A Busy Bee

As the lack of posts might have it known, I’ve been quite busy this past month preparing for　クリパ, the Christmas performance my circle participated in. Aside from all the practicing for that, which was mostly a lot of fun (more on that later), I also had regular everyday things like schoolwork and being tired, so I never got a good enough moment to sit down and properly post. Now I’ll just kind of skim over the last month and comment on some things that were interesting or something~

First, the weather has been ~*GORGEOUS*~ this whole month! Aside from a few rainy/freezing days, the sun has been shining and the weather is unbelievably not winter at all! It’s tricking me into thinking I won’t have to buy a warmer jacket! xD

On the 4th I went to a club called Ageha in Koto with my friend Jessica (who returned to America on the 9th :( ) and some of her friends. It was my first, and so far only, time going to a club in Japan and I was lucky to be able to go to a famous one and for free! (Jessica had coupons for us to get in free, otherwise it would have been around 3000yen) We were there from about 11:30pm or so until around 4am the next morning, and the trains don’t start up again until around 5am so we got some McDonald’s for breakfast!

The place was HUGE! It had maybe four or five different areas where you can dance, with different music in each spot (techno, hip-hop, house,..)-oh, and there were designated spots throughout the club where you were allowed to smoke, other spots were prohibited, and unfortunately the section with the music I liked and wanted to dance to was right by a smoking section. Anyway, there was lots of cool things that I wish I had taken pictures of (I left my camera in a locker so I wouldn’t have to worry about losing it) or at least could describe properly, but just trust me that it was super sweet~
One very note worthy thing that does need to be mentioned is the pole dancers! I had seen that there would be some when I looked on the website, but I didn’t fully understand as I thought it was a dance club. But yes, turns out there is a break in the middle of the night when there are four pole dancers (the poles are at each of the four corners, like a box, of the drink counter in the middle of a large room) who do crazy impressive pole dancing moves. Maybe even more interesting than that was that the dancers had fangirls! Though the surrounding crowds were both men and women, there were so many Japanese girls watching in awe, waving, and being super excited about the dancing! A bit of a cultural difference maybe, but I just went along with it and let myself also be awed by the muscles it takes to pole dance.

I almost forgot! Toward the end of the night, our group had split up a bit and Jessica and I were dancing in the ‘American Music’ section and even found a pair of funny guys to dance with! I ended up talking a bit with one of them, quite tall by the way ;), and ended up exchanging mail addresses before he left. I wasn’t in a bit of conflict with myself, but I didn’t get any bad vibes and I didn’t see any harm in possibly becoming friends with him, even though he was a good seven years older than me (I think that’s not too much). We ended up mailing back and forth for a short bit, but he was asking me to ‘hang out’ some time and besides having very little time to see some of my ICU friends (no night life for the month, remember?), I also decided I sort of already have someone I’m interested in (regardless if anything is actually going to happen) so didn’t want to mislead this guy or anything. So I was kind of a jerk and just stopped mailing him. ^^; Maybe it could have turned out to be a good relationship (friendship or more) and maybe I abandoned ship too soon/suddenly, but I made the decision and there’s no sense staying stuck on it now. :)

Since Jessica was going to be leaving soon, the next night our little six person foreigner SMST group got together for the last time. :( We went to dinner at Saizeriya and then went to a game center, took purikura and then played some games. I played Taiko Drum Master for the first time! I had a bit of trouble hitting the side parts, but I don’t think I did terrible! Lisa and Elliot are pros though, so impressive! I’ll go spend a day practicing on my own and then challenge them! haha

2nd Men’s Dorm had their Ball/Dance on the 10th and it was fun in it’s own right, though I did not appreciate the amount of creeps there-I’m looking at you sir who grabbed my butt. I did get to meet some people and spoke with this one guy, it was hard to hear, but I think he said Koudai, who actually ended up coming to my Japanese class the next week-he wants to be a Japanese teacher in the future, so I’m guessing he is taking a class and needed to come for an assignment or something.

