A Very Special Casting

One of our castings was particularly special and memorable. We all were walking in, books in hand, like any other casting of the day, and we sat down in this office-like area with two cubicles. One woman from a cubicle came over and proceeded with the casting as usual, taking our books one at a time and looking through. She was very friendly though and asked me where I'm from in the US and when I said New York we got to chatting a bit about the last time she went and how cold it was, etc. After looking through all our books, she spoke some Japanese to Aki and he said that she wanted to give us something before leaving. She brought over this big bin of organized folders and proceeded to give each of us a little paper doll for our respective countries (U.S., Canada, Uzbekistan) that these 80-some year old Japanese ladies had made. They are to bring peace to your country and we all gathered around to take a picture holding these cute little paper dolls so she could show the ladies who made them.


As if that wasn't a generous gesture, she then took us over to the wall where she had 4 or 5 of these framed papers with Japanese and Chinese characters written so tiny that from afar it makes up a big circle. They take thousands of years to complete and have special energies. We each took turns going up to the framed writing and placing our palms over the center of the circle to feel the energy there. The girls said they felt tingling and warmth, but on my turn I didn't feel anything. I didn't want to admit that, but I really don't think I did. So she said it's ok not everyone does, and after the other girls finished, she wanted me to try again. She had me take off my shoes, stand on this chair as she held it, so I wasn't reaching up so high and could really feel it. She said to close my eyes and concentrate as she held my hand. I then did feel a tingling sensation that brought some warmth to my palm and was relieved to know something wasn't terribly wrong with me or my energy. She said it was because I think too much about what's going on around me and others. This is true. I think I need to practice meditation more and learn to relax and not think so much.

And THEN!! She asked Aki if we had time, she wanted to pray for us! So we all sat down with our fingers interlocked forming two circles in our laps, and closed our eyes. She proceeded to chant as monks do for a couple minutes and I at first felt a tingling in my head and then down my back. After she finished we opened our eyes and I felt an energy that had gone through me. She said it was an energy that came in through our head and passed through the body and back to our country, for safety and good luck. We were all so thankful to her and felt she was extremely caring of us as foreigners and it was such a unique experience I'm grateful to have gotten a first hand dose of the Buddhist culture. On our way out, we're all feeling energized and talking about how we're feeling light as feathers and in such a good mood, etc. We even forgot it was a casting or what the job was for. It really was amazing.

First modeling job in Japan

Apparently this is what bridesmaids can be seen wearing in Japanese weddings. You American readers might more commonly know it from the My Size Barbie collection.


Let's just say I felt sufficiently ridiculous. Somewhere between a 6 year old and a cheezy prom date. I didn't think too much pink was possible, but this just about does it.

Action-packed weekend

So to sum up the weekend as briefly as I can:

Friday was a long day of castings again, then I went out with the roomies- Lora (Canada), Zarema (Uzbekistan), and Ana (Russia) for dinner with a group of us and then to one of the clubs the models go to in Tokyo- Club Lexington. Here the drinking/clubbing age is 20 so I am good to go! Although I don't plan on doing it much, but I just wanted to see what the nightlife scene here is like. It was pretty fun, then we went for Karaoke and boy was that awesome! We had our own private room and got food and sang the night away! Or atleast attempted to...


Saturday was an adventure day! We went to Universal Studios: Japan (minus Lora, she had a casting) and it kicked ass!! We took the Bullet train to Osaka and that was so nice! Everything there was awesome, even though all the rides/shows/videos were in Japanese and I didn't see another single other non-Japanese person there the whole time, which was kinda cool too. I felt completely submersed and I'm loving their culture. The first ride we went on was a roller coaster and it was awesome- there were speakers where you rest your head and you can change the station to play another song but I kept mine on default: Michael Jackson's Thriller. It was one of the best coasters I've been on. Japan just does everything so much better. The Spider-Man 3-D simulation ride was probably the best one. It's just ironic I've never been to the original Universal Studios in Orlando and this was my first time, being in Japan. But they had all the same things I know the other one has. There is such a love of the American culture here it's hilarious.


