Osaka (again) and School ^^

OK desu! So we left off with us all getting back from the trip to Mount Koya. We were dropped off in Osaka around five. So we decided since we were there we might as well go out and enjoy the city a bit. Since we had just gotten home from a trip, we still had all our baggage with us so we paid for lockers so we wouldn't have to take it all around with us. There are lockers in every train station, it seems. It’s really convenient. We paid ¥300 per person for the whole day so pretty good deal.

We met up with our Japanese friend Hitomi-chan who also brought a friend and we wandered around in a group of about eight or so. We were going to shop (which we seem to be doing a lot…) but we ended up just drifting over towards a nomihodai place. It was different from the one we went to last one (which a few of us were kind of disappointed about since the last one was so good!) but it’s good to go to different places. The drinks were somewhat stronger and not quite as tasty but they were still good.  The place gave us a room to ourselves, which gave us license to become the typical loud, annoying foreigners. =P I felt sorry for the people on either side of us. XD

A few members of our group wanted to eat ramen afterwards but most of us were full (we had all shared plates of food that our Japanese friends ordered) so we went to do purikura! For those who’ve never heard before, purikura is basically like a photo booth but it’s really bright, great quality, and you can add symbols and write on all the pictures afterwards. It also tends to make your eyes appear bigger, anime-style. Observe:

Our trip kind of petered out after that. Most of our group went home to catch buses and such. I stayed with Hitomi for a bit to have some girl chat in McDonalds though. =P

This week I spontaneously tried out the Karate club with my friend and I actually really like it! They were much more accepting than Kenpo seemed to be. We were planning to sit out but they insisted we join in and they seemed really enthusiastic. They have a definite Sensei, which adds a good sense of authority to it. He has a voice just like you’d think a Japanese martial artist would have, it’s awesome. :D They have concrete forms and techniques as well, which makes me happy. They do one point sparring for about a half hour but it doesn’t consume the lesson the way Kenpo’s sparring did. There are even two girls (out of ten, that’s not bad!).

I also met with the Aikido club today. They sounded very nice and accepting as well so I’m thinking of trying Aikido maybe once a week, and Karate two times per week. It’s good to get exposure to all different types of martial arts so I’ll see how it goes. Both clubs meet the same five days a week, three hours a day, in the same building and they said they don’t mind if you only turn up a few times a week. The gym they’re located in is actually pretty far from campus so we take school coach to get there. The one night we went it rained profusely though so we all got completely soaked! びちょびちょ！ Beecho Beecho! (Soaked)

Getting back to less exciting things, class is going well so far. We have Japanese for 2-3 periods during the morning, lunch, and then afternoon classes. I’ve switched into International Education (which is actually extremely interesting and the teacher is simply inspiring) so I’m taking that, Linguistics, and the Joint Seminar. Yesterday in Japanese class we actually watched “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (Spirited Away)! We got a question sheet that had various word translations on it from the movie so that’s really neat to have! It made my day to watch that during class. *G*

I’ve signed up for eikaiwa teaching (English tutoring) that pays about 20 dollars an hour. But I’ve only been assigned one hour a week so it won’t turn out to too much. ^^” It’ll still be good to get some experience in teaching English to Japanese students if I ever want to do JET though. I want to help my host mom out with her students as well but I just haven’t been home due to club so hopefully I’ll get another chance!

Yesterday after class, my friend Jess and I were helping Hitomi with her English homework. It was seriously difficult for someone who’s not a native speaker! She’s reading “Tuesdays with Morrie” which is a pretty advanced English book. She had to read five or six chapters from it and translate all the words she didn't know. So there we were, translating like 15 pages worth of words using three denshi jishos (electronic dictionaries- a must have for Japan, even for Japanese people) and 4-6 people and after an hour and a half, we still weren’t done! We decided to give up for the day and Jess and I went shopping around Nishinomiya Gardens. We actually managed to find some cheap clothes so I bought a shirt and a scarf after much debate.

Jess ended up coming over my house for the evening so when we got home we chatted with my host mom for a bit and then had an AMAZING dinner of tempura, potatoes, rice, and fried chicken of some sort. SO good! We had such a good time with my host family. I’m lucky they’re so great!! It’s like living my American life, just in Japan. That’s how comfortable I feel with them. That night, Jess and I really meant to study because we had a chapter test the next day but we only really studied for about 10 minutes and then got off topic. =P But thankfully, the test wasn’t TOO difficult so hopefully I did alright. I’m sure I still managed to screw some parts up though. Wasn’t feeling overly strong about it so, we’ll see.