Then the next day I went to my very first Nabe party! [Nabemono would be the full name, Nabe meaning pot and mono meaning things/stuff-so basically “Stuff (cooked) in a pot”! Everyone sits around the table, talking or whatever, with the pot in the middle on a cooking device with the broth/soup and added ingredients (vegetable, noodles, meat, etc.) cooking. Then when it’s ready, everyone just takes from the pot! More can be added and added and it’s delicious and fun!]
The 10 of us in the girls genre, Mana, Haruka, Rio, Miu, Minori, Miki, Mayu, Hanae, and Reina, got together at Miki’s apartment (first time in a Japanese apartment-soo tiny, though kind of cozy for just one person! A kitchen with two small “rooms” connected, one for the shower and one for the toilet, then her bedroom/living room, which was fairly spacious. We talked as we waited, talked as we ate both dinner and then dessert, and it was really fun. As the night went on, some of the girls needed to head home and it eventually was just Miki, Mayu, Reina, Haruka, and me. The five of us stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, eating junk food and talking (well, a lot of listening only on my part >,>;;), then continued to eat and talk after we woke up sometime later. After our nabe/junk food breakfast, we just sat relaxed a whole bunch, leading to much napping~ All in all a very nice experience :)♥

On the 17th after practice, I went along with some 14, Batako, Shihomi, Haruka, Suzuko, Take, Hidaka, and Naomichi, to McDonald’s. I feel like I’m becoming more able to talk with Japanese, with regard to both listening and my own speaking (it’s happened more often these days!). I’m especially happy that I was able to talk with Batako while we rode our bikes there and back as she made me feel better by talking about her time studying abroad in Kentucky and how she understands that it’s frustrating and upsetting to have plenty to say, but not knowing how to do so properly in English for her, or Japanese for me. I’ll keep working hard and hopefully can improve quickly!


On the 19th I went with Lisa to Korea Town in Shin-Okubo where we browsed around some shops, mostly idol ones, and ate some Dopoki (spicy ricecakes) and a cheese filled, fried dough thing. After we stuffed ourselves with that and some snacks from one of the shops (I ate way too many of the samples, but it did get me to buy some of the actual product!), and I bought myself a “feel better about not being able to go to their concert” SHINee blanket, we headed to Harajuku (surprisingly my first time!) to meet up with Mika. There we window and actual shopped a bit and then like the fatties we are, decided to go to a Tabehodai(all you can eat) as a Christmas present from Mika! I of course ate way too much in that hour, to the point where my stomach was creepily larger than normal and near explosion. Oh well~

Then the 23rd came! The day of the Christmas performance! To start the day off right, I slept for two hours the night before! Ouo Instead of sleeping, I made banana bread, peanut butter cookies, fudge, and the dough for sugar cookies, though I didn’t get around to baking them that day. [The bread and PB cookies disappeared dangerously soon~♪]
Maybe due to the sleep deprivation, I ended up forgetting my ticket, the one I needed to get into the event, in my Japanese book (why did I even put it there again?) in my dorm, so I had to spend 3000yen to buy another one at the door (then the mandatory 500yen drink)…my money…so sad.

After I forgot about that though, I had a great time! The whole event was split into three parts, our performance being in the middle/end of the second part, with DJ time in between each. I watched all of the first part in the room, then left during the DJ time to get ready for SMST’s performance. While waiting for our turn, I waited in the lobby like area with others, practicing, talking, and/or watching the second act performances on the TV. I got to spend some time with Jeans (my previously mentioned “love” interest) so that made me happy♫ [What even is the relevance of this sentence? xD]

I wasn’t terribly nervous about performing, maybe a healthy amount, but I was terribly nervous about my wardrobe change. After Girls, I had less than 20 seconds to take my top off and the flower out of my hair and put on a new shirt and jacket before needing to be back on stage again for Lock-scary! It seemed nearly impossible at the practices, but I did it! Such a relief! Also, it went by so fast so I don’t remember details too well, but I don’t think that I made any big mistakes and think it went well. :) I ordered a DVD of the whole event, so we’ll see how well I did in reality then!

After our performance, I changed back into my normal attire and went back down in time for some of the DJ time and then stayed to watch the third and final group of performances of the event. Everyone was amazing and impressive until the end and I feel motivated to practice more so I can improve. It did start becoming cold as the night progressed and people left the room-taking their body heat with them (my “jacket” was upstairs), and sitting on a hard, cold floor didn’t help. Also, having not eaten for a while, I was getting anxious for the Uchiage (after party), so my mind wasn’t entirely there the whole time. But it ended and Smooth Steppers even won two prizes via drawings (a pair of tickets to Disney resort, and something else I don’t remember-not sure how they are getting distributed, or maybe they already were?). Then we got to go eat!

