all the delicious ingredients of a taco eaten over fluffy white rice. HAHA...I LOVE IT!! 

TORIKIZOKU - the every glorious yakitori chain that serves up a plethora of delicious chicken on sticks, plus snacks, and drinks...everything you order costing $2 !! 

So there you have it folks...just a few recent things in my food diary. As you can see, I am not lacking in good food options around me. Thankfully, I live in a very active country so the amount of food I consume is quickly balanced out by the amount of walking I have to do just to get around...so there you have it, the secret to a long happy life haha. 

But really - come visit me and try for yourself!! 

良いの日・GOOD DAY

Here is a very useful Japanese phrase: 良いの日 ..."ii-hi"

To say this properly you can say the letter "E" combined with "HE" and you have basically just said in Japanese "what a good day!"

This past Saturday was an E-HE forsure.  

The plan was to meet my friend Yuki in the afternoon to go to the Vietnamese festival at Yoyogi park. Vietnam will always hold a special place in my heart since I have been there twice with my sister-in-laws family and have made many memories there! The weather was seriously so nice...80 degrees, a little overcast, not too humid...ahhh.

I had time in the morning to walk around and take some photos of Omotesando area before meeting up with Yuki. One thing I've notice about living here is that I will often see random extremely long lines of people inevitably waiting for some tiny delicacy or hyped up food item. Sure enough, this line was for lobster sandwiches...no thanks, I'll pass. 

Is it a cafe....or a wall?? Also shout out to my elder homie over there. I was tempted to walk over and join the convo...

OKAY THIS STORE IS CRAZYYY. I stumbled upon this place while walking to Harajuku station from Omotesando and immediately said to myself, "wait. what. is this place real. why have I never been here before??" It was literally full of incredible textiles, navajo prints, Japanese dyed fabrics, incredible leather shoes, intricate pottery, bedazzled and embroidered vintage dresses...HEAVEN. (couldn't take pics inside) I soon realized that EVERYTHING was out of my price range ($60 keychain anyone?) but I was still obsessed with the place and claim this spot and Dover Street Market the two top stores in Tokyo. Check out their website HERE 

Harajuku station is a small station that is always jam packed with people so I was laughing when I eventually found Yuki because it was just two Japanese girls trying to find eachother in a sea of Japanese people lol. Then we walked over to Yoyogi park for some food! 

YESSSSS. Chicken+amazingspicysauce+rice. I could eat this everyday, without a doubt. 

The chicken pho was bomb! Can't compare to the pho I've had in Vietnam...but still really really good. Especially with all that cilantro on top...YUMMMM. Fun fact: in Japanese, cilantro is called パクチー　(pakuchi) and most people HATE it. 

There were a bunch of vendors selling every kind of amazing food...there were also live performances and other food booths there which made me laugh (Indian, thai, hawaiian...haha) because I was confused if this was the "Vietnamese festival" or the "call-every-asian-food-booth-in-Tokyo-festival" 

Had to get my hands on some vietnamese coffee. The man who was selling this spoke perfect English, Japanese, and Vietnamese. Impressive. 

The festival was poppin!! 

This is Yuki. She is so laid back, loves shopping at Zara with me, drinking coffee, and trying new restaurants...basically the perfect Tokyo travel friend!

She wanted to try taking a shot on my camera... so here you have a rare photo of me in front of the lens. 

cute grandpa.

Yoyogi park is an awesome place to chill on the weekends. People were having picnics all over the place!

There is something quite magical about a piece of the forest hidden in the middle of a big big city. 

After enjoying the festival, strolling through the park, and then shopping at zara...we walked over towards Aoyama area to grab our traditional coffee+cake (we always find ourselves at a cafe when we are together!) This time Yuki took me to Coutume...yet another super hip and cute coffee shop that felt very European.

I took the train back home at a decent hour and while I was sitting there on the train back I was thinking of how much I really do love this city.

For now, this in my home...and sometimes I feel so comfortable here that I forget it is not for forever. On this day, I was reminded of how rad it is that at this point in my life, I get to explore Tokyo on every free weekend I have filling up my calendar with experiences like eating pho at a Vietnamese festival in Yoyogi park! 

So I am staying thankful for every day here and I am also gearing up for all that summer has to offer! (i.e, a lot of sweating, cold drinks, AC, and wishing it was winter)