I think I’m finally all caught up so, それではまた次回！

Word of the day: 傘　“kasa” or umbrella. A necessary item for Japan no matter what the weather!

Mount Koya! 山

I can’t believe I’ve only been here three weeks! So much to catch up on!

So this past weekend we went on our first field trip. We went to Koyasan for two days, one night and stayed in a Buddhist temple to experience simple monk food and traditional ways. Or so the pamphlet says. =P

We all met up at the JR station (Japanese Railway) and headed as a group to Koyasan! Koyasan is surrounded by a group of mountains and the place we were staying at is basically at the center of it. The monks (who spoke only in Japanese) told us that their temple was made many years ago and it was in the central part of what they picture as a large lotus flower; the surrounding mountains represent the petals. Lotus flowers, for those who don’t know, grow out of the muck at the bottom of a water body and then grow towards the light and become beautiful flowers. So it is very symbolic in a lot of asian cultures as spiritual enlightenment or as the heart/soul in general.

When we got off our last train, we took an incline up to the top of the mountain (we were literally in the clouds) and then took taxis to our temple. Except my small group got to ride with the monk which was awesome! (“It’s like riding in the pope-mobile!”) We dropped our stuff off in the house/temple. It’s more like a lodging for mountain travelers seeking refuge. So although they do have praying rooms, they also have accommodations for lodging. I was in the large room of girls. So nine of us all went upstairs to our tatami room and it was SO cold. Good thing they equipped us with heavy futons (and good thing I brought my leggings!). There was also a TV, which I really wasn’t expecting! (“Monks watch TV?!”) I should have brought my electrical chargers after all! Arg! Who expects an outlet when you’re housed by monks??

After we had set all our things down, we had lunch that our host families had packed for us. Everyone had cute bentos (lunch boxes) wrapped in furoshikis! (Basically a handkerchief-like clothe). We ate on floor mats in a big tatami room. Then they took us on a guided tour of the expansive cemetery that’s in Koyasan. There were literally thousands of graves everywhere and LOADS of famous people are buried there (well famous for Japan mostly): The founders of the temple, the original Panasonic owners, the people who started Nissan, some famous samurai, feudal lords, etc. Almost all of the graves had huge headstones that were hundreds of years old! But the monks and caretakers keep them up so well that they are all in very good shape. Many of the graves and shrines had 10 strands of 100 cranes people had offered to them. 1000 cranes are said to bring good luck and happiness. The grounds were separated by 3 bridges: ichiban no hashi (first bridge), Naka no Hashi (middle bridge), and Gobyo bashi which leads to the main temple. The bridges are said to connect the physical world to the spiritual world so that you can become closer to them. I took so many pictures my camera nearly gave out! Each time I was like “okay, no more pictures of graves” and then I’d think *Ooo, this looks pretty! Snap!* Many of the headstones were set up in a 5 part structure: A, VA, RA, HA, KA. Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Spirit.

To enter the third bridge and the Koubou Daishi Mausoleum it led to, everyone had to make an offering (water) and bow to the god statues that were lined up next to the bridge. Then you have to bow before the bridge (as we did with all three bridges) and go on. Beyond the third bridge was the main temple. There was a fun challenge in the first bit where you had to lift up a very heavy rock with your hand and toss it/nudge it up to the level above it (about a foot higher). If you managed it and think of a wish beforehand then you get your wish granted! I did it! (but with two hands, I must admit, though our tour guide said that still counts so =P)

After walking around the temple (which had an offering space kind of like an enlarged version of Ikuta Shrine which I wrote about earlier), we bought some small good luck charms with our zodiac symbols on it and then they took us a to a souvenir shop that was close by. We all bought omiyage for our host families. (Omiyage means a souvenir or gift. They are a big part of Japanese life because you are expected to buy them every time you travel somewhere big or go to someone else’s house, etc.) Usually, you get the food that the place is most famous for so I asked and it was a special type of tofu. I really don’t like tofu so I don't know if this was good or not but I didn't like it when I tried it later. >< I also got some mochi (my favorite! It’s like a doughy, sweet ball that has flower on the outside and bean paste in the middle = YUM) and some crunchy snack food.

We returned to our lodging after that and had a typical monk dinner. Now I know they don’t eat meat, but MAN do they eat well! Everything was so tasty! Miso, rice, fried potato, eggplant, beans, fruit, the works. 

Around that time we also had scheduled bath time. All of us got bathroom time slots that we signed up for. There were a few single times but most of us showered in groups. So like I had a group of 4 girls. I know, weird right? But that’s the Japanese way. It was a little embarrassing at first but we got over it. You get changed in a connecting room and then shower/clean outside the bath. And then once you’re clean, go into the bath, which was SO nice and warm! It was very relaxing.

