Today we went to Yokohama to see my host family’s new house,which they will move into sometime next year. It was really amazing; it looks like a famous person’s house. I was really surprised that they could afford it. LOL It’s very modern looking, all white and flat surfaces, and low straight lines. The right half of the house is rounded, and all made of glass, and inside there are winding circular staircases with glass railings. The rooms are very large, with many flat screened tvs, and low black chairs and couches, and there’s even an elevator! (for two floors LOL) The view is really pretty; you can see all the lights of Yokohama. Okaasan told me that they beat out one of the singers from Southern All Stars, who wanted to buy it; so I guess it really is a celebrity style house!
It’s in Ishikawa-cho, which is where Chinatown is, and also Yamashita Koen, which, of course, is where Yokohama Actor’s is. I felt almost sad when I realized that, thinking about what might have been, if Actor’s had stayed the same, and Anna-san was still there, etc, I could have walked from the new house to Actor’s classes. It’s funny, I dreamed about going to Actor’s for so long that even though it’s completely different now, and even though I’m in LoveJunx with Anna-san and Maiko-san, there are times like that when I think of how it might have been, and it still makes my heart hurt.
Anyway, after, we went out to dinner at a really fancy hotel restaurant in Sakuragi-cho. It was a bit more like a lounge than a restaurant, very low lighting, and big marble columns, and palms, and cloth covered armchair like seats at the tables. There was even a pianist and cellist and a lounge singer in a red satin dress with a white fur stole who sang in English in that deep, warm, universal lounge singer voice. It was on the 70th floor, and we could see the nightscape. You could even see Tokyo Tower in the far distance. The food was very good, and I got to use my table manners from the course last week. LOL

 
Today after Anna-san called us all together to start the lesson, a tiny Pop Kid who’s was something like Yoshio or something, was still saying good bye to Atsuko-san, and then he turned and shook my hand and said ‘Bye bye!’ with a big smile. He was so adorable. As he left Anna-san said ‘Yoshio-kun bye bye!’ but he turned away, ignoring her. Everyone laughed. ‘He ignored me!’ Anna laughed. ‘Even though he’s going around saying good bye to everyone.’ Then she said that we would spend the first 20 minutes on Yagyugaiden and Miami, and the second on working on group dances, because if we didn’t start working on them soon we’d be in trouble. ( ‘mou chotto de yabai’) Today Anna-san was wearing a yellow t-shirt and tan windpants. Her hair has grown a bit, and she seemed really young looking today. Namio-kun and Atsushi were also there today. So first we did exercises, and for maybe the first time ever, Anna-san messed up a step in the middle, where she started to do an exercise we’d already done. After exercises, we did Miami. I was the only person in my group, so I had to do my acting bit all alone. It’s kind of hard to pretend to meet and chat happily with the air, but I did my best, with a big smile, and I caught Anna-san’s eye and she was giving me a big smile. We went through the whole dance once, and then we practiced the various group dance parts of it. Anna-san was teaching the gal group, although she messed up the beginning, and apologized with an embaressed grin and a ‘shitsurei shimashita!’. Namio cautioned my group that we had to all move together on the opening, so we practiced that. Then we did Yagyugaiden, maybe once or twice. I was wearing my Namie tour shirt, which made me feel very Namie-like, because I’ve realized it’s such a Namie-like shirt – I assume she designed it. I thought of trying to be Namie, but then I remember I had seen the Last Samurai, so it should be easier to be Tom now, so I tried to pretend I was Tom in LS, and it actually worked pretty well this time. After, I talked a bit to Aman, who said she had seen it too, and I tried to convince her to pretend to be Ken Watanabe, who she said was hotter than Tom, but she said she would rather be Koyuki’s character.
