First up is my trip to Tokyo Disney Sea! It was an absolutely wonderful experience!! Tokyo Disney had a special "New Years" theme, so I was expecting it to be crowded. The day started off at 5:30am, leaving the house at around 6am. My boyfriend, Shun, and I arrived at Disney Sea around 7:50am. There was a HUGE line of people just waiting for the park to open! Like us, these people had bought their tickets online and were waiting to be the first ones in the park. The minute we passed through the ticketing gates, people started running. I've never seen anything like it: children, families, couples all running to get Fast Passes to the rides at 8am. Shun and I got into the park and instead of running, we took pictures. About 10 minutes passed before heading to get our first Fast Pass...the whole day's worth of Fast Passes for the new Toy Story Mania ride were gone- every single one for the WHOLE DAY!! Plus, there was a 4 hour wait for those without passes...We were shocked. Then, all around us people were still running to get their next Fast Pass, knocking into others without apologizing. Japanese people are normally very well-mannered, but once they get into Disney all hell breaks loose! haha :D
The special New Years Disney Sea show was fantastic! Mickey, Minnie and the gang spoke in Japanese!! It was weird, but cool to hear them speak another language.
Another interesting thing about Tokyo Disney Sea was that the main character wasn't Mickey, but his teddy bear named Duffy! In the States, I had never heard of Duffy. However, here in Japan, he's everyone's favorite Disney bear. Everyone at the park carried with them something Duffy related- a stuffed animal, keychain, hair tie, etc. There was one little carrying around Minnie Mouse, but after a closer look, she was a foreigner! Disney Sea even has a show dedicated to Duffy:
I must admit, he is pretty adorable :)
Despite the freezing cold of January, Disney Sea was tons of fun!! Can't wait until I get another chance to go again!
Next up is my Coming of Age experience!
January 14, 2013 was Coming of Age Day in Japan. Unlike America, when you become an adult at 21 years of age, Japanese youths become adults at age 20. On a single celebrated day, all 20 year olds dress up in traditional kimono (suits for men) and go to their hometowns for a special ceremony. Most youths see their old hometown or elementary school friends during this time. Even though I haven't lived in this city for long, I received an invitation to attend the Coming of Age Ceremony for Nishinomiya City. In the end, I decided not to attend the ceremony. My host mom was kind enough, however, to lend me her daughter's kimono so I could take pictures and still celebrate my "coming of age." I went to the neighborhood beauty salon and got my hair done and kimono professionally put on!
Here's the end result:
The art of putting on a kimono was really similar to paper origami! The two ladies who put on my kimono did such a beautiful job!
My "tabi" or socks in beautiful golden sandals
Minnie Mouse and I both wearing kimono! :)
I've experienced nothing but wonderful things since coming here, and an happy to share all of it with you! Special thanks to my host family; I'm super lucky and happy to be with such a wonderful, nice family!!
Here's a special picture of me and my adorable host brother:
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