Shibuya! Japanese Time Square

Many of the girls' first experience with a Japanese train was during rush hour! The train was packed, and I was worried we would be separated if all of us couldn't fit in, but we somehow managed. I've seen worse, but this was pretty bad. Let's just say it was a bonding experience for all of us. You really have to squeeze, shove and push yourself out of the train, Lauren bravely took the lead when I yelled "this is our stop!" and soon as I was about to step off, I noticed we were getting off one station too soon, so we ended up having to shove ourselves back into the train again. I don't think the people around us were happy, but I just say, it was in the name of practicing survival skills.

The famous statue of Hachi, the dog who waited everyday at the train station for his master to come home. It is the favorite meeting spot amongst locals and tourists alike. Lauren's friend Cameron met us there to show us where a local game center was.


In the 90's, humongous game centers started popping up everywhere, but as technology became more affordable, and people started owning game stations in the home that were just as sophisticated as those found at the game center, its popularity has slightly gone down. Don't get me wrong they're still there and doing well, but I noticed they are not as huge as they once were. Luckily, I could care less because I don't like games, and my students don't know the difference. It was still a huge arcade fantasyland for them.

A part of Japanese culture you cannot escape when you come to Japan is the "purikura", or print club. These are booths that are specialized to take pictures that make you look gorgeous. They print out as stickers, and you collect them and trade them with friends.

Partly because of the lighting they use, the pictures come out having your skin looking flawless and glowing, and your eyes big and shiny. Since caucasians already have bigger eye shapes then Japanese, some of our pictures ended up looking alienish because of how big our eyes turned out!

After you're finished taking the pictures, you can decorate them worth words, electronic stamps, etc. It took us a really long time to do each picture, and they were simple at best, but Japanese young girls (and some boys who would never admit it) have this down to an art.

Emily actually won something from those grabbing machines! I've never seen anyone actually get anything before.

Scramble crossing. intersection is shaped like a hectagon (almost), and all the lights for pedestrains turn green at once. Meaning, a whole lot of people scrambling across the intersection from all directions all at once.

A poster of one of Lauren's favorite JBoys. I forgot his name, but I know he's on Hanayori Dango at least. She was ecstatic to notice their hats made them twinners. Oh, Lauren.

The students girl's first experience eating REAL ramen. Yea, that's right. Those little prepackaged instant noodles you can buy at local grocery stores in the U.S. are IMPOSTERS! You need to try Japanese ramen at least once in your life in order to say you've lived.

Lunch was a much needed break from off the feet and out of the heat. Several were groaning about how much their feet and backs hurt. We Americans are not used to walking around so much!

We were the only ones on the second floor of the small ramen shop, so we decided to stretch and do some yoga to invigorate ourselves for the second half of the day. Good thing Sarah is a yoga instructor, we got some good tips from her.

I just wanted to show how small Japanese things can be. Everything from water cups to bathroom doors and sinks. Everything is fun-sized. Thanks for being the model Heidi!