Then Anna-san announced that we would work on group dances now. First she explained a little about the live, how things like the dressing rooms and rehearsal dates were decided, and we needed to talk about costumes, etc, and that we would have a meeting about it when there were more people, maybe Sunday or next Friday. So we all split into our groups after that, and my group sat and talked about Wannabe vs. Small World, and tried to get Anna-san to play Wannabe, by calling ‘Anna-san! Wannabe nagashite!’ but she said, after a long pause, ‘Chotto matte.’ She was answering Namio’s questions about the Miami dance, because he was teaching one of the newer members, but he barely knew it! LOL Anna-san played it once for us, and then beckoned us over. We went over and sat around her, and she played us the three choices she was thinking of, which were Wannabe, that who let the dogs out song, and one that I don’t know, but that made me happy because she sang to part of the chorus, so I got to hear her English! She asked us which one we wanted, and finally we decided by vote to do Wannabe. Emi-chan had asked if Small World had been eliminated, and Anna-san said, clasping her hands, and putting on a sweet voice, ‘Oh, you mean we can use it now? You don’t mind? That’s great!’ To which Emi said that she had said too much, and we all laughed and joked. Then Anna-san asked what we wanted to do about the costumes, etc. She joked twice that she would hear peoples opinions, but not listen to what we said. LOL As for costumes, we could still do the pajama party idea, or, she explained, we could be an International (American) school, where we all wore American style flashy clothes, and Maiko-san or someone was the teacher, who would say that she had to leave for a moment and to study quietly, and once she left we would all get up and dance, like in American highschool movies. I tried to say that it was like in Hollywood High, or something, but no one, not even Anna-san knew what I was talking about. During all of this, Namio was teaching the newer member the Miami dance, and standing around making faces, and all of a sudden he started making faces at me, and did the so-so hand motion, so we got into making faces and grinning and doing the so-so hand motion at each other, which was quite amusing, and also caused the others, especially Emi-chan to crack up. This continued throughout points of the rest of the lesson. After we decided that the school thing would be cool, Anna-san suggested that we go and help Namio, so my group went over and, with Anna-san, did Miami and Yagyugaiden with Namio and the newer member. Anna-san seemed to be just kind of half dancing, presumeably trying to obey doctor’s orders, until the end ,when she got into it. I could see how it must be hard for her not to do strenuous movements. LOL
After class ended, and we had bowed, I went over and told her that my last class would be next Friday. She looked sad, and asked when I was really going home. I told her the Monday after next. Namio asked if I was in LA,but I said Boston. I told Anna-san that as of now…it doesn’t look like you’ll be in the live. She finished my sentence for me. I told her that I would try to talk to my parents about it when I got home though. ‘I really hope you can be in it.’ She said, her eyebrows drawn together in an earnest expression. ‘Me too!’ I said, looking into her eyes. Then Yumiko-chan came up and gave Anna-san a bag that she had hand knit. It looked storebought, and Anna-san and I were very impressed. Listening to all Anna-san’s sugoi!s, I wish that knew how to make something for her, and was in general overwhelmed by the desire to make something for her that she would keep.

Speaking of Anna-san not being about to not do strenuous movement, here’s her post from today:
I’m so happy!
Today I danced my heart out for the first time in a while!! Maaan!! I’m so happy!! It was the best! The best! To be able to laugh and dance with everyone! It’s thanks to my poor physical condition that I was able to feel so happy about something that I always took for granted! Heh heh, I’m so positive!! Alright then, everyone in Tokyo, tomorrow let’s go crazy!!

 
It turned out that Tokyo Kokusai Forum is in Yurakucho, so we could go straight there from the Yurakucho-sen near the dorm, and there was a passage through the station to the Forum. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many people in one place in my life. We got in line to buy tour goods, and discovered that not only did the line wind around the room, but you had to go up the stairs and then back down again. Which in itself seemed long, but then it turned out that the line continued up and then back down 4 floors! It was insane! I was worried that the concert would start and I’d still be in line! However, it actually moved surprisingly fast. I bought a pamphlet, a t-shirt (which are actually long-sleeved), a cell-phone strap, a wrist band, and a bag to put it all in. For every 5000 yen you spent, you got a piece of paper allowing you to win a prizes, the best of which was the chance to meet Namie after the concert. I got two turns, and what did I get? Two packs of Namie tissue. ^^; So anyway, then we found our way up the escalators and into the hall itself. We were in the 36 row of section A. Which actually sounds a lot closer than it turned out to be. I’d say we were about in the middle of the hall. Just close enough to kind of make out that people had facial features, but not close enough to actually see their expressions or anything. While we waited, SUITE CHIC played on the speakers.Then ‘Namie’s Style’ started playing. Then, it switched suddenly to the intro ‘Ladies, and gentlemen….’ During the intro speech, the light gradually faded, until the ‘It’s showtime!!!!’ when the stage was completely black. Then the lights etc exploded to the opening of ‘Put ‘em up’. And there was Namie, in a white camisole and fluffy white skirt which showed a black lace underskirt whenever she moved, white boots, and a white hat. For this dance, they used fake tires with the NA symbol on them for the dance sequence.
