Saturday, July 18, 2009
is either finding a japanese style karaoke place in Michigan or buying a good karaoke machine, either way, once i'm home, prepare to start singing!
I had such a great day today! It started a little glumly with a trip through the rain to school but its Friday, which means only 3 classes instead of four! I ended up forgetting my power cord and I wanted my sensei to translate a letter I received from my weekend homestay family so I had to bike home and back during lunch, which ended up being just fine because I got a nice workout and it had stopped raining. It started again when I got home and I worried it would rain all night because I had plans to meet with Bou-chan but it cleared up as I was on my way to Shiga and it stayed clear for the rest of the night! How Fortuitous! Tonight was amazing! Hanging with Bouchan always is, of course, she is terribly lovely. Hanging with Bouchan is interesting because with her I experience all the fun girly things girls do in middle school that I missed out on, like giggling incessantly over cute boys and giggling over starting a singing group and giggling over… I think you get the picture. Its super fun! We went out to castle road again and had tempura dinner with more chawanmushi and miso and rice and more of those tasty pickles like mom makes back home. It was very good! Then we went to @time and played billiards and karaoked! Billiards with Bouchan is especially fun because it doesn’t matter who wins, as long as someone gets a ball in. normally I’m very competitive but when I play with her and Akiko it is more like we are playing collectively against the balls. So the fact that she destroyed me was completely fine (haha ^-^). Karaoke was of course super fun! My favorite thing to do ever! It is officially going on my Hobbies list. I just wish that they had it in America. “The rose” was playing in the restaurant so I sang that first along with “Somewhere only we know”, “Let’s give them something to talk about”, “The song remembers when”, “Foolish Games”, “Perfect Situation”, “The River of Dreams”, “Don’t Ask Me Why”, and “It’s Still Rock and Roll to me” as well as accompanied in such songs as “Lonely” (by Akon), “Lovefool”, and “Complicated”. Bouchan also sang some pretty awesome sounding Chinese and Japanese songs that I liked. It was an utterly Awesome night! Tomorrow is studying and resting and then Sunday is off to Kyoto to see Yasukochan, to see the Golden Temple and to… you guessed it, sing more Karaoke!!! Haha, I’m really excited. There is the possible talk of maybe going to @time again on Monday, but since Akiko is going with me to Kyoto Sunday maybe she will be too tired. We will see. Monday is a holiday so I have no school which is epic! :D
Friday, July 17, 2009
today the lake looked like an endless expanse of wet grey sand.
I believe a clarification is in order. Apparently my posts all come off as very depressed or sad. I do not know if this is one of the unwanted byproducts of expressing ones thoughts without the help of body language and tone or if I simply only write about the sorts of things that seem unpleasant. Possibly both. Either way, I feel the need to inform you all that I am having an amazing time. Certainly I have my down points, moments of homesickness that come in waves every other week or so, or days like today when I just never want to hear Japanese again (haha) but I assure you I take these moments in stride and laugh them off. When I’m writing my posts I’m almost always laughing at the things that bother me, or simply informing you of a condition, like how unbelievably hot it is here, it isn’t a complaint, rather a surprised bservation of the weather. I usually write my posts at night, when I am most tired, and perhaps that is why I come off lackluster and unhappy. I assure you this is not the case. I’m extremely happy. I’m enjoying myself to the fullest. I love Japan! I love the food, which is amazing, and the scenery, which is gorgeous. I’ve felt ill of late, which may also be why I sound unhappy, but most days I’m very happy, so long as I’m not in class :p. Most days I’m dying for the day when I can come back. I plan it often, and am very excited for it. So please don’t feel that I am regretting my choice and don’t worry about me too much, I’m doing very well thank you. And try not to miss me too much (I know, it’s a feat, I am terribly missable) but there are only 18 days left until I’m home and then you can all bask in my magnificence once more! Feel free to count the days :p
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
the view from my bicycle
I love living by the lake. I ride my bike past it every day. I take the slightly longer less inhabited road so I can look at it on my way to school. Every day it looks differently and I try to describe it in words as I pass. One day it looked like a choppy slate of steel; another day I could find no words to describe it besides what I always imagined Galadriel’s mirror to look like; a lake of liquid mercury; a black and rocky terrain; the perfect blue-green color you always imagine a lake to be; a mirror reflecting direct and pure sunlight, as if you put a mirror directly under a flashlight; today it looked like cotton candy. I don’t know how else to describe it. It looked like a rippled mirror reflecting the colors of cotton candy, baby blue and pallid orange and pink. I took a picture of it. It was so beautiful and innocent looking that it didn’t seem real. There were few clouds in the sky, too, which allowed the mountains to stand out against the pink of the horizon. It seemed like something from a child’s cartoon. I may have been my favorite form yet.
nom nom nom ...nom nom nooom noooom ugggggg
It is unbelievably hot here, I mean wow. They tell you that it is going to be, but they make it seem like it will be unbelievably hot the whole time, so when the whole first month passes and you don’t feel the slightest inclination to turn on the AC you start to feel confident that they were exaggerating and that you are simply more adaptable than the average student. No, no you are not. It’s awful, haha. I’m having a terribly time at trying to stay hydrated; especially considering my Okaasan is shoving tea down my throat at every opportunity. I can’t say no (she won’t listen) so I’ve decided to just start pouring it out. I feel bad about wasting it, but I can’t see any other option. If I drank it all I would never be able to stay hydrated.
Speaking of my Okaasan forcing sustenance at me, I’m almost certainly going to come back to America fat. I really expected to lose weight here, what with the healthy food and the bike riding all the time, but I can’t imagine how that will happen with the way my Okaasan forces me to eat. Last night she was sitting there, shoveling food onto my plate (even after I begged her to stop because I was full), and talking about how Americans were fat because they eat too many cheeseburgers. I was almost in tears I was so full and she kept adding more food! Note that she doesn’t eat half as much as she makes me eat.
Speaking of my Okaasan forcing sustenance at me, I’m almost certainly going to come back to America fat. I really expected to lose weight here, what with the healthy food and the bike riding all the time, but I can’t imagine how that will happen with the way my Okaasan forces me to eat. Last night she was sitting there, shoveling food onto my plate (even after I begged her to stop because I was full), and talking about how Americans were fat because they eat too many cheeseburgers. I was almost in tears I was so full and she kept adding more food! Note that she doesn’t eat half as much as she makes me eat.
Kawaii!
My weekend homestay was awesome. I liked the family a lot better than my long term homestay, which makes coming back a bit of a bummer. It was a mother and father, their son and his wife and daughter. The girl was only 2, which was adorable, but a bit of a brat. They pretty much did anything she wanted and their lives revolved around her. She couldn’t speak very well, probably because she never had to, but she spoke English just as well as Japanese if not better, which was kinda cool. She almost never used more than one word at a time and it was usually either Kawaii (cute), doozo (here you are, as in giving something) or good, goodbye, hello, or thank you. It was actually really good for me to have a youngster in the house though because the family was used to speaking very simple Japanese all the time and it was a lot easier to pick up words. The wife was amazing. She was 29 but she seemed younger and she was a lot of fun. I met her friend abby, too, who was from the Philippines but spoke Japanese and English a little. She was super fun. They both really want me to come back and homestay with them again. I’m hoping against hope that if I come back they will ask me to long term instead of short term.
My teachers were so concerned about me and my failing ability to speak and hear any Japanese that they went to the homestay director and she asked my Okaasan to give me a bed instead of a futon. I feel really awful and lame about it. I wasn’t complaining, and I intended to just get used to it and now I feel very much like a lame American. That being said, best sleep I’ve gotten since I came here (of course I wasn’t feeling well again so I went to bed at 7 and slept until 6 so that might have something to do with it). I was fully attentive in class today and am back up to my normal ability to hear and think in Japanese, which is good, but I can’t tell if it’s because my amateur diagnosis was correct and my home remedies worked or because I got a bed, as the two coincided. Oh well.
My teachers were so concerned about me and my failing ability to speak and hear any Japanese that they went to the homestay director and she asked my Okaasan to give me a bed instead of a futon. I feel really awful and lame about it. I wasn’t complaining, and I intended to just get used to it and now I feel very much like a lame American. That being said, best sleep I’ve gotten since I came here (of course I wasn’t feeling well again so I went to bed at 7 and slept until 6 so that might have something to do with it). I was fully attentive in class today and am back up to my normal ability to hear and think in Japanese, which is good, but I can’t tell if it’s because my amateur diagnosis was correct and my home remedies worked or because I got a bed, as the two coincided. Oh well.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
さどうのくらす
I just got out of my Sadou lesson! I’m supposed to use this time at cocos for studying but I had to write this post while my memory was still fresh. It was so great. They showed us the procedure twice, the first time I taped the whole thing and the second we got to participate. I want to do it again but they made it seem like something you can’t just go and do? I think they misunderstood my question, I will look into it. They gave us each a sweet cake like snack and frothy green tea. It was fun, and I managed to go quite a while before my feet fell painfully asleep. I can’t post the pictures now, because I don’t have the cord needed here, but they will be up soon!
Monday, July 6, 2009
nom nom nom! ^-^
The Breakfast situation has greatly improved! I have found that Natto isn’t so bad so long as you don’t try to eat all of it at once. Two bites every now and then with tastier food between, and its actually quite pleasant. Also I’ve worked it out so that I only have to eat half a package in the morning, and the other half at dinner. This morning my Okaasan put umeboshi ______ on my rice this morning, AMAZING! Bou-chan was so very right. Also, she served sweet pickles, just like the ones mom makes back home!!!!! I was very happy. Today we had fried leftover salmon and French fries for breakfast, haha. On a side note, I have discovered that I love salmon, which is interesting (I do sincerely apologize to everyone who tried to convince me it was good) because every time I’ve ever had it before it’s been awful. Today I get to do the Tea Ceremony! I’m super excited! (do you remember, mom, when I tried to get my friends to build a tea ceremony house in those corn fields behind our neighborhood? Good times). I get to call Kateland at Lunch and we are going to Videls for melon pan!!! Good day!
totemo kawaii!!!!
Be warned, I have a lot to say so this might get long…
On the third of July we had the Tanabata festival at Shiga University. It is one of the festivals where you tie wishes to the branches of a tree. Everyone who bought one wore their yukatas; doing so resulted in a free snow cone! I arrived early to get ready with Bou-chan. On the way there I managed to go a whole minute without using my hands! They all did their hair in fun Japanese ways but I think mine was too short so I just left it down and curly. The festival was mostly fun. Melville sensei had told us the tenkiyohou (weather forecast) had promised no rain but that didn’t stop it from raining the whole festival through (luckily I brought an umbrella!). We all looked cute (pics on fb, as always), though, and ate lots! I had some good Japanese fried chicken, tacoyaki (bleh I don’t care what anyone says), snow cones (mine was strawberry, but kind of tasted like bubblegum. Bou-chan was surprised to hear that we had snow cones in America, she thought it was just a Japanese thing :p), a hotdog (for Americas sake, I figured better a day early than never although it should be mentioned that an American hotdog is not the same as a Japanese hotdog 0.o) vinegar rice (:D), and some weird and untasty fish chips. Basically all we did there was eat (My favorite kind of festival!) and for free because Bou-chans friend, Hitomisan had lots of coupons ^-^. My feet were killing me though because my shoes are two sizes too small and made of very un-giving wood. Moreover it is unacceptable, when wearing a Yukata, to stand with your hip out to rest one foot. You must always stand with both feet flat on the ground and close together. Afterwards I got to practice my ability to ride my bike while holding an umbrella (especially challenging!). Next Sunday we will be going to Kyoto to another festival, although I don’t know if we will wear our Yukata’s again.
