So I have somehow managed to make two songs during this semester. If you want to take a listen, here they are!

Today, before leaving to Shinjuku to meet Anzu, I stopped by the book store part of the station. I just planned on looking around at magazines and possible books I could buy later. Yet, last time I had entered a manga store, it had been with my sister in Yaita, where my grandmother lives. There, I could have bought about fifty books, but I ended up just picking two, which had been a good choice. But at that time, one of these mangas had caught my eye. It was called Orange and it was about life as a Japanese. Wanting to know about that, I hesitated buying it, but in the end I didn't.

Now today, in the shop, the same manga was there, and for some reason, I picked it up and walked to the cashier with it. Now I had prepare to study my textbook on the way there, so it's not like I was missing something to do. I had no idea what took me.

Now on my way to Shinjuku, I told myself I have to study a little at least, so I opened my textbook and studied for about 30 minutes. Then I changed to this manga I had just purchased. I must say I find it very interesting. It is most likely made for girls since it has some romance stuff and the main character is a girl, but... I like it. The story is funny, it's VERY easy to read, and I get to learn Japanese expressions used by young people!

With Anzu I had fun in Shinjuku. We basically just walked around, grabbed some awesome Curry Rice, and then rode the Yamanote Line, which runs in a circle, stopping at Shibuya. There we walked some more, grabbed fried potatoes and soon headed back.


On the way back, standing, sitting down, I just kept reading. I read the whole way back. Now I don't read nearly as fast as a Japanese person, which I find, makes it that much more interesting. But I really enjoy it. I don't believe I'm at the level of reading a full out book, so one great part about Japan is manga. A way to read even with a small knowledge of the language.

Last Sunday, I did what I believed I would never do: I went to Disney Sea.

Arisa and I arrived at around 10:30 in the morning. The station in front of the park was already filled with the Disney spirit. From there, we had to take a separate bus to get to the "Sea" part of the theme park, and this bus was of course filled with Mickey shaped windows, handles, etc...

Once in the park, we headed straight to the first attraction: The Tower of Terror. This consisted of us entering an old mansion, and due to an villain spirit, our elevator crashes and goes up and down. Now just to start off, let me say that I don't even enjoy getting on normal elevators. So let's just say my heart beat a couple times more than normal.


At the same time we grabbed a "Fast Pass" for the tower once again. The fast pass is a system they had in place which allows you to reserve a spot in the faster lane within a certain period of time. Arisa really liked this attraction so she had grabbed a fast pass for it. Now you can't just go and grab a fast past for everything. We had to wait another hour and a half to get the next one. Also, the moment you take your fast pass determines when you get to ride the attraction. Quite an interesting system I thought. Saves us from waiting hours and hours in the endless lines. Japan + Disney Land = Long Lines + Long Lines = Very long waiting lines.

After that, we walked around the park and found a place to eat. We ended up eating these kinds of tacos which were fairly good. But in the middle of our meal, some singers and dancers came to entertain the crowd in the food hall! We were handed fruit shaped shakers, asked to get up and sing along with them. They were quite energetic and I must say I was impressed by the trumpet player.

Then we managed to grab another fast pass for around 9pm, which we decided would probably be our last ride. Having quite some time before us, we walked around the different parts of the park. We went from Arielle the Mermaid's kingdom, to the centre of the earth, to a pirate's boat and medieval castle all the way to Aladdin's desert country. It really struck me how wonderful Disney is as a company. It manages to be in everyone's heart and mind in many ways, and it's only once there that I realized it's power. For a few hours, I let myself be enchanted by these wonders they created. The robots, the buildings, the music, the atmosphere, the decorations and the energy. I really felt like I entered a different world.

We ate supper in an italian restaurant, finishing our meal with none other than a tiramisu. Once we left, it was getting slowly darker and darker, and by night time, the view was fantastic. After that, we decided we had time to wait in one of the long lines for a ride. When I say long, I mean we waited... one hour and a half? But while we waited, Arisa showed me many Japanese songs from her phone and I played some music off of mine and danced and sang (I can't sing really because of my throat so when I say sing, I mean whisper the lyrics in a really creepy way.) It finished much faster than the amount of time we had waited for, but I guess I can say it was worth it. After that,  we rode two more rides finishing with the Indiana Jones' car ride.

After all it wasn't so bad.