We basically had free time for the rest of the night so we just hung out, talked, played card games, etc. We even discovered a kotatsu in our room, which is basically a heated table with a blanket coming out of it to cover you. =) Very useful in the winter. (Or when you’re in the mountains!)

The next day we got up at the crack of dawn and attended a half hour chanting session. It was actually kind of neat the way they did it. There were two monks and in order to always have one of them continue the chant, they staggered their intake of breath by about 20 seconds so that when one of them ran out of breath the other could keep going and vice versa. Their synchronicity was amazing! Same words, tone, inflection; it may as well have been a single voice.

Breakfast was next so we enjoyed another monk prepared meal of pretty much the same stuff as the day before. Then we went to an hour and a half meditation session. We only actually meditated for about 15 minutes but the head monk was explaining the thought process to us in Japanese. The meditation they do is called Ajikan which is different from Zen meditation. In Zen, you are supposed to completely wipe your mind of every thought but in Ajikan you are supposed to think about a beautiful place somewhere far away that has nice clean air. You focus on that place so that when events and sounds are happening around you, they kind of pass by without causing you to think of anything. He had us expand our image by first thinking of the temple we were in, then the Koya san mountain, then the city, then Japan, Asia, Asia + Russia, etc. And he had us come back the same way. When you take in a breath, you breath in that clear air and then when you exhale, it’s supposed to cleanse your body of bad things. You’re supposed to have your eyes and mouth slightly open and fold your hands on top of one another with your thumbs meeting. It was quite relaxing actually.

That day we went to a nearer temple and wandered around a bit. There was a library with a turning wheel on the outside so you have seven or so people all push together and it turns. It’s said that many people cannot read the kanji that’s in the books within the library so in order to get closer to the texts and gods spiritually, you turn the wheel physically. This temple had a lot of rooms to look at and a rock garden and such. Afterwards, we walked around the town but it was basically a big tourist trap. I did buy a couple of really cute hairclips though (that were quite expensive… =X). We had lunch on our own and then burabura-ed (wandered) slowly back to the house. We stopped at an ice cream shop that was really close by because we had been hearing from all of our fellow ryuugakusei that they sold grape ice cream. I got the last one! (Sorry, Richard!) Then we just chatted and hung about until it was time to leave. Overall, a really cool experience!

Next time: what we did in Osaka when we returned!

Word of the day:　山 “Yama” or Mountain.

Second word of the day: 寒い "Samui" or Cold.

それではまた次回!

Nomihodai, Osaka, and Shopping =]

Last Saturday (9/18) the ryuugakusei (foreign exchange students; i.e. us) discovered Nomihodai and Karaoke. A huge group of us went to karaoke with some of the regular Konan students (about 25-30 people in all). It was crazy cheap, like 450 a person (~$5) for two hours. It was lots of fun! I was surprised by how many English songs there were. (Black Eyed Peas, Lincoln Park, even some random Disney songs) The next day, we went shopping in Osaka. Well we didn’t really know where we were going, so we ended up in a huge mall for most of the time. Malls in Japan are more like really expensive stores all put together. You can barely afford anything. But I did manage to find a cheap pair of leggings and a scrunchie, which are the in items here. So I’ve Japanified myself! (One step closer!) Then we went to Nomihodai, which means you can drink as much as you want for a set time and price. The great thing is, it’s amazingly cheap! We paid only 1000 yen per person (~$10) for a 2-hour period and we were allowed to order however much we wanted within those two hours. =D I think we all ordered 6-7 drinks each. It felt unreal; like we were stealing from them. But even so, most of them didn’t have very high alcohol content (save for a few) so we weren’t stumbling around Osaka or anything. Just a bit tipsy =P.

The next day, I went back to Osaka with my host mom to visit Osaka castle. When we got off the train we walked into the courtyard area and they were playing very Japanese music that gave us a dramatic entrance. If felt like a movie! We took a cute little train to the castle where people stared at me again… I’m so American, I stick out like a sore thumb ><. (This one time when I was walking to school a middle-aged man realized I was behind him and when he looked behind, he ran ahead of me a 20 steps! Wtf?) But the castle was so pretty! Castles in Japan are totally different from castles you would find in say London or France. They’re more like pagodas in structure. Like this:

The first 6 or so floors were all about history so I kind of breezed past that part… (not a fan of history though I probably should have looked at it more closely) They also had small boxes lined up where they projected small films. Only they were more like 3D holograms that played in succession, which really surprised me. Oh Japan, you’re so advanced! Then we climbed up all the way to the top and saw an amazing view of Osaka. There were a lot more foreigners in the castle than you usually see in towns. It’s a big tourist attraction so it makes sense. Still, it was comforting!

