In Japanese, "fall" is said "aki", written with the symbols of the tree and the fire. And it's true that, in Japan, the trees burn into colors at autumn. There is nothing better than re-discovering the places that you already know, colored with red, yellow and orange balls of fire : here, my old Shinjuku-gyoen and Four Seasons Hotel garden. With this November sweet sun, it was delicious, pure poetr, especially the momiji, the Japanese maple trees, which have leaves in the shape of delicate stars. Let me give you a sample of this urban Nature Art.

「秋」の漢字はとてもきれいだと思います。秋の時日本の木は本当に火の色です。よく知っている所は違う場所の感じがあります。例えば、新宿公園や隣のホテルの庭はすばらしくなりました。そしていい天気だし、かわいい星に見える紅葉の葉はすてきです。本当に自然の美術だと思います。

Shinjuku-gyoen

Four Seasons

Japanese Autumn is sweet, definitely sweeter than Paris' one, but still I needed more sun before begining my internship - three months sat in an office when I will barely see the sun shining...
So, I flought to the sunny Guam (USA), a southern island of the Mariannas' archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean : around 3 hours by plane from Tokyo, the ideal place to rest for the Japanese, and a little change for me because local people here speak Japanese more than English, even to me ! An appendix of Japan, if I can say. It's very clean, very organized, very Japanese-friendly (ramen-ya at every corner). But with a little change that makes all the difference...

First, Guam is EMPTY. The streets are surrounded by the same Ginza-style shops, the same international food restaurants than in Japan, but you have so much space everywhere - ceiling are highs, streets are wide, and you feel so much confortable in this micro-island than on the main-land of Honshu... because people don't live here like sardins in a can...

The hotel pool, empty...

The streets, empty...


The beach, empty...


The bar, empty...


The aquarium, empty...

Then, Guam is bright. The sun, the water, even the grass is shiny as if there where pigments to reflect the light from everywhere, so you absolutely need to wear sunglasses, even the Japanese. How can nature make the things so different, from the dark volcano-ground Japanese beaches and the ultra-white seashores of Guam ?

Sooooo transparent water


Blue lagoon


Bright beach


Underwater


Underground colors effects


Surface coral art

Finally, it is USA after all, and the Japanese are not at home, even if everything is kind of made for them. I heard many of them doing an effort to speak in English with the local people on the shops for example, even if they really didn't need to do so. In addition, I was welcome everywhere with a "happy Thanksgiving" and I could see a huge pannel saying "We support our troops" at the top of the airport entrance, which is definitely not very in the Japanese spirit. But from the bus, it seems that I was the only one to notice the message... Polite blindness or fear to get involved in any political subject ?
I also felt that I was going to the USA at the check point of the international airport of Guam, where I had to answer to the most intimate questions about my "strange" interest for Japan, and about with who I was travalling and why this choice. But in the absence of US visa, I had no right in front of the final decision of the custom guy and if he decided not to let me enter, I could only take my flight back to Tokyo... So, I answered to everything smiling like a good girl and I let the person in front of me to play with my fate around 7 minutes before allowing me to receive the precious stamp on my passport... Jeezus.

Japan, USA, Guam...


Two girls from Kansai who absolutely wanted to take a picture with me... I am so exotic


Guam : a Chrismas tree and tropical plants

Guam is also a little Marketing Paradise where everything is based on the themes of flowers, fruits and exotism - hawaiian style clothes, hair flowers, perfumed skin-care, coconut soaps, fruity cocktails, scented candles - and as all is moderatly cheap, you can't prevent yourself to fall for all these colors, all these smells ; and you shop... and shop... Guam is a brand itself, in addition with the commodity of the malls which propose the same global stuff you can find all over the world, from Prada to Vuitton, Givenchy and Chanel.

Cocktails...

... Cocktails...


... and Cocktails.


Aquarium-bar

But if you take a bus for a few miles (yes, we are in the USA, remember), then you discover an untouched nature, very impressive : the deep blue of the sea, the strength of the wind, the schock between the high cliff and the sweet beach... You can still imagine the lifestyle of the Chamorros before the Spanish came on the island, despite the routine of tourism and the confort established for the high-demanding Japanese travellers...

I had a very good time at Guam, and I encourage all the Tokyo-addicts to take a break once in this Japanese Paradise...

The Waseda module is over. In one week, we will start our internship at a Japanese company.
It would be a cliche to say that it was too fast... I prefer to say that we learnt a lot in a very short time. I remember myself in March, at the beginning of ETP, unable to introduce myself in keigo and hesiating on the reading of　勉強  No doubt that we improved our Japanese. And despite the homeworks, the awful kanji test every morning, the tricky gramma traps, the pressure to finish our essays/speechs and the constant feeling to forget about 75% of what we learnt every week, we never stopped to have fun studying Japanese.

