Purikura

One of my favorite things to do in Japan is to go into the city or anywhere really with my friends and take purikura pictures. Now if you don't know, purikura are basically pictures taken at a special Japanese photo booth. What is so fun or special about that? Well it isn't about the fact that you are taking crazy pictures with your friends. It is about what you can do to these purikura pictures that makes them so fun and entertaining.

When entering a booth, you will first need to insert the amount of money listed above the slot in the machine which is about 400 or 500 yen (about 6USD). Now these machines can hold about 4 or 5 people (more if you really squeeze in) so if you split the cost, you are most likely to only be paying about a dollar or so each. The screen will turn on and usually ask you what skin tone of pictures you would like to choose. You can darken, lighten, or keep your skin tone normal. Sometimes you will get an option for the size of your eyes as well. You can make them super alien-ish big (which I would recommend) or you can keep them normal etc. One thing you cannot change about the machine is the make-up which it will automatically put on your face. You sometimes can choose a more natural make-up look opposed to a very bright make-up look, or sometimes you cannot even choose at all. WARNING though, if you are a male taking purikura you WILL no matter what end up looking girly due to the larger eyes, extra lipstick, blush, mascara the machine adds to your face in the picture.

SECOND WARNING: Purikura machines don't give you a lot of time to chose things, so pick quick or it will pick for you.

So ok after choosing which background you want and you take your pictures, exit the machine in the direction it points to. There you will find an area under a curtain where you can decorate all your pictures. You can add glitter, cat whiskers, dates, words, or basically anything you want! If you want to be Japanese-like though don't add a lot. As a foreigner I always tended to add way more than the picture needed, which may be the reason why I ended up with some pretty horrible pictures. Just Decorate!
Afterwords, you can choose which layout you want the pictures to print in and/or how many people its for (sometimes if you have two or three people they will come pre-cut so you only have to rip them apart). Wait for them to print, and if you have internet access on your cell phone, type in your email address and download them as well. After its all done, cut them apart, divide them between your friends and enjoy!

Here are what some should look like:

Takarazuka Review

One of the delightful things I got to experience in Japan, was going to see The Takarazuka Review. At first in school, I had no idea what this exactly was. I would see signs on the train showing a bunch on women in costumes and I thought "Oh, it just must be some sort of performance," but I was deeply wrong and I would have never known I was wrong if I hadn't by chance heard about the free trip my school was having to go see it.

So... What exactly is the Takarazuka Review?? Well first off, Takarazuka is a city located in Hyogo-ken, close to where my school was located (actually I had friends who dormed in Takarazuka so I was there a lot). To get to the city you can either take a JR Line or take the Hankyu line from Osaka or Kobe, go to Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi station and then transfer to Takarazuka. I would take the Hankyu line since the Takarazuka Review is actually apart of the Railway company. The review, though, is an all girl theatrical group that puts on multiple different performances throughout the year (ranging from things like Romeo and Juliet to things like Footloose). I saw Ocean's 11 when I went and it was amazing. Basically, it is an all female broadway melodramatic performance that used to be based on kabuki but has been transformed. The Review has their own theater, the Grand Theater, that usually sells out every time.  Tickets, depending on the seat, are about 60 USD and up. Most of the fans of the Review are in fact women themselves, but it is definitely worth seeing even if you are male (my male friends were sure impressed.) The actors usually have their own fan groups and sell out pictures and books of themselves every show. What is special about these women who play male and woman parts? Well if you look at their pictures maybe you will figure it out....

 

As you can see these women have incredible make-up jobs, and although they still look like women.. well they could also look like very attractive men.. Besides this though, the male part actors have trained their voices to be deep and loud so even if you look at them up close they still sound like men. If you have a cheap seat far away like I did, you may not even realize they are women.

Anyways, my review for the Review is an A+++. It is a very famous and unique thing of Japan, that needs to be seen if you happen to be in the area! So go and enjoy it! And while you are there, enjoy the city of Takarazuka by taking a walk through the botanical gardens or stroll along the river. ~

Here are some more pictures of the area:

Preparing for Your Trip

As I packed for my trip to Japan and I have come upon some useful hints and trips for anyone who may be having preparation troubles.

Voltage Converters
When traveling abroad you need to really pay attention to the electrical devices you are taking. Not all countries run on the same voltages as the US. Many in fact run on 220 Volts, where the U.S. is 110 Volts. When first looking at this information, you might think that you would need a voltage converter which would safely change the higher voltage into your desired amount. BE CAREFUL THOUGH! If you don't pay attention you may buy a converter you don't need. Computers for instance don't always need a converter. Many laptops now can handle a wide range of different voltages and they will work slower or even malfunction if a converter is used. All you need for most computers is a plug converter so that your computer plug can fit into the wall. My advice is to also try to charge as many devices as possible on your computer so you don't need more plugs or a computer.
            Another common electrical device is a hair dryer. If you don't have a dual voltage hair dryer you WILL need a converter, BUT I recommend that instead of buying a converter (which can be heavy and can weigh down your suitcase) just buy a dual voltage hair dryer. A new hair dryer will be cheaper, lighter, and you can use it when you get back home. Once again, with a dual voltage hair dryer, all you will need is a plug adapter. In the end, unless you are carrying more equipment, you should NOT need a voltage converter and should only have to buy one plug adapter. (You can surely unplug your computer to plug in your hair dryer.)