Just to give an overview right away, Namie’s voice is amazing. It’s a hundred times better than on TV shows. She had very good control of it, and was right on key. And more than anything, it’s the sheer power of it that blows you away. She just has an incredible voice. And her ballads were absolutely beautiful.
And her dancing is incredible. Anna-san said once that Namie is one of the two people she’s seen in her whole career working with entertainers who’s every movement is dance. And watching Namie, I really understood that. Her dance is so smooth, so sharp and clean, so fluid. She really is amazing. And you really do get a sense that singing and dancing is what she’s meant for, what she loves more than anything. And she definitely has an aura about her. She filled the stage even when she was the only person on it.

The second song was ‘shine more’, which will always remind me of the first time I saw Namie live, at the filming for Hey!3. It was a lot of fun to see the whole dance, and hear the entire song rather than the TV size version. The dance for this song made a lot of use of the stair railing, with Namie walking up and down the stairs, and dancing while holding onto the railing, etc. It was very,very cool.
The third song was ‘RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE.’
During ‘I HAVE NEVER SEEN’, the panels in the background became mirrors, and Namie danced up against the mirrors, so that it looked like she was dancing with four Namies. It was really beautiful and very cool, although it was hard to tell which was the real Namie and which were the reflections.
I think the MC came here. Namie introduced her self as ‘Amuro’, and talked a bit about how this is her first tour in a long time, so she was a bit nervous, etc, and that she hoped everyone would have fun. Most of her MC was her laughing and smiling and saying, ‘Um, yeah’ a lot. LOL She really isn’t good at MCing, it’s so cute.
I think the first costume change was during ‘SOMETHING 'BOUT THE KISS’. Her next outfit was a skirt and top made of beige lace ruffles. She did the rap in the middle, which I was happy about. Her voice was very deep when she spoke.
‘no more tears’ was the dance from the Break the Rules video.
‘Dreaming I was dreaming’began with Namie singing the opening lines in slow acapella. Her voice was amazing, but until the background music kicked in I couldn’t remember what song it was. I’ve always like this song, it seems really mature, and her outfit fit perfectly. It really was a treat to hear it.
For ‘I WILL’ Namie put on a long ruffled skirt over her mini skirt, very elegant and diva like. Her performance was so good that until the middle I was almost convinced it was canned. It was very moving.
Next came a medly of SUITE CHIC songs played from the speakers, as a jungle gym like structure moved into the center. The intro for ‘uh uh’ began. Suddenly Namie and the back up dancers climbed down to the floor from the middle of the jungle gym. Namie was wearing a black one sleeve top, a black pleated skirt, boots and kneepads. The song was half dance, and half Namie climbing/dancing through the jungle gym. I was very impressed that she could sing so smoothly while climbing. AI was not there.
Next was ‘toi et moi’, without the rap, like always. The dance during the musical sequence was amazing. I believe it’s the same one from Genius 2000, but her control over her body and her timing were breathtaking. I think it was at the end of this dance that there was a part at the end where they danced with pink nunchuks. It was very very cool. I think it was during this song. LOL
For LOVE 2000 Namie changed her outfit again. She wore a black and red camisole with black pants tucked into black boots. The song began with her scream of ‘ARE YOU READY!!?’We all screamed. Then she yelled in Japanese, ‘Everyone go crazy!’This song moved into ‘How to be a girl’, and then Chase the Chance. We all yelled ‘Chase the chance!’ and jumped along with her.
