Yup, homesickness is really setting in. What’s up with that?!
On the way to class, I rode the baseball train. In addition to the usual advertisements (which have extended from hanging and pasted posters in the trains to covers on the hanging handles and escalator handles), was the train itself, covered on the outside with blue vinyl and pictures of one of the baseball team’s members. Inside the train, the floor has big home plates and third bases (already well-scuffed by people’s feet) and the pasted advertisements have been replaced by individual pictures of players and their numbers. It was actually pretty cool, but I wasn’t able to ride it home, so I hope I will see it again.
Otousan is still at the hospital (for surgery, I think, since the visit is scheduled, not as a result of misfortune) so okaasan and I ate alone again. She made delicious dinner (as always) of salmon, avocado and tomato salad, what could be nabe without the soup, and fish cake (for lack of better word, because I forgot the Japanese for it). She asked about the kabuki I will be going to tomorrow, (to try to figure out dinner arrangements) and after hearing that it was from noon to the evening, she asked to see my ticket. Not yet possessing it, I brought out the shirase (information sheet I received from CJS) and by some crazy chance, okaasan is also going to the same play. She said we probably wouldn’t meet due to seating (and that even Japanese people have a hard time understanding kabuki), and that it was good that CJS had provided me with a background for the story.
Immediately after dinner, okaasan left for the hospital to give otousan a book he had asked for, and I was left alone to watch TV (and do the dishes). I watched an interesting show about cell phone signals which went into really basic physics and had an unrelated anime segment called Mary and Gary (which I was surprised at, because Gary usually translates badly in Japanese). I liked the anime because I could understand it (and Mary had cool clothes). They played Justice’s Stress for part of the show too, so it’s a hit with me. Afterward, there was a short segment about a mother of three who wears kimono every day. She came up with about five reasons to do so.
I was enjoying the shows so much that I didn’t do the dishes until okaasan got back.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
March 30
It looks like I have the home sickness bad, since everything seems to be reminding me of my friends and family now.
Today was a pretty good day for cars, or things with motors in general. It started out with a yellow lotus on the way to the eki. Then, on the way to lunch, I passed by a Japanese girl with a white helmet (with a pink viser) on what looked like an American motorcycle (she’s my hero now). On the way back from buying lunch, I passed a blue (subaru blue) subaru decked out in so many sponsor stickers that it’s a shame there seems to be no motorcross-worthy space in Nagoya.
As for the day in general, it was pretty interesting. I screwed up my Japanese quiz (of course) though I studied more than usual for it. Afterward, Hanashiro sensei showed us his pictures from his highschool baseball-playing days. He covered his face with the plastic bag he had kept them in while we looked at them.
In shoudo class, we wrote “oto” in a very old style. It was frustrating (and not very pretty). Afterward was history, for which we are fortunate to have another canceled class, due to our instructor becoming the dean of the history department. The term paper for the class, as it turns out, only has to be three pages, and can be on the subject of our choice. I’m pretty happy about that.
After class, I went to CJS to sort out all my financial duties, and the lady who has been helping me made it really easy for me to get my government money (expidited due to my early departure from the country!). I still have to take care of my pension (meaning; sign up, defer, then cancel), but the same lady has offered to call the ward office when I go so that she can communicate with the clerk to explain what I can’t communicate in Japanese if I decide to go alone. Otherwise, I’ll ask okaasan to help me (since I need her to drive me to the office anyway), but not today because she said she was particularly tired from going to the hospital with otousan and doing all sorts of other things.
If all goes well, the Japanese government’s plan will backfire, meaning I will spend less money than I was planning to without their aid. This loophole is easily explained; I have a USD money source that would require full conversion to yen (thus becoming a financial loss if I did not use it to its full value in Japan and had to revert the remains to USD) as well as a source in yen. The source in yen is dwindling, not horribly, but enough to most probably require a portion of the USD source before I leave (the remaining portion would have a better chance of being spent in this form). With the government check, I should be able to subsidize the yen source enough to not need the (higher) USD source. On top of that, it would be nice if I received my (yen) safety deposite in time to use it before returning to the US (this one’s a longer shot). Thanks, Japan, I hope....
Since okaasan had told me she would get home late, I didn’t rush home, and coincidentally, that put me in the neighborhood just as she was pulling the car into the driveway. There was an obaasan across the street, and after saying good evening, I found she was okaasan’s bread-making friend (her bread is delicous, I should know because okaasan gives it to me often). We spoke the slightest as okaasan finished parking, and once I had gone inside, okaasan and obaasan talked about me while they made their transaction.
I came to dinner as usual, but okaasan had made my dinner ahead of time in case she was late, so I didn’t have anything to do, and I watched TV while she made our dinner. I had to eat semi-alone though because she made our (delicious) donburi (a bowl full of rice with meat, vegetables, and egg on top) one at a time. I have to admit though, I’m still not used to the raw egg that’s just put in there for some reason. I think I eat about two or three eggs per day, including the one at breakfast. Speaking of which, in Japan, you can buy them in ten, four, or six-packs, but not dozens. Moving on... we watched figure skating during dinner. It made me think of when I was a kid and I would watch it with my mom. Okaasan said that everyone in China (when the Chinese competetors had their turn) wore make-up, even the guys, because they want to be pretty. “kireihougaii” I felt kind of weird becuse I never wear make-up. D:
Okaasan gave me ichigo and dango (basically a mochi kebab), and when I offered her a dango (since she wasn’t having any) she told me she didn’t like it. I though every Japanese person liked mochi...
After dinner, okaasan went to her room to relax and I watched the rest of the figure skating alone. First of all, if you can wear a tux and figure skate (at the same time), that’s awesome (and exactly what the male gold medalist did). I’m unhappy I missed it (last week). I hope it starts a revolution of guys wearing pants while figure skating, because the tights thing is just weird. Second, the same guy skated to a medly of Seven Nation Army, Harder Better Faster Stronger, and the Kanye West version of HBFS. At times it was pretty cool actually, but for the awesomeness of the music, I was expecting more. I’ll hand it to the guy though for the music.
Today was a pretty good day for cars, or things with motors in general. It started out with a yellow lotus on the way to the eki. Then, on the way to lunch, I passed by a Japanese girl with a white helmet (with a pink viser) on what looked like an American motorcycle (she’s my hero now). On the way back from buying lunch, I passed a blue (subaru blue) subaru decked out in so many sponsor stickers that it’s a shame there seems to be no motorcross-worthy space in Nagoya.
As for the day in general, it was pretty interesting. I screwed up my Japanese quiz (of course) though I studied more than usual for it. Afterward, Hanashiro sensei showed us his pictures from his highschool baseball-playing days. He covered his face with the plastic bag he had kept them in while we looked at them.
In shoudo class, we wrote “oto” in a very old style. It was frustrating (and not very pretty). Afterward was history, for which we are fortunate to have another canceled class, due to our instructor becoming the dean of the history department. The term paper for the class, as it turns out, only has to be three pages, and can be on the subject of our choice. I’m pretty happy about that.
After class, I went to CJS to sort out all my financial duties, and the lady who has been helping me made it really easy for me to get my government money (expidited due to my early departure from the country!). I still have to take care of my pension (meaning; sign up, defer, then cancel), but the same lady has offered to call the ward office when I go so that she can communicate with the clerk to explain what I can’t communicate in Japanese if I decide to go alone. Otherwise, I’ll ask okaasan to help me (since I need her to drive me to the office anyway), but not today because she said she was particularly tired from going to the hospital with otousan and doing all sorts of other things.
If all goes well, the Japanese government’s plan will backfire, meaning I will spend less money than I was planning to without their aid. This loophole is easily explained; I have a USD money source that would require full conversion to yen (thus becoming a financial loss if I did not use it to its full value in Japan and had to revert the remains to USD) as well as a source in yen. The source in yen is dwindling, not horribly, but enough to most probably require a portion of the USD source before I leave (the remaining portion would have a better chance of being spent in this form). With the government check, I should be able to subsidize the yen source enough to not need the (higher) USD source. On top of that, it would be nice if I received my (yen) safety deposite in time to use it before returning to the US (this one’s a longer shot). Thanks, Japan, I hope....
Since okaasan had told me she would get home late, I didn’t rush home, and coincidentally, that put me in the neighborhood just as she was pulling the car into the driveway. There was an obaasan across the street, and after saying good evening, I found she was okaasan’s bread-making friend (her bread is delicous, I should know because okaasan gives it to me often). We spoke the slightest as okaasan finished parking, and once I had gone inside, okaasan and obaasan talked about me while they made their transaction.
I came to dinner as usual, but okaasan had made my dinner ahead of time in case she was late, so I didn’t have anything to do, and I watched TV while she made our dinner. I had to eat semi-alone though because she made our (delicious) donburi (a bowl full of rice with meat, vegetables, and egg on top) one at a time. I have to admit though, I’m still not used to the raw egg that’s just put in there for some reason. I think I eat about two or three eggs per day, including the one at breakfast. Speaking of which, in Japan, you can buy them in ten, four, or six-packs, but not dozens. Moving on... we watched figure skating during dinner. It made me think of when I was a kid and I would watch it with my mom. Okaasan said that everyone in China (when the Chinese competetors had their turn) wore make-up, even the guys, because they want to be pretty. “kireihougaii” I felt kind of weird becuse I never wear make-up. D:
Okaasan gave me ichigo and dango (basically a mochi kebab), and when I offered her a dango (since she wasn’t having any) she told me she didn’t like it. I though every Japanese person liked mochi...
After dinner, okaasan went to her room to relax and I watched the rest of the figure skating alone. First of all, if you can wear a tux and figure skate (at the same time), that’s awesome (and exactly what the male gold medalist did). I’m unhappy I missed it (last week). I hope it starts a revolution of guys wearing pants while figure skating, because the tights thing is just weird. Second, the same guy skated to a medly of Seven Nation Army, Harder Better Faster Stronger, and the Kanye West version of HBFS. At times it was pretty cool actually, but for the awesomeness of the music, I was expecting more. I’ll hand it to the guy though for the music.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
March 29
I guess it was a pretty boring day today, but it had its ups. When I woke up (around 10), I was the only one in the house (it’s easy to figure out, because being a Japanese household, everyone leaves their slippers in the foyer when they switch into their outdoor shoes). I decided to make “yaki tamago,” because okaasan wouldn’t be there to tell me I was putting too much air in my scrambled eggs. d: I thought perhaps that she had taken otousan to the hospital (I’m still not sure when that is), but otousan came home right as I finished my breakfast (and the delicious eclair).
I had a fairly uneventful day of using the internet and doing my laundry, until lunch when otousan made nikuman and miso soup. We watched okaasan’s favorite singing competition show. Afterward, I took my laundry outside to dry in the nice weather. There’s a balcony outside my room, but I’ve never been on it (though that cat has). Today I changed that, and I found that okaasan has a big cistern with at least two tiny fish (that dart away when you look at them) in it!!! It was such a nice day that I left the sliding door open while I did my homework until it got cold. I found myself falling asleep at my desk, so I took a nap too.
When I woke up, it was to my alarm telling me to help okaasan with dinner, but she wasn’t home yet (and otousan had gone out again). A minute later, she was home, so I went down to help her, and she was surprised at how early I was to dinner (though I come at the same time every weekend). We actually talked a bit, about her long day today (I didn’t know it was the last day of the classes she teaches), but when the talk grew a bit slim, she dismissed me to my room to study. I guess I have to be more outspoken, because I would have been happy to keep talking (if only sparsely) while she cooked.
We had delicious curry noodles with stir-fry vegetables, but okaasan was worried I would be disappointed because she thought it was un-spectacular, being a dish she decided to make because she didn’t have the energy to make something else. I wish Japanese people would not put themselves down so much. She and otousan were worried that I hadn’t had enough to eat for lunch or dinner, but I assured them I had. I wish okaasan ate more sweets so that I could make cookies or pancakes for ryoushin. I don’t know what I can do to show my gratitude other than the dishes, but that seems so small.
We talked a bit about school at dinner. Otousan told me about Cambridge University and how English and French people don’t seem to have to speak foreign languages to get into college. He thought it was important to study foreign languages, but also to study the cultures.
After dinner, okaasan showed me the dolls she had brought home since I had said I wanted to accept the offer I had received at her son’s house. There are two, identical other than kimono pattern, and she told me to pick one, to keep. I had a hard time doing so, so she told me to ask again before I left for the US. What am I going to do to show my gratitude?
I had a fairly uneventful day of using the internet and doing my laundry, until lunch when otousan made nikuman and miso soup. We watched okaasan’s favorite singing competition show. Afterward, I took my laundry outside to dry in the nice weather. There’s a balcony outside my room, but I’ve never been on it (though that cat has). Today I changed that, and I found that okaasan has a big cistern with at least two tiny fish (that dart away when you look at them) in it!!! It was such a nice day that I left the sliding door open while I did my homework until it got cold. I found myself falling asleep at my desk, so I took a nap too.
When I woke up, it was to my alarm telling me to help okaasan with dinner, but she wasn’t home yet (and otousan had gone out again). A minute later, she was home, so I went down to help her, and she was surprised at how early I was to dinner (though I come at the same time every weekend). We actually talked a bit, about her long day today (I didn’t know it was the last day of the classes she teaches), but when the talk grew a bit slim, she dismissed me to my room to study. I guess I have to be more outspoken, because I would have been happy to keep talking (if only sparsely) while she cooked.
We had delicious curry noodles with stir-fry vegetables, but okaasan was worried I would be disappointed because she thought it was un-spectacular, being a dish she decided to make because she didn’t have the energy to make something else. I wish Japanese people would not put themselves down so much. She and otousan were worried that I hadn’t had enough to eat for lunch or dinner, but I assured them I had. I wish okaasan ate more sweets so that I could make cookies or pancakes for ryoushin. I don’t know what I can do to show my gratitude other than the dishes, but that seems so small.
We talked a bit about school at dinner. Otousan told me about Cambridge University and how English and French people don’t seem to have to speak foreign languages to get into college. He thought it was important to study foreign languages, but also to study the cultures.
After dinner, okaasan showed me the dolls she had brought home since I had said I wanted to accept the offer I had received at her son’s house. There are two, identical other than kimono pattern, and she told me to pick one, to keep. I had a hard time doing so, so she told me to ask again before I left for the US. What am I going to do to show my gratitude?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
March 28
It was an interesting day today. I felt pretty successful for getting all of the things I wanted to do around the house (except laundry and skype) done around 11:00 before leaving for the day. When I told okaasan I wanted to get going, she told me it was not a good thing to stick around the house all day, so I guess she was supporting me. She also gave me advice about taking a taxi or walking home if I missed the last train. I think otousan has already left for the hospital, so that’s probably why she didn’t offer to pick me up if I missed my last train (she doesn’t feel safe driving at night).
After leaving, my first stop was Osu. It was the big end-of-the-month flea market, so there were tons of stands in front of the shrine mostly selling old kimonos and Japanese “antiques.” There were a few (but more than usual) gaijin in the market, which made me kind of uncomfortable, surprisingly. I feel like I get lumped into the stereotypes from the Japanese perspective when there are other foreigners around. One time, a clerk spoke to me in English, though I was speaking to her in Japanese. I always feel kind of weird when that happens because I feel like I’m failing so badly the clerk thinks they have to speak English to me. Anyway, I had to keep myself from buying lots of textiles products by finding their flaws, because I was really interested in all the kimono.
As usual, I didn’t buy anything but foods at Osu. I did, however, find the one small, secluded street of China town. It’s like a covered ally which also opens onto the arcade and other than a small supermarket, rather uninteresting.
After Osu, I went to Nagoya station to explore the Meitetsu mall, but since everything was designer-labeled (I saw Jimmy Chuu’s, which are really boring, if you ask me) I couldn’t afford anything and soon lost interest. My solution was to go to Sakae. That wasn’t very successful either, because all I found was the design building. I must admit, it’s a really interesting, 20-ish story building, but if you’re not shopping at the Loft (I guess it’s like Ikea, maybe) it seems pretty empty. The Loft is kind of cool because you can find all sorts of trendy, gadget-y household supplies/appliances, but since I won’t be stocking a house in Japan, I really have no use for the clocks, lamps, plants, linens, dish ware, and other things they sell. In the end, I decided to ride the numerous escalators until I got to the seventh floor, where there was a bridge in the middle of the building where I could take interesting (or so I thought) pictures. I ran out of time soon after, so I made my way back to the Sakae station.
I was worried for a bit about getting lost on the way back, but by chance, I found a stairway that seemed to lead into the ground and recognized the kanji for the chikatetsu. I had to walk for a while through the underground mall, but I eventually came upon the subway itself, and met my friends at Rokubanchoeki to walk to Mike’s host parents’ sushia.
There, we had our monthly all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink, all-you-can-sing evening. It was just the two Annas, Mikes, and myself besides the Japanese guests. Everyone seemed to have tuned down the drinking this time, but we still had a ton of fun singing (at times horribly) Japanese and English songs. I got a lot of compliments for the Nakashima Mika and Blue Hearts songs. :D Mike tried to get me to eat a type of shellfish sushi, but I was reluctant to eat uncooked shellfish. I agreed to eat it if Mike ate half first, but he ended up going to the bathroom to spit it out. I tried to bite into the second half, but being physically unable to do so, didn’t bother to try to eat it. I’m still wondering why people eat it.
Afterward, Anna and I walked back to the station to go home. I was able to catch my last train (though I had to wait quite a bit for it) and I called my host mom to let her know (as well as let her know she didn’t need to wait). On the train home, there were two Japanese guys with leather coats (the kind I really want to buy) and guitar cases. I guess the band has to catch the last train too...
At home, okaasan seemed kind of busy with paperwork (and not too troubled by my return). I put the eclair I had bought (but not had the chance to eat) in the fridge and went up to bed without much conversation.
