2nd Weekend- Costume Party and a Study Day

First, allow me to mention that Saturday was the first earthquake for me here. Apparently there were 2, but Jess and I only felt one of them. The dorm building shook, but it wasn't all that scary. I just kinda felt like, "huh???" ^^;;; Anyway, on to that day's events!

We were invited to a costume party on Saturday by Jill's friend, Alex. Jill, Jess, and I decided to go (no Barb for this excursion, sad). The party was pretty exclusive; the only reason we got in is because Alex is a model, so she's got connections. And so that morning we got dressed up again (this time with proper footwear) and off to Harajuku we went. Turns out the place we needed to be was really close to the particular exit we took from that station. Lucky!

We first had to buy our tickets, which were 1500yen (about 20USD). Then we walked down the busy street of shops to the station where we would meet Alex. That was a weird day to be there. Throughout the street, there were black men who kept trying to get our attention. One even grabbed Jill's arm. We walked by them as fast as we could, so we never found out what they wanted. They may have been trying to sell stuff for all I know. I assume they wanted to talk to us because we spoke English, but the way they closed in on us was rather unnerving. Hooray for getting lost in crowds of people to escape them. And I say black because I have no idea what part of the world they came from. Their English didn't sound American, and it definitely didn't sound like "Engrish". If anyone does know, feel free to educate me. x.x Toward the end of the street we passed one who just called us beautiful. He didn't come up to us like a vulture in the same manner as the others, so I did not find him offensive or scary.

The three of us finally reached the station, only to be stopped for a picture. I suppose a group of Americans dressed in costumes in Japan is amazing to some people? It only continued once a fellow US girl came up to us in costume (she was the Mad Hatter) to ask if we were going to the same party. We were. And that girl even knew Alex. I guess as a model, she's met a lot of different kinds of people? So, now there were four foreigners dressed up together. And the pictures didn't stop. People kept walking up to us and asking to take a photo. It was rather amusing. We ended up waiting for over a half hour without even realizing it. At some point, the Mad Hatter's other friends came along too. They were also waiting for someone else. Once we checked the time, we realized Alex was late again. We hoped the reason was not the same. She did finally join us, but I don't recall any reason as to why she was so late. Meh. Her outfit was fun! ^^ I want the jacket part! XD

The Mad Hatter's group went to find food, while Alex led the rest of us to meet her other friend Tomo. Btw, he is adorable, almost like a girl. I wanted his outfit too. It was really cute. I shall find photos to post! So! Tomo in our group, we went to another Purikura (Print club) to take pictures together. They are very cute, and we tried to send one to Jess's email, but it so failed. Sigh. I wish I had a scanner here, but perhaps I shall try to take a picture of the pictures. -_-;;;

The party was about to start, so we hurried over to the h.Naoto, the place where it was being held. There were lots of yummy snacks and desserts. I loved the mini strawberry tart- thingamadoos (again, a strange word I like to use). I want more even now. Too bad for me, I suppose. Shortly after the party began, Midori-chan, a famous model, came out to greet us in an h.Naoto lolita outfit. The dress was very pretty, but what I wanted was the animal-shaped backpack.

A group of us then went upstairs to play a game for prizes. It was like a game of whisper down the lane, only with drawings instead of words. The first person was told what to draw, and each person after had only the previous person's drawing to look at as a reference. Also, each person had 30seconds to draw it. The final person had to guess what the drawing was. Our team's drawing went horribly wrong. x.x Jill was first, and she was asked to draw Goku from Dragonball Z. Her drawing wasn't far off, but I didn't realize who it was, so I just tried to copy as best I could. I ran out of time before getting past the neck though. The picture quickly became more and more different. The hair flattened, and someone added a sparkle near the eyes, so people kept adding sparkles. Thus, Goku turned into a female idol by the end of the game. x.x We soooo lost that one. The second team guessed theirs, but I had no idea what it was. Boo.

Next was a game of True/False. And open hand meant true, and a closed hand meant false. The host made statements that were either true or false, and we guessed. There were two American women, a fashion editor and a fashion photographer, who kindly translated for us, but we didn't know the answers anyway, so we guessed away. Jill stayed in the longest, but our team lost again. The winners got a small prize each, but we losers got consolation prizes (candy), so all was well.

We returned downstairs for individual photos with Midori-chan, which we will be able to pick up in the same place next month. Midori-chan was sweet, and she called my red and black dress cute. ^^ Tomo really enjoyed watching the taking of photos, and we all enjoyed looking at the clothes h.Naoto sells. However, they are all waaaay too expensive for any of us. I think all the clothing there was at least $200, while some bags and accessories were a bit less. I really wanted the backpack with bat wings, but I was afraid to even look for the price tag.

After the photos, there was a raffle, using the numbers on the reverse side of each of our tickets. Jill won a hair accessory that was black with ribbon, and white polka dots if I remember correctly, which happens to be her favorite type of accessory. To finish off the party, there was a costume contest. Three winners were chosen. One by Midori-chan, and two were picked by two of the party hosts. It was a lot of fun, but we were very tired at that point, so we returned home to Ikebukuro as soon as the party was over. We then promptly passed out.

Sunday was rather uneventful. It was meant to be a study day, but for me it turned into a hair-straightening, nail painting day. The confetti nail polish Aunt Lisa bought me back in September is very fun, but it distracts people with the way it reflects the light. Muahahahaha! Anyway, Jess and I did do laundry on Sunday. If I didn't explain this before, we have washers, but no dryers. We have to hang everything inside our room and on the bar outside our windows to dry. Yeah, I only put things like jeans out on that bar. Other residents have special hangers for smaller items like underwear, but I'm so not cool with hanging those articles outside my window. Thus my room was pretty filled with clothes hanging to dry. I also managed to at least finish my homework that day before Jill, Jess, and I went to the super market for more food. Yay!

Oh, what the heck, I'm throwing Monday in here as well. On Monday our co-curricular course sign up sheets were due. I signed up for Japanese Songs as my mandatory class, but I'll be attending the conversation class as well to improve my speaking skills in Japanese. Also, my placement in level 3 was finalized on that day. Hooray! Jill and Zack are also sticking around. Good for us! Jess is staying in level 2, so that's good too. After the meeting with the teacher, I ran downstairs to receive the rest of my books for class. Upon doing so, I was met with the sempai from my dorm. I shared the good news, and they wished me luck. ^^

While waiting for Jill, Duke decided to mention that he found a better hot cocoa from the other vending machine and bought one for me before I could beat him to it. Punk. Don't worry, mom; I did say thank you at the very least. Haha. It was very good though. Sweeter than the other kind, but less cocoa flavor. Might I say that it still amazes me to receive a hot beverage from a vending machine? Because it does. I love it. We need to have that in America. And just more vending machines everywhere.

That's all for the weekend and Monday! ... Oh wait! One more thing! We did go to the 100yen store on Monday night, and on the way, two Japanese guys rode by us on bikes. One of them called "Welcome to Japan", to which we replied, "Arigatou gozaimasu!" and about fell over laughing. Good times, good times. And now that is all! ^^