The party was at an Izakaya nearby called Tsuki no Shizuko; it was mostly a Nomihodai (all you can drink), but a decent amount of food was provided as well. I found out some of the members have a really low tolerance to alcohol, though I’m sure it didn’t help that everyone was tired and hadn’t eaten for a while. I don’t know the alcohol content of anything, or my own tolerance (though I wouldn’t think it could be that high as I don’t really drink), but s has been the case thus far, I didn’t really feel much, if any, effect (maybe it’s because I usually am eating a bunch as well..?). -.-v This time I tried カシスアップル Cassis Apple, as it sounded like my name, and it was in fact quite tasty! The people at my table were really tame actually, especially compared to one of the other tables (they were having a blast taking risque photos or something~ haha). Oh, and I didn’t notice until Karin, a girl I just met recently as she was in the Hip Hop genre, pointed it out, but Hide, who lives in 2MD and I met during Tsukimi at the beginning of the year (oops, I don’t think I ever wrote about that or the dorm initiation! I’ll do that sometime~) and have gotten closer to since) was wearing a UMass Amherst sweatshirt! CRAZY! I guess he studied there for the summer in 2008~small world? :)




On Christmas Eve I went with Shiki, Ten, and a just met friend Dennis to see illuminations in Roppongi, then to Tokyo Tower to snap some photos. It was cold, but the lights were all really pretty. :) Then on Christmas Day I just relaxed and ate cookies all day ~(*u*)~ That will hopefully not become too much of a tradition as it surely isn’t good for my health, the eating cookies all day I mean~


I got to see my friend Erica, who came up from Kansai, on the 26th, and Jenessa who is in Tokyo as well, but haven’t seen since coming to Japan! We went to the Imperial Palace for a few hours, walking around and talking, then headed over to Harajuku where Erica and I looked longingly at the Yoyogi Stadium where SHINee’s concert was happening. To cheer ourselves up we ate some crepes! I bought a Caramel Chocolate Brownie one, and even though it wasn’t warm, it was still delicious, delicious, delicious! Mouth is watering just remembering :Q__

Then yesterday I went to Tokyo Summerland-a water park! :D In the winter! How crazy~ Maybe that's a bit misleading, as it wasn’t a big one with lots of slides and such…oh, and it wasn’t outdoors either! It was inside a big heated building! There was a wave pool, two slides, a couple “kids have priority” (but others can play as well) areas, and then an underground area with different heated pools. There are rides outside and an outside water park open during the winter too, so maybe I’ll go again some time! I don’t think I’ve been swimming in a long time, so it was fun to be able to once again! :D ♥☼
To be honest, it wasn’t even that cold walking back to the station from the park-oh Japan and your lovely crazy winter.

The new year is creeping closer and closer! I need to think of a resolution, hmm…

Hello Sundays~☼

Sunday is going to be the only day I have the night free from now until Christmas time, but more on that in a bit!

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning about half of the 14(this is said as “ichi yon” by the way, not “fourteen”) members of SMST got together from midnight to 6am at a studio in Koenji that we rented. To start the night off right (read:wrong), Lisa, Elliot, and I were late to Koenji Station where everyone was supposed to meet and head to the studio together. The group ended up leaving without us probably a minute or two before we arrived, and then Naomichi had to come back and escort us. Poo. I felt kind of bad having held up the group and that someone had to come back and get us.

Anyway, I originally thought it was just going to be hanging out, dancing, and casual fun stuff like that. However, Mana, Lisa, Elliot, and I, the foreign (I don’t know what to call us, since we aren’t that “new” anymore) members that went, seemed to have been forgotten when everyone else was informed that we were actually going to be having a dance battle before any of that other stuff happened. To be quite honest, I had no interest in participating in such activities in the least. One, I can’t do any sort of performance alone in front of others, two, especially not dancing or other things I’m hardly decent at and especially not in front of a bunch of people who are quite decent at it. Now, I’m not some super terrible dancer, and if it’s choreography (and I’m given plenty of time to practice and work on it) and can do it alright (though I’m still trying to work out of the slightly awkward, lanky, I-can’t-really-control-all-my-limbs stage), but the only free styling anyone is ever going to witness me doing willingly is funny, nonsensical free styling. That is, jumping around, shaking my butt, flailing my arms, whipping my hair back and forth-that sort of thing.