Namie’s performance of ‘Wishing On The Same Star’ was very good, much better than her tv performances had been. Only I remember thinking it was weird that we was singing a ballad in pants. LOL
She sat down on a chair for ‘Think of me’, announcing that she would sing a ballad now. Her voice was so sweet. What with all the lyrics like ‘I’m here’ and whatnot, it was really moving to me, and I halfway through the song I started to cry. I had almost stopped when the next song began. It was ‘SWEET 19 BLUES’, one of my most favorite of her songs, which I have a lot of memories connected to. So of course I started crying harder. It was just so amazing to be there, hearing her sing, right in front of me, after all these years.
For PLEASE SMILE AGAIN, Namie did the pole dance like in Break the Rules, although it seemed a bit longer. It was very very cool to watch, quite sexy.
Namie changed her outfit again, this time into black pants and a tight blue sequined top, for ‘Body Feels EXIT’. It seemed to fit somehow, because I always remember the blue outfit she wore in the Marine Stadium video. The dance was a bit different though.
After this, I think was the band introduction. Our old buddy Kenji Sato was there, but the rest of the band was different. He had us all yell Namie, and we did. Then she appeared, to sing‘SO CRAZY’. She did a really good job, and it was interesting to see her perform it in pants, and not a skirt. The full dance is quite interesting, because it goes a long with the story of the song; in the beginning when she’s saying ‘sorry boys’, she pushes the male dancers away, and in the second verse when with the ‘it must be destiny’ parts, she dances sexily close to them.
’You're my sunshine’ has never been a favorite of mine listen to, but it is a great song live, and the dance is also very cool.
With the intro for ‘a walk in the park’ strobe light flashed through the darkened auditorium. It was very cool, and Namie did a great job, as always.
’Say the word’was the version from Love Enhanced. I’d actually forgotten about this song until it played. LOL Namie thanked us all and waved, and left the stage, as did the band.
We began the call of ‘encore’, with changed midway into ‘Namie!’It was really amazing to me, all of us together, calling her name. I’ve noticed that Namie fans seem to yell her name a lot. I guess it’s a way to show her how much you love her, since we couldn’t really do anything else. I wonder what it would be like though, for thousands of people to be calling your name like that.
At the first note of the encore, everyone screamed. Yes, it was ‘CAN YOU CELEBRATE?’Namie was wearing a black tanktop (I think it’s the one she wears in the STYLE booklet) and a black not pleated skirt. I have to admit I got teary eyed here again. Because this is such a Namie song.
Next was ‘Don't wanna cry’. This song, and CYC, were the first two songs of Namie’s I ever heard, so of course I continued to be teary eyed. LOL
Then Namie asked us if we’d had fun. We all screamed yes, and she said, in a felt voice. ‘Yokatta ne.’ (That’s nice.’) We all laughed, because it sounded so unenthusiastic. She laughed too, and assured us that she had had a great time too. Someone in the audience yelled ‘You’re the best!’ (Saikou da you!!) and she stopped talking, with a little surpised laugh, and yelled with a big smile ‘You guys are the best too!!!!’ (Minna mo saikou da you!) It was really sweet. You could tell that she really does love her fans, even though she’s really so shy. She waved to both first and second floors, and as us all to please sing NEVER END along with her. And the whole audience did. It was really moving. After, she thanked us, smiling and waving, and asked us all to come again. The band members came down, and they bowed all joined hands and bowed, and then walked off the stage, waving. Namie yelled ‘See you guys later!’
All in all, The audience was very active, screaming at the intro to each song, and yelling ‘Namie!!!’ Whenever Namie waved at the audience, everyone would wave frantically back, even if she was waving in the complete opposite direction. It was really cute. And whenever Namie held the mic towards the audience, we all sang, and it you could hear everyone very well. At one part in the encore, she touched the hands of people in the front row, which of course made everyone scream again. Overall,the audience was very warm and responsive, although I did think that they yelled a bit too much during the MCs.
Anyway, it was an amazing experience. At first I had wished that I would get to hear some of the new album songs, but I’m really glad that it was all singles, because I got to hear all the songs live that I’ve been listening to for such a long time, so it was really moving for me. Namie is just amazing live. She is so incredibly talented.