Now why did I say I never thought I would come here? Well let's just say that from what I could see in the Japanese culture, they seem to take this place a little too seriously. Many girls will buy the Mickey Mouse ears to place on their head thinking it's the most adorable thing in the world. It just seems like they attempt to stay kids as long as possible, which is something that I don't agree too much with. But that being said, not every girl is like that. And no, I did not buy the ears if you were wondering.

Saturday, I headed around lunch time for the Chiba prefecture. I met up with Arisa at the Chiba station, from which we went to Sodegaura, a small town in the middle of nowhere. Why were we off to there? Well, Arisa happened to have a concert there. At the local primary school, there is this festival being held every year. Last year, Arisa was invited to sing there, and due to her performing well, she was re-invited this year again. So she was off to perform, and I was off to watch.

We arrived well ahead of time, and as soon as we got off the train, I could tell this was what they call "the country" side, mainly filled with citizens and small businesses. We met a few other performers at the station, and headed to the festival. After walking for about 30 minutes under the hot sun, we made it to the school, where the festival's final preparations were taking place. We were given tea, and a place to sit. After about ten minutes, Arisa looked at me and told me her dad had come. Now I don't want to get into the details of their father and daughter relationship, but as her boyfriend, I felt slightly under pressure. We didn't speak much, he simply asked me if I could speak Japanese and if I was ok with the hot weather. I replied as politely as I could, and gave him a nice smile. A few minutes later, Arisa and the other two singers went up on stage to practice and sound check.

Once that was done, we were told we had to move. Haha, don't ask me why. We headed off to the gymnasium, which had washrooms and change rooms. I had been told by the manager not to enter, since the only room available to set our stuff was the ladies changing room but the ladies told me it was fine since it was just the four of us. I left the room while they changed and soon they were up on stage for their first performance. Arisa performed three songs, which I really enjoyed. The three were in Japanese, therefore I had fun trying to figure out the meaning of the lyrics. But what really surprised me was her presence on stage. After she was done, the two other ladies, which I found out formed a duo, performed their songs. Their singing was so-so, but they danced while they sang which added to their performance. Once they were done, Arisa changed out of her dress and we walked around the small festival area to grab some food.

While we ate, various performances were held on stage, one of which was a marching band, from the nearby middle school. This really blew me away for a couple reasons. First they were really good. Our high school band couldn't even play half as well as these kids sitting down on a chair. Second of all, all of them, at one point played the drums. Not only could they play their respective band instrument, but they also had learned to play the drums quite well I must say. As they marched and danced around, I could only scream out "SUGOI!" which means awesome or cool in Japanese. One of the melodies they performed was a medley of the Beauty and the Beast's famous soundtrack.

Now one downside of being there was that I felt slightly out of place. I was looked at by many with frowning faces. Since this was a small town, I can't blame them for not being used to seeing foreigners. And yes, I do stand out here. I think it's my eyes...

After about two hours, Arisa changed back into her dress and I waited in front of the stage. The politicians of the area had come to give speeches. That, as in any country, was quite boring, yet I tried my best to listen to what they were saying. Who knows, I might learn a few things. After that, they threw out 4,000 "mochi"s out to the crowd (Japanese snacks made out of packed rice and usually filled with something.) I caught one for myself as well as one for Arisa. I found out later they were quite un-tasteful, and I ended up not eating more than half of mine.

Next up, Arisa came back on stage, shining and full of energy. This time she sang two songs, one being the famous Let It Go from the movie Frozen. She sang the Japanese version, which was a very popular song amongst the kids of the whole country. I watched her sing her heart out while the eyes of many kids gleamed out as they watched in silence.


We left soon after she was done. I really did enjoy this experience. I got to see an authentic small festival, visit a new place I hadn't been to yet which is something I can't do on a regular basis.

So two weeks ago, I had found out that my throat problems where caused by polyps growing on my vocal chords. I then had an appointment to see the doctor again two weeks later. And that was yesterday.

I ended up being a little late to my rendez-vous, but Shizuko and I eventually made it to the hospital. After the doctor took pictures of my throat, it was clear that my condition wasn't getting any better. In fact, it got considerably worse. The polyps had grown out.

I took another appointment with the doctor for in one month. At that time, if it has not gotten better,  I will have to start consider having the surgery here in Japan. According to the doctors, it is a quite frequent operation; many singers receive it during their career. I have never had a surgery in my life, and so this is quite frightening. If they ever make one mistake, my voice might not come back to what is was before.

I will keep you all informed of the results next month.