I feel like I’m in Japan. Before I came to homestay I never really felt like I was in Japan. Most of the time, I felt like I was just in East Lansing. Sure, there were a lot of Asians, but I was surrounded by white people do, I almost always spoke English and I lived in a very Americanized dorm. Now I live in a very Japanese house. It is a small two story building, no basement, maybe four of me by five of me (obviously not an exact measurement). When last checked I was 5 feet 8 and 1/8th inches. Feel free to do the math. The downstairs seems especially small as the rooms are all separated into very small rooms with a somewhat complicated hallway system. The upstairs, however, consists of three good sized rooms (mine, I believe, being the biggest). I love my room. It has its inconveniences, mainly that I have absolutely no shelving or drawers (the closet is full of linens; although I did manage to fit my snack bag inside). Even so, it’s gorgeous! I have Tatami floors and beautiful cloth sliding doors, both out to the hallway and for my closet. I sleep on a futon on the floor which is great any time I’m not trying to sleep! It makes your room look a lot bigger when you’re bed masquerades as the floor. I have a small bamboo and glass table on which to study and a strange yet intriguing chair that I have yet to truely test. It’s one of those cloth ones that are designed to keep you sitting upright but it’s made of cloth so it doesn’t really work, except that this one does appear to work. More on that later. My room is wonderfully Japanese and at night when I turn the light down low and look at my Japanese doors it isn’t hard to imagine feudal Japan (in the good way that probably never really existed, much the same as people think of England’s dark ages and think them romantic).
My okaasan is talkative and speaks very little English. I spent a lot of my time yesterday in the kitchen eating and helping to prepare our meals. My otoosan, however, doesn’t talk much and absolutely no English. He sits always in the TV room, even during meals. He listens to us talking and laughs at my poor Japanese skills. Not openly, but every now and then I hear him repeat the same word that my Okaasan is trying to get me to understand. I rather like the arrangement. The man intimidates me a little so it’s nice that I don’t have to try to talk to him.
We made some extremely good food yesterday for dinner including something she labeled “Chinese” which consisted of cold noodles, fried egg, ham and cucumber and some unknown sauce; a tofu dish with green peppers that look like they would be super spicy, but aren’t; some other dish she labeled as “seafood” which looked like choppy black something and fried tofu; miso soup and of course gohan (rice). This morning was not nearly so successful. Today I had my first ever run-in with the notorious natto (fermented bean paste) and my second run-in with the notorious umeboshi. The second didn’t go so badly, although this time it was considerably tarter and harder to eat (refers to previous post with link). Natto, however, was just as bad as I was always told it was. It is a sort of… slimy bean. Like a baked bean if it had no shell and was covered in goo. The taste is not so bad but the texture. It clings to everything like melted cheese! I couldn’t make myself finish it, but in Japan food is not to be wasted and I unfortunately told my Okaasan that it was okay (The first bite wasn’t so bad, like I said it tastes like a bean, and I rather imagined she would have put it in something, or with something, instead of having me eat it straight). To top it off she made me eggs, which is fine, I love eggs, but she made them sunny side up (maybe a little harder but she never turned them). I had already downed half of the natto before I chanced eating the yokes so I was happy to find them not so bad, not good, but certainly edible. (and I’ll have you know that I’m eating every last bite so stop telling people I’m so picky!). All throughout breakfast my Okaasan is telling me it won’t rain today. Amegafuranai to itteimashita! Just as I’m finished my breakfast the down poor starts (noticing a trend?). Luckily it lightened to a soft but soaking rain by the time that I came down fully equipped in the raingear my okaasan gave me. (As apparently riding your bike with an umbrella is unacceptable and dangerous). Still biking in the rain wasn’t fun, especially because I was so worried about my computer getting wet. On the bright side, my okaasan did make me coffee for breakfast as requested!
The best part of my day, however, came at lunch time. We all have mailboxes that are located in the hallway you use to enter the academic building from the dorms. So whenever you go back to your dorms you cast a quick glace to see if anything is in yours. Today, a glance wasn’t necessary as I made my way back to my old dorm for lunch as the package that had been stuffed into my two inch thick box (no jokes please) was noticeable right away. I’ve never understood the sort of people who hate their mothers, but maybe that is because mine is the type to mail an envelope stuffed full of chocolate, coffee and non-dairy creamer half way around the world just to make her poor, sleepy daughter happy. I love you mom! The best part came when, having noted the coffee but not the chocolate I dumped out the entire package on my bed in search of a note and saw the beautiful bars sitting them amidst the red glow of future caffeine! What a happy lunch time I had. I managed to come back home during a lull in the rain. A half hour longer on facebook would have caught me in a torrential downpour! Yey rainy season!
So, a little bit about how weird it is to live in a Japanese house. You are told to take a shower the minute you come in the door in the afternoon. It is kinda refreshing but a little annoying because it is still the hottest part of the day when you get out. Also, showers here are not standing under the fall of hot water and letting your cares melt away for a brief 15 minutes. It’s suds up, turn water on, rinse into drain in floor, end. The whole thing is supposed to be in prep for the bathtub I have no intention of ever using. I wash and face and brush my teeth every morning and night out of doors in a little sink on a little balcony attached to my room… with the spiders. Note that I’m not complaining, just explaining, as I am simply relieved that they have an American style toilet, so I am contented. It’s an experience, and I can enjoy it as such. I do worry about the bed situation though. I couldn’t sleep well last night (I never have been able to sleep on the floor) and I couldn’t pay attention at all today in class. I’m hoping I’ll get used to sleeping on a futon, rather than fail this second month from lack of sleep. I really ought to attempt to study now as I will have dinner within an hour and then I have to go back to JCMU to meet with Rurisan for speaking practice.
On the third of July we had the Tanabata festival at Shiga University. It is one of the festivals where you tie wishes to the branches of a tree. Everyone who bought one wore their yukatas; doing so resulted in a free snow cone! I arrived early to get ready with Bou-chan. On the way there I managed to go a whole minute without using my hands! They all did their hair in fun Japanese ways but I think mine was too short so I just left it down and curly. The festival was mostly fun. Melville sensei had told us the tenkiyohou (weather forecast) had promised no rain but that didn’t stop it from raining the whole festival through (luckily I brought an umbrella!). We all looked cute (pics on fb, as always), though, and ate lots! I had some good Japanese fried chicken, tacoyaki (bleh I don’t care what anyone says), snow cones (mine was strawberry, but kind of tasted like bubblegum. Bou-chan was surprised to hear that we had snow cones in America, she thought it was just a Japanese thing :p), a hotdog (for Americas sake, I figured better a day early than never although it should be mentioned that an American hotdog is not the same as a Japanese hotdog 0.o) vinegar rice (:D), and some weird and untasty fish chips. Basically all we did there was eat (My favorite kind of festival!) and for free because Bou-chans friend, Hitomisan had lots of coupons ^-^. My feet were killing me though because my shoes are two sizes too small and made of very un-giving wood. Moreover it is unacceptable, when wearing a Yukata, to stand with your hip out to rest one foot. You must always stand with both feet flat on the ground and close together. Afterwards I got to practice my ability to ride my bike while holding an umbrella (especially challenging!). Next Sunday we will be going to Kyoto to another festival, although I don’t know if we will wear our Yukata’s again.
I feel like I’m in Japan. Before I came to homestay I never really felt like I was in Japan. Most of the time, I felt like I was just in East Lansing. Sure, there were a lot of Asians, but I was surrounded by white people do, I almost always spoke English and I lived in a very Americanized dorm. Now I live in a very Japanese house. It is a small two story building, no basement, maybe four of me by five of me (obviously not an exact measurement). When last checked I was 5 feet 8 and 1/8th inches. Feel free to do the math. The downstairs seems especially small as the rooms are all separated into very small rooms with a somewhat complicated hallway system. The upstairs, however, consists of three good sized rooms (mine, I believe, being the biggest). I love my room. It has its inconveniences, mainly that I have absolutely no shelving or drawers (the closet is full of linens; although I did manage to fit my snack bag inside). Even so, it’s gorgeous! I have Tatami floors and beautiful cloth sliding doors, both out to the hallway and for my closet. I sleep on a futon on the floor which is great any time I’m not trying to sleep! It makes your room look a lot bigger when you’re bed masquerades as the floor. I have a small bamboo and glass table on which to study and a strange yet intriguing chair that I have yet to truely test. It’s one of those cloth ones that are designed to keep you sitting upright but it’s made of cloth so it doesn’t really work, except that this one does appear to work. More on that later. My room is wonderfully Japanese and at night when I turn the light down low and look at my Japanese doors it isn’t hard to imagine feudal Japan (in the good way that probably never really existed, much the same as people think of England’s dark ages and think them romantic).
My okaasan is talkative and speaks very little English. I spent a lot of my time yesterday in the kitchen eating and helping to prepare our meals. My otoosan, however, doesn’t talk much and absolutely no English. He sits always in the TV room, even during meals. He listens to us talking and laughs at my poor Japanese skills. Not openly, but every now and then I hear him repeat the same word that my Okaasan is trying to get me to understand. I rather like the arrangement. The man intimidates me a little so it’s nice that I don’t have to try to talk to him.
We made some extremely good food yesterday for dinner including something she labeled “Chinese” which consisted of cold noodles, fried egg, ham and cucumber and some unknown sauce; a tofu dish with green peppers that look like they would be super spicy, but aren’t; some other dish she labeled as “seafood” which looked like choppy black something and fried tofu; miso soup and of course gohan (rice). This morning was not nearly so successful. Today I had my first ever run-in with the notorious natto (fermented bean paste) and my second run-in with the notorious umeboshi. The second didn’t go so badly, although this time it was considerably tarter and harder to eat (refers to previous post with link). Natto, however, was just as bad as I was always told it was. It is a sort of… slimy bean. Like a baked bean if it had no shell and was covered in goo. The taste is not so bad but the texture. It clings to everything like melted cheese! I couldn’t make myself finish it, but in Japan food is not to be wasted and I unfortunately told my Okaasan that it was okay (The first bite wasn’t so bad, like I said it tastes like a bean, and I rather imagined she would have put it in something, or with something, instead of having me eat it straight). To top it off she made me eggs, which is fine, I love eggs, but she made them sunny side up (maybe a little harder but she never turned them). I had already downed half of the natto before I chanced eating the yokes so I was happy to find them not so bad, not good, but certainly edible. (and I’ll have you know that I’m eating every last bite so stop telling people I’m so picky!). All throughout breakfast my Okaasan is telling me it won’t rain today. Amegafuranai to itteimashita! Just as I’m finished my breakfast the down poor starts (noticing a trend?). Luckily it lightened to a soft but soaking rain by the time that I came down fully equipped in the raingear my okaasan gave me. (As apparently riding your bike with an umbrella is unacceptable and dangerous). Still biking in the rain wasn’t fun, especially because I was so worried about my computer getting wet. On the bright side, my okaasan did make me coffee for breakfast as requested!
The best part of my day, however, came at lunch time. We all have mailboxes that are located in the hallway you use to enter the academic building from the dorms. So whenever you go back to your dorms you cast a quick glace to see if anything is in yours. Today, a glance wasn’t necessary as I made my way back to my old dorm for lunch as the package that had been stuffed into my two inch thick box (no jokes please) was noticeable right away. I’ve never understood the sort of people who hate their mothers, but maybe that is because mine is the type to mail an envelope stuffed full of chocolate, coffee and non-dairy creamer half way around the world just to make her poor, sleepy daughter happy. I love you mom! The best part came when, having noted the coffee but not the chocolate I dumped out the entire package on my bed in search of a note and saw the beautiful bars sitting them amidst the red glow of future caffeine! What a happy lunch time I had. I managed to come back home during a lull in the rain. A half hour longer on facebook would have caught me in a torrential downpour! Yey rainy season!
