Pandas, Dorm Festival and Part-time job woes

So this blog is a 'little' later than I intended it to be. There would have been an update last weekend, but I didn't think anyone would be interested in reading 'Waaaah, I feel ill. Waaaaah' which was pretty much all that the post would have contained. So I decided to wait a week, get better, and hopefully do interesting things.

So the first thing of interest would be my visit to Ueno zoo. Technically that wasn't the point of the daytrip to Ueno. The zoo was actually where a group of us went after the official tour/field trip for the Ramune to Anime class. Basically, we have lectures about the history of a specific bit of Tokyo, then go to see what's left of the history and so on. While this can be quite interesting, what really convinced most of us to go on this particular trip was the pandas. Ueno park is actually huge. There's a lake in it, with swan boats, but we didn't go on them (no crazy pirate shenanigans for me. Besides, I left my pirate hat at home.) The park used to be the site of a huge Buddhist temple complex, but time, and a handy civil war (known in common parlance as the Meiji Restoration) cleared the way for the pandas.

Apparently, after the Meiji Restoration ended in 1868, there was talk of turning the area into a medical school attached to Tokyo University. However, the Westerner they consulted about this was like "No! We can build a medical school next to Tokyo University itself. You know what this area would be perfect for? Pandas!"

Okay, maybe he just said that Tokyo needed a proper, official park, but I'm sure he would have been even more adamant if he'd known Ueno park would become home to Ueno Zoo, which would become home to Ling Ling from 1992-2008, then Li Li and Shin Shin from February of this year. Yup, Giant Pandas apparently are too awesome to have just one name, they need two. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of creativity in the Grand Bureau of International Panda Naming, as they just get their name repeated twice. Still, it sounds very cute.

Sad Panda? Or do they just always look sad?

Now, sadly I have to move on from talking about pandas, as I have typed and looked at the word so much, it no longer looks like an actual word. Last week was the week of Dorm Festival and Midterm Exams. Not the best piece of scheduling right there... So Dorm Festival first as it was the most fun of the two. It basically seemed to be a chance for all the dorm students to get together, play games, hang out and meet each other.

Monday kicked of with the 'Engeikai' performances. Basically, each dorm performed a really funny skit in Japanese. Was really awesome, and I was amazed how much even the people who know very little Japanese could understand. I didn't take part, which meant I got to watch all of them, instead of having to rush off and get ready. I was really impressed with how good each one was - there wasn't one which wasn't hilarious. The outrageous costumes and terribly overdramatic acting really helped!

Other events included playing rock, paper, scissors for icecream. Thanks in part to my extensive studies of this game and also to the fact that it was actually really easy to win (what can I say, I have a natural talent!) I was one of the many people who won (also known as all bar one person. Shhh, I totally have skills.)

There was also a scavenger hunt, which very few international students turned up for, so I had a chance to practise my Japanese, trying to understand instructions and play charades etc. Also, it would appear that I am terrible at group skipping rope challenges.

Finally, there was a dinner with free food, and announcements of Engeikai results, although most of the announcements were in Japanese, so I'm still not sure who won what, except that our main actor won 'best actor' or something, which is pretty cool.

Then, after a little bit of getting ready, went out for a friend's birthday party. There is this wonderful thing in Japan called 'nomihoudai'. It means 'all you can drink'. Sometimes there is a time limit, for this place there was not. Soft drinks are often included too, so non drinkers can still join in. There are also places which offer 'tabehoudai' - all you can eat. For a country where food is so expensive, this is an amazing thing.

I actually hadn't realised how expensive food would be here. I think the problem is, if I could cook, especially Japanese foods, it would be a lot cheaper, but I am fairly restricted in my skills, so end up having to buy slightly pricier food. I am therefore currently looking around for some kind of part time job. If I get anything, it will probably be tutoring someone in English. I did see an advert for a part time worker in a shop I truly adore in Harajuku, but upon inquiring, I was told I couldn't apply. This made me sad. I am contemplating whether or not going there every weekend and asking again will make them change their mind. I mean, the sign was still there two weeks after I first asked...

Are these replicas or the actual costumes Visual Kei bands wore on stage? Judging by the prices, I'd say they are originals. All I know is that I really want to work in a place that has things like this on display constantly.

I also got to go to Shinjuku, but didn't get to do as much random wandering as I had wanted to do, as there were very specific place we wanted to go to. Also, we were supposed to wander around Shinjuku as an independent field trip, so I expect I will go back soonish and take pictures of more than just the awesome Hello Kitty bus.

Is it a tour bus? What is its purpose? We may never know...

I imagine next weekends post will be fairly epic, as I am super excited for this coming weekend. It probably won't be up until Monday though, as I will be out all day on Sunday.