Now that school is over, I do actually have a break! The judo club is also off for a bit so I can now take time to breathe, think, and yep, you guessed it, plan. Even though it's summer, I want to take advantage of this time to centre myself, to take time to think, and prepare myself for the next wave. So what are my plans for the summer?

First let's talk about what I want to accomplish.

 - I really REALLY need to clean my room. Since I am not even sure that I can stay here in the Kaikan after September, I might as well prepare myself for the worst scenario. On top of that, I found my mind going a little crazy last semester, due to the status of my room. It took me more time to find things and in the end caused me more stress.

 - I would like to make some music. I haven't really talked about my music here yet, but I'm still doing as much as I can to continue making music during my spare time... This summer, I want to make a couple more tracks and a few more mixes. I don't really have time to do so otherwise.

 - I want to go to the beach! And I already made plans to go!

 - I want to keep working out. I have a training camp with the team during the third week of August, so I want to be at my best for that.

 - I want to eat well. I want to gorge myself with fruits since I haven't really done so since I've been here. I also want to find easy recipes that are full of vegetables, high protein, and so-so carbs. That way I'll be ready to go for the next term.

 - I want to keep my studies going. Japanese (language) is now part of me, but I still need to keep at it, especially while I'm here.

 - Lastly, I want to have some fun. I think I've had a lot of fun already since the summer started, which is great.

Now a few events that are going to happen this summer include going to Disney Sea with my girlfriend (August 9^th), the training camp with the team (August 17^th to 22^nd), and climbing Mount. Fuji, most likely at the end of the summer.

Now I have one last goal. I want to write a lot of blogs, so as much as I can, I will try to write one blog a day (or week) for most of the summer. The topics might get a little wild, but that's just more fun isn't it?

Also, I should probably say that most of those with whom I have studied with for one year now will be heading back to their own country throughout the summer. Miguel will be leaving soon, Carlos already left. Slowly but surely, the Kaikan is becoming more and more empty every day. Quite sad to think that I will most likely never see any of them again. But who knows.

(Note to self: I have to keep in mind that I need to start looking into resuming my courses at the University of Winnipeg in January.)

So yesterday, I was able to see one of Japan's biggest fireworks display in Yokohama. On my way there, around 2:30pm, I ran into a couple of friends who were apparently also heading there. They offered me a ride since they were driving there. Now going by train would have most likely been faster, but it was a hot sunny day, and I felt like being with friends. So off we were, seven of us in a car, to Yokohama. I played music from my phone the whole way there, and we danced and sang while some slept. Must say it was quite fun. It's been a while since I've been in a car compared to Canada, where I ride one mostly every day.


They dropped me off an hour and ten minutes later in front of the Yokohama station. I said goodbye, thanked them for the ride, and entered the station to meet Arisa who was waiting for me. I also got the chance to meet her mother for the first time, which was interesting. After that, we headed off into the station, looking at many different shops, and then eating lunch at a fairly nice restaurant. The meal reminded me of my mom's cooking, and it made me think about my return back home.

After that, we started getting ready for the fireworks. We sat down in one spot at first, but as soon as the fireworks started we realized we could only see half of it, so after about ten minutes, we decided to get up and move. Now this is when Japan shows itself. The number of people walking in the streets is just incredible. There were over 20,000 people watching these fireworks. Whatever you believe to be a reasonable amount of space in Canada is reduced by about 6 times here. Basically a sea of people, of which we were now part of. We found a better spot in the end, and stood in the middle of hundreds of people taking pictures of the sky.

I must say, these fireworks were not bad at all. I saw some that changed colour halfway and others that changed shape. In the end, I believed it was worth it.


After it was over, we decided to go see Anzu who was working at Coldstone at this time. Now, after the fireworks, everyone obviously heads into the mall, so it was jam-packed. We spotted Anzu working hard with the millions of customers coming at her. Japan is crazy. Anzu managed to get them to sing a song for us which was really nice to see in person. I had heard from many people and seen many videos of her doing so, but seeing it live was just that much better. I must say, Anzu is just a great person.

While eating our delicious ice cream, we headed to the Osambashi, a boat shaped hall built half into the water. Last time I came here, again with Arisa, we had seen a world championship of Coma take place. This time, we simply went there for the view of the city. We stayed there watching the city's lights flicker.

I don't see this kind of scenery in Manitoba, and so this really blew me away. A city built by the Japanese society. If any of you have a chance, please take the time to check out the view of the Yokohama city at night from Osambashi. It's something to see during one's lifetime on Earth.