Also, apparently MAX and Da Pump were in the audience as well, although there were so many people, I didn’t see them, or even know they were there until today. However, I did think yesterday, ‘I bet MAX will either come to today’s concert, or tomorrow’s’, and I noticed that Namie kept waving to a certain section in the front wing, and I wondered if it was some she knew, so maybe that’s where MAX was sitting.

 
WED.

Today we had our happyoukai. I had thought that it was going to be a bigger deal than it was, more formal, etc, but it turned out to be just in a classroom, with the audiance (who was mostly people we knew, teachers, and girls from the dorm (Erika etc), and Caroline and Eileen's host mothers). But it also turned out to be a lot more emotional than I thought. Except for Caroline and Aileen, pretty much everyone elses speeches were about memories of this year. Eileen, who went second, broke down crying halfway through, and all of us got teary-eyed. Then Kinoko went, and she cried halfway through hers. Then I went, and was almost crying, although I didn't because I knew that if I did, I wouldn't be able to get through my speech. Buri-chan was crying so hard from mine that she had to leave the room for a moment, and even when she came back, struggled through her speech, still crying. Kinoko came back and apologized for missing my speech because she had been out in the hall crying. I think that this gave us all an oppourtunity to really realize just how much we've been through this year, and how close we all are to leaving, and leaving each other.

After the happyoukai, we walked to Chinzanka Hotel, where they were giving the Table Manners Course. None of us wanted to go, but we were obligated to because of Tada-san. But it actually turned out to be kind of fun. We all sat at these long tables, set with all the dozens of knives and forks and spoons, and 3 different glasses. Everyone was all dressed up and looked very pretty. I though this during our happyoukai as well about just the ryugakusei, but looking around at everyone, I thought again, we all clean up pretty well. LOL Especially Ikue looked really pretty; I kept looking at her. At the front of the tables was a man with a microphone, who explained how to use each fork, and eat each course, etc, along with slides on a projector. It was a real fancy meal: appetizer, bread, fish course, palate cleansing sorbet, meat course, salad, dessert and tea or coffee. We also had white 'wine' with the fish course, and red 'wine' with the meat course (both were actually grape juice), and he taught us how to enjoy red wine...the whole swirling and sniffing and holding it in your mouth deal. I felt like I stepped into one of the 'Samantha' books from American Girls, it was so Victorian. I tried to call everyone Princess, (Kara, who sat across from me, was the Prince) but it didn't really catch on. I guess I'm the only one who still sees that things have 'scope for the imagination'. LOL I also realized that I would be a horrible Princess; I'm not good at table manners, not graceful, and inclined to do things like take a big deep breath of the beef with poivre sauce, causing the serving woman to laugh and say, 'Ii nioi desu ne!', and want to tape Micchin on the shoulder and then look away innocently. LOL I'd definately one of those Princess in all the books who is always getting scolded for being un-lady-like, etc. Speaking of lady-like though, I was all dressed today, with my hair in pin curls and my new Namie-style pleated jean mini skirt and my tights that are made to look like you're wearing fishnet stockings and a garter belt, and my new white and pink ribboned heels, and I realized once again how much I like dressing up, and wearing stockings and a skirt (or dress) and high-heeled shoes; it feels so womanly and grown up and sexy. During part of the dinner, the guy announced that two of the girls had elected to dress up in wedding gown, and that they would come out now. The lights dimmed, and Celine Dionne started playing. The two men at the doors bowed low, causing a thrill to go through me. The doors opened, and out walked the two 'brides' - Hoshimi-chan and Buri's tutor, who's name I forget. As people may remember from earlier journals, I really like Hoshimi-chan. Not only do I really like her, but she is quite my typish. And not to sound sacriligious or anything, but not only did she look very beautiful in the dress and pearls with her hair all up in a tiara and veil...but she looked really hot. Which made me come to the conclusion that...brides are really hot. LOL Or at least, dress up a hot girl like Hoshimi-chan in a wedding dress and it's very hot. Especially Hoshimi-chan, because she's got such a Japanese type of cuteness....very big smile, roundish face, large eyes, very cute and not all that bright looking, just very soft, and cheerful, with a large chest. That grabia bikini idol kind of cute. And she had on this red lipgloss so her mouth kept literally shining in the light. So yes. Put me on the train for wedding dress fetish. LOL I was also pleased that she was sitting next to Mami, who is just very good looking, in a stronger way, with more regular, almost Western feature, taller and louder, because they made a very good couple. LOL As for Buri's tutor, btw, she is rather gloomy looking, and a little sad, and she ddin't smile like Hoshimi did, so she kind of looked like a bride who was being married off by her family to some man she hated. LOL
After it was over, we all took a bunch of picutes, and I walked home arm in arm with Kinoko and Eileen, and we talked about meeting in 5 years, and what we would all be doing when we were 27 and 28. It was so much fun, I felt so close to them. It feels like now that we have so little time, we're all so close. I definately felt that a lot today, because we have so little time left, everything is special and precious. In a way it makes me sad to think of all the time we've had, but I think that this is something that can only be felt because it's almost over.
