Misadventures in Translation

Last Wednesday and Thursday (11/22 – 11/23) were spent in Tokyo. The main purpose of my trip was to see The Mars Volta. It was definitely worth the trip. It’s one of my favorite concerts I’ve been to. Two hours of nonstop playing was awesome. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the show

The concert was at Zepp Tokyo in Odaiba.

Omar A Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler Zavala

The Mars Volta. You can only see 6 of the 8 members in this photo.

Cedric Bixler Zavala

This guy came all the way from France to see The Mars Volta. That’s hardcore dedication. I would never go to another county just to see a band.

If you want to see more pictures from the concert, please click this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anwooldridge/sets/72157594382262022/

After the concert, I met a friend at the Roppongi district in Tokyo. I ate at the Tokyo Hard Rock Cafe and then went to a couple of clubs. Very fun times at the discotheque.

The next day, I purchased an all day subway pass (around 7 USD) and went all over Tokyo. Here is a break-down of the places I went:

• Odaiba – an artificial island that’s now famous for it’s shops.
• Roppongi – a popular nighttime haven for foreigners.
• Asakusa – an area ofTokyo with traditional Japanese architecture, shrines, and temples. Most were destroyed in WWII and then rebuilt.
• Akihabara – an area well-known for its electronic shops.
• Shibuya – a popular area for Tokyo’s younger set. Many shops ranging from the Gap to Gucci.
• Harajuku – an area well-known for youth fashion trendsetting.
• Shinjuku – Tokyo’s skyscraper district.
• Ueno – this area has nice shops and large open market. At the open market, a person can find many good discounts.

Now, here are some pictures from around Tokyo. If you want to see more, please click this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anwooldridge/sets/72157594394185171/

Me at the Kaminarimon Gate to Sensoji Temple in Asakusa

Nakamise-dori leading to Sensoji Temple. Many shops trying to sell crappy (sometimes good) stuff to tourists.

Sensoji Temple. Notice the smoke in the middle. You are supposed to bath and inhale the incense for good luck. Or cancer. Whichever comes first.

This is the Fuji TV Building in Odaiba.

Japan shrunk our Statue of Liberty and stole it.

Japanese Stampede in Shibuya! This intersection is like this all day long.

Tokyo Tower in Roppongi.

Poor girl. Maybe she should’ve studied Kanji harder. She is handing out flier’s for one of Akihabara’s many maid cafes. The maid cafes are very popular among the otaku (geeks). The maids call the guests master and give them a royal treatment. It’s a about the closest to having a real conversation with a girl most of the geeks will ever get. Too bad they have to pay.

This store is all over the place in Tokyo. Stay safe! Too bad its catered to the Japanese market.

I didn’t have Thanksgiving, but I guess I had the equivalent of it on Friday night (11/24). It wasn’t meant to be a substitute, but I will say it was. I went to eat dinner at Kobayashi-sensei’s house. He is a teacher from Oizumi Junior High School in Hokuto. I went there with Kazue, Megumi, and another ALT, John Tejeda. It was big dinner. Sushi, salad, udon, tofu, chicken, and vegetables. No turkey, though.

Saturday night (11/25), I hung out with Tomita-sensei in Kofu. Ate some cheap ramen, went to some good bookstores, videostores, and to Don Quixote. As I’ve mentioned before, Don Quixote is a large entertainment and shopping center. At Don Quixote, we took purikura. Purikura translates into Print Club. At the purikura booths, you take several photos, edit them, and then you get a print out. The photos are adhesive. Purikura is extremely popular in Japan. We took purikura to give as a prize for our students in our elective English class. I don’t have a scanner, so you will have to excuse the quality of the photo.

Pretty homosexual, eh?

Thursday, I will have a farewell dinner with Kazue. She is returning to the United States to resume her studies there since she finally got a new visa. It was fun teaching math on the side. I guess I’ll have more time to study Japanese now.

This weekend (Dec 1st through the 3rd), I will be in Tokyo again with Tomita-sensei. His friend is letting us stay at his house. Tokyo is huge, so there is still much more to see and do.

After a long update, you are once again caught up. Now, for your Japanese moment of zen:

I’m going to start giving the peace sign every time I get done taking a poop.

If you can’t see the video, click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSn9VRsZWbY