So, a little bit about how weird it is to live in a Japanese house. You are told to take a shower the minute you come in the door in the afternoon. It is kinda refreshing but a little annoying because it is still the hottest part of the day when you get out. Also, showers here are not standing under the fall of hot water and letting your cares melt away for a brief 15 minutes. It’s suds up, turn water on, rinse into drain in floor, end. The whole thing is supposed to be in prep for the bathtub I have no intention of ever using. I wash and face and brush my teeth every morning and night out of doors in a little sink on a little balcony attached to my room… with the spiders. Note that I’m not complaining, just explaining, as I am simply relieved that they have an American style toilet, so I am contented. It’s an experience, and I can enjoy it as such. I do worry about the bed situation though. I couldn’t sleep well last night (I never have been able to sleep on the floor) and I couldn’t pay attention at all today in class. I’m hoping I’ll get used to sleeping on a futon, rather than fail this second month from lack of sleep. I really ought to attempt to study now as I will have dinner within an hour and then I have to go back to JCMU to meet with Rurisan for speaking practice.
Friday, June 26, 2009
I talked to Katelandsan last night and I am now very happy, for a couple of reasons.
Okay, updates galore! So yesterday was a very fun day. We didn’t have classes because everyone was going to go visit various elementary school as one of our cultural experiences. I went to Joosei Shougakko. We took a taxi there, and when we got there we were met by the principal who talked with us for a short while over cold tea and some sort of wafery health bars. They were tasty (as I have always been strangely fond of foods that have a cardboard like texture (like those wafers they give out at church!)) and kind of reminded me of those treats that have the layers of thin wafers with either chocolate or strawberry cream between them? Mom do you know what I’m talking about? I used to eat them a lot. Oh well, it was good. She also brought out some Umeboshi. I think she was just doing it to see the look on the poor American faces. Umeboshi is a very popular and very healthy pickled plum. It’s very tart and most Americans find the taste to be unpleasant (case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXblXZYu6VM ) However I thought it was tasty. I wouldn’t want to eat very many of them though. Bou-chan said they are super tasty to eat with rice. After that we went to the classrooms. Little hassai nihonjin no kodomo’s (8 year old Japanese kids –apostrophe s added for ease of reading in english) took us by the hand and led us to a big room where they sat us in seats of honor, presented us to cute medals to wear around our necks and preceded to entertain us with stories, recorder playing, and information about the town. It was super cute, but I felt bad that they were wasting all of their effort on me. I mean they could have recited song lyrics the whole time and I wouldn’t have known any better. After this they took us to their classrooms where we witnessed a kanji lesson. Ink pictures of what the kanji represent were put up on the board, under which were written in chalk the Kanji themselves. All of the Japanese kids got out their brushes and ink and paper was distributed and we were told to pick one and write it. Of course, I am only a first year and the other boy was only a second year so we couldn’t catch everything that was being said, so I thought that I was supposed to draw the kanji. I drew a very good Ko (child) if I do say so myself. They all thought so too because after I drew it the whole class burst out into Guroi!!!!!!! (very good). This is when I realized I had done the wrong thing but they loved it and put it up on the board. There were four pictures Yama (mountain), Ko (child), tsuki (moon) and Hi (sun). We drew one of each and then they asked us the names in English. Then the kids were allowed to ask us questions. We got such questions as what is your favorite food, favorite animal and some others that I just couldn’t understand. Those kids were adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After this we went to play dodgeball. They play dodgeball differently here than in America. In America, or at least where I grew up, when you got out you were sent to the sidelines and waited in line until one of your teammates caught a ball, of which there were many. In this game there is only one ball and when you get out you go to the back of the other team’s side and wait behind a line until the ball reaches you, at which point you have to throw it and hit one of the other team members to get back in. Also, catching the ball does not get the thrower out; it just saves you from getting out and gives you the ball. I thought it was interesting that the Japanese version of dodgeball is so focused on the individual’s ability, while the American one is more about relying on a team. The girls kept trying to talk to me while we played and decoding Japanese is hard enough without people whipping a ball at me. I enjoyed watching them play but it made me sad because I could hardly compete to my fullest against a bunch of 8 year olds have my size! After Dodgeball we went back to the Principals office where we were served Coffee and some delicious cheese sweet from Hokkaido. It was like a little cake cup with maybe a cream cheesy filling, I don’t know but it was amazing. The coffee was too bitter as I was only given one sugar and a tiny thing of cream (maybe half the size the creamer cups we get back home). I drank all of the coffee anyway for politeness sake. I’m not sure if that is necessary here but she went to the trouble to prepare it for us so I felt it was warranted.
After we got back we got to see what all the other kids did at their schools. I had a little downtime which I spent online, and then I went to my speaking practice with Melville sensei. She loves me! She thinks I’m hilarious. She thought it was great when, after I told her about my upcoming date with Chosan, she asked if he was handsome and I made a face before saying no! (In all fairness though, at this point he was starting to grow on me. He has the sort of really nice and easy to talk to personality that made me like him more. I might have even been excited about our date, which we confirmed and planned at the Shiga party on Sunday, if it weren’t for how he kept getting too close to me near the end of the night (although he had been drinking)). After that I had to rush to Shiga to not be late because I was meeting Bou-chan.
We went to Hikone castle, at last, and paid 600 yen to get in. It was cool to walk around but these things aren’t terribly interesting. It was more of a war castle so it was just bare walls and floors. I don’t think I’ll go to any more of them; it just isn’t worth the expense. It is the outside, at any rate, that is the cool part and looking at that is free. We sat and talked for a while. Bou-chan told me that she and her boyfriend had broken up again (back story: She had broken up with him when we first met, but they had gotten back together for a few days) because he had been at the party and was being forward with other girls and she realized he was a bad guy. I felt really bad about it but she wasn’t being really emotional which is good because I’m super awkward around people who cry. After this we went to Viva City which is the near-ish by mall. It was really cool. I bought some new shoes because the ones I brought with me are white cloth and get dirty super fast and I have trouble making them look clean. They are really strappy kinda Xeana Warrior princess shoes but they were the only ones that fit me that were under 70 dollars and they are apparently really popular in Japan (plus they were on sale!). After that we went to buy Yukatas for the upcoming festivals. We went to this place that sold them pretty cheap, 40 dollars for the whole getup, shoes included! They had some really beautiful clothes, like this one that was black with whitish purple flowers spilling down it, but they were all really expensive. I think the one I bought is super cute though! Its pink with pink flowers with yellow and purple centers and a purple and pink band and black shoes with purple straps and two little flowers on the side. The shoes, of course, are too small, but there are flip flop style so it isn’t a big deal. Bou-chan got a new Yukata too, it is SUPER cute! Its white and with pink and red flowers and blue accents, with a blue and pink band and brown shoes with read straps. There are pics on facebook. After this we went felt that we had succeeded in our shopping adventure. We took some of those cute pictures where you pose and then draw all over the pics. It was fun! Then we went to a Mr. Donuts. It was tasty. There was this one that was a donut cup with one of those mini sausage link things we used to eat for breakfast when I was a child…. Smokies. It was bizarre, but good. While we were eating I was searching for conversation so I mentioned to Bou-chan that I was going on that date tomorrow.
“with who?”
“Cho-san”
“You cannot date Cho’san!”
So I was really surprised because she had a very strict voice but moreover because I had already told her that he had asked me and I said yes and she didn’t say anything about it. Turns out, nobody tells me anything, Cho-san IS Bou-chan’s ex boyfriend! They had broken up when he asked me out, so she didn’t say anything because she felt it was his right to ask me and she was fine with it but then they got back together and they were still together at the Shiga party where he confirmed his plans with me and was getting pretty close with some other girls too. He even went so far as to take a girls arm that he had just met (such touching is not something a good boy would do in Japan). I was shocked! I couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t tell me that Cho-san was her ex in the first place seeing as I knew them both, but she always just called him her boyfriend or ex boyfriend. Moreover I couldn’t believe that he was the kind of guy to do that! I mean he seems really nice! She said too that none of their friends would have thought that he was that kinda guy. So once the initial shock set in I got angry! Not only did this guy try to make me the other woman! But he tried to make me the other woman to my BEST FRIEND in japan!?!?! Like I wouldn’t find out? Like it wouldn’t possibly ruin my friendship with Bou-chan?! Ohhhhhhh I’m so angry! Needless to say I’m not going out with him today. He sent me a fb message asking me to call him and I was like, umm… no. (no but really I said it very politely but strictly, as this is Japan after all). I’m actually really angry because I was actually starting to like him. *sigh*. It’s no bother, I was super nervous about leaving the city with him anyway and it was a relief when I realized I had an excuse not to. After that we bought some groceries(I bought bananas so you can stop worrying about me Erik ) and went back to Bou-chans place where she taught me how to make nikujaga and chawanmushi (which is both a Chinese and Japanese dish, but she taught me the Japanese way to make it). Nikujaga is translated literally as meatpotato. It was tasty beef with potatoes and onions (sound like something I would like?) with soy sauce and sugar. It was really easy to make and incredibly delicious!! Chawanmushi is eggs with green onion and bonito flakes (just like the ones Yasuko left behind) all scrambled up and then steamed in a bowl in a pot. I’ll have to speak with mom about the possibility of making this dish at home but I hope I can because it was amazing! Unbelievably good. I was doubtful at first, but I was shown the light! We ate out Japanese feast with a bag of strangly but tastyly seasoned potato chips, orange juice, and rice. I was very happy. After we were done eating we couldn’t stand it anymore and we both tried on out Yukatas. It takes a bit to get them on so its good we did because it help reaffirm the process in our minds. They were suuuper cute! Tomorrow I’m going to a festival where you get a free snow cone if you wear one, and on Friday Shiga is have a festival where they want to you wear one too, so I’m going to get good use of it! This has been a ridiculously long post, I know, even for me as I’m nearing the end of my third page on word 0.o but in all fairness I only wrote about one day, albeit a very busy one. If you had the forbearance to read the whole of this then I know you really love me :p
After this we went to play dodgeball. They play dodgeball differently here than in America. In America, or at least where I grew up, when you got out you were sent to the sidelines and waited in line until one of your teammates caught a ball, of which there were many. In this game there is only one ball and when you get out you go to the back of the other team’s side and wait behind a line until the ball reaches you, at which point you have to throw it and hit one of the other team members to get back in. Also, catching the ball does not get the thrower out; it just saves you from getting out and gives you the ball. I thought it was interesting that the Japanese version of dodgeball is so focused on the individual’s ability, while the American one is more about relying on a team. The girls kept trying to talk to me while we played and decoding Japanese is hard enough without people whipping a ball at me. I enjoyed watching them play but it made me sad because I could hardly compete to my fullest against a bunch of 8 year olds have my size! After Dodgeball we went back to the Principals office where we were served Coffee and some delicious cheese sweet from Hokkaido. It was like a little cake cup with maybe a cream cheesy filling, I don’t know but it was amazing. The coffee was too bitter as I was only given one sugar and a tiny thing of cream (maybe half the size the creamer cups we get back home). I drank all of the coffee anyway for politeness sake. I’m not sure if that is necessary here but she went to the trouble to prepare it for us so I felt it was warranted.
After we got back we got to see what all the other kids did at their schools. I had a little downtime which I spent online, and then I went to my speaking practice with Melville sensei. She loves me! She thinks I’m hilarious. She thought it was great when, after I told her about my upcoming date with Chosan, she asked if he was handsome and I made a face before saying no! (In all fairness though, at this point he was starting to grow on me. He has the sort of really nice and easy to talk to personality that made me like him more. I might have even been excited about our date, which we confirmed and planned at the Shiga party on Sunday, if it weren’t for how he kept getting too close to me near the end of the night (although he had been drinking)). After that I had to rush to Shiga to not be late because I was meeting Bou-chan.