Sunday was my first modeling job for a bridal wear company and we had to model the gowns for couples looking at what to buy/rent for their wedding. I felt like a My Size Barbie but it was fun in a very 6 year old kind of way. Kind of like Universal Studios. I feel that way quite a bit here lately though, I think it's the culture- very cutesy and childish but fun. For more pictures of the weekend, I took tons, check out my facebook album!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118256&id=703686845&l=fb3f18540d

First Earthquake!

I'm pretty sure I can say, after confirming with my sources, that I just experienced my first earthquake ever here this morning in the apartment while writing that last post!! It was tiny and just felt like someone was moving the room kind of and then little movements after... I have to say my initial thought when I first felt it was that the neighbors next door were having quite a good time (I'll leave it at that) haha.

Lost in Translation

So yesterday (or today for those reading in the west...) I got up at 9 to give myself time to run some errands and get a few things done before we have to call and check in for castings at 11. Those of which included getting postcards, stamps, and more yen. Easier said than done. It turns out postcards, especially in the less touristy areas like where our apartment is, in Nikka Meguro, are not so easy to come by. They don't sell them along with magazines or cartoons at the convenience stores or 100 yen stores too often. Or even at the post office. It's definitely an American thing and I'm going to have to go to some touristy American place to get them.

But the stamps and cash I was able to get at the post office. Though this was my first time getting a chance to venture out on my own since being here without Aki or anyone to help. Unfortunately the woman at the counter did not speak English and the phrases I know like hello and thank you didn't get me too far here. I felt like a stupid American as she had this puzzled look on her face in trying to understand my request to get money from a debit card. Thankfully, another employee noticed our difficulty and came to my rescue as she spoke enough English to help me. She took me over to the ATM and pushed the buttons for me (they were in Japanese- the English option didn't have an exchange feature) as I swiped my card and she had me write down the amount of Yen I wanted. The transaction was a success and I then proceeded to go up to the same non-English speaking woman to purchase stamps, and I thought a postcard as well. I wrote down the selection number of the stamps displayed in a rotating box that I wanted and that was easy enough, and then tried to ask for postcards. I'm fiddling around my "Japanese Phrases for Dummies" book trying to find the section I came across the day before with phrases for exchanges and post offices but the English-speaking woman came again to my aid. I'm making hand movements to draw a postcard shape in the air and she tells me they don't sell them there but maybe at a convenience store. And after clarifying that the Hello Kitty stamps I selected are 10 yen more than needed for postcard postage to send "to United States" I said it's ok and asked if I can still use them because I liked them more than the boring ones that are cheaper. So I purchased my Hello Kitty stamps and was on my way, told them "domo arigato" and felt a bit flustered.

It can be quite frustrating trying to communicate something and you can't find the words. I'm trying to learn as much as I can but when it comes down to it, the language is pretty difficult to apply to everyday use but hopefully I'm making some progress. I got back, checked in for castings and was told we had to be picked up at 1:30 so I had time to go for my first jog since I've been here. This apartment has a river behind it with a nice path that goes around it so I jogged around it and it was a great release. I was taking in everything I was seeing- the people out walking, biking, and opening up shop. There are tons of cute boutiques, restaurants, and hair salons along the river that I wanted to stop and explore more. It's a very nice, serene, quiter area and not completely urban and busy like downtown Tokyo. Tiny side streets and curving back streets, with lots of trees and greenery.

Throughout the afternoon, on our way to our various 5 castings which took us up until 7pm, everyone got very interested in learning Japanese words and we were all grilling Aki on how to say this, what does that mean? and practicing saying it all. It was fun and it's nice that we all have an eagerness to learn how to speak it, let alone the other questions we ask him throughout the day about the culture, etc. He's basically our little personal tour guide, giving us insight to the culture etc. I don't know what we'd do without him!

