#NerdsUnite: Around the world with @HeatherReusz

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Heather. She's a nerd who is currently living in Japan by way of Chicago. Yep, talk about a culture shock. She's here today to talk about her life, love (which she is currently balancing long distance) and all things nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT HEATHER!!!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @HeatherReusz

This weekend I finally got a chance to go to Tokyo Disneyland. I’ve been before to Tokyo Disney Sea but never Disneyland. I really wanted to get to both parks before I left Japan. I made the decision to go kind of last minute so unfortunately all of my friends who said they might come bailed on me. I have to admit, going to Disneyland alone made me feel a bit like a sad sack loser at first; but I quickly got over that so I could enjoy myself.

Part of the reason that I visited this weekend was because they were celebrating a Japanese festival called Tanabata. It celebrates the story of two star crossed lovers who are cursed to only meet on one day a year. The day that they are allowed to meet on is July 7^th. It’s a popular holiday where people write their wishes on brightly colored paper and tie it to a bamboo tree in hopes that the star crossed lovers will help their wish come true. The entrance at Disneyland greeted you with a giant bamboo sculpture with Mickey and Minnie dressed as the two lovers. You could get a colorful piece of paper in the shape of Mickey’s head to write your wish on and tie to the tree or the other wooden structures around it. I grabbed one and wrote a wish for safe travels home and some kind of job when I come back.

Looking at the two parks you wouldn’t think that there are too many differences between Tokyo Disney Resort and the Disney Resorts in America. Tokyo Disneyland is basically a small replica of Disneyland California. Disney Sea has a couple of different rides and features Ariel’s castle as the center of the park instead of Cinderella’s castle which is epic if you ask me. The Little Mermaid was one of my favorite movies growing up so I highly enjoyed seeing Ariel’s castle.

On closer examination, there are some big differences. The main one is the rides. There are not many rides in either Disney Sea or Disneyland. People don’t really come to ride the rides. The rides are also less intense than the rides in America. There was only one roller coaster that did one 360 degree loop and there were warnings all over the ride that it was the most intense ride in the park. I haven’t been to Disneyland or Disneyworld in a while in America but I’m pretty sure that there is more than one roller coaster or attraction that makes a loop or spins around.

Instead of going on rides people mostly go to buy park exclusives, eat strange flavors of popcorn, and take pictures with characters. The popcorn stands are everywhere. They sell very unique flavors that you can only find in Disney Resort like honey, curry, soy sauce and butter, and strawberry; those are just the flavors I tried the other day. The characters that are popular here are also different than the characters that are popular in America. In Japan, they LOVE the Aristocats especially the cute white kitten named Marie. Now, I'm going to be honest, I haven't seen the Aristocats in about 20 years so I barely recognized the character when I first got here. I told one of my older students that and she looked at me like I was insane for not knowing her name. They also really like Chip and Dale, Stitch, and the Genie not Aladdin or Jasmine. In fact, there was not a single statue or mention of them in the Arabian town area. It was ALL about the Genie.

I had a great day exploring the park. I went on a Monday so it was pretty empty which was very nice. I got to ride almost all of the rides and saw all of the parades. I held my composure pretty well even though there were a couple of moments when I had to stop and realize that this was one of my last weekends in Japan. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to end it than to watch fireworks over Cinderella’s castle in Tokyo Disneyland. I’ll be home soon! My next post will be my last post from Japan.

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Heather on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Around the world with @HeatherReusz

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Heather. She's a nerd who is currently living in Japan by way of Chicago. Yep, talk about a culture shock. She's here today to talk about her life, love (which she is currently balancing long distance) and all things nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT HEATHER!!!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @HeatherReusz

My friend and I had a “classy” weekend. We went together to see three different types of traditional Japanese theater: kabuki, kyogen, and noh. Seeing these forms of theater was pretty high on my Japan bucket list. My favorite class that I ever took in college was a course on traditional Asian theater. I’ve been hooked ever since.