After leaving, my first stop was Osu. It was the big end-of-the-month flea market, so there were tons of stands in front of the shrine mostly selling old kimonos and Japanese “antiques.” There were a few (but more than usual) gaijin in the market, which made me kind of uncomfortable, surprisingly. I feel like I get lumped into the stereotypes from the Japanese perspective when there are other foreigners around. One time, a clerk spoke to me in English, though I was speaking to her in Japanese. I always feel kind of weird when that happens because I feel like I’m failing so badly the clerk thinks they have to speak English to me. Anyway, I had to keep myself from buying lots of textiles products by finding their flaws, because I was really interested in all the kimono.
As usual, I didn’t buy anything but foods at Osu. I did, however, find the one small, secluded street of China town. It’s like a covered ally which also opens onto the arcade and other than a small supermarket, rather uninteresting.
After Osu, I went to Nagoya station to explore the Meitetsu mall, but since everything was designer-labeled (I saw Jimmy Chuu’s, which are really boring, if you ask me) I couldn’t afford anything and soon lost interest. My solution was to go to Sakae. That wasn’t very successful either, because all I found was the design building. I must admit, it’s a really interesting, 20-ish story building, but if you’re not shopping at the Loft (I guess it’s like Ikea, maybe) it seems pretty empty. The Loft is kind of cool because you can find all sorts of trendy, gadget-y household supplies/appliances, but since I won’t be stocking a house in Japan, I really have no use for the clocks, lamps, plants, linens, dish ware, and other things they sell. In the end, I decided to ride the numerous escalators until I got to the seventh floor, where there was a bridge in the middle of the building where I could take interesting (or so I thought) pictures. I ran out of time soon after, so I made my way back to the Sakae station.
I was worried for a bit about getting lost on the way back, but by chance, I found a stairway that seemed to lead into the ground and recognized the kanji for the chikatetsu. I had to walk for a while through the underground mall, but I eventually came upon the subway itself, and met my friends at Rokubanchoeki to walk to Mike’s host parents’ sushia.
There, we had our monthly all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink, all-you-can-sing evening. It was just the two Annas, Mikes, and myself besides the Japanese guests. Everyone seemed to have tuned down the drinking this time, but we still had a ton of fun singing (at times horribly) Japanese and English songs. I got a lot of compliments for the Nakashima Mika and Blue Hearts songs. :D Mike tried to get me to eat a type of shellfish sushi, but I was reluctant to eat uncooked shellfish. I agreed to eat it if Mike ate half first, but he ended up going to the bathroom to spit it out. I tried to bite into the second half, but being physically unable to do so, didn’t bother to try to eat it. I’m still wondering why people eat it.
Afterward, Anna and I walked back to the station to go home. I was able to catch my last train (though I had to wait quite a bit for it) and I called my host mom to let her know (as well as let her know she didn’t need to wait). On the train home, there were two Japanese guys with leather coats (the kind I really want to buy) and guitar cases. I guess the band has to catch the last train too...
At home, okaasan seemed kind of busy with paperwork (and not too troubled by my return). I put the eclair I had bought (but not had the chance to eat) in the fridge and went up to bed without much conversation.
Friday, March 27, 2009
March 27
I’ve been a bit stressed over the last few days. I’ll give some highlights, seeing as this is written after the fact.
I received a postcard in the mail a few days ago reminding me again that I had to pay my health insurance. Finding my time short, I resolved to go to the bank today after my first class, regardless of whether it would make me late to my next. However, yesterday, I received another piece of official mail I did not understand. I got very upset because I knew if I asked my host mother what it was, she would tell me to ask CJS (as always, so I might as well just wait until the following day to deal with it) as well as because I was sick of dealing with Japanese bureaucracies and paying them money. I also had a test to take the next morning, so I wasn’t in the mood.
I made sure I was up early enough to catch the first of the two trains I alternatively ride to school, which resulted in okaasan being a bit surprised (I showed up five whole minutes early to breakfast). Before I left, okaasan asked if I would be home as usual (since it was Friday and I might go out with my friends) and she was surprised at the “yes” I gave her.
At school, I inquired about my mail, and apparently, it is for government-issued money due to the bad economy (given to both Japanese citizens and foreign ones). The lady who has been helping me with my other money matters was equally helpful (and surprised with the speed at which I received the mail). She said she would inquire about it, and with that worry resolved, I took my test.
After the test (and three hours of class that pursued), I headed off for the bank. The thing about Japanese banks is; they close at three every day. Yes, every day, not just Friday, or even Saturday, EVERYDAY. So, I started off (using the map I obtained from the CJS office) in what I thought was the right direction. At one point, I began to worry that I might have gotten lost, so I found a keisatsu (police man) and asked directions. He was very helpful (and gave me the directions I needed), but when I asked him where we were on the map I had, he couldn’t exactly answer me. Conclusion; the innovation of street names (not usually employed by Japan) is one of the best for city planning. I did manage to get to the bank on foot in a bit less than half of an hour. When I got there though, I had to wait another half-hour (until the number on the card I took near the teller window was called) behind about ten other waiting people. Observation; Japanese banks appear understaffed. The transaction itself was rather smooth (taking about five minutes including the time it took the teller to assist another customer in the middle of my transaction), but I was a bit unhappy when the teller seemed to default to the customer assistance phone number in response to my question about having to pay more (for health insurance) in the following months. I didn’t really care though, because the lady at CJS told me I would receive another postcard if I had to pay more, so I’ll be leaving it up to the bank to deal with it.
After walking back to school, I had my long (boring) culture class, and headed home. Okaasan had made nabe, which I like a lot. She and otousan discussed his trip to and time at the hospital that were fast approaching. They mentioned bringing CD’s and something about an iPod, so I offered to lend mine to otousan while he was away, but he declined. Okaasan also gave me a gift at dinner. She had sewed a large, fabric item (for lack of better word) for me which has hina ningyou on it. I think she did it by hand too, because I haven’t seen (or heard) a sewing machine. It’s really pretty and I like it a lot, which I told her many times, though she said she didn’t know if I would or not. When she commented on me being home on Friday night, Okaasan also said that the previous host student seemed to be out every weekend and didn’t come back until the morning because she was always out at the clubs with her friends. I tried to defend myself by telling her the truth; that I don’t drink, so I feel kind of out of place with the people who go, but she told me I could dance and not drink, as a way of encouraging me. I’m still not really sold on the idea, since I’m not really outgoing (and feel stupid dancing, for the most part) and it seems to cost a lot to get into (and the train to) clubs.
After dinner, we watched a documentary on middle school students and singing the song, Tegami, by a singer I can’t remember. It seems the anxiety of the future hits Japanese students in middle school instead of high school, which seems to be the case in the US. We watched figure skating too, and then the news, which included a report on North Korea. Okaasan said it was scary, but I had a hard time being worried about North Korea, due to the fact that there always seems to be something to hear about the country and their military from the media.
I received a postcard in the mail a few days ago reminding me again that I had to pay my health insurance. Finding my time short, I resolved to go to the bank today after my first class, regardless of whether it would make me late to my next. However, yesterday, I received another piece of official mail I did not understand. I got very upset because I knew if I asked my host mother what it was, she would tell me to ask CJS (as always, so I might as well just wait until the following day to deal with it) as well as because I was sick of dealing with Japanese bureaucracies and paying them money. I also had a test to take the next morning, so I wasn’t in the mood.
I made sure I was up early enough to catch the first of the two trains I alternatively ride to school, which resulted in okaasan being a bit surprised (I showed up five whole minutes early to breakfast). Before I left, okaasan asked if I would be home as usual (since it was Friday and I might go out with my friends) and she was surprised at the “yes” I gave her.
At school, I inquired about my mail, and apparently, it is for government-issued money due to the bad economy (given to both Japanese citizens and foreign ones). The lady who has been helping me with my other money matters was equally helpful (and surprised with the speed at which I received the mail). She said she would inquire about it, and with that worry resolved, I took my test.
After the test (and three hours of class that pursued), I headed off for the bank. The thing about Japanese banks is; they close at three every day. Yes, every day, not just Friday, or even Saturday, EVERYDAY. So, I started off (using the map I obtained from the CJS office) in what I thought was the right direction. At one point, I began to worry that I might have gotten lost, so I found a keisatsu (police man) and asked directions. He was very helpful (and gave me the directions I needed), but when I asked him where we were on the map I had, he couldn’t exactly answer me. Conclusion; the innovation of street names (not usually employed by Japan) is one of the best for city planning. I did manage to get to the bank on foot in a bit less than half of an hour. When I got there though, I had to wait another half-hour (until the number on the card I took near the teller window was called) behind about ten other waiting people. Observation; Japanese banks appear understaffed. The transaction itself was rather smooth (taking about five minutes including the time it took the teller to assist another customer in the middle of my transaction), but I was a bit unhappy when the teller seemed to default to the customer assistance phone number in response to my question about having to pay more (for health insurance) in the following months. I didn’t really care though, because the lady at CJS told me I would receive another postcard if I had to pay more, so I’ll be leaving it up to the bank to deal with it.
After walking back to school, I had my long (boring) culture class, and headed home. Okaasan had made nabe, which I like a lot. She and otousan discussed his trip to and time at the hospital that were fast approaching. They mentioned bringing CD’s and something about an iPod, so I offered to lend mine to otousan while he was away, but he declined. Okaasan also gave me a gift at dinner. She had sewed a large, fabric item (for lack of better word) for me which has hina ningyou on it. I think she did it by hand too, because I haven’t seen (or heard) a sewing machine. It’s really pretty and I like it a lot, which I told her many times, though she said she didn’t know if I would or not. When she commented on me being home on Friday night, Okaasan also said that the previous host student seemed to be out every weekend and didn’t come back until the morning because she was always out at the clubs with her friends. I tried to defend myself by telling her the truth; that I don’t drink, so I feel kind of out of place with the people who go, but she told me I could dance and not drink, as a way of encouraging me. I’m still not really sold on the idea, since I’m not really outgoing (and feel stupid dancing, for the most part) and it seems to cost a lot to get into (and the train to) clubs.
After dinner, we watched a documentary on middle school students and singing the song, Tegami, by a singer I can’t remember. It seems the anxiety of the future hits Japanese students in middle school instead of high school, which seems to be the case in the US. We watched figure skating too, and then the news, which included a report on North Korea. Okaasan said it was scary, but I had a hard time being worried about North Korea, due to the fact that there always seems to be something to hear about the country and their military from the media.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
March 24
So, today was a pretty normal day. I was almost going to skip it in terms of writing, but dinner flipped the day around. Okaasan made lasagna, half without cheese just for me. I was really touched and impressed, seeing as lasagna seems to be about 50% cheese.
We watched the news during dinner since Japan has been playing in the world baseball series; yesterday against America and today against Korea. Japan won both, and it looked like fun to be in the crowds cheering on Ichiro and the other famous players. Maybe I’ll get a chance to go to a smaller game while I’m here, but somehow, I don’t think it will be exciting compared to the world series.
After dinner, I was going to do the dishes as usual, but the sink was clogged, and I wasn’t sure what to do since I didn’t think there was a garbage disposal, so I asked okaasan, and she (showing it to be a really simple task) pushed everything down the drain, and then pulled out the bucket full of food below. She called me a princess and I felt like crap, seeing as in English, the term is pretty much synonymous with stuck-up yuppie girl. I told her I wasn’t sure what to do since we had a garbage disposal at my house, and she told me that they are (or maybe the bucket was) too convenient and that Japanese households were poor and you had to use your head (perhaps, or perhaps not with the undertone of ‘instead of your money’). I felt hurt and a bit angry, but I made sure not to show it. When I was done with the dishes, I went upstairs to do homework, and then back downstairs to try to apply for housing for the fall. Of course, that didn’t work either, due to what may be technical errors. It took a long time to get nowhere with the process, and afterward I went to take a shower.
Of course, in the shower, I had my breakdown. When you think about it, the shower is a good place to do so, since the water is pretty loud and you really can legitimately say “I’m not crying, it’s just raining... on my face.” (For those of you who can appreciate the reference). Getting back to the matter, I was feeling pretty bad about pretty much everything; I was wondering what possessed me to think I could be a good daughter to someone other than my own parents, thinking that my host mother didn’t like me and that the things I did to try to help were only making her more uncomfortable so I didn’t know how to please her, I was wondering which of my host parents really wanted me to be their host student (since my classmates have been talking about having one person in their host families who obviously wanted to host them, and the other members of the family only tagging along), I was frustrated that my Japanese doesn’t seem to be improving and I can’t understand the language, I thought it would be better if I had spent the semester in the states so I could keep my dorm room and my mind sharp at science and math, I wanted my family and friends and my school as well as a hug, I didn’t want to be here with my luke-warm friends who seem so obsessed with dirty jokes and drinking constantly, I wanted out of the beurocracy, not to have to try to pay my health insurance without understanding the clerk, not to have professors that seem so fake, not to go to gray concrete buildings every day. I’m really wondering why I’m here anymore. Clearly, I’m not learning much more Japanese than I would from the textbook. I can’t make Japanese friends because they’re so busy trying to get jobs in this horrible market. I just want to go home where I can speak and understand, go to school, hold a job or internship, and feel useful.
We watched the news during dinner since Japan has been playing in the world baseball series; yesterday against America and today against Korea. Japan won both, and it looked like fun to be in the crowds cheering on Ichiro and the other famous players. Maybe I’ll get a chance to go to a smaller game while I’m here, but somehow, I don’t think it will be exciting compared to the world series.
After dinner, I was going to do the dishes as usual, but the sink was clogged, and I wasn’t sure what to do since I didn’t think there was a garbage disposal, so I asked okaasan, and she (showing it to be a really simple task) pushed everything down the drain, and then pulled out the bucket full of food below. She called me a princess and I felt like crap, seeing as in English, the term is pretty much synonymous with stuck-up yuppie girl. I told her I wasn’t sure what to do since we had a garbage disposal at my house, and she told me that they are (or maybe the bucket was) too convenient and that Japanese households were poor and you had to use your head (perhaps, or perhaps not with the undertone of ‘instead of your money’). I felt hurt and a bit angry, but I made sure not to show it. When I was done with the dishes, I went upstairs to do homework, and then back downstairs to try to apply for housing for the fall. Of course, that didn’t work either, due to what may be technical errors. It took a long time to get nowhere with the process, and afterward I went to take a shower.
Of course, in the shower, I had my breakdown. When you think about it, the shower is a good place to do so, since the water is pretty loud and you really can legitimately say “I’m not crying, it’s just raining... on my face.” (For those of you who can appreciate the reference). Getting back to the matter, I was feeling pretty bad about pretty much everything; I was wondering what possessed me to think I could be a good daughter to someone other than my own parents, thinking that my host mother didn’t like me and that the things I did to try to help were only making her more uncomfortable so I didn’t know how to please her, I was wondering which of my host parents really wanted me to be their host student (since my classmates have been talking about having one person in their host families who obviously wanted to host them, and the other members of the family only tagging along), I was frustrated that my Japanese doesn’t seem to be improving and I can’t understand the language, I thought it would be better if I had spent the semester in the states so I could keep my dorm room and my mind sharp at science and math, I wanted my family and friends and my school as well as a hug, I didn’t want to be here with my luke-warm friends who seem so obsessed with dirty jokes and drinking constantly, I wanted out of the beurocracy, not to have to try to pay my health insurance without understanding the clerk, not to have professors that seem so fake, not to go to gray concrete buildings every day. I’m really wondering why I’m here anymore. Clearly, I’m not learning much more Japanese than I would from the textbook. I can’t make Japanese friends because they’re so busy trying to get jobs in this horrible market. I just want to go home where I can speak and understand, go to school, hold a job or internship, and feel useful.
Monday, March 23, 2009
March 23
I woke up an hour late today, and when I looked at my watch, I didn’t believe it. I rushed downstairs where okaasan didn’t even seem phased. I told her I had overslept, but after confirming that I was alright because class would start an hour later than usual, it was business as usual. I did get a sending off from both of my host parents though (otousan is usually doing something else when I leave) which was rather nice.
It was really windy today and at one point, it was so much so that it was hard to walk. Despite this, I made it to Kakuozan (half an hour early) fine. Today, my Japanese class would be interviewing shop clerks in groups of threes. I memorized the wrong part of the interview, but it was alright in the end. There was a TV camera crew that followed the class for a while, since they wanted to report on us for some reason.
We started our day by visiting the Buddhist shrine there which housed artifacts from Taiwan including a taiko and wooden Buddha. We were able to see the Buddhist equivalent of mass, which seemed to consist of chanting and circular walking paths. Afterward, we walked back to the shops (past many curry restaurants and advertisements involving elephants) for the interviews. But, in my group’s case, we walked around for about an hour since our interviewee didn’t usually open his old book shop until 12:00, but was opening a half-hour early for us. When we did get to the shop though, it was amazing. The interview was a bit rocky, but the owner was very quiet and patient, so we didn’t feel nervous.
The shop is called Cesta, which comes from a Czech word and the owner goes on international trips twice per year to stock his store. His customers also sell books to him. But, in addition to books (and coffee to drink while you read his books) he has many other interesting things for sale. Since he has artistic friends, he sells their CD’s and decorates his shop with original illustrations and paper mobiles (that may or may not be for sale). He also sells market-style goods from other countries like Russian pins, Czech caution signs, postcards, old-style prints, records, and other really interesting things you wouldn’t find in franchised stores. Unlike an American used item store though, everything is very clean, and has a kind of artsy atmosphere. I really want to go back just to shop a bit.
After our exciting outing, it was back to campus for calligraphy. It was so-so as usual and the rest of the day was pretty normal. Okaasan made curry from the leftover food from last night. I think curry is the Asian comfort food, or at least it has become for me. I think I could get my money’s worth of curry tabehoudai if I could find it. I brought up Kakuozan at dinner, and it made a bit of conversation.
After dinner, okaasan and otousan started talking about their plans while I am here (probably to figure out when we can go on a trip together). Otousan will have to go to the hospital somewhere around the end of this month or the beginning of the next for his eyes. We started talking about when I would go back to the US and I got a chance to talk quite a bit with otousan about science, since I told him I had to go back to the US immediately after exams to take a summer course for my major. I think it’s one of the most substantial conversations we’ve had. Unfortunately, okaasan couldn’t get in on the conversation because we started talking about science a bit after she had left to answer the front door, and by the time she came back, we were finished (and otousan left the room).