Day 2... castings- can't keep track

The past two days have been so busy that they kind of are a blur and blend together. Today I was the only one in the apartment who had to get picked up at 10:45 for a casting the other girls had earlier last week. I had some grape yogurt for breakfast that I bought last night at the 99 yen store (aka 99 cents) and it was interesting- a little too "grape" for me, and it had very sweet chunks of grape in it too. Oh, and atleast where I went for groceries yesterday, they don't have whole wheat bread here which is a major bummer for me since I haven't had white bread since... I don't know when. But I'm adjusting.

Anyway, had the casting and was back at the apartment for like an hour before we all got picked up again at 1pm for the rest of the castings of the day. Those of which included a variety of clients, similar to yesterday- department store posters, internet advertising, clothing catalogue, one for a bridal magazine cover. At one of them, we had to remove our shoes again and also pump anti-bacterial foam in our hands before meeting the client. They are very serious about the influenza here which is good I like this germ awareness! One casting was a very "special" casting as it is usually not like this, but the particular client is very generous and since he has a small office met us and took us for coffee. All 5 of us ordered coffees and sat down while he looked through our books. We liked this casting very much it was nice haha. The bridal mag cover casting was pretty cool though too. The building it was in was a huge corporate skyscraper that is all glass windows and futuristic looking with amazing views going up and down the elevators. It's quite interesting because they like to use young girls- 20 yrs old and under- for bridal stuff. Same for lingerie. It's very smiley and cute, not elegant and mature.

I'm still learning a lot about the culture but I've already learned quite a bit in only two days of this! But alas, I did not get a chance to get sushi today! I'll leave you with a hilarious quote from Aki our driver who we mess around with and he's quite funny. Somehow we got on the subject of Paris Hilton (she is pretty popular here). He asked if he could express his opinion on her and it went something like this, which I did not expect to hear from him: "stupid fucking slutty asshole!" hahaha! I told him most people in the US feel the same way. or something like it.

Below are some interesting Japanese fashions in a window display...

Oh, and of course, Tommy Lee Jones (or Tommy Ree Jones as it's pronounced here, who is quite popular) advertising for Boss coffee...

Day 1... 5 Castings

^^One of the castings took us here, right by the Tokyo Tower where we stopped to snap a picture on our way out. That little thing at the bottom is meeee!

So today I woke up around 10, after getting my much-needed sleep (around 11 hours), showered and got ready in the apartment that I share currently with 3 other girls. It's a little small but not too bad. I share a room with a girl from Canada, Lora, and the other room has a Ana from Russia and Zarma from Uzbekistan. I'll put up pics of them once I snap a few. We got picked up by Aki at 2:15 and went to pick up the other girls from the other apartment- Tessa from Tennessee and

Olivia the 15 yr old from Jersey. We had 5 castings today for all different things- one for makeup demonstration, a couple for catalogue, and one for a website for a tire company haha. They were all different experiences like some were in a studio/building, one was in an apartment where we had to remove our shoes and put on slippers. Aki drove us around to all of them and in between we stopped at a convenience store for some food. They have a lot of McDonald's, Starbuck's and Subway here, but most everything else is Japanese. And even the American places have better stuff than in the states- Subway sells french fries, and Starbucks has amazing stuff: Creme Brulee lattes, Mango frappuccino, and all kinds of beautiful desserts and cakes that we don't have at home! We had a bit of time to kill before our last casting- at 8pm! So Aki dropped me, Lora, and Tessa off in Harajuku and we got to shop for a bit. We went to Kiddie Land! It was already on my to-do list. It's an amazing place that makes you feel like a 6 yr old all over again- tons of Hello Kitty, Peanuts, Disney, Legos... 4 floors of fun for everyone!

So that was pretty much my day, didn't get back to the apartment until 9ish then had to run to the store for some food... which entailed buying a lot of packaged things that I have no idea what they are since I can't read any of it but atleast they have pictures! And I had Lora with me who helped to tell me what stuff is good to get. I had this yakisoba noodle thing for dinner that you add boiling water too- pretty good. But I'm still waiting to go have some sushi! Tomorrow I hope! For more pics so far, check out my gallery:

http://gallery.me.com/che1sea