Calling Abroad
 Calling Internationally can be really expensive, so here are some ways to make it cheaper. USE SKYPE or some other similar type of calling service. If you buy a subscription, you can get a free voicemail and a discount on an online number. My advice is to get a subscription to call landlines and mobile in the U.S. ONLY, with voicemail, and an online number, which together should be about 30 dollars for three months. This way you can call home cheaply, they can call you with no additional charge to them if your online number is in their area code, and they can leave a voicemail when your not there. What I would not recommend is paying extra for text messages to your friends in the US. It can get really expensive and you will be too busy abroad to really text them a lot. Instead, your friends should sign up for skype too and you can message and call each other for free. If you must have a cell phone in your pocket, though, I would try to find a place where you can rent a phone in your study abroad country. These fares are cheap and they often give student discounts. Most of these rental phones are prepay phones and they are nice to use to contact your new study abroad friends, but I wouldn't recommend them for calling home. These phones should just be used to make calls in the country you are staying in.As a side note, phones in Japan usually send emails instead of text messages for free, so you can easily email your friends or families computer or even their cell phone with no extra cost to you!

Packing Tip of The Day:
If you are worried that you will buy too much abroad and will have no way of bringing it back home, consider this: Try getting two suitcases of similar size (one slightly smaller) and put the smaller suitcase in the larger one. Then just pack up the small one on your way there, zipping it inside the bigger one, and on your way home pull the two apart so that you have two suitcases to take your things in.

To Help You Prepare:
Look to see if there is anything to do to set up your wireless internet before you get abroad. Many times you will have to install a new program, and it is better to get this done in the U.S. when you aren't frantic to get online. When you arrive at your destination and have instant internet access, you will thank me.

Scholarships

The minute you decide you want to study abroad you should begin looking for scholarships. Deadlines for many of these scholarships end early and you want to apply for as many as you can because studying abroad is never cheap. For my trip in the fall of 2011, I started looking and applying for scholarships in the fall the year before, and even with all of my applying I only got one. It is tough competition,so here is my advice:

1. Ask your adviser for any scholarship information they have. Many times you need an academic and financial adviser to approve of your application when you send it, so you want to keep them updated and informed on what you are doing. Personally, I was in my advisers office almost daily to ask questions and get tips.

2. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to write your scholarship essays. Unless you are the perfect writer you will definitely want someone to edit your paper. I cannot stress this enough because the more grammatical errors you have, the worse your chance to be chosen is. Another hint in this area is to try and make your paper unique. Don't be afraid to be yourself in your paper and to tell your readers exactly why you want to study abroad. Put passion into it. When I was writing my essay for the Freeman Asia Scholarship, I put my childhood story in it about how I got into Japanese Culture and how it has affected me. Now this is not exactly an academic reason to travel abroad, but if you support your reasoning enough and tell how your experience well encourage you to grow, even academically, trust me, the scholarship committee will see that you are telling the truth and that you really care about traveling abroad.

3. Submit your application on time with all documents, and if any information changes, make sure you inform the committee who will be reviewing your scholarship. If information is incorrect and they know about it, you will not be receiving any scholarship.

4. If you are chosen as a recipient for a scholarship, make sure you accept it and reply with any needed information or documents as soon as possible. Some scholarships have deadlines for when you need to submit follow-up material, and if you miss it, they will think you are declining the scholarship. This is important!

My number one tip for planning to study abroad and for applying for scholarships is to stay organized. I keep a folder for all of the documents that I need and for what I might need. I also make multiple copies of all these documents because if you use it once, it is likely that you will need it again. Having extra copies make things easier and saves time. It is also nice to just have a record of everything that you are doing.


So now to the really helpful part. Here are a bunch of links to scholarship websites and scholarship search engines:
Gilman Scholarship
Boren Scholarship
Foundation for Asia-Pacific Education
Freeman-Asia
Global Studies
Associaton of Teachers of Japanese
Study Abroad Immersion
Study Abroad.com

These are just some links and most are for Asian study abroad sites. There are many more though, and it takes a lot of time to search through the internet to find them so try to put aside a day or two to do so.

