Yesterday we finally made it to Asakusa! I first went to Asakusa in 2005 with Micheru and Ted-san so naturally I had to go back again. The main attraction is the temple, but the sidestreets around it and the main road leading to it are good for picking up snacks and miyage (travel souvenirs). It's kind of a tourist attraction so I expected to see a few more gaijin than normal, but I was still surprised at how many natives were there. It wasn't a particularly nice day, a little windy and drizzling, but lots of people still showed up to pray/eat/buy/etc. I found a little charm that had the typical school backpack. It was so cute but I didn't buy it... I should have.
The more I interact and observe Japanese around campus, the more I go, "DUH I knew that they did that in (Sailor Moon, Crayon Shinchan, Soko Ga Shiritai, etc)." Clubs here are hard core. If you're a member, club is practically your life. The athletic clubs practice five to six days a week and practice as if they're official school sports teams. Most of the other clubs meet two or three times a week to sing, practice, dance, or hang out. And God forbid you join two clubs, how can you split your loyalties that way?
Saniya tried to join the Saffro Family club, which is like a gospel chorus. They get together and sing a few times a week, and seemingly try to imitate African-American church choruses. If I can get the short performance video Natasha took at a meeting I'll post it. After the first practice, Saniya came back to the dorm complaining that all she did the whole time was "sit on the side with the other first years and watch the older members learn new songs." She didn't sing but five minutes, and the older club members let the first years go home after an hour and a half out of pity/mercy.
I suppose it's a form of hazing -- first years have to put up with all kinds of crap to show their dedication to the club. It's a privilege to be a member of a club, you have to prove you're worth being a member. I got an email from my Folk Song club saying something like, "We have band practice today at 5pm at Sophia. First years can bring snacks and drinks." Translated properly, that means, "Show up at 5. Bring food (minions)." I ignored the email since the people who recruited me know I'm not that good at Japanese and they usually email me in English if I need to know something. But I did think about buying some food and taking it just to show some good will. I know, I'm a terrible gaijin.
I've talked about lunch at Sophia before, but I don't think I mentioned the weird sex segregation that occurs. At lunch, the lounge where we eat is filled with almost all females. Before the lunch rush I might see a few guys come in and eat quickly, but I never see boys in that room most of the time. Saniya says she sees them go to classrooms during lunch. My big group back home is about 1-1 male-female ratio, and I hang out with whoever, whenever they're free. In Japan, I have only seen boys and girls hang out together a handful of times. It's usually a group of girls chatting or a group of boys standing around being cool. I have no insight as to why this happens at the university level. Clues, anyone?
Next time, maybe another dorm post.
Hey did you go eat fugu?? there is that shop over on the right if you're facing the temple and they have a tank of them on the outside of the restaurant. It's on the opposite side of the omiyageya. the entrance side to all those clothes shops and such. btw this is brian. have fun and i'll see you up there in a couple of weeks!
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