We went to Hikone castle, at last, and paid 600 yen to get in. It was cool to walk around but these things aren’t terribly interesting. It was more of a war castle so it was just bare walls and floors. I don’t think I’ll go to any more of them; it just isn’t worth the expense. It is the outside, at any rate, that is the cool part and looking at that is free. We sat and talked for a while. Bou-chan told me that she and her boyfriend had broken up again (back story: She had broken up with him when we first met, but they had gotten back together for a few days) because he had been at the party and was being forward with other girls and she realized he was a bad guy. I felt really bad about it but she wasn’t being really emotional which is good because I’m super awkward around people who cry. After this we went to Viva City which is the near-ish by mall. It was really cool. I bought some new shoes because the ones I brought with me are white cloth and get dirty super fast and I have trouble making them look clean. They are really strappy kinda Xeana Warrior princess shoes but they were the only ones that fit me that were under 70 dollars and they are apparently really popular in Japan (plus they were on sale!). After that we went to buy Yukatas for the upcoming festivals. We went to this place that sold them pretty cheap, 40 dollars for the whole getup, shoes included! They had some really beautiful clothes, like this one that was black with whitish purple flowers spilling down it, but they were all really expensive. I think the one I bought is super cute though! Its pink with pink flowers with yellow and purple centers and a purple and pink band and black shoes with purple straps and two little flowers on the side. The shoes, of course, are too small, but there are flip flop style so it isn’t a big deal. Bou-chan got a new Yukata too, it is SUPER cute! Its white and with pink and red flowers and blue accents, with a blue and pink band and brown shoes with read straps. There are pics on facebook. After this we went felt that we had succeeded in our shopping adventure. We took some of those cute pictures where you pose and then draw all over the pics. It was fun! Then we went to a Mr. Donuts. It was tasty. There was this one that was a donut cup with one of those mini sausage link things we used to eat for breakfast when I was a child…. Smokies. It was bizarre, but good. While we were eating I was searching for conversation so I mentioned to Bou-chan that I was going on that date tomorrow.
“with who?”
“Cho-san”
“You cannot date Cho’san!”
So I was really surprised because she had a very strict voice but moreover because I had already told her that he had asked me and I said yes and she didn’t say anything about it. Turns out, nobody tells me anything, Cho-san IS Bou-chan’s ex boyfriend! They had broken up when he asked me out, so she didn’t say anything because she felt it was his right to ask me and she was fine with it but then they got back together and they were still together at the Shiga party where he confirmed his plans with me and was getting pretty close with some other girls too. He even went so far as to take a girls arm that he had just met (such touching is not something a good boy would do in Japan). I was shocked! I couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t tell me that Cho-san was her ex in the first place seeing as I knew them both, but she always just called him her boyfriend or ex boyfriend. Moreover I couldn’t believe that he was the kind of guy to do that! I mean he seems really nice! She said too that none of their friends would have thought that he was that kinda guy. So once the initial shock set in I got angry! Not only did this guy try to make me the other woman! But he tried to make me the other woman to my BEST FRIEND in japan!?!?! Like I wouldn’t find out? Like it wouldn’t possibly ruin my friendship with Bou-chan?! Ohhhhhhh I’m so angry! Needless to say I’m not going out with him today. He sent me a fb message asking me to call him and I was like, umm… no. (no but really I said it very politely but strictly, as this is Japan after all). I’m actually really angry because I was actually starting to like him. *sigh*. It’s no bother, I was super nervous about leaving the city with him anyway and it was a relief when I realized I had an excuse not to. After that we bought some groceries(I bought bananas so you can stop worrying about me Erik ) and went back to Bou-chans place where she taught me how to make nikujaga and chawanmushi (which is both a Chinese and Japanese dish, but she taught me the Japanese way to make it). Nikujaga is translated literally as meatpotato. It was tasty beef with potatoes and onions (sound like something I would like?) with soy sauce and sugar. It was really easy to make and incredibly delicious!! Chawanmushi is eggs with green onion and bonito flakes (just like the ones Yasuko left behind) all scrambled up and then steamed in a bowl in a pot. I’ll have to speak with mom about the possibility of making this dish at home but I hope I can because it was amazing! Unbelievably good. I was doubtful at first, but I was shown the light! We ate out Japanese feast with a bag of strangly but tastyly seasoned potato chips, orange juice, and rice. I was very happy. After we were done eating we couldn’t stand it anymore and we both tried on out Yukatas. It takes a bit to get them on so its good we did because it help reaffirm the process in our minds. They were suuuper cute! Tomorrow I’m going to a festival where you get a free snow cone if you wear one, and on Friday Shiga is have a festival where they want to you wear one too, so I’m going to get good use of it! This has been a ridiculously long post, I know, even for me as I’m nearing the end of my third page on word 0.o but in all fairness I only wrote about one day, albeit a very busy one. If you had the forbearance to read the whole of this then I know you really love me :p
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
managed to see 1.5 goodlooking asians yesterday and she didn't even leave Hikone!
My roomate is dying. When I first mentioned the curse that Japan has placed upon her I was kind of joking but now I’m convinced. She got a fever two days ago, in combination with some very worry some symptoms she has been having ever since she got here, so she went to the Isha (doctor) where she was told that her current diet (McDonalds food and kowala yummies) had somehow (too much salt?) caused her stomach to either swell or move, possibly both, she couldn’t remember exactly what the problem was. She should be fine, presuming she takes the medication they give her but her morale, which was already pitifully low, has even further plummeted.
Yesterday I went out to eat with Bochan and Ako and Engellsan. We had Okonomiyake (?) which is often likened to a pancake, I have no idea why. It was… strange. Then we karaoked all night!!(until10pm)!!! Tomorrow I don’t have classes. I’m going to finally see the Hikone castle with Bochan as well as go to Viva city for the first time (a nearish by mall) and then learn to make homestyle Japanese and Chinese food! Saturday is my date with Chosan in Kyoto. On Tuesday we had a short Aikido class. Aikido looks really awesome and I think I like it better than Taekwondo (although it would be practically less useful I think). Afterwards Melville sensei tried to get Engellsan and I to ask the club members to talk sometime and when we did not immediately act she did it for us. Of course these students can barely speak English at all, so we will see how this goes. :p ahh… Melville sensei: forcing students everywhere to study languages, even if they don’t want to.
My internet has been acting up ever since the rainy season started, so I don’t know how often I’ll be able to get on or to update this.
I discovered that the reason I’ve been drinking eight to ten cups of tea a day and still having trouble staying awake is that all Japanese green tea has no caffeine in it. yep. Sweeeet. And of course we don’t have a coffee maker and I don’t feel like buying one so I’m going mostly caffeine free this summer. Although today I’m going to hold up in cocos (restaurant attached to school) and get the drink bar (2 dollars unlimited drinkage) so I can coffee while I study. Sunday there is some sort of cultural festival I might go to, and I might go to Matsubara sometime this weekend as well.
We have finally gotten to the stuff I’m bad at in class so I finally feel like class isn’t a waste of my life anymore! This is truly good news because I’ve been seriously regretting coming here this week. The honeymoon stage is over and now I’ve hit the wall. At least I understand that this is all completely normal, that Yasuko felt the same way and so I can sort of see my situation the way I saw it when watching her. It helps a little. I don’t think I’ll come back though, not alone leastwise. At this point I’m just trying to not let it get the best of me.
Yesterday I went out to eat with Bochan and Ako and Engellsan. We had Okonomiyake (?) which is often likened to a pancake, I have no idea why. It was… strange. Then we karaoked all night!!(until10pm)!!! Tomorrow I don’t have classes. I’m going to finally see the Hikone castle with Bochan as well as go to Viva city for the first time (a nearish by mall) and then learn to make homestyle Japanese and Chinese food! Saturday is my date with Chosan in Kyoto. On Tuesday we had a short Aikido class. Aikido looks really awesome and I think I like it better than Taekwondo (although it would be practically less useful I think). Afterwards Melville sensei tried to get Engellsan and I to ask the club members to talk sometime and when we did not immediately act she did it for us. Of course these students can barely speak English at all, so we will see how this goes. :p ahh… Melville sensei: forcing students everywhere to study languages, even if they don’t want to.
My internet has been acting up ever since the rainy season started, so I don’t know how often I’ll be able to get on or to update this.
I discovered that the reason I’ve been drinking eight to ten cups of tea a day and still having trouble staying awake is that all Japanese green tea has no caffeine in it. yep. Sweeeet. And of course we don’t have a coffee maker and I don’t feel like buying one so I’m going mostly caffeine free this summer. Although today I’m going to hold up in cocos (restaurant attached to school) and get the drink bar (2 dollars unlimited drinkage) so I can coffee while I study. Sunday there is some sort of cultural festival I might go to, and I might go to Matsubara sometime this weekend as well.
We have finally gotten to the stuff I’m bad at in class so I finally feel like class isn’t a waste of my life anymore! This is truly good news because I’ve been seriously regretting coming here this week. The honeymoon stage is over and now I’ve hit the wall. At least I understand that this is all completely normal, that Yasuko felt the same way and so I can sort of see my situation the way I saw it when watching her. It helps a little. I don’t think I’ll come back though, not alone leastwise. At this point I’m just trying to not let it get the best of me.
Monday, June 22, 2009
yeah, i get it, i'm white and have big blue eyes, back off!
Things I have learned in Japan:
How to ride a bike in a skirt
How to ride a bike in the rain
How to ride a bike while carrying bags of groceries
How to ride a bike in a shirt, in the rain, while carrying bags of groceries.
I’ve even made some considerable ground in my attempts to ride a bike with no hands.
Went to a party yesterday at Shiga. It was fun. Don’t really feel like expanding on that. On Wednesday I’m going out to eat and karaoke with Akko, on Friday I’m going to go see Hikone castle and learn to cook Japanese and Chinese food with bochan and on Saturday I’m going to Kyoto with Cho to see some temples. Tomorrow we are doing out Aikido cultural experience and on Friday we are visiting elementary schools.
The rainy season has begun. We had all just begun to laugh at how extreme they had made it sound and how bad it wasn’t. *sigh* All of the sudden its 85 degrees and humid at least, and its apparently only going to get hotter. Apparently, it isn’t even summer yet! The rain falls heavy and often, cutting out the wind, but luckily I was right in my estimation that they rain wouldn’t come through my window, which is great because I don’t know how I would survive otherwise. We have air conditioning but we have to pay over a certain amount so I’m saving it until I can’t stand it.
I’m down to hyaku en, which is roughly the equivalent of one dollar, which I may or may not be spending to dry my clothes in a minute. I need to get out to the post office, but it’s only open till 3, and my classes get out at 2, so it’s a little difficult. IT would be easier if I had a working ATM card or a credit card, but I don’t, despite the fact that I was assured by JCMU, my bank, and my mother that they would work. So tomorrow I have to go to the bank (about a 25-30 min bike ride one way) regardless of how hot or rainy it is, at the hottest part of the day. Whoot.
Unfortunately I’m not in a terribly good mood right now, which I imagine if very clear in the tone of this blog. Hope things are good in America.
How to ride a bike in a skirt
How to ride a bike in the rain
How to ride a bike while carrying bags of groceries
How to ride a bike in a shirt, in the rain, while carrying bags of groceries.
I’ve even made some considerable ground in my attempts to ride a bike with no hands.