Neither Mana, Lisa, or I really wanted to do it, but we didn’t entirely have a choice as we were paired with another member anyway (via the oh so convenient Japanese random selection system, explained here). Oh, and Lisa is super good and looks cool doing whatever anything/everything; she really didn’t even need to worry! It turned out okay I guess, though I was so nervous before, during, and after my two turns that even my legs were shaking! D: Yeah, I was embarrassed beyond all belief, but I guess it was a learning experience. Somehow or another. I just felt a bit bad for my partner that all the stuff I have learned and could have remembered and done decided to take leave from my brain until I got home after the entire night/morning (thanks, appreciate your support!).


After that though, we did just hang out and practice on our own-basically a “do whatever you want for the next few hours” sort of thing. I did practice a bit, but it was late (early?) and my attention span was dead so I couldn’t really do one thing for that long. I should have made an effort to talk or be around the Japanese members more, but I just stuck with Mana and Lisa for the most part (Elliot was around some of the time, and off on his own otherwise). The rest of the night consisted of us talking, sitting around, eating, and playing games like charades, a repeat after me + add on choreography making this we randomly created, and even a little truth or dare! I had fun and wasn’t tired at all. Ah, I almost forgot what it was like to be able to stay up late/all night easily; am I already getting old?! Yes.

So when 6am rolled around, we all took the train back to Musashisakai and ate some breakfast at McDonald’s. Lisa really wanted a McFlurry, and I in turn wanted one after hearing her talk about it, but no can do at 6:30/7 o’clock in the morning. Or french fries. Is it like that in America? I’m not sure I’ve ever tried and I think I could count the times I got breakfast at McD’s on one hand. I ended up getting an apple pie though, deciding to eat more once I got back to my dorm, except when I did return, around 8am or so, I ended up sleeping instead, though I hadn’t even intended to (mostly ’cause I wasn’t tired). I did enjoy some food when I woke up around 1pm though~

Besides that, on Thursday I registered for classes and payed my dorm rent/bill-all by myself too! When I did it the first time, I was able to pay at the post office on campus and it didn’t really have to do anything. This time though, I had to pay at a bank (which close at 3pm! So early!). So after registering for classes (why did I sign up for a 4 hour class again? -‘3-), I biked to Musashi to go to the Mizuho there. When I first walked in, a male worker asked what I needed and I told him I needed to pay my dorm fee, then he took me to a machine and gave me a number-74 (though I’m not sure it was all that necessary, as there were but a few people even in the bank, but Japanese are efficient and systematic like that). I had to fill out a few things, with the help of a female employee who was really nice and got excited when I was able to write some kanji by myself! hehe I did forget how to write the “taka” in Mitaka, but it’s hard as hale to write, so I didn’t sweat it. After that I gave her my cash, then sat and waited a bit, and that was that! I did such a good job that I treated myself to a donut from The Little Mermaid-a delicious bakery that wants to make me fat and broke. I have my eye on you little fishy.

Now onto what I mentioned at the very beginning, if anyone even remembers that long ago. After a brief meeting yesterday, SMST is finally staring practice for Kuripa (in about 20 minutes actually, I better hurry up and finish!). Our theme is Four Seasons, but since there are only three genres, we only have three seasons-that and maybe it’s winter now so there is no need to have a winter themed genre? Anyway, as far as I know, Lock is Fall (♥ :D), Girls is Summer (♥ :D), and Hip Hop is Spring (♫). Since the there is not much time before the performance date, the 23rd, practice is going to be quite often. In fact, since I’m in two genres I have to get to practice every night except Sunday! That is only for the scheduled practices too; I’m guessing there will be a few make-ups and I know I’m going to have to practice additionally on my own. It’s probably going to be a bit tough and tiring, but I can’t help but be excited about it! (Am I just excited that because I’ll be working out more, I’ll get to eat more~? ☺) I hope I can keep up and put on a good performance! I’ll do my best!

Oh, and today was absolutely gorgeous! It rained really hard last night (and woke me up >:( ) and the weather said it was going to rain today too, but the sky was completely clear and it was so warm! Upper 50’s/mid 60’s! ♪☼♪ Yay!♥