Just Like Everyone Else

Probably half of the class has chosen this site also, but my favorite site is StumbleUpon. Somehow, I just find it amusing to press the Stumble! button and learn something about the world or strange people that I would have never known without pressing that button. By choosing the topics of sites you would like to see, this site allows you to have some control over what you want to see, making it more enjoyable. This site gives me new interesting information to feed to my friends and make me seem even smarter and more socially aware. Recently, I learned apricots are the healthiest food on Earth. I'd definitely recommend this site to anyone looking for a new online hobby, or just looking to procrastinate!

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 332

I made the assumption last night that nothing else significant could happen in Sayuri's life. Well, these last 30 pages proved me wrong. Chapter twenty- six begins by saying in a round a bout way that General Tottori has become Sayuri's danna. Sayuri realizes that Mother was right when she said "military men don't treat geisha the way aristocrats do." The two always meet at shabby inns, which is unlike the lavish surroundings Sayuri is accustomed to. One day, Sayuri meets a man named Yasuda Akira at a party. She becomes interested in him and he in her. He buys her a cheap kimono, which Mother sells because of its poor quality. Out of angst that evening, Sayuri "hooks up" with Yasuda in a room at the teahouse, promising the maid an indecent sum of money to make sure no one disturbs them. After this engagement, Yasuda is no longer mentioned. However, the book moves on to talk about how Nobu has not contacted Sayuri after she took a danna. She learns which teahouse he now goes to after a young geisha comes to her saying he has treated her badly. She tries to run into him for several weeks until she finally accomplishes her goal and stops him. They take a walk together and Nobu explains that he has lost respect for her because of who her danna is. She tries to tell him she has no control over who is chosen for her, but he doesn't believe her, claiming she must as the daughter of the okiya. After talking it out, there friendship is left in a somewhat awkward spot, since Nobu hasn't said whether or not he would like to be friends still. Anyways, in the past month, Sayuri has earned more than Pumpkin and Hatsumomo combined, so Mother says it is time for Sayuri to take the larger room upstairs and trade with Hatsumomo. While moving her stuff, though, Sayuri returns to her new room to find Hatsumomo at her mirror, reading her private diary. Hatsumomo is drunk and threatens to show Mother the diary if Sayuri tries to take it from her, which is bad because it tells about all the feelings Sayuri has toward all the men in her life, plus Mother. On Hatsumomo's way out of Sayuri's new room with her diary, Hatsumomo accidentally cuts her foot on broken glass and has to hop down to her new room to bandage herself. Sayuri comes down to her new room in hopes to catch her off guard and take back the diary. When she opens Hatsumomo's door, she sees the obi brooch she was accused of stealing from Hatsumomo years earlier. She decides to take it, and the diary from Hatsumomo, catching her off guard. She quickly hides the diary in a kimono room before Hatsumomo can see then rushes into her room and opens and closes her drawers, pretending to stash the diary in them. Hatsumomo comes out of her room and both girls go to Mother's room to tell on the other. Sayuri shows mother the brooch, proving she never stole it, and Hatsumomo tells Mother about the diary. This prompts Mother to make Hatsumomo show her the diary since Sayuri denies knowing anything about a diary. When Hatsumomo is unable to find the diary, Mother says she will pay back Sayuri for the brooch charges and pay for new tatami mats that her foot blood has stained. This pleases Sayuri, but she is not through with torturing her yet. Mameha and Sayuri follow her to a party thrown by a very close friend of her, Bajiru- san. There Mameha shows up Hatsumomo when Bajiru asks her to perform a dance, then playfully kisses her all over the face. This angers Hatsumomo very much since Mameha took away Bajiru's attention during almost all of the party. After seeing her anger, Mameha prompts Bajiru into kissing Hatsumomo the same way in front of everyone, and he cannot turn down her request. However, Hatsumomo makes a fool of herself when she bites Bajiru- san out of angst and makes him bleed. He calls her a monster and she is thrown out of the teahouse once she tries to beat Bajiru up. Mother kicks her out of the okiya, and Sayuri hasn't seen her since. She's heard of her becoming a prostitute, but she thinks she drank herself to death.

This section makes me realize how much Sayuri has changed throughout the novel. She has become almost like Hatsumomo, playing her own evil tricks on those who have done her wrong. She has been led by Mameha in this, though, so I suppose I can't blame her. Mameha is trying to make Sayuri self-supportive, even though she is always there to give Sayuri advice and talk to her about her feelings. I think Sayuri's life will get more interesting now that the main part of World War II is coming. I'm very interested to find out how the atomic bomb impacted her life at the time, and how she has gotten to America, which she hints at saying she lives in New York now.