For those of you interested in the scholarship I received, here is some information:
I was chosen to receive the Freeman Asia scholarship to study abroad in Japan for an academic year. It is a scholarship for those who are planning to study in the East of Southeast Asia. The maximum you can receive for one year is $7,000 dollars to be paid half in the fall and half in the spring. For a semester you can receive up to $5,000 and for the summer $3,000. You do need to do a service project for this scholarship.

If anyone has any questions about how to apply for scholarships, writing essays, or anything in general, please comment and I will try to help as much as possible. As a recipient of the Gilman Scholarship and as a student who has gone through this whole process, I understand the need to ask many questions, so please do so.

Japanese hosts

      Recently I went to Shinsaibashi, in Osaka, Japan and I came upon what are known as 'hosts.' In Shinsaibashi, one of the most famous places for hosts, you can look around and see them and their clubs everywhere. To elaborate further, a host is a male that works at a club to entertain women. They serve drinks to women, sit and have conversations with them, and try to make the woman fall in love with them. Hosts are not prostitutes although if the pay and the customer is right, they probably would consider it. Their jobs are basically to make women feel happy and loved. They are male servants basically. Do not get the wrong image though and think that these guys are trashy as they are some of the richest men in Japan, if they have a lot of  customers. They can make thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks.
       When walking around Shinsaibashi, it is not hard to find or spot these men. They usually stand on the famous bridge of Shinsaibashi, and they wear rather distinct outfits. Their hair, usually very spiky and stylized. There shoes very long and pointy. Almost, elven quality shoes. Their attire, usually a black suit or very dark clothes and jeans with lots of expensive bling bling. Usually you will see them with sunglasses on and smoking a cigarette. You can only find them in the night though, as they do work at a night time club. As required by Japanese law now though, they are supposed to shut down between 12 midnight and 2 AM, but I am fairly certain, you could get into one of these clubs later than that.

       Now, I have never been in a Host Club, as I cannot speak Japanese that well and because it would just be way to expensive, and embarrassing. I have though found I delightful documentary on the life of a Host bar owner. The documentary is called: The Great Happiness Space: A Tale of an Osaka Love Thief. I would seriously recommend this video who is interested in learning about what really goes on in these clubs and what the lifestyle of a Host is. I have watched it twice already in the last month, because it fascinates me so much! Other than this video, there is no real other way to know how these men opperate unless you go into  the club. If you don't want to go in or can't afford it though and you are in Japan. I suggest you should at least go check out what these guys look like. It is a unique aspect of Japanese culture in itself.

A few comments on Food in Japan

       Ok, so we all know that Japanese food is great! Or at least the kind we can get back in our home countries, and let me tell you it CAN be pretty delicious, but there are some weird traits of Japanese eating habits I would like to point out.
       First off, let me start by talking about presents to bring your host parents when you come to Japan. You should always bring them a present even if you are only staying a week, because it is common courtesy here. But let me give you a few warnings! When I came to Japan, I brought my host parents some home made jellies and butters along with some maple syrup, a rare and expensive thing in its own. I thought these would be great gifts because they really represented the type of town I came from and what good-old farm America is like. I was wrong though. My host family doesn't really like sweets, so instead of eating it for themselves, they give it back to me to eat and rarely touch the stuff. It was such a loss. So before you buy your host family, food or even coffee, send them an email asking what kind of food they like. It could really save you some money.
       Sweets are a very common thing in Japan though, although I tend to find them not as sweet as what I am used to. Japanese people tend to like salty things better, as they prefer dark bitter chocolate over milk, etc. Even the doughnuts, have barely any sugar in them. If you have a sweet tooth in Japan, my advice is to buy a little box of sweets for yourself, or get some ice cream, as ice cream seems to be a number one treat around here, especially the decadent parfaits you can get.

       As for main dishes of japanese cuisine, don't be surprised if you receive really small portions or a lot of vegetables with your meal. Sometimes, vegetables and rice is the only thing I get in my meal, which is when I get meat deprived. If you are a vegetarian, you might like this aspect of japan. They love to eat their vegies! But one thing I noticed is that they rarely eat them plain. There is always some sort of dressing or mayonnaise on top of it. They sometimes put so much on  that it ruins the purpose of eating a health vegetable in the first place. Commenting more on the mayo, if you come to japan, you will find that Mayo to the Japanese is like Ketchup to Americans. They put it on almost everything and eat lots of it. I have seen food with the top completely covered in mayonnaise before. To me, it is just disgusting and is even worse for your health than eating a lot of ketchup! This interesting fact is something I never knew about Japan before I came here. I couldn't possibly imagine how common using mayo is.