It was really windy today and at one point, it was so much so that it was hard to walk. Despite this, I made it to Kakuozan (half an hour early) fine. Today, my Japanese class would be interviewing shop clerks in groups of threes. I memorized the wrong part of the interview, but it was alright in the end. There was a TV camera crew that followed the class for a while, since they wanted to report on us for some reason.
We started our day by visiting the Buddhist shrine there which housed artifacts from Taiwan including a taiko and wooden Buddha. We were able to see the Buddhist equivalent of mass, which seemed to consist of chanting and circular walking paths. Afterward, we walked back to the shops (past many curry restaurants and advertisements involving elephants) for the interviews. But, in my group’s case, we walked around for about an hour since our interviewee didn’t usually open his old book shop until 12:00, but was opening a half-hour early for us. When we did get to the shop though, it was amazing. The interview was a bit rocky, but the owner was very quiet and patient, so we didn’t feel nervous.
The shop is called Cesta, which comes from a Czech word and the owner goes on international trips twice per year to stock his store. His customers also sell books to him. But, in addition to books (and coffee to drink while you read his books) he has many other interesting things for sale. Since he has artistic friends, he sells their CD’s and decorates his shop with original illustrations and paper mobiles (that may or may not be for sale). He also sells market-style goods from other countries like Russian pins, Czech caution signs, postcards, old-style prints, records, and other really interesting things you wouldn’t find in franchised stores. Unlike an American used item store though, everything is very clean, and has a kind of artsy atmosphere. I really want to go back just to shop a bit.
After our exciting outing, it was back to campus for calligraphy. It was so-so as usual and the rest of the day was pretty normal. Okaasan made curry from the leftover food from last night. I think curry is the Asian comfort food, or at least it has become for me. I think I could get my money’s worth of curry tabehoudai if I could find it. I brought up Kakuozan at dinner, and it made a bit of conversation.
After dinner, okaasan and otousan started talking about their plans while I am here (probably to figure out when we can go on a trip together). Otousan will have to go to the hospital somewhere around the end of this month or the beginning of the next for his eyes. We started talking about when I would go back to the US and I got a chance to talk quite a bit with otousan about science, since I told him I had to go back to the US immediately after exams to take a summer course for my major. I think it’s one of the most substantial conversations we’ve had. Unfortunately, okaasan couldn’t get in on the conversation because we started talking about science a bit after she had left to answer the front door, and by the time she came back, we were finished (and otousan left the room).
Update
The image errors should be fixed now. I`ve uploaded all of my pictures from the last week of vacation too. The previously unshared Tokyo blogs are typed and will be uploaded soon. I`ll share the dates when I upload them so you don`t have to search through pages of entries to find them (the one about the Ghibli museum will be worth reading).
Nine more weeks...
Nine more weeks...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
March 22
It wasn’t a very eventful day today. For the most part, I caught up on internet photo and blog entries. Oh, did you notice that half of the Tokyo entries are still not up?
Other than that, ryoushin’s other son and granddaughter came over. I was determined to be more involved this time, but their granddaughter didn’t like me at all (she wouldn’t look at me and got kind of bent out of shape), so I didn’t get much of a chance really. We had dinner together, but I wasn’t able to join the (sparse) conversation because I couldn’t follow. I did catch some Nagoyaben from their granddaughter though. If you say “nani” with stress on the ni, it’s Nagoyaben!
I have to say though, that okaasan made the salty bacon I had once with the students from the dorm as well as dango (some kind of flattened meatball) and they were delicious. After dinner, ryoushin went with their son and granddaughter to drive them home. When they returned, okaasan brought me tea to my room. I was touched, but when she gave me the option of drinking it there or in the living room with her and otousan, I wanted the more familial option.
Culture Notes Update:
Japanese people carry paper bags (the fancy type with thin handles that you get from more expensive shops) on a regular basis not because they do a lot of shopping and always come home with a purchase, but because it is convenient to use them as day-to-day bags. I think that a lot of the time, they use them to carry their lunches (especially at my university), books, etc. or consolidate their purchases when they do make them. (I’ve come to follow in suit). It’s also convenient if you carry your lunch in them because you can throw the bag away (in the designated bin) when you are done. I think it’s also partially because they look more classy than grocery store plastic bags, and the Japanese are all about looking classy.
There is a big market catering to those who have forgotten their umbrellas. At konbinis, supa-’s, and depaato, (convenience shops, supermarkets, and department stores) you can find 500en, clear-plastic umbrellas with white handles. They are all the same, and they are very prevalent. The also tend to mold (as I have seen often) and become brownish near the end opposite of the handle.
Recently, we had to bring two interesting things to class for conversation with Japanese students. Our professor gave the best bizarre finds. First was what looked like a flattened plastic spoon with a slit in the middle. Apparently, its use was to squeeze the last of a liquid from a tear-and-pour bag. The bag goes in the slit, and you slide the plastic “spoon” down the length of the bag. Her second example was a case made to hold one banana.
Okaasan says that even Japanese people don’t like macha (green tea), probably because it is bitter. (I prefer the taste and let her know)
P.S. I just had a real Japanese thought. I was trying to think of what to entitle part of my expense report and I was thinking of Japanese words instead of English ones without noticing it. :D (9:55pm)
Other than that, ryoushin’s other son and granddaughter came over. I was determined to be more involved this time, but their granddaughter didn’t like me at all (she wouldn’t look at me and got kind of bent out of shape), so I didn’t get much of a chance really. We had dinner together, but I wasn’t able to join the (sparse) conversation because I couldn’t follow. I did catch some Nagoyaben from their granddaughter though. If you say “nani” with stress on the ni, it’s Nagoyaben!
I have to say though, that okaasan made the salty bacon I had once with the students from the dorm as well as dango (some kind of flattened meatball) and they were delicious. After dinner, ryoushin went with their son and granddaughter to drive them home. When they returned, okaasan brought me tea to my room. I was touched, but when she gave me the option of drinking it there or in the living room with her and otousan, I wanted the more familial option.
Culture Notes Update:
Japanese people carry paper bags (the fancy type with thin handles that you get from more expensive shops) on a regular basis not because they do a lot of shopping and always come home with a purchase, but because it is convenient to use them as day-to-day bags. I think that a lot of the time, they use them to carry their lunches (especially at my university), books, etc. or consolidate their purchases when they do make them. (I’ve come to follow in suit). It’s also convenient if you carry your lunch in them because you can throw the bag away (in the designated bin) when you are done. I think it’s also partially because they look more classy than grocery store plastic bags, and the Japanese are all about looking classy.
There is a big market catering to those who have forgotten their umbrellas. At konbinis, supa-’s, and depaato, (convenience shops, supermarkets, and department stores) you can find 500en, clear-plastic umbrellas with white handles. They are all the same, and they are very prevalent. The also tend to mold (as I have seen often) and become brownish near the end opposite of the handle.
Recently, we had to bring two interesting things to class for conversation with Japanese students. Our professor gave the best bizarre finds. First was what looked like a flattened plastic spoon with a slit in the middle. Apparently, its use was to squeeze the last of a liquid from a tear-and-pour bag. The bag goes in the slit, and you slide the plastic “spoon” down the length of the bag. Her second example was a case made to hold one banana.
Okaasan says that even Japanese people don’t like macha (green tea), probably because it is bitter. (I prefer the taste and let her know)
P.S. I just had a real Japanese thought. I was trying to think of what to entitle part of my expense report and I was thinking of Japanese words instead of English ones without noticing it. :D (9:55pm)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
March 21
I woke up around 1 from exhaustion and went downstairs to find okaasan reading the paper. I said konnichiwa, and she told me that only ohayou is used in a household and that saying konnichiwa (or konbanwa, which I say to Otousan when I come to dinner and find him sitting at the table) makes me seem like a stranger. Then, she gave me (a well-deserved) talk about how I handled myself yesterday in informing her about my early arrival. She had stayed up to wait for me (which in retrospect, I clearly should have told her I’d be fine if she didn’t) and I had made ryoushin worry quite a bit about my return and whether I would catch my last train or need to be picked up, especially since otousan had his weekend sake and okaasan’s vision isn’t good for night driving. Okaasan said she wanted to make my bed for me, but since I keep so neat and organized, she interpreted it as being particular and was afraid to go in my room to do it because I might be troubled by her changing something. I ended up crying, mostly because I felt so bad for causing all this trouble but also partially because all of the emotion from the last week that was restrained by the necessity of good judgement under stress seemed to hit me finally. I was also feeling horrible because I hadn’t thought much about the inconvenience of my host family when I changed my plans to come home a day early, so I felt really selfish and like a bad host student. It really showed me a lot about myself. It makes me think that I probably would be better off living in a dorm because I feel like I can get most things done myself, my plans are very last-minute, and I’m just making it harder for the people who are responsible for me by trying to do everything as a unit of one.
Of course, the talk had a lot to do with me needing to do more communicating (from this experience, obviously, that’s turned into a big problem), and I resolved to call much more often. The talk ended with okaasan telling me to eat breakfast, but I really couldn’t because I was even more emotional than I was letting okaasan see (which was pretty extreme for me anyway) and I could have just had an emotional catharsis on the spot if I wasn’t afraid of letting okaasan see, not to mention how inappropriate it would be to make her worry any more.
I spent the afternoon sorting through my 900-ish pictures and sleeping. I tried to stay off my knees (which I told okaasan about and subsequently got a medicated bandage of sorts for) in hopes that they would get bette faster. I did my finances too, and was distraught to find I seemed to have lost 600en somehow. D: I hope I find my error soon (and that the error was not actually losing it).
After I did laundry, I tried to help okaasan with dinner, but she thought I was not a very strong person and since I was tired from my travels, told me it was okay if I didn’t. I did what I could though since I feel so horrible about being useless. At dinner, I talked a bit with otousan about my travels and we watched a documentary (with very Japanese-drama-esque dramatizations) on three ancient Egyptian women. It went on for two or three hours, but we only watched a bit during dinner, obviously. After dinner, (but before otousan left as usual) I brought my omiyage to ryoushin. Okaasan was surprised by how many (3) I brought. I would have only brought the momiji from Hiroshima and the triangular mochi from Kyoto, but since Okaasan can’t eat a lot of sweets (and ended up giving me about a third of the Tokyo Bananas I brought last time), I thought it would be impolite to buy only things she had a restriction for. So, I bought her a kind of fancy, Japanese-print hankerchief, which I had seen in the shops used to wrap boxes and tied to be used as bags. I didn’t want to get her something she couldn’t use. She seemed to like it a lot, so I was happy.
After dinner, okaasan made candied grapefruit peels. She made them from Japanese grapefruits, which are drier than American ones, which makes them even better for eating like an orange (which I prefer to the complex method). After this, I watched the Egyptian show with okaasan and that was about all the excitement for the day.
Of course, the talk had a lot to do with me needing to do more communicating (from this experience, obviously, that’s turned into a big problem), and I resolved to call much more often. The talk ended with okaasan telling me to eat breakfast, but I really couldn’t because I was even more emotional than I was letting okaasan see (which was pretty extreme for me anyway) and I could have just had an emotional catharsis on the spot if I wasn’t afraid of letting okaasan see, not to mention how inappropriate it would be to make her worry any more.
I spent the afternoon sorting through my 900-ish pictures and sleeping. I tried to stay off my knees (which I told okaasan about and subsequently got a medicated bandage of sorts for) in hopes that they would get bette faster. I did my finances too, and was distraught to find I seemed to have lost 600en somehow. D: I hope I find my error soon (and that the error was not actually losing it).
After I did laundry, I tried to help okaasan with dinner, but she thought I was not a very strong person and since I was tired from my travels, told me it was okay if I didn’t. I did what I could though since I feel so horrible about being useless. At dinner, I talked a bit with otousan about my travels and we watched a documentary (with very Japanese-drama-esque dramatizations) on three ancient Egyptian women. It went on for two or three hours, but we only watched a bit during dinner, obviously. After dinner, (but before otousan left as usual) I brought my omiyage to ryoushin. Okaasan was surprised by how many (3) I brought. I would have only brought the momiji from Hiroshima and the triangular mochi from Kyoto, but since Okaasan can’t eat a lot of sweets (and ended up giving me about a third of the Tokyo Bananas I brought last time), I thought it would be impolite to buy only things she had a restriction for. So, I bought her a kind of fancy, Japanese-print hankerchief, which I had seen in the shops used to wrap boxes and tied to be used as bags. I didn’t want to get her something she couldn’t use. She seemed to like it a lot, so I was happy.
After dinner, okaasan made candied grapefruit peels. She made them from Japanese grapefruits, which are drier than American ones, which makes them even better for eating like an orange (which I prefer to the complex method). After this, I watched the Egyptian show with okaasan and that was about all the excitement for the day.
Things I Learned from this Trip
1 I need new shoes (preferably ones with amazing soles and soft inner uppers)
2 My body has limitations more restraining than my ambitions.
3 Otaku and tourist groups are bothersome.
4 Making noise with one’s tongue piercing and whistling are really annoying.
5 Being stared at and getting no response (other than from strangers) upon inquiring as to why is also really annoying.
6 Making decisions by oneself involving someone else with no opinion (often executive decisions) is exhausting
7 Going on holiday with person(s) who can not go into a holiday mindset (temporarily suspend unrelated/unnecessary concerns) is not fun
8 Informing those who are involved but not present of changes in plans is as important as solving the problems that cause those changes.
2 My body has limitations more restraining than my ambitions.
3 Otaku and tourist groups are bothersome.
4 Making noise with one’s tongue piercing and whistling are really annoying.
5 Being stared at and getting no response (other than from strangers) upon inquiring as to why is also really annoying.
6 Making decisions by oneself involving someone else with no opinion (often executive decisions) is exhausting
7 Going on holiday with person(s) who can not go into a holiday mindset (temporarily suspend unrelated/unnecessary concerns) is not fun
8 Informing those who are involved but not present of changes in plans is as important as solving the problems that cause those changes.
Friday, March 20, 2009
March 20
I woke up around five in the karaoke room to one of the employees opening the door to see if we were alright (allegedly from the light being off). Shortly after, the phone in the room rang to remind us of the 6:00 cutoff. We grabbed our stuff and went downstairs to pay, then made the long walk to Kyoto eki to buy our train tickets home. First though, we dropped all of our stuff (which had grown significantly over the week) in a locker. Ticket-buying went pretty smoothly, and I even got to use my waribiki (which I now understand is only for trains). Unfortunately, Christian didn’t ever get one, so he didn’t benefit from it, but the difference was about 400en, so he wasn’t terribly affected. He also left the poster for the onsen trip in the locker though, so we had a few minutes of frustration before he remembered he had taken a picture of the copy on the hostel wall and it was on my camera. He did have to walk all the way back to the hostel to buy the ticket though because it was a local train line (which didn’t have a platform at Kyoto eki).
I departed for byoudo-in and he for the hostel. We were both a bit nervous about becoming lost on our own, but when I got to my stop, I just asked the station master where to go, and it was fairly simple. In fact, everywhere I went, I just asked questions and I was fine. Byoudo-in was kind of disappointing, but worth the change of pace. The area around it is quiet and I was one of very few foreign visitors. Byoudo-in itself was much smaller than I imagined and looked in disrepair as compared to the pictures in books. I didn’t go in (judging from the outside and the extra cost), but I don’t think I missed out. There was a museum on the grounds that had a lot of the kinds of statues that would be inside the shrine, but it was small too. The routes in the area were really hard to follow (I found myself going through the museum backward) but no one bothered me about it, so it was pleasant backward too. My camera batteries started punking out though, so I had to resort to my spent ones, which miraculously came back to life. Before I got on my return train, I stopped in a small shop where the proprietor was very personable and asked me about my trip. I felt very much at ease.
When I got back to Kyoto, I still had time before I had planned to meet back up with Christian, so I decided to look for one of the stores in the shopping district that we had not been able to go into because of the time of night. Going alone, I had no problem finding the place (amazingly), but I had to ask a cop for directions back to the river.
I decided to go back to the giant pagoda we had found by chance to buy some things I had passed up the first time, when I was finally able to get in touch with Christian (I had been unable to reach him when I attempted before, due to network switching). He seemed ticked (also opinionless and lost) so we agreed to meet at the hostel half an hour later. That was the best twist of fate though, because that gave me time to finish waking down the street in Gion that I was interested in and I had a wonderful oppertunity; two geisha (and a photographer) stopped at the intersection I was coming up to to have a photo shoot. I saw real geisha!!! That made the whole trip for me.
When I did finally meet up with Christian, he apparently could not find the temple with the many statues (that he wanted to see) and had run out of time (he thought) so we decided to go to the pagoda together. First though, we visited another (orange) shrine that I had found, and when we saw people coming out of it with an-filled fish, we had to find them. There were lots of venders inside the shrine and I got my cream-filled fish. After the detour, we returned to our mission of finding the pagoda. We had to find it by chance again because we didn’t know where it was, but we did find the two stores (among others) and we came out of it successfully. The only problem (again) was finding our way back to Kyoto eki by 8:00 to catch our train. I’m not sure if we went in circles or not for a while, but we had a hard time finding the river (which, by the way, was our landmark for almost everything, if you didn’t catch on). We got to the eki with perhaps a half of an hour (somehow) and found our platform (by asking a conductor) rather easily.