早稲田大学の期間は、終わりです。再来週から、研修が始まります。
もちろん早すぎたけど、この短い期間で色々勉強し、本当に進歩しました。三月の私は敬語が全然できなくて、「勉強」のかんじが読めませんでした！実は時々とても大変でしたが、宿題でも、毎日の試験でも、文法の難しいテストでも、よくがんばってよく忘れるの感じでも、色々勉強し、いつも楽しかったです。

Next step, new challenge : the internship !

Tokyo finally became a cold and windy place to live. But strangely, this month has been especially colourful, and magic is in the air. Let me present a sample of this November Fantasy.
現在、東京はとても寒くなったけど、面白くて明るいものが見られました。次の写真はこのすてきな十一月を見せています。

A meeting of Cellos - very fashionable Cellos


Delicious macarons - from my Latvian angels


A Chrismas Bicycle met with A*eyes

November is NOT grey.

Thank you to all the guests, Europeans and Japanese, who joined Valentina and me to celebrate our birthdays ! I had a lot of fun and unexpected emotions - especially when you guys took my chair on your shoulders, with me on it... Trust me, I will never forget the feeling to be suddenly sat in the airs; I am scared just by thinking of it again... kyaaaaah !

I received so many nice presents, that I cant resist to share it on this page. Judge by yourself.

A cat


A voucher to go to the Spa


Nice autumn flowers


A cute photoalbum-calendar and a bath rose from Fran-fran (Minase-san, how did you know that it is one of my favorite shops in Japan ?!! You rock.)


Delicious chocolates (with an amazing calligraphy card... Thank you Hajime-san !)


A charming tea-box


Cookies in the cutest package


A mug with the Waseda-Bear


A big bottle of Freixenet (very, very, VERY good choice)


Breakfast at Tiffany's

And now, the party.
Nice dinner at Cafe Cotton Club, then short break at The Hub before going to the karaoke. A few pictures for the ones who couldn't come...

by Hitomi

by Natalja

by Natalja

by Francesco

More pictures to come from the guests...
and the complete collection on the photo album ETP Japan !

Thank you again to everyone, you made me happy as a princess !

Xoxo...

WHEN ?
Friday 13th November, from 19:00 to 21:00 and later

WHERE ?
Cafe Cotton Club, on Waseda Street, two minutes from Takada-no-baba - on the left side of the street if you come from the University (on your right if you come from the station...)
From the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line : exit 7 - just on the right when you get out.
The website : http://www.intro.co.jp/
A short preview : http://beerinjapan.com/bij/299/cafe-cotton-club-takadanobaba/

WHO ?
Noemie & Valentina
You, your friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, brother, sisters, cousins, all nationalities welcome as usual :)

WHAT ?
We will have a course dinner (salad, pizza, pasta) and nomihoudai for two hours, including beer, red & white wine and soft drinks.

HOW LONG ?
The place is reserved for two hours, then we can go to karaoke, nightclub... who knows ?...


Thank you for coming if you can, and let's challenge Time by having a lot of fun !

Triple image benefit for the bathsuits Mariah H, the watches de Grisogono and the Saphir Blue Gin, which collaborated to offer us this event; as a result, triple pleasure for us... Thank you to sister and her friends for the invitation !

by Cristian

Today was the Culture Day in Japan, and to be consistent with the calendar, I went to hear Miss Patricia Petibon, a French soprano, at the Concert Hall near Shinjuku. The place is amazing and visiting it is a show by itself.

And as if Culture was not enough, Nature also entertained us with a sweet sun shining in a perfectly pure and blue sky. It was a beautiful day.

Base-ball : an alien sport for the Europeans. We don't play base-ball. We are bad at base-ball. We get bored watching base-ball.
But everything changes when it's your beloved university playing against its worst enemy - Waseda VS Keio !

For two weeks, the campus has been full of cheerleaders and base-ball-friendly association promoting the game, and it worked : without knowing nothing of the rules nor the special Waseda cheerleading songs, I went to watch the game. For a more serious and alsmost-pro preparation, see the feedback of Mogusa on the subject !

Let's kill the suspense : Keio killed us. But we had the most perfect sky - Konpeki na sora... - and the cheerleading experience is amazing.
A few funny (and unbelievable) customs about the Japanese supporters :
- After encouraging their own team, they always have a word for the opposite team ("Wasedaaaaa, Wasedaaaaa... and also go go go, Keio !")
- ... and the opposite team kindly applause (*_*)
- They can also sing the opposite team's song when they know it. And nobody hits them for that.
- When a ball falls in the public, nobody runs for catching it. People just wait for it to fall and then someone nicely go to pick it up.
- The cheerleaders come personnally to teach you the songs or the gestures if you don't know it. You have to shout and move a lot, but respecting the rules.

Waseda-Keio Baseball - Waseda Cheerleading - October 2009

 

You got it, it's extremely polite and civilized, and at the same time noisy and enthusiastic.
But if I have been convinced by the cheerleading, I am not a fan of base-ball, which is too static and slow compared to soccer or basket-ball or volley-ball. I still prefer our old-continent's favorite sports...