When we got back to the dorm, we all went to the ofuro together - me, Buri, Eileen, and Kinoko, and Ikue and a bunch of other girls were there too. It was so much fun, just everyone naked together, laughing and talking. It's definately something that would never happen in the US, but it was so much fun. I also realized again that really, every woman's body is beautiful, in all different shapes and sizes.

 
SUNDAY
Yesterday I went to Disneyland with Atsuko-san, Uchida-san, Tano-san and Sachiko-san. Tano-san lives in Nerima, so I was able to meet her on the chikatetsu from Kotakemukaihara. It was so early; we took the 7:12am train. But I found out that it's really easy to get to Disney from my homestay. You can take the Yurakucho all th eway to Shinkiba, and then it's a 3 minute ride to Disney. We met up with Atsuko-san and Sachiko-san, and got an e-mail from Uchida-san that he wouldn't be there until 9, so we decided to go on ahead. It was the first time I'd been to Disney since the first time I came to Japan, when i was nauseous the whole time. At first it was so exciting. It was a beautiful warm day, and all the brightly colored cheerful themed buildings and the trees and flowers etc it was so pretty and the atmosphere was just infectious. Since it was Christmas at Disney, the soundsystem was piping carols through the park, and it was so much fun. Then we waited in a huge like for an hour to get tickets to a musical show around noon. I have never seen longer lines. It was insane. Just lines that went on and one literally for hours. There was lines for everything, even for the chicken legs we bought at a booth. So, anyway, Uchida-san caught up with us while we were having a little breakfast, after which we watched the Christmas Parade. I was disappointed that none of the singing was real, and also a bit suprised that the carols were all in English. The parade it'self was pretty cute - Mickey and the other characters on big floats, with groups of people dressed as ballerinas, tin soldiers, snowmen, reindeer (with huge long tongues hanging out which looked really stupid.), etc. After the parade passed, we went to the musical show, which was in front of Cinderella's castle. I just want to mention that I loved that castle. I have decided that it is all about Cinderella's castle. Even though I remember going inside it once, and it was very disappointing and boring. I still love the outsite of it. So anyway, we had pretty good seats for the show, except that the sun was right in our faces. The show which was thanfully only 30 minutes, was about how Rudoph (who said 'ore' and things like 'Anshin shita ze!' which disturbed me) somehow got lost at Disneyland, and Mickey and co. had to help him back to the North Pole (which consisted of snowflake girls dancing around to that christmas song from Home Alone) so Santa could deliver the presents on x'mas (he then asked them to help make toys). The reindeer girls that danced with Rudolph were very cute. The show ended with a choir, dress in long green robes that made me calle them the Slytherin choir came out and 'sang' joy to the world and silent night. I found the ending actually very moving, and actually pretty religious. What I mean is I felt almost religious listening to it all. Christmas really does have beautiful music. So anyway, after the show was over, I made sure we went to 'Pirates of the Carribean', and tried a little Jack-walking and quoting, only it wasn't as fun because no one has seen the movie, or understood the English. The ride itself was not as exciting as I had hoped, but I did recognize a few scenes from the movie, and was excited by the Yoho yoho song, and got it stuck in my head. Then we headed on over to Tom Sawyer Island, just because I liked Tom Sawyer (well mostly Huck, but), which turned out to be wher eyou take like 3 minutes raft ride to the 'island' which has all kind of climbing structures and whatnot. It was actually pretty amusing, although it made me realize that I am not a little boy in Mississippi. Not that there was any doubt, but it mean...just the whole boyish adventure treasure and Injuns kind of thing, I can't really enjoy it anymore. And yes, I actually did think 'Wow, I'm not a little boy anymore.' Um, yeah. LOL I did have fun explaining about the