We did, however, have some trouble on the train. We accidentally got off of the train one stop too early and I began to worry that I would miss my last train to Nisshin (since I had left a closer station than I would today at an earlier time and missed the last one). We caught the next one, and when we had to make our first real transfer, I recognized the way people were walk-running as a sign that another train would soon depart, so I rushed to the platform with our destination listed (Christan was somewhere behind, and I figured if he was smart, he would catch up), but both sides of the platform had the same names, so we jumped on one and I asked very loudly (because there were so many people on the train that I didn’t choose anyone in particular) if it was going to our particular station, but receiving no answer whatsoever (and getting more nervous about when and where this train would depart), I asked again, and looked at the closest woman as I did so. I had to ask a few times to get a confirming response, but having that, we went to sit in another car where there were empty seats. I was a little concerned that she had just given the quickest answer, so I asked (more composed) the man behind our seat if the train was going where we wanted. I realized then, though, that I was probably being rude and had scared the woman by practically yelling at her (in a place where most people say nothing) and felt pretty bad as a person. It was on this train that Christian told me he was feeling pretty sick. We hadn’t slept long in the karaoke place, and as he told me, he hadn’t eaten anything, so I told him to have some of my pastry, but he refused. I wasn’t feeling very sympathetic, as the only available solution was refused, so I told him to puke in the other direction if he did.
Half an hour later we were getting off to catch our final train to Nagoya. I asked again on the train (less hectically this time) just to be sure, and the guy I asked told me (in Japanese) “of course it’s going to Nagoya.” We did, “of course,” get to Nagoya, where I rushed to my train with a quick good bye to Christian. After catching the Higashiyama line and getting to the station to make my transfer, I found that there were still several trains going to Nisshin (though it was 11:00), and I didn’t understand, since the one time I had missed it, I had left for a closer station at an earlier time (not to mention today was the holiday schedule). Either way, I waited for the next train (letting the limited-stop car pass). It turned out to be a kind of bad idea (though I would think the change of pace of waiting at Fushimi instead of Akaike would be more interesting) because there was a yoparateiru American also waiting. He was talking (the only one among dozens of people) very loudly (and drunkenly, as well as lewdly at times) on his phone about the wedding he was just at, the high seven (actually 8% according to him) he was drinking, his brother’s sickness while visiting him in Japan, the tickets to disney land he won at the wedding, and whatever else. This was fine. What wasn’t fine is when I got on the train and he decided to sit next to me, open his beer (spraying my bags), proceed to talk to me, provoke the Japanese passengers, and later spill his beer on my bag. He was an idiot, to be honest, and fulfilling all the bad Japanese stereotypes about Americans. He even insulted me (though probably not as much as the Japanese girl he stared at while giving the peace sign, which was a way of mocking her distinct fashion choice) by telling me I looked older than I am. He, apparently, works for JET (nice choice there, recruiters) and doesn’t really like his position (or studying) as much as partying. I was very relieved when I finally got to Nisshin, though his impersonation of a southerner was a bit bothersome as I departed. I think I heard him say “she hates me” as I left, and I hope he did.
When I got to the first set of stairs on the walk home, I had a weird feeling where I thought, “I’m going home to okaasan and otousan’s house.” I’m not sure if it was a relief (as in, “I’m going home”) or a realization that I wasn’t going home (to my real house). When I was outside the house (a little after 12) I received a call from Okaasan wondering where I was. I hadn’t called to tell her I had missed my train (I should have at Fushimi, especially since I had the time) and she was wondering where I was. I told her I was outside the house and she seemed a bit confused. Either way, she opened the door for me and let me in, letting me know it was alright to take a shower and that she was sorry but she had fallen (or gone) to sleep. She left for bed and I found a note on my stairs (there’s a staircase that goes only to my room) saying she had gone to bed. I realized (again, after hearing her say she would wait when I called her the first time from Kyoto eki) that I should have told her it was okay to go to bed before I got back. At that point though, I couldn’t do anything, so I put the sheets on my bed and got a great rest.
I departed for byoudo-in and he for the hostel. We were both a bit nervous about becoming lost on our own, but when I got to my stop, I just asked the station master where to go, and it was fairly simple. In fact, everywhere I went, I just asked questions and I was fine. Byoudo-in was kind of disappointing, but worth the change of pace. The area around it is quiet and I was one of very few foreign visitors. Byoudo-in itself was much smaller than I imagined and looked in disrepair as compared to the pictures in books. I didn’t go in (judging from the outside and the extra cost), but I don’t think I missed out. There was a museum on the grounds that had a lot of the kinds of statues that would be inside the shrine, but it was small too. The routes in the area were really hard to follow (I found myself going through the museum backward) but no one bothered me about it, so it was pleasant backward too. My camera batteries started punking out though, so I had to resort to my spent ones, which miraculously came back to life. Before I got on my return train, I stopped in a small shop where the proprietor was very personable and asked me about my trip. I felt very much at ease.
When I got back to Kyoto, I still had time before I had planned to meet back up with Christian, so I decided to look for one of the stores in the shopping district that we had not been able to go into because of the time of night. Going alone, I had no problem finding the place (amazingly), but I had to ask a cop for directions back to the river.
I decided to go back to the giant pagoda we had found by chance to buy some things I had passed up the first time, when I was finally able to get in touch with Christian (I had been unable to reach him when I attempted before, due to network switching). He seemed ticked (also opinionless and lost) so we agreed to meet at the hostel half an hour later. That was the best twist of fate though, because that gave me time to finish waking down the street in Gion that I was interested in and I had a wonderful oppertunity; two geisha (and a photographer) stopped at the intersection I was coming up to to have a photo shoot. I saw real geisha!!! That made the whole trip for me.
When I did finally meet up with Christian, he apparently could not find the temple with the many statues (that he wanted to see) and had run out of time (he thought) so we decided to go to the pagoda together. First though, we visited another (orange) shrine that I had found, and when we saw people coming out of it with an-filled fish, we had to find them. There were lots of venders inside the shrine and I got my cream-filled fish. After the detour, we returned to our mission of finding the pagoda. We had to find it by chance again because we didn’t know where it was, but we did find the two stores (among others) and we came out of it successfully. The only problem (again) was finding our way back to Kyoto eki by 8:00 to catch our train. I’m not sure if we went in circles or not for a while, but we had a hard time finding the river (which, by the way, was our landmark for almost everything, if you didn’t catch on). We got to the eki with perhaps a half of an hour (somehow) and found our platform (by asking a conductor) rather easily.
We did, however, have some trouble on the train. We accidentally got off of the train one stop too early and I began to worry that I would miss my last train to Nisshin (since I had left a closer station than I would today at an earlier time and missed the last one). We caught the next one, and when we had to make our first real transfer, I recognized the way people were walk-running as a sign that another train would soon depart, so I rushed to the platform with our destination listed (Christan was somewhere behind, and I figured if he was smart, he would catch up), but both sides of the platform had the same names, so we jumped on one and I asked very loudly (because there were so many people on the train that I didn’t choose anyone in particular) if it was going to our particular station, but receiving no answer whatsoever (and getting more nervous about when and where this train would depart), I asked again, and looked at the closest woman as I did so. I had to ask a few times to get a confirming response, but having that, we went to sit in another car where there were empty seats. I was a little concerned that she had just given the quickest answer, so I asked (more composed) the man behind our seat if the train was going where we wanted. I realized then, though, that I was probably being rude and had scared the woman by practically yelling at her (in a place where most people say nothing) and felt pretty bad as a person. It was on this train that Christian told me he was feeling pretty sick. We hadn’t slept long in the karaoke place, and as he told me, he hadn’t eaten anything, so I told him to have some of my pastry, but he refused. I wasn’t feeling very sympathetic, as the only available solution was refused, so I told him to puke in the other direction if he did.
Half an hour later we were getting off to catch our final train to Nagoya. I asked again on the train (less hectically this time) just to be sure, and the guy I asked told me (in Japanese) “of course it’s going to Nagoya.” We did, “of course,” get to Nagoya, where I rushed to my train with a quick good bye to Christian. After catching the Higashiyama line and getting to the station to make my transfer, I found that there were still several trains going to Nisshin (though it was 11:00), and I didn’t understand, since the one time I had missed it, I had left for a closer station at an earlier time (not to mention today was the holiday schedule). Either way, I waited for the next train (letting the limited-stop car pass). It turned out to be a kind of bad idea (though I would think the change of pace of waiting at Fushimi instead of Akaike would be more interesting) because there was a yoparateiru American also waiting. He was talking (the only one among dozens of people) very loudly (and drunkenly, as well as lewdly at times) on his phone about the wedding he was just at, the high seven (actually 8% according to him) he was drinking, his brother’s sickness while visiting him in Japan, the tickets to disney land he won at the wedding, and whatever else. This was fine. What wasn’t fine is when I got on the train and he decided to sit next to me, open his beer (spraying my bags), proceed to talk to me, provoke the Japanese passengers, and later spill his beer on my bag. He was an idiot, to be honest, and fulfilling all the bad Japanese stereotypes about Americans. He even insulted me (though probably not as much as the Japanese girl he stared at while giving the peace sign, which was a way of mocking her distinct fashion choice) by telling me I looked older than I am. He, apparently, works for JET (nice choice there, recruiters) and doesn’t really like his position (or studying) as much as partying. I was very relieved when I finally got to Nisshin, though his impersonation of a southerner was a bit bothersome as I departed. I think I heard him say “she hates me” as I left, and I hope he did.
When I got to the first set of stairs on the walk home, I had a weird feeling where I thought, “I’m going home to okaasan and otousan’s house.” I’m not sure if it was a relief (as in, “I’m going home”) or a realization that I wasn’t going home (to my real house). When I was outside the house (a little after 12) I received a call from Okaasan wondering where I was. I hadn’t called to tell her I had missed my train (I should have at Fushimi, especially since I had the time) and she was wondering where I was. I told her I was outside the house and she seemed a bit confused. Either way, she opened the door for me and let me in, letting me know it was alright to take a shower and that she was sorry but she had fallen (or gone) to sleep. She left for bed and I found a note on my stairs (there’s a staircase that goes only to my room) saying she had gone to bed. I realized (again, after hearing her say she would wait when I called her the first time from Kyoto eki) that I should have told her it was okay to go to bed before I got back. At that point though, I couldn’t do anything, so I put the sheets on my bed and got a great rest.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
March 19
I woke up around 8:30, and upon realizing this, I became worried that by the time we got to the golden temple (which opened at 9:00 and was about a half-hour away) it would be very crowded, as my guide book had indicated. Luckily though, after waiting forever for Christian to collect his belongings, we got there around 10:00 with only a few people there and a minor threat of rain that quickly dissipated. The pavilion was beautiful and I was initially shocked at how, regardless of the angle at which you viewed it, the temple and grounds didn’t lose their appeal.
Afterward, we decided to go to the imperial palace, since it was on the way to the temple of the many statues, which Christian wanted to see. On the way to the bus stop, we stopped in a shop where the attendant was interested in Christian’s jacket, and while he was looking at something, she went up behind him and moved her hands like tiny wings flapping, because he had patches (which look like wings) pinned to his jacket. She (and I) silently laughed when she saw me seeing her do that.
We got to the imperial park before the palace and walked around for a bit. Some of the cherry blossoms had bloomed, so it was rather pretty. When we applied for admission to the palace (yes, you have to apply), I was a bit worried because Christian had left his (said to be necessary for entry) passport at the hostel in his bag (who does that?!). Luckily though, our alien registration cards were enough to get us in. We had to wait for the only English tour though, (you have to book a day in advance if you want Japanese) so we went to the on-site (and surprisingly cheap given that aspect) restaurant/cafeteria.
When we finally got our tour, it was very touristy (probably more so than the ones the pushy Germans were getting at the golden pavilion) and I felt (probably as much as the tour guide) as though I was being dictated to by an elementary school instructor. It was almost painful being in a group of over 100 foreigners. When she talked about the style of pruning trees, I could hear the condescending tone dripping from her words as she said in slowed enunciation “They look like people, like you and me,” as though we were children who would understand better if she clarified the second connection in the comparison that flowed from tree to human to us.
Once freed from that experience, we walked through the prettier half of the park, where even more sakura were blooming and more people were doing things like having picnics and taking pictures. We came out at our bus stop, but since we had a while to wait, we decided to go to McDonald’s where I wanted to try the macha shake. In true American McDonald’s style, the lady did not mix the macha into the ice cream well, but she did hand it to me with two hands, so I guess it still counts as Japanese hospitality. There were oreo pieces in the shake though, so it was still noticeably American. In the end, it wasn’t anything special, but at least I know now.
We spent the evening getting lost in downtown Kyoto, looking for the Nishiki market, where it is said that all the interesting food is sold. I wasn’t very impressed, having been to the fish market as well as seen most of the food before, but it was rather pleasant. In the rest of the market, I had some amazing experiences. First, by chance, I saw one of the gothic lolita dresses in a window and decided I had to see the store it came from. After attempting to find it by climbing about six flights of stairs, we took the elevator to the second floor where we found a rather small room with two fully decked-out lolita girls and their all-out frilly dresses. It was one of the most frilly, awesome stores I have ever been in. Of course, most of the clothing was around 30000en, but it was a true “goth-loli” store and I was in heaven. The second awesome happening was on our way back through the streets in search of a particular restaurant we had seen somewhere near the beginning of the market. I had seen a kimono on a mannequin that caught my eye. Despite already having been in the store, I decided I wanted that one, and we asked the lady how much it was. She said it was 3900en, but when she looked for it on the rack, it wasn’t there. She said she could take it off the mannequin if I wanted it, but I told her the truth, that I thought it was a bit expensive for my budget. She said we could negotiate because it was the last one, so she asked how much I would pay for it, and I said 30000, and the deal was soon done. She even let me try it on first and threw in the himo that are used to tie it before the obi. I was ecstatic. We topped our trip off with very cheap kansai-style okonomiyaki (which I say is much better than Hiroshima style, because it seems to have more egg and meat). It was at a place where the tables are also grills, so we had our food hot to the last bite and put all the toppings on ourselves (which included the okonomiyaki sauce, some kind of green spice, and fish flakes that move in the heat waves coming off of the dish).
After dinner, we returned to the hostel to retrieve our bags and ask the receptionist about a thousand questions including whether there was a room empty for the night, where to do karaoke, how to get to Byoudo-in, etc. I felt pretty bad because Christian couldn’t make up his mind as to what he wanted to do, and the receptionist said she would be there until 10:00, but by 10:10, he was still standing there staring into space (and hopefully making decisions as he did). In the end, he couldn’t buy the tickets to the onsen that he finally decided he wanted at the Hostel, so we were holding her up for nothing.
That being done, we set out to find a karaoke place, but got distracted by the many people sitting on the bank in the river (yes, there was an embankment in the middle of the river), so we decided to join them for a bit. It was really enjoyable and relaxing, but I couldn’t help thinking it would be even better if I was there with one of my US friends instead. It got a bit awkward though, when Christian asked me what it reminded me of, and after hearing “my friends in the US,” he told me about this art movie it reminded him of and he got pretty emotional about it. I wouldn’t say I’m a cold-hearted, anti-emotion person, but this was a vacation and I wasn’t really interested in dealing with emotional turmoil. If anything, I wanted to get away from worries for a bit. Either way, I wasn’t going to provoke it, so I let him talk, gave him some time, and told him he wouldn’t like my opinion if I shared it and that we should do something else if sitting by the river made him feel so crappy. He brought it up one more time when we were searching for a karaoke place soon after, saying that people misunderstand him, but I told him his business was his and I wasn’t going to judge him over it because I wasn’t involved in it, so he should chill out and not worry about it. That seemed to do it for him.
It took a while (and a lot of walking) to find the karaoke place we had passed earlier that day, but when we got there, we found it was slightly cheaper than the hostel and involved free soda. At first, we couldn’t figure out the remote and for some reason, Christian got really bent out of shape about having to talk to the attendant at the desk twice, but it was no big deal, and we found we weren’t even responsible for half of the problem, which consisted of the receiver distance being really short. On top of all of this, the attendant was very happy to help. We sang from about twelve until three, when Christian fell asleep. I kept going for about another half hour before I ran out of songs. Karaoke too was kind of lame without other friends, but I did get to sing songs by the Blue Hearts (Owaranai Uta, Boku no Migite, and Linda Linda Linda to list them) so I was very happy.
Afterward, we decided to go to the imperial palace, since it was on the way to the temple of the many statues, which Christian wanted to see. On the way to the bus stop, we stopped in a shop where the attendant was interested in Christian’s jacket, and while he was looking at something, she went up behind him and moved her hands like tiny wings flapping, because he had patches (which look like wings) pinned to his jacket. She (and I) silently laughed when she saw me seeing her do that.
We got to the imperial park before the palace and walked around for a bit. Some of the cherry blossoms had bloomed, so it was rather pretty. When we applied for admission to the palace (yes, you have to apply), I was a bit worried because Christian had left his (said to be necessary for entry) passport at the hostel in his bag (who does that?!). Luckily though, our alien registration cards were enough to get us in. We had to wait for the only English tour though, (you have to book a day in advance if you want Japanese) so we went to the on-site (and surprisingly cheap given that aspect) restaurant/cafeteria.
When we finally got our tour, it was very touristy (probably more so than the ones the pushy Germans were getting at the golden pavilion) and I felt (probably as much as the tour guide) as though I was being dictated to by an elementary school instructor. It was almost painful being in a group of over 100 foreigners. When she talked about the style of pruning trees, I could hear the condescending tone dripping from her words as she said in slowed enunciation “They look like people, like you and me,” as though we were children who would understand better if she clarified the second connection in the comparison that flowed from tree to human to us.
Once freed from that experience, we walked through the prettier half of the park, where even more sakura were blooming and more people were doing things like having picnics and taking pictures. We came out at our bus stop, but since we had a while to wait, we decided to go to McDonald’s where I wanted to try the macha shake. In true American McDonald’s style, the lady did not mix the macha into the ice cream well, but she did hand it to me with two hands, so I guess it still counts as Japanese hospitality. There were oreo pieces in the shake though, so it was still noticeably American. In the end, it wasn’t anything special, but at least I know now.