Went to a party yesterday at Shiga. It was fun. Don’t really feel like expanding on that. On Wednesday I’m going out to eat and karaoke with Akko, on Friday I’m going to go see Hikone castle and learn to cook Japanese and Chinese food with bochan and on Saturday I’m going to Kyoto with Cho to see some temples. Tomorrow we are doing out Aikido cultural experience and on Friday we are visiting elementary schools.
The rainy season has begun. We had all just begun to laugh at how extreme they had made it sound and how bad it wasn’t. *sigh* All of the sudden its 85 degrees and humid at least, and its apparently only going to get hotter. Apparently, it isn’t even summer yet! The rain falls heavy and often, cutting out the wind, but luckily I was right in my estimation that they rain wouldn’t come through my window, which is great because I don’t know how I would survive otherwise. We have air conditioning but we have to pay over a certain amount so I’m saving it until I can’t stand it.
I’m down to hyaku en, which is roughly the equivalent of one dollar, which I may or may not be spending to dry my clothes in a minute. I need to get out to the post office, but it’s only open till 3, and my classes get out at 2, so it’s a little difficult. IT would be easier if I had a working ATM card or a credit card, but I don’t, despite the fact that I was assured by JCMU, my bank, and my mother that they would work. So tomorrow I have to go to the bank (about a 25-30 min bike ride one way) regardless of how hot or rainy it is, at the hottest part of the day. Whoot.
Unfortunately I’m not in a terribly good mood right now, which I imagine if very clear in the tone of this blog. Hope things are good in America.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
after roughly 7 hours of careful observation i found, out of thousands, 4.5 decently good looking asian men, and 2 truely good looking asian men.
subtitle:(All of which were likely shorter than me)
Have I, as of yet, mentioned the spider situation? I don’t believe I have.
In America, spiders exist. They frequent the out of doors, and often creep into our basements and garages for warmth. For the most part, we tolerate their existence. This occasionally leads to confusion, as some of the spiders take this condescension as a sign of weakness to be exploited. They take it upon themselves to venture into the higher worlds. They are promptly destroyed. There is no mercy for the insolent, in America. In America the spiders are annoying, crafty, and their guerilla tactics can leave the target very shaken, but for the most part spiders are not thought of, except in the brief moments following an attack. This is not the case in Japan.
Were you aware that in Japan to see a spider in your house is good luck? Moreover, that killing said spider is bad luck… yes that is right, in Japan there is an overly abundant population of completely undisciplined spiders! They live completely without fear of the humans. They go everywhere and anywhere they deem worthy of their presence and rather than curve their habitats to suit the humans, it is the humans who must curve their behavior to suit the spiders. They take over the homes unchallenged; they build giant webs over commonly frequented walking paths, and dangle from tree limbs to the detriment of unwary bicyclers. And have I mentioned yet that the spiders here are huge? I have a picture of a particularly large one soon to be uploaded on my facebook. The cities of Japan are ruled by spiders; they are the emperors and they have no fear. Their webs literally blanket the city in a glossy film. In America, you do not think about spiders until they attack, and their greatest weapon is the surprise by which they attack. Here, however, it is not a fear of surprise, but rather an ever oppressing knowledge that you cannot escape them. I hate them with a passion that could never be matched in America. I am not Japanese in this respect, and I will show them no mercy! I cannot win this war, but I will sure as hell take some down with me!
On a somewhat lighter note (lighter being loosely defined) I had an interesting day. I walked up the side of the mountain (some videos of this coming to a facebook near you) to see a temple and a god house. It was somewhat disappointed, although I did get to experience my first brush with heat stroke (a companions, not my own). I also got to see lots of very large and very creepy bugs, including a bee that was literally the size of a fifty cent coin (at which point it occurred to me that this was really when I should have been carrying my epi pen). Afterwards I came home and changed in time to head off for Osaka. It was now 3:30 and I was told we wanted to be off by 4, so we would get there around 5, maybe 5:30, when we would meet up with ppl. Instead of making the first train (which we easily could have done) they decided to get McDonalds. We take the next train, one half hour later, and after about an hour we get there. Everyone is excited and hungry. We stand in the terminal for about half hour looking for some people who are somewhere on the other side of the ticket takers before someone comes up with the bright idea to go over there and get them. Now we are all expecting to get food, we are talking about it, it shouldn’t be long. We are going to eat, then hit up a bar, then they will go clubbing and we will go home (the club ids to get in but the bars don’t). Except that our guide takes us the long way to get where we need to go, and doesn’t pay attention so we get lost twice. A trip that took no more than 20 mins on the return, took us roughly an hour and a half. So now we are all pissed off but once again food is on the way. He, our guide, promises us cheep udon close by… and by close by he means a half hour walk. We go past maybe 30 restaurants before ppl just stop and ask wtf is going on. Interestingly enough, no matter how many times we asked where we were going, or how much farther it would be, our guides just ignored us and kept walking until at some point Nathan (the good looking one) just gets pissed off and heads for the nearest McDonalds, followed closely by his friend John. Now the guides haven’t stopped, and they’ve walked up two flights of stairs, but no one else is following. I run up half and yell at the guides to stop and ask how much longer it will take to get there. The guides confer for about 5 mins and then state that it will take about 15 to 20 minutes longer. It is now my job to negotiate between two somewhat hostile parties. In the end we decide to split up and meet back at the top of a different set of stairs (I should point out that the McDonalds and the other restaurants were part of an underground mall and that the top of the stairs was the street). Having decided this, I go back downstairs to the McDonalds because I feel absolutely bad about having left those two behind. When I get there, however, they are gone and nowhere to be seen. Likely, they went up the first flight of stairs in an attempt to follow us, which they said they would do. Now I’ve lost all of the other parties and am completely alone. Without thinking I order from McDonalds ( ) eat quickly and spend half of the hour I have to kill looking at the other stores, until they all close. Then I’m wandering the streets of Osaka, looking in the most likely places for my other group mates. I do actually end up finding some. Half of the people didn’t bother to return to the meeting place after the hour past, including the two guys who were supposed to guide us home, and including the two boys who got left behind. I return home with two girls who were wearing terribly impractical shoes and could barely walk which was perfect because neither of them had bothered to bike to the station, so the 15 min bike ride became 45 min walk through the dark spider infested streets of Japan. We only narrowly avoided walking straight into the clutches some sadistic giant who, apparently, loves to build its web in the middle of the sidewalk and has taken other JCMU casualties before. So at the end of the day I’ve spend 20 dollars to go 6 hours (4 there and 2 back again) to eat a crappy Mc chicken sandwich and drink coffee with way too little sugar in it (in Japan they ration condiments). To top it off we managed to lose the closest thing to eye candy this place as to offer and the only guy who seemed to both enjoy and encourage my company. .. whoot.
Have I, as of yet, mentioned the spider situation? I don’t believe I have.
In America, spiders exist. They frequent the out of doors, and often creep into our basements and garages for warmth. For the most part, we tolerate their existence. This occasionally leads to confusion, as some of the spiders take this condescension as a sign of weakness to be exploited. They take it upon themselves to venture into the higher worlds. They are promptly destroyed. There is no mercy for the insolent, in America. In America the spiders are annoying, crafty, and their guerilla tactics can leave the target very shaken, but for the most part spiders are not thought of, except in the brief moments following an attack. This is not the case in Japan.
Were you aware that in Japan to see a spider in your house is good luck? Moreover, that killing said spider is bad luck… yes that is right, in Japan there is an overly abundant population of completely undisciplined spiders! They live completely without fear of the humans. They go everywhere and anywhere they deem worthy of their presence and rather than curve their habitats to suit the humans, it is the humans who must curve their behavior to suit the spiders. They take over the homes unchallenged; they build giant webs over commonly frequented walking paths, and dangle from tree limbs to the detriment of unwary bicyclers. And have I mentioned yet that the spiders here are huge? I have a picture of a particularly large one soon to be uploaded on my facebook. The cities of Japan are ruled by spiders; they are the emperors and they have no fear. Their webs literally blanket the city in a glossy film. In America, you do not think about spiders until they attack, and their greatest weapon is the surprise by which they attack. Here, however, it is not a fear of surprise, but rather an ever oppressing knowledge that you cannot escape them. I hate them with a passion that could never be matched in America. I am not Japanese in this respect, and I will show them no mercy! I cannot win this war, but I will sure as hell take some down with me!
On a somewhat lighter note (lighter being loosely defined) I had an interesting day. I walked up the side of the mountain (some videos of this coming to a facebook near you) to see a temple and a god house. It was somewhat disappointed, although I did get to experience my first brush with heat stroke (a companions, not my own). I also got to see lots of very large and very creepy bugs, including a bee that was literally the size of a fifty cent coin (at which point it occurred to me that this was really when I should have been carrying my epi pen). Afterwards I came home and changed in time to head off for Osaka. It was now 3:30 and I was told we wanted to be off by 4, so we would get there around 5, maybe 5:30, when we would meet up with ppl. Instead of making the first train (which we easily could have done) they decided to get McDonalds. We take the next train, one half hour later, and after about an hour we get there. Everyone is excited and hungry. We stand in the terminal for about half hour looking for some people who are somewhere on the other side of the ticket takers before someone comes up with the bright idea to go over there and get them. Now we are all expecting to get food, we are talking about it, it shouldn’t be long. We are going to eat, then hit up a bar, then they will go clubbing and we will go home (the club ids to get in but the bars don’t). Except that our guide takes us the long way to get where we need to go, and doesn’t pay attention so we get lost twice. A trip that took no more than 20 mins on the return, took us roughly an hour and a half. So now we are all pissed off but once again food is on the way. He, our guide, promises us cheep udon close by… and by close by he means a half hour walk. We go past maybe 30 restaurants before ppl just stop and ask wtf is going on. Interestingly enough, no matter how many times we asked where we were going, or how much farther it would be, our guides just ignored us and kept walking until at some point Nathan (the good looking one) just gets pissed off and heads for the nearest McDonalds, followed closely by his friend John. Now the guides haven’t stopped, and they’ve walked up two flights of stairs, but no one else is following. I run up half and yell at the guides to stop and ask how much longer it will take to get there. The guides confer for about 5 mins and then state that it will take about 15 to 20 minutes longer. It is now my job to negotiate between two somewhat hostile parties. In the end we decide to split up and meet back at the top of a different set of stairs (I should point out that the McDonalds and the other restaurants were part of an underground mall and that the top of the stairs was the street). Having decided this, I go back downstairs to the McDonalds because I feel absolutely bad about having left those two behind. When I get there, however, they are gone and nowhere to be seen. Likely, they went up the first flight of stairs in an attempt to follow us, which they said they would do. Now I’ve lost all of the other parties and am completely alone. Without thinking I order from McDonalds ( ) eat quickly and spend half of the hour I have to kill looking at the other stores, until they all close. Then I’m wandering the streets of Osaka, looking in the most likely places for my other group mates. I do actually end up finding some. Half of the people didn’t bother to return to the meeting place after the hour past, including the two guys who were supposed to guide us home, and including the two boys who got left behind. I return home with two girls who were wearing terribly impractical shoes and could barely walk which was perfect because neither of them had bothered to bike to the station, so the 15 min bike ride became 45 min walk through the dark spider infested streets of Japan. We only narrowly avoided walking straight into the clutches some sadistic giant who, apparently, loves to build its web in the middle of the sidewalk and has taken other JCMU casualties before. So at the end of the day I’ve spend 20 dollars to go 6 hours (4 there and 2 back again) to eat a crappy Mc chicken sandwich and drink coffee with way too little sugar in it (in Japan they ration condiments). To top it off we managed to lose the closest thing to eye candy this place as to offer and the only guy who seemed to both enjoy and encourage my company. .. whoot.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sunday evening 0.o
It is 1:45 in the morning, and I have to wake up for class at 6, but I felt like writing this post right away. I just got back from hanging out with a bunch of my new Japanese (and Chinese) friends. We went out to eat sushi which was very tasty and then we went to this place called @time. We played billiards (that is what they call it here) and ping pong and then we karaoked! It was super fun! I sang such classics as Barbie girl, a whole new world and I’m the one who wants to be with you. It was good times.
