Like any other country, Japan has its own holidays for independence day, children's day, etc. Aside from New Years, which is the most exciting time in Japan, Golden Week is one of the longest holidays in Japan. Judging from the name, you might think that everyone gets a week off to travel the world. Actually, the week is made up of a few small holidays: April 29: Green Day (which used to be a holiday for the previous emperor's birthday until he died), May 3: Constitution Memorial Day, May 4: National Holiday?, and May 5: Kid's Day (which is actually boys day, because they have some festival; incidentally girls day is not a holiday). Usually all of these holidays combine together to make a full week of vacation which is very rare in Japan. The occasion is so great that there was evidently no word in the Japanese language to describe it. Therefore it is given the English name, Golden Week.
Unfortunately, this year most of the holidays fell on this past weekend and it turned out to be not so golden at all. Many people enjoyed having their Saturday off, but I always have Saturday off. Anyway, I managed to enjoy a little break from my rough studies to enjoy some springtime fun.
Last Tuesday I went to Kamakura with a friend to enjoy some time away from the city. Kamakura is basically just a suburb of Tokyo anymore, but it does have a decent beach and some temples. It is also famous for the Great Buddha statue which is the second biggest in Japan. It was a relaxing day and didn't cost me too much. It had rained on Monday too, so the trees and grass were actually pretty green. Fitting.
Saturday the whole host family had some free time, so we decided to go out for a day of family bonding. Somehow we chose the Yokohama Museum of Art. The special show there was about Pompeii and the murals and whatnot found there. I found it rather interesting, but I don't think my host family had much interest in the topic. I am not sure exactly what they were expecting. Anyway, afterwards we went out for dinner at China Town in Yokohama and then back to Tokyo for karaoke with friends. A typical day of fun. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't stayed out at Roppongi until 5am that day with friends.
Stayed in all day and did my laundry which had piled up for about three weeks. Did a little rollerblading with my sister and watched some TV. In the evening I worked on my scrapbook of all my pictures from my Asia Tour. Was supposed to go out with a friend, but I was too tired and cancelled.
Yet another badminton tournament. This time it was Waseda University vs. Chuo University. We evidently won last year somehow, but this year was no contest at all. We managed to lose nearly every match including the two that I was in. It seems that the Chuo club is practicing pretty hard or they have some people who have been at the game for a while. Anyway, it was a fun day at the sports center.
Even though it wasn't much of a vacation, I felt like I had been away from school for a while. It still wasn't enough though. I am skipping a class right now actually, Business Japanese Language. It is pretty boring stuff. We have to go over and over the most polite way to answer the phone in Japanese. It sounds dumb, but actually it is necessary if you want to work in Japan. Formal Japanese is like a whole other language. In fact, I tried to call Tokyo Disneyland today to schedule an interview for a part-time job (Peter Pan...or the street sweeper...), but I think I really screwed up. The woman was trying to say that she wanted to ask me some questions, and I said, "No, I don't have any questions in particular." Just when you thought you knew how to speak Japanese. Anyway, I should have a pretty good story to tell after my big interview May 20th. Until next time, back to my studies.
