Januray 17th - KIMONOMANIA

Today was special: I wore my very first kimono! I had to be at Yukiko's house at 10 o'clock in the morning, but I was late because I had a big problem: my hair. I straightened it, but it just looked so weird. Also, it is just too long: I desperately need to see a hairdresser.. Furhtermore, my radiator broke down yesterday evening. All of a sudden, my room was like the Alaska. The remote is in Japanese, so I didn't really get it, of course. But I should not complain, some people actually live in Alaska, and I feel extremely bad for those people, I would die.

So, I arrived at Yukiko's house at 10:15. She is so sweet, she had thought about my options and found a lot of agencies and dance companies on the internet. Out new plan is Disneyland: she told me I should be the prince, I kind of like that idea. At 11:00, the other guest arrived. She was a girl who graduated from the University of Tokyo and majored in Japanese literature: a pretty smart girl. Too bad she didn't speak English.. But she was really sweet, she fixed my mobile phone and the remote of my radiator. She is also going to perform on the tea ceremony party in February.

We all wore kimonos: mine was blue with silver. I looked stunning, like a hot samurai. The stupid thing was that you could still see my UCLA hoodie, haha! Really awkward but it at least matched the blue colours. I am getting better at the tea ceremony, although my legs are still killing me like crazy. I simply can not believe how they do it. But they promised me it would get better, loved it. I took some pictures of me and my friends in kimonos, check them out!!


Yukiko handed me the official invitation for the tea ceremony party, it looked beautiful. It was written on traditional Japanese paper and she made an English translation, especially for me. So sweet! This is what the invitation said:

Dear Steven,

Plum blossoms of Hanegi Park, in Umegaoka (plum hill) area, Setagaya-ku Tokyo now become blooming with a faint scent in a twinkling sun. We are sure it will be the herald of the new spring of this year.
Our International Team of Japanese traditional tea Ceremony Omotesenke school will proudly host the 7th Ume Chakai (Tea Ceremony Party of plum blossoms). And we would like to day thank you always for your warm support and understandings to our humble parties and activities.
In the 4th of February, at Nichigetsuan, annes, and Seishindou, tea house, in Hanegi Park from 10:00 to 16:00, we will welcome you and ready to entertain you by serving Koicha tea and Usucha tea with Japanese traditional lunch from 12:00. At 1:00 o'clock, out team will present you the show of the tea game, Saza that we have been practiced.
Looking forward to seeing you then.

Yours sincerely,
Yukiko Murano

So sweet! Do not judge her on her English, cause she is a really good speaker and we can all perfectly understand what she is saying, right? I am so happy I am invited, it is going to be awesome!! =)

After the practice, I went to Shibuya to study for my SAT subject tests in Math I and II. I have only one week left to study, and I didn't really do anything the last weeks. So I will have to study hard, but that's what I have done for, like, ever.. So that won't be hard. I do not know all the places, and it is so hard to choose a cafe or anything to sit in: there are so many! Finally, I chose a nice looking coffee bar. I sat there for like, 3 hours: it was great. I think I will spend more time there. After that, I walked around. As you may know, Tokyo has a lot of gaming-halls and gamble palaces. I even gambled, I just had to have that cute blanked in the window.. But I didn't get it, it was hard, but I stopped in time.. In the basement of that building, there was a gigantic game-hall. Truly, I have never in my life seen such machines, I was flabbergasted. It all looks pretty, but it is shocking to see the people in trance: they just throw money in machines like it's nothing. There are so many great games to play, and when I have some friends, I will definitely play some! When Martika's in town, I will take her to that hall: we will have so much fun! We also have to do karaoke, Martika! Prepa=re! The best game was the horse-riding game. A group of 20 people were playing together, each of them having an own computer and a big chair and they raced against each other in a horse-race. It was so fun to watch, people really got in to it!

I also saw a dancing studio with people dancing. It was on the 3rd floor, but I watched for a long time. I must say, I miss is very much. It was always some sort of spiritual experience for me, I could really make me feel better. Maybe it's a good idea to take some dance lessons. But maybe an international class, cause I can not understand the corrections in Japanese, haha.

Tomorrow I have a appointment with a girl I met in a clothing store in Shinjuku. She is Japanese but lived in Australia for a while. I am looking forward to that. In the morning and afternoon, I think I am going to do some sight-seeing in North- or Central Tokyo, I still have a lot more to see! Well, not a very special day, but I had fun.