This week was short because we had off Thursday and Friday. It was also the first week I attended Nippon Kenpo (martial arts). They meet twice a week for three hours. I attended both meets this week and both were very frustrating experiences… I’ve always known Japan was a fairly sexist country but living it gives new perspective to the whole situation. It started out okay. They do physical training for the first hour or so, which consists of the usual – stretching, situps, pushups, floor drills, punching drills, etc. Then for the next two hours, they spar. Now, I’ll admit I’m not a great sparer. But that’s the kind of thing I came to the club to learn. So I could get better at it. I already know basic punches. But that’s as far as they’re willing to teach me. They keep saying it’s “too dangerous for girls.” So I figured I would just keep at it until they accepted me. The first day we were looking at the masks and the helmets were too big for my face (I have a tiny face, even in America) so they told me to bring towels next time. So I bought two towels and brought them to Wednesday’s practice. But after they sat there for 40 minutes having me go through drills and going, “hmm what should we do next” I asked if I could try sparring. This time, he said I needed my own pair of tebukuri (gloves that go under boxing mits). One of the guys didn't bring gloves and they let him spar! So I said, okay, so if I bring gloves on Monday will I be able to spar? And he said yeah. And I asked, Do you promise? And then I saw it all over his face. They have no intention of letting me spar. He said very subtly, probably not. That's the other thing about Japan. They don’t say anything directly. Even the guys are hard to read. Everything is said or asked with an undertone. For example if you think it’s cold and want someone to turn down the AC. You don’t ask, “Can you please turn the AC down” you say, “hmm it’s a bit chilly in here…” You have to hint at it or it’s considered too abrupt and rude. So that’s how this went down. But even so, I’m not sure I like the style. They don’t really have forms or set techniques. They just spar for a few hours. And that’s great for like endurance and increasing speed but it isn’t exactly useful or educational the way I wanted it to be. There isn’t much of a style to it. So maybe I can find another club that would be more fitting to what I want.

Meanwhile, one of my family’s prior ryuugakusei came and visited for a few days. She’s currently in the JET program (おめでとう！)　So she met me after school on Tuesday and showed me a few cute places/study spots where she used to hang out which I had never noticed before. Then we went to Sannomiya for a pokemon hunt. The new black and white games came out and they were already sold out in most places when I went looking for one. I managed to get one of the last 3 whites that this huge department store had so, luckii. =) Now I just have to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing as it is all in Japanese. >.>

Last Thursday was the anniversary of my late host father’s death day. So the whole family went out to the cemetery to visit him. I went out on my own instead since it was more of a family thing and I didn’t want to intrude. But I think it involves cleaning the grave and placing incense and flowers on it. I went out to eat in Okamoto with a couple of my friends along with some Konan students instead. [All the ryuugakusei had off that day because one, it was a national holiday (Shubun no hi – Autumnal Equinox Day) and two, we were going on a field trip the next day so we got a day to prepare.] One of the girls we went to lunch with was turning 20 (hatachi), which is the big birthday here in Japan. It’s the age where you become able to do everything legally.  Usually there is a big party in town one day of the year for all the people who turned 20 for that year (“Seiji no Hi”). They all dress up in elaborate kimonos to celebrate. Although I’m happy I’m already 20 and can do anything I want, it would have been nice to turn here for the big celebration… *pout* Anyway, the place we ate at was small and had an old cabin feel to it like you’re at a lodge in the mountains (probably felt that way because it was raining that day). Since it was lunchtime they only gave us two choices for food: ramen or ramen set. Weird. You’d think they’d have more choices.

After that we all split off to do our own things as some of our group had “youji” (previous engagements/plans) so a couple of the guys and I went to Nishinomiya Gardens to do some shopping. It’s right outside the Nishinomiya station which is one stop away from mine (who knew I had this huge mall so close to me?!). The place was seriously gigantic. There were 5 levels and each level must have had at least 50 or so stores. Every time you turned a corner to think you had finally gone through a whole level you would be like, “I don't recognize this at all… ?_?” We went for shopping but truth be told most of the stuff was too frickin expensive to actually buy anything. Every store we went in I would pick up a random shirt or pair of pants and it would be ¥10,000 – 35,000 (~$120-$370!!). So I didn’t buy much. We did, however find a store on the first floor that was devoted to just Tonari no Totoro and Majo no Takyuubin! It was so cute! They had even had the songs from Kiki playing in the store and there were giant stuffed animals. So I caved in and bought a Totoro blanket that turned out to be a lot smaller than I thought but still worth it! *G*