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 303

Since last night, I've read twenty more pages of the novel. Similar to the last entry I made, I can't do much more than give a short summary of what happened. It's not because of how short this last section was, it's mainly because this last section had few big events to describe. The first event was Sayuri's mizuage. Sayuri and Doctor Crab are bound as mizuage partners. And they spend a night together at an inn...which is extremely awkward for Sayuri. There are basic reasons why you can guess it'd be awkward for her. But what makes it worse is that the Doctor says he will collect the blood from it...creeper? I think so. anyways, after it is over, they leave the inn in the morning, and the Doctor gives her herbs towill avoid pregnancy. Since her mizuage, Sayrui wears a new hairstyle, and notices other geisha who have the new hairstyle and thinks lower of the girls who have not yet had their mizuage. Also since her mizuage, Mother has put a stop to Hatsumomo's tormenting Sayuri. Another event that has occured is that Nobu has asked to be Sayuri's danna. Sayuri does not want this though since she does not share the feelings with Nobu and this would ruin her chances of being the Chairman's danna. She expresses these feelings to Mameha, who says she is in no place to be choosy with who her danna will be. Also, she hints she is not happy with the Baron. Sayrui becomes a full geisha and makes many observations about geisha during this section, and makes many realizations about life, especially when she entertains the men in the military. They talk about all the things at war, and after hoping these things will lessen her suffering after learning she will not be able to be with the Chairman, she realizes they just make her realize how selfish her suffering is. Later on, Mameha tries to collect her money from the bet she made with Mother about Sayuri paying off her debts before she is twenty, but Mother tries to get herself out of paying the full amount of money. Sayuri takes Mameha's side, though, instead of Mother's, which pays off because Mameha tries to convince Mother to make a man named General Tottori become Sayuri's danna, instead of Nobu, since she knows Sayuri does not want to be with Nobu.

This section was pretty meaningful to me, especially since I understood Sayuri's feelings even more. She exposes her thoughts even more in this section, which gives reasoning for her selfish actions. I can't help but think I would do the same thing in her situation, which makes me relate to her even more. Sayuri's life is almost fully developed now, even though she is only eighteen. From what she has explained about a geisha's life so far, I can't see anything exciting happening anytime after she finds out who her first danna will be. But I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out!

In the spirit of my Japanese story, I went to the Japanese restaurant, Sakura, last night. Well, it wasn't really in the spirit of my book. My best friend and I were just really in the mood for sushi. But I thought I'd post about it since it's related to my book. This is what I ordered: a California Roll, a Sake (Salmon) Roll, and one piece of uni sushi (the orange thing in the corner). Both rolls were great, but the uni was probably one of the weirdest and most disgusting things I've ever eaten! It tasted like sea water and had a gross texture :(

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 280

I feel like a lot has happened in these past 80 pages, but that it would be near impossible to explain it all in one clear post as thoroughly as I could. So unlike the last few posts I've had, here's my attempt at a brief summary of chapters 18 through 24...or at least half of 24. I stopped half way, because it is right before Sayuri's mizuage. I know what you're probably asking right now...what's a mizuage? As awkward a this part of the novel may be, it's when the geisha loses her virginity. However, men bid thousands of Yen to be the first "eel to explore a cave" as Mameha explains to Sayuri. Mizuage is the most important part of this whole section because all the events that took place during this time had something to do with her mizuage. I learned Mameha's plan to take down Hatsumomo in this section; to get two men, Nobu and a Doctor, to take an interest in Sayuri, to the point where they would bid so extravagantly for her mizuage that Sayuri would bring in enough money to pay off her debts to the okiya, which would cause Mother to adopt her instead of Pumpkin, and which would put Sayuri in a higher authority than Hatsumomo in the okiya, since she is an actual family member. Mameha's plan worked, although there was a slight variable she had not suspected. Mameha's danna, the Baron, took an interest in Sayuri, after Mameha could not attend a party and he requested her presence instead. After all his guests had left, he asked Sayuri to stay. He gave her one of his most beautiful kimono from his collection, and then took her into his room and undressed her. This prompted him to bid on her mizuage, which rose the price even higher than Mameha's was. Mameha is a little disheartened at this, but still strives to make Sayuri successful.

That's about the shortest summary I can give. In case you are wondering, yes, I did leave out some small exciting events. But it's only to prompt you to read the novel yourself. My summaries don't do the book any justice. I love to read it, just because of how well I understand it. The imagery is so vivid, I feel like I am a fly on every wall in Sayuri's life. I feel as though I am well acquainted with all the different characters she brings into her story. And that's what I've decided I like most about the book. I'm kept so engaged I can hardly stop reading. Not many books are that powerful.