First on the agenda was Kabuki. This is probably the theater form that most people know. It’s the one where the guys paint their faces all white with accents and lines of red or blue. It’s totally uniquely Japanese. It was started around the Edo period as entertainment for the “common” people. It’s very fast paced and action packed compared to something like noh. The sets are dramatic and colorful to match the costumes and make-up. The show that we saw was not that action packed. It was about a monk who was banished to an island for plotting to overthrow the head warlord of Japan. He is on an island with two others who have been exiled. A pardon is sent for only his two friends and not the head monk, Shunkan. He must cope with the loss of his friends and the reality of his life. It wasn’t as action packed or stereotypical as I was assuming the experience would be. I truly enjoyed it and thought it was beautiful. Maybe because the theme of separation from friends and family is so close to my heart now as I gear up to leave. It totally tugged at my heart strings.

One small aspect of kabuki that I had forgotten about that startled me once we were there was the audience. In kabuki it is encouraged for the audience to yell out praises, encouragements, and criticisms. At the climax and other important moments, the balcony was booming with voices. It was actually very cool. I found it distracting at first but once I was accustomed to it, I wished I knew what and when to shout to join in.

We spent the next day seeing noh and kyogen which has a much different feel from kabuki. They are much slower although just as symbolic and purposeful as kabuki. Noh was made for a more upper class and spiritual audience. The movements are very deliberate and meant to strike up meditation. Kyogen, while done in the same style, is a comedy whereas noh is a drama. In both of these art forms, the actors wear masks so the movements of the body are vital to expression. I was just as captivated by the noh and kyogen pieces as I was by the kabuki. I loved the sense of peace that the noh play emitted. I can understand how some people used to say that the plays could help bring you to enlightenment. I was also fairly surprised to find how humorous the kyogen was. A friend of mine had warned me that it was awful and not funny at all. The play we saw was very cute and funny! It was a short play about a monk who was in training. He hadn’t eaten in a couple of days so he climbs up an orange tree to steal some oranges. The farmer catches him and plays jokes on him. Hilarity ensues. The whole audience was cracking up.

All in all, I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. My inner theater nerd/junkie was highly satisfied.

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Heather on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Around the world with @HeatherReusz

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Heather. She's a nerd who is currently living in Japan by way of Chicago. Yep, talk about a culture shock. She's here today to talk about her life, love (which she is currently balancing long distance) and all things nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT HEATHER!!!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @HeatherReusz

This weekend I went to my first Japanese baseball game. I’m a big baseball fan so this was always on my bucket list. I’ve also heard that Japanese baseball games are very different, super fun, and basically a party so I really wanted to experience one.

I gathered a couple of friends and we headed to the closest stadium in Yokohama to see the local team: the Yokohama Baystars. They were playing the Sendai Eagles. Both teams, in all truthfulness, kind of suck. The Baystars are in last place in their league. The good part about that is the tickets were cheap for a professional game. We got some amazing seats in the front section on the first baseline mainly because we were hoping that we could catch a foul ball which didn’t end up happening though.

The party starts before you even enter the stadium. Here in Japan, you can actually bring outside food and drinks into the game. We ran to the nearest convenience store to get some beers. We got a couple of cans each. There was a catch though, which we were not aware of. You had to pour all of the beer from the cans into their provided stadium cups. We ended up having to carry three cups each into the game. We looked completely ridiculous compared to everyone else but we did what we had to. I think we were just hoarding the beer in fear of ridiculous stadium prices. Prices actually weren’t that bad in the stadium. They had to compete with the outside food so things were pretty reasonable.

We got there a little bit early to scout out food, souvenirs, and to see the pre-game shows. The mascot of the Baystars is a hamster, I think, named Starman. He has this adorable white star on his face. I ended up buying these cute little hamster ears with a mini Baystars baseball cap attached. Gotta love Japan.

The pre-game show was typically the same. There was a mascot race and a kids throwing contest. After the contest things got a little interesting.  The kids were ushered off the field and music started blaring over the speakers. Out came a large group of cheerleaders. We were laughing so hard. None of us had ever seen cheerleaders at a baseball game before.  They danced around for a little while and then lead everyone in singing the Baystars theme song. I didn’t find this strange coming from Chicago where the Cubs have their own theme song but my friends thought it was hysterical. After the theme song, the first pitch was thrown. Now, it did throw me a little that we didn’t sing the national anthem before the game started but I guess that the Japanese are not quite as outwardly patriotic as the Americans. Was still a bit strange though.