We found a Coldstone creamery downstairs as well and you know how in America, all the employees sing songs when you tip them? Well it’s the same here! They all sung cute Japanese versions and they actually looked excited to be singing for all the customers; they even danced! (I put a video up on FB if you're interested) There was also a bakery right across from it that had the nicest smelling bread and pastries. So we each bought a few. There were even ones shaped like Totoro that had a creamy filling! CUTE NOM. Then we wondered over to Uniqlo, which is one of the most popular stores here. Everything’s nice but at a good price; so I bought a couple of tops. When I went in the fitting room though I didn’t realize that in Japan, you’re supposed to take off your shoes before you go in the fitting room (as they do with most rooms: house, gym, high schools, etc). I definitely committed that cultural blunder… >< The lady was like, “お客様、お靴は。。。”(Okyakusama, okutsu wa“)”Ma’am, your shoes…” And I was like, Oh! I’m sorry!! Foreigner moment! So let that be a lesson to anyone who goes to Japan after this.

Word of the day:  武道　“budou” or martial arts.

それではまた次回！

New Home =)

I’m finally getting used to my new home. ^^ My house is awesome; it has a genkan (entranceway), of course, to take your shoes off when you enter the house, as is custom. It’s also quite modern. It has an “aircon” (air conditioner), though they only air condition a room or two at a time because otherwise it would waste electricity. (I think I mentioned this before) There are two floors, which is a bit more rare in Japan than it is in the states; a lot of homes are just one level. The toilet in my house is also like the ones we had in the hotel. It washes, massages, and dries. Apparently there are also some that make a large rushing water noise when you’re going so that no one can hear you but I haven’t seen on yet. =P I think that’s more of a public bathroom thing. Though the rest of the house is modern, my room is decked out with traditional tatami mats and shoji sliding screens. It’s so cool! Two of my walls actually open up behind the shoji screens; they have automated covers that can open and close (kind of like a garage door), which goes to the outside and lets in a great breeze at night! ^^

There are also some interesting house customs worth mentioning. For example, everyone takes a bath at night and one after another. There’s a shower, but it’s located in the same room/area as the bath. There’s no separation like a stall or anything between the two like we would have in our typical bathrooms. Also, everyone uses the same bathtub water. Which is why before you enter a bath of any type in Japan, you clean yourself first outside the tub and then go in and soak. Weird, right? While on the topic of bathrooms, you have to put on a special pair of bathroom slippers when using the toilet. Everyone uses the same pair; they’re just the bathroom slippers. Subsequently, they prefer guys to pee sitting down. Because apparently when they go standing up they leave residue on the floor, and Japanese people can detect it somehow?  o_O

Japanese homes have really thin walls. Even as I sit here now, I can here my host sister from upstairs, and the next-door neighbors talking. That’s why you shouldn’t listen to music or anything very loudly late at night; it’ll keep the neighbors up. Also, Japanese people clean. A lot.  My host mom even cleans the dog when he comes in from outside: paws, butt, mouth, everything. Wiping paws I’m used to. But wiping his butt? What service.

I regrettably do not help much with the chores around the house. I should do more! But my host mom doesn’t ask much of me because she’s so lovely! But I try helping with the cooking a bit, which was fun, and then when they ate it they were like “Oh you’re such a good cook!” When really all I had done was mixed what was already in the pan while my host mom added spices to make it taste better.

I don’t do much with laundry either (really feeling guilty at this point). But a note to mention about laundry is that Japan doesn’t use dryers. They always hang all their clothes on a line on a balcony or in the yard or something.

This Monday was the first time I went to school! So my host mom took me part way and then we were left on our own. So I basically walk 10 minutes to the train station, ride the train for 10~ minutes and then walk up to school from there which takes like 15. My total commute is about 35 minutes which is not too bad! I got a bit lost the first time coming back but now I’ve got it down pat! (Yoshi! – No I don’t mean the character, Japanese people exclaim Yoshi pronounced Yoush when they mean like “alright!”) Anyway…

School is really good so far. We had placement tests the first two days that were based mainly on Kanji and grammar. Even in the “speaking interview” we had to read off a paper out loud. The different placements go from A to E; A being the lowest level and E being the highest/most difficult. My Kanji is super weak so I was put in D class. It’s more of a review at the moment but I don’t want to miss anything kanji wise so I’m going to stick with it and hopefully be placed higher by next semester where they separate us further into different reading/writing and speaking classes.