I think it is interesting that so many Asians cannot believe that I am American. They are completely shocked, because apparently I am EXTREMELY Asian and they all secretly think I’m an Asian undercover as a tall blond. I have been told such things as “you respond/act just like a Japanese girl would” and “I don’t think you’re an American”. Quite frankly I’m pleased about it, my assimilation skills are clearly amazing! Oh, and did I mention I got asked out? Yes, I have a date with an Asian boy (he is technically Chinese but he is fluent in Japanese). He told me he thinks my Japanese is cute. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in love, but he put me on the spot and I couldn’t say no. I figure if nothing else It’ll be good speaking practice. I have no intention of committing to a future long-distance relationship, but I am flattered. Next Sunday I’m going to a party over at Shinga University which should be fun. Now I really should try and get some sleep for class tomorrow. Jaa Mata!
I think it is interesting that so many Asians cannot believe that I am American. They are completely shocked, because apparently I am EXTREMELY Asian and they all secretly think I’m an Asian undercover as a tall blond. I have been told such things as “you respond/act just like a Japanese girl would” and “I don’t think you’re an American”. Quite frankly I’m pleased about it, my assimilation skills are clearly amazing! Oh, and did I mention I got asked out? Yes, I have a date with an Asian boy (he is technically Chinese but he is fluent in Japanese). He told me he thinks my Japanese is cute. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in love, but he put me on the spot and I couldn’t say no. I figure if nothing else It’ll be good speaking practice. I have no intention of committing to a future long-distance relationship, but I am flattered. Next Sunday I’m going to a party over at Shinga University which should be fun. Now I really should try and get some sleep for class tomorrow. Jaa Mata!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Random Thoughts on a Saturday
Do you remember how in my last post I mentioned that Japan Briana was clumsy? Well Japan Briana also doesn’t have asthma and I would gladly trade dropping a few pencils for the ability to feel like this all the time. All I want to do is work out. I can’t get enough of doing pushups, sit ups, running! I love running! I want to move all the time. I can never push myself hard enough or far enough! I’ll be so sore I can barely walk when I first wake up and by the time classes get out I’ll feel great and do it all over again. I’ve only ever felt this way once before in my life and it only lasted two days! I’m hoping that isn’t the case here.
I find it interesting that the longer I stay in Japan the more attractive Japanese boys become. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m seeing more of them, and so getting a better sample of what they have to offer, or because I’m seeing less white boys to compare them to. It is total crap that anyone says that they can’t tell two Asians apart cause I’ll tell you what the Japanese people, while they have the same general coloring, look extremely different from one another. Some are paler than I am, my teacher Matsui sensei for example, and some are darker than Lee Remesynder if you understand that reference. We are right next to lake Biwa, and there are a whole bunch of boys (girls too) who go down there to windsurf. Those boys are So tan! I don’t feel really tall here either, like I thought I would. Partially it’s because there are taller Asians, the boys are often about my height, and partially it’s because there are a few Americans around and a lot of the boys here are much taller than me, but mostly I think it’s because I’m just used to being taller than everyone around me.
Today riding home from the 100yen store two schoolgirls from across the river yelled hello at me while waving and giggling. This example aside, I don’t get as much attention as people led me to believe I would either. People look at me, sometimes, and sometimes they avoid me, like when I’m grocery shopping, I just always happen to be the only person in my aisle, with one or two Japanese people waiting at the end for me to leave. Jessica, my roommate, told me that it’s because they are apparently afraid to speak English, and just want to avoid the situation. The time when I feel the most culture shock, which granted isn’t much, is when I’m riding my bike. You never really think about certain things that you just do when walking or riding down public roads. For example, suddenly, I don’t know who gets right of way, me or the car coming at me? I no longer know on which side of the rode it is appropriate for me to ride my bike. Should I be facing traffic or be a part of it? Did you know in Japan it is not customary to when walking or biking down the street, smile and nod at the people you pass when eye contact is made? What I did expect is that because the cars drive on the left side of the road, people naturally swerve left to avoid a collision of any nature, not right as in America. The problem with this is that the Japanese people see me, see that I’m an American, and assume that I don’t know this (because most Americans care shit for assimilating into another culture) and thus swerve right, assuming that I won’t swerve left, as I’m supposed to. So when I do swerve left and they swerve right, confusion ensues. On the bright side, I have learned how to ride a bike in a skirt (given I’m wearing biking shorts underneath but still). The worst problem I have is not knowing where to park my bike. I’m sure there are unwritten rules about where it is okay to park a bike and where it isn’t but I don’t know them and it is preventing me from fully exploring Hikone.
Its Saturday and everyone is off visiting Kyoto or Osaka or the like and I’ve decided to stay here in Hikone and be lazy (and by lazy I mean study and work out and bike around town and watch lots of Battlestar Galactica).
I find it interesting that the longer I stay in Japan the more attractive Japanese boys become. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m seeing more of them, and so getting a better sample of what they have to offer, or because I’m seeing less white boys to compare them to. It is total crap that anyone says that they can’t tell two Asians apart cause I’ll tell you what the Japanese people, while they have the same general coloring, look extremely different from one another. Some are paler than I am, my teacher Matsui sensei for example, and some are darker than Lee Remesynder if you understand that reference. We are right next to lake Biwa, and there are a whole bunch of boys (girls too) who go down there to windsurf. Those boys are So tan! I don’t feel really tall here either, like I thought I would. Partially it’s because there are taller Asians, the boys are often about my height, and partially it’s because there are a few Americans around and a lot of the boys here are much taller than me, but mostly I think it’s because I’m just used to being taller than everyone around me.
Today riding home from the 100yen store two schoolgirls from across the river yelled hello at me while waving and giggling. This example aside, I don’t get as much attention as people led me to believe I would either. People look at me, sometimes, and sometimes they avoid me, like when I’m grocery shopping, I just always happen to be the only person in my aisle, with one or two Japanese people waiting at the end for me to leave. Jessica, my roommate, told me that it’s because they are apparently afraid to speak English, and just want to avoid the situation. The time when I feel the most culture shock, which granted isn’t much, is when I’m riding my bike. You never really think about certain things that you just do when walking or riding down public roads. For example, suddenly, I don’t know who gets right of way, me or the car coming at me? I no longer know on which side of the rode it is appropriate for me to ride my bike. Should I be facing traffic or be a part of it? Did you know in Japan it is not customary to when walking or biking down the street, smile and nod at the people you pass when eye contact is made? What I did expect is that because the cars drive on the left side of the road, people naturally swerve left to avoid a collision of any nature, not right as in America. The problem with this is that the Japanese people see me, see that I’m an American, and assume that I don’t know this (because most Americans care shit for assimilating into another culture) and thus swerve right, assuming that I won’t swerve left, as I’m supposed to. So when I do swerve left and they swerve right, confusion ensues. On the bright side, I have learned how to ride a bike in a skirt (given I’m wearing biking shorts underneath but still). The worst problem I have is not knowing where to park my bike. I’m sure there are unwritten rules about where it is okay to park a bike and where it isn’t but I don’t know them and it is preventing me from fully exploring Hikone.
Its Saturday and everyone is off visiting Kyoto or Osaka or the like and I’ve decided to stay here in Hikone and be lazy (and by lazy I mean study and work out and bike around town and watch lots of Battlestar Galactica).
Friday, June 12, 2009
Call Me! Write Me! Send Me Potato Chips!
my address in Japan is the following:
Japan Center for Michigan Universities
Briana Walz
1435-86 Ajiroguchi, Matsubara-cho
Hikone, Shiga 522-0002, JAPAN
My phone number is : 011-81-749-26-7228!
Call me! I'm in my room between the hours of 1am-9am and 6-7pm your time! Or you can skype me! briana.leigh1 either way.
if you love me and you want to send me something to show it, please, oh please, let it be snacks! I would give alot right now for a good potato chip (sour cream and onion or just plain lays!) they only have Really weird stuff here. It isn't bad its just... not what i want for snackage haha! so yeah, please keep in touch! I miss you guys so much!
Japan Center for Michigan Universities
Briana Walz
1435-86 Ajiroguchi, Matsubara-cho
Hikone, Shiga 522-0002, JAPAN
My phone number is : 011-81-749-26-7228!
Call me! I'm in my room between the hours of 1am-9am and 6-7pm your time! Or you can skype me! briana.leigh1 either way.
if you love me and you want to send me something to show it, please, oh please, let it be snacks! I would give alot right now for a good potato chip (sour cream and onion or just plain lays!) they only have Really weird stuff here. It isn't bad its just... not what i want for snackage haha! so yeah, please keep in touch! I miss you guys so much!
The Roomate Situation part 2,
So a part of me feels really badly for my roommate. Japan does strange things to people. Maybe it’s the water, maybe it’s the fact that we are on a new hemisphere of the planet, either way, you aren’t quite the same person in Japan that you were in America. Myself, for example: I have become, for some reason, extremely clumsy. Japan Briana drops things, everything, really. A day doesn’t go by when I drop my pen at least once, on a good day, during class. I’m suddenly terribly loud wherever I go. I bump into things way more often than I used to, and my ability to figure out how simple objects work, such as opening a window, has abandoned me. This is not all that bad really. I’ve taking it as a premise of Japan that I must simply be a little clumsier than I used to be, no harm, no foul. My roommate, however… My roommate’s Japan self isn’t clumsy, she is damned, by the Japanese gods, to suffer. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong. The best example of this so far? Two days ago, her bike, her LOCKED bike, gets stolen. Now we were warned that this was going to happen. Bikes are like crack in Japan. (although the funny part is that the bike parked right next to it wasn’t locked and wasn’t stolen…) she comes out of a store to find her bike gone, and her helmet in another bikes basket. Now here is where I start to lose a little sympathy for her because, really, her ability to make rational choices doesn’t exist. (did I mention that I’m living with an exact copy of Tricia, except she at least is completely honest and slightly less fun because, let’s be honest, the only part of Tricia I ever liked was the personality she impersonated for my behalf) She decides that because the bike ride takes maybe 15 to 20 minutes, and as such the walk home might be an hour at most ( I stress at most) that she won’t walk home, she will just take the bike that her helmet was in……… So she gets home and tells Tsuchiyasan (our resident advisor) what has happened. Tsuchiyasan tells her she has to take the bike back immediately and walk home, but Jessica refuses. Okay, so… bad situation. Here is where the “Japan has clearly cursed you” part comes in. Jessica reaches into her purse for her wallet to pay the 80 dollars to get a new bike…and it isn’t there. It isn’t in her room or anyone else’s room. It’s gone. Yes, lots and lots of door banging and crying ensued, and I don’t blame her there because really that is a LOT to take in in just one day! Next day she goes to the police station where some kindly good Japanese citizen did what you are Supposed to do and turned her wallet in. Yey! And how convenient is it that she only had to make one trip to both pick up her wallet and get fingerprinted as a bike thief! No, I’m not joking. The real question is, did she learn a lesson? Judging from the fact that since then she has simply stolen a bike hmm… every time she has the slightest inkling to go anywhere, I’m going to say no. Needless to say, and I think I mentioned it before, she Really hates Japan. She wants to go home, she says it every day, it’s what the two Jessica’s have bonded over (without me of course because I love it here, which is really, I think, why they don’t like me so much anymore…) but her parents won’t let her come home earlier because “they bought the plane ticket so I’ll just have to tuff it out.” (I want Erik to know that I was all ready to come in with a sunk costs argument had it applied). This is possibly the stupidest excuse I’ve ever heard because the plane ticket would cost the same if they used it today as if they used it in august, give or take $100 for reservation change fee. I have to admit I’m a little disappointed; I would have liked to have the whole apartment to myself but mostly because I can’t stand the negative energy. All she does is complain about Japan and how much she hates it here. I feel badly for her I do, especially because her parents won’t let her come home but if you wanna be happy, act happy the rest will follow with time! (I had another moment this morning where my heart started to break for her as she was crying to her friend back home about how much she wanted to go back, but stopped because I couldn’t stop myself from laughing when she finished it with I’m getting so fat!)
