Mystery Post #2

She spent the rest of the day going around to every door and trying every key. But none of them seemed to work. She couldn't believe that she had found something so exciting, just for it to turn out to be boring like everything else in the house.

Just as she was about to give up, her aunt finally tracked her down.

"There you are! Why aren't you in the garden planting my new flower bed?"

Alice tried to hide her new treasure behind her back, but it was too late.

"Where did you find that?"

"My closet."

"Give it to me this instant!" Her aunt snatched the key ring out of her hands and walked away. Alice followed behind her silently and watched as she hide the keys in her dresser.

Later that night Alice snuck back in and stole the keys back. She was more determined than ever now to find out what they opened.

Mystery Post #1

Every year Alice spent two weeks at her aunt's house. It was always at the end of summer, when she should have been enjoying the dying rays of freedom. Instead, she usually spent it weeding and mowing grass. Alice complained that the only reason her aunt and uncle wanted her around their old Victorian house was to use her as a maid.

One day, while trying to avoid housework, she decided to hide in her closet. While trying to find a comfortable place to sit in the dark, something heavy dropped onto her head. "OUCH!"

She crawled out of the closet and then peeked back in to see her assailant. On the floor of the closet was a huge ring of keys. She picked them up and wondered what door in the big house they would unlock....

Blog Post #3 (3/3)

Another interesting part of Tokyo culture that mixes traditional and modern is Hachiko, the dog statue in Shibuya.

The statue has a well known story in Japanese culture. It is the story of a dog that waited for it's owner, even after the owner died. It's a sad and heartwarming tale of loyalty. Now, the Hachiko statue is a very well known meeting place. People meet up with friends at the Hachiko statue and then go shopping in the Shibuya shopping district. While we were there we almost always noticed a lot of young people at the Hachiko statue.

The shopping experience in Tokyo could also be hectic in some places. For instance, in the mall 109 Shibuya, girls in every store would yell for people to shop in their stores. Some girls even had pompoms and loud speakers. It was a very hectic environment.

Another pastime of young Japanese girls is to take "purikura" or "print club" pictures. These are photo booths that girls go in with their friends and take pictures that they can decorate themselves on the screen. These pictures then print out as stickers which they can put anywhere including their cell phones (or keitai) or books specifically made to put these stickers. Some purikura booths are even more advanced then others and some even come with costumes that girls can change into for their pictures.

Blog Post #3 (2/3)

One of the things that I loved about Japan was the mixing of traditional and high tech consumer culture. Even in Tokyo, there were many places that remained very traditional, where old ladies walked around in yukata. Even advertising reflected this:

There was even a very traditional temple in the heart of Harajuku. Harajuku is a big shopping district where many young people come to hang out. With the mixture of new and traditional, a lot of young people dress up in incredible costumes and hang out in the space right in front of the temple.


Inside the temple area is green, leafy and beautiful.

There is a wall where people write their wishes on a wooden board and then hang these wishes up, hoping that they will come true.

While I was there we even got to see a traditional Japanese wedding. It was an amazing sight to see the wedding procession.

While outside the gates of the temple the youth subculture is one of the most well known in Tokyo. Here Japanese youth get dressed up in crazy costumes, sometimes as their favorite rock stars. Many foreigners come here and the young people are treated like stars, with many people asking to take their pictures.

This blend of modern and traditional was one of the most interesting parts of my stay in Tokyo.

Blog Post #3 (1/3)

Last summer I went to Japan:

It was a very fun trip but also one in which I learned a lot. The trip had a special meaning to me because it was the second time I was visiting the land of the rising sun. The first time was the summer after my freshmen year of high school. My friends and I went to Japan as part of an exchange program between our school and another in Japan. While there I learned a lot about Japan and developed a love for Japanese culture that I took with me to my college years. In college I took two years of Japanese language and various classes to complete an Asian Studies minor.

Unfortunately when I went last summer I hadn't taken Japanese for a year and I was really rusty. However, I often knew enough to ask simple questions and many of the people I met in Tokyo were more than willingly to help.

On the first night of my trip, me and some friends left the dorm we were staying in to try to find the nearby conveince store. We managed to find it alright but had a hard time finding the dorm again on the way back. We were hopelessly lost. After wandering around for a long time, we managed to find a woman who was coming home. We asked her how to get back to our dorm and tried to work through the language barrier. After getting some directions from her, we started off towards where she thought the dorm was. Here we met another girl out walking her dogs, who knew more English and offered to take us. As we were following her, we heard the sound of a bicycle approaching and turned around. We were surprised to find that it was the first woman we had met, who was looking for us to make sure that we had found our dorm alright!

While there, I observed other instances of people going above and beyond to help us, even though we didn't speak the language. Despite the strong prejudice in Japan against foreigners, I found it interesting and inspiring how willing many people were to drop everything and help.

Blog Post #2 (2/2)

Blog Post #2 (1/2)

Picture 1
This picture is a close up of the face of a little girl. She is fairly bundled up in a snow suit, allowing the viewer to realize that she is in a cold climate. More traces of the climate can be seen in the snow that is caught in her hair. In her left eye you can see the reflection of a person and of a background of snow. This photograph has a very interesting atmosphere evoked through it's muted colors the cold atmosphere. The photographer's use of close up also takes you into a different person's perspective, which is another interesting aspect.


Picture 2
The second picture evokes the atmosphere of a fairy tale. The photographer uses different techniques to come about this effect, making the photograph have a dreamlike, fuzzy, ephemeral quality to it. The photograph is of a beautiful castle, complete with towers and spires on a hill surrounded by trees. Past the castle, land and villages are visible in the distance, giving a good sense of perspective and majesty.

Picture 3
This picture is trying to evoke a completely different atmosphere from the previous two. The focus of this photo was to show a more moody and ghostly aura. The techniques used were all to make the photograph seem more eerie and to give it a creepy feeling. The photo shows two little girls standing in front of a hotel or apartment door. The photo is in black and white and the girls appear like spirits fading into the background of the door. The photographer uses perspective in the picture as well by placing the girls at the end of a long hallway. The overall effect manages to make the little girls seem like old ghosts haunting this space.