We spent the evening getting lost in downtown Kyoto, looking for the Nishiki market, where it is said that all the interesting food is sold. I wasn’t very impressed, having been to the fish market as well as seen most of the food before, but it was rather pleasant. In the rest of the market, I had some amazing experiences. First, by chance, I saw one of the gothic lolita dresses in a window and decided I had to see the store it came from. After attempting to find it by climbing about six flights of stairs, we took the elevator to the second floor where we found a rather small room with two fully decked-out lolita girls and their all-out frilly dresses. It was one of the most frilly, awesome stores I have ever been in. Of course, most of the clothing was around 30000en, but it was a true “goth-loli” store and I was in heaven. The second awesome happening was on our way back through the streets in search of a particular restaurant we had seen somewhere near the beginning of the market. I had seen a kimono on a mannequin that caught my eye. Despite already having been in the store, I decided I wanted that one, and we asked the lady how much it was. She said it was 3900en, but when she looked for it on the rack, it wasn’t there. She said she could take it off the mannequin if I wanted it, but I told her the truth, that I thought it was a bit expensive for my budget. She said we could negotiate because it was the last one, so she asked how much I would pay for it, and I said 30000, and the deal was soon done. She even let me try it on first and threw in the himo that are used to tie it before the obi. I was ecstatic. We topped our trip off with very cheap kansai-style okonomiyaki (which I say is much better than Hiroshima style, because it seems to have more egg and meat). It was at a place where the tables are also grills, so we had our food hot to the last bite and put all the toppings on ourselves (which included the okonomiyaki sauce, some kind of green spice, and fish flakes that move in the heat waves coming off of the dish).
After dinner, we returned to the hostel to retrieve our bags and ask the receptionist about a thousand questions including whether there was a room empty for the night, where to do karaoke, how to get to Byoudo-in, etc. I felt pretty bad because Christian couldn’t make up his mind as to what he wanted to do, and the receptionist said she would be there until 10:00, but by 10:10, he was still standing there staring into space (and hopefully making decisions as he did). In the end, he couldn’t buy the tickets to the onsen that he finally decided he wanted at the Hostel, so we were holding her up for nothing.
That being done, we set out to find a karaoke place, but got distracted by the many people sitting on the bank in the river (yes, there was an embankment in the middle of the river), so we decided to join them for a bit. It was really enjoyable and relaxing, but I couldn’t help thinking it would be even better if I was there with one of my US friends instead. It got a bit awkward though, when Christian asked me what it reminded me of, and after hearing “my friends in the US,” he told me about this art movie it reminded him of and he got pretty emotional about it. I wouldn’t say I’m a cold-hearted, anti-emotion person, but this was a vacation and I wasn’t really interested in dealing with emotional turmoil. If anything, I wanted to get away from worries for a bit. Either way, I wasn’t going to provoke it, so I let him talk, gave him some time, and told him he wouldn’t like my opinion if I shared it and that we should do something else if sitting by the river made him feel so crappy. He brought it up one more time when we were searching for a karaoke place soon after, saying that people misunderstand him, but I told him his business was his and I wasn’t going to judge him over it because I wasn’t involved in it, so he should chill out and not worry about it. That seemed to do it for him.
It took a while (and a lot of walking) to find the karaoke place we had passed earlier that day, but when we got there, we found it was slightly cheaper than the hostel and involved free soda. At first, we couldn’t figure out the remote and for some reason, Christian got really bent out of shape about having to talk to the attendant at the desk twice, but it was no big deal, and we found we weren’t even responsible for half of the problem, which consisted of the receiver distance being really short. On top of all of this, the attendant was very happy to help. We sang from about twelve until three, when Christian fell asleep. I kept going for about another half hour before I ran out of songs. Karaoke too was kind of lame without other friends, but I did get to sing songs by the Blue Hearts (Owaranai Uta, Boku no Migite, and Linda Linda Linda to list them) so I was very happy.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
March 18
Taking the night bus is really messing with my head. Starting from 11:35pm yesterday: we got on the night bus and played patta-pon for a while. Christian had put his belongings on the ledge in front of him in the bus, and it was significant because when the driver came to close the curtains (between the driver’s seat and the passengers), he seemed honestly shocked that there was something there and covered his mouth as f he had done something horrible when he merely touched a passenger’s belongings.
I had a very unfit rest on the bus (with frequent waking and pain from my knee and toes, which seemed to be expanding inside my shoes). When we arrived in Kyoto (at 5:35 am), we were grumpy and tired. We tried to figure out the shinkansen, subway, and bus systems all at once. It didn’t take long either for the fact that we didn’t have directions to the hostel to set in. Luckily, I had written down the address, so we were able to ask a station master about it (and get a printed map), but it was a long, frustrating process.
When we finally did find the hostel, I was really displeased. The front door was unlocked and the alarm was sounding. Some other American resident solved the problem and told us all about the hostel as we sat in the slightly grimy common room.
When the attendant did show up a bit after eight, she seemed unorganized and a bit confused by us, but she let us stash our bags behind the desk (comforting because there was allegedly a cell-phone stolen from a tenant in his sleep) and left for Fushimi Inari. We had a bit of trouble getting there because we had to cross a major highway bridge to get our bus transfer. However, it was all worth it because seeing the jinja was amazing. It was so big that we had to turn back rather than tour the whole thing.
Getting back toward our hostel, we were pretty tired (probably from an early waking hour), but I wanted to see more, so we visited a shrine with a pretty bridge in front. We didn’t do much, but on the way back toward the hostel gain, we decided on a whim to take a road that looked small and traditional. It turned out to be a wonderful coincidence because that street turned out to be the main street to a tori and further to a jinja on the top of a large hill. Along the way, there were countless stores selling tradtional Japanese items and many people in kimono. There were even girls dressed as geisha and a fw who might have been real.
After that great adventure, we tried again to go back to the hostel, but we ended up getting turned around and around in an osu-like shopping district and ate ramen before walking all the way back (I had lost our bus map by now and we had to go on logic and the city map to get home).
We did make it and checked in. My hopes were not well-lifted. First, the attendant gave me wring change (because she decided to break the last 1000en into change, but screwed it up). Second, when we went to our room (revised from six-bed to eight-bed), someone had obviously been using our beds, so we were luckily upgraded to a private room. We didn’t have to worry about being robbed in our sleep.
After check-iin, we wanted to go exploring again, but not being clubbers, we didn’t have many options, since it was after nine. We did walk through true Gion; roads of nothing but wooden teahouses with red lanterns. Yet, there wasn’t much for us to do since we had just eaten and had no one to connect us with the teahouses. We decided to go back to the hostel to plan our next day and crash.
I had a very unfit rest on the bus (with frequent waking and pain from my knee and toes, which seemed to be expanding inside my shoes). When we arrived in Kyoto (at 5:35 am), we were grumpy and tired. We tried to figure out the shinkansen, subway, and bus systems all at once. It didn’t take long either for the fact that we didn’t have directions to the hostel to set in. Luckily, I had written down the address, so we were able to ask a station master about it (and get a printed map), but it was a long, frustrating process.
When we finally did find the hostel, I was really displeased. The front door was unlocked and the alarm was sounding. Some other American resident solved the problem and told us all about the hostel as we sat in the slightly grimy common room.
When the attendant did show up a bit after eight, she seemed unorganized and a bit confused by us, but she let us stash our bags behind the desk (comforting because there was allegedly a cell-phone stolen from a tenant in his sleep) and left for Fushimi Inari. We had a bit of trouble getting there because we had to cross a major highway bridge to get our bus transfer. However, it was all worth it because seeing the jinja was amazing. It was so big that we had to turn back rather than tour the whole thing.
Getting back toward our hostel, we were pretty tired (probably from an early waking hour), but I wanted to see more, so we visited a shrine with a pretty bridge in front. We didn’t do much, but on the way back toward the hostel gain, we decided on a whim to take a road that looked small and traditional. It turned out to be a wonderful coincidence because that street turned out to be the main street to a tori and further to a jinja on the top of a large hill. Along the way, there were countless stores selling tradtional Japanese items and many people in kimono. There were even girls dressed as geisha and a fw who might have been real.
After that great adventure, we tried again to go back to the hostel, but we ended up getting turned around and around in an osu-like shopping district and ate ramen before walking all the way back (I had lost our bus map by now and we had to go on logic and the city map to get home).
We did make it and checked in. My hopes were not well-lifted. First, the attendant gave me wring change (because she decided to break the last 1000en into change, but screwed it up). Second, when we went to our room (revised from six-bed to eight-bed), someone had obviously been using our beds, so we were luckily upgraded to a private room. We didn’t have to worry about being robbed in our sleep.
After check-iin, we wanted to go exploring again, but not being clubbers, we didn’t have many options, since it was after nine. We did walk through true Gion; roads of nothing but wooden teahouses with red lanterns. Yet, there wasn’t much for us to do since we had just eaten and had no one to connect us with the teahouses. We decided to go back to the hostel to plan our next day and crash.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
March 17
Today, we decided to visit the atomic bomb memorial museum and Miyajima. Christian also wanted to see a particularly pretty bridge, but I didn’t want to spend the 2000en to get there, so we visited the memorial museum and nearby malls instead. The museum was moving. It had replicas of government correspondence on the bomb and original specimen from the aftermath. Among the horrific were body fragments and clothing saved by family members from victims, melted/fused glass bottles and roof tiles, and images of victims. it wasn’t a particularly huge museum, but it explained and displayed a lot of information. Somehow though, the science seemed a bit glazed over at times.
After such an intense experience, we decided to do something much so, therefore, we rode the cable car around until we found something interesting, but that didn’t really happen, so we got off at a mall. After spending a bit of time there, we headed off in what we thought was the direction of Miyajima, but I found I had forgotten my guide book at the mall, so we had to go back. We had been going in the wrong direction anyway though, so we got another car to the Miyajima port. I beat myself up quite a bit that da for not skipping the mall and going directly from the museum to Miyajima because I grossly underestimated the time it took to get there (as well as the early hour of sunset). We ended up only having a few hours on the island (which seemed to abound with traditional attractions that were closed for the night). After getting off the densha (the cable car had to travel so far that it changed into a one-car train after a while), we boarded a ferry to get to the island. There, we were met with countless docile deer and the opportunity to walk through the famous tori (due to low tide). If you can get a coin to stay on the tori (usually by throwing it so ti will rest on the horizontal planks) ou will have extra fortune (on top of walking through it), so we tried, but I failed. We were able to go up the ill to a gigantic jinja and its pagoda, but by the time we got back to the edge of the town, most places were closed (and it was really dark). We weren’t able to visit many shops or go inside the jinja, see the outside of the onsen while it was open, or hear the island peddlers, but we did find one place where we had our last Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki before heading back to the mainland to catch our bus to Kyoto.
The drama wasn’t over though, as it became apparent it was a problem that I had not gotten my host family omiyage. It wasn’t an issue of finding something of quality (though non-edible souvenirs seemed lacking in the department), but that my host mom doesn’t eat sweets, therefore; I would have to get her a cheap gift (unthinkable) or sweets that I was willing to eat (as she would inevitably make me eat them). I had something picked out, but wanting to get it home fairly fresh, had put off buying it. By the tie we got back to the mainland, it was past 9:00, and most places were closed (especially those selling omiyage). I had accepted my defeat and we boarded the cable car to Hiroshima eki, where the miraculous happened; there, in the eki, at the konbini inside were tons of omiyage, including the kind I had planned to buy. I was saved by the convenience of the konbini!
After such an intense experience, we decided to do something much so, therefore, we rode the cable car around until we found something interesting, but that didn’t really happen, so we got off at a mall. After spending a bit of time there, we headed off in what we thought was the direction of Miyajima, but I found I had forgotten my guide book at the mall, so we had to go back. We had been going in the wrong direction anyway though, so we got another car to the Miyajima port. I beat myself up quite a bit that da for not skipping the mall and going directly from the museum to Miyajima because I grossly underestimated the time it took to get there (as well as the early hour of sunset). We ended up only having a few hours on the island (which seemed to abound with traditional attractions that were closed for the night). After getting off the densha (the cable car had to travel so far that it changed into a one-car train after a while), we boarded a ferry to get to the island. There, we were met with countless docile deer and the opportunity to walk through the famous tori (due to low tide). If you can get a coin to stay on the tori (usually by throwing it so ti will rest on the horizontal planks) ou will have extra fortune (on top of walking through it), so we tried, but I failed. We were able to go up the ill to a gigantic jinja and its pagoda, but by the time we got back to the edge of the town, most places were closed (and it was really dark). We weren’t able to visit many shops or go inside the jinja, see the outside of the onsen while it was open, or hear the island peddlers, but we did find one place where we had our last Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki before heading back to the mainland to catch our bus to Kyoto.
The drama wasn’t over though, as it became apparent it was a problem that I had not gotten my host family omiyage. It wasn’t an issue of finding something of quality (though non-edible souvenirs seemed lacking in the department), but that my host mom doesn’t eat sweets, therefore; I would have to get her a cheap gift (unthinkable) or sweets that I was willing to eat (as she would inevitably make me eat them). I had something picked out, but wanting to get it home fairly fresh, had put off buying it. By the tie we got back to the mainland, it was past 9:00, and most places were closed (especially those selling omiyage). I had accepted my defeat and we boarded the cable car to Hiroshima eki, where the miraculous happened; there, in the eki, at the konbini inside were tons of omiyage, including the kind I had planned to buy. I was saved by the convenience of the konbini!
Monday, March 16, 2009
March 16
Today started out fairly early again at 8:30. We began walking in the direction of Hiroshima eki, making a few stops as we went. We made it all the way to the eki with no problems, but once we walked off my guide’s map, we started worrying a bit because we had planned to follow the train tracks and couldn’t really see them. We even passed the new Carps stadium before we stopped in a Mazda dealership to ask directions. As a bonus (to the instructions to walk zutto down the road), I picked up a free Mazda calendar. We passed another dealership which seemed to fit the description ofw hat the first dealer’s employee described, but upon going inside, we were told to keep walking again. We asked a third time of a man in a Mazda station box. After what seemed like forever (in a part of the city that resembled what I initially thought of Hiroshima; that it was a barren, desolate, old factory town) , we came upon the museum. We had been walking from a bit before nine to a bit before eleven. Since w were two hours early, we stashed our bags in the free, high-tech Mazda lockers and got lost in the residential area (along the seven kilometers of Mazda factory) where we waved at little kids at their elementary school playground and patronized the local konbini. There wasn’t much to speak of, other than the bizarre placement of a playground under a highway bridge. When we came back to Mazda, we played Gran Turismo 4 (with wheel and pedals set up in the museum lobby), until about one, when we got our nametags and got on the bus to visit Mazda. Let me say that it was about 1000 times better than Honda. Not only were there actual happenings on the assembly line, but the tour itself was much more interesting (probably in part because we were told about the rotary engine and didn’t get as much filler as from Honda). Apparently, it takes fifteen hours to make a Mazda and thirty days to get it to the Eastern US. Mazda even owns their own bridge and has a two-year technical school. One of their latest innovations is the hydrogen hybrid RX-8 (which is pretty awesome). They did have the Lemon’s-winning car (Lemons sounds funny in Japanese), but their gift shop was lacking.
Afterward, we decided to take the train back to Hiroshima eki and try to explore a bit. Of curse, we ended up getting very lost, but we did happen upon a bit oft heir shopping district that we had missed and had delicious crépes while people-watching. The crépe truck was bright pink and blasted up-beat American music, so it was a nice experience.
Back in fairly-familiar Hiroshima, we visited the ten-story mall (which was closed because it was about nine) and went back to our hostel where we enjoyed prepared food from the nearby supermarket. I had sakana katsudon (fried tilapia over rice).
Afterward, we decided to take the train back to Hiroshima eki and try to explore a bit. Of curse, we ended up getting very lost, but we did happen upon a bit oft heir shopping district that we had missed and had delicious crépes while people-watching. The crépe truck was bright pink and blasted up-beat American music, so it was a nice experience.
Back in fairly-familiar Hiroshima, we visited the ten-story mall (which was closed because it was about nine) and went back to our hostel where we enjoyed prepared food from the nearby supermarket. I had sakana katsudon (fried tilapia over rice).
Sunday, March 15, 2009
March 15
The last few days have been really hectic, so I’ll start from the beginning of the Hiroshim trip and then come back to Thursday if I get the chance.
Saturday evening, okaasan drove me to Akaike at 9:30. I got to Nagoya with time to spare, but then I realized I didn’t have Christian’s phone number (I had left it on the Mac’s dash and never transferred it to my phone). I figured I would just see him at the terminal before we left, but by a slight of chance, we met up in the eki slightly after I had arrived. We got on the bus and shortly thereafter, had a painful night of sleeping on the bus. I kept waking up to different body parts hurting as a result of the weird angles the seats left me in. Somewhere around seven, I woke up to a dimmed cabin, and shortly thereafter, we were getting off the bus in Hiroshima. It was cold, bright, and early. I realized quickly that I had made a gross oversight; I had not researched the directions from the eki to the hostel. As a result, Christian and I searched a bit for a free internet signal for the PSP to pick up. We were not very successful, so we began walking when we came upon the atomic bomb dome unexpectedly. We decided to look around the memorial park (and the dome) to pass the time (until the guest services opened and we could research our lodgings). By luck again, our hosel was lised in my guidebook and we were able (after travelling the wrong streets for a while) to find the hostel. We were only allowd to semi-check in, but we dropped our bags and went out again in search of intersting things to do. We set out to see the castle, but on the way, got significantly side-tracked by the shopping district.
We did finally get to the castle (known as the koi castle, though we only saw one murky figure that might have been a koi). We almost didn’t go inside the castle because I thought it would be no more interesting than Nagoya castle, but we found our student status gave us free entry, so we went in. It wasn’t that interesting (and the view from the top wasn’t as good as Nagoya’s), but it was entertaining.
Afterward, we got really lost. We were trying to go back toward our hostel, but ket getting distracted by things like a small garden in the middle of the city and the grassy bank of the (wrong) river. We did end up seeing a lot of Hiroshima (which s especially pretty in the morning and early day).
Once we had fully checked in (and traversed the city by getting lost on the way back to the hostel), we set out for the famous Hiroshima okonomiyaki (recommended by my host mother). The Hiroshima way is to start with a crepe, pile on cabbage and bean sprouts, add the bacon (and soba/udon) and flip it all over onto an egg before adding the sauce. It was pretty good, but I still like okaasan’s (and Ayami’s) better.