In addition to Japanese class in the morning (9:30-11:30 or 12:30 depending upon the day), we have Japanese studies courses in the afternoon. I had signed up for Human Rights in Japan, Japanese Linguistics, and the Joint Seminar, which doesn’t count for anything at Pitt but allows you to interact with regular Konan students. Linguistics was of course, really interesting. I love the topic and the teacher was engaging. Though he will have difficulty accommodating people who have taken no linguistics courses with those that have taken up to 3 or 4! Human Rights I think just isn’t my cup of tea. It was very political science oriented and I personally cannot pay attention to that sort of thing so I think I may try to switch to a different class.

Then after classes we (the exchange students, that is) usually hang about school chatting or go out into Okamoto, which is the town right near our school. One day after school I went to my friend Jessica’s house, who is from England. It was her first time going home alone because her mom usually drives her so we promptly got lost. We rode the bus part way up the mountains (her house is more up there) but when we got off we went up the hill instead of down the hill. And then she called her mom to ask her where we should go but just as she was telling us, Jess’s cell phone lost power and we didn’t have enough time to copy her mom’s number into my phone so we asked at a local shop. I think they’re meant to show people where to go because they had a pretty detailed map. We were like all the way up the hill from where we should have been! We were exclaiming how it was so far that the guy who worked there actually drove us there… Alright, I know.  I was completely freaked out to get in a car with some random stranger. A guy, none the less. But I was armed with mace and knife at the time, and I had Jess with me so… Well he took us straight to her house. So maybe people here aren’t always as creepy as those in America. Worked out OK, but not an experience I wish to repeat. Anyway when we got to her house we took a tour around her house. Her house is a mansion style. Which in Japan is like an apartment. They call it a mansion (マンション). Apparently, they had given Jess the girls’ room so they were now all sleeping together in one smaller room on futons! Japanese people are so accommodating! We played with Jess’s sister, Ayana chan (9) when she got back. She had run all the way to the station to find us and lead us home but we must have missed each other due to the car business (poor Ayana!).  It was really fun! We played DS games and watched Japanese kids shows (which are adorable). Then I had to go by the time Jess’s mom and younger sister had gotten back. Her youngest sister is just 3 though and she is SO frickin cute. Her name is Mai-chan. She would shuffle her feet along when she walked and then do really cute things like pick up a piece of trash, hold it in front of her and yell “GOMIIII!” (“Trash!”) and then quickly place it in the bin.  Oh my, I just said bin. That’s the other thing is I’m picking up Jess’s accent. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at it when I try (I can speak the Queen’s English now!) but sometimes random British words will just pop out.

I think when I was at Jess’s house I got a bunch of mosquito bites. We walked outside for a while so I’m thinking maybe that’s where I acquired my collection… Mosquitoes in Japan are DRIVING me NUTS. I must have like 7 or 8 of them by now. Ahhhhh!

I also burned my arm on my straightener the other day. And so today at school I kind of scratched some of the skin off with my nail so it came open and it kind of hurt so I asked for a band-aid, right? Well they took me down to the infirmary and told me they “can’t” give me a band-aid for a burn so they put this hole waterproof skin thing on me that’s 10x the size of a band-aid and looks like I’ve just been in recent battle. All I wanted was a band-aid and maybe some Neosporin which I had at my house just not with me! Arg! This bandage apparently releases water or something out of the wound and helps it heal faster but we’ll see…Curse you Japan!

 My host mom is an English teacher for kids aging 4-15. So today we had a student who was 14 years old and I got to help out! It was so much fun. We were correcting her homework and there were many words that she only knew one meaning of which made her answers wrong. Like “left” as only the directional left instead of the past form of “to leave.” Things we never think about as native speakers that were interesting to see.

There was this one story about a big tomato festival in her book where everyone throws tomatoes at each other. Afterwards, the streets are cleaned and then everyone does other fun things like eating, going to parades, dancing, etc. She had read "streets" as “sheets” and "parades" as “paradise.” So when she was reading it she had this image of everyone dressing up in sheets and dancing around in paradise throwing tomatoes at each other! “Paradise! Paradise!” XD

Good times in Nippon! And now I’m all caught up so I’m gonna hurry off to school!

Also this amusing comic that I saw in my text book:

Enjoy!

では、次までに！＝D

Phrase of the Day:  蚊にたくさんささられた or “Ka ni takusan sasareta” I was bitten by many mosquitoes! Yes I was!

Orientation!