I went shopping yesterday and got some truly tasty cream filled buns (So Good!) as well as frosted flakes (I finally found soy milk!), pancake mix (lots of meals, very cheap), a giant king sized bar of Hershey’s special dark (I couldn’t help myself) and a bag of some sort of tasty looking puffs that taste disturbingly like Michael’s mouth 0.o (not a pleasant taste by the way). Exactly like it, in fact, had he been a smoker. They wouldn’t be so bad, I think, if there wasn’t that resemblance, but I can’t bring myself to eat them because of it. I’m going to have to find someone to trade them with.
Today I went to extra conversation practice with Melville sensei. I was worried about it because she is so strict and it would be one on one, but I really enjoyed myself. The 20 minutes flew by in what seemed like 5. I will definitely continue to sign up for that, as conversation skills are where I’m really behind (and by behind I mean, behind for the second year I should be, not the first year I am, then I WAY ahead).
please feel free to comment, you don't have to be a member to do it and i like to hear from you!
I went shopping yesterday and got some truly tasty cream filled buns (So Good!) as well as frosted flakes (I finally found soy milk!), pancake mix (lots of meals, very cheap), a giant king sized bar of Hershey’s special dark (I couldn’t help myself) and a bag of some sort of tasty looking puffs that taste disturbingly like Michael’s mouth 0.o (not a pleasant taste by the way). Exactly like it, in fact, had he been a smoker. They wouldn’t be so bad, I think, if there wasn’t that resemblance, but I can’t bring myself to eat them because of it. I’m going to have to find someone to trade them with.
Today I went to extra conversation practice with Melville sensei. I was worried about it because she is so strict and it would be one on one, but I really enjoyed myself. The 20 minutes flew by in what seemed like 5. I will definitely continue to sign up for that, as conversation skills are where I’m really behind (and by behind I mean, behind for the second year I should be, not the first year I am, then I WAY ahead).
please feel free to comment, you don't have to be a member to do it and i like to hear from you!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
first weekend
So I have some stuff to catch up on. I got placed in Level one, which is really unfortunate and for four hours every day I’m bored out of my mind in a class that is way under my level. My Teachers are good though. Matsui Sensei is my main teacher. She is short and very thin and very adorable. She is only 26 and she is very nice. Obata sensei I don’t like as much. She is very nice but she is a bit loud and she never teaches us anything, she only reviews. Melville sensei (yes Japanese) is amazing! She is a little quirky, which I like in a teacher, and she makes you get it right, not close, which I love. She is the only one I really feel like I’m learning from.
On Saturday we went to Kyoto. I went at first with a big group of people on the train to Kyoto but when we got there they went to get sushi and go to a night club and I went to see Yasuko at the Nijo Castle, which is right by her house. It was really cool to see her again. We toured Nijo Castle, window shopped and got some hirogohan (lunch). I had some delicious fish and chips with fries and a donut. JAPANESE DONUTS ARE THE BEST! Do you all remember that time that I went to New York and spent the rest of the year talking about and wishing for a New York Bagel? That is what this is like! They are a lot more like bread, but a little sweet. They are a lot less sweet than American donuts but they are very tasty and you don’t feel like crap after. Sooo good! We didn’t get to see each other long though because Yasuko had to go to work. She works as a teacher at a cram school. I had to ride the trains by myself through Kyoto and then home again. It was a little scary. I never was certain I was on the right train and I always had to ask someone “doomo sumimasen, kore wa Kyoto eki desu ka?” The Japanese people were really nice though, I think that they liked that I asked in Japanese. Once, on my way back to the Kyoto eki (station) from Nijo I got on the wrong train. When I asked a woman if it was the right stop, she realized that she had taken the wrong train too. We both got off to wait for the right train (the nice thing about Japanese trains is you pay to get where you are going, not to get on the train, so we didn’t have to buy a new ticket). While we were waiting she asked me a bunch of stuff about myself, all the stuff we had been going over in class. It was really cool because I understood it and could answer.
On Sunday we had a cooking lesson (ryoori no curasu) we learned to make yakisoba, spinach and sesame seed salad and miso soup. It was Really tasty. I was in a group with my number one (me and the Jessica’s have identified our choices for best looking guy, they both choose the jew, who is admittedly good looking, but I picked their number 2, the blond. (It should be noted that when I say number one I don’t mean YEAH! I mean, well.. I guess that one)) but they all spoke more Japanese than I did so I didn’t talk much at all.
Today, Tuesday, we went to visit Shinga University, a small Daigaku (college) nearby. It was only about a 20 minute bike ride which is really close (our grocery store is farther away, as is the train station, but not by much). I was in a group with the Jessicas. We had a really nice tour guide, her name was bochisan, I think. We had hirogohan in the cafeteria, which was okay. Then we walked around. We went into a store and after about 2 minutes of language barrier issues I managed to ask her if they sold soy milk in japan. She pointed out a juice box sized soy milk, so now I can take it to the store and by cereal and milk! We stopped and listened to this Japanese band that were practicing. Four boys. They were REALLY good, which was surprising but sweet! Utasan was there, I met him earlier, he was showing everyone else around Kyoto when we went. He is one of those Japanese boys with the long bleached hair that looks kinda red. He seems really nice but he swears a lot and says lots of really bad things in English, which I think he doesn’t realize are as bad as they are 0.o
I’ve decided that I need to hang out with the Jessicas. They are nice people but we are not alike. They are loud and obnoxiously American. They don’t care at all that they are representing our country and they don’t care at all about the culture. Everything about the culture is what they hate about Japan. I really don’t know why either of them is here. All they want to do is go home, which they talk about all the time, eat American hamburgers and go get fucking wasted every night which is totally fine but I don’t know why they are here. I feel kinda bad for my roommate because she hates everything about Japan and she wants to go home so bad. Every day she counts down how many days left. This morning talking to her mom on skype she cried. I felt bad but I couldn’t help but laugh a little because she started crying and then said, “There aren’t any cute guys here!” which is really all she cares about. She bitches about everything which is started to make me angry because most of the stuff she “can’t believe” is stuff they told you about in the student handbook which she clearly didn’t read. We bought all of our groceries together and then instead of eating them she went out to eat like every day. Now she is like, well you’re eating all the food so we’re going to buy stuff separately. She is making Yakisoba tonight, and I asked if I could have some, and she is like, “well you’re eating all of my orange juice anyway” –direct quote (by the way, I asked her to pick US up some orange juice, but now it’s hers). I offered to pay for the food of hers I eat, but she said she didn’t want my money and the fridge is full of her food and water, there is no room for me to buy milk, orange juice of my own or food because of all her shit! I’m sorry I told myself I wouldn’t bitch on here but I need to vent. I really want her to go home so I can have the apartment to myself!
Next weekend everyone is going to Osaka, I might go, or I might go see Yasuko again, we will see. This Friday I’m signed up to do this thing at 3 where we play games with Japanese kids, and then we are having a birthday party at 4 and movie night at 5. I don’t know what the movie is yet. I don’t really miss America and, in fact, the only part of this trip that I hate is the small part of America I’ve brought with me (battlestar galactica, which I am now addicted to, not included). I miss my friends, especially here where I don’t really fit in with anyone. They are all either too nerdy and unwashed for me or too normal for me.
On Saturday we went to Kyoto. I went at first with a big group of people on the train to Kyoto but when we got there they went to get sushi and go to a night club and I went to see Yasuko at the Nijo Castle, which is right by her house. It was really cool to see her again. We toured Nijo Castle, window shopped and got some hirogohan (lunch). I had some delicious fish and chips with fries and a donut. JAPANESE DONUTS ARE THE BEST! Do you all remember that time that I went to New York and spent the rest of the year talking about and wishing for a New York Bagel? That is what this is like! They are a lot more like bread, but a little sweet. They are a lot less sweet than American donuts but they are very tasty and you don’t feel like crap after. Sooo good! We didn’t get to see each other long though because Yasuko had to go to work. She works as a teacher at a cram school. I had to ride the trains by myself through Kyoto and then home again. It was a little scary. I never was certain I was on the right train and I always had to ask someone “doomo sumimasen, kore wa Kyoto eki desu ka?” The Japanese people were really nice though, I think that they liked that I asked in Japanese. Once, on my way back to the Kyoto eki (station) from Nijo I got on the wrong train. When I asked a woman if it was the right stop, she realized that she had taken the wrong train too. We both got off to wait for the right train (the nice thing about Japanese trains is you pay to get where you are going, not to get on the train, so we didn’t have to buy a new ticket). While we were waiting she asked me a bunch of stuff about myself, all the stuff we had been going over in class. It was really cool because I understood it and could answer.
On Sunday we had a cooking lesson (ryoori no curasu) we learned to make yakisoba, spinach and sesame seed salad and miso soup. It was Really tasty. I was in a group with my number one (me and the Jessica’s have identified our choices for best looking guy, they both choose the jew, who is admittedly good looking, but I picked their number 2, the blond. (It should be noted that when I say number one I don’t mean YEAH! I mean, well.. I guess that one)) but they all spoke more Japanese than I did so I didn’t talk much at all.
Today, Tuesday, we went to visit Shinga University, a small Daigaku (college) nearby. It was only about a 20 minute bike ride which is really close (our grocery store is farther away, as is the train station, but not by much). I was in a group with the Jessicas. We had a really nice tour guide, her name was bochisan, I think. We had hirogohan in the cafeteria, which was okay. Then we walked around. We went into a store and after about 2 minutes of language barrier issues I managed to ask her if they sold soy milk in japan. She pointed out a juice box sized soy milk, so now I can take it to the store and by cereal and milk! We stopped and listened to this Japanese band that were practicing. Four boys. They were REALLY good, which was surprising but sweet! Utasan was there, I met him earlier, he was showing everyone else around Kyoto when we went. He is one of those Japanese boys with the long bleached hair that looks kinda red. He seems really nice but he swears a lot and says lots of really bad things in English, which I think he doesn’t realize are as bad as they are 0.o
I’ve decided that I need to hang out with the Jessicas. They are nice people but we are not alike. They are loud and obnoxiously American. They don’t care at all that they are representing our country and they don’t care at all about the culture. Everything about the culture is what they hate about Japan. I really don’t know why either of them is here. All they want to do is go home, which they talk about all the time, eat American hamburgers and go get fucking wasted every night which is totally fine but I don’t know why they are here. I feel kinda bad for my roommate because she hates everything about Japan and she wants to go home so bad. Every day she counts down how many days left. This morning talking to her mom on skype she cried. I felt bad but I couldn’t help but laugh a little because she started crying and then said, “There aren’t any cute guys here!” which is really all she cares about. She bitches about everything which is started to make me angry because most of the stuff she “can’t believe” is stuff they told you about in the student handbook which she clearly didn’t read. We bought all of our groceries together and then instead of eating them she went out to eat like every day. Now she is like, well you’re eating all the food so we’re going to buy stuff separately. She is making Yakisoba tonight, and I asked if I could have some, and she is like, “well you’re eating all of my orange juice anyway” –direct quote (by the way, I asked her to pick US up some orange juice, but now it’s hers). I offered to pay for the food of hers I eat, but she said she didn’t want my money and the fridge is full of her food and water, there is no room for me to buy milk, orange juice of my own or food because of all her shit! I’m sorry I told myself I wouldn’t bitch on here but I need to vent. I really want her to go home so I can have the apartment to myself!