After dinner, we returned to the hostel where we planned our transportation to Mazda and played some more PSP. Before the trip, Christian bought Patapon (upon my mere mention) and I’ve been unable to get past the second battle since.
When we went to the front desk to get information on visiting Miyajima and we ended up talking to the night watch, who was very nice and spoke slow Japanese to us. She had studied English in San Francisco and was eager to talk to us about our experiences in Japan.
Saturday evening, okaasan drove me to Akaike at 9:30. I got to Nagoya with time to spare, but then I realized I didn’t have Christian’s phone number (I had left it on the Mac’s dash and never transferred it to my phone). I figured I would just see him at the terminal before we left, but by a slight of chance, we met up in the eki slightly after I had arrived. We got on the bus and shortly thereafter, had a painful night of sleeping on the bus. I kept waking up to different body parts hurting as a result of the weird angles the seats left me in. Somewhere around seven, I woke up to a dimmed cabin, and shortly thereafter, we were getting off the bus in Hiroshima. It was cold, bright, and early. I realized quickly that I had made a gross oversight; I had not researched the directions from the eki to the hostel. As a result, Christian and I searched a bit for a free internet signal for the PSP to pick up. We were not very successful, so we began walking when we came upon the atomic bomb dome unexpectedly. We decided to look around the memorial park (and the dome) to pass the time (until the guest services opened and we could research our lodgings). By luck again, our hosel was lised in my guidebook and we were able (after travelling the wrong streets for a while) to find the hostel. We were only allowd to semi-check in, but we dropped our bags and went out again in search of intersting things to do. We set out to see the castle, but on the way, got significantly side-tracked by the shopping district.
We did finally get to the castle (known as the koi castle, though we only saw one murky figure that might have been a koi). We almost didn’t go inside the castle because I thought it would be no more interesting than Nagoya castle, but we found our student status gave us free entry, so we went in. It wasn’t that interesting (and the view from the top wasn’t as good as Nagoya’s), but it was entertaining.
Afterward, we got really lost. We were trying to go back toward our hostel, but ket getting distracted by things like a small garden in the middle of the city and the grassy bank of the (wrong) river. We did end up seeing a lot of Hiroshima (which s especially pretty in the morning and early day).
Once we had fully checked in (and traversed the city by getting lost on the way back to the hostel), we set out for the famous Hiroshima okonomiyaki (recommended by my host mother). The Hiroshima way is to start with a crepe, pile on cabbage and bean sprouts, add the bacon (and soba/udon) and flip it all over onto an egg before adding the sauce. It was pretty good, but I still like okaasan’s (and Ayami’s) better.
After dinner, we returned to the hostel where we planned our transportation to Mazda and played some more PSP. Before the trip, Christian bought Patapon (upon my mere mention) and I’ve been unable to get past the second battle since.
When we went to the front desk to get information on visiting Miyajima and we ended up talking to the night watch, who was very nice and spoke slow Japanese to us. She had studied English in San Francisco and was eager to talk to us about our experiences in Japan.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
March 11
It wasn’t much of a day untilt the afternoon. The news with breakfast has been getting interesting lately since the last few topics have been sea life (especially the tako!) and French car shows.
At school, I had two classes taught by Hanashiro sensei, which went not badly because they were LL and yomimono, both of which are very easy. It seems (from discusions in class) that Japanese people can’t get over the idea of tipping, but they admit that there is a service charge built into a lot of their transactions, so I don’t really know what the big deal is.
Lawson’s is trying very hard to get people’s money with their point card (buy things that have stickers on them and collect the stickers to redeem for a cute plate) and the (panda) cell phone charms that come with certain tea. I made my daily Valor run instead and found yet another Japanese okashi that is placing highly among my favorites. It’s monjuu (dough rather than mochi wrapped around an), and this particular one was macha flavored.
A bit after noon was the Toyota koujou tour. I was ready for a slightly boring time since the assembily line closed weeks before we got there, but it was a bit disappointing anyway. First, we were taken to the actual factory and given weird receivers (one ear piece and an iPod-sized box) to listen to the guides with. The factory was indeed a factory, complete with nothing but the basics. The guide did her best, but to tell the truth, all the information she gave us either seemed elementary or propaganda-esque. Desipte the lack of movement inside, there were quite a few employees either looking at papers or doing next to nothing to the factory equipment. All of the unfinished cars and parts were still on the lines. According to the guide, about 3% of the factory workers (and 10% of Toyota) are girls. 90% of assembly is done by robots. All cars get three coats of paint (that isn’t allowed to dry between layers) and a clear-coat. If someone screws up or has a problem and they (with the supervisor) can’t solve it before the end of that part of assembly, the entire line is shut down until it is solved. There was an interesting part of the tour where we got to look at some of the factory equipment (like rollers that cause continuous flows of boxes and inventions that change the orientation of items in incriments of 90º by gravity alone) and try to do things as fast as they are done on the assembly floor (flipping items, wrapping rope, etc.) but we weren’t given enough time to try them all.
When we had been taken from the interesting part of the factory, we were loaded onto the bus again and got our en-route tour. The tour guide apparently thought we knew no Japanese at all (since we had opted for the English tour) and described katakana a little too much like an elementary school instructor. The concept she was illustrating was at least interesting. Apparently, Toyota was founded by the Toyoda family (that’s not a typo), but they changed the name for two main reasons. First, Toyota has eight strokes rather than ten, and eight is lucky for Japan because the strokes of “eight” expand at the bottom, much like they would like money, success, innovation, etc. to expand in the future. The second reason (or so we were told) was that Toyoda wanted the company to be for the workers and the people, rather than a private benefit, so he did not give it his own name.
We finally got off the bus at the Toyota museum, which was as much about cars as it was about humanoid robots. Again, we opted for the English tour guide, who turned out to be very bad at his job and showed us all the informational movies (including one we saw at the factory) in the museum rather than explaining for the most part. He even asked us if we knew things already so that he wouldn’t have to explain. That’s fine with me, but I would have rather had more time to myself. The highlight of the tour though was being able to sit in the cars in the showroom. There wasn’t much that was impressive (other than the size of the IQ), but I did sit in the driver’s seat of a $72800 Lexus convertible. The truth is though, it has a lot of similarities to the Saab. We, of course, were rushed out of the museum far before we were bored. Before we left though, we were shown the trumpet-playing robot. Most of us were more interested in the cars though...
At dinner, it was just okaasan and me. Okaasan made tenpura (ten-don just for me) and we watched the news about the North Korean spy in Japan. She tried to explain it to me, but I think there were so many stories in one newscast that I couldn’t keep up with what she was saying. We were able to bond a bit afterward though, I think by talking about food, friends, Kyoto, etc. Maybe it’s just less intimidating to have one host parent at a time...
At school, I had two classes taught by Hanashiro sensei, which went not badly because they were LL and yomimono, both of which are very easy. It seems (from discusions in class) that Japanese people can’t get over the idea of tipping, but they admit that there is a service charge built into a lot of their transactions, so I don’t really know what the big deal is.
Lawson’s is trying very hard to get people’s money with their point card (buy things that have stickers on them and collect the stickers to redeem for a cute plate) and the (panda) cell phone charms that come with certain tea. I made my daily Valor run instead and found yet another Japanese okashi that is placing highly among my favorites. It’s monjuu (dough rather than mochi wrapped around an), and this particular one was macha flavored.
A bit after noon was the Toyota koujou tour. I was ready for a slightly boring time since the assembily line closed weeks before we got there, but it was a bit disappointing anyway. First, we were taken to the actual factory and given weird receivers (one ear piece and an iPod-sized box) to listen to the guides with. The factory was indeed a factory, complete with nothing but the basics. The guide did her best, but to tell the truth, all the information she gave us either seemed elementary or propaganda-esque. Desipte the lack of movement inside, there were quite a few employees either looking at papers or doing next to nothing to the factory equipment. All of the unfinished cars and parts were still on the lines. According to the guide, about 3% of the factory workers (and 10% of Toyota) are girls. 90% of assembly is done by robots. All cars get three coats of paint (that isn’t allowed to dry between layers) and a clear-coat. If someone screws up or has a problem and they (with the supervisor) can’t solve it before the end of that part of assembly, the entire line is shut down until it is solved. There was an interesting part of the tour where we got to look at some of the factory equipment (like rollers that cause continuous flows of boxes and inventions that change the orientation of items in incriments of 90º by gravity alone) and try to do things as fast as they are done on the assembly floor (flipping items, wrapping rope, etc.) but we weren’t given enough time to try them all.
When we had been taken from the interesting part of the factory, we were loaded onto the bus again and got our en-route tour. The tour guide apparently thought we knew no Japanese at all (since we had opted for the English tour) and described katakana a little too much like an elementary school instructor. The concept she was illustrating was at least interesting. Apparently, Toyota was founded by the Toyoda family (that’s not a typo), but they changed the name for two main reasons. First, Toyota has eight strokes rather than ten, and eight is lucky for Japan because the strokes of “eight” expand at the bottom, much like they would like money, success, innovation, etc. to expand in the future. The second reason (or so we were told) was that Toyoda wanted the company to be for the workers and the people, rather than a private benefit, so he did not give it his own name.
We finally got off the bus at the Toyota museum, which was as much about cars as it was about humanoid robots. Again, we opted for the English tour guide, who turned out to be very bad at his job and showed us all the informational movies (including one we saw at the factory) in the museum rather than explaining for the most part. He even asked us if we knew things already so that he wouldn’t have to explain. That’s fine with me, but I would have rather had more time to myself. The highlight of the tour though was being able to sit in the cars in the showroom. There wasn’t much that was impressive (other than the size of the IQ), but I did sit in the driver’s seat of a $72800 Lexus convertible. The truth is though, it has a lot of similarities to the Saab. We, of course, were rushed out of the museum far before we were bored. Before we left though, we were shown the trumpet-playing robot. Most of us were more interested in the cars though...
At dinner, it was just okaasan and me. Okaasan made tenpura (ten-don just for me) and we watched the news about the North Korean spy in Japan. She tried to explain it to me, but I think there were so many stories in one newscast that I couldn’t keep up with what she was saying. We were able to bond a bit afterward though, I think by talking about food, friends, Kyoto, etc. Maybe it’s just less intimidating to have one host parent at a time...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
March 10
Sorry, there won’t be an entry for the ninth. To sum it up, I was really tired (on the edge of being sick), planning my trip to Hiroshima and Kyoto, and crunched for time on my homework. It wasn’t a very fun day.
Today though, was pretty action-packed. I woke up pretty un-sick, but by the time I finished breakfast, my throat was icky, so when I said “gochisousama” to okaasan, she insisted on giving me medicine based on my voice. It’s not that I like being sick, but since my symptoms have been coming one-per-day, I’m kind of reluctant to take anything for them since they might just be new-found alergies to Japanese pollen.
Since I didn’t study kanji the night before, I spent most of the morning studying. I think the stress and “sickness” were getting to me, because I wasn’t in much of a kidding mood. We studied the dreaded keigo (honorific, humble, etc. forms) in Japanese today. It was painful, of course. Tsuda sensei taught the second section of class though, so it was entertaining at one point at least. The listening practice we did had to do with McDonald’s in Japan, and it was pretty interesting. Speaking of which, the food they sell in Japan’s McDonald’s doesn’t look horrible, and I kind of want to try the ebi (shrimp) burger and the macha (green tea) milkshake. McDonald’s is pretty expensive here (6-ish bucks for a combo) so I will probably only do it once.
As for the third part of class, Fukatomi Sensei gave us yomimono renshuu. The topic is the culture shock of tipping for Japanese people visiting the US. Based on the details of the reading, Japanese people must stay in ritzy places when they visit the US because the tips they mentioned included bell boys and doormen as well as taxi drivers, waiters, and maids.
After Japanese, I raced to Valor and hanga class. I screwed up my hanga by accidentally cutting off the top of my corvette partially. Oh well...
It was after hanga that the real fun began: planning my week-long break. I had to decide on dates, apply for my student discount, get a reservation for the Mazda museum, and buy tickets to Hiroshima and Kyoto. Most of it got done, but not without copious trouble. First, I applied for my student discount. There was some confusing about how many I needed since I was not doing non-stop trips to and from Nagoya, and I was initially told I needed three and could only get two per day (though I had no time to wait an entire day). In the end, I was issued one because I would be buying all three tickets at the same time. Then, I talked to the lady at Mazda and made sure there were openings on the days I might be in Hiroshima. That was easy enough. Next, I visited the travel agency at Nanzan to check the rates for bus, train, and shinkansen fare to Hiroshima, then to Kyoto, and back to Nagoya. It was a long process (since the attendant insisted on showing us what time we would leave and arrive based on our choices, rather than just giving us the amount of time the trips would take) and I got pretty tired before we finished talking. I was told I had to go to the kokusai center to get a discount, but when I showed the one I had, it seemed to suffice. I was told that I could buy my tickets at kanayama or Nagoyaeki, but my host father told me I could buy them somewhere closer to Nisshin, so I called him and he told me I could buy them at the JTB (Japan Travel Beuro) in Jusco. I went there and tried to make reservations, but since my travel partner didn’t have a discount ticket, the lady told me she couldn’t get the tickets for us today, but if we waited until tomorrow (CJS was closed by now, so my partner couldn’t apply for a discount today) the agency would not be able to do their job on time for us to get our tickets for the day we wanted to leave. Finding this to be true, we made the trip to Nagoyaeki (not willing to waste possible fruitless efforts on Kanayama) to buy our tickets. On the way, my partner formed a theory about the “discount coupons.” I had told him that when I bought my tickets to and from Tokyo, the JR Bus employee told me I couldn’t use my coupon, but that my student ID would suffice. My travel partner thinks the coupon is actually just documentation that we are students, and having the original student ID’s at the bus station, the “coupon” (certificate) did not need to be submitted. The question then is, why don’t they just scan our ID cards at the travel buero to circumvent the “coupon” requirement if we don’t have the coupon? My guess is; it’s Japan, and if regulation isn’t followed, nothing gets done. So, if I learned nothing else from this experience, it is that when you want something, the best route is the most direct one to the source. Tsumari; avoid beurocracy at all costs.
When we had finally gotten our tickets (that cost about twice as much as the ones to Tokyo and back), we went to Tokyo Hands, which is a store in the multi-story shopping mall in Nagoyaeki. I can’t believe I’ve not been there before. It explains a lot about why Japan is the place where all the coolest/cutest items and fashion comes from. The place is a three-story store of all the crafts (professional and cheap end) supplies you could want or imagine. American craft stores are a joke by comparison. Among the more intersting things were crocodile skins (yes, real), model kits (moving and stationary), special resins and moulding supplies, and virtually every notion you could imagine. There was one interesting moulding kit where you make things out of clay, then put it in a kiln, and somehow the clay melts away and you have a metal item. My friend explained it rather badly, so I don’t really understand, but the thing is; they had this necklace on display that I wanted very badly. It even had a price tag, so we asked a clerk to tell us how much it was (since the tag was obscured). As it turned out, it was just a sample (with a blank tag) and they weren’t even selling the moulds to make it. I was really disappointed, but not being very good at Japanese (or having my dad or uncles around to negociate for me) I couldn’t ask for the manager so I could ask to buy it anyway. Oh well.
I got home around eight. Okaasan and otousan had already eaten, so I ate by myself. I had just walked (rather quickly) home from the heated chikatetsu, so I took off my sweater before dinner, but okaasan was a true okaasan and made me put one on before she let me eat so I wouldn’t have a worse cold. Throughout dinner, okaasan kept checking on me, saying things like “taberaremasuka?” “daijoubu?” and “hitoridetaberukarasabishi?”
I know I talk a lot about food, but today, dinner was particularly great. Okaasan made salmon with shitake and lemon, udou with seaweed, left over mame, rice and miso soup (of course), and salad with asparagus. Her fish and mame were particularly good. For dessert, I had the hina matsuri leaf-wrapped, pink momo half-mochi with an inside. It’s become one of my favorite Japanese okashi.
Today though, was pretty action-packed. I woke up pretty un-sick, but by the time I finished breakfast, my throat was icky, so when I said “gochisousama” to okaasan, she insisted on giving me medicine based on my voice. It’s not that I like being sick, but since my symptoms have been coming one-per-day, I’m kind of reluctant to take anything for them since they might just be new-found alergies to Japanese pollen.
Since I didn’t study kanji the night before, I spent most of the morning studying. I think the stress and “sickness” were getting to me, because I wasn’t in much of a kidding mood. We studied the dreaded keigo (honorific, humble, etc. forms) in Japanese today. It was painful, of course. Tsuda sensei taught the second section of class though, so it was entertaining at one point at least. The listening practice we did had to do with McDonald’s in Japan, and it was pretty interesting. Speaking of which, the food they sell in Japan’s McDonald’s doesn’t look horrible, and I kind of want to try the ebi (shrimp) burger and the macha (green tea) milkshake. McDonald’s is pretty expensive here (6-ish bucks for a combo) so I will probably only do it once.
As for the third part of class, Fukatomi Sensei gave us yomimono renshuu. The topic is the culture shock of tipping for Japanese people visiting the US. Based on the details of the reading, Japanese people must stay in ritzy places when they visit the US because the tips they mentioned included bell boys and doormen as well as taxi drivers, waiters, and maids.
After Japanese, I raced to Valor and hanga class. I screwed up my hanga by accidentally cutting off the top of my corvette partially. Oh well...