More Memoirs...up to pg 208

I'm still in love with the book. The past 50 pages or so, though, are pretty hard to summarize in a way that expresses how appealing they were to read. To sum up the chapters, Pumpkin has made her debut and became a novice geisha. Her name was changed to Hatsumiyo, but everyone still calls her Pumpkin. Pumpkin's debut makes Chiyo afraid that Pumpkin will become more successgul than her since she is starting earlier. Pumpkin can now attend parties and events with Hatsumomo, while Mameha only takes Chiyo on errands. After a while of waiting on making her debut though, Chiyo realizes that Mameha does this to make sure Chiyo becomes well known before her debut. Finally a date is chosen for her debut according to the almanac, which predicts favorable days for certain events. To prepare for her debut, Chiyo must get her hair styled, which she describes as an extremely painful experience. On the day of her debut, and when she and Mameha are bound as "sisters," and her name is changed to Sayuri. Sayuri feels exhausted that evening, but Mameha still takes her out to a party. At this party, Sayuri comes into contact with men whom she must entertain. She sits quietly and introduces herself as instructed and listens to the older geisha joke around. But then Hatsumomo comes in with Pumpkin, and Hatsumomo tries to embarrass Sayuri in front of the men to give her a bad name. However, Sayuri cleverly outsmarts her and makes a fool of Hatsumomo which delights the men. After this though, Hatsumomo sets out to sabotage her reputation by going to all the same parties as Mameha and Sayuri and spreading rumors about her. Mameha tries to avoid this by not going to parties. Finally, she chooses to take Sayuri to a Sumo fight. There, Sayuri comes into contact with the Chairman again...bringing up past emotions and memories. She tries very hard to impress him and an associate of his at the Sumo match. The associate is serious about Sumo and explains everything about it to Sayuri as they watch the event. Unforunately, Hatsumomo shows up at this event too, and Mameha tells Sayuri to make it look like she's interested in the associate, which might make Hatsumomo avoid embarrassing her. After the evening though, Mameha says she has come up with a brilliant plan to take down Hatsumomo, but she refuses to tell Sayuri what it is.

These chapters have been pretty eventful for Sayuri. She is even closer to her goal of becoming an accomplished geisha, even if Hatsumomo is jeopardizing her chances of being well- known. I felt like I could almost relate this section to my life. Sayuri is very concerned with associating with many men, which she knows will bring her great success later on if she has a good reputation. In a similar way, in school I find myself trying to associate with people, either to make connections that will help me out if I need to cut someone in the lunch line, or walk down the hall with someone, so I don't look so lonely. Or sometimes I even talk to people thinking that it will improve my "social status" if I'm seen with them. For whatever reason, I often find myself in a situation like ones Sayuri finds herself in where I need to be "fake" to improve my appearance. After reading this section, I've come to that realization, and I'm sure many other people can relate to this. Aside from that, I haven't learned many other things about life from the book, but I'm still really enjoying reading it.

Memoirs of a Geisha up to pg. 154

Since the last post on this novel, I've read about 50 more pages into the story. Chiyo has still been confined to the okiya and has been taken out of her lessons at the school. Two years have passed since her failed escape and the letter from Mr. Tanaka. Now, Chiyo is trusted to leave the okiya and go on errands. She is sent one day to the school to ask Hatsumomo about the mysterious hair ornaments she brought home the previous night. Auntie suspected they were another girl's, which is gross to her since geisha don't wash their hair often. Chiyo takes the hair ornaments to the school, finds Hatsumomo, who ends up insulting her, and realizes how badly she wants to be a geisha. On her way back, she sits up against a wall and cries after seeing so many geisha and men in suits with so much purpose to her life, realizing as a maid she will never have purpose. While she is crying, a man comes up to her and asks what is wrong. A geisha and two men accompany him, and the geisha jokes about how he, a Chairman, should not waste his time on a maid. He defends Chiyo, saying she is beautiful and has the geisha taken to the performance by the two men. This man turns out to be a chairman of some sort, and is very kind to Chiyo. He gives her a coin in his handkerchief and says to buy a shaved ice because he would have wanted one when he was younger. She buys herself a shaved ice and is left with much change, which she decides to throw into the offeratory box and prays that she will become a geisha somehow. Afterwards, Granny dies and the house is made up for almost all of Kyoto to come and pay their respects. One of the people that comes is Mameha, one of the most well- known geisha in Japan and also the woman who owned the kimono that Chiyo wrote on with ink. Upon leaving, Mameha notices how beautiful Chiyo is and compliments her for her eyes. Chiyo's prayers are answered when Mameha orders Chiyo to come to her apartment. Mameha hints that she wants to take Chiyo under her wing as her "younger sister," or apprentice geisha. Chiyo is very excited by this but Mameha says she must not tell anyone about it. Finally weeks later, Mameha comes to the okiya to talk to Mother about taking Chiyo as her younger sister. Mother is very surprised by this because of how great Chiyo's debts are. Nonetheless, the two make a bet and Chiyo restarts her training as Mameha's younger sister. This causes a greater rivalry though between Mameha and Hatsumomo, who were already rivals, as Hatsumomo tries to make her younger sister, Pumpkin (who is a friend of Chiyo's at the okiya), even better than Chiyo. Hatsumomo plays even more tricks on Chiyo but Mameha protects Chiyo. Chiyo is very determined to become a great geisha, and tries very hard at her studies, pushed along by the thought of someone like the Chairman admiring her someday as a successfu geisha.

This section really kept me reading with all the events that happen. I'm very pleased that Chiyo's prayers were answered and she can now become a geisha. That is, if she can keep up her determination to succeed. Meeting the Chairman was the sign and the push she needed to straighten out her life and turn it into the right direction. I feel bad for her, though, because through the rivalry she has lost her friend Pumpkin and is basically being used to settle a dispute with another geisha. Even so, this will lead her to success. She keeps mentioning the Chairman though, so I have to wonder if he may turn up again...