The next day was orientation as well where we covered cell phones (an unnecessarily confusing topic when coming to Japan) and got to go in our same groups to tour the city, Kobe. First, we went to a Shinto Shrine! We washed our hands before entering (to cleanse yourself) and then bought a fortune. Mine said very good! All of ours were positive so we didn’t have to tie them. When you get a bad fortune, Japanese people tie them around horizontal posts in the hope that they’ll get a better one next time.  So we kept ours! Then we went up to the temple and prayed. It’s a ritual so you: put in an offering, ring the bell to catch the attention of the gods, bow once, clap twice, pray, and then bow once more to show that you’re done.  Very fun! Then after that, we ate at a really nice restaurant that served fresh fish (and when I say fresh, I mean raw, fresh off the boat fish) and miso, rice (of course), and some yakitori. Yum!

Then we climbed up really high to see a great view of the city. I also noticed a lot more Kansai ben as we were going and talking to our guides. (Kansai Dialect – like most countries, Japan has many dialects that are slightly different from standard Japanese that they would speak in say, Tokyo) So a lot of things tend to run together more when you’re speaking in an accent. So like, some verb endings are different (wakarahen instead of wakaranai, or “I don’t understand/know” or “kore ya/ye” instead of “kore wa”) or random words like chao instead of ie or “no,” etc.

The next day, it was finally time to meet our host families! We all got dressed up in great anticipation and we were presented like we were at a graduation. We all got lined up in alphabetical order and were hidden behind a curtain as our names were called one by one to meet our families and then we’d go into the dining room to chat and sit while we waited for the prominent guests to show up so they could deliver long, drawn out speeches… One guy had like a 3 minute speech but was giving it to us in English so it really took about 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, the food was sitting out for us on long tables the whole time and we were getting hungrier by each passing “tenk yu, bery muchu.”

But finally it was over and we could go and get bits to eat at a time . Then near the end they decided it’d be fun to create another embarrassing event that involved us all going up to the mic on the stage and introducing ourselves to the whole room in Japanese. Of course that’s nothing compared to the speeches two of our members had to give welcoming the students and families. They both did amazing! (よくできた,二人とも！)

Afterwards, it was finally time to go home with our new families! We hauled our luggage into the car and drove off into the confusing, cramped, and winding roads of Japan. Our program doesn't let us drive or bike while we're here, which sounds a bit ridiculous. But after being in a car here, I can totally understand why. There are bikes going every which way and the roads are so small they don't look like they could possibly be two ways but they still do! Craziness!

When we got to our part of town, my mom actually had to go to work so I went to a friend's house to wait. We played card games with her host siblings which was so fun! Turns out, a lot of our games are the same. For example "Old Maid" is called "babanuki" which is literally like "pull out the old maid." Awesome, right? =) 

I'll post another one about my host family house and first days of school next time!

Word of the Day: 自己紹介　「じこしょうかい」　"Jikosyoukai," or self introduction. "Syoukai suru" is to introduce someone else. But sometimes you are asked to introduce yourself, say if you're in front of a class, or meeting someone completely new, etc. 

それではまた次回！

Here I Am, Japan!

I'm finally here in Japan and settled in with my host family!

My trip started out great though inevitably long (24 hours). I flew via China Airlines which put me next to a bunch of Chinese people. So not only was I surrounded by a bunch of Asians, it was the wrong type of Asians. At one point I was like, "Wait, am I going the right way?" But I did finally make it to Japan, only without my luggage... Because what trip for a Swiss girl would be complete without losing something? So I walk down to baggage claim and see a Japanese woman with my name on a card and I think, "Oh, this must be the person from my program who's picking me up." But no she's there to tell me that my luggage won't be coming until a later flight so I shouldn't expect it until morning. Then they ask me where I should send it when it comes and I honestly had no idea because I didn't memorize my host family's address  (though I should have written it down, always missing something right?) and though I remembered that the hotel I was staying at was Hotel Okura, there are like 8 of them. (All of this mind you, in Japanese, and I was getting more confused by the minute) I eventually just told them to send it to the one in Kobe and hoped it turned out for the best.

I continued out into the airport arrival place to meet the person from the program and I couldn't find anyone. I looked around and around but didn't see anyone with a "Konan Daigaku" sign or anything so what do I do? Call my mommy. I managed to find a wi-fi spot and skyped her to ask her advice. But she couldn't really help me from all the way over in America so eventually someone else from the program spotted me and I was very relieved to have found everyone! Next step was withdrawing money. After trying 3 times on 2 different machines, it wouldn't work! It said my card was invalid! And then we had to get on the shuttle to the hotel. So there I was in Japan with no luggage and no money! What to do! 