It was after hanga that the real fun began: planning my week-long break. I had to decide on dates, apply for my student discount, get a reservation for the Mazda museum, and buy tickets to Hiroshima and Kyoto. Most of it got done, but not without copious trouble. First, I applied for my student discount. There was some confusing about how many I needed since I was not doing non-stop trips to and from Nagoya, and I was initially told I needed three and could only get two per day (though I had no time to wait an entire day). In the end, I was issued one because I would be buying all three tickets at the same time. Then, I talked to the lady at Mazda and made sure there were openings on the days I might be in Hiroshima. That was easy enough. Next, I visited the travel agency at Nanzan to check the rates for bus, train, and shinkansen fare to Hiroshima, then to Kyoto, and back to Nagoya. It was a long process (since the attendant insisted on showing us what time we would leave and arrive based on our choices, rather than just giving us the amount of time the trips would take) and I got pretty tired before we finished talking. I was told I had to go to the kokusai center to get a discount, but when I showed the one I had, it seemed to suffice. I was told that I could buy my tickets at kanayama or Nagoyaeki, but my host father told me I could buy them somewhere closer to Nisshin, so I called him and he told me I could buy them at the JTB (Japan Travel Beuro) in Jusco. I went there and tried to make reservations, but since my travel partner didn’t have a discount ticket, the lady told me she couldn’t get the tickets for us today, but if we waited until tomorrow (CJS was closed by now, so my partner couldn’t apply for a discount today) the agency would not be able to do their job on time for us to get our tickets for the day we wanted to leave. Finding this to be true, we made the trip to Nagoyaeki (not willing to waste possible fruitless efforts on Kanayama) to buy our tickets. On the way, my partner formed a theory about the “discount coupons.” I had told him that when I bought my tickets to and from Tokyo, the JR Bus employee told me I couldn’t use my coupon, but that my student ID would suffice. My travel partner thinks the coupon is actually just documentation that we are students, and having the original student ID’s at the bus station, the “coupon” (certificate) did not need to be submitted. The question then is, why don’t they just scan our ID cards at the travel buero to circumvent the “coupon” requirement if we don’t have the coupon? My guess is; it’s Japan, and if regulation isn’t followed, nothing gets done. So, if I learned nothing else from this experience, it is that when you want something, the best route is the most direct one to the source. Tsumari; avoid beurocracy at all costs.
When we had finally gotten our tickets (that cost about twice as much as the ones to Tokyo and back), we went to Tokyo Hands, which is a store in the multi-story shopping mall in Nagoyaeki. I can’t believe I’ve not been there before. It explains a lot about why Japan is the place where all the coolest/cutest items and fashion comes from. The place is a three-story store of all the crafts (professional and cheap end) supplies you could want or imagine. American craft stores are a joke by comparison. Among the more intersting things were crocodile skins (yes, real), model kits (moving and stationary), special resins and moulding supplies, and virtually every notion you could imagine. There was one interesting moulding kit where you make things out of clay, then put it in a kiln, and somehow the clay melts away and you have a metal item. My friend explained it rather badly, so I don’t really understand, but the thing is; they had this necklace on display that I wanted very badly. It even had a price tag, so we asked a clerk to tell us how much it was (since the tag was obscured). As it turned out, it was just a sample (with a blank tag) and they weren’t even selling the moulds to make it. I was really disappointed, but not being very good at Japanese (or having my dad or uncles around to negociate for me) I couldn’t ask for the manager so I could ask to buy it anyway. Oh well.
I got home around eight. Okaasan and otousan had already eaten, so I ate by myself. I had just walked (rather quickly) home from the heated chikatetsu, so I took off my sweater before dinner, but okaasan was a true okaasan and made me put one on before she let me eat so I wouldn’t have a worse cold. Throughout dinner, okaasan kept checking on me, saying things like “taberaremasuka?” “daijoubu?” and “hitoridetaberukarasabishi?”
I know I talk a lot about food, but today, dinner was particularly great. Okaasan made salmon with shitake and lemon, udou with seaweed, left over mame, rice and miso soup (of course), and salad with asparagus. Her fish and mame were particularly good. For dessert, I had the hina matsuri leaf-wrapped, pink momo half-mochi with an inside. It’s become one of my favorite Japanese okashi.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
March 8
I didn’t notice it, but as of yesterday, I’ve been here for exactly two months. So, eight weeks down and eleven left. Time really is flying...
Most of the morning was pretty boring. I did chores and tried to plot my trip for the week-long break that’s coming up after this week. At one point in the day, okaasan’s other son (or son in-law) and grand daughter came over. I had been cleaning my room, so, not being called to join them, I stayed in my room until they got ready to leave and okaasan called me to meet them. We exchanged hello’s and I even got a reluctant hello out of her grand daughter, which is more than I can say for Manachan.
Okaasan showed me how to make fried rice (the Japanese way) and told me I was good at using chop sticks since I used them instead of the spoon she gave me. She said even she uses a spoon for rice when it’s not sticky or in a bowl.
In the day, I could hear Obama’s voice from upstairs. It seems, Otousan likes to listen to (and read) his speeches.
I hate to write about food only, but this day really was pretty boring, so the only interest came from meal times. For dinner, we had sashimi and okaasan’s home-made mix of mame (brown soybeans), ninjin, the Japanese root I can’t remember, and vegetable gelatin (it’s pretty good despite the description). She made a salad of fried tofu, bamboo, and wakame that she was convinced I wouldn’t like, and when I tried it, it was confirmed (it wasn’t bad, but I didn’t have a particular taste for it). She told me it was good for my hair and that all seaweed is good for all of you. Then she told me my skin was good, so it didn’t matter because I’m young.
We spent the evening watching TV. For a while, we watched a comedy where one old man in a kimono gives challenges to about seven other (slightly less) old men in kimonos. Depending on how they perform, they lose or gain pillows to sit on. I wish I understood what they were saying because it looked honestly funny (as confirmed by Okaasan’s reactions). One of the challenges was to respond to something with i_____ and mo_______. Another was to give a toast (or a request while drinking sake) to one’s wife (portrayed by the oldest man). A third (which required wearing wigs) was to impersonate a geisha by reciting (made-up) verses.
Among the other things we watched was the World Heritage documentary on giant, round clay compounds in China. We had seen it once before, but I think the information was a bit different this time. We also watched a show about astronauts (I’m guessing from NASA), the application process, and the logic/team tests that they are subjected to.
Most of the morning was pretty boring. I did chores and tried to plot my trip for the week-long break that’s coming up after this week. At one point in the day, okaasan’s other son (or son in-law) and grand daughter came over. I had been cleaning my room, so, not being called to join them, I stayed in my room until they got ready to leave and okaasan called me to meet them. We exchanged hello’s and I even got a reluctant hello out of her grand daughter, which is more than I can say for Manachan.
Okaasan showed me how to make fried rice (the Japanese way) and told me I was good at using chop sticks since I used them instead of the spoon she gave me. She said even she uses a spoon for rice when it’s not sticky or in a bowl.
In the day, I could hear Obama’s voice from upstairs. It seems, Otousan likes to listen to (and read) his speeches.
I hate to write about food only, but this day really was pretty boring, so the only interest came from meal times. For dinner, we had sashimi and okaasan’s home-made mix of mame (brown soybeans), ninjin, the Japanese root I can’t remember, and vegetable gelatin (it’s pretty good despite the description). She made a salad of fried tofu, bamboo, and wakame that she was convinced I wouldn’t like, and when I tried it, it was confirmed (it wasn’t bad, but I didn’t have a particular taste for it). She told me it was good for my hair and that all seaweed is good for all of you. Then she told me my skin was good, so it didn’t matter because I’m young.
We spent the evening watching TV. For a while, we watched a comedy where one old man in a kimono gives challenges to about seven other (slightly less) old men in kimonos. Depending on how they perform, they lose or gain pillows to sit on. I wish I understood what they were saying because it looked honestly funny (as confirmed by Okaasan’s reactions). One of the challenges was to respond to something with i_____ and mo_______. Another was to give a toast (or a request while drinking sake) to one’s wife (portrayed by the oldest man). A third (which required wearing wigs) was to impersonate a geisha by reciting (made-up) verses.
Among the other things we watched was the World Heritage documentary on giant, round clay compounds in China. We had seen it once before, but I think the information was a bit different this time. We also watched a show about astronauts (I’m guessing from NASA), the application process, and the logic/team tests that they are subjected to.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
March 7
I got up a bit before six today and made myself another tamago hottoke-ki because I was going to the fish market with Mike, Anna, Mike, (yes, two mikes), Sam (I think), and Mike’s host dad today. It occured to me the night before that “nanachan ningyou” was actually Nanachan, the giant mannequin mascot of the Meitetsu mall (she’s in the album, called Nagoya Eki). That is where we met up. Mike’s otousan took us to the market, and if I felt cheated for not being able to see the Tokyo market at four in the morning, this definitely made up for it. Apparently (according to my host mom) it’s fugu (yes, the poisonous blowfish) season. There were tanks full of them (as well as tanks full of all sorts of other things). Among the more interesting were red snapper (their eyes are so big!), flounder (both eyes on one side), sea cucumbers, lobsters, living and dying crabs, ebi, eel, tako (octopus), squid, those giant triangular shellfish, snails, a turtle, and of course; maguro (tuna!). Mike’s dad asked how much one was and it was juumanen (that’s about $1000). We saw the maguro cut and the implement looked like a giant bow saw.
We had to be really careful not to get sprayed with fish guts when the people hosed down their stalls and the fish. We weren’t wearing rubber boots like Mike’s otousan, so we had to watch where we were going too and to avoid being touched by the many carts and people carrying sea life all around us. We agreed that it was probably as much entertainment for the stall workers as it was for us to have foreigners coming through the market. Mike’s otousan is really good-natured though, so he introduced us to a lot of the people who work at the market (and their fish), always saying “I’m giving them a tour. They’re all American students at Nanzan University.” On many occasions, he told us what we were looking at and said “it’s sleeping” or “it’s dying” or poked the fish (especially the tako) to make them move.
When Mike’s otousan left us to pick up the fish he ordered, we decided to walk around the Nagoya eki area to find something to eat. The first thing we did was ride an elevator in one of the tallest buildings we could find to the forty-eighth (or maybe it was the seventy-eighth?) floor. The intercom indicated that it was a restricted floor when we pressed the button to get there, but the elevator went up anyway. The doors didn’t open at the upper floor though. At first, I felt a bit sick because the elevator is glass and you can see (and feel) yourself ascending forever. When we finally got to the top though, it was amazing. We could see forever, it seemed. After spending a while up there, the elevator began to ascend, and I felt my stomach disappear again. I have to say, it was the most fun elevator ride I’ve ever taken.
We finally did find food inside the Nagoya eki at an expensive panya. After my friends finished their breakfasts (of pan), we decided to walk to Sakae. The walk was just as fun as the destination because we found a park (in Japan? no way!) on the way and played around for a bit. There was a giant sand area (for reasons unknown) and Mike found a big stick, so he and Anna made giant drawings in the sand. There was a fountain too that was pretty cool. There was even a playground nearby where we reverted to climbing the jungle gym and playing on the sea-saw until little kids came by, at which time we left so we wouldn’t scare their parents. At one point during our trip, we were stopped by Japanese tour guides wanting to give us tours (obviously) but we told them we didn’t have time. Of course, we were at the time just standing, looking at the bay, so the guide tried to use that in conflict with our argument, but we brushed it off because the guide was the one who wanted something out of us. We had to pass about three other guides with the same request within ten seconds. When we did get to Sakae, we played video games (Mario Kart, Taiko Drummer, Silent Hill, and some punching game) and grabbed relatively cheap (and filling) ramen at Fuji Ichiban. The place was crowded though, so we had to wait outside for a bit, but it was fine because the weather was amazingly nice today (especially after rainy Friday).
After lunch, we went in search of special soap for Anna at a department store whose name suspiciously resembles “Jusco.” We had some fun smelling all the fancy soaps (that looked like giant wheels of cheese) until everyone had to leave to go to the other Mike’s house (they had been invited by his host family). I decided to go to Osu in search of a watch. I walked though (to save money on subway fare), and the short distance between Sakae and Osu became very clear. I didn’t succeed in finding a watch (or buying any of the clothes I tried on), but I did get another cell phone charm (I’ve got to stop that) and the beanpaste donut (which I regrettably couldn’t taste much ): because I was feeling cold symptoms again).
I got home a bit after 6:30, but it was okay because okaasan wasn’t finished making dinner. I helped out, but she got a bit annoyed by me washing the hashi again because she thinks it’s overkill to rinse them before putting them in the dishwasher and then wash them with soap before you use them if you didn’t run the dishwasher. She says my habits make her wonder if my family is rich and has a maid that does chores for us. I told her it was not the case and that having a maid is muri (I meant mezurashii, but now that I have looked it up, it probably works even better) in America. She told me it was the same in Japan, but that when she lived in South Africa, she had to hire many just to give people jobs.
At dinner, we had what looked like ramen, but was “nikujagai,” short for “meat and potatoes” which consisted of meat, potatoes, ramen-like noodles, onion, and carrot. I guess it’s kind of like the Japanese version of pot roast, but with soup instead of gravy. Okaasan also made chicken wings, but I couldn’t eat that much food. She offered me ice cream before I had much of a choice, but there was still a chicken wing left, and when she offered it to me, I told her I couldn’t eat more, but she made a comment about me currently eating ice cream. Gaa, what do I do?! Oh well.
I wonder if I’m a nuisance to my host mom. She wants me to help with dinner, but I don’t move as fast as her (and it’s hard to maneuver in the small kitchen) so I feel like I’m in the way, even when I’m doing what she asks. She asked me to use the internet quickly if I do today because she wants to relax, but I don’t understand why she can’t relax while I use my computer quietly in the same room. I’m trying to talk more and I’m talking about the things I do in the day, so I think I’m doing what she wants...
We had to be really careful not to get sprayed with fish guts when the people hosed down their stalls and the fish. We weren’t wearing rubber boots like Mike’s otousan, so we had to watch where we were going too and to avoid being touched by the many carts and people carrying sea life all around us. We agreed that it was probably as much entertainment for the stall workers as it was for us to have foreigners coming through the market. Mike’s otousan is really good-natured though, so he introduced us to a lot of the people who work at the market (and their fish), always saying “I’m giving them a tour. They’re all American students at Nanzan University.” On many occasions, he told us what we were looking at and said “it’s sleeping” or “it’s dying” or poked the fish (especially the tako) to make them move.
When Mike’s otousan left us to pick up the fish he ordered, we decided to walk around the Nagoya eki area to find something to eat. The first thing we did was ride an elevator in one of the tallest buildings we could find to the forty-eighth (or maybe it was the seventy-eighth?) floor. The intercom indicated that it was a restricted floor when we pressed the button to get there, but the elevator went up anyway. The doors didn’t open at the upper floor though. At first, I felt a bit sick because the elevator is glass and you can see (and feel) yourself ascending forever. When we finally got to the top though, it was amazing. We could see forever, it seemed. After spending a while up there, the elevator began to ascend, and I felt my stomach disappear again. I have to say, it was the most fun elevator ride I’ve ever taken.
We finally did find food inside the Nagoya eki at an expensive panya. After my friends finished their breakfasts (of pan), we decided to walk to Sakae. The walk was just as fun as the destination because we found a park (in Japan? no way!) on the way and played around for a bit. There was a giant sand area (for reasons unknown) and Mike found a big stick, so he and Anna made giant drawings in the sand. There was a fountain too that was pretty cool. There was even a playground nearby where we reverted to climbing the jungle gym and playing on the sea-saw until little kids came by, at which time we left so we wouldn’t scare their parents. At one point during our trip, we were stopped by Japanese tour guides wanting to give us tours (obviously) but we told them we didn’t have time. Of course, we were at the time just standing, looking at the bay, so the guide tried to use that in conflict with our argument, but we brushed it off because the guide was the one who wanted something out of us. We had to pass about three other guides with the same request within ten seconds. When we did get to Sakae, we played video games (Mario Kart, Taiko Drummer, Silent Hill, and some punching game) and grabbed relatively cheap (and filling) ramen at Fuji Ichiban. The place was crowded though, so we had to wait outside for a bit, but it was fine because the weather was amazingly nice today (especially after rainy Friday).
After lunch, we went in search of special soap for Anna at a department store whose name suspiciously resembles “Jusco.” We had some fun smelling all the fancy soaps (that looked like giant wheels of cheese) until everyone had to leave to go to the other Mike’s house (they had been invited by his host family). I decided to go to Osu in search of a watch. I walked though (to save money on subway fare), and the short distance between Sakae and Osu became very clear. I didn’t succeed in finding a watch (or buying any of the clothes I tried on), but I did get another cell phone charm (I’ve got to stop that) and the beanpaste donut (which I regrettably couldn’t taste much ): because I was feeling cold symptoms again).
I got home a bit after 6:30, but it was okay because okaasan wasn’t finished making dinner. I helped out, but she got a bit annoyed by me washing the hashi again because she thinks it’s overkill to rinse them before putting them in the dishwasher and then wash them with soap before you use them if you didn’t run the dishwasher. She says my habits make her wonder if my family is rich and has a maid that does chores for us. I told her it was not the case and that having a maid is muri (I meant mezurashii, but now that I have looked it up, it probably works even better) in America. She told me it was the same in Japan, but that when she lived in South Africa, she had to hire many just to give people jobs.
At dinner, we had what looked like ramen, but was “nikujagai,” short for “meat and potatoes” which consisted of meat, potatoes, ramen-like noodles, onion, and carrot. I guess it’s kind of like the Japanese version of pot roast, but with soup instead of gravy. Okaasan also made chicken wings, but I couldn’t eat that much food. She offered me ice cream before I had much of a choice, but there was still a chicken wing left, and when she offered it to me, I told her I couldn’t eat more, but she made a comment about me currently eating ice cream. Gaa, what do I do?! Oh well.
I wonder if I’m a nuisance to my host mom. She wants me to help with dinner, but I don’t move as fast as her (and it’s hard to maneuver in the small kitchen) so I feel like I’m in the way, even when I’m doing what she asks. She asked me to use the internet quickly if I do today because she wants to relax, but I don’t understand why she can’t relax while I use my computer quietly in the same room. I’m trying to talk more and I’m talking about the things I do in the day, so I think I’m doing what she wants...
Friday, March 6, 2009
March 6
Today, I made a scrambled egg pancake. I was getting tired of fried eggs, so I decided to make scrambled ones today. However, due to my multitasking (and the amazing effects of teflon) I made an egg that resembled a pancake; it was the same color, shape, and fluffy consistency, but it was an egg instead. When I started my day outside the house, it was raining. It didn’t stop for most of the day and by noon, it was raining fairly strong.