Next weekend everyone is going to Osaka, I might go, or I might go see Yasuko again, we will see. This Friday I’m signed up to do this thing at 3 where we play games with Japanese kids, and then we are having a birthday party at 4 and movie night at 5. I don’t know what the movie is yet. I don’t really miss America and, in fact, the only part of this trip that I hate is the small part of America I’ve brought with me (battlestar galactica, which I am now addicted to, not included). I miss my friends, especially here where I don’t really fit in with anyone. They are all either too nerdy and unwashed for me or too normal for me.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
First day
Today we went on our bicycle tour around the city of hikone, which was my first real look at the city in daylight. It’s beautiful here! The modern day buildings mingle with the old fashioned ones; occasionally the buildings give way to beautiful gardens, temples or rice paddies. Lake Biwa stretches off as far as the eye can see on one side, and you can see the shadows of mountains in the distance. The weather is great too, it started off a bit too chilly for my light weight shorts and T-shirt but quickly became warm. The wind is blowing gently and the sun is shining. We went to the nearby store, equivalent to meijer , and bought stuff for our apartments. At the store we bought some ramen. I meant to get shoju ramen, it looked good in the picture, but got miso instead, which worked out great because I liked the miso better, it was amazing! And it was two or three serving’s worth for only 380 yen!! (note that 380 yen is roughly equivalent to $3.80) My roommate, Jessica, and I made shopping a team effort. It was a fun adventure. I am apparently in charge of the cooking, which suits me fine. We had some trouble getting all the stuff home, and one of our eggs broke. Now we are finishing up some paperwork and such. I have to study tonight because the placement exam is tomorrow.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Flight
Flight to Japan: start time 3:45 Eastern Time zone
6:48pm ETZ: IT has been three hours. I am surprised and pleased for I thought it much less. Only 10 hours to go. The flight is pleasantly smooth as of yet (knock on wood). I am sitting next to a girl, my age, from the Philippines. Her name is Milky. She is an exchange student and is returning home after a year in America. She is very friendly and very tired. She has been up and flying since 4 this morning, and will continue on until tomorrow. Dinner is about to be served. I’ve spent my time thus far filling out custom forms and reading Atlas shrugged. All things considered (long legs meet short space) I’m in very good spirits. My mom took me to the airport this morning and they let her go through security and see me off at the gate. She waved me off with a smile. I kept looking back afraid to see her crying but she was always smiling like she couldn’t be more excited for me. I know how hard that must have been for her; the thought nearly made me cry.
7:10pm ETZ: I have heard the stories about airline food, we all have, I think, and after eating the dinner provided on Northwestern I have to say that the stories are bull. I was served a very tasty (not to mention tender) oriental chicken on a bed of rice with carrots, a small salad with creamy Italian dressing, a side of cocktail shrimp, a very soft wheat roll and for desert four oreos. It was both extremely tasty and filling and I am now looking forward to breakfast nearly as much as I am to landing (nearly being a bit of an exaggeration). Against my earlier warnings I am finishing off the meal with a steamy cup of green tea. I am very well contented.
1:57am ETZ: 9 hours down, 4 to go. At this point I’m getting antsy. The lights in the cabin have all been shut off and the windows closed so people can sleep and watch the in flight movies. It’s been this way for hours. We’ve gone through 3 movies since the darkness started! It is light outside. We are chasing the sun westward and haven’t lost its rays yet. I can’t figure out how to turn my overhead light on so I’m writing this by the sliver of sunshine coming through my cracked blind. I stress the word sliver! I’ve used the lot of my computer battery, so Battlestar Galactica is out, and I can’t read, work on my puzzle book or work on my possible novel! There will be no more forth coming movies according to the television guide, and instead we are watching television shows, not the good ones though, shows like “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and “Everybody Loves Raymond”. I almost wish that I could fall asleep! As it were I adjusted to Japan time two days ago and so as far as my body is concerned its 3 in the afternoon. Note for return flight: leave Battlestar Galactica for after the airline movies finish. Milky is sleeping, as is most of the rest of the passengers. I have to close my sliver now so as not to disturb her any longer. Caution, Madness may ensue.
4:32 am ETZ: Japan, from above, is amazing! The whole Island consists of large green slabs of stone that look like crinkled paper with little tuffs of cloud resting on their peaks. There are no people on these mountains, just green, uninterrupted but for the occasional lake resting in the basin of a summit. The civilization of this island falls like water into the lowest creases in the paper; running like small rivers, weaving its way through the valleys. Other times they gather in one place as a lake of rippling gray. The sight of it was mesmerizing.
10:42 am ETZ: it is now nearly midnight in Japan. I am in my new room, where I will live for the better part of the rest of the summer. I’ve made a potential new friend already, her name is Jessica and she reminds me of a less nerdy (and thus less awesome) Malice-alike. I’ve given her the name roomysan (short but relatively uninteresting story). My true roommate is also named Jessica, which may lead to amusing confusion. We are to get up and be ready at 8:45 tomorrow for our first day so I need to get some sleep.
6:48pm ETZ: IT has been three hours. I am surprised and pleased for I thought it much less. Only 10 hours to go. The flight is pleasantly smooth as of yet (knock on wood). I am sitting next to a girl, my age, from the Philippines. Her name is Milky. She is an exchange student and is returning home after a year in America. She is very friendly and very tired. She has been up and flying since 4 this morning, and will continue on until tomorrow. Dinner is about to be served. I’ve spent my time thus far filling out custom forms and reading Atlas shrugged. All things considered (long legs meet short space) I’m in very good spirits. My mom took me to the airport this morning and they let her go through security and see me off at the gate. She waved me off with a smile. I kept looking back afraid to see her crying but she was always smiling like she couldn’t be more excited for me. I know how hard that must have been for her; the thought nearly made me cry.
7:10pm ETZ: I have heard the stories about airline food, we all have, I think, and after eating the dinner provided on Northwestern I have to say that the stories are bull. I was served a very tasty (not to mention tender) oriental chicken on a bed of rice with carrots, a small salad with creamy Italian dressing, a side of cocktail shrimp, a very soft wheat roll and for desert four oreos. It was both extremely tasty and filling and I am now looking forward to breakfast nearly as much as I am to landing (nearly being a bit of an exaggeration). Against my earlier warnings I am finishing off the meal with a steamy cup of green tea. I am very well contented.
1:57am ETZ: 9 hours down, 4 to go. At this point I’m getting antsy. The lights in the cabin have all been shut off and the windows closed so people can sleep and watch the in flight movies. It’s been this way for hours. We’ve gone through 3 movies since the darkness started! It is light outside. We are chasing the sun westward and haven’t lost its rays yet. I can’t figure out how to turn my overhead light on so I’m writing this by the sliver of sunshine coming through my cracked blind. I stress the word sliver! I’ve used the lot of my computer battery, so Battlestar Galactica is out, and I can’t read, work on my puzzle book or work on my possible novel! There will be no more forth coming movies according to the television guide, and instead we are watching television shows, not the good ones though, shows like “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and “Everybody Loves Raymond”. I almost wish that I could fall asleep! As it were I adjusted to Japan time two days ago and so as far as my body is concerned its 3 in the afternoon. Note for return flight: leave Battlestar Galactica for after the airline movies finish. Milky is sleeping, as is most of the rest of the passengers. I have to close my sliver now so as not to disturb her any longer. Caution, Madness may ensue.
4:32 am ETZ: Japan, from above, is amazing! The whole Island consists of large green slabs of stone that look like crinkled paper with little tuffs of cloud resting on their peaks. There are no people on these mountains, just green, uninterrupted but for the occasional lake resting in the basin of a summit. The civilization of this island falls like water into the lowest creases in the paper; running like small rivers, weaving its way through the valleys. Other times they gather in one place as a lake of rippling gray. The sight of it was mesmerizing.
10:42 am ETZ: it is now nearly midnight in Japan. I am in my new room, where I will live for the better part of the rest of the summer. I’ve made a potential new friend already, her name is Jessica and she reminds me of a less nerdy (and thus less awesome) Malice-alike. I’ve given her the name roomysan (short but relatively uninteresting story). My true roommate is also named Jessica, which may lead to amusing confusion. We are to get up and be ready at 8:45 tomorrow for our first day so I need to get some sleep.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The Night before
This is my last night in America! I find myself almost not wanting to leave, mostly because I’ve had so much fun saying goodbye to everyone! I’ve made some amazing new friends and caught up with some old ones. Its 3:21 am, in 12 hours I’ll be getting on my plane, and 13 hours after that I’ll be getting off it. I’m almost finished packing and I have no intention of going to sleep.
There is no moon tonight and the stars look amazing. I still don’t feel like I’m leaving in the morning. I feel like tomorrow I could go hang out with kateland-san again, or go get another cookie with Ashleigh. I suppose it won’t hit me until I’m in the airport itself.
Part of me feels awful about leaving. I’m starting to reconsider my previous plans for my college carrier. It’s an ambitious plan but it doesn’t leave much for my social life. I think I’ll cut back; I really want to be here in America more than I originally planned. I made that plan when I was alone, and now that I’m not I don’t know that I want to be away. I think I will handle it just fine, but I don’t know that I want to.
This being said I still think this summer is a good idea, and one I can look back on. I’m very excited to see Yasuko, to live on my own, and to have a roommate and dorm-mates. Of course I’ll have the internet and I’ll keep in touch and two months isn’t that long, I go that long without seeing most of my friends half the time anyway.
This isn’t really a very productive or elegant post, and I considered not posting it at all except that I feel that it is relevant to the journey.
There is no moon tonight and the stars look amazing. I still don’t feel like I’m leaving in the morning. I feel like tomorrow I could go hang out with kateland-san again, or go get another cookie with Ashleigh. I suppose it won’t hit me until I’m in the airport itself.
Part of me feels awful about leaving. I’m starting to reconsider my previous plans for my college carrier. It’s an ambitious plan but it doesn’t leave much for my social life. I think I’ll cut back; I really want to be here in America more than I originally planned. I made that plan when I was alone, and now that I’m not I don’t know that I want to be away. I think I will handle it just fine, but I don’t know that I want to.
This being said I still think this summer is a good idea, and one I can look back on. I’m very excited to see Yasuko, to live on my own, and to have a roommate and dorm-mates. Of course I’ll have the internet and I’ll keep in touch and two months isn’t that long, I go that long without seeing most of my friends half the time anyway.
This isn’t really a very productive or elegant post, and I considered not posting it at all except that I feel that it is relevant to the journey.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Introduction
“I cannot remember a time when I didn’t want to learn Japanese. Before I knew anything else in the world that I wanted I knew I wanted that. I’m sure my obsession with the country began out of a love for anime, as with most lovers of all things Japanese. But from that simple introduction something more powerful grew. I don’t want to go to
These were the introductory words I wrote to convince some anonymous panel of judges that I deserved to fly half a world’s distance and stay in a place I’ve been fascinated about since I was a child. This summer I go to Japan. This will be the first time I have ever truly left the country (I don’t really think Canada counts), and it will also be the first time I set out on my own, without the shelter of my family. It will be hard, undoubtedly, but all the more worth it for that struggle. I write this blog for those I leave behind, and for myself, in some future place, to look back on and smile.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - St. Augustine
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