Then things got a bit stranger. As soon as the game started, all of the fans were constantly cheering and singing songs. Each player had their own chant and their own song. It was so awesome! Everyone knew all of the songs and cheers. We quickly caught on to the majority of them as they were partially in English using expressions like “Let’s go”, “win”, “get a hit”, “strikeout”, etc. The atmosphere was electrifying. Everyone was up, moving, singing, chatting, or shouting. It was borderline distracting. I definitely feel like I missed half of the actual game because I was so absorbed in crowd watching. Because the fans are so dedicated to their teams, they actually seat people by team. There were separate ticket stands and everything. It was pretty cool to see the separation of colors and all of the flags and signs people made to wave at the other fans across the stadium.

The game itself was pretty good. It went by pretty quickly with all of the excitement. For most of the game, the Baystars were losing 2-1. Then in the 8^th inning, the Baystars pulled out this fantastic five run rally. Everyone was beyond excited! We ended up winning 6-2. It was a BLAST!

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Heather on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Around the world with @HeatherReusz

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Heather. She's a nerd who is currently living in Japan by way of Chicago. Yep, talk about a culture shock. She's here today to talk about her life, love (which she is currently balancing long distance) and all things nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT HEATHER!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @HeatherReusz

This week marked the final visitor from America for me in Japan. One of my best friends and former roomie just left this morning. After all the visitors and touring around I’ve done this month, I thought for sure that I would grow tired of the same sights and places. In fact, the opposite happened. As I showed Meg around I felt myself really appreciating everything that I was seeing. I was trying to soak it all in making lists in my head of what I would miss about all of these landmarks. I know I’m going to miss being able to hop a train to Tokyo just because I’m bored on a weekend. I hoped that I wasn’t a downer as this put me in a kind of melancholy day dreamy state. I’m sure that once I come back to America I’m going to have to look at my pictures sometimes to convince myself that I really did live in Japan.

Despite my distracted state of mind, we had a great time! We did a couple of different things from the other visits that stood out. I think we had the most fun though on our night out on the town. We bonded in college over drinking and clubbing so I knew it would be a pretty high priority on her list. I’ve been clubbing in Tokyo a couple of times before. I’m personally partial to either Shibuya or Roppongi. I took her to Roppongi since that is a very foreigner friendly area of Tokyo. It’s also the only place in my life where I have been treated like a VIP and been bumped to the front of a club line. Almost everything is in English in the area and they welcome foreigners very freely. My favorite club on the strip has a nice mix between Japanese and foreigners. It’s small enough to be personal without being packed tight.

Going clubbing in Tokyo is always a BLAST! First of all, the DJs rock. They are mostly awesome. Of course you run into some that aren’t anything special but that’s bound to happen. Second, a lot of the women are a bit shy about dancing here. Makes it more fun for me because I open up the dance floor at a lot of these smaller places I go to while all the other ladies gather up their confidence or I get drunk enough to goad them onto the floor. Third, the guys are more respectful and/or shy. Even when I am dancing all by myself, guys will generally dance around me not grind up on me like I used to experience in America. Only one time have I had a guy get a bit handsy. It was Halloween so I was dressed up and looking a bit slutty BUT he came right up to me and flipped up my skirt. I turned around and slapped him. My friends were a bit horrified. They explained that people don’t really smack the pervs. I shrugged, told them it was instinct, and then added that he was never going to mess with a foreign girl again. Great life moment. Add 300 yen, about $3.50, drinks and shots to this and you will end up with a great night.

We observed something new this time around though. The dance floor was mainly inhabited by men again but this time all the guys were amazing dancers. They were not just break dancing but busting into full on choreographed numbers. I asked some guys at the bar who spoke English if it was a show. They said that it wasn’t. They were regulars on Thursday nights apparently. Having never been out on a Thursday night, I had never seen them. As soon as we tried to dance, they were blocking us out of the floor. We started our own little circle on the outside of the dance floor though. It was just really fun to see these guys going all out. Note to them: if you’re trying to attract the ladies (or guys), you should probably let them dance with you. You never quite know exactly what you are going to experience and that makes it even more fun! Having to drunkenly run to the last train of the night back home is also a blast which seems to happen more than I’d like to admit but also not nearly enough.