Class was particularly boring. After taking our half-hour test (which had to be extended because half on an hour is not enough for two pages of assessment), we had three hours of bunpou renshuu. The first session was with Hanashiro sensei and I made a small joke, since he seems to be laughing at his own all the time, but I’m not sure if it went over well. He was asking what we should do since we had lost some time with the testing period’s extension and I suggested we take a break from class (or a nap depending on the interpretation) and I think he took it as disrespect because when we were doing practice one-at-a-time, he skipped me. When he realized (or realized that I realized), he made me do about six practices in a row (while everyone else had gotten only one). It was okay though, because Mertz Sensei had done this to me at State (probably without any hard feelings) and I got them all right. Otherwise, the only interesting part of class was the end, when we had to debate between cats and dogs and homestay and dorm living.
After class, I made my daily Valor run (alone in the rain because my friends punked out on me) and used the internet between classes. My friend was also using the computers (to finish her report that was due that afternoon). It was interesting because her phone kept ringing and people would come by to talk to her. In the end, she wrote her paper in about half of an hour with only about fifteen to spare before class.
Class itself was pretty boring. I couldn’t pay attention to the professor for the most part. It’s become very bad. Usually, I will draw pictures while he speaks and write down the important points he makes, but lately, it does not seem like he is finishing his thoughts and the important information is usually written on the slide copies he gives us. It all equates to me drawing pictures in class.
When we were finally let loose (ten minutes after the course was supposed to end), I went to my eki as usual, but I ran into Fukatomi (ne) sensei. I didn’t realize it was her (as I was looking further down the platform to see if it was safe to walk in the narrow space of the platform) until she waved her hand in front of me many times. I didn’t know what to say, since I was surprised, so I only got to return her “konnichiwa” and say “tomodachigamieru” before walking to another door at the train that had just arrived. I had seen my friend further down the platform, so what I said to her was true.
Otherwise, the trip home was uneventful. When I did get home though, otousan was making dinner. I’m kind of happy to be able to help out, even if my help is elementary. Otousan asked me if it was okay to put glass in the microwave. I thought he was asking if the bowl was good for the amount of rice I was going to nuke. He seemed a bit surprised when I pulled out some saran wrap to put over the bowl to keep the moisture in. I guess cooking really is usually the wife’s job in Japan. To be fair though, he had to show me how to use the microwave.
At dinner, we ate otousan’s wine-flavored chicken stew (I tried not to eat the Chicken part of it since it’s Friday) with the gohan, clear wakame soup, and salad. Otousan’s cooking is pretty good, especially for a hobby. He asked me twice what I thought of it, I don’t think he was confident about it.
Okaasan came back from her trip to either the west most or the southern most island of Japan. I’m not good at directions in Japanese either. D: She said it was fun and interesting, but tiring. She brought me back a special present. :D It’s a hand-made fabric pencil case in traditional Okinawan color and pattern. She explained the inverse checker patterns on it as: itsunoyounishiawaseninaru. itsutsu(five) youtsu(four) ni shiro (white has “shi” in it as does happiness). There are two checker patterns that have four and five white blocks, so if you put them together, you get a whole (itsumo) white area. It makes a lot of sense in Japanese. :D
Culture Note: Japanese people are worse than Germans when it comes to following rules. Even if there are no cars coming from any directions, they will not cross the street at a crosswalk until the pedestrian light turns green (blue if you’re going by Japanese standards). However, I (and many Japanese people from my neighborhood) J-walk daily to get to Nisshin eki.
P.S. The Lotus count is up to two or three. I can’t remember now. D:
Class was particularly boring. After taking our half-hour test (which had to be extended because half on an hour is not enough for two pages of assessment), we had three hours of bunpou renshuu. The first session was with Hanashiro sensei and I made a small joke, since he seems to be laughing at his own all the time, but I’m not sure if it went over well. He was asking what we should do since we had lost some time with the testing period’s extension and I suggested we take a break from class (or a nap depending on the interpretation) and I think he took it as disrespect because when we were doing practice one-at-a-time, he skipped me. When he realized (or realized that I realized), he made me do about six practices in a row (while everyone else had gotten only one). It was okay though, because Mertz Sensei had done this to me at State (probably without any hard feelings) and I got them all right. Otherwise, the only interesting part of class was the end, when we had to debate between cats and dogs and homestay and dorm living.
After class, I made my daily Valor run (alone in the rain because my friends punked out on me) and used the internet between classes. My friend was also using the computers (to finish her report that was due that afternoon). It was interesting because her phone kept ringing and people would come by to talk to her. In the end, she wrote her paper in about half of an hour with only about fifteen to spare before class.
Class itself was pretty boring. I couldn’t pay attention to the professor for the most part. It’s become very bad. Usually, I will draw pictures while he speaks and write down the important points he makes, but lately, it does not seem like he is finishing his thoughts and the important information is usually written on the slide copies he gives us. It all equates to me drawing pictures in class.
When we were finally let loose (ten minutes after the course was supposed to end), I went to my eki as usual, but I ran into Fukatomi (ne) sensei. I didn’t realize it was her (as I was looking further down the platform to see if it was safe to walk in the narrow space of the platform) until she waved her hand in front of me many times. I didn’t know what to say, since I was surprised, so I only got to return her “konnichiwa” and say “tomodachigamieru” before walking to another door at the train that had just arrived. I had seen my friend further down the platform, so what I said to her was true.
Otherwise, the trip home was uneventful. When I did get home though, otousan was making dinner. I’m kind of happy to be able to help out, even if my help is elementary. Otousan asked me if it was okay to put glass in the microwave. I thought he was asking if the bowl was good for the amount of rice I was going to nuke. He seemed a bit surprised when I pulled out some saran wrap to put over the bowl to keep the moisture in. I guess cooking really is usually the wife’s job in Japan. To be fair though, he had to show me how to use the microwave.
At dinner, we ate otousan’s wine-flavored chicken stew (I tried not to eat the Chicken part of it since it’s Friday) with the gohan, clear wakame soup, and salad. Otousan’s cooking is pretty good, especially for a hobby. He asked me twice what I thought of it, I don’t think he was confident about it.
Okaasan came back from her trip to either the west most or the southern most island of Japan. I’m not good at directions in Japanese either. D: She said it was fun and interesting, but tiring. She brought me back a special present. :D It’s a hand-made fabric pencil case in traditional Okinawan color and pattern. She explained the inverse checker patterns on it as: itsunoyounishiawaseninaru. itsutsu(five) youtsu(four) ni shiro (white has “shi” in it as does happiness). There are two checker patterns that have four and five white blocks, so if you put them together, you get a whole (itsumo) white area. It makes a lot of sense in Japanese. :D
Culture Note: Japanese people are worse than Germans when it comes to following rules. Even if there are no cars coming from any directions, they will not cross the street at a crosswalk until the pedestrian light turns green (blue if you’re going by Japanese standards). However, I (and many Japanese people from my neighborhood) J-walk daily to get to Nisshin eki.
P.S. The Lotus count is up to two or three. I can’t remember now. D:
Thursday, March 5, 2009
March 5
I guess today was interesting. When I woke up, I was bit relieved to find my throat a bit less painful than the night before, but as compensation, my ears and head hurt a bit, so I was still worried. I think the carton of grapefruit juice I drink at breakfast has a small leak in it and I hope osmosis has not caused bacteria to get into it and has not caused my sickness.
In class today, we spoke with Japanese students. It was a lot less awkward than last time because there were two exchange students for each Japanese student. We talked about things we had found in Japan (we had to bring two in to share). I talked about teruteru bouzu and hinamatsuri. Apparently, I had met the two Japanese girls I ended up talking to (there were no guys again for some reason) but I only remembered one. Japanese people though seem to never forget a face (and usually a name too) so it was a bit embarrassing. I was a bit out of it during class though since my head was feeling pretty fluffy (as I like to refer to it when you feel like you’ve got a cold and just want a nap).
I did get a few moments of fame though during our normal Japanese class time because I seemed to be the only student who got two particular answers correct on our homework. It was pretty nice, since I’ve been a bit down about my B average in Japanese.
After class, I talked with Miki (one of the Japanese girls I had talked to in class) and some of the other ryuugakusei and I realized how much more comfortable that atmosphere is than the classroom atmosphere. I don’t know why, but it’s noticeably easier to talk to Japanese people outside of class and functions. Maybe it’s because we don’t feel pressured to talk about anything particular.
I went on a Valor’s run for lunch as usual, and luckily, Mike and Anna were still there (I had meant to meet them to go there, but since I stayed behind to talk with Miki, it had become late). After I bought my food, we went to the roof of the J building, where you can see most of Nagoya. It’s only about four or five stories up, but I could see the buildings around Nagoya Station, the Sky Tower, Nagoya Dome, and mountains in the distance. It was really pretty, though a bit windy. Anna and Mike decided to drink beer on the roof and throw ichien coins at their friends as they walked below. It was pretty entertaining from my standpoint.
When things go boring, I left for home, but first, I ran into Anna, so we started walking to the eki together. On campus, there was a car (which rarely happens because we have blue-uniformed “guards” and gates at each of the school entrances. I saw the driver’s seat through the windshield and recognized it as a racing seat (thanks a lot Andrew), so I decided to walk around it to figure out what it was. I couldn’t tell from the triangular emblem on the front or the sponsor-esque stickers on the sides. Its side mirrors were half of the way down the hood and it didn’t look particularly special. When I had walked most of the way around the car, a guy (who turned out to be the owner) asked “do you like my car?” in a rather stern voice. I told him “yeah, it’s pretty cool” and he proceeded to tell me that it was an old honda and that he had restored it completely himself. I was too surprised by his tone to stick around and ask him about it, so I told him it was sugoi and kept walking. I noticed though before I left that it was a celica.
Afterward, I went home to take a long nap and study for my Japanese test tomorrow. Up until dinner time, my time at home was the same as yesterday. I’ve heard the medication in Japan is weak compared to that in America and I’m not positive I’m actually sick yet, so I’m under the impression that the best thing to do to keep my health up (outside of getting lots of citrus at breakfast and vegetables at dinner) is to sleep. I’ll probably do a massive cleaning job in my room (and maybe the kitchen, if okaasan will let me) this weekend too, just to be safe.
When I came down to dinner, otousan was still making the food, so I listened to the radio and ate ebi crackers with him while he made grilled (broiled) fish. We had rice and salad too of course, and I made instant miso. I’m going to have to start planning how to pack all the things I want to take back to the states because I’m thinking food alone will be a big space-taker. At dinner, I talked about talking to the Japanese students. When I told otousan about the teruteru bouzu, he told me about another interesting thing children used to do. In years past (probably otousan’s childhood) when they were worried about the weather (much like when they make teruteru bouzu) they would flip their geta (stilted sandals) off and if it landed right-side-up, it would be clear, but if it landed up-side-down, there would be rain.
We also talked about the kerosene truck. When it came by, otousan mentioned it, and I told him that the only kind of vehicle that gives off music in the US is the ice cream truck. Apparently, when otousan was working in California, there was a sandwich truck that would play music and come by his building (he worked for Toyota). In Belgium, there was a sandwich lady that would come by with a basket, but he said that French bread was so tough that it was too crunch; it would make his mouth hurt and get crumbs all over the place. We had some interesting conversation.
After dinner, we had some kind of okashi. Otousan had a cream puff and I had something I still can’t identify. It looks like the top of a poppy-seed muffin, but it has cream (maybe fruit flavored) in the middle and a squirrel stamped on the top. It made me wonder if there were squirrels in Japan, since I noticed I haven’t seen any yet. Another thing to ask my host family...
After dinner, I did the dishes and studied for my test. Luckily, I’ve already learned a lot of the concepts for this chapter in high school and college.
Culture Note: Japanese appliances are interestingly different from American ones. Our oven, for example, has a small drawer-like compartment at the top for broiling food. It looks like a grill rack, but it’s only about a foot across and a foot deep. You can pull it out without opening the oven. Some of the other host students say that their ovens double as microwaves, but I haven’t had a chance to see them up close. My host family has a separate microwave and a separate microwave oven as well, but then again, they have stated that they don’t have a traditional Japanese household.
I’m noticing that I’m looking forward to going home to the comforts of my house and America in general. I know that once I go back, I will miss a lot of things (like the convenience of being able to walk to the chikatestsu and get just about anywhere from there), but I feel like I can’t really settle here. I wonder if I’m already getting too set in my ways and whether having done this in high school would have been easier in terms of adapting. I hope that I’m not becoming set so that I can not be spontaneous and go anywhere and do anything.
P.S. I don’t think I’ve heard thunder or seen lightning since coming to Japan, though it has rained many times.
In class today, we spoke with Japanese students. It was a lot less awkward than last time because there were two exchange students for each Japanese student. We talked about things we had found in Japan (we had to bring two in to share). I talked about teruteru bouzu and hinamatsuri. Apparently, I had met the two Japanese girls I ended up talking to (there were no guys again for some reason) but I only remembered one. Japanese people though seem to never forget a face (and usually a name too) so it was a bit embarrassing. I was a bit out of it during class though since my head was feeling pretty fluffy (as I like to refer to it when you feel like you’ve got a cold and just want a nap).
I did get a few moments of fame though during our normal Japanese class time because I seemed to be the only student who got two particular answers correct on our homework. It was pretty nice, since I’ve been a bit down about my B average in Japanese.
After class, I talked with Miki (one of the Japanese girls I had talked to in class) and some of the other ryuugakusei and I realized how much more comfortable that atmosphere is than the classroom atmosphere. I don’t know why, but it’s noticeably easier to talk to Japanese people outside of class and functions. Maybe it’s because we don’t feel pressured to talk about anything particular.
I went on a Valor’s run for lunch as usual, and luckily, Mike and Anna were still there (I had meant to meet them to go there, but since I stayed behind to talk with Miki, it had become late). After I bought my food, we went to the roof of the J building, where you can see most of Nagoya. It’s only about four or five stories up, but I could see the buildings around Nagoya Station, the Sky Tower, Nagoya Dome, and mountains in the distance. It was really pretty, though a bit windy. Anna and Mike decided to drink beer on the roof and throw ichien coins at their friends as they walked below. It was pretty entertaining from my standpoint.
When things go boring, I left for home, but first, I ran into Anna, so we started walking to the eki together. On campus, there was a car (which rarely happens because we have blue-uniformed “guards” and gates at each of the school entrances. I saw the driver’s seat through the windshield and recognized it as a racing seat (thanks a lot Andrew), so I decided to walk around it to figure out what it was. I couldn’t tell from the triangular emblem on the front or the sponsor-esque stickers on the sides. Its side mirrors were half of the way down the hood and it didn’t look particularly special. When I had walked most of the way around the car, a guy (who turned out to be the owner) asked “do you like my car?” in a rather stern voice. I told him “yeah, it’s pretty cool” and he proceeded to tell me that it was an old honda and that he had restored it completely himself. I was too surprised by his tone to stick around and ask him about it, so I told him it was sugoi and kept walking. I noticed though before I left that it was a celica.
Afterward, I went home to take a long nap and study for my Japanese test tomorrow. Up until dinner time, my time at home was the same as yesterday. I’ve heard the medication in Japan is weak compared to that in America and I’m not positive I’m actually sick yet, so I’m under the impression that the best thing to do to keep my health up (outside of getting lots of citrus at breakfast and vegetables at dinner) is to sleep. I’ll probably do a massive cleaning job in my room (and maybe the kitchen, if okaasan will let me) this weekend too, just to be safe.
When I came down to dinner, otousan was still making the food, so I listened to the radio and ate ebi crackers with him while he made grilled (broiled) fish. We had rice and salad too of course, and I made instant miso. I’m going to have to start planning how to pack all the things I want to take back to the states because I’m thinking food alone will be a big space-taker. At dinner, I talked about talking to the Japanese students. When I told otousan about the teruteru bouzu, he told me about another interesting thing children used to do. In years past (probably otousan’s childhood) when they were worried about the weather (much like when they make teruteru bouzu) they would flip their geta (stilted sandals) off and if it landed right-side-up, it would be clear, but if it landed up-side-down, there would be rain.
We also talked about the kerosene truck. When it came by, otousan mentioned it, and I told him that the only kind of vehicle that gives off music in the US is the ice cream truck. Apparently, when otousan was working in California, there was a sandwich truck that would play music and come by his building (he worked for Toyota). In Belgium, there was a sandwich lady that would come by with a basket, but he said that French bread was so tough that it was too crunch; it would make his mouth hurt and get crumbs all over the place. We had some interesting conversation.
After dinner, we had some kind of okashi. Otousan had a cream puff and I had something I still can’t identify. It looks like the top of a poppy-seed muffin, but it has cream (maybe fruit flavored) in the middle and a squirrel stamped on the top. It made me wonder if there were squirrels in Japan, since I noticed I haven’t seen any yet. Another thing to ask my host family...
After dinner, I did the dishes and studied for my test. Luckily, I’ve already learned a lot of the concepts for this chapter in high school and college.
Culture Note: Japanese appliances are interestingly different from American ones. Our oven, for example, has a small drawer-like compartment at the top for broiling food. It looks like a grill rack, but it’s only about a foot across and a foot deep. You can pull it out without opening the oven. Some of the other host students say that their ovens double as microwaves, but I haven’t had a chance to see them up close. My host family has a separate microwave and a separate microwave oven as well, but then again, they have stated that they don’t have a traditional Japanese household.
I’m noticing that I’m looking forward to going home to the comforts of my house and America in general. I know that once I go back, I will miss a lot of things (like the convenience of being able to walk to the chikatestsu and get just about anywhere from there), but I feel like I can’t really settle here. I wonder if I’m already getting too set in my ways and whether having done this in high school would have been easier in terms of adapting. I hope that I’m not becoming set so that I can not be spontaneous and go anywhere and do anything.
P.S. I don’t think I’ve heard thunder or seen lightning since coming to Japan, though it has rained many times.
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