Merry X-mas

Santa swinging away

In this place it was a lot of red and yellow

More illumination

061224, Sunday

Today is, believe it or not, Christmas Eve!! It is very difficult for me to grasp the fact that it is already the 24th of December!! Time most certainly flies by when you are enjoying yourself. Even though unbelieveble that it is this special day today I went to celebrate it and spend the night at my aunt's. After having lunch we went to a planetarium where we listened to Christmas songs while looking at the stars above us. It was very nice. Later on we went to see illumination at Saitama Shintoshin. Before ending the evening at home having dinner and Christamas cake we went to visit my cousin and her daughter.

Imperial Palace and Roppongi

Imperial Palace to the right

Nice colours

Roppongi

Illumination

Blue and white are popular this Christmas

Tokyo Tower in the background

061223, Saturday

Since it is the Emperor's birthday today my friend and I decided to go to the Imperial Palace. Only twice a year (today and the 2nd of January) is the general public admitted to the grounds. We arrived at about 1 o'clock and unfortunately we were not allowed in. Apparently one was only able to enter during the morning :( The weather was great so we decided to go for a stroll in the East Garden instead. After this we went to Roppongi to see the illumination. Until today neither my friend and I really had any Christmas spirit but going to Roppongi changed that. The illumination was beautiful and listening to Christmas carols really made a difference :) We ended the evening with going to our favorite kaitenzushi place. It was a great day.

Ikebukuro

Good pasta

061216, Saturday

I met up with a friend in Ikebukuro to have dinner together. There are a lot of restaurants in the department we went to and we finally settled for pasta. The pasta was good, however I must admit that I prefer Japanese food :)

Christmas dinner

A huge Christmas tree

061215, Friday

After school I went to Yokohama to have Christmas dinner with my grandmother, my aunt & her husband and my uncle & his wife at my grandmother's nursing home. It was about 2,5 months ago I saw my grandmother so it was nice seeing her again. It was French food on the menu which we enjoyed with champagne and wine. We had a nice evening together.

Kenpou: Grading test

All the fighters standing in line in the opening ceremony
(Waseda in the 2nd row from the left)

1kyuu kata

Waseda woman performing shodan kata

Me performing 2kyuu kata

Waseda man to the left fighting to get 3dan

Woman from another university to the right fighting to get 3 dan
(Her opponent is from Waseda)

Me, to the left, fighting to get 2kyuu

My opponent is about to fall...

061210, Sunday

Early in the morning the Waseda kenpou fighters gathered at an university called Meiji Daigaku at Ocha no Mizu in Tokyo. It was an important day today since we would be tested if we were able to proceed to a higher level. In the morning kata (special pattern) was performed. I did not have a grade so I did the katas for the two lowest grades; 3kyuu and 2kyuu. It was a solo performance. When you try for the higher grades you perform the kata with a partner. In the afternoon it was time for fight. I had two fights against women with 3kyuu, and I had to win at least one of them to pass the test. Usually you fight for three minutes but if you score two points before the time has run out the fight it over, ie. whoever has best out of 3 points win. However, the fights today were different. The fight would last for three minutes even if you scored two points. Today's fights were about scoring as many points as possible during three minutes. To my big surprise I was told this just before I was about to fight...and with this type of match you have to use your energy differently.... Anyway, the fight started and I was actually able to score three points rather quickly so the referee called off the game, we did not have to fight for three minutes. I was happy about that, then I could save some energy for the next fight. In the next fight the same thing happened. The fight was called off before the three minutes had passed since I was able to score three points pretty early. Great :) So now my grade is 2kyuu. After this it was just for me to sit back and relax while routing for the other Waseda fighters. The male fighters did well, they leveled up to 1kyuu, shodan and 3 dan! In the evening after all the fights the Waseda team went out for dinner together. We were all really hungry and the food was great as always :)

Mochitsuki

Sumo wrestlers making omochi

Me with two brave sumo wrestlers (it was really cold!)

061207, Thursday

Now and then special activities are held for the international students and today it was time for mochitsuki, which is rice cake making. Mochi is a special rice cake which you enjoy during New Year. For instance you can eat it with sweet red beans. It is really delicious! The mochi has a very special consistency. It is very soft and may ressemble the consistency of a chewing gum in some sense. To get it in this soft shape you use the club to hit the rice, which is seen in the first picture. When it is soft enough it is ready to eat. We had the honour of having sumo wrestlers as guests helping us out with making the mochi :)