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Heather on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Around the world with @HeatherReusz

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Heather. She's a nerd who is currently living in Japan by way of Chicago. Yep, talk about a culture shock. She's here today to talk about her life, love (which she is currently balancing long distance) and all things nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT HEATHER!!!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @HeatherReusz

I’ve just had one of the best weekends ever! Mainly because my boyfriend came to visit. I’ve been counting down to this day for months. I can’t even describe how amazing it was to finally be together after nine and a half months apart.

It was especially sweet because I wasn’t even sure if he was going to be able to make it out to Japan. As a freelance artist he wasn’t sure that he could make the money to come. I begged and pleaded with him to just get out here and I would pay for everything. Hell, I even offered to pay for his flight out here as well as all the food and traveling costs. He refused not wanting to be a bum. I offered to make it a loan that he would have to pay back. Again, he refused. I was crushed. How was I supposed to get through a whole year without him? Finally, in about February, he had saved enough to comfortably make the trip. He immediately booked a flight and the countdown began.

Unfortunately, he did have to come while I was working. We had only three whole days together. It didn’t matter though; we were both so excited about getting to be together again.

His flight landed on Friday afternoon. Since I was working, I couldn’t pick him up from Narita. I had to give him directions to my place. It involved two train transfers and a two and a half hour commute but he made it. He arrived just as I got off of work. I found him at the main entrance of the station just waiting against a pillar. My heart leapt into my throat and I full on tackled him with a bear hug. We both tried to hold back the tears as we embraced. It’s not culturally appropriate to show extreme emotions in public in Japan. I was pushing the cultural expectation as was with our huge embrace. I had explained this nuance to him before he had left so he would know that we couldn’t really kiss or cry without me being ostracized. We had our first meal in Japan…at Burger King since all other restaurants were closed and we were both exhausted.

We had an amazing night. It made me really see all the things that I had been missing. I don’t just mean the sexual stuff although that was pretty amazing. I relished in everything: the way he smelled, how his eyes sparkled, how safe I felt sleeping next to him again.

I had to go to work on Saturday but promised him a great date night as I get out of work on Saturdays at a relatively early time. After work, I took him to Yokohama. We had a great meal in the Yokohama Chinatown and took a night time stroll down the pier. It was romantic and beautiful. Perfection.

The next day was a big sightseeing day. I took him to one of my favorite places in Japan: Kamakura. Most of you probably have not really heard of this town. It was the seat of Japanese power in the Kamakura period which was in the 13^th century. I love it because it has a ton of old temples and castles mixed in with the more modern beach resorts since it’s on the coast. We spent the morning on an island walking through caves and enjoying the great view of Mt. Fuji. In the afternoon we took the historic train line, which is over 100 years old, to two of my favorite temples. Another fun and perfect day.

Monday and Tuesday were a bit of a change of pace. We’re both nerds so we focused on doing some super nerdy things in Tokyo. First stop was the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka. We both grew up on and adored the works of Hayo Miyazaki. Those of you who aren’t even anime nerds may know some of his work: Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Princess Monoke, etc. It was a fantastic experience. The museum made you feel like a child again. It was set up in a way that just captured the imagination and absorbed you in. We walked through rooms designed after his movies, saw some of his original sketches and storyboards from the movies, and saw an original animated short. After the museum, we went to Akihabara which is the anime, manga, video game, and electronics capital of Tokyo. We shopped around at my favorite places grabbing some really sweet anime collectibles. The night ended with dinner and drinks at the Gundam Café, an café themed after my favorite anime franchise Mobile Suit Gundam.

Our final day together was another nerd extravaganza. We headed over to Odaiba, Tokyo to see the life size Gundam. This is the third time I’ve seen it but it is mind blowing every time. To put it in perspective, it’s about 8 stories tall. It stands in front of a new mall. The top floor of the mall is a Gundam theme park basically. We had tickets and spent all day nerding out. I also had a lot of strangers randomly ask for my picture. This happens kind of frequently here for me especially when I go to Gundam events. Most fans are guys so the hard core otaku freak out a little bit when there is a girl let alone a foreign girl going to these things. At least Lucas thought it was hilarious.

The days passed as wonderful blurs. Nerd love is the best kind of love, you know. I wish that he was still here but then I remember that I only have a month and a half left here in Japan! My how time flies!

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Heather on Twitter!