As for fruit, you may know that the apples are huge, the pears delicious, etc. But did you know that they don't eat the skin on grapes? They consider it dirty and bitter, so they will spend hours peeling off the skin on all the grapes before they eat them. I personally don't mind the skin, so I pop them in my mouth and finish my portion way before everyone else. Also, I want to comment on Apple Juice. Apples in Japan may be different, but I personally think the apple juice tastes completely artificial. To me, there is not one ounce in the juice that comes from a real apple. I am unsure though, as I have yet to read the box.

As my mind was wondering as to what else to type about, I remembered the problem I have with milk here. It is not that it tastes different or anything. My problem is really with the way my host mother abuses milk. Let me tell you, I have seen that milk carton sit out overnight and then get put back in the fridge the next day for someone to drink!! To me this is a big EWWW! You would think it would get spoiled! This has happened in my household more than once! I just can't even imagine if it is a cultural thing not to waste milk or if my family is just forgetful, but I can just say that I will never drink milk in this household.

Now, If you are planning to study abroad in japan and live in a Host Families house, let me warn you that many households don't have ovens. They only use special microwaves to cook food. So if you were planning on cooking your own food, you can cut out the cookies, pies, pizza, or anything else that is larger than a microwave and needs an oven size.

Fashion in Japan

            I here a lot about Fashion in Japan almost everyday. Whether it is from my sister back in the U.S., who thinks Japanese fashion is worth buying into and who tells me to buy here things even though she may be coming to visit me herself. Or whether it is from my friends who, walking to class everyday, comment on the dedication all the girls have here to fashion. Let me tell you, their fashion dedication is impressive, and they sure do pay the high prices for it, but whether the Japanese sense of fashion is 'fashion-forward' or modern, I would disagree with that.

             Tokyo is indeed one of the fashion capitals of the world, but it is also one of the biggest cities in the world, and one of the original biggest cities to emerge in East Asia. My personal belief is that because of the Japanese quick rise in the global economy, that many Asian designers traveled here to make their start. It is not in any sense what I would call everyday Japanese fashion. There are a few exceptions to this though as there are girls and boys who take fashion to the extreme in Japan, and stand out, like lolita dresses or harajuku girls who wear outrageous colors.  I am here not to talk to you today about those fashion statements that can be found in the extreme, but am here to talk about the fashion I see most girls living in Osaka wear on a daily basis. To me it can be described as a very colonial, modern fashion.

          It seems to me that young, college girl fashion is very girly, yet very conservative at the same time. Most clothes seem to be in the blacks, beige, brown, and dark blue range of colors. Very rarely will you see a girl walking around in bright colors that really stand out. Starting down at the bottom, most of the shoes I see young women wearing are a pair of brown high heels. They are never anything too fancy, and like I said earlier, they look almost colonial. You will rarely see a Japanese girl NOT wearing high heels, especially if they are a shorter girl. As for the older generation of women, I often see black rocking shoes. You know the ones that have a curved bottom so that you can rock back and forth on them. They are supposedly good for exercise.
            Moving up the body, most women wear skirts and shorts with either panty-hoes on underneath or really high socks. You hardly ever see a lot of leg on a woman, as the Japanese are very conservative. Just like you will never see cleavage either. If you are a foreigner in Japan, you should be aware of this conservatism and try to cover up your body more; no spaghetti straps, or low cut shirts please. For the shorts girls wear, some are jeans and others plain colors, but another popular kind is a very girly, loose fitting short, that has a wavy-heart design cut into the bottom. As for the skirts they are usually very flowery with lace or some sort of knitting on them. Once again, very girly and completely not my style.
           Shirts are very hard to explain as there are many kind, but Japanese tend to layer a lot so there will often be a long sleeve shirt underneath a baggy, girly and almost poncho like, plain shirt. Even in the summer, you can find girls wearing these types of clothes because they are very cautious about protecting their skin from the sun. Many times, when it is sunny, you will see every woman, young or old, caring an umbrella over their head to protect them from the sun. As for hairstyles, women mostly keep their hair down or tied back with a feminine scrunchy. A good website I found to show you the image of what daily Japanese fashion looks like is www.fashioninjapan.com Check it out sometime and see if I am right.

            My last comment about Japanese fashion is that it is very French influenced. Believe it or not, french culture is the culture that I see the most of in Japan, besides of course Japanese. They love french culture here and are inspired by it. That is why I feel as if their fashion, is a very colonial, french fashion. It doesn't stand out at all in the crowd, but when examining it further, you can see the detail and hard work girls take in putting together their outfit. And let me tell you, they are trained to match clothes very young, as most of the mothers and older women, are just as fashion forward as their children. I personally believe that these older woman should tone it down a little, but fashion is very important here in Japan. Almost an obsession, and you will find aspects of it everywhere you go. Warning to the wise though! Clothing and Accessories in Japan are VERY Expensive. If you are coming from the U.S., don't be surprised to find some $50 shirts in even the cheapest stores! My advice, don't buy into the fashion in Japan much and save your money for better things!