Not only that, but it is SUPER humid in Japan.  Like, sweat running down your back hot. So here, everyone carries around a hankachi or minitowel (handkerchief) to dry yourself off when you sweat too much (sounds disgusting I know but it really comes in handy!).

So when we arrived at the hotel one of the sensei/coordinators took me out to a local ATM and I had little hope for it because of the failure at the airport but I was surprised and delighted that it worked! I was so relieved. We also went to Starbucks while we were out and man is it expensive! I mean it’s pretty much expensive everywhere but they have a really small size that you would maybe give to a child. I picked it because it was the cheapest (cheapest being like $4.30~) and they said it was small but they really weren’t kidding, I was finished in thirty seconds. I learned too that it’s customary not to drink or eat while you’re walking. It’s considered rude. Which I didn’t know at the time so I drank it all as we walked back to the hotel. (oops) But you either drink it where you bought it or wait until you’ve arrived at wherever you’re going. That’s also why there are only trashcans near vending machines, although even those are mostly for bottles/cans (“petbottles,” they call it). So you’d think that the streets of Japan would be littered because there’s nowhere to throw anything away but they’re virtually spotless! Japanese people will hold their trash until they can find somewhere to throw it away or until they get home.

When I got back to the hotel, I took a more thorough look at the room I was staying in. The first surprise was the toilet. Japanese toilets are super advanced. The seats are heated so when you sit down it’s a certain temperature (it has three settings)! There’s also a built it bidet and something that says “massage” (??) and another function that has a woman’s face on it as the icon (I still don’t understand that one). Also the mirror in the bathroom has a square in the middle of it that’s heated. So that when you take a shower, and the room gets all steamy, that square in the middle stays the same so you have a cutout to see yourself in after you’re done! The beds were also kind of different. They’re really hard; it actually doesn’t even feel like they have springs in them. But they are surprisingly good! You think, “Oh wow this is kind of uncomforta… ZZZZZ,” and you go out like a light. Just don’t jump on them... (like one of our members learned **snicker**)

That night some of us went exploring around Sannomiya, which is the town that was closest to us. We split up for dinner because Japanese shops are actually rather small and can’t really accommodate a large group like the one we had. So I went to a small ramen shop and it was basically just like 7 seats or so around a bar looking thing. But behind the bar was the single cook that was operating the whole store. Even with our five people in our small group, we took up most of the space in the restaurant. Then we went back and listened to two singers/guitar players that were performing on the street and just hung out and chatted.

When we got back, my roommate had finally arrived. She’s French! She can’t really speak much English so we had to rely on Japanese as a backup. I had no idea how many countries our students were coming from. We have people from America, England, France, Germany, Australia and all of different Japanese levels.

The next day we had orientation at our school. So we got to see Konan and it’s really pretty! The buildings are all newly rebuilt because there was an earthquake a few years ago and most of them fell down. It was really hot during the day though so it was nice to get into the classrooms, which have air-conditioning. Another thing about Japan is that they only air-condition or heat certain rooms at a time. Therefore, the hallways and such are not air-conditioned. Which I guess makes sense. Japan is very eco-friendly, in every respect. So they don’t bother wasting energy on places that you don’t use or you’re only in for a few minutes at a time.

After the paper-work orientation, we got separated into smaller groups and put with a few Konan students from the regular school to show us around campus. It was great to walk around and chat to them in Japanese while learning about the school and different buildings to use. Some buildings are actually two in one. Like, you’ll walk down building two and there will be a painted line down the floor, and you’re suddenly in building six. Then we ate lunch in the cafeteria and man I wish American cafeterias had food this good! It’s all super cheap (like 280 yen-400 yen) and it’s all so delicious! I had tanuki soba, (I think that was the name) which is basically soba noodles with a triangular sweet egg type thing on top. (So good!) Later that day we had Konan students give us some demonstrations of different clubs (orchestra, kenpo, kendo, etc) and we got to peruse a bit.

We ventured out into the local area that night and went to Mosaic, a mall that was right around the corner. On the way there was a beautiful view of the Kobe port that looked amazing by night. When we got there we only really went in to the very first part, which was the arcade. Games and crane machines galore! Everywhere you look it was colorful and fun looking with prizes from bears to Mickey/Minnie to My Neighbor Totoro plushies and Spirited away soots - WANT! Metcha Kawaii~!

I will continue later! それではまた次回！

Word of the Day: 留学生　「りゅうがくせい」"ryuugakusei," or foreign exchange student.