dialect Tom talks in though, because a sign was written that way. ('Ifn you see any birds what live there'..etc) Then we sat on a blanket Sachiko-san had bought because it was getting colder, and Disney takes a lot of energy, esp all the waiting in lines, and walked the Christmas parade again. We were closer this time, so it was more interesting. I quite like the tin soldiers they were so smilely and cute. After the parade, we went to A Small World, because it was a special Christmas version. While we waited in the line (40 min) we chatted about LoveJunx stuff. The Christmas version was very cute, all the little dolls holding christmas song books and singing a mixture of carols and 'it's a small world'. I really like it's a small world. It was so cute! I still have a memory of the first time I went on it, when Iwent to Disney when I was 5, and I made my parents take me on it twice because I could only look at one side at once.LOL Theoretically we left after that, but we really went shopping for Disney souvenirs, and took pictures and whatnot, which took a long time. LOL Then we had dinner together, during which we talked about Yuuta (now I know two people who thought it was a girl the first time they saw him heh heh), etc, and Takarazuka, and it was observed that I 'like feminine men.', which Atsuko-san observed must be because it made me feel 'safe' and 'unthreatened'. I just smiled and nodded and was very very amused. After, Uchida-san drove me (along with Tano-san and Atsuko-san) all the way to the dorm which was extremely nice. He got into MAX when their group did 'Feel So right' last live, and so he was playing it the whole time in the car, which was a lot of fun. On the way home we talked about more LoveJunx stuff, and a bit about MAX, etc. It was at once really strange to have my LJ friends at the gate of the PonJo dorm, and just really normal. I wished they could have come inside, but it was curfew, and Uchida-san is a man, and whatnot, so oh well. But it made me feel just how close we all have gotten to be kind of mixing the two parts of my life here.

MONDAY

Today I went with Yukko and Azusa to Kabukicho, infamous section of Shinjuku, home to host clubs, hostess bars, peep shows, love hotel and all of that mizushobai stuff. (I found out that 2chome is a section of Kabukicho. I asked them about it, and they said it was where all the gay stuff was. Yukko said it was dangerous, she'd heard, but Azusa disagreed, because it was the gay section and we were girls, so actually it was the safest part) Our actual goal was to go to a Love Hotel, because none of us had been, and do karaoke and watch the porn and whatnot, but this proved harder than we had thought. For one thing, we were three girls (a menage a trois, as Azusa joked). The first place we went into we dhadn't even got inside the door when the frowning woman at the counter shook her head disapprovingly and said '3nin ha dame desu.' (No 3 people allowed). We were very indignant. It was a very unpleasant experience. The way she said it and looked at us made me feel dirty and ashamed, like we were doing something shameful that we shouldn't be. Which annoyed me a lot.I hadn't done anything wrong, we weren't even really going to have a menage a trois (obviously), and even if me had been, what right did she have to judge us like that? We went to a few more places, but they were all either too expensive, or didn't have karaoke. One place informed us that there would be a 1.5% increase in price for 3 people. However, nowhere did anyone say anything about the fact that we were all girls, which was nice, I suppose. So we gave up on the Love Hotel idea, and went Karaoke instead. LOL It was a lot of fun, Azusa and I sang Namie, and SPEED, together (we split the parts for SPEED - I was Eri and she was Hiro, which is always a lot of fun). After, we walked to Kinokuniya, so I could buy my Takarazuka CD I wanted at the Shop next to it. On the way we say a kogal with an old business men (obviously enkou). The had my CD at the shop, which I was pleased about, and ojisan there was very nice, he gave me a free shashin, and let me pick which one I wanted, and then jogged after us to give me the flyer for Takarazuka's next show, and apologized for hurrying me, because the shop had been closing.