And let the podcasting begin!
International travelers living in Philadelphia have thier first attempt at their (hopeful) semi weekly show. Meeting in Tokyo, having been raised in New Zealand, Sweden and the States these friends are now living as roommates and partying perhaps a little too much... but hey it makes for a good podcast!
Travels in India
Hello world,
Hello world,
Since April 19th, I have been in India. Started out in Delhi and then flew to Chennai, traveled by over night train, and now I am in south India in a city called Dindigul. I am with my International Development and NGO class working along side M.S. S. R. Foundation. An NGO that has been using science and information technology to help improve the livelihood of indivudals who live in proverty.
81% of the population of India lives on less than 2 dollars a day. 2/3 of India's population lives not in the cities, but in over 550,00 villages.
I am experiencing something that a blog cannout capture, but at least I can try. I have been working in a village and playing with slum kids. I have seen the improvment of villages but the demise of cities. I have seen infrastructure that I cannot tell if it is demolished/abandomed or being constructed. Either way, the change is not happening fast enough for the number of lives that this country holds.
I am in charge of a blog that my class is keeping, and it would be wonderful if you could check out what we have been witnesses to.
This is a beautiful country, wonderful landscape, and great people. Learn about the world.
http://tujstudents-india07.blogspot.com
from the future,
Stephanie
Travels
I had some life changing moments since the last post. All positive. Including a visit that made me the happiest girl in the world. I got to share this wonderful city with two two loves of my life, mom and dad. And I think after they master the trains and the chop sticks and the toilets, they really enjoyed themselves!
Pictures are from our journies to:
Hiroshima
Miyajima
Enjoy!
Work Photos
It is been a looong time blogger. How are you doing? Well i hope.
I have been very busy with work, school and exploring. Work has sent me to a few night clubs, fashion shows, DJs houses to take photos and make video clips. Here are a few of my works from the past month, hope you enjoy!
From the future,
Stephanie
January Extravaganza!
I have not been keeping up with my post as I should be considering all of the stuff that I have already managed to get my self involved with.
Last Friday was TUJ's semesterly Sake tasting. Where we learn the history of sake, and also saw several tradition Japanese artists (shamisen player, shinto calligraphy artist, traditional dancers) where I meet a lot of new kids and I got to hang out with Sei and Shinsuke who are the modern day calligraphy artists that paint and write off of emotion, they are friends I meet at last years sake tasting.
As it has been known, I celebrated my 21st birthday. In addition to my birthday, there have been a handful of close friends birthdays, including my "Dokyo-nin" (roommate) Bree! For a celebration we went to a funk concert, put on by the fantastic Osaka Monaurail. We had the pleasure of meeting the lead singer last November at another concert of theirs. It was at that point we told him we would celebrate our 21st birthdays at their January concert. And guess who remembered? Saw us and gave us a Happy Birthday greeting on stage? Yep, your right, the lead singer.
The day after that concert I found myself at another show. It was a Japanese jam band with american rock and roll influence and psychedelic passion, Majestic Circus. It was an amazing show which I will remember always because the music and venue and crowd were perfect that night!
Also this past weekend, I was requested to film and take pictures of a Pride Fighting World Tournament. I got a press pass and had a seat right against the ring at a venue in Shinjuku. I have never been to anything like it before and I enjoy every minute of this stylized intense and passionate fighting genre.
As I have been told before, I need more pictures and less words, so here are the pictures... Enjoy!
Internationally Celebrating My 21st
**Just a little warning before there are any pictures, just keep in mind that it was my 21st birthday, that is my only excuse**
So I couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend. 1 st the uStar bash, and then Bryan and I celebrated our birthdays!! We told as many new, old, Japanese, American, school, out school friends as we possibly could about our birthday, and to our surprise: they all showed up! We met everyone at Nakano Station and cracked open a bottle of bourbon (a gift from Sei!) and waited for everyone else. We then walked to a karaoke room (which conveniently enough was an all you could drink bar!! ), where we thought we would have to get separate rooms, but we manage to squeeze everyone in to one room (but in a few hours we will have taken over another room, and invite random strangers in to our party room from other rooms). The night was filled with people meeting people, drinks all around, dance parties, standing on booths, on tables, and singing like there would be no tomorrow! Songs ranged from: Japanese duets, 80's pop, 90s trash, 70s rock, songs to set the mood, songs we didn't hear b/c we were too busy dancing, it was mayhem and still beautiful! In the end I remeber everything, and I didn't end up near the toilet or in jail!
However, in PA.....
In PA my family took "me" out as a surprise and things didn't go to smoothly! I puked, got into fights and the eagles lost on my birthday!
I think the family birthday celebration is one of the funniest things I have seen and I am glad my family drank at midnight and had just has much fun as I did!!
Enjoy the pic (I think you will be able to tell which ones are where in the world....)
Bryan and I are both Jan. 14th Birthdays!~
Japan Part Ni!
Here we are, the exploring has started again and this place is still just as fascinating and wonderful as ever.
Classes have started, more work than last year, but I am fine with that because I want to keep balanced.
The apartment is Ab. Fab. and living with Bree has turned into living in a constant Girls Camp sleepover, complete with interactive activities and sleeping on the floor! And our town is amazing, and so close to downtown Nakano which is beautiful! (we have a 99 yen store open 24 hours that is a complete grocery store! oh! it is heaven!)
My internship has started, and I have already been in the middle of a lot of happenings and a ton of meet and greets. It is fun to be a part of and it is fun to watch a company start off the ground, especially in the social scene and in a giant city like Tokyo and dealing with PR clubs music fashion, I am so excited. uStar.com hosted a club event at Eggman in Shibuya, and I filmed the 4 bands that played and then I got invited to an after party with everyone that has a hand or two in the launch of this. As the site launches and there is more news I will fill you in. Check it out in the mean time at : www.ustar.jp
*it is a beta version, working on a ton of things right now, but feel free to sign up and give me comments about things you want to see, to change, to get rid of etc.
Here are pics from the show and the after party dinner.
From the future,
Stephanie
